• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.155-158
• /
• 2012

In this work, AlON-$Al_2O_3$ coatings were prepared on Al2021 alloy by the electrolytic plasma processing (EPP) method. The experimental electrolytes include: 2 g/l NaOH as the electrolytic conductive agent, 10 g/l $Na_2AlO_2$ as the alumina formative agent, and 0.5 g/l $NaNO_2$, $NaNO_3$, and $NH_4NO_3$ as the nitride inducing agents. The effects of different nitrogen inducing agents were studied by a combined compositional and structural analyses of the ceramic coatings carried out by Xray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the specimens EPP-treated at room temperature for 15 min under a hybrid voltage of 260 DC along with an AC 50 Hz power supply (200 V). Microhardness tests and wear tests were carried out to correlate the evolution of the microstructure and the resulting mechanical properties. Potentiodynamic polarizations and immersion corrosion tests were carried out in 3.5wt% NaCl water solutions under static conditions in order to evaluate the corrosion behavior of the coated samples. The results demonstrate that $NaNO_2$ is proven to be a good nitrogen inducing agent to produce high quality AlON-$Al_2O_3$ ceramic coatings.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2016

A unique Schizosaccharomyces pombe $TrxR^+$ gene encoding thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) was found to be positively regulated by stress-inducing agents through the stress-responsive transcription factor Pap1. In the present study, the protective roles of S. pombe TrxR were evaluated using the TrxR-overexpressing recombinant plasmid pHSM10. In the presence of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) and superoxide anion-generating menadione (MD), S. pombe TrxR increased cellular growth and the total glutathione (GSH) level, while it reduced levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). The nitric oxide (NO) levels of the TrxR-overexpressing cells, in the presence of $H_2O_2$ and MD, were maintained to be similar to those of the corresponding non-treated cells. Although S. pombe TrxR was able to scavenge NO generated by sodium nitroprusside (SNP), it had no significant modulating effects on cellular growth, ROS levels, or the total GSH level of SNP-exposed yeast cells, compared with the differences in those of the two non-treated cell cultures. TrxR increased the cellular growth and total GSH level, which were diminished by nitrogen starvation. It also scavenged ROS and NO produced during nitrogen starvation. Taken together, the S. pombe TrxR protects against oxidative, nitrosative, and nutritional stresses.