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Sample records for affect peak oxidative

  1. Glutamate availability is important in intramuscular amino acid metabolism and TCA cycle intermediates but does not affect peak oxidative metabolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mourtzakis, M; Graham, T E; González-Alonso, J; Saltin, B

    2008-08-01

    Muscle glutamate is central to reactions producing 2-oxoglutarate, a tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate that essentially expands the TCA cycle intermediate pool during exercise. Paradoxically, muscle glutamate drops approximately 40-80% with the onset of exercise and 2-oxoglutarate declines in early exercise. To investigate the physiological relationship between glutamate, oxidative metabolism, and TCA cycle intermediates (i.e., fumarate, malate, 2-oxoglutarate), healthy subjects trained (T) the quadriceps of one thigh on the single-legged knee extensor ergometer (1 h/day at 70% maximum workload for 5 days/wk), while their contralateral quadriceps remained untrained (UT). After 5 wk of training, peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) in the T thigh was greater than that in the UT thigh (PTCA cycle intermediates. In the UT thigh, peak exercise (vs. rest) induced an increase in fumarate (0.33+/-0.07 vs. 0.02+/-0.01 mmol/kg dry wt (dw), PTCA cycle, glutamate and TCA cycle intermediates do not directly affect VO2peak in either trained or untrained muscle.

  2. Set potential regulation reveals additional oxidation peaks of Geobacter sulfurreducens anodic biofilms

    KAUST Repository

    Zhu, Xiuping

    2012-08-01

    Higher current densities produced in microbial fuel cells and other bioelectrochemical systems are associated with the presence of various Geobacter species. A number of electron transfer components are involved in extracellular electron transfer by the model exoelectrogen, Geobacter sulfurreducens. It has previously been shown that 5 main oxidation peaks can be identified in cyclic voltammetry scans. It is shown here that 7 separate oxidation peaks emerged over relatively long periods of time when a larger range of set potentials was used to acclimate electroactive biofilms. The potentials of oxidation peaks obtained with G. sulfurreducens biofilms acclimated at 0.60 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) were different from those that developed at - 0.46 V, and both of their peaks were different from those obtained for biofilms incubated at - 0.30 V, 0 V, and 0.30 V. These results expand the known range of potentials for which G. sulfurreducens produces identifiable oxidation peaks that could be important for extracellular electron transfer. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

  3. Glutamate availability is important in intramuscular amino acid metabolism and TCA cycle intermediates but does not affect peak oxidative metabolism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mourtzakis, M.; Graham, T.E.; Gonzalez-Alonso, J.

    2008-01-01

    Muscle glutamate is central to reactions producing 2-oxoglutarate, a tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate that essentially expands the TCA cycle intermediate pool during exercise. Paradoxically, muscle glutamate drops approximately 40-80% with the onset of exercise and 2-oxoglutarate...... declines in early exercise. To investigate the physiological relationship between glutamate, oxidative metabolism, and TCA cycle intermediates (i.e., fumarate, malate, 2-oxoglutarate), healthy subjects trained (T) the quadriceps of one thigh on the single-legged knee extensor ergometer (1 h/day at 70......% maximum workload for 5 days/wk), while their contralateral quadriceps remained untrained (UT). After 5 wk of training, peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) in the T thigh was greater than that in the UT thigh (Pglutamate infusion. Peak...

  4. Set potential regulation reveals additional oxidation peaks of Geobacter sulfurreducens anodic biofilms

    KAUST Repository

    Zhu, Xiuping; Yates, Matthew D.; Logan, Bruce E.

    2012-01-01

    larger range of set potentials was used to acclimate electroactive biofilms. The potentials of oxidation peaks obtained with G. sulfurreducens biofilms acclimated at 0.60 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) were different from those that developed at - 0.46 V, and both

  5. Fat oxidation at rest predicts peak fat oxidation during exercise and metabolic phenotype in overweight men

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rosenkilde, M; Nordby, P; Nielsen, L B

    2010-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To elucidate if fat oxidation at rest predicts peak fat oxidation during exercise and/or metabolic phenotype in moderately overweight, sedentary men. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.Subjects:We measured respiratory exchange ratio (RER) at rest in 44 moderately overweight, normotensive...... the International Diabetes Federation criteria, we found that there was a lower accumulation of metabolic risk factors in L-RER than in H-RER (1.6 vs 3.5, P=0.028), and no subjects in L-RER and four of eight subjects in H-RER had the metabolic syndrome. Resting RER was positively correlated with plasma...... triglycerides (Pexercise was positively correlated with plasma free fatty acid concentration at rest (Pexercise and a healthy metabolic...

  6. XPS characterisation of in situ treated lanthanum oxide and hydroxide using tailored charge referencing and peak fitting procedures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sunding, M.F.; Hadidi, K.; Diplas, S.; Lovvik, O.M.; Norby, T.E.; Gunnaes, A.E.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Gold particles deposited in vacuum as energy reference for insulating samples in XPS. → Separation of La 3d and MNN peaks in XP spectra acquired with Al Kα radiation. → We describe the spectral differences between lanthanum oxide and lanthanum hydroxide. → A doublet in O 1s of La 2 O 3 is ascribed to two distinct oxygen sites in the crystal. - Abstract: A technique is described for deposition of gold nanoparticles under vacuum, enabling consistent energy referencing of X-ray photoelectron spectra obtained from lanthanum hydroxide La(OH) 3 and in situ treated lanthanum oxide La 2 O 3 powders. A method is also presented for the separation of the overlapping lanthanum 3d and MNN peaks in X-ray photoelectron spectra acquired with Al Kα radiation. The lower satellite intensity in La(OH) 3 compared to La 2 O 3 is related to the higher ionicity of the La-O bond in the former compared to the latter compound. The presence of an additional peak in the valence band spectrum of the hydroxide compared to the oxide is attributed to the O-H bond as indicated by density functional theory based calculations. A doublet in the O 1s peak of lanthanum oxide is associated to the presence of two distinct oxygen sites in the crystal structure of this compound.

  7. Bulk power system performance issues affecting utility peaking capacity additions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garrity, T.F. [GE Power Sytems, Schenectady, NY (United States)

    1994-12-31

    This paper presents a discussion of transmission system constraints and problems that affect the siting and rating of peaking capacity additions. Techniques for addressing and modifying these concerns are presented. Particular attention is paid to techniques that have been successfully used by utilities to improve power transfer and system loadability, while avoiding the construction of additional transmission lines. Proven techniques for dealing with thermal, short-circuit level and stability issues are presented.

  8. XPS characterisation of in situ treated lanthanum oxide and hydroxide using tailored charge referencing and peak fitting procedures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sunding, M.F., E-mail: m.f.sunding@fys.uio.no [Department of Physics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1048 Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo (Norway); Hadidi, K. [Department of Physics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1048 Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo (Norway); Diplas, S. [Department of Chemistry and Centre for Material Science and Nanotechnology (SMN), University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1033 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo (Norway); SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, P.O. Box 124 Blindern, NO-0314 Oslo (Norway); Lovvik, O.M. [Department of Physics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1048 Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo (Norway); SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, P.O. Box 124 Blindern, NO-0314 Oslo (Norway); Norby, T.E. [Department of Chemistry and Centre for Material Science and Nanotechnology (SMN), University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1033 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo (Norway); Gunnaes, A.E. [Department of Physics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1048 Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo (Norway)

    2011-07-15

    Highlights: {yields} Gold particles deposited in vacuum as energy reference for insulating samples in XPS. {yields} Separation of La 3d and MNN peaks in XP spectra acquired with Al K{alpha} radiation. {yields} We describe the spectral differences between lanthanum oxide and lanthanum hydroxide. {yields} A doublet in O 1s of La{sub 2}O{sub 3} is ascribed to two distinct oxygen sites in the crystal. - Abstract: A technique is described for deposition of gold nanoparticles under vacuum, enabling consistent energy referencing of X-ray photoelectron spectra obtained from lanthanum hydroxide La(OH){sub 3} and in situ treated lanthanum oxide La{sub 2}O{sub 3} powders. A method is also presented for the separation of the overlapping lanthanum 3d and MNN peaks in X-ray photoelectron spectra acquired with Al K{alpha} radiation. The lower satellite intensity in La(OH){sub 3} compared to La{sub 2}O{sub 3} is related to the higher ionicity of the La-O bond in the former compared to the latter compound. The presence of an additional peak in the valence band spectrum of the hydroxide compared to the oxide is attributed to the O-H bond as indicated by density functional theory based calculations. A doublet in the O 1s peak of lanthanum oxide is associated to the presence of two distinct oxygen sites in the crystal structure of this compound.

  9. Thoracic radiography and oxidative stress indices in heartworm affected dogs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. K. Rath

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The aim was to study the pathomorphological changes through thoracic radiography and status of oxidative stress parameters in heartworm affected dogs in Odisha. Materials and Methods: A total of 16 dogs with clinically established diagnosis of dirofilariasis by wet blood smear and modified Knott’s test and equal numbers of dogs as control were included in this study. The present study was conducted in heartworm affected dogs to see the pathomorphological changes through thoracic radiography. Similarly, the evaluation was undertaken for observing any alterations in oxidative stress status in affected as well as non-affected, but healthy control dogs by adopting standard procedure. Results: Thoracic radiography revealed cardiac enlargement, round heart appearance suggestive of right ventricular hypertrophy, tortuous pulmonary artery and darkening of lungs. Alterations in oxidative stress indices showed a significant rise of lipid peroxidase activity, non-significant rise of superoxide dismutase and a significant although reverse trend for catalase levels in affected dogs in comparison to Dirofilaria negative control but apparently healthy dogs. Conclusions: Radiographic changes, as well as alterations in oxidative stress parameters, may not be diagnostic for heartworm infection, but useful for detecting heartworm disease, assessing severity and evaluating cardiopulmonary parenchyma changes and gives a fair idea about the degree of severity of the disease. It aids as contributing factors in disease pathogenesis.

  10. Multiple-valued logic design based on the multiple-peak BiCMOS-NDR circuits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kwang-Jow Gan

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Three different multiple-valued logic (MVL designs using the multiple-peak negative-differential-resistance (NDR circuits are investigated. The basic NDR element, which is made of several Si-based metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor (MOS and SiGe-based heterojunction-bipolar-transistor (HBT devices, can be implemented by using a standard BiCMOS process. These MVL circuits are designed based on the triggering-pulse control, saw-tooth input signal, and peak-control methods, respectively. However, there are some transient states existing between the multiple stable levels for the first two methods. These states might affect the circuit function in practical application. As a result, our proposed peak-control method for the MVL design can be used to overcome these transient states.

  11. Oxidative stress negatively affects human sperm mitochondrial respiration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferramosca, Alessandra; Pinto Provenzano, Sara; Montagna, Daniela Domenica; Coppola, Lamberto; Zara, Vincenzo

    2013-07-01

    To correlate the level of oxidative stress in serum and seminal fluid and the level of sperm deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragmentation with sperm mitochondrial respiratory efficiency. Sperm mitochondrial respiratory activity was evaluated with a polarographic assay of oxygen consumption carried out in hypotonically treated sperm cells. A possible relationship between sperm mitochondrial respiratory efficiency, the level of oxidative stress, and the level of sperm DNA fragmentation was investigated. Sperm motility was positively correlated with mitochondrial respiration but negatively correlated with oxidative stress and DNA fragmentation. Interestingly, sperm mitochondrial respiratory activity was negatively affected by oxidative stress and DNA fragmentation. Our data indicate that sperm mitochondrial respiration is decreased in patients with high levels of reactive oxygen species by an uncoupling between electron transport and adenosine triphosphate synthesis. This reduction in mitochondrial functionality might be 1 of the reasons responsible for the decrease in spermatozoa motility. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Drivers of peak sales for pharmaceutical brands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fischer, Marc; Leeflang, Peter S. H.; Verhoef, Peter C.

    2010-01-01

    Peak sales are an important metric in the pharmaceutical industry. Specifically, managers are focused on the height-of-peak-sales and the time required achieving peak sales. We analyze how order of entry and quality affect the level of peak sales and the time-to-peak-sales of pharmaceutical brands.

  13. Independent effects of endurance training and weight loss on peak fat oxidation in moderately overweight men

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nordby, Pernille; Rosenkilde, Mads; Ploug, Thorkil

    2015-01-01

    Endurance training increases peak fat oxidation (PFO) during exercise, but whether this is independent of changes in body weight is not known. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of endurance training with or without weight loss or a diet-induced weight loss on PFO...... and on key skeletal muscle mitochondrial proteins involved in fat oxidation. Sixty moderately overweight, sedentary but otherwise healthy men were randomized to 12 wk of training (T), diet (D), training and increased caloric intake (T-iD), or continuous sedentary control (C). Isoenergetic deficits...... corresponding to 600 kcal/day were comprised of endurance exercise for T and caloric restriction for D. T-iD completed similar training but was not in 600 kcal deficit because of dietary replacement. PFO and the exercise intensity at which this occurred (FatMax) were measured by a submaximal exercise test...

  14. The choice of homogenisation equipment affects lipid oxidation in emulsions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Horn, Anna Frisenfeldt; Nielsen, Nina Skall; Jensen, Louise Helene Søgaard

    2012-01-01

    in emulsions has been shown to be affected by the emulsification conditions. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of homogenisation equipment (microfluidizer vs. two-stage valve homogeniser) on lipid oxidation in 10% fish oil-in-water emulsions prepared with two different milk proteins....... Emulsions were prepared at pH 7 with similar droplet sizes. Results showed that the oxidative stability of emulsions prepared with sodium caseinate was not influenced by the type of homogeniser used. In contrast, the type of homogenisation equipment significantly influenced lipid oxidation when whey protein...

  15. Oxidative Stress Implications in the Affective Disorders: Main Biomarkers, Animal Models Relevance, Genetic Perspectives, and Antioxidant Approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balmus, Ioana Miruna; Ciobica, Alin; Antioch, Iulia; Dobrin, Romeo; Timofte, Daniel

    2016-01-01

    The correlation between the affective disorders and the almost ubiquitous pathological oxidative stress can be described in a multifactorial way, as an important mechanism of central nervous system impairment. Whether the obvious changes which occur in oxidative balance of the affective disorders are a part of the constitutive mechanism or a collateral effect yet remains as an interesting question. However it is now clear that oxidative stress is a component of these disorders, being characterized by different aspects in a disease-dependent manner. Still, there are a lot of controversies regarding the relevance of the oxidative stress status in most of the affective disorders and despite the fact that most of the studies are showing that the affective disorders development can be correlated to increased oxidative levels, there are various studies stating that oxidative stress is not linked with the mood changing tendencies. Thus, in this minireview we decided to describe the way in which oxidative stress is involved in the affective disorders development, by focusing on the main oxidative stress markers that could be used mechanistically and therapeutically in these deficiencies, the genetic perspectives, some antioxidant approaches, and the relevance of some animal models studies in this context.

  16. Nitrous oxide emissions affected by biochar and nitrogen stabilizers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Both biochar and N fertilizer stabilizers (N transformation inhibitors) are potential strategies to reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from fertilization, but the mechanisms and/or N transformation processes affecting the N dynamics are not fully understood. This research investigated N2O emission...

  17. Fatigue affects peak joint torque angle in hamstrings but not in quadriceps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coratella, Giuseppe; Bellin, Giuseppe; Beato, Marco; Schena, Federico

    2015-01-01

    Primary aim of this study was to investigate peak joint torque angle (i.e. the angle of peak torque) changes recorded during an isokinetic test before and after a fatiguing soccer match simulation. Secondarily we want to investigate functional Hecc:Qconc and conventional Hconc:Qconc ratio changes due to fatigue. Before and after a standardised soccer match simulation, twenty-two healthy male amateur soccer players performed maximal isokinetic strength tests both for hamstrings and for quadriceps muscles at 1.05 rad · s(‒1), 3.14 rad · s(‒1) and 5.24 rad · s(‒1). Peak joint torque angle, peak torque and both functional Hecc:Qconc and conventional Hconc:Qconc ratios were examined. Both dominant and non-dominant limbs were tested. Peak joint torque angle significantly increased only in knee flexors. Both eccentric and concentric contractions resulted in such increment, which occurred in both limbs. No changes were found in quadriceps peak joint torque angle. Participants experienced a significant decrease in torque both in hamstrings and in quadriceps. Functional Hecc:Qconc ratio was lower only in dominant limb at higher velocities, while Hconc:Qconc did not change. This study showed after specific fatiguing task changes in hamstrings only torque/angle relationship. Hamstrings injury risk could depend on altered torque when knee is close to extension, coupled with a greater peak torque decrement compared to quadriceps. These results suggest the use eccentric based training to prevent hamstrings shift towards shorter length.

  18. Analysis on factors affecting household customers decision in using electricity at peak time and its correlation towards saving electricity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasasa, Linus; Marbun, Parlin; Mariza, Ita

    2015-09-01

    The purpose of this paper is to study and analyse the factors affecting customer decisions in using electricity at peak-load hours (between 17.00 to 22.00 WIB) and their behaviors towards electricity conservation in Indonesian household. The underlying rationale is to influence a reduction in energy consumption by stimulating energy saving behaviors, thereby reducing the impact of energy use on the environment. How is the correlation between the decisions in using electricity during peak load hours with the household customer's behavior towards saving electricity? The primary data is obtained by distributing questionnaires to customers of PT. PLN Jakarta Raya and Tangerang Distribution from Household segment. The data is analysed using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) and AMOS Software. The research is finding that all factors (Personal, Social, PLN Services, Psychological, and Cultural) are positively influence customer decision in using electricity at peak load hours. There is a correlation between the decisions in using electricity during peak load hours with the household customer's behavior towards saving electricity.

  19. Peak tree: a new tool for multiscale hierarchical representation and peak detection of mass spectrometry data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Peng; Li, Houqiang; Wang, Honghui; Wong, Stephen T C; Zhou, Xiaobo

    2011-01-01

    Peak detection is one of the most important steps in mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. However, the detection result is greatly affected by severe spectrum variations. Unfortunately, most current peak detection methods are neither flexible enough to revise false detection results nor robust enough to resist spectrum variations. To improve flexibility, we introduce peak tree to represent the peak information in MS spectra. Each tree node is a peak judgment on a range of scales, and each tree decomposition, as a set of nodes, is a candidate peak detection result. To improve robustness, we combine peak detection and common peak alignment into a closed-loop framework, which finds the optimal decomposition via both peak intensity and common peak information. The common peak information is derived and loopily refined from the density clustering of the latest peak detection result. Finally, we present an improved ant colony optimization biomarker selection method to build a whole MS analysis system. Experiment shows that our peak detection method can better resist spectrum variations and provide higher sensitivity and lower false detection rates than conventional methods. The benefits from our peak-tree-based system for MS disease analysis are also proved on real SELDI data.

  20. Protein and lipid oxidation affect the viscoelasticity of whey protein layers at the oil-water interface

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berton-Carabin, Claire C.; Schroder, Anja; Rovalino-Cordova, Ana; Schroën, Karin; Sagis, Leonard

    2016-01-01

    Protein and lipid oxidation are prevailing issues that negatively affect the nutritional and sensory quality of food emulsions. It is probable that such oxidative modifications affect the functional properties of proteins, and in particular their ability to form densely packed, interconnected

  1. Does increased Nitric Oxide production and oxidative stress due to high fat diet affect cardiac function after myocardial infarction?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marjan Aghajani

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background &Objectives: High fat (HF diet by affecting the oxidative stress and nitric oxide (NO production may lead to different effects on function of the heart after myocardial infarction (MI. In the present study we aimed to address the hypothesis that high release of NO by activated macrophages affects LV function after MI.Methods: The animals were randomly divided into four groups comprising each of 10 rats: 1 Sham; 2 MI; 3 Sham+ HF diet; 4 MI+ HF diet. Animals fed with HF diet 30 days before sham and MI surgery. MI was induced by permanent ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD. Nitric oxide (NO production of peritoneal macrophages, the concentrations of MDA in the heart and the infarct size were measured.Results: Our study indicated that HF has adverse effects on myocardium and it may increase NO production as well as oxidative stress, resulting in augmentation of infarct size.Conclusion: Our results add to our knowledge that HF diet was associated with overproduction of NO by peritoneal macrophages and ROS that lead to development of infarct size and adverse remodeling.

  2. Lactation Affects Isolated Mitochondria and Its Fatty Acid Composition but Has No Effect on Tissue Protein Oxidation, Lipid Peroxidation or DNA-Damage in Laboratory Mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teresa G. Valencak

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Linking peak energy metabolism to lifespan and aging remains a major question especially when focusing on lactation in females. We studied, if and how lactation affects in vitro mitochondrial oxygen consumption and mitochondrial fatty acid composition. In addition, we assessed DNA damage, lipid peroxidation and protein carbonyls to extrapolate on oxidative stress in mothers. As model system we used C57BL/6NCrl mice and exposed lactating females to two ambient temperatures (15 °C and 22 °C while they nursed their offspring until weaning. We found that state II and state IV respiration rates of liver mitochondria were significantly higher in the lactating animals than in non-lactating mice. Fatty acid composition of isolated liver and heart mitochondria differed between lactating and non-lactating mice with higher n-6, and lower n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the lactating females. Surprisingly, lactation did not affect protein carbonyls, lipid peroxidation and DNA damage, nor did moderate cold exposure of 15 °C. We conclude that lactation increases rates of mitochondrial uncoupling and alters mitochondrial fatty acid composition thus supporting the “uncoupling to survive” hypothesis. Regarding oxidative stress, we found no impact of lactation and lower ambient temperature and contribute to growing evidence that there is no linear relationship between oxidative damage and lactation.

  3. Whole-body fat oxidation determined by graded exercise and indirect calorimetry: a role for muscle oxidative capacity?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nordby, P; Saltin, B; Helge, J W

    2006-01-01

    During whole-body exercise, peak fat oxidation occurs at a moderate intensity. This study investigated whole-body peak fat oxidation in untrained and trained subjects, and the presence of a relation between skeletal muscle oxidative enzyme activity and whole-body peak fat oxidation. Healthy male...... subjects were recruited and categorized into an untrained (N=8, VO(2max) 3.5+/-0.1 L/min) and a trained (N=8, VO(2max) 4.6+/-0.2 L/min) group. Subjects performed a graded exercise test commencing at 60 W for 8 min followed by 35 W increments every 3 min. On a separate day, muscle biopsies were obtained...... oxidation was determined. The body composition was determined by DEXA. Whole-body peak fat oxidation (250+/-25 and 462+/-33 mg/min) was higher (Ptrained compared with untrained subjects, respectively. Muscle...

  4. Probabilistic peak detection for first-order chromatographic data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lopatka, M.; Vivó-Truyols, G.; Sjerps, M.J.

    2014-01-01

    We present a novel algorithm for probabilistic peak detection in first-order chromatographic data. Unlike conventional methods that deliver a binary answer pertaining to the expected presence or absence of a chromatographic peak, our method calculates the probability of a point being affected by

  5. Graphene Oxide from Carbon Rod Waste

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahmawati, F.; Prasasti, B. L. W.; Mudjijono, M.

    2018-03-01

    Carbon rods extracted from Zn-C primary battery waste was used as raw material for graphene oxide (GO) synthesis. The synthesis used a modified Hummers method by providing potassium permanganate-sulfuric acid as the oxidizing agent. XRD analysis confirms a significant change between the graphite waste pattern and the produced graphene oxide pattern. A major peak at 2θ 27 ° which present in the graphite waste pattern is disappeared after it converts to the product, as well as a broad peak under 25 ° referring the presence of amorphous carbon. A broad peak at low angle of 12.02 ° dominantly present in the prepared GO pattern as a characteristic peak of GO. Meanwhile, some small peaks at 2θ of 17.76 °, 28.58 °, and 37.28 ° confirming the presence of manganese oxide which was used as oxidizing agent. A sharp peak at 1700 – 1500 cm-1 in the FT-IR spectrum indicates the presence of –C=O group, and at 1600 cm-1 refers to –C=C group. It confirms that this research has produced the targeted GO. Even though, the purity is need to be enhanced by removing the rest of oxidizing agent that still exist in the material.

  6. Degree of conversion of resin-based materials cured with dual-peak or single-peak LED light-curing units.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucey, Siobhan M; Santini, Ario; Roebuck, Elizabeth M

    2015-03-01

    There is a lack of data on polymerization of resin-based materials (RBMs) used in paediatric dentistry, using dual-peak light-emitting diode (LED) light-curing units (LCUs). To evaluate the degree of conversion (DC) of RBMs cured with dual-peak or single-peak LED LCUs. Samples of Vit-l-escence (Ultradent) and Herculite XRV Ultra (Kerr) and fissure sealants Delton Clear and Delton Opaque (Dentsply) were prepared (n = 3 per group) and cured with either one of two dual-peak LCUs (bluephase(®) G2; Ivoclar Vivadent or Valo; Ultradent) or a single-peak (bluephase(®) ; Ivoclar Vivadent). High-performance liquid chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were used to confirm the presence or absence of initiators other than camphorquinone. The DC was determined using micro-Raman spectroscopy. Data were analysed using general linear model anova; α = 0.05. With Herculite XRV Ultra, the single-peak LCU gave higher DC values than either of the two dual-peak LCUs (P < 0.05). Both fissure sealants showed higher DC compared with the two RBMs (P < 0.05); the DC at the bottom of the clear sealant was greater than the opaque sealant, (P < 0.05). 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyldiphenylphosphine oxide (Lucirin(®) TPO) was found only in Vit-l-escence. Dual-peak LED LCUs may not be best suited for curing non-Lucirin(®) TPO-containing materials. A clear sealant showed a better cure throughout the material and may be more appropriate than opaque versions in deep fissures. © 2014 BSPD, IAPD and John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Superoxide dismutase levels and peak expiratory flow in asthmatic children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arie Kurniasih

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Background Asthma is a chronic inflammatory process which involve variety of cells such as inflammatory mediators, reactive oxygen species (ROS, and cytokines. The inflammatory process would be exacerbated in the presence of oxidative stress. Superoxide dismutase (SOD is the first important enzyme to protect the respiratory tract against oxidative stress. The decreased of SOD has a correlation with increased of airway obstruction and bronchospasm. Objective To assess for a correlation between superoxide dismutase (SOD levels and peak expiratory flow, as well as to determine the impact of SOD levels for predicting asthma attacks. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study at Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta, between February and April 2011 involving asthmatic children aged 5-18 years. Subjects’ serum SOD levels and peak expiratory flow were measured at the same time point. We then performed a prospective study following up on the same subjects to find out if they had a recurrent asthma attack within one month of the tests. We also reassessed their peak expiratory flow one month after blood specimens were obtained. Results Thirty-nine patients were enrolled in this study. There was no significant correlation between SOD level and peak expiratory flow [r=0.289; 95%CI -0.025 to 0.47; P=0.074]. However, older age was significantly associated with higher peak expiratory flow (=0.5; 95%CI 3.10 to 11.57; P=0.01. Lower levels of SOD increased the risk of asthma attacks in a month following the initial measurements (RR=5.5; 95%CI 1.6 to 18.9; P=0.009. Conclusion Superoxide dismutase (SOD level is not significantly associated with peak expiratory flow. However, we find a relationship between older age and higher peak expiratory flow and a relationship between lower SOD levels and risk of asthma attacks within one month following the tests.

  8. Probabilistic peak detection for first-order chromatographic data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopatka, M; Vivó-Truyols, G; Sjerps, M J

    2014-03-19

    We present a novel algorithm for probabilistic peak detection in first-order chromatographic data. Unlike conventional methods that deliver a binary answer pertaining to the expected presence or absence of a chromatographic peak, our method calculates the probability of a point being affected by such a peak. The algorithm makes use of chromatographic information (i.e. the expected width of a single peak and the standard deviation of baseline noise). As prior information of the existence of a peak in a chromatographic run, we make use of the statistical overlap theory. We formulate an exhaustive set of mutually exclusive hypotheses concerning presence or absence of different peak configurations. These models are evaluated by fitting a segment of chromatographic data by least-squares. The evaluation of these competing hypotheses can be performed as a Bayesian inferential task. We outline the potential advantages of adopting this approach for peak detection and provide several examples of both improved performance and increased flexibility afforded by our approach. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Biochar type and factors affecting N transformation, ammonia volatilization, and nitrous oxide emissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soil amendment with biochar has shown the potential to improve nitrogen (N) availability for plant uptake and reduce environmental losses via ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. There are still many unknowns on how biochar type and soil conditions affect N dynamics and processes associa...

  10. How Gold Deposition Affects Anatase Performance in the Photo-catalytic Oxidation of Cyclohexane

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Carneiro, J.T.; Carneiro, Joana T.; Yang, Chieh-Chao; Moma, John A.; Moulijn, Jacob A.; Mul, Guido

    2009-01-01

    Gold deposition on Hombikat UV100 was found to negatively affect the activity of this Anatase catalyst in selective photo-oxidation of cyclohexane. By ammonia TPD and DRIFT spectroscopy it was determined that the Au deposition procedure leads to a significant decrease in OH-group density (mol m−2

  11. Attenuated Increase in Maximal Force of Rat Medial Gastrocnemius Muscle after Concurrent Peak Power and Endurance Training

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Regula Furrer

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Improvement of muscle peak power and oxidative capacity are generally presumed to be mutually exclusive. However, this may not be valid by using fibre type-specific recruitment. Since rat medial gastrocnemius muscle (GM is composed of high and low oxidative compartments which are recruited task specifically, we hypothesised that the adaptive responses to peak power training were unaffected by additional endurance training. Thirty rats were subjected to either no training (control, peak power training (PT, or both peak power and endurance training (PET, which was performed on a treadmill 5 days per week for 6 weeks. Maximal running velocity increased 13.5% throughout the training and was similar in both training groups. Only after PT, GM maximal force was 10% higher than that of the control group. In the low oxidative compartment, mRNA levels of myostatin and MuRF-1 were higher after PT as compared to those of control and PET groups, respectively. Phospho-S6 ribosomal protein levels remained unchanged, suggesting that the elevated myostatin levels after PT did not inhibit mTOR signalling. In conclusion, even by using task-specific recruitment of the compartmentalized rat GM, additional endurance training interfered with the adaptive response of peak power training and attenuated the increase in maximal force after power training.

  12. Peak load arrangements : Assessment of Nordel guidelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2009-07-01

    taken after consultation with parties in other Nordic countries, and involving also regulators and TSOs. In NordREG's view there are basically three principles that should be guiding any decision to introduce peak load arrangements in the Nordic countries: i), the peak load arrangements should be introduced only in situations when security of supply cannot be met without these arrangements. Since the decision to introduce peak load arrangements might be of a political/legal nature, the length of such arrangement cannot be fixed. However, there should be a regular evaluation by the competent authority of any need or prolonged need for peak load arrangements and its effects of price formation in the Nordic market. ii), when peak load arrangements are introduced they should be designed to minimize the adverse effects on price formation in the Nordic market. Furthermore, if there are to be peak load arrangements, there might be a need for how to distinguish these peak load reserves from other reserves at the disposal of the TSOs. However, this issue needs further discussions and development. iii), Nordic consultation should be carried out where the views of all relevant authorities and stake holders in the market affected are invited. It is recommended that the governments consult with their Nordic counter parties before submitting legal proposals on peak load arrangements affecting Nordic price formation. These consultations should also be with regulators and TSOs who are involved in the design of the actual peak load arrangements. (Author)

  13. Addition of Fish Oil to Cream Cheese Affects Lipid Oxidation, Sensory Stability and Microstructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andy Horsewell

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to investigate the differences in the oxidative stability during storage of fish oil enriched cream cheeses when fish oil was added either as neat oil or pre-emulsified oil with sodium caseinate, whey protein isolate, or a combination of milk proteins and phospholipids as emulsifier. Results showed that the addition of fish oil decreased the oxidative stability of cream cheeses regardless of the addition method, especially when the cheese was stored longer than five weeks. The oxidative stability of fish oil enriched cream cheeses was highest when fish oil was added as neat oil or in a delivery emulsion prepared with a combination of milk proteins and phospholipids. Adding the fish oil in a delivery emulsion prepared with whey protein or caseinate resulted in a less oxidative stable product. It was furthermore shown that the microstructure of the cream cheeses was affected by fish oil addition, and it was suggested that the change in microstructure was partly responsible for the oxidative stability of the cream cheeses.

  14. Monitoring the oxidation of nuclear fuel cladding using Raman spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mi, Hongyi; Mikael, Solomon; Allen, Todd; Sridharan, Kumar; Butt, Darryl; Blanchard, James P.; Ma, Zhenqiang

    2014-01-01

    In order to observe Zircaloy-4 (Zr-4) cladding oxidation within a spent fuel canister, cladding oxidized in air at 500 °C was investigated by micro-Raman spectroscopy to measure the oxide layer thickness. Systematic Raman scans were performed to study the relationship between typical Raman spectra and various oxide layer thicknesses. The thicknesses of the oxide layers developed for various exposure times were measured by cross-sectional Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results of this work reveal that each oxide layer thickness has a corresponding typical Raman spectrum. Detailed analysis suggests that the Raman scattering peaks around wave numbers of 180 cm −1 and 630 cm −1 are the best choices for accurately determining the oxide layer thickness. After Gaussian–Lorentzian deconvolution, these two peaks can be quantitatively represented by four peaks. The intensities of the deconvoluted peaks increase consistently as the oxide layer becomes thicker and sufficiently strong signals are produced, allowing one to distinguish the bare and oxidized cladding samples, as well as samples with different oxide layer thicknesses. Hence, a process that converts sample oxide layer thickness to optical signals can be achieved

  15. The partial pressure of oxygen affects biomarkers of oxidative stress in cultured rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hepatocytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finne, E F; Olsvik, P A; Berntssen, M H G; Hylland, K; Tollefsen, K E

    2008-09-01

    Oxidative stress, the imbalance between production of reactive oxygen species and the cellular detoxification of these reactive compounds, is believed to be involved in the pathology of various diseases. Several biomarkers for oxidative stress have been proposed to serve as tools in toxicological and ecotoxicological research. Not only may exposure to various pro-oxidants create conditions of cellular oxidative stress, but hyperoxic conditions may also increase the production of reactive oxygen species. The objective of the current study was to determine the extent to which differences in oxygen partial pressure would affect biomarkers of oxidative stress in a primary culture of hepatocytes from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Membrane integrity, metabolic activity, levels of total and oxidized glutathione (tGSH/GSSG) was determined, as well as mRNA expression levels of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GSSG-R), gamma-glutamyl-cystein synthetase (GCS) and thioredoxin (TRX). The results show that different biomarkers of oxidative stress are affected when the cell culture is exposed to atmospheric oxygen, and that changes such as increased GSSG content and induction of GSSG-R and GSH-Px can be reduced by culturing the cells under lower oxygen tension. Oxygen tension may thus influence results of in vitro based cell research and is particularly important when assessing parameters in the antioxidant defence system. Further research is needed to establish the magnitude of this effect in different cellular systems.

  16. Surface oxidation on thin films affects ionization cross section induced by proton beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bertol, Ana Paula Lamberti; Vasconcellos, M.A.Z.; Hinrichs, Ruth; Limandri, Silvina; Trincavelli, Jorge

    2012-01-01

    Full text: In microanalysis techniques such as Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE), the transformation from intensity to concentration is made by standard less software that needs exact values of fundamental parameters such as the ionization cross section, transition probabilities of the different electronic levels, and fluorescent yield. The three parameters together measure the photon generating probability of an electronic transition and can be determined experimentally under the name of production cross section. These measurements are performed on thin films, with thickness around 10 nm, but most studies do not take into account any spontaneous surface oxidation. In this work, in the attempt to obtain cross section values of Al, Si and Ti, in metallic and oxide films, the influence of surface oxidation on the metallic films was established. Simulations considering the oxidation with the software SIMNRA on the Rutherford backscattering (RBS) spectra obtained from the films provided mass thickness values used to calculate the cross section data that were compared with theoretical values (PWBA and ECPSSR), and with experimental values and empirical adjustments from other studies. The inclusion of the natural oxidation affects the values of cross section, and may be one of the causes of discrepancies between the experimental values published in literature. (author)

  17. Application of direct peak analysis to energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nielson, K.K.

    1977-07-01

    A modified Covell method for direct peak analysis has been applied to energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectra. The method is background independent and is well-suited to computerized data reduction. It provides acceptable precision, minimizes errors from instrumental gain shift, and permits peak overlap correction. Peak overlap errors exhibit both positive and negative nodes as a function of peak separation distance, and are corrected using concentration ratios determined from thin, single-element standards. Peak precisions and overlaps are evaluated as a function of window width to aid in width selection. Least-square polynomial smoothing prior to peak analysis significantly improves peak area precisions without significantly affecting their accuracies

  18. Energy and public health: the challenge of peak petroleum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frumkin, Howard; Hess, Jeremy; Vindigni, Stephen

    2009-01-01

    Petroleum is a unique and essential energy source, used as the principal fuel for transportation, in producing many chemicals, and for numerous other purposes. Global petroleum production is expected to reach a maximum in the near future and to decline thereafter, a phenomenon known as "peak petroleum." This article reviews petroleum geology and uses, describes the phenomenon of peak petroleum, and reviews the scientific literature on the timing of this transition. It then discusses how peak petroleum may affect public health and health care, by reference to four areas: medical supplies and equipment, transportation, energy generation, and food production. Finally, it suggests strategies for anticipating and preparing for peak petroleum, both general public health preparedness strategies and actions specific to the four expected health system impacts.

  19. Does prior acute exercise affect postexercise substrate oxidation in response to a high carbohydrate meal?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hickey Matthew S

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Consumption of a mixed meal increases postprandial carbohydrate utilization and decreases fat oxidation. On the other hand, acute endurance exercise increases fat oxidation and decreases carbohydrate utilization during the post-exercise recovery period. It is possible that the resulting post-exercise increase in circulating nonesterified fatty acids could attenuate the ability of ingested carbohydrate to inhibit lipid oxidation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether prior exercise attenuates the usual meal-induced decline in lipid oxidation. Methods Six healthy, physically active young subjects (x age = 26.3 years, 4 males, 2 females completed three treatments in random order after a ~10 h fast: (a Exercise/Carbohydrate (Ex/CHO – subjects completed a bout of exercise at 70% VO2peak (targeted net energy cost of 400 kcals, followed by consumption of a carbohydrate-rich meal; (b Exercise/Placebo (Ex/Placebo – subjects completed an identical bout of exercise followed by consumption of a placebo; and (c No Exercise/Carbohydrate (NoEx/CHO – subjects sat quietly rather than exercising and then consumed the carbohydrate-rich meal. Blood samples were obtained before and during the postprandial period to determine plasma glucose, insulin, and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA. Respiratory gas exchange measures were used to estimate rates of fat and carbohydrate oxidation. Results Plasma NEFA were approximately two-fold higher immediately following the two exercise conditions compared to the no-exercise condition, while meal consumption significantly increased insulin and glucose in both Ex/CHO and NoEx/CHO. NEFA concentrations fell rapidly during the 2-h postprandial period, but remained higher compared to the NoEx/CHO treatment. Carbohydrate oxidation increased rapidly and fat oxidation decreased in response to the meal, with no differences in the rates of carbohydrate and fat oxidation during recovery between the Ex

  20. [A peak recognition algorithm designed for chromatographic peaks of transformer oil].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ou, Linjun; Cao, Jian

    2014-09-01

    In the field of the chromatographic peak identification of the transformer oil, the traditional first-order derivative requires slope threshold to achieve peak identification. In terms of its shortcomings of low automation and easy distortion, the first-order derivative method was improved by applying the moving average iterative method and the normalized analysis techniques to identify the peaks. Accurate identification of the chromatographic peaks was realized through using multiple iterations of the moving average of signal curves and square wave curves to determine the optimal value of the normalized peak identification parameters, combined with the absolute peak retention times and peak window. The experimental results show that this algorithm can accurately identify the peaks and is not sensitive to the noise, the chromatographic peak width or the peak shape changes. It has strong adaptability to meet the on-site requirements of online monitoring devices of dissolved gases in transformer oil.

  1. Electrochemical Deposition of Platinum and Palladium on Gold Nanoparticles Loaded Carbon Nanotube Support for Oxidation Reactions in Fuel Cell

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Surin Saipanya

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Pt and Pd sequentially electrodeposited Au nanoparticles loaded carbon nanotube (Au-CNT was prepared for the electrocatalytic study of methanol, ethanol, and formic acid oxidations. All electrochemical measurements were carried out in a three-electrode cell. A platinum wire and Ag/AgCl were used as auxiliary and reference electrodes, respectively. Suspension of the Au-CNT, phosphate buffer, isopropanol, and Nafion was mixed and dropped on glassy carbon as a working electrode. By sequential deposition method, PdPtPt/Au-CNT, PtPdPd/Au-CNT, and PtPdPt/Au-CNT catalysts were prepared. Cyclic voltammograms (CVs of those catalysts in 1 M H2SO4 solution showed hydrogen adsorption and hydrogen desorption reactions. CV responses for those three catalysts in methanol, ethanol, and formic acid electrooxidations studied in 2 M CH3OH, CH3CH2OH, and HCOOH in 1 M H2SO4 show characteristic oxidation peaks. The oxidation peaks at anodic scan contribute to those organic substance oxidations while the peaks at cathodic scan are related with the reoxidation of the adsorbed carbonaceous species. Comparing all those three catalysts, it can be found that the PdPtPt/Au-CNT catalyst is good at methanol oxidation; the PtPdPt/Au-CNT effectively enhances ethanol oxidation while the PtPdPd/Au-CNT exceptionally catalyzes formic acid oxidation. Therefore, a different stoichiometry affects the electrochemical active surface area of the catalysts to achieve the catalytic oxidation reactions.

  2. Attenuated increase in maximal force of rat medial gastrocnemius muscle after concurrent peak power and endurance training

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Furrer, R.; Jaspers, R.T.; Baggerman, H.L.; Bravenboer, N.; Lips, P.; de Haan, A.

    2013-01-01

    Improvement of muscle peak power and oxidative capacity are generally presumed to be mutually exclusive. However, this may not be valid by using fibre type-specific recruitment. Since rat medial gastrocnemius muscle (GM) is composed of high and low oxidative compartments which are recruited task

  3. Consumption of Oxidized Soybean Oil Increased Intestinal Oxidative Stress and Affected Intestinal Immune Variables in Yellow-feathered Broilers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fangfang Liang

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the effect of oxidized soybean oil in the diet of young chickens on growth performance and intestinal oxidative stress, and indices of intestinal immune function. Corn-soybean-based diets containing 2% mixtures of fresh and oxidized soybean oil provided 6 levels (0.15, 1.01, 3.14, 4.95, 7.05, and 8.97 meqO2/kg of peroxide value (POV in the diets. Each dietary treatment, fed for 22 d, had 6 replicates, each containing 30 birds (n = 1,080. Increasing POV levels reduced average daily feed intake (ADFI of the broilers during d 1 to 10, body weight and average daily gain at d 22 but did not affect overall ADFI. Concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA increased in plasma and jejunum as POV increased but total antioxidative capacity (T-AOC declined in plasma and jejunum. Catalase (CAT activity declined in plasma and jejunum as did plasma glutathione S-transferase (GST. Effects were apparent at POV exceeding 3.14 meqO2/kg for early ADFI and MDA in jejunum, and POV exceeding 1.01 meqO2/kg for CAT in plasma and jejunum, GST in plasma and T-AOC in jejunum. Relative jejunal abundance of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB P50 and NF-κB P65 increased as dietary POV increased. Increasing POV levels reduced the jejunal concentrations of secretory immunoglobulin A and cluster of differentiation (CD 4 and CD8 molecules with differences from controls apparent at dietary POV of 3.14 to 4.95 meqO2/kg. These findings indicated that growth performance, feed intake, and the local immune system of the small intestine were compromised by oxidative stress when young broilers were fed moderately oxidized soybean oil.

  4. Economic effects of peak oil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lutz, Christian; Lehr, Ulrike; Wiebe, Kirsten S.

    2012-01-01

    Assuming that global oil production peaked, this paper uses scenario analysis to show the economic effects of a possible supply shortage and corresponding rise in oil prices in the next decade on different sectors in Germany and other major economies such as the US, Japan, China, the OPEC or Russia. Due to the price-inelasticity of oil demand the supply shortage leads to a sharp increase in oil prices in the second scenario, with high effects on GDP comparable to the magnitude of the global financial crises in 2008/09. Oil exporting countries benefit from high oil prices, whereas oil importing countries are negatively affected. Generally, the effects in the third scenario are significantly smaller than in the second, showing that energy efficiency measures and the switch to renewable energy sources decreases the countries' dependence on oil imports and hence reduces their vulnerability to oil price shocks on the world market. - Highlights: ► National and sectoral economic effects of peak oil until 2020 are modelled. ► The price elasticity of oil demand is low resulting in high price fluctuations. ► Oil shortage strongly affects transport and indirectly all other sectors. ► Global macroeconomic effects are comparable to the 2008/2009 crisis. ► Country effects depend on oil imports and productivity, and economic structures.

  5. How would peak rainfall intensity affect runoff predictions using conceptual water balance models?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Yu

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Most hydrological models use continuous daily precipitation and potential evapotranspiration for streamflow estimation. With the projected increase in mean surface temperature, hydrological processes are set to intensify irrespective of the underlying changes to the mean precipitation. The effect of an increase in rainfall intensity on the long-term water balance is, however, not adequately accounted for in the commonly used hydrological models. This study follows from a previous comparative analysis of a non-stationary daily series of stream flow of a forested watershed (River Rimbaud in the French Alps (area = 1.478 km2 (1966–2006. Non-stationarity in the recorded stream flow occurred as a result of a severe wild fire in 1990. Two daily models (AWBM and SimHyd were initially calibrated for each of three distinct phases in relation to the well documented land disturbance. At the daily and monthly time scales, both models performed satisfactorily with the Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (NSE varying from 0.77 to 0.92. When aggregated to the annual time scale, both models underestimated the flow by about 22% with a reduced NSE at about 0.71. Exploratory data analysis was undertaken to relate daily peak hourly rainfall intensity to the discrepancy between the observed and modelled daily runoff amount. Preliminary results show that the effect of peak hourly rainfall intensity on runoff prediction is insignificant, and model performance is unlikely to improve when peak daily precipitation is included. Trend analysis indicated that the large decrease of precipitation when daily precipitation amount exceeded 10–20 mm may have contributed greatly to the decrease in stream flow of this forested watershed.

  6. Probabilistic model for untargeted peak detection in LC-MS using Bayesian statistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Woldegebriel, M.; Vivó-Truyols, G.

    2015-01-01

    We introduce a novel Bayesian probabilistic peak detection algorithm for liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC-MS). The final probabilistic result allows the user to make a final decision about which points in a 2 chromatogram are affected by a chromatographic peak and which ones are only

  7. Probabilistic Model for Untargeted Peak Detection in LC-MS Using Bayesian Statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woldegebriel, Michael; Vivó-Truyols, Gabriel

    2015-07-21

    We introduce a novel Bayesian probabilistic peak detection algorithm for liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS). The final probabilistic result allows the user to make a final decision about which points in a chromatogram are affected by a chromatographic peak and which ones are only affected by noise. The use of probabilities contrasts with the traditional method in which a binary answer is given, relying on a threshold. By contrast, with the Bayesian peak detection presented here, the values of probability can be further propagated into other preprocessing steps, which will increase (or decrease) the importance of chromatographic regions into the final results. The present work is based on the use of the statistical overlap theory of component overlap from Davis and Giddings (Davis, J. M.; Giddings, J. Anal. Chem. 1983, 55, 418-424) as prior probability in the Bayesian formulation. The algorithm was tested on LC-MS Orbitrap data and was able to successfully distinguish chemical noise from actual peaks without any data preprocessing.

  8. Temperature experienced during incubation affects antioxidant capacity but not oxidative damage in hatchling red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treidel, L A; Carter, A W; Bowden, R M

    2016-02-01

    Our understanding of how oxidative stress resistance phenotypes are affected by the developmental environment is limited. One component of the developmental environment, which is likely central to early life oxidative stress among ectothermic and oviparous species, is that of temperature. We investigated how incubation temperature manipulations affect oxidative damage and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) hatchlings. First, to determine whether temperature fluctuations elicit oxidative stress, eggs from clutches were randomly assigned to either a constant (29.5 °C) or daily fluctuating temperature incubation (28.7 ± 3 °C) treatment. Second, to assess the effect of temperature fluctuation frequency on oxidative stress, eggs were incubated in one of three fluctuating incubation regimes: 28.7 ± 3 °C fluctuations every 12 h (hyper), 24 h (normal) or 48 h (hypo). Third, we tested the influence of average incubation temperature by incubating eggs in a daily fluctuating incubation temperature regime with a mean temperature of 26.5 °C (low), 27.1 °C (medium) or 27.7 °C (high). Although the accumulation of oxidative damage in hatchlings was unaffected by any thermal manipulation, TAC was affected by both temperature fluctuation frequency and average incubation temperature. Individuals incubated with a low frequency of temperature fluctuations had reduced TAC, while incubation at a lower average temperature was associated with enhanced TAC. These results indicate that although sufficient to prevent oxidative damage, TAC is influenced by developmental thermal environments, potentially because of temperature-mediated changes in metabolic rate. The observed differences in TAC may have important future consequences for hatchling fitness and overwinter survival. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  9. Copper oxide thin films anchored on glass substrate by sol gel spin coating technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishnaprabha, M.; Venu, M. Parvathy; Pattabi, Manjunatha

    2018-05-01

    Owing to the excellent optical, thermal, electrical and photocatalytic properties, copper oxide nanoparticles/films have found applications in optoelectronic devices like solar/photovoltaic cells, lithium ion batteries, gas sensors, catalysts, magnetic storage media etc. Copper oxide is a p-type semiconductor material having a band gap energy varying from 1.2 eV-2.1 eV. Syzygium Samarangense fruit extract was used as reducing agent to synthesize copper oxide nanostructures at room temperature from 10 mM copper sulphate pentahydrate solution. The synthesized nanostructures are deposited onto glass substrate by spin coating followed by annealing the film at 200 °C. Both the copper oxide colloid and films are characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. Presence of 2 peaks at 500 nm and a broad peak centered around 800 nm in the UV-Vis absorbance spectra of copper oxide colloid/films is indicative of the formation of anisotropic copper oxide nanostructures is confirmed by the FESEM images which showed the presence of triangular shaped and rod shaped particles. The rod shaped particles inside island like structures were found in unannealed films whereas the annealed films contained different shaped particles with reduced sizes. The elemental analysis using EDS spectra of copper oxide nanoparticles/films showed the presence of both copper and oxygen. Electrical properties of copper oxide nanoparticles are affected due to quantum size effect. The electrical studies carried out on both unannealed and annealed copper oxide films revealed an increase in resistivity with annealing of the films.

  10. Mechanism of glucose electrochemical oxidation on gold surface

    KAUST Repository

    Pasta, Mauro; La Mantia, Fabio; Cui, Yi

    2010-01-01

    The complex oxidation of glucose at the surface of gold electrodes was studied in detail in different conditions of pH, buffer and halide concentration. As observed in previous studies, an oxidative current peak occurs during the cathodic sweep showing a highly linear dependence on glucose concentration, when other electrolyte conditions are unchanged. The effect of the different conditions on the intensity of this peak has stressed the limitations of the previously proposed mechanisms. A mechanism able to explain the presence of this oxidative peak was proposed. The mechanism takes into account ion-sorption and electrochemical adsorption of OH-, buffer species (K2HPO4/KH2PO4) and halides. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Mechanism of glucose electrochemical oxidation on gold surface

    KAUST Repository

    Pasta, Mauro

    2010-08-01

    The complex oxidation of glucose at the surface of gold electrodes was studied in detail in different conditions of pH, buffer and halide concentration. As observed in previous studies, an oxidative current peak occurs during the cathodic sweep showing a highly linear dependence on glucose concentration, when other electrolyte conditions are unchanged. The effect of the different conditions on the intensity of this peak has stressed the limitations of the previously proposed mechanisms. A mechanism able to explain the presence of this oxidative peak was proposed. The mechanism takes into account ion-sorption and electrochemical adsorption of OH-, buffer species (K2HPO4/KH2PO4) and halides. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Au Nanoparticle Sub-Monolayers Sandwiched between Sol-Gel Oxide Thin Films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Della Gaspera, Enrico; Menin, Enrico; Sada, Cinzia

    2018-01-01

    Sub-monolayers of monodisperse Au colloids with different surface coverage have been embedded in between two different metal oxide thin films, combining sol-gel depositions and proper substrates functionalization processes. The synthetized films were TiO2, ZnO, and NiO. X-ray diffraction shows the crystallinity of all the oxides and verifies the nominal surface coverage of Au colloids. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the metal nanoparticles is affected by both bottom and top oxides: in fact, the SPR peak of Au that is sandwiched between two different oxides is centered between the SPR frequencies of Au sub-monolayers covered with only one oxide, suggesting that Au colloids effectively lay in between the two oxide layers. The desired organization of Au nanoparticles and the morphological structure of the prepared multi-layered structures has been confirmed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analyses that show a high quality sandwich structure. The multi-layered structures have been also tested as optical gas sensors. PMID:29538338

  13. Changes in peak fat oxidation in response to different doses of endurance training

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Mads Rosenkilde; Reichkendler, M H; Auerbach, P

    2015-01-01

    enzymes determined by Western blotting. PFO increased in both MOD [1.2 mg/kg fat-free mass (FFM)/min, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.08:2.3, P = 0.03] and HIGH (1.8 mg/kg FFM/min, CI: 0.6:2.9, P ..., and mitochondrial oxphos complexes II-V increased similarly in MOD and HIGH. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis with backward elimination of individual variables correlated with changes in PFO revealed increases in cycling efficiency, FFM, and VO2 peak as the remaining associated variables. In conclusion......, PFO during exercise increased with both moderate- and high-dose endurance training. Increases in PFO were mainly predicted by changes in VO2 peak, FFM, and cycling efficiency, and less with skeletal muscle mitochondrial enzymes....

  14. Microstructure of titanium oxide films synthesized by ion beam dynamic mixing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Makino, Y.; Setsuhara, Y.; Miyake, S.

    1994-01-01

    The microstructure of titanium oxide films synthesized by the ion beam dynamic mixing (IBDM) method is investigated by glancing angle X-ray diffraction and multi-reflectance FT-IR methods. Titanium oxide films are identified as rutile phases having different degrees of (110) orientation. The IBDM rutile phase with a standard crystalline state is produced by controlling the ratio of the intensities between the (110) and (101) peaks of the rutile, I(110)/I(101), so as to approach the ratio to the value (=2.0) of ASTM standard rutile. The crystallite size of the rutile phase increases with increasing ratio of intensities of the two XRD peaks, I(110)/I(101). The increase of the crystallite size is suggested to be attributed to the increase of oxygen ion energy per Ti atom. From the dependence of the IR absorption near 500 cm -1 upon I(110)/I(101), it is indicated that the Ti-O bond strength is delicately affected by the degree of (110) orientation of the IBDM rultile phase. ((orig.))

  15. Effects of equipment and technique on peak flow measurements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O'Driscoll B Ronan

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Different lung function equipment and different respiratory manoeuvres may produce different Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF results. Although the PEF is the most common lung function test, there have been few studies of these effects and no previous study has evaluated both factors in a single group of patients. Methods We studied 36 subjects (PEF range 80–570 l/min. All patients recorded PEF measurements using a short rapid expiration following maximal inspiration (PEF technique or a forced maximal expiration to residual volume (FVC technique. Measurements were made using a Wright's peak flow meter, a turbine spirometer and a Fleisch pneumotachograph spirometer. Results The mean PEF was 8.7% higher when the PEF technique was used (compared with FVC technique, p Conclusion Peak flow measurements are affected by the instruction given and by the device and Peak Flow scale used. Patient management decisions should not be based on PEF measurement made on different instruments.

  16. Peak-interviewet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Raalskov, Jesper; Warming-Rasmussen, Bent

    Peak-interviewet er en særlig effektiv metode til at gøre ubevidste menneskelige ressourcer bevidste. Fokuspersonen (den interviewede) interviewes om en selvvalgt, personlig succesoplevelse. Terapeuten/coachen (intervieweren) spørger ind til processen, som ledte hen til denne succes. Herved afdæk...... fokuspersonen ønsker at tage op (nye mål eller nye processer). Nærværende workingpaper beskriver, hvad der menes med et peak-interview, peakinterviwets teoretiske fundament samt metodikken til at foretage et tillidsfuldt og effektiv peak-interview....

  17. Characterization of oxide layers on amorphous Mg-based alloys by Auger electron spectroscopy with sputter depth profiling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baunack, S.; Wolff, U. [Leibniz-Institut fuer Festkoerper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden, Postfach 270016, 01171, Dresden (Germany); Subba Rao, R.V. [Indira Ghandi Centre for Atomic Research, 603 102, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu (India)

    2003-04-01

    Amorphous ribbons of Mg-Y-TM-[Ag](TM: Cu, Ni), prepared by melt spinning, were subjected to electrochemical investigations. Oxide layers formed anodically under potentiostatic control in different electrolytes were investigated by AES and sputter depth profiling. Problems and specific features of characterization of the composition of oxide layers and amorphous ternary or quaternary Mg-based alloys have been investigated. In the alloys the Mg(KL{sub 23}L{sub 23}) peak exhibits a different shape compared to that in the pure element. Analysis of the peak of elastically scattered electrons proved the absence of plasmon loss features, characteristic of pure Mg, in the alloy. A different loss feature emerges in Mg(KL{sub 23}L{sub 23}) and Cu(L{sub 23}VV). The system Mg-Y-TM-[Ag] suffers preferential sputtering. Depletion of Mg and enrichment of TM and Y are found. This is attributed mainly to the preferential sputtering of Mg. Thickness and composition of the formed oxide layer depend on the electrochemical treatment. After removing the oxide by sputtering the concentration of the underlying alloy was found to be affected by the treatment. (orig.)

  18. 'Peak oil' or 'peak demand'?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chevallier, Bruno; Moncomble, Jean-Eudes; Sigonney, Pierre; Vially, Rolland; Bosseboeuf, Didier; Chateau, Bertrand

    2012-01-01

    This article reports a workshop which addressed several energy issues like the objectives and constraints of energy mix scenarios, the differences between the approaches in different countries, the cost of new technologies implemented for this purposes, how these technologies will be developed and marketed, which will be the environmental and societal acceptability of these technical choices. Different aspects and issues have been more precisely presented and discussed: the peak oil, development of shale gases and their cost (will non conventional hydrocarbons modify the peak oil and be socially accepted?), energy efficiency (its benefits, its reality in France and other countries, its position in front of the challenge of energy transition), and strategies in the transport sector (challenges for mobility, evolution towards a model of sustainable mobility)

  19. Glyphosate-induced oxidative stress in Arabidopsis thaliana affecting peroxisomal metabolism and triggers activity in the oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway (OxPPP) involved in NADPH generation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Freitas-Silva, Larisse; Rodríguez-Ruiz, Marta; Houmani, Hayet; da Silva, Luzimar Campos; Palma, José M; Corpas, Francisco J

    2017-11-01

    Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide used worldwide. In susceptible plants, glyphosate affects the shikimate pathway and reduces aromatic amino acid synthesis. Using Arabidopsis seedlings grown in the presence of 20μM glyphosate, we analyzed H 2 O 2 , ascorbate, glutathione (GSH) and protein oxidation content as well as antioxidant catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate-glutathione cycle enzyme activity. We also examined the principal NADPH-generating system components, including glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH), NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME) and NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP-ICDH). Glyphosate caused a drastic reduction in growth parameters and an increase in protein oxidation. The herbicide also resulted in an overall increase in GSH content, antioxidant enzyme activity (catalase and all enzymatic components of the ascorbate-glutathione cycle) in addition to the two oxidative phase enzymes, G6PDH and 6PGDH, in the pentose phosphate pathway involved in NADPH generation. In this study, we provide new evidence on the participation of G6PDH and 6PGDH in the response to oxidative stress induced by glyphosate in Arabidopsis, in which peroxisomal enzymes, such as catalase and glycolate oxidase, are positively affected. We suggest that the NADPH provided by the oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway (OxPPP) should serve to maintain glutathione reductase (GR) activity, thus preserving and regenerating the intracellular GSH pool under glyphosate-induced stress. It is particularly remarkable that the 6PGDH activity was unaffected by pro-oxidant and nitrating molecules such as H 2 0 2 , nitric oxide or peroxynitrite. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  20. Automated Peak Picking and Peak Integration in Macromolecular NMR Spectra Using AUTOPSY

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koradi, Reto; Billeter, Martin; Engeli, Max; Güntert, Peter; Wüthrich, Kurt

    1998-12-01

    A new approach for automated peak picking of multidimensional protein NMR spectra with strong overlap is introduced, which makes use of the program AUTOPSY (automatedpeak picking for NMRspectroscopy). The main elements of this program are a novel function for local noise level calculation, the use of symmetry considerations, and the use of lineshapes extracted from well-separated peaks for resolving groups of strongly overlapping peaks. The algorithm generates peak lists with precise chemical shift and integral intensities, and a reliability measure for the recognition of each peak. The results of automated peak picking of NOESY spectra with AUTOPSY were tested in combination with the combined automated NOESY cross peak assignment and structure calculation routine NOAH implemented in the program DYANA. The quality of the resulting structures was found to be comparable with those from corresponding data obtained with manual peak picking.

  1. Comparisons of methods for calculating retention and separation of chromatographic peaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pauls, R.E.; Rogers, L.B.

    1976-09-01

    The accuracy and precision of calculating retention times from means and peak maxima have been examined using an exponentially modified Gaussian as a model for tailed chromotographic peaks. At different levels of random noise, retention times could be determined with nearly the same precision using either the mean or maximum. However, the accuracies and precisions of the maxima were affected by the number of points used in the digital smooth and by the number of points recorded per unit of standard deviation. For two peaks of similar shape, consistency in the selection of points should usually permit differences in retention to be determined accurately and with approximately the same precision using maxima, means, or half-heights on the leading side of the peak

  2. Reprint of "How do components of real cloud water affect aqueous pyruvate oxidation?"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boris, Alexandra J.; Desyaterik, Yury; Collett, Jeffrey L.

    2015-01-01

    Chemical oxidation of dissolved volatile or semi-volatile organic compounds within fog and cloud droplets in the atmosphere could be a major pathway for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. This proposed pathway consists of: (1) dissolution of organic chemicals from the gas phase into a droplet; (2) reaction with an aqueous phase oxidant to yield low volatility products; and (3) formation of particle phase organic matter as the droplet evaporates. The common approach to simulating aqueous SOA (aqSOA) reactions is photo-oxidation of laboratory standards in pure water. Reactions leading to aqSOA formation should be studied within real cloud and fog water to determine whether additional competing processes might alter apparent rates of reaction as indicated by rates of reactant loss or product formation. To evaluate and identify the origin of any cloud water matrix effects on one example of observed aqSOA production, pyruvate oxidation experiments simulating aqSOA formation were monitored within pure water, real cloud water samples, and an aqueous solution of inorganic salts. Two analysis methods were used: online electrospray ionization high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-HR-ToF-MS), and offline anion exchange chromatography (IC) with quantitative conductivity and qualitative ESI-HR-ToF-MS detection. The apparent rate of oxidation of pyruvate was slowed in cloud water matrices: overall measured degradation rates of pyruvate were lower than in pure water. This can be at least partially accounted for by the observed formation of pyruvate from reactions of other cloud water components. Organic constituents of cloud water also compete for oxidants and/or UV light, contributing to the observed slowed degradation rates of pyruvate. The oxidation of pyruvate was not significantly affected by the presence of inorganic anions (nitrate and sulfate) at cloud-relevant concentrations. Future bulk studies of aqSOA formation reactions using simplified

  3. Determination of Insulator-to-Semiconductor Transition in Sol-Gel Oxide Semiconductors Using Derivative Spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Woobin; Choi, Seungbeom; Kim, Kyung Tae; Kang, Jingu; Park, Sung Kyu; Kim, Yong-Hoon

    2015-12-23

    We report a derivative spectroscopic method for determining insulator-to-semiconductor transition during sol-gel metal-oxide semiconductor formation. When an as-spun sol-gel precursor film is photochemically activated and changes to semiconducting state, the light absorption characteristics of the metal-oxide film is considerable changed particularly in the ultraviolet region. As a result, a peak is generated in the first-order derivatives of light absorption ( A' ) vs. wavelength (λ) plots, and by tracing the peak center shift and peak intensity, transition from insulating-to-semiconducting state of the film can be monitored. The peak generation and peak center shift are described based on photon-energy-dependent absorption coefficient of metal-oxide films. We discuss detailed analysis method for metal-oxide semiconductor films and its application in thin-film transistor fabrication. We believe this derivative spectroscopy based determination can be beneficial for a non-destructive and a rapid monitoring of the insulator-to-semiconductor transition in sol-gel oxide semiconductor formation.

  4. Rotational and peak torque stiffness of rugby shoes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballal, Moez S; Usuelli, Federico Giuseppe; Montrasio, Umberto Alfieri; Molloy, Andy; La Barbera, Luigi; Villa, Tomaso; Banfi, Giuseppe

    2014-09-01

    Sports people always strive to avoid injury. Sports shoe designs in many sports have been shown to affect traction and injury rates. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the differing stiffness and torque in rugby boots that are designed for the same effect. Five different types of rugby shoes commonly worn by scrum forwards were laboratory tested for rotational stiffness and peak torque on a natural playing surface generating force patterns that would be consistent with a rugby scrum. The overall internal rotation peak torque was 57.75±6.26 Nm while that of external rotation was 56.55±4.36 Nm. The Peak internal and external rotational stiffness were 0.696±0.1 and 0.708±0.06 Nm/deg respectively. Our results, when compared to rotational stiffness and peak torques of football shoes published in the literature, show that shoes worn by rugby players exert higher rotational and peak torque stiffness compared to football shoes when tested on the same natural surfaces. There was significant difference between the tested rugby shoes brands. In our opinion, to maximize potential performance and lower the potential of non-contact injury, care should be taken in choosing boots with stiffness appropriate to the players main playing role. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Peak-locking reduction for particle image velocimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Michaelis, Dirk; Wieneke, Bernhard; Neal, Douglas R

    2016-01-01

    A parametric study of the factors contributing to peak-locking, a known bias error source in particle image velocimetry (PIV), is conducted using synthetic data that are processed with a state-of-the-art PIV algorithm. The investigated parameters include: particle image diameter, image interpolation techniques, the effect of asymmetric versus symmetric window deformation, number of passes and the interrogation window size. Some of these parameters are found to have a profound effect on the magnitude of the peak-locking error. The effects for specific PIV cameras are also studied experimentally using a precision turntable to generate a known rotating velocity field. Image time series recorded using this experiment show a linear range of pixel and sub-pixel shifts ranging from 0 to  ±4 pixels. Deviations in the constant vorticity field (ω z ) reveal how peak-locking can be affected systematically both by varying parameters of the detection system such as the focal distance and f -number, and also by varying the settings of the PIV analysis. A new a priori technique for reducing the bias errors associated with peak-locking in PIV is introduced using an optical diffuser to avoid undersampled particle images during the recording of the raw images. This technique is evaluated against other a priori approaches using experimental data and is shown to perform favorably. Finally, a new a posteriori anti peak-locking filter (APLF) is developed and investigated, which shows promising results for both synthetic data and real measurements for very small particle image sizes. (paper)

  6. NOISY WEAK-LENSING CONVERGENCE PEAK STATISTICS NEAR CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES AND BEYOND

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fan Zuhui; Shan Huanyuan; Liu Jiayi

    2010-01-01

    Taking into account noise from intrinsic ellipticities of source galaxies, in this paper, we study the peak statistics in weak-lensing convergence maps around clusters of galaxies and beyond. We emphasize how the noise peak statistics is affected by the density distribution of nearby clusters, and also how cluster-peak signals are changed by the existence of noise. These are the important aspects to be thoroughly understood in weak-lensing analyses for individual clusters as well as in cosmological applications of weak-lensing cluster statistics. We adopt Gaussian smoothing with the smoothing scale θ G = 0.5arcmin in our analyses. It is found that the noise peak distribution near a cluster of galaxies sensitively depends on the density profile of the cluster. For a cored isothermal cluster with the core radius R c , the inner region with R ≤ R c appears noisy containing on average ∼2.4 peaks with ν ≥ 5 for R c = 1.7arcmin and the true peak height of the cluster ν = 5.6, where ν denotes the convergence signal-to-noise ratio. For a Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) cluster of the same mass and the same central ν, the average number of peaks with ν ≥ 5 within R ≤ R c is ∼1.6. Thus a high peak corresponding to the main cluster can be identified more cleanly in the NFW case. In the outer region with R c c , the number of high noise peaks is considerably enhanced in comparison with that of the pure noise case without the nearby cluster. For ν ≥ 4, depending on the treatment of the mass-sheet degeneracy in weak-lensing analyses, the enhancement factor f is in the range of ∼5 to ∼55 for both clusters as their outer density profiles are similar. The properties of the main-cluster-peak identified in convergence maps are also significantly affected by the presence of noise. Scatters as well as a systematic shift for the peak height are present. The height distribution is peaked at ν ∼ 6.6, rather than at ν = 5.6, corresponding to a shift of Δν ∼ 1

  7. Peak oil: The four stages of a new idea

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bardi, Ugo [Dipartimento di Chimica, Universita di Firenze, Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO), Polo Scientifico di Sesto Fiorentino, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Fi) (Italy)

    2009-03-15

    The present paper reviews the reactions and the path of acceptance of the theory known as ''peak oil''. The theory was proposed for the first time by M.K. Hubbert in the 1950s as a way to describe the production pattern of crude oil. According to Hubbert, the production curve is ''bell shaped'' and approximately symmetric. Hubbert's theory was verified with good approximation for the case of oil production in the United States that peaked in 1971, and is now being applied to the worldwide oil production. It is generally believed that the global peak of oil production (''peak oil'') will take place during the first decade of the 21st century, and some analysts believe that it has already occurred in 2005 or 2006. The theory and its consequences have unpleasant social and economical implications. The present paper is not aimed at assessing the peak date but offers a discussion on the factors that affect the acceptance and the diffusion of the concept of ''peak oil'' with experts and with the general public. The discussion is based on a subdivision of ''four stages of acceptance'', loosely patterned after a sentence by Thomas Huxley. (author)

  8. Impaired secondary oxidant deactivation capacity and enhanced oxidative stress in serum from alveld affected lambs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hegge, Anne Bee; Mysterud, Ivar; Karlsen, Jan

    2013-01-01

    Alveld is a hepatogenous photosensitivity disorder in lambs. The aim of the study was to investigate if alveld affected lambs had a reduced capacity to handle oxidative stress induced from either endogenous and/or exogenous photosensitizers. Serum samples from alveld lambs (n=33) were compared...... to serum samples from control lambs (n=31) and exposed to a controlled amount of singlet oxygen ((1)O2). The sera from alveld lambs were found to have an impaired ability to deactivate reactive oxygen species (ROS) compared to control sera. A higher degree of initial hemolysis and a higher concentration...... in pooled serum from alveld lambs that showed a high degree of hemolysis. It was concluded that alveld photosensitivity is likely to be initiated by a photodynamic reaction involving PP and possibly also PP IX followed by a light-independent reaction involving hemoglobin-related products and catalysis...

