On six 400 m2 plots over 3 years, we excluded the sessile subduction and conveyer-belt feeding polychaete Arenicola marina which generates a pit-and-mound topography at the sediment surface from intertidal sands near the island of Sylt, Germany. This experiment was used to test whether other abundant deposit feeding polychaetes (the discretely motile and surface feeding ragworm Nereis diversicolor and the subsurface-feeding, motile orbiniid polychaete Scoloplos cf. armiger) benefit from competitive release. Ragworms took advantage from the absence of lugworms. Presumably they responded to a more stable and nutritious surface layer at lugworm exclusion plots (relief from inhibitive bioturbation). Contrary to this, S. cf. armiger was negatively affected by the exclusion of A. marina. It may ...
The interactions of the hydrophobic pulmonary surfactant proteins SP-B and SP-C with 1,2-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine in mixed, spread monolayer films have been studied in situ at the air/water interface...Full Text Available
This paper elucidates morphological characteristics, reproduction forms and ecological characteristics of Plectus sp. and Rhabditis sp. which are most frequently detected nematodes separated from tap water. The paper also discussed experimentally establishment of cultivating conditions for these nematodes, and behavior and reproduction characteristics of nematodes under widely ranging conditions of temperatures, bacteria concentrations and pH. Plectus sp. grows in hermaphroditic individuals, while Rhabditis sp. grows only in female. An LE culture medium can cultivate nematodes that appear in tap water, and is suitable for subculture of nematodes. Conditions of temperatures from 20{degree}C to 25{degree}C, pH and inoculated concentration of bacteria at 10{sup 8} cell {center_dot} ml{sup -1} are suitable for reproduction of Plectus sp. and Rhabditis sp. Plectus ...
BackgroundPuccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici is a fungal pathogen causing stripe rust, one of the most important wheat diseases worldwide. The...Full Text Available
Surfactant protein A (SP-A), first identified as a component of the lung surfactant system, is now recognized to be an important contributor to host defence mechanisms. SP-A can facilitate phagocytosis...Full Text Available
BackgroundSpindle cell carcinoma (SpCC) is a rare microscopic type of cancer of the mouth and oropharynx. Although SpCC is thought to arise from squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), it...Full Text Available
A general method is given for the construction of gauge-fixed actions for theories with local gauge symmetries. The method is based on the single requirement that the space of fields carries an irreducible representation of the Sp(2)-BRST algebra, with respect to which the resultant actions are then automatically invariant.
The production of Alternaria alternata f. sp. lycopersici host-specific toxins (AAL toxins) and epoxide hydrolase (EH) activity were studied during the growth of this...Full Text Available
We characterized the biosynthesis of indole-3-acetic acid by the mycoherbicide Colletotrichum gloeosporioides f. sp. aeschynomene. Auxin production was tryptophan dependent....Full Text Available
BackgroundAn artemisinin-based combination therapy, artesunate (AS) plus sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), was compared to SP monotherapy to provide evidence of further treatment...Full Text Available
A pure culture of an Agrobacterium sp. (deposited as ATCC 55002) that mineralizes the ferric chelate of EDTA (ferric-EDTA) was isolated by selective enrichment from a treatment facility...Full Text Available
Arsenic is one of the most important global environmental pollutants. Here we show that the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 contains an arsenic and antimony resistance...Full Text Available
In the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, open reading frames (ORFs) alr3026, alr3027, and all3028 encode a tripartite ATP-independent...Full Text Available
Purpose of reviewTo summarize recent advances in the classification of preradiographic axial spondyloarthritis (SpA).Recent findingsFull Text Available
Smith-Purcell (S-P) radiation is produced when electrons graze the surface of a grating. Calculations based on the theory of diffraction radiation show that, given severe restrictions on e"--beam quality, S-P radiation is highly efficient. Efficient S-P x-ray generation requires relativistic e"- beams having a transverse momentum and dimension whose product approaches the Heisenberg uncertainty limit.
In this study, Reactive Red, Remazol Blue, and Reactive Black B removal capacities of Synechocystis sp. and Phormidium sp. were investigated. The microorganisms were cultivated in 100ml BG 11 medium and incubated at 30^oC under continuous illumination (12.5wm^-^2 (2400lx)) for 20 days in plant growth chamber. Trials were carried out at pH 9.5 for Reactive Red, pH 8.5 for Remazol Blue and Reactive Black B removal in media without and with triacontanol (TRIA). Removal capacities of Synechocystis sp. and Phormidium sp. were found higher in media containing TRIA. So that, Synechocystis sp. and Phormidium sp. removed Reactive Red with 25.7% and 35.4%, Remazol Blue with 37.5% and 25.5%, and Reactive Black B with 29.2% and 28.3% yield at 25mgl^-^1 dye concentrations, respectively. There is no rep...
Abstract Polymorphisms in the genomic DNA of eight varieties maintained by conventional bud propagation (via rhizomes) and by in vitro shoot tip cultures were detected by RAPD analysis of sugarcane varieties. The study estimated the genetic diversity induced after in vitro multiplication of these varieties. Higher (28.9%) and lower (12%) numbers of polymorphic bands were detected in plants propagated via rhizomes; the genetic similarity estimate varying from 0.63 to 0.80. Plants of SP90-3723 and SP91-1049, or RB85-5113 and SP90-3723, varieties involving greater genetic distances may be indicated as progenitors in breeding programmes. In vitro multiplication of RB86-7515, RB85-5113, RB83-5054 and SP86-42 varieties increases genetic variability, while in vitro multiplication of SP91-1049, SP...
SP-700, an emerging #beta#-rich #alpha#+#beta# titanium alloy, is designed to improve superplastic formability as well as mechanical properties over Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Owing to its fine microstructure and low #beta#-transus temperature, it is superplastic-formable at temperature below 1,073K (800 C) with low flow stress. Remarkable workability of this alloy is also retained in conventional Manufacturing processes. Another advantage of SP-700 is heat treatment response which includes deep hardenability and quick aging kinetics. Corrosion resistance and machinability are equivalent to or better than Ti-6Al-4V alloy.
In general there are actually two different types of A-15 compounds (A_3B) whose superconducting properties depend on whether the B atoms are transition elements (s-d type) or nontransition elements (s-p type). The properties in which the s-d type superconductors show marked differences in behavior from the s-p type include: (1) stoichiometry and range of composition, (2) the strong influence of N(O) on the stability and T/sub c/ of the phase, and (3), the effect of composition and atomic ordering on the T/sub c/ of the phase. These differences are discussed and a conclusion presented.
This paper describes detection of electro-discharged machine (EDM) defects in magnetic steam generator (SG) tubes of Monju fast breeder reactor (FBR). The EDM defects are located under support plate (SP), on the outer tube surface and they are detected by a remote field eddy current probe. Using the experimental measurements and a multi frequency algorithm, the defect signal can be extracted from the SP signal. The parameters of the multi-frequency algorithm were calculated by comparing SP measurements with two-dimensional finite element simulations (FEM). (author)
Ethane oxidation was studied in ethane-grown resting cells (mycelia) of an Acremonium sp. and in cell-free preparations of such mycelia. From resting cell experiments evidence was found for a pathway...Full Text Available
A case of mycotic encephalitis in a horse with guttural pouch mycosis is described. A liquid pellet feed binder contaminated with Aspergillus sp. and erroneously mixed in a feed concentrate...Full Text Available
There are no specific diagnostic tests or a gold standard method for measuring disease activity and outcome in spondyloarthropathies (SpA). Many different methods have been developed to assess the signs and symptoms in SpA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of scintigraphy, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and Bath Ankilosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) in the evaluation of disease activity in early axial SpA diagnosed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Thirty early MRI-positive axial SpA patients (23 males, 7 females) with a median age of 35 (18?55) years and a median duration of inflammatory low back pain of 24 (8?60) months were included in the study. In the patients with sacroiliitis, the sensitivity, specificity, and pos...
(Lactuca scariole),morning glory (Ipomea sp.), broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus ) and numerous composites. Because this area is leveed -and managed it ...
A new microbial transglutaminase (MTGase or MTG, EC 2.3.2.13) from a Streptomyces sp. strain isolated from Brazilian soil samples was characterized in crude and purified forms. The aim of this work is to provide relevant information about a new transglutaminase and to compare its characteristics with the well-known commercial transglutaminase from Ajinomoto Co. Inc. (Activa? TG-BP). The enzyme from Streptomyces sp., in both crude and pure forms, exhibited optimal activity in the 6.0?6.5 pH range and at 35?40?C. The results for the commercial enzyme were the same. A second maximum of activity was observed at pH?10.0 with both the crude Streptomyces sp. enzyme and the commercial enzyme. This interesting fact has not been reported in the literature previously. The fact that this second maximu...
The bifunctional wax ester synthase/acyl coenzyme A (acyl-CoA):diacylglycerol acyltransferase (WS/DGAT) from Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1 (formerly Acinetobacter calcoaceticus...Full Text Available
Epulopiscium sp. type B is an enormous intestinal symbiont of the surgeonfish Naso tonganus. Intracellular offspring production in Epulopiscium shares features with endospore formation. Here, we characterize the spoIIE homolog in Epulopiscium. The timing of spoIIE gene expression and presence of interacting partners suggest that the activation of ?(F) occurs early in Epulopiscium offspring development. PMID:21398534
We used microarrays and a previously established linkage map to localize the genetic determinants of brain gene expression for a backcross family of lake whitefish species pairs (Coregonus sp.). Our...Full Text Available
Expression of the nitrate assimilation nir operon in the filamentous, heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 requires the action of both the...Full Text Available
Two sequences with homology to a thioredoxin oligonucleotide probe were detected by Southern blot analysis of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 genomic DNA. One of the sequences was shown to code for a protein...Full Text Available
The dissimilatory metal reducing bacterium Shewanella sp. strain HN-41 was first reported to produce novel photoactive As-S nanotubes via reduction of As(V) and S(2)O(3)(2-) under anaerobic conditions. Here we report the draft genome sequence and annotation of strain HN-41. PMID:21868804
Cadmium (Cd) exposure causes glucosuria (glucose in the urine). Previously, it was shown that Cd exposure of primary cultures of mouse kidney cells (PMKC) decreased mRNA levels of the glucose...Full Text Available
Several closely related Mn(II)-oxidizing alpha-Proteobacteria were isolated from very different marine environments: strain SI85-9A1 from the oxic/anoxic interface of a stratified...Full Text Available
Studies on nonseasonally breeding males have demonstrated that high titers of testosterone (T) stimulate reproduction, whereas high titers of prolactin (PRL) inhibit it. Recent evidence, however, suggests that for seasonally breeding males high titers of both PRL and T stimulate behaviors that support reproduction and mating. Thus, we hypothesized that high titers of both PRL and T are necessary and sufficient for male meadow voles to show a preference for the odor of long-photoperiod (LP) females. We tested this hypothesis by treating castrated LP males with bromocriptine and/or T, and by treating castrated short-photoperiod (SP) males with PRL and/or T. The data showed that high titers of both PRL and T are necessary for LP male meadow voles to maintain a preference for the odor of LP female meadow voles, but high titers of both hormones are not sufficient to induce SP males to show such a preference. Only SP males with ...
Male meadow voles housed in a long photoperiod (14 h light/day, LP) preferred female to male odors, whereas males maintained in a short photoperiod (10 h light/day, SP) did not display preferences for odors of either sex. These odor-preference patterns matched those of free-living males during spring and autumn, respectively. The preference of LP male voles for female over male odors was eliminated by gonadectomy and reinstated by treatment with testosterone. In SP males, although gonadectomy did not affect odor choices, a preference for female odors was induced by testosterone treatment. Treatment with estradiol did not alter odor preferences of LP or SP males. In conjunction with previous result, the present findings suggest that hormonal responsiveness of neural substrates that control odor preferences are sexually dimorphic and may reflect sex differences in reproductive strategies. PMID:1615048
Spondylarthritides (SpA) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are idiopathic, chronic inflammatory disorders. Although they are very distinct and well-defined entities, there is clinical and genetic evidence supporting some degree of overlap between the pathogenesis of the two. Subclinical gut inflammation is present in up to two thirds of all SpA patients and can evolve into IBD. This subclinical gut inflammation has been shown to be strongly associated with joint inflammation, providing a clue for a common pathophysiologic background. Despite extensive research progress in the field over the past few years, many questions remain unanswered. In this paper, we focus on the clinical, genetic, and pathophysiologic overlap of SpA and IBD. Furthermore, we discuss some of the targets that may i...
SUMMARYThe biologic and clinical significance of KIT overexpression that associates with KIT gain-of- function mutations occurring in subsets...Full Text Available
The aim of this study was to investigate the supposed vertical diel migration and the accompanying physiology of Beggiatoa bacteria from hypersaline microbial mats. We combined microsensor,...Full Text Available
A procedure for long lasting general anaesthesia in gulls (Larus sp.) is described. It is based on an initial basal intramuscular dose of pentobarbital sodium, supplemented if necessary by intravenous injection to effect of the same agent. Additional intr...
... the tropism of both mycoplasmas and herpesviruses for epithelial tissue still indicate oral swabs to be the most ... feces.18 Alphaherpesviruses show a marked tropism for epithelial tissue, with viral rep...
Forty-eight mutants unable to reduce nitrate were isolated from "cowpea" Rhizobium sp. strain 32Hl and examined for nitrogenase activity in culture. All but two of the mutants had nitrogenase activity...Full Text Available
A Legionella-like organism (strain 1087-AZ-H) was isolated from a pleural-fluid specimen from a renal transplant patient undergoing immunosuppressive therapy. Growth characteristics and gas-liquid chromatography...Full Text Available
A Legionella-like organism, strain 1677-MI-H, was isolated from the bronchoscopy washings of a patient with pneumonia who had a 2-year history of progressive, chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The growth...Full Text Available
Three Legionella-like organisms were isolated from water from the cooling towers of two Australian institutions. The strains grew on buffered charcoal-yeast extract (BCYE) agar but not on BCYE agar...Full Text Available
The aim of this article was to investigate the interactions of metal cations in aqueous solutions with the biomass of the freshwater macroalga Vaucheria sp. This problem is important when elaborating new applications of biosorption, e.g. the production of mineral feed additives for livestock from the biomass of algae enriched with microelement ions. Potentiometric titration was applied as a quick and cheap screening test to search for new efficient biosorbents. It revealed a variety of functional groups capable of cation exchange on the macroalgal surface, including carboxyl, phosphate, hydroxyl or amino groups. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy on natural and chromium-loaded Vaucheria sp. confirmed that carboxyl groups played a dominant role in the biosorption. The study also showed that Ca(II), Na(I), K(I), and Mg(II) ions were released from the biomass after biosorption of Cu(II), Mn(II), Zn(II), and Co(II) ions, indicating that ion ...
Dramatic differences in the height of lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus L.) treated with two different Rhizobium strains were studied. Lima beans were grown in Perlite...Full Text Available
A novel, quantitative method for detecting poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) amounts in viable cells was developed to allow for high-throughput screening of mutant libraries. The staining technique was demonstrated...Full Text Available
Incubation of resting cells of Sphingobium indicum B90A, Sphingobium japonicum UT26, and Sphingobium francense Sp+ showed that they were able...Full Text Available
Francisella tularensis requires iron (Fe) for growth, but the biologic sources of Fe for this organism are largely unknown. We found that Francisella sp. growing in...Full Text Available
A comparison of chlorophyll-a fluorescence in brown algae (Macrocystis integrifolia, Fucus vesiculosis), green algae (Scenedesmus obliquus, Ulva sp.)...Full Text Available
A method was proposed and examined to deposit thick cubic boron nitride (cBN)-rich layer of good adhesion to silicon substrate. The method combined (i) the insertion of a thick sp"2 buffer layer, and (ii) the use of an appropriate assist ion beam energy for the growth of the cBN-rich top layer. The sp"2-bonded boron nitride buffer layer was deposited under irradiation of ions with energies in the range of 200-360 eV. The buffer layer was found to contain curled graphitic basal planes, and so was supposed to be relatively deformable, and facilitate the relaxation of stresses in the cBN-rich top layer. The ion assist introduced during the growth of the cBN-rich layer was supposed to both create and annihilate defects, and so resulted in the generation and relaxation of internal stresses. Results showed that the insertion of a 492 nm sp"2 buffer layer, and the use of a beam energy of 450 eV for assisting the growth of the top ...
