WorldWideScience

Sample records for highly complex mixtures

  1. Complex mixtures, complex responses: Assessing pharmaceutical mixtures using field and laboratory approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoenfuss, Heiko L.; Furlong, Edward T.; Phillips, Patrick J.; Scott, Tia-Marie; Kolpin, Dana W.; Cetkovic-Cvrlje, Marina; Lesteberg, Kelsey E.; Rearick, Daniel C.

    2016-01-01

    Pharmaceuticals are present in low concentrations (pharmaceutical formulation facilities. Using existing concentration data, the authors assessed pharmaceuticals in laboratory exposures of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and added environmental complexity through effluent exposures. In the laboratory, larval and mature minnows were exposed to a simple opioid mixture (hydrocodone, methadone, and oxycodone), an opioid agonist (tramadol), a muscle relaxant (methocarbamol), a simple antidepressant mixture (fluoxetine, paroxetine, venlafaxine), a sleep aid (temazepam), or a complex mixture of all compounds. Larval minnow response to effluent exposure was not consistent. The 2010 exposures resulted in shorter exposed minnow larvae, whereas the larvae exposed in 2012 exhibited altered escape behavior. Mature minnows exhibited altered hepatosomatic indices, with the strongest effects in females and in mixture exposures. In addition, laboratory-exposed, mature male minnows exposed to all pharmaceuticals (except the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor mixture) defended nest sites less rigorously than fish in the control group. Tramadol or antidepressant mixture exposure resulted in increased splenic T lymphocytes. Only male minnows exposed to whole effluent responded with increased plasma vitellogenin concentrations. Female minnows exposed to pharmaceuticals (except the opioid mixture) had larger livers, likely as a compensatory result of greater prominence of vacuoles in liver hepatocytes. The observed alteration of apical endpoints central to sustaining fish populations confirms that effluents containing waste streams from pharmaceutical formulation facilities can adversely impact fish populations but that the effects may not be temporally consistent. The present study highlights the importance of including diverse biological endpoints spanning levels of biological organization and life stages when assessing contaminant interactions.

  2. Health and environmental effects of complex chemical mixtures: proceedings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1985-01-01

    The Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER) of the Department of Energy supports a broad long-term research program on human health and environmental effects from potential exposure to energy-related complex chemical mixtures. The program seeks basic mechanistic data on the effects of complex mixtures at the cellular, molecular, and whole animal levels to aid in predicting human health effects and seeks ecological data on biological and physical transformations in the mixtures, concentrations of the mixtures in various compartments of the environment, and potential routes for human exposure to these mixtures (e.g., food chain). On June 17-18, 1985, OHER held its First Annual Technical Meeting on the Complex Chemical Mixtures Program in Chicago, IL. The primary purpose of the meeting was to enable principal investigators to report the research status and accomplishments of ongoing complex chemical mixture studies supported by OHER. To help focus future research directions round table discussions were conducted.

  3. Mutagenicity of complex mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pelroy, R.A.

    1985-01-01

    The effect of coal-derived complex chemical mixtures on the mutagenicity of 6-aminochrysene (6-AC) was determined with Salmonella typhimurium TA98. Previous results suggested that the mutagenic potency of 6-AC for TA98 in the standard microsomal activation (Ames) assay increased if it was presented to the cells mixed with high-boiling coal liquids (CL) from the solvent refined coal (SRC) process. In this year's work, the apparent mutational synergism of CL and 6-AC was independently verified in a fluctuation bioassay which allowed quantitation of mutational frequencies and cell viability. The results of this assay system were similar to those in the Ames assay. Moreover, the fluctation assay revealed that mutagenesis and cellular toxicity induced by 6-AC were both strongly enhanced if 6-AC was presented to the cells mixed in a high-boiling CL. 4 figures

  4. Chemometrics as a tool to analyse complex chemical mixtures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, J. H.

    Chemical characterisation of contaminant mixtures is important for environmental forensics and risk assessment. The great challenge in future research lies in develop- ing suitable, rapid, reliable and objective methods for analysis of the composition of complex chemical mixtures. This thesis...... describes the development of such methods for assessing the identity (chemical fingerprinting) and fate (e.g. biodegradation) of petroleum hydrocarbon mixtures. The methods comply with the general concept that suitable methods must be rapid and inexpensive, objective with limited human in- tervention...... and at the same time must consider a substantial fraction of compounds in the complex mixture. A combination of a) limited sample preparation, b) rapid chemical screening analysis, c) fast and semi-automatic pre-processing, d) compre- hensive multivariate statistical data analysis and e) objective data evaluation...

  5. A new high-throughput LC-MS method for the analysis of complex fructan mixtures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Verspreet, Joran; Hansen, Anders Holmgaard; Dornez, Emmie

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, a new liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method for the analysis of complex fructan mixtures is presented. In this method, columns with a trifunctional C18 alkyl stationary phase (T3) were used and their performance compared with that of a porous graphitized carbon (PGC...

  6. Tandem mass spectrometry: analysis of complex mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singleton, K.E.

    1985-01-01

    Applications of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) for the analysis of complex mixtures results in increased specificity and selectivity by using a variety of reagent gases in both negative and positive ion modes. Natural isotopic abundance ratios were examined in both simple and complex mixtures using parent, daughter and neutral loss scans. MS/MS was also used to discover new compounds. Daughter scans were used to identify seven new alkaloids in a cactus species. Three of these alkaloids were novel compounds, and included the first simple, fully aromatic isoquinoline alkaloids reported in Cactaceae. MS/MS was used to characterize the chemical reaction products of coal in studies designed to probe its macromolecular structure. Negative ion chemical ionization was utilized to study reaction products resulting from the oxidation of coal. Possible structural units in the precursor coal were predicted based on the reaction products identified, aliphatic and aromatic acids and their anhydrides. The MS/MS method was also used to characterize reaction products resulting from coal liquefaction and/or extraction. These studies illustrate the types of problems for which MS/MS is useful. Emphasis has been placed on characterization of complex mixtures by selecting experimental parameters which enhance the information obtained. The value of using MS/MS in conjunction with other analytical techniques as well as the chemical pretreatment is demonstrated

  7. Bioassay-based risk assessment of complex mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donnelly, K.C.; Huebner, H.J.

    1996-01-01

    The baseline risk assessment often plays an integral role in various decision-making processes at Superfund sites. The present study reports on risk characterizations prepared for seven complex mixtures using biological and chemical analysis. Three of the samples (A, B, and C) were complex mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) extracted from coal tar; while four samples extracted from munitions-contaminated soil contained primarily nitroaromatic hydrocarbons. The chemical-based risk assessment ranked sample C as least toxic, while the risk associated with samples A and B was approximately equal. The microbial bioassay was in general agreement for the coal tar samples. The weighted activity of the coal tar extracts in Salmonella was 4,960 for sample C, and 162,000 and 206,000 for samples A and B, respectively. The bacterial mutagenicity of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene contaminated soils exhibited an indirect correlation with chemical-based risk assessment. The aqueous extract of sample 004 induced 1,292 net revertants in Salmonella, while the estimated risk to ingestion and dermal adsorption was 2E-9. The data indicate that the chemical-based risk assessment accurately predicted the genotoxicity of the PAHs, while the accuracy of the risk assessment for munitions contaminated soils was limited due to the presence of metabolites of TNT degradation. The biological tests used in this research provide a valuable compliment to chemical analysis for characterizing the genotoxic risk of complex mixtures

  8. Intestinal Permeability of β-Lapachone and Its Cyclodextrin Complexes and Physical Mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangas-Sanjuan, Victor; Gutiérrez-Nieto, Jorge; Echezarreta-López, Magdalena; González-Álvarez, Isabel; González-Álvarez, Marta; Casabó, Vicente-Germán; Bermejo, Marival; Landin, Mariana

    2016-12-01

    β-Lapachone (βLAP) is a promising, poorly soluble, antitumoral drug. βLAP combination with cyclodextrins (CDs) improves its solubility and dissolution but there is not enough information about the impact of cyclodextrins on βLAP intestinal permeability. The objectives of this work were to characterize βLAP intestinal permeability and to elucidate cyclodextrins effect on the dissolution properties and on the intestinal permeability. The final goal was to evaluate CDs influence on the oral absorption of βLAP. Binary systems (physical mixtures and inclusion complexes) including βLAP and CDs (β-cyclodextrin: βCD, random-methyl-β-cyclodextrin: RMβCD and sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin: SBEβCD) have been prepared and analysed by differential scanning calorimetry. βLAP (and its combinations with CDs) absorption rate coefficients and effective permeability values have been determined in vitro in MDCK or MDCK-Mdr1 monolayers and in situ in rat by a closed loop perfusion technique. DSC results confirmed the formation of the inclusion complexes. βLAP-CDs inclusion complexes improve drug solubility and dissolution rate in comparison with physical mixtures. βLAP presented a high permeability value which can provide complete oral absorption. Its oral absorption is limited by its low solubility and dissolution rate. Cyclodextrin (both as physical mixtures and inclusion complexes) showed a positive effect on the intestinal permeability of βLAP. Complexation with CDs does not reduce βLAP intestinal permeability in spite of the potential negative effect of the reduction in free fraction of the drug. The use of RMβCD or SBEβCD inclusion complexes could benefit βLAP oral absorption by enhancing its solubility, dissolution rate and permeability.

  9. Complex mixtures biostudies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Springer, D.L.

    1987-01-01

    The objective of the project is to identify potential adverse biological activities associated with human exposures to complex organic mixtures (COM) from energy-related industries. Studies to identify the influence of chemical class fractions from a COM on the initiating activity of a known carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), demonstrated that the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and nitrogen-containing polycyclic aromatic compound (NPAC) fractions were the most effective inhibitors of initiation. In an effort to determine the contribution of BaP to the initiating activity of the COM, binding of radiolabeled BaP to mouse skin DNA was measured. Results indicated that binding of BaP to DNA decreased in the presence of the COM so that at initiating COM doses, BaP binding was near the limit detection. Addition of unlabeled BaP to the COM at an amount similar to that originally present in the COM did not significantly increase the binding. Studies to determine the rates of disappearance of carcinogenic PAH from the site of application on the skin indicated that half-lives for PAH differed by a factor of about 2. Analytical methods developed to identify PAH from COM which covalently bind to DNA demonstrated that the lower level of detection is approximately 200 picograms. Developmental studies demonstrated that both pregnant rats and mice treated dermally with a high-boiling COM developed fetuses with major malformations including cleft palate, small lungs, edema, and sagittal suture hemorrhages. 3 figures, 5 tables

  10. Improved Separation of Complex Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Mixtures Using Novel Column Combinations in GC×GC/ToF-MS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manzano, Carlos; Hoh, Eunha; Simonich, Staci L. Massey

    2012-01-01

    Complex mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are difficult to resolve because of the high degree of overlap in compound vapor pressures, boiling points and mass spectral fragmentation patterns. The objective of this research was to improve the separation of complex PAH mixtures (including 97 different parent, alkyl-, nitro-, oxy-, thio-, chloro-, bromo-, and high molecular weight PAHs) using GC×GC/ToF-MS by maximizing the orthogonality of different GC column combinations and improving the separation of PAHs from the sample matrix interferences, including unresolved complex mixtures (UCM). Four different combinations of non-polar, polar, liquid crystal and nano-stationary phase columns were tested. Each column combination was optimized and evaluated for orthogonality using a method based on conditional entropy that considers the quantitative peak distribution in the entire two-dimensional space. Finally, an atmospheric particulate matter with diameter column in the first dimension and a 1.2 m × 0.10 mm × 0.10 µm NSP-35 nano-stationary phase column in the second dimension. In addition, the use of this column combination in GC×GC/ToF-MS resulted in significantly shorter analysis times (176 min) for complex PAH mixtures compared to one-dimensional GC/MS (257 min), as well as potentially reduced sample preparation time. PMID:22769970

  11. Bioassay-based risk assessment of complex mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Donnelly, K.C.; Safe, S.H. [Texas A& M Univ., Houston, TX (United States); Randerath, K.; Randerath, E. [College Station and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (United States)

    1994-12-31

    To compare the standard chemical-based risk assessment with in vitro genotoxicity assays, two complex environmental mixtures from a wood preserving site were analyzed in the Salmonella/microsome and E. coli prophage induction assays. Using GC/MS, sample 003 was found to contain relatively low levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PNAs) and elevated levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), while sample 005 had higher levels of PNAs and relatively low levels of PCDDs. The complex mixtures were sequentially extracted with methylene chloride and methanol for analysis in Salmonella, or extracted with 1:1 hexane: acetone mixture for analysis in the prophage induction assay. At a dose of 1.0 mg/plate in Salmonella strain TA98 with metabolic activation, the methanol extract of sample 003 induced 197 net revertants, while sample 005 induced 436 net revertants. In the prophage induction assay, with activation, the hexane:acetone extract of sample 003 induced a fold increase that was slightly lower than that observed with sample 005. The estimated incremental carcinogenic risk for dermal adsorption and ingestion was 1.5E-3 for sample 003, while for sample 005 the estimated risk was 1.5E-2. Thus, the sample which induced the maximum response in both bioassays also had the highest estimated cancer risk. However, the frequency of PNA-DNA adducts in both skin and liver tissues was appreciably higher with sample 005 than with sample 003.

  12. Mutagenic hazards of complex polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures in contaminated soil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lemieux, C.L.; Lambert, A.B.; Lundstedt, S.; Tysklind, M.; White, P.A. [Health Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada). Safe Environment Program

    2008-04-15

    The objective of the present study was to evaluate hazard/risk assessment methods for complex environmental mixtures that involve a targeted, priority chemical approach based on the cumulative hazard/risk of known mixture components or analyses of sufficiently similar mixtures. Ten polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated soils were separated into nonpolar and semipolar fractions, and both fractions elicited positive responses on the Salmonella reverse mutation assay. Targeted and nontargeted methods of hazard prediction routinely overestimated mutagenic activities for the nonpolar soil fractions, suggesting nonadditive interactions of PAHs in complex mixtures. This suggests that current risk assessment methods for complex mixtures may provide conservative estimates regarding soils contaminated with priority PAHs alone. Significant underestimations of total risk, however, will be obtained if the soils also contain unidentified PAHs as well as polycyclic aromatic compounds and related compounds that contribute to the total mutagenic activity. Furthermore, estimates of excess lifetime cancer risk associated with the nondietary ingestion of the PAH-contaminated soils studied here indicate that a traditional risk assessment model based on identified priority PAHs and an assumption of additivity generally underestimates the risk associated with the nonpolar soil fractions (in comparison to bioassay-derived risk estimates). Additional cancer risk may be associated with the more polar compounds that also are found at these contaminated sites and that rarely are included in the standard risk assessment methodology.

  13. Predicting skin permeability from complex chemical mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Riviere, Jim E.; Brooks, James D.

    2005-01-01

    Occupational and environmental exposure to topical chemicals is usually in the form of complex chemical mixtures, yet risk assessment is based on experimentally derived data from individual chemical exposures from a single, usually aqueous vehicle, or from computed physiochemical properties. We present an approach using hybrid quantitative structure permeation relationships (QSPeR) models where absorption through porcine skin flow-through diffusion cells is well predicted using a QSPeR model describing the individual penetrants, coupled with a mixture factor (MF) that accounts for physicochemical properties of the vehicle/mixture components. The baseline equation is log k p = c + mMF + aΣα 2 H + bΣβ 2 H + sπ 2 H + rR 2 + vV x where Σα 2 H is the hydrogen-bond donor acidity, Σβ 2 H is the hydrogen-bond acceptor basicity, π 2 H is the dipolarity/polarizability, R 2 represents the excess molar refractivity, and V x is the McGowan volume of the penetrants of interest; c, m, a, b, s, r, and v are strength coefficients coupling these descriptors to skin permeability (k p ) of 12 penetrants (atrazine, chlorpyrifos, ethylparathion, fenthion, methylparathion, nonylphenol, ρ-nitrophenol, pentachlorophenol, phenol, propazine, simazine, and triazine) in 24 mixtures. Mixtures consisted of full factorial combinations of vehicles (water, ethanol, propylene glycol) and additives (sodium lauryl sulfate, methyl nicotinate). An additional set of 4 penetrants (DEET, SDS, permethrin, ricinoleic acid) in different mixtures were included to assess applicability of this approach. This resulted in a dataset of 16 compounds administered in 344 treatment combinations. Across all exposures with no MF, R 2 for absorption was 0.62. With the MF, correlations increased up to 0.78. Parameters correlated to the MF include refractive index, polarizability and log (1/Henry's Law Constant) of the mixture components. These factors should not be considered final as the focus of these studies

  14. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with post-column dual-bioactivity assay for simultaneous screening of xanthine oxidase inhibitors and free radical scavengers from complex mixture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, D Q; Zhao, J; Li, S P

    2014-06-06

    Xanthine oxidase (XO) can catalyze hypoxanthine and xanthine to generate uric acid and reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide anion radical (O₂(•-)) and hydrogen peroxide. XO inhibitors and free radical scavengers are beneficial to the treatment of gout and many related diseases. In the present study, an on-line high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with post-column dual-bioactivity assay was established and successfully applied to simultaneously screening of XO inhibitors and free radical scavengers from a complex mixture, Oroxylum indicum extract. The integrated system of HPLC separation, bioactivity screening and mass spectrometry identification was proved to be simple and effective for rapid and sensitive screening of individual bioactive compounds in complex mixtures. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Differential effects of a complex organochlorine mixture on the proliferation of breast cancer cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aube, Michel, E-mail: 4aubem@videotron.ca [Axe de recherche en sante des populations et environnementale, Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Quebec and Universite Laval, 2875 Boulevard Laurier, Edifice Delta 2, bureau 600, Quebec, QC, Canada G1V 2M2 (Canada); Larochelle, Christian, E-mail: christian.larochelle@inspq.qc.ca [Axe de recherche en sante des populations et environnementale, Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Quebec and Universite Laval, 2875 Boulevard Laurier, Edifice Delta 2, bureau 600, Quebec, QC, Canada G1V 2M2 (Canada); Ayotte, Pierre, E-mail: pierre.ayotte@inspq.qc.ca [Axe de recherche en sante des populations et environnementale, Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Quebec and Universite Laval, 2875 Boulevard Laurier, Edifice Delta 2, bureau 600, Quebec, QC, Canada G1V 2M2 (Canada); Laboratoire de Toxicologie, Institut national de sante publique du Quebec, 945 avenue Wolfe, Quebec, QC, Canada G1V 5B3 (Canada)

    2011-04-15

    proliferative effect of the mixture on CAMA-1 cells in the presence of sex steroids appears mostly due to the antiandrogenic properties of p,p'-DDE, a major constituent of the mixture. Other mixtures of contaminants that include emerging compounds of interest such as brominated flame retardants and perfluoroalkyl compounds should be tested for their capacity to induce breast cancer cell proliferation. - Research highlights: {yields} We studied effects of a complex organochlorine mixture on breast cancer cell growth. {yields} Weak xenoestrogens in the mixture stimulated the proliferation of MCF-7 cells. {yields} Antiandrogens increased the proliferation CAMA-1 cells grown with sex steroids. {yields} High concentrations of the mixture decreased the proliferation of all cell lines.

  16. Fixed-Point Algorithms for the Blind Separation of Arbitrary Complex-Valued Non-Gaussian Signal Mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Douglas Scott C

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available We derive new fixed-point algorithms for the blind separation of complex-valued mixtures of independent, noncircularly symmetric, and non-Gaussian source signals. Leveraging recently developed results on the separability of complex-valued signal mixtures, we systematically construct iterative procedures on a kurtosis-based contrast whose evolutionary characteristics are identical to those of the FastICA algorithm of Hyvarinen and Oja in the real-valued mixture case. Thus, our methods inherit the fast convergence properties, computational simplicity, and ease of use of the FastICA algorithm while at the same time extending this class of techniques to complex signal mixtures. For extracting multiple sources, symmetric and asymmetric signal deflation procedures can be employed. Simulations for both noiseless and noisy mixtures indicate that the proposed algorithms have superior finite-sample performance in data-starved scenarios as compared to existing complex ICA methods while performing about as well as the best of these techniques for larger data-record lengths.

  17. An assessment of the information content of likelihood ratios derived from complex mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsden, Clare D; Rudin, Norah; Inman, Keith; Lohmueller, Kirk E

    2016-05-01

    With the increasing sensitivity of DNA typing methodologies, as well as increasing awareness by law enforcement of the perceived capabilities of DNA typing, complex mixtures consisting of DNA from two or more contributors are increasingly being encountered. However, insufficient research has been conducted to characterize the ability to distinguish a true contributor (TC) from a known non-contributor (KNC) in these complex samples, and under what specific conditions. In order to investigate this question, sets of six 15-locus Caucasian genotype profiles were simulated and used to create mixtures containing 2-5 contributors. Likelihood ratios were computed for various situations, including varying numbers of contributors and unknowns in the evidence profile, as well as comparisons of the evidence profile to TCs and KNCs. This work was intended to illustrate the best-case scenario, in which all alleles from the TC were detected in the simulated evidence samples. Therefore the possibility of drop-out was not modeled in this study. The computer program DNAMIX was then used to compute LRs comparing the evidence profile to TCs and KNCs. This resulted in 140,000 LRs for each of the two scenarios. These complex mixture simulations show that, even when all alleles are detected (i.e. no drop-out), TCs can generate LRs less than 1 across a 15-locus profile. However, this outcome was rare, 7 of 140,000 replicates (0.005%), and associated only with mixtures comprising 5 contributors in which the numerator hypothesis includes one or more unknown contributors. For KNCs, LRs were found to be greater than 1 in a small number of replicates (75 of 140,000 replicates, or 0.05%). These replicates were limited to 4 and 5 person mixtures with 1 or more unknowns in the numerator. Only 5 of these 75 replicates (0.004%) yielded an LR greater than 1,000. Thus, overall, these results imply that the weight of evidence that can be derived from complex mixtures containing up to 5 contributors

  18. Application of Biologically-Based Lumping To Investigate the Toxicological Interactions of a Complex Gasoline Mixture

    Science.gov (United States)

    People are often exposed to complex mixtures of environmental chemicals such as gasoline, tobacco smoke, water contaminants, or food additives. However, investigators have often considered complex mixtures as one lumped entity. Valuable information can be obtained from these exp...

  19. The Urtica dioica Agglutinin Is a Complex Mixture of Isolectins 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Damme, Els J. M.; Broekaert, Willem F.; Peumans, Willy J.

    1988-01-01

    Rhizomes of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) contain a complex mixture of isolectins. Ion exchange chromatography with a high resolution fast protein liquid chromatography system revealed six isoforms which exhibit identical agglutination properties and carbohydrate-binding specificity and in addition have the same molecular structure and virtually identical biochemical properties. However, since the U. dioica agglutinin isolectins differ definitely with respect to their amino acid composition, it is likely that at least some of them are different polypeptides coded for by different genes. Images Fig. 3 PMID:16665952

  20. Lagged kernel machine regression for identifying time windows of susceptibility to exposures of complex mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Shelley H; Bobb, Jennifer F; Lee, Kyu Ha; Gennings, Chris; Claus Henn, Birgit; Bellinger, David; Austin, Christine; Schnaas, Lourdes; Tellez-Rojo, Martha M; Hu, Howard; Wright, Robert O; Arora, Manish; Coull, Brent A

    2018-07-01

    The impact of neurotoxic chemical mixtures on children's health is a critical public health concern. It is well known that during early life, toxic exposures may impact cognitive function during critical time intervals of increased vulnerability, known as windows of susceptibility. Knowledge on time windows of susceptibility can help inform treatment and prevention strategies, as chemical mixtures may affect a developmental process that is operating at a specific life phase. There are several statistical challenges in estimating the health effects of time-varying exposures to multi-pollutant mixtures, such as: multi-collinearity among the exposures both within time points and across time points, and complex exposure-response relationships. To address these concerns, we develop a flexible statistical method, called lagged kernel machine regression (LKMR). LKMR identifies critical exposure windows of chemical mixtures, and accounts for complex non-linear and non-additive effects of the mixture at any given exposure window. Specifically, LKMR estimates how the effects of a mixture of exposures change with the exposure time window using a Bayesian formulation of a grouped, fused lasso penalty within a kernel machine regression (KMR) framework. A simulation study demonstrates the performance of LKMR under realistic exposure-response scenarios, and demonstrates large gains over approaches that consider each time window separately, particularly when serial correlation among the time-varying exposures is high. Furthermore, LKMR demonstrates gains over another approach that inputs all time-specific chemical concentrations together into a single KMR. We apply LKMR to estimate associations between neurodevelopment and metal mixtures in Early Life Exposures in Mexico and Neurotoxicology, a prospective cohort study of child health in Mexico City.

  1. A microfluidic dialysis device for complex biological mixture SERS analysis

    KAUST Repository

    Perozziello, Gerardo; Candeloro, Patrizio; Gentile, Francesco T.; Coluccio, Maria Laura; Tallerico, Marco; De Grazia, Antonio; Nicastri, Annalisa; Perri, Angela Mena; Parrotta, Elvira; Pardeo, Francesca; Catalano, Rossella; Cuda, Giovanni; Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we present a microfluidic device fabricated with a simple and inexpensive process allowing rapid filtering of peptides from a complex mixture. The polymer microfluidic device can be used for sample preparation in biological

  2. Gel and gel-free approaches for the quantitative characterisation of complex protein mixtures

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Buthelezi, S

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available reliable set of methods for profiling proteins in a complex mixture in order to allow for the mining of low abundant species. To achieve this, several fractionation techniques were applied to samples of bovine hepatic tissue. These included two... further separated via low pH reverse phase (RP) chromatography before being introduced for mass spectrometric analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Figure 1: Study design to analyse a complex mixture of proteins extracted from hepatic tissue. To determine...

  3. Generation of two-dimensional binary mixtures in complex plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieben, Frank; Block, Dietmar

    2016-10-01

    Complex plasmas are an excellent model system for strong coupling phenomena. Under certain conditions the dust particles immersed into the plasma form crystals which can be analyzed in terms of structure and dynamics. Previous experiments focussed mostly on monodisperse particle systems whereas dusty plasmas in nature and technology are polydisperse. Thus, a first and important step towards experiments in polydisperse systems are binary mixtures. Recent experiments on binary mixtures under microgravity conditions observed a phase separation of particle species with different radii even for small size disparities. This contradicts several numerical studies of 2D binary mixtures. Therefore, dedicated experiments are required to gain more insight into the physics of polydisperse systems. In this contribution first ground based experiments on two-dimensional binary mixtures are presented. Particular attention is paid to the requirements for the generation of such systems which involve the consideration of the temporal evolution of the particle properties. Furthermore, the structure of these two-component crystals is analyzed and compared to simulations. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG in the framework of the SFB TR24 Greifswald Kiel, Project A3b.

  4. Deciding which chemical mixtures risk assessment methods work best for what mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Teuschler, Linda K.

    2007-01-01

    The most commonly used chemical mixtures risk assessment methods involve simple notions of additivity and toxicological similarity. Newer methods are emerging in response to the complexities of chemical mixture exposures and effects. Factors based on both science and policy drive decisions regarding whether to conduct a chemical mixtures risk assessment and, if so, which methods to employ. Scientific considerations are based on positive evidence of joint toxic action, elevated human exposure conditions or the potential for significant impacts on human health. Policy issues include legislative drivers that may mandate action even though adequate toxicity data on a specific mixture may not be available and risk assessment goals that impact the choice of risk assessment method to obtain the amount of health protection desired. This paper discusses three important concepts used to choose among available approaches for conducting a chemical mixtures risk assessment: (1) additive joint toxic action of mixture components; (2) toxicological interactions of mixture components; and (3) chemical composition of complex mixtures. It is proposed that scientific support for basic assumptions used in chemical mixtures risk assessment should be developed by expert panels, risk assessment methods experts, and laboratory toxicologists. This is imperative to further develop and refine quantitative methods and provide guidance on their appropriate applications. Risk assessors need scientific support for chemical mixtures risk assessment methods in the form of toxicological data on joint toxic action for high priority mixtures, statistical methods for analyzing dose-response for mixtures, and toxicological and statistical criteria for determining sufficient similarity of complex mixtures

  5. Towards a realistic risk characterization of complex mixtures using in vitro bioassays

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Montano Garces, M.

    2013-01-01

    This thesis aims to better understand and further improve the relevance and reliabilityof in vitro bioassaysfor a biobased risk characterisation of complex mixtures, with special focus on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in sediments.

    In Chapter 1 the importance of complex

  6. Dermal tumorigen PAH and complex mixtures for biological research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Griest, W.H.; Guerin, M.R.; Ho, C.

    1985-01-01

    Thirteen commercially available, commonly reported four-five ring dermal tumorigen PAHs, were determined in a set of complex mixtures consisting of crude and upgraded coal liquids, and petroleum crude oils and their distillate fractions. Semi-preparative scale, normal phase high performance liquid chromatographic fractionation followed by capillary column gas chromatography or gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy were used for the measurements. Deuterated or carbon-14 labeled PAH served as internal standards or allowed recovery corrections. Approaches for the preparation and measurement of radiolabeled PAH were examined to provide chemical probes for biological study. Synthetic routes for production of 14 C labeled dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene and 14 C- or 3 H 10-azabenzo[a]pyrene are being studied to provide tracers for fundamental studies in tracheal transplant and skin penetration systems. (DT)

  7. Heat transfer from a high temperature condensable mixture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chan, S.H.; Cho, D.H.; Condiff, D.W.

    1978-01-01

    A new development in heat transfer is reported. It is concerned with heat transfer from a gaseous mixture that contains a condensable vapor and is at very high temperature. In the past, heat transfer associated with either a condensable mixture at low temperature or a noncondensable mixture at high temperature has been investigated. The former reduces to the classical problem of fog formation in, say, atmosphere where the rate of condensation is diffusion controlled (molecular or conductive diffusions). In the presence of noncondensable gases, heat transfer to a cooler boundary by this mechanism is known to be drastically reduced. In the latter case, where the high temperature mixture is noncondensable, radiative transfer may become dominant and a vast amount of existing literature exists on this class of problem. A fundamentally different type of problem of relevance to recent advances in open cycle MHD power plants and breeder reactor safety is considered. In the advanced coal-fired power plant using MHD as a topping cycle, a condensable mixture is encountered at temperatures of 2000 to 3000 0 . Condensation of the vaporized slag and seed materials at such a high temperature can take place in the MHD generator channel as well as in the radiant boiler. Similarly, in breeder reactor accident analyses involving hypothetical core disruptive accidents, a UO 2 vapor mixture at 400 0 K or higher is often considered. Since the saturation temperature of UO 2 at one atmosphere is close to 4000 0 K, condensation is also likely at a very high temperature. Accordingly, an objective of the present work is to provide an understanding of heat transfer and condensation mechanics insystems containing a high temperature condensable mixture. The results of the study show that, when a high temperature mixture is in contact with a cooler surface, a thermal boundary layer develops rapidly because of intensive radiative cooling from the mixture

  8. Status Report on the High-Throughput Characterization of Complex Intact O-Glycopeptide Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pap, Adam; Klement, Eva; Hunyadi-Gulyas, Eva; Darula, Zsuzsanna; Medzihradszky, Katalin F.

    2018-05-01

    A very complex mixture of intact, human N- and O-glycopeptides, enriched from the tryptic digest of urinary proteins of three healthy donors using a two-step lectin affinity enrichment, was analyzed by LC-MS/MS, leading to approximately 45,000 glycopeptide EThcD spectra. Two search engines, Byonic and Protein Prospector, were used for the interpretation of the data, and N- and O-linked glycopeptides were assigned from separate searches. The identification rate was very low in all searches, even when results were combined. Thus, we investigated the reasons why was it so, to help to improve the identification success rate. Focusing on O-linked glycopeptides, we noticed that in EThcD, larger glycan oxonium ions better survive the activation than those in HCD. These fragments, combined with reducing terminal Y ions, provide important information about the glycan(s) present, so we investigated whether filtering the peaklists for glycan oxonium ions indicating the presence of a tetra- or hexasaccharide structure would help to reveal all molecules containing such glycans. Our study showed that intact glycans frequently do not survive even mild supplemental activation, meaning one cannot rely on these oxonium ions exclusively. We found that ETD efficiency is still a limiting factor, and for highly glycosylated peptides, the only information revealed in EThcD was related to the glycan structures. The limited overlap of results delivered by the two search engines draws attention to the fact that automated data interpretation of O-linked glycopeptides is not even close to being solved. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

  9. Persistent activation of DNA damage signaling in response to complex mixtures of PAHs in air particulate matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jarvis, Ian W.H.; Bergvall, Christoffer; Bottai, Matteo; Westerholm, Roger; Stenius, Ulla; Dreij, Kristian

    2013-01-01

    Complex mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are present in air particulate matter (PM) and have been associated with many adverse human health effects including cancer and respiratory disease. However, due to their complexity, the risk of exposure to mixtures is difficult to estimate. In the present study the effects of binary mixtures of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DBP) and complex mixtures of PAHs in urban air PM extracts on DNA damage signaling was investigated. Applying a statistical model to the data we observed a more than additive response for binary mixtures of BP and DBP on activation of DNA damage signaling. Persistent activation of checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) was observed at significantly lower BP equivalent concentrations in air PM extracts than BP alone. Activation of DNA damage signaling was also more persistent in air PM fractions containing PAHs with more than four aromatic rings suggesting larger PAHs contribute a greater risk to human health. Altogether our data suggests that human health risk assessment based on additivity such as toxicity equivalency factor scales may significantly underestimate the risk of exposure to complex mixtures of PAHs. The data confirms our previous findings with PAH-contaminated soil (Niziolek-Kierecka et al., 2012) and suggests a possible role for Chk1 Ser317 phosphorylation as a biological marker for future analyses of complex mixtures of PAHs. -- Highlights: ► Benzo[a]pyrene (BP), dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DBP) and air PM PAH extracts were compared. ► Binary mixture of BP and DBP induced a more than additive DNA damage response. ► Air PM PAH extracts were more potent than toxicity equivalency factor estimates. ► Larger PAHs (> 4 rings) contribute more to the genotoxicity of PAHs in air PM. ► Chk1 is a sensitive marker for persistent activation of DNA damage signaling from PAH mixtures.

  10. Persistent activation of DNA damage signaling in response to complex mixtures of PAHs in air particulate matter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jarvis, Ian W.H., E-mail: Ian.Jarvis@ki.se [Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm (Sweden); Bergvall, Christoffer, E-mail: Christoffer.Bergvall@anchem.su.se [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 16, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Bottai, Matteo, E-mail: Matteo.Bottai@ki.se [Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm (Sweden); Westerholm, Roger, E-mail: Roger.Westerholm@anchem.su.se [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 16, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Stenius, Ulla, E-mail: Ulla.Stenius@ki.se [Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm (Sweden); Dreij, Kristian, E-mail: Kristian.Dreij@ki.se [Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm (Sweden)

    2013-02-01

    Complex mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are present in air particulate matter (PM) and have been associated with many adverse human health effects including cancer and respiratory disease. However, due to their complexity, the risk of exposure to mixtures is difficult to estimate. In the present study the effects of binary mixtures of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DBP) and complex mixtures of PAHs in urban air PM extracts on DNA damage signaling was investigated. Applying a statistical model to the data we observed a more than additive response for binary mixtures of BP and DBP on activation of DNA damage signaling. Persistent activation of checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) was observed at significantly lower BP equivalent concentrations in air PM extracts than BP alone. Activation of DNA damage signaling was also more persistent in air PM fractions containing PAHs with more than four aromatic rings suggesting larger PAHs contribute a greater risk to human health. Altogether our data suggests that human health risk assessment based on additivity such as toxicity equivalency factor scales may significantly underestimate the risk of exposure to complex mixtures of PAHs. The data confirms our previous findings with PAH-contaminated soil (Niziolek-Kierecka et al., 2012) and suggests a possible role for Chk1 Ser317 phosphorylation as a biological marker for future analyses of complex mixtures of PAHs. -- Highlights: ► Benzo[a]pyrene (BP), dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DBP) and air PM PAH extracts were compared. ► Binary mixture of BP and DBP induced a more than additive DNA damage response. ► Air PM PAH extracts were more potent than toxicity equivalency factor estimates. ► Larger PAHs (> 4 rings) contribute more to the genotoxicity of PAHs in air PM. ► Chk1 is a sensitive marker for persistent activation of DNA damage signaling from PAH mixtures.

  11. Symposium on Short-Term Genetic Bioassays in the Evaluation of Complex Environmental Mixtures

    CERN Document Server

    Sandhu, Shahbeg; Lewtas, Joellen; Claxton, Larry; Strauss, Gary; Nesnow, Stephen

    1985-01-01

    With this proceedings of the fourth symposium on complex mixtures, we continue to revise and extend our knowledge of genetic methods for the evaluation of chemical mixtures in the environment. The early chapters of this volume are devoted to new bioassay techniques that are directly applicable to the monitoring of environments contaminated with genotoxic chemicals. Microbiological methods have been further refined to meet the special needs of atmospheric monitoring so that very small samples may now be efficiently tested. New in situ methods utilizing green plants actually avoid many of the usual difficulties of sample collection and preparation and offer special advantages in monitoring wastewater, sludges, and hazardous wastes. Insects also are being employed very effectively in the evaluation of gaseous air pollutants in controlled laboratory investigations. Increased emphasis has been placed on a comprehensive assessment of the potential of complex mixtures t9 cause various kinds of genetic damage. New as...

  12. Application of High-Resolution Ultrasonic Spectroscopy for analysis of complex formulations. Compressibility of solutes and solute particles in liquid mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buckin, V

    2012-01-01

    The paper describes key aspects of interpretation of compressibility of solutes in liquid mixtures obtained through high-resolution measurements of ultrasonic parameters. It examines the fundamental relationships between the characteristics of solutes and the contributions of solutes to compressibility of liquid mixtures expressed through apparent adiabatic compressibility of solutes, and adiabatic compressibility of solute particles. In addition, it analyses relationships between the adiabatic compressibility of solutes and the measured ultrasonic characteristics of mixtures. Especial attention is given to the effects of solvents on the measured adiabatic compressibility of solutes and on concentration increment of ultrasonic velocity of solutes in mixtures.

  13. Band-selective excited ultrahigh resolution PSYCHE-TOCSY: fast screening of organic molecules and complex mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kakita, Veera Mohana Rao; Vemulapalli, Sahithya Phani Babu; Bharatam, Jagadeesh

    2016-04-01

    Precise assignments of (1) H atomic sites and establishment of their through-bond COSY or TOCSY connectivity are crucial for molecular structural characterization by using (1) H NMR spectroscopy. However, this exercise is often hampered by signal overlap, primarily because of (1) H-(1) H scalar coupling multiplets, even at typical high magnetic fields. The recent developments in homodecoupling strategies for effectively suppressing the coupling multiplets into nice singlets (pure-shift), particularly, Morris's advanced broadband pure-shift yielded by chirp excitation (PSYCHE) decoupling and ultrahigh resolution PSYCHE-TOCSY schemes, have shown new possibilities for unambiguous structural elucidation of complex organic molecules. The superior broadband PSYCHE-TOCSY exhibits enhanced performance over the earlier TOCSY methods, which however warrants prolonged experimental times due to the requirement of large number of dwell increments along the indirect dimension. Herein, we present fast and band-selective analog of the broadband PSYCHE-TOCSY, which is useful for analyzing complex organic molecules that exhibit characteristic yet crowded spectral regions. The simple pulse scheme relies on band-selective excitation (BSE) followed by PSYCHE homodecoupling in the indirect dimension. The BSE-PSYCHE-TOCSY has been exemplified for Estradiol and a complex carbohydrate mixture comprised of six constituents of closely comparable molecular weights. The experimental times are greatly reduced viz., ~20 fold for Estradiol and ~10 fold for carbohydrate mixture, with respect to the broadband PSYCHE-TOCSY. Furthermore, unlike the earlier homonuclear band-selective decoupling, the BSE-PSYCHE-decoupling provides fully decoupled pure-shift spectra for all the individual chemical sites within the excited band. The BSE-PSYCHE-TOCSY is expected to have significant potential for quick screening of complex organic molecules and mixtures at ultrahigh resolution. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley

  14. Simulation study of the production of biodiesel using feedstock mixtures of fatty acids in complex reactive distillation columns

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cossio-Vargas, E.; Hernandez, S.; Segovia-Hernandez, J.G.; Cano-Rodriguez, M.I.

    2011-01-01

    Biodiesel can be produced from a number of natural, renewable sources, but vegetable oils are the main feedstocks. The current manufacturing biodiesel processes, however, have several disadvantages: expensive separation of products from the reaction mixture, and high costs due to relatively complex processes involving one to two reactors and several separation units. Therefore, to solve these problems, in recent years several researchers have developed a sustainable biodiesel production process based on reactive distillation. In this paper the production of biodiesel using feedstock mixtures of fatty acids is explored using reactive distillation sequences with thermal coupling. The results indicate that the complex reactive distillation sequences can produce a mixture of esters as bottoms product that can be used as biodiesel. In particular, the thermally coupled distillation sequence involving a side rectifier can handle the reaction and complete separation in accordance with process intensification principles. -- Highlights: ► Production of biodiesel using thermally coupled distillation sequences without reboilers. ► Esterification of fatty organic acids using reactive distillation. ► Carnot’s factor in reactive distillation.

  15. Overtone Mobility Spectrometry: Part 4. OMS-OMS Analyses of Complex Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurulugama, Ruwan T.; Nachtigall, Fabiane M.; Valentine, Stephen J.; Clemmer, David E.

    2011-11-01

    A new, two-dimensional overtone mobility spectrometry (OMS-OMS) instrument is described for the analysis of complex peptide mixtures. OMS separations are based on the differences in mobilities of ions in the gas phase. The method utilizes multiple drift regions with modulated drift fields such that only ions with appropriate mobilities are transmitted to the detector. Here we describe a hybrid OMS-OMS combination that utilizes two independently operated OMS regions that are separated by an ion activation region. Mobility-selected ions from the first OMS region are exposed to energizing collisions and may undergo structural transitions before entering the second OMS region. This method generates additional peak capacity and allows for higher selectivity compared with the one-dimensional OMS method. We demonstrate the approach using a three-protein tryptic digest spiked with the peptide Substance P. The [M + 3H]3+ ion from Substance P can be completely isolated from other components in this complex mixture prior to introduction into the mass spectrometer.

  16. Recoil implantation reactions in binary mixtures of catcher complexes and in mixed ligand catchers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sekine, Tsutomu; Sano, Masaaki; Yoshihara, Kenji

    1989-01-01

    Recoil implantation reactions were studied in binary mixtures of catcher complexes of tris(β-diketonato)metal(III) and in single-component catcher complexes of Cr(acac) n (dbm) 3-n where n=1 and 2. For the mixtures of M(acac) 3 and M(dbm) 3 , the products of 51 Cr(acac) 3 and 51 Cr(dbm) 3 were obtained as major components while 51 Cr(acac) 2 (dbm) and 51 Cr(acac)(dbm) 2 were seen as minor components. For the single component catcher complexes, predominant chemical species were parent retention type compounds. In addition to retentions there were product distributions which indicated a strong preference for acac pickup. The results were interpreted by a model which involves displacement reaction as a main process and ligand pickup reactions as side processes. (orig.)

  17. The shock synthesis of complex organics from impacts into cometary analogue mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, M.; Wozniakiewicz, P.; Cole, M.; Martins, Z.; Burchell, M.

    2014-07-01

    Introduction: If amino acids are required for the evolution of life, what was their source? Many different theories abound as to the source of amino acids on the early Earth including exogenous delivery from comets/asteroids (for example, glycine was found recently on comet Wild-2 [1]), formation in the protoplanetary nebula [2], or UV catalysed reactions of gases [3]. An alternative explanation is that amino acids can be shock-synthesised during the impact on an icy body onto a rocky body (or, equivalently, the impact of rocky body onto an icy surface). This theory is supported by computer simulations [4] and by very recent experimental data, which demonstrated the formation of simple (including abiotic) amino acids from shocks into ice mixtures mimicking the composition of comets and the surfaces of the icy Jovian and Saturnian satellites. Although the results from these experiments are fundamentally important, the yield of synthesised amino acids was low (nano-grams of material), complicating their detection and identification. In order to increase the collected yield of complex organics, and aid in their detection and identification, we have implemented a new collection technique within our hypervelocity impact facility. Experimental Methodology: Figure 1A) shows a low-resolution high-speed photograph of an impact plasma generated from an impact of a stainless-steel sphere into a mixture of water, CO_{2}, ammonia, and methanol ices. The plasma has an intense blue colour, and lasted for < 1 msec (the frame-rate of the camera). It is during and within this flash that complex organics are most likely synthesised, and thus to maximise the collection of these materials, we have implemented a new collection mechanism. Figure 1B) shows the prototype collection mechanism. Here an aluminium cold-plate (˜150 K) is placed in front of the target holder containing the ice mixtures. The plate has a central hole which allows the projectile to pass through to impact the ice

  18. Effects of complex organic mixtures of coal liquid on cardiovascular function

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Springer, D.L.; Sasser, L.B.; Zangar, R.C.; Mahlum, D.D.

    1986-01-01

    The most common diseases in the US are those involving the cardiovascular system. Exposure to certain environmental chemicals and complex mixtures may be involved in some aspects of cardiovascular disease. They have previously reported that high-boiling coal liquids resulted in several affects related to the cardiovascular system of the rate when exposed via whole-body inhalation to the mixture. The most striking observation was a dose dependent elevation in arterial blood pressure for heavy distillate (HD) exposed rates compared to control animals at 2 weeks. They also noted an increase in heart rate and plasma and blood volume. Additional rats were evaluated 6 weeks after exposure, to determine whether these effects represented permanent changes in cardiovascular function, and the effects appeared to be reversible after this longer period. During the past year they have completed the assays of the studies initiated previously and have addressed some possible factors which could explain the effects that they observed. Electrolytes in plasma of rats exposed to the HD were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Plasma aldosterone and angiotensin were measured by radioimmunoassays, and plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein were evaluated with an Abbott VP bichromatic chemistry analyzer. In addition, a comparison of the blood pressure of control rats and rats fed a restricted diet were made, to determine if the anorexia which resulted from HD exposure could be responsible for the changes they observed in cardiovascular function

  19. Rapid Quadrupole-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Method Quantifies Oxygen-Rich Lignin Compound in Complex Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boes, Kelsey S.; Roberts, Michael S.; Vinueza, Nelson R.

    2018-03-01

    Complex mixture analysis is a costly and time-consuming task facing researchers with foci as varied as food science and fuel analysis. When faced with the task of quantifying oxygen-rich bio-oil molecules in a complex diesel mixture, we asked whether complex mixtures could be qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed on a single mass spectrometer with mid-range resolving power without the use of lengthy separations. To answer this question, we developed and evaluated a quantitation method that eliminated chromatography steps and expanded the use of quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry from primarily qualitative to quantitative as well. To account for mixture complexity, the method employed an ionization dopant, targeted tandem mass spectrometry, and an internal standard. This combination of three techniques achieved reliable quantitation of oxygen-rich eugenol in diesel from 300 to 2500 ng/mL with sufficient linearity (R2 = 0.97 ± 0.01) and excellent accuracy (percent error = 0% ± 5). To understand the limitations of the method, it was compared to quantitation attained on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, the gold standard for quantitation. The triple quadrupole quantified eugenol from 50 to 2500 ng/mL with stronger linearity (R2 = 0.996 ± 0.003) than the quadrupole-time-of-flight and comparable accuracy (percent error = 4% ± 5). This demonstrates that a quadrupole-time-of-flight can be used for not only qualitative analysis but also targeted quantitation of oxygen-rich lignin molecules in complex mixtures without extensive sample preparation. The rapid and cost-effective method presented here offers new possibilities for bio-oil research, including: (1) allowing for bio-oil studies that demand repetitive analysis as process parameters are changed and (2) making this research accessible to more laboratories. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

  20. Measurements of mixtures with carbon dioxide under supercritical conditions using commercial high pressure equipment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andrade, Luciana L.P.R. de; Rutledge, Luis Augusto Medeiros; Moreno, Eesteban L.; Hovell, Ian; Rajagopal, Krishnaswamy [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (LATCA-EQ-UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Escola de Quimica. Lab. de Termodinamica e Cinetica Aplicada

    2012-07-01

    There is a growing interest in studying physical properties of binary and multicomponent fluid mixtures with supercritical carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) over an extended range of temperature and pressure. The estimation of properties such as density, viscosity, saturation pressure, compressibility, solubility and surface tension of mixtures is important in design, operation and control as well as optimization of chemical processes especially in extractions, separations, catalytic and enzymatic reactions. The phase behaviour of binary and multicomponent mixtures with supercritical CO{sub 2} is also important in the production and refining of petroleum where mixtures of paraffin, naphthene and aromatics with supercritical fluids are often encountered. Petroleum fluids can present a complex phase behaviour in the presence of CO{sub 2}, where two-phase (VLE and LLE) and three phase regions (VLLE) might occur within ranges of supercritical conditions of temperature and pressure. The objective of this study is to develop an experimental methodology for measuring the phase behaviour of mixtures containing CO{sub 2} in supercritical regions, using commercial high-pressure equipment. (author)

  1. Self-flowing underwater concrete mixtures for high rise structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yousri, K.M.

    2005-01-01

    Placement of conventional concrete mixtures in underwater construction results in a high percentage of material loss due to washout of cement paste. This paper presents the influence of anti washout admixture (AWA) on various properties of concrete. Eleven self-flowing concrete (SFC) mixtures using type II cement were proportioned. A combination of low water cement (w/c), high cement contents, anti washout admixtures, fly ash, and silica fume were used to enhance the resistance of fresh concrete to washout. The concrete mixtures proportioned to be highly flow able, self-leveling and cohesive. The water-cementitious materials ratios ranged between 0.356 and 0.392 which correspond a typical underwater concrete mixture. The concrete mixtures were tested for slump, slump flow, washout resistance and compressive strength. The compressive strength of each concrete mixture cast underwater was determined at 3, 7, 28 days and compared with the compressive strength of the same concrete mixture cast in normal condition (in air). Test results indicated that the use of an AWA facilitates the production of flow able concrete mixtures with the added benefit of lower washout loss. Concrete mixture proportioned using Type II cement and fly ash at level of replacement of 15% was found to develop self flowing concrete with better fresh and hardened properties and more resistant to washout. The self-flowing underwater concretes developed a 28-day compressive strengths ranging from 20 to 28 MPa

  2. Structure of highly asymmetric hard-sphere mixtures: an efficient closure of the Ornstein-Zernike equations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amokrane, S; Ayadim, A; Malherbe, J G

    2005-11-01

    A simple modification of the reference hypernetted chain (RHNC) closure of the multicomponent Ornstein-Zernike equations with bridge functions taken from Rosenfeld's hard-sphere bridge functional is proposed. Its main effect is to remedy the major limitation of the RHNC closure in the case of highly asymmetric mixtures--the wide domain of packing fractions in which it has no solution. The modified closure is also much faster, while being of similar complexity. This is achieved with a limited loss of accuracy, mainly for the contact value of the big sphere correlation functions. Comparison with simulation shows that inside the RHNC no-solution domain, it provides a good description of the structure, while being clearly superior to all the other closures used so far to study highly asymmetric mixtures. The generic nature of this closure and its good accuracy combined with a reduced no-solution domain open up the possibility to study the phase diagram of complex fluids beyond the hard-sphere model.

  3. Effects of herbal mixture extracts on obesity in rats fed a high-fat diet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mei-Yin Chien

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the effects of three herbal mixture extracts on obesity induced by high-fat diet (HFD in rats. The prescriptions—Pericarpium citri reticulatae and Fructus crataegi—were used as matrix components and mixed with Ampelopsis grossedentata, Salvia miltiorrhiza, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG to form T1, T2, and T3 complexes, respectively. Results revealed that HFD feeding significantly increased body weight gain, fat deposition, plasma lipid profiles, hepatic lipid accumulation, and hepatic vacuoles formation, but decreased plasma levels of adiponectin in rats. Only the T1 complex showed the tendency, although not significantly so, for decreased HFD-induced body weight gain. T1 and T3 complexes significantly reduced HFD-induced fat deposition, and plasma levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Only the T1 complex significantly increased HFD-reduced adiponectin levels in plasma, but decreased HFD-increased triglyceride content in liver tissues. All complexes effectively inhibited HFD-induced vacuoles formation. The content of dihydromyricetin, salvianolic acid B, and EGCG in T1, T2, and T3 complexes was 18.25 ± 0.07%, 22.20 ± 0.10%, and 18.86 ± 0.04%, respectively. In summary, we demonstrated that herbal mixture extracts, especially T1 complex, exhibit antiobesity activity in HFD-fed rats.

  4. Insights into aquatic toxicities of the antibiotics oxytetracycline and ciprofloxacin in the presence of metal: Complexation versus mixture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Yu; Cai Xiyun; Lang Xianming; Qiao Xianliang; Li Xuehua; Chen Jingwen

    2012-01-01

    Co-contamination of ligand-like antibiotics (e.g., tetracyclines and quinolones) and heavy metals prevails in the environment, and thus the complexation between them is involved in environmental risks of antibiotics. To understand toxicological significance of the complex, effects of metal coordination on antibiotics' toxicity were investigated. The complexation of two antibiotics, oxytetracycline and ciprofloxacin, with three heavy metals, copper, zinc, and cadmium, was verified by spectroscopic techniques. The antibiotics bound metals via multiple coordination sites and rendered a mixture of various complexation speciations. Toxicity analysis indicated that metal coordination did modify the toxicity of the antibiotics and that antibiotic, metal, and their complex acted primarily as concentration addition. Comparison of EC 50 values revealed that the complex commonly was highest toxic and predominately correlated in toxicity to the mixture. Finally, environmental scenario analysis demonstrated that ignoring complexation would improperly classify environmental risks of the antibiotics. - Highlights: ► The complex of antibiotic with metal is a mixture of various complexation modes. ► Antibiotic and metal act as various combined interactions when their complexation is ignored. ► Antibiotic, metal, and their complex act as concentration addition interaction. ► Complex commonly is the highest toxicant. ► Neglecting complexation renders improper classification of risks for antibiotics. - Antibiotic, heavy metal and their complex act primarily as concentration addition interaction and the complex commonly is highest toxic.

  5. High density thermite mixture for shaped charge ordnance disposal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tamer Elshenawy

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The effect of thermite mixture based on aluminum and ferric oxides for ammunition neutralization has been studied and tested. Thermochemical calculations have been carried out for different percentage of Al using Chemical Equilibrium Code to expect the highest performance thermite mixture used for shaped charge ordnance disposal. Densities and enthalpy of different formulations have been calculated and demonstrated. The optimized thermite formulation has been prepared experimentally using cold iso-static pressing technique, which exhibited relatively high density and high burning rate thermite mixture. The produced green product compacted powder mixture was tested against small caliber shaped charge bomblet for neutralization. Theoretical and experimental results showed that the prepared thermite mixture containing 33% of aluminum as a fuel with ferric oxide can be successfully used for shaped charge ordnance disposal.

  6. Criticality of mixtures of plutonium and high enriched uranium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grolleau, E.; Lein, M.; Leka, G.; Maidou, B.; Klenov, P.

    2003-01-01

    This paper presents a criticality evaluation of moderated homogeneous plutonium-uranium mixtures. The fissile media studied are homogeneous mixtures of plutonium and high enriched uranium in two chemical forms: aqueous mixtures of metal and mixtures of nitrate solutions. The enrichment of uranium considered are 93.2wt.% 235 U and 100wt.% 235 U. The 240 Pu content in plutonium varies from 0wt.% 240 Pu to 12wt.% 240 Pu. The critical parameters (radii and masses of a 20 cm water reflected sphere) are calculated with the French criticality safety package CRISTAL V0. The comparison of the calculated critical parameters as a function of the moderator-to-fuel atomic ratio shows significant ranges in which high enriched uranium systems, as well as plutonium-uranium mixtures, are more reactive than plutonium systems. (author)

  7. Insights into aquatic toxicities of the antibiotics oxytetracycline and ciprofloxacin in the presence of metal: Complexation versus mixture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Zhang [Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China); Cai Xiyun, E-mail: xiyuncai@dlut.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China); Xianming, Lang [Liaoning Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shenyang 110031 (China); Xianliang, Qiao; Xuehua, Li; Jingwen, Chen [Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China)

    2012-07-15

    Co-contamination of ligand-like antibiotics (e.g., tetracyclines and quinolones) and heavy metals prevails in the environment, and thus the complexation between them is involved in environmental risks of antibiotics. To understand toxicological significance of the complex, effects of metal coordination on antibiotics' toxicity were investigated. The complexation of two antibiotics, oxytetracycline and ciprofloxacin, with three heavy metals, copper, zinc, and cadmium, was verified by spectroscopic techniques. The antibiotics bound metals via multiple coordination sites and rendered a mixture of various complexation speciations. Toxicity analysis indicated that metal coordination did modify the toxicity of the antibiotics and that antibiotic, metal, and their complex acted primarily as concentration addition. Comparison of EC{sub 50} values revealed that the complex commonly was highest toxic and predominately correlated in toxicity to the mixture. Finally, environmental scenario analysis demonstrated that ignoring complexation would improperly classify environmental risks of the antibiotics. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The complex of antibiotic with metal is a mixture of various complexation modes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Antibiotic and metal act as various combined interactions when their complexation is ignored. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Antibiotic, metal, and their complex act as concentration addition interaction. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Complex commonly is the highest toxicant. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Neglecting complexation renders improper classification of risks for antibiotics. - Antibiotic, heavy metal and their complex act primarily as concentration addition interaction and the complex commonly is highest toxic.

  8. Application of Biologically Based Lumping To Investigate the Toxicokinetic Interactions of a Complex Gasoline Mixture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jasper, Micah N; Martin, Sheppard A; Oshiro, Wendy M; Ford, Jermaine; Bushnell, Philip J; El-Masri, Hisham

    2016-03-15

    People are often exposed to complex mixtures of environmental chemicals such as gasoline, tobacco smoke, water contaminants, or food additives. We developed an approach that applies chemical lumping methods to complex mixtures, in this case gasoline, based on biologically relevant parameters used in physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. Inhalation exposures were performed with rats to evaluate the performance of our PBPK model and chemical lumping method. There were 109 chemicals identified and quantified in the vapor in the chamber. The time-course toxicokinetic profiles of 10 target chemicals were also determined from blood samples collected during and following the in vivo experiments. A general PBPK model was used to compare the experimental data to the simulated values of blood concentration for 10 target chemicals with various numbers of lumps, iteratively increasing from 0 to 99. Large reductions in simulation error were gained by incorporating enzymatic chemical interactions, in comparison to simulating the individual chemicals separately. The error was further reduced by lumping the 99 nontarget chemicals. The same biologically based lumping approach can be used to simplify any complex mixture with tens, hundreds, or thousands of constituents.

  9. Heat transfer from a high temperature condensable mixture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chan, S.H.; Cho, D.H.; Condiff, D.W.

    1980-01-01

    Bulk condensation and heat transfer in a very hot gaseous mixture that contains a vapor component condensable at high temperature are investigated. A general formulation of the problem is presented in various forms. Analytical solutions for three specific cases involving both one- and two-component two-phase mixtures are obtained. It is shown that a detached fog formation is induced by rapid radiative cooling from the mixture. The formation of radiatively induced fog is found to be an interesting and important phenomenon as it not only exhibits unique features different from the conventional diffusion induced fog, but also greatly enhances heat transfer from the mixture to the boundary. (author)

  10. Modeling the surface tension of complex, reactive organic-inorganic mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwier, A. N.; Viglione, G. A.; Li, Z.; McNeill, V. Faye

    2013-11-01

    Atmospheric aerosols can contain thousands of organic compounds which impact aerosol surface tension, affecting aerosol properties such as heterogeneous reactivity, ice nucleation, and cloud droplet formation. We present new experimental data for the surface tension of complex, reactive organic-inorganic aqueous mixtures mimicking tropospheric aerosols. Each solution contained 2-6 organic compounds, including methylglyoxal, glyoxal, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, oxalic acid, succinic acid, leucine, alanine, glycine, and serine, with and without ammonium sulfate. We test two semi-empirical surface tension models and find that most reactive, complex, aqueous organic mixtures which do not contain salt are well described by a weighted Szyszkowski-Langmuir (S-L) model which was first presented by Henning et al. (2005). Two approaches for modeling the effects of salt were tested: (1) the Tuckermann approach (an extension of the Henning model with an additional explicit salt term), and (2) a new implicit method proposed here which employs experimental surface tension data obtained for each organic species in the presence of salt used with the Henning model. We recommend the use of method (2) for surface tension modeling of aerosol systems because the Henning model (using data obtained from organic-inorganic systems) and Tuckermann approach provide similar modeling results and goodness-of-fit (χ2) values, yet the Henning model is a simpler and more physical approach to modeling the effects of salt, requiring less empirically determined parameters.

  11. Evaluating Complex Mixtures in the Zebrafish Embryo by Reconstituting Field Water Samples: A Metal Pollution Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ellen D. G. Michiels

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Accurately assessing the toxicity of complex, environmentally relevant mixtures remains an important challenge in ecotoxicology. The goal was to identify biological effects after exposure to environmental water samples and to determine whether the observed effects could be explained by the waterborne metal mixture found in the samples. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to water samples of five different sites originating from two Flemish (Mol and Olen, Belgium metal contaminated streams: “Scheppelijke Nete” (SN and “Kneutersloop” (K, and a ditch (D, which is the contamination source of SN. Trace metal concentrations, and Na, K, Mg and Ca concentrations were measured using ICP-MS and were used to reconstitute site-specific water samples. We assessed whether the effects that were observed after exposure to environmental samples could be explained by metal mixture toxicity under standardized laboratory conditions. Exposure to “D” or “reconstituted D” water caused 100% mortality. SN and reconstituted SN water caused similar effects on hatching, swim bladder inflation, growth and swimming activity. A canonical discriminant analysis confirmed a high similarity between both exposure scenarios, indicating that the observed toxicity was indeed primarily caused by metals. The applied workflow could be a valuable approach to evaluate mixture toxicity that limits time and costs while maintaining biological relevance.

  12. High resolution conductometry for isotopic assay of deuterium in mixtures of heavy water and light water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ananthanarayanan, R.; Sahoo, P.; Murali, N.

    2014-01-01

    A PC based high resolution conductivity monitoring technique has been deployed for determination of isotopic purity of heavy water in samples containing heavy water and light water mixtures using pulsating sensor based conductivity monitoring instrument. The technique involves accurate determination of conductivities of a series of specially treated heavy water and light water mixtures of various compositions at a constant solution temperature. The shift in conductivity (Δκ), which is the difference between conductivities of composite mixture after and before the formation of a typical complex compound (boric acid–mannitol complex in this case), shows a smooth and reproducible decreasing trend with increase in percentage composition of heavy water. This relation, which is obtained by appropriate calibration, is used in the software program for direct display of isotopic purity of heavy water. The technique is examined for determination of percentage composition of heavy water in the entire range of concentration (0-100 %) with reasonable precision (relative standard deviation, RSD ≤1.5 %). About 1 mL of sample is required for each analysis and analysis is completed within a couple of minutes after pretreatment of sample. The accuracy in measurement is ≤1.75 %. (author)

  13. Application of the cubic-plus-association (CPA) equation of state to complex mixtures with aromatic hydrocarbons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Folas, Georgios; Kontogeorgis, Georgios; Michelsen, Michael Locht

    2006-01-01

    The cubic-plus-association (CPA) equation of state is applied to phase equilibria of mixtures containing alcohols, glycols, water, and aromatic or olefinic hydrocarbons. Previously, CPA has been successfully used for mixtures containing various associating compounds (alcohols, glycols, amines......, organic acids, and water) and aliphatic hydrocarbons. We show in this work that the model can be satisfactorily extended to complex vapor-liquid-liquid equilibria with aromatic or olefinic hydrocarbons. The solvation between aromatics/olefinics and polar compounds is accounted for. This is particularly...... important for mixtures containing water and glycols, but less so for mixtures with alcohols. For water/hydrocarbons, a single binary interaction parameter which accounts for the solvation is fitted to the experimental liquid-liquid equilibria (LLE) data. The interaction parameter of the physical term...