  9. Central peaking of magnetized gas discharges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Francis F.; Curreli, Davide

    2013-01-01

    Partially ionized gas discharges used in industry are often driven by radiofrequency (rf) power applied at the periphery of a cylinder. It is found that the plasma density n is usually flat or peaked on axis even if the skin depth of the rf field is thin compared with the chamber radius a. Previous attempts at explaining this did not account for the finite length of the discharge and the boundary conditions at the endplates. A simple 1D model is used to focus on the basic mechanism: the short-circuit effect. It is found that a strong electric field (E-field) scaled to electron temperature T e , drives the ions inward. The resulting density profile is peaked on axis and has a shape independent of pressure or discharge radius. This “universal” profile is not affected by a dc magnetic field (B-field) as long as the ion Larmor radius is larger than a

  10. Carbohydrate intake and glycemic index affect substrate oxidation during a controlled weight cycle in healthy men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahlhöfer, J; Lagerpusch, M; Enderle, J; Eggeling, B; Braun, W; Pape, D; Müller, M J; Bosy-Westphal, A

    2014-09-01

    Because both, glycemic index (GI) and carbohydrate content of the diet increase insulin levels and could thus impair fat oxidation, we hypothesized that refeeding a low GI, moderate-carbohydrate diet facilitates weight maintenance. Healthy men (n=32, age 26.0±3.9 years; BMI 23.4±2.0 kg/m(2)) followed 1 week of controlled overfeeding, 3 weeks of caloric restriction and 2 weeks of hypercaloric refeeding (+50, -50 and +50% energy requirement) with low vs high GI (41 vs 74) and moderate vs high CHO intake (50% vs 65% energy). We measured adaptation of fasting macronutrient oxidation and the capacity to supress fat oxidation during an oral glucose tolerance test. Changes in fat mass were measured by quantitative magnetic resonance. During overfeeding, participants gained 1.9±1.2 kg body weight, followed by a weight loss of -6.3±0.6 kg and weight regain of 2.8±1.0 kg. Subjects with 65% CHO gained more body weight compared with 50% CHO diet (Pfat oxidation when compared with a low-GI diet (Pfat oxidation was associated with regain in fat mass (r=0.43, Pcarbohydrate content affect substrate oxidation and thus the regain in body weight in healthy men. These results argue in favor of a lower glycemic load diet for weight maintenance after weight loss.

  11. Ultrasonic Transducer Peak-to-Peak Optical Measurement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavel Skarvada

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Possible optical setups for measurement of the peak-to-peak value of an ultrasonic transducer are described in this work. The Michelson interferometer with the calibrated nanopositioner in reference path and laser Doppler vibrometer were used for the basic measurement of vibration displacement. Langevin type of ultrasonic transducer is used for the purposes of Electro-Ultrasonic Nonlinear Spectroscopy (EUNS. Parameters of produced mechanical vibration have to been well known for EUNS. Moreover, a monitoring of mechanical vibration frequency shift with a mass load and sample-transducer coupling is important for EUNS measurement.

  12. Combinatorial study of zinc tin oxide thin-film transistors

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDowell, M. G.; Sanderson, R. J.; Hill, I. G.

    2008-01-01

    Groups of thin-film transistors using a zinc tin oxide semiconductor layer have been fabricated via a combinatorial rf sputtering technique. The ZnO :SnO2 ratio of the film varies as a function of position on the sample, from pure ZnO to SnO2, allowing for a study of zinc tin oxide transistor performance as a function of channel stoichiometry. The devices were found to have mobilities ranging from 2to12cm2/Vs, with two peaks in mobility in devices at ZnO fractions of 0.80±0.03 and 0.25±0.05, and on/off ratios as high as 107. Transistors composed predominantly of SnO2 were found to exhibit light sensitivity which affected both the on/off ratios and threshold voltages of these devices.

  13. Some practical aspects of peak kilovoltage measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irfan, A.Y.; Pugh, V.I.; Jeffery, C.D.

    1985-01-01

    The peak kilovoltage (kVsub(p)) across the X-ray tube electrodes in diagnostic X-ray machines is a most important parameter, affecting both radiation output and beam quality. Four commercially available non-invasive devices used for kVsub(p) measurement were tested using a selection of generator waveforms. The majority of the devices provided satisfactory measurements of the kVsub(p) to within approximately +- kV provided certain operating conditions are observed. (U.K.)

  14. Quantitative Analysis of Major Phytochemicals in Orthodox tea (Camellia sinensis), Oxidized under Compressed Air Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panda, Brajesh Kumar; Datta, Ashis Kumar

    2016-04-01

    This study describes major changes in phytochemical composition of orthodox tea (Camellia sinensis var. Assamica) oxidized under compressed air (CA). The experiments for oxidation were conducted under air pressure (101, 202, and 303 kPa) for 150 min. Relative change in the concentrations of caffeine, catechins, theaflavins (TF), and thearubigins (TR) were analyzed. Effect of CA pressure was found to be nonsignificant in regulating caffeine concentration during oxidation. But degradation in different catechins as well as formation of different TF was significantly affected by CA pressure. At high CA pressure, TF showed highest peak value. TR was found to have slower rate of formation during initial phase of oxidation than TF. Even though the rate of TR formation was significantly influenced by CA, a portion of catechins remained unoxidized at end of oxidation. Except caffeine, the percent change in rate of formation or degradation were more prominent at 202 kPa. © 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®

  15. Universal parametric correlations of conductance peaks in quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alhassid, Y.; Attias, H.

    1996-01-01

    We compute the parametric correlation function of the conductance peaks in chaotic and weakly disordered quantum dots in the Coulomb blockade regime and demonstrate its universality upon an appropriate scaling of the parameter. For a symmetric dot we show that this correlation function is affected by breaking time-reversal symmetry but is independent of the details of the channels in the external leads. We derive a new scaling which depends on the eigenfunctions alone and can be extracted directly from the conductance peak heights. Our results are in excellent agreement with model simulations of a disordered quantum dot. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society

  16. Myofibrillar protein oxidation affects filament charges, aggregation and water-holding

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bao, Yulong; Boeren, Sjef; Ertbjerg, Per

    2018-01-01

    Hypochlorous acid (HClO) is a strong oxidant that is able to mediate protein oxidation. In order to study the effect of oxidation on charges, aggregation and water-holding of myofibrillar proteins, extracted myofibrils were oxidized by incubation with different concentrations of HClO (0, 1, 5,

  17. Study of niobium oxidation by photoelectron spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Durand, C.

    1985-01-01

    The chemical composition of thin oxide layers, grown on clean niobium, in low oxygen pressure, was studied by a surface analysis method: X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. The purpose of this study was to find the best conditions for the building of Nb/Nb oxide/Pb Josephson junctions, and particularly to minimise the interface thickness during the formation of the insulator film (Nb 2 O 5 ) on the metal (Nb). This interface is essentially formed by the monoxide (NbO) and dioxide (NbO 2 ). Nb 3d XPS core level peak positions and area ratios (obtained by the signal decomposition) of the components of the total peak, were used to determine the presence of the different oxidation states II, IV and V, their relative abundance, oxide thicknesses and their depth distribution. All this information was extracted by a special numerical procedure [fr

  18. Raman scattering boson peak and differential scanning calorimetry studies of the glass transition in tellurium-zinc oxide glasses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavrou, E; Tsiantos, C; Tsopouridou, R D; Kripotou, S; Kontos, A G; Raptis, C; Capoen, B; Bouazaoui, M; Turrell, S; Khatir, S

    2010-05-19

    Raman scattering and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements have been carried out on four mixed tellurium-zinc oxide (TeO(2))(1 - x)(ZnO)(x) (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) glasses under variable temperature, with particular attention being given to the respective glass transition region. From the DSC measurements, the glass transition temperature T(g) has been determined for each glass, showing a monotonous decrease of T(g) with increasing ZnO content. The Raman study is focused on the low-frequency band of the glasses, the so-called boson peak (BP), whose frequency undergoes an abrupt decrease at a temperature T(d) very close to the respective T(g) values obtained by DSC. These results show that the BP is highly sensitive to dynamical effects over the glass transition and provides a means for an equally reliable (to DSC) determination of T(g) in tellurite glasses and other network glasses. The discontinuous temperature dependence of the BP frequency at the glass transition, along with the absence of such a behaviour by the high-frequency Raman bands (due to local atomic vibrations), indicates that marked changes of the medium range order (MRO) occur at T(g) and confirms the correlation between the BP and the MRO of glasses.

  19. Raman scattering boson peak and differential scanning calorimetry studies of the glass transition in tellurium-zinc oxide glasses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stavrou, E; Tsiantos, C; Tsopouridou, R D; Kripotou, S; Kontos, A G; Raptis, C; Capoen, B; Bouazaoui, M; Turrell, S; Khatir, S

    2010-01-01

    Raman scattering and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements have been carried out on four mixed tellurium-zinc oxide (TeO 2 ) 1-x (ZnO) x (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) glasses under variable temperature, with particular attention being given to the respective glass transition region. From the DSC measurements, the glass transition temperature T g has been determined for each glass, showing a monotonous decrease of T g with increasing ZnO content. The Raman study is focused on the low-frequency band of the glasses, the so-called boson peak (BP), whose frequency undergoes an abrupt decrease at a temperature T d very close to the respective T g values obtained by DSC. These results show that the BP is highly sensitive to dynamical effects over the glass transition and provides a means for an equally reliable (to DSC) determination of T g in tellurite glasses and other network glasses. The discontinuous temperature dependence of the BP frequency at the glass transition, along with the absence of such a behaviour by the high-frequency Raman bands (due to local atomic vibrations), indicates that marked changes of the medium range order (MRO) occur at T g and confirms the correlation between the BP and the MRO of glasses.

  20. Electricity Portfolio Management: Optimal Peak / Off-Peak Allocations

    OpenAIRE

    Huisman, Ronald; Mahieu, Ronald; Schlichter, Felix

    2007-01-01

    textabstractElectricity purchasers manage a portfolio of contracts in order to purchase the expected future electricity consumption profile of a company or a pool of clients. This paper proposes a mean-variance framework to address the concept of structuring the portfolio and focuses on how to allocate optimal positions in peak and off-peak forward contracts. It is shown that the optimal allocations are based on the difference in risk premiums per unit of day-ahead risk as a measure of relati...

  1. ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF PEAK OIL FOR THE MAJOR MULTINATIONAL OIL AND GAS COMPANIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio García-Amate

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The main goal of this work is to analyze the financial statements of the five major multinational oil and gas companies, for the 2011-2015 period, in the framework of the peak oil phenomenon. Peak oil can affect key financial indicators (e.g., earnings volatility, leverage that are used by managers, investors, and stockholders and which may potentially lead to changes in the decision making by management. Our results show that the decline in oil production affects the decisions about investment in new oil wells, leverage, dividends paid, shares purchased and net income involving the five major companies. In addition, we study the evolution of oil prices, and its influence in several items of the financial statements. Even though oil prices were at high levels during 2011-2014, however, the net income of the five companies actually declined due to the impact of peak oil. Finally, data for the last year studied (2015 indicate a general deterioration in return ratios and other accounting variables. Although the new investments should have been profitable, they have been influenced by peak oil, compromising the economic position of the companies. The advice to these companies would be to relax their investments, especially during a period of falling oil prices. Company managers need to recognize the prolonged duration of peak oil and price trends to promote profitability recovery decisions.

  2. Peak regulation right

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao, Z. |; Ren, Z.; Li, Z.; Zhu, R.

    2005-01-01

    A peak regulation right concept and corresponding transaction mechanism for an electricity market was presented. The market was based on a power pool and independent system operator (ISO) model. Peak regulation right (PRR) was defined as a downward regulation capacity purchase option which allowed PRR owners to buy certain quantities of peak regulation capacity (PRC) at a specific price during a specified period from suppliers. The PRR owner also had the right to decide whether or not they would buy PRC from suppliers. It was the power pool's responsibility to provide competitive and fair peak regulation trading markets to participants. The introduction of PRR allowed for unit capacity regulation. The PRR and PRC were rated by the supplier, and transactions proceeded through a bidding process. PRR suppliers obtained profits by selling PRR and PRC, and obtained downward regulation fees regardless of whether purchases are made. It was concluded that the peak regulation mechanism reduced the total cost of the generating system and increased the social surplus. 6 refs., 1 tab., 3 figs

  3. Oxidation of atomically thin MoS2 on SiO2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Mahito; Cullen, William; Einstein, Theodore; Fuhrer, Michael

    2013-03-01

    Surface oxidation of MoS2 markedly affects its electronic, optical, and tribological properties. However, oxidative reactivity of atomically thin MoS2 has yet to be addressed. Here, we investigate oxidation of atomic layers of MoS2 using atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. MoS2 is mechanically exfoliated onto SiO2 and oxidized in Ar/O2 or Ar/O3 (ozone) at 100-450 °C. MoS2 is much more reactive to O2 than an analogous atomic membrane of graphene and monolayer MoS2 is completely etched very rapidly upon O2 treatment above 300 °C. Thicker MoS2 (> 15 nm) transforms into MoO3 after oxidation at 400 °C, which is confirmed by a Raman peak at 820 cm-1. However, few-layer MoS2 oxidized below 400 °C exhibits no MoO3 Raman mode but etch pits are formed, similar to graphene. We find atomic layers of MoS2 shows larger reactivity to O3 than to O2 and monolayer MoS2 transforms chemically upon O3 treatment even below 100 °C. Work supported by the U. of Maryland NSF-MRSEC under Grant No. DMR 05-20741.

  4. The Potential for Energy Storage to Provide Peaking Capacity in California under Increased Penetration of Solar Photovoltaics: Report Summary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Denholm, Paul L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Margolis, Robert M [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-03-12

    Opportunities to provide peaking capacity with low-cost energy storage are emerging. But adding storage changes the ability of subsequent storage additions to meet peak demand. Increasing photovoltaic (PV) deployment also affects storage's ability to provide peak capacity. This study examines storage's potential to replace conventional peak capacity in California.

  5. Graphene oxide coated with porous iron oxide ribbons for 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nethaji, S; Sivasamy, A

    2017-04-01

    Graphene oxide (GO) was prepared from commercially available graphite powder. Porous iron oxide ribbons were grown on the surface of GO by solvothermal process. The prepared GO-Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites are characterized by FT-IR, XRD, VSM, SEM, TEM, Raman spectroscopy, surface functionality and zero point charge studies. The morphology of the iron oxide ribbons grown on GO is demonstrated with TEM at various magnifications. The presence of magnetite nanoparticles is evident from XRD peaks and the magnetization value is found to be 37.28emu/g. The ratio of intensity of D-peak to G-peak from Raman spectrum is 0.995. The synthesized Graphene oxide-Fe 3 O 4 nanocomposites (GO-Fe 3 O 4 ) were explored for its surface adsorptive properties by using a model organic compound, 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption studies were performed and the equilibrium data are modelled with Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms. The maximum monolayer capacity from Langmuir isotherm is 67.26mg/g. Kinetic studies were also carried out and the studied adsorption process followed pseudo second-order rate equation. Mechanism of the adsorption process is studied by fitting the data with intraparticle diffusion model and Boyd plot. The studied adsorption process is both by film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Limitation of peak fitting and peak shape methods for determination of activation energy of thermoluminescence glow peaks

    CERN Document Server

    Sunta, C M; Piters, T M; Watanabe, S

    1999-01-01

    This paper shows the limitation of general order peak fitting and peak shape methods for determining the activation energy of the thermoluminescence glow peaks in the cases in which retrapping probability is much higher than the recombination probability and the traps are filled up to near saturation level. Right values can be obtained when the trap occupancy is reduced by using small doses or by post-irradiation partial bleaching. This limitation in the application of these methods has not been indicated earlier. In view of the unknown nature of kinetics in the experimental samples, it is recommended that these methods of activation energy determination should be applied only at doses well below the saturation dose.

  7. Make peak flow a habit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asthma - make peak flow a habit; Reactive airway disease - peak flow; Bronchial asthma - peak flow ... 2014:chap 55. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program website. How to use a peak flow meter. ...

  8. Spectroscopic investigations on oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anandhi, C. M. S.; Premkumar, S.; Asath, R. Mohamed; Mathavan, T.; Benial, A. Milton Franklin, E-mail: miltonfranklin@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, N.M.S.S.V.N. College, Madurai-625 019, Tamil Nadu (India)

    2016-05-06

    The pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were oxidized by the ultrasonication process. The oxidized MWCNTs were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet–visible (UV-Vis) and Fourier transform -Raman (FT-Raman) spectroscopic techniques. The XRD analysis confirms that the oxidized MWCNTs exist in a hexagonal structure and the sharp XRD peak corresponds to the (002) Bragg’s reflection plane, which indicates that the MWCNTs have higher crystalline nature. The UV-Vis analysis confirms that the MWCNTs functionalized with the carboxylic acid. The red shift was observed corresponds to the D band in the Raman spectrum, which reveals that the reduced disordered graphitic structure of oxidized MWCNTs. The strong Raman peak was observed at 2563 cm{sup -1} corresponds to the overtone of the D band, which is the characteristic vibrational mode of oxidized MWCNTs. The carboxylic acid functionalization of MWCNTs enhances the dispersibility, which paves the way for potential applications in the field of biosensors and targeted drug delivery.

  9. Differential reflectometry of thin film metal oxides on copper, tungsten, molybdenum and chromium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Urban, F.K. III; Hummel, R.E.; Verink, E.D. Jr.

    1982-01-01

    A differential reflectometry study was undertaken to investigate the characteristics of thin oxide films on metal substrates. The oxides were produced by heating pure metals of copper, tungsten, molybdenum and chromium in dry oxygen. A new 'halfpolishing' technique was applied to obtain specimens with a step in oxide thickness in order to make them suitable for differential reflectometry. It was found that oxides formed this way yielded the same differential reflectograms as by electrochemical oxidation. A mathematical model involving the interaction of light with a thin corrosion product on metal substrates was applied to generate computer calculated differential reflectograms utilizing various optical constants and thicknesses of the assumed film. Three different thickness ranges have been identified. (a) For large film thicknesses, the differential reflectograms are distinguished by a sequence of interference peaks. (b) If the product of thickness and refraction index of the films is smaller than about 40 nm, no interference peaks are present. Any experimentally observed peaks in differential reflectograms of these films are caused entirely by electron interband transitions. (c) In an intermediate thickness range, superposition of interference and interband peaks are observed. (author)

  10. Silicate-Oxide Equilibria in the Wilson Lake Terrane, Labrador - Evidence for a Pre- Metamorphic Oxidizing Event

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korhonen, F. J.; Stout, J. H.

    2006-05-01

    The presence of Fe3+ and Ti in silicates and their presumed equilibration with Fe2+-Fe3+-Ti oxide minerals has long been recognized as an important factor in metamorphic phase equilibria. The Red Wine Mountains massif is a granulite facies unit in the Wilson Lake terrane of central Labrador, where this equilibration is especially important for estimating both temperature and fO2 during peak metamorphism. Peak assemblages are sapphirine + quartz, and orthopyroxene + sillimanite + quartz. The coexisting oxides, which are largely responsible for the pronounced aeromagnetic high of the massif, consist of nearly pure magnetite and an exsolved titanohematite. Estimates of fO2 based on magnetite + integrated titanohematite compositions are slightly below that defined by the pure magnetite-hematite buffer. This assemblage is also responsible for the magnetic signature of metagabbro and metanorite dikes, a fact which challenges the conventional wisdom that the high Fe3+ content of the host paragneisses was inherited from a highly oxidized ferruginous shale. We suggest here that prior to granulite facies metamorphism, an oxidizing hydrothermal event either coeval or following the emplacement of mafic dikes into the paragneiss host was responsible for the highly oxidized nature of the massif as a whole. Subsequent metamorphism then produced the observed assemblages. This scenario is supported by recent U-Pb zircon and monazite ages of ca. 1626 ± 10 Ma, which indicate that both metagabbro dikes and host paragneiss were metamorphosed at the same time. Dike emplacement and the oxidizing event must have preceded 1626 Ma. The implications of this pre-metamorphic oxidizing event is that Fe3+ becomes an inherent and fixed component in the chemical system during metamorphism. Phase relationships, preliminary thermodynamic modeling, and geothermobarometric constraints indicate that peak temperatures are lower than those previously determined for Fe3+-absent systems. More appropriate

  11. Evaluation of tumoral enhancement by superparamagnetic iron oxide particles: comparative studies with ferumoxtran and anionic iron oxide nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brillet, P-Y.; Gazeau, F.; Luciani, A.; Bessoud, B.; Cuenod, C.-A.; Siauve, N.; Pons, J.-N.; Poupon, J.; Clement, O.

    2005-01-01

    This study was designed to compare tumor enhancement by superparamagnetic iron oxide particles, using anionic iron oxide nanoparticles (AP) and ferumoxtran. In vitro, relaxometry and media with increasing complexity were used to assess the changes in r2 relaxivity due to cellular internalization. In vivo, 26 mice with subcutaneously implanted tumors were imaged for 24 h after injection of particles to describe kinetics of enhancement using T1 spin echo, T2 spin echo, and T2 fast spin echo sequences. In vitro, the r2 relaxivity decreased over time (0-4 h) when AP were uptaken by cells. The loss of r2 relaxivity was less pronounced with long (Hahn Echo) than short (Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill) echo time sequences. In vivo, our results with ferumoxtran showed an early T2 peak (1 h), suggesting intravascular particles and a second peak in T1 (12 h), suggesting intrainterstitial accumulation of particles. With AP, the late peak (24 h) suggested an intracellular accumulation of particles. In vitro, anionic iron oxide nanoparticles are suitable for cellular labeling due to a high cellular uptake. Conversely, in vivo, ferumoxtran is suitable for passive targeting of tumors due to a favorable biodistribution. (orig.)

  12. Fe2+ oxidation rate drastically affect the formation and phase of secondary iron hydroxysulfate mineral occurred in acid mine drainage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Shan; Zhou Lixiang

    2012-01-01

    During the processes of secondary iron hydroxysulfate mineral formation, Fe 2+ ion was oxidized by the following three methods: (1) biooxidation treatment by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (A. ferrooxidans); (2) rapid abiotic oxidation of Fe 2+ with H 2 O 2 (rapid oxidation treatment); (3) slow abiotic oxidation of Fe 2+ with H 2 O 2 (slow oxidation treatment). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, element composition, precipitate weight and total Fe removal efficiency were analyzed. The XRD patterns and element composition of precipitates synthesized through the biooxidation and the slow oxidation treatments well coincide with those of potassium jarosite, while precipitates formed at the initial stage of incubation in the rapid oxidation treatment showed a similar XRD pattern to schwertmannite. With the ongoing incubation, XRD patterns and element composition of the precipitates that occurred in the rapid oxidation treatment were gradually close to those in the biooxidation and the slow oxidation treatments. Due to the inhibition of A. ferrooxidans itself and its extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in aggregation of precipitates, the amount of precipitates and soluble Fe removal efficiency were lower in the biooxidation treatment than in the slow oxidation treatment. Therefore, it is concluded that Fe 2+ oxidation rate can greatly affect the mineral phase of precipitates, and slow oxidation of Fe 2+ is helpful in improving jarosite formation. - Highlights: ► Slow oxidation of Fe 2+ is helpful in jarosite formation. ► The already-formed schwertmannite can be gradually transformed to jarosite. ► Precipitates formation can be inhibited probably by EPS from A. ferrooxidans.

  13. Peak Experience Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Daniel G.; Evans, Jessica

    2010-01-01

    This paper emerges from the continued analysis of data collected in a series of international studies concerning Childhood Peak Experiences (CPEs) based on developments in understanding peak experiences in Maslow's hierarchy of needs initiated by Dr Edward Hoffman. Bridging from the series of studies, Canadian researchers explore collected…

  14. A Framework for Understanding and Generating Integrated Solutions for Residential Peak Energy Demand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buys, Laurie; Vine, Desley; Ledwich, Gerard; Bell, John; Mengersen, Kerrie; Morris, Peter; Lewis, Jim

    2015-01-01

    Supplying peak energy demand in a cost effective, reliable manner is a critical focus for utilities internationally. Successfully addressing peak energy concerns requires understanding of all the factors that affect electricity demand especially at peak times. This paper is based on past attempts of proposing models designed to aid our understanding of the influences on residential peak energy demand in a systematic and comprehensive way. Our model has been developed through a group model building process as a systems framework of the problem situation to model the complexity within and between systems and indicate how changes in one element might flow on to others. It is comprised of themes (social, technical and change management options) networked together in a way that captures their influence and association with each other and also their influence, association and impact on appliance usage and residential peak energy demand. The real value of the model is in creating awareness, understanding and insight into the complexity of residential peak energy demand and in working with this complexity to identify and integrate the social, technical and change management option themes and their impact on appliance usage and residential energy demand at peak times. PMID:25807384

  15. Structural changes during oxidation of Au(110)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hale, P.; Thurgate, S.; Wilkie, P.; Parker, A.J.

    2000-01-01

    Full text: We have constructed an Ultra High vacuum (UHV) system interfaced to an electro-chemical cell. The UHV system is equipped with Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). We have used these techniques to examine the oxidation of the Au(110) surface. The gold (110) single crystal exhibits a (2x1) surface structure when clean, but when immersed in 0.01 M HCIO 4 under potential control, the structure has been found to change. Throughout the double layer region the structure remains as (2x1) but when the potential is increased above 0.9-1.0V vs Ag/AgCI, (the pre-oxidation region) the surface structure changes to a centred rectangular structure found to represent a c(2x2) over-layer. This structure is fairly stable and reproducible. After the initial oxidation the structure prevails until 1.2-1.3V whereupon oxidation occurs on a larger scale and the surface structure becomes (1x1). These structures return to (2x1) after the reduction of the oxide, proving that the structural changes are reversible. XPS of these regions has shown a difference in the chemical state of the oxygen. Adsorbed perchlorate ion is initially the only oxygen component but as the potential increases the peak shifts into the hydroxide region and finally it splits into a hydroxide peak and a metal oxide peak. This study indicates a new way of looking at the structure and composition of the gold surface and provides insight into the nature of the interaction between the surface and the solution

  16. Theoretical aspects of studies of oxide and semiconductor surfaces using low energy positrons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fazleev, N. G.; Maddox, W. B.; Weiss, A. H.

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents the results of a theoretical study of positron surface and bulk states and annihilation characteristics of surface trapped positrons at the oxidized Cu(100) single crystal and at both As- and Ga-rich reconstructed GaAs(100) surfaces. The variations in atomic structure and chemical composition of the topmost layers of the surfaces associated with oxidation and reconstructions and the charge redistribution at the surfaces are found to affect localization and spatial extent of the positron surface-state wave functions. The computed positron binding energy, work function, and annihilation characteristics reveal their sensitivity to charge transfer effects, atomic structure and chemical composition of the topmost layers of the surfaces. Theoretical positron annihilation probabilities with relevant core electrons computed for the oxidized Cu(100) surface and the As- and Ga-rich reconstructed GaAs(100) surfaces are compared with experimental ones estimated from the positron annihilation induced Auger peak intensities measured from these surfaces.

  17. Mask effects on cosmological studies with weak-lensing peak statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Xiangkun; Pan, Chuzhong; Fan, Zuhui; Wang, Qiao

    2014-01-01

    With numerical simulations, we analyze in detail how the bad data removal, i.e., the mask effect, can influence the peak statistics of the weak-lensing convergence field reconstructed from the shear measurement of background galaxies. It is found that high peak fractions are systematically enhanced because of the presence of masks; the larger the masked area is, the higher the enhancement is. In the case where the total masked area is about 13% of the survey area, the fraction of peaks with signal-to-noise ratio ν ≥ 3 is ∼11% of the total number of peaks, compared with ∼7% of the mask-free case in our considered cosmological model. This can have significant effects on cosmological studies with weak-lensing convergence peak statistics, inducing a large bias in the parameter constraints if the effects are not taken into account properly. Even for a survey area of 9 deg 2 , the bias in (Ω m , σ 8 ) is already intolerably large and close to 3σ. It is noted that most of the affected peaks are close to the masked regions. Therefore, excluding peaks in those regions in the peak statistics can reduce the bias effect but at the expense of losing usable survey areas. Further investigations find that the enhancement of the number of high peaks around the masked regions can be largely attributed to the smaller number of galaxies usable in the weak-lensing convergence reconstruction, leading to higher noise than that of the areas away from the masks. We thus develop a model in which we exclude only those very large masks with radius larger than 3' but keep all the other masked regions in peak counting statistics. For the remaining part, we treat the areas close to and away from the masked regions separately with different noise levels. It is shown that this two-noise-level model can account for the mask effect on peak statistics very well, and the bias in cosmological parameters is significantly reduced if this model is applied in the parameter fitting.

  18. Modulations of anisotropic optical transmission on alumina-doped zinc oxide surface by femtosecond laser induced ripples

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Yanhui; Jiang, Lan; Sun, Jingya; Cao, Qiang; Wang, Qingsong; Han, Weina; Lu, Yongfeng

    2018-04-01

    This study demonstrated that femtosecond-laser-induced ripples on an alumina-doped zinc oxide (AZO) film with space intervals of approximately 340 and 660 nm exhibit modulations of anisotropic optical transmission. At low laser fluence, ripples can not affect the original absorption peak of AZO film, but at higher laser fluence, the absorption peak of AZO film is disappeared due to the modulation by femtosecond laser induced ripples. Moreover, the relationship between the anisotropic optical transmission and the features of nanostructures is discussed. Ripples with a space interval of approximately 660 nm have a higher ability to block light than nanostructures with a space interval of approximately 340 nm. These observations indicate that anisotropic optical transmission has potential applications in the field of optoelectronics.

  19. The bias of weighted dark matter halos from peak theory

    CERN Document Server

    Verde, Licia; Simpson, Fergus; Alvarez-Gaume, Luis; Heavens, Alan; Matarrese, Sabino

    2014-01-01

    We give an analytical form for the weighted correlation function of peaks in a Gaussian random field. In a cosmological context, this approach strictly describes the formation bias and is the main result here. Nevertheless, we show its validity and applicability to the evolved cosmological density field and halo field, using Gaussian random field realisations and dark matter N-body numerical simulations. Using this result from peak theory we compute the bias of peaks (and dark matter halos) and show that it reproduces results from the simulations at the ${\\mathcal O}(10\\%)$ level. Our analytical formula for the bias predicts a scale-dependent bias with two characteristics: a broad band shape which, however, is most affected by the choice of weighting scheme and evolution bias, and a more robust, narrow feature localised at the BAO scale, an effect that is confirmed in simulations. This scale-dependent bias smooths the BAO feature but, conveniently, does not move it. We provide a simple analytic formula to des...

  20. Factors affecting radium removal using mixed iron-manganese oxides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mott, H.V. Singh, S.; Kondapally, V.R.

    1993-01-01

    Batch experiments confirmed that sorption of radium by a mixed iron-manganese oxide solid phase shows promise for treating radium-contaminated water. The capacities of these mixed oxides for sorption of radium depend on the composition of the solid phase, the pH of the aqueous solution, and the presence of competing cations. The removal of the oxide-radium complexes from aqueous suspension by manganese greensand filtration was also investigated. It was found that influent radium concentrations of 100 pCi/L were reduced to 2--9 pCi/L by this process. Additional study of the fate of radium in manganese greensand filters is recommended before this procedure is used for drinking water treatment

  1. Factors affecting radium removal using mixed iron-manganese oxides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mott, H.V. Singh, S.; Kondapally, V.R. (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD (United States))

    1993-10-01

    Batch experiments confirmed that sorption of radium by a mixed iron-manganese oxide solid phase shows promise for treating radium-contaminated water. The capacities of these mixed oxides for sorption of radium depend on the composition of the solid phase, the pH of the aqueous solution, and the presence of competing cations. The removal of the oxide-radium complexes from aqueous suspension by manganese greensand filtration was also investigated. It was found that influent radium concentrations of 100 pCi/L were reduced to 2--9 pCi/L by this process. Additional study of the fate of radium in manganese greensand filters is recommended before this procedure is used for drinking water treatment.

  2. Modeling the probability distribution of peak discharge for infiltrating hillslopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baiamonte, Giorgio; Singh, Vijay P.

    2017-07-01

    Hillslope response plays a fundamental role in the prediction of peak discharge at the basin outlet. The peak discharge for the critical duration of rainfall and its probability distribution are needed for designing urban infrastructure facilities. This study derives the probability distribution, denoted as GABS model, by coupling three models: (1) the Green-Ampt model for computing infiltration, (2) the kinematic wave model for computing discharge hydrograph from the hillslope, and (3) the intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) model for computing design rainfall intensity. The Hortonian mechanism for runoff generation is employed for computing the surface runoff hydrograph. Since the antecedent soil moisture condition (ASMC) significantly affects the rate of infiltration, its effect on the probability distribution of peak discharge is investigated. Application to a watershed in Sicily, Italy, shows that with the increase of probability, the expected effect of ASMC to increase the maximum discharge diminishes. Only for low values of probability, the critical duration of rainfall is influenced by ASMC, whereas its effect on the peak discharge seems to be less for any probability. For a set of parameters, the derived probability distribution of peak discharge seems to be fitted by the gamma distribution well. Finally, an application to a small watershed, with the aim to test the possibility to arrange in advance the rational runoff coefficient tables to be used for the rational method, and a comparison between peak discharges obtained by the GABS model with those measured in an experimental flume for a loamy-sand soil were carried out.

  3. Peak Oil and other threatening peaks-Chimeras without substance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Radetzki, Marian

    2010-01-01

    The Peak Oil movement has widely spread its message about an impending peak in global oil production, caused by an inadequate resource base. On closer scrutiny, the underlying analysis is inconsistent, void of a theoretical foundation and without support in empirical observations. Global oil resources are huge and expanding, and pose no threat to continuing output growth within an extended time horizon. In contrast, temporary or prolonged supply crunches are indeed plausible, even likely, on account of growing resource nationalism denying access to efficient exploitation of the existing resource wealth.

  4. Reducing electricity demand peaks by scheduling home appliances usage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rossello-Busquet, A.; Kardaras, G.; Baek Iversen, V.; Soler, J.; Dittmann, L.

    2011-05-15

    Nowadays there is a tendency to consume electricity during the same period of the day leading to demand peaks. Regular energy consumption habits lead to demand peaks at specific temporal intervals, because users consume power at the same time. In order to avoid demand peaks, users' appliances should consume electricity in a more temporarily distributed way. A new methodology to schedule the usage of home appliances is proposed and analyzed in this paper. The main concept behind this approach is the aggregation of home appliances into priority classes and the definition of a maximum power consumption limit, which is not allowed to be exceeded during peak hours. The scenario simulated describes a modern household, where the electrical devices are classified in low and high priority groups. The high priority devices are always granted power in order to operate without temporal restrictions. On the contrary, the low priority devices have to pause their operation, when the algorithm dictates it, and resume it in the future. This can become beneficial for both energy companies and users. The electricity suppliers companies will be capable of regulating power generation during demand peaks periods. Moreover, users can be granted lower electricity bill rates for accepting delaying the operation of some of their appliances. In order to analyze this scenario, teletraffic engineering theory, which is used in evaluating the performance of telecommunication networks, is used. A reversible fair scheduling (RFS) algorithm, which was originally developed for telecommunication networks, is applied. The purpose is to analyze how a power consumption limit and priorities for home appliances will affect the demand peak and the users' everyday life. Verification of the effectiveness of the RFS algorithm is done by means of simulation and by using real data for power consumption and operation hours. The defined maximum power limit of 750 and 1000 Watt was not exceeded during

  5. Synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) via chemical reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thakur, Alpana; Rangra, V. S.; Kumar, Sunil

    2015-01-01

    Natural flake Graphite was used as the starting material for the graphene synthesis. In the first step flake graphite was treated with oxidizing agents under vigorous conditions to obtain graphite oxide. Layered graphite oxide decorated with oxygen has large inter-layer distance leading easy exfoliation into single sheets by ultrasonication giving graphene oxide. In the last step exfoliated graphene oxide sheets were reduced slowly with the help of reducing agent to obtain fine powder which is labeled as reduced graphene oxide (rGO). This rGO was further characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman Spectroscopy techniques. XRD pattern shows peaks corresponding to (002) graphitic lattice planes indicating the formation of network of sp 2 like carbon structure. SEM images show the ultrathin, wrinkled, paper-like morphology of graphene sheets. IR study shows that the graphite has been oxidized to graphite oxide with the presence of various absorption bands confirming the presence of oxidizing groups. The FTIR spectrum of rGO shows no sharp peaks confirming the efficient reduction of rGO. The Raman spectrum shows disorder in the graphene sheets

  6. Astaxanthin degradation and lipid oxidation of Pacific white shrimp oil: kinetics study and stability as affected by storage conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sirima Takeungwongtrakul

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The kinetics of astaxanthin degradation and lipid oxidation in shrimp oil from hepatopancreas of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei as affected by storage temperature were studied. When shrimp oil was incubated at different temperatures (4, 30, 45 and 60 °C for 16 h, the rate constants (k of astaxanthin degradation and lipid oxidation in shrimp oil increased with increasing temperatures (p < 0.05. Thus, astaxanthin degradation and lipid oxidation in shrimp oil were augmented at high temperature. When shrimp oils with different storage conditions (illumination, oxygen availability and temperature were stored for up to 40 days, astaxanthin contents in all samples decreased throughout storage (p < 0.05. All factors were able to enhance astaxanthin degradation during 40 days of storage. With increasing storage time, the progressive formation of primary and secondary oxidation products were found in all samples as evidenced by the increases in both peroxide values (PV and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS (p < 0.05. Light, air and temperatures therefore had the marked effect on astaxanthin degradation and lipid oxidation in shrimp oils during the extended storage.

  7. Demand Side Management: An approach to peak load smoothing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Prachi

    A preliminary national-level analysis was conducted to determine whether Demand Side Management (DSM) programs introduced by electric utilities since 1992 have made any progress towards their stated goal of reducing peak load demand. Estimates implied that DSM has a very small effect on peak load reduction and there is substantial regional and end-user variability. A limited scholarly literature on DSM also provides evidence in support of a positive effect of demand response programs. Yet, none of these studies examine the question of how DSM affects peak load at the micro-level by influencing end-users' response to prices. After nearly three decades of experience with DSM, controversy remains over how effective these programs have been. This dissertation considers regional analyses that explore both demand-side solutions and supply-side interventions. On the demand side, models are estimated to provide in-depth evidence of end-user consumption patterns for each North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) region, helping to identify sectors in regions that have made a substantial contribution to peak load reduction. The empirical evidence supports the initial hypothesis that there is substantial regional and end-user variability of reductions in peak demand. These results are quite robust in rapidly-urbanizing regions, where air conditioning and lighting load is substantially higher, and regions where the summer peak is more pronounced than the winter peak. It is also evident from the regional experiences that active government involvement, as shaped by state regulations in the last few years, has been successful in promoting DSM programs, and perhaps for the same reason we witness an uptick in peak load reductions in the years 2008 and 2009. On the supply side, we estimate the effectiveness of DSM programs by analyzing the growth of capacity margin with the introduction of DSM programs. The results indicate that DSM has been successful in offsetting the

  8. Factors Affecting Ballability of Mixture Iron Ore Concentrates and Iron Oxide Bearing Wastes in Metallurgical Processing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mfon Udo

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Iron oxide bearing wastes (IROBEWAS are produced at every segment of processing stage of sinter, molten iron and steel production. They are hard to handle and in many cases are stockpiled only to be a source of environmental pollution but can be balled into pellets. Pellet of good ballability values are transportable and recyclable as they can withstand stress they will encounter without disintegrating back to dust. But ballability is affected by some factors like the grain sizes of the materials, the moisture and binder contents of the ball mix, wettability of the balled materials and the processing perimeters of the granulator. The objective of this research work is to investigate the factors affecting ballability of mixture of iron ore concentrates and iron oxide bearing wastes (IROBEWAS in metallurgical processing. The parameters under consideration were grain size of materials, the moisture contents, the speed of balling disc, IROBEWAS and Bentonite (Binder contents of the balled mix. This was carried out by balling different volume fractions of mix containing iron oxide concentrate and IROBEWAS using a balling disc and testing the resulting balls for green compressive strength using universal testing machine. It was found that the ballability of the mixture of iron ore concentrate and IROBEWAS increases as grain sizes of the materials reduce but increases as the moisture contents and IROBEWAS content increase up to an optimum value of moisture content in the mix before it starts to reduce. The ballability also increases as the speed of the granulator (Balling disc increases within the limit of this work. It was also observed that there was an increase in ballability with slight increase in bentonite content in the mix.

  9. Gadolinium doped cerium oxide for soot oxidation: Influence of interfacial metal–support interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Durgasri, D. Naga; Vinodkumar, T.; Lin, Fangjian; Alxneit, Ivo; Reddy, Benjaram M.

    2014-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Supported Ce-Gd-oxides are applied for soot oxidation for the first time. • Gd 2 O 3 doping facilitates enhanced extrinsic oxygen vacancy concentration in ceria. • The Ce-Gd/TiO 2 exhibited the highest soot oxidation activity. • Key parameters that involved in tuning the activity are discussed. - Abstract: The aim of the present investigation was to ascertain the role of Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , and TiO 2 supports in modulating the catalytic performance of ceria-based solid solutions. In this study, we prepared nanosized Ce-Gd/Al 2 O 3 , Ce-Gd/SiO 2 , and Ce-Gd/TiO 2 catalysts by a deposition coprecipitation method and evaluated for soot oxidation. The synthesized catalysts were calcined at two different temperatures to assess their thermal stability and extensively characterized by various techniques, namely, XRD, Raman, BET surface area, TEM, H 2 -TPR, and UV–vis DRS. XRD and TEM results indicate that Ce-Gd-oxide nanoparticles are in highly dispersed form on the surface of the supports. Raman results show a prominent sharp peak and a broad peak corresponding to the F 2g mode of ceria and the presence of oxygen vacancies, respectively. The presence of a significant number of oxygen vacancies in all samples is also confirmed from UV–vis DRS measurements. The H 2 -TPR results suggest that Gd-doping facilitates the reduction of the materials and decreases the onset temperature of reduction. Among the prepared samples, Ce-Gd/TiO 2 catalyst exhibited the highest activity, suggesting the existence of strong interfacial metal support interaction between the active metal oxide and the support

  10. Can We Distinguish Emotions from Faces? Investigation of Implicit and Explicit Processes of Peak Facial Expressions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Ruiqi; Li, Xianchun; Li, Lin; Wang, Yanmei

    2016-01-01

    Most previous studies on facial expression recognition have focused on the moderate emotions; to date, few studies have been conducted to investigate the explicit and implicit processes of peak emotions. In the current study, we used transiently peak intense expression images of athletes at the winning or losing point in competition as materials, and investigated the diagnosability of peak facial expressions at both implicit and explicit levels. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to evaluate isolated faces, isolated bodies, and the face-body compounds, and eye-tracking movement was recorded. The results revealed that the isolated body and face-body congruent images were better recognized than isolated face and face-body incongruent images, indicating that the emotional information conveyed by facial cues was ambiguous, and the body cues influenced facial emotion recognition. Furthermore, eye movement records showed that the participants displayed distinct gaze patterns for the congruent and incongruent compounds. In Experiment 2A, the subliminal affective priming task was used, with faces as primes and bodies as targets, to investigate the unconscious emotion perception of peak facial expressions. The results showed that winning face prime facilitated reaction to winning body target, whereas losing face prime inhibited reaction to winning body target, suggesting that peak facial expressions could be perceived at the implicit level. In general, the results indicate that peak facial expressions cannot be consciously recognized but can be perceived at the unconscious level. In Experiment 2B, revised subliminal affective priming task and a strict awareness test were used to examine the validity of unconscious perception of peak facial expressions found in Experiment 2A. Results of Experiment 2B showed that reaction time to both winning body targets and losing body targets was influenced by the invisibly peak facial expression primes, which indicated the

  11. Environmental Factors Affecting Ammonium Oxidation Under Iron Reducing Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaffe, P. R.; Huang, S.; Ruiz-Urigüen, M.

    2014-12-01

    Ammonium (NH4+) oxidation coupled to iron (Fe) reduction in the absence of oxygen and nitrate/nitrite (NO3-/NO2-) has been reported by several investigators and referred to as Feammox. Feammox is a biological reaction, where Fe(III) is the electron acceptor, which is reduced to Fe(II), and NH4+ is the electron donor, which is oxidized to NO2-. Through a 180-day anaerobic incubation experiment, and using PCR-DGGE, 454-pyosequecing and qPCR analysis, we have shown that an Acidimicrobiaceae bacterium A6, a previously unreported species in the Acidimicrobiaceae family, might be either responsible or plays a key role in the Feammox process, We have enriched these Feammox bacteria (65.8% in terms of cell numbers) in a membrane reactor, and isolated the pure Acidimicrobiaceae bacterium A6 strain in an autotrophic medium. In samples collected and then incubated from a series of local wetland-, upland-, as well as storm-water detention pond-sediments, Feammox activity was only detected in acidic soil environments that contain Fe oxides. Using primers we developed for this purpose, Acidimicrobiaceae bacterium A6 was detected in all incubations where Feammox was observed. Anaerobic incubations of Feammox enrichment cultures adjusted to different pH, revealed that the optimal pH for Feammox is 4 ~ 5, and the reaction does not proceed when pH > 7. Feammox was still proceeding at pH as low as 2. In Feammox culture amended with different Fe(III) sources, Feammox reaction proceeded only when Fe oxides (ferrihydrite or goethite ) were supplied, whereas samples incubated with ferric chloride or ferric citrate showed no measurable NH4+ oxidation. Furthermore, we have also determined from incubation experiments conducted with a temperature gradient (10 ~ 35℃), that the Feammox process was active when the temperature is above 15℃, and the optimal temperature is 20℃. Incubations of enrichment culture with 79% Feammox bacteria appeared to remove circa 8% more NH4+ at 20ºC than at

  12. Peak power ratio generator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moyer, R.D.

    A peak power ratio generator is described for measuring, in combination with a conventional power meter, the peak power level of extremely narrow pulses in the gigahertz radio frequency bands. The present invention in a preferred embodiment utilizes a tunnel diode and a back diode combination in a detector circuit as the only high speed elements. The high speed tunnel diode provides a bistable signal and serves as a memory device of the input pulses for the remaining, slower components. A hybrid digital and analog loop maintains the peak power level of a reference channel at a known amount. Thus, by measuring the average power levels of the reference signal and the source signal, the peak power level of the source signal can be determined.

  13. Probing the oxidation kinetics of small permalloy particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong, Xiaolei; Song, Xiao; Yin, Shiliu; Shirolkar, Mandar M.; Li, Ming; Wang, Haiqian

    2017-01-01

    The oxidation of permalloys is important to apply in a wide range. The oxidation and diffusion mechanisms of small permalloy particles with different Fe content are studied by using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and microstructure characterizations. Fe 2 O 3 /(Ni, Fe) 3 O 4 plays a key role in the morphology evolution and diffusion mechanisms of small NiFe particles upon oxidation. The activation energies of grain boundary diffusion for the NiFe alloys increase from 141 kJ/mol to 208 kJ/mol as the Fe content increases from 0 to ~50 wt%. We have developed a diffusion process resolved temperature programed oxidation (PR-TPO) analysis method. Three diffusion mechanisms have been recognized by using this method: In addition to the grain boundary diffusion and lattice diffusion, our TGA analysis suggests that the phase conversion from Fe 2 O 3 to (Ni, Fe) 3 O 4 induces diffusion change and affects the diffusion process at the intermediate temperature. Relevant oxidation kinetics and diffusion mechanisms are discussed. - Graphical abstract: The oxidation mechanisms of small Permalloy particles with different Fe content is studied by using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and microstructure characterizations. The activation energies of grain boundary diffusion for the NiFe alloys increases from 140 kJ/mol to 208 kJ/mol as the Fe content increases from 0 to 50 wt% as determined by TGA. We have developed a diffusion process resolved temperature programed oxidation (DPR-TPO) analysis method, and three diffusion mechanisms have been recognized by using this method: In addition to the well-known grain boundary diffusion and lattice diffusion, we found that the phase conversion from Fe 2 O 3 to (Ni, Fe) 3 O 4 will induce diffusion changes and affect the diffusion process at the intermediate temperature. The diffusion processes can be characterized by the corresponding characteristic peak temperatures in temperature programmed oxidation (TPO) analysis. This work not only

  14. Analysis of the location for peak heating in CHP based combined district heating systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Haichao; Lahdelma, Risto; Wang, Xin; Jiao, Wenling; Zhu, Chuanzhi; Zou, Pinghua

    2015-01-01

    Combined heat and power (CHP) is the main technology for providing the base load of district heating in China. However, CHP is not efficient for providing the peak load; instead, a peak boiler with high efficiency could be used to compensate the peak load. This paper studies how the location of the peak boiler can affect the energy efficiency and economic performance of such CHP based combined district heating system. Firstly, the connection mode and the control strategy for different peak heating locations are analyzed. Then the effect of the peak boiler's location on the initial investment of the network and the cost for distributing heat is studied. The objective is to place the peak boiler in a location where the overall costs are the smallest. Following this rule, the results indicate that the peak boiler should be located at the CHP plant if that allows using cheaper ‘self-use electricity’ in CHP for distributing the heat. However, if the market electricity price is used everywhere, or if energy efficiency is more emphasized, the location of the peak boiler should be closer to the users with dense heat loads. - Highlights: • Location for peak heating in the CHP based combined DH system is studied. • Regulation or control strategies for combined DH are summarized. • The heat load duration curve for combined DH is demonstrated. • Network design for combined DH with peak boiler outside of the CHP is analyzed

  15. Early life stress affects mortality rate more than social behavior, gene expression or oxidative damage in honey bee workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rueppell, Olav; Yousefi, Babak; Collazo, Juan; Smith, Daniel

    2017-04-01

    Early life stressors can affect aging and life expectancy in positive or negative ways. Individuals can adjust their behavior and molecular physiology based on early life experiences but relatively few studies have connected such mechanisms to demographic patterns in social organisms. Sociality buffers individuals from environmental influences and it is unclear how much early life stress affects later life history. Workers of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) were exposed to two stressors, Varroa parasitism and Paraquat exposure, early in life. Consequences were measured at the molecular, behavioral, and demographic level. While treatments did not significantly affect levels of oxidative damage, expression of select genes, and titers of the common deformed wing virus, most of these measures were affected by age. Some of the age effects, such as declining levels of deformed wing virus and oxidative damage, were opposite to our predictions but may be explained by demographic selection. Further analyses suggested some influences of worker behavior on mortality and indicated weak treatment effects on behavior. The latter effects were inconsistent among the two experiments. However, mortality rate was consistently reduced by Varroa mite stress during development. Thus, mortality was more responsive to early life stress than our other response variables. The lack of treatment effects on these measures may be due to the social organization of honey bees that buffers the individual from the impact of stressful developmental conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Influence of water on the anodic oxidation mechanism of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Diethylenetriamine was oxidised in different electrolytes on platinum electrode. In non-aqueous electrolyte, an irreversible oxidation peak characteristic of DETA oxidation appears on the voltammogram followed by a constant current until the higher limit of the sweeping potential domain is attained. The following successive ...

  17. Respiratory symptoms, spirometry, and oxidant air pollution in nonsmoking adults

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cohen, C.A.; Hudson, A.R.; Clauson, J.L.; Knelson, J.H.

    1972-01-01

    Comparison of 197 nonsmokers (Seventh Day Adventists) residing in the San Gabriel Valley (high oxidant) with 244 living in San Diego area (similar pollution but with lower oxidant) is discussed. Study was conducted in winter when differences between the two areas were negligible and thus when irreversible effects could be detected. Some unusual findings included: an unexpectedly low chronic bronchitis prevalence rate of 1.77% as compared with the general population, a greater prevalence of chronic bronchitis in women in both areas (not significant), and no effect of socio-economic status. Comparison of pulmonary function using VC, FEV, MEF, peak flow, time constant, and FVC showed no differences between the two groups. The annual mean oxidant level is about the same in both areas and may have influenced spirometric values more than oxidant peaks. Also, these tests may not have been sufficiently sensitive.

  18. Leveraging probabilistic peak detection to estimate baseline drift in complex chromatographic samples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopatka, Martin; Barcaru, Andrei; Sjerps, Marjan J; Vivó-Truyols, Gabriel

    2016-01-29

    Accurate analysis of chromatographic data often requires the removal of baseline drift. A frequently employed strategy strives to determine asymmetric weights in order to fit a baseline model by regression. Unfortunately, chromatograms characterized by a very high peak saturation pose a significant challenge to such algorithms. In addition, a low signal-to-noise ratio (i.e. s/npeak detection algorithm. A posterior probability of being affected by a peak is computed for each point in the chromatogram, leading to a set of weights that allow non-iterative calculation of a baseline estimate. For extremely saturated chromatograms, the peak weighted (PW) method demonstrates notable improvement compared to the other methods examined. However, in chromatograms characterized by low-noise and well-resolved peaks, the asymmetric least squares (ALS) and the more sophisticated Mixture Model (MM) approaches achieve superior results in significantly less time. We evaluate the performance of these three baseline correction methods over a range of chromatographic conditions to demonstrate the cases in which each method is most appropriate. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. XPS characterization of the anodic oxide film formed on uranium metal in sodium hydroxide solution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu Xiaoguo; Wang Xiaolin; Guo Huanjun; Wang Qingfu; Zhao Zhengping; Zhong Yongqiang

    2002-01-01

    X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to examine the anodic oxide film formed on uranium metal in 0.8 mol/L NaOH solution. The U4f 7/2 fitting spectra suggests that the anodic oxide film is composed of uranium trioxide and a small amount of UO 2+x . Under UHV condition, the U4f peak shifts to the lower binding energy, while a gradual increase in the intensity of U5f peak and the broad of U4f peak are also observed. All of these changes are due to reduction of uranium trioxide in the anodic oxide film. XPS quantitative analysis confirms the occurrence of reduction reaction

  20. Physiological activities of the combination of fish oil and α-lipoic acid affecting hepatic lipogenesis and parameters related to oxidative stress in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ide, Takashi

    2018-06-01

    We studied the combined effect of fish oil and α-lipoic acid on hepatic lipogenesis and fatty acid oxidation and parameters of oxidative stress in rats fed lipogenic diets high in sucrose. A control diet contained a saturated fat (palm oil) that gives high rate of hepatic lipogenesis. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets supplemented with 0 or 2.5 g/kg α-lipoic acid and containing 0, 20, or 100 g/kg fish oil, for 21 days. α-Lipoic acid significantly reduced food intake during 0-8 days but not the later period of the experiment. Fish oil and α-lipoic acid decreased serum lipid concentrations and their combination further decreased the parameters in an additive fashion. The combination of fish oil and α-lipoic acid decreased the activity and mRNA levels of hepatic lipogenic enzymes in an additive fashion. Fish oil increased the parameters of hepatic fatty acid oxidation enzymes. α-Lipoic acid appeared to antagonize the stimulating effects of fish oil of fatty acid oxidation through reductions in the activity of some fatty acid oxidation enzymes. α-Lipoic acid attenuated fish oil-dependent increases in serum and liver malondialdehyde levels, and this compound also reduced the serum 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine level. α-Lipoic acid affected various parameters related to the antioxidant system; fish oil also affected some of the parameters. The combination of fish oil and α-lipoic acid effectively reduced serum lipid levels through the additive down-regulation of hepatic lipogenesis. α-Lipoic acid was effective in attenuating fish oil-mediated oxidative stress.

  1. Preparation of highly aligned silicon oxide nanowires with stable intensive photoluminescence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duraia, El-Shazly M.; Mansurov, Z.A.; Tokmolden, S.; Beall, Gary W.

    2010-01-01

    In this work we report the successful formation of highly aligned vertical silicon oxide nanowires. The source of silicon was from the substrate itself without any additional source of silicon. X-ray measurement demonstrated that our nanowires are amorphous. Photoluminescence measurements were conducted through 18 months and indicated that there is a very good intensive emission peaks near the violet regions. The FTIR measurements indicated the existence of peaks at 463, 604, 795 and a wide peak at 1111 cm -1 and this can be attributed to Si-O-Si and Si-O stretching vibrations. We also report the formation of the octopus-like silicon oxide nanowires and the growth mechanism of these structures was discussed.

  2. Preparation of highly aligned silicon oxide nanowires with stable intensive photoluminescence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Duraia, El-Shazly M., E-mail: duraia_physics@yahoo.co [Suez Canal University, Faculty of Science, Physics Department, Ismailia (Egypt); Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty (Kazakhstan); Institute of Physics and Technology, 11 Ibragimov Street, 050032 Almaty (Kazakhstan); Mansurov, Z.A. [Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty (Kazakhstan); Tokmolden, S. [Institute of Physics and Technology, 11 Ibragimov Street, 050032 Almaty (Kazakhstan); Beall, Gary W. [Texas State University-San Marcos, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 601 University Dr., San Marcos, TX 78666 (United States)

    2010-02-15

    In this work we report the successful formation of highly aligned vertical silicon oxide nanowires. The source of silicon was from the substrate itself without any additional source of silicon. X-ray measurement demonstrated that our nanowires are amorphous. Photoluminescence measurements were conducted through 18 months and indicated that there is a very good intensive emission peaks near the violet regions. The FTIR measurements indicated the existence of peaks at 463, 604, 795 and a wide peak at 1111 cm{sup -1} and this can be attributed to Si-O-Si and Si-O stretching vibrations. We also report the formation of the octopus-like silicon oxide nanowires and the growth mechanism of these structures was discussed.

  3. PolyaPeak: Detecting Transcription Factor Binding Sites from ChIP-seq Using Peak Shape Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Hao; Ji, Hongkai

    2014-01-01

    ChIP-seq is a powerful technology for detecting genomic regions where a protein of interest interacts with DNA. ChIP-seq data for mapping transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) have a characteristic pattern: around each binding site, sequence reads aligned to the forward and reverse strands of the reference genome form two separate peaks shifted away from each other, and the true binding site is located in between these two peaks. While it has been shown previously that the accuracy and resolution of binding site detection can be improved by modeling the pattern, efficient methods are unavailable to fully utilize that information in TFBS detection procedure. We present PolyaPeak, a new method to improve TFBS detection by incorporating the peak shape information. PolyaPeak describes peak shapes using a flexible Pólya model. The shapes are automatically learnt from the data using Minorization-Maximization (MM) algorithm, then integrated with the read count information via a hierarchical model to distinguish true binding sites from background noises. Extensive real data analyses show that PolyaPeak is capable of robustly improving TFBS detection compared with existing methods. An R package is freely available. PMID:24608116

  4. Oxidation kinetics of (B6O) boron oxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Makarov, V.S.; Solov'ev, N.E.; Ugaj, Ya.A.

    1987-01-01

    Reactivity of B 6 O to oxygen is investigated. It is shown that the process of B 6 O oxidation in the air in the temperature range 760-1150 K results in the maximum transformation degree equal to 0.35. At the initial stages oxidation proceeds in kinetic regime, at final stages - in diffusion one, and high viscosity of B 2 O 3 probably affects the oxidation process

  5. Xenobiotics that affect oxidative phosphorylation alter differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells at concentrations that are found in human blood

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Llobet

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Adipogenesis is accompanied by differentiation of adipose tissue-derived stem cells to adipocytes. As part of this differentiation, biogenesis of the oxidative phosphorylation system occurs. Many chemical compounds used in medicine, agriculture or other human activities affect oxidative phosphorylation function. Therefore, these xenobiotics could alter adipogenesis. We have analyzed the effects on adipocyte differentiation of some xenobiotics that act on the oxidative phosphorylation system. The tested concentrations have been previously reported in human blood. Our results show that pharmaceutical drugs that decrease mitochondrial DNA replication, such as nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, or inhibitors of mitochondrial protein synthesis, such as ribosomal antibiotics, diminish adipocyte differentiation and leptin secretion. By contrast, the environmental chemical pollutant tributyltin chloride, which inhibits the ATP synthase of the oxidative phosphorylation system, can promote adipocyte differentiation and leptin secretion, leading to obesity and metabolic syndrome as postulated by the obesogen hypothesis.

  6. Gadolinium doped cerium oxide for soot oxidation: Influence of interfacial metal–support interactions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Durgasri, D. Naga; Vinodkumar, T. [Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Division, CSIR–Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007 (India); Lin, Fangjian; Alxneit, Ivo [Solar Technology Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Reddy, Benjaram M., E-mail: bmreddy@iict.res.in [Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Division, CSIR–Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007 (India)

    2014-09-30

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Supported Ce-Gd-oxides are applied for soot oxidation for the first time. • Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} doping facilitates enhanced extrinsic oxygen vacancy concentration in ceria. • The Ce-Gd/TiO{sub 2} exhibited the highest soot oxidation activity. • Key parameters that involved in tuning the activity are discussed. - Abstract: The aim of the present investigation was to ascertain the role of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, SiO{sub 2}, and TiO{sub 2} supports in modulating the catalytic performance of ceria-based solid solutions. In this study, we prepared nanosized Ce-Gd/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, Ce-Gd/SiO{sub 2}, and Ce-Gd/TiO{sub 2} catalysts by a deposition coprecipitation method and evaluated for soot oxidation. The synthesized catalysts were calcined at two different temperatures to assess their thermal stability and extensively characterized by various techniques, namely, XRD, Raman, BET surface area, TEM, H{sub 2}-TPR, and UV–vis DRS. XRD and TEM results indicate that Ce-Gd-oxide nanoparticles are in highly dispersed form on the surface of the supports. Raman results show a prominent sharp peak and a broad peak corresponding to the F{sub 2g} mode of ceria and the presence of oxygen vacancies, respectively. The presence of a significant number of oxygen vacancies in all samples is also confirmed from UV–vis DRS measurements. The H{sub 2}-TPR results suggest that Gd-doping facilitates the reduction of the materials and decreases the onset temperature of reduction. Among the prepared samples, Ce-Gd/TiO{sub 2} catalyst exhibited the highest activity, suggesting the existence of strong interfacial metal support interaction between the active metal oxide and the support.

  7. Improved Understanding of In Situ Chemical Oxidation Contaminant Oxidation Kinetics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-12-01

    natural oxidant demand •OH hydroxide radical Ox oxidant O3 ozone PCE perchloroethylene HSO5− peroxymonosulfate PNDA p...properties (e.g., soil mineralogy , natural carbon content) affect oxidant mobility and stability in the subsurface, and develop a standardized natural...chlorinated ethenes For contaminant oxidation by activated S2O82−, it is more difficult to develop a general description of kobs vs. T because there are

  8. Investigation on the attribute detection of plutonium oxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Suping; Hao Fanhua; Gong Jian; Wu Huailong; Hu Guangchun; Hu Yongbo

    2006-01-01

    A long-term detection of the 871 keV gamma-ray emitted from two PuO 2 samples (100 g recovered powder and 8 g pure powder) has been conduced with a high resolution HPGe spectrometer in a lead-shielded chamber. An on-site detection of the 871 keV gamma-ray emitted from 200 g recovered PuO 2 powder has also been performed. Although the 871 keV peak can be observed in all 3 samples, other characteristic gamma-rays related to the existence of oxygen are not seen. The 871 keV peak is absent in spectra acquired from metal plutonium samples, which can answer whether the plutonium material in a sealed container is metal plutonium or plutonium oxide, i.e. the 871 keV gamma-ray can be an evidence for the absence of metal plutonium. The 871 keV peak is strong in the spectrum of 200 g recovered PuO 2 sample. A software of plutonium abundance and age analysis developed by ourselves can identify the 871 keV peak from a spectrum of 10 min. If the system is appropriately improved, it can be used to detect attribute of plutonium oxide through identifying 871 keV gamma-ray peak. (authors)

  9. Interpretation of the peak areas in gamma-ray spectra that have a large relative uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korun, M.; Maver Modec, P.; Vodenik, B.

    2012-01-01

    Empirical evidence is provided that the areas of peaks having a relative uncertainty in excess of 30% are overestimated. This systematic influence is of a statistical nature and originates in way the peak-analyzing routine recognizes the small peaks. It is not easy to detect this influence since it is smaller than the peak-area uncertainty. However, the systematic influence can be revealed in repeated measurements under the same experimental conditions, e.g., in background measurements. To evaluate the systematic influence, background measurements were analyzed with the peak-analyzing procedure described by Korun et al. (2008). The magnitude of the influence depends on the relative uncertainty of the peak area and may amount, in the conditions used in the peak analysis, to a factor of 5 at relative uncertainties exceeding 60%. From the measurements, the probability for type-II errors, as a function of the relative uncertainty of the peak area, was extracted. This probability is near zero below an uncertainty of 30% and rises to 90% at uncertainties exceeding 50%. - Highlights: ► A systematic influence affecting small peak areas in gamma-ray spectra is described. ► The influence originates in the peak locating procedure, using a pre-determined sensitivity. ► The predetermined sensitivity makes peak areas with large uncertainties to be overestimated. ► The influence depends on the relative uncertainty of the number of counts in the peak. ► Corrections exceeding a factor of 3 are attained at peak area uncertainties exceeding 60%.

  10. Dietary oxidized poultry offal fat: broiler performance and oxidative stability of thigh meat during chilled storage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    AMC Racanicci

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary oxidized poultry offal fat on the performance of broilers and on the oxidative stability of dark chicken meat. One hundred and sixty male chicks were fed a corn-soybean meal diet containing 4% fresh or oxidized poultry fat from 10 to 47 days of age. Fresh fat was stored frozen until diets were produced, and oxidized fat was obtained by electrical heating (110 to 120 ºC. Birds were slaughtered at 47 days of age, and carcass characteristics were measured. Skinless and deboned thigh meat was stored chilled during 12 days, and samples were periodically collected to assess their quality and oxidative stability. Dietary oxidized fat did not affect bird performance or carcass characteristics. During chilled storage, meat color (L*, a* and b* was not affected by dietary treatments; however, TBARS (Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances values were higher (P<0.05 in thigh meat from chickens fed the oxidized fat, indicating that oxidative stability was adversely affected.

  11. X-ray Absorption Study of Graphene Oxide and Transition Metal Oxide Nanocomposites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gandhiraman, Ram P; Nordlund, Dennis; Javier, Cristina; Koehne, Jessica E; Chen, Bin; Meyyappan, M

    2014-08-14

    The surface properties of the electrode materials play a crucial role in determining the performance and efficiency of energy storage devices. Graphene oxide and nanostructures of 3d transition metal oxides were synthesized for construction of electrodes in supercapacitors, and the electronic structure and oxidation states were probed using near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure. Understanding the chemistry of graphene oxide would provide valuable insight into its reactivity and properties as the graphene oxide transformation to reduced-graphene oxide is a key step in the synthesis of the electrode materials. Polarized behavior of the synchrotron X-rays and the angular dependency of the near-edge X-ray absorption fine structures (NEXAFS) have been utilized to study the orientation of the σ and π bonds of the graphene oxide and graphene oxide-metal oxide nanocomposites. The core-level transitions of individual metal oxides and that of the graphene oxide nanocomposite showed that the interaction of graphene oxide with the metal oxide nanostructures has not altered the electronic structure of either of them. As the restoration of the π network is important for good electrical conductivity, the C K edge NEXAFS spectra of reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites confirms the same through increased intensity of the sp 2 -derived unoccupied states π* band. A pronounced angular dependency of the reduced sample and the formation of excitonic peaks confirmed the formation of extended conjugated network.

  12. Observation of complete oxidation of InN to In2O3 in air at elevated temperatures by using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Ik-Jae; Yu, Chung-Jong; Hur, Tae-Bong; Kim, Hyung-Kook; Kim, Chae-Ok; Kim, Jae-Yong

    2006-01-01

    We present here an X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of a polycrystalline InN film on sapphire. The InN was completely oxidized to bixbyite in air after annealing at high temperatures. The analysis of the X-ray diffraction data demonstrated that the oxidation process started around 450 .deg. C. The high-resolution XPS data showed the In3d peaks and the N1s main peak located near 396.4 eV for the InN films. After oxidation, the N1s peak had completely disappeared while the In3d peaks had not changed. These results strongly indicate that the oxidation transformed the structure of InN film to In 2 O 3 .

  13. Molecular-beam-deposited yttrium-oxide dielectrics in aluminum-gated metal - oxide - semiconductor field-effect transistors: Effective electron mobility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ragnarsson, L.-A degree.; Guha, S.; Copel, M.; Cartier, E.; Bojarczuk, N. A.; Karasinski, J.

    2001-01-01

    We report on high effective mobilities in yttrium-oxide-based n-channel metal - oxide - semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with aluminum gates. The yttrium oxide was grown in ultrahigh vacuum using a reactive atomic-beam-deposition system. Medium-energy ion-scattering studies indicate an oxide with an approximate composition of Y 2 O 3 on top of a thin layer of interfacial SiO 2 . The thickness of this interfacial oxide as well as the effective mobility are found to be dependent on the postgrowth anneal conditions. Optimum conditions result in mobilities approaching that of SiO 2 -based MOSFETs at higher fields with peak mobilities at approximately 210 cm 2 /Vs. [copyright] 2001 American Institute of Physics

  14. Comparison of Peak-area Ratios and Percentage Peak Area Derived from HPLC-evaporative Light Scattering and Refractive Index Detectors for Palm Oil and its Fractions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ping, Bonnie Tay Yen; Aziz, Haliza Abdul; Idris, Zainab

    2018-01-01

    High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) methods via evaporative light scattering (ELS) and refractive index (RI) detectors are used by the local palm oil industry to monitor the TAG profiles of palm oil and its fractions. The quantitation method used is based on area normalization of the TAG components and expressed as percentage area. Although not frequently used, peak-area ratios based on TAG profiles are a possible qualitative method for characterizing the TAG of palm oil and its fractions. This paper aims to compare these two detectors in terms of peak-area ratio, percentage peak area composition, and TAG elution profiles. The triacylglycerol (TAG) composition for palm oil and its fractions were analysed under similar HPLC conditions i.e. mobile phase and column. However, different sample concentrations were used for the detectors while remaining within the linearity limits of the detectors. These concentrations also gave a good baseline resolved separation for all the TAGs components. The results of the ELSD method's percentage area composition for the TAGs of palm oil and its fractions differed from those of RID. This indicates an unequal response of TAGs for palm oil and its fractions using the ELSD, also affecting the peak area ratios. They were found not to be equivalent to those obtained using the HPLC-RID. The ELSD method showed a better baseline separation for the TAGs components, with a more stable baseline as compared with the corresponding HPLC-RID. In conclusion, the percentage area compositions and peak-area ratios for palm oil and its fractions as derived from HPLC-ELSD and RID were not equivalent due to different responses of TAG components to the ELSD detector. The HPLC-RID has a better accuracy for percentage area composition and peak-area ratio because the TAG components response equally to the detector.

  15. Peak capacity and peak capacity per unit time in capillary and microchip zone electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foley, Joe P; Blackney, Donna M; Ennis, Erin J

    2017-11-10

    The origins of the peak capacity concept are described and the important contributions to the development of that concept in chromatography and electrophoresis are reviewed. Whereas numerous quantitative expressions have been reported for one- and two-dimensional separations, most are focused on chromatographic separations and few, if any, quantitative unbiased expressions have been developed for capillary or microchip zone electrophoresis. Making the common assumption that longitudinal diffusion is the predominant source of zone broadening in capillary electrophoresis, analytical expressions for the peak capacity are derived, first in terms of migration time, diffusion coefficient, migration distance, and desired resolution, and then in terms of the remaining underlying fundamental parameters (electric field, electroosmotic and electrophoretic mobilities) that determine the migration time. The latter expressions clearly illustrate the direct square root dependence of peak capacity on electric field and migration distance and the inverse square root dependence on solute diffusion coefficient. Conditions that result in a high peak capacity will result in a low peak capacity per unit time and vice-versa. For a given symmetrical range of relative electrophoretic mobilities for co- and counter-electroosmotic species (cations and anions), the peak capacity increases with the square root of the electric field even as the temporal window narrows considerably, resulting in a significant reduction in analysis time. Over a broad relative electrophoretic mobility interval [-0.9, 0.9], an approximately two-fold greater amount of peak capacity can be generated for counter-electroosmotic species although it takes about five-fold longer to do so, consistent with the well-known bias in migration time and resolving power for co- and counter-electroosmotic species. The optimum lower bound of the relative electrophoretic mobility interval [μ r,Z , μ r,A ] that provides the maximum

  16. Oxidation under electron bombardment. A tool for studying the initial states of silicon oxidation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carriere, B.; Deville, J.P.; El Maachi, A.

