Preparation of a novel biodegradable β-cyclodextrin-containing polymer

A novel cyclodextrin-containing polymer was prepared by graftingβ-cyclodextrin onto the backbone of poly(D,L-lactic acid)(PLA).First,mono(6-(2-aminoethyl)amino-6-deoxy)-β-cyclodextrin(β-CD-6-en)was prepared by sulfonylation and amination ofβ-cyclodextrin and modified poly(D,L-lactic acid)(MPLA)was prepared by free radical polymerization of maleic anhydride and PLA.Then,grafting ofβ-cyclodextrin derivative to MPLA backbone was carried out by N-acylation reaction of MPLA andβ-CD-6-en in dimethyl formamide.The...     

Synthesis and characterization of HDI/MDI-polycarbonate urethanes

A novel polycarbonate urethane was synthesized by the two-stage solution process of diisocyanates with polycarbonate diols(PCDL),in which PCDL,1,4-butanediol(BD) and mixture of 4,4'-methylenediphenyl diisocy-anate and hexamethylene diisocyanate(HDI) were soft segment,chain extender and rigid segment,respectively.The structures were characterized by using FTIR and 1H-NMR.The thermoanalysis and mechanical properties of products were measured by means of DSC,TG and other systems.The result shows that an import...     

Remediation of Cr(VI) in solution using vitamin C

INTRODUCTION Chromium is a commonly identified soils andgroundwater contaminant. Cr(VI) is toxic, carcino-genic, and has great subsurface mobility. In contrast,Cr(III) is relatively non-toxic and immobile. Muchresearch focused on the remediation of Cr(VI) such asadsorption by zeolites (Bowman, 2003) or silicas(Hideaki et al., 2002), chemical reduction by ferrousiron (Buerge and Hug, 1999; Fendorf and Li, 1996) orzero-valent iron (Powell and Puls, 1997; Alowitz andScherer, 2002), b…     

Complex oscillation of certain high non-homogeneous linear differential equations

1 Introduction and main results a Im this paper, we use the standard notations of the Nevanlinna theory (see Refs. [1-3]); and denote the order of growth of f ( z ) by σ ( f), the exponent of convergence of the zero-sequence and the sequence of distinct zeroes of f ( z ) by λ ( f) and λ ( f), respectively. It recalls the following definitions. Definition 1 [5]. Let f ( z )be a meromorphic function, then the hyper-order σ 2( f)of f ( z ) is defined by _____ 2 σ ( f ) = lr i→m∞ loglologg…     

Genetic analysis for brix weight per stool and its component traits in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)

Brix weight per stool (BW) of sugarcane is a complex trait, which is the final product of a combination of many components. Diallel cross experiments were conducted during a period of two years for BW and its five component traits, in- cluding stalk diameter (SD), stalk length (SL), stalk number (SN), stalk weight (SW), and brix scale (BS) of sugarcane. Phenotypic data of all the six traits were analyzed by mixed linear model and their phenotype variances were portioned into additive (A), dominance (D), additive×environment interaction (AE) and dominance×environment interaction (DE) effects, and the correlations of A, D, AE and DE effects between BW and its components were estimated. Conditional analysis was employed to investigate the contribution of the components traits to the variances of A, D, AE and DE effects of BW. It was observed that the heritabilities of BW were significantly attributed to A, D and DE by 23.9%, 30.9% and 28.5%, respectively. The variance of A effect for BW was significantly affected by SL, SN and BS by 25.3%, 93.7% and 17.4%, respectively. The variances of D and DE effects for BW were also significantly influenced by all the five components by 5.1%～85.5%. These determinants might be helpful in sugarcane breeding and provide valuable information for multiple-trait improvement of BW.     