  14. Quantitative Quantum Mechanical Spectral Analysis (qQMSA) of (1)H NMR spectra of complex mixtures and biofluids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiainen, Mika; Soininen, Pasi; Laatikainen, Reino

    2014-05-01

    The quantitative interpretation of (1)H NMR spectra of mixtures like the biofluids is a demanding task due to spectral complexity and overlap. Complications may arise also from water suppression, T2-editing, protein interactions, relaxation differences of the species, experimental artifacts and, furthermore, the spectra may contain unknown components and macromolecular background which cannot be easily separated from baseline. In this work, tools and strategies for quantitative Quantum Mechanical Spectral Analysis (qQMSA) of (1)H NMR spectra from complex mixtures were developed and systematically assessed. In the present approach, the signals of well-defined, stoichiometric components are described by a QM model, while the background is described by a multiterm baseline function and the unknown signals using optimizable and adjustable lines, regular multiplets or any spectral structures which can be composed from spectral lines. Any prior knowledge available from the spectrum can also be added to the model. Fitting strategies for weak and strongly overlapping spectral systems were developed and assessed using two basic model systems, the metabolite mixtures without and with macromolecular (serum) background. The analyses show that if the spectra are measured in high-throughput manner, the consistent absolute quantification demands some calibration to compensate the different response factors of the protons and compounds. On the other hand, the results show that also the T2-edited spectra can be measured so that they obey well the QM rules. In general, qQMSA exploits and interprets the spectral information in maximal way taking full advantage from the QM properties of the spectra and, at the same time, offers chemical confidence which means that individual components can be identified with high confidence on the basis of their accurate spectral parameters. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Simultaneous determination of intestinal permeability and potential drug interactions of complex mixtures using Caco-2 cells and high-resolution mass spectrometry: Studies with Rauwolfia serpentina extract.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flynn, Thomas J; Vohra, Sanah N

    2018-06-25

    Caco-2 cells are a commonly used model for estimating the intestinal bioavailability of single chemical entity pharmaceuticals. Caco-2 cells, when induced with calcitriol, also express other biological functions such as phase I (CYP) and phase II (glucuronosyltransferases) drug metabolizing enzymes which are relevant to drug-supplement interactions. Intestinal bioavailability is an important factor in the overall safety assessment of products consumed orally. Foods, including herbal dietary supplements, are complex substances with multiple chemical components. Because of potential interactions between components of complex mixtures, more reliable safety assessments can be obtained by studying the commercial products "as consumed" rather than by testing individual chemical components one at a time. The present study evaluated the apparent intestinal permeability (P app ) of a model herbal extract, Rauwolfia serpentina, using both whole plant extracts and the individual purified Rauwolfia alkaloids. All test compounds, endpoint substrates, and their metabolites were quantified using liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The P app values for individual Rauwolfia alkaloids were comparable whether measured individually or as components of the complete extract. Both Rauwolfia extract and all individual Rauwolfia alkaloids except yohimbine inhibited CYP3A4 activity (midazolam 1'-hydroxylation). Both Rauwolfia extract and all individual Rauwolfia alkaloids except corynanthine and reserpic acid significantly increased glucuronosyltransferase activity (glucuronidation of 4-methylumbelliferone). The positive control, ketoconazole, significantly inhibited both CYP3A4 and glucuronosyltransferase activities. These findings suggest that the Caco-2 assay is capable of simultaneously identifying both bioavailability and potentially hazardous intestinal drug-supplement interactions in complex mixtures. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. Biomarkers of Cytotoxic, Genotoxic and Apoptotic Effects in Cyprinus carpio Exposed to Complex Mixture of Contaminants from Hospital Effluents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olvera-Néstor, Corina G; Morales-Avila, Enrique; Gómez-Olivan, Leobardo M; Galár-Martínez, Marcela; García-Medina, Sandra; Neri-Cruz, Nadia

    2016-03-01

    Hospital wastewater is an important source of emerging contaminants. Recent studies emphasize the importance of assessing the effects of mixtures of contaminants rather than environmental risk of their individual components, as well as the determination of intrinsic toxicity of wastewater. Mixtures of pollutants has possible interactions that have notable environmental side effects. The aim of this study is an attempt to characterize biomarkers in Cyprinus carpio related to the exposure to a complex mixture of contaminants found in hospital wastewater. Results of a particular hospital effluent show the presence of traces of heavy metals, high chlorine concentration and emerging contaminants such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The LC50 was of 5.49 % at 96 h. The cytotoxic, genotoxic and apoptotic biomarkers increase when fishes were exposed to wastewater (1/10 CL50) from hospital wastewater. This study emphasizes the importance of identifying and quantifying the effects of contaminants as pharmaceuticals, disinfectants and surfactants in order to design and implement an ecotoxicological plan.

  17. Concrete mixtures with high-workability for ballastless slab tracks

    OpenAIRE

    Olga Smirnova

    2017-01-01

    The concrete track-supporting layer and the monolithic concrete slab of ballastless track systems are made in-situ. For this reason the concrete mixtures of high workability should be used. Influence of the sand kind, the quartz microfiller fineness and quantity as well as quantity of superplasticizer on workability of fresh concrete and durability of hardened concrete is shown. The compositions of the high-workability concrete mixtures with lower consumption of superplasticizer are developed...

  18. Combining measurements to estimate properties and characterization extent of complex biochemical mixtures; applications to Heparan Sulfate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pradines, Joël R.; Beccati, Daniela; Lech, Miroslaw; Ozug, Jennifer; Farutin, Victor; Huang, Yongqing; Gunay, Nur Sibel; Capila, Ishan

    2016-04-01

    Complex mixtures of molecular species, such as glycoproteins and glycosaminoglycans, have important biological and therapeutic functions. Characterization of these mixtures with analytical chemistry measurements is an important step when developing generic drugs such as biosimilars. Recent developments have focused on analytical methods and statistical approaches to test similarity between mixtures. The question of how much uncertainty on mixture composition is reduced by combining several measurements still remains mostly unexplored. Mathematical frameworks to combine measurements, estimate mixture properties, and quantify remaining uncertainty, i.e. a characterization extent, are introduced here. Constrained optimization and mathematical modeling are applied to a set of twenty-three experimental measurements on heparan sulfate, a mixture of linear chains of disaccharides having different levels of sulfation. While this mixture has potentially over two million molecular species, mathematical modeling and the small set of measurements establish the existence of nonhomogeneity of sulfate level along chains and the presence of abundant sulfate repeats. Constrained optimization yields not only estimations of sulfate repeats and sulfate level at each position in the chains but also bounds on these levels, thereby estimating the extent of characterization of the sulfation pattern which is achieved by the set of measurements.

  19. Concrete mixtures with high-workability for ballastless slab tracks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Smirnova

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The concrete track-supporting layer and the monolithic concrete slab of ballastless track systems are made in-situ. For this reason the concrete mixtures of high workability should be used. Influence of the sand kind, the quartz microfiller fineness and quantity as well as quantity of superplasticizer on workability of fresh concrete and durability of hardened concrete is shown. The compositions of the high-workability concrete mixtures with lower consumption of superplasticizer are developed. The results of the research can be recommended for high performance concrete of ballastless slab track.

  20. Spectroscopic investigations of high-power laser-induced dielectric breakdown in gas mixtures containing carbon monoxide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Civis, Svatopluk; Babánková, Dagmar; Cihelka, Jaroslav; Sazama, Petr; Juha, Libor

    2008-08-07

    Large-scale plasma was created in gas mixtures containing carbon monoxide by high-power laser-induced dielectric breakdown (LIDB). The composition of the mixtures used corresponded to a cometary and/or meteoritic impact into the Earth's early atmosphere. A multiple-centimeter-sized fireball was created by focusing a single 85 J, 450 ps near-infrared laser pulse into the center of a 15 L gas cell. The excited reaction intermediates that formed in various stages of the LIDB plasma chemical evolution were investigated by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) with temporal resolution. Special attention was paid to any OES signs of molecular ions. However, carbon monoxide cations were registered only if their production was enhanced by Penning ionization, i.e., excess He was added to the CO. The chemical consequences of laser-produced plasma generation in a CO-N 2-H 2O mixture were investigated using high resolution Fourier-transform infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography (GC). Several simple inorganic and organic compounds were identified in the reaction mixture exposed to ten laser sparks. H 2 (18)O was used to avoid possible contamination. The large laser spark triggered more complex reactivity originating in carbon monoxide than expected, when taking into account the strong triple bond of carbon monoxide causing typically inefficient dissociation of this molecule in electrical discharges.

  1. Multidimensional profiling of components in complex mixtures of natural products for metabolic analysis, proof of concept: application to Quillaja saponins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bankefors, Johan; Nord, Lars I; Kenne, Lennart

    2010-02-01

    A method for separation and detection of major and minor components in complex mixtures has been developed, utilising two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography (2D-HPLC) combined with electrospray ionisation ion-trap multiple-stage mass spectrometry (ESI-ITMS(n)). Chromatographic conditions were matched with mass spectrometric detection to maximise the number of components that could be separated. The described procedure has proven useful to discern several hundreds of saponin components when applied to Quillaja saponaria Molina bark extracts. The discrimination of each saponin component relies on the fact that three coordinates (x, y, z) for each component can be derived from the retention time of the two chromatographic steps (x, y) and the m/z-values from the multiple-stage mass spectrometry (z(n), n=1, 2, ...). Thus an improved graphical representation was obtained by combining retention times from the two-stage separation with +MS(1) (z(1)) and the additional structural information from the second mass stage +MS(2) (z(2), z(3)) corresponding to the main fragment ions. By this approach three-dimensional plots can be made that reveal both the chromatographic and structural properties of a specific mixture which can be useful in fingerprinting of complex mixtures. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Ion-Exchange Sample Displacement Chromatography as a Method for Fast and Simple Isolation of Low- and High-Abundance Proteins from Complex Biological Mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martina Srajer Gajdosik

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Sample displacement chromatography (SDC in reversed phase and ion-exchange modes was introduced at the end of 1980s. This chromatographic method was first used for preparative purification of synthetic peptides, and subsequently adapted for protein fractionation, mainly in anion-exchange mode. In the past few years, SDC has been successfully used for enrichment of low- and medium-abundance proteins from complex biological fluids on both monolithic and bulk chromatographic supports. If aqueous mobile phase is used with the application of mild chromatographic conditions, isolated proteins are not denatured and can also keep their biological activity. In this paper, the use of SDC in anion-exchange mode on a high-capacity chromatographic resin for separation of proteins from complex biological mixtures such as human plasma is demonstrated. By use of three and more columns coupled in series during sample application, and subsequent parallel elution of detached columns, additional separation of bound proteins was achieved. Highly enriched human serum albumin fraction and a number of physiologically active medium- and low-abundance proteins could be fractionated and detected by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS. The use of the aforementioned columns that can be sanitized with 1 M sodium hydroxide for further application of SDC in biotechnology and food technology was discussed.

  3. Differential gene expression patterns in developing sexually dimorphic rat brain regions exposed to antiandrogenic, estrogenic, or complex endocrine disruptor mixtures: glutamatergic synapses as target.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lichtensteiger, Walter; Bassetti-Gaille, Catherine; Faass, Oliver; Axelstad, Marta; Boberg, Julie; Christiansen, Sofie; Rehrauer, Hubert; Georgijevic, Jelena Kühn; Hass, Ulla; Kortenkamp, Andreas; Schlumpf, Margret

    2015-04-01

    The study addressed the question whether gene expression patterns induced by different mixtures of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) administered in a higher dose range, corresponding to 450×, 200×, and 100× high-end human exposure levels, could be characterized in developing brain with respect to endocrine activity of mixture components, and which developmental processes were preferentially targeted. Three EDC mixtures, A-Mix (anti-androgenic mixture) with 8 antiandrogenic chemicals (di-n-butylphthalate, diethylhexylphthalate, vinclozolin, prochloraz, procymidone, linuron, epoxiconazole, and DDE), E-Mix (estrogenic mixture) with 4 estrogenic chemicals (bisphenol A, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor, 2-ethylhexyl 4-methoxycinnamate, and butylparaben), a complex mixture, AEP-Mix, containing the components of A-Mix and E-Mix plus paracetamol, and paracetamol alone, were administered by oral gavage to rat dams from gestation day 7 until weaning. General developmental endpoints were not affected by EDC mixtures or paracetamol. Gene expression was analyzed on postnatal day 6, during sexual brain differentiation, by exon microarray in medial preoptic area in the high-dose group, and by real-time RT-PCR in medial preoptic area and ventromedial hypothalamus in all dose groups. Expression patterns were mixture, sex, and region specific. Effects of the analgesic drug paracetamol, which exhibits antiandrogenic activity in peripheral systems, differed from those of A-Mix. All mixtures had a strong, mixture-specific impact on genes encoding for components of excitatory glutamatergic synapses and genes controlling migration and pathfinding of glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons, as well as genes linked with increased risk of autism spectrum disorders. Because development of glutamatergic synapses is regulated by sex steroids also in hippocampus, this may represent a general target of ECD mixtures.

  4. Comparative Analysis of Stress Induced Gene Expression in Caenorhabditis elegans following Exposure to Environmental and Lab Reconstituted Complex Metal Mixture.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ranjeet Kumar

    Full Text Available Metals are essential for many physiological processes and are ubiquitously present in the environment. However, high metal concentrations can be harmful to organisms and lead to physiological stress and diseases. The accumulation of transition metals in the environment due to either natural processes or anthropogenic activities such as mining results in the contamination of water and soil environments. The present study used Caenorhabditis elegans to evaluate gene expression as an indicator of physiological response, following exposure to water collected from three different locations downstream of a Swedish mining site and a lab reconstituted metal mixture. Our results indicated that the reconstituted metal mixture exerted a direct stress response in C. elegans whereas the environmental waters elicited either a diminished or abrogated response. This suggests that it is not sufficient to use the biological effects observed from laboratory mixtures to extrapolate the effects observed in complex aquatic environments and apply this to risk assessment and intervention.

  5. Investigation of quantitative separation of thorium, uranium, neptunium and plutonium from complex radiochemical mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ushatskij, V.N.; Preobrazhenskaya, L.D.; Kolychev, V.B.; Gugel', E.S.

    1979-01-01

    Quantitative separation of actinides and their radiochemical purification with the aid of TBP with subsequent separation of thorium and quantitative separation of U, Np and Pu with the aid of D2EHPA have been studied. The method has been developed for quantitative extraction-chromatographic separation and radiochemical purification of nanogram amounts of U, Pu and microgram amounts of Th and Np from complex radiochemical mixtures containing both fragment radioisotopes and non-radioactive macrocomponents ( Fe,Al,Mg,Mn, Na and others). The method calls for application of one-extraction-chromatographic column with TBP and one column with D2EHPA. Thorium is separated at the first stage since it does not form complexes in a chloride solution during washing of the sorption column with 6. OM HCl. Npsup((4)) and Pusup((3)) required for separation are stabilized with the aid of hydrazine and hydroxylamine mixture. The yield of each of the above-cited actinide elements during the complete two-stage separation and at the stage of their separation varies within the range of 98.5-99.3%

  6. High-temperature oxidation of Zircaloy in hydrogen-steam mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chung, H.M.; Thomas, G.R.

    1982-09-01

    Oxidation rates of Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes have been measured in hydrogen-steam mixtures at 1200 to 1700 0 C. For a given isothermal oxidation temperature, the oxide layer thicknesses have been measured as a function of time, steam supply rate, and hydrogen overpressure. The oxidation rates in the mixtures were compared with similar data obtained in pure steam and helium-steam environments under otherwise identical conditions. The rates in pure steam and helium-steam mixtures were equivalent and comparable to the parabolic rates obtained under steam-saturated conditions and reported in the literature. However, when the helium was replaced with hydrogen of equivalent partial pressure, a significantly smaller oxidation rate was observed. For high steam-supply rates, the oxidation kinetics in a hydrogen-steam mixture were parabolic, but the rate was smaller than for pure steam or helium-steam mixtures. Under otherwise identical conditions, the ratio of the parabolic rate for hydrogen-steam to that for pure steam decreased with increasing temperature and decreasing steam-supply rate

  7. Toxicology of Chemical Mixtures: A Review of Mixtures Assessment

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Bjarnason, Stephen

    2004-01-01

    .... Recent advances in disciplines such as genomics, proteomics, metabonomics and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling should assist in the hazard assessment of complex chemical mixtures. However, the process of regulatory assessment of these types of exposures will remain both complex and difficult.

  8. Complex-shaped ceramic composites obtained by machining compact polymer-filler mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosa Maria da Rocha

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Research in the preparation of ceramics from polymeric precursors is giving rise to increased interest in ceramic technology because it allows the use of several promising polymer forming techniques. In this work ceramic composite pieces were obtained by pyrolysis of a compacted mixture of a polysiloxane resin and alumina/silicon powder. The mixture consists of 60 vol% of the polymer phase and 40 vol% of the filler in a 1:1 ratio for alumina/silicon, which was hot pressed to crosslink the polymer, thus forming a compact body. This green body was trimmed into different geometries and pyrolised in nitrogen atmosphere at temperatures up to 1600 °C. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated the formation of phases such as mullite and Si2ON2 during pyrolysis, that result from reactions between fillers, polymer decomposition products and nitrogen atmosphere. The porosity was found to be less than 20% and the mass loss around 10%. The complex geometry was maintained after pyrolysis and shrinkage was approximately 8%, proving pyrolisis to be a suitable process to form near-net-shaped bulk ceramic components.

  9. Measuring pair-wise molecular interactions in a complex mixture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Krishnendu; Varma, Manoj M.; Venkatapathi, Murugesan

    2016-03-01

    Complex biological samples such as serum contain thousands of proteins and other molecules spanning up to 13 orders of magnitude in concentration. Present measurement techniques do not permit the analysis of all pair-wise interactions between the components of such a complex mixture to a given target molecule. In this work we explore the use of nanoparticle tags which encode the identity of the molecule to obtain the statistical distribution of pair-wise interactions using their Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) signals. The nanoparticle tags are chosen such that the binding between two molecules conjugated to the respective nanoparticle tags can be recognized by the coupling of their LSPR signals. This numerical simulation is done by DDA to investigate this approach using a reduced system consisting of three nanoparticles (a gold ellipsoid with aspect ratio 2.5 and short axis 16 nm, and two silver ellipsoids with aspect ratios 3 and 2 and short axes 8 nm and 10 nm respectively) and the set of all possible dimers formed between them. Incident light was circularly polarized and all possible particle and dimer orientations were considered. We observed that minimum peak separation between two spectra is 5 nm while maximum is 184nm.

  10. Evaluating polymer degradation with complex mixtures using a simplified surface area method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steele, Kandace M; Pelham, Todd; Phalen, Robert N

    2017-09-01

    Chemical-resistant gloves, designed to protect workers from chemical hazards, are made from a variety of polymer materials such as plastic, rubber, and synthetic rubber. One material does not provide protection against all chemicals, thus proper polymer selection is critical. Standardized testing, such as chemical degradation tests, are used to aid in the selection process. The current methods of degradation ratings based on changes in weight or tensile properties can be expensive and data often do not exist for complex chemical mixtures. There are hundreds of thousands of chemical products on the market that do not have chemical resistance data for polymer selection. The method described in this study provides an inexpensive alternative to gravimetric analysis. This method uses surface area change to evaluate degradation of a polymer material. Degradation tests for 5 polymer types against 50 complex mixtures were conducted using both gravimetric and surface area methods. The percent change data were compared between the two methods. The resulting regression line was y = 0.48x + 0.019, in units of percent, and the Pearson correlation coefficient was r = 0.9537 (p ≤ 0.05), which indicated a strong correlation between percent weight change and percent surface area change. On average, the percent change for surface area was about half that of the weight change. Using this information, an equivalent rating system was developed for determining the chemical degradation of polymer gloves using surface area.

  11. Complex contaminant mixtures in multistressor Appalachian riverscapes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merriam, Eric R; Petty, J Todd; Strager, Michael P; Maxwell, Aaron E; Ziemkiewicz, Paul F

    2015-11-01

    Runoff from watersheds altered by mountaintop mining in the Appalachian region (USA) is known to pollute headwater streams, yet regional-scale assessments of water quality have focused on salinization and selenium. The authors conducted a comprehensive survey of inorganic contaminants found in 170 stream segments distributed across a spectrum of historic and contemporary human land use. Principal component analysis identified 3 important dimensions of variation in water chemistry that were significantly correlated with contemporary surface mining (principal component 1: elevated dominant ions, sulfate, alkalinity, and selenium), coal geology and legacy mines (principal component 2: elevated trace metals), and residential development (principal component 3: elevated sodium and chloride). The combination of these 3 dominant sources of pollutants produced a complex stream-to-stream patchwork of contaminant mixtures. Seventy-five percent of headwater streams (catchments  5 km(2) ) were classified as having reference chemistries, and chemistries indicative of combined mining and development contaminants accounted for 47% of larger streams (compared with 26% of headwater streams). Extreme degradation of larger streams can be attributed to accumulation of contaminants from multiple human land use activities that include contemporary mountaintop mining, underground mining, abandoned mines, and untreated domestic wastewater. Consequently, water quality improvements in this region will require a multicontaminant remediation approach. © 2015 SETAC.

  12. Improved resolution of hydrocarbon structures and constitutional isomers in complex mixtures using Gas Chromatography-Vacuum Ultraviolet-Mass Spectrometry (GC-VUV-MS)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aerosol Dynamics Inc; Aerodyne Research, Inc.,; Tofwerk AG, Thun; Isaacman, Gabriel; Wilson, Kevin R.; Chan, Arthur W. H.; Worton, David R.; Kimmel, Joel R.; Nah, Theodora; Hohaus, Thorsten; Gonin, Marc; Kroll, Jesse H.; Worsnop, Doug R.; Goldstein, Allen H.

    2011-09-13

    Understanding the composition of complex hydrocarbon mixtures is important for environmental studies in a variety of fields, but many prevalent compounds cannot be confidently identified using traditional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques. This work uses vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) ionization to elucidate the structures of a traditionally"unresolved complex mixture" by separating components by GC retention time, tR, and mass-to-charge ratio, m/Q, which are used to determine carbon number, NC, and the number of rings and double bonds, NDBE. Constitutional isomers are resolved based on tR, enabling the most complete quantitative analysis to date of structural isomers in an environmentally-relevant hydrocarbon mixture. Unknown compounds are classified in this work by carbon number, degree of saturation, presence of rings, and degree of branching, providing structural constraints. The capabilities of this analysis are explored using diesel fuel, in which constitutional isomer distribution patterns are shown to be reproducible between carbon numbers and follow predictable rules. Nearly half of the aliphatic hydrocarbon mass is shown to be branched, suggesting branching is more important in diesel fuel than previously shown. The classification of unknown hydrocarbons and the resolution of constitutional isomers significantly improves resolution capabilities for any complex hydrocarbon mixture.

  13. Improved Resolution of Hydrocarbon Structures and Constitutional Isomers in Complex Mixtures Using Gas Chromatography-Vacuum Ultraviolet-Mass Spectrometry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Isaacman, Gabriel [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Wilson, Kevin R. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Chan, Arthur W. H. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Worton, David R. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Aerosol Dynamics Inc., Berkeley, CA (United States); Kimmel, Joel R. [Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, MA (United States); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Tofwerk AG, Thun (Switzerland); Nah, Theodora [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Hohaus, Thorsten [Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, MA (United States); Gonin, Marc [Tofwerk AG, Thun (Switzerland); Kroll, Jesse H. [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Worsnop, Douglas R. [Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, MA (United States); Goldstein, Allen H. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2012-01-30

    Understanding the composition of complex hydrocarbon mixtures is important for environmental studies in a variety of fields, but many prevalent compounds cannot be confidently identified using traditional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) techniques. In this study, we use vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) ionization to elucidate the structures of a traditionally “unresolved complex mixture” by separating components by GC retention time, tR, and mass-to-charge ratio, m/z, which are used to determine carbon number, NC, and the number of rings and double bonds, NDBE. Constitutional isomers are resolved on the basis of tR, enabling the most complete quantitative analysis to date of structural isomers in an environmentally relevant hydrocarbon mixture. Unknown compounds are classified in this work by carbon number, degree of saturation, presence of rings, and degree of branching, providing structural constraints. The capabilities of this analysis are explored using diesel fuel, in which constitutional isomer distribution patterns are shown to be reproducible between carbon numbers and follow predictable rules. Nearly half of the aliphatic hydrocarbon mass is shown to be branched, suggesting branching is more important in diesel fuel than previously shown. Lastly, the classification of unknown hydrocarbons and the resolution of constitutional isomers significantly improves resolution capabilities for any complex hydrocarbon mixture.

  14. Quantification of Multiple Components of Complex Aluminum-Based Adjuvant Mixtures by Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Partial Least Squares Modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dowling, Quinton M; Kramer, Ryan M

    2017-01-01

    Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for process monitoring, compositional quantification, and characterization of critical quality attributes in complex mixtures. Advantages over other spectroscopic measurements include ease of sample preparation, quantification of multiple components from a single measurement, and the ability to quantify optically opaque samples. This method describes the use of a multivariate model for quantifying a TLR4 agonist (GLA) adsorbed onto aluminum oxyhydroxide (Alhydrogel ® ) using FTIR spectroscopy that may be adapted to quantify other complex aluminum based adjuvant mixtures.

  15. Application of tritium-labeled complex technical mixture of PCB congeners as radiotracer in ecological investigations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, A.A.

    2005-01-01

    The quantitative analysis of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) is enough difficult analytical task. According to IUPAC nomenclature it is described more than 200 possible PCB congeners from which about 150 congeners are present at an environment. At the same time in environment PCBs are present as complex technical mixes of congeners (trade names include Apirolio, Aroclor, Clophen, Fenchlor, Kanechlor, Phenoclor, Pyralene, Pyranol, Pyroclor, Santotherm FR, and Sovol). In routine practice of gas chromatography analysis the quantitative measurement of PCB marker congeners is applied. In the most samples containing PCBs, there are often several dozens of different congeners. For practical reasons, all of them are not always measured, but the most important congeners are used as indicators. In Belgian chicken incident, only seven abundant congeners were usually measured: congeners with IUPAC numbers 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, and 180 (2,4,4 '-TriCB, 2,2 ', 5,5 '-TCB, 2,2 ', 4,5,5 '-PeCB, 2,3 ', 4,4 ', 5-PeCB, 2,2 ', 3,4,4 ', 5 '-HxCB, 2,2 ', 4,4 ', 5,5 '-HxCB, 2,2 ', 3,4,4 ', 5,5 '-HpCB, respectively). The seven congeners are estimated to constitute about one third of all PCBs in the contaminated feed. Such measurement can give the big error in a quantitative estimation of PCBs contents in a sample. As alternative method of quantitative measurement PCBs the radiochemical method with use radioactive labeled PCBs as radiotracer can be used. We had been developed a method of synthesis of labeled by thermally activated tritium a complex technical mixture of PCBs congeners - Sovol. We had been showed a basic opportunity of receiving of uniformly tritium labeled mixture of PCBs congeners without structural failure of mixture. The tritium labeled preparation of complex technical mixture of PCBs congeners (Sovol) has been received. On the basis of received tritium labeled preparation of PCBs (Sovol) we had been developed the following quantitative and qualitative radiochemical

  16. Enzyme-polyelectrolyte complexes in water-ethanol mixtures: negatively charged groups artificially introduced into alpha-chymotrypsin provide additional activation and stabilization effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kudryashova, E V; Gladilin, A K; Vakurov, A V; Heitz, F; Levashov, A V; Mozhaev, V V

    1997-07-20

    Formation of noncovalent complexes between alpha-chymotrypsin (CT) and a polyelectrolyte, polybrene (PB), has been shown to produce two major effects on enzymatic reactions in binary mixtures of polar organic cosolvents with water. (i) At moderate concentrations of organic cosolvents (10% to 30% v/v), enzymatic activity of CT is higher than in aqueous solutions, and this activation effect is more significant for CT in complex with PB (5- to 7-fold) than for free enzyme (1.5- to 2.5-fold). (ii) The range of cosolvent concentrations that the enzyme tolerates without complete loss of catalytic activity is much broader. For enhancement of enzyme stability in the complex with the polycation, the number of negatively charged groups in the protein has been artificially increased by using chemical modification with pyromellitic and succinic anhydrides. Additional activation effect at moderate concentrations of ethanol and enhanced resistance of the enzyme toward inactivation at high concentrations of the organic solvent have been observed for the modified preparations of CT in the complex with PB as compared with an analogous complex of the native enzyme. Structural changes behind alterations in enzyme activity in water-ethanol mixtures have been studied by the method of circular dichroism (CD). Protein conformation of all CT preparations has not changed significantly up to 30% v/v of ethanol where activation effects in enzymatic catalysis were most pronounced. At higher concentrations of ethanol, structural changes in the protein have been observed for different forms of CT that were well correlated with a decrease in enzymatic activity. (c) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 55: 267-277, 1997.

  17. Treatment of complex biological mixtures with pulsed electric fields An energy transfer characterization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schrive, Luc

    2004-01-01

    Sewage sludge from waste water treatment plants is a complex biological mixture and a problematic by-product because of valorisation restrictions. In order to limit its production, pulsed electric fields (PEF) were studied because of their biological effects and their potentially physico-chemical action. This work demonstrated a paradoxical phenomenon: cell lysis triggered a respirometric activation followed by a delayed lethality. This phenomenon was related to the leakage of internal compounds which were immediately bio-assimilated. At high energy expense, the plasmic membrane permeabilization led to cell death. Practically, with the technical configuration of the equipment, no hydrolysis was detected. This limitation decreases the interest for excess sludge reduction, but for the same reason, PEF cold sterilization technique can be assessed as a promising process. The representation of the electric energy transfer from electrodes to cell was exchanged by the study of mass transfer from the biological cell to the surrounding media under an electromotive force. Thus, the survival rate was modelled by a Sherwood number taking account of electrical, biological and hydraulic parameters. (author) [fr

  18. Determining the optimal size of small molecule mixtures for high throughput NMR screening

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mercier, Kelly A.; Powers, Robert

    2005-01-01

    High-throughput screening (HTS) using NMR spectroscopy has become a common component of the drug discovery effort and is widely used throughout the pharmaceutical industry. NMR provides additional information about the nature of small molecule-protein interactions compared to traditional HTS methods. In order to achieve comparable efficiency, small molecules are often screened as mixtures in NMR-based assays. Nevertheless, an analysis of the efficiency of mixtures and a corresponding determination of the optimum mixture size (OMS) that minimizes the amount of material and instrumentation time required for an NMR screen has been lacking. A model for calculating OMS based on the application of the hypergeometric distribution function to determine the probability of a 'hit' for various mixture sizes and hit rates is presented. An alternative method for the deconvolution of large screening mixtures is also discussed. These methods have been applied in a high-throughput NMR screening assay using a small, directed library

  19. A microfluidic dialysis device for complex biological mixture SERS analysis

    KAUST Repository

    Perozziello, Gerardo

    2015-08-01

    In this paper, we present a microfluidic device fabricated with a simple and inexpensive process allowing rapid filtering of peptides from a complex mixture. The polymer microfluidic device can be used for sample preparation in biological applications. The device is fabricated by micromilling and solvent assisted bonding, in which a microdialysis membrane (cut-off of 12-14 kDa) is sandwiched in between an upper and a bottom microfluidic chamber. An external frame connects the microfluidic device to external tubes, microvalves and syringe pumps. Bonding strength and interface sealing are pneumatically tested. Microfluidic protocols are also described by using the presented device to filter a sample composed of specific peptides (MW 1553.73 Da, at a concentration of 1.0 ng/μl) derived from the BRCA1 protein, a tumor-suppressor molecule which plays a pivotal role in the development of breast cancer, and albumin (MW 66.5 kDa, at a concentration of 35 μg/μl), the most represented protein in human plasma. The filtered samples coming out from the microfluidic device were subsequently deposited on a SERS (surface enhanced Raman scattering) substrate for further analysis by Raman spectroscopy. By using this approach, we were able to sort the small peptides from the bigger and highly concentrated protein albumin and to detect them by using a label-free technique at a resolution down to 1.0 ng/μl.

  20. Terahertz sensing of highly absorptive water-methanol mixtures with multiple resonances in metamaterials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Min; Singh, Leena; Xu, Ningning; Singh, Ranjan; Zhang, Weili; Xie, Lijuan

    2017-06-26

    Terahertz sensing of highly absorptive aqueous solutions remains challenging due to strong absorption of water in the terahertz regime. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a cost-effective metamaterial-based sensor integrated with terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for highly absorptive water-methanol mixture sensing. This metamaterial has simple asymmetric wire structures that support multiple resonances including a fundamental Fano resonance and higher order dipolar resonance in the terahertz regime. Both the resonance modes have strong intensity in the transmission spectra which we exploit for detection of the highly absorptive water-methanol mixtures. The experimentally characterized sensitivities of the Fano and dipole resonances for the water-methanol mixtures are found to be 160 and 305 GHz/RIU, respectively. This method provides a robust route for metamaterial-assisted terahertz sensing of highly absorptive chemical and biochemical materials with multiple resonances and high accuracy.

  1. Thermodynamic characterization of deepwater natural gas mixtures with heavy hydrocarbon content at high pressures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Atilhan, Mert; Aparicio, Santiago; Ejaz, Saquib; Zhou, Jingjun; Al-Marri, Mohammed; Holste, James J.; Hall, Kenneth R.

    2015-01-01

    This paper includes high-accuracy density measurements and phase envelopes for deepwater natural gas mixtures. Mixtures primarily consist of (0.88 and 0.94) mole fraction methane and both mixtures includes heavy components (C 6+ ) more than 0.002 mole fraction. Experimental density and phase envelope data for deep and ultra-deep reservoir mixtures are scarce in literature and high accuracy measurements for such parameters for such natural gas-like mixtures are essential to validate the benchmark equations for custody transfer such as AGA8-DC92 and GERG-2008 equation of states (EOS). Thus, in this paper we report density and phase envelope experimental data via compact single-sinker magnetic suspension densimeter and isochoric apparatuses. Such data help gas industry to avoid retrograde condensation in natural gas pipelines

  2. Combining Passive Sampling with Toxicological Characterization of Complex Mixtures of Pollutants from the Aquatic Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jahnke, Annika; Witt, Gesine; Schäfer, Sabine; Haase, Nora; Escher, Beate I

    The combination of polymer-based passive sampling to collect complex environmental mixtures of pollutants, the transfer of these mixtures into bioassays, and their related toxicological characterization is still in its infancy. However, this approach has considerable potential to improve environmental hazard and risk assessment for two reasons. First, the passive sampler collects a broad range of chemicals representing the fraction of compounds available for diffusion and (bio)uptake, excluding a large part of the matrix; thus, extensive sample cleanup which could discriminate certain compounds can be avoided. Second, the toxicological characterization of samples using bioassays is complementary to chemical (target) analysis within environmental monitoring because it captures all chemicals exerting the same mode of toxic action and acting jointly in mixtures, thus providing a comprehensive picture of their overall combined effects. The scientific literature describes a range of examples from the water phase where passive sampling is usually carried out in the kinetic uptake regime for most chemicals although some may already have reached equilibrium. The composition of the chemical mixture changes from the water phase to the passive sampling material because of kinetic effects and polymer/water partition coefficients which depend on the chemicals' hydrophobicity. In contrast, only a few applications in sediment and biota have been described, but amongst these some pioneering studies have demonstrated the feasibility and potential of this combined approach. This chapter gives an overview of what has been carried out in this research area, focusing on opportunities and challenges, and points out desirable future developments with a focus on the importance of choosing a suitable combination of sampling and dosing to transfer (or re-establish) the environmental mixture into the bioassay.

  3. Sample size choices for XRCT scanning of highly unsaturated soil mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Smith Jonathan C.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Highly unsaturated soil mixtures (clay, sand and gravel are used as building materials in many parts of the world, and there is increasing interest in understanding their mechanical and hydraulic behaviour. In the laboratory, x-ray computed tomography (XRCT is becoming more widely used to investigate the microstructures of soils, however a crucial issue for such investigations is the choice of sample size, especially concerning the scanning of soil mixtures where there will be a range of particle and void sizes. In this paper we present a discussion (centred around a new set of XRCT scans on sample sizing for scanning of samples comprising soil mixtures, where a balance has to be made between realistic representation of the soil components and the desire for high resolution scanning, We also comment on the appropriateness of differing sample sizes in comparison to sample sizes used for other geotechnical testing. Void size distributions for the samples are presented and from these some hypotheses are made as to the roles of inter- and intra-aggregate voids in the mechanical behaviour of highly unsaturated soils.

  4. Enzyme-coupled nanoparticles-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry for searching for low-mass inhibitors of enzymes in complex mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salwiński, Aleksander; Da Silva, David; Delépée, Raphaël; Maunit, Benoît

    2014-04-01

    In this report, enzyme-coupled magnetic nanoparticles (EMPs) were shown to be an effective affinity-based tool for finding specific interactions between enzymatic targets and the low-mass molecules in complex mixtures using classic MALDI-TOF apparatus. EMPs used in this work act as nonorganic matrix enabling ionization of small molecules without any interference in the low-mass range (enzyme-coupled nanoparticles-assisted laser desorption ionization MS, ENALDI MS) and simultaneously carry the superficial specific binding sites to capture inhibitors present in a studied mixture. We evaluated ENALDI approach in two complementary variations: 'ion fading' (IF-ENALDI), based on superficial adsorption of inhibitors and 'ion hunting' (IH-ENALDI), based on selective pre-concentration of inhibitors. IF-ENALDI was applied for two sets of enzyme-inhibitor pairs: tyrosinase-glabridin and trypsin-leupeptin and for the real plant sample: Sparrmannia discolor leaf and stem methanol extract. The efficacy of IH-ENALDI was shown for the pair of trypsin-leupeptin. Both ENALDI approaches pose an alternative for bioassay-guided fractionation, the common method for finding inhibitors in the complex mixtures.

  5. Detonation cell size measurements in high-temperature hydrogen-air-steam mixtures at the BNL high-temperature combustion facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ciccarelli, G.; Ginsberg, T.; Boccio, J.L.

    1997-11-01

    The High-Temperature Combustion Facility (HTCF) was designed and constructed with the objective of studying detonation phenomena in mixtures of hydrogen-air-steam at initially high temperatures. The central element of the HTCF is a 27-cm inner-diameter, 21.3-m long cylindrical test vessel capable of being heating to 700K ± 14K. A unique feature of the HTCF is the 'diaphragmless' acetylene-oxygen gas driver which is used to initiate the detonation in the test gas. Cell size measurements have shown that for any hydrogen-air-steam mixture, increasing the initial mixture temperature, in the range of 300K to 650K, while maintaining the initial pressure of 0.1 MPa, decreases the cell size and thus makes the mixture more detonable. The effect of steam dilution on cell size was tested in stoichiometric and off-stoichiometric (e.g., equivalence ratio of 0.5) hydrogen-air mixtures. Increasing the steam dilution in hydrogen-air mixtures at 0.1 MPa initial pressure increases the cell size, irrespective of initial temperature. It is also observed that the desensitizing effect of steam diminished with increased initial temperature. A 1-dimensional, steady-state Zel'dovich, von Neumann, Doring (ZND) model, with full chemical kinetics, has been used to predict cell size for hydrogen-air-steam mixtures at different initial conditions. Qualitatively the model predicts the overall trends observed in the measured cell size versus mixture composition and initial temperature and pressure. It was found that the proportionality constant used to predict detonation cell size from the calculated ZND model reaction zone varies between 10 and 100 depending on the mixture composition and initial temperature. 32 refs., 35 figs

  6. The virucidal spectrum of a high concentration alcohol mixture

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Engelenburg, F. A. C.; Terpstra, F. G.; Schuitemaker, H.; Moorer, W. R.

    2002-01-01

    The virucidal spectrum of a high concentration alcohol mixture (80% ethanol and 5% isopropanol) was determined for a broad series of lipid-enveloped (LE) and non-lipid-enveloped (NLE) viruses covering all relevant blood-borne viruses. LE viruses were represented by human immunodeficiency virus

  7. Achieving Mixtures of Ultra-High Performance Concrete

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mircea POPA

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC is a relatively new concrete. According to [11] UHPC is that concrete which features compressive strength over C100/115 class. Up to this point standards for this type of concrete were not adopted, although its characteristic strength exceeds those specified in [33]. Its main property is high compressive strength. This provides the possibility of reducing the section of elements (beams or columns made of this type of concrete, while the load capacity remains high. The study consists in blending mixtures of UHPC made of varying proportions of materials. The authors have obtained strengths of up to 160 MPa. The materials used are: Portland cement, silica fume, quartz powder, steel fibers, superplasticiser, sand and crushed aggregate for concrete - andesite.

  8. Effects of defined mixtures of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on multiple cellular responses in the human hepatocarcinoma cell line, HepG2, using high content analysis screening

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wilson, Jodie [Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen' s University Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom); Berntsen, Hanne Friis; Zimmer, Karin Elisabeth [Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo (Norway); Frizzell, Caroline [Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen' s University Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom); Verhaegen, Steven; Ropstad, Erik [Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo (Norway); Connolly, Lisa, E-mail: l.connolly@qub.ac.uk [Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen' s University Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)

    2016-03-01

    Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic substances, highly resistant to environmental degradation, which can bio-accumulate and have long-range atmospheric transport potential. Most studies focus on single compound effects, however as humans are exposed to several POPs simultaneously, investigating exposure effects of real life POP mixtures on human health is necessary. A defined mixture of POPs was used, where the compound concentration reflected its contribution to the levels seen in Scandinavian human serum (total mix). Several sub mixtures representing different classes of POPs were also constructed. The perfluorinated (PFC) mixture contained six perfluorinated compounds, brominated (Br) mixture contained seven brominated compounds, chlorinated (Cl) mixture contained polychlorinated biphenyls and also p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, hexachlorobenzene, three chlordanes, three hexachlorocyclohexanes and dieldrin. Human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cells were used for 2 h and 48 h exposures to the seven mixtures and analysis on a CellInsight™ NXT High Content Screening platform. Multiple cytotoxic endpoints were investigated: cell number, nuclear intensity and area, mitochondrial mass and membrane potential (MMP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Both the Br and Cl mixtures induced ROS production but did not lead to apoptosis. The PFC mixture induced ROS production and likely induced cell apoptosis accompanied by the dissipation of MMP. Synergistic effects were evident for ROS induction when cells were exposed to the PFC + Br mixture in comparison to the effects of the individual mixtures. No significant effects were detected in the Br + Cl, PFC + Cl or total mixtures, which contain the same concentrations of chlorinated compounds as the Cl mixture plus additional compounds; highlighting the need for further exploration of POP mixtures in risk assessment. - Highlights: • High content analysis (HCA) is a novel approach for determining toxicity of

  9. Effects of defined mixtures of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on multiple cellular responses in the human hepatocarcinoma cell line, HepG2, using high content analysis screening

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, Jodie; Berntsen, Hanne Friis; Zimmer, Karin Elisabeth; Frizzell, Caroline; Verhaegen, Steven; Ropstad, Erik; Connolly, Lisa

    2016-01-01

    Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic substances, highly resistant to environmental degradation, which can bio-accumulate and have long-range atmospheric transport potential. Most studies focus on single compound effects, however as humans are exposed to several POPs simultaneously, investigating exposure effects of real life POP mixtures on human health is necessary. A defined mixture of POPs was used, where the compound concentration reflected its contribution to the levels seen in Scandinavian human serum (total mix). Several sub mixtures representing different classes of POPs were also constructed. The perfluorinated (PFC) mixture contained six perfluorinated compounds, brominated (Br) mixture contained seven brominated compounds, chlorinated (Cl) mixture contained polychlorinated biphenyls and also p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, hexachlorobenzene, three chlordanes, three hexachlorocyclohexanes and dieldrin. Human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cells were used for 2 h and 48 h exposures to the seven mixtures and analysis on a CellInsight™ NXT High Content Screening platform. Multiple cytotoxic endpoints were investigated: cell number, nuclear intensity and area, mitochondrial mass and membrane potential (MMP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Both the Br and Cl mixtures induced ROS production but did not lead to apoptosis. The PFC mixture induced ROS production and likely induced cell apoptosis accompanied by the dissipation of MMP. Synergistic effects were evident for ROS induction when cells were exposed to the PFC + Br mixture in comparison to the effects of the individual mixtures. No significant effects were detected in the Br + Cl, PFC + Cl or total mixtures, which contain the same concentrations of chlorinated compounds as the Cl mixture plus additional compounds; highlighting the need for further exploration of POP mixtures in risk assessment. - Highlights: • High content analysis (HCA) is a novel approach for determining toxicity of

  10. Introducing Students to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Analysis and Determination of Kerosene Components in a Complex Mixture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pacot, Giselle Mae M.; Lee, Lyn May; Chin, Sung-Tong; Marriott, Philip J.

    2016-01-01

    Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC-tandem MS (GC-MS/MS) are useful in many separation and characterization procedures. GC-MS is now a common tool in industry and research, and increasingly, GC-MS/MS is applied to the measurement of trace components in complex mixtures. This report describes an upper-level undergraduate experiment…

  11. Analysis of zeotropic mixtures used in high-temperature Organic Rankine cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong, Bensi; Xu, Guoqiang; Cai, Yi; Li, Haiwang

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Using mixtures leads to an efficiency increase compared to pure fluids. • MM/MDM (0.4/0.6) produces optimal cycle efficiency. • Lower temperature gradients of heat source and sink give rise to higher cycle efficiency. • Condensation step shows more effect than evaporation step on cycle efficiency. - Abstract: The paper investigates the performance of high-temperature Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) with zeotropic mixtures as working fluid. A numerical model, which has been validated by comparing with the published data, is developed to predict the first law thermal efficiency of the cycle. The effects of mixture concentration, temperature gradient of the heat transfer fluid, pinch temperature difference, pressure ratio, and condensation pressure on the first law efficiency are presented firstly using a purposely designed program, and then the suitable conditions for the described ORC are suggested based on the results of the simulation. It is demonstrated that the use of zeotropic mixtures leads to an efficiency increase compared to pure fluids

  12. Comprehensive Metabolite Identification Strategy Using Multiple Two-Dimensional NMR Spectra of a Complex Mixture Implemented in the COLMARm Web Server

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bingol, Kerem [Environmental; Li, Da-Wei; Zhang, Bo; Brüschweiler, Rafael

    2016-12-06

    Identification of metabolites in complex mixtures represents a key step in metabolomics. A new strategy is introduced, which is implemented in a new public web server, COLMARm, that permits the co-analysis of up to three 2D NMR spectra, namely 13C-1H HSQC, 1H-1H TOCSY, and 13C-1H HSQC-TOCSY for the comprehensive, accurate, and efficient performance of this task. The highly versatile and interactive nature of COLMARm permits its application to a wide range of metabolomics samples independent of the magnetic field. Database query is performed using the HSQC spectrum and the top metabolite hits are then validated against the TOCSY-type experiment(s) by superimposing the expected cross-peaks on the mixture spectrum. In this way the user can directly accept or reject candidate metabolites by taking advantage of the complementary spectral information offered by these experiments and their different sensitivities. The power of COLMARm is demonstrated for a human serum sample uncovering the existence of 14 metabolites that hitherto were not identified by NMR.

  13. Optical Coherence Tomography Noise Reduction Using Anisotropic Local Bivariate Gaussian Mixture Prior in 3D Complex Wavelet Domain

    OpenAIRE

    Rabbani, Hossein; Sonka, Milan; Abramoff, Michael D.

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, MMSE estimator is employed for noise-free 3D OCT data recovery in 3D complex wavelet domain. Since the proposed distribution for noise-free data plays a key role in the performance of MMSE estimator, a priori distribution for the pdf of noise-free 3D complex wavelet coefficients is proposed which is able to model the main statistical properties of wavelets. We model the coefficients with a mixture of two bivariate Gaussian pdfs with local parameters which are able to capture th...

  14. Using Big Data Analytics to Address Mixtures Exposure

    Science.gov (United States)

    The assessment of chemical mixtures is a complex issue for regulators and health scientists. We propose that assessing chemical co-occurrence patterns and prevalence rates is a relatively simple yet powerful approach in characterizing environmental mixtures and mixtures exposure...

  15. Tumour promotion by complex mixtures of polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs) and the applicability of the toxic equivalency factor (TEF) concept

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Plas, van der S.A.

    2000-01-01

    The aim of the project described in this thesis consisted of two main objectives, first, to examine the tumour promotion potential of complex, environmentally relevant mixtures of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo- p -dioxins (PCDDs) and

  16. Direct elution of sup(99m)Tc complexes from neutron irradiation produced 99Mo incorporated in a MoCl2-MoBr2 mixture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ganzerli Valentini, M.T.; Stella, R.; Genova, N.

    1987-01-01

    A novel type of sup(99m)Tc generator, enabling radiopharmaceutical preparation without reductant addition, was prepared and tested. Neutron activated product 99 Mo, in the form of dichloride cluster, was incorporated into inactive molybdenum dichloride-dibromide mixture (MCB) that was left to settle over an activated alumina layer. Direct elution with aqueous ligands such as salicylate or iminodiacetate derivatives in the pH range 6.5-7.5 yielded chemically stable sup(99m)Tc complexes accompanied by small amounts of secondary products (mostly sup(99m)TcO - 4 ). Pentavalent oxidation state in the salicylate complex and tervalent in the iminodiacetate (IDA) and in the N-(2,6-dimethylphenylcarbamoylmethyl) iminodiacetate (HIDA) complexes were assigned to the element after comparison with reference complexes. The anion exchange version of reverse-phase HPLC was used to resolve the eluted product mixture. (author)

  17. Thermodynamic properties of fluid mixtures at high pressures and high temperatures. Application to high explosives and to phase diagrams of binary mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pittion-Rossillon, Gerard

    1982-01-01

    The free energy for mixtures of about ten species which are chemically reacting is calculated. In order to have accurate results near the freezing line, excess properties are deduced from a modern statistical mechanics theory. Intermolecular potentials for like molecules are fitted to give good agreement with shock experiments in pure liquid samples, and mixture properties come naturally from the theory. The stationary Chapman-Jouguet detonation wave is calculated with a chemical equilibrium computer code and results are in good agreement with experiment for a lot of various explosives. One then study gas-gas equilibria in a binary mixture and show the extreme sensitivity of theoretical phase diagrams to the hypothesis of the model (author) [fr

  18. Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry for complex thiophenic mixture analysis

    KAUST Repository

    Hourani, Nadim

    2013-10-01

    Rationale Polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASHs) are detrimental species for refining processes in petroleum industry. Current mass spectrometric Methods that determine their composition are often preceded by derivatization and dopant addition approaches. Different ionization Methods have different impact on the molecular assignment of complex PASHs. The analysis of such species under atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) is still considered limited due to uncontrolled ion generation with low- and high-mass PASHs. Methods The ionization behavior of a model mixture of five selected PASH standards was investigated using an APCI source with nitrogen as the reagent gas. A complex thiophenic fraction was separated from a vacuum gas oil (VGO) and injected using the same method. The samples were analyzed using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR MS). RESULTS PASH model analytes were successfully ionized and mainly [M + H]+ ions were produced. The same ionization pattern was observed for the real thiophenic sample. It was found that S1 class species were the major sulfur-containing species found in the VGO sample. These species indicated the presence of alkylated benzothiophenic (BT), dibenzothiophenic (DBT) and benzonaphthothiophenic (BNT) series that were detected by APCI-FTICR MS. CONCLUSIONS This study provides an established APCI-FTICR MS method for the analysis of complex PASHs. PASHs were detected without using any derivatization and without fragmentation. The method can be used for the analysis of S-containing crude oil samples. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  19. Identifying technical aliases in SELDI mass spectra of complex mixtures of proteins

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background Biomarker discovery datasets created using mass spectrum protein profiling of complex mixtures of proteins contain many peaks that represent the same protein with different charge states. Correlated variables such as these can confound the statistical analyses of proteomic data. Previously we developed an algorithm that clustered mass spectrum peaks that were biologically or technically correlated. Here we demonstrate an algorithm that clusters correlated technical aliases only. Results In this paper, we propose a preprocessing algorithm that can be used for grouping technical aliases in mass spectrometry protein profiling data. The stringency of the variance allowed for clustering is customizable, thereby affecting the number of peaks that are clustered. Subsequent analysis of the clusters, instead of individual peaks, helps reduce difficulties associated with technically-correlated data, and can aid more efficient biomarker identification. Conclusions This software can be used to pre-process and thereby decrease the complexity of protein profiling proteomics data, thus simplifying the subsequent analysis of biomarkers by decreasing the number of tests. The software is also a practical tool for identifying which features to investigate further by purification, identification and confirmation. PMID:24010718

  20. Polarographic reduction of Yb/sup +3/ benzoate and salicylate complexes in aqueous-nonaqueous mixtures at D. M. E

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zutshi, K; Gupta, K C [Rajasthan Univ., Jaipur (India). Dept. of Chemistry

    1977-01-01

    The reduction of Yb/sup +3/ and Yb/sup +3/-benzoate and salicylate complexes was studied polarographically at constant ionic strength at 25 +- 0.02/sup 0/C in aqueous-nonaqueous mixtures. The reduction was found to be diffusion-controlled, but the electrode process was irreversible in all cases. The kinetic parameters were determined by Koutecky's method.

  1. Combustion Mode Design with High Efficiency and Low Emissions Controlled by Mixtures Stratification and Fuel Reactivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu eWang

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a review on the combustion mode design with high efficiency and low emissions controlled by fuel reactivity and mixture stratification that have been conducted in the authors’ group, including the charge reactivity controlled homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI combustion, stratification controlled premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI combustion, and dual-fuel combustion concepts controlled by both fuel reactivity and mixture stratification. The review starts with the charge reactivity controlled HCCI combustion, and the works on HCCI fuelled with both high cetane number fuels, such as DME and n-heptane, and high octane number fuels, such as methanol, natural gas, gasoline and mixtures of gasoline/alcohols, are reviewed and discussed. Since single fuel cannot meet the reactivity requirements under different loads to control the combustion process, the studies related to concentration stratification and dual-fuel charge reactivity controlled HCCI combustion are then presented, which have been shown to have the potential to achieve effective combustion control. The efforts of using both mixture and thermal stratifications to achieve the auto-ignition and combustion control are also discussed. Thereafter, both charge reactivity and mixture stratification are then applied to control the combustion process. The potential and capability of thermal-atmosphere controlled compound combustion mode and dual-fuel reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI/highly premixed charge combustion (HPCC mode to achieve clean and high efficiency combustion are then presented and discussed. Based on these results and discussions, combustion mode design with high efficiency and low emissions controlled by fuel reactivity and mixtures stratification in the whole operating range is proposed.

  2. Perfluorononanoic acid in combination with 14 chemicals exerts low-dose mixture effects in rats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hadrup, Niels; Pedersen, Mikael; Skov, Kasper

    2016-01-01

    Humans are simultaneously exposed to several chemicals that act jointly to induce mixture effects. At doses close to or higher than no-observed adverse effect levels, chemicals usually act additively in experimental studies. However, we are lacking knowledge on the importance of exposure to complex...... real-world mixtures at more relevant human exposure levels. We hypothesised that adverse mixture effects occur at doses approaching high-end human exposure levels. A mixture (Mix) of 14 chemicals at a combined dose of 2.5 mg/kg bw/day was tested in combination with perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA...... pituitary-adrenal axis. In conclusion, our data suggest that mixtures of environmental chemicals at doses approaching high-end human exposure levels can cause a hormonal imbalance and disturb steroid hormones and their regulation. These effects may be non-monotonic and were observed at low doses. Whether...

  3. Investigation of complexing in solutions of salt mixture In(NO3)3-NaVO3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakhodnova, A.N.; Listratenko, I.V.

    1987-01-01

    Spectrophotometry, conductometry and pH-metry are used to investigate properties and composition of the solid phases of isomolar series of In(NO 3 ) 3 -NaVO 3 salt mixture solutions and series of solutions having constant concentration of one of the components and varied of the other. Results of investigation are presented. It is stated that in the investigated solution series in weakly acid media HPA with the ratios [In 3+ ]:[V 5+ ] being equal to 11:1, 6:1, and 1:9, are formed. Composition of the complexes is mainly defined by the ratio of the components in In(NO 3 ) 3 and NaVO 3 salt mixture solutions and the medium acidity. Compounds of Na 2 OxIn 2 O 3 x2.5V 2 O 5 x8.5H 2 O and Cs 2 OxIn 2 O 3 x6V 2 O 5 x6.5H 2 O empirical formulae are separated. Results of IR spectroscopy, derivatography and X-ray phase analysis of the corresponding salts are presented

  4. Database searching and accounting of multiplexed precursor and product ion spectra from the data independent analysis of simple and complex peptide mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Guo-Zhong; Vissers, Johannes P C; Silva, Jeffrey C; Golick, Dan; Gorenstein, Marc V; Geromanos, Scott J

    2009-03-01

    A novel database search algorithm is presented for the qualitative identification of proteins over a wide dynamic range, both in simple and complex biological samples. The algorithm has been designed for the analysis of data originating from data independent acquisitions, whereby multiple precursor ions are fragmented simultaneously. Measurements used by the algorithm include retention time, ion intensities, charge state, and accurate masses on both precursor and product ions from LC-MS data. The search algorithm uses an iterative process whereby each iteration incrementally increases the selectivity, specificity, and sensitivity of the overall strategy. Increased specificity is obtained by utilizing a subset database search approach, whereby for each subsequent stage of the search, only those peptides from securely identified proteins are queried. Tentative peptide and protein identifications are ranked and scored by their relative correlation to a number of models of known and empirically derived physicochemical attributes of proteins and peptides. In addition, the algorithm utilizes decoy database techniques for automatically determining the false positive identification rates. The search algorithm has been tested by comparing the search results from a four-protein mixture, the same four-protein mixture spiked into a complex biological background, and a variety of other "system" type protein digest mixtures. The method was validated independently by data dependent methods, while concurrently relying on replication and selectivity. Comparisons were also performed with other commercially and publicly available peptide fragmentation search algorithms. The presented results demonstrate the ability to correctly identify peptides and proteins from data independent acquisition strategies with high sensitivity and specificity. They also illustrate a more comprehensive analysis of the samples studied; providing approximately 20% more protein identifications, compared to

  5. The production of high load coal-water mixtures on the base of Kansk-Achinsk Coal Basin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Demidov, Y.; Bruer, G.; Kolesnikova, S. [Research and Design Institute for Problems of Development of Kansk-Achinsk Coal Basin (KATEKNilugol), Krasnoyarsk (Russian Federation)

    1995-12-01

    The results of the {open_quotes}KATEKNIIugol{close_quotes} work on the problems of high load coal-water mixtures are given in this article. General principles of the mixture production, short characteristics of Kansk-Achinsk coals, the experimental results of the coal mixture production on a test-industrial scale, the suspension preparation on the base of coal mixtures, technical-economical indexes of tested coal pipeline variants based on Kansk-Achinsk coals are described.

  6. Characterization of the pharmacokinetics of gasoline using PBPK modeling with a complex mixtures chemical lumping approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dennison, James E; Andersen, Melvin E; Yang, Raymond S H

    2003-09-01

    Gasoline consists of a few toxicologically significant components and a large number of other hydrocarbons in a complex mixture. By using an integrated, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling and lumping approach, we have developed a method for characterizing the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of gasoline in rats. The PBPK model tracks selected target components (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene [BTEX], and n-hexane) and a lumped chemical group representing all nontarget components, with competitive metabolic inhibition between all target compounds and the lumped chemical. PK data was acquired by performing gas uptake PK studies with male F344 rats in a closed chamber. Chamber air samples were analyzed every 10-20 min by gas chromatography/flame ionization detection and all nontarget chemicals were co-integrated. A four-compartment PBPK model with metabolic interactions was constructed using the BTEX, n-hexane, and lumped chemical data. Target chemical kinetic parameters were refined by studies with either the single chemical alone or with all five chemicals together. o-Xylene, at high concentrations, decreased alveolar ventilation, consistent with respiratory irritation. A six-chemical interaction model with the lumped chemical group was used to estimate lumped chemical partitioning and metabolic parameters for a winter blend of gasoline with methyl t-butyl ether and a summer blend without any oxygenate. Computer simulation results from this model matched well with experimental data from single chemical, five-chemical mixture, and the two blends of gasoline. The PBPK model analysis indicated that metabolism of individual components was inhibited up to 27% during the 6-h gas uptake experiments of gasoline exposures.

  7. Burning Behaviour of High-Pressure CH4-H2-Air Mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacopo D'Alessio

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Experimental characterization of the burning behavior of gaseous mixtures has been carried out, analyzing spherical expanding flames. Tests were performed in the Device for Hydrogen-Air Reaction Mode Analysis (DHARMA laboratory of Istituto Motori—CNR. Based on a high-pressure, constant-volume bomb, the activity is aimed at populating a systematic database on the burning properties of CH4, H2 and other species of interest, in conditions typical of internal combustion (i.c. engines and gas turbines. High-speed shadowgraph is used to record the flame growth, allowing to infer the laminar burning parameters and the flame stability properties. Mixtures of CH4, H2 and air have been analyzed at initial temperature 293÷305 K, initial pressure 3÷18 bar and equivalence ratio  = 1.0. The amount of H2 in the mixture was 0%, 20% and 30% (vol.. The effect of the initial pressure and of the Hydrogen content on the laminar burning velocity and the Markstein length has been evaluated: the relative weight and mutual interaction has been assessed of the two controlling parameters. Analysis has been carried out of the flame instability, expressed in terms of the critical radius for the onset of cellularity, as a function of the operating conditions.

  8. Toxicological risk assessment of complex mixtures through the Wtox model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William Gerson Matias

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Mathematical models are important tools for environmental management and risk assessment. Predictions about the toxicity of chemical mixtures must be enhanced due to the complexity of eects that can be caused to the living species. In this work, the environmental risk was accessed addressing the need to study the relationship between the organism and xenobiotics. Therefore, ve toxicological endpoints were applied through the WTox Model, and with this methodology we obtained the risk classication of potentially toxic substances. Acute and chronic toxicity, citotoxicity and genotoxicity were observed in the organisms Daphnia magna, Vibrio scheri and Oreochromis niloticus. A case study was conducted with solid wastes from textile, metal-mechanic and pulp and paper industries. The results have shown that several industrial wastes induced mortality, reproductive eects, micronucleus formation and increases in the rate of lipid peroxidation and DNA methylation of the organisms tested. These results, analyzed together through the WTox Model, allowed the classication of the environmental risk of industrial wastes. The evaluation showed that the toxicological environmental risk of the samples analyzed can be classied as signicant or critical.

  9. Urea and deuterium mixtures at high pressures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Donnelly, M., E-mail: m.donnelly-2@sms.ed.ac.uk; Husband, R. J.; Frantzana, A. D.; Loveday, J. S. [Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions and School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Erskine Williamson Building, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, The King’s Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3FD (United Kingdom); Bull, C. L. [ISIS, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford Harwell, Didcot OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Klotz, S. [IMPMC, CNRS UMR 7590, Université P and M Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris (France)

    2015-03-28

    Urea, like many network forming compounds, has long been known to form inclusion (guest-host) compounds. Unlike other network formers like water, urea is not known to form such inclusion compounds with simple molecules like hydrogen. Such compounds if they existed would be of interest both for the fundamental insight they provide into molecular bonding and as potential gas storage systems. Urea has been proposed as a potential hydrogen storage material [T. A. Strobel et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 478, 97 (2009)]. Here, we report the results of high-pressure neutron diffraction studies of urea and D{sub 2} mixtures that indicate no inclusion compound forms up to 3.7 GPa.

  10. Reduced gas seepages in serpentinized peridotite complexes: Evidences for multiple origins of the H2-CH4-N2 gas mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deville, E.; Vacquand, C.; Beaumont, V.; Francois, G.; Sissmann, O.; Pillot, D.; Arcilla, C. A.; Prinzhofer, A.

    2017-12-01

    A comparative study of reduced gas seepages associated to serpentinized ultrabasic rocks was conducted in the ophiolitic complexes of Oman, the Philippines, Turkey and New Caledonia. This study is based on analyzes of the gas chemical composition, noble gases contents, and stable isotopes of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen. These gas seepages are mostly made of mixtures of three main components which are H2, CH4 and N2 in various proportions. The relative contents of the three main gas components show 4 distinct families of gas mixtures (H2-rich, N2-rich, N2-H2-CH4 and H2-CH4). These families are interpreted as reflecting different zones of gas generation within or below the ophiolitic complexes. In the H2-rich family associated noble gases display signatures close to the value of air. In addition to the atmospheric component, mantle and crustal contributions are present in the N2-rich, N2-H2-CH4 and H2-CH4 families. H2-bearing gases are either associated to ultra-basic (pH 10-12) spring waters or they seep directly in fracture systems from the ophiolitic rocks. In ophiolitic contexts, ultrabasic rocks provide an adequate environment with available Fe2+ and high pH conditions that favor H2 production. CH4 is produced either directly by reaction of dissolved CO2 with basic-ultrabasic rocks during the serpentinization process or in a second step by H2-CO2 interaction. H2 is present in the gas when no more carbon is available in the system to generate CH4 (conditions of strong carbon restriction). The N2-rich family is associated with relatively high contents of crustal 4He. In this family N2 is interpreted as issued mainly from sediments located below the ophiolitic units.

  11. A Decision Mixture Model-Based Method for Inshore Ship Detection Using High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bi, Fukun; Chen, Jing; Zhuang, Yin; Bian, Mingming; Zhang, Qingjun

    2017-06-22

    With the rapid development of optical remote sensing satellites, ship detection and identification based on large-scale remote sensing images has become a significant maritime research topic. Compared with traditional ocean-going vessel detection, inshore ship detection has received increasing attention in harbor dynamic surveillance and maritime management. However, because the harbor environment is complex, gray information and texture features between docked ships and their connected dock regions are indistinguishable, most of the popular detection methods are limited by their calculation efficiency and detection accuracy. In this paper, a novel hierarchical method that combines an efficient candidate scanning strategy and an accurate candidate identification mixture model is presented for inshore ship detection in complex harbor areas. First, in the candidate region extraction phase, an omnidirectional intersected two-dimension scanning (OITDS) strategy is designed to rapidly extract candidate regions from the land-water segmented images. In the candidate region identification phase, a decision mixture model (DMM) is proposed to identify real ships from candidate objects. Specifically, to improve the robustness regarding the diversity of ships, a deformable part model (DPM) was employed to train a key part sub-model and a whole ship sub-model. Furthermore, to improve the identification accuracy, a surrounding correlation context sub-model is built. Finally, to increase the accuracy of candidate region identification, these three sub-models are integrated into the proposed DMM. Experiments were performed on numerous large-scale harbor remote sensing images, and the results showed that the proposed method has high detection accuracy and rapid computational efficiency.