The Grover S and X-band dual-wavelength radar system has been ...... A. H. Watkins (U.S. Geological Survey, Earth Resources. Observation Systems Data Center ...
BackgroundA microsporidian was previously reported to infect the crustacean parasite, Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer, 1837) (Copepoda, Caligidae), on farmed...Full Text Available
We cloned and sequenced structural gene choM, which encodes an insecticidally active cholesterol oxidase in Streptomyces sp. strain A19249. The primary translation product was predicted to be a 547-amino-acid...Full Text Available
Terfestatin A (TrfA), terphenyl-β-glucoside, was isolated from Streptomyces sp. F40 in a forward screen for compounds that inhibit the expression of auxin-inducible...Full Text Available
An assay to measure the rate of enzymatic formation of 3-methylindole (3MI) from indoleacetic acid (IAA) in Lactobacillus sp. strain 11201 was developed. The reaction mixture contained 50 micrograms...Full Text Available
A strain of Vibrio sp. isolated from marine sediments produced large quantities of bright red pigments that could be used to dye many fibers including wool, nylon, acrylics,...Full Text Available
In this article, we report anticancer activity of 14 anthracenedione derivatives separated from the secondary metabolites of the mangrove endophytic fungi Halorosellinia sp. (No. 1403)...Full Text Available
for sensitive personnel data. Based on the judgment of Task Force ...... Gunn, R ., Memorandum on Sub-Atomic Power Sources for Submarine ... Hunley, J., ed., The Birth of NASA: The Diary of T. Keith Glennan, SP-4105, ...
Paeciloxocins A and B (2-(1-hydroxy-3-methylbutyl)- and 2-(1-acetoxy-3-methylbutyl)- 11-hydroxy-9-methyl-1-methoxy-5H,7H-dibenzo[b,g]-1,5-dioxocin-5-ones), viz., two new metabolites, were isolated from the mangrove fungus Paecilomyces sp. collected from the Taiwan Strait. Their structures were elucidated by spectral methods. Paeciloxocin A exhibited strong cytotoxicity against the hepG2 cell line.
Natural radioactivity found in rocks and its evaluation been frequently used for studies of environmental geochemistry, particularly those of detection and control of pollutants and the consequent changes in environment after antropic interferences. In this work natural radioactivity in forty nine soil samples in the basin of Buquira river, at the Northeast region of Sao Paulo State, has been analysed and measured with a Ge-HP gamma ray spectrometer. A table with the most relevant results found in rocks is shown and discussed. (author)
The first measurement of the pn{yields}d{omega} total cross-section has been achieved at mean excess energies Q{approx}28 and 57 MeV by using a deuterium cluster-jet target. The momentum of the fast deuteron was measured in the ANKE spectrometer at COSY-Juelich and that of the slow ''spectator'' proton (p{sub sp}) from the pd{yields}p{sub sp}d{omega} reaction in a silicon telescope placed close to the target. The cross-sections lie above those measured for pp{yields}pp{omega} but seem to be below theoretical predictions. (orig.)
The production and uses are described for extracellular microbial polysaccharides (generically called emulsans) and for a new class of extracellular microbial protein-associated lipopolysaccharides (collectively called alpha-emulsans) produced by Acinetobacter Sp. ATCC 31012, its mutants or recombinants. Also included are the deproteinized lipopolysaccharides (collectively called apoemulsans) obtained from such emulsans, as well as to the divalent metal, ammonium, and quaternary ammonium salts of such emulsans and apoemulsans. The materials can be used (1) in cleaning oil-contaminated vessels used to transport or store crude oil or petroleum fractions in such a manner that the residual oil may be recovered for fuel value or for refining and (2) in enhanced oil recovery.
Male meadow voles maintained in a long photoperiod (LP) from birth have heavier brains than do females, but in short photoperiods (SP) this sex dimorphism is absent. Testosterone propionate (TP) administration on the second day of postnatal life produced significant increases in brain weight of LP but not SP females at 35 days of age. Short daylengths reduce the responsiveness of the meadow vole nervous system to the masculinizing effects of perinatal testosterone and may, in part, mediate the seasonally reduced sex difference in brain weight. PMID:8446686
A colony PCR technique was applied for both genomic and chloroplast DNA in the green microalgae Chlorella. Of five different lysis buffers, Chelex-100 was superior for DNA extraction, PCR and DNA storage. It also was insensitive to variations in cell density. The conditions established for an improved PCR formulation are applicable for screening of genetically-engineered transformants as well as bioprospecting of natural microalgal isolates. Besides multiple Chlorella species, we also demonstrate the efficacy of Chelex-100 for colony PCR with a number of other microalgal strains, including Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Dunaliella salina, Nannochloropsis sp., Coccomyxa sp., and Thalassiosira pseudonana. PMID:21431847
The optimal concentrations of nutrient medium components, aeration conditions, and pH providing for maximum biomass yields, as well as fumarase and L-aspartase activities, during submerged cultivation of Erwinia sp. were determined. The data showed that different concentrations of carbon source (molasses) and pH of the nutrient medium were required to reach the maximum fumarase and L-aspartase activities. Calculations performed by application of the additive lattice model suggested that the combination of these optimized factors would result in 3.2-, 3.4-, and 3.8-fold increases as compared to the experimental means in Erwinia sp. biomass, and L-aspartase and fumarase activities, respectively. The conditions of the fumaric acid biotransformations into L-malic and L-aspartic acids were optimized on the basis of intact Erwinia sp. cells, a fumarase and L-aspartase producer. In the cases of fumarate transformation into L-malic ...
Total hemispherical emittance was measured for the SP-100 reactor fuel cladding alloy (Nb-l% Zr). Based on a standard test method (ASTM C 835-82), experiments were conducted on a reference sample of oxidized stainless steel and then on a sample of actual cladding. The sample is heated in a vacuum by passing DC current through it until reaching equilibrium. Measurements are made of the electrical power dissipated in the sample and of the surface temperature. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann Law and some key assumptions concerning conductive and radiative heat transfer, the measured quantities are used to calculate emittance. Calculated values for unoxidized cladding range from 0.159 +/- 5.35% at 913 K to 0.200 +/- 4.51% at 1091 K. Highest value measured after onset of visible oxidation was 0.339 +/- 3.92% at 1269 K.... SP-100, Reactor, Emittance, Niobium, Fuel cladding, Emissivity.
We recently found that many RNA polymerase II transcription factors are modified with N-acetylglucosamine residues. These sugar moieties confer upon transcription factors an ability to bind the lectin wheat germ agglutinin. We have taken advantage of this interaction to devise a purification procedure for the "GC-box" binding transcription factor Sp1. Crude nuclear extracts are first subjected to wheat germ agglutinin affinity chromatography and then subjected to sequence-specific DNA affinity chromatography. The Sp1 protein purified by this procedure is at least 95% pure, and the overall recovery is greater than 80%. In addition to yielding larger quantities of Sp1 than conventional schemes, the new purification procedure is also simpler and more rapid. We show that wheat germ agglutinin affinity chromatography can also be used to purify the glycosylated forms of the CCAAT-binding transcription factor. Thus, wheat germ ...
A novel experimental design, combining mixture design and response surface methodology (RSM), was developed to investigate the competitive adsorption behavior of lead, copper and cadmium by an indigenous isolate Enterobacter sp. J1 able to tolerate high concentrations of a variety of heavy metals. Using the proposed combinative experimental design, two different experiment designs in a ternary metal biosorption system can be integrated to a succinct experiment and the number of experimental trials was markedly reduced from 38 to 26 by reusing the mutual experimental data. Triangular contour diagrams and triangular three-dimensional surface plots were generated to describe the ternary metal biosorption equilibrium data in mixture design systems. The results show that the preference of metal sorption of Enterobacter sp. J1 decreased in the order of Pb{sup 2+} > Cu{sup 2+} > Cd{sup 2+}. The presence of other metals resulted in a ...
In Internet Routing, the static shortest path (SP) problem has been addressed using well known intelligent optimization techniques like artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms (GAs) and particle swarm optimization. Advancement in wireless communication lead more and more mobile wireless networks, such as mobile networks [mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs)] and wireless sensor networks. Dynamic nature of the network is the main characteristic of MANET. Therefore, the SP routing problem in MANET turns into dynamic optimization problem (DOP). Here the nodes ae made aware of the environmental condition, thereby making it intelligent, which goes as the input for GA. The implementation then uses GAs with immigrants and memory schemes to solve the dynamic SP routing problem (DSPRP) in MANETS. In our paper, once the network topology changes, the optimal solutions in the new environment can be searched using the new immigrants ...
Charge flow and valence/d-band behavior in ion-beam-mixed (IBM) Pd1-xAgx (x = 0.5-0.9) alloys have been studied by X-ray photoemission measurement of the valence bands and of core-level binding energy shifts and X-ray absorption near-edge structure. We correlated the observed Ag 3d5/2 core-level shifts in these IBM alloys, relative to the elemental Ag, with the White Line area changes at the Pd and Ag L3-edge to investigate the charge redistribution at the Ag site. The results indicate that there is a decrease in sp-like conduction electron and a negligible change in the number of d-electrons at the Ag site upon alloying. These results are in line with our previous results in which Pd gains d-charges and loses sp-type charges. This electron redistribution due to hybridization in the alloy leads small net charge transfer from the Ag site to the Pd site in accordance with electronegativity predictions. This result is consistent with the result of ...
N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis has led to the elucidation of several regulator genes for melanocyte and skin development. Here we characterized a mutant from ENU mutagenesis with similar phenotype as that of Splotch mutant, including exencephaly, spina bifida and abnormal limbs in homozygotes as well as white belly spotting and occasionally loop-tail in heterozygotes. This novel mutant was named as Sp(xG). Through genome-wide linkage analysis in backcross progenies with microsatellite markers, the Sp(xG) was confined to a region between D1MIT415 and D1MIT7 on chromosome 1, where notable Pax3 gene was located. Direct sequencing revealed that Sp(xG) carried a nucleotide A894G missense transition in exon 6 of Pax3 gene that resulted in Asn to Asp substitution at amino acid 269 within the highly-conserved homeodomain (HD) DNA recognition module, which was the first point mutation found in this domain in mice. This ...
We describe a method for affinity purification of sequence-specific DNA binding proteins that is fast and effective. Complementary chemically synthesized oligodeoxynucleotides that contain a recognition site for a sequence-specific DNA binding protein are annealed and ligated to give oligomers. This DNA is then covalently coupled to Sepharose CL-2B with cyanogen bromide to yield the affinity resin. A partially purified protein fraction is combined with competitor DNA and subsequently passed through the DNA-Sepharose resin. The desired sequence-specific DNA binding protein is purified because it preferentially binds to the recognition sites in the affinity resin rather than to the nonspecific competitor DNA in solution. For example, a protein fraction that is enriched for transcription factor Sp1 can be further purified 500- to 1000-fold by two sequential affinity chromatography steps to give Sp1 of an estimated 90% homogeneity with 30% yield. ...
My assignment on the SP-100 Vacuum Vessel Vacuum System Team was to perform a transient pump down analysis for the vacuum vessel that will house the SP-100 reactor during testing. Pump down time was calculated for air and helium. For all cases the proposed vacuum system will be able to pump down the vessel within the required time. The use of a larger rotary piston pump (DUO250) improves the pump down time by 35 minutes and therefore should be considered. The 6-inch duct for the roughing line is optimal, however, because all cases are well below the 24 hour time frame, the 4-inch duct is sufficient. The use of the single turbomolecular pump during pump down is sufficient. A pump down with helium in the vessel and a helium inleakage delays the time to achieve the base pressure marginally and is acceptable.
The isopod parasite Ceratothoa oestroides becomes hard to eradicate in intensive fish rearing systems and in addition to causing weight loss in adult fish it causes mortalities in larval and juveniles stages of sea bass and sea bream. Faced with the fast emergence of this infection in Adriatic finfish facilities, an effective compound had to be tested for bath treatment. Ivermectin was chosen for this purpose on the basis of extensive practice in northern European countries which used ivermectin administered in food with good results in treatment of Lepeophtheirus sp. and Caligus sp. infections. For determination of toxicity of ivermectin, a short-term toxicity bioassay on 40-day-old sea bream, Sparus aurata, L., was conducted, following FAO and UNEP procedures for methodology in aquatic t...
In order to study the species composition of endophytes from wheat healthy plants in Buenos Aires Province (Argentina) and to determine their infection frequencies from leaves, stems, glumes and grains, wheat plants were collected from five cultivars at five growth stages from crop emergence to harvest. A total of 1,750 plant segments (leaves, stems, glumes and grains) were processed from the five wheat cultivars at five growth stages, and 722 isolates of endophytic fungi recovered were identified as 30 fungal genera. Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium herbarum, Epicoccum nigrum, Cryptococcus sp., Rhodotorula rubra, Penicillium sp. and Fusarium graminearum were the fungi that showed the highest colonization frequency (CF%) in all the tissues and organs analysed. The number of taxa isolated...
ABSTRACT. The morphology, morphogenesis, and phylogeny of Diophrys parappendiculata n. sp., a large marine ciliate isolated from the coastal waters of Daya Bay, southern China, were investigated. This new species is characterized by a combination of its large size, appendiculata-pattern of ciliature, and bipartite adoral zone of membranelles. The main stages of morphogenesis during binary fission were also recorded and described. Comparisons of morphological characteristics with similar congeners support the validity of the new species. The small subunit rRNA gene sequence of D. parappendiculata is 96.3-99.94% similar to those of four other congeners; it differs in four nucleotides from that of Diophrys appendiculata (i.e. structural similarity was 99.94%). Phylogenetic analysis indicates ...
A new renicolid cercaria, Cercaria kuwaitae X sp. n., from the prosobranch gastropod Cerithium scabridum from Kuwait Bay is described. The new cercaria is nonstyleted gymnocephalous with voluminous Y-shaped excretory vesicle, flame cell formula 2[(3 + 3 + 3) + (3 + 3 + 3)] = 36, and without caudal fins. Surface topography of the new cercaria is studied by scanning electron microscopy. Domed papillae are abundant on the anterior and lateral aspects of the body, ciliated papillae are sparse dorsally. The ventral sucker bears nine domed papillae. Domed papillae form two circles around the oral sucker with three circles of spines in between. This is the first renicolid cercaria to be recorded in a gastropod from the Arabian Gulf region. PMID:9789783
Mediterranean mariculture uses imported strains of marine phytoplankton, raising questions of ecological risk and ability to adapt to local conditions for mass culture outdoors. In this context, we report here on the mass-culture potential and chemical composition of six strains of Prasinophyceae (five strains of Tetraselmis sp. and one Pyramimonas sp.) isolated from a Greek coastal lagoon. Proximate composition had a pattern of 10?20% ash, 35?65% protein, 6?10% lipids, and 25?45% other organics including carbohydrates. The amino acid profiles were typical for the marine representatives of the class. All strains had a high PUFA content with dominant the ?3 fraction in four of them. The fatty acid profiles indicated a Tetraselmis strain with high EPA (14%) and a Pyramimonas strain with high...
A total of 86 experimental fuel pins with various fuel, liner, and cladding candidate materials have been irradiated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) and the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) reactor as part of the SP-100 fuel pin irradiation testing program. Postirradiation examination results from these fuel pin are key in establishing performance correlations and demonstrating the lifetime and safety of the reactor fuel system. This paper provides a brief description of the in-reactor fuel pin tests and presents the most recent irradiation data on the performance of wrought rhenium (Re) liner material and high density UN fuel at goal burnup of 6 atom percent (at. %). It also provides an overview of the significant variety of other fuel/liner/cladding combinations which were irradiated as part of this program and which may be of interest to more advanced efforts.
Nineteen fungal strains having an ability to oxidize elemental sulfur in mineral salts medium were isolated from deteriorated sandstones of Angkor monuments. These fungi formed clearing zone on agar medium supplemented with powder sulfur due to the dissolution of sulfur. Representative of the isolates, strain THIF01, was identified as Fusarium solani on the basis of morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses. PCR amplification targeting 16S rRNA gene and analyses of full 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated strain THIF01 harbors an endobacterium Bradyrhizobium sp.; however, involvement of the bacterium in the sulfur oxidation is still unclear. Strain THIF01 oxidized elemental sulfur to thiosulfate and then sulfate. Germination of the spores of strain THIF01 was observed in a liqui...