QTL analysis for some quantitative traits in bread wheat

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis was conducted in bread wheat for 14 important traits utilizing data from four different mapping populations involving different approaches of QTL analysis. Analysis for grain protein content (GPC) sug- gested that the major part of genetic variation for this trait is due to environmental interactions. In contrast, pre-harvest sprouting tolerance (PHST) was controlled mainly by main effect QTL (M-QTL) with very little genetic variation due to environmental interactions; a major QTL for PHST was detected on chromosome arm 3AL. For grain weight, one QTL each was detected on chromosome arms 1AS, 2BS and 7AS. QTL for 4 growth related traits taken together detected by different methods ranged from 37 to 40; nine QTL that were detected by single-locus as well as two-locus analyses were all M-QTL. Similarly, single-locus and two-locus QTL analyses for seven yield and yield contributing traits in two populations respectively allowed detection of 25 and 50 QTL by composite interval mapping (CIM), 16 and 25 QTL by multiple-trait composite interval mapping (MCIM) and 38 and 37 QTL by two-locus analyses. These studies should prove useful in QTL cloning and wheat improvement through marker aided selection.     

Miscibility on blends of PVA and PFSA by viscometry

The intrinsic viscosity and viscometric interaction parameters of perfluorosulfonic acid(PFSA) and poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA) were measured by dilute solution viscometry.The miscibility between PFSA and PVA was estimated by the criteria of △B and μ.The results indicated that PFSA and PVA were completely miscible for any weight fraction in aqueous solution.     

Inhibitory effects of jujuboside A on EEG and hippocampal glutamate in hyperactive rat

In this study, the inhibitory effect ofjujuboside A (JuA) on a penicillin sodium (Na-PCN) induced hyperactivity model was investigated. Cortical EEG (electroencephalogram) and the concentration of hippocampal Glutamate (Glu) were monitored simultaneously in vivo as indicators of rat's excitatory state. Power spectral density (PSD) and gravity frequency of PSD were calculated. JuA (0.05 g/L and 0.1 g/L) inhibited the EEG excitation effect caused by Na-PCN by increasing the power of δ1 and δ2bands (P＜0.01 vs model) and lowering the gravity frequency of PSD (P＜0.01 vs model). JuA also remarkably reduced the Glu elevation induced by Na-PCN (P＜0.05 vs model). Diazepam also depressed Glu concentration and lowered the gravity frequency,but it showed a different EEG pattern in increased β2-activity (P＜0.01 vs model). EEG excitation caused by Na-PCN correlated with Glu elevation during the first hour. Neurophysiological inhibitory effects of JuA and diazepam were more persistent than their Glu inhibitoty effects.     

Effect of high glucose levels on the calcification of vascular smooth muscle cells by inducing osteoblastic differentiation and intracellular calcium deposition via BMP-2/Cbfα-1 pathway

In this paper,we investigate the effect and the possible mechanism of high glucose levels on the calcification of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs).HASMCs were divided into four groups: normal glucose group (NG),osmolality control group (OC),high glucose group (HG,HASMCs culture medium containing 30 mmol/L glucose),and high glucose plus recombinant human Noggin protein (bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) antagonist) group (HN).The mRNA levels and the protein expressions of BMP-2 and core binding factor alpha-1 (Cbfα-1) were measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot.After induced by 10 mmol/L β-glycerol phosphoric acid,cells were harvested for assessments of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities at Days 1,2,and 3,and intracellular calcium contents at Days 7 and 14,respectively.High glucose levels increased the mRNA levels and the protein expressions of BMP-2 and Cbfα-1 (P0.05).The expression of Cbfα-1 was partially blocked by Noggin protein (P0.05),while BMP-2 was not (P0.05).After being induced by β-glycerol phosphoric acid,high glucose levels increased the ALP activity [(48.63±1.03) vs.(41.42±2.28) U/mg protein,Day 3;P0.05] and the intracellular calcium content [(2.76±0.09) vs.(1.75±0.07) μmol/mg protein,Day 14;P0.05] in a time-dependent manner when compared with the NG group,while the ALP activity could not be blocked by Noggin protein [(48.63±1.03) vs.(47.37±0.97) U/mg protein,Day 3;P0.05].These results show that high glucose levels can evoke the calcification of HASMCs by inducing osteoblastic trans-differentiation and intracellular calcium deposition via the BMP-2/Cbfα-1 pathway,which can be partially blocked by Noggin protein.     