  12. Application of the cubic-plus-association equation of state to mixtures with polar chemicals and high pressures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Folas, Georgios; Kontogeorgis, Georgios; Michelsen, Michael Locht

    2006-01-01

    was given to low pressures and liquid-liquid equilibria. In this work, CPA is applied to two classes of mixtures containing polar chemicals for which high-pressure data are available: acetone-containing systems and dimethyl ether mixtures. They are of both scientific and industrial importance. Moreover, CPA......The cubic-plus-association (CPA) equation of state has been previously applied to vapor-liquid, liquid-liquid, and solid-liquid equilibria of mixtures containing associating compounds (water, alcohols, glycols, acids, amines). Although some high-pressure applications have been presented, emphasis...... to conventional models such as MHV2. Very good results are also obtained for multicomponent vapor-liquid-liquid equilibria for mixtures containing gases, water, and dimethyl ether. Finally, it is shown that high-pressure SLE can be predicted based on interaction parameters obtained from low-pressure SLE data....

  13. Physical Characterization Of High Amylose/Pectin Mixtures Cross-Linked With Sodium Trimetaphosphate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carbinatto, F.M.; Cury, B.S.F.; Evangelista, R.C.

    2010-01-01

    Some researches have reported that pectin and high amylose mixtures presented superior mechanical properties in relation to those of the isolated polymers. In this work, mixtures at different ratios (1:4; 1:1) of pectin and high amylose were crosslinked with sodium trimetaphosphate at different degrees by varying reaction conditions. All samples were characterized by rheological and X-ray diffraction analyses. Samples without cross-linker were prepared as control. The oscillatory dynamic tests showed that all samples exhibited predominant elastic behavior, although cross-linked samples presented higher G' values, suggesting that crosslinking by phosphorylation resulted in more strength structures. The diffractograms showed that cross-linked samples underwent structural modifications that resulted in increase of crystallinity due to cross-linking process. (author)

  14. Mixtures of endocrine disrupting contaminants modelled on human high end exposures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Sofie; Kortenkamp, A.; Petersen, Marta Axelstad

    2012-01-01

    exceeding 1 is expected to lead to effects in the rat, a total dose more than 62 times higher than human exposures should lead to responses. Considering the high uncertainty of this estimate, experience on lowest‐observed‐adverse‐effect‐level (LOAEL)/NOAEL ratios and statistical power of rat studies, we...... expected that combined doses 150 times higher than high end human intake estimates should give no, or only borderline effects, whereas doses 450 times higher should produce significant responses. Experiments indeed showed clear developmental toxicity of the 450‐fold dose in terms of increased nipple...... though each individual chemical is present at low, ineffective doses, but the effects of mixtures modelled based on human intakes have not previously been investigated. To address this issue for the first time, we selected 13 chemicals for a developmental mixture toxicity study in rats where data about...

  15. Mixtures and interactions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groten, J.P.

    2000-01-01

    Drinking water can be considered as a complex mixture that consists of tens, hundreds or thousands of chemicals of which the composition is qualitatively and quantitatively not fully known. From a public health point of view it is most relevant to answer the question of whether chemicals in drinking

  16. Optical Coherence Tomography Noise Reduction Using Anisotropic Local Bivariate Gaussian Mixture Prior in 3D Complex Wavelet Domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rabbani, Hossein; Sonka, Milan; Abramoff, Michael D

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, MMSE estimator is employed for noise-free 3D OCT data recovery in 3D complex wavelet domain. Since the proposed distribution for noise-free data plays a key role in the performance of MMSE estimator, a priori distribution for the pdf of noise-free 3D complex wavelet coefficients is proposed which is able to model the main statistical properties of wavelets. We model the coefficients with a mixture of two bivariate Gaussian pdfs with local parameters which are able to capture the heavy-tailed property and inter- and intrascale dependencies of coefficients. In addition, based on the special structure of OCT images, we use an anisotropic windowing procedure for local parameters estimation that results in visual quality improvement. On this base, several OCT despeckling algorithms are obtained based on using Gaussian/two-sided Rayleigh noise distribution and homomorphic/nonhomomorphic model. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, we use 156 selected ROIs from 650 × 512 × 128 OCT dataset in the presence of wet AMD pathology. Our simulations show that the best MMSE estimator using local bivariate mixture prior is for the nonhomomorphic model in the presence of Gaussian noise which results in an improvement of 7.8 ± 1.7 in CNR.

  17. Optical Coherence Tomography Noise Reduction Using Anisotropic Local Bivariate Gaussian Mixture Prior in 3D Complex Wavelet Domain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hossein Rabbani

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, MMSE estimator is employed for noise-free 3D OCT data recovery in 3D complex wavelet domain. Since the proposed distribution for noise-free data plays a key role in the performance of MMSE estimator, a priori distribution for the pdf of noise-free 3D complex wavelet coefficients is proposed which is able to model the main statistical properties of wavelets. We model the coefficients with a mixture of two bivariate Gaussian pdfs with local parameters which are able to capture the heavy-tailed property and inter- and intrascale dependencies of coefficients. In addition, based on the special structure of OCT images, we use an anisotropic windowing procedure for local parameters estimation that results in visual quality improvement. On this base, several OCT despeckling algorithms are obtained based on using Gaussian/two-sided Rayleigh noise distribution and homomorphic/nonhomomorphic model. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, we use 156 selected ROIs from 650 × 512 × 128 OCT dataset in the presence of wet AMD pathology. Our simulations show that the best MMSE estimator using local bivariate mixture prior is for the nonhomomorphic model in the presence of Gaussian noise which results in an improvement of 7.8 ± 1.7 in CNR.

  18. Toward the Rational Use of Exposure Information in Mixtures Toxicology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Of all the disciplines of toxicology, perhaps none is as dependent on exposure information as Mixtures Toxicology. Identifying real world mixtures and replicating them in the laboratory (or in silico) is critical to understanding their risks. Complex mixtures such as cigarett...

  19. Experimental purification of paclitaxel from a complex mixture of taxanes using a simulated moving bed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. A. Cremasco

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available A laboratory-scale simulated moving bed (SMB was designed and tested for the separation of paclitaxel, a powerful anti-cancer agent known as Taxol@, from impurities of a plant tissue culture (PTC broth. The innovative strategy of a pseudo-binary model, where mixtures A and B were treated as single solutes A and B, was used in the linear standing wave analysis to fix the SMB operating parameters for a multicomponent and complex system. Linear standing wave design was used to specify the zone flow rates and the switching time for the laboratory-scale SMB unit, with two steps of separation. The SMB consists of four packed columns, where each column is 12.5 cm in length and 1.5 cm in diameter. Two sequential separation steps were used to recover paclitaxel from a small feed batch (less than one liter. Placlitaxel was recovered from the complex plant tissue culture broth in 82% yield and 72% purity.

  20. Method of separating short half-life radionuclides from a mixture of radionuclides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bray, L.A.; Ryan, J.L.

    1999-03-23

    The present invention is a method of removing an impurity of plutonium, lead or a combination thereof from a mixture of radionuclides that contains the impurity and at least one parent radionuclide. The method has the steps of (a) insuring that the mixture is a hydrochloric acid mixture; (b) oxidizing the acidic mixture and specifically oxidizing the impurity to its highest oxidation state; and (c) passing the oxidized mixture through a chloride form anion exchange column whereupon the oxidized impurity absorbs to the chloride form anion exchange column and the {sup 229}Th or {sup 227}Ac ``cow`` radionuclide passes through the chloride form anion exchange column. The plutonium is removed for the purpose of obtaining other alpha emitting radionuclides in a highly purified form suitable for medical therapy. In addition to plutonium, lead, iron, cobalt, copper, uranium, and other metallic cations that form chloride anionic complexes that may be present in the mixture are removed from the mixture on the chloride form anion exchange column. 8 figs.

  1. Deformation Parameters and Fatigue of the Recycled Asphalt Mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Šrámek Juraj

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The deformational properties of asphalt mixtures measured by dynamic methods and fatigue allow a design the road to suit the expected traffic load. Quality of mixtures is also expressed by the resistance to permanent deformation. Complex modulus of stiffness and fatigue can reliably characterize the proposed mixture of asphalt pavement. The complex modulus (E* measurement of asphalt mixtures are carried out in laboratory of Department of Construction Management at University of Žilina by two-point bending test method on trapezoid-shaped samples. Today, the fatigue is verified on trapezoid-shaped samples and is assessed by proportional strain at 1 million cycles (ε6. The test equipment and software is used to evaluate fatigue and deformation characteristics.

  2. Direct elution of sup(99m)Tc complexes from neutron irradiation produced /sup 99/Mo incorporated in a MoCl/sub 2/-MoBr/sub 2/ mixture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ganzerli Valentini, M.T.; Stella, R.; Genova, N.

    1987-01-01

    A novel type of sup(99m)Tc generator, enabling radiopharmaceutical preparation without reductant addition, was prepared and tested. Neutron activated product /sup 99/Mo, in the form of dichloride cluster, was incorporated into inactive molybdenum dichloride-dibromide mixture (MCB) that was left to settle over an activated alumina layer. Direct elution with aqueous ligands such as salicylate or iminodiacetate derivatives in the pH range 6.5-7.5 yielded chemically stable sup(99m)Tc complexes accompanied by small amounts of secondary products (mostly sup(99m)TcO/sup -//sub 4/). Pentavalent oxidation state in the salicylate complex and tervalent in the iminodiacetate (IDA) and in the N-(2,6-dimethylphenylcarbamoylmethyl) iminodiacetate (HIDA) complexes were assigned to the element after comparison with reference complexes. The anion exchange version of reverse-phase HPLC was used to resolve the eluted product mixture.

  3. Simultaneous Determination of Binding Constants for Multiple Carbohydrate Hosts in Complex Mixtures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Meier, Sebastian; Beeren, Sophie

    2014-01-01

    We describe a simple method for the simultaneous determination of association constants for a guest binding to seven different hosts in a mixture of more than 20 different oligosaccharides. If the binding parameters are known for one component in the mixture, a single NMR titration suffices...

  4. Liquids and liquid mixtures

    CERN Document Server

    Rowlinson, J S; Baldwin, J E; Buckingham, A D; Danishefsky, S

    2013-01-01

    Liquids and Liquid Mixtures, Third Edition explores the equilibrium properties of liquids and liquid mixtures and relates them to the properties of the constituent molecules using the methods of statistical thermodynamics. Topics covered include the critical state, fluid mixtures at high pressures, and the statistical thermodynamics of fluids and mixtures. This book consists of eight chapters and begins with an overview of the liquid state and the thermodynamic properties of liquids and liquid mixtures, including vapor pressure and heat capacities. The discussion then turns to the thermodynami

  5. Auto-ignitions of a methane/air mixture at high and intermediate temperatures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leschevich, V. V.; Martynenko, V. V.; Penyazkov, O. G.; Sevrouk, K. L.; Shabunya, S. I.

    2016-09-01

    A rapid compression machine (RCM) and a shock tube (ST) have been employed to study ignition delay times of homogeneous methane/air mixtures at intermediate-to-high temperatures. Both facilities allow measurements to be made at temperatures of 900-2000 K, at pressures of 0.38-2.23 MPa, and at equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. In ST experiments, nitrogen served as a diluent gas, whereas in RCM runs the diluent gas composition ranged from pure nitrogen to pure argon. Recording pressure, UV, and visible emissions identified the evolution of chemical reactions. Correlations of ignition delay time were generated from the data for each facility. At temperatures below 1300 K, a significant reduction of average activation energy from 53 to 15.3 kcal/mol was obtained. Moreover, the RCM data showed significant scatter that dramatically increased with decreasing temperature. An explanation for the abnormal scatter in the data was proposed based on the high-speed visualization of auto-ignition phenomena and experiments performed with oxygen-free and fuel-free mixtures. It is proposed that the main reason for such a significant reduction of average activation energy is attributable to the premature ignition of ultrafine particles in the reactive mixture.

  6. A framework for the use of single-chemical transcriptomics data in predicting the hazards associated with complex mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Labib, Sarah; Williams, Andrew; Kuo, Byron; Yauk, Carole L; White, Paul A; Halappanavar, Sabina

    2017-07-01

    The assumption of additivity applied in the risk assessment of environmental mixtures containing carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated using transcriptomics. MutaTMMouse were gavaged for 28 days with three doses of eight individual PAHs, two defined mixtures of PAHs, or coal tar, an environmentally ubiquitous complex mixture of PAHs. Microarrays were used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in lung tissue collected 3 days post-exposure. Cancer-related pathways perturbed by the individual or mixtures of PAHs were identified, and dose-response modeling of the DEGs was conducted to calculate gene/pathway benchmark doses (BMDs). Individual PAH-induced pathway perturbations (the median gene expression changes for all genes in a pathway relative to controls) and pathway BMDs were applied to models of additivity [i.e., concentration addition (CA), generalized concentration addition (GCA), and independent action (IA)] to generate predicted pathway-specific dose-response curves for each PAH mixture. The predicted and observed pathway dose-response curves were compared to assess the sensitivity of different additivity models. Transcriptomics-based additivity calculation showed that IA accurately predicted the pathway perturbations induced by all mixtures of PAHs. CA did not support the additivity assumption for the defined mixtures; however, GCA improved the CA predictions. Moreover, pathway BMDs derived for coal tar were comparable to BMDs derived from previously published coal tar-induced mouse lung tumor incidence data. These results suggest that in the absence of tumor incidence data, individual chemical-induced transcriptomics changes associated with cancer can be used to investigate the assumption of additivity and to predict the carcinogenic potential of a mixture.

  7. Chemical characterization of organic aerosol above a mid-latitude forest reveals a complex mixture of highly-functionalized chemical species and diverse structural features with temporal variability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gentner, D. R.; Ditto, J.; Barnes, E.; Khare, P.

    2017-12-01

    Highly-functionalized organic compounds are known to be a major component of the complex mixture of the particle-phase compounds that comprise organic aerosol, yet little is known about the identity of many of these compounds, and their formation pathways and roles in atmospheric processes are poorly understood. We present results from the comprehensive chemical speciation of PM10 organic aerosols collected in July 2016 at the remote mid-latitude forest field site during PROPHET. Samples were analyzed via liquid and gas chromatography coupled with a quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (MS×MS) following electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). 8 hr samples were collected during day- and night-time sampling periods rather than more typical 24-hour samples. This analysis of the organic aerosol yielded over 12,000 unique compounds for which we have high accuracy molecular masses, formulas, and additional information on structural features using MS×MS. O:C ratios were 0.3 on average, yet the top 10% of compounds ranged 0.7-2.3. 70% and 69% of day- and night-time samples were nitrogen-containing, whereas 26% and 24% contained sulfur, respectively. Within these broader molecular categories, we observed a wide variety of molecular features that reveal a diversity of functional groups and moieties. In this presentation, we present the results of our speciation, temporal variability, connections to air parcel back trajectories and other bulk properties, and potential formation pathways.

  8. A visual acoustic high-pressure cell for the study of critical behavior of nonsimple mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguiar-Ricardo, A.; Temtem, M.; Casimiro, T.; Ribeiro, N.

    2004-10-01

    A visual acoustic high-pressure cell was constructed for the determination of critical data of multicomponent mixtures. The cell was specially designed to include two piezoelectric transducers and two sapphire windows that make this cell well suited to investigate the critical behavior of mixtures, simultaneously using the acoustic technique and the direct visual inspection of the critical opalescence. Critical data obtained on the binary mixtures of CO2+CHF3 were used for comparison with values given in literature using the traditional methods. The acoustic results are in agreement with those obtained by the conventional methods, within the combined experimental errors. Comparison of visual and acoustic data enabled the evaluation of the applicability of the acoustic technique to study the critical behavior of multicomponent mixtures.

  9. Influence of organic component on geometry and stability of the Dy(3) complexes with benzoic and aminobenzoic acids in water-80 vol.% DMSO(DMFA) mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kondrashina, Yu.G.; Mustafina, A.R.; Devyatov, F.V.; Vul'fson, S.G.; Kazanskij Gosudarstvennyj Univ., Kazan

    1995-01-01

    Data of pH-metric and magnetooptical analyses were used to evaluate stability and structure of benzoate and aminobenzoate dysprosium (3) complexes in water and water - 80 vol.% DMSO (DMFA) mixtures. Factors, dictating change of complex structure and stability when passing from water to organic water solvents, are discussed. 19 refs.; 2 figs.; 1 tab

  10. Combustion of methane-oxygen and methane-oxygen-CFC mixtures initiated by a high-current slipping surface discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kossyi, I.A.; Silakov, V.P.; Tarasova, N.M.

    2001-01-01

    Results are presented from experimental studies of the destruction of chlorofluorocarbon (CF 2 Cl 2 ) molecules in a methane-oxygen (air) gas mixture whose combustion is initiated by a high-current slipping surface discharge. It is found that a three-component CH 4 + O 2 (air)+ CF 2 Cl 2 gas mixture (even with a considerable amount of the third component) demonstrates properties of explosive combustion involving chain reactions that are typical of two-component CH 4 + O 2 mixtures. Experiments show the high degree of destruction (almost complete decomposition) of chlorofluorocarbons contained in the mixture during one combustion event. The combustion dynamics is studied. It is shown that the combustion initiated by a slipping surface discharge has a number of characteristic features that make it impossible to identify the combustion dynamics with the formation of a combustion or detonation wave. The features of the effects observed can be related to intense UV radiation produced by a pulsed high-current surface discharge

  11. Evaluation of bio-materials’ rejuvenating effect on binders for high-reclaimed asphalt content mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Jiménez del Barco-Carrión

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The interest in using bio-materials in pavement engineering has grown significantly over the last decades due to environmental concerns about the use of non-recoverable natural resources. In this paper, bio-materials are used together with Reclaimed Asphalt (RA to restore some of the properties of the aged bitumen present in mixtures with high RA content. For this purpose, two bio-materials are studied and compared to conventional and polymer modified bitumens. Blends of these materials with RA bitumen were produced and studied to simulate a 50% RA mixture. The rejuvenating effect of the two bio-materials on RA has been assessed and compared with the effect of the conventional binders. Apparent Molecular Weight Distribution of the samples (obtained by the ?-method and different rheological parameters were used for this purpose. Results revealed the power of bio-materials to rejuvenate RA bitumen, showing their capability to be used as fresh binders in high-RA content mixtures.

  12. Evaluation of bio-materials’ rejuvenating effect on binders for high-reclaimed asphalt content mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiménez del Barco-Carrión, A.; Pérez-Martínez, M.; Themeli, A.; Lo Presti, D.; Marsac, P.; Pouget, S.; Hammoum, F.; Chailleux, E.; Airey, G.D.

    2017-01-01

    The interest in using bio-materials in pavement engineering has grown significantly over the last decades due to environmental concerns about the use of non-recoverable natural resources. In this paper, bio-materials are used together with Reclaimed Asphalt (RA) to restore some of the properties of the aged bitumen present in mixtures with high RA content. For this purpose, two bio-materials are studied and compared to conventional and polymer modified bitumens. Blends of these materials with RA bitumen were produced and studied to simulate a 50% RA mixture. The rejuvenating effect of the two bio-materials on RA has been assessed and compared with the effect of the conventional binders. Apparent Molecular Weight Distribution of the samples (obtained by the ?-method) and different rheological parameters were used for this purpose. Results revealed the power of bio-materials to rejuvenate RA bitumen, showing their capability to be used as fresh binders in high-RA content mixtures. [es

  13. Environmentally relevant chemical mixtures of concern in waters of United States tributaries to the Great Lakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliott, Sarah M.; Brigham, Mark E.; Kiesling, Richard L.; Schoenfuss, Heiko L.; Jorgenson, Zachary G.

    2018-01-01

    The North American Great Lakes are a vital natural resource that provide fish and wildlife habitat, as well as drinking water and waste assimilation services for millions of people. Tributaries to the Great Lakes receive chemical inputs from various point and nonpoint sources, and thus are expected to have complex mixtures of chemicals. However, our understanding of the co‐occurrence of specific chemicals in complex mixtures is limited. To better understand the occurrence of specific chemical mixtures in the US Great Lakes Basin, surface water from 24 US tributaries to the Laurentian Great Lakes was collected and analyzed for diverse suites of organic chemicals, primarily focused on chemicals of concern (e.g., pharmaceuticals, personal care products, fragrances). A total of 181 samples and 21 chemical classes were assessed for mixture compositions. Basin wide, 1664 mixtures occurred in at least 25% of sites. The most complex mixtures identified comprised 9 chemical classes and occurred in 58% of sampled tributaries. Pharmaceuticals typically occurred in complex mixtures, reflecting pharmaceutical‐use patterns and wastewater facility outfall influences. Fewer mixtures were identified at lake or lake‐influenced sites than at riverine sites. As mixture complexity increased, the probability of a specific mixture occurring more often than by chance greatly increased, highlighting the importance of understanding source contributions to the environment. This empirically based analysis of mixture composition and occurrence may be used to focus future sampling efforts or mixture toxicity assessments. 

  14. Complex Mixture Analysis of Organic Compounds in Yogurt by NMR Spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Yi; Hu, Fangyu; Miyakawa, Takuya; Tanokura, Masaru

    2016-01-01

    NMR measurements do not require separation and chemical modification of samples and therefore rapidly and directly provide non-targeted information on chemical components in complex mixtures. In this study, one-dimensional (1H, 13C, and 31P) and two-dimensional (1H-13C and 1H-31P) NMR spectroscopy were conducted to analyze yogurt without any pretreatment. 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR signals were assigned to 10 types of compounds. The signals of α/β-lactose and α/β-galactose were separately observed in the 1H NMR spectra. In addition, the signals from the acyl chains of milk fats were also successfully identified but overlapped with many other signals. Quantitative difference spectra were obtained by subtracting the diffusion ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) spectra from the quantitative 1H NMR spectra. This method allowed us to eliminate interference on the overlaps; therefore, the correct intensities of signals overlapped with those from the acyl chains of milk fat could be determined directly without separation. Moreover, the 1H-31P HMBC spectra revealed for the first time that N-acetyl-d-glucosamine-1-phosphate is contained in yogurt. PMID:27322339

  15. Reduced gas seepages in ophiolitic complexes: Evidences for multiple origins of the H2-CH4-N2 gas mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vacquand, Christèle; Deville, Eric; Beaumont, Valérie; Guyot, François; Sissmann, Olivier; Pillot, Daniel; Arcilla, Carlo; Prinzhofer, Alain

    2018-02-01

    This paper proposes a comparative study of reduced gas seepages occurring in ultrabasic to basic rocks outcropping in ophiolitic complexes based on the study of seepages from Oman, the Philippines, Turkey and New Caledonia. This study is based on analyses of the gas chemical composition, noble gases contents, stable isotopes of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen. These seepages are mostly made of mixtures of three main components which are H2, CH4 and N2 in various proportions. The relative contents of the three main gas components show 4 distinct types of gas mixtures (H2-rich, N2-rich, N2-H2-CH4 and H2-CH4). These types are interpreted as reflecting different zones of gas generation within or below the ophiolitic complexes. In the H2-rich type, associated noble gases display signatures close to the value of air. In addition to the atmospheric component, mantle and crustal contributions are present in the N2-rich, N2-H2-CH4 and H2-CH4 types. H2-bearing gases are either associated with ultra-basic (pH 10-12) spring waters or they seep directly in fracture systems from the ophiolitic rocks. In ophiolitic contexts, ultrabasic rocks provide an adequate environment with available Fe2+ and alkaline conditions that favor H2 production. CH4 is produced either directly by reaction of dissolved CO2 with basic-ultrabasic rocks during the serpentinization process or in a second step by H2-CO2 interaction. H2 is present in the gas when no more carbon is available in the system to generate CH4. The N2-rich type is notably associated with relatively high contents of crustal 4He and in this gas type N2 is interpreted as issued mainly from sediments located below the ophiolitic units.

  16. Study on Brewster angle thin film polarizer using hafnia-silica mixture as high-refractive-index material

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Nuo; Zhu, Meiping; Sun, Jian; Chai, Yingjie; Kui, Yi; Zhao, Yuanan; Shao, Jianda

    2018-02-01

    Two kinds of polarizer coatings were prepared by electron beam evaporation, using HfO2-SiO2 mixture and HfO2 as the high-refractive-index materials, respectively. The HfO2-SiO2 mixture layer was implemented by coevaporating SiO2 and metal Hf, the materials were deposited at an oxygen atmosphere to achieve stoichiometric coatings. The certain HfO2 and SiO2 content ratio is controlled by adjusting the deposition rate of HfO2 and SiO2 using individual quartz crystal monitor. The spectral performance, surface and interfacial properties, as well as the laser-induced damage performance were studied and compared. Comparing with polarizer coating using HfO2 as high-refractive-index material, the polarizer coating using HfO2-SiO2 mixture as high-refractive-index material shows better performance with broader polarizing bandwidth, lower surface roughness, better interfacial property while maintaining high laser-induced damage threshold.

  17. Deciphering the structure of isomeric oligosaccharides in a complex mixture by tandem mass spectrometry: Photon activation with vacuum ultra-violet brings unique information and enables definitive structure assignment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ropartz, David, E-mail: David.Ropartz@nantes.inra.fr [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies, F-44316 Nantes (France); Lemoine, Jérôme [Institut des Sciences Analytiques, UMR 5280, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Giuliani, Alexandre [Synchrotron SOLEIL, L’Orme des Merisiers, F-91190 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); UAR 1008 CEPIA, INRA, F-44316 Nantes (France); Bittebière, Yann [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies, F-44316 Nantes (France); Enjalbert, Quentin [Institut des Sciences Analytiques, UMR 5280, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Institut Lumière Matière, UMR5306, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Antoine, Rodolphe; Dugourd, Philippe [Institut Lumière Matière, UMR5306, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Ralet, Marie-Christine; Rogniaux, Hélène [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies, F-44316 Nantes (France)

    2014-01-07

    Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •A complex mixture of methylated oligogalacturonans was fractionated by IP-RP-UHPLC. •Synchrotron-radiation in VUV range was used as an activation process for tandem MS. •VUV activation brought rich structural information compared to LE-CAD. •Resolution of more than 35 structures, including isomers, was successfully completed. -- Abstract: Carbohydrates have a wide variety of structures whose complexity and heterogeneity challenge the field of analytical chemistry. Tandem mass spectrometry, with its remarkable sensitivity and high information content, provides key advantages to addressing the structural elucidation of polysaccharides. Yet, classical fragmentation by collision-activated dissociation (CAD) in many cases fails to reach a comprehensive structural determination, especially when isomers have to be differentiated. In this work, for the first time, vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) synchrotron radiation is used as the activation process in tandem mass spectrometry of large oligosaccharides. Compared to low energy CAD (LE-CAD), photon activated dissociation brought more straightforward and valuable structural information. The outstanding feature was that complete series of informative ions were produced, with only minor neutral losses. Moreover, systematic fragmentation rules could be drawn thus facilitating the definitive assignments of fragment identities. As a result, most of the structures present in a complex mixture of oligogalacturonans could be comprehensively resolved, including many isomers differing in the position of methyl groups along the galacturonic acid backbone.

  18. High Strength Lightweight Concrete Made with Ternary Mixtures of Cement-Fly Ash-Silica Fume and Scoria as Aggregate

    OpenAIRE

    YAŞAR, Ergül; ATIŞ, Cengiz Duran; KILIÇ, Alaettin

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents part of the results of an ongoing laboratory study carried out to design a structural lightweight high strength concrete (SLWHSC) made with and without ternary mixtures of cement-fly ash-silica fume. In the mixtures, lightweight basaltic-pumice (scoria) aggregate was used. A concrete mixture made with lightweight scoria, and another lightweight scoria concrete mixture incorporating 20% fly ash and 10% silica fume as a cement replacement, were prepared. Two normal...

  19. Complex mixtures of dissolved pesticides show potential aquatic toxicity in a synoptic study of Midwestern U.S. streams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nowell, Lisa H.; Moran, Patrick W.; Schmidt, Travis S.; Norman, Julia E.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Shoda, Megan E.; Mahler, Barbara J.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Stone, Wesley W.; Sandstrom, Mark W.; Hladik, Michelle L.

    2018-01-01

    Aquatic organisms in streams are exposed to pesticide mixtures that vary in composition over time in response to changes in flow conditions, pesticide inputs to the stream, and pesticide fate and degradation within the stream. To characterize mixtures of dissolved-phase pesticides and degradates in Midwestern streams, a synoptic study was conducted at 100 streams during May–August 2013. In weekly water samples, 94 pesticides and 89 degradates were detected, with a median of 25 compounds detected per sample and 54 detected per site. In a screening-level assessment using aquatic-life benchmarks and the Pesticide Toxicity Index (PTI), potential effects on fish were unlikely in most streams. For invertebrates, potential chronic toxicity was predicted in 53% of streams, punctuated in 12% of streams by acutely toxic exposures. For aquatic plants, acute but likely reversible effects on biomass were predicted in 75% of streams, with potential longer-term effects on plant communities in 9% of streams. Relatively few pesticides in water—atrazine, acetochlor, metolachlor, imidacloprid, fipronil, organophosphate insecticides, and carbendazim—were predicted to be major contributors to potential toxicity. Agricultural streams had the highest potential for effects on plants, especially in May–June, corresponding to high spring-flush herbicide concentrations. Urban streams had higher detection frequencies and concentrations of insecticides and most fungicides than in agricultural streams, and higher potential for invertebrate toxicity, which peaked during July–August. Toxicity-screening predictions for invertebrates were supported by quantile regressions showing significant associations for the Benthic Invertebrate-PTI and imidacloprid concentrations with invertebrate community metrics for MSQA streams, and by mesocosm toxicity testing with imidacloprid showing effects on invertebrate communities at environmentally relevant concentrations. This study documents the most

  20. Genotoxicity but not the AhR-mediated activity of PAHs is inhibited by other components of complex mixtures of ambient air pollutants

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Líbalová, Helena; Krčková, S.; Uhlířová, Kateřina; Milcová, Alena; Schmuczerová, Jana; Cigánek, M.; Kléma, J.; Machala, M.; Šrám, Radim; Topinka, Jan

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 225, č. 3 (2014), s. 350-357 ISSN 0378-4274 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP503/11/0142 Institutional support: RVO:68378041 Keywords : air pollutin * DNA adducts * complex mixtures Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality Impact factor: 3.262, year: 2014

  1. Sodiation as a tool for enhancing the diagnostic value of MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS spectra of complex astaxanthin ester mixtures from Haematococcus pluvialis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weesepoel, Y.J.A.; Vincken, J.P.; Pop, R.M.; Liu, K.; Gruppen, H.

    2013-01-01

    The microalga Haematococcus pluvialis produces the pigment astaxanthin mainly in esterified form with a multitude of fatty acids, which results in a complex mixture of carotenol mono- and diesters. For rapid fingerprinting of these esters, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight

  2. Separation of rare earth mixtures by gas chromatography using dipivaloylmethane as complexing agent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Golubtsova, V.Yu.; Luchinkin, V.V.; Martynenko, L.I.; Murav'eva, I.A.; Sokolov, D.N.

    1981-01-01

    Possibility of using dipivaloylmethave for quantitative separation of rare earth element mixtures under the regime of chromatography for preparative and analytical purposes, is studied. Introduction of β-diketone surplus into the chromatographic solution is shown to remove the necessity of column conditioning. It is stated that chelate solution should have concentration above the threshold one. The developed method is applicable for quantitative separation of some rare earth mixtures for preparative purposes, as well as for the analysis of rare earth mixtures, containing components in equivalent quantities [ru

  3. GRAVITY PIPELINE TRANSPORT FOR HARDENING FILLING MIXTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonid KROUPNIK

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In underground mining of solid minerals becoming increasingly common development system with stowing hardening mixtures. In this case the natural ore array after it is replaced by an artificial excavation of solidified filling mixture consisting of binder, aggregates and water. Such a mixture is prepared on the surface on special stowing complexes and transported underground at special stowing pipelines. However, it is transported to the horizons of a few kilometers, which requires a sustainable mode of motion of such a mixture in the pipeline. Hardening stowing mixture changes its rheological characteristics over time, which complicates the calculation of the parameters of pipeline transportation. The article suggests a method of determining the initial parameters of such mixtures: the status coefficient, indicator of transportability, coefficient of hydrodynamic resistance to motion of the mixture. These indicators characterize the mixture in terms of the possibility to transport it through pipes. On the basis of these indicators is proposed methodology for calculating the parameters of pipeline transport hardening filling mixtures in drift mode when traffic on the horizontal part of the mixture under pressure column of the mixture in the vertical part of the backfill of the pipeline. This technique allows stable operation is guaranteed to provide pipeline transportation.

  4. High accuracy Primary Reference gas Mixtures for high-impact greenhouse gases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nieuwenkamp, Gerard; Zalewska, Ewelina; Pearce-Hill, Ruth; Brewer, Paul; Resner, Kate; Mace, Tatiana; Tarhan, Tanil; Zellweger, Christophe; Mohn, Joachim

    2017-04-01

    Climate change, due to increased man-made emissions of greenhouse gases, poses one of the greatest risks to society worldwide. High-impact greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) and indirect drivers for global warming (e.g. CO) are measured by the global monitoring stations for greenhouse gases, operated and organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Reference gases for the calibration of analyzers have to meet very challenging low level of measurement uncertainty to comply with the Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) set by the WMO. Within the framework of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), a project to improve the metrology for high-impact greenhouse gases was granted (HIGHGAS, June 2014-May 2017). As a result of the HIGHGAS project, primary reference gas mixtures in cylinders for ambient levels of CO2, CH4, N2O and CO in air have been prepared with unprecedented low uncertainties, typically 3-10 times lower than usually previously achieved by the NMIs. To accomplish these low uncertainties in the reference standards, a number of preparation and analysis steps have been studied and improved. The purity analysis of the parent gases had to be performed with lower detection limits than previously achievable. E.g., to achieve an uncertainty of 2•10-9 mol/mol (absolute) on the amount fraction for N2O, the detection limit for the N2O analysis in the parent gases has to be in the sub nmol/mol domain. Results of an OPO-CRDS analyzer set-up in the 5µm wavelength domain, with a 200•10-12 mol/mol detection limit for N2O, will be presented. The adsorption effects of greenhouse gas components at cylinder surfaces are critical, and have been studied for different cylinder passivation techniques. Results of a two-year stability study will be presented. The fit-for-purpose of the reference materials was studied for possible variation on isotopic composition between the reference material and the sample. Measurement results for a suit of CO2 in air

  5. High pressure study of viscosity effects on the luminescence of tetracyanobenzene EDA complexes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Michele Moisio; Drickamer, H. G.

    1981-03-01

    High pressure fluorescence studies fron 0-10 kbar have been performed on electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes of s-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB) with a series of aromatic hydrocarbons. Four solvents were used, 2,2,4,4,6,8,8 heptamethylnonane (HMN), methylcyclohexane (MCH), 2,6,10,14 tetramethylpentadecane (TMPD), and a mixture of MCH and HMN. A viscosity range from 0.006 to 10 000 poise was covered at constant temperature. As pressure (viscosity) increased the fluorescence spectrum shifted from one dominated by emission from the equilibrium (EQ) excited singlet state to one dominated by Franck-Condon (FC) singlet emission. Lifetime measurements for the complexes of o-xylene and p-xylene with TCNB as well as one mesitylene complex yielded the two radiative rates (kEQ and kFC) as well as the rate of internal conversion from FC to the EQ excited state to (kIC). The results are discussed in terms of the rate of relaxation of the solvent compared with the rate kFC. It was found that kIC correlated very well with the solvent viscosity.

  6. Secondary organic aerosol from VOC mixtures in an oxidation flow reactor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahlberg, Erik; Falk, John; Eriksson, Axel; Holst, Thomas; Brune, William H.; Kristensson, Adam; Roldin, Pontus; Svenningsson, Birgitta

    2017-07-01

    The atmospheric organic aerosol is a tremendously complex system in terms of chemical content. Models generally treat the mixtures as ideal, something which has been questioned owing to model-measurement discrepancies. We used an oxidation flow reactor to produce secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mixtures containing oxidation products of biogenic (α-pinene, myrcene and isoprene) and anthropogenic (m-xylene) volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The resulting volume concentration and chemical composition was measured using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS), respectively. The SOA mass yield of the mixtures was compared to a partitioning model constructed from single VOC experiments. The single VOC SOA mass yields with no wall-loss correction applied are comparable to previous experiments. In the mixtures containing myrcene a higher yield than expected was produced. We attribute this to an increased condensation sink, arising from myrcene producing a significantly higher number of nucleation particles compared to the other precursors. Isoprene did not produce much mass in single VOC experiments but contributed to the mass of the mixtures. The effect of high concentrations of isoprene on the OH exposure was found to be small, even at OH reactivities that previously have been reported to significantly suppress OH exposures in oxidation flow reactors. Furthermore, isoprene shifted the particle size distribution of mixtures towards larger sizes, which could be due to a change in oxidant dynamics inside the reactor.

  7. Influence of high power ultrasound on rheological and foaming properties of model ice-cream mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Verica Batur

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents research of the high power ultrasound effect on rheological and foaming properties of ice cream model mixtures. Ice cream model mixtures are prepared according to specific recipes, and afterward undergone through different homogenization techniques: mechanical mixing, ultrasound treatment and combination of mechanical and ultrasound treatment. Specific diameter (12.7 mm of ultrasound probe tip has been used for ultrasound treatment that lasted 5 minutes at 100 percent amplitude. Rheological parameters have been determined using rotational rheometer and expressed as flow index, consistency coefficient and apparent viscosity. From the results it can be concluded that all model mixtures have non-newtonian, dilatant type behavior. The highest viscosities have been observed for model mixtures that were homogenizes with mechanical mixing, and significantly lower values of viscosity have been observed for ultrasound treated ones. Foaming properties are expressed as percentage of increase in foam volume, foam stability index and minimal viscosity. It has been determined that ice cream model mixtures treated only with ultrasound had minimal increase in foam volume, while the highest increase in foam volume has been observed for ice cream mixture that has been treated in combination with mechanical and ultrasound treatment. Also, ice cream mixtures having higher amount of proteins in composition had shown higher foam stability. It has been determined that optimal treatment time is 10 minutes.

  8. Co-formation of hydroperoxides and ultra-fine particles during the reactions of ozone with a complex VOC mixture under simulated indoor conditions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fan, Z.H.; Weschler, Charles J.; Han, IK

    2005-01-01

    In this study we examined the co-formation of hydrogen peroxide and other hydroperoxides (collectively presented as H2O2*) as well as submicron particles, including ultra-fine particles (UFP), resulting from the reactions of ozone (O-3) with a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs...... higher than typical indoor levels. When O-3 was added to a 25-m(3) controlled environmental facility (CEF) containing the 23 VOC mixture, both H2O2* and submicron particles were formed. The 2-h average concentration of H2O2* was 1.89 +/- 0.30ppb, and the average total particle number concentration was 46...... to achieve saturated concentrations of the condensable organics. When the 2 terpenes were removed from the O-3/23 VOCs mixture, no H2O2* or particles were formed, indicating that the reactions of O-3 With the two terpenes were the key processes contributing to the formation of H2O2* and submicron particles...

  9. Consistent manufacturing and quality control of a highly complex recombinant polyclonal antibody product for human therapeutic use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frandsen, Torben P; Naested, Henrik; Rasmussen, Søren K; Hauptig, Peter; Wiberg, Finn C; Rasmussen, Lone Kjaer; Jensen, Anne Marie Valentin; Persson, Pia; Wikén, Margareta; Engström, Anders; Jiang, Yun; Thorpe, Susan J; Förberg, Cecilia; Tolstrup, Anne B

    2011-09-01

    The beneficial effect of antibody therapy in human disease has become well established mainly for the treatment of cancer and immunological disorders. The inherent monospecificity of mAbs present limitations to mAb therapy which have become apparent notably in addressing complex entities like infectious agents or heterogenic endogenous targets. For such indications mixtures of antibodies comprising a combination of specificities would convey more potent biological effect which could translate into therapeutic efficacy. Recombinant polyclonal antibodies (rpAb) consisting of a defined number of well-characterized mAbs constitute a new class of target specific antibody therapy. We have developed a cost-efficient cell banking and single-batch manufacturing concept for the production of such products and demonstrate that a complex pAb composition, rozrolimupab, comprising 25 individual antibodies can be manufactured in a highly consistent manner in a scaled-up manufacturing process. We present a strategy for the release and characterization of antibody mixtures which constitute a complete series of chemistry, manufacturing, and control (CMC) analytical methods to address identity, purity, quantity, potency, and general characteristics. Finally we document selected quality attributes of rozrolimupab based on a battery of assays at the genetic-, protein-, and functional level and demonstrate that the manufactured rozrolimupab batches are highly pure and very uniform in their composition. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Convective boiling heat transfer of mixture of immiscible two-liquids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hijikata, K.; Ito, H.; Mori, Y.

    1987-01-01

    Thermal energy conversion of low or middle temperature difference to electric power is conventionally made by the Rankine cycle using the organic compound as a working fluid. However, the energy conversion efficiency from thermal energy to electric power is limited by the pinch point temperature difference in the high temperature side heat exchanging. In order to avoid the efficiency ceiling due to the pinch point temperature difference, utilization of mixture of miscible two liquids as the working fluid of the Rankine cycle has been proposed and its cycle efficiency has been calculated. However, in the miscible mixture, mutual diffusion process is considered to greatly affect the thermo-fluid characteristics, but has not been clarified yet because of its complexity

  11. Li4FeH6: Iron-containing complex hydride with high gravimetric hydrogen density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiroyuki Saitoh

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Li4FeH6, which has the highest gravimetric hydrogen density of iron-containing complex hydrides reported so far, is synthesized by hydrogenation of a powder mixture of iron and LiH above 6.1 GPa at 900 °C. In situ synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction measurements reveal that while kinetics require high temperature and thus high pressure for the synthesis, Li4FeH6 is expected to be thermodynamically stable slightly below room temperature at ambient pressure; further synthetic studies to suppress the kinetic effects may enable us to synthesize Li4FeH6 at moderate pressures. Li4FeH6 can be recovered at ambient conditions where Li4FeH6 is metastable.

  12. Application of high performance liquid chromatography for the profiling of complex chemical mixtures with the aid of chemometrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Yongnian; Zhang, Liangsheng; Churchill, Jane; Kokot, Serge

    2007-06-15

    In this paper, chemometrics methods were applied to resolve the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprints of complex, many-component substances to compare samples from a batch from a given manufacturer, or from those of different producers. As an example of such complex substances, we used a common Chinese traditional medicine, Huoxiang Zhengqi Tincture (HZT) for this research. Twenty-one samples, each representing a separate HZT production batch from one of three manufacturers were analyzed by HPLC with the aid of a diode array detector (DAD). An Agilent Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C18 column with an Agilent Zorbax high pressure reliance cartridge guard-column were used. The mobile phase consisted of water (A) and methanol (B) with a gradient program of 25-65% (v/v, B) during 0-30min, 65-55% (v/v, B) during 30-35min and 55-100% (v/v, B) during 35-60min (flow rate, 1.0mlmin(-1); injection volume, 20mul; and column temperature-ambient). The detection wavelength was adjusted for maximum sensitivity at different time periods. A peak area matrix with 21objectsx14HPLC variables was obtained by sampling each chromatogram at 14 common retention times. Similarities were then calculated to discriminate the batch-to-batch samples and also, a more informative multi-criteria decision making methodology (MCDM), PROMETHEE and GAIA, was applied to obtain more information from the chromatograms in order to rank and compare the complex HZT profiles. The results showed that with the MCDM analysis, it was possible to match and discriminate correctly the batch samples from the three different manufacturers. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra taken from samples from several batches were compared by the common similarity method with the HPLC results. It was found that the FT-IR spectra did not discriminate the samples from the different batches.

  13. Efficacy of functional foods mixture in improving hypercholesterolemia, inflammatory and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers-induced by high cholesterol diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Muzafar, Hessah Mohammed; Amin, Kamal Adel

    2017-10-06

    Hypercholesterolemia associated with cardiovascular diseases is a global health issue that could be alleviated by functional foods. This study aimed to explore the effects of a high-cholesterol diet on lipid profile, cardiac, inflammatory, and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers, and the possible improvement by functional foods mixture. Male albino rats weighing 100-150 g were randomly divided into four equal groups: 1st control, giving a normal diet; the 2nd received high-cholesterol diet for 8 weeks, the 3rd received the high-cholesterol diet + functional foods mixture, and the 4th administered high-cholesterol diet +atorvastatin (20 mg) orally. The results showed a significant increase in lipid profile and cardiac biomarkers levels (lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase and homocystein), also inflammatory markers, as, tumor necrotic factor alpha and chronic reactive proteins were elevated, moreover, vascular adhesion molecule-1 and nitric oxide synthase were disturbed in high-cholesterol diet compared with normal group. While administration of atorvastatin and functional foods mixture ameliorated these alterations. Administration of functional foods mixture and atorvastatin were effective in treating hypercholesterolemia, reduce the risk of inflammation and cardiovascular biomarkers with a high safety margin. These efficiencies may be due to its active ingredient that improve the imbalance in the measured biomarkers.

  14. Use of activity-based probes to develop high throughput screening assays that can be performed in complex cell extracts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edgar Deu

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available High throughput screening (HTS is one of the primary tools used to identify novel enzyme inhibitors. However, its applicability is generally restricted to targets that can either be expressed recombinantly or purified in large quantities.Here, we described a method to use activity-based probes (ABPs to identify substrates that are sufficiently selective to allow HTS in complex biological samples. Because ABPs label their target enzymes through the formation of a permanent covalent bond, we can correlate labeling of target enzymes in a complex mixture with inhibition of turnover of a substrate in that same mixture. Thus, substrate specificity can be determined and substrates with sufficiently high selectivity for HTS can be identified. In this study, we demonstrate this method by using an ABP for dipeptidyl aminopeptidases to identify (Pro-Arg2-Rhodamine as a specific substrate for DPAP1 in Plasmodium falciparum lysates and Cathepsin C in rat liver extracts. We then used this substrate to develop highly sensitive HTS assays (Z'>0.8 that are suitable for use in screening large collections of small molecules (i.e >300,000 for inhibitors of these proteases. Finally, we demonstrate that it is possible to use broad-spectrum ABPs to identify target-specific substrates.We believe that this approach will have value for many enzymatic systems where access to large amounts of active enzyme is problematic.

  15. Headspace versus direct immersion solid phase microextraction in complex matrixes: investigation of analyte behavior in multicomponent mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gionfriddo, Emanuela; Souza-Silva, Érica A; Pawliszyn, Janusz

    2015-08-18

    This work aims to investigate the behavior of analytes in complex mixtures and matrixes with the use of solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Various factors that influence analyte uptake such as coating chemistry, extraction mode, the physicochemical properties of analytes, and matrix complexity were considered. At first, an aqueous system containing analytes bearing different hydrophobicities, molecular weights, and chemical functionalities was investigated by using commercially available liquid and solid porous coatings. The differences in the mass transfer mechanisms resulted in a more pronounced occurrence of coating saturation in headspace mode. Contrariwise, direct immersion extraction minimizes the occurrence of artifacts related to coating saturation and provides enhanced extraction of polar compounds. In addition, matrix-compatible PDMS-modified solid coatings, characterized by a new morphology that avoids coating fouling, were compared to their nonmodified analogues. The obtained results indicate that PDMS-modified coatings reduce artifacts associated with coating saturation, even in headspace mode. This factor, coupled to their matrix compatibility, make the use of direct SPME very practical as a quantification approach and the best choice for metabolomics studies where wide coverage is intended. To further understand the influence on analyte uptake on a system where additional interactions occur due to matrix components, ex vivo and in vivo sampling conditions were simulated using a starch matrix model, with the aim of mimicking plant-derived materials. Our results corroborate the fact that matrix handling can affect analyte/matrix equilibria, with consequent release of high concentrations of previously bound hydrophobic compounds, potentially leading to coating saturation. Direct immersion SPME limited the occurrence of the artifacts, which confirms the suitability of SPME for in vivo applications. These findings shed light into the implementation of in

  16. EDCs Mixtures: A Stealthy Hazard for Human Health?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edna Ribeiro

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs are exogenous chemicals that may occur naturally (e.g., phytoestrogens, while others are industrial substances and plasticizers commonly utilized worldwide to which human exposure, particularly at low-doses, is omnipresent, persistent and occurs in complex mixtures. EDCs can interfere with/or mimic estrogenic hormones and, consequently, can simultaneously trigger diverse signaling pathways which result in diverse and divergent biological responses. Additionally, EDCs can also bioaccumulate in lipid compartments of the organism forming a mixed “body burden” of contaminants. Although the independent action of chemicals has been considered the main principle in EDCs mixture toxicity, recent studies have demonstrated that numerous effects cannot be predicted when analyzing single compounds independently. Co-exposure to these agents, particularly in critical windows of exposure, may induce hazardous health effects potentially associated with a complex “body burden” of different origins. Here, we performed an exhaustive review of the available literature regarding EDCs mixtures exposure, toxicity mechanisms and effects, particularly at the most vulnerable human life stages. Although the assessment of potential risks to human health due to exposure to EDCs mixtures is a major topic for consumer safety, information regarding effective mixtures effects is still scarce.

  17. Effect of Rice Husk Ash and Fly Ash on the workability of concrete mixture in the High-Rise Construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Tang, Lam; Bulgakov, Boris; Bazhenova, Sofia; Aleksandrova, Olga; Pham, Anh Ngoc; Dinh Vu, Tho

    2018-03-01

    The dense development of high-rise construction in urban areas requires a creation of new concretes with essential properties and innovative technologies for preparing concrete mixtures. Besides, it is necessary to develop new ways of presenting concrete mixture and keeping their mobility. This research uses the mathematical method of two-factors rotatable central compositional planning to imitate the effect of amount of rice husk (RHA) and fly ash of thermal power plants (FA) on the workability of high-mobility concrete mixtures. The results of this study displays regression equation of the second order dependence of the objective functions - slump cone and loss of concrete mixture mobility due to the input factors - the amounts RHA (x1) and FA (x2), as well as the surface expression image of these regression equations. An analysis of the regression equations also shows that the amount of RHA and FA had a significant influence on the concrete mixtures mobility. In fact, the particles of RHA and FA will play the role as peculiar "sliding bearings" between the grains of cement leading to the dispersion of cement in the concrete mixture. Therefore, it is possible to regulate the concrete mixture mobility when transporting fresh concrete to the formwork during the high-rise buildings construction in the hot and humid climate of Vietnam. Although the average value of slump test of freshly mixed concrete, measured 60 minutes later after the mixing completion, decreased from 18.2 to 10.52 cm, this value still remained within the allowable range to maintain the mixing and and the delivery of concrete mixture by pumping.

  18. Ion-solvent interactions and the complex behaviour of U(IV) and U(VI) with chloro-ligands in ethanol-water mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, J.I.; Duschner, H.; Hashimoto, T.; Born, H.J.

    1975-01-01

    The complex chemical behaviour of U(IV) and U(VI) in amphiprotic solutions, especially in mixtures of solvents, was investigated using ion exchange and solvent extraction methods. The experimental data was used, on the one hand, in order to obtain complexing constants in dependence of ligands and their concentration as well as of the agent and to classify these in a universal scale of ion activities with water as reference point, and on the other hand, to explain the interactions between central atom, ligand and solvating molecule. One aim of these investigations is to understand the basic mechanisms in adjusting the equilibrium between two different phases in the separation chemistry of these elements. (orig./LH) [de

  19. Treatment of high-latency microcapsules containing an aluminium complex with an epoxy-functionalised trialkoxysilane.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamiya, Kazunobu; Suzuki, Noboru

    2016-12-01

    Some aluminium complexes are excellent catalysts of cationic polymerisation and are used for low-temperature and fast-curing adhesive, used in electronic part mounting. Microencapsulation is a suitable technique for getting high latency of the catalysts and long shelf life of the adhesives. For the higher latency in a cycloaliphatic epoxy compound, the microcapsule surface which retained small amount of aluminium complex was coated with epoxy polymer and the effect was examined. From the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic results, the surface was recognised to be sufficiently coated and the differential scanning calorimetric analyses showed that the coating did not significantly affect the low-temperature and fast-curing properties of adhesive. After storing the mixture of cycloaliphatic epoxy compound, coated microcapsules, triphenylsilanol and silane coupling agent for 48 h at room temperature, the increase in viscosity was only 0.01 Pa s, resulting in the excellent shelf life.

  20. High pressure study of viscosity and temperature effects on tetracyanobenzene EDA complexes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Michele Moisio; Drickamer, H. G.

    1981-12-01

    High pressure fluorescence studies from 0-10 kbar have been performed on electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes of s-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB) with a series of aromatic hydrocarbons. Four solvents were used: 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethylnonane (HMN), methylcyclohexane (MCH), 2,6,10,14-tetramethylpentadecane (TMPD), and a mixture of MCH and HMN. A viscosity range from 0.006 to 10 000 P was covered at two temperatures: 0 and 25 °C. As pressure (viscosity) increased the fluorescence spectrum shifted from one dominated by emission from the equilibrium (EQ) excited singlet state to one dominated by Franck-Condon (FC) singlet emission. Lifetime measurements for the complexes of o-xylene and p-xylene with TCNB yielded the two radiative rates (kEQ and kFC) as well as the rate of relaxation from FC to the EQ excited state (kRE). kRE was found to correlate well with viscosity and to be independent of temperature at constant viscosity, indicating that the relaxation process is diffusion controlled.

  1. High density thermite mixture for shaped charge ordnance disposal

    OpenAIRE

    Tamer Elshenawy; Salah Soliman; Ahmed Hawass

    2017-01-01

    The effect of thermite mixture based on aluminum and ferric oxides for ammunition neutralization has been studied and tested. Thermochemical calculations have been carried out for different percentage of Al using Chemical Equilibrium Code to expect the highest performance thermite mixture used for shaped charge ordnance disposal. Densities and enthalpy of different formulations have been calculated and demonstrated. The optimized thermite formulation has been prepared experimentally using col...

  2. Thermally induced processes in mixtures of aluminum with organic acids after plastic deformations under high pressure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhorin, V. A.; Kiselev, M. R.; Roldugin, V. I.

    2017-11-01

    DSC is used to measure the thermal effects of processes in mixtures of solid organic dibasic acids with powdered aluminum, subjected to plastic deformation under pressures in the range of 0.5-4.0 GPa using an anvil-type high-pressure setup. Analysis of thermograms obtained for the samples after plastic deformation suggests a correlation between the exothermal peaks observed around the temperatures of degradation of the acids and the thermally induced chemical reactions between products of acid degradation and freshly formed surfaces of aluminum particles. The release of heat in the mixtures begins at 30-40°C. The thermal effects in the mixtures of different acids change according to the order of acid reactivity in solutions. The extreme baric dependences of enthalpies of thermal effects are associated with the rearrangement of the electron subsystem of aluminum upon plastic deformation at high pressures.

  3. Compressible Flow Phenomena at Inception of Lateral Density Currents Fed by Collapsing Gas-Particle Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valentine, Greg A.; Sweeney, Matthew R.

    2018-02-01

    Many geological flows are sourced by falling gas-particle mixtures, such as during collapse of lava domes, and impulsive eruptive jets, and sustained columns, and rock falls. The transition from vertical to lateral flow is complex due to the range of coupling between particles of different sizes and densities and the carrier gas, and due to the potential for compressible flow phenomena. We use multiphase modeling to explore these dynamics. In mixtures with small particles, and with subsonic speeds, particles follow the gas such that outgoing lateral flows have similar particle concentration and speed as the vertical flows. Large particles concentrate immediately upon impact and move laterally away as granular flows overridden by a high-speed jet of expelled gas. When a falling flow is supersonic, a bow shock develops above the impact zone, and this produces a zone of high pressure from which lateral flows emerge as overpressured wall jets. The jets form complex structures as the mixtures expand and accelerate and then recompress through a recompression zone that mimics a Mach disk shock in ideal gas jets. In mixtures with moderate to high ratios of fine to coarse particles, the latter tend to follow fine particles through the expansion-recompression flow fields because of particle-particle drag. Expansion within the flow fields can lead to locally reduced gas pressure that could enhance substrate erosion in natural flows. The recompression zones form at distances, and have peak pressures, that are roughly proportional to the Mach numbers of impacting flows.

  4. Improved Efficacy of Synthesizing *MIII-Labeled DOTA Complexes in Binary Mixtures of Water and Organic Solvents. A Combined Radio- and Physicochemical Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez-Malo, Marylaine; Szabó, Gergely; Eppard, Elisabeth; Vagner, Adrienn; Brücher, Ernő; Tóth, Imre; Maiocchi, Alessandro; Suh, Eul Hyun; Kovács, Zoltán; Baranyai, Zsolt; Rösch, Frank

    2018-05-21

    Typically, the synthesis of radiometal-based radiopharmaceuticals is performed in buffered aqueous solutions. We found that the presence of organic solvents like ethanol increased the radiolabeling yields of [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA (DOTA = 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacatic acid). In the present study, the effect of organic cosolvents [ethanol (EtOH), isopropyl alcohol, and acetonitrile] on the radiolabeling yields of the macrocyclic chelator DOTA with several trivalent radiometals (gallium-68, scandium-44, and lutetium-177) was systematically investigated. Various binary water (H 2 O)/organic solvent mixtures allowed the radiolabeling of DOTA at a significantly lower temperature than 95 °C, which is relevant for the labeling of sensitive biological molecules. Simultaneously, much lower amounts of the chelators were required. This strategy may have a fundamental impact on the formulation of trivalent radiometal-based radiopharmaceuticals. The equilibrium properties and formation kinetics of [M(DOTA)] - (M III = Ga III , Ce III , Eu III , Y III , and Lu III ) complexes were investigated in H 2 O/EtOH mixtures (up to 70 vol % EtOH). The protonation constants of DOTA were determined by pH potentiometry in H 2 O/EtOH mixtures (0-70 vol % EtOH, 0.15 M NaCl, 25 °C). The log K 1 H and log K 2 H values associated with protonation of the ring N atoms decreased with an increase of the EtOH content. The formation rates of [M(DOTA)] - complexes increase with an increase of the pH and [EtOH]. Complexation occurs through rapid formation of the diprotonated [M(H 2 DOTA)] + intermediates, which are in equilibrium with the kinetically active monoprotonated [M(HDOTA)] intermediates. The rate-controlling step is deprotonation (and rearrangement) of the monoprotonated intermediate, which occurs through H 2 O ( *M(HL) k H 2 O ) and OH - ( *M(HL) k OH ) assisted reaction pathways. The rate constants are essentially independent of the EtOH concentration, but the M(HL) k H2O

  5. Thermophysical and radiation properties of high-temperature C4F8-CO2 mixtures to replace SF6 in high-voltage circuit breakers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Linlin; Cressault, Yann; Teulet, Philippe

    2018-03-01

    C4F8-CO2 mixtures are one of the potential substitutes to SF6 in high-voltage circuit breakers. However, the arc quenching ability of C4F8-CO2 mixtures is still unknown. In order to provide the necessary basic data for the further investigation of arc quenching performance, the compositions, thermodynamic properties, transport coefficients, and net emission coefficients (NEC) of various C4F8-CO2 mixtures are calculated at temperatures of 300-30 000 K in this work. The thermodynamic properties are presented as the product of mass density and specific heat, i.e., ρCp. The transport coefficients include electrical conductivity, viscosity, and thermal conductivity. The atomic and molecular radiation are both taken into account in the calculation of NEC. The comparison of the properties between SF6 and C4F8-CO2 mixtures is also discussed to find their differences. The results of compositions show that C4F8-CO2 mixtures have a distinctive advantage over other alternative gases e.g., CF3I and C3F8, because the dissociative product (i.e., C4F6) of C4F8 at low temperatures has a very high dielectric strength. This is good for an arc quenching medium to endure the arc recovery phase. Compared with SF6, C4F8-CO2 mixtures present lower ρCp at temperatures below 2800 K and larger thermal conductivity above 2800 K. Based on the position of peaks in thermal conductivity, we predict that the cooling of C4F8-CO2 arc will be slowed down at higher temperatures than that of SF6 arc. It is also found that the mixing of CO2 shows slight effects on the electrical conductivity and NEC of C4F8-CO2 mixtures.

  6. Microwave dielectric characterization of binary mixture of formamide ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The mixtures exhibit a principle dispersion of the Davidson–Cole relaxation type at microwave frequencies. Bilinear calibration method is used to obtain complex permittivity *() from complex reflection coefficient ρ*() over the frequency range of 10 MHz to 10 GHz. The excess permittivity (E), excessinverse relaxation ...

  7. Inflammatory and Vasoactive Effects of Serum Following Inhalation of Varied Complex Mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aragon, Mario J; Chrobak, Izabela; Brower, Jeremy; Roldan, Luis; Fredenburgh, Laura E; McDonald, Jacob D; Campen, Matthew J

    2016-04-01

    Chronic cardiovascular disease is associated with air pollution exposure in epidemiology and toxicology studies. Inhaled toxicants can induce changes in serum bioactivity that impact endothelial inflammatory gene expression in vitro and impair vasorelaxation ex vivo, which are common precursors to atherosclerosis. Comparisons between single pollutants and common combustion mixtures, in terms of driving such serum inflammatory and vasoactive effects, have not been characterized. Healthy C57BL/6 mice were exposed to a single 6-h period of contrasting pollutant atmospheres: road dust, mixed vehicle emissions (MVE; a combination of gasoline and diesel engine emissions) particulate matter, mixed vehicle emissions gases, road dust plus ozone, road dust plus MVE, and hardwood smoke. Serum obtained from mice 24 h after these exposures was used as a stimulus to assess inflammatory potential in two assays: incubated with primary murine cerebrovascular endothelial cells for 4 h to measure inflammatory gene expression or applied to naïve aortic rings in an ex vivo myographic preparation. Road dust and wood smoke exposures were most potent at inducing inflammatory gene expression, while MVE atmospheres and wood smoke were most potent at impairing vasorelaxation to acetylcholine. Responses are consistent with recent reports on MVE toxicity, but reveal novel serum bioactivity related to wood smoke and road dust. These studies suggest that the compositional changes in serum and resultant bioactivity following inhalation exposure to pollutants may be highly dependent on the composition of mixtures.

  8. Characterisation of metals in the electronic waste of complex mixtures of end-of-life ICT products for development of cleaner recovery technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Z H I; Xiao, Y; Sietsma, J; Agterhuis, H; Visser, G; Yang, Y

    2015-01-01

    Recycling of valuable metals from electronic waste, especially complex mixtures of end-of-life information and communication technology (ICT) products, is of great difficulty due to their complexity and heterogeneity. One of the important reasons is the lack of comprehensive characterisation on such materials, i.e. accurate compositions, physical/chemical properties. In the present research, we focus on developing methodologies for the characterisation of metals in an industrially processed ICT waste. The morphology, particle size distribution, compositional distribution, occurrence, liberation as well as the thermo-chemical properties of the ICT waste were investigated with various characterisation techniques, including X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersed spectroscopy (EDS). Due to the high heterogeneity of the material, special sample preparation procedures were introduced to minimise the discrepancies during compositional analyses. As a result, a clearer overview of the ICT waste has been reached. This research provides better understanding of the extractability of each metal and improves the awareness of potential obstacles for extraction. It will lead to smarter decisions during further development of a clean and effective recovery process. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Quantitative Characterization of the Toxicities of Cd-Ni and Cd-Cr Binary Mixtures Using Combination Index Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lingyun Mo

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Direct equipartition ray design was used to construct Cd-Ni and Cd-Cr binary mixtures. Microplate toxicity analysis was used to evaluate the toxicity of individual substance and the Cd-Ni and Cd-Cr mixtures on Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Selenastrum capricornutum. The interacting toxicity of the mixture was analyzed with concentration addition (CA model. In addition, combination index method (CI was proposed and used to quantitatively characterize the toxicity of the binary mixtures of Cd-Ni and Cd-Cr observed in experiment and find the degree of deviation from the predicted outcome of the CA model, that is, the intensity of interacting toxicity. Results indicate that most of the 20 binary mixtures exhibit enhancing and synergistic effect, and only Cd-Cr-R4 and Cd-Cr-R5 mixtures have relatively high antagonistic effects against C. pyrenoidosa. Based on confidence interval, CI can compare the intensities of interaction of the mixtures under varying levels of effect. The characterization methods are applicable for analyzing binary mixture with complex interaction.

  10. An investigation of the opacity of high-Z mixture and implications for inertial confinement fusion hohlraum design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, P.; MacFarlane, J.J.; Orzechowski, T.J.

    1997-01-01

    We use an unresolved transition array model to investigate the opacities of high-Z materials and their mixtures which are of interest to indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion hohlraum design. In particular, we report on calculated opacities for pure Au, Gd, and Sm, as well as Au endash Sm and Au endash Gd mixtures. Our results indicate that mixtures of Au endash Gd and Au endash Sm can produce a significant enhancement in the Rosseland mean opacity. Radiation hydrodynamics simulations of Au radiation burnthrough are also presented, and compared with NOVA experimental data. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

  11. Cryotrapping assisted mass spectrometry for the analysis of complex gas mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferreira, Jose A.; Tabares, Francisco L.