The known metazoa parasite fauna of the invasive round goby Apollonia melanostoma (formerly Neogobius melanostomus) consists of 12 species. The core of the parasite fauna comprises two species: Cryptocotyle concavum and Diplostomum spathaceum; secondary species are absent; satellite species include Cercariae gen. sp. and Ergasilus sieboldi; rare species are Acanthocephalus lucii, Anguillicola crassus, Bothriocephalus sp., Dichelyne minutus, Hysterothylacium aduncum, Pomphorhynchus laevis, Piscicola geometra, and Tylodelphys clavata. Fifty percent of metazoa parasites that occurred in the invasive round goby in the Gulf of Gda?sk (an invasion that was first detected in 1990) are also typically found in the native Gulf of Gda?sk gobiids. The round goby hosts common fish parasite species: C. ...
Microreserves may be useful in protecting native arthropod diversity in urbanized landscapes. However, species that do not disperse through the urban matrix may eventually be lost from these fragments. Population extinctions may be precipitated by an increase in genetic differentiation among fragments and loss of genetic diversity within fragments, and these effects should become stronger with time. We analyzed population genetic structure in the dispersal limited Jerusalem cricket Stenopelmatus n. sp. ?santa monica?? in the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills north of Los Angeles, California (CA), to determine the impacts of fragmentation over the past 70 years. MtDNA divergence was greater among urban fragments than within contiguous habitat and was positively correlated with fragment ...
Abstract A Pseudomonas sp. isolate MSB1 efficiently inhibited the growth of Flavobacterium psychrophilum of different serotypes on agar medium. A significant difference in the inhibition was observed between isolates of the less virulent FpT serotype compared to the Fd and Th serotypes. In broth coculture experiments, a low number of cells of MSB1 inhibited and outcompeted the F.psychrophilum cells. Also cell-free culture supernatant of MSB1 clearly repressed the growth of F.psychrophilum. A chromoazurol S assay suggested that MSB1 produced efficient siderophores, which most probably were responsible for the iron deficiency in the supernatant. The limited growth of F.psychrophilum in the supernatant was found to be partly because of the lack of available iron, but the results also indicate...
Abstract Alkali tolerance and the mechanism of microcystin (MC) degradation were investigated in the MC-degrading bacterial species, Sphingopyxis sp. C-1, to better understand the increased MC degradation under the alkaline conditions that arise during the disappearance of water blooms. MC-degrading bacteria harbour mlrA, mlrB and mlrC that encode MC-degrading enzymes. Sphingopyxis sp. C-1 also possesses these genes, as well as the mlrD gene that has been assumed to encode MC and its degradation transporter. This study demonstrated that MC degradation activity was promoted by the intermittent addition of microcystin-LR (MCLR) to cultures of strain C-1. That the expression of mlrA, mlrB and mlrC is induced by MCLR also was indicated, whereas that of mlrA and mlrB is induced by the MCLR degr...
Extraction of 25 L fermentation broth of the newly isolated Streptomyces sp. strain TN58 and various separation and purification steps led to the isolation of five bioactive metabolites, namely brevianamide F (C1), reported from a streptomycete for the first time, N?-acetyltryptamine (C2), thiazolidomycin (C3), and two rhamnopyranosides (C4 and C5). These two rhamnopyranosides were produced directly, without precursor addition. The chemical structure of these five active compounds was established on the basis of 1H, 13C/APT and 2D NMR spectra, ESI and EI-MS data, and by comparison with data from the literature. According to the biological studies, we show in this work that the compounds C1, C2, C4 and C5 possess antimicrobial activities.
To test whether the dose addition and independent action models can predict the combined toxicity of the mixtures of phenol and aniline derivatives, six phenolic and two aniline derivatives were selected as the test components. The inhibition toxicity of the derivatives and their mixtures to Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67 indicated that all dose?response relationships could be effectively described by the Weibull function with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The combined toxicity of two equivalent-effect concentration ratio mixtures and eight uniform design concentration ratio mixtures could be predicted successfully by the dose addition model within 95% confidence intervals. However, it was also well predicted by the independent action model, especially at lower concentrations.
In this article, we report anticancer activity of 14 anthracenedione derivatives separated from the secondary metabolites of the mangrove endophytic fungi Halorosellinia sp. (No. 1403) and Guignardia sp. (No. 4382). Some of them inhibited potently the growth of KB and KBv200 cells, among which compound 6 displayed strong cytotoxicity with IC(50) values of 3.17 and 3.21 microM to KB and KBv200 cells, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the mechanism involved in the apoptosis induced by compound 6 is probably related to mitochondrial dysfunction. Additionally, the structure-activity relationships of these compounds are discussed. PMID:20479985
Eight culture-collection yeast strains of various species and five newly isolated stains were tested for both growth in olive oil extraction effluents and fermentation of the sugars in the same media. The culture-collection yeast strains did not grow in an effluent containing 2.86% sugar (w/v), 8 g/litre phenolic substances, 4.58 g/litre titratable acidity and pH 4.96, whereas the newly isolated strains of Torulopsis sp. MK-1, Saccharomyces norbensis MC-1, S. oleaceus MC-2 and S. oleaginosus grew well and fermented the sugars. In the medium mentioned above, they produced alcohol in amounts of 1.63 to 1.38%, respectively. None of the yeasts grew in an olive oil extraction effluent vacuum-concentrated to over 13-14% of dry matter. The strain of T. sp. MK-1 showed a higher stability.
Beside yeasts, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are the most abundant microbes in must during vinification. Whereas Oenococcos oeni is commercially used as a starter culture for the biological acid reduction in wines, other species are responsible for different types of wine spoilage. Members of the genera Pediococcus, Weissella, Leuconostoc, and Lactobacillus are producers of exopolysaccharide slimes, biogenic amines, acetic acid, and other off-flavors. In order to control microbial growth, different procedures such as heating of must and addition of sulfite or lysozyme from egg white are generally applied. Yet, because of health risks, the application of sulfite should be reduced and lysozyme is not effective against all LAB. In this study, we describe exoenzymes from a Streptomyces sp. strain...
Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose, which causes liver injury in animals and humans, activates c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Although it was shown that the JNK inhibitor SP600125 effectively reduced...Full Text Available
Circularly polarized X-rays produced by a diamond X-ray phase retarder of thickness 0.5 mm in the Laue transmission configuration have been used for recording X-ray magnetic circular dichroism...Full Text Available
This report highlights four main points. (1) A residue substitution in phosphoribulokinase of Synechocystis PCC 6803 renders the mutant light-sensitive. The authors isolated a light-sensitive mutant (BRLS) of the photosynthetic cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803 that does not survive exposure to bright light; 70% of BRLS cells die upon exposure to light of > 3000 lux for 2 hr. (2) Excitation energy transfer from phycocyanin to chlorophyll in an apcA-defective mutant of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. A greenish mutant of the normally bule-green cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PC 6803, designated UV6p, was isolated and characterized. UV6p possesses functional photosystems I and II but lacks normal light harvesting phycobilisomes because allophycocyanin is absent and core-specific linker proteins are almost entirely absent. (3) Deletion of the psbG1 gene of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 leads to the activation ...
A hallmark of several human cancers is loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of chromosome 17p13. The same chromosomal region is also frequently hypermethylated in cancer. Although loss of 17p13 has been often...Full Text Available
We study the temporal evolution of the market efficiency in the stock markets using the complexity, entropy density, standard deviation, autocorrelation function, and probability distribution of the log return for Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P 500), Nikkei stock average index, and Korean composition stock price index (KOSPI). Based on the microscopic spin model, we also find that these statistical quantities in stock markets depend on the market efficiency.
Since August 2000, the stock market in the USA as well as most other western markets have depreciated almost in synchrony according to complex patterns of drops and local rebounds. In (Quantitative Finance 2 (2002) 468), we have proposed to describe this phenomenon using the concept of a log-periodic power law antibubble, characterizing behavioral herding between investors leading to a competition between positive and negative feedbacks in the pricing process. A monthly prediction for the future evolution of the US S&P 500 index has been issued, monitored and updated in (http://www.ess.ucla.edu/faculty/sornette/prediction/index.asp#prediction), which is still running as the article goes to press. Here, we test the possible existence of a regime switching in the US S&P 500 antibubble. First, we find some evidence that the antibubble has exhibited a transition in log-periodicity described by a so-called second-order log-periodicity. ...
Abstract in english This report deals with the identification of samples of nematodes recovered from Tropidurus nanuzae Rodrigues, 1981, with the description of a new species, and is a part of a major study on helminth parasites of reptiles in Brazil, taking into account previous data on this subject. The main approach is that referring to the first occurrence of subulurid nematodes in a reptilian host, since they have been assigned previously to birds and mammals.
The extremely thermophilic anaerobic archaeon strain B1001 was isolated from a hot-spring environment in Japan. The cells were irregular cocci, 0.5 to 1.0 μm in diameter. The new isolate grew...Full Text Available
The organization of lin genes and IS6100 was studied in three strains of Sphingomonas paucimobilis (B90A, Sp+, and UT26) which degraded hexachlorocyclohexane...Full Text Available
European phosphorus derivatives manufacturer Italmatch Chemicals SpA has expanded its Phoslite range of fully colourable flame retardants for polymers with the addition of Phoslite B85AX. The company reports that its Phoslite technology is already `successfully consolidated' in polypropylene (PP) applications and, with introduction of the new product, is now starting to expand into polyamide PA6 and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) applications.
BackgroundIntermittent preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy (IPTp) is a key intervention in the national strategy for malaria control in Tanzania. SP, the current drug...Full Text Available
Atrazine (ATR) has been widely applied in the US and Mid Western states. Recently, public health and ecological concerns have been raised about contamination of surface and ground water by ATR and its chlorinated metabolites, due to their toxicity and potential carcinogenic or endocrinology effects....
Compared to yeast esterase, fungal cutinase degraded butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) far more efficiently; i.e., almost 60% of the BBP disappeared within 7.5 h. Also, the final chemical composition significantly...Full Text Available
Migration-based methods have been recently proposed to improve the estimation of angle-dependent reflectivity in the presence of complex structures. An anisotropic prestack reverse-time migration is developed to estimate the reflectivity as function of the local illumination angle. This migration method generates four simultaneous images which corresponds to the in-depth (local) plane-wave response for PP, PS, SP and SS reflections, and can be used in a Zoeppritz-based elastic inversion scheme. (author)
As an important radioisotope in nuclear industry and other fields, americium-241 is one of the most serious contamination concerns duo to its high toxicity and long half-life. In this experiment, the biosorption of {sup 241}Am from solution by Candida sp., and the effects of various experimental conditions on the adsorption were investigated. The preliminary results showed that the adsorption of {sup 241}Am by Candida sp. was efficient. {sup 241}Am could be removed by Candida sp. of 0.82 g/L (dry weight) from {sup 241}Am solutions of 5.6-111 MBq/L (44.3-877.2 {mu}g/L)(C{sub 0}), with maximum adsorption rate (R) of 98% and maximum adsorption capacities (W) of 63.5 MBq/g biomass (dry weight) (501.8 {mu}g/g). The biosorption equilibrium was achieved within 4 hour and the optimum pH was pH = 2. No significant differences on {sup 241}Am adsorption were observed at 10 C-45 C, or in solutions containing Au{sup 3+} or Ag{sup +}, ...
Demidospermus annulus sp. nov. (Platyhelminthes, Monogenea, Ancyrocephalidae) is described from the gills of the catfish Parapimelodus valenciennis L?tken collected in Samboromb?n Bay, Argentina. The new species differs from all congeneric species mainly by the structure of the accessory piece of the male copulatory organ, the sclerotized ring-shaped vaginal aperture and the dorsal bar articulation.
BackgroundThermostable bacterial lipases occupy a place of prominence among biocatalysts owing to their novel, multifold applications and resistance to high temperature and other...Full Text Available
To clarify the acidic and alkaline Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking (IGSCC) mechanism of thermally treated alloy 690 (alloy 690 TT) and shot peened alloy 800 (alloy 800 SP), C-ring tests were conducted in deaerated HCl solutions and in deaerated NaOH solutions at 350degC, compared with the acidic and the alkaline IGSCC susceptibilities of mill-annealed alloy 600 (alloy 600 MA), full-sensitized one (alloy 600 FS) and thermally treated one (alloy 600 TT). Grain boundary characteristics, such as chromium depleted zone and chromium carbide precipitation, were examined using modified Huey test and Transmission Electron Microscopy. Potential-pH diagram for Ni, Cr, Fe-H{sub 2}O system at 350degC was constructed and the solubilities of NiO, Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} were also calculated to evaluate the stability of oxide films which were formed on the surfaces of alloy 690, 800 and 600. Under the acidic condition, the IGSCC susceptibility of alloy 800 ...
To clarify the acidic and alkaline Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking (IGSCC) mechanism of thermally treated alloy 690 (alloy 690 TT) and shot peened alloy 800 (alloy 800 SP), C-ring tests were conducted in deaerated HCl solutions and in deaerated NaOH solutions at 350degC, compared with the acidic and the alkaline IGSCC susceptibilities of mill-annealed alloy 600 (alloy 600 MA), full-sensitized one (alloy 600 FS) and thermally treated one (alloy 600 TT). Grain boundary characteristics, such as chromium depleted zone and chromium carbide precipitation, were examined using modified Huey test and Transmission Electron Microscopy. Potential-pH diagram for Ni, Cr, Fe-H_2O system at 350degC was constructed and the solubilities of NiO, Cr_2O_3 and Fe_3O_4 were also calculated to evaluate the stability of oxide films which were formed on the surfaces of alloy 690, 800 and 600. Under the acidic condition, the IGSCC susceptibility of alloy 800 SP ...
This report describes the sampling and chemical analyses of smoke gas components for combustion performed in the SP Industry Calorimeter, where continuous measurements of oxygen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are an integrated part of the Calorimeter system. On-line measurements of nitrogen oxides and total amounts of unburnt hydrocarbons were performed. Hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride and ammonia in the smoke were sampled and absorbed in impinger bottles and subsequently analyzed using wet chemical techniques. An adsorbent sampling system was designed to allow the identification and quantitative analysis of individual organic compounds in the smoke. Gas chromatography was utilized with a mass spectrometric detector for the identification and a FID for quantification of the total amounts as well as individual components. A procedure for cleaning the smoke gas duct in between the combustion experiments was designed and found to be effective. The materials ...
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between histomorphometric variables of cancellous bone structure and ultimate compressive strength (UCS) in the second lumbar vertebra (L2) and to determine whether structural variables in the iliac crest are predictive of the same variables and of UCS in L2. At autopsy, 7.5 mm diameter cores were removed from the iliac crest and from L2 of 29 subjects who had died suddenly without bone disease. Cancellous bone volume (BV/TV, %) was significantly lower in L2 than in iliac crest due to lower trabecular number (Tb.N, per mm) and thickness (Tb.Th, microns). There were significant correlations between iliac crest and L2 for BV/TV, Tb.N and trabecular separation (Tb.Sp, microns), but not for Tb.Th. BV/TV was negatively correlated, and Tb.Sp was positively correlated with age at both sites. Tb.Th was not significantly correlated with age in the iliac crest, but a significant negative ...
Highly resistant, high-transmittance woodceramic thin films were prepared using rf magnetron sputtering of a woodceramic disk in argon plasma. A film series was deposited based on substrate temperature, which was varied from 50 to 500 degree C. The film's electrical and optical properties depended on substrate temperature. Films deposited below 300 degree C were insulative, {rho}>10{sup 10} {omega} {center_dot} cm. Films deposited at 50 degree C had a density of 1.9-2.2 g/cm{sup 3} comparable to that of single crystal graphite. Below 200 degree C, films had higher transmittance than typical DLC films in the visible and infrared region. Infrared C-H absorption spectrum was observed by Ft-IR and there exist two types of bonding corresponding to sp{sup 2} or SP{sup 3}. (author)
We performed histological examination of 69 samples of Acropora sp. manifesting different types of tissue loss (Acropora White Syndrome-AWS) from Hawaii, Johnston Atoll and American Samoa between 2002 and 2006. Gross lesions of tissue loss were observed and classified as diffuse acute, diffuse subacute, and focal to multifocal acute to subacute. Corals with acute tissue loss manifested microscopic evidence of necrosis sometimes associated with ciliates, helminths, fungi, algae, sponges, or cyanobacteria whereas those with subacute tissue loss manifested mainly wound repair. Gross lesions of AWS have multiple different changes at the microscopic level some of which involve various microorganisms and metazoa. Elucidating this disease will require, among other things, monitoring lesions over time to determine the pathogenesis of AWS and the potential role of tissue-associated microorganisms in the genesis of tissue loss. Attempts to experimentally induce AWS should ...