    1987-06-01

    The exciting beam of an Auger electron spectrometer has been used to monitor the oxidation of silicon single crystals at room temperature and very low pressures of oxygen (approx. 10/sup -7/ Torr). This process allows us to build ultra-thin layers of silica on silicon (down to 30 A) but it is mostly used to investigate the mechanisms of the initial stages of oxidation. Auger spectra recorded continuously during the oxidation process provide information on (1) the nature of the silicon-oxygen chemical bonds which are interpreted through fine structure in the Auger peak, and (2) the kinetics of oxide formation which are deduced from curves of Auger signal versus time. An account is given of the contribution of these Auger studies to the description of the intermediate oxide layer during the reaction between silicon and oxygen and the influence of surface structural disorder, induced mainly by argon-ion bombardment, is discussed in terms of reactivity and oxide coverage.

  17. Auger electron spectroscopy study of initial stages of oxidation in a copper - 19.6-atomic-percent-aluminum alloy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrante, J.

    1973-01-01

    Auger electron spectroscopy was used to examine the initial stages of oxidation of a polycrystalline copper - 19.6 a/o-aluminum alloy. The growth of the 55-eV aluminum oxide peak and the decay of the 59-, 62-, and 937-eV copper peaks were examined as functions of temperature, exposure, and pressure. Pressures ranged from 1x10 to the minus 7th power to 0.0005 torr of O2. Temperatures ranged from room temperature to 700 C. A completely aluminum oxide surface layer was obtained in all cases. Complete disappearance of the underlying 937-eV copper peak was obtained by heating at 700 C in O2 at 0.0005 torr for 1 hr. Temperature studies indicated that thermally activated diffusion was important to the oxidation studies. The initial stages of oxidation followed a logarithmic growth curve.

  18. A comparison study between ZnO nanorods coated with graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding, Jijun; Wang, Minqiang; Deng, Jianping; Gao, Weiyin; Yang, Zhi; Ran, Chenxin; Zhang, Xiangyu

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Optical properties between ZnO-GO and ZnO-RGO composites were compared. • Photoluminescence quenching was observed in ZnO-GO composites. • We obtained enhanced photoluminescence in ZnO-RGO composites. -- Abstract: ZnO nanorods (ZnO NRs) coated with graphene oxide (ZnO-GO) and reduced graphene oxide sheets (ZnO-RGO) were prepared on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates. The crystal structures, morphology and optical properties were analyzed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, absorption spectra and photoluminescence (PL) spectra, respectively. A comparison between PL properties from ZnO-GO and ZnO-RGO were studied. Results indicated that the peak at 442 nm and a broad band at 450–600 nm of ZnO NRs show PL quenching after coating with GO sheets. As coating with RGO sheets, the extent of PL quenching increases. It is interesting to note that as ZnO NRs coated with RGO sheets, the intensity of PL peak at 390 nm significantly increased. The enhanced PL emission research in ZnO-RGO is directed toward development of the “nextgeneration” optoelectronics devices related with graphene materials

  19. Improving Thermo-Oxidative Stability of Nitrile Rubber Composites by Functional Graphene Oxide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Rui; Zhang, Zhao; Zhao, Hongguo; He, Xianru; Wang, Xin; Zhang, Rui

    2018-05-30

    Graphene oxide (GO), modified with anti-aging agent p -phenylenediamine (PPD), was added into nitrile rubber (NBR) in order to improve the thermo-oxidative stability of NBR. The modification of GO and the transformation of functional groups were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Mechanical performances of NBR composites before and after the thermo-oxidative aging were recorded. The results of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) show an increased storage modulus (G') and a decreased value of area of tan δ peak after introducing modified GO into NBR. It indicates that filler particles show positive interaction with molecular chains. The thermo-oxidative stability of composites was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Then, the thermo-oxidative aging kinetic parameters were obtained by the Flynn⁻Wall⁻Ozawa (FWO) equation. The results of aging tests show that the thermo-oxidative stability of rubber matrix increases obviously after introducing GO⁻PPD. In addition, mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation at break) of both before and after aged NBR/GO⁻PPD composites were superior to that of NBR. This work provides meaningful guidance for achieving multifunction thermo-oxidative aging resistance rubber composites.

  20. Anodic ammonia oxidation to nitrogen gas catalyzed by mixed biofilms in bioelectrochemical systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhan, Guoqiang; Zhang, Lixia; Tao, Yong; Wang, Yujian; Zhu, Xiaoyu; Li, Daping

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we report ammonia oxidation to nitrogen gas using microbes as biocatalyst on the anode, with polarized electrode (+600 mV vs. Ag/AgCl) as electron acceptor. In batch experiments, the maximal rate of ammonia-N oxidation by the mixed culture was ∼ 60 mg L −1 d −1 , and nitrogen gas was the main products in anode compartment. Cyclic voltammetry for testing the electroactivity of the anodic biofilms revealed that an oxidation peak appeared at +600 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl), whereas the electrode without biofilms didn’t appear oxidation peak, indicating that the bioanode had good electroactivities for ammonia oxidation. Microbial community analysis of 16S rRNA genes based on high throughput sequencing indicated that the combination of the dominant genera of Nitrosomonas, Comamonas and Paracocus could be important for the electron transfer from ammonia oxidation to anode

  1. Oxidation of ammonium sulfite by a multi-needle-to-plate gas phase pulsed corona discharge reactor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Hua; Lu, Na; Shang, Kefeng; Li, Jie; Wu, Yan

    2013-03-01

    The oxidation of ammonium sulfite in the ammonia-based flue gas desulfurization (FGD) process was investigated in a multi-needle-to-plate gas phase pulsed corona discharge reactor in this paper. The effect of several parameters, including capacitance and peak pulse voltage of discharge system, electrode gap and bubbling gas flow rate on the oxidation rate of ammonium sulfite was reviewed. The oxidation rate of ammonium sulfite could reach 47.2% at the capacitance, the peak pulse voltage, electrode gap and bubbling gas flow rate equal to 2 nF, -24.6 k V, 35 mm and 4 L min-1 within treatment time of 40 min The experimental results indicate that the gas phase pulsed discharge system with a multi-needle-to-plate electrode can oxide the ammonium sulfite. The oxidation rate increased with the applied capacitance and peak pulse voltage and decreased with the electrode gap. As the bubbling gas flow rate increased, the oxidation rate increased first and then tended to reach a stationary value. These results would be important for the process optimization of the (NH4)2SO3 to (NH4)2SO4 oxidation.

  2. Can safe and long-term exposure to extremely low frequency (50 Hz) magnetic fields affect apoptosis, reproduction, and oxidative stress?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akdag, Mehmet Zulkuf; Dasdag, Suleyman; Uzunlar, Ali Kemal; Ulukaya, Engin; Oral, Arzu Yilmaztepe; Çelik, Necla; Akşen, Feyzan

    2013-12-01

    To determine whether 50 Hz extremely low frequency-magnetic fields (ELF-MF) affects apoptotic processes, oxidative damage, and reproductive characteristics such as sperm count and morphology in rat testes. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in the present study, which were divided into three groups (sham group, n = 10, and two experimental groups, n = 10 for each group). Rats in the experimental group were exposed to 100 and 500 μT ELF-MF (2 h/day, 7 days/week, for 10 months) corresponding to exposure levels that are considered safe for humans. The same experimental procedures were applied to the sham group, but the ELF generator was turned off. Tissues from the testes were immunohistochemically stained for active (cleaved) caspase-3 in order to measure the apoptotic index by a semi-quantitative scoring system. The levels of catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), total antioxidative capacity (TAC), total oxidant status (TOS), and oxidative stress index (OSI) were also measured. Additionally, epididymal sperm count and sperm morphology was evaluated. There were no significant differences in the reproductive and oxidative stress parameters between the sham group and the exposed groups (p > 0.05). While no difference was observed between the final apoptosis score of the sham and the 100 μT ELF-MF group (p > 0.05), the final apoptosis score was higher in the 500 μT ELF-MF exposure group than in the sham group (p reproductive components such as sperm count and morphology in testes tissue of rats. However, long-term exposure to 500 μT ELF-MF did affect active-caspase-3 activity, which is a well-known apoptotic indicator.

  3. Peak-by-peak correction of Ge(Li) gamma-ray spectra for photopeaks from background

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cutshall, N H; Larsen, I L [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)

    1980-12-01

    Background photopeaks can interfere with accurate measurement of low levels of radionuclides by gamma-ray spectrometry. A flowchart for peak-by-peak correction of sample spectra to produce accurate results is presented.

  4. Peaking-factor of PWR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morioka, Noboru; Kato, Yasuji; Yokoi, M.

    1975-01-01

    Output peaking factor often plays an important role in the safety and operation of nuclear reactors. The meaning of the peaking factor of PWRs is categorized into two features or the peaking factor in core (FQ-core) and the peaking factor on the basis of accident analysis (or FQ-limit). FQ-core is the actual peaking factor realized in nuclear core at the time of normal operation, and FQ-limit should be evaluated from loss of coolant accident and other abnormal conditions. If FQ-core is lower than FQ-limit, the reactor may be operated at full load, but if FQ-core is larger than FQ-limit, reactor output should be controlled lower than FQ-limit. FQ-core has two kinds of values, or the one on the basis of nuclear design, and the other actually measured in reactor operation. The first FQ-core should be named as FQ-core-design and the latter as FQ-core-measured. The numerical evaluation of FQ-core-design is as follows; FQ-core-design of three-dimensions is synthesized with FQ-core horizontal value (X-Y) and FQ-core vertical value, the former one is calculated with ASSY-CORE code, and the latter one with one dimensional diffusion code. For the evaluation of FQ-core-measured, on-site data observation from nuclear reactor instrumentation or off-site data observation is used. (Iwase, T.)

  5. Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS Identify QTL on SSC2 and SSC17 Affecting Loin Peak Shear Force in Crossbred Commercial Pigs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunyan Zhang

    Full Text Available Of all the meat quality traits, tenderness is considered the most important with regard to eating quality and market value. In this study we have utilised genome wide association studies (GWAS for peak shear force (PSF of loin muscle as a measure of tenderness for 1,976 crossbred commercial pigs, genotyped for 42,721 informative SNPs using the Illumina PorcineSNP60 Beadchip. Four 1 Mb genomic regions, three on SSC2 (at 4 Mb, 5 Mb and 109 Mb and one on SSC17 (at 20 Mb, were detected which collectively explained about 15.30% and 3.07% of the total genetic and phenotypic variance for PSF respectively. Markers ASGA0008566, ASGA0008695, DRGA0003285 and ASGA0075615 in the four regions were strongly associated with the effects. Analysis of the reference genome sequence in the region with the most important SNPs for SSC2_5 identified FRMD8, SLC25A45 and LTBP3 as potential candidate genes for meat tenderness on the basis of functional annotation of these genes. The region SSC2_109 was close to a previously reported candidate gene CAST; however, the very weak LD between DRGA0003285 (the best marker representing region SSC2_109 and CAST indicated the potential for additional genes which are distinct from, or interact with, CAST to affect meat tenderness. Limited information of known genes in regions SSC2_109 and SSC17_20 restricts further analysis. Re-sequencing of these regions for informative animals may help to resolve the molecular architecture and identify new candidate genes and causative mutations affecting this trait. These findings contribute significantly to our knowledge of the genomic regions affecting pork shear force and will potentially lead to new insights into the molecular mechanisms regulating meat tenderness.

  6. Peak-by-peak correction of Ge(Li) gamma-ray spectra for photopeaks from background

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cutshall, N.H.; Larsen, I.L.

    1980-01-01

    Background photopeaks can interfere with accurate measurement of low levels of radionuclides by gamma-ray spectrometry. A flowchart for peak-by-peak correction of sample spectra to produce accurate results is presented. (orig.)

  7. Comparison on graphite, graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide: Synthesis and characterization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hidayah, N. M. S.; Liu, Wei-Wen; Lai, Chin-Wei; Noriman, N. Z.; Khe, Cheng-Seong; Hashim, U.; Lee, H. Cheun

    2017-10-01

    Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) are known to have superior properties for various applications. This work compares the properties of GO and RGO with graphite. GO was prepared by using Improved Hummer's method whereas the produced GO was subjected to chemical reduction with the use of hydrazine hydrate. Graphite, GO and RGO had different morphologies, quality, functionalized groups, UV-Vis absorption peaks and crystallinity. With the removal of oxygen-containing functional group during reduction for RGO, the quality of samples was decreased due to higher intensity of D band than G band was seen in Raman results. In addition, platelet-like surface can be observed on the surface of graphite as compared to GO and RGO where wrinkled and layered flakes, and crumpled thin sheets were observed on GO and RGO surface respectively. Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) analysis showed the presence of abundant oxygen-containing functional groups in GO as compared to RGO and graphite. The characteristic peaks at 26.62°, 9.03° and 24.10° for graphite, GO and RGO, respectively, can be detected from X-Ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, the reduction also caused red shift at 279nm from 238nm, as obtained from ultraviolet visible (UV-Vis) analysis. The results proved that GO was successfully oxidized from graphite whereas RGO was effectively reduced from GO.

  8. Effect of oxygen partial pressure on oxidation of Mo-metal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Rabindar Kumar; Kumar, Prabhat; Singh, Megha; Gopal, Pawar; Reddy, G. B.

    2018-05-01

    This report explains the effect of oxygen partial pressure (PO2 ) on oxidation of Mo-metal in oxygen plasma. XRD results indulge that oxide layers formed on Mo-surfaces at different oxygen partial pressures have two different oxide phases (i.e. orthorhombic MoO3 and monoclinic Mo8O23). Intense XRD peaks at high pressure (i.e. 2.0×10-1 Torr) points out the formation of thick oxide layer on Mo-surface due to presence of large oxygen species in chamber and less oxide volatilization. Whereas, at low PO2 (6.5×10-2 and 7.5×10-2 Torr.) the reduced peak strength is owing to high oxide volatilization rate. SEM micrographs and thickness measurements also support XRD results and confirm that the optimum -2value of PO2 to deposited thicker and uniform oxide film on glass substrate is 7.5×10-2 Torr through plasma assistedoxidation process. Further to study the compositional properties, EDX of the sample M2 (the best sample) is carried out, which confirms that the stoichiometric ratio is less than 3 (i.e. 2.88). Less stoichiometric ratio again confirms the presence of sub oxides in oxide layers on Mo metal as evidenced by XRD results. All the observed results are well in consonance with each other.

  9. Characterization of TEMPO-oxidized bacterial cellulose

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nascimento, Eligenes S.; Pereira, Andre L.S.; Lima, Helder L.; Barroso, Maria K. de A.; Barros, Matheus de O.; Morais, Joao P.S.; Borges, Maria de F.; Rosa, Morsyleide de F.

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study was to characterize the TEMPO-oxidized bacterial cellulose, as a preliminary research for further application in nanocomposites. Bacterial cellulose (BC) was selectively oxidized at C-6 carbon by TEMPO radical. Oxidized bacterial cellulose (BCOX) was characterized by TGA, FTIR, XRD, and zeta potential. BCOX suspension was stable at pH 7.0, presented a crystallinity index of 83%, in spite of 92% of BC, because of decrease in the free hydroxyl number. FTIR spectra showed characteristic BC bands and, in addition, band of carboxylic group, proving the oxidation. BCOX DTG showed, in addition to characteristic BC thermal events, a maximum degradation peak at 233 °C, related to sodium anhydro-glucuronate groups formed during the cellulose oxidation. Thus, BC can be TEMPO-oxidized without great loss in its structure and properties. (author)

  10. Evaluation of different time domain peak models using extreme learning machine-based peak detection for EEG signal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adam, Asrul; Ibrahim, Zuwairie; Mokhtar, Norrima; Shapiai, Mohd Ibrahim; Cumming, Paul; Mubin, Marizan

    2016-01-01

    Various peak models have been introduced to detect and analyze peaks in the time domain analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. In general, peak model in the time domain analysis consists of a set of signal parameters, such as amplitude, width, and slope. Models including those proposed by Dumpala, Acir, Liu, and Dingle are routinely used to detect peaks in EEG signals acquired in clinical studies of epilepsy or eye blink. The optimal peak model is the most reliable peak detection performance in a particular application. A fair measure of performance of different models requires a common and unbiased platform. In this study, we evaluate the performance of the four different peak models using the extreme learning machine (ELM)-based peak detection algorithm. We found that the Dingle model gave the best performance, with 72 % accuracy in the analysis of real EEG data. Statistical analysis conferred that the Dingle model afforded significantly better mean testing accuracy than did the Acir and Liu models, which were in the range 37-52 %. Meanwhile, the Dingle model has no significant difference compared to Dumpala model.

  11. Glow-peak stability in 6LiF:Mg, Ti (TLD-600) exposed to a Fe-ion beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yasuda, Hiroshi

    2001-01-01

    The stability of glow peaks in 6 LiF:Mg, Ti (TLD-600) exposed to a high-energy Fe-ion beam was examined in comparison to 137 Cs γ-ray irradiation under changing annealing conditions. The peak areas induced by the Fe ions were much smaller than those by γ-rays. The sizes and positions of peaks 3-5 in Fe-ion irradiated samples were hardly changed after post-annealing at 100 deg C x 30 min, regardless of the pre-annealing conditions (fast quenching or subsequent pre-annealing at 100 deg C x 2 h). Whereas, the peaks in γ-ray irradiated samples were notably affected by post-annealing; the peak positions and peak-area sizes changed in different ways depending on the pre-annealing conditions. The effects of post-annealing on peak 6 were identical for Fe ions and γ-rays. These facts suggest that peaks 3-5 in TLD-600 comprised both stable and unstable luminescent centers, and that the latter part would be easily depleted in highly dense ionization. (author)

  12. Inefficient skeletal muscle oxidative function flanks impaired motor neuron recruitment in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis during exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanfranconi, F; Ferri, A; Corna, G; Bonazzi, R; Lunetta, C; Silani, V; Riva, N; Rigamonti, A; Maggiani, A; Ferrarese, C; Tremolizzo, L

    2017-06-07

    This study aimed to evaluate muscle oxidative function during exercise in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients (pALS) with non-invasive methods in order to assess if determinants of reduced exercise tolerance might match ALS clinical heterogeneity. 17 pALS, who were followed for 4 months, were compared with 13 healthy controls (CTRL). Exercise tolerance was assessed by an incremental exercise test on cycle ergometer measuring peak O 2 uptake ([Formula: see text]O 2peak ), vastus lateralis oxidative function by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and breathing pattern ([Formula: see text]E peak ). pALS displayed: (1) 44% lower [Formula: see text]O 2peak vs. CTRL (p motor units recruitment, is a major determinant of pALS clinical heterogeneity and working capacity exercise tolerance. CPET and NIRS are useful tools for detecting early stages of oxidative deficiency in skeletal muscles, disclosing individual impairments in the O 2 transport and utilization chain.

  13. A new application of hierarchical cluster analysis to investigate organic peaks in bulk mass spectra obtained with an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Middlebrook, A. M.; Marcolli, C.; Canagaratna, M. R.; Worsnop, D. R.; Bahreini, R.; de Gouw, J. A.; Warneke, C.; Goldan, P. D.; Kuster, W. C.; Williams, E. J.; Lerner, B. M.; Roberts, J. M.; Meagher, J. F.; Fehsenfeld, F. C.; Marchewka, M. L.; Bertman, S. B.

    2006-12-01

    We applied hierarchical cluster analysis to an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) bulk mass spectral dataset collected aboard the NOAA research vessel Ronald H. Brown during the 2002 New England Air Quality Study off the east coast of the United States. Emphasizing the organic peaks, the cluster analysis yielded a series of categories that are distinguishable with respect to their mass spectra and their occurrence as a function of time. The differences between the categories mainly arise from relative intensity changes rather than from the presence or absence of specific peaks. The most frequent category exhibits a strong signal at m/z 44 and represents oxidized organic matter probably originating from both anthropogenic as well as biogenic sources. On the basis of spectral and trace gas correlations, the second most common category with strong signals at m/z 29, 43, and 44 contains contributions from isoprene oxidation products. The third through the fifth most common categories have peak patterns characteristic of monoterpene oxidation products and were most frequently observed when air masses from monoterpene rich regions were sampled. Taken together, the second through the fifth most common categories represent on average 17% of the total organic mass that stems likely from biogenic sources during the ship's cruise. These numbers have to be viewed as lower limits since the most common category was attributed to anthropogenic sources for this calculation. The cluster analysis was also very effective in identifying a few contaminated mass spectra that were not removed during pre-processing. This study demonstrates that hierarchical clustering is a useful tool to analyze the complex patterns of the organic peaks in bulk aerosol mass spectra from a field study.

  14. Improved Understanding of In Situ Chemical Oxidation. Technical Objective I: Contaminant Oxidation Kinetics Contaminant Oxidation Kinetics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-05-01

    methyl tert butyl ether NAPL non-aqueous phase liquid NOD natural oxidant demand •OH hydroxide radical Ox oxidant O3 ozone PCE...and persulfate; and Technical Objective 2, assess how soil properties (e.g., soil mineralogy , natural carbon content) affect oxidant mobility and...to develop a general description of kobs vs. T because there are many reactions that can contribute to the concentration of the reactive intermediate

  15. A Hybrid Wavelet-Based Method for the Peak Detection of Photoplethysmography Signals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suyi Li

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The noninvasive peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2 and the pulse rate can be extracted from photoplethysmography (PPG signals. However, the accuracy of the extraction is directly affected by the quality of the signal obtained and the peak of the signal identified; therefore, a hybrid wavelet-based method is proposed in this study. Firstly, we suppressed the partial motion artifacts and corrected the baseline drift by using a wavelet method based on the principle of wavelet multiresolution. And then, we designed a quadratic spline wavelet modulus maximum algorithm to identify the PPG peaks automatically. To evaluate this hybrid method, a reflective pulse oximeter was used to acquire ten subjects’ PPG signals under sitting, raising hand, and gently walking postures, and the peak recognition results on the raw signal and on the corrected signal were compared, respectively. The results showed that the hybrid method not only corrected the morphologies of the signal well but also optimized the peaks identification quality, subsequently elevating the measurement accuracy of SpO2 and the pulse rate. As a result, our hybrid wavelet-based method profoundly optimized the evaluation of respiratory function and heart rate variability analysis.

  16. Operational and structural measures to reduce hydro-peaking impact on fish larvae

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kopecki, Ianina; Schneider, Matthias

    2016-01-01

    Eco-hydraulic investigations studying the effects of hydro-peaking on river biota are gaining in importance. Negative effects of rapid flow fluctuations due to hydro power production are well documented by many studies, with the larvae and juvenile fish identified among the mostly affected life stages. Therefore, elaboration of efficient hydro-peaking mitigation strategies is an important issue for energy companies as well as for water body administrations responsible for the fulfilment of WFD requirements. The present case study strives for practical solutions allowing to minimize or compensate the negative effects of hydro-peaking on the fish fauna of the 7 km long river reach on the river Lech (southern Germany). Model based investigations allow to access the impact from currently authorized discharge regime, suggest operational and structural measures within the reach in terms of reducing the risk of stranding for fish larvae and select the measures most easy to implement and with the largest ecological benefit. The paper describes the approach for accessing the effects of hydro-peaking based on 2D hydrodynamic modelling, fuzzy logic based habitat modelling and information on cutting-edge biological investigations on fish larvae from Lunz experimental facility (Austria). (authors)

  17. A Hybrid Wavelet-Based Method for the Peak Detection of Photoplethysmography Signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Suyi; Jiang, Shanqing; Jiang, Shan; Wu, Jiang; Xiong, Wenji; Diao, Shu

    2017-01-01

    The noninvasive peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) and the pulse rate can be extracted from photoplethysmography (PPG) signals. However, the accuracy of the extraction is directly affected by the quality of the signal obtained and the peak of the signal identified; therefore, a hybrid wavelet-based method is proposed in this study. Firstly, we suppressed the partial motion artifacts and corrected the baseline drift by using a wavelet method based on the principle of wavelet multiresolution. And then, we designed a quadratic spline wavelet modulus maximum algorithm to identify the PPG peaks automatically. To evaluate this hybrid method, a reflective pulse oximeter was used to acquire ten subjects' PPG signals under sitting, raising hand, and gently walking postures, and the peak recognition results on the raw signal and on the corrected signal were compared, respectively. The results showed that the hybrid method not only corrected the morphologies of the signal well but also optimized the peaks identification quality, subsequently elevating the measurement accuracy of SpO 2 and the pulse rate. As a result, our hybrid wavelet-based method profoundly optimized the evaluation of respiratory function and heart rate variability analysis.

  18. A Hybrid Wavelet-Based Method for the Peak Detection of Photoplethysmography Signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Shanqing; Jiang, Shan; Wu, Jiang; Xiong, Wenji

    2017-01-01

    The noninvasive peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) and the pulse rate can be extracted from photoplethysmography (PPG) signals. However, the accuracy of the extraction is directly affected by the quality of the signal obtained and the peak of the signal identified; therefore, a hybrid wavelet-based method is proposed in this study. Firstly, we suppressed the partial motion artifacts and corrected the baseline drift by using a wavelet method based on the principle of wavelet multiresolution. And then, we designed a quadratic spline wavelet modulus maximum algorithm to identify the PPG peaks automatically. To evaluate this hybrid method, a reflective pulse oximeter was used to acquire ten subjects' PPG signals under sitting, raising hand, and gently walking postures, and the peak recognition results on the raw signal and on the corrected signal were compared, respectively. The results showed that the hybrid method not only corrected the morphologies of the signal well but also optimized the peaks identification quality, subsequently elevating the measurement accuracy of SpO2 and the pulse rate. As a result, our hybrid wavelet-based method profoundly optimized the evaluation of respiratory function and heart rate variability analysis. PMID:29250135

  19. Multiscale peak detection in wavelet space.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhi-Min; Tong, Xia; Peng, Ying; Ma, Pan; Zhang, Ming-Jin; Lu, Hong-Mei; Chen, Xiao-Qing; Liang, Yi-Zeng

    2015-12-07

    Accurate peak detection is essential for analyzing high-throughput datasets generated by analytical instruments. Derivatives with noise reduction and matched filtration are frequently used, but they are sensitive to baseline variations, random noise and deviations in the peak shape. A continuous wavelet transform (CWT)-based method is more practical and popular in this situation, which can increase the accuracy and reliability by identifying peaks across scales in wavelet space and implicitly removing noise as well as the baseline. However, its computational load is relatively high and the estimated features of peaks may not be accurate in the case of peaks that are overlapping, dense or weak. In this study, we present multi-scale peak detection (MSPD) by taking full advantage of additional information in wavelet space including ridges, valleys, and zero-crossings. It can achieve a high accuracy by thresholding each detected peak with the maximum of its ridge. It has been comprehensively evaluated with MALDI-TOF spectra in proteomics, the CAMDA 2006 SELDI dataset as well as the Romanian database of Raman spectra, which is particularly suitable for detecting peaks in high-throughput analytical signals. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves show that MSPD can detect more true peaks while keeping the false discovery rate lower than MassSpecWavelet and MALDIquant methods. Superior results in Raman spectra suggest that MSPD seems to be a more universal method for peak detection. MSPD has been designed and implemented efficiently in Python and Cython. It is available as an open source package at .

  20. Chiral separation of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) enantiomers using batch chromatography with peak shaving recycling and its effects on oxidative stress status in rat liver.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lourenço, Tiago C; Bósio, Graziela C; Cassiano, Neila M; Cass, Quezia B; Moreau, Regina L M

    2013-01-25

    This work reports the multimiligram separation of 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) enantiomers using batch chromatography with peak shaving recycling. The effect of both enantiomers compared to the racemic mixture was examined on the oxidative stress status of rat liver. The enantiomeric purification was performed using a based cyclodextrin chiral selector and methanol:ammonium acetate buffer (pH 6.0, 100mM) (30:70, v/v) as mobile phase. The average mass rate obtained was 40.0mg/day, providing 45.0mg of the (R)-(-)-MDMA (e.r. 99.0%) and 75.0mg (e.r. 96.0%) of (S)-(+)-MDMA. Racemic MDMA and both enantiomers were administered per orally to Wistar rats and oxidative stress status parameters, as liver total glutathione levels and malondialdehyde (MDA) production in liver were evaluated. There was a significant decrease in hepatic glutathione content in the racemic MDMA and the (R)-(-)-MDMA-treated rats when compared to the control and to (S)-(+)-MDMA. These results demonstrate that the R-enantiomer is the enantiomer that contributes to the depletion of hepatic glutathione induced by the racemic mixture. The high reactivity of the R-enantiomer of MDMA in the liver can also be observed in animals treated with (R)-(-)-MDMA. The production of malondialdehyde (MDA) by (R)-(-)-MDMA was significantly higher when compared to the other treated groups and control. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Automated asteroseismic peak detections

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    de Montellano, Andres Garcia Saravia Ortiz; Hekker, S.; Themessl, N.

    2018-01-01

    Space observatories such as Kepler have provided data that can potentially revolutionize our understanding of stars. Through detailed asteroseismic analyses we are capable of determining fundamental stellar parameters and reveal the stellar internal structure with unprecedented accuracy. However......, such detailed analyses, known as peak bagging, have so far been obtained for only a small percentage of the observed stars while most of the scientific potential of the available data remains unexplored. One of the major challenges in peak bagging is identifying how many solar-like oscillation modes are visible...... of detected oscillation modes. The algorithm presented here opens the possibility for detailed and automated peak bagging of the thousands of solar-like oscillators observed by Kepler....

  2. Environmental impacts of public transport. Why peak-period travellers cause a greater environmental burden than off-peak travellers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rietveld, P.

    2002-01-01

    Given the difference between peak and off-peak occupancy rates in public transport, emissions per traveller kilometre are lower in the peak than in the off-peak period, whereas the opposite pattern is observed for cars. It is argued that it is much more fruitful to analyse environmental effects in marginal terms. This calls for a careful analysis of capacity management policies of public transport suppliers that are facing increased demand during both peak and off-peak periods. A detailed analysis of capacity management by the Netherlands Railways (NS) revealed that off-peak capacity supply is mainly dictated by the demand levels during the peak period. The analysis included the effects of increased frequency and increased vehicle size on environmental impacts, while environmental economies of vehicle size were also taken into account. The main conclusion is that the marginal environmental burden during the peak hours is much higher than is usually thought, whereas it is almost zero during the off-peak period. This implies a pattern that is the precise opposite of the average environmental burden. Thus, an analysis of environmental effects of public transport based on average performance would yield misleading conclusions [nl

  3. Cobalt oxide nanoparticle-modified carbon nanotubes as an ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    of 60 mV were observed at. 100 mV s. −1 for CoOx−MWNT/GCE. An anodic peak at. 100 mV attributed to Co(II)/Co(III) redox transition associated with the electrode surface. The cathodic peak at 20 mV corre- spond to the reduction of various cobalt oxide species formed during the anodic sweep. The stability of the modified ...

  4. Oxidative stress does not influence local sweat rate during high-intensity exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meade, Robert D; Fujii, Naoto; Poirier, Martin P; Boulay, Pierre; Sigal, Ronald J; Kenny, Glen P

    2018-02-01

    What is the central question of this study? We evaluated whether oxidative stress attenuates the contribution of nitric oxide to sweating during high-intensity exercise. What is the main finding and its importance? In contrast to our previous report of an oxidative stress-mediated reduction in nitric oxide-dependent cutaneous vasodilatation in this cohort during intense exercise, we demonstrated no influence of local ascorbate administration on the sweating response during moderate- (∼51% peak oxygen uptake) or high-intensity exercise (∼72% peak oxygen uptake). These new findings provide important mechanistic insight into how exercise-induced oxidative stress impacts sudomotor activity. Nitric oxide (NO)-dependent sweating is diminished during high- but not moderate-intensity exercise. We evaluated whether this impairment stems from increased oxidative stress during high-intensity exercise. On two separate days, 11 young (24 ± 4 years) men cycled in the heat (35°C) at a moderate [500 W; 52 ± 6% peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2 peak )] or high (700 W; 71 ± 5% V̇O2 peak ) rate of metabolic heat production. Each session included two 30 min exercise bouts separated by a 20 min recovery period. Local sweat rate was monitored at four forearm skin sites continuously perfused via intradermal microdialysis with the following: (i) lactated Ringer solution (Control); (ii) 10 mm ascorbate (Ascorbate; non-selective antioxidant); (iii) 10 mm N G -nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME; NO synthase inhibitor); or (iv) 10 mm ascorbate plus 10 mm l-NAME (Ascorbate + l-NAME). During moderate exercise, sweat rate was attenuated at the l-NAME and Ascorbate + l-NAME sites (both ∼1.0 mg min -1  cm -2 ; all P < 0.05) but not at the Ascorbate site (∼1.1 mg min -1  cm -2 ; both P ≥ 0.28) in comparison to the Control site (∼1.1 mg min -1  cm -2 ). However, no differences were observed between treatment sites (∼1.4 mg min -1  cm -2 ; P = 0

  5. Oxidation and carbonisation of coals: a case study of coal fire affected coals from the Wuda coalfield, Inner Mongolia, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kus, Jolanta; Meyer, Uwe; Ma, Jianwei; Chen-Brauchler, Dai

    2010-05-01

    At the coalfield of Wuda (Inner Mongolia, PR China) extensive underground coal fires cause widespread thermal and oxidative effects in coal seams. Within phase B of the Coal Fire Research Project of the Sino-German Initiative, methods for innovative fire-extinguishing technologies were investigated in multifaceted research approaches. Extensive investigations of oxidative and thermally affected coal seams in coal fire zone 18 were conducted in 2008 prior to application of new fire-extinguishing methods. We present results from the outcrop of coal seam No. 4 in the fire zone 18. The coal of seam No. 4 is of Early Permian age and belongs stratigraphically to the Shanxi Formation. The unaffected coal displays a high volatile bituminous A rank with a background value of random vitrinite reflectance ranging from 0.90 to 0.96 % Rr. Coal channel samples were coallected at actively extracted coal faces along multiple profiles with surface temperatures ranging from about 50° to 600°C. Microscopic examinations revealed a variety of products of coal exposure to the fire. Within coal samples, a marked rise in vitrinite reflectance from background values to 5.55% Rr (6.00 % Rmax) is encountered. In addition, a number of coal samples showed suppressed vitrinite reflectances ranging between 0.82 to 0.88% Rr. Further, seemingly heat unaffected coal samples display intensive development of oxidations rims at coal grain edges and cracks as well as shrinkage cracks and formation of iron oxides/hydroxides. Instead, thermally affected coal samples with higher coalification grade are further characterised by development of macropores (devolatilisation pores) in vitrinitic streaks, transformation of liptinite to meta-liptinite and micrinite as well as by natural coke particles of mostly porous nature and fine to coarse grained anisotropic mosaic. Coal petrographic investigations confirmed a hypothesis that both, oxidations as well as low temperature carbonisation govern the thermal

  6. Arginine affects appetite via nitric oxide in ducks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, C; Hou, S S; Huang, W; Xu, T S; Rong, G H; Xie, M

    2014-08-01

    The objective of the study was to investigate the mechanism by which arginine regulates feed intake in Pekin ducks. In experiment 1, one hundred forty-four 1-d-old male Pekin ducks were randomly allotted to 3 dietary treatments with 6 replicate pens of 8 birds per pen. Birds in each group were fed a corn-corn gluten meal diet containing 0.65, 0.95, and 1.45% arginine. Ducks fed the diet containing 0.65% arginine had lower feed intake and plasma nitric oxide level (P ducks were allotted to 1 of 2 treatments. After 2 h fasting, birds in the 2 groups were intraperitoneally administrated saline and l-NG-nitro-arginine methyl ester HCl (L-NAME) for 3 d, respectively. Feed intake (P study implied that arginine modifies feeding behavior possibly through controlling endogenous synthesis of nitric oxide in Pekin ducks. © Poultry Science Association Inc.

  7. A combined SEM and CV Study of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Interconnect Steels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kammer Hansen, Kent; Ofoegbu, Stanley; Mikkelsen, Lars

    2012-01-01

    Scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry were used to investigate the high temperature oxidation behavior of two solid oxide fuel cell interconnect steels. One alloy had a low content of manganese; the other alloy had a high content of manganese. Four reduction and four oxidation peaks...

  8. Fat oxidation, hormonal and plasma metabolite kinetics during a submaximal incremental test in lean and obese adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanzi, Stefano; Codecasa, Franco; Cornacchia, Mauro; Maestrini, Sabrina; Salvadori, Alberto; Brunani, Amelia; Malatesta, Davide

    2014-01-01

    This study aimed to compare fat oxidation, hormonal and plasma metabolite kinetics during exercise in lean (L) and obese (O) men. Sixteen L and 16 O men [Body Mass Index (BMI): 22.9 ± 0.3 and 39.0 ± 1.4 kg · m(-2)] performed a submaximal incremental test (Incr) on a cycle-ergometer. Fat oxidation rates (FORs) were determined using indirect calorimetry. A sinusoidal model, including 3 independent variables (dilatation, symmetry, translation), was used to describe fat oxidation kinetics and determine the intensity (Fat(max)) eliciting maximal fat oxidation. Blood samples were drawn for the hormonal and plasma metabolite determination at each step of Incr. FORs (mg · FFM(-1) · min(-1)) were significantly higher from 20 to 30% of peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) in O than in L and from 65 to 85% VO2peak in L than in O (p ≤ 0.05). FORs were similar in O and in L from 35 to 60% VO2peak. Fat max was 17% significantly lower in O than in L (poxidation kinetics were characterized by similar translation, significantly lower dilatation and left-shift symmetry in O compared with L (poxidation at high exercise intensities suggest that the difference in the fat oxidation kinetics is likely linked to impaired muscular capacity to oxidize NEFA in O. These results may have important implications for the appropriate exercise intensity prescription in training programs designed to optimize fat oxidation in O.

  9. Archaeal dominated ammonia-oxidizing communities in Icelandic grassland soils are moderately affected by long-term N fertilization and geothermal heating

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daebeler, Anne; Abell, Guy C. J.; Bodelier, Paul L. E.; Bodrossy, Levente; Frampton, Dion M. F.; Hefting, Mariet M.; Laanbroek, Hendrikus J.

    2012-01-01

    The contribution of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea (AOB and AOA, respectively) to the net oxidation of ammonia varies greatly between terrestrial environments. To better understand, predict and possibly manage terrestrial nitrogen turnover, we need to develop a conceptual understanding of ammonia oxidation as a function of environmental conditions including the ecophysiology of associated organisms. We examined the discrete and combined effects of mineral nitrogen deposition and geothermal heating on ammonia-oxidizing communities by sampling soils from a long-term fertilization site along a temperature gradient in Icelandic grasslands. Microarray, clone library and quantitative PCR analyses of the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene accompanied by physico-chemical measurements of the soil properties were conducted. In contrast to most other terrestrial environments, the ammonia-oxidizing communities consisted almost exclusively of archaea. Their bacterial counterparts proved to be undetectable by quantitative polymerase chain reaction suggesting AOB are only of minor relevance for ammonia oxidation in these soils. Our results show that fertilization and local, geothermal warming affected detectable ammonia-oxidizing communities, but not soil chemistry: only a subset of the detected AOA phylotypes was present in higher temperature soils and AOA abundance was increased in the fertilized soils, while soil physio-chemical properties remained unchanged. Differences in distribution and structure of AOA communities were best explained by soil pH and clay content irrespective of temperature or fertilizer treatment in these grassland soils, suggesting that these factors have a greater potential for ecological niche-differentiation of AOA in soil than temperature and N fertilization. PMID:23060870

  10. Archaeal dominated ammonia-oxidizing communities in Icelandic grassland soils are moderately affected by long-term N fertilization and geothermal heating

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne eDaebeler

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The contribution of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea (AOB and AOA, respectively to the net oxidation of ammonia varies greatly between terrestrial environments. To better understand, predict and possibly manage terrestrial nitrogen turnover, we need to develop a conceptual understanding of ammonia oxidation as a function of environmental conditions including the ecophysiology of the associated organisms. We examined the discrete and combined effects of mineral nitrogen deposition and geothermal heating on ammonia-oxidizing communities by sampling soils from a long-term fertilisation site along a temperature gradient in Icelandic grasslands. Microarray, clone library and quantitative PCR analyses of the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA gene accompanied by physico-chemical measurements of the soil properties were conducted. In contrast to most other terrestrial environments, the ammonia-oxidizing communities consisted almost exclusively of archaea. Their bacterial counterparts proved to be undetectable by quantitative PCR suggesting AOB are only of minor relevance for ammonia oxidation in these soils. Our results show that fertilization and local, geothermal warming affected detectable ammonia-oxidizing communities, but not soil chemistry: only a subset of the detected AOA phylotypes was present in higher temperature soils and AOA abundance was increased in the fertilized soils, while the measured soil physico-chemical properties remained unchanged. Differences in distribution and structure of AOA communities were best explained by soil pH and clay content irrespective of temperature or fertilizer treatment in these grassland soils, suggesting that these factors have a greater potential for ecological niche-differentiation of AOA in soil than temperature and N fertilization.

  11. Archaeal dominated ammonia-oxidizing communities in Icelandic grassland soils are moderately affected by long-term N fertilization and geothermal heating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daebeler, Anne; Abell, Guy C J; Bodelier, Paul L E; Bodrossy, Levente; Frampton, Dion M F; Hefting, Mariet M; Laanbroek, Hendrikus J

    2012-01-01

    The contribution of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea (AOB and AOA, respectively) to the net oxidation of ammonia varies greatly between terrestrial environments. To better understand, predict and possibly manage terrestrial nitrogen turnover, we need to develop a conceptual understanding of ammonia oxidation as a function of environmental conditions including the ecophysiology of associated organisms. We examined the discrete and combined effects of mineral nitrogen deposition and geothermal heating on ammonia-oxidizing communities by sampling soils from a long-term fertilization site along a temperature gradient in Icelandic grasslands. Microarray, clone library and quantitative PCR analyses of the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene accompanied by physico-chemical measurements of the soil properties were conducted. In contrast to most other terrestrial environments, the ammonia-oxidizing communities consisted almost exclusively of archaea. Their bacterial counterparts proved to be undetectable by quantitative polymerase chain reaction suggesting AOB are only of minor relevance for ammonia oxidation in these soils. Our results show that fertilization and local, geothermal warming affected detectable ammonia-oxidizing communities, but not soil chemistry: only a subset of the detected AOA phylotypes was present in higher temperature soils and AOA abundance was increased in the fertilized soils, while soil physio-chemical properties remained unchanged. Differences in distribution and structure of AOA communities were best explained by soil pH and clay content irrespective of temperature or fertilizer treatment in these grassland soils, suggesting that these factors have a greater potential for ecological niche-differentiation of AOA in soil than temperature and N fertilization.

  12. Effects of concurrent training on oxidative capacity in rat gastrocnemius muscle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Furrer, R.; Bravenboer, N.; Kos, D.; Lips, P.; de Haan, A.; Jaspers, R.T.

    2013-01-01

    PURPOSE: Training for improvement of oxidative capacity of muscle fibers may be attenuated when concurrently training for peak power. However, because of fiber type-specific recruitment, such attenuation may only account for high-oxidative muscle fibers. Here, we investigate the effects of

  13. Analysis of Peak-to-Peak Current Ripple Amplitude in Seven-Phase PWM Voltage Source Inverters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriele Grandi

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Multiphase systems are nowadays considered for various industrial applications. Numerous pulse width modulation (PWM schemes for multiphase voltage source inverters with sinusoidal outputs have been developed, but no detailed analysis of the impact of these modulation schemes on the output peak-to-peak current ripple amplitude has been reported. Determination of current ripple in multiphase PWM voltage source inverters is important for both design and control purposes. This paper gives the complete analysis of the peak-to-peak current ripple distribution over a fundamental period for multiphase inverters, with particular reference to seven-phase VSIs. In particular, peak-to-peak current ripple amplitude is analytically determined as a function of the modulation index, and a simplified expression to get its maximum value is carried out. Although reference is made to the centered symmetrical PWM, being the most simple and effective solution to maximize the DC bus utilization, leading to a nearly-optimal modulation to minimize the RMS of the current ripple, the analysis can be readily extended to either discontinuous or asymmetrical modulations, both carrier-based and space vector PWM. A similar approach can be usefully applied to any phase number. The analytical developments for all different sub-cases are verified by numerical simulations.

  14. Calculation of the correlation coefficients between the numbers of counts (peak areas and backgrounds) obtained from gamma-ray spectra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korun, M.; Vodenik, B.; Zorko, B.

    2016-01-01

    Two simple methods for calculating the correlations between peaks appearing in gamma-ray spectra are described. We show how the areas are correlated when the peaks do not overlap, but the spectral regions used for the calculation of the background below the peaks do. When the peaks overlap, the correlation can be stronger than in the case of the non-overlapping peaks. The methods presented are simplified to the extent of allowing their implementation with manual calculations. They are intended for practitioners as additional tools to be used when the correlations between the areas of the peaks in the gamma-ray spectra are to be calculated. Also, the correlation coefficient between the number of counts in the peak and the number of counts in the continuous background below the peak is derived. - Highlights: • The correlation coefficients between areas of closely spaced peaks are assessed. • For isolated peaks the correlation arises from the common continuous background. • If peaks overlap the correlation coefficient depends on how much they overlap. • If peaks overlap also the background height affects the correlation coefficient. • The correlation coefficient between the peak area and its background is −1.

  15. Exercise training induces similar elevations in the activity of oxoglutarate dehydrogenase and peak oxygen uptake in the human quadriceps muscle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blomstrand, Eva; Krustrup, Peter; Søndergaard, Hans

    2011-01-01

    During exercise involving a small muscle mass, peak oxygen uptake is thought to be limited by peripheral factors, such as the degree of oxygen extraction from the blood and/or mitochondrial oxidative capacity. Previously, the maximal activity of the Krebs cycle enzyme oxoglutarate dehydrogenase has...

  16. Fructose and Sucrose Intake Increase Exogenous Carbohydrate Oxidation during Exercise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trommelen, Jorn; Fuchs, Cas J.; Beelen, Milou; Lenaerts, Kaatje; Jeukendrup, Asker E.; Cermak, Naomi M.; van Loon, Luc J. C.

    2017-01-01

    Peak exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates typically reach ~1 g·min−1 during exercise when ample glucose or glucose polymers are ingested. Fructose co-ingestion has been shown to further increase exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of fructose co-ingestion provided either as a monosaccharide or as part of the disaccharide sucrose on exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates during prolonged exercise in trained cyclists. Ten trained male cyclists (VO2peak: 65 ± 2 mL·kg−1·min−1) cycled on four different occasions for 180 min at 50% Wmax during which they consumed a carbohydrate solution providing 1.8 g·min−1 of glucose (GLU), 1.2 g·min−1 glucose + 0.6 g·min−1 fructose (GLU + FRU), 0.6 g·min−1 glucose + 1.2 g·min−1 sucrose (GLU + SUC), or water (WAT). Peak exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates did not differ between GLU + FRU and GLU + SUC (1.40 ± 0.06 vs. 1.29 ± 0.07 g·min−1, respectively, p = 0.999), but were 46% ± 8% higher when compared to GLU (0.96 ± 0.06 g·min−1: p exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates during the latter 120 min of exercise were 46% ± 8% higher in GLU + FRU or GLU + SUC compared with GLU (1.19 ± 0.12, 1.13 ± 0.21, and 0.82 ± 0.16 g·min−1, respectively, p exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates during prolonged exercise in trained cyclists. PMID:28230742

  17. Nitric oxide and neopterin in bipolar affective disorder

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoekstra, R.; Fekkes, D.; Pepplinkhuizen, L.; Loonen, A.J.M.; Tuinier, S.; Verhoeven, W.M.A.

    2006-01-01

    Background: There is an increasing interest in the role of nitric oxide (NO) and pterines in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. The results so far show an inconsistent pattern. Methods: In the present study, neopterin and a measure of NO synthesis in plasma of symptomatic and

  18. Does anaesthesia with nitrous oxide affect mortality or cardiovascular morbidity? A systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imberger, G; Orr, A; Thorlund, K; Wetterslev, J; Myles, P; Møller, A M

    2014-03-01

    The role of nitrous oxide in modern anaesthetic practice is contentious. One concern is that exposure to nitrous oxide may increase the risk of cardiovascular complications. ENIGMA II is a large randomized clinical trial currently underway which is investigating nitrous oxide and cardiovascular complications. Before the completion of this trial, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis, using Cochrane methodology, on the outcomes that make up the composite primary outcome. We used conventional meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA). We reviewed 8282 abstracts and selected 138 that fulfilled our criteria for study type, population, and intervention. We attempted to contact the authors of all the selected publications to check for unpublished outcome data. Thirteen trials had outcome data eligible for our outcomes. We assessed three of these trials as having a low risk of bias. Using conventional meta-analysis, the relative risk of short-term mortality in the nitrous oxide group was 1.38 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.22-8.71] and the relative risk of long-term mortality in the nitrous oxide group was 0.94 (95% CI 0.80-1.10). In both cases, TSA demonstrated that the data were far too sparse to make any conclusions. There were insufficient data to perform meta-analysis for stroke, myocardial infarct, pulmonary embolus, or cardiac arrest. This systematic review demonstrated that we currently do not have robust evidence for how nitrous oxide used as part of general anaesthesia affects mortality and cardiovascular complications.

  19. Effect of self purification on the structural optical and electrical properties of copper doped oxidized Zn films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koshy, Obey; Abdul Khadar, M.

    2015-01-01

    The effect of self purification mechanism is studied on oxidized Cu–Zn thin films. Oxidized Cu–Zn thin films were prepared by thermal evaporation on glass substrates. XRD studies indicate that the oxidized Cu–Zn thin films are of hexagonal wurtzite structure. AFM images shows that with increase in copper wt. percent the nanoparticle morphology of oxidized Zn film turned to one dimensional nanorod morphology. XPS spectra of the oxidized Cu–Zn thin films shows the oxidized state of zinc and copper. The PL spectra of oxidized Zn film showed a strong and narrow near band edge emission at 380 nm whereas in the case of oxidized Cu–Zn thin films the emission showed peak near 410 nm corresponding to peak related to copper. With increase in copper content, the intensity of the defect emission decreased due to the self purification mechanism in nanomaterials. In addition the resistivity of doped films increased due to the self purification mechanism in nanomaterials. - Highlights: • Copper doping in ZnO resulted in the increase in blue emission due to defect levels formed. • The intensity of the luminescence peak of the doped film sample decreased and resistivity increased due to the self purification mechanism in nanomaterials.

  20. Thin zirconium oxides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oviedo, Cristina

    2000-01-01

    Polycrystalline Zr and two pure Zr single-crystal samples, one oriented with the normal to the surface parallel to the c-axis of the hcp structure (Z1) and the other with the normal perpendicular to c (Z2), were oxidised at 10 -8 , 10 -7 and 10 -6 Torr and room temperature. Oxidation kinetics, composition and thicknesses of the oxide films formed in each case were analyzed using XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) as the main technique. The oxidation kinetics followed logarithmic laws in all cases. The deconvolution of XPS Zr3d peaks indicated the formation of two Zr-O compounds before the formation of ZrO 2 . Varying the photoelectrons take-off angle, the compound distribution inside the oxide films could be established. Thus, it was confirmed that the most external oxide, in contact with the gas, was ZrO 2 . The thickness of the films grown at the different pressures was determined. In the polycrystalline samples, thicknesses between 15 and 19 ± 2Angstroem were obtained for pressures between 10 -8 and 10 -6 Torr, in close coincidence with the determined ones for Z2. The thicknesses measured in Z1 were smaller, reaching 13 ± 2Angstroem for the oxidations performed at 10 -6 Torr. (author)

  1. How to use your peak flow meter

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... meter - how to use; Asthma - peak flow meter; Reactive airway disease - peak flow meter; Bronchial asthma - peak ... 2014:chap 55. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program website. How to use a peak flow meter. ...

  2. Improving Thermo-Oxidative Stability of Nitrile Rubber Composites by Functional Graphene Oxide

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rui Zhong

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Graphene oxide (GO, modified with anti-aging agent p-phenylenediamine (PPD, was added into nitrile rubber (NBR in order to improve the thermo-oxidative stability of NBR. The modification of GO and the transformation of functional groups were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR, Raman, and X-ray diffraction (XRD. Mechanical performances of NBR composites before and after the thermo-oxidative aging were recorded. The results of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA show an increased storage modulus (G’ and a decreased value of area of tan δ peak after introducing modified GO into NBR. It indicates that filler particles show positive interaction with molecular chains. The thermo-oxidative stability of composites was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TG and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC. Then, the thermo-oxidative aging kinetic parameters were obtained by the Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO equation. The results of aging tests show that the thermo-oxidative stability of rubber matrix increases obviously after introducing GO–PPD. In addition, mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation at break of both before and after aged NBR/GO–PPD composites were superior to that of NBR. This work provides meaningful guidance for achieving multifunction thermo-oxidative aging resistance rubber composites.

  3. Acute exposure to high-peak-power pulsed microwaves affecting the histamine H3 receptor expression in rat hippocampus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Xiaodong; Li Bo; Li Dehua; He Qiyi; Yu Zhengping

    2006-01-01

    In the Morris Water test, high-peak-power pulsed microwave (MW)-exposed rats displayed some learning and memory behavior dysfunctions, and their escape time and swimming distance to the submerged platform were longer than those of the sham-exposed rats. to understand the molecular mechanism involved, the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reation (RT-PCR) and the Western-blotting technique were used for investigating the mRNA and protein expression patterns of the histamine H 3 receptor (H 3 R) in rat hippocampus. High-peak-power pulsed microwave-exposure did not remarkably lead to the change in expression of H 3 R mRNA in rat hippocampi; however, it promoted the up-regulatory expression of the H 3 R protein, which was possibly triggered through the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. Therefore, further investigation of the molecular mechanism of the MW effects on the learning and memory behaviors is required. (authors)

  4. Acute exposure to high-peak-power pulsed microwaves affecting the histamine H3 receptor expression in rat hippocampus

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2006-01-01

    In the Morris Water Maze test, high-peak-power pulsed microwave (MW)-exposed rats displayed some learning and memory behavior dysfunctions, and their escape time and swimming distance to the submerged platform were longer than those of the sham-exposed rats. To understand the molecular mechanism involved, the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the Western-blotting technique were used for investigating the mRNA and protein expression patterns of the histamine H3 receptor (H3R) in rat hippocampus. High-peak-power pulsed microwave-exposure did not remarkably lead to the change in expression of H3R mRNA in rat hippocampi;however, it promoted the up-regulatory expression of the H3R protein, which was possibly triggered through the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. Therefore, further investigation of the molecular mechanism of the MW effects on the learning and memory behaviors is required.

  5. Variables affecting lipid oxidation in dried microencapsulated oils

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Márquez-Ruiz, Gloria

    2003-09-01

    Full Text Available Dried microencapsulated oils are powdery foods or ingredients, prepared by drying natural or formulated emulsions, wherein the oil globules are dispersed in a matrix of saccharides and/or proteins. The study of lipid oxidation in microencapsulated oils is a very difficult task since, in addition to the numerous variables normally involved in lipid oxidation, mainly unsaturation degree, oxygen, light, temperature, prooxidants and antioxidants, other factors exert an important influence in these heterophasic lipid systems. In this paper, the present state of the art on lipid oxidation in dried microencapsulated oils is reviewed, focused on the variables specifically involved in oxidation of these lipid systems. Such variables include those pertaining to the preparation process (type and concentration of the matrix components and drying procedure and those related to the physicochemical properties of microencapsulated oils (particle size, oil globule size, lipid distribution, water activity, pH and interactions between matrix components.Los aceites microencapsulados son alimentos o ingredientes en polvo preparados mediante secado de emulsiones naturales o formuladas, donde los glóbulos de aceite se encuentran dispersos en una matriz de hidratos de carbono y/o proteínas. El estudio de la oxidación lipídica en aceites microencapsulados es muy difícil ya que, además de las numerosas variables implicadas normalmente en la oxidación lipídica, principalmente el grado de insaturación, oxígeno, luz, temperatura, prooxidantes y antioxidantes, en estos sistemas lipídicos heterofásicos existen otros factores que ejercen una importante influencia. En este trabajo, se revisa la situación actual del conocimiento sobre oxidación lipídica en aceites microencapsulados en relación con las variables que intervienen específicamente en la oxidación de estos sistemas lipídicos. Concretamente, dichas variables incluyen las implicadas en el proceso de

  6. How the multiple antioxidant properties of ascorbic acid affect lipid oxidation in oil-in-water emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uluata, Sibel; McClements, D Julian; Decker, Eric A

    2015-02-18

    Lipid oxidation is a serious problem for oil-containing food products because it negatively affects shelf life and nutritional composition. An antioxidant strategy commonly employed to prevent or delay oxidation in foods is to remove oxygen from the closed food-packaging system. An alternative technique is use of an edible oxygen scavenger to remove oxygen within the food. Ascorbic acid (AA) is a particularly promising antioxidant because of its natural label and multiple antioxidative functions. In this study, AA was tested as an oxygen scavenger in buffer and an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion. The effects of transition metals on the ability of AA to scavenge oxygen were determined. Headspace oxygen decrease less than 1% in the medium-chain triacylglycerol (MCT) O/W emulsion system (pH 3 and 7). AA was able to almost completely remove dissolved oxygen (DO) in a buffered solution. Transition metals (Fe(2+) and Cu(+)) significantly accelerated the degradation of AA; however, iron and copper only increased DO depletion rates, by 10.6-16.4% from day 1 to 7, compared to the control. AA (2.5-20 mM) decreased DO in a 1% O/W emulsion system 32.0-64.0% and delayed the formation of headspace hexanal in the emulsion from 7 to over 20 days. This research shows that, when AA is used in an O/W emulsion system, oxidation of the emulsion system can be delay by multiple mechanisms.

  7. Magnéli oxides as promising n-type thermoelectrics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregor Kieslich

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The discovery of a large thermopower in cobalt oxides in 1997 lead to a surge of interest in oxides for thermoelectric application. Whereas conversion efficiencies of p-type oxides can compete with non-oxide materials, n-type oxides show significantly lower thermoelectric performances. In this context so-called Magnéli oxides have recently gained attention as promising n-type thermoelectrics. A combination of crystallographic shear and intrinsic disorder lead to relatively low thermal conductivities and metallic-like electrical conductivities in Magnéli oxides. Current peak-zT values of 0.3 around 1100 K for titanium and tungsten Magnéli oxides are encouraging for future research. Here, we put Magnéli oxides into context of n-type oxide thermoelectrics and give a perspective where future research can bring us.

  8. Synthesis and characterization of nanohybrid of montmorillonite and zinc oxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chagas, Beatriz S.; Mendes, Luis C.; Brito, Alice S.

    2009-01-01

    Zinc oxide-aluminosilicate nanohybrids through a hydrothermal reaction of a colloidal suspension of exfoliated montmorillonite nanosheets and zinc oxide in acid solution, performed in three different routes, were synthesized. The products were characterized by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). In all routes, it was found that the intercalation of zinc oxide into the host montmorillonite gallery was successfully performed so that the crystalline peaks of the montmorillonite and zinc oxide were suppressed from the X-ray patterns. The use of ultrasound decreased the reaction time.(author)

  9. Automated asteroseismic peak detections

    Science.gov (United States)

    García Saravia Ortiz de Montellano, Andrés; Hekker, S.; Themeßl, N.

    2018-05-01

    Space observatories such as Kepler have provided data that can potentially revolutionize our understanding of stars. Through detailed asteroseismic analyses we are capable of determining fundamental stellar parameters and reveal the stellar internal structure with unprecedented accuracy. However, such detailed analyses, known as peak bagging, have so far been obtained for only a small percentage of the observed stars while most of the scientific potential of the available data remains unexplored. One of the major challenges in peak bagging is identifying how many solar-like oscillation modes are visible in a power density spectrum. Identification of oscillation modes is usually done by visual inspection that is time-consuming and has a degree of subjectivity. Here, we present a peak-detection algorithm especially suited for the detection of solar-like oscillations. It reliably characterizes the solar-like oscillations in a power density spectrum and estimates their parameters without human intervention. Furthermore, we provide a metric to characterize the false positive and false negative rates to provide further information about the reliability of a detected oscillation mode or the significance of a lack of detected oscillation modes. The algorithm presented here opens the possibility for detailed and automated peak bagging of the thousands of solar-like oscillators observed by Kepler.

  10. Raman spectroscopy analysis of air grown oxide scale developed on pure zirconium substrate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kurpaska, L., E-mail: lukasz.kurpaska@ncbj.gov.pl [Laboratoire Roberval, UMR 7337, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Centre de Recherche de Royallieu, CS 60319, 60203 Compiègne Cedex (France); National Center for Nuclear Research, St. A. Soltana 7/23, 05-400 Otwock-Swierk (Poland); Favergeon, J. [Laboratoire Roberval, UMR 7337, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Centre de Recherche de Royallieu, CS 60319, 60203 Compiègne Cedex (France); Lahoche, L. [Laboratoire Roberval, UMR 7337, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Centre de Recherche de Royallieu, CS 60319, 60203 Compiègne Cedex (France); Laboratoire des Technologies Innovantes, Université de Picardie Jules-Verne, EA 3899, Avenue des Facultés – Le Bailly, 80025 Amiens Cedex (France); El-Marssi, M. [Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Université de Picardie Jules-Verne, 33 rue St. Leu, 80039 Amiens Cedex (France); Grosseau Poussard, J.-L. [LaSIE UMR-CNRS 7356, Pole Sciences et Technologie, Universite de La Rochelle, av. M Crepeau, 17042 La Rochelle, Cedex (France); Moulin, G.; Roelandt, J.-M. [Laboratoire Roberval, UMR 7337, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Centre de Recherche de Royallieu, CS 60319, 60203 Compiègne Cedex (France)

    2015-11-15

    Using Raman spectroscopy technique, external and internal parts of zirconia oxide films developed at 500 °C and 600 °C on pure zirconium substrate under air at normal atmospheric pressure have been examined. Comparison of Raman peak positions of tetragonal and monoclinic zirconia phases, recorded during the oxide growth at elevated temperature, and after cooling at room temperature have been presented. Subsequently, Raman peak positions (or shifts) were interpreted in relation with the stress evolution in the growing zirconia scale, especially closed to the metal/oxide interface, where the influence of compressive stress in the oxide is the biggest. Reported results, for the first time show the presence of a continuous layer of tetragonal zirconia phase developed in the proximity of pure zirconium substrate. Based on the Raman peak positions we prove that this tetragonal layer is stabilized by the high compressive stress and sub-stoichiometry level. Presence of the tetragonal phase located in the outer part of the scale have been confirmed, yet its Raman characteristics suggest a stress-free tetragonal phase, therefore different type of stabilization mechanism. Presented study suggest that its stabilization could be related to the lattice defects introduced by highstoichiometry of zirconia or presence of heterovalent cations. - Highlights: • The oxide layer consists of a mixture of tetragonal and monoclinic phases, clearly distinguishable by Raman spectroscopy. • The layer located close to the metal/oxide interphase consists mainly of the tetragonal phase. • Small amount of tetragonal layer located in the external oxide scale have been observed. • Stabilization mechanism of the tetragonal phase located in the external part of the oxide have been proposed.

  11. Simultaneous collection method of on-peak window image and off-peak window image in Tl-201 imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murakami, Tomonori; Noguchi, Yasushi; Kojima, Akihiro; Takagi, Akihiro; Matsumoto, Masanori

    2007-01-01

    Tl-201 imaging detects the photopeak (71 keV, in on-peak window) of characteristic X-rays of Hg-201 formed from Tl-201 decay. The peak is derived from 4 rays of different energy and emission intensity and does not follow in Gaussian distribution. In the present study, authors made an idea for the method in the title to attain the more effective single imaging, which was examined for its accuracy and reliability with phantoms and applied clinically to Tl-201 scintigraphy in a patient. The authors applied the triple energy window method for data acquisition: the energy window setting was made on Hg-201 X-rays photopeak in three of the lower (3%, L), main (72 keV, M) and upper (14%, U) windows with the gamma camera with 2-gated detector (Toshiba E. CAM/ICON). L, M and U images obtained simultaneously were then constructed to images of on-peak (L+M, Mock on-peak) and off-peak (M+U) window settings for evaluation. Phantoms for line source with Tl-201-containing swab and for multi-defect with acrylic plate containing Tl-201 solution were imaged in water. The female patient with thyroid cancer was subjected to preoperative scintigraphy under the defined conditions. Mock on-, off-peak images were found to be equivalent to the true (ordinary, clinical) on-, off-peak ones, and the present method was thought usable for evaluation of usefulness of off-peak window data. (R.T.)

  12. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy of graphene oxides

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qi Lai

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Dispersions of few-layer (1-3 layers, multi-layer (4-10 layers and thick-layer (>10 layers graphene oxide (GO were prepared by a modified Hummers method with different mass ratios of KMnO4 to graphite. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis spectroscopic data show that few-layer GO dispersions can be distinguished from multi- and thick-layer dispersions by a more intense peak at 230 nm. Atomic force microscopy (AFM images of few-layer GO contain a single peak, those of multi-layer GO exhibit a shoulder and those of thick-layer GO do not contain a peak or shoulder. These findings allow qualitative analysis of GO dispersions. X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS show that the change of UV-vis absorption intensity of GO is caused by a conjugative effect related to chromophore aggregation that influences the π-π* plasmon peak.

  13. Interaction of dimethylamine with clean and partially oxidized copper surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelber, J. A.; Rogers, J. W.; Banse, B. A.; Koel, B. E.

    1990-05-01

    The interaction of dimethylamine (DMA) with partially oxidized polycrystalline copper [Cu(poly)] and clean and partially oxidized Cu(110) between 110 and 500 K has been examined using electron stimulated desorption (ESD), high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). ESD mass spectra of the DMA adsorbed on O/Cu(poly) between 112 and 230 K consistently display peaks at 44 amu [(CH 3) 2N] + and 46 amu [(CH 3) 2NH-H] +, but no significant parent peak at 45 amu [(CH 3) 2NH] +, even though this last feature is prominent in the gas-phase mass spectrum. OH - is not observed at temperatures below 184 K and the yield at higher temperatures is much less than that of O +. HREELS of DMA on clean and oxygen covered Cu(110) obtained at temperatures between 100 and 320 K show characteristic vibrational spectra for molecular DMA and no OH(a) vibrational modes. TPD results show that the desorption profiles of all the major peaks in the DMA mass spectrum follow that of the parent peak with no evidence for production of H 2O. The ESD, HREELS and TPD results all indicate that DMA is molecularly and reversibly adsorbed, with no significant formation of surface hydroxyl species. The results indicate that preferential adsorption of amines from amine/epoxy mixtures onto metal oxide surfaces could passivate the surface and prevent subsequent bonding to the epoxy resin.

  14. Denitrifying bacterial communities affect current production and nitrous oxide accumulation in a microbial fuel cell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vilar-Sanz, Ariadna; Puig, Sebastià; García-Lledó, Arantzazu; Trias, Rosalia; Balaguer, M Dolors; Colprim, Jesús; Bañeras, Lluís

    2013-01-01

    The biocathodic reduction of nitrate in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) is an alternative to remove nitrogen in low carbon to nitrogen wastewater and relies entirely on microbial activity. In this paper the community composition of denitrifiers in the cathode of a MFC is analysed in relation to added electron acceptors (nitrate and nitrite) and organic matter in the cathode. Nitrate reducers and nitrite reducers were highly affected by the operational conditions and displayed high diversity. The number of retrieved species-level Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) for narG, napA, nirS and nirK genes was 11, 10, 31 and 22, respectively. In contrast, nitrous oxide reducers remained virtually unchanged at all conditions. About 90% of the retrieved nosZ sequences grouped in a single OTU with a high similarity with Oligotropha carboxidovorans nosZ gene. nirS-containing denitrifiers were dominant at all conditions and accounted for a significant amount of the total bacterial density. Current production decreased from 15.0 A · m(-3) NCC (Net Cathodic Compartment), when nitrate was used as an electron acceptor, to 14.1 A · m(-3) NCC in the case of nitrite. Contrarily, nitrous oxide (N2O) accumulation in the MFC was higher when nitrite was used as the main electron acceptor and accounted for 70% of gaseous nitrogen. Relative abundance of nitrite to nitrous oxide reducers, calculated as (qnirS+qnirK)/qnosZ, correlated positively with N2O emissions. Collectively, data indicate that bacteria catalysing the initial denitrification steps in a MFC are highly influenced by main electron acceptors and have a major influence on current production and N2O accumulation.

  15. Cyclic voltammetric study of electro-oxidation of methanol on platinum electrode in acidic and neutral media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, A.S.A.; Ahmed, R.; Mirza, M.L.

    2007-01-01

    The electro-oxidation of methanol on electrochemically treated platinum foil was investigated in acidic and neutral media for comparison of cyclic voltammetric characteristics and elucidation of mechanism of electro-oxidation of methanol. The surface area and roughness factor of platinum electrode was calculated. The electro-oxidation of mathanol is an irreversible process giving. anodic peaks in both anodic and cathodic sweep. The characteristic peaks of electrooxidation of methanol appeared at almost the same potential region in both acidic and neutral media. In neutral medium, certain additional cathodic/anodic peaks appeared which were confirmed to arise by the reduction/oxidation of hydrogen ions. The exchange current density and heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant was higher in neutral medium as. compared with acidic medium. The thermodynamic parameters delta H, delta S, and delta G/sub 298/ were calculated. The values of delta H and delta G/sub 298/were positive which indicated that the process of electro-oxidation of methanol is an endothermic and nonspontaneous. The mechanism of electro-oxidation of methanol was same in both acidic and neutral media involving the formation of various adsorbed intermediate species through dissociative adsorption steps leading to the formation of Co adsorbed radicals, which are removed. during interaction with adsorbed hydrous oxides provided by the oxidation of adsorbed water molecules. The higher rate of electro-oxidation of methanol in neutral medium was interpreted in the tight of electrochemical mechanism and was attributed to the presence of comparatively small amount of hydrogen ions only along the surface of working electrode, which are produced during electro-oxidation of methanol. (author)

  16. The influence of ion implantation on the oxidation of nickel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goode, P.D.