    2007-01-01

    A simple method is described for the unambiguous identification of the individual components in a gas mixture showing strong overlapping of their mass spectrometric cracking patterns. The method, herein referred to as cryotrapping assisted mass spectrometry, takes advantage of the different vapor pressure values of the individual components at low temperature (78 K for liquid nitrogen traps), and thus of the different depletion efficiencies and outgassing patterns during the fast cooling and slow warming up of the trap, respectively. Examples of the use of this technique for gas mixtures with application to plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of carbon and carbon-nitrogen hard films are shown. Detection of traces of specific C 3 hydrocarbons ( 2 containing deposition plasmas are addressed as representative examples of specific applications of the technique

  12. Study on complex formation of dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6 with Mg2+, Ca2+ and Sr2+ in acetonitrile-water binary mixtures by conductometry

    OpenAIRE

    Mallika Sanyal

    2017-01-01

    The complexation reactions between Mg2+, Ca2+ and Sr2+ cations and dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6 (DCH 18C6) have been studied in acetonitrile–water binary mixtures at different temperatures by conductometry. The formation constants of the resulting 1:1 (M:L) complexes for all the three cations were determined from computer fitting of the molar conductance versus mole ratio data. The results show that the selectivity order of DCH 18C6 for the metal cations in the acetonitrile-water binary solvent at...

  13. Bayesian mixture analysis for metagenomic community profiling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morfopoulou, Sofia; Plagnol, Vincent

    2015-09-15

    Deep sequencing of clinical samples is now an established tool for the detection of infectious pathogens, with direct medical applications. The large amount of data generated produces an opportunity to detect species even at very low levels, provided that computational tools can effectively profile the relevant metagenomic communities. Data interpretation is complicated by the fact that short sequencing reads can match multiple organisms and by the lack of completeness of existing databases, in particular for viral pathogens. Here we present metaMix, a Bayesian mixture model framework for resolving complex metagenomic mixtures. We show that the use of parallel Monte Carlo Markov chains for the exploration of the species space enables the identification of the set of species most likely to contribute to the mixture. We demonstrate the greater accuracy of metaMix compared with relevant methods, particularly for profiling complex communities consisting of several related species. We designed metaMix specifically for the analysis of deep transcriptome sequencing datasets, with a focus on viral pathogen detection; however, the principles are generally applicable to all types of metagenomic mixtures. metaMix is implemented as a user friendly R package, freely available on CRAN: http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/metaMix sofia.morfopoulou.10@ucl.ac.uk Supplementary data are available at Bionformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

  14. High-quality poly-dispersed mixtures applied in additive 3D technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerasimov, M. D.; Brazhnik, Yu V.; Gorshkov, P. S.; Latyshev, S. S.

    2018-03-01

    The paper describes the new mixer design to obtain high-quality poly-dispersed powders applied in additive 3D technologies. It also considers a new mixing principle of dry powder particles ensuring the distribution of such particles in the total volume, which is close to ideal. The paper presents the mathematical model of mixer operation providing for the quality assessment of the ready mixtures. Besides, it demonstrates experimental results and obtained rational values of mixer process parameters.

  15. Investigation of complexing in solutions of salt mixture In(NO/sub 3/)/sub 3/-NaVO/sub 3/

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakhodnova, A N; Listratenko, I V

    1987-05-01

    Spectrophotometry, conductometry and pH-metry are used to investigate properties and composition of the solid phases of isomolar series of In(NO/sub 3/)/sub 3/-NaVO/sub 3/ salt mixture solutions and series of solutions having constant concentration of one of the components and varied of the other. Results of investigation are presented. It is stated that in the investigated solution series in weakly acid media HPA with the ratios (In/sup 3+/):(V/sup 5+/) being equal to 11:1, 6:1, and 1:9, are formed. Composition of the complexes is mainly defined by the ratio of the components in In(NO/sub 3/)/sub 3/ and NaVO/sub 3/ salt mixture solutions and the medium acidity. Compounds of Na/sub 2/OxIn/sub 2/O/sub 3/x2.5V/sub 2/O/sub 5/x8.5H/sub 2/O and Cs/sub 2/OxIn/sub 2/O/sub 3/x6V/sub 2/O/sub 5/x6.5H/sub 2/O empirical formulae are separated. Results of IR spectroscopy, derivatography and X-ray phase analysis of the corresponding salts are presented.

  16. Thermodynamic diagrams for high temperature plasmas of air, air-carbon, carbon-hydrogen mixtures, and argon

    CERN Document Server

    Kroepelin, H; Hoffmann, K-U

    2013-01-01

    Thermodynamic Diagrams for High Temperature Plasmas of Air, Air-Carbon, Carbon-Hydrogen Mixtures, and Argon provides information relating to the properties of equilibrium gas plasmas formed from hydrocarbons, from air without argon, from pure argon, and from mixtures of air and carbon at various compositions, temperatures and pressures. The data are presented in graphical rather than tabular form to provide a clearer picture of the plasma processes investigated. This book is composed of four chapters, and begins with the introduction to the characteristics of plasmas, with emphasis on their th

  17. Surface complexation modeling of Cu(II adsorption on mixtures of hydrous ferric oxide and kaolinite

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schaller Melinda S

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The application of surface complexation models (SCMs to natural sediments and soils is hindered by a lack of consistent models and data for large suites of metals and minerals of interest. Furthermore, the surface complexation approach has mostly been developed and tested for single solid systems. Few studies have extended the SCM approach to systems containing multiple solids. Results Cu adsorption was measured on pure hydrous ferric oxide (HFO, pure kaolinite (from two sources and in systems containing mixtures of HFO and kaolinite over a wide range of pH, ionic strength, sorbate/sorbent ratios and, for the mixed solid systems, using a range of kaolinite/HFO ratios. Cu adsorption data measured for the HFO and kaolinite systems was used to derive diffuse layer surface complexation models (DLMs describing Cu adsorption. Cu adsorption on HFO is reasonably well described using a 1-site or 2-site DLM. Adsorption of Cu on kaolinite could be described using a simple 1-site DLM with formation of a monodentate Cu complex on a variable charge surface site. However, for consistency with models derived for weaker sorbing cations, a 2-site DLM with a variable charge and a permanent charge site was also developed. Conclusion Component additivity predictions of speciation in mixed mineral systems based on DLM parameters derived for the pure mineral systems were in good agreement with measured data. Discrepancies between the model predictions and measured data were similar to those observed for the calibrated pure mineral systems. The results suggest that quantifying specific interactions between HFO and kaolinite in speciation models may not be necessary. However, before the component additivity approach can be applied to natural sediments and soils, the effects of aging must be further studied and methods must be developed to estimate reactive surface areas of solid constituents in natural samples.

  18. Evaluating the Similarity of Complex Drinking-Water Disinfection By-Product Mixtures: Overview of the Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Presentation describes the advantages and challenges of working with Whole Mixtures, discusses an exploratory approach for evaluating sufficient similarity, and challenges of applying such approaches to other environmental mixtures.

  19. Complex mixture-associated hormesis and toxicity: the case of leather tanning industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pagano, Giovanni; Castello, Giuseppe; Gallo, Marialuisa; Borriello, Ilaria; Guida, Marco

    2008-01-01

    A series of studies investigated the toxicities of tannery-derived complex mixtures, i.e. vegetable tannin (VT) from Acacia sp. or phenol-based synthetic tannin (ST), and waste-water from tannin-based vs. chromium-based tanneries. Toxicity was evaluated by multiple bioassays including developmental defects and loss of fertilization rate in sea urchin embryos and sperm (Paracentrotus lividus and Sphaerechinus granularis), and algal growth inhibition (Dunaliella tertiolecta and Selenastrum capricornutum). Both VT and ST water extracts resulted in hormetic effects at concentrations ranging 0.1 to 0.3%, and toxicity at levels > or =1%, both in sea urchin embryo and sperm, and in algal growth bioassays. When comparing tannin-based tannery wastewater (TTW) vs. chromium-based tannery effluent (CTE), a hormesis to toxicity trend was observed for TTW both in terms of developmental and fertilization toxicity in sea urchins, and in algal growth inhibition, with hormetic effects at 0.1 to 0.2% TTW, and toxicity at TTW levels > or =1%. Unlike TTW, CTE showed a monotonic toxicity increase from the lowest tested level (0.1%) and CTE toxicity at higher levels was significantly more severe than TTW-induced toxicity. The results support the view that leather production utilizing tannins might be regarded as a more environmentally friendly procedure than chromium-based tanning process.

  20. Fast 2D NMR Spectroscopy for In vivo Monitoring of Bacterial Metabolism in Complex Mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rupashree Dass

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The biological toolbox is full of techniques developed originally for analytical chemistry. Among them, spectroscopic experiments are very important source of atomic-level structural information. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR spectroscopy, although very advanced in chemical and biophysical applications, has been used in microbiology only in a limited manner. So far, mostly one-dimensional 1H experiments have been reported in studies of bacterial metabolism monitored in situ. However, low spectral resolution and limited information on molecular topology limits the usability of these methods. These problems are particularly evident in the case of complex mixtures, where spectral peaks originating from many compounds overlap and make the interpretation of changes in a spectrum difficult or even impossible. Often a suite of two-dimensional (2D NMR experiments is used to improve resolution and extract structural information from internuclear correlations. However, for dynamically changing sample, like bacterial culture, the time-consuming sampling of so-called indirect time dimensions in 2D experiments is inefficient. Here, we propose the technique known from analytical chemistry and structural biology of proteins, i.e., time-resolved non-uniform sampling. The method allows application of 2D (and multi-D experiments in the case of quickly varying samples. The indirect dimension here is sparsely sampled resulting in significant reduction of experimental time. Compared to conventional approach based on a series of 1D measurements, this method provides extraordinary resolution and is a real-time approach to process monitoring. In this study, we demonstrate the usability of the method on a sample of Escherichia coli culture affected by ampicillin and on a sample of Propionibacterium acnes, an acne causing bacterium, mixed with a dose of face tonic, which is a complicated, multi-component mixture providing complex NMR spectrum. Through our experiments

  1. PREBIOTIC HYDROCARBON SYNTHESIS IN IMPACTING REDUCED ASTROPHYSICAL ICY MIXTURES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koziol, Lucas; Goldman, Nir

    2015-01-01

    We present results of prebiotic organic synthesis in shock-compressed reducing mixtures of simple ices from quantum molecular dynamics simulations extended to close to chemical equilibrium timescales. Given the relative abundance of carbon in reduced forms in astrophysical ices as well as the tendency of these mixtures to form complex hydrocarbons under the presence of external stimuli, it is possible that cometary impacts on a planetary surface could have yielded a larger array of prebiotic organic compounds than previously investigated. We find that the high pressures and temperatures due to shock compression yield a large assortment of carbon- and nitrogen-bonded extended structures that are highly reactive with short molecular lifetimes. Expansion and cooling causes these materials to break apart and form a wide variety of stable, potentially life-building compounds, including long-chain linear and branched hydrocarbons, large heterocyclic compounds, and a variety of different amines and exotic amino acids. Our results help provide a bottom-up understanding of hydrocarbon impact synthesis on the early Earth and its role in producing life-building molecules from simple starting materials

  2. PREBIOTIC HYDROCARBON SYNTHESIS IN IMPACTING REDUCED ASTROPHYSICAL ICY MIXTURES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koziol, Lucas; Goldman, Nir, E-mail: lucas.koziol@exxonmobil.com, E-mail: ngoldman@llnl.gov [Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States)

    2015-04-20

    We present results of prebiotic organic synthesis in shock-compressed reducing mixtures of simple ices from quantum molecular dynamics simulations extended to close to chemical equilibrium timescales. Given the relative abundance of carbon in reduced forms in astrophysical ices as well as the tendency of these mixtures to form complex hydrocarbons under the presence of external stimuli, it is possible that cometary impacts on a planetary surface could have yielded a larger array of prebiotic organic compounds than previously investigated. We find that the high pressures and temperatures due to shock compression yield a large assortment of carbon- and nitrogen-bonded extended structures that are highly reactive with short molecular lifetimes. Expansion and cooling causes these materials to break apart and form a wide variety of stable, potentially life-building compounds, including long-chain linear and branched hydrocarbons, large heterocyclic compounds, and a variety of different amines and exotic amino acids. Our results help provide a bottom-up understanding of hydrocarbon impact synthesis on the early Earth and its role in producing life-building molecules from simple starting materials.

  3. Distribution of rhodopin and spirilloxanthin between LH1 and LH2 complexes when incorporating carotenoid mixture into the membrane of purple sulfur bacterium Allochromatium minutissimum in vitro.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolshakov, M A; Ashikhmin, A A; Makhneva, Z K; Moskalenko, A A

    2016-11-01

    Carotenoid mixture enriched by rhodopin and spirilloxanthin was incorporated in LH2 and LH1 complexes from Allochromatium (Alc.) minutissimum in vitro. The maximum incorporating level was ~95%. Rhodopin (56.4%) and spirilloxanthin (13.8%) were incorporated into the LH1 complex, in contrast to the control complex, which contained primarily spirilloxanthin (66.8%). After incorporating, the LH2 complex contained rhodopin (66.7%) and didehydrorhodopin (14.6%), which was close to their content in the control (67.4 and 20.5%, respectively). Thus, it was shown that carotenoids from the total pool are not selectively incorporated into LH2 and LH1 complexes in vitro in the proportion corresponding to the carotenoid content in the complexes in vivo.

  4. Modelling interactions in grass-clover mixtures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nassiri Mahallati, M.

    1998-01-01

    The study described in this thesis focuses on a quantitative understanding of the complex interactions in binary mixtures of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and white clover (Trifolium repens L.) under cutting. The first part of the study describes the dynamics of growth, production

  5. Modeling text with generalizable Gaussian mixtures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Lars Kai; Sigurdsson, Sigurdur; Kolenda, Thomas

    2000-01-01

    We apply and discuss generalizable Gaussian mixture (GGM) models for text mining. The model automatically adapts model complexity for a given text representation. We show that the generalizability of these models depends on the dimensionality of the representation and the sample size. We discuss...

  6. Structural transition of a homopolymer in solvents mixture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guettari, Moez; Aschi, Adel; Gomati, Riadh; Gharbi, Abdelhafidh

    2008-01-01

    The present work is aimed at studying the thermodynamic behaviour of a polymer in solvents mixture. Dynamic light scattering is used to measure the hydrodynamic radius of polyvinylpyrrolidone (M w = 360,000 g/mol), in water/methanol solvents mixture, versus the mixed solvents composition at 25 deg. C. Then, we show that the polymer conformation adopts the Coil-Globule-Coil structure when the methanol molar fraction X A is varied. This transition is attributed to solvent quality change which result from water and methanol complex formation. The polymer contraction rate calculated for each composition takes its maximum value at X A = 0.17. Hildebrand theory assuming the solvents mixture as an equivalent solvent was used to analyze the change in mixed solvents quality. These changes can be attributed to dispersive forces in solvents mixture

  7. In Developping a Bench-Scale Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustor to Burn High Ash Brazilian Coal-Dolomites Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramírez Behainne, Jhon Jairo; Hory, Rogério Ishikawa; Goldstein, Leonardo; Bernárdez Pécora, Araí Augusta

    This work considers some of the questions in burning high ash Brazilian coal-dolomite mixtures in a bench-scale circulating fluidized bed combustor (CFBC). Experimental tests were performed with the CE4500 coal from Santa Catarina State, in southern Brazil, with a Sauter mean diameter d p =43 μm. The coal particles were mixed with dolomite particles of d p = 111 μm and this fuel mixture was fed into the circulating fluidized reactor, previously loaded with quartz sand particles of d p =353 μm. This inert material was previously heated by the combustion of liquefied petroleum gas up to the ignition temperature of the fuel mixture. The CFBC unit has a 100mm internal diameter riser, 4.0m high, as well as a 62.8mm internal diameter downcomer. The loop has a cyclone, a sampling valve to collect particles and a 62.8mm internal diameter L-valve to recirculate the particles in the loop. A screw feeder with a rotation control system was used to feed the fuel mixture to the reactor. The operational conditions were monitored by pressure taps and thermocouples installed along the loop. A data acquisition system showed the main operational conditions to control. Experimental tests performed put in evidence the problems found during bed operation, with special attention to the solids feed device, to the L-valve operation, to particle size, solids inventory, fluidized gas velocity, fuel mixture and recirculated solids feeding positions.

  8. High temperature interaction studies on equimolar nitrate mixture of uranyl nitrate hexahydrate and gadolinium nitrate hexahydrate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalekar, Bhupesh B.; Raje, Naina; Reddy, A.V.R.

    2015-01-01

    Rare earths including gadolinium form a sizeable fraction of the fission products in the nuclear fission of fissile material in the reactor. These fission products can interact with uranium dioxide fuel and can form various compounds which can alter the thermal behavior of the fuel. The mixed oxide formed due to the high temperature interactions of mixture of uranyl nitrate hexahydrate (UNH) and gadolinium nitrate hexahydrate (GdNH) has been studied using thermal and X- ray diffraction techniques. The equimolar mixture of UNH and GdNH was prepared by mixing the weighed amount of individual nitrates and grinding gently with mortar and pestle. Thermogravimetry (TG) measurements were carried out by separately heating 100 mg of mixture and individual nitrates at heating rate of 10°C min -1 using Netzsch thermal analyzer (Model No.: STA 409 PC Luxx) in high purity nitrogen atmosphere with a flow rate of 120 mL min -1 . The XRD measurement was carried out on a Philips X-ray diffractometer (Model PW1710) using nickel-filtered Cu-Kα radiation

  9. On modeling of structured multiphase mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dobran, F.

    1987-01-01

    The usual modeling of multiphase mixtures involves a set of conservation and balance equations of mass, momentum, energy and entropy (the basic set) constructed by an averaging procedure or postulated. The averaged models are constructed by averaging, over space or time segments, the local macroscopic field equations of each phase, whereas the postulated models are usually motivated by the single phase multicomponent mixture models. In both situations, the resulting equations yield superimposed continua models and are closed by the constitutive equations which place restrictions on the possible material response during the motion and phase change. In modeling the structured multiphase mixtures, the modeling of intrinsic motion of grains or particles is accomplished by adjoining to the basic set of field equations the additional balance equations, thereby placing restrictions on the motion of phases only within the imposed extrinsic and intrinsic sources. The use of the additional balance equations has been primarily advocated in the postulatory theories of multiphase mixtures and are usually derived through very special assumptions of the material deformation. Nevertheless, the resulting mixture models can predict a wide variety of complex phenomena such as the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion in granular media, Rayleigh bubble equation, wave dispersion and dilatancy. Fundamental to the construction of structured models of multiphase mixtures are the problems pertaining to the existence and number of additional balance equations to model the structural characteristics of a mixture. Utilizing a volume averaging procedure it is possible not only to derive the basic set of field equation discussed above, but also a very general set of additional balance equations for modeling of structural properties of the mixture

  10. Effect of hydraulic retention time on the biodegradation of complex phenolic mixture from simulated coal wastewater in hybrid UASB reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ramakrishnan, Anushuya [Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076 (India); Gupta, Sudhir Kumar [Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076 (India)], E-mail: skgupta@iitb.ac.in

    2008-05-01

    This study describes the feasibility of anaerobic treatment of complex phenolics mixture from a simulated synthetic coal wastewater using four identical 13.5 L (effective volume) bench scale hybrid up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (HUASB) (combining UASB + anaerobic filter) reactors at four different hydraulic retention times (HRT) under mesophilic (27 {+-} 5 {sup o}C) conditions. Synthetic coal wastewater with an average chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 2240 mg/L and phenolics concentration of 752 mg/L was used as substrate. The phenolics contained phenol (490 mg/L); m-, o-, p-cresols (123.0, 58.6, 42 mg/L); 2,4-, 2,5-, 3,4- and 3,5-dimethyl phenols (6.3, 6.3, 4.4 and 21.3 mg/L) as major phenolic compounds. The study demonstrated that at optimum HRT, 24 h, and phenolic loading rate of 0.75 g COD/(m{sup 3}-d), the phenolics and COD removal efficiency of the reactors were 96% and 86%, respectively. Bio-kinetic models were applied to data obtained from experimental studies in hybrid UASB reactor. Grau second-order multi-component substrate removal model was best fitted to the hybrid UASB reactor. The second-order substrate removal rate constant (k{sub 2(s)}) was found as 1.72 h{sup -1} for the hybrid reactor treating complex phenolic mixture. Morphological examination of the sludge revealed rod-type Methanothrix-like, cells to be dominant on the surface.

  11. Effect of hydraulic retention time on the biodegradation of complex phenolic mixture from simulated coal wastewater in hybrid UASB reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramakrishnan, Anushuya; Gupta, Sudhir Kumar

    2008-01-01

    This study describes the feasibility of anaerobic treatment of complex phenolics mixture from a simulated synthetic coal wastewater using four identical 13.5 L (effective volume) bench scale hybrid up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (HUASB) (combining UASB + anaerobic filter) reactors at four different hydraulic retention times (HRT) under mesophilic (27 ± 5 o C) conditions. Synthetic coal wastewater with an average chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 2240 mg/L and phenolics concentration of 752 mg/L was used as substrate. The phenolics contained phenol (490 mg/L); m-, o-, p-cresols (123.0, 58.6, 42 mg/L); 2,4-, 2,5-, 3,4- and 3,5-dimethyl phenols (6.3, 6.3, 4.4 and 21.3 mg/L) as major phenolic compounds. The study demonstrated that at optimum HRT, 24 h, and phenolic loading rate of 0.75 g COD/(m 3 -d), the phenolics and COD removal efficiency of the reactors were 96% and 86%, respectively. Bio-kinetic models were applied to data obtained from experimental studies in hybrid UASB reactor. Grau second-order multi-component substrate removal model was best fitted to the hybrid UASB reactor. The second-order substrate removal rate constant (k 2(s) ) was found as 1.72 h -1 for the hybrid reactor treating complex phenolic mixture. Morphological examination of the sludge revealed rod-type Methanothrix-like, cells to be dominant on the surface

  12. Identification of unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs) of hydrocarbons in commercial fish oil supplements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Anna-Jean M; Budge, Suzanne M

    2015-01-01

    Heightened awareness of the health benefits of fish oil consumption has led to a great increase in the number of fish oil supplements available to the consumer. Therefore manufacturers are continually looking for ways to distinguish their products from those of competitors. Minimally refined or virgin fish oils provide a unique feature; however, petroleum hydrocarbon contamination from oil spills is a reality in the world's oceans. The question arises whether oil produced from fish species caught in these polluted areas is free of petroleum hydrocarbons, with particular interest in unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs). This study investigates the presence of UCMs in commercially available fish oil supplements advertised as being virgin, as well as refined. Weathered petroleum hydrocarbons in the form of a UCM were found at 523 µg g(-1) in a virgin Alaskan salmon oil supplement. Supplements that were refined were free of this contamination. Fish used in the production of fish oil supplements appear to have accumulated petrogenic hydrocarbons in their tissues which were not removed by minimal oil refining. Further study is required to determine if there are any health implications associated with long-term consumption of these contaminated supplements. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

  13. Mixture-based gatekeeping procedures in adaptive clinical trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kordzakhia, George; Dmitrienko, Alex; Ishida, Eiji

    2018-01-01

    Clinical trials with data-driven decision rules often pursue multiple clinical objectives such as the evaluation of several endpoints or several doses of an experimental treatment. These complex analysis strategies give rise to "multivariate" multiplicity problems with several components or sources of multiplicity. A general framework for defining gatekeeping procedures in clinical trials with adaptive multistage designs is proposed in this paper. The mixture method is applied to build a gatekeeping procedure at each stage and inferences at each decision point (interim or final analysis) are performed using the combination function approach. An advantage of utilizing the mixture method is that it enables powerful gatekeeping procedures applicable to a broad class of settings with complex logical relationships among the hypotheses of interest. Further, the combination function approach supports flexible data-driven decisions such as a decision to increase the sample size or remove a treatment arm. The paper concludes with a clinical trial example that illustrates the methodology by applying it to develop an adaptive two-stage design with a mixture-based gatekeeping procedure.

  14. Prospective Power Calculations for the Four Lab Study of A Multigenerational Reproductive/Developmental Toxicity Rodent Bioassay Using A Complex Mixture of Disinfection By-Products in the Low-Response Region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jane Ellen Simmons

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available In complex mixture toxicology, there is growing emphasis on testing environmentally representative doses that improve the relevance of results for health risk assessment, but are typically much lower than those used in traditional toxicology studies. Traditional experimental designs with typical sample sizes may have insufficient statistical power to detect effects caused by environmentally relevant doses. Proper study design, with adequate statistical power, is critical to ensuring that experimental results are useful for environmental health risk assessment. Studies with environmentally realistic complex mixtures have practical constraints on sample concentration factor and sample volume as well as the number of animals that can be accommodated. This article describes methodology for calculation of statistical power for non-independent observations for a multigenerational rodent reproductive/developmental bioassay. The use of the methodology is illustrated using the U.S. EPA’s Four Lab study in which rodents were exposed to chlorinated water concentrates containing complex mixtures of drinking water disinfection by-products. Possible experimental designs included two single-block designs and a two-block design. Considering the possible study designs and constraints, a design of two blocks of 100 females with a 40:60 ratio of control:treated animals and a significance level of 0.05 yielded maximum prospective power (~90% to detect pup weight decreases, while providing the most power to detect increased prenatal loss.

  15. Prospective Power Calculations for the Four Lab Study of A Multigenerational Reproductive/Developmental Toxicity Rodent Bioassay Using A Complex Mixture of Disinfection By-Products in the Low-Response Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dingus, Cheryl A.; Teuschler, Linda K.; Rice, Glenn E.; Simmons, Jane Ellen; Narotsky, Michael G.

    2011-01-01

    In complex mixture toxicology, there is growing emphasis on testing environmentally representative doses that improve the relevance of results for health risk assessment, but are typically much lower than those used in traditional toxicology studies. Traditional experimental designs with typical sample sizes may have insufficient statistical power to detect effects caused by environmentally relevant doses. Proper study design, with adequate statistical power, is critical to ensuring that experimental results are useful for environmental health risk assessment. Studies with environmentally realistic complex mixtures have practical constraints on sample concentration factor and sample volume as well as the number of animals that can be accommodated. This article describes methodology for calculation of statistical power for non-independent observations for a multigenerational rodent reproductive/developmental bioassay. The use of the methodology is illustrated using the U.S. EPA’s Four Lab study in which rodents were exposed to chlorinated water concentrates containing complex mixtures of drinking water disinfection by-products. Possible experimental designs included two single-block designs and a two-block design. Considering the possible study designs and constraints, a design of two blocks of 100 females with a 40:60 ratio of control:treated animals and a significance level of 0.05 yielded maximum prospective power (~90%) to detect pup weight decreases, while providing the most power to detect increased prenatal loss. PMID:22073030

  16. Measurement and correlation of critical properties for binary mixtures and ternary mixtures containing gasoline additives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Lipu; Han, Kewei; Xia, Shuqian; Ma, Peisheng; Yan, Fangyou

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A high-pressure view cell was used to measure the critical properties of mixtures. • Three binary mixtures’ and three ternary mixtures’ critical properties were reported. • The experimental data of each system covered the whole mole fraction range. • The critical properties of the ternary mixtures were predicted with the PR–WS model. • Empirical equations were used to correlate the experimental results. - Abstract: The critical properties of three binary mixtures and three ternary mixtures containing gasoline additives (including methanol + 1-propanol, heptane + ethanol, heptane + 1-propanol, methanol + 1-propanol + heptane, methanol + 1-propanol + methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), and ethanol + heptane + MTBE) were determined by a high-pressure cell. All the critical lines of binary mixtures belong to the type I described by Scott and van Konynenburg. The system of methanol + 1-propanol showed little non-ideal behavior due to their similar molecular structures. The heptane + ethanol and heptane + 1-propanol systems showed visible non-ideal behavior for their great differences in molecular structure. The Peng–Robinson equation of state combined with the Wong–Sandler mixing rule (PR–WS) was applied to correlate the critical properties of binary mixtures. The critical points of the three ternary mixtures were predicted by the PR–WS model with the binary interaction parameters using the procedure proposed by Heidemann and Khalil. The predicted critical temperatures were in good agreement with the experimental values, while the predicted critical pressures differed from the measured values. The experimental values of binary mixtures were fitted well with the Redlich–Kister equation. The critical properties of ternary mixtures were correlated with the Cibulka’s equation, and the critical surfaces were plotted using the Cibulka’s equations

  17. Toxicity of natural mixtures of organic pollutants in temperate and polar marine phytoplankton

    KAUST Repository

    Echeveste, Pedro

    2016-07-26

    Semivolatile and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) undergo atmospheric transport before being deposited to the oceans, where they partition to phytoplankton organic matter. The goal of this study was to determine the toxicity of naturally occurring complex mixtures of organic pollutants to temperate and polar phytoplankton communities from the Mediterranean Sea, the North East (NE) Atlantic, and Southern Oceans. The cell abundance of the different phytoplankton groups, chlorophyll a concentrations, viability of the cells, and growth and decay constants were monitored in response to addition of a range of concentrations of mixtures of organic pollutants obtained from seawater extracts. Almost all of the phytoplankton groups were significantly affected by the complex mixtures of non-polar and polar organic pollutants, with toxicity being greater for these mixtures than for single POPs or simple POP mixtures. Cocktails\\' toxicity arose at concentrations as low as tenfold the field oceanic levels, probably due to a higher chemical activity of the mixture than of simple POPs mixtures. Overall, smaller cells were the most affected, although Mediterranean picophytoplankton was significantly more tolerant to non-polar POPs than picophytoplankton from the Atlantic Ocean or the Bellingshausen Sea microphytoplankton. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

  18. A combined experimental and theoretical approach to the study of hydrogen bond interaction in the binary mixture of N-methylimidazole with water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Rongyi; Du, Rongbin; Liu, Guangxiang; Zhao, Xiuqin; Ye, Shiyong; Wu, Genhua

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Densities of N-methylimidazole with water binary mixture were measured. ► Excess molar volumes were fitted to Redlich–Kister polynomial equation. ► Excess molar volumes are negative in the whole mole fraction range. ► 1:1 Hydrogen complex formation between the unlike components was observed. ► Formation of hydrogen bonds in the binary mixture was confirmed by DFT//B3LYP. - Abstract: The intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions in the N-methylimidazole (MeIm) with water binary mixture have been studied by a combined experimental and theoretical approach. The densities of the binary mixture have been measured at T = (288.15 to 323.15) K and at atmospheric pressure. From the experimental data, excess molar volumes were determined as a function of composition at each temperature. The results reveal the formation of 1:1 hydrogen bond complex between MeIm with water at the maximal excess molar volume. Meanwhile, the formation of hydrogen bonds in the binary mixture was further confirmed by high level theoretical calculation. The structures, interactional energies and bond characteristics of the hydrogen bond complexes were calculated in the gas phase using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d, p) theory levels. The changes of thermodynamic properties from the monomers to hydrogen bond complexes with the temperature ranging from (288.15 to 323.15) K were obtained using the statistical thermodynamic method. Thermodynamic analyses have been interpreted in terms of intermolecular interactions and excess molar volume changes in the binary mixture. It was also found that the formation reaction of the hydrogen bond complex of MeIm with water was an exothermic, entropy reduced and spontaneous thermodynamic process at all the temperature studied.

  19. Structural transition of a homopolymer in solvents mixture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guettari, Moez [Laboratoire de Physique de la Matiere Molle, Faculte des Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire, 2092 Tunisia (Tunisia)], E-mail: gtarimoez@yahoo.fr; Aschi, Adel; Gomati, Riadh; Gharbi, Abdelhafidh [Laboratoire de Physique de la Matiere Molle, Faculte des Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire, 2092 Tunisia (Tunisia)

    2008-07-01

    The present work is aimed at studying the thermodynamic behaviour of a polymer in solvents mixture. Dynamic light scattering is used to measure the hydrodynamic radius of polyvinylpyrrolidone (M{sub w} = 360,000 g/mol), in water/methanol solvents mixture, versus the mixed solvents composition at 25 deg. C. Then, we show that the polymer conformation adopts the Coil-Globule-Coil structure when the methanol molar fraction X{sub A} is varied. This transition is attributed to solvent quality change which result from water and methanol complex formation. The polymer contraction rate calculated for each composition takes its maximum value at X{sub A} = 0.17. Hildebrand theory assuming the solvents mixture as an equivalent solvent was used to analyze the change in mixed solvents quality. These changes can be attributed to dispersive forces in solvents mixture.

  20. Solubility of Methane in the Mixture of Ethanol+Hexane at High Pressures

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    华超; 马沛生; 夏淑倩; 白鹏

    2005-01-01

    Solubility data were first presented for methane in the mixture of ethanol-hexane at temperatures from 291.15K to 318.15K and pressures up to 12.00MPa. The experimental data were correlated by PR and PRSV equations of state with rms errors of about 0.051. The A-K and Y-W-A-K models were both used to estimate liquid molar volume under high pressure. The results were satisfactory.

  1. High voltage tests of an electrostatic accelerator for different mixtures of gases at various pressures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hellborg, R.

    1996-01-01

    An account is given of high voltage tests of an electrostatic accelerator. High voltage conditioning is measured and is reported for the same accelerator tube after different periods of usage. Tests of different mixtures of sulphur hexafluoride and nitrogen have been performed. A considerable amount of data was obtained for various parameters connected with the high voltage system for different proportions of nitrogen in sulphur hexafluoride at various gas pressures. (orig.)

  2. Performance of an organic Rankine cycle with multicomponent mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaitanya Prasad, G.S.; Suresh Kumar, C.; Srinivasa Murthy, S.; Venkatarathnam, G.

    2015-01-01

    There is a renewed interest in ORC (organic Rankine cycle) systems for power generation using solar thermal energy. Many authors have studied the performance of ORC with different pure fluids as well as binary zeotropic mixtures in order to improve the thermal efficiency. It has not been well appreciated that zeotropic mixtures can also be used to reduce the size and cost of an ORC system. The main objective of this paper is to present mixtures that help reduce the cost while maintaining high thermal efficiency. The proposed method also allows us to design an optimum mixture for a given expander. This new approach is particularly beneficial for designing mixtures for small ORC systems operating with solar thermal energy. A number of examples are presented to demonstrate this concept. - Highlights: • The performance of an ORC operating with different zeotropic multicomponent mixtures is presented. • A thermodynamic method is proposed for the design of multicomponent mixtures for ORC power plants. • High exergy efficiency as well as high volumetric expander work can be achieved with appropriate mixtures. • The method allows design of mixtures that can be used with off-the-shelf positive displacement expanders

  3. Mixture effects in samples of multiple contaminants - An inter-laboratory study with manifold bioassays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altenburger, Rolf; Scholze, Martin; Busch, Wibke; Escher, Beate I; Jakobs, Gianina; Krauss, Martin; Krüger, Janet; Neale, Peta A; Ait-Aissa, Selim; Almeida, Ana Catarina; Seiler, Thomas-Benjamin; Brion, François; Hilscherová, Klára; Hollert, Henner; Novák, Jiří; Schlichting, Rita; Serra, Hélène; Shao, Ying; Tindall, Andrew; Tolefsen, Knut-Erik; Umbuzeiro, Gisela; Williams, Tim D; Kortenkamp, Andreas

    2018-05-01

    Chemicals in the environment occur in mixtures rather than as individual entities. Environmental quality monitoring thus faces the challenge to comprehensively assess a multitude of contaminants and potential adverse effects. Effect-based methods have been suggested as complements to chemical analytical characterisation of complex pollution patterns. The regularly observed discrepancy between chemical and biological assessments of adverse effects due to contaminants in the field may be either due to unidentified contaminants or result from interactions of compounds in mixtures. Here, we present an interlaboratory study where individual compounds and their mixtures were investigated by extensive concentration-effect analysis using 19 different bioassays. The assay panel consisted of 5 whole organism assays measuring apical effects and 14 cell- and organism-based bioassays with more specific effect observations. Twelve organic water pollutants of diverse structure and unique known modes of action were studied individually and as mixtures mirroring exposure scenarios in freshwaters. We compared the observed mixture effects against component-based mixture effect predictions derived from additivity expectations (assumption of non-interaction). Most of the assays detected the mixture response of the active components as predicted even against a background of other inactive contaminants. When none of the mixture components showed any activity by themselves then the mixture also was without effects. The mixture effects observed using apical endpoints fell in the middle of a prediction window defined by the additivity predictions for concentration addition and independent action, reflecting well the diversity of the anticipated modes of action. In one case, an unexpectedly reduced solubility of one of the mixture components led to mixture responses that fell short of the predictions of both additivity mixture models. The majority of the specific cell- and organism

  4. Explosive mixture of high power and high total energy content, and process for its manufacture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cook, M.A.; Udy, L.L.

    1973-05-10

    This explosive consists of a viscous suspension of an inorganic oxidizer, finely divided aluminum, water, and a liquid organic material miscible with water; a thickener may also be added. The mixture contains 45 to 55% of a strong inorganic oxidizer, of which at least two-thirds is ammonium nitrate; 32 to 43% aluminum powder; 11 to 18% or liquid, mostly water with an organic water-soluble liquid such as ethylene glycol; and a high temperature resistant, gel-forming thickener made of crosslinked guar gum and not crosslinked xanthane gum made from a polysaccharide through bacterial action.

  5. The perception of odor objects in everyday life: a review on the processing of odor mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thierry eThomas-Danguin

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Smelling monomolecular odors hardly ever occurs in everyday life, and the daily functioning of the sense of smell relies primarily on the processing of complex mixtures of volatiles that are present in the environment (e.g., emanating from food or conspecifics. Such processing allows for the instantaneous recognition and categorization of smells and also for the discrimination of odors among others to extract relevant information and to adapt efficiently in different contexts. The neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning this highly efficient analysis of complex mixtures of odorants is beginning to be unraveled and support the idea that olfaction, as vision and audition, relies on odor-objects encoding. This configural processing of odor mixtures, which is empirically subject to important applications in our societies (e.g., the art of perfumers, flavorists, and wine makers, has been scientifically studied only during the last decades. This processing depends on many individual factors, among which are the developmental stage, lifestyle, physiological and mood state, and cognitive skills; this processing also presents striking similarities between species. The present review gathers the recent findings, as observed in animals, healthy subjects, and/or individuals with affective disorders, supporting the perception of complex odor stimuli as odor objects. It also discusses peripheral to central processing, and cognitive and behavioral significance. Finally, this review highlights that the study of odor mixtures is an original window allowing for the investigation of daily olfaction and emphasizes the need for knowledge about the underlying biological processes, which appear to be crucial for our representation and adaptation to the chemical environment.

  6. A binary mixture operated heat pump

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hihara, E.; Saito, T.

    1991-01-01

    This paper evaluates the performance of possible binary mixtures as working fluids in high- temperature heat pump applications. The binary mixtures, which are potential alternatives of fully halogenated hydrocarbons, include HCFC142b/HCFC22, HFC152a/HCFC22, HFC134a/HCFC22. The performance of the mixtures is estimated by a thermodynamic model and a practical model in which the heat transfer is considered in heat exchangers. One of the advantages of binary mixtures is a higher coefficient of performance, which is caused by the small temperature difference between the heat-sink/-source fluid and the refrigerant. The mixture HCFC142b/HCFC22 is promising from the stand point of thermodynamic performance

  7. Iterative Mixture Component Pruning Algorithm for Gaussian Mixture PHD Filter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoxi Yan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available As far as the increasing number of mixture components in the Gaussian mixture PHD filter is concerned, an iterative mixture component pruning algorithm is proposed. The pruning algorithm is based on maximizing the posterior probability density of the mixture weights. The entropy distribution of the mixture weights is adopted as the prior distribution of mixture component parameters. The iterative update formulations of the mixture weights are derived by Lagrange multiplier and Lambert W function. Mixture components, whose weights become negative during iterative procedure, are pruned by setting corresponding mixture weights to zeros. In addition, multiple mixture components with similar parameters describing the same PHD peak can be merged into one mixture component in the algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed iterative mixture component pruning algorithm is superior to the typical pruning algorithm based on thresholds.

  8. Measurement of critical energy for direct initiation of spherical detonations in stoichiometric high-pressure H{sub 2}-O{sub 2} mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kamenskihs, Vsevolods; Lee, John H.S. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec (Canada); Ng, Hoi Dick [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

    2010-09-15

    In this study, the critical energy for direct initiation of spherical detonations in stoichiometric high-pressure hydrogen-oxygen mixtures are measured and investigated to look at the effect of explosion limits on the detonation sensitivity. Results up to an initial pressure of 20 atm are obtained. Experiments are carried out in a spherical bomb and direct initiation is achieved via spark ignition from a high-voltage capacitor discharge. A detailed description of different methods to obtain a good estimate of the correct amount of energy deposited into the mixture used to initiate the detonation, including the calorimeter method and current method, is provided. It is demonstrated that at elevated initial pressure, the second explosion limit effect plays a significant role leading to slow-branching reactions and the detonation sensitivity of hydrogen mixtures is comparable to other common hydrocarbon mixtures at such condition. (author)

  9. Poisson Mixture Regression Models for Heart Disease Prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mufudza, Chipo; Erol, Hamza

    2016-01-01

    Early heart disease control can be achieved by high disease prediction and diagnosis efficiency. This paper focuses on the use of model based clustering techniques to predict and diagnose heart disease via Poisson mixture regression models. Analysis and application of Poisson mixture regression models is here addressed under two different classes: standard and concomitant variable mixture regression models. Results show that a two-component concomitant variable Poisson mixture regression model predicts heart disease better than both the standard Poisson mixture regression model and the ordinary general linear Poisson regression model due to its low Bayesian Information Criteria value. Furthermore, a Zero Inflated Poisson Mixture Regression model turned out to be the best model for heart prediction over all models as it both clusters individuals into high or low risk category and predicts rate to heart disease componentwise given clusters available. It is deduced that heart disease prediction can be effectively done by identifying the major risks componentwise using Poisson mixture regression model.

  10. Poisson Mixture Regression Models for Heart Disease Prediction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erol, Hamza

    2016-01-01

    Early heart disease control can be achieved by high disease prediction and diagnosis efficiency. This paper focuses on the use of model based clustering techniques to predict and diagnose heart disease via Poisson mixture regression models. Analysis and application of Poisson mixture regression models is here addressed under two different classes: standard and concomitant variable mixture regression models. Results show that a two-component concomitant variable Poisson mixture regression model predicts heart disease better than both the standard Poisson mixture regression model and the ordinary general linear Poisson regression model due to its low Bayesian Information Criteria value. Furthermore, a Zero Inflated Poisson Mixture Regression model turned out to be the best model for heart prediction over all models as it both clusters individuals into high or low risk category and predicts rate to heart disease componentwise given clusters available. It is deduced that heart disease prediction can be effectively done by identifying the major risks componentwise using Poisson mixture regression model. PMID:27999611

  11. Chemical contaminants on DOE lands and selection of contaminant mixtures for subsurface science research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Riley, R.G.; Zachara, J.M. [Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

    1992-04-01

    This report identifies individual contaminants and contaminant mixtures that have been measured in the ground at 91 waste sites at 18 US Department of Energy (DOE) facilities within the weapons complex. The inventory of chemicals and mixtures was used to identify generic chemical mixtures to be used by DOE`s Subsurface Science Program in basic research on the subsurface geochemical and microbiological behavior of mixed contaminants (DOE 1990a and b). The generic mixtures contain specific radionuclides, metals, organic ligands, organic solvents, fuel hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in various binary and ternary combinations. The mixtures are representative of in-ground contaminant associations at DOE facilities that are likely to exhibit complex geochemical behavior as a result of intercontaminant reactions and/or microbiologic activity stimulated by organic substances. Use of the generic mixtures will focus research on important mixed contaminants that are likely to be long-term problems at DOE sites and that will require cleanup or remediation. The report provides information on the frequency of associations among different chemicals and compound classes at DOE waste sites that require remediation.

  12. Process of decomposing an oil mixture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kubierschky, K

    1917-12-02

    A process is described for the decomposition of oil mixtures, and the like, by means of alcohol, characterized in that the subject mixture is brought into solution in high-grade alcohol, and this solution is washed countercurrent with dilute alcohol.

  13. Viscosity prediction of carbon dioxide plus hydrocarbon mixtures using the friction theory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zeberg-Mikkelsen, Claus Kjær; Cisneros, Sergio; Stenby, Erling Halfdan

    2002-01-01

    mixtures are simple representations or real oil mixtures with carbon dioxide, the f-theory approach can easily be extended to more complex scenarios, such as the simulation of carbon dioxide enhance oil recovery. Additionally, a comparison with the LBC model, which is a widely used model in the oil...

  14. Strategies for Transferring Mixtures of Organic Contaminants from Aquatic Environments into Bioassays

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jahnke, Annika; Mayer, Philipp; Schäfer, Sabine

    2016-01-01

    and monitoring of such mixtures, a variety of cell-based in vitro and low-complexity in vivo bioassays based on algae, daphnids or fish embryos are available. A very important and sometimes unrecognized challenge is how to combine sampling, extraction and dosing to transfer the mixtures from the environment...

  15. High volume fly ash RCC for dams - I : mixture optimization and mechanical properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jacobsen, S. [PEAB Construction Co., Oslo (Norway); Lahus, O. [Norwegian Building Research Inst., Oslo (Norway)

    2001-07-01

    Roller compacted concretes (RCC) were developed for the Norwegian Skjerka hydropower project. RCCs were developed to have a high-volume fly ash content to address environmental issues, including the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions associated with dam construction. They also makes good use of waste product and conserve natural resources. This study examined a series of mixtures to determine the appropriateness of using RCC as a competing alternative to the traditional rock fill dam proposed for the Skjerka hydropower project. The main advantage of RCC is speed, allowing a relatively large dam to be constructed in just one summer season, saving financial costs and providing early return on the investment. In addition, fly ash can be used in the structure, using clean and renewable energy. Several procedures to proportion RCC mixtures were proposed, including the optimal paste volume method which is based on the assumption that an optimal RCC should have just enough paste to fill the space between particles when the granular skeleton has reached its maximum density under compaction. With this assumption, RCC tests began in 1998 in the laboratories of the Norwegian Building Research Institute. An ordinary portland cement was used and combined with ordinary low lime fly ash. Both coarse and fine aggregate were used. The tests determined the optimum paste-mortar ratio, the content of coarse aggregates and the production of specimens for test on hardened and fresh concrete. The study showed that the compressive strength of RCC increased with increasing cement/(cement + fly ash) ratio. The permeability coefficient decreased with increasing cement-content and increasing cement/(cement + fly ash) ratio due to the slow pozzolanic reaction of fly ash making a more open pore structure. It was concluded that an optimized mixture can result in a high performance RCC in terms of fresh and hardened concrete properties. 15 refs., 5 tabs., 11 figs.

  16. Experimental investigation of moderately high temperature water source heat pump with non-azeotropic refrigerant mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Shengjun; Wang, Huaixin; Guo, Tao [Department of Thermal Energy and Refrigeration Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)

    2010-05-15

    Experimental investigations were carried out on non-azeotropic refrigerant mixtures, named M1A (mass fraction of 20%R152a and 80%R245fa), M1B (mass fraction of 37% R152a and 63%R245fa) and M1C (mass fraction of 50%R152a and 50%R245fa), based on a water-to-water heat pump system in the condensing temperature range of 70-90 C with a cycle temperature lift of 45 C. Performance of R245fa was tested for comparison. Unfair factors in experimental comparative evaluation research with the same apparatus were identified and corrected. Experimental cycle performance of the mixtures were tested and compared with improved experimental assessment methodology. The results show that all of the mixtures deliver higher discharge temperature, higher heating capacity, higher COP and higher {epsilon}{sub h,c} than R245fa. M1B presents the most excellent cycle performance and is recommended as working fluid for moderate/high temperature heat pump. (author)

  17. On thermal conductivity of gas mixtures containing hydrogen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhukov, Victor P.; Pätz, Markus

    2017-06-01

    A brief review of formulas used for the thermal conductivity of gas mixtures in CFD simulations of rocket combustion chambers is carried out in the present work. In most cases, the transport properties of mixtures are calculated from the properties of individual components using special mixing rules. The analysis of different mixing rules starts from basic equations and ends by very complex semi-empirical expressions. The formulas for the thermal conductivity are taken for the analysis from the works on modelling of rocket combustion chambers. \\hbox {H}_2{-}\\hbox {O}_2 mixtures are chosen for the evaluation of the accuracy of the considered mixing rules. The analysis shows that two of them, of Mathur et al. (Mol Phys 12(6):569-579, 1967), and of Mason and Saxena (Phys Fluids 1(5):361-369, 1958), have better agreement with the experimental data than other equations for the thermal conductivity of multicomponent gas mixtures.

  18. Developmental toxicity of PAH mixtures in fish early life stages. Part II: adverse effects in Japanese medaka.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Bihanic, Florane; Clérandeau, Christelle; Le Menach, Karyn; Morin, Bénédicte; Budzinski, Hélène; Cousin, Xavier; Cachot, Jérôme

    2014-12-01

    In aquatic environments, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) mostly occur as complex mixtures, for which risk assessment remains problematic. To better understand the effects of PAH mixture toxicity on fish early life stages, this study compared the developmental toxicity of three PAH complex mixtures. These mixtures were extracted from a PAH-contaminated sediment (Seine estuary, France) and two oils (Arabian Light and Erika). For each fraction, artificial sediment was spiked at three different environmental concentrations roughly equivalent to 0.5, 4, and 10 μg total PAH g(-1) dw. Japanese medaka embryos were incubated on these PAH-spiked sediments throughout their development, right up until hatching. Several endpoints were recorded at different developmental stages, including acute endpoints, morphological abnormalities, larvae locomotion, and genotoxicity (comet and micronucleus assays). The three PAH fractions delayed hatching, induced developmental abnormalities, disrupted larvae swimming activity, and damaged DNA at environmental concentrations. Differences in toxicity levels, likely related to differences in PAH proportions, were highlighted between fractions. The Arabian Light and Erika petrogenic fractions, containing a high proportion of alkylated PAHs and low molecular weight PAHs, were more toxic to Japanese medaka early life stages than the pyrolytic fraction. This was not supported by the toxic equivalency approach, which appeared unsuitable for assessing the toxicity of the three PAH fractions to fish early life stages. This study highlights the potential risks posed by environmental mixtures of alkylated and low molecular weight PAHs to early stages of fish development.

  19. The Study of Perennial Grasses and Legumes Mixtures in the Environmental Conditions Part 1: The Evolution of Mixtures Productivity from Someşelor Plateau

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dorin-Benone Pleşa

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Lately it is a high interest in the establishing of temporary grasslands, these being considered a valuable source of fodder from the quantitative and qualitative point of view. Temporary grasslands can be established instead of degraded permanent grasslands or in arable lands. In the paper are presented the results of the research which took place in 2010 and 2011, regarding the fodder evolution of a double factor experience; A factor – mixtures (8 complex mixtures of perennial grasses and legumes and one alfalfa pure crop, considered as a witness,B factor – levels of fertilization (0N0P2O5, 60N70P2O5,120N70P2O5 kg·ha-1. In 2010 the highest productions (13.16 SU t·ha-1 were obtained at all the cycles from the 5th mixture composed from red clover and 4 species of grasses Trifolium pratense L., Dactylis glomerata L., Festulolium Asch. & Graebn., Phleum pratense L., Lolium perenne L.. In 2011, mixture number 3, recognized as being recommended for the forest steppe area and composed from Lotus corniculatus L.,Onobrychis viciifolia Scop., Dactylis glomerata L., Festuca pratensis Huds., Bromus inermis Leyss, presented the highest productions (4.82 t·ha-1 for the 60N70P2O5 and 120N70P2O5 kg·ha-1 levels of fertilization.

  20. Induced polarization of clay-sand mixtures: experiments and modeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okay, G.; Leroy, P.; Tournassat, C.; Ghorbani, A.; Jougnot, D.; Cosenza, P.; Camerlynck, C.; Cabrera, J.; Florsch, N.; Revil, A.

    2012-01-01

    were performed with a cylindrical four-electrode sample-holder (cylinder made of PVC with 30 cm in length and 19 cm in diameter) associated with a SIP-Fuchs II impedance meter and non-polarizing Cu/CuSO 4 electrodes. These electrodes were installed at 10 cm from the base of the sample holder and regularly spaced (each 90 degree). The results illustrate the strong impact of the Cationic Exchange Capacity (CEC) of the clay minerals upon the complex conductivity. The amplitude of the in-phase conductivity of the kaolinite-clay samples is strongly dependent to saturating fluid salinity for all volumetric clay fractions, whereas the in-phase conductivity of the smectite-clay samples is quite independent on the salinity, except at the low clay content (5% and 1% of clay in volume). This is due to the strong and constant surface conductivity of smectite associated with its very high CEC. The quadrature conductivity increases steadily with the CEC and the clay content. We observe that the dependence on frequency of the quadrature conductivity of sand-kaolinite mixtures is more important than for sand-bentonite mixtures. For both types of clay, the quadrature conductivity seems to be fairly independent on the pore fluid salinity except at very low clay contents (1% in volume of kaolinite-clay). This is due to the constant surface site density of Na counter-ions in the Stern layer of clay materials. At the lowest clay content (1%), the magnitude of the quadrature conductivity increases with the salinity, as expected for silica sands. In this case, the surface site density of Na counter-ions in the Stern layer increases with salinity. The experimental data show good agreement with predicted values given by our Spectral Induced Polarization (SIP) model. This complex conductivity model considers the electrochemical polarization of the Stern layer coating the clay particles and the Maxwell-Wagner polarization. We use the differential effective medium theory to calculate the complex

  1. Laser absorption spectroscopy - Method for monitoring complex trace gas mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, B. D.; Steinfeld, J. I.

    1976-01-01

    A frequency stabilized CO2 laser was used for accurate determinations of the absorption coefficients of various gases in the wavelength region from 9 to 11 microns. The gases investigated were representative of the types of contaminants expected to build up in recycled atmospheres. These absorption coefficients were then used in determining the presence and amount of the gases in prepared mixtures. The effect of interferences on the minimum detectable concentration of the gases was measured. The accuracies of various methods of solution were also evaluated.

  2. Characterisation of metals in the electronic waste of complex mixtures of end-of-life ICT products for development of cleaner recovery technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Z.H.I.; Xiao, Y.; Sietsma, J.; Agterhuis, H.; Visser, G.; Yang, Y.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • New characterisation methodology has been established to understand an industrially processed ICT waste. • Particle size distribution, composition, thermal–chemical behaviour and occurrence of metals were considered. • The characterisation provides direct guidelines for values recovery from the waste. - Abstract: Recycling of valuable metals from electronic waste, especially complex mixtures of end-of-life information and communication technology (ICT) products, is of great difficulty due to their complexity and heterogeneity. One of the important reasons is the lack of comprehensive characterisation on such materials, i.e. accurate compositions, physical/chemical properties. In the present research, we focus on developing methodologies for the characterisation of metals in an industrially processed ICT waste. The morphology, particle size distribution, compositional distribution, occurrence, liberation as well as the thermo-chemical properties of the ICT waste were investigated with various characterisation techniques, including X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersed spectroscopy (EDS). Due to the high heterogeneity of the material, special sample preparation procedures were introduced to minimise the discrepancies during compositional analyses. As a result, a clearer overview of the ICT waste has been reached. This research provides better understanding of the extractability of each metal and improves the awareness of potential obstacles for extraction. It will lead to smarter decisions during further development of a clean and effective recovery process

  3. Characterisation of metals in the electronic waste of complex mixtures of end-of-life ICT products for development of cleaner recovery technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Z.H.I. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, TU Delft, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands); Xiao, Y. [Ironmaking Department, R and D, Tata Steel, 1970 CA IJmuiden (Netherlands); Sietsma, J. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, TU Delft, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands); Agterhuis, H.; Visser, G. [Business Development, Van Gansewinkel Groep BV, 5657 DH Eindhoven (Netherlands); Yang, Y. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, TU Delft, 2628 CD Delft (Netherlands)

    2015-01-15

    Highlights: • New characterisation methodology has been established to understand an industrially processed ICT waste. • Particle size distribution, composition, thermal–chemical behaviour and occurrence of metals were considered. • The characterisation provides direct guidelines for values recovery from the waste. - Abstract: Recycling of valuable metals from electronic waste, especially complex mixtures of end-of-life information and communication technology (ICT) products, is of great difficulty due to their complexity and heterogeneity. One of the important reasons is the lack of comprehensive characterisation on such materials, i.e. accurate compositions, physical/chemical properties. In the present research, we focus on developing methodologies for the characterisation of metals in an industrially processed ICT waste. The morphology, particle size distribution, compositional distribution, occurrence, liberation as well as the thermo-chemical properties of the ICT waste were investigated with various characterisation techniques, including X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersed spectroscopy (EDS). Due to the high heterogeneity of the material, special sample preparation procedures were introduced to minimise the discrepancies during compositional analyses. As a result, a clearer overview of the ICT waste has been reached. This research provides better understanding of the extractability of each metal and improves the awareness of potential obstacles for extraction. It will lead to smarter decisions during further development of a clean and effective recovery process.

  4. Mixture toxicity of PBT-like chemicals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Syberg, Kristian; Dai, Lina; Ramskov, Tina

    addition is a suitable model for default estimations of mixture effects. One of the major challenges is therefore how to select specific chemicals for actual mixture toxicity assessments. Persistant chemicals are likely to be present in the environment for an extended period of time, thus increasing...... the likelihood of them being present in environmentally found mixtures. Persistant, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals are therefore a highly relevant group of chemicals to consider for mixture toxicity regulation. The present study evaluates to what extent a number of PBT-like chemicals posess concern...... beyond that of the individual components. Firstly, the effects of three chemicals with PBT-like properties (acetyl cedrene, pyrene and triclosan) was examined on the freshwater snail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum. Secondly, mixture bioaccumulation of the same three chemicals were assessed experimentally...

  5. Stability of binary complexes of Pb(II, Cd(II and Hg(II with maleic acid in TX100-water mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Ramanaiah

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Binary complexes of maleic acid with toxic metal ions such as Pb(II, Cd(II and Hg(II have been studied in 0.0-2.5% v/v tritonX-100 (TX100 - water media at 303 K at an ionic strength of 0.16 M. The active forms of the ligand are LH2, LH- and L2-. The derived ‘best fit’ chemical speciation models are based on crystallographic R-factors, χ2 and Skewness and Kurtosis factors. The predominant species formed are of the type ML2, ML2H and ML3. The trend in variation of complex stability constants with change in the mole fraction of the medium is explained on the basis of prevailing electrostatic and non-electrostatic forces. The species distribution as a function of pH at different compositions of TX100-water mixtures and plausible speciation equilibria are presented and discussed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v28i3.7

  6. Electroplex emission from a layer of a mixture of a europium complex and tris(8-quinolinolato) aluminum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Hong; Gao, Xicun; Huang, Chun-Hui

    2000-07-01

    With a europium complex, tris(α-thenoyltrifluoroacetonato) bis(triphenylphosphine oxide) europium (Eu(TTA) 3(TPPO) 2), as the light-emitting layer, N, N'-diphenyl- N, N'-di( m-tolyl)-benzidine (TPD) as the hole transport layer and tris(8-quinolinolato) aluminum (ALQ) as the electron transport layer, the triple-layer electroluminescent (EL) device emits red light characteristic of Eu 3+ emission. However, as the mixture of Eu(TTA) 3(TPPO) 2 and ALQ is co-evaporated as the light-emitting layer to form a bilayer EL device, a new wide-banded emission peaked at c. 640 nm was obtained. This emission is neither from ALQ nor from the europium complex. The photoluminescence (PL) of the thin film on quartz substrate evaporated from one mixed solid powder of Eu(TTA) 3(TPPO) 2 and ALQ is composed of distinct PL emissions of Eu(TTA) 3(TPPO) 2 and ALQ, denying an exciplex formation mechanism. It is impossible to form a host-guest system. We propose that the EL emission peaked at c. 640 nm is from an electroplex route: a transition between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of Eu(TTA) 3(TPPO) 2 and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of ALQ.

  7. Fingerprinting of complex mixtures with the use of high performance liquid chromatography, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and chemometrics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ni Yongnian; Peng Yunyan; Kokot, Serge

    2008-01-01

    The molecular and metal profile fingerprints were obtained from a complex substance, Atractylis chinensis DC-a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), with the use of the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) techniques. This substance was used in this work as an example of a complex biological material, which has found application as a TCM. Such TCM samples are traditionally processed by the Bran, Cut, Fried and Swill methods, and were collected from five provinces in China. The data matrices obtained from the two types of analysis produced two principal component biplots, which showed that the HPLC fingerprint data were discriminated on the basis of the methods for processing the raw TCM, while the metal analysis grouped according to the geographical origin. When the two data matrices were combined into a one two-way matrix, the resulting biplot showed a clear separation on the basis of the HPLC fingerprints. Importantly, within each different grouping the objects separated according to their geographical origin, and they ranked approximately in the same order in each group. This result suggested that by using such an approach, it is possible to derive improved characterisation of the complex TCM materials on the basis of the two kinds of analytical data. In addition, two supervised pattern recognition methods, K-nearest neighbors (KNNs) method, and linear discriminant analysis (LDA), were successfully applied to the individual data matrices-thus, supporting the PCA approach

  8. Merging Mixture Components for Cell Population Identification in Flow Cytometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Greg Finak

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a framework for the identification of cell subpopulations in flow cytometry data based on merging mixture components using the flowClust methodology. We show that the cluster merging algorithm under our framework improves model fit and provides a better estimate of the number of distinct cell subpopulations than either Gaussian mixture models or flowClust, especially for complicated flow cytometry data distributions. Our framework allows the automated selection of the number of distinct cell subpopulations and we are able to identify cases where the algorithm fails, thus making it suitable for application in a high throughput FCM analysis pipeline. Furthermore, we demonstrate a method for summarizing complex merged cell subpopulations in a simple manner that integrates with the existing flowClust framework and enables downstream data analysis. We demonstrate the performance of our framework on simulated and real FCM data. The software is available in the flowMerge package through the Bioconductor project.

  9. Mixture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silva-Aguilar Martín

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Metals are ubiquitous pollutants present as mixtures. In particular, mixture of arsenic-cadmium-lead is among the leading toxic agents detected in the environment. These metals have carcinogenic and cell-transforming potential. In this study, we used a two step cell transformation model, to determine the role of oxidative stress in transformation induced by a mixture of arsenic-cadmium-lead. Oxidative damage and antioxidant response were determined. Metal mixture treatment induces the increase of damage markers and the antioxidant response. Loss of cell viability and increased transforming potential were observed during the promotion phase. This finding correlated significantly with generation of reactive oxygen species. Cotreatment with N-acetyl-cysteine induces effect on the transforming capacity; while a diminution was found in initiation, in promotion phase a total block of the transforming capacity was observed. Our results suggest that oxidative stress generated by metal mixture plays an important role only in promotion phase promoting transforming capacity.

  10. Combination of electrospray ionization, atmospheric pressure photoionization and laser desorption ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotronic resonance mass spectrometry for the investigation of complex mixtures - Application to the petroleomic analysis of bio-oils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hertzog, Jasmine; Carré, Vincent; Le Brech, Yann; Mackay, Colin Logan; Dufour, Anthony; Mašek, Ondřej; Aubriet, Frédéric

    2017-05-29

    The comprehensive description of complex mixtures such as bio-oils is required to understand and improve the different processes involved during biological, environmental or industrial operation. In this context, we have to consider how different ionization sources can improve a non-targeted approach. Thus, the Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) has been coupled to electrospray ionization (ESI), laser desorption ionization (LDI) and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) to characterize an oak pyrolysis bio-oil. Close to 90% of the all 4500 compound formulae has been attributed to C x H y O z with similar oxygen class compound distribution. Nevertheless, their relative abundance in respect with their double bound equivalent (DBE) value has evidenced significant differences depending on the ion source used. ESI has allowed compounds with low DBE but more oxygen atoms to be ionized. APPI has demonstrated the efficient ionization of less polar compounds (high DBE values and less oxygen atoms). The LDI behavior of bio-oils has been considered intermediate in terms of DBE and oxygen amounts but it has also been demonstrated that a significant part of the features are specifically detected by this ionization method. Thus, the complementarity of three different ionization sources has been successfully demonstrated for the exhaustive characterization by petroleomic approach of a complex mixture. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Rats' preferences for high fructose corn syrup vs. sucrose and sugar mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ackroff, Karen; Sclafani, Anthony

    2011-03-28

    High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has replaced sucrose in many food products, which has prompted research comparing these two sweeteners in rodents. The present study examined the relative palatability of HFCS and sucrose for rats, offering 11% carbohydrate solutions to match the content of common beverages for human consumption. The animals initially preferred HFCS to sucrose but after separate experience with each solution they switched to sucrose preference. Approximating the composition of HFCS with a mixture of fructose and glucose (55:45) yielded a solution that was less attractive than sucrose or HFCS. However, HFCS contains a small amount of glucose polymers, which are very attractive to rats. A 55:42:3 mixture of fructose, glucose and glucose polymers (Polycose) was equally preferred to HFCS and was treated similarly to HFCS in comparisons vs. sucrose. Post-oral effects of sucrose, which is 50% fructose and 50% glucose, may be responsible for the shift in preference with experience. This shift, and the relatively small magnitude of differences in preference for HFCS and sucrose, suggest that palatability factors probably do not contribute to any possible difference in weight gain responses to these sweeteners. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Reconstitution of a thermostable xylan-degrading enzyme mixture from the bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor bescii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Xiaoyun; Han, Yejun; Dodd, Dylan; Moon, Young Hwan; Yoshida, Shosuke; Mackie, Roderick I; Cann, Isaac K O

    2013-03-01

    Xylose, the major constituent of xylans, as well as the side chain sugars, such as arabinose, can be metabolized by engineered yeasts into ethanol. Therefore, xylan-degrading enzymes that efficiently hydrolyze xylans will add value to cellulases used in hydrolysis of plant cell wall polysaccharides for conversion to biofuels. Heterogeneous xylan is a complex substrate, and it requires multiple enzymes to release its constituent sugars. However, the components of xylan-degrading enzymes are often individually characterized, leading to a dearth of research that analyzes synergistic actions of the components of xylan-degrading enzymes. In the present report, six genes predicted to encode components of the xylan-degrading enzymes of the thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor bescii were expressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant proteins were investigated as individual enzymes and also as a xylan-degrading enzyme cocktail. Most of the component enzymes of the xylan-degrading enzyme mixture had similar optimal pH (5.5 to ∼6.5) and temperature (75 to ∼90°C), and this facilitated their investigation as an enzyme cocktail for deconstruction of xylans. The core enzymes (two endoxylanases and a β-xylosidase) exhibited high turnover numbers during catalysis, with the two endoxylanases yielding estimated k(cat) values of ∼8,000 and ∼4,500 s(-1), respectively, on soluble wheat arabinoxylan. Addition of side chain-cleaving enzymes to the core enzymes increased depolymerization of a more complex model substrate, oat spelt xylan. The C. bescii xylan-degrading enzyme mixture effectively hydrolyzes xylan at 65 to 80°C and can serve as a basal mixture for deconstruction of xylans in bioenergy feedstock at high temperatures.

