Moisture sorption characteristics of freeze-dried human platelets

Freeze-drying is a promising method for a long-term storage of human platelets. The moisture sorption characteristics of freeze-dried human platelets (FDHPs) were studied in this paper. The moisture sorption isotherms of FDHPs and freeze-dried lyophilization buffer (FDLB) were measured at 4, 25, and 37 °C. The experimental data were fitted to Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB) equations. There were no significant statistical differences (P>0.05) between the sorption characteristics of FDHPs and FDLB at 4 and 25 °C, while FDHPs absorbed more water at 37 °C. The net isosteric heat of sorption was derived. The heat for FDHPs showed an abnormal negative value at low moisture contents when 25 and 37 °C data were used. Dynamic sorption experiments were carried out at 25 °C with environmental water activity controlled at 0.75, 0.85, and 0.90. The moisture diffusion coefficient was fitted to be 8.24×10⁻¹² m²/s when experimental data at initial time were used. These results would be helpful in choosing prehydration and storage condition for FDHPs.     

Large eddy simulation for wind field analysis based on stabilized finite element method

In this paper, a stabilized finite element technique, actualized by streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) stabilized method and three-step finite element method (FEM), for large eddy simulation (LES) is developed to predict the wind flow with high Reynolds numbers. Weak form of LES motion equation is combined with the SUPG stabilized term for the spatial finite element discretization. An explicit three-step scheme is implemented for the temporal discretization. For the numerical example of 2D wind flow over a square rib at Re=4.2×10⁵, the Smagorinsky’s subgrid-scale (SSGS) model, the DSGS model, and the DSGS model with Cabot near-wall model are applied, and their results are analyzed and compared with experimental results. Furthermore, numerical examples of 3D wind flow around a surface-mounted cube with different Reynolds numbers are performed using DSGS model with Cabot near-wall model based on the present stabilized method to study the wind field and compared with experimental and numerical results. Finally, vortex structures for wind flow around a surface-mounted cube are studied by present numerical method. Stable and satisfactory results are obtained, which are consistent with most of the measurements even under coarse mesh.     

Determination of Diffusion Coefficient and Analysis of Diffusion Factors of Cr（Ⅵ） Ion in Clay Soil

Some laboratory diffusion tests were conducted with diffusion device to determine the diffusion coefficient of Cr(Ⅵ) ion passing through Dalian red clay samples. The concentrations of Cr(Ⅵ) at different places of the samples were then measured spectrophotometrically after a standing time of 1 000 d. A one-dimensional solute transport equation was used to simulate the transport of Cr(Ⅵ) through clay samples. Back-calculation of diffusion coefficient of Cr(Ⅵ) was made with finite difference method. Parametric analysis was conducted to simulate variations in soil dry density, temperature, pH and standing time. The results show that the method used in this paper is simple and effective. The diffusion coefficient of Cr(Ⅵ) in Dalian red clay varies from 1.50×10-7 cm2/s to 2.08×10-7 cm2/s. After 1 000 d diffusion, the concentration of the source solution drops down to 1.27 mg/L from 62.5 mg/L, and the diffusion distance is only 3.5 cm. Under the assumption that diffusion coefficient is constant, the diffusion effect becomes more obvious with lower density, lower temperature, higher pH value, and much more time.     

Study on NO2 absorption by ascorbic acid and various chemicals

INTRODUCTION Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is one of the main air pol- lutants found in the flue gases from chemical and power plants belching acid rain and photochemical smog. Over 90 percent of all man-made nitrogen ox- ides that enter our atmosphere are produced by the combustion of various fuels. Compared with the ad- vanced stage of SO2 gas removal technologies devel- opment, the removal of NOx gases is still in the initial stages of development as roughly 90 to 95 percent of NOx emitted i…     

Applications of water sensitivity in situ remediation at saltwater-freshwater interface

Based on the laboratory experiments with the saltwater and freshwater replacing each other in the level sand column, taking the kaolin, illite, smectite, bivalent hydrargyrum ion (Hg²⁺) and phenol (C₆H₅OH) as examples, this paper studies the applications of water sensitivity in situ remediation in saltwater-freshwater transition zone. In the water sensitivity process, the release and migration of clay minerals can make the hydraulic conductivity (HC) decrease and pollutants remove. A new type of low penetrable or impenetrable purdah can be built by adding clay minerals into the sand media to replace the underground concrete impenetrable wall to prevent seawater intrusion, and a number of the heavy metals and organic pollutants in the sand media can be removed by in situ remediation. The results show that the content of kaolin and illite influences the water sensitivity process slightly, and HC of the sand columns descends from 0.011 cm/s to 0.001 4 cm/s and 0.001 2 cm/s respectively even if the content reaches 12% (weight ratio, sic passim). However, for smectite, HC descends sharply to about 1×10⁻⁸ cm/s when its content reaches 4%, and no water can flow through the sand columns beyond 5%. The particle release and migration processes can remove the Hg²⁺ and C₆H₅OH out of the sand columns efficiently, the removing rate of Hg²⁺ is 31.68% when the freshwater and saltwater are filtered through the sand columns polluted by Hg²⁺, while it is 67.55% when the water sensitivity occurs. With the same method, the removing rates of C₆H₅OH under the fluid flow and water sensitivity are 55.71% and 43.43% respectively. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40572142). HAN Zhiyong, born in 1976, male, Dr, associate Prof.     