A new lactone, 1,8-dihydroxy-10-methoxy-3-methyldibenzo[b,e]oxepine-6,11-dione (1), and two new xanthones, 1-hydroxy-8-(hydroxymethyl)-6-methoxy-3-methyl-9H-xanthen-9-one (2) and 1-hydroxy-8-(hydroxymethyl)-3-methoxy-6-methyl-9H-xanthen-9-one (3), were isolated from a mangrove endophytic fungus Phoma sp. SK3RW1M collected from the South China Sea. This is the first report on xanthone derivatives isolated as secondary metabolites from Phoma species. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, mainly 1D- and 2D-NMR techniques, and the structure of compound 2 was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. Cytotoxicity assays showed that compounds 1-3 were inactive against KB and KBv200 cells.
We report the isolation of a new bacterium species (named as DN-06) that degrades pyridine, a model compound containing both carbon and nitrogen, from the aerobic activated sludge in a coking wastewater treatment plant. DN-06 was identified as Achromobacter sp. using 16S rDNA sequence analysis. In batch culture, more than 95% of pyridine (500?mg/L) was degraded within 18?h by DN-06 grown at 35?C and pH?8 with agitation at 170?rpm. Degradation experiments of pyridine at different initial concentrations (50?4,300?mg/L) revealed that pyridine was an inhibitory substrate, and that neither yield coefficient Y nor endogenous decay coefficient K d was a constant. The values of Y and K d were 0.55?0.74 and 0.0032?0.0057?h?1, respectively. Five kinetic models (Haldane, Yano, Aiba, Webb, and Monod) ...
The Sp-100 reactor is a lithium-cooled high-temperature fast-spectrum reactor. The fuel is UN. The cladding is fabricated from PWC-11, a Nb alloy, as are all the primary structural components. A reactor lifetime of up to ten years with an operating temperature of 1370 K is required. The accumulated fluence is expected to be 6 x10"2"2 n/cm"2. The damage, which could result in swelling or embrittlement, anneals out as fast as it occurs for the majority of the structure. This has been confirmed by earlier radiation testing. A number of components, however, are exposed to lower temperatures and the reactor design and materials selection for these components must take this into consideration. Radiation effects must also be considered for the UN fuel, bearing materials, etc. To data an instrumented experiment, MOTO 1000A, has been conducted in the FFTF reactor and as uninstrumented experiment SPM-1 in the EBR-II reactor. In this paper the post-irradiation examination and ...
Laboratory dose-response experiments with organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides, and dose-response experiments with increasing particle loads were used to determine which of these stressors were likely responsible for the toxicity and macroinvertebrate impacts previously observed in the Salinas River. Experiments were conducted with the amphipod Hyalella azteca, the baetid mayfly Procloeon sp., and the midge Chironomus dilutus (Shobanov, formerly Chironomus tentans). The results indicate the primary stressor impacting H. azteca was pesticides, including chlorpyrifos and permethrin. The mayfly Procloeon sp. was sensitive to chlorpyrifos and permethrin within the range of concentrations of these pesticides measured in the river. Chironomus dilutus were sensitive to chlorpyrifos within the ranges of concentrations measured in the river. None of the species tested were affected by turbidity as high as 1000 NTUs. The current study shows that ...
The juvenile fish community associated with natural, degraded and replanted Sonneratia alba mangroves in Gazi Bay was sampled during the South East and North East monsoons between April 2002 and June 2003. A total of 1800 individuals belonging to 49 taxa and 34 families were collected from the intertidal forest using stake nets. Fish abundance ranged from 0.93+-0.20ind. m-2 (SEM02) to 1.16+-0.18ind. m-2 (SEM03) between seasons and between 0.54+-0.07ind. m-2 and 1.64+-0.33ind. m-2 for individual sites across seasons. Five taxa accounted for approximately 70% of the total fish abundance, with Gobidae and Gerres oyena dominating. ANOSIM revealed seasonal differences in fish species composition and abundance (p=0.01) due to fluctuating abundances of primarily Terapon sp. and Thryssa sp. The ma...
This report describes the combustion experiments performed using the SP Industry Calorimeter. In addition to measuring parameters such as heat release rate (HRR), mass loss rate, effective heat of combustion and smoke obscuration, considerable effort was put into the characterisation of the smoke gases in order to obtain a basis for evaluations of the toxic potency of the smoke. The materials studied were Nylon 66, polypropene, polystyrene (with and without fire retardant, respectively), PVC and chlorobenzene. A total of 19 large-scale, well ventilated combustions were carried out. The mass of sample burned ranged from 20 kg to 125 kg in an experiment. A procedure was designed for cleaning the smoke gas duct between experiments and was found to be effective. Measurements were carried out for the amounts of O{sub 2}, CO{sub 2}, CO, NO{sub x}, THC (unburned hydrocarbons), HCN, HCl, NH{sub 3} and individual organic compounds in the smoke. Adsorbents were used for the ...
This paper presents experimental investigations of the all-optical synchronization of a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser self-pulsating at 40GHz on various injected bit-rate signals. Even though there is no modulation applied to this laser, it exhibits a modulation of its output emission, measured at 39.7GHz with a linewidth of 30MHz. Such performance is exploited in all-optical clock recovery for a return-to-zero data stream at 40Gbit/s. The SP-DBR laser wavelength and the injected signal wavelength are 10nm apart. All-optical synchronization is demonstrated at 40Gbit/s with a linewidth of less than 20MHz for injected signals at 10 and 20Gbit/s, respectively. Thus the SP-DBR laser proves to be very versatile and can be synchronized on various bit-rate data signals.
Nine secondary metaboites of cyclic peptide were isolated from three mangrove endophytic fungi Paecilomyces sp. (treel-7), 4557,ZZF65. They were viscumamide(1),cyclo(Pro-Iso)(2),cyclo(Phe-Gly)(3),cyclo(Phe-Ana)(4),cyclo(Gly-Pro) (5),cyclo(Gly-Leu)(6), cyclo(Trp-Ana)(7),neoechinulin A(8),cyclo(Pro-Thr)(9). The compounds 1,7,8,9 were firstly isolated from marine fungus. PMID:18422185
In connection with some applications of asymptotic numbers and asymptotic functions, proposed by Khr.Khristov, the problem of describing subsets of asymptotic numbers closed with respect to algebraic operations arises. The algebraic operations with asymptotic numbers are defined by classes of their representatives. All trivial or noncharacteristic solutions are avoided. A procedure for constructing sets of elements closed under action of an algebraic operation or a combination of two or more of them is given. It turns out that the closed sets are given by their kernels, the last being the minimal subsets which generate the whole set by the introduced algebraic operations. It is proved that such kernels exist always. . The closed sets are described by their correspondence with the kernels. (S.P.).
Redd1, a recently discovered stress-response gene, is regulated by hypoxia via hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) and by DNA damage via p53/p63; however, the signaling pathway by which its expression is induced by hypoxia has not been elucidated. We demonstrated that the up-regulation of Redd1 transcription by hypoxia and high cell density (HCD) depends on cooperation between Sp1 and HIF-1#alpha# downstream of the PI3K/Akt pathway.
pD10 is a 0.85 kb fragment with BamHI ends cloned in pSP64. It was sub-cloned from {lambda}D10 which was isolated from a genomic library constructed in {lambda}EMBL3 from a rodent human somatic cell hybrid. The probe was localized to 19q13.2-19qter on a panel of rodent human somatic cell hybrids. Co-dominant segregation was shown in 32 families of 280 individuals.
This book provided a set of supplementary papers provided to delegates at the eighth international CANMET/ACI conference on superplasticizers and chemical admixtures in concrete. Recent research on chemical admixtures and superplasticizers was presented along with new approaches to the practical application of concrete admixtures. The presentations highlighted technological advances in the development of superplasticizers and new approaches to the manufacture and implementation of aggregates. Issues regarding the application of plasticizers with various aggregates were addressed, and interactions between cements and superplasticizers were evaluated. Four of the supplementary papers have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs.
We present the runtime comparison of the two versions of Super LU{_}DIST, using up to 128 processors of the IBM SP at NERSC. One version provides the global input interface, and another provides the distributed input interface. The comparison includes the total runtime of the solver with both 32-bit and 64-bit addressing modes, the time breakdown for different phases of the solver. We also present an in-depth comparison off our sparse matrix-vector multiplication methods in the context of iterative refinement. Finally, we describe our Fortran 90 interface that enhances the usability of the software.
The procedure followed by the Laboratorio de Metrologia Nuclear (LMN) at the IPEN - CNEN/SP, in Sao Paulo, for modifying the NPL-CRC radionuclide sample holder in order to adapt for IPEN vials is presented. For the quality assurance of the results using the IPEN vials, the influence of variation in dimensions and volume of solution has been investigated and suitable correction factors were applied. The solutions used in the present work were "5"1Cr "9"9"mTc "1"5"3Sm, and "2"0"1Tl. (author)
The compressive and bending strengths of a local tropical wood (Kapur-Dryobalanop sp.) were improved significantly by suitable impregnation of polymeric monomers (methylmethacrylate, methylmethacrylate - 5% dioxane and vinyl acetate) into the wood cellular structure and subsequent irradiation to form a wood-polymer composite. Statistical analysis revealed a linear relationship between increase in the strengths and the percentage of polymer impregnated. Fractographic analysis of the impact fractured surfaces under the scanning electron microscope showed the nature of the wood-polymer interface, which could account for the increase in the compressive and bending strengths. (author).
The changes in microstructure of a specially prepared boron nitride (BN) film as a function of film depth were studied by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and other materials analysis tools. These changes were then correlated to the changes in processing parameters during film growth. The analyzed film was fabricated by the four-step ion-assisted deposition procedure known to be effective in film-stress engineering for the formation and retention of a thick cubic BN (cBN) layer with a three-step buffer-layer deposition. In this deposition, the energy of the ions assisting cBN formation was increased stepwise from 200 to 280, and then to 360 eV [S.F. Wong, C. W. Ong, G.K.H. Pang, K.Z. Baba-Kishi, W. M. Lau, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 22 (2004) 676]. The nominal thickness of the cBN layer was 650 nm and that for each of the three buffer layers was about 160 nm. Both the HRTEM and electron diffraction results confirmed that the top cBN layer, with a thickness of 643 ...
Based on the exact results obtained by Bethe ansatz, we demonstrate the existence of stable bound pair (BP) wave packet in Bose Hubbard model with arbitrary on-site interaction U. In large-U regime, it is found that an incoming single-particle (SP) can coherently pass through a BP wave packet and leave a coherent shift in the position of it. This suggests a simple scheme for constructing a BP charge qubit to realize a quantum switch, which is capable of controlling the coherent transport of one and only one photon in a one-dimensional waveguide.
In this project the influence of residual compression stresses on the stress corrosion cracking behaviour of the turbine disc steel 26 NiCrMoV 14 5 (Rp(sub 0.2) = 850 N/mm(sup 2)) was investigated. The residual compression stresses were produced by shot p...
The determination of molybdenum in plant material by activation analysis is described. Both activation to Mo/sup 99/ (t/sub 1/2/ = 66 hr) and to Mo/sup 101/ (t,sub 1/2/ = 14.6 min) is used. With th e latter method the whole analysis takes about 1 hr. The extraction of molybdenum is carried out from a sulfuric acid medium using tri-n-octylamine in kerosene. The analysis was performed on clover (trifolium sp.) and the results agree with those obtained by colorimetry using the thiocyanate method. (auth)
Self-grooming in response to the odors of conspecifics is a form of olfactory communication among meadow voles. The amount of time meadow voles spend self-grooming when they encounter the odors of conspecifics varies seasonally, with males targeting the odors of reproductively active females only during the breeding season. Other odor related behaviors in male voles such as odor preferences for conspecifics and the attractiveness of their odors to conspecifics vary seasonally as well. For male meadow voles, these behaviors are mediated by seasonal variations in testosterone (T) and prolactin (PRL) titers. The objective of this study was to determine whether seasonal differences in the amount of time male meadow voles self-groom in response to odors of conspecifics are mediated by seasonal rhythms in their circulating T and PRL titers. We tested the hypothesis that high titers of both T and PRL are necessary for reproductively active (long-photoperiod; LP) males and sufficient for ...
SUMMARY: Gastrointestinal helminths of Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) from the Belgrade area were studied as a part of a wider ecological research of rats in Serbia (data on the distribution, population ecology, economic and epizoothiological-epidemiological importance, and density control). Rats were captured from May 2005 to July 2009 at both urban and suburban-rural sites. Of a total of 302 trapped rats 48% were males and 52% females, with 36.5% and 38.8% of juvenile-subadult individuals, per sex respectively. Intestinal helminth infection was noted in 68.5% of rats, with a higher prevalence in male hosts and in adult individuals. Higher numbers of infected juveniles-subadults were noted in suburban-rural habitats, while an opposite tendency was noted in adult rats. Seven helminth species were recovered, of which five were nematode (Heterakis spumosa, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Capillaria sp., Trichuris muns and Syphacia muris) and two cestode species ...
Purpose: Evaluation of the diagnostic efficacy and cost-benefit of contrast enhanced CT (CT) and MRI pre- and post-SPIO-particles in focal hepatic disease with consideration of therapeutic outcome. Results: In 34/52 (65.4%) of the cases the correct diagnosis was primarily stated by CT (sensitivity [se.] 85.2%, specificity [sp.] 44.0%). In additional 10/52 of the cases unenhanced MRI (se. 91.4%, sp. 75.0%) enabled correct diagnoses, and in another 6 cases the diagnosis was established only by SPIO-MRI (se. 100%, sp. 86.7%). Considering the possible therapeutic recommendation arising from each modality, CT would have induced needless therapy costs of 191,042 DM, unenhanced MRI of 171,035 DM, and SPIO-MRI of 7,311 DM. In comparison to the real therapy costs of 221,873 DM, this would have corresponded to an unnecessary increase of therapy costs of 86.1%, 77.1%, and 3.3%, respectively. In two cases (91 hemangioma, 1 regenerative ...
Impact of some heavy metals like zinc, lead, copper, chromium and cadmium were studied at four spots on the macro-invertebrate fauna of the Thaddo stream, a tributary of Malir River. This was in correlation with an earlier study on the physico-chemical aspects of water which showed a severe pollution in this stream. Present data for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of macro-invertebrates and the ranges of heavy metals (Zn 0.5-3.5, Pb 0.90-1.42, Cu 0.35-0.93, Cr 0.0-0.08 and Cd 0.003-0.01 ppm) in the water samples also indicate high level of pollution in the stream. Macro-invertebrate fauna comprises only of aquatic insects which include larvae of Chironomus spp., adults of the Notonectus sp., and nymphs of Gomphus sp. (dragon fly) belonging to the order Diptera , Hemiptera and Odonata, respectively. Quantitatively Notonectus sp. predominated and followed by Chironomus larvae. The maximum concentrations of all heavy ...
The use of medicinal plants in the treatment of diseases has increased significantly in the last years, as has research concerning chemical characterization of these plants. In this study, inorganic constituents were determined in leaves and in extracts from three medicinal plant species of the Casearia genus (C. sylvestris, C. decandra and C. obliqua) collected in distinct regions of the Atlantic Forest, SP. The elemental compositions of the soils in which these plants were grown were also determined. Traditionally, these plants are used due to their antiinflammatory, antiacid, antiseptic and cicatrizing properties. The antiulcer and the antitumor activities of the Casearia genus and its capacity to neutralize snake and bee venoms, have also been scientifically confirmed. The analytical methodology used was neutron activation analysis. Long and short irradiation periods of the samples and the standards were carried out at IPEN's IEA-R1 nuclear research ...
The primary goal of this project is to obtain a better understanding of thermophilic microorganisms which convert acetic acid to CH[sub 4]. The previous funding period represents a departure from earlier research in this laboratory, which was more physiological and ecological. The present work is centered on the biochemistry of the thermophile Methanothrix sp. strain CALS-1. this organism presents a unique opportunity, with its purity and relatively rapid growth, to do comparative biochemical studies with the other major acetotrophic genus Methanosarcina. We previously found that Methanothrix is capable of using acetate at concentrations 100 fold lower than Methanosarcina. This finding suggests that there are significant differences in the pathways of methanogenesis from acetate in the two genera.