  13. Antiandrogenic activity of phthalate mixtures: Validity of concentration addition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Christen, Verena; Crettaz, Pierre; Oberli-Schrämmli, Aurelia; Fent, Karl

    2012-01-01

    Phthalates and bisphenol A have very widespread use leading to significant exposure of humans. They are suspected to interfere with the endocrine system, including the androgen, estrogen and the thyroid hormone system. Here we analyzed the antiandrogenic activity of six binary, and one ternary mixture of phthalates exhibiting complete antiandrogenic dose–response curves, and binary mixtures of phthalates and bisphenol A at equi-effective concentrations of EC 10 , EC 25 and EC 50 in MDA-kb2 cells. Mixture activity followed the concentration addition (CA) model with a tendency to synergism at high and antagonism at low concentrations. Isoboles and the toxic unit approach (TUA) confirmed the additive to synergistic activity of the binary mixtures BBP + DBP, DBP + DEP and DEP + BPA at high concentrations. Both methods indicate a tendency to antagonism for the EC 10 mixtures BBP + DBP, BBP + DEP and DBP + DEP, and the EC 25 mixture of DBP + BPA. A ternary mixture revealed synergism at the EC 50 , and weak antagonistic activity at the EC 25 level by the TUA. A mixture of five phthalates representing a human urine composition and reflecting exposure to corresponding parent compounds showed no antiandrogenic activity. Our study demonstrates that CA is an appropriate concept to account for mixture effects of antiandrogenic phthalates and bisphenol A. The interaction indicates a departure from additivity to antagonism at low concentrations, probably due to interaction with the androgen receptor and/or cofactors. This study emphasizes that a risk assessment of phthalates should account for mixture effects by applying the CA concept. -- Highlights: ► Antiandrogenic activity of mixtures of 2 and 3 phthalates are assessed in MDA-kb2 cells. ► Mixture activities followed the concentration addition model. ► A tendency to synergism at high and antagonism at low levels occurred.

  14. Antiandrogenic activity of phthalate mixtures: Validity of concentration addition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Christen, Verena [University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, School of Life Sciences, Gründenstrasse 40, CH-4132 Muttenz (Switzerland); Crettaz, Pierre; Oberli-Schrämmli, Aurelia [Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, Division Chemical Products, 3003 Bern (Switzerland); Fent, Karl, E-mail: karl.fent@bluewin.ch [University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, School of Life Sciences, Gründenstrasse 40, CH-4132 Muttenz (Switzerland); Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich), Department of Environmental Sciences, 8092 Zürich (Switzerland)

    2012-03-01

    Phthalates and bisphenol A have very widespread use leading to significant exposure of humans. They are suspected to interfere with the endocrine system, including the androgen, estrogen and the thyroid hormone system. Here we analyzed the antiandrogenic activity of six binary, and one ternary mixture of phthalates exhibiting complete antiandrogenic dose–response curves, and binary mixtures of phthalates and bisphenol A at equi-effective concentrations of EC{sub 10}, EC{sub 25} and EC{sub 50} in MDA-kb2 cells. Mixture activity followed the concentration addition (CA) model with a tendency to synergism at high and antagonism at low concentrations. Isoboles and the toxic unit approach (TUA) confirmed the additive to synergistic activity of the binary mixtures BBP + DBP, DBP + DEP and DEP + BPA at high concentrations. Both methods indicate a tendency to antagonism for the EC{sub 10} mixtures BBP + DBP, BBP + DEP and DBP + DEP, and the EC{sub 25} mixture of DBP + BPA. A ternary mixture revealed synergism at the EC{sub 50}, and weak antagonistic activity at the EC{sub 25} level by the TUA. A mixture of five phthalates representing a human urine composition and reflecting exposure to corresponding parent compounds showed no antiandrogenic activity. Our study demonstrates that CA is an appropriate concept to account for mixture effects of antiandrogenic phthalates and bisphenol A. The interaction indicates a departure from additivity to antagonism at low concentrations, probably due to interaction with the androgen receptor and/or cofactors. This study emphasizes that a risk assessment of phthalates should account for mixture effects by applying the CA concept. -- Highlights: ► Antiandrogenic activity of mixtures of 2 and 3 phthalates are assessed in MDA-kb2 cells. ► Mixture activities followed the concentration addition model. ► A tendency to synergism at high and antagonism at low levels occurred.

  15. Gas-chromatographic separation of hydrogen isotopic mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Preda, Anisoara; Bidica, Nicolae

    2005-01-01

    Full text: Gas chromatographic separation of hydrogen isotopes have been reported in the literature since late of 1950's. Gas chromatography is primarily an analytical method, but because of its properties it may be used in many other fields with excellent results. A simple method is proposed for the gas-chromatographic analysis of complex gas mixtures containing hydrogen isotopes; the method is based on the substantial difference in the thermal conductivity of these isotopes. One of the main disadvantages of the conventional gas chromatography is the long retention times required for the analysis of hydrogen gas mixtures while the column is operated at very low temperature. The method described in this paper was based on using a capillary molecular sieve 5A column operated for this kind of separation at 173 K. The carrier gas was Ne and the detector was TCD. In the paper chromatograms for various carrier flow rates and various hydrogen isotope mixtures are presented. (authors)

  16. Clustering mechanism of ethanol-water mixtures investigated with photothermal microfluidic cantilever deflection spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghoraishi, M. S.; Hawk, J. E.; Phani, Arindam; Khan, M. F.; Thundat, T.

    2016-04-01

    The infrared-active (IR) vibrational mode of ethanol (EtOH) associated with the asymmetrical stretching of the C-C-O bond in pico-liter volumes of EtOH-water binary mixtures is calorimetrically measured using photothermal microfluidic cantilever deflection spectroscopy (PMCDS). IR absorption by the confined liquid results in wavelength dependent cantilever deflections, thus providing a complementary response to IR absorption revealing a complex dipole moment dependence on mixture concentration. Solvent-induced blue shifts of the C-C-O asymmetric vibrational stretch for both anti and gauche conformers of EtOH were precisely monitored for EtOH concentrations ranging from 20-100% w/w. Variations in IR absorption peak maxima show an inverse dependence on induced EtOH dipole moment (μ) and is attributed to the complex clustering mechanism of EtOH-water mixtures.

  17. Investigation of the helium proportion influence on the Prandtl number value of gas mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. A. Burtsev

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper investigates an influence of helium fraction (light gases on the Prandtl number value for binary and more complex gas mixtures.It is shown that a low value of the Prandtl number (Pr-number results in decreasing a temperature recovery factor value and, respectively, in reducing a recovery temperature value on the wall (thermoinsulated wall temperature with the compressive gas flow bypassing it. This, in turn, allows us to increase efficiency of gasdynamic energy separation in Leontyev's tube.The paper conducts a numerical research of the influence of binary and more complex gas mixture composition on the Prandtl number value. It is shown that a mixture of two gases with small and large molecular weight allows us to produce a mixture with a lower value of the Prandtl number in comparison with the initial gases. Thus, the value of Prandtl number decreases by 1.5-3.2 times in comparison with values for pure components (the more a difference of molar mass of components, the stronger is a decrease.The technique to determine the Prandtl number value for mixtures of gases in the wide range of temperatures and pressure is developed. Its verification based on experimental data and results of numerical calculations of other authors is executed. It is shown that it allows correct calculation of binary and more complex mixtures of gasesFor the mixtures of inert gases it has been obtained that the minimum value of the Prandtl number is as follows: for helium - xenon mixtures (He-Xe makes 0.2-0.22, for helium - krypton mixtures (He-Kr – 0.3, for helium - argon mixes (He-Ar – 0.41.For helium mixture with carbon dioxide the minimum value of the Prandtl number makes about 0.4, for helium mixture with N2 nitrogen the minimum value of the Prandtl number is equal to 0.48, for helium-methane (CH4 - 0.5 and helium – oxygen (O2 – 0.46.This decrease is caused by the fact that the thermal capacity of mixture changes under the linear law in regard to the

  18. Viscosities of corium-concrete mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seiler, J.M.; Ganzhorn, J.

    1997-01-01

    Severe accidents on nuclear reactors involve many situations such as pools of molten core material, melt spreading, melt/concrete interactions, etc. The word 'corium' designates mixtures of materials issued from the molten core at high temperature; these mixtures involve mainly: UO2, ZrO2, Zr and, in small amounts, Ni, Cr, Ag, In, Cd. These materials, when flowing out of the reactor vessel, may interact with the concrete of the reactor building thus introducing decomposition products of concrete into the original mixture. These decomposition products are mainly: SiO 2 , FeO, MgO, CaO and Al 2 O 3 in different amounts depending on the nature of the concrete being considered. Siliceous concrete is rich in SiO 2 , limestone concrete contains both SiO 2 and CaO. Liquidus temperatures of such mixtures are generally obove 2300 K whereas solidus temperatures are ∝1400 K. (orig.)

  19. In vitro safety and efficacy evaluations of a complex botanical mixture of Eugenia dysenterica DC. (Myrtaceae): Prospects for developing a new dermocosmetic product.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreira, Larissa Cleres; de Ávila, Renato Ivan; Veloso, Danillo Fabrini Maciel Costa; Pedrosa, Tatiana Nascimento; Lima, Emerson Silva; do Couto, Renê Oliveira; Lima, Eliana Martins; Batista, Aline Carvalho; de Paula, José Realino; Valadares, Marize Campos

    2017-12-01

    In the context of developing a new natural product-based cosmetic, the in vitro efficacy and safety evaluations of a complex botanical mixture based on Eugenia dysenterica leaf hydroalcoholic extract (EDE) (2.5-1000μg/mL) were carried out. Chromatographic analysis demonstrated the presence of the tannin (ellagic acid) and flavonoids (quercetin and gallic acid) which characterize the EDE as a polyphenol-rich mixture. Using HFF-1 fibroblasts, it was shown that EDE promoted cell regeneration after UVA exposure. It also led to the inhibition of the collagenase, elastase and tyrosinase enzymes, which are involved in skin-related disorders. In terms of toxicological evaluation, the EDE was classified as non-phototoxic through the 3T3 Neutral Red Uptake Phototoxicity Test (OECD N° 432, 2004) and non-eye irritant by Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability (OECD N° 437, 2013) assay, in conjunction with corneal histomorphometric analysis. Furthermore, the EDE has no skin sensitization potential as demonstrated by a two-out-of-three prediction model [protein-binding/haptenization (OECD N° 442C, 2015), keratinocyte and dendritic cell activations]. In addition, it was shown that the EDE seems to be non-genotoxic through the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (OECD N° 487, 2014) using HepG2 cells. When considered together, these findings support the use of EDE botanical mixture in cosmetic/pharmaceutical products. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Combustion of powdery tungsten in pyrotechnic mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ivanov, G.V.; Reshetov, A.A.; Viktorenko, A.M.; Surkov, V.G.; Karmadonov, L.N.

    1982-01-01

    The basic regularities of tungsten burning (powder 2-5 μm) with oxidizers most typical for pyrotechnics: nitrates, lead and barium peroxides (powder, 2-8 μm) and potassium perchlorate (powder, 2-8 μm) are studied. Dependences of burning rate as a function of pressure and ratio of components are established. It is supposed that tungsten burning in mixtures with the mentioned nitrates is a complex and multistage process the rate of which is determined by tungsten dissolution in nitrate melts. Analysis of burning products using available methods is complex

  1. DEMONSTRATION BULLETIN: HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRON BEAM TECHNOLOGY - HIGH VOLTAGE ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS, INC.

    Science.gov (United States)

    The high energy electron beam irradiation technology is a low temperature method for destroying complex mixtures of hazardous organic chemicals in solutions containing solids. The system consists of a computer-automated, portable electron beam accelerator and a delivery system. T...

  2. Thermo-Chemical Conversion of Microwave Activated Biomass Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barmina, I.; Kolmickovs, A.; Valdmanis, R.; Vostrikovs, S.; Zake, M.

    2018-05-01

    Thermo-chemical conversion of microwave activated wheat straw mixtures with wood or peat pellets is studied experimentally with the aim to provide more effective application of wheat straw for heat energy production. Microwave pre-processing of straw pellets is used to provide a partial decomposition of the main constituents of straw and to activate the thermo-chemical conversion of wheat straw mixtures with wood or peat pellets. The experimental study includes complex measurements of the elemental composition of biomass pellets (wheat straw, wood, peat), DTG analysis of their thermal degradation, FTIR analysis of the composition of combustible volatiles entering the combustor, the flame temperature, the heat output of the device and composition of the products by comparing these characteristics for mixtures with unprocessed and mw pre-treated straw pellets. The results of experimental study confirm that mw pre-processing of straw activates the thermal decomposition of mixtures providing enhanced formation of combustible volatiles. This leads to improvement of the combustion conditions in the flame reaction zone, completing thus the combustion of volatiles, increasing the flame temperature, the heat output from the device, the produced heat energy per mass of burned mixture and decreasing at the same time the mass fraction of unburned volatiles in the products.

  3. Some properties of explosive mixtures containing peroxides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zeman, Svatopluk; Trzcinski, Waldemar A.; Matyas, Robert

    2008-01-01

    This study concerns mixtures of triacetone triperoxide (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane, TATP) and ammonium nitrate (AN) with added water (W), as the case may be, and dry mixtures of TATP with urea nitrate (UN). Relative performances (RP) of the mixtures and their individual components, relative to TNT, were determined by means of ballistic mortar. The detonation energies, E 0 , and detonation velocities, D, were calculated for the mixtures studied by means of the thermodynamic code CHEETAH. Relationships have been found and are discussed between the RP and the E 0 values related to unit volume of gaseous products of detonation of these mixtures. These relationships together with those between RP and oxygen balance values of the mixtures studied indicate different types of participation of AN and UN in the explosive decomposition of the respective mixtures. Dry TATP/UN mixtures exhibit lower RP than analogous mixtures TATP/AN containing up to 25% of water. Depending on the water content, the TATP/AN mixtures possess higher detonability values than the ANFO explosives. A semi-logarithmic relationship between the D values and oxygen coefficients has been derived for all the mixtures studied at the charge density of 1000 kg m -3 . Among the mixtures studied, this relationship distinguishes several samples of the type of 'tertiary explosives' as well as samples that approach 'high explosives' in their performances and detonation velocities

  4. Some properties of explosive mixtures containing peroxides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zeman, Svatopluk [Institute of Energetic Materials, Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Pardubice, CZ-532 10 Pardubice (Czech Republic)], E-mail: svatopluk.zeman@upce.cz; Trzcinski, Waldemar A. [Institute of Chemistry, Military University of Technology, PL-00-908 Warsaw 49 (Poland); Matyas, Robert [Institute of Energetic Materials, Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Pardubice, CZ-532 10 Pardubice (Czech Republic)

    2008-06-15

    This study concerns mixtures of triacetone triperoxide (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane, TATP) and ammonium nitrate (AN) with added water (W), as the case may be, and dry mixtures of TATP with urea nitrate (UN). Relative performances (RP) of the mixtures and their individual components, relative to TNT, were determined by means of ballistic mortar. The detonation energies, E{sub 0}, and detonation velocities, D, were calculated for the mixtures studied by means of the thermodynamic code CHEETAH. Relationships have been found and are discussed between the RP and the E{sub 0} values related to unit volume of gaseous products of detonation of these mixtures. These relationships together with those between RP and oxygen balance values of the mixtures studied indicate different types of participation of AN and UN in the explosive decomposition of the respective mixtures. Dry TATP/UN mixtures exhibit lower RP than analogous mixtures TATP/AN containing up to 25% of water. Depending on the water content, the TATP/AN mixtures possess higher detonability values than the ANFO explosives. A semi-logarithmic relationship between the D values and oxygen coefficients has been derived for all the mixtures studied at the charge density of 1000 kg m{sup -3}. Among the mixtures studied, this relationship distinguishes several samples of the type of 'tertiary explosives' as well as samples that approach 'high explosives' in their performances and detonation velocities.

  5. Optimal mixture experiments

    CERN Document Server

    Sinha, B K; Pal, Manisha; Das, P

    2014-01-01

    The book dwells mainly on the optimality aspects of mixture designs. As mixture models are a special case of regression models, a general discussion on regression designs has been presented, which includes topics like continuous designs, de la Garza phenomenon, Loewner order domination, Equivalence theorems for different optimality criteria and standard optimality results for single variable polynomial regression and multivariate linear and quadratic regression models. This is followed by a review of the available literature on estimation of parameters in mixture models. Based on recent research findings, the volume also introduces optimal mixture designs for estimation of optimum mixing proportions in different mixture models, which include Scheffé’s quadratic model, Darroch-Waller model, log- contrast model, mixture-amount models, random coefficient models and multi-response model.  Robust mixture designs and mixture designs in blocks have been also reviewed. Moreover, some applications of mixture desig...

  6. Glass polymorphism in glycerol–water mixtures: II. Experimental studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bachler, Johannes; Fuentes-Landete, Violeta; Jahn, David A.; Wong, Jessina; Giovambattista, Nicolas

    2016-01-01

    We report a detailed experimental study of (i) pressure-induced transformations in glycerol–water mixtures at T = 77 K and P = 0–1.8 GPa, and (ii) heating-induced transformations of glycerol–water mixtures recovered at 1 atm and T = 77 K. Our samples are prepared by cooling the solutions at ambient pressure at various cooling rates (100 K s–1–10 K h–1) and for the whole range of glycerol mole fractions, χ g. Depending on concentration and cooling rates, cooling leads to samples containing amorphous ice (χ g ≥ 0.20), ice (χ g ≤ 0.32), and/or “distorted ice” (0 HDA). PIA of ice domains within the glycerol–water mixtures is shown to be possible only up to χ g ≈ 0.32 (T = 77 K). This is rather surprising since it has been known that at χ g HDA upon compression. Upon heating samples recovered at 1 atm, we observe a rich phase behavior. Differential scanning calorimetry indicates that only at χ g ≤ 0.15, the water domains within the sample exhibit polyamorphism, i.e., the HDA-to-LDA (low-density amorphous ice) transformation. At 0.15 HDA domains. All samples (χ g ≤ 0.38) show: the crystallization of amorphous ice domains, followed by the glass transition of the vitrified glycerol–water domains and, finally, the melting of ice at high temperatures. Our work exemplifies the complex “phase” behavior of glassy binary mixtures due to phase-separation (ice formation) and polyamorphism, and the relevance of sample preparation, concentration as well as cooling rates. The presence of the distorted ice (called “interphase” by us) also explains the debated “drift anomaly” upon melting. These results are compatible with the high-pressure study by Suzuki and Mishima indicating disappearance of polyamorphism at P ≈ 0.03–0.05 GPa at χ g ≈ 0.12–0.15 [J. Chem. Phys., 2014, 141, 094505]. PMID:27044677

  7. Modeling phase equilibria for acid gas mixtures using the CPA equation of state. Part IV. Applications to mixtures of CO2 with alkanes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tsivintzelis, Ioannis; Ali, Shahid; Kontogeorgis, Georgios

    2015-01-01

    The thermodynamic properties of pure gaseous, liquid or supercritical CO2 and CO2 mixtures with hydrocarbons and other compounds such as water, alcohols, and glycols are very important in many processes in the oil and gas industry. Design of such processes requires use of accurate thermodynamic...... models, capable of predicting the complex phase behavior of multicomponent mixtures as well as their volumetric properties. In this direction, over the last several years, the cubic-plus-association (CPA) thermodynamic model has been successfully used for describing volumetric properties and phase...

  8. Study of decolorisation of binary dye mixture by response surface methodology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khamparia, Shraddha; Jaspal, Dipika

    2017-10-01

    Decolorisation of a complex mixture of two different classes of textile dyes Direct Red 81 (DR81) and Rhodamine B (RHB), simulating one of the most important condition in real textile effluent was investigated onto deoiled Argemone Mexicana seeds (A. Mexicana). The adsorption behaviour of DR81 and RHB dyes was simultaneously analyzed in the mixture using derivative spectrophotometric method. Central composite design (CCD) was employed for designing the experiments for this complex binary mixture where significance of important parameters and possible interactions were analyzed by response surface methodology (RSM). Maximum adsorption of DR81 and RHB by A. Mexicana was obtained at 53 °C after 63.33 min with 0.1 g of adsorbent and 8 × 10 -6  M DR81, 12 × 10 -6  M RHB with composite desirability of 0.99. The predicted values for percentage removal of dyes from the mixture were in good agreement with the experimental values with R 2 > 96% for both the dyes. CCD superimposed RSM confirmed that presence of different dyes in a solution created a competition for the adsorbent sites and hence interaction of dyes was one of the most important factor to be studied to simulate the real effluent. The adsorbent showed remarkable adsorption capacities for both the dyes in the mixture. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Investigating the effects of methanol-water vapor mixture on a PBI-based high temperature PEM fuel cell

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Araya, Samuel Simon; Andreasen, Søren Juhl; Nielsen, Heidi Venstrup

    2012-01-01

    This paper investigates the effects of methanol and water vapor on the performance of a high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC). A H3PO4-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane electrode assembly (MEA), Celtec P2100 of 45 cm2 of active surface area from BASF was employed....... A long-term durability test of around 1250 h was performed, in which the concentrations of methanol-water vapor mixture in the anode feed gas were varied. The fuel cell showed a continuous performance decay in the presence of vapor mixtures of methanol and water of 5% and 8% by volume in anode feed...

  10. Associations between complex OHC mixtures and thyroid and cortisol hormone levels in East Greenland polar bears.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bechshøft, T Ø; Sonne, C; Dietz, R; Born, E W; Muir, D C G; Letcher, R J; Novak, M A; Henchey, E; Meyer, J S; Jenssen, B M; Villanger, G D

    2012-07-01

    The multivariate relationship between hair cortisol, whole blood thyroid hormones, and the complex mixtures of organohalogen contaminant (OHC) levels measured in subcutaneous adipose of 23 East Greenland polar bears (eight males and 15 females, all sampled between the years 1999 and 2001) was analyzed using projection to latent structure (PLS) regression modeling. In the resulting PLS model, most important variables with a negative influence on cortisol levels were particularly BDE-99, but also CB-180, -201, BDE-153, and CB-170/190. The most important variables with a positive influence on cortisol were CB-66/95, α-HCH, TT3, as well as heptachlor epoxide, dieldrin, BDE-47, p,p'-DDD. Although statistical modeling does not necessarily fully explain biological cause-effect relationships, relationships indicate that (1) the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in East Greenland polar bears is likely to be affected by OHC-contaminants and (2) the association between OHCs and cortisol may be linked with the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from nickel quinolinethiolate complexes under visible light irradiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Heng; Yu, Wen-Qian; Zheng, Hui-Qin; Bonin, Julien; Fan, Yao-Ting; Hou, Hong-Wei

    2016-08-01

    Earth-abundant metal complexes have emerged as promising surrogates of platinum for catalyzing the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this study, we report the design and synthesis of two novel nickel quinolinethiolate complexes, namely [Ni(Hqt)2(4, 4‧-Z-2, 2‧-bpy)] (Hqt = 8-quinolinethiol, Z = sbnd H [1] or sbnd CH3 [2], bpy = bipyridine). An efficient three-component photocatalytic homogeneous system for hydrogen generation working under visible light irradiation was constructed by using the target complexes as catalysts, triethylamine (TEA) as sacrificial electron donor and xanthene dyes as photosensitizer. We obtain turnover numbers (TON, vs. catalyst) for H2 evolution of 5923/7634 under the optimal conditions with 5.0 × 10-6 M complex 1/2 respectively, 1.0 × 10-3 M fluorescein and 5% (v/v) TEA at pH 12.3 in EtOH/H2O (1:1, v/v) mixture after 8 h irradiation (λ > 420 nm). We discuss the mechanism of H2 evolution in the homogeneous photocatalytic system based on fluorescence spectrum and cyclic voltammetry data.

  12. Effects of high heat flux hydrogen and helium mixture beam irradiation on surface modification and hydrogen retention in tungsten materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tokunaga, K.; Fujiwara, T.; Ezato, K.; Suzuki, S.; Akiba, M.; Kurishita, H.; Nagata, S.; Tsuchiya, B.; Tonegawa, A.; Yoshida, N.

    2009-01-01

    High heat flux experiments using a hydrogen-helium mixture beam have been carried out on powder metallurgy tungsten (PM-W) and ultra fine grain W-TiC alloy (W-0.5 wt%TiC-H 2 ). The energy of is 18 keV. Beam flux and heat flux at the beam center is 2.0 x 10 21 atoms/m 2 s and 7.0 MW/m 2 , respectively. Typical ratio of He/D ion is 0.25. Beam duration is 1.5-3 s and interval of beam shot start is 30 s. The samples are irradiated up to a fluence of 10 22 -10 24 He/m 2 by the repeated irradiation pulses. After the irradiation, surface modification by the irradiation and hydrogen retention, surface composition have been investigated. Surface modification by hydrogen-helium mixture beams is completely different from results of single beam irradiation. In particular, mixture beam irradiation causes remarkably high hydrogen retention.

  13. State of the Art Study on Aging of Asphalt Mixtures and Use of Antioxidant Additives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Okan Sirin

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The detrimental effects of hardening in asphalt pavements were first recognized by pioneering pavement engineers in the 1900s and have been studied extensively during the last 70 years. This hardening process, referred to as asphalt aging, is generally defined as change in the rheological properties of asphalt binders/mixtures due to changes in chemical composition during construction and its service life period. Aging causes the asphalt material to stiffen and embrittle, which affects the durability and leads to a high potential for cracking. This paper presents the state of the art on asphalt and asphalt mixture aging and use of antioxidant additives to retard the aging. A picture of complex molecular structure of asphalt and its changes due to atmospheric condition and various protocols used to simulate aging in laboratory environment are also discussed. Emphasis is given on recent studies on simulation of aging of asphalt mixtures as there has been limited research on mixtures compared to the asphalt binder. Finally, this paper presents the application of antiaging techniques and its mechanism, use of various types of antioxidant additives to retard aging of asphalt and, hence, improve the performance of asphalt pavements.

  14. Complexity-aware high efficiency video coding

    CERN Document Server

    Correa, Guilherme; Agostini, Luciano; Cruz, Luis A da Silva

    2016-01-01

    This book discusses computational complexity of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) encoders with coverage extending from the analysis of HEVC compression efficiency and computational complexity to the reduction and scaling of its encoding complexity. After an introduction to the topic and a review of the state-of-the-art research in the field, the authors provide a detailed analysis of the HEVC encoding tools compression efficiency and computational complexity.  Readers will benefit from a set of algorithms for scaling the computational complexity of HEVC encoders, all of which take advantage from the flexibility of the frame partitioning structures allowed by the standard.  The authors also provide a set of early termination methods based on data mining and machine learning techniques, which are able to reduce the computational complexity required to find the best frame partitioning structures. The applicability of the proposed methods is finally exemplified with an encoding time control system that emplo...

  15. Validation of a mixture-averaged thermal diffusion model for premixed lean hydrogen flames

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlup, Jason; Blanquart, Guillaume

    2018-03-01

    The mixture-averaged thermal diffusion model originally proposed by Chapman and Cowling is validated using multiple flame configurations. Simulations using detailed hydrogen chemistry are done on one-, two-, and three-dimensional flames. The analysis spans flat and stretched, steady and unsteady, and laminar and turbulent flames. Quantitative and qualitative results using the thermal diffusion model compare very well with the more complex multicomponent diffusion model. Comparisons are made using flame speeds, surface areas, species profiles, and chemical source terms. Once validated, this model is applied to three-dimensional laminar and turbulent flames. For these cases, thermal diffusion causes an increase in the propagation speed of the flames as well as increased product chemical source terms in regions of high positive curvature. The results illustrate the necessity for including thermal diffusion, and the accuracy and computational efficiency of the mixture-averaged thermal diffusion model.

  16. Experimental validation of GASDECOM for High Heating Value Processed Gas mixtures (58 MJ/m3) by specialized shock tube

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Botros, K.K.; Geerligs, J.; Carlson, L.; Reed, M.

    2013-01-01

    One of the fundamental requirements of the design of pipelines is the control of propagating ductile fracture, in which the Battelle two-curve method still forms the basis of the analytical framework used throughout the industry. The GASDECOM (GAS DECOMpression) tool is typically used for calculating decompression wave speed, which is one of these two curves. It uses the BWRS (Benedict–Webb–Rubin–Starling) equation of state to idealize the decompression process as isentropic and one-dimensional. While this equation of state was developed and validated against a quite restricted range of gas compositions, GASDECOM continues to perform relatively well for compositions slightly outside the original range of BWRS. The present research was focused on examining the performance of GASDECOM for mixture compositions up to a High (gross) Heating Value (HHV) of 58 MJ/m 3 . Four tests were conducted using a specialized high pressure shock tube (42 m long, I.D. = 38.1 mm) to experimentally determine the decompression wave speeds and compare them to the predictions by GASDECOM. Two tests were conducted on a gas mixture of HHV = 52 MJ/m 3 and the other two on even richer gas mixture of HHV = 58 MJ/m 3 , all were from nominal initial pressures of 15 MPa and initial temperatures of 40 °C. The results from these tests show that decompression wave speeds are consistent with predictions of GASDECOM for gases of HHV typical of the previously validated range of BWRS. Predictions of the saturation pressure represented by the plateau pressure in the decompression wave speed curve were also in good agreement with measurements despite the fact that they occurred close to the critical point of the respective mixture compositions. -- Highlights: • Performance of GASDECOM for mixture up to HHV of 58 MJ/m3 was examined. • Experiments were conducted using a specialized high pressure shock. • Results show that decompression speeds are consistent with predictions of GASDECOM.

  17. Properties of Direct Coal Liquefaction Residue Modified Asphalt Mixture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Ji

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The objectives of this paper are to use Direct Coal Liquefaction Residue (DLCR to modify the asphalt binders and mixtures and to evaluate the performance of modified asphalt mixtures. The dynamic modulus and phase angle of DCLR and DCLR-composite modified asphalt mixture were analyzed, and the viscoelastic properties of these modified asphalt mixtures were compared to the base asphalt binder SK-90 and Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS modified asphalt mixtures. The master curves of the asphalt mixtures were shown, and dynamic and viscoelastic behaviors of asphalt mixtures were described using the Christensen-Anderson-Marasteanu (CAM model. The test results show that the dynamic moduli of DCLR and DCLR-composite asphalt mixtures are higher than those of the SK-90 and SBS modified asphalt mixtures. Based on the viscoelastic parameters of CAM models of the asphalt mixtures, the high- and low-temperature performance of DLCR and DCLR-composite modified asphalt mixtures are obviously better than the SK-90 and SBS modified asphalt mixtures. In addition, the DCLR and DCLR-composite modified asphalt mixtures are more insensitive to the frequency compared to SK-90 and SBS modified asphalt mixtures.

  18. High electrical resistivity Nd-Fe-B die-upset magnet doped with eutectic DyF3–LiF salt mixture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. M. Kim

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Nd-Fe-B-type die-upset magnet with high electrical resistivity was prepared by doping of eutectic DyF3–LiF salt mixture. Mixture of melt-spun Nd-Fe-B flakes (MQU-F: Nd13.6Fe73.6Co6.6Ga0.6B5.6 and eutectic binary (DyF3–LiF salt (25 mol% DyF3 – 75 mol% LiF was hot-pressed and then die-upset. By adding the eutectic salt mixture (> 4 wt%, electrical resistivity of the die-upset magnet was enhanced to over 400 μΩ.cm compared to 190 μΩ.cm of the un-doped magnet. Remarkable enhancement of the electrical resistivity was attributed to homogeneous and continuous coverage of the interface between flakes by the easily melted eutectic salt dielectric mixture. It was revealed that active substitution of the Nd atoms in neighboring flakes by the Dy atoms from the added (DyF3–LiF salt mixture had occurred during such a quick thermal processing of hot-pressing and die-upsetting. This Dy substitution led to coercivity enhancement in the die-upset magnet doped with the eutectic (DyF3–LiF salt mixture. Coercivity and remanence of the die-upset magnet doped with (DyF3–LiF salt mixture was as good as those of the DyF3-doped magnet.

  19. Dielectric relaxation studies of some primary alcohols and their mixture with water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad, S.S.; Yaqub, M.

    2003-01-01

    The complex dielectric constant of ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol and 1- propanol and their mixtures with water of different concentration, (0 to 100% by weight) at the temperature of 303K has been evaluated, within the frequency range of (100KHz- 100 MHz). Moreover, the viscosity mu of each alcohol and its mixture with water have been measured at this temperature. The dielectric properties have been evaluated by Hartshorn and Ward apparatus. The purpose of this work is to study the influence of aliphatic group, size and shape on the extent of hydrogen bonding and also to obtain the thermodynamic data on hydrogen bond formation in the pure liquid state and its mixture. The width of the semicircle plot determines the distribution of average relaxation time. Dielectric relaxation time in pure alcohols and their water mixture has been calculated from the respected Cole-Cole plot and dielectric data. A single relaxation time of 117.16ps has been obtained for the molecules of pure methanol, whereas, the dielectric data of prophyl alcohol which indicates the viscosity water have been measured at the temperature 303 K. The dielectric properties in distribution of relaxation time, which is in good agreement with the Davidson-cole representation. The molecules in liquid mixture within frequency range, the mixture has more than one relaxation item, leading to the shortening of main relaxation time as compared with the pure alcohol and broadening of the complex permitivity spectra. The dependence of the dielectric relaxation on composition shows a remarkable behavior. Results are discussed in the light of H-bonded molecules. (author)

  20. Oxidative stress in erythrocytes: a study on the effect of antioxidant mixtures during intermittent exposures to high altitude

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vani, R.; Shiva Shankar Reddy, C. S.; Asha Devi, S.

    2010-09-01

    The aim of our study was to compare and assess the effectiveness of antioxidant mixtures on the erythrocytes (RBC) of adult male albino rats (Wister) subjected to simulated intermittent high altitudes—5,100 m (AL1) and 6,700 m (AL2)—to induce oxidative stress (OS). To achieve our objective, we pre-supplemented four sets of animals with different antioxidant mixtures [vitamin E (vit.E; 50 IU/kg BW), vitamin C (vit.C; 400 mg/kg) and l-carnitine (400 mg/kg)] in different combinations [M1 (vit.E+vit.C), M2 (vit.C+carnitine), M3 (vit.E+carnitine) and M4 (vit.C+vit.E+carnitine)] for 30 days prior to as well during exposure to intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (IHH). Membrane instability, in terms of osmotic fragility and hemolysis, decreased in RBCs of supplemented animals. There was a significant increase in the activity of glutathione peroxidase in the RBCs of supplemented animals. We confirmed OS imposed by IHH with assays relating to lipid [thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and lipofuscin (LF)] and protein (carbonyl, PrC) oxidation, and found a positive correlation between PrC and hemolysis, with a decrease in both upon supplementation with M3 and M4 mixtures. Fluorescence microscopic observation showed a maximum decrease in the LF content in rats administered M4 and M1 compared to those on M2 and M3 mixtures at both altitudes. We suggest that multiple antioxidant fortifications are effective in overcoming increased OS experienced by RBCs at high altitudes.

  1. Characterization of polyoxyethylene tallow amine surfactants in technical mixtures and glyphosate formulations using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tush, Daniel; Loftin, Keith A.; Meyer, Michael T.

    2013-01-01

    Little is known about the occurrence, fate, and effects of the ancillary additives in pesticide formulations. Polyoxyethylene tallow amine (POEA) is a non-ionic surfactant used in many glyphosate formulations, a widely applied herbicide both in agricultural and urban environments. POEA has not been previously well characterized, but has been shown to be toxic to various aquatic organisms. Characterization of technical mixtures using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and mass spectrometry shows POEA is a complex combination of homologs of different aliphatic moieties and ranges of ethoxylate units. Tandem mass spectrometry experiments indicate that POEA homologs generate no product ions readily suitable for quantitative analysis due to poor sensitivity. A comparison of multiple high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and UHPLC analytical columns indicates that the stationary phase is more important in column selection than other parameters for the separation of POEA. Analysis of several agricultural and household glyphosate formulations confirms that POEA is a common ingredient but ethoxylate distributions among formulations vary.

  2. Predicting diffusivities in dense fluid mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. DARIVA

    1999-09-01

    Full Text Available In this work the Enskog solution of the Boltzmann equation, as corrected by Speedy, together with the Weeks-Chandler-Andersen (WCA perturbation theory of liquids is employed in correlating and predicting self-diffusivities of dense fluids. Afterwards this theory is used to estimate mutual diffusion coefficients of solutes at infinite dilution in sub and supercritical solvents. We have also investigated the behavior of Fick diffusion coefficients in the proximity of a binary vapor-liquid critical point since this subject is of great interest for extraction purposes. The approach presented here, which makes use of a density and temperature dependent hard-sphere diameter, is shown to be excellent for predicting diffusivities in dense pure fluids and fluid mixtures. The calculations involved highly nonideal mixtures as well as systems with high molecular asymmetry. The predicted diffusivities are in good agreement with the experimental data for the pure and binary systems. The methodology proposed here makes only use of pure component information and density of mixtures. The simple algebraic relations are proposed without any binary adjustable parameters and can be readily used for estimating diffusivities in multicomponent mixtures.

  3. SOLGASMIX-PV, Chemical System Equilibrium of Gaseous and Condensed Phase Mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Besmann, T.M.

    1986-01-01

    1 - Description of program or function: SOLGASMIX-PV, which is based on the earlier SOLGAS and SOLGASMIX codes, calculates equilibrium relationships in complex chemical systems. Chemical equilibrium calculations involve finding the system composition, within certain constraints, which contains the minimum free energy. The constraints are the preservation of the masses of each element present and either constant pressure or volume. SOLGASMIX-PV can calculate equilibria in systems containing a gaseous phase, condensed phase solutions, and condensed phases of invariant and variable stoichiometry. Either a constant total gas volume or a constant total pressure can be assumed. Unit activities for condensed phases and ideality for solutions are assumed, although nonideal systems can be handled provided activity coefficient relationships are available. 2 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: The program is designed to handle a maximum of 20 elements, 99 substances, and 10 mixtures, where the gas phase is considered a mixture. Each substance is either a gas or condensed phase species, or a member of a condensed phase mixture

  4. Modular design of metabolic network for robust production of n-butanol from galactose-glucose mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Hyun Gyu; Lim, Jae Hyung; Jung, Gyoo Yeol

    2015-01-01

    Refactoring microorganisms for efficient production of advanced biofuel such as n-butanol from a mixture of sugars in the cheap feedstock is a prerequisite to achieve economic feasibility in biorefinery. However, production of biofuel from inedible and cheap feedstock is highly challenging due to the slower utilization of biomass-driven sugars, arising from complex assimilation pathway, difficulties in amplification of biosynthetic pathways for heterologous metabolite, and redox imbalance caused by consuming intracellular reducing power to produce quite reduced biofuel. Even with these problems, the microorganisms should show robust production of biofuel to obtain industrial feasibility. Thus, refactoring microorganisms for efficient conversion is highly desirable in biofuel production. In this study, we engineered robust Escherichia coli to accomplish high production of n-butanol from galactose-glucose mixtures via the design of modular pathway, an efficient and systematic way, to reconstruct the entire metabolic pathway with many target genes. Three modular pathways designed using the predictable genetic elements were assembled for efficient galactose utilization, n-butanol production, and redox re-balancing to robustly produce n-butanol from a sugar mixture of galactose and glucose. Specifically, the engineered strain showed dramatically increased n-butanol production (3.3-fold increased to 6.2 g/L after 48-h fermentation) compared to the parental strain (1.9 g/L) in galactose-supplemented medium. Moreover, fermentation with mixtures of galactose and glucose at various ratios from 2:1 to 1:2 confirmed that our engineered strain was able to robustly produce n-butanol regardless of sugar composition with simultaneous utilization of galactose and glucose. Collectively, modular pathway engineering of metabolic network can be an effective approach in strain development for optimal biofuel production with cost-effective fermentable sugars. To the best of our

  5. Complex resistivity signatures of ethanol in sand-clay mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Personna, Yves Robert; Slater, Lee; Ntarlagiannis, Dimitrios; Werkema, Dale D.; Szabo, Zoltan

    2013-01-01

    We performed complex resistivity (CR) measurements on laboratory columns to investigate changes in electrical properties as a result of varying ethanol (EtOH) concentration (0% to 30% v/v) in a sand–clay (bentonite) matrix. We applied Debye decomposition, a phenomenological model commonly used to fit CR data, to determine model parameters (time constant: τ, chargeability: m, and normalized chargeability: mn). The CR data showed a significant (P ≤ 0.001) time-dependent variation in the clay driven polarization response (~ 12 mrad) for 0% EtOH concentration. This temporal variation probably results from the clay–water reaction kinetics trending towards equilibrium in the sand–clay–water system. The clay polarization is significantly suppressed (P ≤ 0.001) for both measured phase (ϕ) and imaginary conductivity (σ″) with increasing EtOH concentration. Normalized chargeability consistently decreases (by up to a factor of ~ 2) as EtOH concentration increases from 0% to 10% and 10 to 20%, respectively. We propose that such suppression effects are associated with alterations in the electrical double layer (EDL) at the clay–fluid interface due to (a) strong EtOH adsorption on clay, and (b) complex intermolecular EtOH–water interactions and subsequent changes in ionic mobility on the surface in the EDL. Changes in the CR data following a change of the saturating fluid from EtOH 20% to plain water indicate strong hysteresis effects in the electrical response, which we attribute to persistent EtOH adsorption on clay. Our results demonstrate high sensitivity of CR measurements to clay–EtOH interactions in porous media, indicating the potential application of this technique for characterization and monitoring of ethanol contamination in sediments containing clays.

  6. Catanionic mixtures forming gemini-like amphiphiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakai, Hideki; Okabe, Yuji; Tsuchiya, Koji; Sakai, Kenichi; Abe, Masahiko

    2011-01-01

    The properties of aqueous mixtures of cationic species with alkyl dicarboxylic acid compounds have been studied. The cationic compounds used in this study were tertiary amine-type N-methyl-N-(2,3-dioxypropyl)hexadecylamine (C16amine) and quaternary ammonium-type N,N-dimethyl-N-(2,3-dioxypropyl)hexadecylammonium chloride (C16Q). The alkyl dicarboxylic acid compounds used were HOOC(CH(2))(10)COOH (C12H) and its sodium salt (C12Na). Three aqueous mixtures were examined in this study: (System I) C16amine + C12H, (System II) C16Q + C12Na, and (System III) C16Q + C12H. The solution pH was set at 12 for System III. The combination of (1)H-NMR and mass spectroscopy data has suggested that a stoichiometric complex is formed in the aqueous solutions at a mole fraction of C12H (or C12Na) = 0.33. Here, the C12H (or C12Na) molecule added to the system bridges two cationic molecules, like a spacer of gemini surfactants. In fact, the static surface tensiometry has demonstrated that the stoichiometric complex behaves as gemini-like amphiphiles in aqueous solutions. Our current study offers a possible way for easily preparing gemini surfactant systems.

  7. Evaluation of forensic DNA mixture evidence: protocol for evaluation, interpretation, and statistical calculations using the combined probability of inclusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bieber, Frederick R; Buckleton, John S; Budowle, Bruce; Butler, John M; Coble, Michael D

    2016-08-31

    The evaluation and interpretation of forensic DNA mixture evidence faces greater interpretational challenges due to increasingly complex mixture evidence. Such challenges include: casework involving low quantity or degraded evidence leading to allele and locus dropout; allele sharing of contributors leading to allele stacking; and differentiation of PCR stutter artifacts from true alleles. There is variation in statistical approaches used to evaluate the strength of the evidence when inclusion of a specific known individual(s) is determined, and the approaches used must be supportable. There are concerns that methods utilized for interpretation of complex forensic DNA mixtures may not be implemented properly in some casework. Similar questions are being raised in a number of U.S. jurisdictions, leading to some confusion about mixture interpretation for current and previous casework. Key elements necessary for the interpretation and statistical evaluation of forensic DNA mixtures are described. Given the most common method for statistical evaluation of DNA mixtures in many parts of the world, including the USA, is the Combined Probability of Inclusion/Exclusion (CPI/CPE). Exposition and elucidation of this method and a protocol for use is the focus of this article. Formulae and other supporting materials are provided. Guidance and details of a DNA mixture interpretation protocol is provided for application of the CPI/CPE method in the analysis of more complex forensic DNA mixtures. This description, in turn, should help reduce the variability of interpretation with application of this methodology and thereby improve the quality of DNA mixture interpretation throughout the forensic community.

  8. Convective behaviour in vapour-gas-aerosol mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clement, C.F.

    1986-01-01

    Unusual convective behaviour can occur in mixtures of gases and heavy vapour, including stabilization of mixtures hot at the base and 'upside-down' convection in mixtures hot at the top. Previous work produced a criterion for this behaviour which ignored the necessary presence of an aerosol. Modification arising from aerosol condensation is derived and is shown to involve the Lewis and condensation numbers of the mixture, as well as a quantity involving the temperature drop across a boundary layer. It becomes negligible at high temperatures, but can crucially affect the temperature for the onset of unusual behaviour. Aerosol formation produces an asymmetry between the convective forces in boundary layers in which the mixture is being heated and cooled, respectively, for example at the base and roof of a cavity. The convective behaviour discussed could occur in situations relevant to nuclear safety. (author)

  9. The effects of binary UV filter mixtures on the midge Chironomus riparius

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozáez, Irene; Morcillo, Gloria; Martínez-Guitarte, José-Luis

    2016-01-01

    Organic ultraviolet (UV) filters are used in a wide variety of products, including cosmetics, to prevent damage from UV light in tissues and industrial materials. Their extensive use has raised concerns about potential adverse effects in human health and aquatic ecosystems that accumulate these pollutants. To increase sun radiation protection, UV filters are commonly used in mixtures. Here, we studied the toxicity of binary mixtures of 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4MBC), octyl-methoxycinnamate (OMC), and benzophenone-3 (BP-3), by evaluating the larval mortality of Chironomus riparius. Also molecular endpoints have been analyzed, including alterations in the expression levels of a gene related with the endocrine system (EcR, ecdysone receptor) and a gene related with the stress response (hsp70, heat shock protein 70). The results showed that the mortality caused by binary mixtures was similar to that observed for each compound alone; however, some differences in LC50 were observed between groups. Gene expression analysis showed that EcR mRNA levels increased in the presence of 0.1 mg/L 4MBC but returned to normal levels after exposure to mixtures of 4MBC with 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/L of BP-3 or OMC. In contrast, the hsp70 mRNA levels increased after exposure to the combinations tested of 4MBC and BP-3 or OMC mixtures. These data suggest that 4MBC, BP-3, and OMC may have antagonist effects on EcR gene transcription and a synergistic effect on hsp70 gene activation. This is the first experimental study to show the complex patterned effects of UV filter mixtures on invertebrates. The data suggest that the interactions within these chemicals mixtures are complex and show diverse effects on various endpoints. - Highlights: • Chironomus riparius is sensitive to UV filter binary mixtures. • UV filters binary mixtures show antagonism on survival of 4th instar larvae. • BP-3 and OMC antagonize the stimulatory effect of 4MBC on EcR gene. • 4MBC, OMC, and BP-3 induce hsp70

  10. The effects of binary UV filter mixtures on the midge Chironomus riparius

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ozáez, Irene; Morcillo, Gloria; Martínez-Guitarte, José-Luis, E-mail: jlmartinez@ccia.uned.es

    2016-06-15

    Organic ultraviolet (UV) filters are used in a wide variety of products, including cosmetics, to prevent damage from UV light in tissues and industrial materials. Their extensive use has raised concerns about potential adverse effects in human health and aquatic ecosystems that accumulate these pollutants. To increase sun radiation protection, UV filters are commonly used in mixtures. Here, we studied the toxicity of binary mixtures of 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4MBC), octyl-methoxycinnamate (OMC), and benzophenone-3 (BP-3), by evaluating the larval mortality of Chironomus riparius. Also molecular endpoints have been analyzed, including alterations in the expression levels of a gene related with the endocrine system (EcR, ecdysone receptor) and a gene related with the stress response (hsp70, heat shock protein 70). The results showed that the mortality caused by binary mixtures was similar to that observed for each compound alone; however, some differences in LC50 were observed between groups. Gene expression analysis showed that EcR mRNA levels increased in the presence of 0.1 mg/L 4MBC but returned to normal levels after exposure to mixtures of 4MBC with 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/L of BP-3 or OMC. In contrast, the hsp70 mRNA levels increased after exposure to the combinations tested of 4MBC and BP-3 or OMC mixtures. These data suggest that 4MBC, BP-3, and OMC may have antagonist effects on EcR gene transcription and a synergistic effect on hsp70 gene activation. This is the first experimental study to show the complex patterned effects of UV filter mixtures on invertebrates. The data suggest that the interactions within these chemicals mixtures are complex and show diverse effects on various endpoints. - Highlights: • Chironomus riparius is sensitive to UV filter binary mixtures. • UV filters binary mixtures show antagonism on survival of 4th instar larvae. • BP-3 and OMC antagonize the stimulatory effect of 4MBC on EcR gene. • 4MBC, OMC, and BP-3 induce hsp70

  11. Rheology and setting of high volume fly ash mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dale P. Bentz; Chiara F. Ferraris [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (United States). Building and Fire Research Laboratory

    2010-04-15

    While high volume fly ash (HVFA) concretes can be designed and produced to meet 28-d strength requirements and often even exceed the durability performance of conventional concretes, a persistent problem is the potentially long delay in setting time that produces concurrently long delays in finishing the concrete in the field. Previous isothermal calorimetry studies on two different powder additions, namely calcium hydroxide and a rapid set cement, have shown that these powders can mitigate excessive retardation of the hydration reactions. In this paper, rheological measurements and conventional Vicat setting time studies are conducted to verify that these powder additions do indeed reduce setting times in paste systems based on both ASTM Class C and ASTM Class F fly ashes. The reductions depend on the class of fly ash and suggest that trial mixtures would be a necessity to apply these technologies to each specific fly ash/cement/admixture combination being employed in the field. Potentially, for such screening studies, the rheological measurement of yield stress may provide a faster indication of setting (and finishability) than conventional Vicat needle penetration measurements on pastes.

  12. Dynamic study of excited state hydrogen-bonded complexes of harmane in cyclohexane-toluene mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carmona, Carmen; Balón, Manuel; Galán, Manuel; Guardado, Pilar; Muñoz, María A

    2002-09-01

    Photoinduced proton transfer reactions of harmane or 1-methyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole (HN) in the presence of the proton donor hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) in cyclohexane-toluene mixtures (CY-TL; 10% vol/vol of TL) have been studied. Three excited state species have been identified: a 1:2 hydrogen-bonded proton transfer complex (PTC), between the pyridinic nitrogen of the substrate and the proton donor, a hydrogen-bonded cation-like exciplex (CL*) with a stoichiometry of at least 1:3 and a zwitterionic exciplex (Z*). Time-resolved fluorescence measurements evidence that upon excitation of ground state PTC, an excited state equilibrium is established between PTC* and the cationlike exciplex, CL*, lambdaem approximately/= 390 nm. This excited state reaction is assisted by another proton donor molecule. Further reaction of CL* with an additional HFIP molecule produces the zwitterionic species, Z*, lambda(em) approximately/= 500 nm. From the analysis of the multiexponential decays, measured at different emission wavelengths and as a function of HFIP concentration, the mechanism of these excited state reactions has been established. Thus, three rate constants and three reciprocal lifetimes have been determined. The simultaneous study of 1,9-dimethyl-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole (MHN) under the same experimental conditions has helped to understand the excited state kinetics of these processes.

  13. Simultaneous discovery, estimation and prediction analysis of complex traits using a bayesian mixture model.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerhard Moser

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Gene discovery, estimation of heritability captured by SNP arrays, inference on genetic architecture and prediction analyses of complex traits are usually performed using different statistical models and methods, leading to inefficiency and loss of power. Here we use a Bayesian mixture model that simultaneously allows variant discovery, estimation of genetic variance explained by all variants and prediction of unobserved phenotypes in new samples. We apply the method to simulated data of quantitative traits and Welcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC data on disease and show that it provides accurate estimates of SNP-based heritability, produces unbiased estimators of risk in new samples, and that it can estimate genetic architecture by partitioning variation across hundreds to thousands of SNPs. We estimated that, depending on the trait, 2,633 to 9,411 SNPs explain all of the SNP-based heritability in the WTCCC diseases. The majority of those SNPs (>96% had small effects, confirming a substantial polygenic component to common diseases. The proportion of the SNP-based variance explained by large effects (each SNP explaining 1% of the variance varied markedly between diseases, ranging from almost zero for bipolar disorder to 72% for type 1 diabetes. Prediction analyses demonstrate that for diseases with major loci, such as type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, Bayesian methods outperform profile scoring or mixed model approaches.

  14. Characterizing oxidative flow reactor SOA production and OH radical exposure from laboratory experiments of complex mixtures (engine exhaust) and simple precursors (monoterpenes)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michael Link, M. L.; Friedman, B.; Ortega, J. V.; Son, J.; Kim, J.; Park, G.; Park, T.; Kim, K.; Lee, T.; Farmer, D.

    2016-12-01

    Recent commercialization of the Oxidative Flow Reactor (OFR, occasionally described in the literature as a "Potential Aerosol Mass") has created the opportunity for many researchers to explore the mechanisms behind OH-driven aerosol formation on a wide range of oxidative timescales (hours to weeks) in both laboratory and field measurements. These experiments have been conducted in both laboratory and field settings, including simple (i.e. single component) and complex (multi-component) precursors. Standard practices for performing OFR experiments, and interpreting data from the measurements, are still being developed. Measurement of gas and particle phase chemistry, from oxidation products generated in the OFR, through laboratory studies on single precursors and the measurement of SOA from vehicle emissions on short atmospheric timescales represent two very different experiments in which careful experimental design is essential for exploring reaction mechanisms and SOA yields. Two parameters essential in experimental design are (1) the role of seed aerosol in controlling gas-particle partitioning and SOA yields, and (2) the accurate determination of OH exposure during any one experiment. We investigated the role of seed aerosol surface area in controlling the observed SOA yields and gas/particle composition from the OH-initiated oxidation of four monoterpenes using an aerosol chemical ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer and scanning mobility particle sizer. While the OH exposure during laboratory experiments is simple to constrain, complex mixtures such as diesel exhaust have high estimated OH reactivity values, and thus require careful consideration. We developed methods for constraining OH radical exposure in the OFR during vehicle exhaust oxidation experiments. We observe changes in O/C ratios and highly functionalized species over the temperature gradient employed in the aerosol-CIMS measurement. We relate this observed, speciated chemistry to the

  15. A functional monomer is not enough: principal component analysis of the influence of template complexation in pre-polymerization mixtures on imprinted polymer recognition and morphology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golker, Kerstin; Karlsson, Björn C G; Rosengren, Annika M; Nicholls, Ian A

    2014-11-10

    In this report, principal component analysis (PCA) has been used to explore the influence of template complexation in the pre-polymerization phase on template molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) recognition and polymer morphology. A series of 16 bupivacaine MIPs were studied. The ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA)-crosslinked polymers had either methacrylic acid (MAA) or methyl methacrylate (MMA) as the functional monomer, and the stoichiometry between template, functional monomer and crosslinker was varied. The polymers were characterized using radioligand equilibrium binding experiments, gas sorption measurements, swelling studies and data extracted from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of all-component pre-polymerization mixtures. The molar fraction of the functional monomer in the MAA-polymers contributed to describing both the binding, surface area and pore volume. Interestingly, weak positive correlations between the swelling behavior and the rebinding characteristics of the MAA-MIPs were exposed. Polymers prepared with MMA as a functional monomer and a polymer prepared with only EGDMA were found to share the same characteristics, such as poor rebinding capacities, as well as similar surface area and pore volume, independent of the molar fraction MMA used in synthesis. The use of PCA for interpreting relationships between MD-derived descriptions of events in the pre-polymerization mixture, recognition properties and morphologies of the corresponding polymers illustrates the potential of PCA as a tool for better understanding these complex materials and for their rational design.

  16. Design and initial characterization of the SC-200 proteomics standard mixture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauman, Andrew; Higdon, Roger; Rapson, Sean; Loiue, Brenton; Hogan, Jason; Stacy, Robin; Napuli, Alberto; Guo, Wenjin; van Voorhis, Wesley; Roach, Jared; Lu, Vincent; Landorf, Elizabeth; Stewart, Elizabeth; Kolker, Natali; Collart, Frank; Myler, Peter; van Belle, Gerald; Kolker, Eugene

    2011-01-01

    High-throughput (HTP) proteomics studies generate large amounts of data. Interpretation of these data requires effective approaches to distinguish noise from biological signal, particularly as instrument and computational capacity increase and studies become more complex. Resolving this issue requires validated and reproducible methods and models, which in turn requires complex experimental and computational standards. The absence of appropriate standards and data sets for validating experimental and computational workflows hinders the development of HTP proteomics methods. Most protein standards are simple mixtures of proteins or peptides, or undercharacterized reference standards in which the identity and concentration of the constituent proteins is unknown. The Seattle Children's 200 (SC-200) proposed proteomics standard mixture is the next step toward developing realistic, fully characterized HTP proteomics standards. The SC-200 exhibits a unique modular design to extend its functionality, and consists of 200 proteins of known identities and molar concentrations from 6 microbial genomes, distributed into 10 molar concentration tiers spanning a 1,000-fold range. We describe the SC-200's design, potential uses, and initial characterization. We identified 84% of SC-200 proteins with an LTQ-Orbitrap and 65% with an LTQ-Velos (false discovery rate = 1% for both). There were obvious trends in success rate, sequence coverage, and spectral counts with protein concentration; however, protein identification, sequence coverage, and spectral counts vary greatly within concentration levels.

  17. A framework for ecological risk assessment of metal mixtures in aquatic systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nys, Charlotte; Van Regenmortel, Tina; Janssen, Colin R; Oorts, Koen; Smolders, Erik; De Schamphelaere, Karel A C

    2018-03-01

    , respectively. When our methods were applied to a geochemical baseline database (Forum of European Geological Surveys [FOREGS]), we found that CA SSD yielded a considerable number of mixture risk predictions, even when metals were at background levels (8% of the water samples). In contrast, metal mixture risks predicted with the theoretically more consistent methods (e.g., IA DRC ) were very limited under natural background metal concentrations (risk predictions at the community level, a tiered risk assessment scheme for evaluating metal mixture risks is presented, with CA SSD functioning as a first, simple conservative tier. The more complex, but theoretically more consistent and most accurate method, IA DRC , can be used in higher tier assessments. Alternatively, the conservatism of CA SSD can be accounted for deterministically by incorporating the MoS and MIF in the scheme. Finally, specific guidance is also given related to specific issues, such as how to deal with nondetect data and complex mixtures that include so-called data-poor metals. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:623-642. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

  18. Preparation of conducting solid mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spokas, J.J.

    1978-01-01

    The application of conducting plastic mixtures to the fundamental problem of radiation dosimetry is briefly reviewed. A particular approach to achieving formulations with the necessary characteristics is described. A number of successful mixtures are defined for a number of different specific dosimetry situations. To obtain high quality stable materials requires intense blending and working of the materials at elevated temperatures. One machine that succeeds in this task is the Shonka plastics mixer-extruder. The Shonka mixer is described in complete detail. The procedures used in preparing representative formulations with this device are presented. A number of properties of successful conducting mixtures so prepared are summarized. The conditions required for molding such material are given. Several special welding methods for specific application with these formulations have been devised and are described

  19. Spectrophotometric determination of neodymium in mixture with lanthanum by eosin and 2,2'-dipyridyl

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ovchar, L.A.; Poluehktov, N.S.

    1980-01-01

    The possibility of using rare earth complexes with eosin (EO) and 2.2-dipyridyl (DP) for spectrophotometric determination of some rare earths in the presence of the others. It has been out that the complexes are not extracted by organic solvents. The PH region of complex existence (approximately 6) and the relation of components in them (rare earths:DP:EO=1:2:3) are determined. The possibility has been shown of determining all the rare earts from praseodymium to lutetium and yttrium in a binary mixture with lanthanum based on different stability of the studied complexes. The method has been tested on the example of determining Nd 2 O 3 in a mixture with La 2 O 3 . The low limit of determined contents is 1-2%. The relative standard deviation is 0.035-0.17 [ru

  20. Characterisation of unresolved complex mixtures of hydrocarbons

    OpenAIRE

    Gough, Mark Adrian

    1989-01-01

    Metadata merged with duplicate record (http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/666) on 20.12.2016 by CS (TIS). This is a digitised version of a thesis that was deposited in the University Library. If you are the author please contact PEARL Admin () to discuss options. The hydrocarbons of Recent Polluted.., sediments, in-reservoir and laboratory biodegraded crude oils, and certain petroleum products (e. g. lubricating oils) often display "humps" or Unresolved Complex...

  1. Immunoelectrophoretic study of the effect of radiation on protein mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maffei, J.; Soszynski, M.; Bog-Hansen, T.C.

    1983-01-01

    This paper demonstrates the suitability of immunoelectrophoretic methods in studies of radiation effects on protein mixtures. Single serum proteins (IgG, albumin, transferrin), albumin-transferrin mixtures and human serum were irradiated with doses of 3-52 kGy. The irradiated proteins were analysed using rocket-, crossed-, crossed-with-intermediate-gel, and fused-rocket immunoelectrophoretic methods. Using crossed immunoelectrophoresis with intermediate gel, complex formation between albumin and transferrin was observed. Gel filtration monitored by fused-rocket immunoelectrophoresis was demonstrated to be a most promising method for studying protein degradation and hybrid formation. (author)

  2. Introduction to the special section on mixture modeling in personality assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Aidan G C; Hallquist, Michael N

    2014-01-01

    Latent variable models offer a conceptual and statistical framework for evaluating the underlying structure of psychological constructs, including personality and psychopathology. Complex structures that combine or compare categorical and dimensional latent variables can be accommodated using mixture modeling approaches, which provide a powerful framework for testing nuanced theories about psychological structure. This special series includes introductory primers on cross-sectional and longitudinal mixture modeling, in addition to empirical examples applying these techniques to real-world data collected in clinical settings. This group of articles is designed to introduce personality assessment scientists and practitioners to a general latent variable framework that we hope will stimulate new research and application of mixture models to the assessment of personality and its pathology.

  3. Application Of Electronic Nose And Ion Mobility Spectrometer To Quality Control Of Spice Mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banach, U.; Tiebe, C.; Huebert, Th.

    2009-01-01

    The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the application of electronic nose (e-nose) and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) to quality control and to find out product adulteration of spice mixtures. Therefore the gaseous head space phase of four different spice mixtures (spices for sausages and saveloy) was differed from original composition and product adulteration. In this set of experiments metal-oxide type e-nose (KAMINA-type) has been used, and characteristic patterns of data corresponding to various complex odors of the four different spice mixtures were generated. Simultaneously an ion mobility spectrometer was coupled also to an emission chamber for the detection of gaseous components of spice mixtures. The two main methods that have been used show a clear discrimination between the original spice mixtures and product adulteration could be distinguished from original spice mixtures.

  4. Research of Deformation of Clay Soil Mixtures Mixtures

    OpenAIRE

    Romas Girkontas; Tadas Tamošiūnas; Andrius Savickas

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this article is to determine clay soils and clay soils mixtures deformations during drying. Experiments consisted from: a) clay and clay mixtures bridges (height ~ 0,30 m, span ~ 1,00 m); b) tiles of clay and clay, sand and straw (height, length, wide); c) cylinders of clay; clay and straw; clay, straw and sand (diameter; height). According to the findings recommendations for clay and clay mixtures drying technology application were presented. During the experiment clay bridge bear...

  5. Near-infrared dichroism of a mesogenic transition metal complex and its solubility in nematic hosts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marshall, K.L.; Jacobs, S.D.