    1975-11-01

    The effects of ion implantation on the oxidation of polycrystalline nickel have been studied for a range of implanted species: viz. He, Li, Ne, Ca, Ti, Ni, Co, Xe, Ce and Bi. The oxides were grown in dry oxygen at 630 0 C and the 16 O(d,p) 17 O nuclear reaction technique used to determine the amount of oxygen taken up. The influence of atomic and ionic size, valency and electronegativity of the implanted impurities was studied as also were the effects of ion bombardment damage and the influence of sputtering during implantation. Atomic size and the annealing of disorder were found to have a marked influence on oxide growth rate. The dependence of oxidation on annealing was further studied by implanting polycrystalline specimens with self ions and observing the oxide growth rate as a function of annealing temperature. A peak in the curve was found at 400 0 C and a similar peak observed at a somewhat higher temperature for oxidised single crystals. It is concluded that the oxidation rate will be influenced by those factors which alter the epitaxial relationship between metal and growing oxide. Such factors include atomic size of the implanted species, surface strain induced by implantation and changes in surface topography as a result of sputtering. In addition a model based on vacancy assisted cation migration is proposed to explain enhanced oxidation observed over a limited temperature range. (author)

  17. Resolving overlapping peaks in ARXPS data: The effect of noise and fitting method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muñoz-Flores, Jaime; Herrera-Gomez, Alberto

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Noise is an important factor affecting the fitting of overlapping peaks in XPS data. ► The combined information in ARXPS data can be used to improve fitting reliability. ► The error on the estimation of the peak parameters depends on the peak-fitting method. ► Simultaneous fitting method is much more robust against noise than sequential fitting. ► The estimation of the error range is better done with ARXPS data than with XPS data. - Abstract: Peak-fitting of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data can be very sensitive to noise when the difference on the binding energy among the peaks is smaller than the width of the peaks. This sensitivity depends on the fitting algorithm. Angle-resolved XPS (ARXPS) analysis offers the opportunity of employing the combined information contained in the data at the various angles to reduce the sensitivity to noise. The assumption of shared peak parameters (center and width) among the spectra for the different angles, and how it is introduced into the analysis, plays a basic role. Sequential fitting is the usual practice in ARXPS data peak-fitting. It consist on first estimating the center and width of the peaks from the data acquired at one of the angles, and then using those parameters as a starting approximation for fitting the data for each of the rest of the angles. An improvement of this method consists of averaging the centers and widths of the peaks obtained at the different angles, and then employing these values to assess the areas of the peaks for each angle. Another strategy for using the combined information is by assessing the peak parameters from the sum of the experimental data. The complete use of the combined information contained in the data-set is optimized by the simultaneous fitting method. It consists of the assessment of the center and width of the peaks by fitting the data at all the angles simultaneously. Computer-generated data was employed to compare the sensitivity with respect

  18. An Empirical Study on Raman Peak Fitting and Its Application to Raman Quantitative Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Xueyin; Mayanovic, Robert A

    2017-10-01

    Fitting experimentally measured Raman bands with theoretical model profiles is the basic operation for numerical determination of Raman peak parameters. In order to investigate the effects of peak modeling using various algorithms on peak fitting results, the representative Raman bands of mineral crystals, glass, fluids as well as the emission lines from a fluorescent lamp, some of which were measured under ambient light whereas others under elevated pressure and temperature conditions, were fitted using Gaussian, Lorentzian, Gaussian-Lorentzian, Voigtian, Pearson type IV, and beta profiles. From the fitting results of the Raman bands investigated in this study, the fitted peak position, intensity, area and full width at half-maximum (FWHM) values of the measured Raman bands can vary significantly depending upon which peak profile function is used in the fitting, and the most appropriate fitting profile should be selected depending upon the nature of the Raman bands. Specifically, the symmetric Raman bands of mineral crystals and non-aqueous fluids are best fit using Gaussian-Lorentzian or Voigtian profiles, whereas the asymmetric Raman bands are best fit using Pearson type IV profiles. The asymmetric O-H stretching vibrations of H 2 O and the Raman bands of soda-lime glass are best fit using several Gaussian profiles, whereas the emission lines from a florescent light are best fit using beta profiles. Multiple peaks that are not clearly separated can be fit simultaneously, provided the residuals in the fitting of one peak will not affect the fitting of the remaining peaks to a significant degree. Once the resolution of the Raman spectrometer has been properly accounted for, our findings show that the precision in peak position and intensity can be improved significantly by fitting the measured Raman peaks with appropriate profiles. Nevertheless, significant errors in peak position and intensity were still observed in the results from fitting of weak and wide Raman

  19. Approaches to characterise chromatographic column performance based on global parameters accounting for peak broadening and skewness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baeza-Baeza, J J; Pous-Torres, S; Torres-Lapasió, J R; García-Alvarez-Coque, M C

    2010-04-02

    Peak broadening and skewness are fundamental parameters in chromatography, since they affect the resolution capability of a chromatographic column. A common practice to characterise chromatographic columns is to estimate the efficiency and asymmetry factor for the peaks of one or more solutes eluted at selected experimental conditions. This has the drawback that the extra-column contributions to the peak variance and skewness make the peak shape parameters depend on the retention time. We propose and discuss here the use of several approaches that allow the estimation of global parameters (non-dependent on the retention time) to describe the column performance. The global parameters arise from different linear relationships that can be established between the peak variance, standard deviation, or half-widths with the retention time. Some of them describe exclusively the column contribution to the peak broadening, whereas others consider the extra-column effects also. The estimation of peak skewness was also possible for the approaches based on the half-widths. The proposed approaches were applied to the characterisation of different columns (Spherisorb, Zorbax SB, Zorbax Eclipse, Kromasil, Chromolith, X-Terra and Inertsil), using the chromatographic data obtained for several diuretics and basic drugs (beta-blockers). Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Comparative Analysis of Mass Spectral Similarity Measures on Peak Alignment for Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Peak alignment is a critical procedure in mass spectrometry-based biomarker discovery in metabolomics. One of peak alignment approaches to comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC×GC-MS) data is peak matching-based alignment. A key to the peak matching-based alignment is the calculation of mass spectral similarity scores. Various mass spectral similarity measures have been developed mainly for compound identification, but the effect of these spectral similarity measures on the performance of peak matching-based alignment still remains unknown. Therefore, we selected five mass spectral similarity measures, cosine correlation, Pearson's correlation, Spearman's correlation, partial correlation, and part correlation, and examined their effects on peak alignment using two sets of experimental GC×GC-MS data. The results show that the spectral similarity measure does not affect the alignment accuracy significantly in analysis of data from less complex samples, while the partial correlation performs much better than other spectral similarity measures when analyzing experimental data acquired from complex biological samples. PMID:24151524

  1. Statistical analysis of the low-temperature dislocation peak of internal friction (Bordoni peak) in nanostructured copper

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vatazhuk, E.N.; Natsik, V.D.

    2011-01-01

    The temperature-frequency dependence of internal friction in the nanostructured samples of Cu and fibred composite C-32 vol.%Nb with the sizes of structure fragments approx 200 nm is analyzed. Experiments are used as initial information for such analysis. The characteristic for the heavily deformed copper Bordoni peak, located nearby a temperature 90 K, was recorded on temperature dependence of vibration decrement (frequencies 73-350 kHz) in previous experiments. The peak is due to the resonance interaction of sound with the system of thermal activated relaxators, and its width considerably greater in comparison with the width of standard internal friction peak with the single relaxation time. Statistical analysis of the peak is made in terms of assumption that the reason of broadening is random activation energy dispersion of relaxators as a result of intense distortion of copper crystal structure. Good agreement of experimental data and Seeger theory considers thermal activated paired kinks at linear segments of dislocation lines, placed in potential Peierls relief valley, as relaxators of Bordoni peak, was established. It is shown that the registered peak height in experiment correspond to presence at the average one dislocation segment in the interior of crystalline grain with size of 200 nm. Empirical estimates for the critical Peierls stress σp ∼ 2x10 7 Pa and integrated density of the interior grain dislocations ρ d ∼ 10 13 m -2 are made. Nb fibers in the composite Cu-Nb facilitate to formation of nanostructured copper, but do not influence evidently on the Bordoni peak.

  2. Noise distribution of a peak track and hold circuit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seller, Paul; Hardie, Alec L.; Morrissey, Quentin

    2012-01-01

    Noise in linear electronic circuits is well characterised in terms of power spectral density in the frequency domain and the Normal probability density function in the time domain. For instance a charge preamplifier followed by a simple time independent pulse shaping circuit produces an output with a predictable, easily calculated Normal density function. By the Ergodic Principle this is true if the signal is sampled randomly in time or the experiment is run many times and measured at a fixed time after the circuit is released from reset. Apart from well defined cases, the time of the sample after release of reset does not affect the density function. If this signal is then passed through a peak track-and-hold circuit the situation is very different. The probability density function of the sampled signal is no longer Normal and the function changes with the time of the sample after release of reset. This density function can be classified by the Gumbel probability density function which characterises the Extreme Value Distribution of a defined number of Normally distributed values. The number of peaks in the signal is an important factor in the analysis. This issue is analysed theoretically and compared with a time domain noise simulation programme. This is then related to a real electronic circuit used for low-noise X-ray measurements and shows how the low-energy resolution of this system is significantly degraded when using a peak track-and-hold.

  3. Electrochemical oxidation of butein at glassy carbon electrodes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tesio, Alvaro Yamil; Robledo, Sebastián Noel; Fernández, Héctor; Zon, María Alicia

    2013-06-01

    The electrochemical oxidation of flavonoid butein is studied at glassy carbon electrodes in phosphate and citrate buffer solutions of different pH values, and 1M perchloric acid aqueous solutions by cyclic and square wave voltammetries. The oxidation peak corresponds to the 2e(-), 2H(+) oxidation of the 3,4-dihydroxy group in B ring of butein, given the corresponding quinone species. The overall electrode process shows a quasi-reversible behavior and an adsorption/diffusion mixed control at high butein bulk concentrations. At low butein concentrations, the electrode process shows mainly an adsorption control. Butein surface concentration values were obtained from the charge associated with the adsorbed butein oxidation peaks, which are in agreement with those values expected for the formation of a monolayer of adsorbate in the concentration range from 1 to 5μM. Square wave voltammetry was used to perform a full thermodynamic and kinetics characterization of the butein surface redox couple. Therefore, from the combination of the "quasi-reversible maximum" and the "splitting of the net square wave voltammetric peak" methods, values of (0.386±0.003) V, (0.46±0.04), and 2.7×10(2)s(-1) were calculated for the formal potential, the anodic transfer coefficient, and the formal rate constant, respectively, of the butein overall surface redox process in pH4.00 citrate buffer solutions. These results will be then used to study the interaction of butein, and other flavonoids with the deoxyribonucleic acid, in order to better understand the potential therapeutic applications of these compounds. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Hurricane Mitch: Peak Discharge for Selected River Reachesin Honduras

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Mark E.; Phillips, Jeffrey V.; Spahr, Norman E.

    2002-01-01

    Hurricane Mitch began as a tropical depression in the Caribbean Sea on 22 October 1998. By 26 October, Mitch had strengthened to a Category 5 storm as defined by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (National Climate Data Center, 1999a), and on 27 October was threatening the northern coast of Honduras (fig. 1). After making landfall 2 days later (29 October), the storm drifted south and west across Honduras, wreaking destruction throughout the country before reaching the Guatemalan border on 31 October. According to the National Climate Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (National Climate Data Center, 1999b), Hurricane Mitch ranks among the five strongest storms on record in the Atlantic Basin in terms of its sustained winds, barometric pressure, and duration. Hurricane Mitch also was one of the worst Atlantic storms in terms of loss of life and property. The regionwide death toll was estimated to be more than 9,000; thousands of people were reported missing. Economic losses in the region were more than $7.5 billion (U.S. Agency for International Development, 1999). Honduras suffered the most widespread devastation during the storm. More than 5,000 deaths, and economic losses of more than $4 billion, were reported by the Government of Honduras. Honduran officials estimated that Hurricane Mitch destroyed 50 years of economic development. In addition to the human and economic losses, intense flooding and landslides scarred the Honduran landscape - hydrologic and geomorphologic processes throughout the country likely will be affected for many years. As part of the U.S. Government's response to the disaster, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted post-flood measurements of peak discharge at 16 river sites throughout Honduras (fig. 2). Such measurements, termed 'indirect' measurements, are used to determine peak flows when direct measurements (using current meters or dye studies, for example) cannot be made. Indirect measurements of

  5. Time of day affects implicit memory for unattended stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothen, Nicolas; Meier, Beat

    2016-11-01

    We investigated whether circadian arousal affects perceptual priming as a function of whether stimuli were attended or ignored during learning. We tested 160 participants on- and off-peak with regards to their circadian arousal. In the study phase, they were presented with two superimposed pictures in different colours. They had to name the pictures of one colour while ignoring the others. In the test phase, they were presented with the same and randomly intermixed new pictures. Each picture was presented in black colour in a fragment completion task. Priming was measured as the difference in fragmentation level at which the pictures from the study phase were named compared to the new pictures. Priming was stronger for attended than ignored pictures. Time of day affected priming only for ignored pictures, with stronger priming effects off-peak than on-peak. Thus, circadian arousal seems to favour the encoding of unattended materials specifically at off-peak. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Does oxidative stress affect the activity of the sodium-proton exchanger?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bober, Joanna; Kedzierska, Karolina; Kwiatkowska, Ewa; Stachowska, Ewa; Gołembiewska, Edyta; Mazur, Olech; Staniewicz, Zdzisław; Ciechanowski, Kazimierz; Chlubek, Dariusz

    2010-01-01

    Accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) takes place in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Oxidative stress causes disorders in the activity of the sodium-proton exchanger (NHE). Studies on NHE in CRF produced results that are discrepant and difficult to interpret. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that oxidative stress had an effect on the activity of NHE. We enrolled 87 subjects divided into 4 groups: patients with CRF treated conservatively; patients with CRF hemodialyzed without glucose--HD-g(-); patients with CRF hemodialyzed with glucose--HD-g(+); controls (C). The activity of NHE, the rate of proton efflux V(max), Michaelis constant (Km), and the concentration of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS, an indicator of oxidative stress) in plasma, as well as the concentration of reduced glutathione in blood were determined. The concentration of TBARS was significantly higher in hemodialyzed patients before and after dialysis and in patients with CRF on conservative treatment in comparison with group C. TBARS in plasma correlated negatively with VpH(i)6.4 in group C and with V(max) and VpH(i)6.4 after HD in group HD-g(-). We found that the concentration of creatinine correlated with TBARS (p < 0.0001; r = +0.51) in the conservatively treated group. We observed a marked oxidative stress and decreased NHE activity when dialysis was done without glucose, whereas patients dialyzed with glucose demonstrated a relatively low intensity of oxidative stress.

  7. Thermoluminescent response of aluminium oxide thin films subject to gamma irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arrieta, A.; Escobar A, L.; Camps, E.; Villagran, E.; Gonzalez, P.R

    2006-07-01

    The thermoluminescent (TL) properties of amorphous aluminium oxide thin films (thicknesses as low as 0.3 {mu}m) subjected to gamma (Co-60) irradiation are reported. Aluminium oxide thin films were prepared by laser ablation from an Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} target using a Nd: YAG laser with emission at the fundamental line. The films were exposed to gamma radiation (Co-60) in order to study their TL response. Thermoluminescence glow curves exhibited two peaks at 110 and 176 C. The high temperature peak shows good stability and 30% fading in the first 5 days after irradiation. A linear relationship between absorbed dose and the thermoluminescent response for doses span from 150 mGy to 100 Gy was observed. These results suggest that aluminium oxide thin films are suitable for detection and monitoring of gamma radiation. (Author)

  8. The peak in neutron powder diffraction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laar, B. van; Yelon, W.B.

    1984-01-01

    For the application of Rietveld profile analysis to neutron powder diffraction data a precise knowledge of the peak profile, in both shape and position, is required. The method now in use employs a Gaussian shaped profile with a semi-empirical asymmetry correction for low-angle peaks. The integrated intensity is taken to be proportional to the classical Lorentz factor calculated for the X-ray case. In this paper an exact expression is given for the peak profile based upon the geometrical dimensions of the diffractometer. It is shown that the asymmetry of observed peaks is well reproduced by this expression. The angular displacement of the experimental profile with respect to the nominal Bragg angle value is larger than expected. Values for the correction to the classical Lorentz factor for the integrated intensity are given. The exact peak profile expression has been incorporated into a Rietveld profile analysis refinement program. (Auth.)

  9. Interaction between sexual steroids and immune response in affecting oxidative status of birds

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Casagrande, Stefania; Costantini, David; Groothuis, Ton G. G.

    One hypothesis explaining the honesty of secondary sexual traits regulated by testosterone (T) is that T can impair the balance between pro-oxidant compounds and antioxidant defences, favouring a status of oxidative stress that only good quality individuals can sustain (oxidative handicap

  10. Uniqueness plots: A simple graphical tool for identifying poor peak fits in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Bhupinder; Diwan, Anubhav; Jain, Varun; Herrera-Gomez, Alberto; Terry, Jeff; Linford, Matthew R.

    2016-11-01

    Peak fitting is an essential part of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) narrow scan analysis, and the Literature contains both good and bad examples of peak fitting. A common cause of poor peak fitting is the inclusion of too many fit parameters, often without a sound chemical and/or physical basis for them, and/or the failure to reasonably constrain them. Under these conditions, fit parameters are often correlated, and therefore lacking in statistical meaning. Here we introduce the uniqueness plot as a simple graphical tool for identifying bad peak fits in XPS, i.e., fit parameter correlation. These plots are widely used in spectroscopic ellipsometry. We illustrate uniqueness plots with two data sets: a C 1s narrow scan from ozone-treated carbon nanotube forests and an Si 2p narrow scan from an air-oxidized silicon wafer. For each fit, we consider different numbers of parameters and constraints on them. As expected, the uniqueness plots are parabolic when fewer fit parameters and/or more constraints are applied. However, they fan out and eventually become horizontal lines as more unconstrained parameters are included in the fits. Uniqueness plots are generated by plotting the chi squared (χ2) value for a fit vs. a systematically varied value of a parameter in the fit. The Abbe criterion is also considered as a figure of merit for uniqueness plots in the Supporting Information. We recommend that uniqueness plots be used by XPS practitioners for identifying inappropriate peak fits.

  11. Treatment of Fatty Acid Oxidation Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Treatment of fatty acid oxidation disorders Treatment of fatty acid oxidation disorders E-mail to a friend Please ... this page It's been added to your dashboard . Fatty acid oxidation disorders are rare health conditions that affect ...

  12. Perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) affect oxidative stress biomarkers in vitro.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wielsøe, Maria; Long, Manhai; Ghisari, Mandana; Bonefeld-Jørgensen, Eva C

    2015-06-01

    Perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) have been widely used since 1950s and humans are exposed through food, drinking water, consumer products, dust, etc. The long-chained PFAS are persistent in the environment and accumulate in wildlife and humans. They are suspected carcinogens and a potential mode of action is through generation of oxidative stress. Seven long-chained PFAS found in human serum were investigated for the potential to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), induce DNA damage and disturb the total antioxidant capacity (TAC). The tested PFAS were perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoate (PFNA), perfluorodecanoate (PFDA), perfluoroundecanoate (PFUnA), and perfluorododecanoate (PFDoA). Using the human hepatoma cell line (HepG2) and an exposure time of 24h we found that all three endpoints were affected by one or more of the compounds. PFHxS, PFOA, PFOS and PFNA showed a dose dependent increase in DNA damage in the concentration range from 2×10(-7) to 2×10(-5)M determined by the comet assay. Except for PFDoA, all the other PFAS increased ROS generation significantly. For PFHxS and PFUnA the observed ROS increases were dose-dependent. Cells exposed to PFOA were found to have a significant lower TAC compared with the solvent control, whereas a non-significant trend in TAC decrease was observed for PFOS and PFDoA and an increase tendency for PFHxS, PFNA and PFUnA. Our results indicate a possible genotoxic and cytotoxic potential of the PFAS in human liver cells. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Method and apparatus for current-output peak detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Geronimo, Gianluigi

    2017-01-24

    A method and apparatus for a current-output peak detector. A current-output peak detector circuit is disclosed and works in two phases. The peak detector circuit includes switches to switch the peak detector circuit from the first phase to the second phase upon detection of the peak voltage of an input voltage signal. The peak detector generates a current output with a high degree of accuracy in the second phase.

  14. Gamma-Ray Peak Integration: Accuracy and Precision

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richard M. Lindstrom

    2000-01-01

    The accuracy of singlet gamma-ray peak areas obtained by a peak analysis program is immaterial. If the same algorithm is used for sample measurement as for calibration and if the peak shapes are similar, then biases in the integration method cancel. Reproducibility is the only important issue. Even the uncertainty of the areas computed by the program is trivial because the true standard uncertainty can be experimentally assessed by repeated measurements of the same source. Reproducible peak integration was important in a recent standard reference material certification task. The primary tool used for spectrum analysis was SUM, a National Institute of Standards and Technology interactive program to sum peaks and subtract a linear background, using the same channels to integrate all 20 spectra. For comparison, this work examines other peak integration programs. Unlike some published comparisons of peak performance in which synthetic spectra were used, this experiment used spectra collected for a real (though exacting) analytical project, analyzed by conventional software used in routine ways. Because both components of the 559- to 564-keV doublet are from 76 As, they were integrated together with SUM. The other programs, however, deconvoluted the peaks. A sensitive test of the fitting algorithm is the ratio of reported peak areas. In almost all the cases, this ratio was much more variable than expected from the reported uncertainties reported by the program. Other comparisons to be reported indicate that peak integration is still an imperfect tool in the analysis of gamma-ray spectra

  15. Oxidation effect on templating of metal oxide nanoparticles within block copolymers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akcora, Pinar; Briber, Robert M.; Kofinas, Peter

    2009-01-01

    Amphiphilic norbornene-b-(norbornene dicarboxylic acid) diblock copolymers with different block ratios were prepared as templates for the incorporation of iron ions using an ion exchange protocol. The disordered arrangement of iron oxide particles within these copolymers was attributed to the oxidation of the iron ions and the strong interactions between iron oxide nanoparticles, particularly at high iron ion concentrations, which was found to affect the self-assembly of the block copolymer morphologies.

  16. Structural and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Study of Al-Doped Zinc-Oxide Thin Films

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bong Ju Lee

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Al-doped zinc-oxide (AZO thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering at different oxygen partial pressures and substrate temperatures. The charge-carrier concentrations in the films decreased from 1.69 × 1021 to 6.16 × 1017 cm−3 with increased gas flow rate from 7 to 21 sccm. The X-ray diffraction (XRD patterns show that the (002/(103 peak-intensity ratio decreased as the gas flow rate increased, which was related to the increase of AZO thin film disorder. X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS of the O1s were decomposed into metal oxide component (peak A and the adsorbed molecular oxygen on thin films (peak B. The area ratio of XPS peaks (A/B was clearly related to the stoichiometry of AZO films; that is, the higher value of A/B showed the higher stoichiometric properties.

  17. The Gas Sampling Interval Effect on V˙O2peak Is Independent of Exercise Protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheadler, Cory M; Garver, Matthew J; Hanson, Nicholas J

    2017-09-01

    There is a plethora of gas sampling intervals available during cardiopulmonary exercise testing to measure peak oxygen consumption (V˙O2peak). Different intervals can lead to altered V˙O2peak. Whether differences are affected by the exercise protocol or subject sample is not clear. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether V˙O2peak differed because of the manipulation of sampling intervals and whether differences were independent of the protocol and subject sample. The first subject sample (24 ± 3 yr; V˙O2peak via 15-breath moving averages: 56.2 ± 6.8 mL·kg·min) completed the Bruce and the self-paced V˙O2max protocols. The second subject sample (21.9 ± 2.7 yr; V˙O2peak via 15-breath moving averages: 54.2 ± 8.0 mL·kg·min) completed the Bruce and the modified Astrand protocols. V˙O2peak was identified using five sampling intervals: 15-s block averages, 30-s block averages, 15-breath block averages, 15-breath moving averages, and 30-s block averages aligned to the end of exercise. Differences in V˙O2peak between intervals were determined using repeated-measures ANOVAs. The influence of subject sample on the sampling effect was determined using independent t-tests. There was a significant main effect of sampling interval on V˙O2peak (first sample Bruce and self-paced V˙O2max P sample Bruce and modified Astrand P sampling intervals followed a similar pattern for each protocol and subject sample, with 15-breath moving average presenting the highest V˙O2peak. The effect of manipulating gas sampling intervals on V˙O2peak appears to be protocol and sample independent. These findings highlight our recommendation that the clinical and scientific community request and report the sampling interval whenever metabolic data are presented. The standardization of reporting would assist in the comparison of V˙O2peak.

  18. Cluster Analysis of the Organic Peaks in Bulk Mass Spectra Obtained During the 2002 New England Air Quality Study with an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcolli, C.; Canagaratna, M. R.; Worsnop, D. R.; Bahreini, R.; de Gouw, J. A.; Warneke, C.; Goldan, P. D.; Kuster, W. C.; Williams, E. J.; Lerner, B. M.; Roberts, J. M.; Meagher, J. F.; Fehsenfeld, F. C.; Marchewka, M.; Bertman, S. B.; Middlebrook, A. M.

    2006-12-01

    We applied hierarchical cluster analysis to an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) bulk mass spectral dataset collected aboard the NOAA research vessel R. H. Brown during the 2002 New England Air Quality Study off the east coast of the United States. Emphasizing the organic peaks, the cluster analysis yielded a series of categories that are distinguishable with respect to their mass spectra and their occurrence as a function of time. The differences between the categories mainly arise from relative intensity changes rather than from the presence or absence of specific peaks. The most frequent category exhibits a strong signal at m/z 44 and represents oxidized organic matter probably originating from both anthropogenic as well as biogenic sources. On the basis of spectral and trace gas correlations, the second most common category with strong signals at m/z 29, 43, and 44 contains contributions from isoprene oxidation products. The third through the fifth most common categories have peak patterns characteristic of monoterpene oxidation products and were most frequently observed when air masses from monoterpene rich regions were sampled. Taken together, the second through the fifth most common categories represent on average 17% of the total organic mass that stems likely from biogenic sources during the ship's cruise. These numbers have to be viewed as lower limits since the most common category was attributed to anthropogenic sources for this calculation. The cluster analysis was also very effective in identifying a few contaminated mass spectra that were not removed during pre-processing. This study demonstrates that hierarchical clustering is a useful tool to analyze the complex patterns of the organic peaks in bulk aerosol mass spectra from a field study.

  19. Effect of 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate exposure on peak flowmetry in automobile paint shop workers in Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pourabedian, Siyamak; Barkhordari, Abdullah; Habibi, Ehsanallah; Rismanchiyan, Masoud; Zare, Mohsen

    2010-06-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of occupational exposure to 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) on peak flowmetry in automobile body paint shop workers in Iran. We studied a population of 43 car painters exposed to HDI at their workplaces. Peak expiratory flow was tested for one working week, from the start to the end of each shift. Air was sampled and HDI analysed in parallel, according to the OSHA 42 method. Daily and weekly HDI exposure averages were (0.42+/-0.1) mg m(-3) and (0.13+/-0.05) mg m(-3), respectively. On painting days, 72 % of workers showed more than a 10 % variation in peak expiratory flow. Inhalation exposure exceeded the threshold limit value (TLV) ten times over. This strongly suggests that HDI affected the peak flowmetry in the studied workers.

  20. Chemical state analysis of oxidation products on steel surface by conversion electron Moessbauer spectrometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ujihira, Yusuke; Nomura, Kiyoshi

    1978-01-01

    The polished NT-70H steel (Fe: 95.97%, C: 0.56%, diameter: 5 cm, thickness: 0.5 cm) was immersed in deionized water or in solutions containing (0.25 -- 0.5) M of chloride, sulfate and nitrate ions. The chemical states of oxidation products of iron on the surface were identified through the analysis of conversion electron Moessbauer spectra (CEMS). CEMS of the steel surface, which had been dipped in deionized water, revealed that γ-FeOOH was formed on the surface. The thickness of γ-FeOOH layer increased with the increase of the duration of dipping. Dissolved oxygen in the solution played an essential role in the oxidation of iron to γ-FeOOH. Oxidation product of iron dipped in the 0.5 M sodium chloride solution was identified as γ-FeOOH. Amorphous paramagnetic iron (III) compound tended to form in the presence of hydrogen peroxide or ammonium ions in the solutions. The increase of alkalinity of the solution up to pH 12 suppressed the oxidation rate and assisted the formation of green rust, which was confirmed by the appearance of the quadrupole splitting peaks of the green rust. In the 0.25 M sodium sulfate solution, oxidation of the steel surface proceeded slowly and the quadrupole splitting peaks of Fe(OH) 2 were seen in the CEMS. The peak intensity of Fe(OH) 2 gradually decreased and that of γ-FeOOH increased by the extension of immersion of steel in the solution. Magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) layer was developed beneath the γ-FeOOH layer, when steel was dipped in 0.5 M sodium nitrate solution. However, the peaks of Fe 3 O 4 were not seen on CEMS of steel surface immersed in 0.5 M ammonium nitrate solution. Thus, applying the feasibility of CEMS for the characterization of oxidated compounds of iron on the steel surface formed by the immersion in solutions, the oxidation mechanism of the steel surface was discussed based upon the results of chemical state analyses. (author)

  1. Changes in Peak Flow Value during Immunotherapy Administration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saporta, D.

    2012-01-01

    Nasal allergies are prevalent affecting a large percentage of the population. Not only the upper respiratory tract but the whole body is involved. Allergies produce morbidity (and even occasional mortality) as they can lead to asthma development, and increased number of accidents. Immunotherapy results can be evaluated by following symptom scores, medication use, and objective measurements. Using a Peak Flow Meter (Pf) to evaluate immunotherapy results, it became evident that patients with and without asthma exhibited an improvement in the Peak Flow (PF) value, suggesting that lower airway involvement in allergic patients could be more prevalent than assumed. A consecutive chart review was performed including patients of any age with nasal allergies (with or without asthma) treated with immunotherapy for at least 6 months that had at least 2 complete evaluations. When immunotherapy was successful, most patients exhibited an increase in the PF value regardless of asthma status. A very significant finding was that most allergy sufferers may have lower airway inflammation. The use of the PF value to assess immunotherapy results and the potential failure to diagnose asthma in allergy sufferers are discussed. A better diagnosis of lower airway inflammation could be substantial in the management of these patients pulmonary function

  2. Reduced graphene oxide mid-infrared photodetector at 300 K

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fernandes, Gustavo E.; Kim, Jin Ho; Oller, Declan; Xu, Jimmy [School of Engineering, Brown University, Box D, Providence, Rhode Island 02912 (United States)

    2015-09-14

    We report on uncooled mid-infrared photovoltaic responses at 300 K arising in heterojunctions of reduced graphene oxide with p-Si. Two major photoresponse spectral peaks are observed, one in the near infrared starting at 1.1 μm corresponding to electron-hole pair generation in the Si substrate, and another at wavelengths below 2.5 μm, arising from properties of the reduced graphene oxide-Si heterojunction. Our analysis of the current-voltage characteristics at various temperatures suggests that the two materials form a type-II (broken-gap) heterojunction, with a characteristic transition between direct tunneling to field emission, to over-the-barrier excitation with increasing reverse voltage. Illumination was found to affect the onset of the transition between direct tunneling and field-emission, suggesting that the mid infrared response results from the excitation of minority carriers (electrons) from the Si and their collection in the reduced graphene oxide contact. The photoresponse near 1.1 μm showed a time constant at least five times faster than the one at 2.5 μm, which points to surface defects as well as high series resistance and capacitance as potentially limiting factors in this mode of operation. With proper device engineering considerations, these devices could be promising as a graphene-based platform for infrared sensing.

  3. Relationships between electroencephalographic spectral peaks across frequency bands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sacha Jennifer Van Albada

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The degree to which electroenencephalographic (EEG spectral peaks are independent, and the relationships between their frequencies have been debated. A novel fitting method was used to determine peak parameters in the range 2–35 Hz from a large sample of eyes-closed spectra, and their interrelationships were investigated. Findings were compared with a mean-field model of thalamocortical activity, which predicts near-harmonic relationships between peaks. The subject set consisted of 1424 healthy subjects from the Brain Resource International Database. Peaks in the theta range occurred on average near half the alpha peak frequency, while peaks in the beta range tended to occur near twice and three times the alpha peak frequency on an individual-subject basis. Moreover, for the majority of subjects, alpha peak frequencies were significantly positively correlated with frequencies of peaks in the theta and low and high beta ranges. Such a harmonic progression agrees semiquantitatively with theoretical predictions from the mean-field model. These findings indicate a common or analogous source for different rhythms, and help to define appropriate individual frequency bands for peak identification.

  4. Relationships between Electroencephalographic Spectral Peaks Across Frequency Bands

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Albada, S. J.; Robinson, P. A.

    2013-01-01

    The degree to which electroencephalographic spectral peaks are independent, and the relationships between their frequencies have been debated. A novel fitting method was used to determine peak parameters in the range 2–35 Hz from a large sample of eyes-closed spectra, and their interrelationships were investigated. Findings were compared with a mean-field model of thalamocortical activity, which predicts near-harmonic relationships between peaks. The subject set consisted of 1424 healthy subjects from the Brain Resource International Database. Peaks in the theta range occurred on average near half the alpha peak frequency, while peaks in the beta range tended to occur near twice and three times the alpha peak frequency on an individual-subject basis. Moreover, for the majority of subjects, alpha peak frequencies were significantly positively correlated with frequencies of peaks in the theta and low and high beta ranges. Such a harmonic progression agrees semiquantitatively with theoretical predictions from the mean-field model. These findings indicate a common or analogous source for different rhythms, and help to define appropriate individual frequency bands for peak identification. PMID:23483663

  5. Hubbert's Peak -- A Physicist's View

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, Richard

    2011-04-01

    Oil, as used in agriculture and transportation, is the lifeblood of modern society. It is finite in quantity and will someday be exhausted. In 1956, Hubbert proposed a theory of resource production and applied it successfully to predict peak U.S. oil production in 1970. Bartlett extended this work in publications and lectures on the finite nature of oil and its production peak and depletion. Both Hubbert and Bartlett place peak world oil production at a similar time, essentially now. Central to these analyses are estimates of total ``oil in place'' obtained from engineering studies of oil reservoirs as this quantity determines the area under the Hubbert's Peak. Knowing the production history and the total oil in place allows us to make estimates of reserves, and therefore future oil availability. We will then examine reserves data for various countries, in particular OPEC countries, and see if these data tell us anything about the future availability of oil. Finally, we will comment on synthetic oil and the possibility of carbon-neutral synthetic oil for a sustainable future.

  6. The geomorphic structure of the runoff peak

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Rigon

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper develops a theoretical framework to investigate the core dependence of peak flows on the geomorphic properties of river basins. Based on the theory of transport by travel times, and simple hydrodynamic characterization of floods, this new framework invokes the linearity and invariance of the hydrologic response to provide analytical and semi-analytical expressions for peak flow, time to peak, and area contributing to the peak runoff. These results are obtained for the case of constant-intensity hyetograph using the Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF curves to estimate extreme flow values as a function of the rainfall return period. Results show that, with constant-intensity hyetographs, the time-to-peak is greater than rainfall duration and usually shorter than the basin concentration time. Moreover, the critical storm duration is shown to be independent of rainfall return period as well as the area contributing to the flow peak. The same results are found when the effects of hydrodynamic dispersion are accounted for. Further, it is shown that, when the effects of hydrodynamic dispersion are negligible, the basin area contributing to the peak discharge does not depend on the channel velocity, but is a geomorphic propriety of the basin. As an example this framework is applied to three watersheds. In particular, the runoff peak, the critical rainfall durations and the time to peak are calculated for all links within a network to assess how they increase with basin area.

  7. Synthesis and optical properties of Au decorated colloidal tungsten oxide nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tahmasebi, Nemat; Mahdavi, Seyed Mohammad

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Tungsten oxide nanoparticles were prepared by pulsed laser ablation (PLA). • A very fine metallic Au particles or coating are decorated on the surface of tungsten oxide nanoparticles. • UV–Vis spectroscopy shows an absorption peak at ∼530 nm which is due to SPR effect of gold. • After exposing to hydrogen gas, Au/WO_3 colloidal nanoparticles show excellent gasochromic coloring. - Abstract: In this study, colloidal tungsten oxide nanoparticles were fabricated by pulsed laser ablation of tungsten target using the first harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) in deionized water. After ablation, a 0.33 g/lit HAuCl_4 aqueous solution was added into as-prepared colloidal nanoparticles. In this process, Au"3"+ ions were reduced to decorate gold metallic state (Au"0) onto colloidal tungsten oxide nanoparticles surface. The morphology and chemical composition of the synthesized nanoparticles were studied by AFM, XRD, TEM and XPS techniques. UV–Vis analysis reveals a distinct absorption peak at ∼530 nm. This peak can be attributed to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Au and confirms formation of gold state. Moreover, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that Au ions’ reduction happens after adding HAuCl_4 solution into as-prepared colloidal tungsten oxide nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscope shows that an Au shell has been decorated onto colloidal WO_3 nanoparticles. Noble metal decorated tungsten oxide nanostructure could be an excellent candidate for photocatalysis, gas sensing and gasochromic applications. Finally, the gasochromic behavior of the synthesized samples was investigated by H_2 and O_2 gases bubbling into the produced colloidal Au/WO_3 nanoparticles. Synthesized colloidal nanoparticles show excellent coloration contrast (∼80%) through NIR spectra.

  8. Hydrothermal deposition and characterization of silicon oxide nanospheres

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pei, L.Z.

    2008-01-01

    Silicon oxide nanospheres with the average diameter of about 100 nm have been synthesized by hydrothermal deposition process using silicon and silica as the starting materials. The silicon oxide nanospheres were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectrum, respectively. The results show that large scale silicon oxide nanospheres with the uniform size are composed of Si and O showing the amorphous structure. Strong PL peak at 435 nm is observed demonstrating the good blue light emission property

  9. Electrochemical oxidation of nitrite on nanodiamond powder electrode

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, L.H.; Zang, J.B.; Wang, Y.H.; Bian, L.Y. [State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004 (China); College of Materials Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004 (China)

    2008-03-10

    Nanodiamond (ND) powder electrodes were fabricated and the electrochemical properties were investigated in the solution containing nitrite in this article. This electrode exhibits substantial catalytic ability toward the oxidation of nitrite anions. The electrochemical oxidation mechanism of nitrite on the ND powder electrode is discussed. The oxidation of NaNO{sub 2} is a two-electron transfer process. The electrode reaction rate constant k is estimated to be 2.013 x 10{sup -4} cm/s and (1 - {alpha})n{sub {alpha}} is 0.1643. The peak current increases linearly with the rising of the concentration of NaNO{sub 2}. (author)

  10. PP043. Oxidative stress in the maternal body also affects the fetus in preeclamptic women with fetal growth restriction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Kazushi; Iwasaki, Ai; Mori, Toshitaka; Kimura, Chiharu; Matsushita, Hiroshi; Shinohara, Koichi; Wakatsuki, Akihiko

    2013-04-01

    The purpose of the present study was to determine whether oxidative stress occurring in the maternal body also affects the fetus in preeclamptic women with FGR. We ∥@consecutively recruited 17 preeclamptic women with FGR, 16 preeclamptic women without FGR, and 16 healthy pregnant women with uncomplicated pregnancy. We measured concentrations of derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) as a marker of oxygen free radicals in a maternal vein, umbilical artery, and umbilical vein. ∥@Maternal d-ROM levels were higher in preeclamptic groups compared to the control group. Umbilical artery and vein d-ROM levels were elevated in preeclamptic women with FGR compared to the control group. Umbilical artery d-ROM levels were significantly higher than in the vein in preeclamptic women with FGR, but not in those without FGR. Umbilical arterial blood pH was significantly lower in preeclamptic women with FGR. The partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) in umbilical arterial blood tended to be lower in preeclamptic women with FGR (p=0.08). The partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) in umbilical arterial blood was significantly higher in preeclamptic women with FGR. These results indicate that oxidative stress occurring in the maternal body also affects the fetus in preeclamptic women with FGR. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  11. Lipid accumulation, oxidative stress and immune-related molecules affected by tributyltin exposure in muscle tissues of rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jiliang; Zhang, Chunnuan; Ma, Dongdong; Liu, Min; Huang, Shuntao

    2017-12-01

    Tributyltin (TBT) is reported to induce adipogenesis in fish, which might affect nutritional qualities and health status. Muscle tissues account for the majority of body mass, and have been described as a major site of fat deposition and an immunologically active organ. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate whether chronic exposures of TBT, at environmental concentrations of 1, 10 and 100 ng/L, affects lipid accumulation, oxidative stress and immune status in muscle tissues of rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus). After 60 d of exposure, TBT increased contents of total lipid, total cholesterol, triglyceride and fatty acids in muscle tissues. Interestingly, TBT exposure disrupted fatty acid composition and increased contents of unsaturated fatty acids (such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) in muscle tissues, which might be a response to preserve membrane functions from TBT exposure. Meanwhile, the concentrations of hepatic fatty acid desaturase 2 (Δ6-desaturase) and stearoyl-CoA desaturase (Δ9-desaturase) were increased after TBT exposure, which might contribute the increase of unsaturated fatty acids. Furthermore, TBT increased muscle lipid peroxidation products, antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase), and the expression of immune-related molecules (tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 1 beta and nuclear factor kappa B) in muscle tissues. The disruption of TBT on the lipid accumulation, oxidative stress and immune-toxic effects in muscle tissues of fish might reduce nutritional qualities, and affect growth and health status, which might pose a constant and serious threat to fish and result in economic loss in aquaculture. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Foliar-applied urea modulates nitric oxide synthesis metabolism and glycinebetaine accumulation in drought-stressed maize

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, L.; Tian, L.; Lai, J.; Zheng, P.; Liang, Z.; Alva, A

    2014-01-01

    Foliar urea has been proved to play a better positive role in enhancing accumulation of nitric oxide (NO) and glycinebetaine (GB) in maize (Zea mays L.) under drought stress (DS). However, it is unclear how foliar urea affects biosynthetic metabolism of NO and its relationship with GB accumulation. This study was on investigating the effect of foliar- applied urea on seedlings of maize cultivar Zhengdan 958 grown in a hydroponic medium under DS or No DS. Contents of NO and GB and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity increased and peaked 12 h after the treatment. Nitrate reductase activity (NRA) followed the similar pattern 6h after the treatment. Under DS foliar urea application increased NR and NOS activity and, thereby, increased NO formation. Therefore, enhancement in activities of both NRA and NOS resulted in an increase of NO accumulation. Foliar- applied urea could induce an increased NO burst by enhanced NO synthesis metabolism as a nitrogen signal, possibly resulting in GB accumulation under DS. (author)

  13. Synthesis of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide using volumetric method by a novel approach without NaNO2 or NaNO3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunda, Rajitha; Madireddy, Buchi Suresh; Dash, Raj Kishora

    2018-02-01

    In the present work, graphite was processed to graphene oxide (GO) using modified Hummer's method by volumetric titration approach, without attaining zero temperature and the addition of toxic chemicals (NaNO2/NaNO3). The complete oxidation of graphite to graphene oxide was obtained by controlled addition (volumetric titration) of KMnO4. The addition of higher KMnO4 resulted in partial oxidation and 2-3 mono-layers with less defects/disordered structure of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets were achieved. Samples were analyzed by XRD, FT-IR, Raman analysis, and TEM analysis. X-ray diffraction displayed the oxidized peak of graphene oxide at 11.9° and reduced graphene oxide at 23.8°. The prolonged stability of the synthesized GO with lower mole ratios of oxidizing agent was confirmed from UV-visible spectroscopy. Based on the results, processed graphene oxide is found to be a candidate material for thermally stable capacitor application.

  14. Nitric oxide, human diseases and the herbal products that affect the nitric oxide signalling pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Achike, Francis I; Kwan, Chiu-Yin

    2003-09-01

    1. Nitric oxide (NO) is formed enzymatically from l-arginine in the presence of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Nitric oxide is generated constitutively in endothelial cells via sheer stress and blood-borne substances. Nitric oxide is also generated constitutively in neuronal cells and serves as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator in non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic nerve endings. Furthermore, NO can also be formed via enzyme induction in many tissues in the presence of cytokines. 2. The ubiquitous presence of NO in the living body suggests that NO plays an important role in the maintenance of health. Being a free radical with vasodilatory properties, NO exerts dual effects on tissues and cells in various biological systems. At low concentrations, NO can dilate the blood vessels and improve the circulation, but at high concentrations it can cause circulatory shock and induce cell death. Thus, diseases can arise in the presence of the extreme ends of the physiological concentrations of NO. 3. The NO signalling pathway has, in recent years, become a target for new drug development. The high level of flavonoids, catechins, tannins and other polyphenolic compounds present in vegetables, fruits, soy, tea and even red wine (from grapes) is believed to contribute to their beneficial health effects. Some of these compounds induce NO formation from the endothelial cells to improve circulation and some suppress the induction of inducible NOS in inflammation and infection. 4. Many botanical medicinal herbs and drugs derived from these herbs have been shown to have effects on the NO signalling pathway. For example, the saponins from ginseng, ginsenosides, have been shown to relax blood vessels (probably contributing to the antifatigue and blood pressure-lowering effects of ginseng) and corpus cavernosum (thus, for the treatment of men suffering from erectile dysfunction; however, the legendary aphrodisiac effect of ginseng may be an overstatement). Many plant extracts or

  15. The influence of emotional stress on Doppler-derived aortic peak velocity in boxer dogs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pradelli, D; Quintavalla, C; Crosta, M C; Mazzoni, L; Oliveira, P; Scotti, L; Brambilla, P; Bussadori, C

    2014-01-01

    Subaortic stenosis (SAS) is a common congenital heart disease in Boxers. Doppler-derived aortic peak velocity (AoPV) is a diagnostic criterion for the disease. To investigate the influence of emotional stress during echocardiographic examination on AoPV in normal and SAS-affected Boxers. To evaluate the effects of aortic root diameters on AoPV in normal Boxers. DOGS: Two hundred and fifteen normal and 19 SAS-affected Boxers. The AoPV was recorded at the beginning of echocardiographic examination (T0), and when the emotional stress of the dog was assumed to decrease based on behavioral parameters and heart rate (T1). AoPV0-AoPV1 was calculated. In normal dogs, stroke volume index was calculated at T0 and T1. Aortic root diameters were measured and their relationship with AoPV and AoPV0-AoPV1 was evaluated. In normal dogs, AoPV was higher at T0 (median, 1.95 m/s; range, 1.60-2.50 m/s) than at T1 (median, 1.76 m/s; range, 1.40-2.20 m/s; P dogs, AoPV0 was higher than AoPV1 (P < .0001; reduction 7.3%). Aortic peak velocity was affected by emotional stress during echocardiographic examination both in SAS-affected and normal Boxers. In normal Boxers, aortic root size weakly affected AoPVs, but did not affect AoPV0-AoPV1. Stroke volume seems to play a major role in stress-related AoPV increases in normal Boxers. Emotional stress should be taken into account when screening for SAS in the Boxer breed. Copyright © 2014 by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

  16. Low frequency noise peak near magnon emission energy in magnetic tunnel junctions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Liang; Xiang, Li; Guo, Huiqiang; Wei, Jian, E-mail: weijian6791@pku.edu.cn [International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China and Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing (China); Li, D. L.; Yuan, Z. H.; Feng, J. F., E-mail: jiafengfeng@iphy.ac.cn; Han, X. F. [Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Coey, J. M. D. [CRANN and School of Physics, Trinity College, Dublin 2 (Ireland)

    2014-12-15

    We report on the low frequency (LF) noise measurements in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) below 4 K and at low bias, where the transport is strongly affected by scattering with magnons emitted by hot tunnelling electrons, as thermal activation of magnons from the environment is suppressed. For both CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB and CoFeB/AlO{sub x}/CoFeB MTJs, enhanced LF noise is observed at bias voltage around magnon emission energy, forming a peak in the bias dependence of noise power spectra density, independent of magnetic configurations. The noise peak is much higher and broader for unannealed AlO{sub x}-based MTJ, and besides Lorentzian shape noise spectra in the frequency domain, random telegraph noise (RTN) is visible in the time traces. During repeated measurements the noise peak reduces and the RTN becomes difficult to resolve, suggesting defects being annealed. The Lorentzian shape noise spectra can be fitted with bias-dependent activation of RTN, with the attempt frequency in the MHz range, consistent with magnon dynamics. These findings suggest magnon-assisted activation of defects as the origin of the enhanced LF noise.

  17. Low frequency noise peak near magnon emission energy in magnetic tunnel junctions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liang Liu

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available We report on the low frequency (LF noise measurements in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs below 4 K and at low bias, where the transport is strongly affected by scattering with magnons emitted by hot tunnelling electrons, as thermal activation of magnons from the environment is suppressed. For both CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB and CoFeB/AlOx/CoFeB MTJs, enhanced LF noise is observed at bias voltage around magnon emission energy, forming a peak in the bias dependence of noise power spectra density, independent of magnetic configurations. The noise peak is much higher and broader for unannealed AlOx-based MTJ, and besides Lorentzian shape noise spectra in the frequency domain, random telegraph noise (RTN is visible in the time traces. During repeated measurements the noise peak reduces and the RTN becomes difficult to resolve, suggesting defects being annealed. The Lorentzian shape noise spectra can be fitted with bias-dependent activation of RTN, with the attempt frequency in the MHz range, consistent with magnon dynamics. These findings suggest magnon-assisted activation of defects as the origin of the enhanced LF noise.

  18. Photoluminescence from Au nanoparticles embedded in Au:oxide composite films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Hongbo; Wen, Weijia; Wong, George K.

    2006-12-01

    Au:oxide composite multilayer films with Au nanoparticles sandwiched by oxide layers (such as SiO2, ZnO, and TiO2) were prepared in a magnetron sputtering system. Their photoluminescence (PL) spectra were investigated by employing a micro-Raman system in which an Argon laser with a wavelength of 514 nm was used as the pumping light. Distinct PL peaks located at a wavelength range between 590 and 680 nm were observed in most of our samples, with Au particle size varying from several to hundreds of nanometers. It was found that the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in these composites exerted a strong influence on the position of the PL peaks but had little effect on the PL intensity.

  19. Photoluminescence from Au nanoparticles embedded in Au:oxide composite films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liao Hongbo; Wen Weijia; Wong, George K. L.

    2006-01-01

    Au:oxide composite multilayer films with Au nanoparticles sandwiched by oxide layers (such as SiO 2 , ZnO, and TiO 2 ) were prepared in a magnetron sputtering system. Their photoluminescence (PL) spectra were investigated by employing a micro-Raman system in which an Argon laser with a wavelength of 514 nm was used as the pumping light. Distinct PL peaks located at a wavelength range between 590 and 680 nm were observed in most of our samples, with Au particle size varying from several to hundreds of nanometers. It was found that the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in these composites exerted a strong influence on the position of the PL peaks but had little effect on the PL intensity

  20. On some factors affecting the nonstoichiometry in U 3O 8

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujino, Takeo; Tagawa, Hiroaki; Adachi, Takeo

    1981-03-01

    The nonstoichiometry of U 3O 8 was studied under various conditions. The {O}/{U} atom ratios obtained by the oxidation of uranium metal in air followed by cooling with moderate rates (method 1) are 2.67 ± 0.01 in the temperature range 700 900°C and 2.662 ± 0.005 at 1000°C and are generally larger than the ratio by thermogravimetry. If the oxidation was carried out in a crucible with a lid, a compositional peak was observed at 900 950°C, which did not appear for the U 3O 8 samples from UO 2. The U 3O 8 made from UO 2 by method 1 have {O}/{U} ratios 2.655 ± 0.005 (700° C), 2.653 ± 0.004 (800° C), 2.648 ± 0.004 (900° C) and 2.645 ± 0.003 (1000° C). Differences were observed in the O/U ratios of heating and cooling series. X-ray diffraction analysis showed several additional peaks other than those of α-U 3O 8 for the samples which exhibited the compositional peak.

  1. Circadian Rhythms of Oxidative Stress Markers and Melatonin Metabolite in Patients with Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group A.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyata, Rie; Tanuma, Naoyuki; Sakuma, Hiroshi; Hayashi, Masaharu

    2016-01-01

    Xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA) is a genetic disorder in DNA nucleotide excision repair (NER) with severe neurological disorders, in which oxidative stress and disturbed melatonin metabolism may be involved. Herein we confirmed the diurnal variation of melatonin metabolites, oxidative stress markers, and antioxidant power in urine of patients with XPA and age-matched controls, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The peak of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, a metabolite of melatonin, was seen at 6:00 in both the XPA patients and controls, though the peak value is lower, specifically in the younger age group of XPA patients. The older XPA patients demonstrated an increase in the urinary levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and hexanoyl-lysine, a marker of oxidative DNA damage and lipid peroxidation, having a robust peak at 6:00 and 18:00, respectively. In addition, the urinary level of total antioxidant power was decreased in the older XPA patients. Recently, it is speculated that oxidative stress and antioxidant properties may have a diurnal variation, and the circadian rhythm is likely to influence the NER itself. We believe that the administration of melatonin has the possibility of ameliorating the augmented oxidative stress in neurodegeneration, especially in the older XPA patients, modulating the melatonin metabolism and the circadian rhythm.

  2. Circadian Rhythms of Oxidative Stress Markers and Melatonin Metabolite in Patients with Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group A

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rie Miyata

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA is a genetic disorder in DNA nucleotide excision repair (NER with severe neurological disorders, in which oxidative stress and disturbed melatonin metabolism may be involved. Herein we confirmed the diurnal variation of melatonin metabolites, oxidative stress markers, and antioxidant power in urine of patients with XPA and age-matched controls, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA. The peak of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, a metabolite of melatonin, was seen at 6:00 in both the XPA patients and controls, though the peak value is lower, specifically in the younger age group of XPA patients. The older XPA patients demonstrated an increase in the urinary levels of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine and hexanoyl-lysine, a marker of oxidative DNA damage and lipid peroxidation, having a robust peak at 6:00 and 18:00, respectively. In addition, the urinary level of total antioxidant power was decreased in the older XPA patients. Recently, it is speculated that oxidative stress and antioxidant properties may have a diurnal variation, and the circadian rhythm is likely to influence the NER itself. We believe that the administration of melatonin has the possibility of ameliorating the augmented oxidative stress in neurodegeneration, especially in the older XPA patients, modulating the melatonin metabolism and the circadian rhythm.

  3. Spectroscopic studies of neutral and chemically oxidized species of β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin in CH2Cl2: Fluorescence from intermediate compounds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alwis, D.D.D.H; Chandrika, U.G.; Jayaweera, P.M.

    2015-01-01

    Radical cations, dications and oxidized intermediate species of three carotenoids, namely, β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin, were generated in CH 2 Cl 2 solutions via chemical oxidation using anhydrous FeCl 3 . UV–vis, fluorescence and fluorescence-excitation spectroscopic studies were performed to understand and compare the nature of intermediate species generated during the chemical oxidation process and subsequent degradation. The intense emission observed at 550 nm can be assigned to the S 2 →S 0 (1 1 B u →1 1 A g ) transition of the carotenoid molecules. The 350 nm excitation during the oxidation process for β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin exhibit intense fluorescence peaks at 492 nm, 493 nm and 500 nm, respectively. These peaks are assigned to intermediate peroxy/epoxy compounds of the three molecules that are formed with molecular oxygen prior to the formation of oxidized short-chain stable compounds. - Highlights: • Fluorescence and UV–vis studies on β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin. • Oxidation, induced by FeCl 3 in CH 2 Cl 2 shows blue shifted fluorescence peaks. • Fluorescence peaks were assigned to intermediate peroxy/epoxy forms of carotenoids. • The D0→D3 transition of radical cations are observed in the near IR region

  4. Passive radio frequency peak power multiplier

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farkas, Zoltan D.; Wilson, Perry B.

    1977-01-01

    Peak power multiplication of a radio frequency source by simultaneous charging of two high-Q resonant microwave cavities by applying the source output through a directional coupler to the cavities and then reversing the phase of the source power to the coupler, thereby permitting the power in the cavities to simultaneously discharge through the coupler to the load in combination with power from the source to apply a peak power to the load that is a multiplication of the source peak power.

  5. Peak capacity, peak-capacity production rate, and boiling point resolution for temperature-programmed GC with very high programming rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grall; Leonard; Sacks

    2000-02-01

    Recent advances in column heating technology have made possible very fast linear temperature programming for high-speed gas chromatography. A fused-silica capillary column is contained in a tubular metal jacket, which is resistively heated by a precision power supply. With very rapid column heating, the rate of peak-capacity production is significantly enhanced, but the total peak capacity and the boiling-point resolution (minimum boiling-point difference required for the separation of two nonpolar compounds on a nonpolar column) are reduced relative to more conventional heating rates used with convection-oven instruments. As temperature-programming rates increase, elution temperatures also increase with the result that retention may become insignificant prior to elution. This results in inefficient utilization of the down-stream end of the column and causes a loss in the rate of peak-capacity production. The rate of peak-capacity production is increased by the use of shorter columns and higher carrier gas velocities. With high programming rates (100-600 degrees C/min), column lengths of 6-12 m and average linear carrier gas velocities in the 100-150 cm/s range are satisfactory. In this study, the rate of peak-capacity production, the total peak capacity, and the boiling point resolution are determined for C10-C28 n-alkanes using 6-18 m long columns, 50-200 cm/s average carrier gas velocities, and 60-600 degrees C/min programming rates. It was found that with a 6-meter-long, 0.25-mm i.d. column programmed at a rate of 600 degrees C/min, a maximum peak-capacity production rate of 6.1 peaks/s was obtained. A total peak capacity of about 75 peaks was produced in a 37-s long separation spanning a boiling-point range from n-C10 (174 degrees C) to n-C28 (432 degrees C).

  6. Temperature peaks affect fire-induced soil water repellency, infiltration and erosion risk of Mediterranean shrublands. Implications for water and sediment connectivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jordán, Antonio; Zavala, Lorena M.; Gordillo-Rivero, Ángel J.; Miriam, Miriam; Keesstra, Saskia; Cerdà, Artemi

    2017-04-01

    We know that the impact of fire on soil water repellency varies largely with the availability of water and physical and chemical soil properties, as well as the intensity of pre-existing hydrophobicity. However, there are few studies that relate the intensity of post-fire soil hydrophobicity and its persistence to the intensity and duration of thermal peaks occurring during fire. Fundamentally, this is due to the difficulty of quantifying these factors in situ, so that experimental fires are an extremely useful tool. The objective of this work was to study the impact of the intensity and duration of the thermal peaks observed during an experimental fire in the hydrophobicity of previously wet or slightly hydrophobic soils and the consequences of these changes on infiltration, runoff and soil loss (through rainfall simulation) in the immediate (30 days) and medium-term (1 year) post-fire period. In general, soil water repellency increased in all cases, although high temperatures and residence times of moderate thermal peaks caused the greatest impact. Although infiltration rates determined by mini-disk infiltrometer with water generally declined, no significant changes were observed in the same measurement with ethanol (which negates the effect of hydrophobicity).

  7. Where does HIT fit? An examination of the affective response to high-intensity intervals in comparison to continuous moderate- and continuous vigorous-intensity exercise in the exercise intensity-affect continuum.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mary E Jung

    Full Text Available Affect experienced during an exercise session is purported to predict future exercise behaviour. Compared to continuous moderate-intensity exercise (CMI, the affective response to continuous vigorous-intensity exercise (CVI has consistently been shown to be more aversive. The affective response, and overall tolerability to high-intensity interval training (HIT, is less studied. To date, there has yet to be a comparison between HIT, CVI, and CMI. The purpose of this study was to compare the tolerability and affective responses during HIT to CVI and CMI. This study utilized a repeated measures, randomized, counter-balanced design. Forty-four participants visited the laboratory on four occasions. Baseline fitness testing was conducted to establish peak power output in Watts (W peak. Three subsequent visits involved a single bout of a HIT, corresponding to 1-minute at ∼ 100% W peak and 1-minute at ∼ 20% W peak for 20 minutes, b CMI, corresponding to ∼ 40% W peak for 40 minutes, and c CVI, corresponding to ∼ 80% W peak for 20 minutes. The order of the sessions was randomized. Affective responses were measured before, during and after each session. Task self-efficacy, intentions, enjoyment and preference were measured after sessions. Participants reported greater enjoyment of HIT as compared to CMI and CVI, with over 50% of participants reporting a preference to engage in HIT as opposed to either CMI or CVI. HIT was considered more pleasurable than CVI after exercise, but less pleasurable than CMI at these times. Despite this participants reported being just as confident to engage in HIT as they were CMI, but less confident to engage in CVI. This study highlights the utility of HIT in inactive individuals, and suggests that it may be a viable alternative to traditionally prescribed continuous modalities of exercise for promoting self-efficacy and enjoyment of exercise.

  8. Where does HIT fit? An examination of the affective response to high-intensity intervals in comparison to continuous moderate- and continuous vigorous-intensity exercise in the exercise intensity-affect continuum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Mary E; Bourne, Jessica E; Little, Jonathan P

    2014-01-01

    Affect experienced during an exercise session is purported to predict future exercise behaviour. Compared to continuous moderate-intensity exercise (CMI), the affective response to continuous vigorous-intensity exercise (CVI) has consistently been shown to be more aversive. The affective response, and overall tolerability to high-intensity interval training (HIT), is less studied. To date, there has yet to be a comparison between HIT, CVI, and CMI. The purpose of this study was to compare the tolerability and affective responses during HIT to CVI and CMI. This study utilized a repeated measures, randomized, counter-balanced design. Forty-four participants visited the laboratory on four occasions. Baseline fitness testing was conducted to establish peak power output in Watts (W peak). Three subsequent visits involved a single bout of a) HIT, corresponding to 1-minute at ∼ 100% W peak and 1-minute at ∼ 20% W peak for 20 minutes, b) CMI, corresponding to ∼ 40% W peak for 40 minutes, and c) CVI, corresponding to ∼ 80% W peak for 20 minutes. The order of the sessions was randomized. Affective responses were measured before, during and after each session. Task self-efficacy, intentions, enjoyment and preference were measured after sessions. Participants reported greater enjoyment of HIT as compared to CMI and CVI, with over 50% of participants reporting a preference to engage in HIT as opposed to either CMI or CVI. HIT was considered more pleasurable than CVI after exercise, but less pleasurable than CMI at these times. Despite this participants reported being just as confident to engage in HIT as they were CMI, but less confident to engage in CVI. This study highlights the utility of HIT in inactive individuals, and suggests that it may be a viable alternative to traditionally prescribed continuous modalities of exercise for promoting self-efficacy and enjoyment of exercise.

  9. Raman and photoelectron spectroscopic investigation of high-purity niobium materials: Oxides, hydrides, and hydrocarbons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Nageshwar; Deo, M. N.; Nand, Mangla; Jha, S. N.; Roy, S. B.

    2016-09-01

    We present investigations of the presence of oxides, hydrides, and hydrocarbons in high-purity (residual resistivity ratio, ˜300) niobium (Nb) materials used in fabrication of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities for particle accelerators. Raman spectroscopy of Nb materials (as-received from the vendor as well as after surface chemical- and thermal processing) revealed numerous peaks, which evidently show the presence of oxides (550 cm-1), hydrides (1277 and 1385 cm-1: ˜80 K temperature), and groups of hydrocarbons (1096, 2330, 2710, 2830, 2868, and 3080 cm-1). The present work provides direct spectroscopic evidence of hydrides in the electropolished Nb materials typically used in SRF cavities. Raman spectroscopy thus can provide vital information about the near-surface chemical species in niobium materials and will help in identifying the cause for the performance degradation of SRF cavities. Furthermore, photoelectron spectroscopy was performed on the Nb samples to complement the Raman spectroscopy study. This study reveals the presence of C and O in the Nb samples. Core level spectra of Nb (doublet 3d5/2 and 3d3/2) show peaks near 206.6 and 209.4 eV, which can be attributed to the Nb5+ oxidation state. The core level spectra of C 1 s of the samples are dominated by graphitic carbon (binding energy, 284.6 eV), while the spectra of O 1 s are asymmetrically peaked near binding energy of ˜529 eV, and that indicates the presence of metal-oxide Nb2O5. The valence-band spectra of the Nb samples are dominated by a broad peak similar to O 2p states, but after sputtering (for 10 min) a peak appears at ˜1 eV, which is a feature of the elemental Nb atom.

  10. The U.S. Geological Survey Peak-Flow File Data Verification Project, 2008–16

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryberg, Karen R.; Goree, Burl B.; Williams-Sether, Tara; Mason, Robert R.

    2017-11-21

    Annual peak streamflow (peak flow) at a streamgage is defined as the maximum instantaneous flow in a water year. A water year begins on October 1 and continues through September 30 of the following year; for example, water year 2015 extends from October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2015. The accuracy, characterization, and completeness of the peak streamflow data are critical in determining flood-frequency estimates that are used daily to design water and transportation infrastructure, delineate flood-plain boundaries, and regulate development and utilization of lands throughout the United States and are essential to understanding the implications of climate and land-use change on flooding and high-flow conditions.As of November 14, 2016, peak-flow data existed for 27,240 unique streamgages in the United States and its territories. The data, collectively referred to as the “peak-flow file,” are available as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) public web interface, the National Water Information System, at https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/peak. Although the data have been routinely subjected to periodic review by the USGS Office of Surface Water and screening at the USGS Water Science Center level, these data were not reviewed in a national, systematic manner until 2008 when automated scripts were developed and applied to detect potential errors in peak-flow values and their associated dates, gage heights, and peak-flow qualification codes, as well as qualification codes associated with the gage heights. USGS scientists and hydrographers studied the resulting output, accessed basic records and field notes, and corrected observed errors or, more commonly, confirmed existing data as correct.This report summarizes the changes in peak-flow file data at a national level, illustrates their nature and causation, and identifies the streamgages affected by these changes. Specifically, the peak-flow data were compared for streamgages with peak flow

  11. Oxidative costs of reproduction: Oxidative stress in mice fed standard and low antioxidant diets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaanholt, L M; Milne, A; Zheng, Y; Hambly, C; Mitchell, S E; Valencak, T G; Allison, D B; Speakman, J R

    2016-02-01

    Lactation is one of the most energetically expensive behaviours, and trade-offs may exist between the energy devoted to it and somatic maintenance, including protection against oxidative damage. However, conflicting data exist for the effects of reproduction on oxidative stress. In the wild, a positive relationship is often observed, but in laboratory studies oxidative damage is often lower in lactating than in non-breeding animals. We hypothesised that this discrepancy may exist because during lactation food intake increases many-fold resulting in a large increase in the intake of dietary antioxidants which are typically high in laboratory rodent chow where they are added as a preservative. We supplied lactating and non-breeding control mice with either a standard or low antioxidant diet and studied how this affected the activity of endogenous antioxidants (catalase, superoxide dismutase; SOD, and glutathione peroxidise; GPx) and oxidative damage to proteins (protein carbonyls, PC) in liver and brain tissue. The low antioxidant diet did not significantly affect activities of antioxidant enzymes in brain or liver, and generally did not result in increased protein damage, except in livers of control mice on low antioxidant diet. Catalase activity, but not GPx or SOD, was decreased in both control and lactating mice on the low antioxidant diet. Lactating mice had significantly reduced oxidative damage to both liver and brain compared to control mice, independent of the diet they were given. In conclusion, antioxidant content of the diet did not affect oxidative stress in control or reproductive mice, and cannot explain the previously observed reduction in oxidative stress in lactating mammals studied in the laboratory. The reduced oxidative stress in the livers of lactating mice even under low antioxidant diet treatment was consistent with the 'shielding' hypothesis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Peak experiences of psilocybin users and non-users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cummins, Christina; Lyke, Jennifer

    2013-01-01

    Maslow (1970) defined peak experiences as the most wonderful experiences of a person's life, which may include a sense of awe, well-being, or transcendence. Furthermore, recent research has suggested that psilocybin can produce experiences subjectively rated as uniquely meaningful and significant (Griffiths et al. 2006). It is therefore possible that psilocybin may facilitate or change the nature of peak experiences in users compared to non-users. This study was designed to compare the peak experiences of psilocybin users and non-users, to evaluate the frequency of peak experiences while under the influence of psilocybin, and to assess the perceived degree of alteration of consciousness during these experiences. Participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling from undergraduate classes and at a musical event. Participants were divided into three groups, those who reported a peak experience while under the influence of psilocybin (psilocybin peak experience: PPE), participants who had used psilocybin but reported their peak experiences did not occur while they were under the influence of psilocybin (non-psilocybin peak experience: NPPE), and participants who had never used psilocybin (non-user: NU). A total of 101 participants were asked to think about their peak experiences and complete a measure evaluating the degree of alteration of consciousness during that experience. Results indicated that 47% of psilocybin users reported their peak experience occurred while using psilocybin. In addition, there were significant differences among the three groups on all dimensions of alteration of consciousness. Future research is necessary to identify factors that influence the peak experiences of psilocybin users in naturalistic settings and contribute to the different characteristics of peak experiences of psilocybin users and non-users.

  13. Extragalactic Peaked-spectrum Radio Sources at Low Frequencies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Callingham, J. R.; Gaensler, B. M.; Sadler, E. M.; Lenc, E. [Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia); Ekers, R. D.; Bell, M. E. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science (CASS), Marsfield, NSW 2122 (Australia); Line, J. L. B.; Hancock, P. J.; Kapińska, A. D.; McKinley, B.; Procopio, P. [ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) (Australia); Hurley-Walker, N.; Tingay, S. J.; Franzen, T. M. O.; Morgan, J. [International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102 (Australia); Dwarakanath, K. S. [Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore 560080 (India); For, B.-Q. [International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009 (Australia); Hindson, L.; Johnston-Hollitt, M. [School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140 (New Zealand); Offringa, A. R., E-mail: joseph.callingham@sydney.edu.au [Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Dwingeloo (Netherlands); and others

    2017-02-20

    We present a sample of 1483 sources that display spectral peaks between 72 MHz and 1.4 GHz, selected from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey. The GLEAM survey is the widest fractional bandwidth all-sky survey to date, ideal for identifying peaked-spectrum sources at low radio frequencies. Our peaked-spectrum sources are the low-frequency analogs of gigahertz-peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact-steep spectrum (CSS) sources, which have been hypothesized to be the precursors to massive radio galaxies. Our sample more than doubles the number of known peaked-spectrum candidates, and 95% of our sample have a newly characterized spectral peak. We highlight that some GPS sources peaking above 5 GHz have had multiple epochs of nuclear activity, and we demonstrate the possibility of identifying high-redshift ( z > 2) galaxies via steep optically thin spectral indices and low observed peak frequencies. The distribution of the optically thick spectral indices of our sample is consistent with past GPS/CSS samples but with a large dispersion, suggesting that the spectral peak is a product of an inhomogeneous environment that is individualistic. We find no dependence of observed peak frequency with redshift, consistent with the peaked-spectrum sample comprising both local CSS sources and high-redshift GPS sources. The 5 GHz luminosity distribution lacks the brightest GPS and CSS sources of previous samples, implying that a convolution of source evolution and redshift influences the type of peaked-spectrum sources identified below 1 GHz. Finally, we discuss sources with optically thick spectral indices that exceed the synchrotron self-absorption limit.

  14. Surface interactions affect the toxicity of engineered metal oxide nanoparticles toward Paramecium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Kungang; Chen, Ying; Zhang, Wen; Pu, Zhichao; Jiang, Lin; Chen, Yongsheng

    2012-08-20

    To better understand the potential impacts of engineered metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) in the ecosystem, we investigated the acute toxicity of seven different types of engineered metal oxide NPs against Paramecium multimicronucleatum, a ciliated protozoan, using the 48 h LC(50) (lethal concentration, 50%) test. Our results showed that the 48 h LC(50) values of these NPs to Paramecium ranged from 0.81 (Fe(2)O(3) NPs) to 9269 mg/L (Al(2)O(3) NPs); their toxicity to Paramecium increased as follows: Al(2)O(3) Paramecium; this implies that metal oxide NPs with strong association with the cell surface might induce more severe cytotoxicity in unicellular organisms.

  15. The dislocation-internal friction peak γ in tantalum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baur, J.; Benoit, W.; Schultz, H.