This international conference brought together representatives from industry, academia and government agencies to present the latest developments on the subject of chemical admixtures and superplasticizers in concrete. Recent technological advances in the development of superplasticizers were reviewed, as well as new approaches to manufactured aggregates. The influence of new materials on the rheology of cement systems was discussed, as well as the influence of superplasticizers on various types of aggregates. The addition of hydrophobic admixtures in corrosion prevention strategies were reviewed. Various interactions between cements and superplasticizers were evaluated. Issues concerning adsorption and concrete materials were also investigated. A total of 70 papers were presented at the conference, of which 3 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs.
This study explores the use of photosensitizers and reactive oxygen species (ROS) to limit growth of cyanobacteria. We chose 12 phthalocyanines, tetraphenol porphyrine, and methylene blue as compounds producing singlet oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide was chosen as another source of ROS. These compounds were tested using algal toxicity tests in microplates on three cultures of green algae (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Scenedesmus quadricauda, and Chlorella kessleri) and on three cultures of cyanobacteria (Synechococcus nidulans, Microcystis incerta, and Anabaena sp.). Results indicate that photosensitizers and singlet oxygen could be highly toxic for some selected phytoplankton species. Green alga Scenedesmus quadricauda was highly sensitive (EC50 = 0.07 mg/L) to compounds producing singlet o...
Pectin rich cold stored spoiled fruits, vegetables and cold soils were screened and different pectinolytic isolates were obtained by enrichment culturing and ruthenium red plate assay. Among the primary isolates 10-15% were yeast isolates. Six isolates with higher zones of pectin hydrolysis were selected and tested for polygalacturonase (PGU) production at room temperature (25 degrees C) and at 5 degrees C. One isolate identified as Saccharomyces sp. with highest polygalacturonase activity at 5 degrees C was used for enzyme production using raw fruit pectins as substrates. The isolate was identified by preliminary cultural, morphological and sugar fermentation tests. PGU production was high in raw pectin substrates like orange peel (21 U/ml), apple peel (20 U/ml ), mango peel (19 U/ml), ...
Summary During a histopathological survey of the geoduck, Panopea abbreviata (Hiatellidae), and the razor clam, Ensis macha (Pharidae), in northern Patagonian gulfs (Argentina), turbellarian worms were found in the intestine lumen. In this work, we described a new species of Paravortex (Platyhelminthes, Graffillidae). We collected the hosts by scuba diving and dissected alive for studying the turbellarians. In this new species, the pharynx continues in a short esophagus and the latter in a saccular intestine. Gravid specimens have from 2 to 8 twin embryos in the parenchyma. A short penis papilla arises from the seminal vesicle and the gonopore presents a strong sphincter. This species resembled P. nicolli Szidat, 1965, which was described paraziting Mytilus edulis platensis in Buenos Aires...
The use of numerical modeling in oil spill incidents is a well established technique that has proven to provide cost-effective and reasonable estimates of oil surface drift. Good predictability of such models depends highly on the quality of the input data of the incident and on the model calibration effort. This paper presents the results of simulating oil spillage trajectory in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf. The study employed a 3-D rectilinear hydrodynamic model combined with oil spill model. Typical representative environmental conditions of the Arabian Gulf were first setup into a hydrodynamic circulation model using data from various sources. The performance of the hydrodynamic model was then tested against measurements of tidal fluctuation and sea currents at selected locations. The sp...
Meiji (Mischief) coral atoll, in Nansha (Spratly) Islands, South China Sea, consists of an annular reef rim surrounding a central lagoon. On the atoll rim there are either protuberant ?motu? (small coral patch reefs on the rim of atoll) islets or lower sandy cays that contain modern microbialite deposits on the corals in pinnacles and surrounding bottoms of the atoll. Microbialites, including villiform, hairy, and thin spine growth forms, as well as gelatinous masses, mats and encrustation, developed on coral colonies and atoll rim sediments between 0 and 15 m deep-water settings. The microbialites were produced by natural populations of filamentous cyanobacteria and grew on (1) bulbous corals together with Acropora sp., (2) on massive colonies of Galaxea fascicularis, (3) on dead Montipor...
We describe in detail the space of the two Kaehler parameters of the Calabi-Yau manifold P[sub 4][sup (1,1,1,6,9)][D. R. Morrison, 1993] by exploiting mirror symmetry. The large complex structure limit of the mirror, which corresponds to the classical large radius limit, is found by studying the monodromy of the periods about the discriminant locus, the boundary of the moduli space corresponding to singular Calabi-Yau manifolds. A symplectic basis of periods is found and the action of the Sp(6, Z) generators of the modular group is determined. From the mirror map we compute the instanton expansion of the Yukawa couplings and the generalized N=2 index, arriving at the numbers of instantons of genus zero and genus one of each bidegree. We find that these numbers can be negative, even in genus zero. We also investigate an SL(2, Z) symmetry that acts on a boundary of the moduli space. ((orig.))
We describe in detail the space of the two Kaehler parameters of the Calabi-Yau manifold P_4"("1","1","1","6","9")[D. R. Morrison, 1993] by exploiting mirror symmetry. The large complex structure limit of the mirror, which corresponds to the classical large radius limit, is found by studying the monodromy of the periods about the discriminant locus, the boundary of the moduli space corresponding to singular Calabi-Yau manifolds. A symplectic basis of periods is found and the action of the Sp(6, Z) generators of the modular group is determined. From the mirror map we compute the instanton expansion of the Yukawa couplings and the generalized N=2 index, arriving at the numbers of instantons of genus zero and genus one of each bidegree. We find that these numbers can be negative, even in genus zero. We also investigate an SL(2, Z) symmetry that acts on a boundary of the moduli space. ((orig.)).
The in-depth distribution of phases in c-BN films deposited by Ion Beam Assisted Deposition (IBAD) at two different ion energy values (300 and 600 eV) was investigated using the quantitative IR transmission measurements and the HREM technique. Whatever the value of the studied ion energies, the characteristic layered morphology of c-BN film is observed including the interfacial sp"2 zone between the substrate and the c-BN volume. In the case of 600 eV ion energy, this interfacial zone is less well-defined in comparison with 300 eV ion energy and the corresponding thickness is more important. Furthermore, the h-BN phase is more diluted within the c-BN film volume showing that the purest phase concentration of c-BN is found for the lowest ion energy, i.e., 300 eV.
Nano structured carbon nitride thin films were deposited at different RF powers in the range of 50 W to 225 W and constant gas ratio of (argon: nitrogen) Ar:N_2 by RF magnetron sputtering. The atomic percentage of Nitrogen: Carbon (N/C) content and impedance of the films increased from 14.36% to 22.31% and 9 x 10"-"1 #OMEGA# to 7 x 10"5 #OMEGA# respectively with increase in RF power. The hardness of the deposited films increased from 3.12 GPa to 13.12 GPa. The increase in sp"3 hybridized C-N sites and decrease of grain size with increase in RF power is responsible for such variation of observed mechanical and electrical properties.
The Iberian lynx is the most endangered felid in the world. Enteropathogens may threaten its survival, and therefore we analysed faecal samples from 66 different individuals (37 males and 29 females), the largest population representation studied to date. The samples were obtained from November 2005 to October 2008 in the two areas where the Iberian lynx survives: Sierra Morena and Donana (Andalusia, southern Spain). A total of 56.1% samples were parasitized with at least 6 species of helminths, including two cestodes (Hymenolepis spp. and Taenia spp.) and four Nematodes (Ancylostoma spp., Toxocara spp., Toxascaris leonina, and Capillaria sp.). In this work, the presence of Hymenolepis is reported for the first time in Lynx pardinus. The relevance of our findings is discussed focussed on t...
In the present article, the study to examine the ability of free-living amoebae (FLA) to serve as vectors of cryptosporidia is presented. Ten strains of different free-living amoebae of the FLA collection of the Parasitology Lab at Koblenz were cultivated in the presence of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts. After phagocytosis and ingestion, the oocysts could be found in food vacuoles within the cytoplasm of the trophozoites of two different FLA strains. The uptake and the transport of the oocysts within the trophozoites could be demonstrated in an Acanthamoeba sp. (group II) strain (maximum, three oocysts; average, one oocyst) as well as in a Thecamoeba quadrilineata strain (maximum, 15 oocysts; average, eight oocysts), with the help of light microscopy. We found that these free-living amoeb...
A 4.1?kbp positive-strand RNA virus known as Diaporthe RNA virus 1 (DRV1) occurs in hypovirulent, non-sporulating isolates of the fungal pathogen Diaporthe perjuncta. A full-length cDNA clone of DRV1 was developed and RNA transcribed from the cDNA clone used to transfect different Diaporthe spp. The transfected species included three D. ambigua isolates and an unidentified Phomopsis asexual state of a Diaporthe sp. Successful transfections were confirmed using RT-PCR. Although the in vitro-transcribed positive sense single-stranded RNA used for transfection included vector sequences at both ends, the genomes of progeny virus from DRV1-transfected isolates were free of the vector sequences. Transfection resulted in morphological changes in these fungal pathogens. However, the presence of DR...
This is the first record from China of the bopyrid isopod genus Asymmetrione, of which the new species Asymmetrione globifera, a parasite of the hermit crab Dardanus hessii (Miers) in Beibu Gulf and South China Sea, is described. The female A. globifera differs from Asymmetrione nossibensis Bourdon in the shape of its barbula and ornamentation of the first oostegite. A tabulation of the occurrence of all currently known species of Asymmetrione is included. New genus Parasymmetrione is described. The type species, Parasymmetrione tuberculineata, sp. nov., a parasite of Clibanarius corallinus (H. Milne-Edwards) Xisha, is similar in appearance to Asymmetrione spp. but differs, in the female, in not having the propodi of its pereopods produced into sockets and having uniramous uropoda; the mal...
Fusarium wilt is now a major disease of carnation crops worldwide. Methyl bromide, which is used to remedy it, is environmentally unsafe. An alternative approach integrated into biological control is to grow crops in suppressive media. Suppressiveness of seven plant growth media to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. dianthi was evaluated in bioassays with carnation (Dianthus cariophyllus) cv. Medea. These media were: (1) grape marc compost, (2) cork compost, (3) olive oil husk + cotton gin trash composted and mixed with rice husk, (4) spent mushroom compost mixed with peat, (5) coir fibre, (6) light peat and (7) vermiculite. In order to look for carnation Fusarium wilt suppressiveness indicators, growth medium pH and ?-glucosidase activity were evaluated. Furthermore, F. oxysporum populations were ...
This paper describes the benchmark analysis results of Rapid Boron Dilution (RBD) transient tests. The RBD transient tests were carried out at University of Maryland. The data were obtained as a part of the International Standard Problem No. 43, ISP-43, for code assessment. Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC) participated the benchmark analysis of ISP443 with the PLASHY code. The PLASHY code is a general purpose single-phase fluid analysis code, developed by NUPEC. The code has two types of module, Cartesian/Cylindrical coordinate system module and BFC module. In order to reduce the computing time, the Cartesian/Cylindrical coordinate system module was employed. All calculations were done on a parallel computer, IBM SP2, by using the 12 of 76 CPU units. (author)
A number of aerobic species capable of decolorizing some of the dyes in a textile mill effluent were isolated. One of the isolates was able to decolorize Terasil black dye under aerobic conditions in the presence of an exogenous carbon source after 5 days. Glucose or starch (%1 ea) are essential for decolorization but the process proceeds faster in the presence of 0.5% yeast extract. Results of the BOD5 show that the untreated effluent samples have a low BOD value, whereas treated samples show an initial increase in BOD up to 15 days followed by a decrease after 20 days. FT-IR and GC-MS data also reveal that the initial components in the untreated effluent disappear after 20 days of treatment, confirming biodegradation of the dye. Phytotoxicity tests on the untreated effluent samples using...
Mullin BC, Harvey AG, Hinshaw SP. A preliminary study of sleep in adolescents with bipolar disorder, ADHD, and non-patient controls.-Bipolar Disord 2011: 13: 425-432. 2011 The Authors.-Journal compilation 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Objectives:- To compare the sleep of adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD) to groups of adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder-combined type (ADHD-C) and those without psychopathology. Methods:- A sample of 13 adolescents diagnosed with BD who were not in the midst of a mood episode, 14 adolescents with ADHD-C, and 21 healthy controls, all between the ages of 11 and 17 years served as participants. They were psychiatrically evaluated using a structured diagnostic interview and completed four nights of in-home sleep monitoring using actigraph...
Ninety-five nests of Centris (Heterocentris) terminata Smith were collected in trap nests, during November/2001 and January/2003, at two fragments (PZGV e CFO-UFBA) of secondary Atlantic Forest, in Salvador, Bahia State (13 deg 01' W and 38 deg 30' S). The highest nest frequencies occurred from December to February (summer), with no nests foundations from August to October (winter - early spring). Two-hundred eight adults emerged from 347 brood cells, being 164 males and 116 females (1: 0.42). During the study period sex ratio was male biased ({chi}{sup 2} = 9.342; gl = 10; P < 0.05). C. terminata nested in holes with diameters 6, 8, 10 mm, but 84,2% were constructed in 8 and 10 mm. nests had one to seven cells arranged in a linear series with the cell's partitions built with a mixture of sand and resin or oil. Male is significantly smaller than female, which emerges from the first cells constructed. Immature mortality occurred in 14.1% of brood cells ...
The Radiation Technology Center from IPEN-CNEN/SP, Brazil, developed a revolutionary design and national technology, a small-sized continuous run and multipurpose industrial gamma irradiator, to be used as a demonstration facility for manufacturers and contract service companies, which need economical and logistical in-house irradiation system alternatives. Also, to be useful for supporting the local scientific community on development of products and process using gamma radiation, assisting the traditional and potential users on process validation, training and qualification of operators and radioprotection officers. The developed technology for this facility consists of a continuous tote box transport system, comprising a single concrete vault, where the automated transport system of products inside and outside of the irradiator utilizes a rotating door, integrated with the shielding, avoiding the traditional maze configuration. Covering 76 m"2 of floor area, the ...
The current work continues a project completed in 1999 by ReMaxCo Technologies in which a novel, microwave based, VLS Silicon Carbide Fibrils concept was verified. This project continues the process development of a pilot scale commercial reactor. Success will lead to sufficient quantities of fibrils to expand work by ORNL and others on heat exchanger tube development. A semicontinuous, microwave heated, vacuum reactor was designed, fabricated and tested in these experiments. Cylindrical aluminum oxide reaction boats are coated, on the inner surface, with a catalyst and placed into the reactor under a light vacuum. A series of reaction boats are then moved, one at a time, through the reactor. Each boat is first preheated with resistance heaters to 850 C to 900 C. Each reaction boat is then moved, in turn, to the microwave heated section. The catalyst is heated to the required temperature of 1200 C to 1300 C while a mixture of MTS (methyl trichlorosilane) and hydrogen are introduced ...
A wide variety of thin film coatings, deposited by different techniques and with potential applications in various important areas, have been characterised by the Phase Modulated Spectroscopic Ellipsometer, installed recently in the Spectroscopy Division, B.A.R.C. The Phase Modulated technique provides a faster and more accurate data acquisition process than the conventional ellipsometry. The measured Ellipsometry spectra are fitted with theoretical spectra generated assuming an appropriate model regarding the sample. The fittings have been done objectively by minimising the squared difference (#chi#"2) between the measured and calculated values of the ellipsometric parameters and thus accurate information have been derived regarding the thickness and optical constants (viz, the refractive index and extinction coefficient) of the different layers, the surface roughness and the inhomogeneities present in the layers. Measurements have been done on (i) ion-implanted Si-wafers to ...
A novel, obligately anaerobic, extremely thermophilic, cellulolytic bacterium, designated OB47T, was isolated from Obsidian Pool, Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA. The isolate was a non-motile, non-spore forming, Gram-positive rod approximately 2 m long by 0.2 m wide and grew at temperatures between 55-85oC with the optimum at 78oC. The pH range for growth was 6.0-8.0 with values of near 7.0 being optimal. Growth on cellobiose produced the fastest specific growth rates at 0.75 hr-1. The organism also displayed fermentative growth on glucose, maltose, arabinose, fructose, starch, lactose, mannose, sucrose, galactose, xylose, arabinogalactan, Avicel, xylan, filter paper, processed cardboard, pectin, dilute acid-pretreated switchgrass and Populus. OB47T was unable to grow on mannitol, fucose, lignin, Gelrite, acetate, glycerol, ribose, sorbital, carboxymethylcellulose and casein. Yeast extract stimulated growth and thiosulfate, sulfate, nitrate, and sulfur were not reduced. Fermentation ...