    1987-01-01

    A transition metal complex possessing the nematic phase, bis (p-n-butylstyryl-1, 2-dithiolato) nickel, was synthesized and its optical properties and solubility in the nematic hosts K15 and MBBA were investigated. The metal complex displayed a high solubility in both host materials (up to 10% wt/wt) and a strong near-infrared absorption band centered at 860 nm. A blocking extinction of greater than OD = 3 was obtained with a 100 micron pathlength of a 0.5% wt/wt mixture of the nematic metal complex in K15, suggesting its usefulness for passive blocking of near infrared radiation. A 24 micron thick, homogeneously aligned guest-host cell containing a 1% wt/wt mixture of the metal complex in K15 possessed a contrast ratio of nearly 5:1 and a blocking extinction of OD = 3.5 at 860 nm, demonstrating for the first time the existence of near-infrared dichroism in this class of materials. The solubility and blocking extinction of the mesogenic metal complex in K15 was considerably superior to the non-mesogenic near ir laser dye bis(dimethylaminodithiobenzil) nickel in the same host. An interaction of the nematic metal complex in mixtures with MBBA which resulted in the creation of a new absorption band at 1050 nm was also observed. 21 refs., 9 figs

  6. Performance characterizations of asphalt binders and mixtures incorporating silane additive ZycoTherm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasan, Mohd Rosli Mohd; Hamzah, Meor Othman; Yee, Teh Sek

    2017-10-01

    Experimental works were conducted to evaluate the properties of asphalt binders and mixtures produced using a relatively new silane additive, named ZycoTherm. In this study, 0.1wt% ZycoTherm was blended with asphalt binder to enable production of asphalt mixture at lower than normal temperatures, as well as improve mix workability and compactability. Asphalt mixture performances towards pavement distresses in tropical climate region were also investigated. The properties of control asphalt binders (60/70 and 80/10 penetration grade) and asphalt binders incorporating 0.1% ZycoTherm were reported based on the penetration, softening point, rotational viscosity, complex modulus and phase angle. Subsequently, to compare the performance of asphalt mixture incorporating ZycoTherm with the control asphalt mixture, cylindrical samples were prepared at recommended temperatures and air voids depending on the binder types and test requirements. The samples were tested for indirect tensile strength (ITS), resilient modulus, dynamic creep, Hamburg wheel tracking and moisture induced damage. From compaction data using the Servopak gyratory compactor, specimen prepared using ZycoTherm exhibit higher workability and compactability compared to the conventional mixture. From the mixture performance test results, mixtures prepared with ZycoTherm showed comparable if not better performance than the control sample in terms of the resistance to moisture damage, permanent deformation and cracking.

  7. NMRI Measurements of Flow of Granular Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakagawa, Masami; Waggoner, R. Allen; Fukushima, Eiichi

    1996-01-01

    We investigate complex 3D behavior of granular mixtures in shaking and shearing devices. NMRI can non-invasively measure concentration, velocity, and velocity fluctuations of flows of suitable particles. We investigate origins of wall-shear induced convection flow of single component particles by measuring the flow and fluctuating motion of particles near rough boundaries. We also investigate if a mixture of different size particles segregate into their own species under the influence of external shaking and shearing disturbances. These non-invasive measurements will reveal true nature of convecting flow properties and wall disturbance. For experiments in a reduced gravity environment, we will design a light weight NMR imager. The proof of principle development will prepare for the construction of a complete spaceborne system to perform experiments in space.

  8. Thermal analysis of pyrotechnic mixture-fireworks, atom-bomb

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rajendran, Jeya; Thanulingam, T.L.

    2008-01-01

    Sound level produced from two varieties of sound producing fireworks of atom-bomb, cake bomb and thunder bomb were measured. The pyrotechnic mixture, KNO 3 /S/Al(H 3 BO 3 ) of compositions 57.5/19.9/22.1(0.5)% very much similar to commercial atom-bomb were taken and five cake bomb and seven thunder bomb with different net weight of chemicals were manufactured specifically for analysis. Cake bomb with 1g pyrotechnic mixture and thunder bomb with 2g pyrotechnic mixture produce -3 . Ignition temperature of the mixture is above the melting point of the metallic fuel, Al (660 deg C) and self propagating decomposition occurred at high temperature. The pyrotechnic mixture, KNO 3 /S/Al(H 3 BO 3 ) is a safe mixture from accidental factor, static electricity. DSC studies indicate slight formation of potassium nitrite with evolution of NO above 400 deg C. (author)

  9. Experimental investigation of asphalt mixture containing Linz-Donawitz steel slag

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jens Groenniger

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Standard asphalt mixtures for road infrastructures consist of natural aggregate and bitumen. A number of research efforts have successfully investigated the possibility of replacing the conventional aggregate skeleton with industrial by-products such as slag originating from steel production process. However, little is known on the effect of steel slag on the mixtures performance properties such as resistance to low-temperature cracking and to permanent deformation, stiffness and fatigue. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation on the fundamental performance properties of different types of asphalt mixtures prepared with 100% LD slag aggregate and a conventional asphalt mixture containing natural Gabbro aggregate. Sophisticated testing methods were used to evaluate the key performance parameters for the set of asphalt mixtures investigated. In this study, low temperature cracking was addressed through thermal stress restrained specimen tests. Penetration tests and cyclic compression tests were used to evaluate the response of asphalt binder and asphalt mixture to permanent deformation due repeated loading, respectively. The cyclic indirect tensile test was selected for investigating both stiffness properties and fatigue resistance. For this purpose the complex stiffness modulus was measured to quantify material stiffness under different temperature and loading conditions providing information on the visco-elasto-plastic material behavior. Fatigue tests were used to determine the progressive and localized material damage caused by cyclic loading. The experimental results indicate that asphalt mixtures prepared with LD slag are suitable for asphalt pavement construction and that in most cases they perform better than conventional asphalt mixtures prepared with Gabbro aggregate.

  10. Separation of organic azeotropic mixtures by pervaporation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baker, R.W.

    1991-12-01

    Distillation is a commonly used separation technique in the petroleum refining and chemical processing industries. However, there are a number of potential separations involving azetropic and close-boiling organic mixtures that cannot be separated efficiently by distillation. Pervaporation is a membrane-based process that uses selective permeation through membranes to separate liquid mixtures. Because the separation process is not affected by the relative volatility of the mixture components being separated, pervaporation can be used to separate azetropes and close-boiling mixtures. Our results showed that pervaporation membranes can be used to separate azeotropic mixtures efficiently, a result that is not achievable with simple distillation. The membranes were 5--10 times more permeable to one of the components of the mixture, concentrating it in the permeate stream. For example, the membrane was 10 times more permeable to ethanol than methyl ethyl ketone, producing 60% ethanol permeate from an azeotropic mixture of ethanol and methyl ethyl ketone containing 18% ethanol. For the ethyl acetate/water mixture, the membranes showed a very high selectivity to water (> 300) and the permeate was 50--100 times enriched in water relative to the feed. The membranes had permeate fluxes on the order of 0.1--1 kg/m{sup 2}{center dot}h in the operating range of 55--70{degrees}C. Higher fluxes were obtained by increasing the operating temperature.

  11. Fluorescence quenching of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons within deep eutectic solvents and their aqueous mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pandey, Ashish; Yadav, Anita; Bhawna; Pandey, Siddharth, E-mail: sipandey@chemistry.iitd.ac.in

    2017-03-15

    Two common and popular deep eutectic solvents (DESs) composed of the salt choline chloride and H-bond donors glycerol and urea in 1:2 mol ratio named glyceline and reline, respectively, are investigated for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using quenching of both steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence of ten different PAHs by nitromethane at 30 °C. Based on their quenching efficiencies, the PAHs are divided into two groups – group 1 is constituted of the five PAHs whose fluorescence are quenched less effectively by nitromethane whereas the other five exhibiting high quenching efficiency are associated to group 2. Quenching of steady-state fluorescence of group 1 PAHs by nitromethane, albeit not very significant, follow a simple Stern-Volmer behavior. The excited-state emission intensity decay of these PAHs, in both absence and presence of nitromethane, fit best to a single exponential model with small but monotonic decrease in lifetimes. The decrease in lifetime also follows Stern-Volmer behavior, however, the quenching constants (K{sub D}) are lower than those obtained from steady-state fluorescence (K{sub SV}). This is ascribed to the possible formation of charge-transfer complex between the PAH and the nitromethane. Steady-state fluorescence quenching of group 2 PAHs exhibit distinct upward curvature from linear Stern-Volmer behavior implying highly efficient quenching. The intensity decay fits best to a double exponential decay model with longer of the decay times following simple Stern-Volmer behavior. Formation of a complex or the presence of nitromethane within the quenching sphere of action of the PAH having short decay time is proposed. Quenching behavior was found to be similar irrespective of the identity of the DES. A representative group 2 PAH, pyrene, is employed to investigate diffusion dynamics within aqueous mixtures of the two DESs. The bimolecular quenching rate constant (k{sub q}) is found to increase linearly with

  12. An approach for assessing human exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rice, Glenn; MacDonell, Margaret; Hertzberg, Richard C.; Teuschler, Linda; Picel, Kurt; Butler, Jim; Chang, Young-Soo; Hartmann, Heidi

    2008-01-01

    Humans are exposed daily to multiple chemicals, including incidental exposures to complex chemical mixtures released into the environment and to combinations of chemicals that already co-exist in the environment because of previous releases from various sources. Exposures to chemical mixtures can occur through multiple pathways and across multiple routes. In this paper, we propose an iterative approach for assessing exposures to environmental chemical mixtures; it is similar to single-chemical approaches. Our approach encompasses two elements of the Risk Assessment Paradigm: Problem Formulation and Exposure Assessment. Multiple phases of the assessment occur in each element of the paradigm. During Problem Formulation, analysts identify and characterize the source(s) of the chemical mixture, ensure that dose-response and exposure assessment measures are concordant, and develop a preliminary evaluation of the mixture's fate. During Exposure Assessment, analysts evaluate the fate of the chemicals comprising the mixture using appropriate models and measurement data, characterize the exposure scenario, and estimate human exposure to the mixture. We also describe the utility of grouping the chemicals to be analyzed based on both physical-chemical properties and an understanding of environmental fate. In the article, we also highlight the need for understanding of changes in the mixture composition in the environment due to differential transport, differential degradation, and differential partitioning to other media. The section describes the application of the method to various chemical mixtures, highlighting issues associated with assessing exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment

  13. Measurement of electron drift velocities in the mixture of Xe and He for a new high-pressure Xe gamma-ray detector

    CERN Document Server

    Kobayashi, S; Dmitrenko, V V

    2003-01-01

    Drift velocities of electrons in a mixture of Xe (20 atm)-He (3 atm) were measured using a cylindrical high-pressure xenon chamber. The drift velocities were found to be greater than 3x10 sup 5 cm/s above the reduced electric field of 2.0x10 sup - sup 1 sup 8 V centre dot cm sup 2 at room temperature, which are close to those in Xe-H sub 2 (0.3%). The mixture of He gas into high-pressure xenon improved the resolving time of detectors because it increased the electron drift velocities. This implies that a high-pressure xenon chamber mixed with sup 3 He instead of He gas operates as a gamma-ray detector sensitive to thermal neutrons. (author)

  14. Experimental Investigation Evaporation of Liquid Mixture Droplets during Depressurization into Air Stream

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, L.; Bi, Q. C.; Terekhov, Victor I.; Shishkin, Nikolay E.

    2010-03-01

    The objective of this study is to develop experimental method to study the evaporation process of liquid mixture droplets during depressurization and into air stream. During the experiment, a droplet was suspended on a thermocouple; an infrared thermal imager was used to measure the droplet surface temperature transition. Saltwater droplets were used to investigate the evaporation process during depressurization, and volatile liquid mixtures of ethanol, methanol and acetone in water were applied to experimentally research the evaporation into air stream. According to the results, the composition and concentration has a complex influence on the evaporation rate and the temperature transition. With an increase in the share of more volatile component, the evaporation rate increases. While, a higher salt concentration in water results in a lower evaporation rate. The shape variation of saltwater droplet also depends on the mass concentration in solution, whether it is higher or lower than the eutectic point (22.4%). The results provide important insight into the complex heat and mass transfer of liquid mixture during evaporation.

  15. Beyond GLMs: a generative mixture modeling approach to neural system identification.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucas Theis

    Full Text Available Generalized linear models (GLMs represent a popular choice for the probabilistic characterization of neural spike responses. While GLMs are attractive for their computational tractability, they also impose strong assumptions and thus only allow for a limited range of stimulus-response relationships to be discovered. Alternative approaches exist that make only very weak assumptions but scale poorly to high-dimensional stimulus spaces. Here we seek an approach which can gracefully interpolate between the two extremes. We extend two frequently used special cases of the GLM-a linear and a quadratic model-by assuming that the spike-triggered and non-spike-triggered distributions can be adequately represented using Gaussian mixtures. Because we derive the model from a generative perspective, its components are easy to interpret as they correspond to, for example, the spike-triggered distribution and the interspike interval distribution. The model is able to capture complex dependencies on high-dimensional stimuli with far fewer parameters than other approaches such as histogram-based methods. The added flexibility comes at the cost of a non-concave log-likelihood. We show that in practice this does not have to be an issue and the mixture-based model is able to outperform generalized linear and quadratic models.

  16. Muonium radicals in benzene-styrene mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ng, B.W.; Stadlbauer, J.W.; Walker, D.C.

    1984-01-01

    Muonium radicals were observed through their μ + SR precession frequencies in high transverse magnetic fields in pure benzene, pure styrene and their mixtures, all as liquids at room temperature. In benzene-styrene mixtures, the radicals obtained in each pure liquid are both present, so no slow (10 -9 -10 -5 s) intermolecular exchange occurs; but strong selectivity was found with the formation of the radical from styrene being about eight-times more probable than the radical from benzene. (Auth.)

  17. A Functional Monomer Is Not Enough: Principal Component Analysis of the Influence of Template Complexation in Pre-Polymerization Mixtures on Imprinted Polymer Recognition and Morphology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kerstin Golker

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available In this report, principal component analysis (PCA has been used to explore the influence of template complexation in the pre-polymerization phase on template molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP recognition and polymer morphology. A series of 16 bupivacaine MIPs were studied. The ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA-crosslinked polymers had either methacrylic acid (MAA or methyl methacrylate (MMA as the functional monomer, and the stoichiometry between template, functional monomer and crosslinker was varied. The polymers were characterized using radioligand equilibrium binding experiments, gas sorption measurements, swelling studies and data extracted from molecular dynamics (MD simulations of all-component pre-polymerization mixtures. The molar fraction of the functional monomer in the MAA-polymers contributed to describing both the binding, surface area and pore volume. Interestingly, weak positive correlations between the swelling behavior and the rebinding characteristics of the MAA-MIPs were exposed. Polymers prepared with MMA as a functional monomer and a polymer prepared with only EGDMA were found to share the same characteristics, such as poor rebinding capacities, as well as similar surface area and pore volume, independent of the molar fraction MMA used in synthesis. The use of PCA for interpreting relationships between MD-derived descriptions of events in the pre-polymerization mixture, recognition properties and morphologies of the corresponding polymers illustrates the potential of PCA as a tool for better understanding these complex materials and for their rational design.

  18. Characterization of bioactive mixtures oligogalacturonidos

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mederos Torres, Yuliem; Hormaza Montenegro, Josefa; Reynaldo Escobar, Ines; Montesino Sequi, Raquel

    2011-01-01

    Oligogalacturonides are pectic oligosaccharides composed of lineal chains of D-galacturonic acid, linked by α (1-4) glycosidic linkage. Oligogalacturonides' mixtures are obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of pectins of diverse vegetal species. These oligosaccharides unchain a diverse biological activity in plants, which depends mainly on their polymerization degrees. The National Institute of Agricultural Science has a patent technology at national scale that lets to obtain a mixture of oligogalacturonides with different polymerization degree. In this work is presented the characterization of oligogalacturonides by spectrophotometric analysis attending to their uronic acids, reductor sugars, and neutral sugars content. Also the chromatographic profile of samples in study is obtained, using the derivatization with 2-aminobenzamide label and the separation by high pH anion exchange chromatography. It is achieved the separation of at least eight galacturonic acid oligomers with a variable degree of polymerization. On the other hand, the analysis by Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) showed that mixtures were composed by galacturonic acid salts. Results indicated that starting from two pectic acids with different characteristics, mixtures of oligogalacturonides of similar chemical composition could be obtained, but they differ in the proportion that they are presented

  19. Chirality-selected phase behaviour in ionic polypeptide complexes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perry, Sarah L.; Leon, Lorraine; Hoffmann, Kyle Q.; Kade, Matthew J.; Priftis, Dimitrios; Black, Katie A.; Wong, Derek; Klein, Ryan A.; Pierce, Charles F.; Margossian, Khatcher O.; Whitmer, Jonathan K.; Qin, Jian; de Pablo, Juan J.; Tirrell, Matthew

    2015-01-01

    Polyelectrolyte complexes present new opportunities for self-assembled soft matter. Factors determining whether the phase of the complex is solid or liquid remain unclear. Ionic polypeptides enable examination of the effects of stereochemistry on complex formation. Here we demonstrate that chirality determines the state of polyelectrolyte complexes, formed from mixing dilute solutions of oppositely charged polypeptides, via a combination of electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions. Fluid complexes occur when at least one of the polypeptides in the mixture is racemic, which disrupts backbone hydrogen-bonding networks. Pairs of purely chiral polypeptides, of any sense, form compact, fibrillar solids with a β-sheet structure. Analogous behaviour occurs in micelles formed from polypeptide block copolymers with polyethylene oxide, where assembly into aggregates with either solid or fluid cores, and eventually into ordered phases at high concentrations, is possible. Chirality is an exploitable tool for manipulating material properties in polyelectrolyte complexation. PMID:25586861

  20. Preparation and properties of amylose complexes prepared from hexadecylamine and its hydrochloride salt

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amylose inclusion complexes were prepared from jet-cooked aqueous mixtures of high amylose corn starch and 1-hexadecylamine (HDA). Slow-cooling produced torus/disc-shaped spherulites, whereas aggregates of smaller spherulites were obtained by rapid-cooling in ice. The morphologies and 6(1)V x-ray ...

  1. Modification of Gaussian mixture models for data classification in high energy physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Štěpánek, Michal; Franc, Jiří; Kůs, Václav

    2015-01-01

    In high energy physics, we deal with demanding task of signal separation from background. The Model Based Clustering method involves the estimation of distribution mixture parameters via the Expectation-Maximization algorithm in the training phase and application of Bayes' rule in the testing phase. Modifications of the algorithm such as weighting, missing data processing, and overtraining avoidance will be discussed. Due to the strong dependence of the algorithm on initialization, genetic optimization techniques such as mutation, elitism, parasitism, and the rank selection of individuals will be mentioned. Data pre-processing plays a significant role for the subsequent combination of final discriminants in order to improve signal separation efficiency. Moreover, the results of the top quark separation from the Tevatron collider will be compared with those of standard multivariate techniques in high energy physics. Results from this study has been used in the measurement of the inclusive top pair production cross section employing DØ Tevatron full Runll data (9.7 fb-1).

  2. New Transition metal assisted complex borohydrides for hydrogen storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sesha Srinivasan; Elias Lee Stefanakos; Yogi Goswami

    2006-01-01

    High capacity hydrogen storage systems are indeed essential for the on-board vehicular application that leads to the pollution free environment. Apart from the various hydrogen storage systems explored in the past, complex hydrides involving light weight alkali/alkaline metals exhibits promising hydrogenation/ dehydrogenation characteristics. New transition metal assisted complex borohydrides [Zn(BH 4 ) 2 ] have been successfully synthesized by an inexpensive mechano-chemical process. These complex hydrides possesses gravimetric hydrogen storage capacity of ∼8.4 wt.% at around 120 C. We have determined the volumetric hydrogen absorption and desorption of these materials for a number of cycles. Another complex borohydride mixture LiBH 4 /MgH 2 catalyzed with ZnCl 2 has been synthesized and characterized using various analytical techniques. (authors)

  3. Spectrophotometric determination of rare earths in binary mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krasnova, A.V.; Shvarev, V.S.

    1978-01-01

    The possibility was investigated of using the reaction with brompyrogallol red (BPR) (dibrompyrogallosulfophthalein) for analyzing binary mixtures of rare earth metals close in ordinal numbers (La-Y, La-Eu, La-Sm, La-Nd, Nd-Y, Nd-Eu). Heavy REM are masked by nitrile-acetic acid (NAA). The experimental design method was used to determine optimum conditions. The optimizing parameters were the optical density measured with respect to water and the amount of the component bound into the complex. It was found that optimum conditions for the analysis of investigated mixtures differ only in the amount of NAA necessary to mask the heavy element [NAA]/[Sm 3+ ]=4; [NAA]/[Eu 3+ ]=5; [NAA]/Nb 3+ ]=10; [NAA]/[Y 3+ ]=2.5. The optimum acidity and the amount of BPR are always the same: pH 6.5; [BPR]/[La 3+ ]=[BPR]/[Nd 3+ ]=4. The given method for analyzing binary mixtures of lanthanoids surpasses considerably in sensitivity the methods based on intrinsic absorption spectra, while retaining the same reproducibility

  4. Parental exposure to natural mixtures of POPs reduced embryo production and altered gene transcription in zebrafish embryos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyche, Jan L; Grześ, Irena M; Karlsson, Camilla; Nourizadeh-Lillabadi, Rasoul; Berg, Vidar; Kristoffersen, Anja B; Skåre, Janneche U; Alestrøm, Peter; Ropstad, Erik

    2013-01-15

    Determination of toxicity of complex mixtures has been proposed to be one of the most important challenges for modern toxicology. In this study we performed genome wide transcriptome profiling to assess potential toxicant induced changes in gene regulation in zebrafish embryos following parental exposure to two natural mixtures of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The mixtures used were extracted from burbot (Lota lota) liver originating from two lakes (Lake Mjøsa and Lake Losna) belonging to the same freshwater system in Norway. The dominating groups of contaminants were polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane metabolites (DDTs). Because both mixtures used in the present study induced similar effects, it is likely that the same toxicants are involved. The Mjøsa mixture contains high levels of PBDEs while this group of pollutants is low in the Losna mixture. However, both mixtures contain substantial concentrations of PCB and DDT suggesting these contaminants as the predominant contributors to the toxicity observed. The observed effects included phenotypic traits, like embryo production and survival, and gene transcription changes corresponding with disease and biological functions such as cancer, reproductive system disease, cardiovascular disease, lipid and protein metabolism, small molecule biochemistry and cell cycle. The changes in gene transcription included genes regulated by HNF4A, insulin, LH, FSH and NF-κB which are known to be central regulators of endocrine signaling, metabolism, metabolic homeostasis, immune functions, cancer development and reproduction. The results suggest that relative low concentrations of the natural mixtures of POPs used in the present study might pose a threat to wild freshwater fish living in the lakes from which the POPs mixtures originated. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Structure of steam water mixture spray

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitsuhashi, Yuki; Mizutani, Hiroya; Sanada, Toshiyuki; Saito, Takayuki

    2008-01-01

    The flow structure of steam and water mixture spray is studied both numerically and experimentally. The velocity and pressure profiles of the single phase flow are calculated using numerical methods. Using calculated flow fields, the droplet behavior is predicted by the one-way interaction model. This numerical analysis clarifies that the droplets are still accelerated after they are sprayed from the nozzle. In the experiments, the spray of the mixture is observed by using ultra high-speed video camera, and the velocity field is measured by using PIV technique. Along with this PIV velocity field measurement, the velocities and diameters of droplets are measured by phase Doppler anemometry. Furthermore, mixing process of steam and water, and atomization process of liquid film are observed through the transparent nozzle. The high-speed photography observation reveals that the flow inside the nozzle forms the annular flow and the most of the liquid film is atomized at the nozzle outlet. Finally, the optimum method of processing mixture of steam and water is proposed. (author)

  6. Solvation of hydrocarbons in aqueous-organic mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sedov, I.A.; Magsumov, T.I.; Solomonov, B.N.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Thermodynamic functions of solvation in mixtures of water with acetone and acetonitrile are measured at T = 298.15 K. • Solvation of n-octane and toluene in aqueous-organic mixtures is studied. • When increasing water content, Gibbs free energies grow up steadily, while enthalpies have a maximum. • Hydrocarbons are preferentially solvated with organic cosolvent even in mixtures with rather high water content. • Acetonitrile suppresses the hydrophobic effect less than acetone. - Abstract: We study the solvation of two hydrocarbons, n-octane and toluene, in binary mixtures of water with organic cosolvents. Two polar aprotic cosolvents that are miscible with water in any proportions, acetonitrile and acetone, were considered. We determine the magnitudes of thermodynamic functions of dissolution and solvation at T = 298.15 K in the mixtures with various compositions. Solution calorimetry was used to measure the enthalpies of solution, and GC headspace analysis was applied to obtain limiting activity coefficients of solutes in the studied systems. For the first time, the enthalpies of solution of alkane in the mixtures with high water content were measured directly. We observed well-pronounced maxima of the dependencies of enthalpies of solvation from the composition of solvent and no maxima for the Gibbs free energies of solvation. Two factors are concluded to be important to explain the observed tendencies: high energy cost of reorganization of binary solvent upon insertion of solute molecules and preferential surrounding of hydrocarbons with the molecules of organic cosolvent. Enthalpy-entropy compensation leads to a steady growth of the Gibbs free energies with increasing water content. On the other hand, consideration of the plots of the Gibbs free energy against enthalpy of solvation clearly shows that the solvation properties are changed dramatically after addition of a rather small amount of organic cosolvents. It is shown that they

  7. Low-temperature atmospheric oxidation of mixtures of titanium and carbon black or brown

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elizarova, V.A.; Babaitsev, I.V.; Barzykin, V.V.; Gerusova, V.P.; Rozenband, V.I.

    1984-01-01

    This article reports on the thermogravimetric investigation of mixtures of titanium no. 2 and carbon black with various mass carbon contents. Adding carbon black (as opposed to boron) to titanium leads to an increase in the rate of heat release of the oxidation reaction. An attempt is made to clarify the low-temperature oxidation mechanism of titanium mixtures in air. An x-ray phase and chemical (for bound carbon) analysis of specimens of a stoichiometric Ti + C mixture after heating in air to a temperature of 650 0 C at the rate of 10 0 /min was conducted. The results indicate that the oxidation of the titanium-carbon mixture probably proceeds according to a more complex mechanism associated with the transport of the gaseous carbon oxidation products and their participation in the titanium oxidation

  8. CHANGES IN NUCLEAR TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS IN RAT HIPPOCAMPUS AND CEREBELLUM FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENTAL EXPOSURE TO A COMMERCIAL PCB MIXTURE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) offer a unique model to understand the major issues related to complex environmental mixtures. These pollutants are ubiquitous and exist as mixtures of several congeners in the environment. Human exposures to PCBs are associated with a variety of ...

  9. Prediction of the Flash Point of Binary and Ternary Straight-Chain Alkane Mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    X. Li

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The flash point is an important physical property used to estimate the fire hazard of a flammable liquid. To avoid the occurrence of fire or explosion, many models are used to predict the flash point; however, these models are complex, and the calculation process is cumbersome. For pure flammable substances, the research for predicting the flash point is systematic and comprehensive. For multicomponent mixtures, especially a hydrocarbon mixture, the current research is insufficient to predict the flash point. In this study, a model was developed to predict the flash point of straight-chain alkane mixtures using a simple calculation process. The pressure, activity coefficient, and other associated physicochemical parameters are not required for the calculation in the proposed model. A series of flash points of binary and ternary mixtures of straight-chain alkanes were determined. The results of the model present consistent experimental results with an average absolute deviation for the binary mixtures of 0.7% or lower and an average absolute deviation for the ternary mixtures of 1.03% or lower.

  10. Combination of electrospray ionization, atmospheric pressure photoionization and laser desorption ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotronic resonance mass spectrometry for the investigation of complex mixtures – Application to the petroleomic analysis of bio-oils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hertzog, Jasmine [LCP-A2MC, FR 2843 Institut Jean Barriol de Chimie et Physique Moléculaires et Biomoléculaires, FR 3624 Réseau National de Spectrométrie de Masse FT-ICR à très haut champ, Université de Lorraine, ICPM, 1 boulevard Arago, 57078 Metz Cedex 03 (France); Carré, Vincent, E-mail: vincent.carre@univ-lorraine.fr [LCP-A2MC, FR 2843 Institut Jean Barriol de Chimie et Physique Moléculaires et Biomoléculaires, FR 3624 Réseau National de Spectrométrie de Masse FT-ICR à très haut champ, Université de Lorraine, ICPM, 1 boulevard Arago, 57078 Metz Cedex 03 (France); Le Brech, Yann [LRGP, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, ENSIC, 1, Rue Grandville, 54000 Nancy (France); Mackay, Colin Logan [SIRCAMS, School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, Scotland (United Kingdom); Dufour, Anthony [LRGP, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, ENSIC, 1, Rue Grandville, 54000 Nancy (France); Mašek, Ondřej [UK Biochar Research Center, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JN (United Kingdom); and others

    2017-05-29

    The comprehensive description of complex mixtures such as bio-oils is required to understand and improve the different processes involved during biological, environmental or industrial operation. In this context, we have to consider how different ionization sources can improve a non-targeted approach. Thus, the Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) has been coupled to electrospray ionization (ESI), laser desorption ionization (LDI) and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) to characterize an oak pyrolysis bio-oil. Close to 90% of the all 4500 compound formulae has been attributed to C{sub x}H{sub y}O{sub z} with similar oxygen class compound distribution. Nevertheless, their relative abundance in respect with their double bound equivalent (DBE) value has evidenced significant differences depending on the ion source used. ESI has allowed compounds with low DBE but more oxygen atoms to be ionized. APPI has demonstrated the efficient ionization of less polar compounds (high DBE values and less oxygen atoms). The LDI behavior of bio-oils has been considered intermediate in terms of DBE and oxygen amounts but it has also been demonstrated that a significant part of the features are specifically detected by this ionization method. Thus, the complementarity of three different ionization sources has been successfully demonstrated for the exhaustive characterization by petroleomic approach of a complex mixture. - Highlights: • Non-targeted mass spectrometry by combining electrospray ionization, atmospheric pressure photoionization and laser/desorption ionization. • Exhaustive description of pyrolytic bio-oil components. • Distinction of sugaric derivatives, lignin derivatives and lipids contained in a woody-based pyrolytic bio-oil.

  11. Raman Spectroscopic Study of Tungsten(VI) Oxosulfato Complexes in WO3–K2S2O7–K2SO4 Molten Mixtures: Stoichiometry, Vibrational Properties and Molecular Structure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Paulson, Andreas L.; Kalampounias, Angelos G.; Berg, Rolf W.

    2011-01-01

    The dissolution reaction of WO3 in pure molten K2S2O7 and in molten K2S2O7-K2SO4 mixtures is studied under static equilibrium conditions in the XWO3 0 = 0-0.33 mol fraction range at temperatures up to 860 C. High temperature Raman spectroscopy shows that the dissolution leads to formation of WVI...... configuration as a core unit within the oxosulfato complexes formed. A quantitative exploitation of the relative Raman intensities in the binary WO3-K2S2O7 system allows the determination of the stoichiometric coefficient, n, of the complex formation reaction WO3 þ nS2O7 2-fC2n-. It is found that n = 1......; therefore, the reaction WO3 þ S2O7 2- f WO2(SO4)2 2- with six-fold W coordination is proposed as fully consistent with the observed Raman features. The effects of the incremental dissolution and presence of K2SO4 inWO3-K2S2O7 melts point to aWO3 3 K2S2O7 3 K2SO4 stoichiometry and a corresponding complex...

  12. Selective chromogenic and fluorogenic peptide substrates for the assay of cysteine peptidases in complex mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semashko, Tatiana A; Vorotnikova, Elena A; Sharikova, Valeriya F; Vinokurov, Konstantin S; Smirnova, Yulia A; Dunaevsky, Yakov E; Belozersky, Mikhail A; Oppert, Brenda; Elpidina, Elena N; Filippova, Irina Y

    2014-03-15

    This study describes the design, synthesis, and use of selective peptide substrates for cysteine peptidases of the C1 papain family, important in many biological processes. The structure of the newly synthesized substrates is Glp-Xaa-Ala-Y (where Glp=pyroglutamyl; Xaa=Phe or Val; and Y=pNA [p-nitroanilide], AMC [4-amino-7-methylcoumaride], or AFC [4-amino-7-trifluoromethyl-coumaride]). Substrates were synthesized enzymatically to guarantee selectivity of the reaction and optical purity of the target compounds, simplifying the scheme of synthesis and isolation of products. The hydrolysis of the synthesized substrates was evaluated by C1 cysteine peptidases from different organisms and with different functions, including plant enzymes papain, bromelain, ficin, and mammalian lysosomal cathepsins B and L. The new substrates were selective for C1 cysteine peptidases and were not hydrolyzed by serine, aspartic, or metallo peptidases. We demonstrated an application of the selectivity of the synthesized substrates during the chromatographic separation of a multicomponent set of digestive peptidases from a beetle, Tenebrio molitor. Used in combination with the cysteine peptidase inhibitor E-64, these substrates were able to differentiate cysteine peptidases from peptidases of other classes in midgut extracts from T. molitor larvae and larvae of the genus Tribolium; thus, they are useful in the analysis of complex mixtures containing peptidases from different classes. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  13. Highly Luminescent Lanthanide Complexes of 1 Hydroxy-2-pyridinones

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    University of California, Berkeley; Lawrence National Laboratory; Raymond, Kenneth; Moore, Evan G.; Xu, Jide; Jocher, Christoph J.; Castro-Rodriguez, Ingrid; Raymond, Kenneth N.

    2007-11-01

    The synthesis, X-ray structure, stability, and photophysical properties of several trivalent lanthanide complexes formed from two differing bis-bidentate ligands incorporating either alkyl or alkyl ether linkages and featuring the 1-hydroxy-2-pyridinone (1,2-HOPO) chelate group in complex with Eu(III), Sm(III) and Gd(III) are reported. The Eu(III) complexes are among some of the best examples, pairing highly efficient emission ({Phi}{sub tot}{sup Eu} {approx} 21.5%) with high stability (pEu {approx} 18.6) in aqueous solution, and are excellent candidates for use in biological assays. A comparison of the observed behavior of the complexes with differing backbone linkages shows remarkable similarities, both in stability and photophysical properties. Low temperature photophysical measurements for a Gd(III) complex were also used to gain insight into the electronic structure, and were found to agree with corresponding TD-DFT calculations for a model complex. A comparison of the high resolution Eu(III) emission spectra in solution and from single crystals also revealed a more symmetric coordination geometry about the metal ion in solution due to dynamic rotation of the observed solid state structure.

  14. I-optimal mixture designs

    OpenAIRE

    GOOS, Peter; JONES, Bradley; SYAFITRI, Utami

    2013-01-01

    In mixture experiments, the factors under study are proportions of the ingredients of a mixture. The special nature of the factors in a mixture experiment necessitates specific types of regression models, and specific types of experimental designs. Although mixture experiments usually are intended to predict the response(s) for all possible formulations of the mixture and to identify optimal proportions for each of the ingredients, little research has been done concerning their I-optimal desi...

  15. Mechanisms of formation of trace decomposition products in complex high explosive mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Woodyard, J.D.; Burgess, C.E. [West Texas A and M Univ., Canyon, TX (United States); Rainwater, K.A. [Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock, TX (United States)

    1999-03-01

    A significant concern in the nation`s stockpile surveillance program in prediction of the lifetimes of the high explosives (HE) and their components as the weapons age. The Department of Energy`s Core Surveillance and Enhanced Surveillance programs specifically target issues of degradation of HE, binders, and plastic-bonded explosives (PBX) for determination of component lifetimes and handling procedures. These material science topics are being addressed at the DOE national laboratories and production plants, including Pantex. The principal goal of this project is to identify the mechanisms of decomposition of HE, plasticizers, plastic polymer binders, and radical stabilizers resulting from exposures to ionizing radiation, heat, and humidity. The following reports the work completed for 1998, including a comprehensive literature review about some of the materials examined and the laboratory work completed to date. The materials focused on in the laboratory are TATB, Estane 5301, and Irganox 1010.

  16. Representation and Validation of Liquid Densities for Pure Compounds and Mixtures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    O'Connell, J.; V. Dicky, V.; Abildskov, Jens

    Reliable correlation and prediction of liquid densities are important for designing chemical processes at normal and elevated pressures. We have extended a corresponding states model from molecular theory to yield a robust method for quality testing of experimental data that also provides predicted...... values at unmeasured conditions. The model has been shown to successfully validate and represent the pressure and temperature dependence of liquid densities greater than 1.5 of the critical density for pure compounds, binary mixtures, and ternary mixtures from the triple to critical temperatures...... at pressures up to 1000 MPa. The systems include the full range of organic compounds, including complex mixtures, and ionic liquids. Minimal data are required for making predictions.The presentation will show the implementation of the method, criteria for its deployment, examples of its application to a wide...

  17. In Vitro Digestibility of Rapeseed and Bovine Whey Protein Mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joehnke, Marcel Skejovic; Rehder, Alina; Sørensen, Susanne; Bjergegaard, Charlotte; Sørensen, Jens Christian; Markedal, Keld Ejdrup

    2018-01-24

    Partial replacement of animal protein sources with plant proteins is highly relevant for the food industry, but potential effects on protein digestibility need to be established. In this study, the in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) of four protein sources and their mixtures (50:50 w/w ratio) was investigated using a transient pepsin hydrolysis (1 h) followed by pancreatin (1 h). The protein sources consisted of napin-rich rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) protein concentrates (RPCs; RP1, RP2) prepared in pilot scale and major bovine whey proteins (WPs; α-LA, alpha-lactalbumin; β-LG, beta-lactoglobulin). IVPD of individual protein sources was higher for WPs compared to RPCs. The RP2/β-LG mixture resulted in an unexpected high IVPD equivalent to β-LG protein alone. Protein mixtures containing RP1 showed a new IVPD response type due to the negative influence of a high trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA) level. Improved IVPD of RP1 alone and in protein mixtures was obtained by lowering the TIA level using dithiothreitol (DTT). These results showed that napin-rich protein products prepared by appropriate processing can be combined with specific WPs in mixtures to improve the IVPD.

  18. Energetic lanthanide complexes: coordination chemistry and explosives applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manner, V W; Barker, B J; Sanders, V E; Laintz, K E; Scott, B L; Preston, D N; Sandstrom, M; Reardon, B L

    2014-01-01

    Metals are generally added to organic molecular explosives in a heterogeneous composite to improve overall heat and energy release. In order to avoid creating a mixture that can vary in homogeneity, energetic organic molecules can be directly bonded to high molecular weight metals, forming a single metal complex with Angstrom-scale separation between the metal and the explosive. To probe the relationship between the structural properties of metal complexes and explosive performance, a new series of energetic lanthanide complexes has been prepared using energetic ligands such as NTO (5-nitro-2,4-dihydro-1,2,4-triazole-3-one). These are the first examples of lanthanide NTO complexes where no water is coordinated to the metal, demonstrating novel control of the coordination environment. The complexes have been characterized by X-ray crystallography, NMR and IR spectroscopies, photoluminescence, and sensitivity testing. The structural and energetic properties are discussed in the context of enhanced blast effects and detection. Cheetah calculations have been performed to fine-tune physical properties, creating a systematic method for producing explosives with 'tailor made' characteristics. These new complexes will be benchmarks for further study in the field of metalized high explosives.

  19. Chloramination of Concentrated Drinking Water for Disinfection Byproduct Mixtures Creation- Indianapolis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Complex mixtures of disinfection by-products (DBPs) are formed when the disinfectant oxidizes constituents (e.g., natural organic matter (NOM) and organic pollutants) found in the source water. Since 1974, over 600 DBPs have been identified in drinking water. Despite intense iden...

  20. Exposure to perfluorononanoic acid combined with a low-dose mixture of 14 human-relevant compounds disturbs energy/lipid homeostasis in rats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skov, Kasper; Kongsbak, Kristine Grønning; Hadrup, Niels

    2015-01-01

    , whereas effects on lipid metabolism in the liver were mainly driven by PFNA. This study verifies that a chemical mixture given at high-end human exposure levels can affect lipid homeostasis and that the combined use of metabolomics and transcriptomics can provide complimentary information allowing......Humans are constantly exposed to a significant number of compounds and many are readily detected in human body fluids. Worryingly, several of these compounds are either suspected to be, or have already been shown to be harmful to humans either individually or in combination. However, the potential...... consequences of low-dose exposure to complex mixtures remain poorly understood. We have profiled the effects on rat blood plasma and liver homeostasis using metabolomics and transcriptomics following 2-week exposure to either a mixture of 14 common chemicals (Mix), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) at low (0...

  1. Ionic liquids for separation of olefin-paraffin mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Sheng; Luo, Huimin; Huang, Jing-Fang

    2013-09-17

    The invention is directed to an ionic liquid comprising (i) a cationic portion containing a complex of a silver (I) ion and one or more neutral ligands selected from organoamides, organoamines, olefins, and organonitriles, and (ii) an anionic portion having the chemical formula ##STR00001## wherein m and n are independently 0 or an integer of 1 or above, and p is 0 or 1, provided that when p is 0, the group --N--SO.sub.2--(CF.sub.2).sub.nCF.sub.3 subtended by p is replaced with an oxide atom connected to the shown sulfur atom. The invention is also directed to a method for separating an olefin from an olefin-paraffin mixture by passing the mixture through a layer of the ionic liquid described above.

  2. Anion exchange chromatography of 99mTc(Sn)-EHDP complexes: determination of the charge of the components and influence of pH and ligand concentration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huigen, Y.M.; Diender, M.; Gelsema, W.J.; De Ligny, C.L.

    1991-01-01

    The components of a 99m Tc(Sn)-EHDP complex mixture were separated by means of normal pressure and high-pressure anion exchange chromatography. Precautions were taken to prevent the dissociation of the complexes during chromatography. The charges of the components were determined according to the methods of Wilson and Pinkerton (1985) and Russell and Bischoff (1985). The values of the charges obtained with the two methods are not in agreement. Russell and Bischoff's method, in which a reference ion is used, must be preferred. However, even with this method the accuracy of the data obtained is probably limited, due to the difficulty of making corrections for activity coefficients of highly-charge ions at the rather high electrolyte concentrations that must be used in the ion exchange method. So, we think that it is only warranted to conclude that the mean charge of the components of 99m Tc(Sn)-EHDP is about -6 at pH 7, and that the charges of the individual components are in the range of -4 to -9. The influence of pH and ligand concentration in the reaction mixture was determined with high pressure anion exchange chromatography. It was found that a decrease in the pH of the reaction mixture favours the production of complexes with a long retention time, which leads to a slightly higher mean charge. The ligand concentration of the reaction mixture scarcely influenced the relative concentrations of the components. (author)

  3. Solvatochromism of naringenin in aqueous alcoholic mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faraji Mohammad

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The spectral change of naringenin was studied by Uv-vis spectrophotometric method in binary mixtures of water with methanol, ethanol and 1-propanol at 25°C. The effect of solvent was investigated by analysis of electron transition energy at the maximum absorption wavelength as a function of Kamlet and Taft parameters of mixtures by means of linear solvation energy relationships. The nonlinear response of solvatochromism was explained based on solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions. The possible preferential solvation of naringenin by each of solvents was studied through a modified preferential solvation model which considers the hydrogen bonding interactions between the prior solvents due to solvent-solvent interactions. The preferential solvation parameters and local mole fraction distribution around the solute were calculated. Results indicate that naringenin prefers to be more solvated by the complex solvating species and organic solvents than water.

  4. Premature reproductive aging in female rats after developmental exposure to mixtures of endocrine disrupters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Pernille Rosenskjold; Petersen, Marta Axelstad; Christiansen, Sofie

    2013-01-01

    of 13 estrogenic and anti-androgenic chemicals, including phthalates, pesticides, UV-filters, bisphenol A, butylparaben and paracetamol, and the mixture ratio was chosen to reflect high-end human intakes. Groups received combined exposures of 0,100, 150, 200 or 450 times high-end human intake levels......Long-lasting and delayed reproductive effects of developmental exposure to mixtures of environmental chemicals were investigated in female rats. Wistar rats were dosed during gestation and lactation to mixtures of endocrine disrupters, and effects in offspring were studied. The mixtures consisted....... Additionally, groups received mixtures including only the anti-androgens or estrogens at 200 or 450 times human intake. Female offspring exposed to the high dose mixture of all 13 chemicals showed earlier reproductive aging measured as early onset of irregular estrous cycle as compared to controls...

  5. Complexity Plots

    KAUST Repository

    Thiyagalingam, Jeyarajan

    2013-06-01

    In this paper, we present a novel visualization technique for assisting the observation and analysis of algorithmic complexity. In comparison with conventional line graphs, this new technique is not sensitive to the units of measurement, allowing multivariate data series of different physical qualities (e.g., time, space and energy) to be juxtaposed together conveniently and consistently. It supports multivariate visualization as well as uncertainty visualization. It enables users to focus on algorithm categorization by complexity classes, while reducing visual impact caused by constants and algorithmic components that are insignificant to complexity analysis. It provides an effective means for observing the algorithmic complexity of programs with a mixture of algorithms and black-box software through visualization. Through two case studies, we demonstrate the effectiveness of complexity plots in complexity analysis in research, education and application. © 2013 The Author(s) Computer Graphics Forum © 2013 The Eurographics Association and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  6. Speciation of binary complexes of Pb(II and Cd(II with L-asparagine in dimethyl sulfoxide - water mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. N. Rao

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Chemical speciation of L-Asparagine complexes of Pb(II and Cd(II in presence of (0-50% v/v dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO-water mixtures has been studied potentiometrically at 303.0 K and at an ionic strength of 0.16 mol L-1. The models containing different number of species were refined by using the computer program MINIQUAD75. The number of species in the models is chosen based on exhaustive modeling. The predominant species formed are of the type ML2, ML2H, and ML2H2. The best fit chemical models were chosen based on statistical parameters. The convenience of the models is ascertained by studying the effect of errors in concentrations of ingredients. The trend in variation of stability constants with change in the composition of medium is explained on the basis of predominant electrostatic and non-electrostatic forces. Chemical speciation was discussed based on the distribution diagrams. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v30i1.6

  7. Ion mobilities in Xe/Ne and other rare-gas mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Piscitelli, D; Pitchford, L C [Centre de Physique des Plasmas et Applications de Toulouse (CPAT), UMR 5002 CNRS, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse (France); Phelps, A V [JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Technology, Boulder, Colorado (United States); Urquijo, J de [Centro de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Post Office Box 48-3, 62251, 80309-0440 Cuernavaca, Moreno (Mexico); Basurto, E [Departmento de Ciencias Basicas, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, 02200 Mexico Distrito Federal (Mexico)

    2003-10-01

    The ion mobility or drift velocity data important for modeling glow discharges in rare gas mixtures are not generally available, nor are the ion-neutral scattering cross sections needed to calculate these data. In this paper we propose a set of cross sections for Xe{sup +} and Ne{sup +} collisions with Xe and Ne atoms. Ion mobilities at 300 K calculated using this cross section set in a Monte Carlo simulation are reported for reduced field strengths, E/N, up to 1500x10{sup -21} V m{sup 2}, in pure gases and in Xe/Ne mixtures containing 5% and 20% Xe/Ne, which are mixtures of interest for plasma display panels (PDPs). The calculated Xe{sup +} mobilities depend strongly on the mixture composition, but the Ne{sup +} mobility varies only slightly with increasing Xe in the mixture over the range studied here. The mobilities in pure gases compare well with available experimental values, and mobilities in gas mixtures at low E/N compare well with our recent measurements which will be published separately. Results from these calculations of ion mobilities are used to evaluate the predictions of Blanc's law and of the mixture rule proposed by Mason and Hahn [Phys. Rev. A 5, 438 (1972)] for determining the ion mobilities in mixtures from a knowledge of the mobilities in each of the pure gases. The mixture rule of Mason and Hahn is accurate to better than 10% at high field strengths over a wide range of conditions of interest for modeling PDPs. We conclude that a good estimate of ion mobilities at high E/N in Xe/Ne and other binary rare gas mixtures can be obtained using this mixture rule combined with known values of mobilities in parent gases and with the Langevin form for mobility of rare gas ions ion in other gases. This conclusion is supported by results in Ar/Ne mixtures which are also presented here.

  8. Comprehensive default methodology for the analysis of exposures to mixtures of chemicals accidentally released to the atmosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Craig, D.K.; Baskett, R.L.; Powell, T.J.; Davis, J.S.; Dukes, L.L.; Hansen, D.J.; Petrocchi, A.J.; Sutherland, P.J.

    1997-01-01

    Safety analysis of Department of Energy (DOE) facilities requires consideration of potential exposures to mixtures of chemicals released to the atmosphere. Exposure to chemical mixtures may lead to additive, synergistic, or antagonistic health effects. In the past, the consequences of each chemical have been analyzed separately. This approach may not adequately protect the health of persons exposed to mixtures. However, considerable time would be required to evaluate all possible mixtures. The objective of this paper is to present reasonable default methodology developed by the EFCOG Safety Analysis Working Group Nonradiological Hazardous Material Subgroup (NHMS) for use in safety analysis within the DOE Complex

  9. SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF PARACETAMOL AND IBUPROFENE MIXTURES BY HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sophi Damayanti

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Analytical method for the determination of paracetamol and ibuprofene mixtures has been developed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography using C-18 column and acetinitrile - phosphate buffer pH = 4.5 (75:25 containing 0.075% sodium hexanesulfunate as a mobile phase. The detector was set at 215 nm. Using such conditions, retention time for paracetamol and ibuprofen was 4.89 and 7.11 min, respectively. The recovery for paracetamol and ibuprofen was found to be 101.07± 0.73% and 102.02 ± 1.58%, respectively. The detector limits of the method was 1.30 and 1.60 μg/mL with the relative standard deviation (RSD 0.74 and 1.52% for paracetamol and ibuprofen, respectively.   Keywords: paracetamol, ibuprofen, multi-component, validation, HPLC.

  10. Nature of strontium extraction by synergistic mixtures of chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide and polyethers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smirnov, I.V.; Stoyanov, E.S.; Vorob'eva, T.P.

    2003-01-01

    Extraction of strontium by synergistic mixtures of chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide (DCC) with different polyethers was studied. In the acidic media the distribution coefficients (D(Sr)) decreases in the order 15-crown-5 > PEG-400 > 18-crown-6 and does not correspond to the row of constants stability of the strontium complexes with these polyethers. When passing to the salt media (Li and Na nitrates) the row of D(Sr) is changed: PEG-400 > 18 crown 6 > 15 crown 5. IR-spectroscopy study has shown that in synergistic mixtures the proton forms [H 5O2 + .PEG], [H 5O2 + .(15-crown-5)2] and [H 3 O + .(18 crown 6)] cations, which are exchange on Sr 2+ resulting to formation [Sr 2+ .PEG], [Sr 2+ .(15-crown-5)2] and [Sr 2+ .(18-crown-6)(H 2 O)n] cations correspondingly. The PEG-400 is the best among polyethylene glycols, since its all six COC groups and two even more active OH groups complete the first co-ordination sphere of Sr 2+ . Extremely low extractability of Sr 2+ from acidic media in the presence of 18-crown-6 as compared with 15-crown-5 is mainly caused by the high stability of the [H 3 O + .(18-crown-6)] cation that is responsible for less extractable hydrated Sr complex formation. (author)

  11. Characterization of a nose-only inhalation exposure system for hydrocarbon mixtures and jet fuels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Sheppard A; Tremblay, Raphael T; Brunson, Kristyn F; Kendrick, Christine; Fisher, Jeffrey W

    2010-04-01

    A directed-flow nose-only inhalation exposure system was constructed to support development of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models for complex hydrocarbon mixtures, such as jet fuels. Due to the complex nature of the aerosol and vapor-phase hydrocarbon exposures, care was taken to investigate the chamber hydrocarbon stability, vapor and aerosol droplet compositions, and droplet size distribution. Two-generation systems for aerosolizing fuel and hydrocarbons were compared and characterized for use with either jet fuels or a simple mixture of eight hydrocarbons. Total hydrocarbon concentration was monitored via online gas chromatography (GC). Aerosol/vapor (A/V) ratios, and total and individual hydrocarbon concentrations, were determined using adsorbent tubes analyzed by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TDS-GC-MS). Droplet size distribution was assessed via seven-stage cascade impactor. Droplet mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) was between 1 and 3 mum, depending on the generator and mixture utilized. A/V hydrocarbon concentrations ranged from approximately 200 to 1300 mg/m(3), with between 20% and 80% aerosol content, depending on the mixture. The aerosolized hydrocarbon mixtures remained stable during the 4-h exposure periods, with coefficients of variation (CV) of less than 10% for the total hydrocarbon concentrations. There was greater variability in the measurement of individual hydrocarbons in the A-V phase. In conclusion, modern analytical chemistry instruments allow for improved descriptions of inhalation exposures of rodents to aerosolized fuel.

  12. PACE: Probabilistic Assessment for Contributor Estimation- A machine learning-based assessment of the number of contributors in DNA mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marciano, Michael A; Adelman, Jonathan D

    2017-03-01

    The deconvolution of DNA mixtures remains one of the most critical challenges in the field of forensic DNA analysis. In addition, of all the data features required to perform such deconvolution, the number of contributors in the sample is widely considered the most important, and, if incorrectly chosen, the most likely to negatively influence the mixture interpretation of a DNA profile. Unfortunately, most current approaches to mixture deconvolution require the assumption that the number of contributors is known by the analyst, an assumption that can prove to be especially faulty when faced with increasingly complex mixtures of 3 or more contributors. In this study, we propose a probabilistic approach for estimating the number of contributors in a DNA mixture that leverages the strengths of machine learning. To assess this approach, we compare classification performances of six machine learning algorithms and evaluate the model from the top-performing algorithm against the current state of the art in the field of contributor number classification. Overall results show over 98% accuracy in identifying the number of contributors in a DNA mixture of up to 4 contributors. Comparative results showed 3-person mixtures had a classification accuracy improvement of over 6% compared to the current best-in-field methodology, and that 4-person mixtures had a classification accuracy improvement of over 20%. The Probabilistic Assessment for Contributor Estimation (PACE) also accomplishes classification of mixtures of up to 4 contributors in less than 1s using a standard laptop or desktop computer. Considering the high classification accuracy rates, as well as the significant time commitment required by the current state of the art model versus seconds required by a machine learning-derived model, the approach described herein provides a promising means of estimating the number of contributors and, subsequently, will lead to improved DNA mixture interpretation. Copyright © 2016

  13. Seasonal and size-related variation of subcellular biomarkers in quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) inhabiting sites affected by moderate contamination with complex mixtures of pollutants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ács, A; Vehovszky, Á; Győri, J; Farkas, A

    2016-07-01

    The size-related differences in subcellular biomarker responses were assessed in Dreissena bugensis mussels inhabiting harbours moderately affected by pollution with complex mixtures of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Adult D. bugensis samples were collected from three harbours of Lake Balaton (Hungary) characterized by moderate shipping activity, and as reference site, from a highly protected remote area of the lake. Biomarkers of exposure (metallothioneins (MTs), ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD)), oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation (LPO), DNA strand breaks (DNAsb)) and possible endocrine disruption (vitellogenin-like proteins (VTG)) were analysed in whole-tissue homogenates of differently sized groups of mussels in relation to environmental parameters and priority pollutants (heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). Integrated biomarker response (IBR) indices were calculated for biomarker responses gained through in situ measurements to signalize critical sites and to better distinguish natural tendencies from biological effects of contaminants. Biomarker responses showed close positive correlation in case of MT, EROD, LPO, and DNAsb and negative correlation with VTG levels with mussel shell length in autumn, when higher levels of biomarkers appeared, possibly due to natural lifecycle changes of animals.

  14. Developmental exposure to a complex PAH mixture causes persistent behavioral effects in naive Fundulus heteroclitus (killifish) but not in a population of PAH-adapted killifish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, D R; Bailey, J M; Oliveri, A N; Levin, E D; Di Giulio, R T

    2016-01-01

    Acute exposures to some individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and complex PAH mixtures are known to cause cardiac malformations and edema in the developing fish embryo. However, the heart is not the only organ impacted by developmental PAH exposure. The developing brain is also affected, resulting in lasting behavioral dysfunction. While acute exposures to some PAHs are teratogenically lethal in fish, little is known about the later life consequences of early life, lower dose subteratogenic PAH exposures. We sought to determine and characterize the long-term behavioral consequences of subteratogenic developmental PAH mixture exposure in both naive killifish and PAH-adapted killifish using sediment pore water derived from the Atlantic Wood Industries Superfund Site. Killifish offspring were embryonically treated with two low-level PAH mixture dilutions of Elizabeth River sediment extract (ERSE) (TPAH 5.04 μg/L and 50.4 μg/L) at 24h post fertilization. Following exposure, killifish were raised to larval, juvenile, and adult life stages and subjected to a series of behavioral tests including: a locomotor activity test (4 days post-hatch), a sensorimotor response tap/habituation test (3 months post hatch), and a novel tank diving and exploration test (3months post hatch). Killifish were also monitored for survival at 1, 2, and 5 months over 5-month rearing period. Developmental PAH exposure caused short-term as well as persistent behavioral impairments in naive killifish. In contrast, the PAH-adapted killifish did not show behavioral alterations following PAH exposure. PAH mixture exposure caused increased mortality in reference killifish over time; yet, the PAH-adapted killifish, while demonstrating long-term rearing mortality, had no significant changes in mortality associated with ERSE exposure. This study demonstrated that early embryonic exposure to PAH-contaminated sediment pore water caused long-term locomotor and behavioral alterations in

  15. Nonparametric Fine Tuning of Mixtures: Application to Non-Life Insurance Claims Distribution Estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sardet, Laure; Patilea, Valentin

    When pricing a specific insurance premium, actuary needs to evaluate the claims cost distribution for the warranty. Traditional actuarial methods use parametric specifications to model claims distribution, like lognormal, Weibull and Pareto laws. Mixtures of such distributions allow to improve the flexibility of the parametric approach and seem to be quite well-adapted to capture the skewness, the long tails as well as the unobserved heterogeneity among the claims. In this paper, instead of looking for a finely tuned mixture with many components, we choose a parsimonious mixture modeling, typically a two or three-component mixture. Next, we use the mixture cumulative distribution function (CDF) to transform data into the unit interval where we apply a beta-kernel smoothing procedure. A bandwidth rule adapted to our methodology is proposed. Finally, the beta-kernel density estimate is back-transformed to recover an estimate of the original claims density. The beta-kernel smoothing provides an automatic fine-tuning of the parsimonious mixture and thus avoids inference in more complex mixture models with many parameters. We investigate the empirical performance of the new method in the estimation of the quantiles with simulated nonnegative data and the quantiles of the individual claims distribution in a non-life insurance application.

  16. Complexation Effect on Redox Potential of Iron(III)-Iron(II) Couple: A Simple Potentiometric Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizvi, Masood Ahmad; Syed, Raashid Maqsood; Khan, Badruddin

    2011-01-01

    A titration curve with multiple inflection points results when a mixture of two or more reducing agents with sufficiently different reduction potentials are titrated. In this experiment iron(II) complexes are combined into a mixture of reducing agents and are oxidized to the corresponding iron(III) complexes. As all of the complexes involve the…

  17. Dehydriding and re-hydriding properties of high-energy ball milled LiBH{sub 4}+MgH{sub 2} mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crosby, Kyle; Shaw, Leon L. [Department of Chemical, Materials and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, 97 North Eagleville Road, U-3136, Storrs, CT 06269 (United States)

    2010-07-15

    Here we report the first investigation of the dehydriding and re-hydriding properties of 2LiBH{sub 4} + MgH{sub 2} mixtures in the solid state. Such a study is made possible by high-energy ball milling of 2LiBH{sub 4}+MgH{sub 2} mixtures at liquid nitrogen temperature with the addition of graphite. The 2LiBH{sub 4}+MgH{sub 2} mixture ball milled under this condition exhibits a 5-fold increase in the released hydrogen at 265 C when compared with ineffectively ball milled counterparts. Furthermore, both LiBH{sub 4} and MgH{sub 2} contribute to hydrogen release in the solid state. The isothermal dehydriding/re-hydriding cycles at 265 C reveal that re-hydriding is dominated by re-hydriding of Mg. These unusual phenomena are explained based on the formation of nanocrystalline and amorphous phases, the increased defect concentration in crystalline compounds, and possible catalytic effects of Mg,MgH{sub 2} and LiBH{sub 4} on their dehydriding and re-hydriding properties. (author)

  18. A general mixture theory. I. Mixtures of spherical molecules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamad, Esam Z.

    1996-08-01

    We present a new general theory for obtaining mixture properties from the pure species equations of state. The theory addresses the composition and the unlike interactions dependence of mixture equation of state. The density expansion of the mixture equation gives the exact composition dependence of all virial coefficients. The theory introduces multiple-index parameters that can be calculated from binary unlike interaction parameters. In this first part of the work, details are presented for the first and second levels of approximations for spherical molecules. The second order model is simple and very accurate. It predicts the compressibility factor of additive hard spheres within simulation uncertainty (equimolar with size ratio of three). For nonadditive hard spheres, comparison with compressibility factor simulation data over a wide range of density, composition, and nonadditivity parameter, gave an average error of 2%. For mixtures of Lennard-Jones molecules, the model predictions are better than the Weeks-Chandler-Anderson perturbation theory.

  19. On the mesoscopic origins of high viscosities in some polyelectrolyte-surfactant mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoffmann, Ingo, E-mail: ingo.hoffmann@tu-berlin.de [Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 124, Sekr. TC 7, D-10623 Berlin (Germany); Institut Max von Laue-Paul Langevin (ILL), F-38042 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France); Farago, Bela; Schweins, Ralf; Falus, Peter; Sharp, Melissa [Institut Max von Laue-Paul Langevin (ILL), F-38042 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France); Prévost, Sylvain [Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 124, Sekr. TC 7, D-10623 Berlin (Germany); Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, D-14109 Berlin (Germany); Gradzielski, Michael, E-mail: michael.gradzielski@tu-berlin.de [Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 124, Sekr. TC 7, D-10623 Berlin (Germany)

    2015-08-21

    Oppositely charged polyelectrolyte (PE) surfactant mixtures allow the control of rheological parameters of a solution even at fairly low concentrations. For example, addition of 0.3 wt. % of anionic surfactant to a 1 wt. % solution of the polycation JR 400 increases the viscosity by 4 orders of magnitude. Recently, we could show that this increase is related to the formation of mixed, rod-like PE/surfactant aggregates which interconnect several polyelectrolyte chains [Hoffmann et al., Europhys. Lett. 104, 28001 (2013)]. In this paper, we refine our structural model of the aggregates to obtain a more consistent picture of their internal structure for different anionic surfactants. Combining small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and neutron spin-echo (NSE) allows us to determine the size of the aggregates. By comparing different contrasts, the internal structure of the aggregates can be elucidated and it is seen that the PE in the aggregates retains a relatively high freedom of movement. We proceeded to investigate the influence of the surfactant concentration and the surfactant type on structure and dynamics of the mixed aggregates. It is seen that the structural parameters of the aggregates depend very little on the surfactant concentration and headgroup. However, it is crucial to incorporate a sufficient amount of PE in the aggregates to increase the viscosity of the aggregates. By comparing viscous samples at 1 wt. % PE concentration with samples at a PE concentration of 0.3 wt. %, where no significant increase in viscosity is observed, we find that similar aggregates are formed already at this lower PE concentrations. However, the amount of PE incorporated in them is insufficient to interconnect several PE chains and therefore, they do not increase viscosity. So, our detailed investigation combining contrast variation SANS and NSE does not only allow to explain the viscosity behavior but also to deduced detailed information regarding the structures and

  20. Effect of the key mixture parameters on shrinkage of reactive powder concrete.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Shamsad; Zubair, Ahmed; Maslehuddin, Mohammed

    2014-01-01

    Reactive powder concrete (RPC) mixtures are reported to have excellent mechanical and durability characteristics. However, such concrete mixtures having high amount of cementitious materials may have high early shrinkage causing cracking of concrete. In the present work, an attempt has been made to study the simultaneous effects of three key mixture parameters on shrinkage of the RPC mixtures. Considering three different levels of the three key mixture factors, a total of 27 mixtures of RPC were prepared according to 3(3) factorial experiment design. The specimens belonging to all 27 mixtures were monitored for shrinkage at different ages over a total period of 90 days. The test results were plotted to observe the variation of shrinkage with time and to see the effects of the key mixture factors. The experimental data pertaining to 90-day shrinkage were used to conduct analysis of variance to identify significance of each factor and to obtain an empirical equation correlating the shrinkage of RPC with the three key mixture factors. The rate of development of shrinkage at early ages was higher. The water to binder ratio was found to be the most prominent factor followed by cement content with the least effect of silica fume content.

  1. Performance Analysis of Joule-Thomson Cooler Supplied with Gas Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piotrowska, A.; Chorowski, M.; Dorosz, P.

    2017-02-01

    Joule-Thomson (J-T) cryo-coolers working in closed cycles and supplied with gas mixtures are the subject of intensive research in different laboratories. The replacement of pure nitrogen by nitrogen-hydrocarbon mixtures allows to improve both thermodynamic parameters and economy of the refrigerators. It is possible to avoid high pressures in the heat exchanger and to use standard refrigeration compressor instead of gas bottles or high-pressure oil free compressor. Closed cycle and mixture filled Joule-Thomson cryogenic refrigerator providing 10-20 W of cooling power at temperature range 90-100 K has been designed and manufactured. Thermodynamic analysis including the optimization of the cryo-cooler mixture has been performed with ASPEN HYSYS software. The paper describes the design of the cryo-cooler and provides thermodynamic analysis of the system. The test results are presented and discussed.