The Cobbler's Children: Improving Performance Improvement at Amerigroup

A team of performance consultants at Amerigroup applied their chosen human performance technology (HPT) methodology, Six Boxes^® Performance Thinking, to define their own performance, identify improvement opportunities, and build performance infrastructure in the form of clearer expectations and regular feedback, better processes and tools, and more relevant consequences, all while developing their own skills and knowledge and conducting client projects using the methodology. This article summarizes the context, process, and accomplishments to date, along with the lessons learned from this ongoing effort.     

Hydrogen permeation behavior in Fe3Al-based alloy

Ultra-high vacuum gaseous hydrogen permeation experiments on Fe₃Al-based alloy were performed in the temperature range of 330∼450°C with an upstream hydrogen pressure between 3. 38×10⁴ Pa and 7.28×10⁴ Pa. The results show that the hydrogen diffusivity and permeability in Fe₃Al-based alloy obey Arrhenius relationship in the experimental temperature range and the hydrogen permeation process is controlled by the lattice diffusion of hydrogen at relative high temperature. The activation energy of hydrogen diffusion in the Fe₃Al-based alloy was found to be 75 kJ/mol. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (59895157)     

Determination of Trace Molybdenum（VI） by Oscillographic Potentiometric Catalyzing Kinetic Method of Simplex Optimization

1　Introduction　Ahugeamountofliteratureexistsonthestudyofi dentifyingtracemetalionsbymeansofspectropho tometry[1 3] ,fluorimetry[4 6 ] aswellas polarogra phy[7 9] ,whichhaveactiononlocatingtheendpointoftheindicatingreaction .Howeverbothspectropho tometryandfluorimetryareeasytobeinterferedbycolororprecipitation ,whilepolarographyhasanissueofmercurypollution .Thecatalyzingkineticanalysishasthecharacteristicsofhighsensitivityandspeedi ness.Oscillographicpotentiometryisasimpleintu itionisticanal…     

Yangxueqingnao particles inhibit rat vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation induced by lysophosphatidic acid

Objective: To observe the effect of Yangxueqingnao particles on rat vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation induced by lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Methods: The amount of³H-TdR (³H-thymidine) admixed in cultured rat VSMC was measured and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity and lipid peroxidation end product malondialdehyde (MDA) content of the VSMC were assayed. Results: 1×10⁻⁹, 1×10⁻⁸, 1×10⁻⁷ mol/L LPA in a concentration dependent manner, induced the amount of³H-TdR admixed, MAP kinase activity, and MDA content of the cultured rat VSMC to increase. However, 5%, 10%, and 15% Yangxueqingnao serum preincubation resulted in a decrease of 23.0%, 42.0%, and 52.0% (P<0.01) respectively in the amount of³H-TdR admixed, a decline in VSMC MAP kinase activity of 13.9% (P<0.05), 29.6% (P<0.01), and 48.9% (P<0.01) respectively, and also, a decrease in MDA content of VSMC of 19.4%, 24.7%, and 43.2% (P<0.01) respectively, in the 1×10⁻⁷ mol/L LPA-treated VSMC. Conclusions: LPA activates the proliferation and lipid peroxidation of VSMC in a concentration dependent manner. The LPA-induced VSMC proliferation is related to the activity of MAP kinases, enzymes involved in an intracellular signalling pathway. The results of the present study showed that Yangxueqingnao particles can effectively inhibit LPA-induced VSMC proliferation, MAP kinase activation, and reduce lipid peroxidative lesion. Project (No. 491010-W50339) supported by Chinese Traditional Medicine Administration Bureau of Zhejiang Province, China     

Optimization of elastolysis conditions and elastolytic kinetic analysis with elastase from Bacillus licheniformis ZJUEL31410

INTRODUCTION Elastases are heterogeneous with differing sub-strate specificities and catalytic mechanisms. In fact, enzymes with elastolytic activity can be found in most of the major proteolytic families, including serine, thiol, aspartic, and metallo-enzymes. Despite the differences in catalytic mechanisms, all of these elastases share a common specificity for cleaving peptide bonds associated with hydrophobic or aro-matic amino acids (Hall and Czerkawaki, 1961). Bacterial elastases b…     