    1989-01-01

    Torsion-pendulum measurements were carried out on high-purity single crystal specimens of tantalum, having extremely low oxygen contents ( 2 peak, which appears close to γ is small traces of oxygen are presents. The γ 2 peak was formerly explained as a ''dislocation-enhanced Snoek peak''. The γ peak recovers at the peak temperature, whereas the γ 2 peak is more stable. On the basis of their results, and making use of earlier investigations of Rodrian and Schultz, the authors suggest that γ 2 is modified γ relaxation, related to screw-dislocation segments, stabilized by oxygen-decorated kinks. The stability of the γ 2 peak allows an accurate determination of the activation energy, found to be 1.00 +- 0.03 eV. This value is distinctly lower than the activation energy of the oxygen Snoek effect (1.10 eV) and is related here to the mechanism of ''kink-pair formation'' in screw dislocations, as the original γ peak. The numerical value is compatible with recent values derived from flow-stress measurements. The peak γ 2 shows increasing stability with increasing oxygen content. This is explained by single- and multi-decorated kinks

  16. Individual vision and peak distribution in collective actions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Peng

    2017-06-01

    People make decisions on whether they should participate as participants or not as free riders in collective actions with heterogeneous visions. Besides of the utility heterogeneity and cost heterogeneity, this work includes and investigates the effect of vision heterogeneity by constructing a decision model, i.e. the revised peak model of participants. In this model, potential participants make decisions under the joint influence of utility, cost, and vision heterogeneities. The outcomes of simulations indicate that vision heterogeneity reduces the values of peaks, and the relative variance of peaks is stable. Under normal distributions of vision heterogeneity and other factors, the peaks of participants are normally distributed as well. Therefore, it is necessary to predict distribution traits of peaks based on distribution traits of related factors such as vision heterogeneity and so on. We predict the distribution of peaks with parameters of both mean and standard deviation, which provides the confident intervals and robust predictions of peaks. Besides, we validate the peak model of via the Yuyuan Incident, a real case in China (2014), and the model works well in explaining the dynamics and predicting the peak of real case.

  17. Affective Responses to Repeated Sessions of High-Intensity Interval Training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saanijoki, Tiina; Nummenmaa, Lauri; Eskelinen, Jari-Joonas; Savolainen, Anna M; Vahlberg, Tero; Kalliokoski, Kari K; Hannukainen, Jarna C

    2015-12-01

    Vigorous exercise feels unpleasant, and negative emotions may discourage adherence to regular exercise. We quantified the subjective affective responses to short-term high-intensity interval training (HIT) in comparison with moderate-intensity continuous training (MIT). Twenty-six healthy middle-age (mean age, 47 ± 5 yr; mean VO2peak, 34.2 ± 4.1 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹) sedentary men were randomized into HIT (n = 13, 4-6 × 30 s of all-out cycling efforts at approximately 180% of peak workload with 4-min recovery) or MIT (n = 13, 40- to 60-min continuous cycling at 60% of peak workload) groups, performing six sessions within two weeks. Perceived exertion, stress, and affective state were recorded before, during, and after each session. Perceived exertion and arousal were higher, and affective state, more negative during the HIT than that during MIT sessions (P training. Peak oxygen consumption increased (P training). Short-term HIT and MIT are equally effective in improving aerobic fitness, but HIT increases experience of negative emotions and exertion in sedentary middle-age men. This may limit the adherence to this time-effective training mode, even though displeasure lessens over time and suggests similar mental adaptations to both MIT and HIT.

  18. Cluster Analysis of the Organic Peaks in Bulk Mass Spectra Obtained During the 2002 New England Air Quality Study with an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Marcolli

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available We applied hierarchical cluster analysis to an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS bulk mass spectral dataset collected aboard the NOAA research vessel R. H. Brown during the 2002 New England Air Quality Study off the east coast of the United States. Emphasizing the organic peaks, the cluster analysis yielded a series of categories that are distinguishable with respect to their mass spectra and their occurrence as a function of time. The differences between the categories mainly arise from relative intensity changes rather than from the presence or absence of specific peaks. The most frequent category exhibits a strong signal at m/z 44 and represents oxidized organic matter probably originating from both anthropogenic as well as biogenic sources. On the basis of spectral and trace gas correlations, the second most common category with strong signals at m/z 29, 43, and 44 contains contributions from isoprene oxidation products. The third through the fifth most common categories have peak patterns characteristic of monoterpene oxidation products and were most frequently observed when air masses from monoterpene rich regions were sampled. Taken together, the second through the fifth most common categories represent on average 17% of the total organic mass that stems likely from biogenic sources during the ship's cruise. These numbers have to be viewed as lower limits since the most common category was attributed to anthropogenic sources for this calculation. The cluster analysis was also very effective in identifying a few contaminated mass spectra that were not removed during pre-processing. This study demonstrates that hierarchical clustering is a useful tool to analyze the complex patterns of the organic peaks in bulk aerosol mass spectra from a field study.

  19. Uniqueness plots: A simple graphical tool for identifying poor peak fits in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Bhupinder; Diwan, Anubhav; Jain, Varun; Herrera-Gomez, Alberto; Terry, Jeff; Linford, Matthew R.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Uniqueness plots are introduced as a new tool for identifying poor XPS peak fits. • Uniqueness plots are demonstrated on real XPS data sets. • A horizontal line in a uniqueness plot indicates a poor fit, i.e., fit parameter correlation. • A parabolic shape in a uniqueness plot indicates that a fit may be appropriate. - Abstract: Peak fitting is an essential part of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) narrow scan analysis, and the Literature contains both good and bad examples of peak fitting. A common cause of poor peak fitting is the inclusion of too many fit parameters, often without a sound chemical and/or physical basis for them, and/or the failure to reasonably constrain them. Under these conditions, fit parameters are often correlated, and therefore lacking in statistical meaning. Here we introduce the uniqueness plot as a simple graphical tool for identifying bad peak fits in XPS, i.e., fit parameter correlation. These plots are widely used in spectroscopic ellipsometry. We illustrate uniqueness plots with two data sets: a C 1s narrow scan from ozone-treated carbon nanotube forests and an Si 2p narrow scan from an air-oxidized silicon wafer. For each fit, we consider different numbers of parameters and constraints on them. As expected, the uniqueness plots are parabolic when fewer fit parameters and/or more constraints are applied. However, they fan out and eventually become horizontal lines as more unconstrained parameters are included in the fits. Uniqueness plots are generated by plotting the chi squared (χ 2 ) value for a fit vs. a systematically varied value of a parameter in the fit. The Abbe criterion is also considered as a figure of merit for uniqueness plots in the Supporting Information. We recommend that uniqueness plots be used by XPS practitioners for identifying inappropriate peak fits.

  20. Uniqueness plots: A simple graphical tool for identifying poor peak fits in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, Bhupinder; Diwan, Anubhav; Jain, Varun [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84606 (United States); Herrera-Gomez, Alberto [CINVESTAV-Unidad Queretaro, Queretaro, 76230 (Mexico); Terry, Jeff [Department of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, 60616 (United States); Linford, Matthew R., E-mail: mrlinford@chem.byu.edu [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84606 (United States)

    2016-11-30

    Highlights: • Uniqueness plots are introduced as a new tool for identifying poor XPS peak fits. • Uniqueness plots are demonstrated on real XPS data sets. • A horizontal line in a uniqueness plot indicates a poor fit, i.e., fit parameter correlation. • A parabolic shape in a uniqueness plot indicates that a fit may be appropriate. - Abstract: Peak fitting is an essential part of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) narrow scan analysis, and the Literature contains both good and bad examples of peak fitting. A common cause of poor peak fitting is the inclusion of too many fit parameters, often without a sound chemical and/or physical basis for them, and/or the failure to reasonably constrain them. Under these conditions, fit parameters are often correlated, and therefore lacking in statistical meaning. Here we introduce the uniqueness plot as a simple graphical tool for identifying bad peak fits in XPS, i.e., fit parameter correlation. These plots are widely used in spectroscopic ellipsometry. We illustrate uniqueness plots with two data sets: a C 1s narrow scan from ozone-treated carbon nanotube forests and an Si 2p narrow scan from an air-oxidized silicon wafer. For each fit, we consider different numbers of parameters and constraints on them. As expected, the uniqueness plots are parabolic when fewer fit parameters and/or more constraints are applied. However, they fan out and eventually become horizontal lines as more unconstrained parameters are included in the fits. Uniqueness plots are generated by plotting the chi squared (χ{sup 2}) value for a fit vs. a systematically varied value of a parameter in the fit. The Abbe criterion is also considered as a figure of merit for uniqueness plots in the Supporting Information. We recommend that uniqueness plots be used by XPS practitioners for identifying inappropriate peak fits.

  1. Physical performance and peak aerobic power at different body temperatures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergh, U; Ekblom, B

    1979-05-01

    In eight male subjects we studied the effect of different core (esophageal, (Tes 34.9--38.4 degrees C) and muscle (Tm 35.1--39.3 degrees C) temperature on 1) physical performance (time to exhaustion at a standard maximal rate of work, WT), 2) aerobic power (VO2), 3) heart rate (HR), and 4) blood lactate (LA) concentration during exhaustive combined arm and leg exercise. In three subjects the effects at different mean skin temperatures (Tsk 27 and 31 degrees C, respectively) were also studied. Peak VO2 was positively correlated to both Tes (r = 0.88) and Tm (r = 0.91). None of the subjects attained control VO2max at Tes and Tm lower than 37.5 and 38.0 degrees C, respectively. HR was correlated to both Tes (r = 0.97) and Tm (r = 0.95). Different Tsk did not affect peak VO2 and HR at subnormal body temperatures. Pulmonary ventilation was independent of Tes and Tm in all experimental situations. LA was significantly higher at Tes 37.5 degrees C compared to both Tes 34.9 and 38.5 degrees C, respectively. At Tes less than 37.5 degrees C and Tm less than 38.0 degrees C, there was a linear reduction in WT (20%.degrees C-1), peak VO2 (5--6%.degrees C-1), and HR (8 beats.min-1.degrees C-1) with lowered Tes and Tm.

  2. Isotope resolution of the iron peak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henke, R.P.; Benton, E.V.

    1977-01-01

    A stack of Lexan detectors from the Apollo 17 mission has been analyzed to obtain Z measurements of sufficient accuracy to resolve the iron peak into its isotopic components. Within this distribution several peaks are present. With the centrally located, most populated peak assumed to be 56 Fe, the measurements imply that the abundances of 54 Fe and 58 Fe are appreciable fractions of the 56 Fe abundance. This result is in agreement with those of Webber et al. and Siegman et al. but in disagreement with the predictions of Tsao et al. (Auth.)

  3. Crossover and valence band Kβ X-rays of chromium oxides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fazinic, Stjepko; Mandic, Luka; Kavcic, Matjaz; Bozicevic, Iva

    2011-01-01

    Kβ X-ray spectra of chromium metal and selected chromium oxides were measured twice using medium resolution flat crystal spectrometer and high resolution spectrometer employing Johansson geometry after excitation with 2 MeV proton beams. The positions and intensities of crossover (Kβ'') and valence (Kβ 2,5 ) band X-rays relative to the primary Kβ X-ray components were extracted in a consistent way. The results were compared with the existing data obtained by proton and photon induced ionization mechanisms and theoretical predictions. The obtained results in peak relative positions and intensities were analyzed in order to study dependence on the chromium oxidation states and chromium-oxygen bond lengths in selected chromium oxides. Our results obtained by both spectrometers confirm that the linear trend observed for the valence peak relative energy shift as a function of chromium oxidation number does not depend on the experimental resolution. Experimental results for normalized intensities (i.e. relative intensities divided with the number of chromium-oxygen pairs) of crossover and valence band X-rays obtained by both spectrometers are in very good agreement, and follow exponential relationship with the average Cr-O bond lengths in corresponding chromium oxides. The observed trends in crossover and valence X-rays normalized intensities could be used to measure the average chromium-oxygen bond length in various chromium oxides, with the sum of both crossover and valence X-ray normalized intensities being the most sensitive measure.

  4. Instream flow needs below peaking hydroelectric projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Milhous, R.T.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports on a method developed to assist in the determination of instream flow needs below hydroelectric projects operated in a peaking mode. Peaking hydroelectric projects significantly change streamflow over a short period of time; consequently, any instream flow methodology must consider the dual flows associated with peaking projects. The dual flows are the lowest flow and the maximum generation flow of a peaking cycle. The methodology is based on elements of the Physical Habitat Simulation System of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and uses habitat, rather than fish numbers or biomas, as at basic response variable. All aquatic animals are subject to the rapid changes in streamflow which cause rapid swings in habitat quality. Some aquatic organisms are relatively fixed in location in the stream while others can move when flows change. The habitat available from a project operated in peaking mode is considered to be the minimum habitat occurring during a cycle of habitat change. The methodology takes in to consideration that some aquatic animals can move and others cannot move during a peaking cycle

  5. flowPeaks: a fast unsupervised clustering for flow cytometry data via K-means and density peak finding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ge, Yongchao; Sealfon, Stuart C

    2012-08-01

    For flow cytometry data, there are two common approaches to the unsupervised clustering problem: one is based on the finite mixture model and the other on spatial exploration of the histograms. The former is computationally slow and has difficulty to identify clusters of irregular shapes. The latter approach cannot be applied directly to high-dimensional data as the computational time and memory become unmanageable and the estimated histogram is unreliable. An algorithm without these two problems would be very useful. In this article, we combine ideas from the finite mixture model and histogram spatial exploration. This new algorithm, which we call flowPeaks, can be applied directly to high-dimensional data and identify irregular shape clusters. The algorithm first uses K-means algorithm with a large K to partition the cell population into many small clusters. These partitioned data allow the generation of a smoothed density function using the finite mixture model. All local peaks are exhaustively searched by exploring the density function and the cells are clustered by the associated local peak. The algorithm flowPeaks is automatic, fast and reliable and robust to cluster shape and outliers. This algorithm has been applied to flow cytometry data and it has been compared with state of the art algorithms, including Misty Mountain, FLOCK, flowMeans, flowMerge and FLAME. The R package flowPeaks is available at https://github.com/yongchao/flowPeaks. yongchao.ge@mssm.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  6. SPH based modelling of oxide and oxide film formation in gravity die castings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ellingsen, K; M'Hamdi, M; Coudert, T

    2015-01-01

    Gravity die casting is an important casting process which has the capability of making complicated, high-integrity components for e.g. the automotive industry. Oxides and oxide films formed during filling affect the cast product quality. The Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is particularly suited to follow complex flows. The SPH method has been used to study filling of a gravity die including the formation and transport of oxides and oxide films for two different filling velocities. A low inlet velocity leads to a higher amount of oxides and oxide films in the casting. The study demonstrates the usefulness of the SPH method for an increased understanding of the effect of different filling procedures on the cast quality. (paper)

  7. Early Detection of Peak Demand Days of Chronic Respiratory Diseases Emergency Department Visits Using Artificial Neural Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khatri, Krishan L; Tamil, Lakshman S

    2018-01-01

    Chronic respiratory diseases, mainly asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), affect the lives of people by limiting their activities in various aspects. Overcrowding of hospital emergency departments (EDs) due to respiratory diseases in certain weather and environmental pollution conditions results in the degradation of quality of medical care, and even limits its availability. A useful tool for ED managers would be to forecast peak demand days so that they can take steps to improve the availability of medical care. In this paper, we developed an artificial neural network based classifier using multilayer perceptron with back propagation algorithm that predicts peak event (peak demand days) of patients with respiratory diseases, mainly asthma and COPD visiting EDs in Dallas County of Texas in the United States. The precision and recall for peak event class were 77.1% and 78.0%, respectively, and those for nonpeak events were 83.9% and 83.2%, respectively. The overall accuracy of the system is 81.0%.

  8. Oxidative stress and partial migration in brown trout (Salmo trutta)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Birnie-Gauvin, Kim; Peiman, K. S.; Larsen, Martin Hage

    2017-01-01

    of oxidative status in migration biology, particularly in fish. Semi-anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta, Linnaeus 1758) exhibit partial migration, where some individuals smoltify and migrate to sea, and others become stream residents, providing us with an excellent model to investigate the link between...... oxidative stress and migration. Using the brown trout, we obtained blood samples from juveniles from a coastal stream in Denmark in the fall prior to peak seaward migration which occurs in the spring, and assayed for antioxidant capacity (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) and oxidative stress levels...

  9. Direct Coal Oxidation in Modified Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Deleebeeck, Lisa; Gil, Vanesa; Ippolito, Davide

    2017-01-01

    Hybrid direct carbon fuel cells employ a classical solid oxide fuel cell together with carbon dispersed in a carbonate melt on the anode side. In a European project, the utilization of various coals has been investigated with and without addition of an oxidation catalyst to the carbon-carbonate s......Hybrid direct carbon fuel cells employ a classical solid oxide fuel cell together with carbon dispersed in a carbonate melt on the anode side. In a European project, the utilization of various coals has been investigated with and without addition of an oxidation catalyst to the carbon......-carbonate slurry or anode layer. The nature of the coal affects both open circuit voltage and power output. Highest OCV and power densities were observed for bituminous coal and by adding manganese oxide or praseodymium-doped ceria to the carbon/carbonate mixture. Comparing the carbon black fueled performance...... bituminous coal (73 mW/cm2)....

  10. Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy-Associated Mutant Forms of Lamin A Recruit the Stress Responsive Protein Ankrd2 into the Nucleus, Affecting the Cellular Response to Oxidative Stress

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Angori

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Ankrd2 is a stress responsive protein mainly expressed in muscle cells. Upon the application of oxidative stress, Ankrd2 translocates into the nucleus where it regulates the activity of genes involved in cellular response to stress. Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy 2 (EDMD2 is a muscular disorder caused by mutations of the gene encoding lamin A, LMNA. As well as many phenotypic abnormalities, EDMD2 muscle cells also feature a permanent basal stress state, the underlying molecular mechanisms of which are currently unclear. Methods: Experiments were performed in EDMD2-lamin A overexpressing cell lines and EDMD2-affected human myotubes. Oxidative stress was produced by H2O2 treatment. Co-immunoprecipitation, cellular subfractionation and immunofluorescence analysis were used to validate the relation between Ankrd2 and forms of lamin A; cellular sensibility to stress was monitored by the analysis of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS release and cell viability. Results: Our data demonstrate that oxidative stress induces the formation of a complex between Ankrd2 and lamin A. However, EDMD2-lamin A mutants were able to bind and mislocalize Ankrd2 in the nucleus even under basal conditions. Nonetheless, cells co-expressing Ankrd2 and EDMD2-lamin A mutants were more sensitive to oxidative stress than the Ankrd2-wild type lamin A counterpart. Conclusions: For the first time, we present evidence that in muscle fibers from patients affected by EDMD2, Ankrd2 has an unusual nuclear localization. By introducing a plausible mechanism ruling this accumulation, our data hint at a novel function of Ankrd2 in the pathogenesis of EDMD2-affected cells.

  11. Titania and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: Coating with Polydopamine and Encapsulation within Lecithin Liposomes—Water Treatment Analysis by Gel Filtration Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuhao Zhao

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The interplay of metal oxide nanoparticles, environmental pollution, and health risks is key to all industrial and drinking water treatment processes. In this work we present a study using gel filtration chromatography for the analytical investigation of metal oxide nanoparticles in water, their coating with polydopamine, and their encapsulation within lecithin liposomes. Polydopamine prevents TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles from aggregation during chromatographic separation. Lecithin forms liposomes that encapsulate the nanoparticles and carry them through the gel filtration column, producing an increase of peak area for quantitative analysis without any change in retention time to affect qualitative identification. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that demonstrates the potential application of lecithin liposomes for cleaning up metal oxide nanoparticles in water treatment. Encapsulation of graphene quantum dots by liposomes would allow for monitoring of nanoparticle-loaded liposomes to ensure their complete removal by membrane ultrafiltration from treated water.

  12. Upper limit of peak area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helene, O.A.M.

    1982-08-01

    The determination of the upper limit of peak area in a multi-channel spectra, with a known significance level is discussed. This problem is specially important when the peak area is masked by the background statistical fluctuations. The problem is exactly solved and, thus, the results are valid in experiments with small number of events. The results are submitted to a Monte Carlo test and applied to the 92 Nb beta decay. (Author) [pt

  13. Do peak torque angles of muscles change following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using hamstring or patellar tendon graft?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yosmaoğlu, Hayri Baran; Baltacı, Gül; Sönmezer, Emel; Özer, Hamza; Doğan, Deha

    2017-12-01

    This study aims to compare the effects of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using autogenous hamstring or patellar tendon graft on the peak torque angle. The study included 132 patients (103 males, 29 females; mean age 29±9 year) who were performed ACL reconstruction with autogenous hamstring or patellar tendon graft. The peak torque angles in the quadriceps and hamstring muscles were recorded using an isokinetic dynamometer. Angle of peak knee flexion torque occurred significantly earlier within the range of motion on the operated side than nonoperated side at 180°/second in the hamstring tendon group. Angle of peak knee extension torque occurred significantly earlier within the range of motion on the operated side than nonoperated side at 180°/second in the patellar tendon group. There were no statistically significant differences in the flexion and extension peak torque angles between the operated and nonoperated knees at 60°/second in both groups. The angle of peak torque at relatively high angular velocities is affected after ACL reconstruction in patients with hamstring or patellar tendon grafts. The graft donor site directly influences this parameter. This finding may be important for clinicians in terms of preventing re-injury.

  14. Predicting rheological behavior and baking quality of wheat flour using a GlutoPeak test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rakita, Slađana; Dokić, Ljubica; Dapčević Hadnađev, Tamara; Hadnađev, Miroslav; Torbica, Aleksandra

    2018-06-01

    The purpose of this research was to gain an insight into the ability of the GlutoPeak instrument to predict flour functionality for bread making, as well as to determine which of the GlutoPeak parameters show the best potential in predicting dough rheological behavior and baking performance. Obtained results showed that GlutoPeak parameters correlated better with the indices of extensional rheological tests which consider constant dough hydration than with those which were performed at constant dough consistency. The GlutoPeak test showed that it is suitable for discriminating wheat varieties of good quality from those of poor quality, while the most discriminating index was maximum torque (MT). Moreover, MT value of 50 BU and aggregation energy value of 1,300 GPU were set as limits of wheat flour quality. The backward stepwise regression analysis revealed that a high-level prediction of indices which are highly affected by protein content (gluten content, flour water absorption, and dough tenacity) was achieved by using the GlutoPeak indices. Concerning bread quality, a moderate prediction of specific loaf volume and an intense level prediction of breadcrumb textural properties were accomplished by using the GlutoPeak parameters. The presented results indicated that the application of this quick test in wheat transformation chain for the assessment of baking quality would be useful. Baking test is considered as the most reliable method for assessing wheat-baking quality. However, baking test requires trained stuff, time, and large sample amount. These disadvantages have led to a growing demand to develop new rapid tests which would enable prediction of baked product quality with a limited flour size. Therefore, we tested the possibility of using a GlutoPeak tester to predict loaf volume and breadcrumb textural properties. Discrimination of wheat varieties according to quality with a restricted flour amount was also examined. Furthermore, we proposed the limit

  15. Thermoluminescence study of aluminium oxide doped germanium prepared by combustion synthesis method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saharin Nurul Syazlin Binti

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The present paper reports the optimum concentration of germanium (Ge dopant in aluminium oxide (AhO3 samples prepared by combustion synthesis (CS method for thermoluminescence (TL studies. The samples were prepared at various Ge concentration i.e. 1 to 5% mol. The phase formation of un-doped and Ge-doped Al2O3 samples was determined using X-ray Diffraction (XRD. The sharp peaks present in the XRD pattern confirms the crystallinity of the samples. The samples were then exposed to 50 Gy Cobalt-60 sources (Gamma cell 220. TL glow curves were measured and recorded using a Harshaw Model 3500 TLD reader. Comparison of TL peaks were observed to obtain the best composition of Ge dopants. A simple glow curves TL peak at around 175̊C for all composition samples was observed. It was also found that the composition of aluminium oxide doped with 3.0% of germanium exhibits the highest thermoluminescence (TL intensity which is 349747.04 (a.u.

  16. Inhibition of Direct Electrolytic Ammonia Oxidation Due to a Change in Local pH

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zöllig, Hanspeter; Morgenroth, Eberhard; Udert, Kai M.

    2015-01-01

    Electrochemical ammonia oxidation has gained a lot of attention recently as an efficient method for ammonia removal from wastewater, for the use in ammonia-based fuel cells and the production of high purity hydrogen. Thermally decomposed iridium oxide films (TDIROF) have been shown to be catalytically active for direct ammonia oxidation in aqueous solutions if NH 3 is present. However, the process was reported to be rapidly inhibited on TDIROF. Herein, we show that this fast inhibition of direct ammonia oxidation does not result from surface poisoning by adsorbed elemental nitrogen (N ads ). Instead, we propose that direct ammonia oxidation and oxygen evolution can lead to a drop of the local pH at the electrode resulting in a low availability of the actual reactant, NH 3 . The hypothesis was tested with cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments on stagnant and rotating disk electrodes (RDE). The CV experiments on the stagnant electrode revealed that the decrease of the ammonia oxidation peaks was considerably reduced by introducing an idle phase at open circuit potential between subsequent scans. Furthermore, the polarization of the TDIROF electrode into the hydrogen evolution region (HER) resulted in increased ammonia oxidation peaks in the following anodic scans which can be explained with an increased local pH after the consumption of protons in the HER. On the RDE, the ammonia oxidation peaks did not decrease in immediately consecutive scans. These findings would not be expected if surface poisoning was responsible for the fast inhibition but they are in good agreement with the proposed mechanism of pH induced limitation by the reactant, NH 3 . The plausibility of the mechanism was also supported by our numerical simulations of the processes in the Nernstian diffusion layer. The knowledge about this inhibition mechanism of direct ammonia oxidation is especially important for the design of electrochemical cells for wastewater treatment. The mechanism is not only

  17. Employer Attitudes towards Peak Hour Avoidance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vonk Noordegraaf, D.M.; Annema, J.A.

    2012-01-01

    Peak Hour Avoidance is a relatively new Dutch mobility management measure. To reduce congestion frequent car drivers are given a financial reward for reducing the proportion of trips that they make during peak hours on a specific motorway section. Although previous studies show that employers are

  18. Employer attitudes towards peak hour avoidance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Noordegraaf, D.M.V.; Annema, J.A.

    2012-01-01

    Peak Hour Avoidance is a relatively new Dutch mobility management measure. To reduce congestion frequent car drivers are given a financial reward for reducing the proportion of trips that they make during peak hours on a specific motorway section. Although previous studies show that employers are

  19. KiDS-450: cosmological constraints from weak-lensing peak statistics - II: Inference from shear peaks using N-body simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinet, Nicolas; Schneider, Peter; Hildebrandt, Hendrik; Shan, HuanYuan; Asgari, Marika; Dietrich, Jörg P.; Harnois-Déraps, Joachim; Erben, Thomas; Grado, Aniello; Heymans, Catherine; Hoekstra, Henk; Klaes, Dominik; Kuijken, Konrad; Merten, Julian; Nakajima, Reiko

    2018-02-01

    We study the statistics of peaks in a weak-lensing reconstructed mass map of the first 450 deg2 of the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS-450). The map is computed with aperture masses directly applied to the shear field with an NFW-like compensated filter. We compare the peak statistics in the observations with that of simulations for various cosmologies to constrain the cosmological parameter S_8 = σ _8 √{Ω _m/0.3}, which probes the (Ωm, σ8) plane perpendicularly to its main degeneracy. We estimate S8 = 0.750 ± 0.059, using peaks in the signal-to-noise range 0 ≤ S/N ≤ 4, and accounting for various systematics, such as multiplicative shear bias, mean redshift bias, baryon feedback, intrinsic alignment, and shear-position coupling. These constraints are ˜ 25 per cent tighter than the constraints from the high significance peaks alone (3 ≤ S/N ≤ 4) which typically trace single-massive haloes. This demonstrates the gain of information from low-S/N peaks. However, we find that including S/N KiDS-450. Combining shear peaks with non-tomographic measurements of the shear two-point correlation functions yields a ˜20 per cent improvement in the uncertainty on S8 compared to the shear two-point correlation functions alone, highlighting the great potential of peaks as a cosmological probe.

  20. Bayesian Peak Picking for NMR Spectra

    KAUST Repository

    Cheng, Yichen

    2014-02-01

    Protein structure determination is a very important topic in structural genomics, which helps people to understand varieties of biological functions such as protein-protein interactions, protein–DNA interactions and so on. Nowadays, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has often been used to determine the three-dimensional structures of protein in vivo. This study aims to automate the peak picking step, the most important and tricky step in NMR structure determination. We propose to model the NMR spectrum by a mixture of bivariate Gaussian densities and use the stochastic approximation Monte Carlo algorithm as the computational tool to solve the problem. Under the Bayesian framework, the peak picking problem is casted as a variable selection problem. The proposed method can automatically distinguish true peaks from false ones without preprocessing the data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort in the literature that tackles the peak picking problem for NMR spectrum data using Bayesian method.

  1. Practical load management - Peak shaving using photovoltaics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berger, W.

    2009-01-01

    This article takes a look at how photovoltaic (PV) power generation can be used in a practical way to meet peak demands for electricity. Advice is provided on how photovoltaics can provide peak load 'shaving' through the correlation between its production and the peak loads encountered during the day. The situation regarding feed-in tariffs in Italy is discussed, as are further examples of installations in Germany and Austria. Further, an initiative of the American Southern California Edison utility is discussed which foresees the installation of large PV plant on the roofs of commercial premises to provide local generation of peak energy and thus relieve demands on their power transportation network.

  2. Decreased peak expiratory flow in pediatric passive smokers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fitri Yanti

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Background Indonesia ranks fifth among countries with the highest aggregate levels of tobacco consumption in the world. Infants and children exposed to environmental tobacco smoke have increased rates of asthma, respiratory and ear infections, as well as reduced lung function. The effects of tobacco smoke exposure on lung function in children have been reported to be dependent on the source of smoke and the length and dose of exposure. Lung function may also be affected by a child’s gender and asthma status. Objective To compare peak expiratory flow (PEF in pediatric passive smokers to that of children not exposed to second hand smoke, and to define factors that may affect PEF in passive smokers. Methods In August 2009 we conducted a cross-sectional study at an elementary school in the Langkat district. Subjects were aged 6 to 12 years, and divided into two groups: passive smokers and those not exposed to secondhand smoke. Subjects’ PEFs were measured with a Mini-Wright peak flow meter. Measurements were performed in triplicate with the highest value recorded as the PEF. Demographic data including age, sex, weight, height, family income, parental education levels and occupations were obtained through questionnaires. Results Of the 170 participants, 100 were passive smokers and 70 were not exposed to secondhand smoke. Age distribution, weight and height were similar in both groups. We observed a significant difference in PEFs between the group of passive smokers and the group not exposed to secondhand smoke, 211.3 L/minute (SD 61.08 and 242.7 L/minute (SD 77.09, respectively (P < 0.005. The number of years of exposure to smoke (P = 0.079 and the number of cigarettes smoked daily in the household (P = 0.098 did not significantly influence PEF. Conclusion The PEF in pediatric passive smokers was significantly lower than that of children not exposed to secondhand smoke. PEF in passive smokers was not influenced by the number of years of smoke

  3. Oxidative deterioration of pork during superchilling storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pomponio, Luigi; Ruiz-Carrascal, Jorge

    2017-12-01

    In superchilling (SC), meat is kept at temperatures around 1 °C below its initial freezing point, leading to a significant increase in shelf life. This study aimed to address the oxidative changes taking place in pork loins during prolonged storage at SC temperature. Loins were stored either at chilling (CH) conditions (2-4 °C) for 4 weeks or at SC temperature (around -1 °C) for 12 weeks. Storage at SC temperature diminished the rate of lipid and protein oxidation and discoloration in pork loins, so that final levels of most oxidation products and instrumental color values after 12 weeks of SC storage were similar to those after 4 weeks at CH conditions. However, hexanal content peaked by the end of SC storage, pointing to a potential accumulation of compounds from lipid oxidation during SC storage. SC storage of pork slows down the rate of lipid and protein oxidation. However, accumulation of volatile compounds from lipid oxidation could be a limiting factor for shelf life. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  4. Climate-related variation in plant peak biomass and growth phenology across Pacific Northwest tidal marshes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buffington, Kevin J.; Dugger, Bruce D.; Thorne, Karen M.

    2018-03-01

    The interannual variability of tidal marsh plant phenology is largely unknown and may have important ecological consequences. Marsh plants are critical to the biogeomorphic feedback processes that build estuarine soils, maintain marsh elevation relative to sea level, and sequester carbon. We calculated Tasseled Cap Greenness, a metric of plant biomass, using remotely sensed data available in the Landsat archive to assess how recent climate variation has affected biomass production and plant phenology across three maritime tidal marshes in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. First, we used clipped vegetation plots at one of our sites to confirm that tasseled cap greenness provided a useful measure of aboveground biomass (r2 = 0.72). We then used multiple measures of biomass each growing season over 20-25 years per study site and developed models to test how peak biomass and the date of peak biomass varied with 94 climate and sea-level metrics using generalized linear models and Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) model selection. Peak biomass was positively related to total annual precipitation, while the best predictor for date of peak biomass was average growing season temperature, with the peak 7.2 days earlier per degree C. Our study provides insight into how plants in maritime tidal marshes respond to interannual climate variation and demonstrates the utility of time-series remote sensing data to assess ecological responses to climate stressors.

  5. The partitioning of nanoparticles to endothelium or interstitium during ultrasound-microbubble-targeted delivery depends on peak-negative pressure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hsiang, Y.-H.; Song, J.; Price, R. J., E-mail: rprice@virginia.edu [University of Virginia, Department of Biomedical Engineering (United States)

    2015-08-15

    Patients diagnosed with advanced peripheral arterial disease often face poor prognoses and have limited treatment options. For some patient populations, the therapeutic growth of collateral arteries (i.e. arteriogenesis) that bypass regions affected by vascular disease may become a viable treatment option. Our group and others are developing therapeutic approaches centered on the ability of ultrasound-activated microbubbles to permeabilize skeletal muscle capillaries and facilitate the targeted delivery of pro-arteriogenic growth factor-bearing nanoparticles. The development of such approaches would benefit significantly from a better understanding of how nanoparticle diameter and ultrasound peak-negative pressure affect both total nanoparticle delivery and the partitioning of nanoparticles to endothelial or interstitial compartments. Toward this goal, using Balb/C mice that had undergone unilateral femoral artery ligation, we intra-arterially co-injected nanoparticles (50 and 100 nm) with microbubbles, applied 1 MHz ultrasound to the gracilis adductor muscle at peak-negative pressures of 0.7, 0.55, 0.4, and 0.2 MPa, and analyzed nanoparticle delivery and distribution. As expected, total nanoparticle (50 and 100 nm) delivery increased with increasing peak-negative pressure, with 50 nm nanoparticles exhibiting greater tissue coverage than 100 nm nanoparticles. Of particular interest, increasing peak-negative pressure resulted in increased delivery to the interstitium for both nanoparticle sizes, but had little influence on nanoparticle delivery to the endothelium. Thus, we conclude that alterations to peak-negative pressure may be used to adjust the fraction of nanoparticles delivered to the interstitial compartment. This information will be useful when designing ultrasound protocols for delivering pro-arteriogenic nanoparticles to skeletal muscle.

  6. The partitioning of nanoparticles to endothelium or interstitium during ultrasound-microbubble-targeted delivery depends on peak-negative pressure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsiang, Y.-H.; Song, J.; Price, R. J.

    2015-01-01

    Patients diagnosed with advanced peripheral arterial disease often face poor prognoses and have limited treatment options. For some patient populations, the therapeutic growth of collateral arteries (i.e. arteriogenesis) that bypass regions affected by vascular disease may become a viable treatment option. Our group and others are developing therapeutic approaches centered on the ability of ultrasound-activated microbubbles to permeabilize skeletal muscle capillaries and facilitate the targeted delivery of pro-arteriogenic growth factor-bearing nanoparticles. The development of such approaches would benefit significantly from a better understanding of how nanoparticle diameter and ultrasound peak-negative pressure affect both total nanoparticle delivery and the partitioning of nanoparticles to endothelial or interstitial compartments. Toward this goal, using Balb/C mice that had undergone unilateral femoral artery ligation, we intra-arterially co-injected nanoparticles (50 and 100 nm) with microbubbles, applied 1 MHz ultrasound to the gracilis adductor muscle at peak-negative pressures of 0.7, 0.55, 0.4, and 0.2 MPa, and analyzed nanoparticle delivery and distribution. As expected, total nanoparticle (50 and 100 nm) delivery increased with increasing peak-negative pressure, with 50 nm nanoparticles exhibiting greater tissue coverage than 100 nm nanoparticles. Of particular interest, increasing peak-negative pressure resulted in increased delivery to the interstitium for both nanoparticle sizes, but had little influence on nanoparticle delivery to the endothelium. Thus, we conclude that alterations to peak-negative pressure may be used to adjust the fraction of nanoparticles delivered to the interstitial compartment. This information will be useful when designing ultrasound protocols for delivering pro-arteriogenic nanoparticles to skeletal muscle

  7. Direct Coal Oxidation in Modified Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Deleebeeck, Lisa; Gil, Vanesa; Ippolito, Davide

    2015-01-01

    Hybrid direct carbon fuel cells employ a classical solid oxide fuel cell together with carbon dispersed in a carbonate melt on the anode side. In a European project, the utilization of various coals has been investigated with and without addition of an oxidation catalyst to the carbon-carbonate s......Hybrid direct carbon fuel cells employ a classical solid oxide fuel cell together with carbon dispersed in a carbonate melt on the anode side. In a European project, the utilization of various coals has been investigated with and without addition of an oxidation catalyst to the carbon......-carbonate slurry or anode layer. The nature of the coal affects both open circuit voltage and power output. Highest OCV and power densities were observed for bituminous coal and by adding manganese oxide or praseodymium-doped ceria to the carbon/carbonate mixture. Comparing the carbon black fueled performance...... bituminous coal (73 mW/cm2). © 2015 ECS - The Electrochemical Society...

  8. Statistics of peaks of Gaussian random fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bardeen, J.M.; Bond, J.R.; Kaiser, N.; Szalay, A.S.; Stanford Univ., CA; California Univ., Berkeley; Cambridge Univ., England; Fermi National Accelerator Lab., Batavia, IL)

    1986-01-01

    A set of new mathematical results on the theory of Gaussian random fields is presented, and the application of such calculations in cosmology to treat questions of structure formation from small-amplitude initial density fluctuations is addressed. The point process equation is discussed, giving the general formula for the average number density of peaks. The problem of the proper conditional probability constraints appropriate to maxima are examined using a one-dimensional illustration. The average density of maxima of a general three-dimensional Gaussian field is calculated as a function of heights of the maxima, and the average density of upcrossing points on density contour surfaces is computed. The number density of peaks subject to the constraint that the large-scale density field be fixed is determined and used to discuss the segregation of high peaks from the underlying mass distribution. The machinery to calculate n-point peak-peak correlation functions is determined, as are the shapes of the profiles about maxima. 67 references

  9. Homogenization Pressure and Temperature Affect Protein Partitioning and Oxidative Stability of Emulsions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Horn, Anna Frisenfeldt; Barouh, Nathalie; Nielsen, Nina Skall

    2013-01-01

    The oxidative stability of 10 % fish oil-in-water emulsions was investigated for emulsions prepared under different homogenization conditions. Homogenization was conducted at two different pressures (5 or 22.5 MPa), and at two different temperatures (22 and 72 °C). Milk proteins were used...... prior to homogenization did not have any clear effect on lipid oxidation in either of the two types of emulsions....

  10. Fast Metabolite Identification in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Metabolomic Studies: Statistical Peak Sorting and Peak Overlap Detection for More Reliable Database Queries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoijemberg, Pablo A; Pelczer, István

    2018-01-05

    A lot of time is spent by researchers in the identification of metabolites in NMR-based metabolomic studies. The usual metabolite identification starts employing public or commercial databases to match chemical shifts thought to belong to a given compound. Statistical total correlation spectroscopy (STOCSY), in use for more than a decade, speeds the process by finding statistical correlations among peaks, being able to create a better peak list as input for the database query. However, the (normally not automated) analysis becomes challenging due to the intrinsic issue of peak overlap, where correlations of more than one compound appear in the STOCSY trace. Here we present a fully automated methodology that analyzes all STOCSY traces at once (every peak is chosen as driver peak) and overcomes the peak overlap obstacle. Peak overlap detection by clustering analysis and sorting of traces (POD-CAST) first creates an overlap matrix from the STOCSY traces, then clusters the overlap traces based on their similarity and finally calculates a cumulative overlap index (COI) to account for both strong and intermediate correlations. This information is gathered in one plot to help the user identify the groups of peaks that would belong to a single molecule and perform a more reliable database query. The simultaneous examination of all traces reduces the time of analysis, compared to viewing STOCSY traces by pairs or small groups, and condenses the redundant information in the 2D STOCSY matrix into bands containing similar traces. The COI helps in the detection of overlapping peaks, which can be added to the peak list from another cross-correlated band. POD-CAST overcomes the generally overlooked and underestimated presence of overlapping peaks and it detects them to include them in the search of all compounds contributing to the peak overlap, enabling the user to accelerate the metabolite identification process with more successful database queries and searching all tentative

  11. Issue of ecological impacts due to hydro-peaking management. Characterization of hydro-peaks - Operating experience on Maronne River; Impacts ecologiques des eclusees hydroelectriques. Caracterisaton des regimes d'eclusees et Retour d'experience sur la Maronne

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Courret, Dominique; Larinier, Michel [Office National de l' Eau et des Milieux Aquatiques - ONEMA, Pole Ecohydraulique, IMFT, Cemagref, Avenue du Professeur Camille Soula, 31400 Toulouse (France); Chanseau, Matthieu [MIGADO, 18ter rue de la Garonne - 47520 Le Passage (France); Office National de l' Eau et des Milieux Aquatiques - ONEMA, Direction Interregionale de Toulouse, Avenue du Professeur Camille Soula, 31400 Toulouse (France); Lascaux, Jean-Marc [Etudes et COnseils en Gestion de l' Environnement Aquatique - ECOGEA, 10 avenue de Toulouse, 31860 Pins-Justaret (France)

    2012-01-15

    Hydro-peaking management can consistently alter fish populations, and particularly recruitment of diadromous species, like salmon. To progress in understanding the impacts and defining mitigation measures, it appears essential to combine long-term biological survey, hydrological analysis including hydro-peaks characterization, and hydro-morphologic approach. In a first time, a methodology for hydrological characterization of hydro-peaks is presented. Their diversity and high variability are illustrated. Then, we present operating experience on Maronne River, a tributary of the Dordogne River downstream Argentat affected by hydro-peaks of Hautefage scheme. Biological surveys and hydrologic and hydro-morphologic studies allowed a better understanding and a quantification of some biological impacts (redds dewatering, stranding-trapping of alevins), to support mitigation measures and to assess its effectiveness. The relevance of work on morphology, in addition to measures on flow management, is also illustrated. Some positive results have already been obtained. Studies on the Maronne River are pursued to achieve a really satisfactory situation. This example shows that the current knowledge does not allow, on a given stream, to pre-define mitigation measures and ensure their efficiency. This leads to advocate the setting up of similar approach on other river, to identify biological communities' responses depending on the characteristics of hydro-peaks and hydro-systems. (authors)

  12. Effect of temperature and dissolved hydrogen on oxide films formed on Ni and Alloy 182 in simulated PWR water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mendonça, R.; Bosch, R.-W.; Van Renterghem, W.; Vankeerberghen, M.; Araújo Figueiredo, C. de

    2016-01-01

    Alloy 182 is a nickel-based weld metal, which is susceptible to stress corrosion cracking in PWR primary water. It shows a peak in SCC susceptibility at a certain temperature and hydrogen concentration. This peak is related to the electrochemical condition where the Ni to NiO transition takes place. One hypothesis is that the oxide layer at this condition is not properly developed and so the material is not optimally protected against SCC. Therefore the oxide layer formed on Alloy 182 is investigated as a function of the dissolved hydrogen concentration and temperature around this Ni/NiO transition. Exposure tests were performed with Alloy 182 and Ni coupons in a PWR environment at temperatures between 300 °C and 345 °C and dissolved hydrogen concentration between 5 and 35 cc (STP)H 2 /kg. Post-test analysis of the formed oxide layers were carried out by SEM, EDS and XPS. The exposure tests with Ni coupons showed that the Ni/NiO transition curve is at a higher temperature than the curve based on thermodynamic calculations. The exposure tests with Alloy 182 showed that oxide layers were present at all temperatures, but that the morphology changed from spinel crystals to needle like oxides when the Ni/NiO transition curve was approached. Oxide layers were present below the Ni/NiO transition curve i.e. when the Ni coupon was still free of oxides. In addition an evolved slip dissolution model was proposed that could explain the observed experimental results and the peak in SCC susceptibility for Ni-based alloys around the Ni/NiO transition. - Highlights: • Exposure tests with Ni-coupons showed that the Ni/NiO transition curve shifted to more oxidizing conditions. • The Ni specimens tested in PWR water were free of oxides at all temperatures. • The exposure tests with Alloy 182 showed that oxide layers were present at all temperatures. • The Alloy 182 surface morphology changed from spinel crystals to needle like oxides when the Ni/NiO curve was approached

  13. Effect of temperature and dissolved hydrogen on oxide films formed on Ni and Alloy 182 in simulated PWR water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mendonça, R. [CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education, Brasilia (Brazil); Bosch, R.-W., E-mail: rbosch@sckcen.be [SCK-CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol (Belgium); Van Renterghem, W.; Vankeerberghen, M. [SCK-CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol (Belgium); Araújo Figueiredo, C. de [CDTN/CNEN, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

    2016-08-15

    Alloy 182 is a nickel-based weld metal, which is susceptible to stress corrosion cracking in PWR primary water. It shows a peak in SCC susceptibility at a certain temperature and hydrogen concentration. This peak is related to the electrochemical condition where the Ni to NiO transition takes place. One hypothesis is that the oxide layer at this condition is not properly developed and so the material is not optimally protected against SCC. Therefore the oxide layer formed on Alloy 182 is investigated as a function of the dissolved hydrogen concentration and temperature around this Ni/NiO transition. Exposure tests were performed with Alloy 182 and Ni coupons in a PWR environment at temperatures between 300 °C and 345 °C and dissolved hydrogen concentration between 5 and 35 cc (STP)H{sub 2}/kg. Post-test analysis of the formed oxide layers were carried out by SEM, EDS and XPS. The exposure tests with Ni coupons showed that the Ni/NiO transition curve is at a higher temperature than the curve based on thermodynamic calculations. The exposure tests with Alloy 182 showed that oxide layers were present at all temperatures, but that the morphology changed from spinel crystals to needle like oxides when the Ni/NiO transition curve was approached. Oxide layers were present below the Ni/NiO transition curve i.e. when the Ni coupon was still free of oxides. In addition an evolved slip dissolution model was proposed that could explain the observed experimental results and the peak in SCC susceptibility for Ni-based alloys around the Ni/NiO transition. - Highlights: • Exposure tests with Ni-coupons showed that the Ni/NiO transition curve shifted to more oxidizing conditions. • The Ni specimens tested in PWR water were free of oxides at all temperatures. • The exposure tests with Alloy 182 showed that oxide layers were present at all temperatures. • The Alloy 182 surface morphology changed from spinel crystals to needle like oxides when the Ni/NiO curve was

  14. Peak and end effects in patients' daily recall of pain and fatigue: a within-subjects analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Stefan; Stone, Arthur A; Schwartz, Joseph E; Broderick, Joan E

    2011-02-01

    Clinical research often relies on retrospective recall of symptom levels, but the information contained in these ratings is not well understood. The "peak-and-end rule" suggests that the most intense (peak) and final (end) moments of an experience disproportionately influence retrospective judgments, which may bias self-reports of somatic symptoms. This study examined the extent to which peak and end symptom levels systematically affect patients' day-to-day recall of pain and fatigue. Rheumatology patients (N = 97) completed 5 to 6 momentary ratings of pain and fatigue per day as well as a daily recall rating of these symptoms for 28 consecutive days. For pain, peak and end momentary ratings predicted daily recall of average pain beyond the actual average of momentary ratings. This effect was small, yet was confirmed in both between-person and within-person (repeated measures) analyses. For fatigue, neither peak nor end momentary symptoms significantly contributed to daily recall. Of note, the evidence for peak- and end-effects in recall of pain and fatigue varied significantly between individual patients. These findings suggest that peak- and end-effects create a small bias in recall reports of pain, but not fatigue. However, there are considerable individual differences in susceptibility to peak and end heuristics. The peak-end cognitive heuristic could bias end-of-day recall of pain and fatigue. An effect was shown for pain, but not for fatigue. The effects were small and were unlikely to substantially bias end-of-day assessments. Individuals were shown to differ in the degree that the heuristic was associated with recall. Copyright © 2011 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Application of oxidized starch in bake-only chicken nuggets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purcell, Sarah; Wang, Ya-Jane; Seo, Han-Seok

    2014-05-01

    There is a need to reduce the fat content in fried foods because of increasing health concerns from consumers. Oxidized starches have been utilized in many coating applications for their adhesion ability. However, it is not known if they perform similarly in bake-only products. This study investigated the application of oxidized starch in bake-only chicken nuggets. Oxidized starches were prepared from 7 starches and analyzed for gelatinization and pasting properties. Chicken nuggets were prepared using batter containing wheat flour, oxidized starch, salt, and leavening agents prior to steaming, oven baking, freezing, and final oven baking for sensory evaluation. All nuggets were analyzed for hardness by a textural analyzer, crispness by an acoustic sound, and sensory characteristics by a trained panel. The oxidation level used in the study did not alter the gelatinization temperature of most starches, but increased the peak pasting viscosity of both types of corn and rice starches and decreased that of tapioca and potato starches. There were slight differences in peak force and acoustic reading between some treatments; however, the differences were not consistent with starch type or amylose content. There was no difference among the treatments as well as between the control with wheat flour and the treatments partially replaced with oxidized starches in all sensory attributes of bake-only nuggets evaluated by the trained panel. There is a need to reduce the fat content in fried food, such as chicken nuggets, because of increasing childhood obesity. Oxidized starches are widely used in coating applications for their adhesion ability. This study investigated the source of oxidized starches in steam-baked coated nuggets for their textural and sensorial properties. The findings from this research will provide an understanding of the contributions of starch source and oxidation to the texture and sensory attributes of bake-only nuggets, and future directions to improve

  16. Ferrocene-Functionalized Graphene Oxide Nanosheets: Efficient Electronic Communication between Ferrocene Centers across Graphene Nanosheets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Yizhong; Jiang, Yuanyuan; Wu, Haibin; Chen, Wei

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets functionalized with ferrocenyl moieties (GO-Fc) are fabricated. • GO-Fc shows efficient electronic communication between ferrocene centers. • GO-Fc exhibits two pairs of voltammetric peaks with a large potential spacing of 0.515 V. • GO-Fc shows a broad absorption peak in the near-infrared range (∼ 1428 nm) at mixed valence. - Abstract: Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets functionalized with ferrocenyl moieties (GO-Fc) were fabricated through strong covalent C−C bonds. The resulting hybrid showed efficient electronic communication between ferrocene centers due to the strong electron delocalization facilitated by the large pi-pi conjugated structure of graphene sheets. The obtained hybrid exhibited two pairs of voltammetric peaks with a large potential spacing of 0.515 V and a broad absorption peak in the near-infrared range (∼ 1428 nm) at mixed valence. The electrochemical and near IR spectroscopic features suggested a Class II/III behavior of the intervalence charge transfer. This work indicates clearly that strong electronic coupling between ferrocene centers can be easily realized across graphene nanosheets with sp 2 -hybridized carbon

  17. Statistical analysis of the electrocatalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles supported on novel functionalized reduced graphene oxide-chitosan for methanol electrooxidation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekrami-Kakhki, Mehri-Saddat; Abbasi, Sedigheh; Farzaneh, Nahid

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to statistically analyze the anodic current density and peak potential of methanol oxidation at Pt nanoparticles supported on functionalized reduced graphene oxide (RGO), using design of experiments methodology. RGO is functionalized with methyl viologen (MV) and chitosan (CH). The novel Pt/MV-RGO-CH catalyst is successfully prepared and characterized with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image. The electrocatalytic activity of Pt/MV-RGOCH catalyst is experimentally evaluated for methanol oxidation. The effects of methanol concentration and scan rate factors are also investigated experimentally and statistically. The effects of these two main factors and their interactions are investigated, using analysis of variance test, Duncan's multiple range test and response surface method. The results of the analysis of variance show that all the main factors and their interactions have a significant effect on anodic current density and peak potential of methanol oxidation at α = 0.05. The suggested models which encompass significant factors can predict the variation of the anodic current density and peak potential of methanol oxidation. The results of Duncan's multiple range test confirmed that there is a significant difference between the studied levels of the main factors. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

  18. Electrochemical Oxidation of Sulfamethazine on Multi-Walled Nanotube Film Coated Glassy Carbon Electrode

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Fotouhi

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The electrochemical oxidation of sulfamethazine (SMZ has been studied at a multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified glassy carbon electrode (MWCNT-GCE by cyclic voltammetry. This modified electrode (MWCNT-GCE exhibited excellent electrocatalytic behavior toward the oxidation of SMZ as evidenced by the enhancement of the oxidation peak current and the shift in the anodic potential to less positive values (170 mV in comparison with the bare GCE. The formal potential, E0', of SMZ is pH dependent with a slope of 54 mV per unit of pH, close to the anticipated Nerstian value of 59 mV for a 2-electron and 2-proton oxidation process. A detailed analysis of cyclic voltammograms gave fundamental electrochemical parameters including the electroactive surface coverage (Г, the transfer coefficient (a, the heterogeneous rate constant (ks. Under the selected conditions, the peak current shows two dynamic linear ranges of 10-200 mM and 300-3000 mM with the detection limit of 6.1 mM. The method was successfully applied to analyze SMZ in serum sample

  19. Conditions and mechanisms affecting simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in a Pasveer oxidation ditch

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hao, X.; Doddema, H.J.; Groenestijn, J.W. van

    1997-01-01

    Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in a Pasveer oxidation ditch was studied. The purpose was to evaluate the performances of both nitrification and dentrification in oxidation ditches, and to pursue some possible approaches to enhance nitrogen removal. Almost complete nitrification was

  20. Fabrication of visible light-triggered photocatalytic materials from the coupling of n-type zinc oxide and p-type copper oxide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorospe, A. B.; Herrera, M. U.

    2017-04-01

    Coupling of copper oxide (CuO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) was done by chemical precipitation method. In this method, copper sulfate pentahydrate and zinc sulfate heptahydrate salt precursors were separately dissolved in distilled water; then were mixed together. The copper sulfate-zinc sulfate solution was then combined with a sodium hydroxide solution. The precipitates were collected and washed in distilled water and ethanol several times, then filtered and dried. The dried sample was grounded, and then undergone heat treatment. After heating, the sample was grounded again. Zinc oxide powder and copper oxide powder were also fabricated using chemical precipitation method. X-Ray Diffraction measurements of the coupled CuO/ZnO powder showed the presence of CuO and ZnO in the fabricated sample. Furthermore, other peaks shown by XRD were also identified corresponding to copper, copper (II) oxide, copper sulfate and zinc sulfate. Results of the photocatalytic activity investigation show that the sample exhibited superior photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange under visible light illumination compared to copper oxide powder and zinc oxide powder. This may be attributed to the lower energy gap at the copper oxide-zinc oxide interface, compared to zinc oxide, allowing visible light to trigger its photocatalytic activity.

  1. The effect of antimony-tin and indium-tin oxide supports on the catalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles for ammonia electro-oxidation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Júlio César M. [Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Centre for Catalysis Research and Innovation (CCRI), University of Ottawa, 161 Louis-Pasteur, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 (Canada); Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, IPEN/CNEN-SP, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 2242 Cidade Universitária, CEP 05508-900, São Paulo, SP (Brazil); Piasentin, Ricardo M.; Spinacé, Estevam V.; Neto, Almir O. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, IPEN/CNEN-SP, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 2242 Cidade Universitária, CEP 05508-900, São Paulo, SP (Brazil); Baranova, Elena A., E-mail: elena.baranova@uottawa.ca [Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Centre for Catalysis Research and Innovation (CCRI), University of Ottawa, 161 Louis-Pasteur, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 (Canada)

    2016-09-01

    Platinum nanoparticles supported on carbon (Pt/C) and carbon with addition of ITO (Pt/C-ITO (In{sub 2}O{sub 3}){sub 9}·(SnO{sub 2}){sub 1}) and ATO (Pt/C-ATO (SnO{sub 2}){sub 9}·(Sb{sub 2}O{sub 5}){sub 1}) oxides were prepared by sodium borohydride reduction method and used for ammonia electro-oxidation reaction (AmER) in alkaline media. The effect of the supports on the catalytic activity of Pt for AmER was investigated using electrochemical (cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry) and direct ammonia fuel cell (DAFC) experiments. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed Pt peaks attributed to the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure, as well as peaks characteristic of In{sub 2}O{sub 3} in ITO support and cassiterite SnO{sub 2} phase of ATO support. According to transmission electron micrographs the mean particles sizes of Pt over carbon were 5.4, 4.9 and 4.7 nm for Pt/C, Pt/C-ATO and Pt/C-ITO, respectively. Pt/C-ITO catalysts showed the highest catalytic activity for ammonia electrooxidation in both electrochemical and fuel cell experiments. We attributed this to the presence of In{sub 2}O{sub 3} phase in ITO, which provides oxygenated or hydroxide species at lower potentials resulting in the removal of poisonous intermediate, i.e., atomic nitrogen (N{sub ads}) and promotion of ammonia electro-oxidation. - Highlights: • Oxide support effect on the catalytic activity of Pt towards ammonia electro-oxidation. • Direct ammonia fuel cell (DAFC) performance using Pt over different supports as anode. • Pt/C-ITO shows better catalytic activity for ammonia oxidation than Pt/C and Pt/C-ATO.

  2. On the stationarity of annual flood peaks in the continental United States during the 20th century

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villarini, Gabriele; Serinaldi, Francesco; Smith, James A.; Krajewski, Witold F.

    2009-08-01

    Annual peak discharge records from 50 stations in the continental United States with at least 100 years of record are used to investigate stationarity of flood peaks during the 20th century. We examine temporal trends in flood peaks and abrupt changes in the mean and/or variance of flood peak distributions. Change point analysis for detecting abrupt changes in flood distributions is performed using the nonparametric Pettitt test. Two nonparametric (Mann-Kendall and Spearman) tests and one parametric (Pearson) test are used to detect the presence of temporal trends. Generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS) are also used to parametrically model the annual peak data, exploiting their flexibility to account for abrupt changes and temporal trends in the parameters of the distribution functions. Additionally, the presence of long-term persistence is investigated through estimation of the Hurst exponent, and an alternative interpretation of the results in terms of long-term persistence is provided. Many of the drainage basins represented in this study have been affected by regulation through systems of reservoirs, and all of the drainage basins have experienced significant land use changes during the 20th century. Despite the profound changes that have occurred to drainage basins throughout the continental United States and the recognition that elements of the hydrologic cycle are being altered by human-induced climate change, it is easier to proclaim the demise of stationarity of flood peaks than to prove it through analyses of annual flood peak data.

  3. Neonatal hypothyroidism affects testicular glucose homeostasis through increased oxidative stress in prepubertal mice: effects on GLUT3, GLUT8 and Cx43.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarkar, D; Singh, S K

    2017-07-01

    Thyroid hormones (THs) play an important role in maintaining the link between metabolism and reproduction and the altered THs status is associated with induction of oxidative stress in various organs like brain, heart, liver and testis. Further, reactive oxygen species play a pivotal role in regulation of glucose homeostasis in several organs, and glucose utilization by Leydig cells is essential for testosterone biosynthesis and thus is largely dependent on glucose transporter 8 (GLUT8). Glucose uptake by Sertoli cells is mediated through glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3) under the influence of THs to meet energy requirement of developing germ cells. THs also modulate level of gap junctional protein such as connexin 43 (Cx43), a potential regulator of cell proliferation and apoptosis in the seminiferous epithelium. Although the role of transient neonatal hypothyroidism in adult testis in terms of testosterone production is well documented, the effect of THs deficiency in early developmental period and its role in testicular glucose homeostasis and oxidative stress with reference to Cx43 in immature mice remain unknown. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of neonatal hypothyroidism on testicular glucose homeostasis and oxidative stress at postnatal days (PND) 21 and 28 in relation to GLUT3, GLUT8 and Cx43. Hypothyroidism induced by 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) markedly decreased testicular glucose level with considerable reduction in expression level of GLUT3 and GLUT8. Likewise, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and intratesticular concentration of lactate were also decreased in hypothyroid mice. There was also a rise in germ cell apoptosis with increased expression of caspase-3 in PTU-treated mice. Further, neonatal hypothyroidism affected germ cell proliferation with decreased expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Cx43. In conclusion, our results suggest that neonatal hypothyroidism alters testicular glucose

  4. Normal mitochondrial function and increased fat oxidation capacity in leg and arm muscles in obese humans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ara, I; Larsen, S; Stallknecht, Bente Merete

    2011-01-01

    was that fat oxidation during exercise might be differentially preserved in leg and arm muscles after weight loss.Methods:Indirect calorimetry was used to calculate fat and carbohydrate oxidation during both progressive arm-cranking and leg-cycling exercises. Muscle biopsy samples were obtained from musculus...... deltoideus (m. deltoideus) and m. vastus lateralis muscles. Fibre-type composition, enzyme activity and O(2) flux capacity of saponin-permeabilized muscle fibres were measured, the latter by high-resolution respirometry.Results:During the graded exercise tests, peak fat oxidation during leg cycling...... and the relative workload at which it occurred (FatMax) were higher in PO and O than in C. During arm cranking, peak fat oxidation was higher in O than in C, and FatMax was higher in O than in PO and C. Similar fibre-type composition was found between groups. Plasma adiponectin was higher in PO than in C and O...

  5. Morphology, surface roughness, electron inelastic and quasi-elastic scattering in elastic peak electron spectroscopy of polymers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lesiak, B.; Kosinski, A.; Nowakowski, R.; Koever, L.; Toth, J.; Varga, D.; Cserny, I.; Sulyok, A.; Gergely, G.

    2006-01-01

    Complete text of publication follows. Elastic peak electron spectroscopy (EPES) deals with the interaction of electrons with atoms of a solid surface, studying the distribution of electrons backscattered elastically. The nearest vicinity of the elastic peak, (low kinetic energy region) reflects both, electron inelastic and quasi-elastic processes. The incident electrons produce surface excitations, inducing surface plasmons with the corresponding loss peaks separated by 1 - 20 eV energy from the elastic peak. Quasi-elastic losses result from the recoil of scattering atoms of different atomic number, Z. The respective energy shift and Doppler broadening of the elastic peak depend on Z, the primary electron energy, E, and the measurement geometry. Quantitative surface analytical application of EPES, such as determination of parameters describing electron transport, requires a comparison of experimental data with corresponding data derived from Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Several problems occur in EPES studies of polymers. The intensity of elastic peak, considered in quantitative surface analysis, is influenced by both, the inelastic and quasi-elastic scattering processes (especially for hydrogen scattering atoms and primary electron energy above 1000 eV). An additional factor affecting the elastic peak intensity is the surface morphology and roughness. The present work compares the effect of these factors on the elastic peak intensity for selected polymers (polyethylene, polyaniline and polythiophenes). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and helium pycnometry are applied for deriving the surface atomic composition and the bulk density, while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for determining surface morphology and roughness. According to presented results, the influence of surface morphology and roughness is larger than those of surface excitations or recoil of hydrogen atoms. The component due to recoil of hydrogen atoms can be

  6. Peak load pricing lowers generation costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lande, R.H.

    1980-01-01

    Before a utility implements peak load pricing for different classes of consumers, the costs and the benefits should be compared. The methodology described enables a utility to determine whether peak load pricing should be introduced for specific users. Cost-benefit analyses for domestic consumers and commercial/industrial consumers, showing break-even points are presented. (author)

  7. Effect of Co-60 single escape peak on detection of Cs-137 in analysis of radionuclide from research reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, M. S.; Park, S. J.

    2006-01-01

    The effect of the single escape peak of 1173 keV gamma-rays from Co-60 on the detection of Cs-137 activity is analyzed. The single escape peak of 1173 keV gamma-rays from Co-60 is located at the 662 keV, which is very close to the energy of gamma-rays from Cs-137. This single escape peak may be mistaken for the gamma-ray peak from Cs-137 activity in the case of large area of 1173 keV peak. The detection of Cs-137 is very important to the judgment of the contamination or the leakage of the material containing the fission product like reactor pool water and in the several experiments for reactor physics such as burn-up estimation. In this work, the areas of the single escape peak of the 1173 keV gamma-rays from Co-60 are measured with several full energy peak areas by using the HPGe detector. The critical limit by which we can decide whether the net count of 662 keV peak due to Co-60 would be significant or not is deduced. For this detection system, when the area of full energy peak is larger than 4.5 million, the single escape peak of 1173 keV gamma-rays from Co-60 can be regarded as the single significant peak. Therefore, it is confirmed that the detection of the Cs-137 activity is affected by the Co-60 in this case. Conservatively, for this detection system, it is recommended that the area of 1173 keV peak of Co-60 would be less than 2 million for neglecting the effect of Co-60. (authors)

  8. Effect of CO on surface oxidation of uranium metal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, X.; Fu, Y.; Xie, R.

    1997-01-01

    The surface reactions of uranium metal with carbon monoxide at 25 and 200 deg C have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS);respectively. Adsorption of carbon monoxide on the surface layer of uranium metal leads to partial reduction of surface oxide and results in U4f photoelectron peak shifting to the lower binding energy. The content of oxygen in the surface oxide is decreased and O1s/O4f ratio decreases with increasing the exposure of carbon monoxide. The investigation indicates the surface layer of uranium metal has resistance to further oxidation in the atmosphere of carbon monoxide. (author)

  9. The replacement principle in networked economies with single-peaked preferences

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Szwagrzak, Karol

    2016-01-01

    disequilibrium prices, etc. In these contexts suppliers and demanders naturally have single-peaked preferences. We evaluate transfer rules on the basis of the “replacement principle” (Thomson, J Econ Theory 76(1):145–168 1997; Moulin, Q J Econ 102:769–783 1987), the requirement that a change in an agent......’s preferences affects all other agents in the same direction in terms of welfare. We find that the only Pareto-efficient, participation-compatible, replication-invariant, and envy-free rule satisfying an appropriate formulation of the replacement principle is the “egalitarian rule” introduced by Bochet et al....... (Theor Econ 7:395–423 2012)....

  10. In situ Raman Spectroscopy of Oxide Films on Zirconium Alloy in Simulated PWR Primary Water Condition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Tae Ho; Choi, Kyoung Joon; Yoo, Seung Chang; Kim, Ji Hyun [UNIST, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    The two layered oxide structure is formed in pre-transition oxide for the zirconium alloy in high temperature water environment. It is known that the corrosion rate is related to the volume fraction of zirconium oxide and the pores in the oxides; therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the oxidation behavior in the pretransition zirconium oxide in high-temperature water chemistry. In this work, Raman spectroscopy was used for in situ investigations for characterizing the phase of zirconium oxide. In situ Raman spectroscopy is a well-suited technique for investigating in detail the characteristics of oxide films in a high-temperature corrosion environment. In previous studies, an in situ Raman system was developed for investigating the oxides on nickel-based alloys and low alloy steels in high-temperature water environment. Also, the early stage oxidation behavior of zirconium alloy with different dissolved hydrogen concentration environments in high temperature water was treated in the authors' previous study. In this study, a specific zirconium alloy was oxidized and investigated with in situ Raman spectroscopy for 100 d oxidation, which is close to the first transition time of the zirconium alloy oxidation. The ex situ investigation methods such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to further characterize the zirconium oxide structure. As oxidation time increased, the Raman peaks of tetragonal zirconium oxide were merged or became weaker. However, the monoclinic zirconium oxide peaks became distinct. The tetragonal zirconium oxide was just found near the O/M interface and this could explain the Raman spectra difference between the 30 d result and others.

  11. Peak Shaving Considering Streamflow Uncertainties | Iwuagwu ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The main thrust of this paper is peak shaving with a Stochastic hydro model. In peak sharing, the amount of hydro energy scheduled may be a minimum but it serves to replace less efficient thermal units. The sample system is die Kainji hydro plant and the thermal units of the National Electric Power Authority. The random ...

  12. Peak Oil, Peak Coal and Climate Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, J. W.

    2009-05-01

    Research on future climate change is driven by the family of scenarios developed for the IPCC assessment reports. These scenarios create projections of future energy demand using different story lines consisting of government policies, population projections, and economic models. None of these scenarios consider resources to be limiting. In many of these scenarios oil production is still increasing to 2100. Resource limitation (in a geological sense) is a real possibility that needs more serious consideration. The concept of 'Peak Oil' has been discussed since M. King Hubbert proposed in 1956 that US oil production would peak in 1970. His prediction was accurate. This concept is about production rate not reserves. For many oil producing countries (and all OPEC countries) reserves are closely guarded state secrets and appear to be overstated. Claims that the reserves are 'proven' cannot be independently verified. Hubbert's Linearization Model can be used to predict when half the ultimate oil will be produced and what the ultimate total cumulative production (Qt) will be. US oil production can be used as an example. This conceptual model shows that 90% of the ultimate US oil production (Qt = 225 billion barrels) will have occurred by 2011. This approach can then be used to suggest that total global production will be about 2200 billion barrels and that the half way point will be reached by about 2010. This amount is about 5 to 7 times less than assumed by the IPCC scenarios. The decline of Non-OPEC oil production appears to have started in 2004. Of the OPEC countries, only Saudi Arabia may have spare capacity, but even that is uncertain, because of lack of data transparency. The concept of 'Peak Coal' is more controversial, but even the US National Academy Report in 2007 concluded only a small fraction of previously estimated reserves in the US are actually minable reserves and that US reserves should be reassessed using modern methods. British coal production can be

  13. Substituent effect on the oxidation peak potentials of phenol derivatives at ordered mesoporous carbons modified electrode and its application in determination of acidity coefficients (pKa)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Tingting; Lang, Qiaolin; Zeng, Lingxing; Li, Tie; Wei, Mingdeng; Liu, Aihua

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, the relationship between the electrochemical characteristics and the structure of a series of substituted phenol derivatives with electron-donating or electron-withdrawing groups were studied by voltammetry using ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) (OMCs/GCE). p-Nitrophenol (p-NP) and p-methylphenol were selected as models of electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups, respectively, to illustrate the electrochemical behavior and reaction mechanism of substituted phenols. Voltammetric study showed that the oxidation peak potential (E pa ) of substituted phenols with an electron-withdrawing group was systematically higher than that of substituted phenols with an electron-donating group. That is, the direct electrochemical oxidation of substituted phenol with an electron-withdrawing group is more difficult than that of substituted phenol with an electron-donating group. The E pa value shifted negatively with the increase of pKa for both p-substituted phenols and o-substituted phenols with the equations of pKa = −6.986 E pa + 13.261 (for p-substituted phenols) and pKa = −7.929 E pa + 13.831 (for o-substituted phenols). Thus, a simple and novel method was proposed for the precise prediction of the pKa of substituted phenols by determining E pa values with voltammetry at OMCs/GCE, which matched fairly with the results calculated from Hammett's constants. Thus, the present work may provide additional strategy to determine pKa values and investigate possible mechanisms of some organic reactions. In addition, by making use of the substituent effect, different p-substituted phenols (or o-substituted phenols) can be well separated and identified at OMCs/GCE by voltametry, which may find possible applications in simultaneous detection of p-substituted phenols (or o-substituted phenols)

  14. Peak Oil, threat or energy worlds' phantasm?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Favennec, Jean-Pierre

    2011-01-01

    The concept of Peak Oil is based on the work of King Hubbert, a petroleum geologist who worked for Shell in the USA in the 1960's. Based on the fact that discoveries in America reached a maximum in the 1930's, he announced that American production would reach a maximum in 1969, which did actually occur. Geologists members of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil have extrapolated this result to a worldwide scale and, since oil discoveries reached a peak in the 1960's, argued that production will peak in the very near future. It is clear that hydrocarbon reserves are finite and therefore exhaustible. But little is known regarding the level of ultimate (i.e. total existing) reserves. There are probably very large reserves of non conventional oil in addition to the reserves of conventional oil. An increasing number of specialists put maximum production at less than 100 Mb/d more for geopolitical than physical reasons. Attainable peak production will probably vary from year to year and will depend on how crude oil prices develop

  15. 7 CFR 457.163 - Nursery peak inventory endorsement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Nursery peak inventory endorsement. 457.163 Section... CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COMMON CROP INSURANCE REGULATIONS § 457.163 Nursery peak inventory endorsement. Nursery Crop Insurance Peak Inventory Endorsement This endorsement is not continuous and must be...