  2. Laser induced breakdown in gas mixtures. Experimental and statistical investigation on n-decane ignition: Pressure, mixture composition and equivalence ratio effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mokrani, Nabil; Gillard, Philippe

    2018-03-26

    This paper presents a physical and statistical approach to laser-induced breakdown in n-decane/N 2  + O 2 mixtures as a function of incident or absorbed energy. A parametric study, with pressure, fuel purity and equivalence ratio, was conducted to determine the incident and absorbed energies involved in producing breakdown, followed or not by ignition. The experiments were performed using a Q-switched Nd-YAG laser (1064 nm) inside a cylindrical 1-l combustion chamber in the range of 1-100 mJ of incident energy. A stochastic study of breakdown and ignition probabilities showed that the mixture composition had a significant effect on ignition with large variation of incident or absorbed energy required to obtain 50% of breakdown. It was observed that the combustion products absorb more energy coming from the laser. The effect of pressure on the ignition probabilities of lean and near stoichiometric mixtures was also investigated. It was found that a high ignition energy E50% is required for lean mixtures at high pressures (3 bar). The present study provides new data obtained on an original experimental setup and the results, close to laboratory-produced laser ignition phenomena, will enhance the understanding of initial conditions on the breakdown or ignition probabilities for different mixtures. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Molecular investigation on the binding of Cd(II) by the binary mixtures of montmorillonite with two bacterial species

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Du, Huihui; Qu, ChenChen; Liu, Jing; Chen, Wenli; Cai, Peng; Shi, Zhihua; Yu, Xiao-Ying; Huang, Qiaoyun

    2017-10-01

    Bacteria and phyllosilicate commonly coexist in the natural environment, producing various bacteria–clay complexes that are capable of immobilizing heavy metals, such as cadmium, via adsorption. However, the molecular binding mechanisms of heavy metals on these complex aggregates still remain poorly understood. This study investigated Cd adsorption on Gram-positive B. subtilis, Gram-negative P. putida and their binary mixtures with montmorillonite (Mont) using the Cd K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). We observed a lower adsorptive capacity for P. putida than B. subtilis, whereas P. putida–Mont and B. subtilis–Mont mixtures showed nearly identical Cd adsorption behaviors. EXAFS fits and ITC measurements demonstrated more phosphoryl binding of Cd in P. putida. The decreased coordination of C atoms around Cd and the reduced adsorption enthalpies and entropies for the binary mixtures compared to that for individual bacteria suggested that the bidentate Cd-carboxyl complexes in pure bacteria systems were probably transformed into monodentate complexes that acted as ionic bridging structure between bacteria and motmorillonite. This study clarified the binding mechanism of Cd at the bacteria–phyllosilicate interfaces from a molecular and thermodynamic view, which has an environmental significance for predicting the chemical behavior of trace elements in complex mineral–organic systems.

  4. Effects of Mixing on Hopper Sedimentation in Clearing Mixtures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hjelmager Jensen, Jacob; Saremi, Sina

    2015-01-01

    , and a common perception of turbulence (or at least of mixing) is that it delays sedimentation. Existing measurements of sedimentation rates in a closed-flume experiment, engineered to provide input to a hopper sedimentation model, revealed that turbulence in a clearing mixture is not necessarily associated......Hopper sedimentation is the result of precipitation of typically fine sediment from a homogenous, high-concentration mixture, which is not completely deficient of turbulence. If hopper sedimentation or loading is accomplished through a single-inflow system, or if the irregularity of the inflow...... concentrations is pronounced or simply terminated, then the hopper mixture will clear. Whereas turbulent mixing is redundant, when the mixture is homogeneous, it may take an active role when the mixture is clearing. The role of turbulence on hopper sedimentation has been the focus of several studies...

  5. A turbulence model in mixtures. First part: Statistical description of mixture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Besnard, D.

    1987-03-01

    Classical theory of mixtures gives a model for molecular mixtures. This kind of model is based on a small gradient approximation for concentration, temperature, and pression. We present here a mixture model, allowing for large gradients in the flow. We also show that, with a local balance assumption between material diffusion and flow gradients evolution, we obtain a model similar to those mentioned above [fr

  6. Analysis of Influence of Foaming Mixture Components on Structure and Properties of Foam Glass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karandashova, N. S.; Goltsman, B. M.; Yatsenko, E. A.

    2017-11-01

    It is recommended to use high-quality thermal insulation materials to increase the energy efficiency of buildings. One of the best thermal insulation materials is foam glass - durable, porous material that is resistant to almost any effect of substance. Glass foaming is a complex process depending on the foaming mode and the initial mixture composition. This paper discusses the influence of all components of the mixture - glass powder, foaming agent, enveloping material and water - on the foam glass structure. It was determined that glass powder is the basis of the future material. A foaming agent forms a gas phase in the process of thermal decomposition. This aforementioned gas foams the viscous glass mass. The unreacted residue thus changes a colour of the material. The enveloping agent slows the foaming agent decomposition preventing its premature burning out and, in addition, helps to accelerate the sintering of glass particles. The introduction of water reduces the viscosity of the foaming mixture making it evenly distributed and also promotes the formation of water gas that additionally foams the glass mass. The optimal composition for producing the foam glass with the density of 150 kg/m3 is defined according to the results of the research.

  7. High pH reversed-phase chromatography as a superior fractionation scheme compared to off-gel isoelectric focusing for complex proteome analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, Derek R; Hu, Xiaojie; McCorrister, Stuart J; Westmacott, Garrett R; Plummer, Francis A; Ball, Terry B; Carpenter, Michael S

    2013-10-01

    MS/MS is the technology of choice for analyzing complex protein mixtures. However, due to the intrinsic complexity and dynamic range present in higher eukaryotic proteomes, prefractionation is an important step to maximize the number of proteins identified. Off-gel IEF (OG-IEF) and high pH RP (Hp-RP) column chromatography have both been successfully utilized as a first-dimension peptide separation technique in shotgun proteomic experiments. Here, a direct comparison of the two methodologies was performed on ex vivo peripheral blood mononuclear cell lysate. In 12-fraction replicate analysis, Hp-RP resulted in more peptides and proteins identified than OG-IEF fractionation. Distributions of peptide pIs and hydropathy did not reveal any appreciable bias in either technique. Resolution, defined here as the ability to limit a specific peptide to one particular fraction, was significantly better for Hp-RP. This leads to a more uniform distribution of total and unique peptides for Hp-RP across all fractions collected. These results suggest that fractionation by Hp-RP over OG-IEF is the better choice for typical complex proteome analysis. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. Study of properties of helium-based gas mixtures for use of low momentum and high precision measurement in drift chambers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Chang; Zhang Qinjian; Ma Jimao; Huang Xiuping; Yi Kai; Zheng Shuchen

    1998-01-01

    Measured drift velocities using an uniform field drift chamber and multiplication factors obtained with proportional tubes in He-based gas mixtures He + CH 4 (80/20, 70/30) and He + iC 4 H 10 (85/15, 80/20, 70/30) are reported. The results are good agreement with calculations by Garfield Code. The Saturated drift velocity is V d ≅ 2.7 cm/μs and multiplication factor of M ≅ 10 4 -10 5 at certain working voltage is manageable in He/CH 4 (80/20) gas mixture, and it is good candidate of working gas for use of low momentum and high precision measurement in the drift chambers

  9. Enhancement of amylase production by Aspergillus sp. using carbohydrates mixtures from triticale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dojnov Biljana

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available For the purpose of finding a suitable available inducer in combination with starvation, carbohydrate mixtures from triticale was used as inducers and compared with well-known amylase inducers in fungi. Carbohydrate mixtures from triticale induced production of amylase cocktail (α-amylase and glucoamylase in Aspergillus niger, unlike induction with well-known inducers which induce only glucoamylase, showed by zymogram and TLC analysis of carbohydrates mixtures before and after fermentations. Glucoamylase production by A. niger was highest in the presence of extract obtained after autohydrolysis of starch from triticale (95.88 U/mL. Carbohydrate mixtures from triticale induced production of α-amylase in A. oryzae. More α-amylase isoforms were detected upon using complex carbohydrate mixture, compared to induction with maltose or starch. The 48 h induction was the most efficient by using triticale extract (101.35 U/mL. Carbohydrates from triticale extracts can be used as very good cheap amylase inducers. Triticale, still not fully utilized, could be taken into consideration as the inducer in amylase production by Aspergillus sp, such a way it could be used as sole substrate in fermentation. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 172048

  10. Binary and ternary gas mixtures for use in glow discharge closing switches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, S.R.; Christophorou, L.G.

    1988-04-27

    Highly efficient binary and ternary gas mixtures for use in diffuse glow discharge closing switches are disclosed. The binary mixtures are combinations of helium or neon and selected perfluorides. The ternary mixtures are combinations of helium, neon, or argon, a selected perfluoride, and a small amount of gas that exhibits enhanced ionization characteristics. These mixtures are shown to be the optimum choices for use in diffuse glow discharge closing switches by virtue if the combines physio-electric properties of the mixture components. 9 figs.

  11. Thermophysical properties of N, N-dimethylacetamide mixtures with n-butanol

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maharolkar, Aruna P.; Murugkar, A. G.; Khirade, P. W.; Mehrotra, S. C.

    2017-09-01

    The refraction, dielectric, viscosity, density, data of the binary mixtures of N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) with n-butanol at 308.15 and 313.15 K. The measured parameters used to obtain derived properties like Bruggeman factor, molar refraction and excess static dielectric constant, excess inverse relaxation time, excess molar volume and excess viscosity, excess molar refraction. The variation in magnitude with composition and temperature of these quantities has been used to discuss the type, strength and nature of binary interactions. Results confirm that there are strong hydrogen-bond interactions between unlike molecules of DMA+ n-butanol mixtures and that 1: 1 complexes are formed and strength of intermolecular interaction increases with temperature.

  12. Curing kinetics of alkyd/melamine resin mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovičić Mirjana C.

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Alkyd resins are the most popular and useful synthetic resins applied as the binder in protective coatings. Frequently they are not used alone but are modified with other synthetic resins in the manufacture of the coatings. An alkyd/melamine resin mixture is the usual composition for the preparation of coating called 'baking enamel' and it is cured through functional groups of resins at high temperatures. In this paper, curing kinetics of alkyd resins based on castor oil and dehydrated castor oil with melamine resin, has been studied by DSC method with programmed heating and in isothermal mode. The results determined from dynamic DSC curves were mathematically transformed using the Ozawa isoconversional method for obtaining the isothermal data. These results, degree of curing versus time, are in good agreement with those determined by the isothermal DSC experiments. By applying the Ozawa method it is possible to calculate the isothermal kinetic parameters for the alkyd/melamine resin mixtures curing using only calorimetric data obtained by dynamic DSC runs. Depending on the alkyd resin type and ratio in mixtures the values of activation energies of curing process of resin mixtures are from 51.3 to 114 kJ mol-1. The rate constant of curing increases with increasing the content of melamine resin in the mixture and with curing temperature. The reaction order varies from 1.12 to 1.37 for alkyd based on dehydrated castor oil/melamine resin mixtures and from 1.74 to 2.03 for mixtures with alkyd based on castor oil. Based on the results obtained, we propose that dehydrated castor oil alkyd/melamine resin mixtures can be used in practice (curing temperatures from 120 to 160°C.

  13. Application of approximations for joint cumulative k-distributions for mixtures to FSK radiation heat transfer in multi-component high temperature non-LTE plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maurente, André; França, Francis H.R.; Miki, Kenji; Howell, John R.

    2012-01-01

    Approximations for joint cumulative k-distribution for mixtures are efficient for full spectrum k-distribution (FSK) computations. These approximations provide reduction of the database that is necessary to perform FSK computation when compared to the direct approach, which uses cumulative k-distributions computed from the spectrum of the mixture, and also less computational expensive when compared to techniques in which RTE's are required to be solved for each component of the mixture. The aim of the present paper is to extend the approximations for joint cumulative k-distributions for non-LTE media. For doing that, a FSK to non-LTE media formulation well-suited to be applied along with approximations for joint cumulative k-distributions is presented. The application of the proposed methodology is demonstrated by solving the radiation heat transfer in non-LTE high temperature plasmas composed of N, O, N 2 , NO, N 2 + and mixtures of these species. The two more efficient approximations, that is, the superposition and multiplication are employed and analyzed.

  14. Response of steam-water mixtures to pressure transients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hull, L.M.

    1985-01-01

    During the transition phase of a hypothetical core-disruptive accident in a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor, melting fuel-steel mixtures may begin to boil, resulting in a two-phase mixture of molten reactor fuel and steel vapor. Dispersal of this mixture by pressure transients may prevent recriticality of the fuel material. This paper describes the results of a series of experiments that investigated the response of two-phase mixtures to pressure transients. Simulant fluids (steam/water) were used in a transparent 10.2-cm-dia, 63.5-cm-long acrylic tube. The pressure transient was provided by releasing pressurized nitrogen from a supply tank. The data obtained are in the form of pressure-time records and high-speed movies. The varied parameters are initial void fraction (10% and 40%) and transient pressure magnitude (3.45 and 310 kPa)

  15. Optimization of fruit punch using mixture design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, S Bharath; Ravi, R; Saraswathi, G

    2010-01-01

    A highly acceptable dehydrated fruit punch was developed with selected fruits, namely lemon, orange, and mango, using a mixture design and optimization technique. The fruit juices were freeze dried, powdered, and used in the reconstitution studies. Fruit punches were prepared according to the experimental design combinations (total 10) based on a mixture design and then subjected to sensory evaluation for acceptability. Response surfaces of sensory attributes were also generated as a function of fruit juices. Analysis of data revealed that the fruit punch prepared using 66% of mango, 33% of orange, and 1% of lemon had highly desirable sensory scores for color (6.00), body (5.92), sweetness (5.68), and pleasantness (5.94). The aroma pattern of individual as well as combinations of fruit juices were also analyzed by electronic nose. The electronic nose could discriminate the aroma patterns of individual as well as fruit juice combinations by mixture design. The results provide information on the sensory quality of best fruit punch formulations liked by the consumer panel based on lemon, orange, and mango.

  16. Critical solvent thermodynamic effect on molecular recognition: The case of the complex formation of carboxylates and ammonium-squaramido based receptors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Piña, M. Nieves, E-mail: neus.pinya@uib.es; López, Kenia A.; Costa, Antoni; Morey, Jeroni, E-mail: jeroni.morey@uib.es

    2013-10-10

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • The enthalpy–entropy compensation in the complex is independent of the spacer used. • The enthalpy–entropy compensation is dependent on the microscopic nature of the binary mixture. • The enthalpy–entropy compensation is dependent on the proportion of the components of the binary mixture. - Abstract: An isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC) study on the supramolecular complex formation between carboxylates and ammonium-squaramido based receptors at different ethanol:water proportions is reported. The results obtained show that the formation enthalpy sign of a supramolecular complex in a water–ethanol binary mixture can be influenced by the proportion of the cosolvent. Moreover there is an enthalpy–entropy compensation process in the supramolecular complex formation; in poor water mixtures the process is endothermic, whilst in reach water mixtures the process is exothermic. This behavior is mostly due to the intrinsic nature of the mixture between water and ethanol, and particularly the process of solvation and desolvation of receptor, substrate and complex. When this study is repeated with binary mixtures of water–methanol and water–DMSO it is observed that the nature of the organic solvent affects the results. While the mixture water–methanol has a behavior similar to water–ethanol mixture, the water–DMSO mixture shows clear differences. In order to check this compensation process, △Cp values are calculated at two different proportions water–ethanol, and they are consistent with an enthalpy–entropy compensation process similar to that described by the inclusion process for certain hydrophilic cyclodextrines. The results obtained show that the enthalpy–entropy compensation detected in the supramolecular complex formation between carboxylates and ammonium-squaramido receptors is independent of the spacer used, and more dependent on the microscopic nature and proportion of the binary mixture.

  17. Critical solvent thermodynamic effect on molecular recognition: The case of the complex formation of carboxylates and ammonium-squaramido based receptors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Piña, M. Nieves; López, Kenia A.; Costa, Antoni; Morey, Jeroni

    2013-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • The enthalpy–entropy compensation in the complex is independent of the spacer used. • The enthalpy–entropy compensation is dependent on the microscopic nature of the binary mixture. • The enthalpy–entropy compensation is dependent on the proportion of the components of the binary mixture. - Abstract: An isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC) study on the supramolecular complex formation between carboxylates and ammonium-squaramido based receptors at different ethanol:water proportions is reported. The results obtained show that the formation enthalpy sign of a supramolecular complex in a water–ethanol binary mixture can be influenced by the proportion of the cosolvent. Moreover there is an enthalpy–entropy compensation process in the supramolecular complex formation; in poor water mixtures the process is endothermic, whilst in reach water mixtures the process is exothermic. This behavior is mostly due to the intrinsic nature of the mixture between water and ethanol, and particularly the process of solvation and desolvation of receptor, substrate and complex. When this study is repeated with binary mixtures of water–methanol and water–DMSO it is observed that the nature of the organic solvent affects the results. While the mixture water–methanol has a behavior similar to water–ethanol mixture, the water–DMSO mixture shows clear differences. In order to check this compensation process, △Cp values are calculated at two different proportions water–ethanol, and they are consistent with an enthalpy–entropy compensation process similar to that described by the inclusion process for certain hydrophilic cyclodextrines. The results obtained show that the enthalpy–entropy compensation detected in the supramolecular complex formation between carboxylates and ammonium-squaramido receptors is independent of the spacer used, and more dependent on the microscopic nature and proportion of the binary mixture

  18. High-temperature corrosion of lanthanum in equimole mixture of sodium and potassium chlorides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kochergin, V.P.; Obozhina, R.N.; Dragoshanskaya, T.I.; Startsev, B.P.

    1984-01-01

    Results of investigation into the process of lanthanum corrosion in the molted equimole NaCl-KCl mixture after the change of test time, temperature and lanthanum trichloride were summarized. It was shown that polarization of lanthanum anode in equimole NaCl-KCl melt is controlled by La 3+ diffusion from near-electrode layer to electrolyte depth, which results in decrease of corrosion rate in time. The established electrochemical properties of metallic lanthanum in equimole NaCl-KCl mixture must be considered when improving the technology of electrochemical production of lanthanum or its alloys of molten chlorides of lanthanum and alkaline metals

  19. Positron Annihilation in Solid Charge-Transfer Complexes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lévay, B.; Jansen, P.

    1979-01-01

    Positron lifetime and angular correlation measurements have been carried out on 1:1 charge-transfer complexes, on their pure donor and acceptor components and on the 1:1 M mechanical mixtures of these components. Complex formation reduced the intensity of the long-lifetime component of the donor...

  20. Microporous metal–organic framework with dual functionalities for highly efficient removal of acetylene from ethylene/acetylene mixtures

    KAUST Repository

    Hu, Tong-Liang

    2015-06-04

    The removal of acetylene from ethylene/acetylene mixtures containing 1% acetylene is a technologically very important, but highly challenging task. Current removal approaches include the partial hydrogenation over a noble metal catalyst and the solvent extraction of cracked olefins, both of which are cost and energy consumptive. Here we report a microporous metal–organic framework in which the suitable pore/cage spaces preferentially take up much more acetylene than ethylene while the functional amine groups on the pore/cage surfaces further enforce their interactions with acetylene molecules, leading to its superior performance for this separation. The single X-ray diffraction studies, temperature dependent gas sorption isotherms, simulated and experimental column breakthrough curves and molecular simulation studies collaboratively support the claim, underlying the potential of this material for the industrial usage of the removal of acetylene from ethylene/acetylene mixtures containing 1% acetylene at room temperature through the cost- and energy-efficient adsorption separation process.

  1. Laboratory determination of migration of Eu(III) in compacted bentonite–sand mixtures as buffer/backfill material for high-level waste disposal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou, Lang; Zhang, Huyuan; Yan, Ming; Chen, Hang; Zhang, Ming

    2013-01-01

    For the safety assessment of geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), the migration of Eu(III) through compacted bentonite–sand mixtures was measured under expected repository conditions. Under the evaluated conditions, advection and dispersion is the dominant migration mechanism. The role of sorption on the retardation of migration was also evaluated. The hydraulic conductivities of compacted bentonite–sand mixtures were K=2.07×10 −10 –5.23×10 −10 cm/s, The sorption and diffusion of Eu(III) were examined using a flexible wall permeameter for a solute concentration of 2.0×10 −5 mol/l. The effective diffusion coefficients and apparent diffusion coefficients of Eu(III) in compacted bentonite–sand mixtures were in the range of 1.62×10 –12 –4.87×10 –12 m 2 /s, 1.44×10 –14 –9.41×10 –14 m 2 /s, respectively, which has a very important significance to forecast the relationship between migration length of Eu(III) in buffer/backfill material and time and provide a reference for the design of buffer/backfill material for HLW disposal in China. - Highlights: • The migration progress of Eu(III) in compacted bentonite–sand mixtures was researched. • The hydraulic conductivity of cominpacted bentonite–sand mixtures was measured. • The migration length of Eu(III) in buffer/backfill material after a certain period of time was forecasted

  2. Direct regeneration of recycled cathode material mixture from scrapped LiFePO4 batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xuelei; Zhang, Jin; Song, Dawei; Song, Jishun; Zhang, Lianqi

    2017-03-01

    A new green recycling process (named as direct regeneration process) of cathode material mixture from scrapped LiFePO4 batteries is designed for the first time. Through this direct regeneration process, high purity cathode material mixture (LiFePO4 + acetylene black), anode material mixture (graphite + acetylene black) and other by-products (shell, Al foil, Cu foil and electrolyte solvent, etc.) are recycled from scrapped LiFePO4 batteries with high yield. Subsequently, recycled cathode material mixture without acid leaching is further directly regenerated with Li2CO3. Direct regeneration procedure of recycled cathode material mixture from 600 to 800 °C is investigated in detail. Cathode material mixture regenerated at 650 °C display excellent physical, chemical and electrochemical performances, which meet the reuse requirement for middle-end Li-ion batteries. The results indicate the green direct regeneration process with low-cost and high added-value is feasible.

  3. Enhanced sensitization and elicitation responses caused by mixtures of common fragrance allergens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bonefeld, Charlotte Menné; Nielsen, Morten Milek; Rubin, Ingrid Maria Cecilia

    2011-01-01

    Background. Perfumes are complex mixtures composed of many fragrance ingredients, many of which are known to be only weak allergens when tested individually. It is therefore surprising that fragrance contact allergy is one of the most common forms of contact allergy. Objectives. To investigate wh...

  4. Complexes in polyvalent metal - Alkali halide melts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akdeniz, Z.; Tosi, M.P.

    1991-03-01

    Experimental evidence is available in the literature on the local coordination of divalent and trivalent metal ions by halogens in some 140 liquid mixtures of their halides with alkali halides. After brief reference to classification criteria for main types of local coordination, we focus on statistical mechanical models that we are developing for Al-alkali halide mixtures. Specifically, we discuss theoretically the equilibrium between (AlF 6 ) 3- and (AlF 4 ) - complexes in mixtures of AlF 3 and NaF as a function of composition in the NaF-rich region, the effect of the alkali counterion on this equilibrium, the possible role of (AlF 5 ) 2- as an intermediate species in molten cryolite, and the origin of the different complexing behaviours of Al-alkali fluorides and chlorides. We also present a theoretical scenario for processes of structure breaking and electron localization in molten cryolite under addition of sodium metal. (author). 26 refs, 2 tabs

  5. Semiparametric Mixtures of Regressions with Single-index for Model Based Clustering

    OpenAIRE

    Xiang, Sijia; Yao, Weixin

    2017-01-01

    In this article, we propose two classes of semiparametric mixture regression models with single-index for model based clustering. Unlike many semiparametric/nonparametric mixture regression models that can only be applied to low dimensional predictors, the new semiparametric models can easily incorporate high dimensional predictors into the nonparametric components. The proposed models are very general, and many of the recently proposed semiparametric/nonparametric mixture regression models a...

  6. Engineered clay-shredded tyre mixtures as barrier materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Tabbaa, A.; Aravinthan, T.

    1997-01-01

    An engineered clay consisting of kaolin and bentonite was mixed with shredded tyre in various weight percentages and examined for use as a constituent in a landfill liner. The clay-tyre mixtures properties in terms of compaction, unconfined compressive strength, permeability to water and paraffin, leachability, stress-strain behaviour, free swell behaviour and swelling pressure were investigated. The results show that the dry density and strength reduced with the addition of tyre and also with increased tyre content but that good interaction was developed between the clay and tyre. The strain at failure increased showing reinforcing effect of the tyre. The permeability to paraffin was considerably reduced compared to that to water due to the presence of the tyre which caused high swelling pressures to develop. The leachability results indicate initial high concentrations leaching out of the soil-tyre mixtures which will be subjected to dilution in the environment. This work adds evidence to the potential advantages of using soil-tyre mixtures as a landfill liner material

  7. Estimating Lion Abundance using N-mixture Models for Social Species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belant, Jerrold L; Bled, Florent; Wilton, Clay M; Fyumagwa, Robert; Mwampeta, Stanslaus B; Beyer, Dean E

    2016-10-27

    Declining populations of large carnivores worldwide, and the complexities of managing human-carnivore conflicts, require accurate population estimates of large carnivores to promote their long-term persistence through well-informed management We used N-mixture models to estimate lion (Panthera leo) abundance from call-in and track surveys in southeastern Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Because of potential habituation to broadcasted calls and social behavior, we developed a hierarchical observation process within the N-mixture model conditioning lion detectability on their group response to call-ins and individual detection probabilities. We estimated 270 lions (95% credible interval = 170-551) using call-ins but were unable to estimate lion abundance from track data. We found a weak negative relationship between predicted track density and predicted lion abundance from the call-in surveys. Luminosity was negatively correlated with individual detection probability during call-in surveys. Lion abundance and track density were influenced by landcover, but direction of the corresponding effects were undetermined. N-mixture models allowed us to incorporate multiple parameters (e.g., landcover, luminosity, observer effect) influencing lion abundance and probability of detection directly into abundance estimates. We suggest that N-mixture models employing a hierarchical observation process can be used to estimate abundance of other social, herding, and grouping species.

  8. High-resolution method for evolving complex interface networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Shucheng; Hu, Xiangyu Y.; Adams, Nikolaus A.

    2018-04-01

    In this paper we describe a high-resolution transport formulation of the regional level-set approach for an improved prediction of the evolution of complex interface networks. The novelty of this method is twofold: (i) construction of local level sets and reconstruction of a global level set, (ii) local transport of the interface network by employing high-order spatial discretization schemes for improved representation of complex topologies. Various numerical test cases of multi-region flow problems, including triple-point advection, single vortex flow, mean curvature flow, normal driven flow, dry foam dynamics and shock-bubble interaction show that the method is accurate and suitable for a wide range of complex interface-network evolutions. Its overall computational cost is comparable to the Semi-Lagrangian regional level-set method while the prediction accuracy is significantly improved. The approach thus offers a viable alternative to previous interface-network level-set method.

  9. Influence of Ligand Architecture in Tuning Reaction Bifurcation Pathways for Chlorite Oxidation by Non-Heme Iron Complexes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Barman, Prasenjit; Faponle, Abayomi S; Vardhaman, Anil Kumar; Angelone, Davide; Löhr, Anna-Maria; Browne, Wesley R; Comba, Peter; Sastri, Chivukula V; de Visser, Sam P

    2016-01-01

    Reaction bifurcation processes are often encountered in the oxidation of substrates by enzymes and generally lead to a mixture of products. One particular bifurcation process that is common in biology relates to electron transfer versus oxygen atom transfer by high-valent iron(IV)-oxo complexes,

  10. Widespread contamination of wildflower and bee-collected pollen with complex mixtures of neonicotinoids and fungicides commonly applied to crops.

    Science.gov (United States)

    David, Arthur; Botías, Cristina; Abdul-Sada, Alaa; Nicholls, Elizabeth; Rotheray, Ellen L; Hill, Elizabeth M; Goulson, Dave

    2016-03-01

    There is considerable and ongoing debate as to the harm inflicted on bees by exposure to agricultural pesticides. In part, the lack of consensus reflects a shortage of information on field-realistic levels of exposure. Here, we quantify concentrations of neonicotinoid insecticides and fungicides in the pollen of oilseed rape, and in pollen of wildflowers growing near arable fields. We then compare this to concentrations of these pesticides found in pollen collected by honey bees and in pollen and adult bees sampled from bumble bee colonies placed on arable farms. We also compared this with levels found in bumble bee colonies placed in urban areas. Pollen of oilseed rape was heavily contaminated with a broad range of pesticides, as was the pollen of wildflowers growing nearby. Consequently, pollen collected by both bee species also contained a wide range of pesticides, notably including the fungicides carbendazim, boscalid, flusilazole, metconazole, tebuconazole and trifloxystrobin and the neonicotinoids thiamethoxam, thiacloprid and imidacloprid. In bumble bees, the fungicides carbendazim, boscalid, tebuconazole, flusilazole and metconazole were present at concentrations up to 73nanogram/gram (ng/g). It is notable that pollen collected by bumble bees in rural areas contained high levels of the neonicotinoids thiamethoxam (mean 18ng/g) and thiacloprid (mean 2.9ng/g), along with a range of fungicides, some of which are known to act synergistically with neonicotinoids. Pesticide exposure of bumble bee colonies in urban areas was much lower than in rural areas. Understanding the effects of simultaneous exposure of bees to complex mixtures of pesticides remains a major challenge. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Mixture for plugging absorption zones

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sitinkov, G V; Kovalenko, N G; Makarov, L V; Zinnatulchin, Ts Kh

    1981-01-17

    A mixture is proposed for plugging absorption zones. The mixture contains synthetic polymer and a solvent. So as to increase the penetrability of the mixture through a reduction in its viscosity and an increase in insulation properties, the compound contains either Capron or Neilon as the synthetic polyamide resin polmyer, and concentrated chloride as the solvent. The mixture is prepared in a special AzINMASh-30 unit (acid cart). After the mixture has been produced, it is injected into the borehole by means of an acid cart pump. So as to prevent coaggulation at the point when the mixture in injected into the stratum through tubes, the mixture is placed betwen chemically inert fluids, for example, a clay mortar. The inert and compressed fluids are injected by means of a cementing unit. The entire process of production and application of the mixture is simple and fully automated through the use of well-known equipment.

  12. High-efficiency condenser of steam from a steam-gas mixture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milman, O. O.; Krylov, V. S.; Ptakhin, A. V.; Kondratev, A. V.; Yankov, G. G.

    2017-12-01

    The design of a module for a high-efficiency condenser of steam with a high content (up to 15%) of noncondensable gases (NCGs) with a nearly constant steam-gas mixture (SGM) velocity during the condensation of steam has been developed. This module provides the possibility to estimate the operational efficiency of six condenser zones during the motion of steam from the inlet to the SGM suction point. Some results of the experimental tests of the pilot high-efficiency condenser module are presented. The dependence of the average heat transfer coefficient k¯ on the volumetric NCG concentration v¯ has been derived. It is shown that the high-efficiency condenser module can provide a moderate decrease in k¯ from 4400-4600 to 2600-2800 W/(m2 K) at v¯ ≈ 0.5-9.0%. The heat transfer coefficient distribution over different module zones at a heat duty close to its nominal value has been obtained. From this distribution, it can be seen that the average heat transfer coefficient decreases to 2600 W/(m2 K) at an NCG concentration v¯ = 7.5%, but the first condenser sections ( 1- 3) retain high values of k¯ at a level of no lower than 3200 W/(m2 K), and the last sections operate less well, having k¯ at a level of 1700 W/(m2 K). The dependence of the average heat transfer coefficient on the water velocity in condenser tubes has been obtained at a nearly nominal duty such that the extrapolation of this dependence to the water velocity of 2 m/s may be expected to give k¯ = 5000 W/(m2 K) for relatively pure steam, but an increase in k¯ at v¯ = 8% will be smaller. The effect of the gas removal device characteristic on the operation of the high-efficiency condenser module is described. The design developed for the steam condenser of a gas-turbine plant with a power of 25 MW, a steam flow rate of 40.2 t/h, and a CO2 concentration of up to 12% with consideration for the results of performed studies is presented.

  13. High frequency vibration analysis by the complex envelope vectorization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giannini, O; Carcaterra, A; Sestieri, A

    2007-06-01

    The complex envelope displacement analysis (CEDA) is a procedure to solve high frequency vibration and vibro-acoustic problems, providing the envelope of the physical solution. CEDA is based on a variable transformation mapping the high frequency oscillations into signals of low frequency content and has been successfully applied to one-dimensional systems. However, the extension to plates and vibro-acoustic fields met serious difficulties so that a general revision of the theory was carried out, leading finally to a new method, the complex envelope vectorization (CEV). In this paper the CEV method is described, underlying merits and limits of the procedure, and a set of applications to vibration and vibro-acoustic problems of increasing complexity are presented.

  14. Reduced-order modellin for high-pressure transient flow of hydrogen-natural gas mixture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agaie, Baba G.; Khan, Ilyas; Alshomrani, Ali Saleh; Alqahtani, Aisha M.

    2017-05-01

    In this paper the transient flow of hydrogen compressed-natural gas (HCNG) mixture which is also referred to as hydrogen-natural gas mixture in a pipeline is numerically computed using the reduced-order modelling technique. The study on transient conditions is important because the pipeline flows are normally in the unsteady state due to the sudden opening and closure of control valves, but most of the existing studies only analyse the flow in the steady-state conditions. The mathematical model consists in a set of non-linear conservation forms of partial differential equations. The objective of this paper is to improve the accuracy in the prediction of the HCNG transient flow parameters using the Reduced-Order Modelling (ROM). The ROM technique has been successfully used in single-gas and aerodynamic flow problems, the gas mixture has not been done using the ROM. The study is based on the velocity change created by the operation of the valves upstream and downstream the pipeline. Results on the flow characteristics, namely the pressure, density, celerity and mass flux are based on variations of the mixing ratio and valve reaction and actuation time; the ROM computational time cost advantage are also presented.

  15. Chemical imaging techniques for the analysis of complex mixtures: New application to the characterization of ritual matters on African wooden statuettes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mazel, Vincent; Richardin, Pascale; Touboul, David; Brunelle, Alain; Walter, Philippe; Laprevote, Olivier

    2006-01-01

    Chemical imaging techniques, based on the combination of microscopy and spectroscopy, are well suited to study both the composition and the spatial organization of heterogeneous complex mixtures of organic and mineral matter. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), followed by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) and Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FTIR microscopy) have been applied to non-destructive analysis of micro-samplings of ritual matters deposited on the surface of African wooden statuettes. With a very careful preparation, using ultramicrotomy on embedded samples, it was possible to perform successively all the measurements on a single fragment. Comparison and superposition of the different chemical images, obtained on a sample from a significant actual artefact, have allowed us to identify minerals (clays, quartz and calcium carbonate), proteins, starch, urate salts and lipids and to map their spatial distribution

  16. Chronic toxicity of unresolved complex mixtures (UCM) of hydrocarbons in marine sediments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scarlett, A.; Galloway, T.S. [Plymouth Univ., Drake Circus (United Kingdom). School of Biological Sciences; Rowland, S.J. [Plymouth Univ., Drake Circus (United Kingdom). School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences

    2007-08-15

    Background, Aim and Scope: Unresolved complex mixtures (UCM) of hydrocarbons, containing many thousands of compounds which cannot be resolved by conventional gas chromatography (GC), are common contaminants of sediments but little is known of their potential to affect sediment-dwelling organisms. Evidence exists for reduced health status in mussels, arising from aqueous exposure to aromatic UCM components acting through a narcotic mode of action. However, UCM contaminants in sediments may not be sufficiently bioavailable to elicit toxic effects. The aim of our study was therefore to measure the sublethal effects of chronic exposure to model UCM-dominated oils at environmentally realistic concentrations and compare this to effects produced by a UCM containing weathered crude oil. A further aim was to determine which, if any, fractions of the oils were responsible for any observed toxicity. Materials and Methods: Whole oils were spiked into estuarine sediment to give nominal concentrations of 500 {mu}g g-1 dry weight. Juveniles of the estuarine amphipod Corophium volutator were exposed to the contaminated sediment for 35 days and their survival, growth rate and reproductive success quantified. Using an effect-directed fractionation approach, the oils were fractionated into aliphatic and two aromatic fractions by open column chromatography and their toxicity assessed by further chronic exposures using juvenile C. volutator. Results: The growth rates of amphipods were reduced following exposure to the oils although this was only statistically significant for the weathered oil; reproductive success was reduced by all oil exposures. Sediment spiked with UCM fractions also caused reduced growth and reproduction but no particular fraction was found to be responsible for the observed toxicity. Survivorship was not affected by any oil or fraction. Discussion: The study showed that chronic exposure to sediments contaminated by UCM-dominated oils could have population level

  17. Personal care product preservatives: risk assessment and mixture toxicities with an industrial wastewater.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carbajo, Jose B; Perdigón-Melón, Jose A; Petre, Alice L; Rosal, Roberto; Letón, Pedro; García-Calvo, Eloy

    2015-04-01

    The aquatic toxicity of eight preservatives frequently used in personal care products (PCPs) (iodopropynyl butylcarbamate, bronopol, diazolidinyl urea, benzalkonium chloride, zinc pyrithione, propylparaben, triclosan and a mixture of methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone) was assessed by means of two different approaches: a battery of bioassays composed of single species tests of bacteria (Vibrio fischeri and Pseudomonas putida) and protozoa (Tetrahymena thermophila), and a whole biological community resazurin-based assay using activated sludge. The tested preservatives showed considerable toxicity in the studied bioassays, but with a marked difference in potency. In fact, all biocides except propylparaben and diazolidinyl urea had EC50 values lower than 1 mg L(-1) in at least one assay. Risk quotients for zinc pyrithione, benzalkonium chloride, iodopropynyl butylcarbamate and triclosan as well as the mixture of the studied preservatives exceeded 1, indicating a potential risk for the process performance and efficiency of municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs). These four single biocides explained more than 95% of the preservative mixture risk in all bioassays. Each individual preservative was also tested in combination with an industrial wastewater (IWW) from a cosmetics manufacturing facility. The toxicity assessment was performed on binary mixtures (preservative + IWW) and carried out using the median-effect principle, which is a special case of the concept of Concentration Addition (CA). Almost 70% of all experiments resulted in EC50 values within a factor of 2 of the values predicted by the median-effect principle (CI values between 0.5 and 2). The rest of the mixtures whose toxicity was mispredicted by CA were assessed with the alternative concept of Independent Action (IA), which showed higher predictive power for the biological community assay. Therefore, the concept used to accurately predict the toxicity of mixtures of a preservative

  18. High-temperature atomic superfluidity in lattice Bose-Fermi mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Illuminati, Fabrizio; Albus, Alexander

    2004-08-27

    We consider atomic Bose-Fermi mixtures in optical lattices and study the superfluidity of fermionic atoms due to s-wave pairing induced by boson-fermion interactions. We prove that the induced fermion-fermion coupling is always attractive if the boson-boson on-site interaction is repulsive, and predict the existence of an enhanced BEC-BCS crossover as the strength of the lattice potential is varied. We show that for direct on-site fermion-fermion repulsion, the induced attraction can give rise to superfluidity via s-wave pairing at striking variance with the case of pure systems of fermionic atoms with direct repulsive interactions.

  19. High-temperature atomic superfluidity in lattice Bose-Fermi mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Illuminati, Fabrizio; Albus, Alexander

    2004-01-01

    We consider atomic Bose-Fermi mixtures in optical lattices and study the superfluidity of fermionic atoms due to s-wave pairing induced by boson-fermion interactions. We prove that the induced fermion-fermion coupling is always attractive if the boson-boson on-site interaction is repulsive, and predict the existence of an enhanced BEC-BCS crossover as the strength of the lattice potential is varied. We show that for direct on-site fermion-fermion repulsion, the induced attraction can give rise to superfluidity via s-wave pairing at striking variance with the case of pure systems of fermionic atoms with direct repulsive interactions

  20. Toxicity of jet fuel aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures on human epidermal Keratinocytes: evaluation based on in vitro cytotoxicity and interleukin-8 release

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Jen-Hung (Chung-Shan Medical University Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C); Lee, Chia-Hue; Tsang, Chau-Loong [National Chung-Hsing University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Taichung (Taiwan); Monteiro-Riviere, Nancy A.; Riviere, Jim E. [North Carolina State University, Center for Chemical Toxicology Research and Pharmacokinetics (CCTRP), Raleigh, NC (United States); Chou, Chi-Chung [National Chung-Hsing University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Taichung (Taiwan); National Chung-Hsing University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Taichung (Taiwan)

    2006-08-15

    Jet fuels are complex mixtures of aliphatic (ALI) and aromatic (ARO) hydrocarbons that vary significantly in individual cytotoxicity and proinflammatory activity in human epidermal keratinocytes (HEK). In order to delineate the toxicological interactions among individual hydrocarbons in a mixture and their contributions to cutaneous toxicity, nine ALI and five ARO hydrocarbons were each divided into five (high/medium/low cytotoxic and strong/weak IL-8 induction) groups and intra/inter-mixed to assess for their mixture effects on HEK mortality and IL-8 release. Addition of single hydrocarbon to JP-8 fuel was also evaluated for their changes in fuel dermatotoxicity. The results indicated that when hydrocarbons were mixed, HEK mortality and IL-8 release were not all predictable by their individual ability affecting these two parameters. The lowest HEK mortality (7%) and the highest IL-8 production were induced with mixtures including high cytotoxic and weak IL-8 inductive ARO hydrocarbons. Antagonistic reactions not consistently correlated with ALI carbon chain length and ARO structure were evident and carried different weight in the overall mixture toxicities. Single addition of benzene, toluene, xylene or ethylbenzene for up to tenfold in JP-8 did not increase HEK mortality while single addition of ALI hydrocarbons exhibited dose-related differential response in IL-8. In an all ALI environment, no single hydrocarbon is the dominating factor in the determination of HEK cytotoxicity while deletion of hexadecane resulted in a 2.5-fold increase in IL-8 production. Overall, decane, undecane and dodecane were the major hydrocarbons associated with high cytotoxicity while tetradecane, pentadecane and hexadecane were those which had the greatest buffering effect attenuating dermatotoxicity. The mixture effects must be considered when evaluating jet fuel toxicity to HEK. (orig.)

  1. Toxicity effects of an environmental realistic herbicide mixture on the seagrass Zostera noltei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diepens, Noël J; Buffan-Dubau, Evelyne; Budzinski, Hélène; Kallerhoff, Jean; Merlina, Georges; Silvestre, Jérome; Auby, Isabelle; Nathalie Tapie; Elger, Arnaud

    2017-03-01

    Worldwide seagrass declines have been observed due to multiple stressors. One of them is the mixture of pesticides used in intensive agriculture and boat antifouling paints in coastal areas. Effects of mixture toxicity are complex and poorly understood. However, consideration of mixture toxicity is more realistic and ecologically relevant for environmental risk assessment (ERA). The first aim of this study was to determine short-term effects of realistic herbicide mixture exposure on physiological endpoints of Zostera noltei. The second aim was to assess the environmental risks of this mixture, by comparing the results to previously published data. Z. noltei was exposed to a mixture of four herbicides: atrazine, diuron, irgarol and S-metolachlor, simulating the composition of typical cocktail of contaminants in the Arcachon bay (Atlantic coast, France). Three stress biomarkers were measured: enzymatic activity of glutathione reductase, effective quantum yield (EQY) and photosynthetic pigment composition after 6, 24 and 96 h. Short term exposure to realistic herbicide mixtures affected EQY, with almost 100% inhibition for the two highest concentrations, and photosynthetic pigments. Effect on pigment composition was detected after 6 h with a no observed effect concentration (NOEC) of 1 μg/L total mixture concentration. The lowest EQY effect concentration at 10% (EC 10 ) (2 μg/L) and pigment composition NOEC with an assessment factor of 10 were above the maximal field concentrations along the French Atlantic coast, suggesting that there are no potential short term adverse effects of this particular mixture on Z. noltei. However, chronic effects on photosynthesis may lead to reduced energy reserves, which could thus lead to effects at whole plant and population level. Understanding the consequences of chemical mixtures could help to improve ERA and enhance management strategies to prevent further declines of seagrass meadows worldwide. Copyright © 2016

  2. Maternal exposure to a mixture of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) affects testis histology, epididymal sperm count and induces sperm DNA fragmentation in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khezri, Abdolrahman; Lindeman, Birgitte; Krogenæs, Anette K; Berntsen, Hanne F; Zimmer, Karin E; Ropstad, Erik

    2017-08-15

    Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are widespread throughout the environment and some are suspected to induce reproductive toxicity. As animals and humans are exposed to complex mixtures of POPs, it is reasonable to assess how such mixtures could interact with the reproductive system. Our aim is to investigate how maternal exposure to a mixture of 29 different persistent organic pollutants, formulated to mimic the relative POP levels in the food basket of the Scandinavian population, could alter reproductive endpoints. Female mice were exposed via feed from weaning, during pregnancy and lactation in 3 exposure groups (control (C), low (L) and high (H)). Testicular morphometric endpoints, epididymal sperm concentration and sperm DNA integrity were assessed in adult male offspring. We found that the number of tubules, proportion of tubule compartments and epididymal sperm concentration significantly decreased in both POP exposed groups. Epididymal sperm from both POP exposed groups showed increased DNA fragmentation. It is concluded that maternal exposure to a defined POP mixture relevant to human exposure can affect testicular development, sperm production and sperm chromatin integrity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Simulation and thermodynamic modeling of the extraction of tocopherol from a synthetic mixture of tocopherol, squalene and CO2

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.F. Mendes

    2000-12-01

    Full Text Available Soybean oil is the most consumed vegetable oil in the world, representing 54% of the total world production. Brazil is the second country in the world that produces and export soybean seeds, almost 20%. One of the most important by-product of the soybean oil is the deodorizer distillate, commonly known as soybean sludge. This residue is rich in many high value compounds as tocopherols, squalene and sterols. Tocopherols are the major components in the deodorized distillated due to their characteristics as an antioxidant agent. So, the objective of this work is to study the concentration of tocopherols presented in this raw material, using the operational conditions obtained from the equilibrium data and using supercritical carbon dioxide as a solvent. The deodorizer distillate is a complex mixture of more than 200 components, so a synthetic mixture was chosen to represent the deodorizer distillate. The synthetic mixture used in this work is composed by tocopherols, fatty acids and squalene. The simulation was carried out using ASPEN+ simulator and the LCVM thermodynamic model was used to correlate the available equilibrium data.

  4. Component effects in mixture experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Piepel, G.F.

    1980-01-01

    In a mixture experiment, the response to a mixture of q components is a function of the proportions x 1 , x 2 , ..., x/sub q/ of components in the mixture. Experimental regions for mixture experiments are often defined by constraints on the proportions of the components forming the mixture. The usual (orthogonal direction) definition of a factor effect does not apply because of the dependence imposed by the mixture restriction, /sup q/Σ/sub i=1/ x/sub i/ = 1. A direction within the experimental region in which to compute a mixture component effect is presented and compared to previously suggested directions. This new direction has none of the inadequacies or errors of previous suggestions while having a more meaningful interpretation. The distinction between partial and total effects is made. The uses of partial and total effects (computed using the new direction) in modification and interpretation of mixture response prediction equations are considered. The suggestions of the paper are illustrated in an example from a glass development study in a waste vitrification program. 5 figures, 3 tables

  5. Equivalence of truncated count mixture distributions and mixtures of truncated count distributions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Böhning, Dankmar; Kuhnert, Ronny

    2006-12-01

    This article is about modeling count data with zero truncation. A parametric count density family is considered. The truncated mixture of densities from this family is different from the mixture of truncated densities from the same family. Whereas the former model is more natural to formulate and to interpret, the latter model is theoretically easier to treat. It is shown that for any mixing distribution leading to a truncated mixture, a (usually different) mixing distribution can be found so that the associated mixture of truncated densities equals the truncated mixture, and vice versa. This implies that the likelihood surfaces for both situations agree, and in this sense both models are equivalent. Zero-truncated count data models are used frequently in the capture-recapture setting to estimate population size, and it can be shown that the two Horvitz-Thompson estimators, associated with the two models, agree. In particular, it is possible to achieve strong results for mixtures of truncated Poisson densities, including reliable, global construction of the unique NPMLE (nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator) of the mixing distribution, implying a unique estimator for the population size. The benefit of these results lies in the fact that it is valid to work with the mixture of truncated count densities, which is less appealing for the practitioner but theoretically easier. Mixtures of truncated count densities form a convex linear model, for which a developed theory exists, including global maximum likelihood theory as well as algorithmic approaches. Once the problem has been solved in this class, it might readily be transformed back to the original problem by means of an explicitly given mapping. Applications of these ideas are given, particularly in the case of the truncated Poisson family.

  6. Collective space of high-rise housing complex

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bakaeva Tatyana

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The article considers the problems of support of citizens a comfortable living environment in the conditions of the limited territory of the megalopolis, the typological principles of formation of space-planning structure high-rise residence complexes with public space. The collective space for residents of high-rise housing estates on the example of international experience of design and construction is in detail considered. The collective space and the area of the standard apartment are analysed on comfort classes: a social - complex Pinnacle @ Duxton, a business - Monde Condos and an elite - Hamilton Scotts. Interdependence the area of the standard flat and the total area of housing collective space, in addiction on the comfort level, is revealed. In the conditions of high-density urban development, the collective space allows to form the comfortable environment for accommodation. The recommendations for achievement of integrity and improvement of quality of the city environment are made. The convenient collective space makes a contribution to civil policy, it creates the socializing sense of interaction of residents, coagulates social effect.

  7. Collective space of high-rise housing complex

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakaeva, Tatyana

    2018-03-01

    The article considers the problems of support of citizens a comfortable living environment in the conditions of the limited territory of the megalopolis, the typological principles of formation of space-planning structure high-rise residence complexes with public space. The collective space for residents of high-rise housing estates on the example of international experience of design and construction is in detail considered. The collective space and the area of the standard apartment are analysed on comfort classes: a social - complex Pinnacle @ Duxton, a business - Monde Condos and an elite - Hamilton Scotts. Interdependence the area of the standard flat and the total area of housing collective space, in addiction on the comfort level, is revealed. In the conditions of high-density urban development, the collective space allows to form the comfortable environment for accommodation. The recommendations for achievement of integrity and improvement of quality of the city environment are made. The convenient collective space makes a contribution to civil policy, it creates the socializing sense of interaction of residents, coagulates social effect.

  8. Hydraulic properties of domestic bentonite-sand mixture as a backfill material in the high-level waste repository

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cho, Won Jin; Lee, Jae Owan; Kang, Chul Hyung [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

    2000-02-01

    This study is intended to investigate the effect of dry density and sand content on hydraulic conductivities of bentonite-sand mixtures. The hydraulic conductivities of bentonite-sand mixtures with dry densities of 1.6 and 1.8 Mg/m{sup 3} are lower than 10{sup -11} m/s if their sand contents are less than 70 wt%. However at the sand content of 90 wt%, the hydraulic conductivities increase sharply. In the case of sand contents not exceeding 70 wt%, the logarithm of the hydraulic conductivity of bentonite-sand mixture increase linearly with increasing sand content. The hydraulic conductivity of the mixture can be explained using 'effective clay dry density' concept. 16 refs., 21 figs., 5 tabs. (Author)

  9. Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Wanyi; Schmehl, Daniel R; Mullin, Christopher A; Frazier, James L

    2014-01-01

    Recently, the widespread distribution of pesticides detected in the hive has raised serious concerns about pesticide exposure on honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) health. A larval rearing method was adapted to assess the chronic oral toxicity to honey bee larvae of the four most common pesticides detected in pollen and wax--fluvalinate, coumaphos, chlorothalonil, and chloropyrifos--tested alone and in all combinations. All pesticides at hive-residue levels triggered a significant increase in larval mortality compared to untreated larvae by over two fold, with a strong increase after 3 days of exposure. Among these four pesticides, honey bee larvae were most sensitive to chlorothalonil compared to adults. Synergistic toxicity was observed in the binary mixture of chlorothalonil with fluvalinate at the concentrations of 34 mg/L and 3 mg/L, respectively; whereas, when diluted by 10 fold, the interaction switched to antagonism. Chlorothalonil at 34 mg/L was also found to synergize the miticide coumaphos at 8 mg/L. The addition of coumaphos significantly reduced the toxicity of the fluvalinate and chlorothalonil mixture, the only significant non-additive effect in all tested ternary mixtures. We also tested the common 'inert' ingredient N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone at seven concentrations, and documented its high toxicity to larval bees. We have shown that chronic dietary exposure to a fungicide, pesticide mixtures, and a formulation solvent have the potential to impact honey bee populations, and warrants further investigation. We suggest that pesticide mixtures in pollen be evaluated by adding their toxicities together, until complete data on interactions can be accumulated.

  10. Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wanyi Zhu

    Full Text Available Recently, the widespread distribution of pesticides detected in the hive has raised serious concerns about pesticide exposure on honey bee (Apis mellifera L. health. A larval rearing method was adapted to assess the chronic oral toxicity to honey bee larvae of the four most common pesticides detected in pollen and wax--fluvalinate, coumaphos, chlorothalonil, and chloropyrifos--tested alone and in all combinations. All pesticides at hive-residue levels triggered a significant increase in larval mortality compared to untreated larvae by over two fold, with a strong increase after 3 days of exposure. Among these four pesticides, honey bee larvae were most sensitive to chlorothalonil compared to adults. Synergistic toxicity was observed in the binary mixture of chlorothalonil with fluvalinate at the concentrations of 34 mg/L and 3 mg/L, respectively; whereas, when diluted by 10 fold, the interaction switched to antagonism. Chlorothalonil at 34 mg/L was also found to synergize the miticide coumaphos at 8 mg/L. The addition of coumaphos significantly reduced the toxicity of the fluvalinate and chlorothalonil mixture, the only significant non-additive effect in all tested ternary mixtures. We also tested the common 'inert' ingredient N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone at seven concentrations, and documented its high toxicity to larval bees. We have shown that chronic dietary exposure to a fungicide, pesticide mixtures, and a formulation solvent have the potential to impact honey bee populations, and warrants further investigation. We suggest that pesticide mixtures in pollen be evaluated by adding their toxicities together, until complete data on interactions can be accumulated.

  11. Some variables affecting the characteristics of Eudragit E-sodium alginate polyelectrolyte complex as a tablet matrix for diltiazem hydrochloride

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yusif Rehab Mohammad

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Eudragit E (EE-sodium alginate (SA polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs were prepared at pH 4 and 5.8 using sodium alginate of high (SAH and low viscosity (SAL. The optimum EE-SA complexation mass ratio was determined using viscosity measurements. Interactions between EE and SA in PECs were characterized by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC. Diltiazem hydrochloride (DTZ HCl tablets were prepared using the prepared EE-SA PECs and their physical mixtures at different ratios as matrices. Tablets were evaluated for swelling characteristics and in vitro drug release. Tablets containing EE-SAH physical mixtures of ratios (1.5:1 and 1:3 as matrices were effective in achieving sustained release of DTZ HCl, where the percent drug released was significantly (p < 0.05 decreased compared to that from tablets either containing the same ratios of EE-SAL physical mixtures or the preformed EE- -SAH and EE-SAL PECs.

  12. Some variables affecting the characteristics of Eudragit E-sodium alginate polyelectrolyte complex as a tablet matrix for diltiazem hydrochloride.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yusif, Rehab Mohammad; Abu Hashim, Irhan Ibrahim; El-Dahan, Marwa Salah

    2014-03-01

    Eudragit E (EE)-sodium alginate (SA) polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) were prepared at pH 4 and 5.8 using sodium alginate of high (SAH) and low viscosity (SAL). The optimum EE-SA complexation mass ratio was determined using viscosity measurements. Interactions between EE and SA in PECs were characterized by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Diltiazem hydrochloride (DTZ HCl) tablets were prepared using the prepared EE-SA PECs and their physical mixtures at different ratios as matrices. Tablets were evaluated for swelling characteristics and in vitro drug release. Tablets containing EE-SAH physical mixtures of ratios (1.5:1 and 1:3) as matrices were effective in achieving sustained release of DTZ HCl, where the percent drug released was significantly (p < 0.05) decreased compared to that from tablets either containing the same ratios of EE-SAL physical mixtures or the preformed EE- -SAH and EE-SAL PECs.

  13. Experiments with Mixtures Designs, Models, and the Analysis of Mixture Data

    CERN Document Server

    Cornell, John A

    2011-01-01

    The most comprehensive, single-volume guide to conducting experiments with mixtures"If one is involved, or heavily interested, in experiments on mixtures of ingredients, one must obtain this book. It is, as was the first edition, the definitive work."-Short Book Reviews (Publication of the International Statistical Institute)"The text contains many examples with worked solutions and with its extensive coverage of the subject matter will prove invaluable to those in the industrial and educational sectors whose work involves the design and analysis of mixture experiments."-Journal of the Royal S

  14. Fission product release from core-concrete mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roche, M.F.; Settle, J.; Leibowitz, L.; Johnson, C.E.; Ritzman, R.L.

    1988-01-01

    The objective of this research is to measure the amount of strontium, barium, and lanthanum that is vaporized from core-concrete mixtures. The measurements are being done using a transpiration method. Mixtures of limestone-aggregated concrete, urania doped with a small amount of La, Sr, Ba, and Zr oxides, and stainless steel were vaporized at 2150 K from a zirconia crucible into flowing He-6% H 2 -0.06% H 2 O (a partial molar free energy of oxygen of -420 kJ). The amounts that were vaporized was determined by weight change and by chemical analyses on condensates. The major phases present in the mixture were inferred from electron probe microanalysis (EPM). They were: (1) urania containing calcia and zirconia, (2) calcium zirconate, (3) a calcium magnesium silicate, and (4) magnesia. About 10% of the zirconia crucible was dissolved by the concrete-urania mixture during the experiment, which accounts for the presence of zirconia-containing major phases. To circumvent the problem of zirconia dissolution, we repeated the experiments using mixtures of the limestone-aggregate concrete and the doped urania in molybdenum crucibles. These studies show that thermodynamic calculations of the release of refractory fission products will yield release fractions that are a factor of sixteen too high if the effects of zirconate formation are ignored

  15. Perception of trigeminal mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filiou, Renée-Pier; Lepore, Franco; Bryant, Bruce; Lundström, Johan N; Frasnelli, Johannes

    2015-01-01

    The trigeminal system is a chemical sense allowing for the perception of chemosensory information in our environment. However, contrary to smell and taste, we lack a thorough understanding of the trigeminal processing of mixtures. We, therefore, investigated trigeminal perception using mixtures of 3 relatively receptor-specific agonists together with one control odor in different proportions to determine basic perceptual dimensions of trigeminal perception. We found that 4 main dimensions were linked to trigeminal perception: sensations of intensity, warmth, coldness, and pain. We subsequently investigated perception of binary mixtures of trigeminal stimuli by means of these 4 perceptual dimensions using different concentrations of a cooling stimulus (eucalyptol) mixed with a stimulus that evokes warmth perception (cinnamaldehyde). To determine if sensory interactions are mainly of central or peripheral origin, we presented stimuli in a physical "mixture" or as a "combination" presented separately to individual nostrils. Results showed that mixtures generally yielded higher ratings than combinations on the trigeminal dimensions "intensity," "warm," and "painful," whereas combinations yielded higher ratings than mixtures on the trigeminal dimension "cold." These results suggest dimension-specific interactions in the perception of trigeminal mixtures, which may be explained by particular interactions that may take place on peripheral or central levels. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  16. Equation of state of strongly coupled plasma mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeWitt, H.E.

    1984-01-01

    Thermodynamic properties of strongly coupled (high density) plasmas of mixtures of light elements have been obtained by Monte Carlo simulations. For an assumed uniform charge background the equation of state of ionic mixtures is a simple extension of the one-component plasma EOS. More realistic electron screening effects are treated in linear response theory and with an appropriate electron dielectric function. Results have been obtained for the ionic pair distribution functions, and for the electric microfield distribution

  17. Ion-molecule reactions in the binary mixture of ethylene oxide and trioxane, 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumakura, Minoru; Arakawa, Kazuo; Sugiura, Toshio.

    1978-01-01

    The ion-molecule reactions in the binary mixture of ethylene oxide and trioxane have been studied with use of a modified time-of-flight mass spectrometer. As cross-reaction product ions, C 3 H 5 O 2 + , C 3 H 6 O 2 +sup(, and C**3**H**7**O**2**)+sup( were observed under the conditions of long delay times and elevated pressure. It was found that these ions are formed by the dissociation of unstable intermediate-complex resulting from the reaction of ethylene oxide molecular ion with trioxane. It was proposed that the complex is of cyclic structure in which positive charge is delocalized. From the consideration of isotopic distribution of the product ions in ethylene-d**4** oxide-trioxane mixtures, the skeletal structures of the product ions were investigated. The rate constants of the formation reactions of C**3**H**5**O**2**)+sup(, C**3**H**6**O**2**)+sup(, and C**3**H**7**O**2**)+sup( in ethylene oxide-trioxane mixtures were found to be 2.20 x 10)-10sup(, 2.61 x 10)-10sup(, and 1.74 x 10)-10sup( cm)3sup( molecule)-1sup(s)-1 , respectively. (auth.)

  18. Quantitative mass-spectrometric analysis of hydrogen helium isotope mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Langer, U.

    1998-12-01

    This work deals with the mass-spectrometric method for the quantitative analysis of hydrogen-helium-isotope mixtures, with special attention to fusion plasma diagnostics. The aim was to use the low-resolution mass spectrometry, a standard measuring method which is well established in science and industry. This task is solved by means of the vector mass spectrometry, where a mass spectrum is repeatedly measured, but with stepwise variation of the parameter settings of a quadruple mass spectrometer. In this way, interfering mass spectra can be decomposed and, moreover, it is possible to analyze underestimated mass spectra of complex hydrogen-helium-isotope mixtures. In this work experimental investigations are presented which show that there are different parameters which are suitable for the UMS-method. With an optimal choice of the parameter settings hydrogen-helium-isotope mixtures can be analyzed with an accuracy of 1-3 %. In practice, a low sensitivity for small helium concentration has to be noted. To cope with this task, a method for selective hydrogen pressure reduction has been developed. Experimental investigations and calculations show that small helium amounts (about 1 %) in a hydrogen atmosphere can be analyzed with an accuracy of 3 - 10 %. Finally, this work deals with the effects of the measuring and calibration error on the resulting error in spectrum decomposition. This aspect has been investigated both in general mass-spectrometric gas analysis and in the analysis of hydrogen-helium-mixtures by means of the vector mass spectrometry. (author)

  19. Uniform phases in fluids of hard isosceles triangles: One-component fluid and binary mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Ratón, Yuri; Díaz-De Armas, Ariel; Velasco, Enrique

    2018-05-01

    We formulate the scaled particle theory for a general mixture of hard isosceles triangles and calculate different phase diagrams for the one-component fluid and for certain binary mixtures. The fluid of hard triangles exhibits a complex phase behavior: (i) the presence of a triatic phase with sixfold symmetry, (ii) the isotropic-uniaxial nematic transition is of first order for certain ranges of aspect ratios, and (iii) the one-component system exhibits nematic-nematic transitions ending in critical points. We found the triatic phase to be stable not only for equilateral triangles but also for triangles of similar aspect ratios. We focus the study of binary mixtures on the case of symmetric mixtures: equal particle areas with aspect ratios (κi) symmetric with respect to the equilateral one, κ1κ2=3 . For these mixtures we found, aside from first-order isotropic-nematic and nematic-nematic transitions (the latter ending in a critical point): (i) a region of triatic phase stability even for mixtures made of particles that do not form this phase at the one-component limit, and (ii) the presence of a Landau point at which two triatic-nematic first-order transitions and a nematic-nematic demixing transition coalesce. This phase behavior is analogous to that of a symmetric three-dimensional mixture of rods and plates.

  20. Complexation behavior of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes: Effect of charge distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Mingtian; Li, Baohui; Zhou, Jihan; Su, Cuicui; Niu, Lin; Liang, Dehai

    2015-01-01

    Complexation behavior of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes in a solution is investigated using a combination of computer simulations and experiments, focusing on the influence of polyelectrolyte charge distributions along the chains on the structure of the polyelectrolyte complexes. The simulations are performed using Monte Carlo with the replica-exchange algorithm for three model systems where each system is composed of a mixture of two types of oppositely charged model polyelectrolyte chains (EGEG) 5 /(KGKG) 5 , (EEGG) 5 /(KKGG) 5 , and (EEGG) 5 /(KGKG) 5 , in a solution including explicit solvent molecules. Among the three model systems, only the charge distributions along the chains are not identical. Thermodynamic quantities are calculated as a function of temperature (or ionic strength), and the microscopic structures of complexes are examined. It is found that the three systems have different transition temperatures, and form complexes with different sizes, structures, and densities at a given temperature. Complex microscopic structures with an alternating arrangement of one monolayer of E/K monomers and one monolayer of G monomers, with one bilayer of E and K monomers and one bilayer of G monomers, and with a mixture of monolayer and bilayer of E/K monomers in a box shape and a trilayer of G monomers inside the box are obtained for the three mixture systems, respectively. The experiments are carried out for three systems where each is composed of a mixture of two types of oppositely charged peptide chains. Each peptide chain is composed of Lysine (K) and glycine (G) or glutamate (E) and G, in solution, and the chain length and amino acid sequences, and hence the charge distribution, are precisely controlled, and all of them are identical with those for the corresponding model chain. The complexation behavior and complex structures are characterized through laser light scattering and atomic force microscopy measurements. The order of the apparent weight

  1. Electrochemical study of chemical properties in ethanolamine and its mixtures with water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grall, M.