Translation,the Product of the Manipulation of the Power of Domestic Values

Based on the theory of Lefevere,this essay takes《牛虻》(The Gadfly written by Ethael Lilian Voynich) translated by Li Liangmin(李俍民) in the 1950s as a case study,examining how the translation activity is influenced by the dominant cultural and political factors and other manipulating powers such as the editors and publishers;and how the target text(TT) interacts with the ideology of the social system,drawing the conclusion that translation is partly the product of the manipulation of the power of domestic value.     

Novel resonator based on composite right/left-handed transmission lines

INTRODUCTION Left-handed materials (LHMs) are characterized by simultaneously negative permittivity and perme- ability. It was first investigated theoretically by Ve- selago (1968). The experimental realization of LHM with resonance structures was demonstrated by Smith et al.(2000). Since then, LHM has gained significant interest and started to be integrated into novel mi- crowave and optical applications. The transmis- sion-line (TL) approach was recently proposed to realize LHMs …     

Fuzzy prediction and experimental verification of road surface cleaning rate by pure waterjets

INTRODUCTION Waterjet cleaning technology is mainly achieved by an erosion process of high pressure water to re-move coating materials.Louis and Schikorr(1982)identified deposits removed by high-speed waterjet cleaning as rust,oil,rubber,organics,etc.,and inves-tigated the relationship between the properties of the deposits and substrata.Summers(1982)investigated the correlation between the standoff distance,pres-sure and cleaning effectiveness.Saunders and Barton(1986)investigated the r…     

Synthesis of novel electron donors and their application to propylene polymerization

A series of electron donors,including 1,1-cyclopentanecarboxylic acid diethyl ester (CPCADEE),1,1cyclopentanedimethanol acetic diester (CPDMAD),1,1-biethoxymethyl pentane (BEMP),2,2-diethyl diethylmalonate (DEDEM)and 2,2-diethyl-1,3-propanediol acetic diester (DEPDADE),were synthesized by diethyl malonate (DEM).The purities and structures of the above products were characterized by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS),respectively.Furthermore,the possible optimal three-dimensional structures of these donors were simulated by means of Gaussian 03 and Chem 3D.Then these electron donors were coordinated with tetrachloro titanium (TiCl 4) and chloride magnesium (MgCl 2)to obtain the catalysts for the polymerization of propylene.The catalytic activities and properties of polypropylene are greatly improved by adding external donor(ED) when CPCADEE or DEPDADE is used as internal donor(ID).However,when BEMP was used as ID,the highest catalytic activity is obtained without adding ED,which can reduce production costs and simplify catalytic synthesis.The experiments indicate that BEMP has the shortest distance of oxygen atoms and the highest electronegativity.     

Combinatorial model of solute transport in porous media

INTRODUCTION In recent years, modeling of solute transport inporous media remains a key issue in the area of soilphysics and hydrogeology, because anthropogenicchemicals frequently enter the soil, subsoil andaquifers, either by accident or by accepted man-agement practices, and the resulting chemicalresidues pose hazards to the environment. The movement of solute in porous media iscommonly described by the convection-dispersionequation (CDE) (Bear, 1972) developed and ex-tens…     

Estimation of vegetation biophysical parameters by remote sensing using radial basis function neural network

Hyperspectral reflectance (350~2500 nm) data were recorded at two different sites of rice in two experiment fields including two cultivars, and three levels of nitrogen (N) application. Twenty-five Vegetation Indices (VIs) were used to predict the rice agronomic parameters including Leaf Area Index (LAI, m2 green leaf/m2 soil) and Green Leaf Chlorophyll Density (GLCD, mg chlorophyll/m2 soil) by the traditional regression models and Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBF). RBF emerged as a variant of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) in the late 1980’s. A large variety of training algorithms has been tested for training RBF networks. In this study, Original RBF (ORBF), Gradient Descent RBF (GDRBF), and Generalized Regression Neural Network (GRNN) were employed. Results showed that green waveband Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVIgreen) and TCARI/OSAVI have the best prediction power for LAI by exponent model and ORBF respectively, and that TCARI/OSAVI has the best prediction power for GLCD by exponent model and GDRBF. The best performances of RBF are compared with the traditional models, showing that the relationship between VIs and agronomic variables are further improved when RBF is used. Compared with the best traditional models, ORBF using TCARI/OSAVI improves the prediction power for LAI by lowering the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) for 0.1119, and GDRBF using TCARI/OSAVI improves the prediction power for GLCD by lowering the RMSE for 26.7853. It is concluded that RBF provides a useful exploratory and predictive tool when applied to the sensitive VIs.     