  16. How Pt nanoparticles affect TiO2-induced gas-phase photocatalytic oxidation reactions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fraters, B.D.; Amrollahi Buky, Rezvaneh; Mul, Guido

    2015-01-01

    The effect of Pt nanoparticles on the gas-phase photocatalytic oxidation activity of TiO2 is shown to be largely dependent on the molecular functionality of the substrate. We demonstrate that Pt nanoparticles decrease rates in photocatalytic oxidation of propane, whereas a strong beneficial effect

  17. Spectroscopic studies of neutral and chemically oxidized species of β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin in CH{sub 2}Cl{sub 2}: Fluorescence from intermediate compounds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alwis, D.D.D.H [Department of Chemistry, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Nawala (Sri Lanka); Department of Chemistry, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda (Sri Lanka); Chandrika, U.G. [Department of Biochemistry, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda (Sri Lanka); Jayaweera, P.M., E-mail: pradeep@sjp.ac.lk [Department of Chemistry, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda (Sri Lanka)

    2015-02-15

    Radical cations, dications and oxidized intermediate species of three carotenoids, namely, β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin, were generated in CH{sub 2}Cl{sub 2} solutions via chemical oxidation using anhydrous FeCl{sub 3}. UV–vis, fluorescence and fluorescence-excitation spectroscopic studies were performed to understand and compare the nature of intermediate species generated during the chemical oxidation process and subsequent degradation. The intense emission observed at 550 nm can be assigned to the S{sub 2}→S{sub 0} (1{sup 1}B{sub u}→1{sup 1}A{sub g}) transition of the carotenoid molecules. The 350 nm excitation during the oxidation process for β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin exhibit intense fluorescence peaks at 492 nm, 493 nm and 500 nm, respectively. These peaks are assigned to intermediate peroxy/epoxy compounds of the three molecules that are formed with molecular oxygen prior to the formation of oxidized short-chain stable compounds. - Highlights: • Fluorescence and UV–vis studies on β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin. • Oxidation, induced by FeCl{sub 3} in CH{sub 2}Cl{sub 2} shows blue shifted fluorescence peaks. • Fluorescence peaks were assigned to intermediate peroxy/epoxy forms of carotenoids. • The D0→D3 transition of radical cations are observed in the near IR region.

  18. Emulsifier type, metal chelation and pH affect oxidative stability of n-3-enriched emulsions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haahr, Anne-Mette; Jacobsen, Charlotte

    2008-01-01

    -enriched oil-in-water emulsion. The selected food emulsifiers were Tween 80, Citrem, sodium caseinate and lecithin. Lipid oxidation was evaluated by determination of peroxide values and secondary volatile oxidation products. Moreover, the zeta potential and the droplet sizes were determined. Twen resulted...... in the least oxidatively stable emulsions, followed by Citrem. When iron was present, caseinate-stabilized emulsions oxidized slower than lecithin emulsions at pH 3, whereas the opposite was the case at pH 7. Oxidation generally progressed faster at pH 3 than at pH 7, irrespective of the addition of iron. EDTA...

  19. The challenging environment on board the International Space Station affects endothelial cell function by triggering oxidative stress through thioredoxin interacting protein overexpression: the ESA-SPHINX experiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Versari, Silvia; Longinotti, Giulia; Barenghi, Livia; Maier, Jeanette Anne Marie; Bradamante, Silvia

    2013-11-01

    Exposure to microgravity generates alterations that are similar to those involved in age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular deconditioning, bone loss, muscle atrophy, and immune response impairment. Endothelial dysfunction is the common denominator. To shed light on the underlying mechanism, we participated in the Progress 40P mission with Spaceflight of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs): an Integrated Experiment (SPHINX), which consisted of 12 in-flight and 12 ground-based control modules and lasted 10 d. Postflight microarray analysis revealed 1023 significantly modulated genes, the majority of which are involved in cell adhesion, oxidative phosphorylation, stress responses, cell cycle, and apoptosis. Thioredoxin-interacting protein was the most up-regulated (33-fold), heat-shock proteins 70 and 90 the most down-regulated (5.6-fold). Ion channels (TPCN1, KCNG2, KCNJ14, KCNG1, KCNT1, TRPM1, CLCN4, CLCA2), mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, and focal adhesion were widely affected. Cytokine detection in the culture media indicated significant increased secretion of interleukin-1α and interleukin-1β. Nitric oxide was found not modulated. Our data suggest that in cultured HUVECs, microgravity affects the same molecular machinery responsible for sensing alterations of flow and generates a prooxidative environment that activates inflammatory responses, alters endothelial behavior, and promotes senescence.

  20. Peak distortion in the column liquid chromatographic determination of omeprazole dissolved in borax buffer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arvidsson, T; Collijn, E; Tivert, A M; Rosén, L

    1991-11-22

    Injection of a sample containing omeprazole dissolved in borax buffer (pH 9.2) into a reversed-phase liquid chromatographic system consisting of a mixture of acetonitrile and phosphate buffer (pH 7.6) as the mobile phase and a C18 surface-modified silica as the solid phase resulted under special conditions in split peaks of omeprazole. The degree of peak split and the retention time of omeprazole varied with the concentration of borax in the sample solution and the ionic strength of the mobile phase buffer as well as with the column used. Borax is eluted from the column in a broad zone starting from the void volume of the column. The retention is probably due to the presence of polyborate ions. The size of the zone varies with the concentration of borax in the sample injected. In the borax zone the pH is increased compared with the pH of the mobile phase, and when omeprazole (a weak acid) is co-eluting in the borax zone its retention is affected. In the front part and in the back part of the borax zone, pH gradients are formed, and these gradients can induce the peak splitting. When the dissolving medium is changed to a phosphate buffer or an ammonium buffer at pH 9 no peak distortion of omeprazole is observed.

  1. Magnetron sputtering of Fe-oxides on the top of HTS YBCO films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nurgaliev, T. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Blagoev, B. [Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Laboratory of High Magnetic Fields and Low Temperatures, 95 Gajowicka Str., 53-421 Wroclaw (Poland); Buchkov, K. [Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Mateev, E. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Gajda, G. [Laboratory of High Magnetic Fields and Low Temperatures, 95 Gajowicka Str., 53-421 Wroclaw (Poland); Nedkov, I. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Kovacheva, D. [Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Street, bl. 10, 1113 Sofia (Bulgaria); Slavov, L. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Laboratory of High Magnetic Fields and Low Temperatures, 95 Gajowicka Str., 53-421 Wroclaw (Poland); Starbova, I.; Starbov, N. [Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Nankovski, M. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Sofia university “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Physics, 5 James Bourchier Blvd., 1164 Sofia (Bulgaria)

    2017-05-01

    The possibilities for preparation of bilayers containing magnetic Fe-oxide (Fe-O) and high temperature superconducting (HTS) YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−x} (YBCO) thin films were investigated. For this purpose, Fe-O films were deposited using reactive magnetron sputtering at comparatively low temperatures T≤250 °C onto dielectric (for example, LaAlO{sub 3} (LAO)) substrates, covered with a HTS YBCO film. The sputtering of the Fe-O layer at such conditions did not lead to a crucial damage of the critical temperature T{sub C} of the YBCO film, but could affect the width of the superconducting transition. A decrease of the critical temperature of the (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO bilayer kept at ambient conditions was observed, possibly due to the negative effects of the water vapour on the sample characteristics. The double peak structure of the imaginary component of the response signal to the AC harmonic magnetic field, observed in such a (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO sample, was ascribed from two possible views: as a consequence of morphology determined inter- and intra-granular contributions and/or as transitions from dominant irreversible processes as Bean-Livingston barrier to vortex state chains formation. - Highlights: • Iron-oxide (Fe-O) film sputtered on the top of superconducting HTS YBCO film at not very high temperatures. • No crucially damaged superconducting properties of YBCO film during Fe-O sputtering process. • A negative effect of the ambient conditions on the critical temperature of the obtained samples. • A double peak structure of the response signal to the AC harmonic magnetic field in a (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO is observed.

  2. Magnetron sputtering of Fe-oxides on the top of HTS YBCO films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nurgaliev, T.; Blagoev, B.; Buchkov, K.; Mateev, E.; Gajda, G.; Nedkov, I.; Kovacheva, D.; Slavov, L.; Starbova, I.; Starbov, N.; Nankovski, M.

    2017-01-01

    The possibilities for preparation of bilayers containing magnetic Fe-oxide (Fe-O) and high temperature superconducting (HTS) YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−x (YBCO) thin films were investigated. For this purpose, Fe-O films were deposited using reactive magnetron sputtering at comparatively low temperatures T≤250 °C onto dielectric (for example, LaAlO 3 (LAO)) substrates, covered with a HTS YBCO film. The sputtering of the Fe-O layer at such conditions did not lead to a crucial damage of the critical temperature T C of the YBCO film, but could affect the width of the superconducting transition. A decrease of the critical temperature of the (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO bilayer kept at ambient conditions was observed, possibly due to the negative effects of the water vapour on the sample characteristics. The double peak structure of the imaginary component of the response signal to the AC harmonic magnetic field, observed in such a (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO sample, was ascribed from two possible views: as a consequence of morphology determined inter- and intra-granular contributions and/or as transitions from dominant irreversible processes as Bean-Livingston barrier to vortex state chains formation. - Highlights: • Iron-oxide (Fe-O) film sputtered on the top of superconducting HTS YBCO film at not very high temperatures. • No crucially damaged superconducting properties of YBCO film during Fe-O sputtering process. • A negative effect of the ambient conditions on the critical temperature of the obtained samples. • A double peak structure of the response signal to the AC harmonic magnetic field in a (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO is observed.

  3. Coal-fuelled systems for peaking power with 100% CO2 capture through integration of solid oxide fuel cells with compressed air energy storage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nease, Jake; Adams, Thomas A.

    2014-04-01

    In this study, a coal-fuelled integrated solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and compressed air energy storage (CAES) system in a load-following power production scenario is discussed. Sixteen SOFC-based plants with optional carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and syngas shifting steps are simulated and compared to a state-of-the-art supercritical pulverised coal (SCPC) plant. Simulations are performed using a combination of MATLAB and Aspen Plus v7.3. It was found that adding CAES to a SOFC-based plant can provide load-following capabilities with relatively small effects on efficiencies (1-2% HHV depending on the system configuration) and levelized costs of electricity (∼0.35 ¢ kW-1 h-1). The load-following capabilities, as measured by least-squares metrics, show that this system may utilize coal and achieve excellent load-tracking that is not adversely affected by the inclusion of CCS. Adding CCS to the SOFC/CAES system reduces measurable direct CO2 emission to zero. A seasonal partial plant shutdown schedule is found to reduce fuel consumption by 9.5% while allowing for cleaning and maintenance windows for the SOFC stacks without significantly affecting the performance of the system (∼1% HHV reduction in efficiency). The SOFC-based systems with CCS are found to become economically attractive relative to SCPC above carbon taxes of 22 ton-1.

  4. Diffraction peaks in x-ray spectroscopy: Friend or foe?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tissot, R.G.; Goehner, R.P.

    1992-01-01

    Diffraction peaks can occur as unidentifiable peaks in the energy spectrum of an x-ray spectrometric analysis. Recently, there has been increased interest in oriented polycrystalline films and epitaxial films on single crystal substrates for electronic applications. Since these materials diffract x-rays more efficiently than randomly oriented polycrystalline materials, diffraction peaks are being observed more frequently in x-ray fluorescent spectra. In addition, micro x-ray spectrometric analysis utilizes a small, intense, collimated x-ray beam that can yield well defined diffraction peaks. In some cases these diffraction peaks can occur at the same position as elemental peaks. These diffraction peaks, although a possible problem in qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis, can give very useful information about the crystallographic structure and orientation of the material being analyzed. The observed diffraction peaks are dependent on the geometry of the x-ray spectrometer, the degree of collimation and the distribution of wavelengths (energies) originating from the x-ray tube and striking the sample

  5. Automatic Peak Selection by a Benjamini-Hochberg-Based Algorithm

    KAUST Repository

    Abbas, Ahmed; Kong, Xin-Bing; Liu, Zhi; Jing, Bing-Yi; Gao, Xin

    2013-01-01

    A common issue in bioinformatics is that computational methods often generate a large number of predictions sorted according to certain confidence scores. A key problem is then determining how many predictions must be selected to include most of the true predictions while maintaining reasonably high precision. In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based protein structure determination, for instance, computational peak picking methods are becoming more and more common, although expert-knowledge remains the method of choice to determine how many peaks among thousands of candidate peaks should be taken into consideration to capture the true peaks. Here, we propose a Benjamini-Hochberg (B-H)-based approach that automatically selects the number of peaks. We formulate the peak selection problem as a multiple testing problem. Given a candidate peak list sorted by either volumes or intensities, we first convert the peaks into p-values and then apply the B-H-based algorithm to automatically select the number of peaks. The proposed approach is tested on the state-of-the-art peak picking methods, including WaVPeak [1] and PICKY [2]. Compared with the traditional fixed number-based approach, our approach returns significantly more true peaks. For instance, by combining WaVPeak or PICKY with the proposed method, the missing peak rates are on average reduced by 20% and 26%, respectively, in a benchmark set of 32 spectra extracted from eight proteins. The consensus of the B-H-selected peaks from both WaVPeak and PICKY achieves 88% recall and 83% precision, which significantly outperforms each individual method and the consensus method without using the B-H algorithm. The proposed method can be used as a standard procedure for any peak picking method and straightforwardly applied to some other prediction selection problems in bioinformatics. The source code, documentation and example data of the proposed method is available at http://sfb.kaust.edu.sa/pages/software.aspx. © 2013

  6. Automatic Peak Selection by a Benjamini-Hochberg-Based Algorithm

    KAUST Repository

    Abbas, Ahmed

    2013-01-07

    A common issue in bioinformatics is that computational methods often generate a large number of predictions sorted according to certain confidence scores. A key problem is then determining how many predictions must be selected to include most of the true predictions while maintaining reasonably high precision. In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based protein structure determination, for instance, computational peak picking methods are becoming more and more common, although expert-knowledge remains the method of choice to determine how many peaks among thousands of candidate peaks should be taken into consideration to capture the true peaks. Here, we propose a Benjamini-Hochberg (B-H)-based approach that automatically selects the number of peaks. We formulate the peak selection problem as a multiple testing problem. Given a candidate peak list sorted by either volumes or intensities, we first convert the peaks into p-values and then apply the B-H-based algorithm to automatically select the number of peaks. The proposed approach is tested on the state-of-the-art peak picking methods, including WaVPeak [1] and PICKY [2]. Compared with the traditional fixed number-based approach, our approach returns significantly more true peaks. For instance, by combining WaVPeak or PICKY with the proposed method, the missing peak rates are on average reduced by 20% and 26%, respectively, in a benchmark set of 32 spectra extracted from eight proteins. The consensus of the B-H-selected peaks from both WaVPeak and PICKY achieves 88% recall and 83% precision, which significantly outperforms each individual method and the consensus method without using the B-H algorithm. The proposed method can be used as a standard procedure for any peak picking method and straightforwardly applied to some other prediction selection problems in bioinformatics. The source code, documentation and example data of the proposed method is available at http://sfb.kaust.edu.sa/pages/software.aspx. © 2013

  7. Climate-related variation in plant peak biomass and growth phenology across Pacific Northwest tidal marshes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buffington, Kevin J.; Dugger, Bruce D.; Thorne, Karen M.

    2018-01-01

    The interannual variability of tidal marsh plant phenology is largely unknown and may have important ecological consequences. Marsh plants are critical to the biogeomorphic feedback processes that build estuarine soils, maintain marsh elevation relative to sea level, and sequester carbon. We calculated Tasseled Cap Greenness, a metric of plant biomass, using remotely sensed data available in the Landsat archive to assess how recent climate variation has affected biomass production and plant phenology across three maritime tidal marshes in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. First, we used clipped vegetation plots at one of our sites to confirm that tasseled cap greenness provided a useful measure of aboveground biomass (r2 = 0.72). We then used multiple measures of biomass each growing season over 20–25 years per study site and developed models to test how peak biomass and the date of peak biomass varied with 94 climate and sea-level metrics using generalized linear models and Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) model selection. Peak biomass was positively related to total annual precipitation, while the best predictor for date of peak biomass was average growing season temperature, with the peak 7.2 days earlier per degree C. Our study provides insight into how plants in maritime tidal marshes respond to interannual climate variation and demonstrates the utility of time-series remote sensing data to assess ecological responses to climate stressors.

  8. Acute Whole-Body Vibration does not Facilitate Peak Torque and Stretch Reflex in Healthy Adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ella W. Yeung

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The acute effect of whole-body vibration (WBV training may enhance muscular performance via neural potentiation of the stretch reflex. The purpose of this study was to investigate if acute WBV exposure affects the stretch induced knee jerk reflex [onset latency and electromechanical delay (EMD] and the isokinetic knee extensor peak torque performance. Twenty-two subjects were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The intervention group received WBV in a semi-squat position at 30° knee flexion with an amplitude of 0.69 mm, frequency of 45 Hz, and peak acceleration of 27.6 m/s2 for 3 minutes. The control group underwent the same semii-squatting position statically without exposure of WBV. Two-way mixed repeated measures analysis of variance revealed no significant group effects differences on reflex latency of rectus femoris (RF and vastus lateralis (VL; p = 0.934 and 0.935, respectively EMD of RF and VL (p = 0.474 and 0.551, respectively and peak torque production (p = 0.483 measured before and after the WBV. The results of this study indicate that a single session of WBV exposure has no potentiation effect on the stretch induced reflex and peak torque performance in healthy young adults.

  9. Interaction of LED light with coinitiator-containing composite resins: effect of dual peaks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sim, Jae-Seong; Seol, Hyo-Joung; Park, Jeong-Kil; Garcia-Godoy, Franklin; Kim, Hyung-Il; Kwon, Yong Hoon

    2012-10-01

    Recently the colour stability of composite resins has been an issue due to the emphasis on the aesthetics of restored teeth. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how dual-peak LED units affect the polymerization of coinitiator-containing composite resins. Five composite resins [coinitiator-containing: Aelite LS Posterior (AL), Tetric EvoCeram (TE), and Vit-l-escence (VI); only CQ-containing: Grandio (GD) and Filtek Z350 (Z3)] were light cured using four different light-curing units (LCUs). Among them, Bluephase G2 (BP) and G-light (GL) were dual-peak LED LCUs. Microhardness, polymerization shrinkage, flexural, and compressive properties were measured. BP and GL had no consistent effect on the microhardness of AL, TE, and VI on the top and bottom surfaces of resin specimens. Among the specimens, AL and VI showed the least (9.86-10.41 μm) and greatest (17.58-19.21 μm) polymerization shrinkage, respectively. However, the effect of BP and GL on the shrinkage of specimens was not consistent. Among the specimens, GD showed the greatest flexural properties [strength (FS) and modulus (FM)] and TE showed the lowest flexural and compressive properties [strength (CS) and modulus (CM)]. In same resin product, maximum FS and CS differences due to the different LCUs were 10.3-21.0% and 3.6-9.2%, respectively. Furthermore, the influences of BP and GL on FS and CS were not consistent. The tested dual-peak LED LCUs had no consistent synergic effect on the polymerization of coinitiator-containing composite resins as compared with QTH and single-peak LED LCUs. The dual-peak LED LCUs achieve a similar degree of polymerization in coinitiator-composite resins as QTH and single-peak LED LCUs did. Choice of LCU does not appear to be a determinant of the light curing of coinitiator-composite resins. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Highly strained InGaAs oxide confined VCSELs emitting in 1.25 μm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, S.J.; Yu, H.C.; Su, Y.K.; Chen, I.L.; Lee, T.D.; Lu, C.M.; Chiou, C.H.; Lee, Z.H.; Yang, H.P.; Sung, C.P.

    2005-01-01

    Highly strained GaAs-based all-epitaxial oxide confined vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting in 1.25 μm were fabricated. Compared with the designed cavity resonance, it was found that lasing wavelength blue shifted by 29 nm when the driving current was small. The observation of such oxide mode is attributed to the effective optical thickness shrinkage of the oxide layer, and large detuning between the gain peak and cavity resonance

  11. Analysis of fuel end-temperature peaking

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu, Z.; Jiang, Q.; Lai, L.; Shams, M. [CANDU Energy Inc., Fuel Engineering Dept., Mississauga, Ontario (Canada)

    2013-07-01

    During normal operation and refuelling of CANDU® fuel, fuel temperatures near bundle ends will increase due to a phenomenon called end flux peaking. Similar phenomenon would also be expected to occur during a postulated large break LOCA event. The end flux peaking in a CANDU fuel element is due to the fact that neutron flux is higher near a bundle end, in contact with a neighbouring bundle or close to heavy water coolant, than in the bundle mid-plane, because of less absorption of thermal neutrons by Zircaloy or heavy water than by the UO{sub 2} material. This paper describes Candu Energy experience in analysing behaviour of bundle due to end flux peaking using fuel codes FEAT, ELESTRES and ELOCA. (author)

  12. Nitric oxide affects short-term olfactory memory in the antennal lobe of Manduca sexta.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gage, Stephanie L; Daly, Kevin C; Nighorn, Alan

    2013-09-01

    Nitric oxide (NO) is thought to play an important neuromodulatory role in olfaction. We are using the hawkmoth Manduca sexta to investigate the function of NO signaling in the antennal lobe (AL; the primary olfactory network in invertebrates). We have found previously that NO is present at baseline levels, dramatically increases in response to odor stimulation, and alters the electrophysiology of AL neurons. It is unclear, however, how these effects contribute to common features of olfactory systems such as olfactory learning and memory, odor detection and odor discrimination. In this study, we used chemical detection and a behavioral approach to further examine the function of NO in the AL. We found that basal levels of NO fluctuate with the daily light cycle, being higher during the nocturnal active period. NO also appears to be necessary for short-term olfactory memory. NO does not appear to affect odor detection, odor discrimination between dissimilar odorants, or learning acquisition. These findings suggest a modulatory role for NO in the timing of olfactory-guided behaviors.

  13. Sequential Electrodeposition of Platinum-Ruthenium at Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes for Methanol Oxidation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ileana González-González

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Sequential electrodeposition of Pt and Ru on boron-doped diamond (BDD films, in 0.5 M H2SO4 by cyclic voltammetry, has been prepared. The potential cycling, in the aqueous solutions of the respective metals, was between 0.00 and 1.00 V versus Ag/AgCl. The catalyst composites, Pt and PtRu, deposited on BDD film substrates, were tested for methanol oxidation. The modified diamond surfaces were also characterized by scanning electron microscopy-X-ray fluorescence-energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy. The scanning Auger electron spectroscopy mapping showed the ruthenium signal only in areas where platinum was electrodeposited. Ruthenium does not deposit on the oxidized diamond surface of the boron-doped diamond. Particles with 5–10% of ruthenium with respect to platinum exhibited better performance for methanol oxidation in terms of methanol oxidation peak current and chronoamperometric current stability. The electrogenerated •OH radicals on BDD may interact with Pt surface, participating in the methanol oxidation as shown in oxidation current and the shift in the peak position. The conductive diamond surface is a good candidate as the support for the platinum electrocatalyst, because it ensures catalytic activity, which compares with the used carbon, and higher stability under severe anodic and cathodic conditions.

  14. Factors affecting the oxidative stability of omega-3 emulsions prepared with milk proteins

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Horn, Anna Frisenfeldt; Nielsen, Nina Skall; Jacobsen, Charlotte

    Omega-3 fatty acids are prone to lipid oxidation due to their unsaturated nature. In oil-in-water emulsions, lipid oxidation is expected to be initiated at the oil-water interface. The properties of the emulsifier used and the structure at the interface are therefore expected to be of great...

  15. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction investigations on strains in the oxide layer of an irradiated Zircaloy fuel cladding

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chollet, Mélanie, E-mail: melanie.chollet@psi.ch [Paul Scherrer Institute, NES, 5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Valance, Stéphane; Abolhassani, Sousan; Stein, Gene [Paul Scherrer Institute, NES, 5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Grolimund, Daniel [Paul Scherrer Institute, SLS, 5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Martin, Matthias; Bertsch, Johannes [Paul Scherrer Institute, NES, 5232 Villigen (Switzerland)

    2017-05-15

    For the first time the microstructure of the oxide layer of a Zircaloy-2 cladding after 9 cycles of irradiation in a boiling water reactor has been analyzed with synchrotron micro-X-ray diffraction. Crystallographic strains of the monoclinic and to some extent of the tetragonal ZrO{sub 2} are depicted through the thick oxide layer. Thin layers of sub-oxide at the oxide-metal interface as found for autoclave-tested samples and described in the literature, have not been observed in this material maybe resulting from irradiation damage. Shifts of selected diffraction peaks of the monoclinic oxide show that the uniform strain produced during oxidation is orientated in the lattice and displays variations along the oxide layer. Diffraction peaks and their shifts from families of diffracting planes could be translated into a virtual tensor. This virtual tensor exhibits changes through the oxide layer passing by tensile or compressive components. - Highlights: •A Zircaloy-2 cladding irradiated 9 cycles was investigated thanks to synchrotron X-ray diffraction. •Microstructure and uniform strain through the oxide layer is revealed. •The m-ZrO{sub 2} uniform strain is oriented presenting compression along the (−111) plane. •Virtual tensor is built based on reflecting planes of families of grains. •Tensor components vary from tensile to compressive along the oxide layer.

  16. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction investigations on strains in the oxide layer of an irradiated Zircaloy fuel cladding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chollet, Mélanie; Valance, Stéphane; Abolhassani, Sousan; Stein, Gene; Grolimund, Daniel; Martin, Matthias; Bertsch, Johannes

    2017-01-01

    For the first time the microstructure of the oxide layer of a Zircaloy-2 cladding after 9 cycles of irradiation in a boiling water reactor has been analyzed with synchrotron micro-X-ray diffraction. Crystallographic strains of the monoclinic and to some extent of the tetragonal ZrO 2 are depicted through the thick oxide layer. Thin layers of sub-oxide at the oxide-metal interface as found for autoclave-tested samples and described in the literature, have not been observed in this material maybe resulting from irradiation damage. Shifts of selected diffraction peaks of the monoclinic oxide show that the uniform strain produced during oxidation is orientated in the lattice and displays variations along the oxide layer. Diffraction peaks and their shifts from families of diffracting planes could be translated into a virtual tensor. This virtual tensor exhibits changes through the oxide layer passing by tensile or compressive components. - Highlights: •A Zircaloy-2 cladding irradiated 9 cycles was investigated thanks to synchrotron X-ray diffraction. •Microstructure and uniform strain through the oxide layer is revealed. •The m-ZrO 2 uniform strain is oriented presenting compression along the (−111) plane. •Virtual tensor is built based on reflecting planes of families of grains. •Tensor components vary from tensile to compressive along the oxide layer.

  17. The hypobaric hypoxia affects the oxidant balance in skeletal muscle regeneration of women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosa Mancinelli

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether a 14-day trekking expeditions, in high altitude hypoxic environment, triggers redox disturbance at the level of satellite cells (adult stem cells in young women.Methods: We collected muscle biopsies from Vastus Lateralis muscle for both single fiber analysis and satellite cells isolation. The samples collected before (PRE-Hypoxia and after (POST-Hypoxia the trekking in the Himalayas were compared. Satellite cells were investigated for oxidative stress (oxidant production, antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid damage, mitochondrial potential variation, gene profile of HIF and myogenic transcription factors (Pax7, MyoD, myogenin and miRNA expression (miR-1, miR-133, miR-206.Results: The nuclear domain analysis showed a significant fusion and consequent reduction of the Pax7+ satellite cells in the single mature fibers. The POST-Hypoxia myoblasts obtained by two out of six volunteers showed high superoxide anion production and lipid peroxidation along with impaired dismutase and catalase and mitochondrial potential. The transcription profile and miRNA expression were different for oxidized and non oxidized cells.Conclusions: The present study supports the phenomenon of hypobaric-hypoxia-induced oxidative stress and its role in the impairment of the regenerative capacity of satellite cells derived from the Vastus Lateralis muscle of young adult female subjects.

  18. Comprehensive atmospheric modeling of reactive cyclic siloxanes and their oxidation products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janechek, Nathan J.; Hansen, Kaj M.; Stanier, Charles O.

    2017-07-01

    Cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMSs) are important components in personal care products that transport and react in the atmosphere. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6), and their gas-phase oxidation products have been incorporated into the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Gas-phase oxidation products, as the precursor to secondary organic aerosol from this compound class, were included to quantify the maximum potential for aerosol formation from gas-phase reactions with OH. Four 1-month periods were modeled to quantify typical concentrations, seasonal variability, spatial patterns, and vertical profiles. Typical model concentrations showed parent compounds were highly dependent on population density as cities had monthly averaged peak D5 concentrations up to 432 ng m-3. Peak oxidized D5 concentrations were significantly less, up to 9 ng m-3, and were located downwind of major urban areas. Model results were compared to available measurements and previous simulation results. Seasonal variation was analyzed and differences in seasonal influences were observed between urban and rural locations. Parent compound concentrations in urban and peri-urban locations were sensitive to transport factors, while parent compounds in rural areas and oxidized product concentrations were influenced by large-scale seasonal variability in OH.

  19. Synthesis and electrocatalytic activity of Au/Pt bimetallic nanodendrites for ethanol oxidation in alkaline medium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Xinyi; Wang, Dawei; Liu, Dong; Huang, Jianshe; You, Tianyan

    2012-02-01

    Gold/Platinum (Au/Pt) bimetallic nanodendrites were successfully synthesized through seeded growth method using preformed Au nanodendrites as seeds and ascorbic acid as reductant. Cyclic voltammograms (CVs) of a series of Au/Pt nanodendrites modified electrodes in 1M KOH solution containing 1M ethanol showed that the electrocatalyst with a molar ratio (Au:Pt) of 3 exhibited the highest peak current density and the lowest onset potential. The peak current density of ethanol electro-oxidation on the Au(3)Pt(1) nanodendrites modified glassy carbon electrode (Au(3)Pt(1) electrode) is about 16, 12.5, and 4.5 times higher than those on the polycrystalline Pt electrode, polycrystalline Au electrode, and Au nanodendrites modified glassy carbon electrode (Au dendrites electrode), respectively. The oxidation peak potential of ethanol electro-oxidation on the Au(3)Pt(1) electrode is about 299 and 276 mV lower than those on the polycrystalline Au electrode and Au dendrites electrode, respectively. These results demonstrated that the Au/Pt bimetallic nanodendrites may find potential application in alkaline direct ethanol fuel cells (ADEFCs). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Ultra‐high performance supercritical fluid chromatography of lignin‐derived phenols from alkaline cupric oxide oxidation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Mingzhe; Lidén, Gunnar; Sandahl, Margareta

    2016-01-01

    Traditional chromatographic methods for the analysis of lignin‐derived phenolic compounds in environmental samples are generally time consuming. In this work, an ultra‐high performance supercritical fluid chromatography method with a diode array detector for the analysis of major lignin‐derived phenolic compounds produced by alkaline cupric oxide oxidation was developed. In an analysis of a collection of 11 representative monomeric lignin phenolic compounds, all compounds were clearly separated within 6 min with excellent peak shapes, with a limit of detection of 0.5–2.5 μM, a limit of quantification of 2.5–5.0 μM, and a dynamic range of 5.0–2.0 mM (R 2 > 0.997). The new ultra‐high performance supercritical fluid chromatography method was also applied for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of lignin‐derived phenolic compounds obtained upon alkaline cupric oxide oxidation of a commercial humic acid. Ten out of the previous eleven model compounds could be quantified in the oxidized humic acid sample. The high separation power and short analysis time obtained demonstrate for the first time that supercritical fluid chromatography is a fast and reliable technique for the analysis of lignin‐derived phenols in complex environmental samples. PMID:27452148

  1. Dose ratio proton radiography using the proximal side of the Bragg peak

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Doolan, P. J., E-mail: paul.doolan.09@ucl.ac.uk; Royle, G.; Gibson, A. [Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Lu, H.-M. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114 (United States); Prieels, D.; Bentefour, E. H. [Ion Beam Applications (IBA), 3 Chemin du Cyclotron, Louvain la Neuve B-1348 (Belgium)

    2015-04-15

    Purpose: In recent years, there has been a movement toward single-detector proton radiography, due to its potential ease of implementation within the clinical environment. One such single-detector technique is the dose ratio method in which the dose maps from two pristine Bragg peaks are recorded beyond the patient. To date, this has only been investigated on the distal side of the lower energy Bragg peak, due to the sharp falloff. The authors investigate the limits and applicability of the dose ratio method on the proximal side of the lower energy Bragg peak, which has the potential to allow a much wider range of water-equivalent thicknesses (WET) to be imaged. Comparisons are made with the use of the distal side of the Bragg peak. Methods: Using the analytical approximation for the Bragg peak, the authors generated theoretical dose ratio curves for a range of energy pairs, and then determined how an uncertainty in the dose ratio would translate to a spread in the WET estimate. By defining this spread as the accuracy one could achieve in the WET estimate, the authors were able to generate lookup graphs of the range on the proximal side of the Bragg peak that one could reliably use. These were dependent on the energy pair, noise level in the dose ratio image and the required accuracy in the WET. Using these lookup graphs, the authors investigated the applicability of the technique for a range of patient treatment sites. The authors validated the theoretical approach with experimental measurements using a complementary metal oxide semiconductor active pixel sensor (CMOS APS), by imaging a small sapphire sphere in a high energy proton beam. Results: Provided the noise level in the dose ratio image was 1% or less, a larger spread of WETs could be imaged using the proximal side of the Bragg peak (max 5.31 cm) compared to the distal side (max 2.42 cm). In simulation, it was found that, for a pediatric brain, it is possible to use the technique to image a region with a

  2. High-aspect-ratio, silicon oxide-enclosed pillar structures in microfluidic liquid chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Lisa C; Lavrik, Nickolay V; Sepaniak, Michael J

    2010-11-15

    The present paper discusses the ability to separate chemical species using high-aspect-ratio, silicon oxide-enclosed pillar arrays. These miniaturized chromatographic systems require smaller sample volumes, experience less flow resistance, and generate superior separation efficiency over traditional packed bed liquid chromatographic columns, improvements controlled by the increased order and decreased pore size of the systems. In our distinctive fabrication sequence, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of silicon oxide is used to alter the surface and structural properties of the pillars for facile surface modification while improving the pillar mechanical stability and increasing surface area. The separation behavior of model compounds within our pillar systems indicated an unexpected hydrophobic-like separation mechanism. The effects of organic modifier, ionic concentration, and pressure-driven flow rate were studied. A decrease in the organic content of the mobile phase increased peak resolution while detrimentally effecting peak shape. A resolution of 4.7 (RSD = 3.7%) was obtained for nearly perfect Gaussian shaped peaks, exhibiting plate heights as low as 1.1 and 1.8 μm for fluorescein and sulforhodamine B, respectively. Contact angle measurements and DART mass spectrometry analysis indicate that our employed elastomeric soft bonding technique modifies pillar properties, creating a fortuitous stationary phase. This discovery provides evidence supporting the ability to easily functionalize PECVD oxide surfaces by gas-phase reactions.

  3. Sidestream cigarette smoke effects on cardiovascular responses in conscious rats: involvement of oxidative stress in the fourth cerebral ventricle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valenti Vitor E

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cigarette exposure increases brain oxidative stress. The literature showed that increased brain oxidative stress affects cardiovascular regulation. However, no previous study investigated the involvement of brain oxidative stress in animals exposed to cigarette and its relationship with cardiovascular regulation. We aimed to evaluate the effects of central catalase inhibition on baroreflex and cardiovascular responses in rats exposed to sidestream cigarette smoke (SSCS. Methods We evaluated males Wistar rats (320-370 g, which were implanted with a stainless steel guide cannula into the fourth cerebral ventricle (4th V. Femoral artery and vein were cannulated for mean arterial pressure (MAP and heart rate (HR measurement and drug infusion, respectively. Rats were exposed to SSCS during three weeks, 180 minutes, 5 days/week (CO: 100-300 ppm. Baroreflex was tested with a pressor dose of phenylephrine (PHE, 8 μg/kg, bolus to induce bradycardic reflex and a depressor dose of sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 50 μg/kg, bolus to induce tachycardic reflex. Cardiovascular responses were evaluated before, 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes after 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (ATZ, catalase inhibitor, 0.001 g/100 μL injection into the 4th V. Results Central catalase inhibition increased basal HR in the control group during the first 5 minutes. SSCS exposure increased basal HR and attenuated bradycardic peak during the first 15 minutes. Conclusion We suggest that SSCS exposure affects cardiovascular regulation through its influence on catalase activity.

  4. Determination of Pu Oxidation states in the HCl Media Using with UV-Visible Absorption Spectroscopic Techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Myung Ho; Suh, Mu Yeol; Park, Kyoung Kyun; Park, Yeong Jae; Kim, Won Ho

    2006-01-01

    The spectroscopic characteristics of Pu (III, IV, V, VI) in the HCl media were investigated by measuring Pu oxidation states using a UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer (400-1200 nm) after adjusting Pu oxidation states with oxidation/reduction reagents. Pu in stock solution was reduced to Pu(III) with NH 2 OH · HCl, and oxidized to Pu(IV) and Pu(VI) with NaNO 2 and HCIO 4 , respectively. Also, Pu(V) was adjusted in the Pu(VI) solution with NH 2 OH · HCl. The major absorption peaks of Pu (IV) and Pu(III) were measured in the 470 nm and 600 nm, respectively. The major absorption peaks of Pu (VI) and Pu(V) were measured in the 830 nm and 1135 nm, respectively. There was not found to be significant changes of UV-V is absorption spectra for Pu(III), Pu(IV) and Pu(VI) with aging time, except that an unstable Pu(V) immediately reduced to Pu(III).

  5. Luminescence properties of oxide films formed by anodization of aluminum in 12-tungstophosphoric acid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stojadinovic, S.; Vasilic, R.; Petkovic, M.; Nedic, Z.; Kasalica, B.; Belca, I.; Zekovic, Lj.

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, we have investigated luminescence properties of oxide films formed by anodization of aluminum in 12-tungstophosphoric acid. For the first time we have measured weak luminescence during anodization of aluminum in this electrolyte (so-called galvanoluminescence GL) and showed that there are wide GL bands in the visible region of the spectrum and observed two dominant spectral peaks. The first one is at about 425 nm, and the second one shifts with anodization voltage. As the anodization voltage approaches the breakdown voltage, a large number of sparks appear superimposed on the anodic GL. Several intensive band peaks were observed under breakdown caused by electron transitions in W, P, Al, O, H atoms. Furthermore, photoluminescence (PL) of anodic oxide films and anodic-spark formed oxide coatings were performed. In both cases wide PL bands in the range from 320 nm to 600 nm were observed.

  6. Synthesis of cerium oxide (CeO{sub 2}) nanoparticles using simple CO-precipitation method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farahmandjou, M.; Zarinkamar, M.; Firoozabadi, T. P., E-mail: farahamndjou@iauvaramin.ac.ir [Islamis Azad University, Varamin-Phisva Branch, Department of Physics, Varamin (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2016-11-01

    Synthesis of cerium oxide (CeO{sub 2}) nanoparticles was studied by new and simple co-precipitation method. The cerium oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using cerium nitrate and potassium carbonate precursors. Their physicochemical properties were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy (Sem), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (Ftir) and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. XRD pattern showed the cubic structure of the cerium oxide nanoparticles. The average particle size of CeO{sub 2} was around 20 nm as estimated by XRD technique and direct HRTEM observations. The surface morphological studies from Sem and Tem depicted spherical particles with formation of clusters. The sharp peaks in Ftir spectrum determined the existence of CeO{sub 2} stretching mode and the absorbance peak of UV-Vis spectrum showed the bandgap energy of 3.26 eV. (Author)

  7. Oxidation products are increased in patients affected by non-segmental generalized vitiligo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaccaro, Mario; Bagnato, Gianluca; Cristani, Mariateresa; Borgia, Francesco; Spatari, Giovanna; Tigano, Valeria; Saja, Antonina; Guarneri, Fabrizio; Cannavò, Serafinella P; Gangemi, Sebastiano

    2017-08-01

    Several lines of evidence support the relevance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vitiligo, but the exact role of glycation and oxidation of macromolecules needs to be better addressed. To investigate the involvement of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) and advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), we performed a case-control association study by spectrofluorimetry and spectrophotometry, in 47 patients with non-segmental generalized vitiligo and 47 age- and sex-matched controls. Significantly higher levels of both AOPPs (p vitiligo patients compared to healthy controls. In vitiligo patients, AGEs and AOPPs serum levels were directly associated with extension, duration of vitiligo, and disease activity. ROS, and in particular AGEs and AOPPs, could represent one of the main biomarkers to assess the onset and progression of vitiligo, due to the potential role as direct inducers of cell damage and also as autoimmunity triggers. Further longitudinal studies involving larger cohorts of patients are required to elucidate the role of oxidation products in the pathogenesis of vitiligo.

  8. Bayesian approach for peak detection in two-dimensional chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vivó-Truyols, Gabriel

    2012-03-20

    A new method for peak detection in two-dimensional chromatography is presented. In a first step, the method starts with a conventional one-dimensional peak detection algorithm to detect modulated peaks. In a second step, a sophisticated algorithm is constructed to decide which of the individual one-dimensional peaks have been originated from the same compound and should then be arranged in a two-dimensional peak. The merging algorithm is based on Bayesian inference. The user sets prior information about certain parameters (e.g., second-dimension retention time variability, first-dimension band broadening, chromatographic noise). On the basis of these priors, the algorithm calculates the probability of myriads of peak arrangements (i.e., ways of merging one-dimensional peaks), finding which of them holds the highest value. Uncertainty in each parameter can be accounted by adapting conveniently its probability distribution function, which in turn may change the final decision of the most probable peak arrangement. It has been demonstrated that the Bayesian approach presented in this paper follows the chromatographers' intuition. The algorithm has been applied and tested with LC × LC and GC × GC data and takes around 1 min to process chromatograms with several thousands of peaks.

  9. Peak shifting and cross-class subsidization: The impacts of solar PV on changes in electricity costs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, Erik; Beppler, Ross; Blackburn, Chris; Staver, Benjamin; Brown, Marilyn; Matisoff, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    The expansion of distributed solar necessitates additional research into the impacts on both utilities and their customers. In this paper we use New Jersey solar data, PJM market data, and demand profiles from a PJM utility to investigate rate and bill impacts of large-scale solar penetration. In addition to the subsidization of solar adopters by non-participants, we highlight the channels through which cross-subsidization of rate classes can arise in practice. The results of our study indicate that the fear of a utility “death spiral” may be exaggerated. Significant solar can be incorporated with only a 2% increase in non-participant bills. At high levels of penetration, distributed solar has the potential to alter the system peak hour which affects the allocation of costs across rate-classes. As the peak hour shifts to the evening when solar production diminishes, residential customers face higher distribution costs. Policy makers and utilities need to be aware of these challenges in designing the next generation of rates that are better aligned with cost causality. - Highlights: • We develop a model of electricity costs with large amounts of solar adoption. • Solar adoption leads to cost redistribution across customer classes. • Costs are redistributed partially because peak utility load shifts later in the day. • Residential distributed solar generation affects electricity bills the most. • We confirm the subsidy of participants by non-participants in net metering programs.

  10. Development of the modified sum-peak method and its application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogata, Y.; Miyahara, H.; Ishihara, M.; Ishigure, N.; Yamamoto, S.; Kojima, S.

    2016-01-01

    As the sum-peak method requires the total count rate as well as the peak count rates and the sum peak count rate, this meets difficulties when a sample contains other radionuclides than the one to be measured. To solve the problem, a new method using solely the peak and the sum peak count rates was developed. The method was theoretically and experimentally confirmed using "6"0Co, "2"2Na and "1"3"4Cs. We demonstrate that the modified sum-peak method is quite simple and practical and is useful to measure multiple nuclides. - Highlights: • A modified sum-peak method for simple radioactivity measurement was developed. • The method solely requires the peak count rates and the sum peak count rate. • The method is applicable to multiple radionuclides.

  11. Peak broadening in paper chromatography and related techniques : III. Peak broadening in thin-layer chromatography on cellulose powder

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ligny, C.L. de; Remijnse, A.G.

    1968-01-01

    The mechanism of peak broadening in thin-layer chromatography on cellulose powder was investigated by comparing the peak widths obtained in chromatography with those caused only by diffusion in the cellulose powder, for a set of amino acids of widely differing RF values and six kinds of cellulose

  12. Comparative study of boson peak in normal and secondary alcohols with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yomogida, Yoshiki; Sato, Yuki; Nozaki, Ryusuke; Mishina, Tomobumi; Nakahara, Jun'ichiro

    2010-01-01

    Using terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy, we measured the complex permittivity of some normal (1-propanol, 1-butanol, and 1-pentanol) and secondary alcohols (2-propanol, 2-butanol, and 2-pentanol) in the frequency ranges from 0.2 to 2.5 THz at temperatures from 253 to 323 K. For all the samples, the complex permittivity in the THz region includes the following three components: (i) a high frequency side of dielectric relaxation processes, (ii) a broad mode around 1 THz, and (iii) a low frequency side of an intermolecular vibration mode located above 2.5 THz. The mode around 1 THz is recognized as a boson peak which is related to the local structure of disordered materials. The intensity of the boson peak in secondary alcohols is higher than that in normal alcohols. On the other hand, the number of carbon atoms slightly affects the appearance of the boson peak. These observations indicate that the position of an OH group in a molecule has a profound effect on the local structures in monohydric alcohols.

  13. Peak effect in twinned superconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larkin, A.I.; Marchetti, M.C.; Vinokur, V.M.

    1995-01-01

    A sharp maximum in the critical current J c as a function of temperature just below the melting point of the Abrikosov flux lattice has recently been observed in both low- and high-temperature superconductors. This peak effect is strongest in twinned crystals for fields aligned with the twin planes. We propose that this peak signals the breakdown of the collective pinning regime and the crossover to strong pinning of single vortices on the twin boundaries. This crossover is very sharp and can account for the steep drop of the differential resistivity observed in experiments. copyright 1995 The American Physical Society

  14. OccuPeak: ChIP-Seq peak calling based on internal background modelling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Boer, Bouke A.; van Duijvenboden, Karel; van den Boogaard, Malou; Christoffels, Vincent M.; Barnett, Phil; Ruijter, Jan M.

    2014-01-01

    ChIP-seq has become a major tool for the genome-wide identification of transcription factor binding or histone modification sites. Most peak-calling algorithms require input control datasets to model the occurrence of background reads to account for local sequencing and GC bias. However, the

  15. Study of the peak shape in alpha spectra measured by liquid scintillation

    CERN Document Server

    Vera-Tome, F; Martin-Sanchez, A

    2002-01-01

    Liquid-scintillation counting allows the measurement of alpha and beta activities jointly or only of the alpha-emitting nuclides in a sample. Although the resolution of the alpha spectra is poorer than that attained with semiconductor detectors, it is still an attractive alternative. We describe here attempts to fit a peak shape to experimental liquid-scintillation alpha spectra and discuss the parameters affecting this shape, such as the PSA (pulse-shape analyser) level, vial type, shaking the sample, etc. Spectral analysis has been applied for complex alpha spectra.

  16. Assessing peak aerobic capacity in Dutch law enforcement officers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harriet Wittink

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: To cross-validate the existing peak rate of oxygen consumption (VO2peak prediction equations in Dutch law enforcement officers and to determine whether these prediction equations can be used to predict VO2peak for groups and in a single individual. A further objective was to report normative absolute and relative VO2peak values of a sample of law enforcement officers in the Netherlands. Material and Methods: The peak rate of oxygen consumption (ml×kg–1×min–1 was measured using a maximal incremental bicycle test in 1530 subjects, including 1068 male and 461 female police officers. Validity of the prediction equations for groups was assessed by comparing predicted VO2peak with measured VO2peak using paired t-tests. For individual differences limits of agreement (LoA were calculated. Equations were considered valid for individuals when the difference between measured and predicted VO2peak did not exceed ±1 metabolic equivalent (MET in 95% of individuals. Results: None of the equations met the validity criterion of 95% of individuals having ±1 MET difference or less than the measured value. Limits of agreement (LoAs were large in all predictions. At the individual level, none of the equations were valid predictors of VO2peak (ml×kg–1×min–1. Normative values for Dutch law enforcement officers were presented. Conclusions: Substantial differences between measured and predicted VO2peak (ml×kg–1×min–1 were found. Most tested equations were invalid predictors of VO2peak at group level and all were invalid at individual levels.

  17. Extended study on oxidation behaviors of UN0.68 and UN1.66 by XPS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Lizhu; Hu, Yin; Pan, Qifa; Long, Zhong; Lu, Lei; Liu, Kezhao; Wang, Xiaolin

    2018-04-01

    The surface oxidation behaviors of UN0.68 and UN1.66 thin films are investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the traditional U4f/N1s, O1s, valence band spectra as well as the unconventional U4d and U5d spectra are collected for the understanding of their oxidation behavior in-depth. Similar asymmetrical peak shape of the U4f spectra to uranium is observed for both uranium nitrides, despite of a slight shift to higher energy side for UN1.66 clean surface. However, significant difference among the corresponding spectra of UN0.68 and UN1.66 during oxidation reveals the distinctive properties of each own. The coexistence of UO2-x, UO2 and UO2-x.Ny on UN0.68 surface results in the peculiar features of U4f spectra as well as the others within the XPS energy scale, where peaks of the oxidized species firstly shift to higher energy side compared to the clean surface, and then return closely towards those of stoichiometric UO2. For UN1.66, the generation of U-N-O ternary compounds on the surface is identified with the symmetrical U4f peaks at 379.9eV and 390.8 eV, which locate intermediate between UO2 and UN1.66, and gradually expanding to higher energy side during the progressive oxidation. Furthermore, the formation of N-O species on UN1.66 surface is also detected as an oxidation product. The metallic character of UN1.66 is identified by the intense signal at Fermi level, which is greatly suppressed by the increasing oxygen exposure and implies the weakening metallic properties of the as-generated U-N-O compounds. Higher uranium oxides, such as UO3 and U4O9, are deduced to be the final oxidation products, and a multistage mechanism for UN1.66 following the exposure to oxygen is discussed.

  18. Oxidative stability of soybean oil in oleosomes as affected by pH and iron.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapchie, Virginie N; Yao, Linxing; Hauck, Catherine C; Wang, Tong; Murphy, Patricia A

    2013-12-01

    The oxidative stability of oil in soybean oleosomes, isolated using the Enzyme-Assisted Aqueous Extraction Process (EAEP), was evaluated. The effects of ferric chloride, at two concentration levels (100 and 500 μM), on lipid oxidation, was examined under pH 2 and 7. The peroxide value (PV) and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) value of oil, in oleosome suspensions stored at 60 °C, were measured over a 12 day period. The presence of ferric chloride significantly (Poil in the isolated oleosome, as measured by the PV and TBARS. Greater lipid oxidation occurred under an acidic pH. In the pH 7 samples, the positively charged transition metals were strongly attracted to the negatively charged droplets. However, the low ζ-potential and the high creaming rate at this pH, may have limited the oxidation. Freezing, freeze-drying or heating of oleosomes have an insignificant impact on the oxidative stability of oil in isolated soybean oleosomes. Manufacturers should be cautious when adding oleosomes as ingredients in food systems containing transition metal ions. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  19. Composite materials with metal oxide attached to lead chalcogenide nanocrystal quantum dots with linkers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuke, Nobuhiro; Koposov, Alexey Y; Sykora, Milan; Hoch, Laura

    2014-12-16

    Composite materials useful for devices such as photoelectrochemical solar cells include a substrate, a metal oxide film on the substrate, nanocrystalline quantum dots (NQDs) of lead sulfide, lead selenide, and lead telluride, and linkers that attach the NQDs to the metal oxide film. Suitable linkers preserve the 1s absorption peak of the NQDs. A suitable linker has a general structure A-B-C where A is a chemical group adapted for binding to a MO.sub.x and C is a chemical group adapted for binding to a NQD and B is a divalent, rigid, or semi-rigid organic spacer moiety. Other linkers that preserve the 1s absorption peak may also be used.

  20. The double peaks and symmetric path phenomena in the catalytic activity of Pd/Al2O3-TiO2 catalysts with different TiO2 contents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shen; Guo, Yuyu; Li, Xingying; Wu, Xu; Li, Zhe

    2018-06-01

    Physicochemical properties of Pd/Al2O3-TiO2 catalysts with different amounts of TiO2 contents were investigated by XRD, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, FTIR, NH3-TPD, H2-TPR and XPS techniques. Catalysts of different compositions were tested in the ethanol oxidation reaction to study the effects of TiO2 contents. Double peaks and symmetric path phenomena were observed at certain temperatures with the increase in TiO2 contents. The symmetric peak phenomena and the diverse activity fluctuations have been ascribed to the controlling factors such as temperature and compositions. With the increase in TiO2 content, the surface area, adsorbed oxygen contents and surface acid quantity decreased gradually. The large surface area and adsorbed oxygen contents were conducive to the performance, while increased acid amounts were not beneficial for ethanol oxidation. At 150 and 175 °C, Pd/AT(X1

  1. Synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide nanoparticles by laser ablation of zinc in liquid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thareja, R.K.; Shukla, Shobha

    2007-01-01

    We report formation of colloidal suspension of zinc oxide nanoparticles by pulsed laser ablation of a zinc metal target at room temperature in different liquid environment. We have used photoluminescence, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction to characterize the nanoparticles. The sample ablated in deionized water showed the photoluminescence peak at 384 nm (3.23 eV), whereas peaks at 370 nm (3.35 eV) were observed for sample prepared in isopropanol. The use of water and isopropanol as a solvent yielded spherical nanoparticles of 14-20 nm while in acetone we found two types of particles, one spherical nanoparticles with sizes around 100 nm and another platelet-like structure of 1 μm in diameter and 40 nm in width. The absorption peak of samples prepared in deionized water and isopropanol are seen to be substantially blue shifted relative to that of the bulk zinc oxide due to the strong confinement effect. The technique offers an alternative for preparing the nanoparticles of active metal

  2. Study of the Peak Shear Strength of a Cement-Filled Hard Rock Joint

    Science.gov (United States)

    She, Cheng-Xue; Sun, Fu-Ting

    2018-03-01

    The peak shear strength of a cement-filled hard rock joint is studied by theoretical analysis and laboratory testing. Based on the concept of the shear resistance angle, by combining the statistical method and fractal theory, three new parameters are proposed to characterize the three-dimensional joint morphology, reflecting the effects of the average roughness, multi-scale asperities and the dispersion degree of the roughness distribution. These factors are independent of the measurement scale, and they reflect the anisotropy of the joint roughness. Compressive shear tests are conducted on cement-filled joints. Because joints without cement can be considered special cement-filled joints in which the filling degree of cement is zero, they are also tested. The cement-filled granite joint fails primarily along the granite-cement interfaces. The filling degree of cement controls the joint failure and affects its mechanical behaviour. With a decrease in the filling degree of cement, the joint cohesion decreases; however, the dilatancy angle and the basic friction angle of the interface increase. As the filling degree approaches zero, the cohesion approaches zero, while the dilatancy angle and the basic friction angle increase to those of the joint without cement. A set of formulas is proposed to evaluate the peak shear strength of the joints with and without cement. The formulas are shown to be reasonable by comparison with the tested peak shear strength, and they reflect the anisotropy of the strength. This research deepens the understanding of cement-filled joints and provides a method to evaluate their peak shear strength.

  3. The mass dependence of the signal peak height of a Bragg-curve ionization chamber

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shenhav, N.J.; Stelzer, H.

    1985-01-01

    The Bragg-curve detector of the parallel plate ionization chamber type generates a signal that is a distorted replica of the original Bragg-curve. In result of this distortion, the signal peak height is not only a function of the atomic number of the heavy ion, as it is often stated, but also of the particle mass. This mass effect was studied with the aid of computer simulation, and it was found to be dependent on the Frisch grid to anode gap width and on the detector gas. The charge resolution of the detector is affected very significantly by this mass dependence of the signal peak height. Therefore, a careful selection of the detector gas and the grid to anode gap width is necessary, if good charge resolution over a wide range of heavy ions is required. (orig.)

  4. Preparation and characterization of copper oxide nanoparticles decorated carbon nanoparticles using laser ablation in liquid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khashan, K. S.; Jabir, M. S.; Abdulameer, F. A.

    2018-05-01

    Carbon nanoparticles CNPs ecorated by copper oxide nano-sized particles would be successfully equipped using technique named pulsed laser ablation in liquid. The XRD pattern proved the presence of phases assigned to carbon and different phases of copper oxide. The chemical structure of the as-prepared nanoparticles samples was decided by Energy Dispersive Spectrum (EDS) measurement. EDS analysis results show the contents of Carbon, Oxygen and Copper in the final product. These nanoparticles were spherical shaped with a size distribution 10 to 80 nm or carbon nanoparticles and 5 to 50 nm for carbon decorated copper oxide nanoparticles, according to Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images and particle-size distribution histogram. It was found that after doping with copper oxide, nanoparticles become smaller and more regular in shape. Optical absorption spectra of prepared nanoparticles were measured using UV–VIS spectroscopy. The absorption spectrum of carbon nanoparticles without doping indicates absorption peak at about 228 nm. After doping with copper oxide, absorption shows appearance of new absorption peak at about (254-264) nm, which is referred to the movement of the charge between 2p and 4s band of Cu2+ ions.

  5. Isotope geochemistry of waters affected by acid mine drainage in old labour sites (SE, Spain).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez-Sirvent, Carmen; Martinez-Sanchez, Maria Jose; Garcia-Lorenzo, Maria Luz; Agudo, Ines; Hernandez-Cordoba, Manuel; Recio, Clemente

    2015-04-01

    The ore deposits of this zone have iron, lead and zinc as the main metal components. Iron is present in oxides, hydroxides, sulfides, sulfates, carbonates, and silicates; lead and zinc occur in sulfides (galena and sphalerite, respectively), carbonates, sulfates, and lead or zinc-bearing (manganese, iron) oxides. Mining started with the Romans and activity peaked in the second half of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century until the 1980's. From 1940 to 1957, mineral concentration was made by froth flotation and, prior to this, by gravimetric techniques. The mining wastes, or tailings, with a very fine particle size were deposited inland (tailings dams) and, since 1957, huge releases were made in directly the sea coast. The objective of this work was to evaluate processes affecting waters from abandoned mine sites by way of stable isotopic analysis, particularly H and O stable isotopes from water and S and O from dissolved sulfates. Several common chemical and physical processes, such as evaporation, water-rock interaction and mixing could alter water isotopic composition. Evaporation, which causes an enrichment in δD and δ18O in the residual water, is an important process in semiarid areas. The results obtained indicate that, for sites near the coast, waters are meteoric, and marine infiltration only takes place in the deepest layers near the shore or if water remains stagnated in sediments with low permeability. The main source of sulfate was the oxidation of sulfides, resulting in the liberation of acid, sulfate and metals. In order to assess the mechanism responsible for sulfide oxidation, the stoichiometric isotope balance model and the general isotope balance model were tested, suggesting that the oxidation via Fe3+ was predominant in the surface, and controlled by A. ferrooxidans, while at depth, sulfate reduction occurred.

  6. In situ X-ray powder diffraction studies of the synthesis of graphene oxide and formation of reduced graphene oxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Storm, Mie Møller; Johnsen, Rune E.; Norby, Poul

    2016-01-01

    Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are important materials in a wide range of fields. The modified Hummers methods, for synthesizing GO, and subsequent thermal reduction to rGO, are often employed for production of rGO. However, the mechanism behinds these syntheses methods are still unclear. We present an in situ X-ray diffraction study of the synthesis of GO and thermal reduction of GO. The X-ray diffraction revealed that the Hummers method includes an intercalation state and finally formation of additional crystalline material. The formation of GO is observed during both the intercalation and the crystallization stage. During thermal reduction of GO three stages were observed: GO, a disordered stage, and the rGO stage. The appearance of these stages depends on the heating ramp. The aim of this study is to provide deeper insight into the chemical and physical processes during the syntheses. - Graphical abstract: In situ X-ray diffraction results for of the modified Hummers synthesis and the thermal reduction of graphene oxide, revealing three stages for both syntheses as well as new GO diffraction peaks and unidentified crystalline material for the Hummers synthesis and a disordered stage for the thermal reduction of graphene oxide. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Hummers synthesis consists of three stages: dissolution, intercalation and crystal. • GO is produced early on during the synthesis and display new diffraction peaks. • An unidentified triclinic phase is observed for the Hummers synthesis. • Thermal reduction of GO display three stages: GO, a disordered stage and rGO. • In situ XRD indicate reformation of rGO even for fast heated thermal reduction.

  7. In situ X-ray powder diffraction studies of the synthesis of graphene oxide and formation of reduced graphene oxide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Storm, Mie Møller, E-mail: mmst@dtu.dk; Johnsen, Rune E.; Norby, Poul

    2016-08-15

    Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are important materials in a wide range of fields. The modified Hummers methods, for synthesizing GO, and subsequent thermal reduction to rGO, are often employed for production of rGO. However, the mechanism behinds these syntheses methods are still unclear. We present an in situ X-ray diffraction study of the synthesis of GO and thermal reduction of GO. The X-ray diffraction revealed that the Hummers method includes an intercalation state and finally formation of additional crystalline material. The formation of GO is observed during both the intercalation and the crystallization stage. During thermal reduction of GO three stages were observed: GO, a disordered stage, and the rGO stage. The appearance of these stages depends on the heating ramp. The aim of this study is to provide deeper insight into the chemical and physical processes during the syntheses. - Graphical abstract: In situ X-ray diffraction results for of the modified Hummers synthesis and the thermal reduction of graphene oxide, revealing three stages for both syntheses as well as new GO diffraction peaks and unidentified crystalline material for the Hummers synthesis and a disordered stage for the thermal reduction of graphene oxide. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Hummers synthesis consists of three stages: dissolution, intercalation and crystal. • GO is produced early on during the synthesis and display new diffraction peaks. • An unidentified triclinic phase is observed for the Hummers synthesis. • Thermal reduction of GO display three stages: GO, a disordered stage and rGO. • In situ XRD indicate reformation of rGO even for fast heated thermal reduction.

  8. Development and characterization of ultra-thin dosemeters of aluminium oxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villagran V, E.

    2003-01-01

    The aim of the present thesis work has been to investigate the thermoluminescent (Tl) response of aluminium oxide thin films with thicknesses of the order of 300 nm prepared by laser ablation. Aluminium oxide thin films show Tl response after they are subject to ultraviolet, beta and gamma radiation. The Tl curves exhibit peaks around 75 C and 169 C for UV radiation, 112 C and 180 C for beta particles and 110 C and 176 C for gamma radiation. In order to improve the Tl response some growth parameters such as power density and distance target-substrate were varied. The relation dose-response shows a non-linear behavior for UV irradiation; a linear behavior for beta-particles dose from 150 mGy to 50 Gy, and a linear behavior for gamma radiation dose from 5 Gy to 100 Gy. The kinetic Tl parameters were determined by Computerized Glow Curve Deconvolution (CGCD) method as well as using analytical methods. The CGCD results show that the high temperature peak is composed by four peaks with maximums in 165.7, 188.1, 215.3, 246.5 C. These obey a second order kinetics. The trap depth (E) values are 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 eV respectively. The different analytical results show a trap depth values of 0.914, 0.82 and 0.656 eV respectively. Oxide aluminium thin films obtained would be a suitable tool owing to their potential applications in clinical dosimetry, in the dose distributions due to weekly penetrating radiation determination, and in interfaces dosimetry. (Author)

  9. Statistics of peaks in cosmological nonlinear density fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suginohara, Tatsushi; Suto, Yasushi.

    1990-06-01

    Distribution of the high-density peaks in the universe is examined using N-body simulations. Nonlinear evolution of the underlying density field significantly changes the statistical properties of the peaks, compared with the analytic results valid for the random Gaussian field. In particular, the abundances and correlations of the initial density peaks are discussed in the context of biased galaxy formation theory. (author)

  10. Application of graphene oxide-poly (vinyl alcohol) polymer nanocomposite for memory devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaushal, Jyoti; Kaur, Ravneet; Sharma, Jadab; Tripathi, S. K.

    2018-05-01

    Significant attention has been gained by polymer nanocomposites because of their possible demands in future electronic memory devices. In the present work, device based on Graphene Oxide (GO) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been made and examined for the memory device application. The prepared Graphene oxide (GO) and GO-PVA nanocomposite (NC) has been characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD). GO nanosheets show the diffraction peak at 2θ = 11.60° and the interlayer spacing of 0.761 nm. The XRD of GO-PVA NC shows the diffraction peak at 2θ =18.56°. The fabricated device shows bipolar switching behavior having ON/OFF current ratio ˜102. The Write-Read-Erase-Read (WRER) cycles test shows that the Al/GO-PVA/Ag device has good stability and repeatability.

  11. Electrodeposited nano-scale islands of ruthenium oxide as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for simultaneous catalytic oxidation of hydrazine and hydroxylamine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zare, Hamid R., E-mail: hrzare@yazduni.ac.ir [Department of Chemistry, Yazd University, P.O. Box 89195-741, Yazd (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Nanotechnology Research Center, Yazd University, P.O. Box 89195-741, Yazd (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Hashemi, S. Hossein; Benvidi, Ali [Department of Chemistry, Yazd University, P.O. Box 89195-741, Yazd (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2010-06-04

    For the first time, an electrodeposited nano-scale islands of ruthenium oxide (ruthenium oxide nanoparticles), as an excellent bifunctional electrocatalyst, was successfully used for hydrazine and hydroxylamine electrocatalytic oxidation. The results show that, at the present bifunctional modified electrode, two different redox couples of ruthenium oxides serve as electrocatalysts for simultaneous electrocatalytic oxidation of hydrazine and hydroxylamine. At the modified electrode surface, the peaks of differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) for hydrazine and hydroxylamine oxidation were clearly separated from each other when they co-exited in solution. Thus, it was possible to simultaneously determine hydrazine and hydroxylamine in the samples at a ruthenium oxide nanoparticles modified glassy carbon electrode (RuON-GCE). Linear calibration curves were obtained for 2.0-268.3 {mu}M and 268.3-417.3 {mu}M of hydrazine and for 4.0-33.8 {mu}M and 33.8-78.3 {mu}M of hydroxylamine at the modified electrode surface using an amperometric method. The amperometric method also exhibited the detection limits of 0.15 {mu}M and 0.45 {mu}M for hydrazine and hydroxylamine respectively. RuON-GCE was satisfactorily used for determination of spiked hydrazine in two water samples. Moreover, the studied bifunctional modified electrode exhibited high sensitivity, good repeatability, wide linear range and long-term stability.

  12. In Situ Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction Characterization of the Synthesis of Graphene Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Storm, Mie Møller; Johnsen, Rune E.; Norby, Poul

    2015-01-01

    Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) synthesised from GO, has a promising future in fields ranging from electronics to energy technologies[1]. GO may be synthesized by the modified Hummer’s method[2], where a mixture of potassium permanganate and concentrated sulfuric acid forms...... by placing a mixture of permanganate and sulphuric acid in a capillary next to graphite. The synthesis was then initiated by gently pushing the fluid mixture into the powder with N2 gas. The in situ XRD of the GO synthesis showed how the oxidation reaction proceeds in three separate stages, as seen in Figure...... 1. The first stage was the dissolution of potassium permanganate, followed by an intercalation stage and subsequent formation of crystalline material. The GO 001 diffraction peak was observed early during the synthesis, in the second stage, and the intensity of the 001 diffraction increased during...

  13. Nitric oxide turnover in permeable river sediment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schreiber, Frank; Stief, Peter; Kuypers, Marcel M M

    2014-01-01

    We measured nitric oxide (NO) microprofiles in relation to oxygen (O2) and all major dissolved N-species (ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, and nitrous oxide [N2O]) in a permeable, freshwater sediment (River Weser, Germany). NO reaches peak concentrations of 0.13 μmol L-1 in the oxic zone and is consumed......-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) (1) confirmed denitrification as the main NO consumption pathway, with N2O as its major product, (2) showed that denitrification combines one free NO molecule with one NO molecule formed from nitrite to produce N2O, and (3) suggested that NO inhibits N2O reduction....

  14. Evaluation of peak-fitting software for gamma spectrum analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zahn, Guilherme S.; Genezini, Frederico A.; Moralles, Mauricio

    2009-01-01

    In all applications of gamma-ray spectroscopy, one of the most important and delicate parts of the data analysis is the fitting of the gamma-ray spectra, where information as the number of counts, the position of the centroid and the width, for instance, are associated with each peak of each spectrum. There's a huge choice of computer programs that perform this type of analysis, and the most commonly used in routine work are the ones that automatically locate and fit the peaks; this fit can be made in several different ways - the most common ways are to fit a Gaussian function to each peak or simply to integrate the area under the peak, but some software go far beyond and include several small corrections to the simple Gaussian peak function, in order to compensate for secondary effects. In this work several gamma-ray spectroscopy software are compared in the task of finding and fitting the gamma-ray peaks in spectra taken with standard sources of 137 Cs, 60 Co, 133 Ba and 152 Eu. The results show that all of the automatic software can be properly used in the task of finding and fitting peaks, with the exception of GammaVision; also, it was possible to verify that the automatic peak-fitting software did perform as well as - and sometimes even better than - a manual peak-fitting software. (author)

  15. Lignocellulose pretreatment technologies affect the level of enzymatic cellulose oxidation by LPMO

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rodríguez-Zúñiga, Ursula Fabiola; Cannella, David; de Campos Giordano, Roberto

    2015-01-01

    of the cellulose oxidizing enzyme lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO). The highest activity of LPMO was observed for the hydrothermally pretreated biomasses, which also contained the highest level of lignin. All hydrolysis were done at high dry matter levels, using a commercial enzyme preparation containing......Sugarcane bagasse, corn stover, and wheat straw are among the most available resources for production of cellulosic ethanol. For these biomasses we study the influence of pre-treatment methods on the chemical composition, as well as on the subsequent reactions of enzymatic hydrolysis and oxidation...