Abstract in english Extracts of nine species of plants traditionally used in Colombia for the treatment of a variety of diseases were tested in vitro for their potential antitumor (cytotoxicity) and antiherpetic activity. MTT (Tetrazolium blue) and Neutral Red colorimetric assays were used to evaluate the reduction of viability of cell cultures in presence and absence of the extracts. MTT was also used to evaluate the effects of the extracts on the lytic activity of herpes simplex virus type (more) 2 (HSV-2). The 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) and the 50% inhibitory concentration of the viral effect (EC50) for each extract were calculated by linear regression analysis. Extracts from Annona muricata, A. cherimolia and Rollinia membranacea, known for their cytotoxicity were used as positive controls. Likewise, acyclovir and heparin were used as positive controls of antiherpetic activity. Methanolic extract from Annona sp. on HEp-2 cells presented a CC50 value at ...
Purpose: Evaluation of the diagnostic efficacy and cost-benefit of contrast enhanced CT (CT) and MRI pre- and post-SPIO-particles in focal hepatic disease with consideration of therapeutic outcome. Results: In 34/52 (65.4%) of the cases the correct diagnosis was primarily stated by CT (sensitivity [se.] 85.2%, specificity [sp.] 44.0%). In additional 10/52 of the cases unenhanced MRI (se. 91.4%, sp. 75.0%) enabled correct diagnoses, and in another 6 cases the diagnosis was established only by SPIO-MRI (se. 100%, sp. 86.7%). Considering the possible therapeutic recommendation arising from each modality, CT would have induced needless therapy costs of 191,042 DM, unenhanced MRI of 171,035 DM, and SPIO-MRI of 7,311 DM. In comparison to the real therapy costs of 221,873 DM, this would have corresponded to an unnecessary increase of therapy costs of 86.1%, 77.1%, and 3.3%, respectively. In two cases (91 hemangioma, 1 regenerative ...
The levels of General Transcription Factor (TF) IIA were examined during mammalian brain development and in rat embryo fibroblasts and transformed cell lines. The large TFIIA subunit paralogues ab and t are largely produced in unsynchronized cell lines, yet only TFIIA ab is observed in a number of differentiated tissue extracts. Steady-state protein levels of the TFIIA t, ab, and g subunits were significantly reduced when human embryonal (ec) and hepatic carcinoma cell lines were stimulated to differentiate with either all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) or sodium butyrate. ATRA-treated NT2-ec cells required replating to induce a neuronal phenotype and loss of detectable TFIIA t and g proteins. High levels of TFIIA t, ab, and g and Sp factors were identified in extracts from human fetal and rat...
The removal of heavy metal by microbial biomass have been investigated as an alternative to the traditional methods. The removal of the heavy metals copper and iron from discarded lubricating-oil was studied using the biosorbent Sargassum sp. It was chosen a discarded lubricating-oil of a bus fleet from the city of Natal-RN-Brazil. The oil was characterized to determine and quantify the heavy metals present. The effect of biomass protonation was performed in order to increase the removal efficiency of the metals. The equilibrium time between the oil and the biomass was determined. It was found that after 10 hours the equilibrium was reached. It was also studied the influence of biomass quantity. The results showed that the biomass quantity is an important parameter to the efficiency and biosorption capacity. The protonated biomass was shown more efficient to removal of Fe and Cu, removing 37,53% and 31,63% respectively. (author)
Potassium dichlorido(l-prolinato)platinate(II), K[PtCl"2(l-pro"?"H)] (1), and chlorido(dimethyl sulfoxide)(l-prolinato)platinum(II), [PtCl(l-pro"?"H)(dmso)] (2), were synthesized by ligand substitution reactions. Both complexes were characterized by ^1H, ^1^3C, and ^1^9^5Pt NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and HR-ESI-MS. The molecular structures of 1 and 2 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction, proving bidentate coordinated l-prolinato ligand and SP-4-4 configuration of 2a. With the help of DFT calculations stability of possible isomers of 1 and 2 was studied. A considerable difference in the in vitro cytotoxicity of 1 versus 2a (exchange of one chlorido ligand by dmso) against four human cancer cell lines was found.
The PuO/sub 2/ cask or SP 5320-2 and 3 cask is designed for surface shipment of americium or plutonium. The cask design was physically tested to demonstrate that it met the criteria specified in US ERDA Manual Chapter 0529, and Chapter I, Interstate Commerce Commission. The package has been assessed for transport of up to 357 grams of plutonium (403 grams PuO/sub 2/ powder) and up to 176 grams of americium (200 grams AmO/sub 2/ powder), having a maximum decay heat of 203 watts. Criticality evaluation alone would allow the shipment as Fissile Class II but the radiation level of the cask, measured at the time of shipment, may exceed 50 mrem/h at the surface and require shipment as Fissile Class III. Sample calculations address only the more restrictive of the two materials, which in most cases is /sup 238/PuO/sub 2/.
Four extracellular keratinases (designated KI, KII, KIII, and KIV) were produced during submerged aerobic cultivation in a medium containing native human foot skin (NHFS) for enzyme synthesis. The molecular weights, determined by SDS-PAGE, were 25, 50, 34, and 19kDa, respectively. Gel filtration of the four purified enzymes in native conditions indicated that active keratinase KI is a novel homo-octamer, KII a homo-dimer, and KIII and KIV monomers. All four keratinases exhibited high activities at pH 8.0-10.0 with an optimal pH of 9.0. The optimal temperature for keratinolytic activity of KI, KII, and KIII was approximately 50, and 60degreeC for KIV. One millimolar of PMSF completely inhibited the keratinolytic activities of the four enzymes. The N-terminal sequences of KI, KII, and KIII s...
Stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) induce spontaneous osteoporosis. To elucidate the specific characteristics of bone metabolism, the SHRSP was compared with age matched Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. We investigated the effects of prolonged swimming exercise training on bone mineral density (BMD) and metabolism in the SHRSP. Seven-week-old male SHRSP and WKY were divided into three groups; the sedentary control WKY group (n = 6, WKY), the sedentary control SHRSP group (n = 6, SP) and the swimming exercise training SHRSP group (n = 6, SWIM) (in pool with 60 min./day, 5 days/week for 12 weeks). The femoral BMD, bone mineral content (BMC), strength, Ca and P contents (%) of SHRSP were approximately 17, 27, 25, 20 and 9%, respectively, lower than that of WKY (p swimming exercise training in the SHRSP induces more cruelly hypophosphatemia, and leading to osteopenia eventually. We conclude that SHRSP induces osteopenia with disturbance of phosphate ...
This work assesses the performance of a modified two-dimensional gamma scan system in spent fuel pin studies. The techniques for a two-dimensional gamma scan studied have been developed at the Hot Cell of Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER). Samples are acquired from the spent fuel pin, TPC-SP-C1, which was irradiated in a commercial reactor core (the first of its kind in Taiwan) for 2 years and then deposited in a cooling pool for 10 years. The spent fuel pin was then transferred into INER for further examination. The gamma scanning system was driven by a step motor which had an accuracy within 0.1 mm in both X-Y directions. Data obtained from this system are presented in both an isotopic distribution and contour plot. Results in this study closely correspond to those in other investigations, thereby confirming the effectiveness of this modified system. (author)
Abstract Elongate plasmodia with myxosporean spores belonging to the genus Unicapsula, Davis, 1924 were found in the skeletal muscle of the striped seabream, Lithognathus mormyrus (L.), a candidate for the mediterranean aquaculture. The only species of Unicapsula described from the Mediterranean is Unicapsula pflugfelderi Schubert et al. 1975, which occurs in the picarel, Spicara smaris (L.). For morphological and molecular comparison of U. pflugfelderi from S. smaris with Unicapsula sp. from L. mormyrus measurements of plasmodia and spores, ultrastructural details and 18S and 28S rDNA sequences were analysed. Whereas plasmodia were 2-3 times larger in S. smaris than in L. mormyrus (length 2.47-0.81 mm; width 0.22-0.09 mm; P = 0.000), spore morphology showed minor differences and both 18S ...
In closed systems, the O2 compensation point (?O) was previously defined as the upper limit of O2 level, at a given CO2 level, above which plants cannot have positive carbon balance and survive. Studies with 18O2 measure the actual O2 uptake by photorespiration due to the dual function of Rubisco, the enzyme that fixes CO2 and takes O2 as an alternative substrate. One-step modelling of CO2 and O2 uptakes allows calculating a plant specificity factor (Sp) as the sum of the biochemical specificity of Rubisco and a biophysical specificity, function of the resistance to CO2 transfer from the atmosphere to Rubisco. The crossing points (Cx, Ox) are defined as CO2 and O2 concentrations for which O2 and CO2 uptakes are equal. It is observed that: (1) under the preindustrial atmosphere, photorespir...
The Four years of the IMPACT, 'Integrated Modular Plant Analysis and Computing Technology', project Phase 1 have been completed. The verification study of Severe Accident Analysis Code SAMPSON prototype developed in Phase 1 was conducted in two steps. First, each analysis module was run independently and analysis results were compared and verified against separate-effect test data with good results. Second, with the Simulation Supervisory System, up to 11 analysis modules were executed concurrently in the parallel environment (currently, NUPEC uses IBM-SP2 with 72 process elements), to demonstrate the code capability and integrity. The target plant was Surry as a typical PWR and the initiation events were a 10-inch cold leg failure. The analysis is divided to two cases; one is in-vessel retention analysis when the gap cooling is effective (In-vessel scenario test), the other is analysis of phenomena event is extended to ex-vessel due to the Reactor Pressure Vessel ...
The experiment was conducted at the laboratory of Experimental Station of Instituto Agronomico de Campinas, in Piracicaba, SP, BR. The elephant-grass (Penissetum purpureum Schum) cv Guacu, with 6 months of development was chopped in a forage chopper regulated to cut biomass in pieces of 5 mm. 500 grams of chopped biomass was pressed in a hydraulic presser regulated for 60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 kg/cm{sup 2}. For the pressure of 60, 120, 180 and 240 kg/cm{sup 2} the presser was used in manual module, while, for the pressure of 300 kg/cm{sup 2} it was operated in the automatic module. The experiment was executed in randomized block design with 4 repetitions. When the pressure of 300 kg/cm{sup 2} was used it was extracted 21.78 % of the moisture of biomass, while the nitrogen percentage was little altered by press. (author)
Metabolic engineering of photosynthetic organisms is required for utilization of light energy and for reducing carbon emissions.Control of transcriptional regulators is a powerful approach for changing cellular dynamics, because a set of genes is concomitantly regulated. Here, we show that overexpression of a group 2 ? factor, SigE, enhances the expressions of sugar catabolic genes in the unicellular cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Transcriptome analysis revealed that genes for the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway and glycogen catabolism are induced by overproduction of SigE. Immunoblotting showed that protein levels of sugar catabolic enzymes, such as glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, glycogen phosphorylase, and isoamylase, are increased. Glycogen levels are reduced in the SigE-overexpressing strain grown under light. Metabolome analysis revealed that metabolite levels of the TCA cycle and acetyl-CoA are ...
Femoral head vitality before, during and at various intervals from the operation was determined by tetracycline labeling and/or _9_9 sp (m)Tc-MDP scintimetry. In a three-year follow-up, healing prognosis could be determined by scintimetry 3 weeks from operation; deficient femoral head vitality predicting healing complications and retained vitality predicting uncomplicated healing. A comparison between pre- and postoperative scintimetry indicated that further impairment of the femoral head vitality could be caused by the operative procedure, and as tetracycline labeling prior to and after fracture reduction in 370 fractures proved equivalent, it was concluded that the procedure of osteosynthesis probably was responsible for capsular vessel injury, using a four-flanged nail. The four-flanged nail was compared with a low-traumatic method of osteosynthesis, two hook-pins, in a prospective randomized 14 month study, and the postoperative femoral head vitality was ...
The uptake of "9"9Tc by trees intercepting contaminated groundwater from a radioactive waste storage site was measured to identify the major "9"9Tc pools within the woodland ecosystem and to assess the relative mobility of "9"9Tc in the existing element cycle. The highest average "9"9Tc concentrations in vegetation were found in herbaceous plants. Tree wood was the major above-ground pool for "9"9Tc because of the high concentrations in wood as well as the large amount of wood relative to other biomass at the site. Technetium was not easily leached from the trees by rainfall and was not readily extractable from forest floor leaf litter by water. The relative importance of return pathways for "9"9Tc to the forest floor was leaf fall > stemflow > throughfall, indicating that "9"9Tc was conserved by the trees. Snails and millipedes from the leaf litter layer concentrated technetium 20- and 16-fold, respectively, above levels found in the soil. Pertechnetate was rendered less ...
Nitrogen doped Diamond-like carbon thin films were deposited on n-Si and SiO_2 substrates by rf magnetron sputtering using pure graphite (99.999%) as the target material and mixtures of Ar, N_2 and H_2 for plasma generation. The dependence of structural and optical properties on nitrogen content was investigated using XPS, Raman spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, and Ellipsometry studies. It was found that as the nitrogen content was increased in the plasma, sp"2 bonding favored. Also it was observed that oxygen contamination increased with nitrogen content. Typical C-H stretching modes connected with diamond-like carbon could be seen in FT-IR spectra. The I_D and I_G bands were well defined and it was observed that as nitrogen content increased I_G band was enhanced. Ellipsometry studies revealed that the optical constants like refractive index (n) and extinction co-efficient (k) increased with increase in nitrogen content as well as substrate temperature. (author)
The feasibility of containing genetically engineered bacteria with enhanced dehalogenating properties for in situ bioremediation was investigated. (1) An agarose matrix microbead protocol and a detection system for contained microorganisms or DNA were developed. Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) allowed tracking of a consortium of encapsulated organisms or several gene targets from a single species. Gene sequences encoding the enzymes responsible for initiating the biodegradation of toluene, octane, and 2,4-D were detected by multiplex PCR and nucleic acid probes from similar to 1-10 biodegradative cells/g soil. Improved DNA extraction methods resulted in PCR reactions detecting similar to 6 cells/g soil. (2) The pcpB gene (for the broad-spectrum detoxicant pentachlorophenol (PCP) hydroxylase) isolated from Flavobacterium sp. strain ATCC 39723 was used in attempts to develop an improved dehalogenating recombinant microorganism for containment experiments.
Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-38mol%-3-hydroxyvalerate) [P(3HB-co-38mol%-3HV)] was produced by Cupriavidus sp. USMAA2-4 in the presence of oleic acid and 1-pentanol. Due to enormous production of empty fruit bunch (EFB) in the oil palm plantation and high production cost of P(3HB-co-3HV), oil palm EFB fibers were used for biocomposites preparation. In this study, maleic anhydride (MA) and benzoyl peroxide (DBPO) were used to improve the miscibility between P(3HB-co-3HV) and EFB fibers. Introduction of MA into P(3HB-co-3HV) backbone reduced the molecular weight and improved the thermal stability of P(3HB-co-3HV). Thermal stability of P(3HB-co-3HV)/EFB composites was shown to be comparable to that of commercial packaging product. Composites with 35% EFB fibers content have the highest tensile st...
The bacterial strain E1R-j, isolated as an endophyte from wheat roots, exhibited high antifungal activity to Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici (Ggt). Strain E1R-j was identified as Bacillus subtilis based on morphological, physiological and biochemical methods as well as on 16S rDNA analysis. This strain inhibited mycelium growth in vitro of numerous plant pathogenic fungi, especially of Ggt, Coniothyrium diplodiella, Phomopsis sp. and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. In greenhouse experiments, soil drenches with cell densities of 106, 109 and 1012CFU ml-1 E1R-j reduced significantly take-all disease, caused by Ggt, in wheat seedling by 62.6%, 68.6% and 70.7%, respectively, compared to the inoculated control, 4weeks after sowing. Growth parameters such as lengths and fresh weights of roots and...
An attempt is made to generalize the spaces of numbers and functions in order to consider certain problems in quantum mechanics, especially in the cases, where wave functions appear which do not belong to the Hilbert space L"2. Often the Soboljev - Schwartz distributions are used but they are not always the appropriate tool because they cannot be multiplied. A modification of the definition of generalized functions PSI(x vector) is proposed by particular conditions. Such conditions imposed on the wave function of a free particle seems to be the most natural by means of physics. It appears, however, that for all spaces with a real norm these conditions are contradictory. This implies together with the extension of the space of functions, an extension of the space of numbers with so called asymptotic numbers A. The four algebraic operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are defined in the set A. To avoid the contradictions between the conditions it is necessary to ...