Nutrient composition, mineral content and the solubility of the proteins of palm weevil, Rhynchophorus phoenicis f. （Coleoptera： Curculionidae）

Adult (ADS) and larva stages of palm weevil Rhynchophorus phoenicis were analyzed for their nutritional potentials using proximate and mineral contents as indices. The early larva stage (ELS) contains the highest moisture content of 11.94% while ADS has the least value of 4.79%. The late larva stage (LLS) has the highest protein content of 10.51% while ADS contains 8.43%. Ash content is highest in ELS with a value of 2.37% and lowest in ADS with a value of 1.43%. ELS and LLS have the highest (22.14%) and lowest (17.22%) fibre contents respectively. The values of potassium, magnesium and iron in ELS were (455.00±21.21), (60.69±2.57) and (6.50±3.40) mg/kg while LLS recorded (457.50±10.61), (43.52±1.37) and (6.00±1.10) mg/kg and ADS recorded (372.50±24.75), (53.31±1.88) and (22.90±3.70) mg/kg. Chromium, phosphorus, nickel, calcium, lead, man- ganese and zinc were also detected. Copper was not detected in any of the samples. In all the developmental stages the protein solubilities were pH dependent with the minimum protein solubilities occurring at acidic pH while the maximum protein solu- bilities occurred at alkaline pH.     

Are Physical Activity Resources Understandable as Disseminated? A Meta-Analysis of Readability Studies

ABSTRACT

Readability studies routinely report that resources with physical activity-related content exceed the eighth-grade reading level (RL), the maximum recommended for health education resources. The objectives of this meta-analysis were to determine the extent that findings in the literature represented true differences and whether production sources differed in their average RL. Fourteen studies met the study inclusion criteria. The main analysis involved 819 print and web article resources produced by government and nongovernment sources. The average RL was greater than eighth-grade (M = 10.25, 95% CI = [9.62, 10.91], p < .001), a nearly substantial magnitude of difference (g = .75), with a substantial percentage of the observed effects representing true differences (I² = 79.79%). No differences were observed between productions sources, Q(5) = 2.56, p = .767. Publication bias and publication date did not meaningfully affect the main findings, nor did variations in study methodology or quality. The implications of these results for kinesiology are discussed and recommendations for future research are presented.     

A novel low-voltage high precision current reference based on subthreshold MOSFETs

INTRODUCTION With the development of modern electronics,there is a growing trend of designing a low-voltagehigh precision current reference in many mixed-signaland analog circuits such as data converters (Mehr andSinger, 2000; Oh et al., 2004), oscillators and PLLs(Razavi, 2001; Banba and Shiga, 1999). Low-costreasons need the reference to be realized in simplestandard CMOS logic process technology, withoutresorting to the use of BiCMOS process and specialdevices such as floating-g…     

Gas Absorption and Mass Transfer in a Pore-Array Intensified Tube-in-Tube Microchannel

A pore-array intensified tube-in-tube microchannel (PA-TMC), which is characterized by high throughput and low pressure drop, was developed as a gas–liquid contactor. The sulfite oxidation method was used to determine the oxygen efficiency (φ) and volumetric mass transfer coefficient (k_La) of PA-TMC, and the mass transfer amount per unit energy (ε) was calculated by using the pressure drop. The effects of structural and operating parameters were investigated systematically, and the two-phase flow behavior was monitored by using a charge-coupled device imaging system. The results indicated that the gas absorption efficiency and mass transfer performance of the PA-TMC were improved with increasing pore number, flow rate, and number of helical coil turns and decreasing pore size, row number, annular size, annular length, and surface tension. The φ, ε and k_La of PA-TMC could reach 31.3%, 1.73 × 10⁻⁴ mol/J, and 7.0 s⁻¹, respectively. The Sherwood number was correlated with the investigated parameters to guide the design of PA-TMC in gas absorption and mass transfer processes.

     

Laboratory and numerical study on an enhanced evaporation process in a loess soil column subjected to heating

The water vapor diffusion can be enhanced by the heating from municipal solid waste, and significantly impact the evaporation process in the earthen final cover. The parameters associated with the water vapor diffusion are usually measured by using the instantaneous profile method. This method is very time-consuming because the drying process lasts a long time. In this study, a bottom heating method is proposed to accelerate the drying process in a loess soil column. A constant temperature of 70 °C is applied at the bottom of the soil column. The thermo-hydraulic response of the loess is monitored along the soil column. A numerical model is developed to simulate the coupled thermo-hydraulic process. The numerical model is used to back analyze the tortuosity τ of the loess for vapor diffusion and the parameter a of an empirical evaporation function. We found that the bottom heating accelerated the drying process of the soil column by almost 22 d compared with the conditions without heating under the same evaporation boundary. Before Day 15, the proportions of the enhanced vapor flux in the total water loss were higher than 50%, dominating the evaporation process. The experimental and numerical study demonstrated that the proposed heating method is able to obtain the parameters of vapor diffusion more efficiently than the conventional method.     