  16. The importance of the oxidative status of dairy cattle in the periparturient period: revisiting antioxidant supplementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abuelo, A; Hernández, J; Benedito, J L; Castillo, C

    2015-12-01

    Dairy cows are especially vulnerable to health disorders during the transition period, when they shift from late pregnancy to the onset of lactation. Diseases at this stage affect not only the animals' well-being, but also cause a major economic impact in dairy farms, because apart from treatment costs, affected cows will not reach their peak milk-producing capacity. The overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to oxidative stress, which has been identified as an underlying factor of dysfunctional inflammatory responses. Supplementation with vitamins and trace elements attempts to minimize the harmful consequences of excessive ROS production, thereby trying to improve animals' health status and to reduce disease incidence. However, results regarding the effects of supplementing antioxidants on dairy cows' health and performance have been inconsistent, because in most cases, the antioxidant potential of the animals was not assessed beforehand and the nutritional strategy planned accordingly. Therefore, reviewing the physiological and harmful effects of ROS production, along with the different options available for assessing the redox balance in dairy cattle and some of the key findings of different supplementation trials, could bring one step forward the on-farm application of determinations of oxidative status for establishing nutritional strategies early enough in the dry period that could improve transition cow health. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  17. The peak in anomalous magnetic viscosity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collocott, S.J.; Watterson, P.A.; Tan, X.H.; Xu, H.

    2014-01-01

    Anomalous magnetic viscosity, where the magnetization as a function of time exhibits non-monotonic behaviour, being seen to increase, reach a peak, and then decrease, is observed on recoil lines in bulk amorphous ferromagnets, for certain magnetic prehistories. A simple geometrical approach based on the motion of the state line on the Preisach plane gives a theoretical framework for interpreting non-monotonic behaviour and explains the origin of the peak. This approach gives an expression for the time taken to reach the peak as a function of the applied (or holding) field. The theory is applied to experimental data for bulk amorphous ferromagnet alloys of composition Nd 60−x Fe 30 Al 10 Dy x , x = 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4, and it gives a reasonable description of the observed behaviour. The role played by other key magnetic parameters, such as the intrinsic coercivity and fluctuation field, is also discussed. When the non-monotonic behaviour of the magnetization of a number of alloys is viewed in the context of the model, features of universal behaviour emerge, that are independent of alloy composition. - Highlights: • Development of a simple geometrical model based on the Preisach model which gives a complete explanation of the peak in the magnetic viscosity. • Geometrical approach is extended by considering equations that govern the motion of the state line. • The model is used to deduce the relationship between the holding field and the time it takes to reach the peak. • The model is tested with experimental results for a range of Nd–Fe–Al–Dy bulk amorphous ferromagnets. • There is good agreement between the model and the experimental data

  18. The use of a hierarchically platinum-free electrode composed of tin oxide decorated polypyrrole on nanoporous copper in catalysis of methanol electrooxidation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Asghari, Elnaz, E-mail: elnazasghari@yahoo.com; Ashassi-Sorkhabi, Habib; Vahed, Akram; Rezaei-Moghadam, Babak; Charmi, Gholam Reza

    2016-01-01

    Tin oxide nanoparticles were synthesized through a galvanostatic pathway on polypyrrole, PPy, coated nanoporous copper. The morphology and surface analysis of the assemblies were evaluated by field emission scanning electron microscopy, FESEM, and energy dispersive X-ray, EDX, analysis, respectively. The electrocatalytic behavior of electrodes was studied by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry tests in methanol solution. FESEM results showed that uniformly distributed nanoparticles with diameters of about 20–30 nm have been dispersed on PPy matrix. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry tests in methanol solution showed a significant enhancement in the catalytic action of PPy after decoration of tin oxide nanoparticles. Porous Cu/PPy/SnO{sub x} electrodes showed enhanced anodic peak current density for methanol oxidation compared to smooth Cu/PPy/SnO{sub x} and porous Cu/PPy. The effects of synthesis current density and time on the electrocatalytic behavior of the electrodes were evaluated. The significant enhancement of electrocatalytic behavior of the Cu/PPy electrode after decoration of SnO{sub x} overlayer was attributed to the effect of tin oxide on the adsorption of intermediates of methanol oxidation as well as oxidation of bi-products such as CO; huge tendency of tin oxides for dehydrogenation of the alcohols and the increase in microscopic surface area of the electrodes were introduced as other affecting factors. - Highlights: • Nanoporous copper–zinc substrates were formed by chemical leaching of zinc. • Polypyrrole thin film was electrodeposited on nanoporous copper. • Thin oxide nanoparticles were synthesized electrochemically on polypyrrole layer. • The catalytic performance of the electrodes was evaluated for methanol oxidation.

  19. Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nguyen Minh

    2006-07-31

    This report summarizes the work performed for Phase I (October 2001 - August 2006) under Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-01NT41245 for the U. S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) entitled 'Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Program'. The program focuses on the development of a low-cost, high-performance 3-to-10-kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system suitable for a broad spectrum of power-generation applications. During Phase I of the program significant progress has been made in the area of SOFC technology. A high-efficiency low-cost system was designed and supporting technology developed such as fuel processing, controls, thermal management, and power electronics. Phase I culminated in the successful demonstration of a prototype system that achieved a peak efficiency of 41%, a high-volume cost of $724/kW, a peak power of 5.4 kW, and a degradation rate of 1.8% per 500 hours. . An improved prototype system was designed, assembled, and delivered to DOE/NETL at the end of the program. This prototype achieved an extraordinary peak efficiency of 49.6%.

  20. An ac susceptibility study in capped Ni/Ni(OH)2 core-shell nanoassemblies: dual peak observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Godsell, Jeffrey F; Roy, Saibal; Bala, Tanushree; Ryan, Kevin M.

    2011-01-01

    In this study, the ac susceptibility (χ' and χ'') variation with temperature (10-100 K) for oleic acid (OA) capped Ni/Ni(OH) 2 core-shell nanoparticle assemblies are reported at frequencies varying from 0.1 to 1000 Hz. Nanoparticle assemblies, with two average particle diameters of ∼34 nm and ∼14 nm, were synthesized using a wet chemical synthesis approach. Two peaks in the ac susceptibility versus temperature curves are clearly discernable for each of the samples. The first, occurring at ∼22 K was attributed to the paramagnetic/antiferromagnetic transition of the Ni(OH) 2 present in the shell. The second higher temperature peak was attributed to the superparamagnetic blocking of the pure Ni situated at the core of the nanoparticles. The higher temperature peaks in both the χ' and χ'' curves were observed to increase with increasing frequency. Thus the Neel and the blocking temperatures for such core-shell nanoassemblies were clearly identified from the ac analysis, whereas they were not discernible (superimposed) even from very low dc (FC/ZFC) field measurements. Interparticle interactions within the assemblies were studied through the fitting of phenomenological laws to the experimental datasets. It is observed that even with an OA capping layer, larger Ni/Ni(OH) 2 nanoparticles experience a greater degree of sub-capping layer oxidation thus producing lower magnetic interaction strengths.

  1. Non-destructive micro-X-ray diffraction analysis of painted artefacts: Determination of detection limits for the chromium oxide-zinc oxide matrix

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nel, P.; Lau, D.; Hay, D.; Wright, N.

    2006-01-01

    The development of micro-X-ray diffraction (micro-XRD) enables non-destructive, in situ analysis of crystalline pigments on artworks and archaeological objects. Pigments with X-ray diffraction patterns with large peak intensities may complicate the identification of other components with lower absorption coefficients, especially if present in low concentrations in the paint sample. Investigation of this issue involved: (1) micro-XRD examination and analysis of the amorphous and crystalline phases of fifteen pigment films and (2) micro-XRD examination and semi-quantitative analysis of various chromium oxide-zinc oxide mixtures, which established detection limits as low as 5 ± 2%

  2. Peak cladding temperature in a spent fuel storage or transportation cask

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, J.; Murakami, H.; Liu, Y.; Gomez, P.E.A.; Gudipati, M.; Greiner, M.

    2007-01-01

    From reactor discharge to eventual disposition, spent nuclear fuel assemblies from a commercial light water reactor are typically exposed to a variety of environments under which the peak cladding temperature (PCT) is an important parameter that can affect the characteristics and behavior of the cladding and, thus, the functions of the spent fuel during storage, transportation, and disposal. Three models have been identified to calculate the peak cladding temperature of spent fuel assemblies in a storage or transportation cask: a coupled effective thermal conductivity and edge conductance model developed by Manteufel and Todreas, an effective thermal conductivity model developed by Bahney and Lotz, and a computational fluid dynamics model. These models were used to estimate the PCT for spent fuel assemblies for light water reactors under helium, nitrogen, and vacuum environments with varying decay heat loads and temperature boundary conditions. The results show that the vacuum environment is more challening than the other gas environments in that the PCT limit is exceeded at a lower boundary temperature for a given decay heat load of the spent fuel assembly. This paper will highlight the PCT calculations, including a comparison of the PCTs obtained by different models.

  3. Electroluminescence color tuning between green and red from metal-oxide-semiconductor devices fabricated by spin-coating of rare-earth (terbium + europium) organic compounds on silicon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuda, Toshihiro; Hattori, Fumihiro; Iwata, Hideyuki; Ohzone, Takashi

    2018-04-01

    Color tunable electroluminescence (EL) from metal-oxide-semiconductor devices with the rare-earth elements Tb and Eu is reported. Organic compound liquid sources of (Tb + Ba) and Eu with various Eu/Tb ratios from 0.001 to 0.4 were spin-coated on an n+-Si substrate and annealed to form an oxide insulator layer. The EL spectra had only peaks corresponding to the intrashell Tb3+/Eu3+ transitions in the spectral range from green to red, and the intensity ratio of the peaks was appropriately tuned using the appropriate Eu/Tb ratios in liquid sources. Consequently, the EL emission colors linearly changed from yellowish green to yellowish orange and eventually to reddish orange on the CIE chromaticity diagram. The gate current +I G current also affected the EL colors for the medium-Eu/Tb-ratio device. The structure of the surface insulator films analyzed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has four layers, namely, (Tb4O7 + Eu2O3), [Tb4O7 + Eu2O3 + (Tb/Eu/Ba)SiO x ], (Tb/Eu/Ba)SiO x , and SiO x -rich oxide. The EL mechanism proposed is that electrons injected from the Si substrate into the SiO x -rich oxide and Tb/Eu/Ba-silicate layers become hot electrons accelerated in a high electric field, and then these hot electrons excite Tb3+ and Eu3+ ions in the Tb4O7/Eu2O3 layers resulting in EL emission from Tb3+ and Eu3+ intrashell transitions.

  4. MEASURING PRIMORDIAL NON-GAUSSIANITY THROUGH WEAK-LENSING PEAK COUNTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marian, Laura; Hilbert, Stefan; Smith, Robert E.; Schneider, Peter; Desjacques, Vincent

    2011-01-01

    We explore the possibility of detecting primordial non-Gaussianity of the local type using weak-lensing peak counts. We measure the peak abundance in sets of simulated weak-lensing maps corresponding to three models f NL = 0, - 100, and 100. Using survey specifications similar to those of EUCLID and without assuming any knowledge of the lens and source redshifts, we find the peak functions of the non-Gaussian models with f NL = ±100 to differ by up to 15% from the Gaussian peak function at the high-mass end. For the assumed survey parameters, the probability of fitting an f NL = 0 peak function to the f NL = ±100 peak functions is less than 0.1%. Assuming the other cosmological parameters are known, f NL can be measured with an error Δf NL ∼ 13. It is therefore possible that future weak-lensing surveys like EUCLID and LSST may detect primordial non-Gaussianity from the abundance of peak counts, and provide information complementary to that obtained from the cosmic microwave background.

  5. O2 uptake kinetics during exercise at peak O2 uptake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheuermann, Barry W; Barstow, Thomas J

    2003-11-01

    Compared with moderate- and heavy-intensity exercise, the adjustment of O2 uptake (VO2) to exercise intensities that elicit peak VO2 has received relatively little attention. This study examined the VO2 response of 21 young, healthy subjects (25 +/- 6 yr; mean +/- SD) during cycle ergometer exercise to step transitions in work rate (WR) corresponding to 90, 100, and 110% of the peak WR achieved during a preliminary ramp protocol (15-30 W/min). Gas exchange was measured breath by breath and interpolated to 1-s values. VO2 kinetics were determined by use of a two- or three-component exponential model to isolate the time constant (tau2) as representative of VO2 kinetics and the amplitude (Amp) of the primary fast component independent of the appearance of any VO2 slow component. No difference in VO2 kinetics was observed between WRs (tau90 = 24.7 +/- 9.0; tau100 = 22.8 +/- 6.7; tau110 = 21.5 +/- 9.2 s, where subscripts denote percent of peak WR; P > 0.05); nor in a subgroup of eight subjects was tau2 different from the value for moderate-intensity (exercise (tau2 = 25 +/- 12 s, P > 0.05). As expected, the Amp increased with increasing WRs (Amp90 = 2,089 +/- 548; Amp100 = 2,165 +/- 517; Amp110 = 2,225 +/- 559 ml/min; Amp90 vs. Amp110, P exercise, the gain of the Vo2 response (as deltaVO2/DeltaWR) is reduced for exercise transitions in the severe-intensity domain, but the approach to this gain is well described by a common time constant that is invariant across work intensities. The lower deltaVO2/deltaWR may be due to an insufficient adjustment of the cardiovascular and/or pulmonary systems that determine O2 delivery to the exercising muscles or due to recruitment of motor units with lower oxidative capacity, after the onset of exercise in the severe-intensity domain.

  6. Non-Gaussian bias: insights from discrete density peaks

    CERN Document Server

    Desjacques, Vincent; Riotto, Antonio

    2013-01-01

    Corrections induced by primordial non-Gaussianity to the linear halo bias can be computed from a peak-background split or the widespread local bias model. However, numerical simulations clearly support the prediction of the former, in which the non-Gaussian amplitude is proportional to the linear halo bias. To understand better the reasons behind the failure of standard Lagrangian local bias, in which the halo overdensity is a function of the local mass overdensity only, we explore the effect of a primordial bispectrum on the 2-point correlation of discrete density peaks. We show that the effective local bias expansion to peak clustering vastly simplifies the calculation. We generalize this approach to excursion set peaks and demonstrate that the resulting non-Gaussian amplitude, which is a weighted sum of quadratic bias factors, precisely agrees with the peak-background split expectation, which is a logarithmic derivative of the halo mass function with respect to the normalisation amplitude. We point out tha...

  7. The antiestrogen endoxifen protects rat liver mitochondria from permeability transition pore opening and oxidative stress at concentrations that do not affect the phosphorylation efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ribeiro, Mariana P.C.; Silva, Filomena S.G.; Santos, Armanda E.; Santos, Maria S.; Custódio, José B.A.

    2013-01-01

    Endoxifen (EDX) is a key active metabolite of tamoxifen (TAM) with higher affinity and specificity to estrogen receptors that also inhibits aromatase activity. It is safe and well tolerated by healthy humans, but its use requires toxicological characterization. In this study, the effects of EDX on mitochondria, the primary targets for xenobiotic-induced toxicity, were monitored to clarify its potential side effects. EDX up to 30 nmol/mg protein did not affect the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. At 50 nmol EDX/mg protein, EDX decreased the ADP phosphorylation rate and a partial collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψ), that parallels a state 4 stimulation, was observed. As the stimulation of state 4 was not inhibited by oligomycin and 50 nmol EDX/mg protein caused a slight decrease in the light scattering of mitochondria, these data suggest that EDX promotes membrane permeabilization to protons, whereas TAM at the same concentration induced mitochondrial membrane disruption. Moreover, EDX at 10 nmol/mg protein prevented and reversed the Ca 2+ -induced depolarization of ΔΨ and the release of mitochondrial Ca 2+ , similarly to cyclosporine A, indicating that EDX did not affect Ca 2+ uptake, but directly interfered with the proteins of the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) megacomplex, inhibiting MPT induction. At this concentration, EDX exhibited antioxidant activity that may account for the protective effect against MPT pore opening. In conclusion, EDX within the range of concentrations reached in tissues did not significantly damage the bioenergetic functions of mitochondria, contrarily to the prodrug TAM, and prevented the MPT pore opening and the oxidative stress in mitochondria, supporting that EDX may be a less toxic drug for women with breast carcinoma. - Highlights: ► Mitochondria are important targets of Endoxifen. ► Endoxifen prevents mitochondrial permeability transition. ► Endoxifen prevents oxidative stress in

  8. The antiestrogen endoxifen protects rat liver mitochondria from permeability transition pore opening and oxidative stress at concentrations that do not affect the phosphorylation efficiency

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ribeiro, Mariana P.C.; Silva, Filomena S.G.; Santos, Armanda E. [Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, 3000-354 Coimbra (Portugal); Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra (Portugal); Santos, Maria S. [Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, 3000-354 Coimbra (Portugal); Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, 3004-517 Coimbra (Portugal); Custódio, José B.A., E-mail: custodio@ci.uc.pt [Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, 3000-354 Coimbra (Portugal); Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra (Portugal)

    2013-02-15

    Endoxifen (EDX) is a key active metabolite of tamoxifen (TAM) with higher affinity and specificity to estrogen receptors that also inhibits aromatase activity. It is safe and well tolerated by healthy humans, but its use requires toxicological characterization. In this study, the effects of EDX on mitochondria, the primary targets for xenobiotic-induced toxicity, were monitored to clarify its potential side effects. EDX up to 30 nmol/mg protein did not affect the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. At 50 nmol EDX/mg protein, EDX decreased the ADP phosphorylation rate and a partial collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψ), that parallels a state 4 stimulation, was observed. As the stimulation of state 4 was not inhibited by oligomycin and 50 nmol EDX/mg protein caused a slight decrease in the light scattering of mitochondria, these data suggest that EDX promotes membrane permeabilization to protons, whereas TAM at the same concentration induced mitochondrial membrane disruption. Moreover, EDX at 10 nmol/mg protein prevented and reversed the Ca{sup 2+}-induced depolarization of ΔΨ and the release of mitochondrial Ca{sup 2+}, similarly to cyclosporine A, indicating that EDX did not affect Ca{sup 2+} uptake, but directly interfered with the proteins of the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) megacomplex, inhibiting MPT induction. At this concentration, EDX exhibited antioxidant activity that may account for the protective effect against MPT pore opening. In conclusion, EDX within the range of concentrations reached in tissues did not significantly damage the bioenergetic functions of mitochondria, contrarily to the prodrug TAM, and prevented the MPT pore opening and the oxidative stress in mitochondria, supporting that EDX may be a less toxic drug for women with breast carcinoma. - Highlights: ► Mitochondria are important targets of Endoxifen. ► Endoxifen prevents mitochondrial permeability transition. ► Endoxifen prevents oxidative

  9. A method for estimating peak and time of peak streamflow from excess rainfall for 10- to 640-acre watersheds in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asquith, William H.; Cleveland, Theodore G.; Roussel, Meghan C.

    2011-01-01

    Estimates of peak and time of peak streamflow for small watersheds (less than about 640 acres) in a suburban to urban, low-slope setting are needed for drainage design that is cost-effective and risk-mitigated. During 2007-10, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Harris County Flood Control District and the Texas Department of Transportation, developed a method to estimate peak and time of peak streamflow from excess rainfall for 10- to 640-acre watersheds in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area. To develop the method, 24 watersheds in the study area with drainage areas less than about 3.5 square miles (2,240 acres) and with concomitant rainfall and runoff data were selected. The method is based on conjunctive analysis of rainfall and runoff data in the context of the unit hydrograph method and the rational method. For the unit hydrograph analysis, a gamma distribution model of unit hydrograph shape (a gamma unit hydrograph) was chosen and parameters estimated through matching of modeled peak and time of peak streamflow to observed values on a storm-by-storm basis. Watershed mean or watershed-specific values of peak and time to peak ("time to peak" is a parameter of the gamma unit hydrograph and is distinct from "time of peak") of the gamma unit hydrograph were computed. Two regression equations to estimate peak and time to peak of the gamma unit hydrograph that are based on watershed characteristics of drainage area and basin-development factor (BDF) were developed. For the rational method analysis, a lag time (time-R), volumetric runoff coefficient, and runoff coefficient were computed on a storm-by-storm basis. Watershed-specific values of these three metrics were computed. A regression equation to estimate time-R based on drainage area and BDF was developed. Overall arithmetic means of volumetric runoff coefficient (0.41 dimensionless) and runoff coefficient (0.25 dimensionless) for the 24 watersheds were used to express the rational

  10. The spatial resolution of epidemic peaks.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harriet L Mills

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The emergence of novel respiratory pathogens can challenge the capacity of key health care resources, such as intensive care units, that are constrained to serve only specific geographical populations. An ability to predict the magnitude and timing of peak incidence at the scale of a single large population would help to accurately assess the value of interventions designed to reduce that peak. However, current disease-dynamic theory does not provide a clear understanding of the relationship between: epidemic trajectories at the scale of interest (e.g. city; population mobility; and higher resolution spatial effects (e.g. transmission within small neighbourhoods. Here, we used a spatially-explicit stochastic meta-population model of arbitrary spatial resolution to determine the effect of resolution on model-derived epidemic trajectories. We simulated an influenza-like pathogen spreading across theoretical and actual population densities and varied our assumptions about mobility using Latin-Hypercube sampling. Even though, by design, cumulative attack rates were the same for all resolutions and mobilities, peak incidences were different. Clear thresholds existed for all tested populations, such that models with resolutions lower than the threshold substantially overestimated population-wide peak incidence. The effect of resolution was most important in populations which were of lower density and lower mobility. With the expectation of accurate spatial incidence datasets in the near future, our objective was to provide a framework for how to use these data correctly in a spatial meta-population model. Our results suggest that there is a fundamental spatial resolution for any pathogen-population pair. If underlying interactions between pathogens and spatially heterogeneous populations are represented at this resolution or higher, accurate predictions of peak incidence for city-scale epidemics are feasible.

  11. Role of nitric oxide in long-term potentiation of the rat medial vestibular nuclei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grassi, S; Pettorossi, V E

    2000-01-01

    In rat brainstem slices, we investigated the role of nitric oxide in long-term potentiation induced in the ventral portion of the medial vestibular nuclei by high-frequency stimulation of the primary vestibular afferents. The nitric oxide scavenger [2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide ] and the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester were administered before and after induction of potentiation. Both drugs completely prevented long-term potentiation, whereas they did not impede the potentiation build-up, or affect the already established potentiation. These results demonstrate that the induction, but not the maintenance of vestibular long-term potentiation, depends on the synthesis and release into the extracellular medium of nitric oxide. In addition, we analysed the effect of the nitric oxide donor sodium nitroprusside on vestibular responses. Sodium nitroprusside induced long-term potentiation, as evidenced through the field potential enhancement and unit peak latency decrease. This potentiation was impeded by D, L-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid, and was reduced under blockade of synaptosomal platelet-activating factor receptors by ginkgolide B and group I metabotropic glutamate receptors by (R,S)-1-aminoindan-1, 5-dicarboxylic acid. When reduced, potentiation fully developed following the washout of antagonist, demonstrating an involvement of platelet-activating factor and group I metabotropic glutamate receptors in its full development. Potentiation induced by sodium nitroprusside was also associated with a decrease in the paired-pulse facilitation ratio, which persisted under ginkgolide B, indicating that nitric oxide increases glutamate release independently of platelet-activating factor-mediated presynaptic events. We suggest that nitric oxide, released after the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, acts as a retrograde messenger leading to an enhancement of glutamate release to a

  12. Hydroclimatology of Dual Peak Cholera Incidence in Bengal Region: Inferences from a Spatial Explicit Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertuzzo, E.; Mari, L.; Righetto, L.; Casagrandi, R.; Gatto, M.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.; Rinaldo, A.

    2010-12-01

    The seasonality of cholera and its relation with environmental drivers are receiving increasing interest and research efforts, yet they remain unsatisfactorily understood. A striking example is the observed annual cycle of cholera incidence in the Bengal region which exhibits two peaks despite the main environmental drivers that have been linked to the disease (air and sea surface temperature, zooplankton density, river discharge) follow a synchronous single-peak annual pattern. A first outbreak, mainly affecting the coastal regions, occurs in spring and it is followed, after a period of low incidence during summer, by a second, usually larger, peak in autumn also involving regions situated farther inland. A hydroclimatological explanation for this unique seasonal cycle has been recently proposed: the low river spring flows favor the intrusion of brackish water (the natural environment of the causative agent of the disease) which, in turn, triggers the first outbreak. The summer rising river discharges have a temporary dilution effect and prompt the repulsion of contaminated water which lowers the disease incidence. However, the monsoon flooding, together with the induced crowding of the population and the failure of the sanitation systems, can possibly facilitate the spatial transmission of the disease and promote the autumn outbreak. We test this hypothesis using a mechanistic, spatially explicit model of cholera epidemic. The framework directly accounts for the role of the river network in transporting and redistributing cholera bacteria among human communities as well as for the annual fluctuation of the river flow. The model is forced with the actual environmental drivers of the region, namely river flow and temperature. Our results show that these two drivers, both having a single peak in the summer, can generate a double peak cholera incidence pattern. Besides temporal patterns, the model is also able to qualitatively reproduce spatial patterns characterized

  13. Reaction path of the oxidative coupling of methane over a lithium-doped magnesium oxide catalyst : Factors affecting the Rate of Total Oxidation of Ethane and Ethylene

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Roos, J.A.; Korf, S.J.; Veehof, R.H.J.; van Ommen, J.G.; Ross, J.R.H.

    1989-01-01

    Experiments using gas mixtures of O2, C2H6 or C2H4 and CH4 or He have been carried out with a Li/MgO catalyst using a well-mixed reaction system which show that the total oxidation products, CO and CO2, are formed predominantly from ethylene, formed in the oxidative coupling of methane. It is

  14. Destruction of microcystins by conventional and advanced oxidation processes: A review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sharma, Virender K.; Triantis, Theodoros M.; Antoniou, Maria G.

    2012-01-01

    oxidants is strongly affected by water quality parameters like pH, DOC and oxidant dose. Although there is a general trend for MCs oxidation (ozone>permanganate>chlorine>>>chlorine-based oxidants), the selection of the appropriate oxidant for toxin elimination during water treatment should be assessed...

  15. Vascular affection in relation to oxidative DNA damage in metabolic syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abd El Aziz, Rokayaa; Fawzy, Mary Wadie; Khalil, Noha; Abdel Atty, Sahar; Sabra, Zainab

    2018-02-01

    Obesity has become an important issue affecting both males and females. Obesity is now regarded as an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis-related diseases. Metabolic syndrome is associated with increased risk for development of cardiovascular disease. Urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine concentration has been used to express oxidation status. Twenty-seven obese patients with metabolic syndrome, 25 obese patients without metabolic syndrome and 31 healthy subjects were included in our study. They were subjected to full history and clinical examination; fasting blood sugar (FBS), 2 hour post prandial blood sugar (2HPP), lipid profile, urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine and carotid duplex, A/B index and tibial diameters were all assessed. There was a statistically significant difference ( p = 0.027) in diameter of the right anterior tibial artery among the studied groups, with decreased diameter of the right anterior tibial artery in obese patients with metabolic syndrome compared to those without metabolic syndrome; the ankle brachial index revealed a lower index in obese patients with metabolic syndrome compared to those without metabolic syndrome. There was a statistically insignificant difference ( p = 0.668) in the 8-oxodG in the studied groups. In obese patients with metabolic syndrome there was a positive correlation between 8-oxodG and total cholesterol and LDL. Urinary 8-oxodG is correlated to total cholesterol and LDL in obese patients with metabolic syndrome; signifying its role in the mechanism of dyslipidemia in those patients. Our study highlights the importance of anterior tibial artery diameter measurement and ankle brachial index as an early marker of atherosclerosis, and how it may be an earlier marker than carotid intima-media thickness.

  16. Manganese mediated oxidation of progesterone in alkaline medium: Mechanism study and quantitative determination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shamsipur, Mojtaba; Pashabadi, Afshin; Taherpour, Avat; Bahrami, Kiumars; Sharghi, Hashem

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • This is first report on oxidation of progesterone in alkaline medium using a new manganese (III) Schiff base complex. • Utilizing QM and MM, we modelled and interpreted the observed electrochemical behavior of complex on carbon and gold materials as platform. • The long term stability of proposed sensor is improved relative to previously reported immunosensors for P4. • A detailed mechanism was developed for the oxidation of P4. • The proposed sensor was applied to quantify P4 in cow’s milk. - Abstract: We report here a non-immunosensing approach for the electrocatalytic oxidation of progesterone (P4) in alkaline medium using a salen-type manganese Schiff base complex (Mn(III)-SB) as a suitable electrocatalyst. We explored the role of carbon surface at glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and gold surface at glassy carbon/gold nanoparticles modified electrode (GCE/AuNPs) on immobilization of the Mn(III)-SB complex using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The GCE/Mn(III)-SB displayed a pair of small redox peaks attributed to Mn(II) ⇄ Mn(III) with a small peak-to-peak separation (ΔE p ), while GCE/AuNP/Mn(III)-SB displayed redox peaks with larger densities, but with a wider ΔE p . A combined molecular mechanics (MM) and quantum mechanics (QM) study were carried out to investigate the variation of surface configuration and energy barrier, when the Mn(III)-SB immobilization was modeled on GCE and GCE/Au surface. Cyclic voltammetry and hydrodynamic amperometry were used for the quantitative determination of P4. A limit of detection (LOD) of 11.4 nM was obtained using amperometry. The sensor retained 91% of its original response after 3 months, which is improved compared to previously reported P4 immunosensors. For the first time, a detailed mechanism for oxidation of P4 in alkaline medium was suggested. The proposed sensor was utilized to determine progesterone in milk samples.

  17. Ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography of lignin-derived phenols from alkaline cupric oxide oxidation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Mingzhe; Lidén, Gunnar; Sandahl, Margareta; Turner, Charlotta

    2016-08-01

    Traditional chromatographic methods for the analysis of lignin-derived phenolic compounds in environmental samples are generally time consuming. In this work, an ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography method with a diode array detector for the analysis of major lignin-derived phenolic compounds produced by alkaline cupric oxide oxidation was developed. In an analysis of a collection of 11 representative monomeric lignin phenolic compounds, all compounds were clearly separated within 6 min with excellent peak shapes, with a limit of detection of 0.5-2.5 μM, a limit of quantification of 2.5-5.0 μM, and a dynamic range of 5.0-2.0 mM (R(2) > 0.997). The new ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography method was also applied for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of lignin-derived phenolic compounds obtained upon alkaline cupric oxide oxidation of a commercial humic acid. Ten out of the previous eleven model compounds could be quantified in the oxidized humic acid sample. The high separation power and short analysis time obtained demonstrate for the first time that supercritical fluid chromatography is a fast and reliable technique for the analysis of lignin-derived phenols in complex environmental samples. © 2016 The Authors, Journal of Separation Science Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. Determination of the upper limit of a peak area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helene, O.

    1990-03-01

    This paper reports the procedure to extract an upper limit of a peak area in a multichannel spectrum. This procedure takes into account the finite shape of the peak and the uncertanties in the background and in the expected position of the peak. (author) [pt

  19. Determination of the upper limit of a peak area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helene, O.

    1991-01-01

    This article reports the procedure to extract an upper limit of a peak area in a multichannel spectrum. This procedure takes into account the finite shape of the peak and the uncertainties both in the background and in the expected position of the peak. (orig.)

  20. Thermoluminescent characterization of thin films of aluminium oxide irradiated with beta particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villagran, E.; Escobar A, L.; Camps, E.; Gonzalez, P.R.

    2002-01-01

    By means of the laser ablation technique has been settled thin films of aluminium oxide on kapton substrates. These films present thermoluminescent response (Tl) when being exposed to beta radiation of a Sr 90 - Y 90 source (E max = 2.28 MeV). The brilliance curves show two peaks, one of them in 112 C degrees and the other one in 180 C degrees. The peak of low temperature is faded in some hours, whereas the high temperature one is more stable, showing a fading in the 15% order after three days of the irradiation. The Tl kinetic parameters were determined using the computerized deconvolution of the brilliance curve (CGDC). The results show that the high temperature peak is composed by four peaks which obey a second order kinetics with their maximum located at 165.7, 188.1, 215.3, and 246.5 C degrees. The depth of the traps (E) has values in the interval between 1.4 and 2.0 eV. The study of the dose response relation, show that the material presents a linear behavior in a dose interval from 150 mGy to 50 Gy. The obtained thin films of aluminium oxide could be a useful tool due to their potential applications in clinical dosimetry, in the determination of distributions of doses produced by penetrating weakly radiation, as well as in interfaces dosimetry. (Author)

  1. Distinctive Oxidative Stress Responses to Hydrogen Peroxide in Sulfate Reducing Bacteria Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou, Aifen; He, Zhili; Redding, A.M.; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila; Hemme, Christopher L.; Joachimiak, Marcin P.; Bender, Kelly S.; Keasling, Jay D.; Stahl, David A.; Fields, Matthew W.; Hazen, Terry C.; Arkin, Adam P.; Wall, Judy D.; Zhou, Jizhong

    2009-01-01

    Response of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 1 mM) was investigated with transcriptomic, proteomic and genetic approaches. Microarray data demonstrated that gene expression was extensively affected by H2O2 with the response peaking at 120 min after H2O2 treatment. Genes affected include those involved with energy production, sulfate reduction, ribosomal structure and translation, H2O2 scavenging, posttranslational modification and DNA repair as evidenced by gene coexpression networks generated via a random matrix-theory based approach. Data from this study support the hypothesis that both PerR and Fur play important roles in H2O2-induced oxidative stress response. First, both PerR and Fur regulon genes were significantly up-regulated. Second, predicted PerR regulon genes ahpC and rbr2 were derepressedin Delta PerR and Delta Fur mutants and induction of neither gene was observed in both Delta PerR and Delta Fur when challenged with peroxide, suggesting possible overlap of these regulons. Third, both Delta PerR and Delta Fur appeared to be more tolerant of H2O2 as measured by optical density. Forth, proteomics data suggested de-repression of Fur during the oxidative stress response. In terms of the intracellular enzymatic H2O2 scavenging, gene expression data suggested that Rdl and Rbr2 may play major roles in the detoxification of H2O2. In addition, induction of thioredoxin reductase and thioredoxin appeared to be independent of PerR and Fur. Considering all data together, D. vulgaris employed a distinctive stress resistance mechanism to defend against increased cellular H2O2, and the temporal gene expression changes were consistent with the slowdown of cell growth at the onset of oxidative stress.

  2. Oxide, interface, and border traps in thermal, N2O, and N2O-nitrided oxides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fleetwood, D.M.; Saks, N.S.

    1996-01-01

    We have combined thermally stimulated-current (TSC) and capacitance endash voltage (C endash V) measurements to estimate oxide, interface, and effective border trap densities in 6 endash 23 nm thermal, N 2 O, and N 2 O-nitrided oxides exposed to ionizing radiation or high-field electron injection. Defect densities depend strongly on oxide processing, but radiation exposure and moderate high-field stress lead to similar trapped hole peak thermal energy distributions (between ∼1.7 and ∼2.0 eV) for all processes. This suggests that similar defects dominate the oxide charge trapping properties in these devices. Radiation-induced hole and interface trap generation efficiencies (0.1%endash 1%) in the best N 2 O and N 2 O-nitrided oxides are comparable to the best radiation hardened oxides in the literature. After ∼10 Mrad(SiO 2 ) x-ray irradiation or ∼10 mC/cm 2 constant current Fowler endash Nordheim injection, effective border trap densities as high as ∼5x10 11 cm -2 are inferred from C endash V hysteresis. These measurements suggest irradiation and high-field stress cause similar border trap energy distributions. In each case, even higher densities of compensating trapped electrons in the oxides (up to 2x10 12 cm -2 ) are inferred from combined TSC and C endash V measurements. These trapped electrons prevent conventional C endash V methods from providing accurate estimates of the total oxide trap charge density in many irradiation or high-field stress studies. Fewer compensating electrons per trapped hole (∼26%±5%) are found for irradiation of N 2 O and N 2 O-nitrided oxides than for thermal oxides (∼46%±7%). (Abstract Truncated)

  3. Perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) affect oxidative stress biomarkers in vitro

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wielsøe, Maria; Long, Manhai; Ghisari, Mandana

    2015-01-01

    Perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) have been widely used since 1950s and humans are exposed through food, drinking water, consumer products, dust, etc. The long-chained PFAS are persistent in the environment and accumulate in wildlife and humans. They are suspected carcinogens and a potential...... mode of action is through generation of oxidative stress. Seven long-chained PFAS found in human serum were investigated for the potential to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), induce DNA damage and disturb the total antioxidant capacity (TAC). The tested PFAS were perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHx...

  4. System dynamics model of Hubbert Peak for China's oil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tao Zaipu; Li Mingyu

    2007-01-01

    American geophysicist M. King Hubbert in 1956 first introduced a logistic equation to estimate the peak and lifetime production for oil of USA. Since then, a fierce debate ensued on the so-called Hubbert Peak, including also its methodology. This paper proposes to use the generic STELLA model to simulate Hubbert Peak, particularly for the Chinese oil production. This model is demonstrated as being robust. We used three scenarios to estimate the Chinese oil peak: according to scenario 1 of this model, the Hubbert Peak for China's crude oil production appears to be in 2019 with a value of 199.5 million tonnes, which is about 1.1 times the 2005 output. Before the peak comes, Chinese oil output will grow by about 1-2% annually, after the peak, however, the output will fall. By 2040, the annual production of Chinese crude oil would be equivalent to the level of 1990. During the coming 20 years, the crude oil demand of China will probably grow at the rate of 2-3% annually, and the gap between domestic supply and total demand may be more than half of this demand

  5. Characterization of TEMPO-oxidized bacterial cellulose; Caracterizacao de celulose bacteriana tempo-oxidada

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nascimento, Eligenes S.; Pereira, Andre L.S.; Lima, Helder L.; Barroso, Maria K. de A., E-mail: eligenessampaio@hotmail.com [Universidade Federal Ceara (UFC), Fortaleza, CE (Brazil); Barros, Matheus de O. [Instituto Federal do Ceara (IFCE), Fortaleza, CE (Brazil); Morais, Joao P.S. [Embrapa Algodao, Campina Grande, PB (Brazil); Borges, Maria de F.; Rosa, Morsyleide de F. [Embrapa Agroindustria Tropical, Fortaleza, CE (Brazil)

    2015-07-01

    The aim of this study was to characterize the TEMPO-oxidized bacterial cellulose, as a preliminary research for further application in nanocomposites. Bacterial cellulose (BC) was selectively oxidized at C-6 carbon by TEMPO radical. Oxidized bacterial cellulose (BCOX) was characterized by TGA, FTIR, XRD, and zeta potential. BCOX suspension was stable at pH 7.0, presented a crystallinity index of 83%, in spite of 92% of BC, because of decrease in the free hydroxyl number. FTIR spectra showed characteristic BC bands and, in addition, band of carboxylic group, proving the oxidation. BCOX DTG showed, in addition to characteristic BC thermal events, a maximum degradation peak at 233 °C, related to sodium anhydro-glucuronate groups formed during the cellulose oxidation. Thus, BC can be TEMPO-oxidized without great loss in its structure and properties. (author)

  6. Bayesian approach for peak detection in two-dimensional chromatography

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vivó-Truyols, G.

    2012-01-01

    A new method for peak detection in two-dimensional chromatography is presented. In a first step, the method starts with a conventional one-dimensional peak detection algorithm to detect modulated peaks. In a second step, a sophisticated algorithm is constructed to decide which of the individual

  7. Estimation of the peak factor based on watershed characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gauthier, Jean; Nolin, Simon; Ruest, Benoit [BPR Inc., Quebec, (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    Hydraulic modeling and dam structure design require the river flood flow as a primary input. For a given flood event, the ratio of peak flow over mean daily flow defines the peak factor. The peak factor value is dependent on the watershed and location along the river. The main goal of this study consisted in finding a relationship between watershed characteristics and this peak factor. Regression analyses were carried out on 53 natural watersheds located in the southern part of the province of Quebec using data from the Centre d'expertise hydrique du Quebec (CEHQ). The watershed characteristics included in the analyses were the watershed area, the maximum flow length, the mean slope, the lake proportion and the mean elevation. The results showed that watershed area and length are the major parameters influencing the peak factor. Nine natural watersheds were also used to test the use of a multivariable model in order to determine the peak factor for ungauged watersheds.

  8. SPANISH PEAKS WILDERNESS STUDY AREA, COLORADO.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budding, Karin E.; Kluender, Steven E.

    1984-01-01

    A geologic and geochemical investigation and a survey of mines and prospects were conducted to evaluate the mineral-resource potential of the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Study Area, Huerfano and Las Animas Counties, in south-central Colorado. Anomalous gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc concentrations in rocks and in stream sediments from drainage basins in the vicinity of the old mines and prospects on West Spanish Peak indicate a substantiated mineral-resource potential for base and precious metals in the area surrounding this peak; however, the mineralized veins are sparse, small in size, and generally low in grade. There is a possibility that coal may underlie the study area, but it would be at great depth and it is unlikely that it would have survived the intense igneous activity in the area. There is little likelihood for the occurrence of oil and gas because of the lack of structural traps and the igneous activity.

  9. Oxidation and thermal behavior of Jatropha curcas biodiesel ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The thermal and oxidation behavior is also affected adversely by the container metal. The present paper is dealing with the study of oxidation and thermal behavior of JCB with respect to different metal contents. It was found that influence of metal was detrimental to thermal and oxidation stability. Even small concentrations ...

  10. Avoiding the False Peaks in Correlation Discrimination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Awwal, A.S.

    2009-01-01

    Fiducials imprinted on laser beams are used to perform video image based alignment of the 192 laser beams in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In many video images, matched filtering is used to detect the location of these fiducials. Generally, the highest correlation peak is used to determine the position of the fiducials. However, when the signal to-be-detected is very weak compared to the noise, this approach totally breaks down. The highest peaks act as traps for false detection. The active target images used for automatic alignment in the National Ignition Facility are examples of such images. In these images, the fiducials of interest exhibit extremely low intensity and contrast, surrounded by high intensity reflection from metallic objects. Consequently, the highest correlation peaks are caused by these bright objects. In this work, we show how the shape of the correlation is exploited to isolate the valid matches from hundreds of invalid correlation peaks, and therefore identify extremely faint fiducials under very challenging imaging conditions

  11. performance calculations of gadolinium oxide and boron nitride coated fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanker, E.; Uslu, I.; Disbudak, H.; Guenduez, G.

    1997-01-01

    A comparative study was performed on the behaviour of natural uranium dioxide-gadolinium oxide mixture fuel and boron nitride coated low enriched fuel in a pressurized water reactor. A fuel element containing one burnable poison fuel pins was modeled with the computer code WIMS, and burn-up dependent critically, fissile isotope inventory and two dimensional power distribution were obtained. Calculations were performed for burnable poison fuels containing 5% and 10% gadolinium oxide and for those coated with 1μ,5μ and 10μ of boron nitride. Boron nitride coating was found superior to gadolinium oxide on account of its smoother criticality curve, lower power peaks and insignificant change in fissile isotope content

  12. Variable threshold method for ECG R-peak detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kew, Hsein-Ping; Jeong, Do-Un

    2011-10-01

    In this paper, a wearable belt-type ECG electrode worn around the chest by measuring the real-time ECG is produced in order to minimize the inconvenient in wearing. ECG signal is detected using a potential instrument system. The measured ECG signal is transmits via an ultra low power consumption wireless data communications unit to personal computer using Zigbee-compatible wireless sensor node. ECG signals carry a lot of clinical information for a cardiologist especially the R-peak detection in ECG. R-peak detection generally uses the threshold value which is fixed. There will be errors in peak detection when the baseline changes due to motion artifacts and signal size changes. Preprocessing process which includes differentiation process and Hilbert transform is used as signal preprocessing algorithm. Thereafter, variable threshold method is used to detect the R-peak which is more accurate and efficient than fixed threshold value method. R-peak detection using MIT-BIH databases and Long Term Real-Time ECG is performed in this research in order to evaluate the performance analysis.

  13. Climate change and peak demand for electricity: Evaluating policies for reducing peak demand under different climate change scenarios

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anthony, Abigail Walker

    This research focuses on the relative advantages and disadvantages of using price-based and quantity-based controls for electricity markets. It also presents a detailed analysis of one specific approach to quantity based controls: the SmartAC program implemented in Stockton, California. Finally, the research forecasts electricity demand under various climate scenarios, and estimates potential cost savings that could result from a direct quantity control program over the next 50 years in each scenario. The traditional approach to dealing with the problem of peak demand for electricity is to invest in a large stock of excess capital that is rarely used, thereby greatly increasing production costs. Because this approach has proved so expensive, there has been a focus on identifying alternative approaches for dealing with peak demand problems. This research focuses on two approaches: price based approaches, such as real time pricing, and quantity based approaches, whereby the utility directly controls at least some elements of electricity used by consumers. This research suggests that well-designed policies for reducing peak demand might include both price and quantity controls. In theory, sufficiently high peak prices occurring during periods of peak demand and/or low supply can cause the quantity of electricity demanded to decline until demand is in balance with system capacity, potentially reducing the total amount of generation capacity needed to meet demand and helping meet electricity demand at the lowest cost. However, consumers need to be well informed about real-time prices for the pricing strategy to work as well as theory suggests. While this might be an appropriate assumption for large industrial and commercial users who have potentially large economic incentives, there is not yet enough research on whether households will fully understand and respond to real-time prices. Thus, while real-time pricing can be an effective tool for addressing the peak load

  14. Fructose and Sucrose Intake Increase Exogenous  Carbohydrate Oxidation during Exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trommelen, Jorn; Fuchs, Cas J; Beelen, Milou; Lenaerts, Kaatje; Jeukendrup, Asker E; Cermak, Naomi M; van Loon, Luc J C

    2017-02-20

    Peak exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates typically reach ~1 g∙min-1 during exercise when ample glucose or glucose polymers are ingested. Fructose co-ingestion has been shown to further increase exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of fructose co-ingestion provided either as a monosaccharide or as part of the disaccharide sucrose on exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates during prolonged exercise in trained cyclists. Ten trained male cyclists (VO2peak: 65 ± 2 mL∙kg-1∙min-1) cycled on four different occasions for 180 min at 50% Wmax during which they consumed a carbohydrate solution providing 1.8 g∙min-1 of glucose (GLU), 1.2 g∙min-1 glucose + 0.6 g∙min-1 fructose (GLU + FRU), 0.6 g∙min-1 glucose + 1.2 g∙min-1 sucrose (GLU + SUC), or water (WAT). Peak exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates did not differ between GLU + FRU and GLU + SUC (1.40 ± 0.06 vs. 1.29 ± 0.07 g∙min-1, respectively, p = 0.999), but were 46% ± 8% higher when compared to GLU (0.96 ± 0.06 g∙min-1: p exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates during the latter 120 min of exercise were 46% ± 8% higher in GLU + FRU or GLU + SUC compared with GLU (1.19 ± 0.12, 1.13 ± 0.21, and 0.82 ± 0.16 g∙min-1, respectively, p exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates during prolonged exercise in trained cyclists.

  15. Inhaled nitric oxide augments nitric oxide transport on sickle cell hemoglobin without affecting oxygen affinity

    OpenAIRE

    Gladwin, Mark T.; Schechter, Alan N.; Shelhamer, James H.; Pannell, Lewis K.; Conway, Deirdre A.; Hrinczenko, Borys W.; Nichols, James S.; Pease-Fye, Margaret E.; Noguchi, Constance T.; Rodgers, Griffin P.; Ognibene, Frederick P.

    1999-01-01

    Nitric oxide (NO) inhalation has been reported to increase the oxygen affinity of sickle cell erythrocytes. Also, proposed allosteric mechanisms for hemoglobin, based on S-nitrosation of β-chain cysteine 93, raise the possibilty of altering the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease by inhibiting polymerization or by increasing NO delivery to the tissue. We studied the effects of a 2-hour treatment, using varying concentrations of inhaled NO. Oxygen affinity, as measured by P50, did not respo...

  16. Methane oxidation and degradation of organic compounds in landfill soil covers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Scheutz, Charlotte; Kjeldsen, Peter

    2002-01-01

    High rates of methane oxidation and degradation of the lowed halogenated methanes (TCM and DCM) and HCFCs (HCFC-21 and HCFC-22) were found in an investigation of the oxidation of methane and halogenated organic compunds (HOCs) in landfill gas affected soil. The degradation followed zero-order kin......High rates of methane oxidation and degradation of the lowed halogenated methanes (TCM and DCM) and HCFCs (HCFC-21 and HCFC-22) were found in an investigation of the oxidation of methane and halogenated organic compunds (HOCs) in landfill gas affected soil. The degradation followed zero...

  17. Fabrication of birnessite-type layered manganese oxide films for super capacitors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou, Y.K.; Dorval-Douville, G.; Favier, F. [Montpellier-2 Univ., LAMMI, UMR CNRS 5072, 34 (France)

    2004-07-01

    Birnessite-type layered manganese oxide films were anodically deposited at the surface of an inexpensive stainless steel. MnSO{sub 4} plating solutions were used at various potentials and for various durations. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to examine the material structure and surface morphologies of obtained manganese oxide films. The capacitive characteristics and stability of these oxides were systematically investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry method in aqueous electrolytes. Deposition conditions affected the oxides structure and morphologies, and consequently greatly affected their electrochemical capacitance performance. (authors)

  18. Assessing peak aerobic capacity in Dutch law enforcement officers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wittink, Harriet; Takken, Tim; de Groot, Janke; Reneman, Michiel; Peters, Roelof; Vanhees, Luc

    2015-01-01

    Objectives: To cross-validate the existing peak rate of oxygen consumption (VO2peak) prediction equations in Dutch law enforcement officers and to determine whether these prediction equations can be used to predict VO2peak for groups and in a single individual. A further objective was to report

  19. PEAK TRACKING WITH A NEURAL NETWORK FOR SPECTRAL RECOGNITION

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    COENEGRACHT, PMJ; METTING, HJ; VANLOO, EM; SNOEIJER, GJ; DOORNBOS, DA

    1993-01-01

    A peak tracking method based on a simulated feed-forward neural network with back-propagation is presented. The network uses the normalized UV spectra and peak areas measured in one chromatogram for peak recognition. It suffices to train the network with only one set of spectra recorded in one

  20. Assessing peak aerobic capacity in Dutch law enforcement officers.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wittink, H.; Takken, T.; Groot, J.F. de; Reneman, M.; Peters, R.; Vanhees, L.

    2015-01-01

    Objectives: To cross-validate the existing peak rate of oxygen consumption (VO2peak) prediction equations in Dutch law enforcement officers and to determine whether these prediction equations can be used to predict VO2peak for groups and in a single individual. A further objective was to report

  1. Validation of an analytical method for nitrous oxide (N2O) laughing gas by headspace gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS): forensic application to a lethal intoxication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giuliani, N; Beyer, J; Augsburger, M; Varlet, V

    2015-03-01

    Drug abuse is a widespread problem affecting both teenagers and adults. Nitrous oxide is becoming increasingly popular as an inhalation drug, causing harmful neurological and hematological effects. Some gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods for nitrous oxide measurement have been previously described. The main drawbacks of these methods include a lack of sensitivity for forensic applications; including an inability to quantitatively determine the concentration of gas present. The following study provides a validated method using HS-GC-MS which incorporates hydrogen sulfide as a suitable internal standard allowing the quantification of nitrous oxide. Upon analysis, sample and internal standard have similar retention times and are eluted quickly from the molecular sieve 5Å PLOT capillary column and the Porabond Q column therefore providing rapid data collection whilst preserving well defined peaks. After validation, the method has been applied to a real case of N2O intoxication indicating concentrations in a mono-intoxication. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Synthesis and luminescence properties for europium oxide nanotubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mo Zunli; Deng Zhepeng; Guo Ruibin; Fu Qiangang; Feng Chao; Liu Pengwei; Sun Yu

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► A novel high temperature sensitive fluorescent CNTs/Eu 2 O 3 nanocomposite was fabricated. ► The nanocomposite showed strong fluorescent emission peaks at around 540 and 580 nm after calcined beyond 620 °C for 4 h. ► The ultrahigh fluorescence intensity of the nanocomposites resulted from a synergetic effect of CNTs and europium oxide. ► We also discovered that CNTs had an effect of fluorescence quenching. - Abstract: A novel high temperature sensitive fluorescent nanocomposite has been successfully synthesized by an economic hydrothermal method using carbon nanotubes (CNTs), europium oxide, and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS). To our great interest, the nanocomposites show high temperature sensitivity after calcinations at various temperatures, suggesting a synergetic effect of CNTs and europium oxide which leads to ultrahigh fluorescence intensity of europium oxide nanotubes. When the novel high temperature sensitive fluorescent nanocomposites were calcined beyond 620 °C for 4 h, the obtained nanocomposites have a strong emission peak at around 540 and 580 nm, due to the 5 D 0 → 7 F j (j = 0, 1) forced electric dipole transition of Eu 3+ ions. In turn, the emission spectra showed a slight blue shift. The intensity of this photoluminescence (PL) band is remarkably temperature-dependent and promotes strongly beyond 620 °C. This novel feature is attributed to the thermally activated carrier transfer process from nanocrystals and charged intrinsic defects states to Eu 3+ energy levels. The novel high temperature sensitive fluorescent nanocomposite has potential applications in high temperature warning materials, sensors and field emission displays. It is also interesting to discover that CNTs have the effect of fluorescence quenching.

  3. Peak loads and network investments in sustainable energy transitions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blokhuis, Erik, E-mail: e.g.j.blokhuis@tue.nl [Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Architecture, Building and Planning, Vertigo 8.11, P.O. Box 513, 5600MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Brouwers, Bart [Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Architecture, Building and Planning, Vertigo 8.11, P.O. Box 513, 5600MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Putten, Eric van der [Endinet, Gas and Electricity Network Operations, P.O. Box 2005, 5600CA Eindhoven (Netherlands); Schaefer, Wim [Eindhoven University of Technology, Department of Architecture, Building and Planning, Vertigo 8.11, P.O. Box 513, 5600MB Eindhoven (Netherlands)

    2011-10-15

    Current energy distribution networks are often not equipped for facilitating expected sustainable transitions. Major concerns for future electricity networks are the possibility of peak load increases and the expected growth of decentralized energy generation. In this article, we focus on peak load increases; the effects of possible future developments on peak loads are studied, together with the consequences for the network. The city of Eindhoven (the Netherlands) is used as reference city, for which a scenario is developed in which the assumed future developments adversely influence the maximum peak loads on the network. In this scenario, the total electricity peak load in Eindhoven is expected to increase from 198 MVA in 2009 to 591-633 MVA in 2040. The necessary investments for facilitating the expected increased peak loads are estimated at 305-375 million Euros. Based upon these projections, it is advocated that - contrary to current Dutch policy - choices regarding sustainable transitions should be made from the viewpoint of integral energy systems, evaluating economic implications of changes to generation, grid development, and consumption. Recently applied and finished policies on energy demand reduction showed to be effective; however, additional and connecting policies on energy generation and distribution should be considered on short term. - Highlights: > Sustainable energy transitions can result in major electricity peak load increases. > Introduction of heat pumps and electrical vehicles requires network expansion. > Under worst case assumptions, peak loads in Eindhoven increase with 200% until 2040. > The necessary investment for facilitating this 2040 peak demand is Euro 305-375 million. > Future policy choices should be made from the viewpoint of the integral energy system.

  4. Peak loads and network investments in sustainable energy transitions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blokhuis, Erik; Brouwers, Bart; Putten, Eric van der; Schaefer, Wim

    2011-01-01

    Current energy distribution networks are often not equipped for facilitating expected sustainable transitions. Major concerns for future electricity networks are the possibility of peak load increases and the expected growth of decentralized energy generation. In this article, we focus on peak load increases; the effects of possible future developments on peak loads are studied, together with the consequences for the network. The city of Eindhoven (the Netherlands) is used as reference city, for which a scenario is developed in which the assumed future developments adversely influence the maximum peak loads on the network. In this scenario, the total electricity peak load in Eindhoven is expected to increase from 198 MVA in 2009 to 591-633 MVA in 2040. The necessary investments for facilitating the expected increased peak loads are estimated at 305-375 million Euros. Based upon these projections, it is advocated that - contrary to current Dutch policy - choices regarding sustainable transitions should be made from the viewpoint of integral energy systems, evaluating economic implications of changes to generation, grid development, and consumption. Recently applied and finished policies on energy demand reduction showed to be effective; however, additional and connecting policies on energy generation and distribution should be considered on short term. - Highlights: → Sustainable energy transitions can result in major electricity peak load increases. → Introduction of heat pumps and electrical vehicles requires network expansion. → Under worst case assumptions, peak loads in Eindhoven increase with 200% until 2040. → The necessary investment for facilitating this 2040 peak demand is Euro 305-375 million. → Future policy choices should be made from the viewpoint of the integral energy system.

  5. QRS peak detection for heart rate monitoring on Android smartphone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pambudi Utomo, Trio; Nuryani, Nuryani; Darmanto

    2017-11-01

    In this study, Android smartphone is used for heart rate monitoring and displaying electrocardiogram (ECG) graph. Heart rate determination is based on QRS peak detection. Two methods are studied to detect the QRS complex peak; they are Peak Threshold and Peak Filter. The acquisition of ECG data is utilized by AD8232 module from Analog Devices, three electrodes, and Microcontroller Arduino UNO R3. To record the ECG data from a patient, three electrodes are attached to particular body’s surface of a patient. Patient’s heart activity which is recorded by AD8232 module is decoded by Arduino UNO R3 into analog data. Then, the analog data is converted into a voltage value (mV) and is processed to get the QRS complex peak. Heart rate value is calculated by Microcontroller Arduino UNO R3 uses the QRS complex peak. Voltage, heart rate, and the QRS complex peak are sent to Android smartphone by Bluetooth HC-05. ECG data is displayed as the graph by Android smartphone. To evaluate the performance of QRS complex peak detection method, three parameters are used; they are positive predictive, accuracy and sensitivity. Positive predictive, accuracy, and sensitivity of Peak Threshold method is 92.39%, 70.30%, 74.62% and for Peak Filter method are 98.38%, 82.47%, 83.61%, respectively.

  6. Lung vitamin E transport processes are affected by both age and environmental oxidants in mice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valacchi, Giuseppe; Vasu, Vihas T.; Yokohama, Wallace; Corbacho, Ana M.; Phung, Anh; Lim, Yunsook; Aung, Hnin Hnin; Cross, Carroll E.; Davis, Paul A.

    2007-01-01

    Despite the physiological importance of alpha-tocopherol (AT), the molecular mechanisms involved in maintaining cellular and tissue tocopherol levels remain to be fully characterized. Scavenger receptor B1 (SRB1), one of a large family of scavenger receptors, has been shown to facilitate AT transfer from HDL to peripheral tissues via apo A-1-mediated processes and to be important in the delivery of AT to the lung cells. In the present studies the effects of age and two environmental oxidants ozone (O 3 ) (0.25 ppm 6 h/day) and cigarette smoke (CS) (60 mg/m 3 6 h/day) for 4 days on selected aspects of AT transport in murine lung tissues were assessed. While AT levels were 25% higher (p 3 or CS at the doses used had no effect. Gene expression levels, determined by RT-PCR of AT transport protein (ATTP), SRB1, CD36, ATP binding cassette 3 (ABCA3) and ABCA1 and protein levels, determined by Western blots for SRB1, ATTP and ABCA1 were assessed. Aged mouse lung showed a lower levels of ATTP, ABCA3 and SRB1 and a higher level CD36 and ABCA1. Acute exposure to either O 3 or CS induced declines in ATTP and SRB1 in both aged and young mice lung. CD36 increased in both young and aged mice lung upon exposure to O 3 and CS. These findings suggest that both age and environmental oxidant exposure affect pathways related to lung AT homeostasis and do so in a way that favors declines in lung AT. However, given the approach taken, the effects cannot be traced to changes in these pathways or AT content in any specific lung associated cell type and thus highlight the need for further follow-up studies looking at specific lung associated cell types

  7. Head-to-head comparison of peak supine bicycle exercise echocardiography and treadmill exercise echocardiography at peak and at post-exercise for the detection of coronary artery disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peteiro, Jesús; Bouzas-Mosquera, Alberto; Estevez, Rodrigo; Pazos, Pablo; Piñeiro, Miriam; Castro-Beiras, Alfonso

    2012-03-01

    Supine bicycle exercise (SBE) echocardiography and treadmill exercise (TME) echocardiography have been used for evaluation of coronary artery disease (CAD). Although peak imaging acquisition has been considered unfeasible with TME, higher sensitivity for the detection of CAD has been recently found with this method compared with post-TME echocardiography. However, peak TME echocardiography has not been previously compared with the more standardized peak SBE echocardiography. The aim of this study was to compare peak TME echocardiography, peak SBE echocardiography, and post-TME echocardiography for the detection of CAD. A series of 116 patients (mean age, 61 ± 10 years) referred for evaluation of CAD underwent SBE (starting at 25 W, with 25-W increments every 2-3 min) and TME with peak and postexercise imaging acquisition, in a random sequence. Digitized images at baseline, at peak TME, after TME, and at peak SBE were interpreted in a random and blinded fashion. All patients underwent coronary angiography. Maximal heart rate was higher during TME, whereas systolic blood pressure was higher during SBE, resulting in similar rate-pressure products. On quantitative angiography, 75 patients had coronary stenosis (≥50%). In these patients, wall motion score indexes at maximal exercise were higher at peak TME (median, 1.45; interquartile range [IQR], 1.13-1.75) than at peak SBE (median, 1.25; IQR, 1.0-1.56) or after TME (median, 1.13; IQR, 1.0-1.38) (P = .002 between peak TME and peak SBE imaging, P peak TME (median, 5; IQR, 2-12) compared with peak SBE (median, 3; IQR, 0-8) or after TME (median, 2; IQR, 0-4) (P peak TME and peak SBE imaging, P peak TME, peak SBE, and post-TME echocardiography for CAD was 84%, 75%, and 60% (P = .001 between post-TME and peak TME echocardiography, P = .055 between post-TME and peak SBE echocardiography), with specificity of 63%, 80%, and 78%, respectively (P = NS) and accuracy of 77%, 77%, and 66%, respectively (P = NS). Peak TME

  8. Measurement of 235U Enrichment Using the Semi-Peak-Ratio Technique with CdZnTe Gamma-Ray Detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ha, J. H.; Ko, W. I.; Lee, S. Y.; Song, D. Y.; Kim, H. D.; Yang, M. S.

    2001-01-01

    In uranium enrichment plants and nuclear fuel fabrication facilities, exact measurement of fissile isotope enrichment of Uranium is required for material accounting in international safeguards inspection as well as process quality control. The purpose of this study was to develop a simple measurement system which can portably be used at nuclear fuel fabrication plants especially dealing with low enriched uranium. For this purpose, a small size CZT (CdZnTe) detector was used, and the detector performance in low uranium gamma/X-rays energy range was investigated by use of various enriched uranium oxide samples. New enrichment measurement technique and analysis method for low enriched uranium oxide, so-called, 'semi-peak ratio technique' was developed. The newly developed method was considered as an alternative technique for the low enrichment and would be useful to account nuclear material in safeguarding activity at nuclear fuel fabrication facility

  9. 21 CFR 868.1860 - Peak-flow meter for spirometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Peak-flow meter for spirometry. 868.1860 Section... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES ANESTHESIOLOGY DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 868.1860 Peak-flow meter for spirometry. (a) Identification. A peak-flow meter for spirometry is a device used to measure a patient's...

  10. Chapter VII. The oxidation of ethylene line glycerin and of dihydro pyranol. A. General part(theoretical); Glava VII. Okislenie glitserinov etilenovogo ryada i digidropiranolov. A. Obshaya chast'(teoreticheskaya)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nikitin, V I

    1961-07-01

    In this chapter of book author made conclusion that off-peak compounds obligatory will oxidize above all with breach on place of off-peak connection are incorrect against to off-peak compounds, in which unsaturated carbons connected with oxygen containing carbons.

  11. Electric peak power forecasting by year 2025

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alsayegh, O.A.; Al-Matar, O.A.; Fairouz, F.A.; Al-Mulla Ali, A.

    2005-01-01

    Peak power demand in Kuwait up to the year 2025 was predicted using an artificial neural network (ANN) model. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of air conditioning (A/C) units on long-term power demand. Five socio-economic factors were selected as inputs for the simulation: (1) gross national product, (2) population, (3) number of buildings, (4) imports of A/C units, and (5) index of industrial production. The study used socio-economic data from 1978 to 2000. Historical data of the first 10 years of the studied time period were used to train the ANN. The electrical network was then simulated to forecast peak power for the following 11 years. The calculated error was then used for years in which power consumption data were not available. The study demonstrated that average peak power rates increased by 4100 MW every 5 years. Various scenarios related to changes in population, the number of buildings, and the quantity of A/C units were then modelled to estimate long-term peak power demand. Results of the study demonstrated that population had the strongest impact on future power demand, while the number of buildings had the smallest impact. It was concluded that peak power growth can be controlled through the use of different immigration policies, increased A/C efficiency, and the use of vertical housing. 7 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs

  12. Electric peak power forecasting by year 2025

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alsayegh, O.A.; Al-Matar, O.A.; Fairouz, F.A.; Al-Mulla Ali, A. [Kuwait Inst. for Scientific Research, Kuwait City (Kuwait). Div. of Environment and Urban Development

    2005-07-01

    Peak power demand in Kuwait up to the year 2025 was predicted using an artificial neural network (ANN) model. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of air conditioning (A/C) units on long-term power demand. Five socio-economic factors were selected as inputs for the simulation: (1) gross national product, (2) population, (3) number of buildings, (4) imports of A/C units, and (5) index of industrial production. The study used socio-economic data from 1978 to 2000. Historical data of the first 10 years of the studied time period were used to train the ANN. The electrical network was then simulated to forecast peak power for the following 11 years. The calculated error was then used for years in which power consumption data were not available. The study demonstrated that average peak power rates increased by 4100 MW every 5 years. Various scenarios related to changes in population, the number of buildings, and the quantity of A/C units were then modelled to estimate long-term peak power demand. Results of the study demonstrated that population had the strongest impact on future power demand, while the number of buildings had the smallest impact. It was concluded that peak power growth can be controlled through the use of different immigration policies, increased A/C efficiency, and the use of vertical housing. 7 refs., 2 tabs., 6 figs.

  13. Effects of synthetic parameters on structure and electrochemical performance of spinel lithium manganese oxide by citric acid-assisted sol-gel method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yi Tingfeng; Dai Changsong; Gao Kun; Hu Xinguo

    2006-01-01

    The spinel lithium manganese oxide cathode materials were prepared by citric acid-assisted sol-gel method at 623-1073 K in air. The effects of pH value, raw material, synthesis temperature and time on structure and electrochemical performance of spinel lithium manganese oxide are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). XRD data results strongly suggest that the synthesis temperature is the dominating factors of the formation of spinel phase, and spinel lithium manganese oxide powder with various crystallites size can be obtained by controlling the sintering time. CV shows that spinel lithium manganese oxide powder formed about 973 K presents the best electrochemical performance with well separated two peaks and the highest peak current. Charge-discharge test indicates that spinel lithium manganese oxide powders calcined at higher temperatures have high discharge capacity and capacity loss, and sintered at lower temperatures has low discharge capacity and high capacity retention

  14. Effects of synthetic parameters on structure and electrochemical performance of spinel lithium manganese oxide by citric acid-assisted sol-gel method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yi Tingfeng [Department of Applied Chemistry, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China)]. E-mail: tfyihit@hit.edu.cn; Dai Changsong [Department of Applied Chemistry, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); Gao Kun [Department of Applied Chemistry, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); Hu Xinguo [Department of Applied Chemistry, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China)

    2006-11-30

    The spinel lithium manganese oxide cathode materials were prepared by citric acid-assisted sol-gel method at 623-1073 K in air. The effects of pH value, raw material, synthesis temperature and time on structure and electrochemical performance of spinel lithium manganese oxide are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). XRD data results strongly suggest that the synthesis temperature is the dominating factors of the formation of spinel phase, and spinel lithium manganese oxide powder with various crystallites size can be obtained by controlling the sintering time. CV shows that spinel lithium manganese oxide powder formed about 973 K presents the best electrochemical performance with well separated two peaks and the highest peak current. Charge-discharge test indicates that spinel lithium manganese oxide powders calcined at higher temperatures have high discharge capacity and capacity loss, and sintered at lower temperatures has low discharge capacity and high capacity retention.

  15. A non-parametric peak calling algorithm for DamID-Seq.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renhua Li

    Full Text Available Protein-DNA interactions play a significant role in gene regulation and expression. In order to identify transcription factor binding sites (TFBS of double sex (DSX-an important transcription factor in sex determination, we applied the DNA adenine methylation identification (DamID technology to the fat body tissue of Drosophila, followed by deep sequencing (DamID-Seq. One feature of DamID-Seq data is that induced adenine methylation signals are not assured to be symmetrically distributed at TFBS, which renders the existing peak calling algorithms for ChIP-Seq, including SPP and MACS, inappropriate for DamID-Seq data. This challenged us to develop a new algorithm for peak calling. A challenge in peaking calling based on sequence data is estimating the averaged behavior of background signals. We applied a bootstrap resampling method to short sequence reads in the control (Dam only. After data quality check and mapping reads to a reference genome, the peaking calling procedure compromises the following steps: 1 reads resampling; 2 reads scaling (normalization and computing signal-to-noise fold changes; 3 filtering; 4 Calling peaks based on a statistically significant threshold. This is a non-parametric method for peak calling (NPPC. We also used irreproducible discovery rate (IDR analysis, as well as ChIP-Seq data to compare the peaks called by the NPPC. We identified approximately 6,000 peaks for DSX, which point to 1,225 genes related to the fat body tissue difference between female and male Drosophila. Statistical evidence from IDR analysis indicated that these peaks are reproducible across biological replicates. In addition, these peaks are comparable to those identified by use of ChIP-Seq on S2 cells, in terms of peak number, location, and peaks width.

  16. A non-parametric peak calling algorithm for DamID-Seq.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Renhua; Hempel, Leonie U; Jiang, Tingbo

    2015-01-01

    Protein-DNA interactions play a significant role in gene regulation and expression. In order to identify transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) of double sex (DSX)-an important transcription factor in sex determination, we applied the DNA adenine methylation identification (DamID) technology to the fat body tissue of Drosophila, followed by deep sequencing (DamID-Seq). One feature of DamID-Seq data is that induced adenine methylation signals are not assured to be symmetrically distributed at TFBS, which renders the existing peak calling algorithms for ChIP-Seq, including SPP and MACS, inappropriate for DamID-Seq data. This challenged us to develop a new algorithm for peak calling. A challenge in peaking calling based on sequence data is estimating the averaged behavior of background signals. We applied a bootstrap resampling method to short sequence reads in the control (Dam only). After data quality check and mapping reads to a reference genome, the peaking calling procedure compromises the following steps: 1) reads resampling; 2) reads scaling (normalization) and computing signal-to-noise fold changes; 3) filtering; 4) Calling peaks based on a statistically significant threshold. This is a non-parametric method for peak calling (NPPC). We also used irreproducible discovery rate (IDR) analysis, as well as ChIP-Seq data to compare the peaks called by the NPPC. We identified approximately 6,000 peaks for DSX, which point to 1,225 genes related to the fat body tissue difference between female and male Drosophila. Statistical evidence from IDR analysis indicated that these peaks are reproducible across biological replicates. In addition, these peaks are comparable to those identified by use of ChIP-Seq on S2 cells, in terms of peak number, location, and peaks width.