Sintering and microstructure of silicon carbide ceramic with Y3Al5O12 added by sol-gel method

Silicon carbide (SIC) ceramic with YAG (Y3Al5O12) additive added by sol-gel method was liquid-phase sintered at different sintering temperatures, and the sintering mechanism and microstructural characteristics of resulting silicon carbide ceramics were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental distribution of surface (EDS). YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) phase formed before the sintering and its uniform distribution in the SiC/YAG composite powder decreased the sintering temperature and improved the densification of SiC ceramic. The suitable sintering temperature was 1860 ℃ with the specimen sintered at this temperature having superior sintering and mechanical properties, smaller crystal size and fewer microstructure defects. Three characteristics of improved toughness of SiC ceramic with YAG added by sol-gel method were microstructural densification, main-crack deflection and crystal ‘bridging‘.     

Genetic analysis for brix weight per stool and its component traits in sugarcane （Saccharum officinarum）

Brix weight per stool (BW) of sugarcane is a complex trait, which is the final product of a combination of many components. Diallel cross experiments were conducted during a period of two years for BW and its five component traits, including stalk diameter (SD), stalk length (SL), stalk number (SN), stalk weight (SW), and brix scale (BS) of sugarcane. Phenotypic data of all the six traits were analyzed by mixed linear model and their phenotype variances were portioned into additive (A),dominance (D), additive×environment interaction (AE) and dominance×environment interaction (DE) effects, and the correlations of A, D, AE and DE effects between BW and its components were estimated. Conditional analysis was employed to investigate the contribution of the components traits to the variances of A, D, AE and DE effects of BW. It was observed that the heritabilities of BW were significantly attributed to A, D and DE by 23.9%, 30.9% and 28.5%, respectively. The variance of A effect for BW was significantly affected by SL, SN and BS by 25.3%, 93.7% and 17.4%, respectively. The variances of D and DE effects for BW were also significantly influenced by all the five components by 5.1%～85.5%. These determinants might be helpful in sugarcane breeding and provide valuable information for multiple-trait improvement of BW.     

Time-frequency analysis of EEG signals evoked by voluntary,stimulated and imaginary motions

In order to investigate the characteristics of sensorimotor cortex during motor execution(ME), voluntary, stimulated and imaginary finger flexions were performed by ten volunteer subjects. Electroencephalogram(EEG) data were recorded according to the modified 10-20 International EEG System. The patterns were compared by the analysis of the motion-evoked EEG signals focusing on the contralateral(C3) and ipsilateral(C4) channels for hemispheric differences. The EEG energy distributions at alpha(8—13 Hz), beta(14—30 Hz) and gamma(30—50 Hz) bands were computed by wavelet transform(WT) and compared by the analysis of variance(ANOVA). The timefrequency(TF) analysis indicated that there existed a contralateral dominance of alpha post-movement event-related synchronization(ERS) pattern during the voluntary task, and that the energy of alpha band increased in the ipsilateral area during the stimulated(median nerve of wrist) task. Besides, the contralateral alpha and beta event-related desynchronization(ERD) patterns were observed in both stimulated and imaginary tasks. Another significant difference was found in the mean power values of gamma band(p0.01)between the imaginary and other tasks. The results show that significant hemispheric differences such as alpha and beta band EEG energy distributions and TF changing phenomena(ERS/ERD) were found between C3 and C4 areas during all of the three patterns. The largest energy distribution was always at the alpha band for each task.