An evaluation of outcomes following the replacement of traditional histology laboratories with self‐study modules

Changes in medical school curricula often require educators to develop teaching strategies that decrease contact hours while maintaining effective pedagogical methods. When faced with this challenge, faculty at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine converted the majority of in‐person histology laboratory sessions to self‐study modules that utilize multiple audiovisual modalities and a virtual microscope platform. Outcomes related to this shift were investigated through performance on in‐house examinations, results of the United States Medical Licensing Examination^® (USMLE^®) Step 1 Examination, and student feedback. Medical School College Admissions Test^® (MCAT^®) scores were used as a covariate when comparing in‐house examinations. Results revealed no significant change in performance on in‐house examinations when the content being assessed was controlled (F(2, 506) = 0.676, P = 0.51). A significant improvement in overall practical examination grade averages was associated with the self‐study modules (F(6, 1164) = 10.213, P < 0.01), but gradual changes in examination content may explain this finding. The histology and cell biology portion of USMLE Step 1 Examination remained consistent throughout the time period that was investigated. Student feedback regarding the self‐study modules was positive and suggested that features such as instructor narrated videos were an important component of the self‐study modules because they helped recreate the experience of in‐person laboratory sessions. Positive outcomes from the student perspective and no drop in examination performance suggests that utilizing self‐study modules for histology laboratory content may be an option for educators faced with the challenge of reducing contact hours without eliminating content. Anat Sci Educ 10: 276–285. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

Effect of cultivating conditions on α-galactosidase production by a novel Aspergillusfoetidus ZU-G1 strain in solid-state fermentation

The work is intended to achieve optimum culture conditions of α-galactosidase production by a mutant strain ,Aspergillusfoetidus ZU-GI in solid-state fermentation （SSF）. Certain fermentation parameters involving moisture content, incubation temperature, cultivation period of seed, inoculum volume, initial pH value, layers of pledget, load size of medium and period of cultivation were investigated separately. The optimal cultivating conditions of α-galactosidase production in SSF were 60% initial moisture of medium, 28 ℃ incubation temperature, 18^h cultivation period of seed, 10% inoculum volume, 5.0-6.0 initial pH of medium, 6 layers of pledget and 10 g dry matter loadage. Under the optimized cultivation conditions, the maximum α-galactosidase production was 2037.51 U/g dry matter near the 144th hour of fermentation.     

干/湿纺制初生中空纤维膜数学模型的数值模拟

In an effort to find the effect of mass transfer ,surface tesion and drag forces on the velocity distribution,the mathematical model of the velocity profile of a nascent hollow fiber during membrane formation in the air gap region was numerically simulated by using the Runge-Kutta method (fourth-order method).The effect of mass transfer on velocity distribution based on the complicated function(G(Ch^s))was presented and the dffects of a complicated function were studied in two cases:in the first case,G(Ch^s) was constant;in the second,G(Ch^s) was variable.The latter was done by varying with the concentration of solvent in a nascent hollow fiber through the air-gap region.One empirical equation was used to describe this change and the predected values had a better agreement with the experimental values.To verify the moedl hypotheses,hollow fiber membranes were spun from 20:80 polybenzimidazole/polyetherimide dopes with 25.6 wt％ solid in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) using water as the external and internal coagulants.Based on the experimental results of dry-jet wet-spinning process for the fabrication of hollow fiber membranes,it is found that the model calculated values were in a good agreement with the experimental values.     

Lovastatin production by Aspergillus terreus in solid-state fermentation

Lovastatin production by Aspergillus terreus ATCC 20542 in solid-state fermentation (SSF) was studied. Various substrates were used to evaluate the ability of A. terreus to produce lovastatin. The results showed that either rice or wheat bran was suitable substrate for lovastatin production in SSF. The maximum yield of lovastatin (2.9 mg/g dry substrate) using rice as substrate was achieved after incubating for 11 d at the following optimized process parameters: 50%～60% initial moisture content,pH 5.5,incubation temperature 28 °C.     

—维大气污染模式的特征有限体积H1估计

把特征线理论用在有限体积元方法中,用它来研究污染物在大气中的扩散规律,选取一次元函数空间为试探函数空间,分片常数函数空间为检验函数空间,得到大气污染模式的全离散特征有限体积一次元格式,并进行了H1估计,结果表明该方法具有更好的有效性。