Cyclothiazomycin B1 (CTB1) is an antifungal cyclic thiopeptide isolated from the culture broth of Streptomyces sp. HA 125-40. CTB1 inhibited the growth of several filamentous fungi including plant pathogens along with swelling of hyphae and spores. The antifungal activity of CTB1 was weakened by hyperosmotic conditions, and hyphae treated with CTB1 burst under hypoosmotic conditions, indicating increased cell wall fragility. CTB1-sensitive fungal species contain high levels of cell wall chitin and/or chitosan. Unlike nikkomycin Z, a competitive inhibitor of chitin synthase (CHS), CTB1 did not inhibit CHS activity. Although CTB1 inhibited CHS biosynthesis, the same result was also obtained with a non-specific proteins inhibitor, cycloheximide, which did not reduce cell wall rigidity. These ...
A new small size gamma irradiator is being set up at Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN-CNEN/SP), Brazil, with a revolutionary design. The developed technology for this facility consists of continuous tote box transport system, comprising a single concrete vault, where the automated transport system of products inside and outside of the irradiator utilizes a rotating door, integrated with the shielding, avoiding the traditional maze configuration. Covering 76 m{sup 2} of floor area, the irradiator design is product overlap sources and the maximum capacity of Cobalt-60 wet sources is 37 PBq (1 MCi). The irradiator is being installed in a Governmental Institution and it will be used as a demonstration facility for manufacturers, who need an economic and logistic in-house irradiation system alternative. Also, it will be useful for supporting the local scientific community on development of products and process using gamma radiation, assisting the ...
An electric propulsion concept suitable for delivering heavy payloads from low earth orbit (LEO) to high energy earth orbit is proposed. The system consists of a number of pulsed inductive plasma thrusters powered by a 100 kWe space nuclear power system. The pulsed plasma thruster is a relatively simple electrodeless device. It also exhibits adequate conversion to thrust power in the desired I sub sp regime of 1500 to 3000 seconds for optimal payload transfer from low earth to high earth orbit. Because of these features and the fact that the nuclear power unit will be capable of delivering sustained high power levels throughout the duration of any given mission, the system presented appears to be a very promising propulsion candidate for advanced orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) applications. An OTV, which makes use of this propulsion system and which has been designed to lift a 9000-lb payload into geosynchronous earth orbit, (GEO) is also examined.
A biogenic method for the treatment of uranium mill effluents containing toxic amounts of Mn"2 and "2"2"6Ra is described. The acidic tailings from the uranium mills are generally neutralised with lime and the overflow waters from tailing ponds at the discharge point, consisting of Mn"2"+ (>10 mg l"-"1) and "2"2"6Ra (> 3.0 pCi l"-"1), need further treatment before disposing off to the public utility. Arthrobacter sp. has been used for precipitating Mn"2"+ as hydrous oxide of manganes (MnO_2#centre dot#nH_2O) and along with "2"2"6Ra also gets precipitated. The effluent after bacterial treatment consisted of Mn"2"+ and "2"2"6Ra within the range of allowed concentrations as per the I.C.R.P. (International Committee of Radiological Protection) and MPC (maximum permissible concentration) standards (Mn"2"+ 95% of "2"2"6Ra could be precipitated using this method. (author). 11 refs.; 4 figs.; 4 tabs.
The aim of this review is to evaluate the role of inflammatory spine disease in patients with chronic back pain. The contribution of imaging modalities for the diagnostic evaluation of back pain is discussed. A systematic literature search based on the classification of seronegative spondyloarthropathies and rheumatoid arthritis was performed. The results of this search and the experiences in a large collective of rheumatological patients are analyzed. The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (1-2%) is comparable to that of spondyloarthropathies (1.9%). The etiology of these entities is not fully elucidated. Magnetic resonance imaging is increasingly used for early detection and surveillance of therapy with TNF-{alpha} antagonists. Bone marrow edema, which is only detectable with MRI, represents an early sign of inflammation. Therapy with TNF-{alpha} antagonists is based on clinical and laboratory criteria, and signs of inflammation in MRI. MRI is useful for assessment of the ...
Physico-chemical characterizations performed on samples of 100Cr6 steel implanted both with boron and nitrogen revealed the formation of boron nitride along with the following new phases: Fe{sub 1-x}(B, N), Fe{sub 2-x}(B, N) and Fe{sub 3-x}(B, N). A thorough analysis of boron NITRIDE (5BN) indicates that a low ion current density (3 {mu}A.cm{sup -2}) in the case of the boron plus nitrogen sequence favours the formation of sp{sup 2} bonds (hexagonal-BN) while a higher ion current density (6{mu}A.cm{sup -2}) promotes sp{sup 3} bonds (cubic-BN) in the opposite sequence. Tribological tests carried out on these samples revealed that nitrogen and boron implantations do not lead to any significant improvement of friction and wear at variance with the results obtained by others authors. However, on a set samples accidentally contaminated with carbon during implantation, we noticed a considerable improvement of these tribological parameters. As this ...
The performance of four different organic coating systems applied to carbon and weathering steel coupons has been assessed in this investigation. applied on the surface of carbon steel and weathering steel coupons. The coupons have been evaluated using five different tests, three field tests and two accelerated tests. The field tests were carried out at three atmospheric stations, located at COSIPA in Cubatao-SP, at Alto da Serra in Cubatao-SP and at Paula Souza in Sao Paulo city. The accelerated tests consisted of (a) exposure to alternate cycles of ultraviolet radiation/condensation combined with salt spray cycles (UVCON combined with Salt Spray) and of (b) exposure to alternate cycles of ultraviolet radiation/condensation combined with the Prohesion test. The performance of the coatings was assessed by visual observation and photographs, using a method based on ASTM D-610, ASTM D-714 and ASTM-1654 standards to rank them. The oxide phases ...
The US National Energy Policy of 2001 advocated the development of advanced fuel and fuel cycle technologies that are cleaner, more efficient, less waste-intensive, and more proliferation resistant. The need for advanced fuel development is emphasized in on-going DOE-supported programs, e.g., Global Nuclear Energy Initiative (GNEI), Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI), and GEN-IV Technology Development. The Directorates of Energy & Environment (E&E) and Chemistry & Material Sciences (C&MS) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are interested in advanced fuel research and manufacturing using its multi-disciplinary capability and facilities to support a design concept of a small, secure, transportable, and autonomous reactor (SSTAR). The E&E and C&MS Directorates co-sponsored this Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) Project on Mono-Uranium Nitride Fuel Development for SSTAR and Space Applications. In fact, three out ...
Full text: A semiempirical algorithm for absorbed dose calculation at off-axis points in irregular beams was implemented. It is well known that semiempirical methods are very useful because of their easy implementation and its helpfulness in dose calculation in the clinic. These methods can be used as independent tools for dosimetric calculation in many applications of quality assurance. However, the applicability of such methods has some limitations, even in homogeneous media, specially at off axis points, near beam fringes or outside the beam. Only methods derived from tissue-air-ratio (TAR) or scatter-maximum-ratio (SMR) have been devised for those situations, many years ago. Despite there have been improvements for these manual methods, like the Sc-Sp ones, no attempt has been made to extend their usage at off axis points. In this work, a semiempirical formalism was introduced, based on the works of Venselaar et al. (1999) and Sanz et al. (2004), aimed to the ...
The purpose of this study was to use high-resolution magnetic resonance (MR) imaging combined with image analysis to investigate the three-dimensional (3D) trabecular structure, anisotropy, and connectivity of human vertebral, femoral, and calcaneal specimens. The goal was to determine whether: (a) MR-derived measures depict known skeletal-site-specific differences in architecture and orientation of trabeculae; (b) 3D architectural parameters combined with bone mineral density (BMD) improve the prediction of the elastic modulus using a fabric tensor formulation; (c) MR-derived 3D architectural parameters combined with BMD improve the prediction of strength using a multiple regression model, and whether these results corresponded to the results obtained using higher resolution depictions of trabecular architecture. A total of 94 specimens (12 x 12 x 12 mm cubes) consisting of trabecular bone only were obtained, of which there were 7 from the calcaneus, 15 from distal femur, 47 from the ...
PCR detection of genetic material of the parasites present in faeces may be an alternative for microscopic and serological tests routinely used for diagnosing parasitic enteral infections. However, small amount of target DNA combined with low efficiency of total DNA extraction, and presence of PCR inhibitors in the samples to be amplified, may cause false negative detection results. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of DNA isolation procedure used on the amplification of DNA fragments from the genomes of protozoan Cryptosporidium parvum and the nematode Trichinella spiralis. Two methods based on different principles of biological material lysis were evaluated; NucliSENS miniMAG employing simultaneously applied chemical lysis and mechanical disruption or mechanical disruption followed by enzymatic lysis in case of QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit. Both of the analyzed systems for nucleic acids purification allowed isolation of DNA from purified Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and ...
The Institute of Energetic and Nuclear Research - IPEN is a research and development institution, located in a densely populated area, in the city of Sao Paulo. The nuclear fuel cycle was developed from the Yellow Cake to the enrichment and reconversion at IPEN. After this phase, all the technology was transferred to private enterprises and to the Brazilian Navy (CTM/SP). Some plants of the fuel cycle were at semi-industrial level, with a production over 20 kg/h. As a research institute, IPEN accomplished its function of the fuel cycle, developing and transferring technology. With the necessity of space for the implementation of new projects, the uranium hexafluoride (UF{sub 6}) production plant was chosen, since it had been idle for many years and presented potential leaking risks, which could cause environmental aggression and serious accidents. This plant decommission required accurate planning, as this work had not been carried out in Brazil before, for this ...
The thermal stability of low-friction Me-C/a-C:H coatings is important for their potential applications in the tool and automotive industry. Recently we showed that CrC _x/a-C:H coatings prepared by unbalanced magnetron sputtering of a Cr target in Ar + CH_4 glow discharges exhibit a nanocomposite structure where metastable fcc CrC nanocrystals are encapsulated by an a-C:H phase. Here, we present the structural evolution of these nanocomposite CrC/a-C:H coatings during annealing. High-temperature X-ray diffraction in vacuum and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) combined with thermo-gravimetric analysis in Ar atmosphere indicate decomposition of the formed metastable fcc CrC phase and subsequent formation of Cr_3C_2 and Cr_7C_3 and structural transformation of the a-C:H matrix phase towards higher sp"2 bonding contents at temperatures above 450 deg. C. Combined DSC and mass spectrometer analysis as well as elemental profiling after annealing in vacuum by ...
Fluorinated amorphous carbon (a-C:F) films were deposited by radio frequency bias assisted microwave plasma electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition with tetrafluoromethane (CF_4) and acetylene (C_2H_2) as precursors. The deposition process was performed at two flow ratios R=0.90 and R=0.97, where R=CF_4/(CF_4+C_2H_2). The samples were annealed at 300 deg. C for 30 min. in a N_2 atmosphere. Both Fourier transform infrared and electron spectroscopy for chemical analyzer were used to characterize the a-C:F film chemical bond and fluorine concentration, respectively. A high resolution electron energy loss spectrometer was applied to detect the electronic structure. The higher CF_4 flow ratio (R=0.97) produced more sp"3 linear structure, and it made the a-C:F film smoother and softer. A lifetime of around 0.34 #mu#s and an energy gap of #approx#2.75 eV were observed in both the as-deposited and after annealing conditions. The short carriers lifetime in ...
The authors have used limited proteolysis of affinity-labeled estrogen receptors (ER), coupled with antireceptor antibody immunoreactivity, to assess structural features of ER and the relatedness of ER from MCF-7 human breast cancer and rat uterine cells. MCF-7 ER preparations covalently labeled with ["3H]tamoxifen aziridine (["3H]TAZ) were treated with trypsin (T), #alpha#-chymotrypsin (C), or Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease prior to electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels. Fluorography revealed a distinctive ladder of ER fragments containing TAZ for each protease generated from the M/sub r/ 66,000 ER. Immunoblot detection with the primate-specific antibody D75P3#gamma# revealed that all immunoreactive fragments corresponded to TAZ-labeled fragments but that some small TAZ-labeled fragments were no longer immunoreactive. In contrast, use of the antibody H222SP#gamma# revealed a correspondence between TAZ-labeled and immunoreactive fragments down to the ...
The electronic structure and properties of the cubic Laves phase (C15) compounds ZrZn_2 and ZrV_2 have been determined using our all-electron full-potential linearized-augmented-plane-wave (FLAPW) method for bulk solids. The computations were performed in two stages: (i) self-consistent warped muffin tin and (ii) self-consistent full potential. Spin-orbit coupling was included after either stage. The effects of the inclusion of the nonspherical terms inside the muffin tins on the eigenvalues is found to be small (of order 1 mRy). However, due to the fact that some of the bands near the Fermi level are flat, this effect leads to a much higher value of the density of states at E/sub F/ in ZnZr_2. The most important difference between the materials ZrZn_2 and ZrV_2 is the position of the d bands derived from the Zr and V atoms. Consequently, these materials have completely different Fermi surfaces. We have investigated the magnetic properties of these compounds by evaluating their ...
The electronic structure and properties of the cubic Laves phase (C15) compounds ZrZn/sub 2/ and ZrV/sub 2/ have been determined using our all-electron full-potential linearized-augmented-plane-wave (FLAPW) method for bulk solids. The computations were performed in two stages: (i) self-consistent warped muffin tin and (ii) self-consistent full potential. Spin-orbit coupling was included after either stage. The effects of the inclusion of the nonspherical terms inside the muffin tins on the eigenvalues is found to be small (of order 1 mRy). However, due to the fact that some of the bands near the Fermi level are flat, this effect leads to a much higher value of the density of states at E/sub F/ in ZnZr/sub 2/. The most important difference between the materials ZrZn/sub 2/ and ZrV/sub 2/ is the position of the d bands derived from the Zr and V atoms. Consequently, these materials have completely different Fermi surfaces. We have investigated the magnetic properties of these compounds by ...
The role of macroinvertebrates and diatoms as indicator for metal pollution was investigated by assessing both biota along a metal gradient in the Belgian river the Dommel. Macroinvertebrates and diatoms were sampled in summer and winter and physical-chemical characteristics of the water were measured at four different sample periods and related to sediment characteristics. Although metal concentrations, except cadmium, in the water nowhere exceeded water quality standards, high metal concentrations were measured in the sediment, indicating historical contamination of the Dommel. At the sites that were situated downstream of the pollution source, high levels of conductivity and chloride were measured in the water. Redundancy Analysis (RDA) indicated pH, phosphate and zinc as the significant environmental variables explaining each respectively 7.7%, 11.6% and 22.6% of the macroinvertebrate community composition. Two clusters could be separated, with Gammarus pulex, Leptocerus ...
The research work carried out on mutation breeding in Egypt during the 1980s is summarized. Several mutations have been developed in bread wheat, maize, rice and barley. A higher yield, tolerance to salinity, shorter types and earliness were obtained after use of different mutagens and growth regulators. Great attention has been paid to the fababean and chickpea, particularly in improving their quality and quantity of protein, and their resistance to insect weevils such as Callosobruchus sp. Tolerance or resistance to broom rape has also been reported. Various grain legumes such as lentil, pea, cowpea, bean, fenugreek and lupin received some attention. Mutation work on fibre crops such as cotton, kenaf and flax has led to some promising results. Zero type, glandless and early maturing mutants were obtained in cotton, and early flowering, high yielding (fibre or oil) mutants in flax. Some attention has been given to oil crops such as sesame, rapeseed, peanuts, ...
The main objective of the present thesis was develop and get operational a real-time neutron radiography system, at the IPEN-CNEN/SP. This system is installed inside the shielding of an old facility, designed in 1988, for film radiography, which is installed at the beam-hole 08 of the 5 MW, IEA-R1 Nuclear Research Reactor. The most important modifications at the such facility were the increase of the {gamma}-radiation filter thickness, increase of the inner area of the shielding, design of a neutron collimator and a light tight box. The main characteristics of the neutron beam at the irradiation position are: flux: 1 x 10{sup 6}n/cm{sup 2}s, collimation ratio 70, effective energy 7 meV, diameter 20 cm, neutron/{gamma} ratio {approx} 10{sup 6}n/cm{sup 2}mrem. The real-time images have been obtained by means of an imaging system that consists of a screen scintillator, a light intensifier, a video camera, a digitizing frame grabber and a computer. The device composed ...