  17. Physical properties characterization of WO3 films grown by hot-filament metal oxide deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diaz-Reyes, J.; Delgado-Macuil, R.J.; Dorantes-Garcia, V.; Perez-Benitez, A.; Balderas-Lopez, J.A.; Ariza-Ortega, J.A.

    2010-01-01

    WO 3 is grown by hot-filament metal oxide deposition (HFMOD) technique under atmospheric pressure and an oxygen atmosphere. By X-ray diffraction obtains that WO 3 presents mainly monoclinic crystalline phase. The chemical stoichiometry is obtained by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The IR spectrum of the as-grown WO 3 presents broad peaks in the range of 1100 to 3600 cm -1 . A broad band in the 2200 to 3600 cm -1 region and the peaks sited at 1645 and 1432 cm -1 are well resolved, which are originated from moisture and are assigned to ν(OH) and δ(OH) modes of adsorbed water and the corresponding tungsten oxide vibrations are in infrared region from 400 to 1453 cm -1 and around 3492 cm -1 , which correspond to tungsten-oxygen (W-O) stretching, bending and lattice modes. The Raman spectrum shows intense peaks at 801, 710, 262 and 61 cm -1 that are typical Raman peaks of crystalline WO 3 (m-phase) that correspond to stretching vibrations of the bridging oxygen, which are assigned to W-O stretching (ν) and W-O bending (δ) modes, respectively. By transmittance measurements obtains that the WO 3 band gap can be varied from 2.92 to 3.13 eV in the investigated annealing temperature range.

  18. Peak heart rate decreases with increasing severity of acute hypoxia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lundby, C; Araoz, M; Van Hall, Gerrit

    2001-01-01

    , 459, and 404 mmHg) in a hypobaric chamber and while breathing 9% O(2) in N(2). These conditions were equivalent to altitudes of 3300, 4300, 5300, and 6300 m above sea level, respectively. At 4300 m, maximal exercise was also repeated after 4 and 8 h. Peak heart rate (HR) decreased from 191 (182......-202) (mean and range) at sea level to 189 (179-200), 182 (172-189), 175 (166-183), and 165 (162-169) in the acute hypoxic conditions. Peak HR did not decrease further after 4 and 8 h at 4300 m compared to the acute exposure at this altitude. Between barometric pressures of 518 and 355 mmHg (approximately...... 3300 and 6300 m), peak HR decreased linearly: peak HR(hypobaria) = peak HR(sea level) - 0.135 x [hypobaria(3100) - hypobaria (mmHg)]; or peak HR(altitude) = peak HR(sea level) - 0.15 x (altitude - 3100 m). This corresponds to approximately 1-beat x min(-1) reduction in peak HR for every 7-mmHg decrease...

  19. Psychological factors affecting equine performance

    OpenAIRE

    McBride, Sebastian D; Mills, Daniel S

    2012-01-01

    Abstract For optimal individual performance within any equestrian discipline horses must be in peak physical condition and have the correct psychological state. This review discusses the psychological factors that affect the performance of the horse and, in turn, identifies areas within the competition horse industry where current behavioral research and established behavioral modification techniques could be applied to further enhance the performance of animals. In particular, the role of af...

  20. Hydration-coupled protein boson peak measured by incoherent neutron scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakagawa, Hiroshi; Kataoka, Mikio; Joti, Yasumasa; Kitao, Akio; Shibata, Kaoru; Tokuhisa, Atsushi; Tsukushi, Itaru; Go, Nobuhiro

    2006-01-01

    The boson peak of a protein was examined in relation to hydration using staphylococcal nuclease. Although the boson peak is commonly observed in synthetic polymers, glassy materials and amorphous materials, the origin of the boson peak is not fully understood. The motions that contribute to the peak are harmonic vibrations. Upon hydration the peak frequency shifts to a higher frequency and the effective force constant of the vibration increases at low temperatures, suggesting that the protein energy surface is modified. Hydration of the protein leads to a more rugged surface and the vibrational motions are trapped within the local minimum at cryogenic temperatures. The origin of the protein boson peak may be related to this rugged energy surface

  1. Enhanced electrochemical response in oxidative differential pulse voltammetry of dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid at carboxyl-terminated boron-doped diamond electrodes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kondo, Takeshi [Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 1-3 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8601 (Japan)], E-mail: t.kondo@ci.kagu.tus.ac.jp; Niwano, Yu; Tamura, Akira; Imai, Junichi [Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 1-3 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8601 (Japan); Honda, Kensuke [Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi-shi, Yamaguchi 753-8521 (Japan); Einaga, Yasuaki [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Yokohama 223-0012 (Japan); Tryk, Donald A. [Fuel Cell Nanomaterials Center, University of Yamanashi, Takeda 4-3-11, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-8511 (Japan); Fujishima, Akira [Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology (KAST), 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 213-0012 (Japan); Kawai, Takeshi [Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 1-3 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8601 (Japan)

    2009-03-01

    The differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) peak for dopamine (DA) oxidation was found to be highly amplified by the addition of ascorbic acid (AA) when carboxyl-terminated boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes were used as the working electrode. The DP voltammogram for a solution containing DA and AA obtained using a 4-pentenoic acid-modified BDD (4PA-BDD) electrode showed well-separated oxidation peaks for DA and AA at 0.4 and 0.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl, respectively. In addition, as the DA concentration increased at constant AA concentration, a simultaneous increase in the DA peak current density and decrease in the AA peak current density were observed. The slope of the calibration curve for the [DA] range of 1-10 {mu}M in the presence of AA (500 {mu}M) was seven times larger than that obtained in the absence of AA. Such an enhancement was found to be more efficient at 4PA-BDD than at oxidized-BDD, partly due to simple electrostatic effects and partly due to suppression of the polymerization of DA oxidation products by the terminal carboxyl groups. The enhanced detection method using a carboxyl-terminated BDD electrode should be an effective analytical tool, especially for determining low concentrations of DA in the presence of high concentrations of AA.

  2. Enhanced electrochemical response in oxidative differential pulse voltammetry of dopamine in the presence of ascorbic acid at carboxyl-terminated boron-doped diamond electrodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kondo, Takeshi; Niwano, Yu; Tamura, Akira; Imai, Junichi; Honda, Kensuke; Einaga, Yasuaki; Tryk, Donald A.; Fujishima, Akira; Kawai, Takeshi

    2009-01-01

    The differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) peak for dopamine (DA) oxidation was found to be highly amplified by the addition of ascorbic acid (AA) when carboxyl-terminated boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes were used as the working electrode. The DP voltammogram for a solution containing DA and AA obtained using a 4-pentenoic acid-modified BDD (4PA-BDD) electrode showed well-separated oxidation peaks for DA and AA at 0.4 and 0.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl, respectively. In addition, as the DA concentration increased at constant AA concentration, a simultaneous increase in the DA peak current density and decrease in the AA peak current density were observed. The slope of the calibration curve for the [DA] range of 1-10 μM in the presence of AA (500 μM) was seven times larger than that obtained in the absence of AA. Such an enhancement was found to be more efficient at 4PA-BDD than at oxidized-BDD, partly due to simple electrostatic effects and partly due to suppression of the polymerization of DA oxidation products by the terminal carboxyl groups. The enhanced detection method using a carboxyl-terminated BDD electrode should be an effective analytical tool, especially for determining low concentrations of DA in the presence of high concentrations of AA

  3. Crosslinking and photoreaction of ozone-oxidized calf-lens alpha-crystallin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujimori, E.

    1982-01-01

    Direct-photo-oxidation, singlet oxygen-oxidation, or photosensitized oxidation can modify lens crystallins, causing an increase in blue fluorescence and covalent crosslinking. A relationship between these changes has not been elucidated. We now report results from experiments with ozone oxidation. When calf-lens alpha-crystallin is treated with zone oxidation. When calf-lens alpha-crystallin is treated with ozone, new absorption, fluorescence, and phosphorescence, which are characteristic of the oxidized product of tryptophan (N-formylkynurenine), appear at 320, 435, and 445 nm, respectively. In addition, in this ozonization of alpha-crystallin, its polypeptides are crosslinked by nondisulfide bonds. Irradiation of ozone-treated alpha-crystallin with near-ultraviolet (365 nm) light increases crosslinking and reduces the 320 nm absorbance with a concomitant appearance of a new absorption at about 420 nm. This photoproduct exhibits an intense fluorescence around 450 nm and a weak phosphorescence at 510 nm, with excitation peaks at 400, 415, and 422 nm. These findings are essentially the same as those observed in photo-oxidized alpha-crystallin, suggesting the involvement of the same tryptophan oxidized product in the modification of the lens protein

  4. Peak-valley-peak pattern of histone modifications delineates active regulatory elements and their directionality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pundhir, Sachin; Bagger, Frederik Otzen; Lauridsen, Felicia Kathrine Bratt

    2016-01-01

    Formation of nucleosome free region (NFR) accompanied by specific histone modifications at flanking nucleosomes is an important prerequisite for enhancer and promoter activity. Due to this process, active regulatory elements often exhibit a distinct shape of histone signal in the form of a peak......-valley-peak (PVP) pattern. However, different features of PVP patterns and their robustness in predicting active regulatory elements have never been systematically analyzed. Here, we present PARE, a novel computational method that systematically analyzes the H3K4me1 or H3K4me3 PVP patterns to predict NFRs. We show...... four ENCODE cell lines and four hematopoietic differentiation stages, we identified several enhancers whose regulatory activity is stage specific and correlates positively with the expression of proximal genes in a particular stage. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that PVP patterns delineate...

  5. High power pulsed magnetron sputtering of transparent conducting oxides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sittinger, V.; Ruske, F.; Werner, W.; Jacobs, C.; Szyszka, B.; Christie, D.J.

    2008-01-01

    High power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) has been used in order to study the deposition of transparent conducting oxides. We summarize the studies carried out on different materials (indium tin oxide-ITO and aluminium-doped zinc oxide-AZO) using rather different technological approaches, namely sputtering of ceramic targets and reactive sputtering. For the deposition of AZO reactive HPPMS for metallic targets has been used. A feedback control loop has been implemented in order to stabilize the discharge at any given setpoint on the hysteresis curve. The hysteresis was also found to have a rather untypical form. Reactive HPPMS was found to be a promising tool for obtaining high quality films of low total thickness. In the case of ITO deposition a ceramic target has been used. The process has been characterized in terms of its plasma emission and increasing indium ionization was found for higher peak power densities. The properties of the deposited films were compared to DC sputtered films. While for DC sputtering the choice of oxygen addition and shieldings is crucial for determining surface morphology and resistivity, in HPPMS sputtering peak power density has been found to be a good parameter for influencing the crystal structure. The morphologies obtained differ strongly from those seen in DC sputtering. At high power densities films with low surface roughness and excellent resistivity could be deposited without the use of shieldings

  6. Particle in cell simulation of peaking switch for breakdown evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Umbarkar, Sachin B.; Bindu, S.; Mangalvedekar, H.A.; Saxena, A.; Singh, N.M., E-mail: sachin.b.umbarkar@gmail.com [Department of Electric Engineering, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, Mumbai (India); Sharma, Archana; Saroj, P.C.; Mittal, K.C. [Accelerator Pulse Power Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India)

    2014-07-01

    Marx generator connected to peaking capacitor and peaking switch can generate Ultra-Wideband (UWB) radiation. A new peaking switch is designed for converting the existing nanosecond Marx generator to a UWB source. The paper explains the particle in cell (PIC) simulation for this peaking switch, using MAGIC 3D software. This peaking switch electrode is made up of copper tungsten material and is fixed inside the hermitically sealed derlin material. The switch can withstand a gas pressure up to 13.5 kg/cm{sup 2}. The lower electrode of the switch is connected to the last stage of the Marx generator. Initially Marx generator (without peaking stage) in air; gives the output pulse with peak amplitude of 113.75 kV and pulse rise time of 25 ns. Thus, we design a new peaking switch to improve the rise time of output pulse and to pressurize this peaking switch separately (i.e. Marx and peaking switch is at different pressure). The PIC simulation gives the particle charge density, current density, E counter plot, emitted electron current, and particle energy along the axis of gap between electrodes. The charge injection and electric field dependence on ionic dissociation phenomenon are briefly analyzed using this simulation. The model is simulated with different gases (N{sub 2}, H{sub 2}, and Air) under different pressure (2 kg/cm{sup 2}, 5 kg/cm{sup 2}, 10 kg/cm{sup 2}). (author)

  7. Revisiting the Correlations of Peak Luminosity with Spectral Lag and Peak Energy of the Observed Gamma-ray Bursts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yun-A Jo

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available An analysis of light curves and spectra of observed gamma-ray bursts in gamma-ray ranges is frequently demanded because the prompt emission contains immediate details regarding the central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs. We have revisited the relationship between the collimation-corrected peak luminosity and the spectral lag, investigating the lag-luminosity relationships in great detail by focusing on spectral lags resulting from all possible combinations of channels. Firstly, we compiled the opening angle data and demonstrated that the distribution of opening angles of 205 long GRBs is represented by a double Gaussian function having maxima at ~ 0.1 and ~ 0.3 radians. We confirmed that the peak luminosity and the spectral lag are anti-correlated, both in the observer frame and in the source frame. We found that, in agreement with our previous conclusion, the correlation coefficient improves significantly in the source frame. It should be noted that spectral lags involving channel 2 (25-50 keV yield high correlation coefficients, where Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT has four energy channels (channel 1: 15-25 keV, channel 2: 25-50 keV, channel 3: 50-100 keV, channel 4: 100-200 keV. We also found that peak luminosity is positively correlated with peak energy.

  8. Enhanced methanol electro-oxidation activity of Pt/MWCNTs electro-catalyst using manganese oxide deposited on MWCNTs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nouralishahi, Amideddin; Khodadadi, Abbas Ali; Mortazavi, Yadollah; Rashidi, Alimorad; Choolaei, Mohammadmehdi

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Promoting effects of manganese oxide (MnO x ) on methanol electro-oxidation over Pt/MWCNTs are studied. • 3.3 times higher activity and improved stability are observed on Pt/MnO x -MWCNTs in MOR. • Both hydrogen spill over and bi-functional mechanism are facilitated in presence of MnO x . • MnO x significantly enhances electrochemical active surface area and dispersion of Pt nanoparticles. • Proton conductivity of electrocatalyst layer is improved upon MnO x incorporation. - Abstract: Electro-oxidation of methanol on platinum nanoparticles supported on a nanocomposite of manganese oxide (MnO x ) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is investigated. The morphology, structure, and chemical composition of the electro-catalysts are characterized by TEM, XRD, EDS, TGA, and H 2 -TPR. The electro-catalytic properties of electrodes are examined by cyclic voltammetry, CO-stripping, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). Compared to Pt/MWCNTs, the Pt/MnO x -MWCNTs electro-catalyst exhibits about 3.3 times higher forward peak current density, during cyclic voltammetry, and 4.6 times higher exchange current density in methanol electro-oxidation reaction. In addition, deposition of manganese oxide onto MWCNTs dramatically increases the electrochemical active surface area from 29.7 for Pt/MWCNTs to 89.4 m 2 g −1 Pt for Pt/MnO x -MWCNTs. The results of long-term cyclic voltammetry show superior stability of Pt nanoparticles upon addition of manganese oxide to the support. Furthermore, the kinetics of formation of the chemisorbed OH groups improves upon manganese oxide incorporation. This leads to a lower onset potential of CO ads oxidation on Pt/MnO x -MWCNTs than on Pt/MWCNTs

  9. Study on the influence of carbon monoxide to the surface oxide layer of uranium metal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Xiaolin; Duan Rongliang; Fu Yibei; Xie Renshou; Zuo Changming; Zhao Chunpei; Chen Hong

    1997-01-01

    The influence of carbon monoxide to the surface oxide layer of uranium metal has been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and gas chromatography (GC). Carbon monoxide adsorption on the oxide layer resulted in U4f peak shifting to the lower binding energy. The content of oxygen in the oxide is decreased and the atomic ratio (O/U) is decreased by 7.2%. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere after the surface reaction is increased by 11.0%. The investigation indicates that the surface layer can prevent the further oxidation uranium metal in the atmosphere of carbon monoxide

  10. Factors Affecting the Improvement of the Initial Peak Urinary Flow Rate after Transurethral Resection of the Prostate or Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate for Treating Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hwa Sub Choi

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Purpose We evaluated the factors that affect the improvement of the initial peak flow rate after transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP or photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH patients by using noninvasive tools. Methods One hundred and twenty seven BPH patients who had undergone TURP or PVP between January 2005 and May 2009 were evaluated. They were divided into 2 groups: the postoperative initial peak urinary flow rate (Qmax was less than 10 mL/sec (Group 1; n=37, TURP=11, PVP=26 and more than 10 mL/sec (Group 2; n=90, TURP=41, PVP=49. We confirmed the patients' preoperative check lists. The check list were the international prostate symptom score (IPSS, the quality of life score, a past history of acute urinary retention (AUR, body mass index and/or pyuria, the serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA level and the prostate volume, the prostate transitional zone volume and prostatic calcification. The initial Qmax was measured at the outpatient clinic one week after discharge. Results The improvement rate was not significant difference between the TURP group (78.8% and the PVP group (65.3%. The efficacy parameters were the IPSS-storage symptom score, the prostate volume, the PSA level and a past history of AUR. The IPSS-storage symptom scores of Group 1 (12.3±3.3 was higher than those of Group 2 (10.5±1.7. The prostate volume of Group 2 (42.3±16.6 g was bigger than that of Group 1 (36.6±7.8 g. The PSA level of Group 2 (3.8±2.6 ng/mL was higher than that of Group 1 (2.6±2.6 ng/mL. A past history of AUR in Group 1 (35.1% was more prevalent than that of Group 2 (15.6%. Conclusions The non-invasive factors affecting the initial Qmax after TURP or PVP were the IPSS-storage symptom score, the prostate volume and a past history of AUR. Accordingly, in patients who have a higher IPSS-storage symptom score, a smaller prostate volume and a history of AUR, there might be a detrimental effect on

  11. Evaluation of peak power prediction equations in male basketball players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duncan, Michael J; Lyons, Mark; Nevill, Alan M

    2008-07-01

    This study compared peak power estimated using 4 commonly used regression equations with actual peak power derived from force platform data in a group of adolescent basketball players. Twenty-five elite junior male basketball players (age, 16.5 +/- 0.5 years; mass, 74.2 +/- 11.8 kg; height, 181.8 +/- 8.1 cm) volunteered to participate in the study. Actual peak power was determined using a countermovement vertical jump on a force platform. Estimated peak power was determined using countermovement jump height and body mass. All 4 prediction equations were significantly related to actual peak power (all p jump prediction equations, 12% for the Canavan and Vescovi equation, and 6% for the Sayers countermovement jump equation. In all cases peak power was underestimated.

  12. Robust Peak Recognition in Intracranial Pressure Signals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bergsneider Marvin

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The waveform morphology of intracranial pressure pulses (ICP is an essential indicator for monitoring, and forecasting critical intracranial and cerebrovascular pathophysiological variations. While current ICP pulse analysis frameworks offer satisfying results on most of the pulses, we observed that the performance of several of them deteriorates significantly on abnormal, or simply more challenging pulses. Methods This paper provides two contributions to this problem. First, it introduces MOCAIP++, a generic ICP pulse processing framework that generalizes MOCAIP (Morphological Clustering and Analysis of ICP Pulse. Its strength is to integrate several peak recognition methods to describe ICP morphology, and to exploit different ICP features to improve peak recognition. Second, it investigates the effect of incorporating, automatically identified, challenging pulses into the training set of peak recognition models. Results Experiments on a large dataset of ICP signals, as well as on a representative collection of sampled challenging ICP pulses, demonstrate that both contributions are complementary and significantly improve peak recognition performance in clinical conditions. Conclusion The proposed framework allows to extract more reliable statistics about the ICP waveform morphology on challenging pulses to investigate the predictive power of these pulses on the condition of the patient.

  13. Atomic layer deposition of calcium oxide and calcium hafnium oxide films using calcium cyclopentadienyl precursor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kukli, Kaupo; Ritala, Mikko; Sajavaara, Timo; Haenninen, Timo; Leskelae, Markku

    2006-01-01

    Calcium oxide and calcium hafnium oxide thin films were grown by atomic layer deposition on borosilicate glass and silicon substrates in the temperature range of 205-300 o C. The calcium oxide films were grown from novel calcium cyclopentadienyl precursor and water. Calcium oxide films possessed refractive index 1.75-1.80. Calcium oxide films grown without Al 2 O 3 capping layer occurred hygroscopic and converted to Ca(OH) 2 after exposure to air. As-deposited CaO films were (200)-oriented. CaO covered with Al 2 O 3 capping layers contained relatively low amounts of hydrogen and re-oriented into (111) direction upon annealing at 900 o C. In order to examine the application of CaO in high-permittivity dielectric layers, mixtures of Ca and Hf oxides were grown by alternate CaO and HfO 2 growth cycles at 230 and 300 o C. HfCl 4 was used as a hafnium precursor. When grown at 230 o C, the films were amorphous with equal amounts of Ca and Hf constituents (15 at.%). These films crystallized upon annealing at 750 o C, showing X-ray diffraction peaks characteristic of hafnium-rich phases such as Ca 2 Hf 7 O 16 or Ca 6 Hf 19 O 44 . At 300 o C, the relative Ca content remained below 8 at.%. The crystallized phase well matched with rhombohedral Ca 2 Hf 7 O 16 . The dielectric films grown on Si(100) substrates possessed effective permittivity values in the range of 12.8-14.2

  14. National energy peak leveling program (NEPLP). Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1977-12-01

    This three-volume report is responsive to the requirements of Contract E (04-3)-1152 to provide a detailed methodology, to include management, technology, and socio-economic aspects, of a voluntary community program of computer-assisted peak load leveling and energy conservation in commercial community facilities. The demonstration project established proof-of-concept in reducing the kW-demand peak by the unofficial goal of 10%, with concurrent kWh savings. This section of the three volume report is a final report appendix with information on the National Energy Peak Leveling Program (NEPLP).

  15. Peak reading detector circuit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Courtin, E.; Grund, K.; Traub, S.; Zeeb, H.

    1975-01-01

    The peak reading detector circuit serves for picking up the instants during which peaks of a given polarity occur in sequences of signals in which the extreme values, their time intervals, and the curve shape of the signals vary. The signal sequences appear in measuring the foetal heart beat frequence from amplitude-modulated ultrasonic, electrocardiagram, and blood pressure signals. In order to prevent undesired emission of output signals from, e. g., disturbing intermediate extreme values, the circuit consists of the series connections of a circuit to simulate an ideal diode, a strong unit, a discriminator for the direction of charging current, a time-delay circuit, and an electronic switch lying in the decharging circuit of the storage unit. The time-delay circuit thereby causes storing of a preliminary maximum value being used only after a certain time delay for the emission of the output signal. If a larger extreme value occurs during the delay time the preliminary maximum value is cleared and the delay time starts running anew. (DG/PB) [de

  16. Active inductor shunt peaking in high-speed VCSEL driver design

    CERN Document Server

    Liang, Futian; Hou, Suen; Liu, Chonghan; Liu, Tiankuan; Su, Da-Shung; Teng, Ping-Kun; Xiang, Annie; Ye, Jingbo; Jin, Ge

    2013-01-01

    An all transistor active inductor shunt peaking structure has been used in a prototype of 8-Gbps high-speed VCSEL driver which is designed for the optical link in ATLAS liquid Argon calorimeter upgrade. The VCSEL driver is fabricated in a commercial 0.25-um Silicon-on-Sapphire (SoS) CMOS process for radiation tolerant purpose. The all transistor active inductor shunt peaking is used to overcome the bandwidth limitation from the CMOS process. The peaking structure has the same peaking effect as the passive one, but takes a small area, does not need linear resistors and can overcome the process variation by adjust the peaking strength via an external control. The design has been tapped out, and the prototype has been proofed by the preliminary electrical test results and bit error ratio test results. The driver achieves 8-Gbps data rate as simulated with the peaking. We present the all transistor active inductor shunt peaking structure, simulation and test results in this paper.

  17. Differential potentiometric titration: development of a methodology for determining the point of zero charge of metal (hydr)oxides by one titration curve.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bourikas, Kyriakos; Kordulis, Christos; Lycourghiotis, Alexis

    2005-06-01

    A new methodology is presented, called differential potentiometric titration (DPT), which allows the determination of the point of zero charge (pzc) of metal (hydr)oxides using only one potentiometric curve. By performing extensive simulations of potentiometric titrations for various model (hydr)oxides, we found that an inflection point in a H+(cons,surf) versus pH potentiometric curve (H+(cons,surf): hydrogen ions consumed on the surface of the (hydr)oxide) and a peak in the corresponding differential curve, dH+(cons,surf)/dpH versus pH, appear at a pH equal to the pzc assumed for a model (hydr)oxide. This distinguishable peak appears at the same position irrespective of the surface ionization and the interfacial model adopted as well as the assumed ionic strength. It was found that the aforementioned peak also appears in the high-resolution differential potentiometric curves experimentally determined for four oxides (SiO2, TiO2, gamma-Al2O3, and MgO) that are widely used in various environmental and other technological applications. The application of DPT to the above-mentioned oxides provided practically the same pzc values as the corresponding ones achieved by using four different techniques as well as the corresponding isoelectric point (iep) values determined by microelectrophoresis. Differences between the pzc and iep values determined using various techniques in the case of MgO were attributed to the increasing dissolution of this oxide as pH decreases and the adsorption of cations (Mg2+, Na+) on the MgO/electrolytic solution interface.

  18. Challenge of non-precious metal oxide-based cathode for polymer electrolyte fuel cell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ishihara, Akimitsu; Matsuzawa, Koichi; Mitsushima, Shigenori; Ota, Ken-ichiro [Yokohama National Univ. (Japan)

    2010-07-01

    The partially oxidized TaC{sub 0.58}N{sub 0.42} was investigated as non-platinum cathode for PEFC. In order to quantify the degree of oxidation, the degree of oxidation (DOO) was defined using the XRD peaks of Ta-CN and Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5}. The onset potential for the oxidation reduction reaction (ORR) had high value, that is, 0.9 V vs. RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode), at higher oxidation state of the TaC{sub 0.58}N{sub 0.42}. We found that the partial oxidation of TaC{sub 0.58}N{sub 0.42} was greatly useful to enhance the catalytic activity for the ORR. The volcano plot of the ionization potential vs. the E{sub ORR} suggested that there was a suitable interaction between the surface of the partially oxidized TaC{sub 0.58}N{sub 0.42} and oxygen. (orig.)

  19. Dielectric relaxation in double perovskite oxide, Ho2CdTiO6

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Double perovskite oxide with general formula, A2B B O6 unit structure .... oclinic phase at room temperature with cell parameters a = 9·3858, b .... by the empirical relation ε∗ = ε∞ + ... portional to the resistance of that process, while the peak.

  20. Supramolecular interactions of oxidative stress biomarker glutathione with fluorone black

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hepel, Maria; Stobiecka, Magdalena

    2018-03-01

    Oxidative stress biomarkers, including glutathione (GSH) and related compounds, are involved in a variety of interactions enabling redox potential maintenance in living cells and protection against radicals. Since the oxidative stress is promoting and, in many cases, inducing serious illnesses, monitoring of GSH levels can aid in diagnostics and disease prevention. Herein, we report on the discovery of the formation of a supramolecular ensemble of GSH with fluorone black (9-phenyl fluorone, FB) which is optically active and enables sensitive determination of GSH by resonance elastic light scattering (RELS). We have found that supramolecular interactions of GSH with FB can be probed with spectroscopic, RELS, and electrochemical methods. Our investigations show that RELS intensity for FB solutions increases with GSH concentration while fluorescence emission of FB is not affected, as quenching begins only above 0.8 mM GSH. The UV-Vis difference spectra show a positive peak at 383 nm and a negative peak at 458 nm, indicating a higher-energy absorbing complex in comparison to the non-bonded FB host. Supramolecular interactions of FB with GSH have also been corroborated by electrochemical measurements involving two configurations of FB-GSH ensembles on electrodes: (i) an inverted orientation on Au-coated quartz crystal piezoelectrode (Au@SG-FB), with strong thiolate bonding to gold, and (ii) a non-inverted orientation on glassy carbon electrode (GCE@FB-GS), with weak π-π stacking attachment and efficient charge mediation through the ensemble. The formation of a supramolecular ensemble with hydrogen bonding has also been confirmed by quantum mechanical calculations. The discovery of supramolecular FB-GSH ensemble formation enables elucidating the mechanisms of strong RELS responses, changes in UV-Vis absorption spectra, and the electrochemical reactivity. Also, it provides new insights to the understanding of the efficient charge-transfer in redox potential homeostasis

  1. Supramolecular interactions of oxidative stress biomarker glutathione with fluorone black.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hepel, Maria; Stobiecka, Magdalena

    2018-03-05

    Oxidative stress biomarkers, including glutathione (GSH) and related compounds, are involved in a variety of interactions enabling redox potential maintenance in living cells and protection against radicals. Since the oxidative stress is promoting and, in many cases, inducing serious illnesses, monitoring of GSH levels can aid in diagnostics and disease prevention. Herein, we report on the discovery of the formation of a supramolecular ensemble of GSH with fluorone black (9-phenyl fluorone, FB) which is optically active and enables sensitive determination of GSH by resonance elastic light scattering (RELS). We have found that supramolecular interactions of GSH with FB can be probed with spectroscopic, RELS, and electrochemical methods. Our investigations show that RELS intensity for FB solutions increases with GSH concentration while fluorescence emission of FB is not affected, as quenching begins only above 0.8mM GSH. The UV-Vis difference spectra show a positive peak at 383nm and a negative peak at 458nm, indicating a higher-energy absorbing complex in comparison to the non-bonded FB host. Supramolecular interactions of FB with GSH have also been corroborated by electrochemical measurements involving two configurations of FB-GSH ensembles on electrodes: (i) an inverted orientation on Au-coated quartz crystal piezoelectrode (Au@SG-FB), with strong thiolate bonding to gold, and (ii) a non-inverted orientation on glassy carbon electrode (GCE@FB-GS), with weak π-π stacking attachment and efficient charge mediation through the ensemble. The formation of a supramolecular ensemble with hydrogen bonding has also been confirmed by quantum mechanical calculations. The discovery of supramolecular FB-GSH ensemble formation enables elucidating the mechanisms of strong RELS responses, changes in UV-Vis absorption spectra, and the electrochemical reactivity. Also, it provides new insights to the understanding of the efficient charge-transfer in redox potential homeostasis

  2. Reduced graphene oxide for Li–air batteries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Storm, Mie Møller; Overgaard, Marc; Younesi, Reza

    2015-01-01

    Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has shown great promise as an air-cathode for Li-air batteries with high capacity. In this article we demonstrate how the oxidation time of graphene oxide (GO) affects the ratio of different functional groups and how trends of these in GO are extended to chemically...... and thermally reduced GO. We investigate how differences in functional groups and synthesis may affect the performance of Li-O-2 batteries. The oxidation timescale of the GO was varied between 30 min and 3 days before reduction. Powder Xray diffraction, micro-Raman, FE-SEM, BET analysis, and XPS were used...... techniques can enhance the structural understanding of rGO. Different rGO cathodes were tested in Li-O-2 batteries which revealed a difference in overpotentials and discharge capacities for the different rGO's. We report the highest Li-O-2 battery discharge capacity recorded of approximately 60,000 m...

  3. Assessment of Thermal Maturity Trends in Devonian–Mississippian Source Rocks Using Raman Spectroscopy: Limitations of Peak-Fitting Method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lupoi, Jason S., E-mail: jlupoi@rjlg.com; Fritz, Luke P. [RJ Lee Group, Inc., Monroeville, PA (United States); Parris, Thomas M. [Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States); Hackley, Paul C. [UniversityS. Geological Survey, Reston, VA (United States); Solotky, Logan [RJ Lee Group, Inc., Monroeville, PA (United States); Eble, Cortland F. [Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States); Schlaegle, Steve [RJ Lee Group, Inc., Monroeville, PA (United States)

    2017-09-27

    The thermal maturity of shale is often measured by vitrinite reflectance (VRo). VRo measurements for the Devonian–Mississippian black shale source rocks evaluated herein predicted thermal immaturity in areas where associated reservoir rocks are oil-producing. This limitation of the VRo method led to the current evaluation of Raman spectroscopy as a suitable alternative for developing correlations between thermal maturity and Raman spectra. In this study, Raman spectra of Devonian–Mississippian black shale source rocks were regressed against measured VRo or sample-depth. Attempts were made to develop quantitative correlations of thermal maturity. Using sample-depth as a proxy for thermal maturity is not without limitations as thermal maturity as a function of depth depends on thermal gradient, which can vary through time, subsidence rate, uplift, lack of uplift, and faulting. Correlations between Raman data and vitrinite reflectance or sample-depth were quantified by peak-fitting the spectra. Various peak-fitting procedures were evaluated to determine the effects of the number of peaks and maximum peak widths on correlations between spectral metrics and thermal maturity. Correlations between D-frequency, G-band full width at half maximum (FWHM), and band separation between the G- and D-peaks and thermal maturity provided some degree of linearity throughout most peak-fitting assessments; however, these correlations and those calculated from the G-frequency, D/G FWHM ratio, and D/G peak area ratio also revealed a strong dependence on peak-fitting processes. This dependency on spectral analysis techniques raises questions about the validity of peak-fitting, particularly given the amount of subjective analyst involvement necessary to reconstruct spectra. This research shows how user interpretation and extrapolation affected the comparability of different samples, the accuracy of generated trends, and therefore, the potential of the Raman spectral method to become an

  4. Assessment of Thermal Maturity Trends in Devonian–Mississippian Source Rocks Using Raman Spectroscopy: Limitations of Peak-Fitting Method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lupoi, Jason S.; Fritz, Luke P.; Parris, Thomas M.; Hackley, Paul C.; Solotky, Logan; Eble, Cortland F.; Schlaegle, Steve

    2017-01-01

    The thermal maturity of shale is often measured by vitrinite reflectance (VRo). VRo measurements for the Devonian–Mississippian black shale source rocks evaluated herein predicted thermal immaturity in areas where associated reservoir rocks are oil-producing. This limitation of the VRo method led to the current evaluation of Raman spectroscopy as a suitable alternative for developing correlations between thermal maturity and Raman spectra. In this study, Raman spectra of Devonian–Mississippian black shale source rocks were regressed against measured VRo or sample-depth. Attempts were made to develop quantitative correlations of thermal maturity. Using sample-depth as a proxy for thermal maturity is not without limitations as thermal maturity as a function of depth depends on thermal gradient, which can vary through time, subsidence rate, uplift, lack of uplift, and faulting. Correlations between Raman data and vitrinite reflectance or sample-depth were quantified by peak-fitting the spectra. Various peak-fitting procedures were evaluated to determine the effects of the number of peaks and maximum peak widths on correlations between spectral metrics and thermal maturity. Correlations between D-frequency, G-band full width at half maximum (FWHM), and band separation between the G- and D-peaks and thermal maturity provided some degree of linearity throughout most peak-fitting assessments; however, these correlations and those calculated from the G-frequency, D/G FWHM ratio, and D/G peak area ratio also revealed a strong dependence on peak-fitting processes. This dependency on spectral analysis techniques raises questions about the validity of peak-fitting, particularly given the amount of subjective analyst involvement necessary to reconstruct spectra. This research shows how user interpretation and extrapolation affected the comparability of different samples, the accuracy of generated trends, and therefore, the potential of the Raman spectral method to become an

  5. Assessment of Thermal Maturity Trends in Devonian–Mississippian Source Rocks Using Raman Spectroscopy: Limitations of Peak-Fitting Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jason S. Lupoi

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The thermal maturity of shale is often measured by vitrinite reflectance (VRo. VRo measurements for the Devonian–Mississippian black shale source rocks evaluated herein predicted thermal immaturity in areas where associated reservoir rocks are oil-producing. This limitation of the VRo method led to the current evaluation of Raman spectroscopy as a suitable alternative for developing correlations between thermal maturity and Raman spectra. In this study, Raman spectra of Devonian–Mississippian black shale source rocks were regressed against measured VRo or sample-depth. Attempts were made to develop quantitative correlations of thermal maturity. Using sample-depth as a proxy for thermal maturity is not without limitations as thermal maturity as a function of depth depends on thermal gradient, which can vary through time, subsidence rate, uplift, lack of uplift, and faulting. Correlations between Raman data and vitrinite reflectance or sample-depth were quantified by peak-fitting the spectra. Various peak-fitting procedures were evaluated to determine the effects of the number of peaks and maximum peak widths on correlations between spectral metrics and thermal maturity. Correlations between D-frequency, G-band full width at half maximum (FWHM, and band separation between the G- and D-peaks and thermal maturity provided some degree of linearity throughout most peak-fitting assessments; however, these correlations and those calculated from the G-frequency, D/G FWHM ratio, and D/G peak area ratio also revealed a strong dependence on peak-fitting processes. This dependency on spectral analysis techniques raises questions about the validity of peak-fitting, particularly given the amount of subjective analyst involvement necessary to reconstruct spectra. This research shows how user interpretation and extrapolation affected the comparability of different samples, the accuracy of generated trends, and therefore, the potential of the Raman spectral

  6. Amplified electrochemical determination of maltol in food based on graphene oxide-wrapped tin oxide@carbon nanospheres.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gan, Tian; Sun, Junyong; Yu, Miaomiao; Wang, Kaili; Lv, Zhen; Liu, Yanming

    2017-01-01

    The study presents a new approach for rapid and ultrasensitive detection of maltol using a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with graphene oxide-wrapped tin oxide@carbon nanospheres (SnO2@C@GO). The morphological and components properties of SnO2@C@GO nanocomposites were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. SnO2@C@GO nanocomposite on a GCE had a synergetic effect on the electrochemical oxidation of maltol by means of square wave voltammetry. Under the optimum conditions, anodic peak current response of maltol was linear with its concentration in the range of 80nM-10μM, and a detection limit of 12nM was achieved for maltol. The experiment results presented that the method showed good selectivity, sensitivity, reproducibility, and long-term stability, as well as excellent potential for use as an ideal inexpensive voltammetric method applicable for complex food matrices. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Alkaline electrochemical advanced oxidation process for chromium oxidation at graphitized multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Yudong; Zheng, Shili; Sun, Zhi; Zhang, Yi; Jin, Wei

    2017-09-01

    Alkaline electrochemical advanced oxidation processes for chromium oxidation and Cr-contaminated waste disposal were reported in this study. The highly graphitized multi-walled carbon nanotubes g-MWCNTs modified electrode was prepared for the in-situ electrochemical generation of HO 2 - . RRDE test results illustrated that g-MWCNTs exhibited much higher two-electron oxygen reduction activity than other nanocarbon materials with peak current density of 1.24 mA cm -2 , %HO 2 - of 77.0% and onset potential of -0.15 V (vs. Hg/HgO). It was originated from the highly graphitized structure and good electrical conductivity as illustrated from the Raman, XRD and EIS characterizations, respectively. Large amount of reactive oxygen species (HO 2 - and ·OH) were in-situ electro-generated from the two-electron oxygen reduction and chromium-induced alkaline electro-Fenton-like reaction. The oxidation of Cr(III) was efficiently achieved within 90 min and the conversion ratio maintained more than 95% of the original value after stability test, offering an efficient and green approach for the utilization of Cr-containing wastes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Pt nanoparticles embedded on reduced graphite oxide with excellent electrocatalytic properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saravanan, Gengan, E-mail: saravanan3che@gmail.com [Central University of Tamil Nadu, Department of Chemistry, Thiruvarur, 610101 (India); Mohan, Subramanian, E-mail: sanjnamohan@yahoo.com [EMFT Division, CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Tamilnadu, Karaikudi 630 006 (India)

    2016-11-15

    Graphical abstract: RGO/Nano Pt: This study explore the electrocatalytic oxidation performance of reduced graphite oxide (RGO) anchored with nano Pt. This graphene composite reveal superior electrooxidation performance that is associated with the flexible RGO matrix and the uniform distribution of Pt particles, which enhances surface area, fast electron transfer, uniform particle size distribution; consequently, the RGO matrix provides more stability to Pt particles during electrooxidation process. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Greener electrochemical method applied to prepare well-dispersed Pt-rGO. • Pt-rGO large surface area excellent charge transfer better catalytic activity. • Low-cost highly efficient carbon-based electrodes for direct formic acid fuel cell. • rGO an excellent support to anchor Pt nanoparticles on its surface. • Pt-rGO distinctly enhanced current density towards formic acid electrooxidation. - Abstract: Economically viable electrochemical approach has been developed for the synthesis of Pt nanoparticles through electrodeposition technique on the surface of Reduced Graphite Oxide (RGO). Pt nanoparticles embedded Reduced Graphite Oxide on Glassy Carbon Electrode are employed (Pt-rGO/GCE) for electrooxidation of formic acid. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) image and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) image shows that reduced graphite oxide act as an excellent support to anchor the Pt nanoparticles. Cyclic voltammetry results confirmed that Pt-rGO/GCE enhanced current density as many folds than that of bare platinum electrode for electrooxidation of formic acid. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns for Pt-graphene composites illustrate that peaks at 69.15 and 23° for Pt (220) and graphene carbon (002) respectively. {sup 13}C NMR spectrum of the electrochemically reduced graphite oxide resonance contains only one peak at 133 ppm which retains graphitic sp{sup 2} carbon and does not contain any oxygenated carbon and the carbonyl

  9. Case study of stratospheric ozone affecting ground-level oxidant concentrations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lamb, R.G.

    1977-01-01

    During the predawn hours of 19 November 1972, the air pollution monitoring station at Santa Rosa, Calif., recorded five consecutive hours of oxidant concentrations in excess of the present National Ambient Air Quality Standard. The highest of the hourly averages was 0.23 ppm. From a detailed analysis of the meteorological conditions surrounding this incident, it is shown that the ozone responsible for the anomalous concentrations originated in the stratosphere and not from anthropogenic sources

  10. Peak flow as predictor of overall mortality in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Ejvind Frausing; Vestbo, Jørgen; Phanareth, K

    2001-01-01

    Lung function is a strong predictor of overall mortality in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). FEV1 is considered to be the "gold standard," whereas peak expiratory flow (PEF) is mostly used in absence of FEV1 measurements. We compared the predictive power of PEF and FEV1......, measured after maximal bronchodilation, which included a short course of oral corticosteroids. The study population comprised 491 asthmatics and 1,095 subjects with COPD. Pulmonary function tests were performed between 1983 and 1988, and survival data were obtained by September 1997, when 127 asthmatics...... reflecting different components of COPD, i.e., chronic bronchitis, small airways disease, and emphysema. Furthermore, extrapulmonary components such as muscle mass and general "vigour" probably affect PEF to a greater extent than they affect FEV1....

  11. d° Ferromagnetism of Magnesium Oxide

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jitendra Pal Singh

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Magnetism without d-orbital electrons seems to be unrealistic; however, recent observations of magnetism in non-magnetic oxides, such as ZnO, HfO2, and MgO, have opened new avenues in the field of magnetism. Magnetism exhibited by these oxides is known as d° ferromagnetism, as these oxides either have completely filled or unfilled d-/f-orbitals. This magnetism is believed to occur due to polarization induced by p-orbitals. Magnetic polarization in these oxides arises due to vacancies, the excitation of trapped spin in the triplet state. The presence of vacancies at the surface and subsurface also affects the magnetic behavior of these oxides. In the present review, origins of magnetism in magnesium oxide are discussed to obtain understanding of d° ferromagnetism.

  12. Selective Oxidative Carbonylation of Aniline to Diphenylurea with Ionic Liquids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zahrtmann, Nanette; Claver, Carmen; Godard, Cyril

    2018-01-01

    A catalytic system for the selective oxidative carbonylation of aniline to diphenylurea based on Pd complexes in combination with imidazolium ionic liquids is presented. Both oxidants, Pd complexes and ionic liquids affect the activity of the reaction while the choice of oxidant determines...

  13. Determination of the diagnostic x-ray tube practical peak voltage (PPV) from average or average peak voltage measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hourdakis, C J, E-mail: khour@gaec.gr [Ionizing Radiation Calibration Laboratory-Greek Atomic Energy Commission, PO Box 60092, 15310 Agia Paraskevi, Athens, Attiki (Greece)

    2011-04-07

    The practical peak voltage (PPV) has been adopted as the reference measuring quantity for the x-ray tube voltage. However, the majority of commercial kV-meter models measure the average peak, U-bar{sub P}, the average, U-bar, the effective, U{sub eff} or the maximum peak, U{sub P} tube voltage. This work proposed a method for determination of the PPV from measurements with a kV-meter that measures the average U-bar or the average peak, U-bar{sub p} voltage. The kV-meter reading can be converted to the PPV by applying appropriate calibration coefficients and conversion factors. The average peak k{sub PPV,kVp} and the average k{sub PPV,Uav} conversion factors were calculated from virtual voltage waveforms for conventional diagnostic radiology (50-150 kV) and mammography (22-35 kV) tube voltages and for voltage ripples from 0% to 100%. Regression equation and coefficients provide the appropriate conversion factors at any given tube voltage and ripple. The influence of voltage waveform irregularities, like 'spikes' and pulse amplitude variations, on the conversion factors was investigated and discussed. The proposed method and the conversion factors were tested using six commercial kV-meters at several x-ray units. The deviations between the reference and the calculated - according to the proposed method - PPV values were less than 2%. Practical aspects on the voltage ripple measurement were addressed and discussed. The proposed method provides a rigorous base to determine the PPV with kV-meters from U-bar{sub p} and U-bar measurement. Users can benefit, since all kV-meters, irrespective of their measuring quantity, can be used to determine the PPV, complying with the IEC standard requirements.

  14. Hubbert's Oil Peak Revisited by a Simulation Model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giraud, P.N.; Sutter, A.; Denis, T.; Leonard, C.

    2010-01-01

    As conventional oil reserves are declining, the debate on the oil production peak has become a burning issue. An increasing number of papers refer to Hubbert's peak oil theory to forecast the date of the production peak, both at regional and world levels. However, in our views, this theory lacks micro-economic foundations. Notably, it does not assume that exploration and production decisions in the oil industry depend on market prices. In an attempt to overcome these shortcomings, we have built an adaptative model, accounting for the behavior of one agent, standing for the competitive exploration-production industry, subjected to incomplete but improving information on the remaining reserves. Our work yields challenging results on the reasons for an Hubbert type peak oil, lying mainly 'above the ground', both at regional and world levels, and on the shape of the production and marginal cost trajectories. (authors)

  15. High resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of styrene oxide adsorption and reaction on Ag(1 1 1)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piao, H.; Enever, M. C. N.; Adib, K.; Hrbek, J.; Barteau, M. A.

    2004-11-01

    Synchrotron-based X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to investigate the adsorption and reaction of styrene oxide on Ag(1 1 1). When adsorption is carried out at 250 K or above, ring opening of styrene oxide forms a stable surface oxametallacycle intermediate which eventually reacts at 485 K to regenerate styrene oxide. High resolution XPS is capable of distinguishing the oxametallacycle from molecularly adsorbed and condensed styrene oxide on the basis of different C1s peak separations. The observed separations are well accounted for by the results of DFT calculations.

  16. Dual-functional Pt-on-Pd supported on reduced graphene oxide hybrids: peroxidase-mimic activity and an enhanced electrocatalytic oxidation characteristic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiahong; Wu, Genghuang; Cai, Zhixiong; Chen, Xi

    2015-03-01

    In this study, a facile hydrothermal method was developed to synthesize Pt-on-Pd supported on reduced graphene oxide (Pt-on-Pd/RGO) hybrids. Because of the synergistic effect between Pt-on-Pd and RGO, the obtained Pt-on-Pd/RGO had superior peroxidase-mimic activities in H2O2 reduction and TMB oxidation. The reaction medium was optimized and a sensing approach for H2O2 was developed with a linear range from 0.98 to 130.7 μM of H2O2. In addition, the characteristic of electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol was investigated. The peak current density value, j(f), for the Pt-on-Pd/RGO hybrid (328 mA mg(Pt)(-1)) was about 1.85 fold higher than that of commercial Pt black (177 mA mg(Pt)(-1)) and, also, more durable electrocatalytic activity could be obtained. For the first time, the dual-functional Pt-on-Pd/RGO with peroxidase-mimic activity and an enhanced electrocatalytic oxidation characteristic was reported. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Characteristic of 120 degree C thermoluminescence peak of iceland spar

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Xinwei; Han Jia

    2006-01-01

    The basic characteristic of 120 degree C thermoluminescence peak of iceland spar was studied. The experimental result indicates the longevity of 120 degree C thermoluminescence peak of iceland spar is about 2 h under 30 degree C. The thermoluminescence peak moves to the high temperature when the heating speed increasing. The intensity of 120 degree C thermoluminescence peak of iceland spar is directly proportional to radiation dose under 15 Gy. (authors)

  18. Neutron-induced peaks in Ge detectors from evaporation neutrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gete, E.; Measday, D.F.; Moftah, B.A.; Saliba, M.A.; Stocki, T.J.

    1997-01-01

    We have studied the peak shapes at 596 and 691 keV resulting from fast neutron interactions inside germanium detectors. We have used neutrons from a 252 Cf source, as well as from the 28 Si(μ - , nν), and 209 Bi(π - , xn) reactions to compare the peaks and to check for a dependence of peak shape on the incoming neutron energy. In our investigation, no difference between these three measurements has been observed. In a comparison of these peak shapes with other studies, we found similar results to ours except for those measurements using monoenergetic neutrons in which a significant variation with neutron energy has been observed. (orig.)

  19. Oxidizer in phosphoric reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos Benedetto, J. dos

    1985-01-01

    Oxidation during the manufacture of wet-process phosphoric acid affected the distribution of uranium and impurities between phosphoric acid and gypsum, by decreasing the uranium loss to gypsum and the impurities solubilization in phosphoric acid. (Author) [pt

  20. Interfacial reactions between indium tin oxide and triphenylamine tetramer layers induced by photoirradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Satoh, Toshikazu; Fujikawa, Hisayoshi; Yamamoto, Ichiro; Murasaki, Takanori; Kato, Yoshifumi

    2008-01-01

    The effects of photoirradiation on the interfacial chemical reactions between indium tin oxide (ITO) films and layers of triphenylamine tetramer (TPTE) were investigated by using in situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Thin TPTE layers deposited onto sputter-deposited ITO films were irradiated with violet light-emitting diodes (peak wavelength: 380 nm). Shifts in the peak positions of spectral components that originated in the organic layer toward the higher binding-energy side were observed in the XPS profiles during the early stages of irradiation. No further peak shifts were observed after additional irradiation. An increase in the ratio of the organic component in the O 1s spectra was also observed during the photoirradiation. The ratio of the organic component increased in proportion to the cube root of the irradiation time. These results suggest that photoirradiation induces an increase in the height of the carrier injection barrier at the interface between TPTE and ITO in the early stages of the irradiation, possibly due to the rapid diffusion controlled formation and growth of an oxidized TPTE layer, which is considered to act as a high resistance layer

  1. Surface-Enhanced Oxidation and Determination of Isothipendyl Hydrochloride at an Electrochemical Sensing Film Constructed by Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. N. Prashanth

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The electrochemical behavior of isothipendyl hydrochloride (IPH was investigated at bare and multiwalled-carbon-nanotube modified glassy carbon electrode (MWCNT-GCE. IPH (55 μM showed two oxidation peaks in Britton-Robinson (BR buffer of pH 7.0. The oxidation process of IPH was observed to be irreversible over the pH range of 2.5–9.0. The influence of pH, scan rate, and concentration of the drug on anodic peak was studied. A differential pulse voltammetric method with good precision and accuracy was developed for the determination of IPH in pure and biological fluids. The peak current was found to be linearly dependent on the concentration of IPH in the range of 1.25–55 μM. The values of limit of detection and limit of quantification were noticed to be 0.284 and 0.949 μM, respectively.

  2. The environmental impacts of peaking at hydropower plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Halleraker, Jo Halvard

    2001-01-01

    A recent energy act in Norway allows hydropower plants to be operated so that hydro peaking is permitted. However, it is uncertain how fish react to the variations in discharge and depth that follow hydro peaking. SINTEF Energy Research is cooperating with other research institutions to investigate the consequences of these variations on the biota. Among the research tools is an aqua channel which is an indoor laboratory flume where fish behaviour can be studied in detail. It has been constructed to provide the hydropower industry and public authorities with means of better determining the effects of hydro peaking. (author)

  3. Markers of protein oxidation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Headlam, Henrietta A; Davies, Michael Jonathan

    2004-01-01

    Exposure of proteins to radicals in the presence of O2 gives both side-chain oxidation and backbone fragmentation. These processes can be interrelated, with initial side-chain oxidation giving rise to backbone damage via transfer reactions. We have shown previously that alkoxyl radicals formed...... of this process depends on the extent of oxidation at C-3 compared with other sites. HO*, generated by gamma radiolysis, gave the highest total carbonyl yield, with protein-bound carbonyls predominating over released. In contrast, metal ion/H2O2 systems, gave more released than bound carbonyls, with this ratio...... modulated by EDTA. This is ascribed to metal ion-protein interactions affecting the sites of initial oxidation. Hypochlorous acid gave low concentrations of released carbonyls, but high yields of protein-bound material. The peroxyl radical generator 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) hydrochloride...

  4. Abdominal Hollowing Reduces Lateral Trunk Displacement During Single-Leg Squats in Healthy Females But Does Not Affect Peak Hip Abduction Angle or Knee Abductio Angle/Moment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linde, Lukas D; Archibald, Jessica; Lampert, Eve C; Srbely, John Z

    2017-07-17

    Females suffer 4-6 times more non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries than males due to neuromuscular control deficits of the hip musculature leading to increases in hip adduction angle, knee abduction angle, and knee abduction moment during dynamic tasks such as single-leg squats. Lateral trunk displacement has been further related to ACL injury risk in females, leading to the incorporation of core strength/stability exercises in ACL preventative training programs. However, the direct mechanism relating lateral trunk displacement and lower limb ACL risk factors is not well established. To assess the relationship between lateral trunk displacement and lower limb measures of ACL injury risk by altering trunk control through abdominal activation techniques during single-leg squats in healthy females. Interventional Study Setting: Movement and Posture Laboratory Participants: 13 healthy females (21.3±0.88y, 1.68±0.07m, 58.27±5.46kg) Intervention: Trunk position and lower limb kinematics were recorded using an optoelectric motion capture system during single-leg squats under differing conditions of abdominal muscle activation (abdominal hollowing, abdominal bracing, control), confirmed via surface electromyography. Lateral trunk displacement, peak hip adduction angle, peak knee abduction angle/moment, and average muscle activity from bilateral internal oblique, external oblique, and erector spinae muscles. No differences were observed for peak lateral trunk displacement, peak hip adduction angle or peak knee abduction angle/moment. Abdominal hollowing and bracing elicited greater muscle activation than the control condition, and bracing was greater than hollowing in four of six muscles recorded. The lack of reduction in trunk, hip, and knee measures of ACL injury risk during abdominal hollowing and bracing suggests that these techniques alone may provide minimal benefit in ACL injury prevention training.

  5. ASPeak: an abundance sensitive peak detection algorithm for RIP-Seq.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kucukural, Alper; Özadam, Hakan; Singh, Guramrit; Moore, Melissa J; Cenik, Can

    2013-10-01

    Unlike DNA, RNA abundances can vary over several orders of magnitude. Thus, identification of RNA-protein binding sites from high-throughput sequencing data presents unique challenges. Although peak identification in ChIP-Seq data has been extensively explored, there are few bioinformatics tools tailored for peak calling on analogous datasets for RNA-binding proteins. Here we describe ASPeak (abundance sensitive peak detection algorithm), an implementation of an algorithm that we previously applied to detect peaks in exon junction complex RNA immunoprecipitation in tandem experiments. Our peak detection algorithm yields stringent and robust target sets enabling sensitive motif finding and downstream functional analyses. ASPeak is implemented in Perl as a complete pipeline that takes bedGraph files as input. ASPeak implementation is freely available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/as-peak under the GNU General Public License. ASPeak can be run on a personal computer, yet is designed to be easily parallelizable. ASPeak can also run on high performance computing clusters providing efficient speedup. The documentation and user manual can be obtained from http://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/as-peak/manual.pdf.

  6. Effects of peatland drainage management on peak flows

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. E. Ballard

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Open ditch drainage has historically been a common land management practice in upland blanket peats, particularly in the UK. However, peatland drainage is now generally considered to have adverse effects on the upland environment, including increased peak flows. As a result, drain blocking has become a common management strategy in the UK over recent years, although there is only anecdotal evidence to suggest that this might decrease peak flows. The change in the hydrological regime associated with the drainage of blanket peat and the subsequent blocking of drains is poorly understood, therefore a new physics-based model has been developed that allows the exploration of the associated hydrological processes. A series of simulations is used to explore the response of intact, drained and blocked drain sites at field scales. While drainage is generally found to increase peak flows, the effect of drain blocking appears to be dependent on local conditions, sometimes decreasing and sometimes increasing peak flows. Based on insights from these simulations we identify steep smooth drains as those that would experience the greatest reduction in field-scale peak flows if blocked and recommend that future targeted field studies should be focused on examining surface runoff characteristics.

  7. [A new peak detection algorithm of Raman spectra].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Cheng-Zhi; Sun, Qiang; Liu, Ying; Liang, Jing-Qiu; An, Yan; Liu, Bing

    2014-01-01

    The authors proposed a new Raman peak recognition method named bi-scale correlation algorithm. The algorithm uses the combination of the correlation coefficient and the local signal-to-noise ratio under two scales to achieve Raman peak identification. We compared the performance of the proposed algorithm with that of the traditional continuous wavelet transform method through MATLAB, and then tested the algorithm with real Raman spectra. The results show that the average time for identifying a Raman spectrum is 0.51 s with the algorithm, while it is 0.71 s with the continuous wavelet transform. When the signal-to-noise ratio of Raman peak is greater than or equal to 6 (modern Raman spectrometers feature an excellent signal-to-noise ratio), the recognition accuracy with the algorithm is higher than 99%, while it is less than 84% with the continuous wavelet transform method. The mean and the standard deviations of the peak position identification error of the algorithm are both less than that of the continuous wavelet transform method. Simulation analysis and experimental verification prove that the new algorithm possesses the following advantages: no needs of human intervention, no needs of de-noising and background removal operation, higher recognition speed and higher recognition accuracy. The proposed algorithm is operable in Raman peak identification.

  8. Automatic fitting of Gaussian peaks using abductive machine learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdel-Aal, R. E.

    1998-02-01

    Analytical techniques have been used for many years for fitting Gaussian peaks in nuclear spectroscopy. However, the complexity of the approach warrants looking for machine-learning alternatives where intensive computations are required only once (during training), while actual analysis on individual spectra is greatly simplified and quickened. This should allow the use of simple portable systems for fast and automated analysis of large numbers of spectra, particularly in situations where accuracy may be traded for speed and simplicity. This paper proposes the use of abductive networks machine learning for this purpose. The Abductory Induction Mechanism (AIM) tool was used to build models for analyzing both single and double Gaussian peaks in the presence of noise depicting statistical uncertainties in collected spectra. AIM networks were synthesized by training on 1000 representative simulated spectra and evaluated on 500 new spectra. A classifier network determines the multiplicity of single/double peaks with an accuracy of 5.8%. With statistical uncertainties corresponding to a peak count of 100, average percentage absolute errors for the height, position, and width of single peaks are 4.9, 2.9, and 4.2%, respectively. For double peaks, these average errors are within 7.0, 3.1, and 5.9%, respectively. Models have been developed which account for the effect of a linear background on a single peak. Performance is compared with a neural network application and with an analytical curve-fitting routine, and the new technique is applied to actual data of an alpha spectrum.

  9. Automatic fitting of Gaussian peaks using abductive machine learning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdel-Aal, R.E.

    1998-01-01

    Analytical techniques have been used for many years for fitting Gaussian peaks in nuclear spectroscopy. However, the complexity of the approach warrants looking for machine-learning alternatives where intensive computations are required only once (during training), while actual analysis on individual spectra is greatly simplified and quickened. This should allow the use of simple portable systems for fast and automated analysis of large numbers of spectra, particularly in situations where accuracy may be traded for speed and simplicity. This paper proposes the use of abductive networks machine learning for this purpose. The Abductory Induction Mechanism (AIM) tool was used to build models for analyzing both single and double Gaussian peaks in the presence of noise depicting statistical uncertainties in collected spectra. AIM networks were synthesized by training on 1,000 representative simulated spectra and evaluated on 500 new spectra. A classifier network determines the multiplicity of single/double peaks with an accuracy of 98%. With statistical uncertainties corresponding to a peak count of 100, average percentage absolute errors for the height, position, and width of single peaks are 4.9, 2.9, and 4.2%, respectively. For double peaks, these average errors are within 7.0, 3.1, and 5.9%, respectively. Models have been developed which account for the effect of a linear background on a single peak. Performance is compared with a neural network application and with an analytical curve-fitting routine, and the new technique is applied to actual data of an alpha spectrum

  10. Similarities in the dynamical behavior across the classical peak effect and the second magnetization peak in single crystals of 2H-NbSe2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thakur, A.D.; Ramakrishnan, S.; Grover, A.K.; Chandrasekhar Rao, T.V.; Uji, S.; Terashima, T.; Higgins, M.J.

    2005-01-01

    The classical peak effect (CPE) and the second magnetization peak (SMP) are two distinct anomalies in critical current of superconductors. A nascent pinned single crystal sample of 2HNbSe 2 (T c (0) ∼7.2 K) shows only the sharp CPE. In a moderately pinned sample (T c (0) ∼6 K), the sharp CPE broadens with the addition of characteristic structure (stepwise amorphization) between the onset and the peak positions of the CPE. Also, there emerges another anomalous peak akin to SMP prior to the CPE. We have looked at samples of 2H-NbSe 2 with intermediate levels of quenched random pinning (T c (0) ∼ 7.1 K) and successfully explored the two peaks down to 50 mK. (author)

  11. Emulsification technique affects oxidative stability of fish oil-in-water emulsion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Horn, Anna Frisenfeldt; Nielsen, Nina Skall; Jensen, Louise Helene Søgaard

    of this study was therefore to compare lipid oxidation in 10% fish oil-in-water emulsions prepared by two different kinds of high pressure homogenizers i.e. a microfluidizer and a two valve high pressure homogenizer. Emulsions were made with equal droplet sizes, and with either 1% sodium caseinate or 1% whey...

  12. Emulsification technique affects oxidative stability of fish oil-in-water emulsions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Horn, Anna Frisenfeldt; Nielsen, Nina Skall; Jensen, Louise Helene Søgaard

    of this study was to compare lipid oxidation in 10% fish oil-in-water emulsions prepared by two different kinds of high pressure homogenizers i.e. a microfluidizer and a two valve high pressure homogenizer. Emulsions were made with equal droplet sizes, and with either 1% sodium caseinate or 1% whey protein...

  13. The effect of high-intensity training on mitochondrial fat oxidation in skeletal muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Steen; Danielsen, J H; Søndergård, Stine Dam

    2015-01-01

    High-intensity interval training (HIT) is known to increase mitochondrial content in a similar way as endurance training [60-90% of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2peak )]. Whether HIT increases the mitochondria's ability to oxidize lipids is currently debated. We investigated the effect of HIT...... of HIT (three times per week at 298 ± 21 W). HIT significantly increased VO2peak from 2.9 ± 0.2 to 3.1 ± 0.2 L/min. No differences were seen in maximal fat oxidation in either skeletal muscle or adipose tissue. Km (app) for octanoyl carnitine or palmitoyl carnitine were similar after training in skeletal...... muscle and adipose tissue. Maximal OXPHOS capacity with complex I- and II-linked substrates was increased after training in skeletal muscle but not in adipose tissue. In conclusion, 6 weeks of HIT increased VO2peak . Mitochondrial content and mitochondrial OXPHOS capacity were increased in skeletal...

  14. Electrocatalytic oxidation of deferiprone and its determination on a carbon nanotube-modified glassy carbon electrode

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yadegari, H. [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 16315-1618, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Jabbari, A. [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 16315-1618, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], E-mail: jabbari@kntu.ac.ir; Heli, H.; Moosavi-Movahedi, A.A. [Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Karimian, K. [Arasto Pharmaceutical Chemicals Inc., Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Khodadadi, A. [Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2008-02-15

    The electrochemical behavior of the anti-thalassemia and anti-HIV replication drug, deferiprone, was investigated on a carbon nanotube-modified glassy carbon (GC-CNT) electrode in phosphate buffer solution, pH 7.40 (PBS). During oxidation of deferiprone, two irreversible anodic peaks, with E{sub 1}{sup 0}=452 and E{sub 2}{sup 0}=906mV, appeared, using GC-CNT. Cyclic voltammetric study indicated that the oxidation process is irreversible and diffusion controlled. The number of exchanged electrons in the electro-oxidation process was obtained, and the data indicated that deferiprone is oxidized via two two-electron steps. The results revealed that carbon nanotube (CNT) promotes the rate of oxidation by increasing the peak current, so that deferiprone is oxidized at lower potentials, which thermodynamically is more favorable. This result was confirmed by impedance measurements. The diffusion coefficient, electron-transfer coefficient and heterogeneous electron-transfer rate constant of deferiprone were found to be 1.49 x 10{sup -6} cm{sup 2} s{sup -1}, 0.44, and 3.83 x 10{sup -3} cm s{sup -1}, respectively. A sensitive, simple and time-saving differential-pulse voltammetric procedure was developed for the analysis of deferiprone. Using the proposed method, deferiprone can be determined with a detection limit of 5.25 x 10{sup -7} M. The applicability of the method to direct assays of spiked human serum and urine fluids is described.

  15. Prediction of peak overlap in NMR spectra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hefke, Frederik; Schmucki, Roland; Güntert, Peter

    2013-01-01

    Peak overlap is one of the major factors complicating the analysis of biomolecular NMR spectra. We present a general method for predicting the extent of peak overlap in multidimensional NMR spectra and its validation using both, experimental data sets and Monte Carlo simulation. The method is based on knowledge of the magnetization transfer pathways of the NMR experiments and chemical shift statistics from the Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank. Assuming a normal distribution with characteristic mean value and standard deviation for the chemical shift of each observable atom, an analytic expression was derived for the expected overlap probability of the cross peaks. The analytical approach was verified to agree with the average peak overlap in a large number of individual peak lists simulated using the same chemical shift statistics. The method was applied to eight proteins, including an intrinsically disordered one, for which the prediction results could be compared with the actual overlap based on the experimentally measured chemical shifts. The extent of overlap predicted using only statistical chemical shift information was in good agreement with the overlap that was observed when the measured shifts were used in the virtual spectrum, except for the intrinsically disordered protein. Since the spectral complexity of a protein NMR spectrum is a crucial factor for protein structure determination, analytical overlap prediction can be used to identify potentially difficult proteins before conducting NMR experiments. Overlap predictions can be tailored to particular classes of proteins by preparing statistics from corresponding protein databases. The method is also suitable for optimizing recording parameters and labeling schemes for NMR experiments and improving the reliability of automated spectra analysis and protein structure determination.

  16. Electrochemical Oxidation of Glycerol Using Gold Electrode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohamed Rozali Othman; Amirah Ahmad

    2015-01-01

    Cyclic voltammetry, potential linear V and chronocuolometry methods were carried out to gain electrochemical behavior of glycerol at a gold electrode. Potassium hydroxide and sulfuric acid were chosen to be the electrolyte for the electro-oxidation of this organic compound. Besides gold plate electrode, gold composite electrode (Au-PVC) was also used as the working electrode. The Au-PVC composite electrode was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to determine its morphological aspects before and after used in electrochemical oxidation of glycerol. In alkaline solution, the adsorption of hydroxide species onto the surface of both gold plate and composite Au-PVC electrodes occurs at potential around 500 mV vs SCE. However, at gold plate electrode, there was a small, broad peak before the drastic escalation of current densities which indicates the charge transfer of the chemisorbed OH - anion. In acidic media, the gold oxide was formed after potential 1.0 V. From the cyclic voltammogram glycerol undergo oxidation twice in potassium hydroxide at gold plate and Au-PVC composite electrodes, while in sulfuric acid, oxidation reaction happened once for glycerol on the gold plate electrode. Overall, electrochemical oxidation of glycerol was more effective in alkaline media. Tafel graph which plotted from potential linear V method shows that Au-PVC composite electrode is better than gold plate electrode for the electro-oxidation of glycerol in alkaline solution. Electrochemical oxidation of glycerol products as analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) produced several carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds. (author)

  17. Color change mechanism of niobium oxide thin film with incidental light angle and applied voltage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Komatsu, Isao [Course of Information Science and Technology, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Tokai University (Japan); Aoki, Hayata [Course of Electro Photo Optics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokai University (Japan); Ebisawa, Mizue [Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute (Japan); Kuroda, Akihiro [Department of Optical and Imaging Science & Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Tokai University (Japan); Kuroda Consulting Incorporated (Japan); Kuroda, Koichi [Kuroda Consulting Incorporated (Japan); Maeda, Shuichi [Course of Information Science and Technology, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Tokai University (Japan); Course of Electro Photo Optics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokai University (Japan); Department of Optical and Imaging Science & Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Tokai University (Japan)

    2016-03-31

    Niobium oxide thin layers made by the anodization process showed coloration owing to thin film interference. The reflection spectra depended on both the applied voltage and incident light angle. Large color differences were observed at incident light angles between 5° and 70°, when the applied voltage was over 60 V. In this study, we explored the cause of these results using ellipsometry and goniophotometry to understand the transition of optical constants and the reflection spectra with applied voltage. Finally, we concluded that the coloration of the reflection spectra, which included only a first-order interference peak, exhibits a smaller change because the first order interference peak has a wider half value width than higher order interference peaks. - Highlights: • We investigated color change of Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} oxide thin layers with incidental light angle. • The reflection spectra shift to lower wavelength region with increasing incident light angle. • The reflection spectra shift to higher wavelength region with increasing applied voltage. • First-order interference has wider half value width, and exhibits small color change.

  18. Co3O4/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite for removal of organic pollutants from aqueous medium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mishra, Amodini; Kuanr, B. K.; Mohanty, T.

    2017-05-01

    The magnetic nanocomposite (MNC) of cobalt oxide/graphene oxide (Co3O4/rGO) has been synthesized by hydrothermal method to demonstrate its use as organic pollutants remover. The phase formation of the cobalt oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The nanocomposite has been characterized by Raman spectroscopic technique and two Raman peaks associated with graphene oxide are observed. The morphological study of the nanocomposite has been done using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The nanocomposite has been used for removal of organic pollutants from aqueous medium by using ultra-violet spectroscopy.

  19. Online junction temperature measurement using peak gate current

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Baker, Nick; Munk-Nielsen, Stig; Iannuzzo, Francesco

    2015-01-01

    A new method for junction temperature measurement of MOS-gated power semiconductor switches is presented. The measurement method involves detecting the peak voltage over the external gate resistor of an IGBT or MOSFET during turn-on. This voltage is directly proportional to the peak gate current...

  20. A new automatic fixed peak technology of microcontroller

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Liguo; Wang Dequan; Zhang Damin; Li Jun; Liu Yuwen; Guo Qingxue; Wang Guifeng

    1999-01-01

    The microcontroller automatic fixed peak technology which differs from fashion half channel fixed peak is described. It bases on the principles of selecting double single channel and readjusting the voltage of power source. This technology is suitable to the industrial isotope instruments with various radioactive sources