The main objective of the present thesis was develop and get operational a real-time neutron radiography system, at the IPEN-CNEN/SP. This system is installed inside the shielding of an old facility, designed in 1988, for film radiography, which is installed at the beam-hole 08 of the 5 MW, IEA-R1 Nuclear Research Reactor. The most important modifications at the such facility were the increase of the #gamma#-radiation filter thickness, increase of the inner area of the shielding, design of a neutron collimator and a light tight box. The main characteristics of the neutron beam at the irradiation position are: flux: 1 x 10"6n/cm"2s, collimation ratio 70, effective energy 7 meV, diameter 20 cm, neutron/#gamma# ratio #approx# 10"6n/cm"2mrem. The real-time images have been obtained by means of an imaging system that consists of a screen scintillator, a light intensifier, a video camera, a digitizing frame grabber and a computer. The device composed by the scintillator ...
After five years of implantation of a program for classification and signalling of restricted areas in the IPEN-CNEN-SP, we noticed that the applied measures of radio protection contributed for the improvement of the system of occupational radiological protection, promoting an improvement in the security of the workers, towards the planning in the execution of the activities involving the use of sources of ionizing radiation. Later, during the implantation of this program, the service of occupational radiological protection, there was great difficulty to conciliate its necessities in terms of security signalling, face the absence of existing standardisation in the country for the minimum disposals on the subject in question. Nowadays there are different interpretations of the specific criteria and many effective normative documents that exist in the country. This work presents as proposal the elaboration of a technical guide whose objective is to display the ...
A theoretical background of crosshole reflection imaging with pre stack, multi-mode reverse time migration has been investigated. The crosshole migration has been carried out by solving two-way scalar wave equation with finite difference approximation. The wave field extrapolation was performed backward in time, with the imaging condition applied at each extrapolation time step to create partial image of the reflector. The complete migrated image was obtained by adding all the partial images from each time step. With multi-component crosshole data available, it is possible to separate the recorded data into primary P- and S-wave field. Separating wave field before migration is helpful in enhancing migrated image quality since only one wave mode can be dealt at a time with the scalar wave equation. It is possible to migrate mixed-mode primary reflections(P-S and S-P) as well as pure mode ones. These multi-mode migrations provide not only image data redundancy but ...
To assess the utility of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the study of pediatric patients with clinical suspicion of pituitary disease. We studied 18 patients aged 7 to 18 years.Fifteen had hormonal disturbances, two presented amenorrhea and 1 complained of headache, fever and symptoms of polyuria and polydipsia. All the patients were examined using a Siemens SP 42 1-Tesla MRI scanner. Sagittal and coronal T1-weighted spin-echo images were obtained; in addition T2-weighted spin-echo or fast spin-echo imaging was performed in ten cases and intravenous gadolinium was administered in nine. We found 9 patients with hypothalamic-pituitary dysgenesis, 2 with germinoma, 2 cases of pituitary hemosiderosis in patients with thalassemia, 2 cases of microadenoma, one abscess, one case of idiopathic central diabetes insipidus and one of Langerhans cell histiocytosis. MR enabled us to assess pituitary structural alterations in children with hypothalamic-pituitary hormone ...
The productivity characteristics of perforated gas well are investigated for the first time under real conditions considering drilling damage, perforation compacted zone and anisotropy in this paper. A non-linear finite element model for non-Darcy flow in perforated gas reservoir is built to consider the effects of twelve factors on productivity ratio (PR) of perforated gas well. The nomographs for two cases are presented in this paper. Compared with previous works, the following results are found: (1) the effects of drilling damage and perforation diameter on PR of gas well are more remarkable than that in oil well; (2) any perforation phase may be the best or the worst as to perforating gas well, which depends on anisotropy, drawdown and that whether or not perforations are beyond drilling damage zone; (3) the increase in perforation length hardly improve PR of gas well when perforations have been beyond drilling damage zone. The new method is suggested to predict or determine the ...
Objective: To investigate the value ofMSCT in observing the direct findings of hilar cholangiocarcinoma1Methods Multislice helical CT studies were performed on the upper abdomen in 19 consecutive patientswith painless jaundice1 Precontrast and dynamic contrast enhanced (25 s phase and 60 s phase) scanswere conducted, and 3D imageswere reconstructed using enhanced raw data in 15 cases1 The direct CT findings of hilar cholangiocarcinoma were studied by three radiologists respectively in a 32scale strategy1 The morphological features and extension of bile duct involvement by hilar cholangiocarcinoma were analyzed1 All the 19 caseswere pathologically p roved as hilar cholangiocarcinoma by surgery (15 cases) and ERCP ( 4 cases) 1 Results The direct findings and extension of hilar cholangiocarcinoma could be demonstrated in 14 out of 15 3D reconstruction images, 8 out of 19 in 25 s phase, and 7 out of 19 in 60 s phase of contrast enhancement scans, respectively ( P < 0105 ) 1 The tumor ...
Results of self-consistent local-spin-density-functional calculations are reported for the first time for the Ni(110) surface, represented by one-, three-, and five-layer slabs. Calculations for one- and five-layer slabs of Ni(100) are also reported. The behavior of the surface magnetization with varying slab thickness elucidates the nature and origin of the surface magnetic moment. We predict a 13% enhancement of the Ni(110) surface magnetic moment compared to the bulk value. For the Ni(100) surface, we find a smaller surface enhancement about 7%, compared to bulk, which agrees with the results of Jepsen et al. The enhancement of surface magnetic moments on Ni(100) and Ni(110) surfaces is attributed to s-d dehybridization at the surface and to the presence of electrostatic shifts required to maintain layer-by-layer charge neutrality. We find that the total d-electron charge is the same in each layer, which contradicts the sp-to-d charge transfer found by Tersoff ...
The compound semiconductor system InGaAsN exhibits many intriguing properties which are particularly useful for the development of innovative high efficiency thin film solar cells and long wavelength lasers. The bandgap in these semiconductors can be varied by controlling the content of N and In and the thin films can yet be lattice-matched to GaAs. In the present work, x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GIXS) techniques have been employed to probe the local environment surrounding both N and In atoms as well as the interface morphology of InGaAsN thin films epitaxially grown on GaAs. The soft x-ray XAFS results around nitrogen K-edge reveal that N is in the sp{sup 3} hybridized bonding configuration in InGaAsN and GaAsN, suggesting that N impurities most likely substitute for As sites in these two compounds. The results of In K-edge XAFS suggest a possible trend of a slightly larger coordination number of As nearest ...
This report describes the progress made during this reporting period of a two year project to demonstrate that the air pollution from a traveling grate stoker being used to heat water at a central heating plant in Krakow, Poland can be reduced significantly by (1) substituting the unwashed, unsized coal currently being used with a mechanically cleaned, double-sized stoker fuel and by (2) optimizing the operating parameters of the stoker. It is anticipated that these improvements will prove to be cost effective and hence be adopted by the other central heating plants in Krakow and indeed, throughout Eastern European cities where coal continues to be the primary source of fuel. EFH Coal Company has formed a partnership with two Polish institutions -- MPEC, a central heating company in Krakow, and Naftokrak-Naftobudowa, preparation plant designers and fabricators, for the execution of this effort. The washability data from a 20mm x 0.5mm size fraction of raw coal from the Nikwa Modrejow ...
This report describes the progress made during the second Quarter of a two year project to demonstrate that the air pollution, from a traveling grate stoker being used to heat water at a central heating plant in Krakow Poland, can be reduced significantly by replacing the unwashed, unsized coal now being used with a mechanically cleaned, double sized stoker fuel and by optimizing the operating parameters of the stoker. It is anticipated that these improvements will prove to be cost effective and hence be adopted in the other central heating plants in Krakow and indeed throughout Eastern European cities where coal is the primary source of heating fuel. EFH Coal Company has formed a partnership with two Polish institutions -- MPEC a central heating company in Krakow and Naftokrak-Naftobudowa, preparation plant designers and fabricators for this effort. The washability data from a 20mm x 0.5mm size fraction of raw coal from the Staszic Mine were evaluated. The data show that the ash ...
Diamond-like carbon thin films for tribological applications were deposited by d.c.-magnetron sputtering of a graphite target in a pure argon atmosphere or in a reactive hydrogen or methane atmosphere at pressures between 0.1 and 1 Pa in a graded constitution to improve adhesion and reduce residual stress. The temperature of the metallic, carbon- and ceramic-like substrates was below 100 C. The mechanical, thermal, electronic and optical properties of the carbon thin films show a significant dependence on the ion energy. Below 220 eV, strongly adherent black conductive films with hardness values up to 2000 HV0.05 were obtained. Hard and superhard diamond-like carbon thin films were deposited in an energy range between 220 and 370 eV with hardness values up to 4000 HV0.05. They are insulating, optically transparent and show a high degree of hardness combined with high compressive stress in the order of 4 GPa as well as a low adhesion, which means that the critical loads of failure are ...
African bovine trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma sp., is a major constraint on cattle productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Some African Bos taurus breeds are highly tolerant of infection, but the potentially more productive Bos indicus zebu breeds are much more susceptible. Zebu cattle are well adapted for plowing and haulage, and increasing their tolerance of trypanosomiasis could have a major impact on crop cultivation as well as dairy and beef production. We used three strategies to obtain short lists of candidate genes within QTL that were previously shown to regulate response to infection. We analyzed the transcriptomes of trypanotolerant N'Dama and susceptible Boran cattle after infection with Trypanosoma congolense. We sequenced EST libraries from these two breeds to identify polymorphisms that might underlie previously identified quantitative trait loci (QTL), and we assessed QTL regions and candidate loci for evidence of selective sweeps. The scan of ...
The Four years of the IMPACT, 'Integrated Modular Plant Analysis and Computing Technology' project Phase 1 have been completed. The verification study of Severe Accident Analysis Code SAMPSON prototype developed in Phase 1 was conducted in two steps. First, each analysis module was run independently and analysis results were compared and verified against separate-effect test data with good results. Test data are as follows: CORA-13 (FZK) for the Core Heat-up Module; VI-3 of HI/VI Test (ORNL) for the FP Release from Fuel Module; KROTOS-37 (JRC-ISPRA) for the Molten Core Relocation Module; Water Spread Test (UCSB) for the Debris Spreading Model and Benard's Melting Test for Natural Convection Model in the Debris Cooling Module; Hydrogen Burning Test (NUPEC) for the Ex-Vessel Thermal Hydraulics Module; PREMIX, PM10 (FZK) for the Steam Explosion Module; and SWISS-2 (SNL) for the Debris-Concrete Interaction Module. Second, with the Simulation Supervisory System, up to 11 analysis modules ...
It was the aim of this study to specifically detect the DNA sequences for the bphC gene, the meta-cleavage enzyme of the aerobic catabolic pathway for biphenyl and polychlorinated biphenyl degradation, in aquatic sediments without prior cultivation of microorganisms by using extraction of total DNA, PCR amplification of bphC sequences, and detection with specific gene probes. The direct DNA extraction protocol used was modified to enhance lysis efficiency. Crude extracts of DNA were further purified by gel filtration, which yielded DNA that could be used for the PCR. PCR primers were designed for conserved regions of the bphC gene from a sequence alignment of five known sequences. The specificity of PCR amplification was verified by using digoxigenin-labeled DNA probes which were located internal to the amplified gene sequence. The detection limit for the bphC gene of Pseudomonas paucimobilis Q1 and Pseudomaonas sp. strain LB 400-like sequences for the bphC gene ...
A precise admixtures system is needed when using high-volume fly ash concrete as fresh concrete occasionally undergoes rapid slump loss after mixing, which can cause problems with casting, pumping and finishing of the concrete in hot weather. This paper provided details of a study conducted to implement high-volume fly ash concrete technology in India. Different families of admixtures were investigated to determine their water reduction capacities. A set-retarding admixture was used in some of the concrete mixtures in order to determine its efficacy. An Indian Portland cement was used to create a total of 22 different concrete mixtures. Four different fly ashes were used to replace portions of the concrete. The slump of the fresh concrete mixture was monitored for 2 to 3 hours. Unit weight and temperature of the concrete was measured. Specimens were cast in steel moulds in order to determine the compressive strength and unit weight of the hardened concrete. The concretes were demoulded ...
A study was carried out to determine optimum decontamination dose for a locally manufactured coconut cream powder. Samples were gamma irradiated (0-15 kGy) and ageing process was achieved using GEER oven at 60 deg. C for 7 days, which is equivalent to one-year storage at room temperature. Iodine value (IV), ranging from 4.8 to 6.4, was not affected by radiation doses and storage, however peroxide value and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) generally increased with radiation doses. In most samples, peroxide value (meq/kg) reduced after storage, whilst the TBA (mg malonaldehyde/kg), indicator for product quality, slightly increased. The sensory evaluation conducted using 25 taste panellists indicated that scores on odour, creamy taste and overall acceptance for all irradiated samples at more than 5 kGy were significantly lower (P<0.05) than the control. However, the panellists could not detect any significant differences among the irradiation doses (P>0.05). All stored products ...
This article gives an account of the recent development of light water reactors new concepts in the world. Different projects are being studied. The CE80+ from Combustion Engineering (CE) is a 1350 MWe-PWR-type reactor whose primary circuit is confined in a spherical metallic containment. This reactor was certified by NRC (national regulatory commission) in mid-1996. The APWR (advanced pressurized water reactor) is developed by MHI (Mitsubishi heavy industries) in a collaboration with Westinghouse, this PWR-type reactor fitted with 4 loops derived from the SP90 model that was developed by Westinghouse during the eighties. 2 units of ABWR (advanced boiling water reactor) were commissioned in Japan in 1996 and 1997, ABWR was certified by NRC in mid-1996. The BWR90+ is developed by ABB-atom (Sweden) and it represents a cautious advanced version of the BWR75. Passive reactors are reactors that rely only on potential energy (compressed gas, gravitational flow or ...
The pharmacological properties of medicinal plants have been related to the presence of organic compounds, however elements are also known to have an important participation in the active compounds constitution process. In this study, instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was applied to determine elements in leaves of Casearia obliqua medicinal plant collected at two different locations in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil, SP. Soil samples collected from where this plant was grown were also analyzed in order to verify if there is a correlation between the elements present in soils and plant leaves. Br, Ca, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Fe, K, La, Mn, Na, Rb, Sb, Sc and Zn were determined in C. obliqua leaves and the elements As, Ca, Ce, Eu, Fe, Hf, La, Lu, Nd, Rb, Sc, Sm, Tb, Th, U and Zn in soils. Soil samples collected from two different locations presented similar concentrations for most elements. Likewise, C. obliqua leaves collected from the two locations presented ...
Chemical admixtures are used in dam construction to improve plasticity of the dry materials mixture over time. Roller compacted concrete (RCC) has been used on many dam projects in China. However, the use of RCC has frequently resulted in water reduction problems. This paper provided details of an admixture based on polycarboxylate ether (PCE) which was developed to improve the quality of RCC constructions at the JinHong dam in China. Use of the polymer at the JinHong dam resulted in a vibration sensitive concrete that was sustained over time. Under identical mix-design and compaction conditions in the laboratory, specific gravity of the RCC was increased from 2417 kg/m{sup 3} to 2463 kg/m{sup 3}. The high specific gravity of the material resulted in satisfactory strength data from the dam project. The key-ratio of the splitting tensile strength versus compressive strength was higher than 8 per cent in all cases. A key advantage of the tailored PCE-RCC was the short Vebe times ...
The compost bioreactor ('anaerobic cell') components of three composite passive remediation systems constructed to treat acid mine drainage (AMD) at the former Wheal Jane tin mine, Cornwall, UK were studied over a period of 16 months. While there was some amelioration of the preprocessed AMD in each of the three compost bioreactors, as evidenced by pH increase and decrease in metal concentrations, only one of the cells showed effective removal of the two dominant heavy metals (iron and zinc) present. With two of the compost bioreactors, concentrations of soluble (ferrous) iron draining the cells were significantly greater than those entering the reactors, indicating that there was net mobilisation (by reductive dissolution) of colloidal and/or solid-phase ferric iron compounds within the cells. Soluble sulfide was also detected in waters draining all three compost bioreactors which was rapidly oxidised, in contrast to ferrous iron. Oxidation and hydrolysis of iron, together with ...
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