    1964-12-01

    This work is concerned with the study of acid-base reactions and of complex formation in ethanolamine and its mixtures with water. The ionic product of the solvent has been determined by an electro-chemical study of the H + /H 2 system. The reduction curves for ethanolamine-water mixtures, for different acidities, have made it possible to follow the variations in the size of the pH domain as a function of the composition of the solvent. The form of this variation has been explained on the basis of the dielectric constant and the solvation of the proton by the ethanolamine. In the second part, the electrochemical systems of mercury have been studied by anodic polarography. In order to establish a parallel between the acid-base reactions and complex formation reactions, we have studied the stability of Hg (CN) 2 in water-ethanolamine mixtures. It has been possible to deduce the law for the variation of pK c with solvent composition. The representative graph of this function passes through a minimum for a proportion of about 50 per cent of ethanolamine as in the case of acids. This variation has been explained by the predominating influence of ε for ethanolamine propositions of over 50 per cent and by that of the solvation of Hg 2+ for proportions of under 50 per cent. (author) [fr

  2. Study of the Internal Mechanical response of an asphalt mixture by 3-D Discrete Element Modeling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Feng, Huan; Pettinari, Matteo; Hofko, Bernhard

    2015-01-01

    and the reliability of which have been validated. The dynamic modulus of asphalt mixtures were predicted by conducting Discrete Element simulation under dynamic strain control loading. In order to reduce the calculation time, a method based on frequency–temperature superposition principle has been implemented......In this paper the viscoelastic behavior of asphalt mixture was investigated by employing a three-dimensional Discrete Element Method (DEM). The cylinder model was filled with cubic array of spheres with a specified radius, and was considered as a whole mixture with uniform contact properties....... The ball density effect on the internal stress distribution of the asphalt mixture model has been studied when using this method. Furthermore, the internal stresses under dynamic loading have been studied. The agreement between the predicted and the laboratory test results of the complex modulus shows...

  3. Singlet oxygen reactivity in water-rich solvent mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Sousa

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The 3-methylindole (3MI oxygenation sensitized by psoralen (PSO has been investigated in 100%, 20% and 5% O2-saturated water/dioxane (H2O/Dx mixtures. The lowering of the ¹O2* chemical rate when water (k chem∆3MI = 1.4 × 109 M-1 s-1 is replaced by deuterated water (k chem∆3MI = 1.9 × 108 M-1 s-1 suggests that hydrogen abstraction is involved in the rate determining step. A high dependence of the chemical rate constant on water concentration in H2O/Dx mixtures was found showing that water molecules are absolutely essential for the success of the 3MI substrate oxidation by ¹O2* in water-rich solvent mixtures.

  4. User of ordered mixtures to obtain high dose homogeneity in mini-tablets : studies of orally disintegrating systems for children

    OpenAIRE

    Løding, Fredrik Sandberg

    2011-01-01

    Studies have shown that homogeneity is higher in ordered mixtures compared to random mixtures. Based on this ordered mixtures should be particularly suitable for the preparation of mini-tablets. The overall aim of the study was to compare the homogeneity of ordered mixtures prepared using different particle size of carrier particles, and test their suitability for preparation of mini-tablets. The mini-tablets are intended for use as orally disintegrating systems (ODT) for children...

  5. Automatic NMR-based identification of chemical reaction types in mixtures of co-occurring reactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latino, Diogo A R S; Aires-de-Sousa, João

    2014-01-01

    The combination of chemoinformatics approaches with NMR techniques and the increasing availability of data allow the resolution of problems far beyond the original application of NMR in structure elucidation/verification. The diversity of applications can range from process monitoring, metabolic profiling, authentication of products, to quality control. An application related to the automatic analysis of complex mixtures concerns mixtures of chemical reactions. We encoded mixtures of chemical reactions with the difference between the (1)H NMR spectra of the products and the reactants. All the signals arising from all the reactants of the co-occurring reactions were taken together (a simulated spectrum of the mixture of reactants) and the same was done for products. The difference spectrum is taken as the representation of the mixture of chemical reactions. A data set of 181 chemical reactions was used, each reaction manually assigned to one of 6 types. From this dataset, we simulated mixtures where two reactions of different types would occur simultaneously. Automatic learning methods were trained to classify the reactions occurring in a mixture from the (1)H NMR-based descriptor of the mixture. Unsupervised learning methods (self-organizing maps) produced a reasonable clustering of the mixtures by reaction type, and allowed the correct classification of 80% and 63% of the mixtures in two independent test sets of different similarity to the training set. With random forests (RF), the percentage of correct classifications was increased to 99% and 80% for the same test sets. The RF probability associated to the predictions yielded a robust indication of their reliability. This study demonstrates the possibility of applying machine learning methods to automatically identify types of co-occurring chemical reactions from NMR data. Using no explicit structural information about the reactions participants, reaction elucidation is performed without structure elucidation of

  6. Automatic NMR-based identification of chemical reaction types in mixtures of co-occurring reactions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diogo A R S Latino

    Full Text Available The combination of chemoinformatics approaches with NMR techniques and the increasing availability of data allow the resolution of problems far beyond the original application of NMR in structure elucidation/verification. The diversity of applications can range from process monitoring, metabolic profiling, authentication of products, to quality control. An application related to the automatic analysis of complex mixtures concerns mixtures of chemical reactions. We encoded mixtures of chemical reactions with the difference between the (1H NMR spectra of the products and the reactants. All the signals arising from all the reactants of the co-occurring reactions were taken together (a simulated spectrum of the mixture of reactants and the same was done for products. The difference spectrum is taken as the representation of the mixture of chemical reactions. A data set of 181 chemical reactions was used, each reaction manually assigned to one of 6 types. From this dataset, we simulated mixtures where two reactions of different types would occur simultaneously. Automatic learning methods were trained to classify the reactions occurring in a mixture from the (1H NMR-based descriptor of the mixture. Unsupervised learning methods (self-organizing maps produced a reasonable clustering of the mixtures by reaction type, and allowed the correct classification of 80% and 63% of the mixtures in two independent test sets of different similarity to the training set. With random forests (RF, the percentage of correct classifications was increased to 99% and 80% for the same test sets. The RF probability associated to the predictions yielded a robust indication of their reliability. This study demonstrates the possibility of applying machine learning methods to automatically identify types of co-occurring chemical reactions from NMR data. Using no explicit structural information about the reactions participants, reaction elucidation is performed without structure

  7. Complex fragment emission at low and high excitation energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moretto, L.G.

    1986-08-01

    Complex fragment emission has been certified as a compound nucleus process at low energies. An extension of the measurements to heavy ion reactions up to 50 MeV/u shows that most complex fragments are emitted by highly excited compound nuclei formed in incomplete fusion reactions. 12 refs., 26 figs

  8. In vitro screening for population variability in toxicity of pesticide-containing mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdo, Nour; Wetmore, Barbara A.; Chappell, Grace A.; Shea, Damian; Wright, Fred A.; Rusyna, Ivan

    2016-01-01

    from complex environmental mixtures. Additionally, such an approach yields testable hypotheses regarding potential toxicity mechanisms. PMID:26386728

  9. High temperature solvent extraction of oil shale and bituminous coal using binary solvent mixtures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goetz, G.K.E. [Lehrstuhl fuer Geologie, Geochemie und Lagerstaetten des Erdoels und der Kohle, RWTH Aachen (Germany)

    1997-12-31

    A high volatile bituminous coal from the Saar Basin and an oil shale from the Messel deposit, both Germany, were extracted with binary solvent mixtures using the Advanced Solvent Extraction method (ASE). Extraction temperature and pressure were kept at 100 C, respectively 150 C, and 20,7 MPa. After the heating phase (5 min) static extractions were performed with mixtures (v:v, 1:3) of methanol with toluene, respectively trichloromethane, for further 5 min. Extract yields were the same or on a higher level compared to those from classical soxhlet extractions (3 days) using the same solvents at 60 C. Comparing the results from ASE with those from supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) the extract yields were similar. Increasing the temperature in ASE releases more soluble organic matter from geological samples, because compounds with higher molecular weight and especially more polar substances were solubilized. But also an enhanced extraction efficiency resulted for aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons which are used as biomarkers in Organic Geochemistry. Application of thermochemolysis with tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAH) using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) on the extraction residues shows clearly that at higher extraction temperatures minor amounts of free fatty acids or their methyl esters (original or produced by ASE) were trapped inside the pore systems of the oil shale or the bituminous coal. ASE offers a rapid and very efficient extraction method for geological samples reducing analysis time and costs for solvents. (orig.)

  10. Analysis of a Pareto Mixture Distribution for Maritime Surveillance Radar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Graham V. Weinberg

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The Pareto distribution has been shown to be an excellent model for X-band high-resolution maritime surveillance radar clutter returns. Given the success of mixture distributions in radar, it is thus of interest to consider the effect of Pareto mixture models. This paper introduces a formulation of a Pareto intensity mixture distribution and investigates coherent multilook radar detector performance using this new clutter model. Clutter parameter estimates are derived from data sets produced by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation's Ingara maritime surveillance radar.

  11. Grouting mixture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Klyusov, A A; Bakshutov, V S; Kulyavtsev, V A

    1980-10-23

    A grouting mixture is proposed for low-temperature boreholes. The mixture contains cement, beta gypsum polyhydrate, and calcium chloride, so as to increase the water resistance and strength properties of expanding brick at conditions from 20 to -5/sup 0/ C, the components are in the following ratios: (by wt.-%): cement, 77.45-88.06; beta gypsum polyhydrate, 9.79-19.36; calcium chloride, 2.15-3.19. Grouting mortar for cold boreholes serves as the cement.

  12. Spinodal decomposition in a food colloid-biopolymer mixture: evidence for a linear regime

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bhat, Suresh [Department of Physics and Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg (Switzerland); Tuinier, Remco [Forschungszentrum Juelich, Institut fuer Festkoerperforschung, 52425 Juelich (Germany); Schurtenberger, Peter [Department of Physics and Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg (Switzerland)

    2006-07-05

    We investigate phase separation and structural evolution in a complex food colloid (casein micelles) and biopolymer (xanthan) mixture using small-angle light scattering. We demonstrate that phase separation is induced by a depletion mechanism, and that the resulting coexistence curve can be described by osmotic equilibrium theory for mixtures of colloids and polymer chains in a background solvent, taking into account interactions between the polymer chains in the excluded volume limit. We show that the light scattering pattern of an unstable mixture exhibits the typical behaviour of spinodal decomposition, and we are able to confirm the validity of dynamic similarity scaling. We find three distinct regimes (initial or linear, intermediate and transition stage) for the decomposition kinetics that differ in the time dependence of the peak position of the structure factor. In particular we find clear evidence for the existence of an initial linear regime, where the peak position remains constant and the amplitude grows. The existence of spinodal-like decomposition and the validity of universal scaling in the intermediate and transition stages have been found in previous studies of phase separation in attractive colloidal suspensions. However, to our knowledge the initial linear regime has never been observed in colloidal suspensions, and we attribute this at least partly to the effect of hydrodynamic interactions which are efficiently screened in our system due to the fact that the measurements were performed at high polymer concentrations, i.e. in the semi-dilute regime. (letter to the editor)

  13. Eco-Friendly Superwetting Material for Highly Effective Separations of Oil/Water Mixtures and Oil-in-Water Emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chih-Feng; Yang, Sheng-Yi; Kuo, Shiao-Wei

    2017-02-20

    Because the treatment of oily wastewater, generated from many industrial processes, has become an increasing environmental concern, the search continues for simple, inexpensive, eco-friendly, and readily scalable processes for fabricating novel materials capable of effective oil/water separation. In this study we prepared an eco-friendly superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-modified cotton that mediated extremely efficient separations of mixtures of oil/water and oil/corrosive solutions. This PVP-modified cotton exhibited excellent antifouling properties and could be used to separate oil/water mixtures continuously for up to 20 h. Moreover, the compressed PVP-modified cotton could separate both surfactant-free and -stabilized oil-in-water emulsions with fluxes of up to 23,500 L m -2 h -1 bar -1 -a level one to two orders of magnitude higher than that possible when using traditional ultrafiltration membranes having similar rejection properties. The high performance of our PVP-modified cotton and its green, low-energy, cost-effective preparation suggest its great potential for practical applications.

  14. Online learning of a Dirichlet process mixture of Beta-Liouville distributions via variational inference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Wentao; Bouguila, Nizar

    2013-11-01

    A large class of problems can be formulated in terms of the clustering process. Mixture models are an increasingly important tool in statistical pattern recognition and for analyzing and clustering complex data. Two challenging aspects that should be addressed when considering mixture models are how to choose between a set of plausible models and how to estimate the model's parameters. In this paper, we address both problems simultaneously within a unified online nonparametric Bayesian framework that we develop to learn a Dirichlet process mixture of Beta-Liouville distributions (i.e., an infinite Beta-Liouville mixture model). The proposed infinite model is used for the online modeling and clustering of proportional data for which the Beta-Liouville mixture has been shown to be effective. We propose a principled approach for approximating the intractable model's posterior distribution by a tractable one-which we develop-such that all the involved mixture's parameters can be estimated simultaneously and effectively in a closed form. This is done through variational inference that enjoys important advantages, such as handling of unobserved attributes and preventing under or overfitting; we explain that in detail. The effectiveness of the proposed work is evaluated on three challenging real applications, namely facial expression recognition, behavior modeling and recognition, and dynamic textures clustering.

  15. PhyloBayes MPI: phylogenetic reconstruction with infinite mixtures of profiles in a parallel environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lartillot, Nicolas; Rodrigue, Nicolas; Stubbs, Daniel; Richer, Jacques

    2013-07-01

    Modeling across site variation of the substitution process is increasingly recognized as important for obtaining more accurate phylogenetic reconstructions. Both finite and infinite mixture models have been proposed and have been shown to significantly improve on classical single-matrix models. Compared with their finite counterparts, infinite mixtures have a greater expressivity. However, they are computationally more challenging. This has resulted in practical compromises in the design of infinite mixture models. In particular, a fast but simplified version of a Dirichlet process model over equilibrium frequency profiles implemented in PhyloBayes has often been used in recent phylogenomics studies, while more refined model structures, more realistic and empirically more fit, have been practically out of reach. We introduce a message passing interface version of PhyloBayes, implementing the Dirichlet process mixture models as well as more classical empirical matrices and finite mixtures. The parallelization is made efficient thanks to the combination of two algorithmic strategies: a partial Gibbs sampling update of the tree topology and the use of a truncated stick-breaking representation for the Dirichlet process prior. The implementation shows close to linear gains in computational speed for up to 64 cores, thus allowing faster phylogenetic reconstruction under complex mixture models. PhyloBayes MPI is freely available from our website www.phylobayes.org.

  16. The separation of solid and liquid components of mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hunter, W.M.

    1980-01-01

    An improved method of separating solid and liquid components of mixtures is described which is particularly suited for use in automated radioimmunoassay systems in the analysis of bound and free fractions. A second liquid, having a density intermediate between those of the solid and liquid components, is delivered to the solid/ liquid mixture to form a discrete layer below the mixture and the solid separates into this lower liquid layer assisted by centrifugal force. The second liquid of intermediate density is an aqueous solution of a highly hydrophilic and electrically non-polar solute, such as an aqueous sucrose solution. Further liquids of intermediate density and progressively higher density may be delivered to form further discrete layers below the initial layer of the second dense liquid. After separation of the solid and liquid components of the mixture, the supernatant liquid component of the original mixture is removed in a controlled and non-turbulent manner. The method is illustrated in radioimmunoassays for platelet β-thromboglobulin and human follicle stimulating hormone. (U.K.)

  17. Study of the sintering behavior of fine, ultrafine and nanocrystalline WC-CO mixtures obtained by high energy milling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salvador, M. D.; Bonache, V.; Amigo, V.; Busquets, D.

    2008-01-01

    In this work the sintering behaviour of fine, ultrafine and nanocrystalline WC-12Co mixtures obtained by high energy milling, as well commercial nano powders, have been studied, in order to evaluate the effect of the particle size and the powder processing, in the densification, microstructural development and mechanical properties of the final product. The consolidation of the mixtures has been made by uniaxial pressing and sintering in vacuum, and by hot isostatic pressing. The sintered materials have been evaluated by measures of density, hardness and indentation fracture toughness, and micro structurally characterized by optical microscopy and scanning and transmission electronic microscopy (SEM and TEM). The results show the improvements in resistant behaviour of the materials obtained from nanocrystalline powders, in spite of the grain growth experienced during the sintering. The best results were obtained for the milling nanocrystalline material, which presents values of hardness higher than 180 HV. (Author) 46 refs

  18. Infrared spectra of hexamethylbenzene—tetracyanoethylene complexes at high pressures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamada, Haruka; Saheki, Masao

    Infrared spectra of hexamethylbenzene(HMB)—tetracyanoethylene(TCNE), 1:1 and 2:1, complexes were measured under high pressures, 11˜4,000 bar. It was found that the CC stretching (A g) band of TCNE became much stronger at high pressures than at 1 bar and that the intensity increase of this band was especially large for both of the complexes. Based on these facts the strong appearance of the CC band at 1 bar, which is inconsistent with the symmetry consideration derived from X-ray analysis, can be discussed.

  19. Explicit Cloud Nucleation from Arbitrary Mixtures of Aerosol Types and Sizes Using an Ultra-Efficient In-Line Aerosol Bin Model in High-Resolution Simulations of Hurricanes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walko, R. L.; Ashby, T.; Cotton, W. R.

    2017-12-01

    The fundamental role of atmospheric aerosols in the process of cloud droplet nucleation is well known, and there is ample evidence that the concentration, size, and chemistry of aerosols can strongly influence microphysical, thermodynamic, and ultimately dynamic properties and evolution of clouds and convective systems. With the increasing availability of observation- and model-based environmental representations of different types of anthropogenic and natural aerosols, there is increasing need for models to be able to represent which aerosols nucleate and which do not in supersaturated conditions. However, this is a very complex process that involves competition for water vapor between multiple aerosol species (chemistries) and different aerosol sizes within each species. Attempts have been made to parameterize the nucleation properties of mixtures of different aerosol species, but it is very difficult or impossible to represent all possible mixtures that may occur in practice. As part of a modeling study of the impact of anthropogenic and natural aerosols on hurricanes, we developed an ultra-efficient aerosol bin model to represent nucleation in a high-resolution atmospheric model that explicitly represents cloud- and subcloud-scale vertical motion. The bin model is activated at any time and location in a simulation where supersaturation occurs and is potentially capable of activating new cloud droplets. The bins are populated from the aerosol species that are present at the given time and location and by multiple sizes from each aerosol species according to a characteristic size distribution, and the chemistry of each species is represented by its absorption or adsorption characteristics. The bin model is integrated in time increments that are smaller than that of the atmospheric model in order to temporally resolve the peak supersaturation, which determines the total nucleated number. Even though on the order of 100 bins are typically utilized, this leads only

  20. High resolution separations of charge variants and disulfide isomers of monoclonal antibodies and antibody drug conjugates using ultra-high voltage capillary electrophoresis with high electric field strength.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henley, W Hampton; He, Yan; Mellors, J Scott; Batz, Nicholas G; Ramsey, J Michael; Jorgenson, James W

    2017-11-10

    Ultra-high voltage capillary electrophoresis with high electric field strength has been applied to the separation of the charge variants, drug conjugates, and disulfide isomers of monoclonal antibodies. Samples composed of many closely related species are difficult to resolve and quantify using traditional analytical instrumentation. High performance instrumentation can often save considerable time and effort otherwise spent on extensive method development. Ideally, the resolution obtained for a given CE buffer system scales with the square root of the applied voltage. Currently available commercial CE instrumentation is limited to an applied voltage of approximately 30kV and a maximum electric field strength of 1kV/cm due to design limitations. The instrumentation described here is capable of safely applying potentials of at least 120kV with electric field strengths over 2000V/cm, potentially doubling the resolution of the best conventional CE buffer/capillary systems while decreasing analysis time in some applications. Separations of these complex mixtures using this new instrumentation demonstrate the potential of ultra-high voltage CE to identify the presence of previously unresolved components and to reduce analysis time for complex mixtures of antibody variants and drug conjugates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Development of a new continuous process for mixing of complex non-Newtonian fluids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Migliozzi, Simona; Mazzei, Luca; Sochon, Bob; Angeli, Panagiota; Thames Multiphase Team; Coral Project Collaboration

    2017-11-01

    Design of new continuous mixing operations poses many challenges, especially when dealing with highly viscous non-Newtonian fluids. Knowledge of complex rheological behaviour of the working mixture is crucial for development of an efficient process. In this work, we investigate the mixing performance of two different static mixers and the effects of the mixture rheology on the manufacturing of novel non-aqueous-based oral care products using experimental and computational fluid dynamic methods. The two liquid phases employed, i.e. a carbomer suspension in polyethylene glycol and glycerol, start to form a gel when they mix. We studied the structure evolution of the liquid mixture using time-resolved rheometry and we obtained viscosity rheograms at different phase ratios from pressure drop measurements in a customized mini-channel. The numerical results and rheological model were validated with experimental measurements carried out in a specifically designed setup. EPSRS-CORAL.

  2. Protective effect of Hongxue tea mixture against radiation injury in mice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Chun; Zhang Xuehui; Wang Qi

    2005-01-01

    Objective: To develop health food of anti-radiation among biological source in Yunnan. Methods: Screening test was done of the health food of biological source of anti-radiation injury in mice. It is indicated that Hong-Xue Tea Mixture among the biological source has the effect against radiation injury, observing experiment of dose-effect of Hong-Xue Tea Mixture was done. Micronuclei in the bone marrow polychromatophilic erythrocytes in each dose group of mice were examined, leucocytes number and 30 day survival rate of mice following whole-body 5.0 Gy γ irradiation were also determined. Results: Research showed that Hong-Xue Tea Mixture and Spirulina Platensis Mixture among the biological source have protective effect against radiation injury in mice. Observing experiment of dose-effect of Hong-Xue Tea Mixture show that low, medium and high dose of Hong-Xue Tea Mixture can significantly decrease bone marrow PECMN rate of mice, increase leucocytes number and 30 day survival rate. Conclusion: Hong-Xue Tea Mixture has potent protective effects against radiation injury in mice. (authors)

  3. Separation of organic azeotropic mixtures by pervaporation. Final technical report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baker, R.W.

    1991-12-01

    Distillation is a commonly used separation technique in the petroleum refining and chemical processing industries. However, there are a number of potential separations involving azetropic and close-boiling organic mixtures that cannot be separated efficiently by distillation. Pervaporation is a membrane-based process that uses selective permeation through membranes to separate liquid mixtures. Because the separation process is not affected by the relative volatility of the mixture components being separated, pervaporation can be used to separate azetropes and close-boiling mixtures. Our results showed that pervaporation membranes can be used to separate azeotropic mixtures efficiently, a result that is not achievable with simple distillation. The membranes were 5--10 times more permeable to one of the components of the mixture, concentrating it in the permeate stream. For example, the membrane was 10 times more permeable to ethanol than methyl ethyl ketone, producing 60% ethanol permeate from an azeotropic mixture of ethanol and methyl ethyl ketone containing 18% ethanol. For the ethyl acetate/water mixture, the membranes showed a very high selectivity to water (> 300) and the permeate was 50--100 times enriched in water relative to the feed. The membranes had permeate fluxes on the order of 0.1--1 kg/m{sup 2}{center_dot}h in the operating range of 55--70{degrees}C. Higher fluxes were obtained by increasing the operating temperature.

  4. Photothermal microfluidic cantilever deflection spectroscopy reflecting clustering mechanism of ethanol water mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghoraishi, Maryam; Hawk, John; Thundat, Thomas

    Aqueous mixture of alcohol is a typical prototype for biomolecules, micelle formation, and structural stability of proteins. Therefore, Short chain alcohols such as EtOH have been used as a simple model for understanding of more complex aqueous biomolecules. Here we study vibrational energy peaks of EtOH water binary mixtures using micromechanical calorimetric spectroscopy using bimaterial microfluidic cantilevers (BMC). The IR spectra of EtOH-water are experimentally collected employing a BMC as concentration of EtOH changes from 20-100 wt%. As concentration of EtOH varies in the mixture, considerable shifts in the wavenumber at IR absorption peak maxima are reported. The experimentally measured shifts in the wavenumber at IR absorption peak maxima are related to changes in dipole moment (μ) of EtOH at different concentration. The relationship between IR absorption wavenumber for both anti and gauche conformers of EtOH, and inverse dipole moment, 1/ μ, of EtOH at different concentrations follows a power law dependence. Our technique offers a platform to investigate dipole effect on molecular vibrations of mixtures in confined picoliter volumes, previously unexplored with other analytical techniques due to limitations of volume under study.

  5. MAP-Based Underdetermined Blind Source Separation of Convolutive Mixtures by Hierarchical Clustering and -Norm Minimization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kellermann Walter

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available We address the problem of underdetermined BSS. While most previous approaches are designed for instantaneous mixtures, we propose a time-frequency-domain algorithm for convolutive mixtures. We adopt a two-step method based on a general maximum a posteriori (MAP approach. In the first step, we estimate the mixing matrix based on hierarchical clustering, assuming that the source signals are sufficiently sparse. The algorithm works directly on the complex-valued data in the time-frequency domain and shows better convergence than algorithms based on self-organizing maps. The assumption of Laplacian priors for the source signals in the second step leads to an algorithm for estimating the source signals. It involves the -norm minimization of complex numbers because of the use of the time-frequency-domain approach. We compare a combinatorial approach initially designed for real numbers with a second-order cone programming (SOCP approach designed for complex numbers. We found that although the former approach is not theoretically justified for complex numbers, its results are comparable to, or even better than, the SOCP solution. The advantage is a lower computational cost for problems with low input/output dimensions.

  6. Simplex-centroid mixture formulation for optimised composting of kitchen waste.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdullah, N; Chin, N L

    2010-11-01

    Composting is a good recycling method to fully utilise all the organic wastes present in kitchen waste due to its high nutritious matter within the waste. In this present study, the optimised mixture proportions of kitchen waste containing vegetable scraps (V), fish processing waste (F) and newspaper (N) or onion peels (O) were determined by applying the simplex-centroid mixture design method to achieve the desired initial moisture content and carbon-to-nitrogen (CN) ratio for effective composting process. The best mixture was at 48.5% V, 17.7% F and 33.7% N for blends with newspaper while for blends with onion peels, the mixture proportion was 44.0% V, 19.7% F and 36.2% O. The predicted responses from these mixture proportions fall in the acceptable limits of moisture content of 50% to 65% and CN ratio of 20-40 and were also validated experimentally. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Performance Evaluation and Improving Mechanisms of Diatomite-Modified Asphalt Mixture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Chao; Xie, Jun; Zhou, Xiaojun; Liu, Quantao; Pang, Ling

    2018-04-27

    Diatomite is an inorganic natural resource in large reserve. This study consists of two phases to evaluate the effects of diatomite on asphalt mixtures. In the first phase, we characterized the diatomite in terms of mineralogical properties, chemical compositions, particle size distribution, mesoporous distribution, morphology, and IR spectra. In the second phase, road performances, referring to the permanent deformation, crack, fatigue, and moisture resistance, of asphalt mixtures with diatomite were investigated. The characterization of diatomite exhibits that it is a porous material with high SiO₂ content and large specific surface area. It contributes to asphalt absorption and therefore leads to bonding enhancement between asphalt and aggregate. However, physical absorption instead of chemical reaction occurs according to the results of FTIR. The resistance of asphalt mixtures with diatomite to permanent deformation and moisture are superior to those of the control mixtures. But, the addition of diatomite does not help to improve the crack and fatigue resistance of asphalt mixture.

  8. Performance Evaluation and Improving Mechanisms of Diatomite-Modified Asphalt Mixture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chao Yang

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Diatomite is an inorganic natural resource in large reserve. This study consists of two phases to evaluate the effects of diatomite on asphalt mixtures. In the first phase, we characterized the diatomite in terms of mineralogical properties, chemical compositions, particle size distribution, mesoporous distribution, morphology, and IR spectra. In the second phase, road performances, referring to the permanent deformation, crack, fatigue, and moisture resistance, of asphalt mixtures with diatomite were investigated. The characterization of diatomite exhibits that it is a porous material with high SiO2 content and large specific surface area. It contributes to asphalt absorption and therefore leads to bonding enhancement between asphalt and aggregate. However, physical absorption instead of chemical reaction occurs according to the results of FTIR. The resistance of asphalt mixtures with diatomite to permanent deformation and moisture are superior to those of the control mixtures. But, the addition of diatomite does not help to improve the crack and fatigue resistance of asphalt mixture.

  9. Nonparametric e-Mixture Estimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takano, Ken; Hino, Hideitsu; Akaho, Shotaro; Murata, Noboru

    2016-12-01

    This study considers the common situation in data analysis when there are few observations of the distribution of interest or the target distribution, while abundant observations are available from auxiliary distributions. In this situation, it is natural to compensate for the lack of data from the target distribution by using data sets from these auxiliary distributions-in other words, approximating the target distribution in a subspace spanned by a set of auxiliary distributions. Mixture modeling is one of the simplest ways to integrate information from the target and auxiliary distributions in order to express the target distribution as accurately as possible. There are two typical mixtures in the context of information geometry: the [Formula: see text]- and [Formula: see text]-mixtures. The [Formula: see text]-mixture is applied in a variety of research fields because of the presence of the well-known expectation-maximazation algorithm for parameter estimation, whereas the [Formula: see text]-mixture is rarely used because of its difficulty of estimation, particularly for nonparametric models. The [Formula: see text]-mixture, however, is a well-tempered distribution that satisfies the principle of maximum entropy. To model a target distribution with scarce observations accurately, this letter proposes a novel framework for a nonparametric modeling of the [Formula: see text]-mixture and a geometrically inspired estimation algorithm. As numerical examples of the proposed framework, a transfer learning setup is considered. The experimental results show that this framework works well for three types of synthetic data sets, as well as an EEG real-world data set.

  10. Syntheses and a Solid State Structure of a Dinuclear Molybdenum(V Complex with Pyridine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jon Zubieta

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available A mononuclear complex [MoOCl4(H2O]− readily forms a metal−metal bonded {Mo2O4}2+ core. A high content of pyridine in the reaction mixture prevents further aggregation of dinuclear cores into larger clusters and a neutral, dinuclear complex with the [Mo2O4Cl2(Py4] composition is isolated as a product. Solid state structures of two compounds containing this complex, [Mo2O4Cl2(Py4]·2.25Py (1 and [Mo2O4Cl2(Py4]·1.5PyHCl (2, were investigated by X-ray crystallography.

  11. Effects of diuron and carbofuran and their mixtures on the microalgae Raphidocelis subcapitata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansano, Adrislaine S; Moreira, Raquel A; Dornfeld, Hugo C; Freitas, Emanuela C; Vieira, Eny M; Sarmento, Hugo; Rocha, Odete; Seleghim, Mirna H R

    2017-08-01

    In aquatic environments, organisms are often exposed to mixtures of several pesticides. In this study, the effects of carbofuran and diuron and their mixtures on the microalgae Raphidocelis subcapitata were investigated. For this purpose, toxicity tests were performed with the single compounds (active ingredients and commercial formulations) and their combinations (only active ingredients). According to the results, the toxicity of active ingredients and their commercial formulations to R. subcapitata was similar. In the single exposures, both carbofuran and diuron inhibited significantly the R. subcapitata growth and caused physiological (chlorophyll a content) and morphological (complexity and cell size) changes in cells, as captured by flow cytometry single-cell properties. Regarding the mixture toxicity tests, data fitted to both reference models, concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA), and evidenced significant deviations. After the CA fitting, dose-ratio dependent deviation had the best fit to the data, demonstrating synergism caused mainly by diuron and antagonism caused mainly by carbofuran. After fitting the IA model, a synergistic deviation represented the best fit for the diuron and carbofuran mixtures. In general, the two reference models indicated the occurrence of synergism in the mixtures of these compounds, especially when diuron was the dominant chemical in the combinations. The increased toxicity caused by the mixture of these pesticides could pose a greater environmental risk for phytoplankton. Thus, exposure to diuron and carbofuran mixtures must also be considered in risk assessments, since the combination of these compounds may result in more severe effects on algae population growth than single exposures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Mixtures of endocrine-disrupting contaminants induce adverse developmental effects in preweaning rats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Marta Axelstad; Christiansen, Sofie; Boberg, Julie

    2014-01-01

    Reproductive toxicity was investigated in rats after developmental exposure to a mixture of 13 endocrine-disrupting contaminants, including pesticides, plastic and cosmetic ingredients, and paracetamol. The mixture was composed on the basis of information about high-end human exposures...

  13. Separating Underdetermined Convolutive Speech Mixtures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Michael Syskind; Wang, DeLiang; Larsen, Jan

    2006-01-01

    a method for underdetermined blind source separation of convolutive mixtures. The proposed framework is applicable for separation of instantaneous as well as convolutive speech mixtures. It is possible to iteratively extract each speech signal from the mixture by combining blind source separation...

  14. Mixtures of truncated basis functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Langseth, Helge; Nielsen, Thomas Dyhre; Rumí, Rafael

    2012-01-01

    In this paper we propose a framework, called mixtures of truncated basis functions (MoTBFs), for representing general hybrid Bayesian networks. The proposed framework generalizes both the mixture of truncated exponentials (MTEs) framework and the mixture of polynomials (MoPs) framework. Similar t...

  15. Validated univariate and multivariate spectrophotometric methods for the determination of pharmaceuticals mixture in complex wastewater

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riad, Safaa M.; Salem, Hesham; Elbalkiny, Heba T.; Khattab, Fatma I.

    2015-04-01

    Five, accurate, precise, and sensitive univariate and multivariate spectrophotometric methods were developed for the simultaneous determination of a ternary mixture containing Trimethoprim (TMP), Sulphamethoxazole (SMZ) and Oxytetracycline (OTC) in waste water samples collected from different cites either production wastewater or livestock wastewater after their solid phase extraction using OASIS HLB cartridges. In univariate methods OTC was determined at its λmax 355.7 nm (0D), while (TMP) and (SMZ) were determined by three different univariate methods. Method (A) is based on successive spectrophotometric resolution technique (SSRT). The technique starts with the ratio subtraction method followed by ratio difference method for determination of TMP and SMZ. Method (B) is successive derivative ratio technique (SDR). Method (C) is mean centering of the ratio spectra (MCR). The developed multivariate methods are principle component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS). The specificity of the developed methods is investigated by analyzing laboratory prepared mixtures containing different ratios of the three drugs. The obtained results are statistically compared with those obtained by the official methods, showing no significant difference with respect to accuracy and precision at p = 0.05.

  16. Molecular dynamics study of thermodynamic stability and dynamics of [Li(glyme)]+ complex in lithium-glyme solvate ionic liquids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shinoda, Wataru; Hatanaka, Yuta; Hirakawa, Masashi; Okazaki, Susumu; Tsuzuki, Seiji; Ueno, Kazuhide; Watanabe, Masayoshi

    2018-05-01

    Equimolar mixtures of glymes and organic lithium salts are known to produce solvate ionic liquids, in which the stability of the [Li(glyme)]+ complex plays an important role in determining the ionic dynamics. Since these mixtures have attractive physicochemical properties for application as electrolytes, it is important to understand the dependence of the stability of the [Li(glyme)]+ complex on the ion dynamics. A series of microsecond molecular dynamics simulations has been conducted to investigate the dynamic properties of these solvate ionic liquids. Successful solvate ionic liquids with high stability of the [Li(glyme)]+ complex have been shown to have enhanced ion dynamics. Li-glyme pair exchange rarely occurs: its characteristic time is longer than that of ion diffusion by one or two orders of magnitude. Li-glyme pair exchange most likely occurs through cluster formation involving multiple [Li(glyme)]+ pairs. In this process, multiple exchanges likely take place in a concerted manner without the production of energetically unfavorable free glyme or free Li+ ions.

  17. Characteristics of liquid product from the pyrolysis of waste plastic mixture at low and high temperatures: Influence of lapse time of reaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Kyong-Hwan; Shin, Dae-Hyun

    2007-01-01

    Pyrolysis of a waste plastic mixture (high-density polyethylene: low-density polyethylene: polypropylene: polystyrene = 3:2:3:1) into a liquid product was carried out in a stirred semi-batch reactor at low (350 deg. C) and high (400 deg. C) temperatures. The effect of lapse time of reaction in the reactor and also degradation temperature on the characteristics of the liquid product from pyrolysis of the mixture was investigated. Liquid products were described by cumulative amount distribution, paraffin, olefin, naphthene and aromatic (PONA) distribution and molecular weight distribution. Their characteristic was quite differed with a lapse time of reaction and also at a low and high degradation temperatures, because of the different physicochemical properties of the plastic types in the mixture. With increase of lapse time of reaction, the order for the main products in PONA components obtained at 350 deg. C was firstly aromatic products and then olefin products, while at 400 deg. C the order was firstly aromatic products, then olefin products and finally paraffin products. The experiments also showed from the molecular weight distribution of liquid PONA components that the paraffin and olefin products had a wide distribution by mainly random scission of polymer, but in the case of olefin products were produced by an end-chain scission mechanism as well as random scission mechanism, as evidenced by much more light olefin products. This phenomenon was evident at a higher degradation temperature. Also, both the light olefin and naphthene products with a molecular weight of around 120, as a main product, showed a similar trend as a function of lapse time, which had a maximum fraction at 343 min (at 350 deg. C) and 83 min (at 400 deg. C). Among PONA components, the highest concentrations of aromatic products were obtained with a molecular weight of around 100 at the fastest lapse time of reaction, regardless of degradation temperature. It was concluded that the

  18. Characteristics of liquid product from the pyrolysis of waste plastic mixture at low and high temperatures: influence of lapse time of reaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Kyong-Hwan; Shin, Dae-Hyun

    2007-01-01

    Pyrolysis of a waste plastic mixture (high-density polyethylene: low-density polyethylene: polypropylene: polystyrene = 3:2:3:1) into a liquid product was carried out in a stirred semi-batch reactor at low (350 degrees C) and high (400 degrees C) temperatures. The effect of lapse time of reaction in the reactor and also degradation temperature on the characteristics of the liquid product from pyrolysis of the mixture was investigated. Liquid products were described by cumulative amount distribution, paraffin, olefin, naphthene and aromatic (PONA) distribution and molecular weight distribution. Their characteristic was quite differed with a lapse time of reaction and also at a low and high degradation temperatures, because of the different physicochemical properties of the plastic types in the mixture. With increase of lapse time of reaction, the order for the main products in PONA components obtained at 350 degrees C was firstly aromatic products and then olefin products, while at 400 degrees C the order was firstly aromatic products, then olefin products and finally paraffin products. The experiments also showed from the molecular weight distribution of liquid PONA components that the paraffin and olefin products had a wide distribution by mainly random scission of polymer, but in the case of olefin products were produced by an end-chain scission mechanism as well as random scission mechanism, as evidenced by much more light olefin products. This phenomenon was evident at a higher degradation temperature. Also, both the light olefin and naphthene products with a molecular weight of around 120, as a main product, showed a similar trend as a function of lapse time, which had a maximum fraction at 343 min (at 350 degrees C) and 83 min (at 400 degrees C). Among PONA components, the highest concentrations of aromatic products were obtained with a molecular weight of around 100 at the fastest lapse time of reaction, regardless of degradation temperature. It was

  19. Evaluation of zeolite mixtures for decontamination of high-activity-level water in the Submerged Demineralizer System (SDS) flowsheet at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station, Unit 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    King, L.J.; Campbell, D.O.; Collins, E.D.; Knauer, J.B.; Wallace, R.M.

    1983-01-01

    Mixtures of Linde Ionsiv IE-96 and Ionsiv A-51 zeolites were evaluated for use in the Submerged Demineralizer System (SDS) that was installed at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station, Unit 2 (TMI-2) for decontaminating approx. 3000 m 3 (approx. 700,000 gal) of high-activity-level water in the containment building sump. Small-scale, tracer-level column tests were made using various mixtures of the zeolites to evaluate the capability for simultaneous removal of cesium and strontium. A column loading test was made in a hot cell using a mixture of equal parts of the zeolites to evaluate the performance of the mixture in removing cesium and strontium from a sample of TMI-2 sump water. A computerized mathematical model of the mixed-bed SDS system was used to evaluate the test data in order to select a zeolite mixture and predict system performance

  20. Bayesian demosaicing using Gaussian scale mixture priors with local adaptivity in the dual tree complex wavelet packet transform domain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goossens, Bart; Aelterman, Jan; Luong, Hiep; Pizurica, Aleksandra; Philips, Wilfried

    2013-02-01

    In digital cameras and mobile phones, there is an ongoing trend to increase the image resolution, decrease the sensor size and to use lower exposure times. Because smaller sensors inherently lead to more noise and a worse spatial resolution, digital post-processing techniques are required to resolve many of the artifacts. Color filter arrays (CFAs), which use alternating patterns of color filters, are very popular because of price and power consumption reasons. However, color filter arrays require the use of a post-processing technique such as demosaicing to recover full resolution RGB images. Recently, there has been some interest in techniques that jointly perform the demosaicing and denoising. This has the advantage that the demosaicing and denoising can be performed optimally (e.g. in the MSE sense) for the considered noise model, while avoiding artifacts introduced when using demosaicing and denoising sequentially. In this paper, we will continue the research line of the wavelet-based demosaicing techniques. These approaches are computationally simple and very suited for combination with denoising. Therefore, we will derive Bayesian Minimum Squared Error (MMSE) joint demosaicing and denoising rules in the complex wavelet packet domain, taking local adaptivity into account. As an image model, we will use Gaussian Scale Mixtures, thereby taking advantage of the directionality of the complex wavelets. Our results show that this technique is well capable of reconstructing fine details in the image, while removing all of the noise, at a relatively low computational cost. In particular, the complete reconstruction (including color correction, white balancing etc) of a 12 megapixel RAW image takes 3.5 sec on a recent mid-range GPU.

  1. High temperature infrared absorption cross sections of methane near 3.4 μm in Ar and CO2 mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koroglu, Batikan; Neupane, Sneha; Pryor, Owen; Peale, Robert E.; Vasu, Subith S.

    2018-02-01

    The absorption cross-sections of CH4 at two wavelengths in the mid-IR region: λpeak = 3403.4 nm and λvalley = 3403.7 nm were measured. Data were taken using three different compositions of non-reactive gas mixtures comprising CH4/Ar/CO2 between 700 laser. Also, broadband room temperature methane cross section measurements were performed using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and the cascade laser to gain a better insight into the changes of the line shapes in various bath gasses (Ar, CO2, and N2). An application of the high-temperature cross-section data was demonstrated to determine the concentration of methane during oxy-methane combustion in a mixture of CO2, O2, and Ar. Current measurements will be valuable addition to the spectroscopy database for methane- an important fuel used for power generation and heating around the world.

  2. Chloraminated Concentrated Drinking Water for Disinfection Byproduct Mixtures Research: Evaluating Free Chlorine Contact Times

    Science.gov (United States)

    Complex mixtures of disinfection by-products (DBPs) are formed when the disinfectant oxidizes constituents (e.g., natural organic matter (NOM) and organic pollutants) present in the source water. Since 1974, over 600 DBPs have been identified in drinking water, yet a large portio...

  3. Demonstration of Enhanced Radiation Drive in Hohlraums Made from a Mixture of High-Z Wall Materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schein, Jochen; Jones, Ogden; Rosen, Mordecai; Dewald, Eduard; Glenzer, Siegfried; Gunther, Janelle; Hammel, Bruce; Landen, Otto; Suter, Laurence; Wallace, Russell

    2007-01-01

    We present results from experiments, numerical simulations and analytic modeling, demonstrating enhanced hohlraum performance. Care in the fabrication and handling of hohlraums with walls consisting of high-Z mixtures (cocktails) has led to our demonstration, for the first time, of a significant increase in radiation temperature compared to a pure Au hohlraum that is in agreement with predictions and is ascribable to reduced wall losses. The data suggest that a National Ignition Facility ignition hohlraum made of a U:Au:Dy cocktail should have ∼17% reduction in wall losses compared to a similar gold hohlraum

  4. Development of an autonomous setup for evaluating self healing capability of asphalt mixtures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Qiu, J.; Molenaar, A.A.A.; Van de Ven, M.F.C.; Wu, S.

    2012-01-01

    It is a well known fact that asphalt mixtures have self healing capabilities. Yet most of the self healing investigations are carried out using complex and time consuming fatigue tests. In order to investigate the self healing capability in a simple and efficient manner, a beam on elastic foundation

  5. Complex organic pollutant mixtures originating from industrial and municipal emissions in surface waters of the megacity Jakarta-an example of a water pollution problem in emerging economies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dsikowitzky, Larissa; Hagemann, Lukas; Dwiyitno; Ariyani, Farida; Irianto, Hari Eko; Schwarzbauer, Jan

    2017-12-01

    During the last decades, the global industrial production partly shifted from industrialized nations to emerging and developing countries. In these upcoming economies, the newly developed industrial centers are generally located in densely populated areas, resulting in the discharge of often only partially treated industrial and municipal wastewaters into the surface waters. There is a huge gap of knowledge about the composition of the complex organic pollutant mixtures occurring in such heavily impacted areas. Therefore, we applied a non-target screening to comprehensively assess river pollution in a large industrial area located in the megacity Jakarta. More than 100 structurally diverse organic contaminants were identified, some of which were reported here for the first time as environmental contaminants. The concentrations of paper manufacturing chemicals in river water-for example, of the endocrine-disrupting compound bisphenol A (50-8000 ng L -1 )-were as high as in pure untreated paper industry wastewaters. The non-target screening approach is the adequate tool for the identification of water contaminants in the new global centers of industrial manufacturing-as the first crucial step towards the evaluation of as yet unrecognized environmental risks.

  6. High turnover catalysis of water oxidation by Mn(II) complexes of monoanionic pentadentate ligands

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seidler-Egdal, Rune Kirk; Nielsen, Anne; Bond, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    -pyridylmethyl)ethane-1,2-diamine (bcbpen(-)), show the presence of a mixture of closely related Mn(II) species, assigned to the mono, di-, tri- and poly-cationic complexes [Mn(II)(L)(H(2)O)](n)(n+), L = mcbpen(-) or bcbpen(-) with n = 1, 2, 3, etc. In solution, these complexes are reversibly oxidized by tert......:1 reaction of TBHP with [Mn] is rate determining and the resultant species is proposed to be the mononuclear, catalytically competent, [Mn(IV)(O)(mcbpen)](+). At very close m/z values [Mn(III)(OH)(mcbpen)](+), [Mn(2)(III/IV)(O)(2)(mcbpen)(2)](+) and [Mn(IV)(2)(O)(2)(mcbpen)(2)](2+) are detected by ESI MS......-butyl hydrogen peroxide (TBHP), (NH(4))(2)[Ce(NO(3))(6)], Ce(ClO(4))(4), oxone and [Ru(bipy)(3)](3+) to form metastable (t(½) = min to h) higher valent (hydr)oxide species, showing a collective maximum absorbance at 430 nm. The same species can be produced by [Ru(bipy)(3)](2+)-mediated photooxidization...

  7. High Turnover Catalysis of Water Oxidation by Mn(II) complexes of Monoanionic Pentadentate Ligands

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seidler-Egdal, Rune Kirk; Nielsen, Anne; Bond, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    -pyridylmethyl)ethane-1,2-diamine (bcbpen−), show the presence of a mixture of closely related Mn(II) species, assigned to the mono, di-, tri- and poly-cationic complexes [MnII(L)(H2O)]nn+, L = mcbpen− or bcbpen− with n = 1, 2, 3, etc. In solution, these complexes are reversibly oxidized by tert-butyl hydrogen...... determining and the resultant species is proposed to be the mononuclear, catalytically competent, [MnIV(O)(mcbpen)]+. At very close m/z values [MnIII(OH)(mcbpen)]+, [Mn2III/IV(O)2(mcbpen)2]+ and [MnIV2(O)2(mcbpen)2]2+are detected by ESI MS and CE when the concentration of TBHP is comparable to or lower than...... peroxide (TBHP), (NH4)2[Ce(NO3)6], Ce(ClO4)4, oxone and [Ru(bipy)3]3+ to form metastable (t½ = min to h) higher valent (hydr)oxide species, showing a collective maximum absorbance at 430 nm. The same species can be produced by [Ru(bipy)3]2+-mediated photooxidization in the presence of an electron acceptor...

  8. Physical Characterization Of High Amylose/Pectin Mixtures Cross-Linked With Sodium Trimetaphosphate; Caracterizacao fisica de misturas alta amilose/pectina reticuladas com trimetafosfato de sodio

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carbinatto, F.M.; Cury, B.S.F.; Evangelista, R.C., E-mail: curybsf@fcfar.unesp.b [UNESP, Araraquara, SP (Brazil). Fac. de Ciencias Farmaceuticas

    2010-07-01

    Some researches have reported that pectin and high amylose mixtures presented superior mechanical properties in relation to those of the isolated polymers. In this work, mixtures at different ratios (1:4; 1:1) of pectin and high amylose were crosslinked with sodium trimetaphosphate at different degrees by varying reaction conditions. All samples were characterized by rheological and X-ray diffraction analyses. Samples without cross-linker were prepared as control. The oscillatory dynamic tests showed that all samples exhibited predominant elastic behavior, although cross-linked samples presented higher G' values, suggesting that crosslinking by phosphorylation resulted in more strength structures. The diffractograms showed that cross-linked samples underwent structural modifications that resulted in increase of crystallinity due to cross-linking process. (author)

  9. Crystalline structure and propylene oxidation in complex bismuth-molybdenum oxide catalysts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manaila, R.; Ionescu, N.I.; Caldararu, M.

    1980-01-01

    Complex Bi-Mo oxide catalysts supported on amorphous SiO 2 were prepared by coprecipitation and tested in the reaction of selective oxidation of propylene to acrolein. They consist of a mixture of molybdate phases and excess MoO 3 . The Fe 2 (MoO 4 ) 3 phase was found to have a high concentration of lattice defects, induced by a Mo excess. These defects could be related to the catalytic conversion and to the selectivity to total oxidation by varying the calcination temperature. Calcination above 500 0 C induced also the transition of the metastable modification β-NiMoO 4 to the stable form α, accompanied by a loss of conversion. A complex Bi molybdate with scheelitic structure was found to have a high selectivity to acrolein. (author)

  10. Asphalt Mixture for the First Asphalt Concrete Directly Fastened Track in Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seong-Hyeok Lee

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The research has been initiated to develop the asphalt mixtures which are suitable for the surface of asphalt concrete directly fastened track (ADFT system and evaluate the performance of the asphalt mixture. Three aggregate gradations which are upper (finer, medium, and below (coarser. The nominal maximum aggregate size of asphalt mixture was 10 mm. Asphalt mixture design was conducted at 3 percent air voids using Marshall mix design method. To make impermeable asphalt mixture surface, the laboratory permeability test was conducted for asphalt mixtures of three different aggregate gradations using asphalt mixture permeability tester. Moisture susceptibility test was conducted based on AASHTO T 283. The stripping percentage of asphalt mixtures was measured using a digital camera and analyzed based on image analysis techniques. Based on the limited research results, the finer aggregate gradation is the most suitable for asphalt mixture for ADFT system with the high TSR value and the low stripping percentage and permeable coefficient. Flow number and beam fatigue tests for finer aggregate asphalt mixture were conducted to characterize the performance of asphalt mixtures containing two modified asphalt binders: STE-10 which is styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS polymer and ARMA which is Crum rubber modified asphalt. The performance tests indicate that the STE-10 shows the higher rutting life and fatigue life.

  11. MixtureTree annotator: a program for automatic colorization and visual annotation of MixtureTree.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shu-Chuan Chen

    Full Text Available The MixtureTree Annotator, written in JAVA, allows the user to automatically color any phylogenetic tree in Newick format generated from any phylogeny reconstruction program and output the Nexus file. By providing the ability to automatically color the tree by sequence name, the MixtureTree Annotator provides a unique advantage over any other programs which perform a similar function. In addition, the MixtureTree Annotator is the only package that can efficiently annotate the output produced by MixtureTree with mutation information and coalescent time information. In order to visualize the resulting output file, a modified version of FigTree is used. Certain popular methods, which lack good built-in visualization tools, for example, MEGA, Mesquite, PHY-FI, TreeView, treeGraph and Geneious, may give results with human errors due to either manually adding colors to each node or with other limitations, for example only using color based on a number, such as branch length, or by taxonomy. In addition to allowing the user to automatically color any given Newick tree by sequence name, the MixtureTree Annotator is the only method that allows the user to automatically annotate the resulting tree created by the MixtureTree program. The MixtureTree Annotator is fast and easy-to-use, while still allowing the user full control over the coloring and annotating process.

  12. Online coupling of high-resolution chromatography with extreme UV photon activation tandem mass spectrometry: Application to the structural investigation of complex glycans by dissociative photoionization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ropartz, David; Giuliani, Alexandre; Fanuel, Mathieu; Hervé, Cécile; Czjzek, Mirjam; Rogniaux, Hélène

    2016-01-01

    The activation of ions by extreme-energy photons (XUV) produced by a synchrotron radiation beamline is a powerful method for characterizing complex glycans using tandem mass spectrometry (MS). As previously described, this activation method leads to rich fragmentation spectra with many structurally valuable cross-ring cleavages while maintaining labile modifications on the glycan structures. However, until now, the tandem MS event was too long to be compatible with liquid chromatography elution times. In this work, the duty cycle of the activation and detection of fragments was shortened, and the background signal on the spectra was drastically reduced. Both improvements allowed, for the first time, the successful coupling of a UHPLC system to XUV-activated tandem MS. The approach was used to characterize a complex mixture of oligo-porphyrans, which are a class of highly sulfated oligosaccharides, in a fully automated way. Due to an enhanced dynamic range and an increased sensitivity, some hypothetical structures of low abundance have been unequivocally confirmed in this study and others have been revised. Some previously undescribed species of oligo-porphyrans that exhibit lateral branching have been fully resolved. This work contributes to the scarce knowledge of the structure of porphyrans in red algae and pushes the current capacities of XUV-activation tandem MS by demonstrating the possibility of a direct coupling with UHPLC. This study will considerably broaden the applicability and practicality of this method in many fields of analytical biology. - Highlights: • For the first time, XUV photon activation tandem MS was coupled to UHPLC. • The approach was used to characterize a complex mixture of biomolecules. • The MSMS duty cycle was compatible with elution times of UHPLC without compromised. • Minor species were characterized with an enhanced sensitivity and dynamic range. • These results broaden the application of the technique in many field of

  13. Online coupling of high-resolution chromatography with extreme UV photon activation tandem mass spectrometry: Application to the structural investigation of complex glycans by dissociative photoionization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ropartz, David, E-mail: David.Ropartz@nantes.inra.fr [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies F-44316 Nantes (France); Giuliani, Alexandre [Synchrotron SOLEIL, L' Orme des Merisiers, F-91190 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); UAR 1008 CEPIA, INRA, F-44316 Nantes (France); Fanuel, Mathieu [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies F-44316 Nantes (France); Hervé, Cécile; Czjzek, Mirjam [Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris VI, CNRS, Integrative Biology of Marine Models, UMR 8227, Station Biologique, Place George Teissier, F29688 Roscoff Cedex (France); Rogniaux, Hélène [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies F-44316 Nantes (France)

    2016-08-24

    The activation of ions by extreme-energy photons (XUV) produced by a synchrotron radiation beamline is a powerful method for characterizing complex glycans using tandem mass spectrometry (MS). As previously described, this activation method leads to rich fragmentation spectra with many structurally valuable cross-ring cleavages while maintaining labile modifications on the glycan structures. However, until now, the tandem MS event was too long to be compatible with liquid chromatography elution times. In this work, the duty cycle of the activation and detection of fragments was shortened, and the background signal on the spectra was drastically reduced. Both improvements allowed, for the first time, the successful coupling of a UHPLC system to XUV-activated tandem MS. The approach was used to characterize a complex mixture of oligo-porphyrans, which are a class of highly sulfated oligosaccharides, in a fully automated way. Due to an enhanced dynamic range and an increased sensitivity, some hypothetical structures of low abundance have been unequivocally confirmed in this study and others have been revised. Some previously undescribed species of oligo-porphyrans that exhibit lateral branching have been fully resolved. This work contributes to the scarce knowledge of the structure of porphyrans in red algae and pushes the current capacities of XUV-activation tandem MS by demonstrating the possibility of a direct coupling with UHPLC. This study will considerably broaden the applicability and practicality of this method in many fields of analytical biology. - Highlights: • For the first time, XUV photon activation tandem MS was coupled to UHPLC. • The approach was used to characterize a complex mixture of biomolecules. • The MSMS duty cycle was compatible with elution times of UHPLC without compromised. • Minor species were characterized with an enhanced sensitivity and dynamic range. • These results broaden the application of the technique in many field of

  14. Roles of biomarkers in evaluating interactions among mixtures of lead, cadmium and arsenic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Gensheng; Fowler, Bruce A.

    2008-01-01

    Human exposure to environmental chemicals is most correctly characterized as exposure to mixtures of these agents. The metals/metalloids, lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As), are among the leading toxic agents detected in the environment. Exposure to these elements, particularly at chronic low dose levels, is still a major public health concern. Concurrent exposure to Pb, Cd, or As may produce additive or synergistic interactions or even new effects that are not seen in single component exposures. Evaluating these interactions on a mechanistic basis is essential for risk assessment and management of metal/metalloid mixtures. This paper will review a number of individual studies that addressed interactions of these metals/metalloids in both experimental and human exposure studies with particular emphasis on biomarkers. In general, co-exposure to metal/metalloid mixtures produced more severe effects at both relatively high dose and low dose levels in a biomarker-specific manner. These effects were found to be mediated by dose, duration of exposure and genetic factors. While traditional endpoints, such as morphological changes and biochemical parameters for target organ toxicity, were effective measures for evaluating the toxicity of high dose metal/metalloid mixtures, biomarkers for oxidative stress, altered heme biosynthesis parameters, and stress proteins showed clear responses in evaluating toxicity of low dose metal/metalloid mixtures. Metallothionein, heat shock proteins, and glutathione are involved in regulating interactive effects of metal/metalloid mixtures at low dose levels. These findings suggest that further studies on interactions of these metal/metalloid mixtures utilizing biomarker endpoints are highly warranted

  15. The potential of three different PCR-related approaches for the authentication of mixtures of herbal substances and finished herbal medicinal products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doganay-Knapp, Kirsten; Orland, Annika; König, Gabriele M; Knöss, Werner

    2018-04-01

    Herbal substances and preparations thereof play an important role in healthcare systems worldwide. Due to the variety of these products regarding origin, composition and processing procedures, appropriate methodologies for quality assessment need to be considered. A majority of herbal substances is administered as multicomponent mixtures, especially in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine and ayurvedic medicine, but also in finished medicinal products. Quality assessment of complex mixtures of herbal substances with conventional methods is challenging. Thus, emphasis of the present work was directed on the development of complementary methods to elucidate the composition of mixtures of herbal substances and finished herbal medicinal products. An indispensable prerequisite for the safe and effective use of herbal medicines is the unequivocal authentication of the medicinal plants used therein. In this context, we investigated the potential of three different PCR-related methods in the characterization and authentication of herbal substances. A multiplex PCR assay and a quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay were established to analyze defined mixtures of the herbal substances Quercus cortex, Juglandis folium, Aristolochiae herba, Matricariae flos and Salviae miltiorrhizae radix et rhizoma and a finished herbal medicinal product. Furthermore, a standard cloning approach using universal primers targeting the ITS region was established in order to allow the investigation of herbal mixtures with unknown content. The cloning approach had some limitations regarding the detection/recovery of the components in defined mixtures of herbal substances, but the complementary use of two sets of universal primer pairs increased the detection of components out of the mixture. While the multiplex PCR did not retrace all components in the defined mixtures of herbal substances, the established qPCR resulted in simultaneous and specific detection of the five target sequences in all defined

  16. Chemical speciation of Pb(II, Cd(II, Hg(II, Co(II, Ni(II, Cu(II and Zn(II binary complexes of l-methionine in 1,2-propanediol-water mixtures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Padma Latha

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available Chemical speciation of Pb(II, Cd(II, Hg(II, Co(II, Ni(II, Cu(II and Zn(II complexes of L-methionine in 0.0-60 % v/v 1,2-propanediol-water mixtures maintaining an ionic strength of 0.16 M at 303 K has been studied pH metrically. The active forms of ligand are LH2+, LH and L-. The predominant species detected are ML, MLH, ML2, ML2H, ML2H2 and MLOH. Models containing different numbers of species were refined by using the computer program MINIQUAD 75. The best-fit chemical models were arrived at based on statistical parameters. The trend in variation of complex stability constants with change in the dielectric constant of the medium is explained on the basis of electrostatic and non-electrostatic forces.

  17. Silver complexation and tandem mass spectrometry for differentiation of isomeric flavonoid diglycosides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Junmei; Brodbelt, Jennifer S

    2005-03-15

    For detection and differentiation of isomeric flavonoids, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry is used to generate silver complexes of the type (Ag + flavonoid)+. Collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) of the resulting 1:1 silver/flavonoid complexes allows isomer differentiation of flavonoids. Eighteen flavonoid diglycosides constituting seven isomeric series are distinguishable from each other based on the CAD patterns of their silver complexes. Characteristic dissociation pathways allow identification of the site of glycosylation, the type of disaccharide (rutinose versus neohesperidose), and the type of aglycon (flavonol versus flavone versus flavanone). This silver complexation method is more universal than previous metal complexation methods, as intense silver complexes are observed even for flavonoids that lack the typical metal chelation sites. To demonstrate the feasibility of using silver complexation and tandem mass spectrometry to characterize flavonoids in complex mixtures, flavonoids extracted from grapefruit juice are separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and analyzed via a postcolumn complexation ESI-MS/MS strategy. Diagnostic fragmentation pathways of the silver complexes of the individual eluting flavonoids allow successful identification of the six flavonoids in the extract.

  18. Effects of an environmentally-relevant mixture of pyrethroid insecticides on spontaneous activity in primary cortical networks on microelectrode arrays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnstone, Andrew F M; Strickland, Jenna D; Crofton, Kevin M; Gennings, Chris; Shafer, Timothy J

    2017-05-01

    Pyrethroid insecticides exert their insecticidal and toxicological effects primarily by disrupting voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) function, resulting in altered neuronal excitability. Numerous studies of individual pyrethroids have characterized effects on mammalian VGSC function and neuronal excitability, yet studies examining effects of complex pyrethroid mixtures in mammalian neurons, especially in environmentally relevant mixture ratios, are limited. In the present study, concentration-response functions were characterized for five pyrethroids (permethrin, deltamethrin, cypermethrin, β-cyfluthrin and esfenvalerate) in an in vitro preparation containing cortical neurons and glia. As a metric of neuronal network activity, spontaneous mean network firing rates (MFR) were measured using microelectorde arrays (MEAs). In addition, the effect of a complex and exposure relevant mixture of the five pyrethroids (containing 52% permethrin, 28.8% cypermethrin, 12.9% β-cyfluthrin, 3.4% deltamethrin and 2.7% esfenvalerate) was also measured. Data were modeled to determine whether effects of the pyrethroid mixture were predicted by dose-addition. At concentrations up to 10μM, all compounds except permethrin reduced MFR. Deltamethrin and β-cyfluthrin were the most potent and reduced MFR by as much as 60 and 50%, respectively, while cypermethrin and esfenvalerate were of approximately equal potency and reduced MFR by only ∼20% at the highest concentration. Permethrin caused small (∼24% maximum), concentration-dependent increases in MFR. Effects of the environmentally relevant mixture did not depart from the prediction of dose-addition. These data demonstrate that an environmentally relevant mixture caused dose-additive effects on spontaneous neuronal network activity in vitro, and is consistent with other in vitro and in vivo assessments of pyrethroid mixtures. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  19. Volatilization of multicomponent mixtures in soil vapor extraction applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bass, D.H.

    1995-01-01

    In soil vapor extraction (SVE) applications involving multicomponent mixtures, prediction of mass removal by volatilization as a function remediation extent is required to estimate remediation time and to size offgas treatment equipment. SVE is a commonly used remediation technology which volatilizes and enhances aerobic biodegradation of contamination adsorbed to vadose zone soils. SVE is often applied at sites contaminated with petroleum products, which are usually mixtures of many different compounds with vapor pressures spanning several orders of magnitude. The most volatile components are removed first, so the vapor pressure of the remaining contaminant continually decreases over the course of the remediation. A method for assessing how vapor pressure, and hence the rate of volatilization, of a multicomponent mixture changes over the course of a vapor extraction remedy has been developed. Each component is listed, alone, with its mass fraction in the mixture, in decreasing order of pure component vapor pressure (where component analyses are unavailable, model compounds can be used), For most petroleum distillates, the vapor pressure for each component plotted against the cumulative mass fraction of the component in the mixture on semilog coordinates will produce a straight line with a high correlation coefficient. This regression can be integrated to produce an expression for vapor pressure of the overall mixture as a function of extent or remediation

  20. CONFAC Decomposition Approach to Blind Identification of Underdetermined Mixtures Based on Generating Function Derivatives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Almeida, Andre L. F.; Luciani, Xavier; Stegeman, Alwin; Comon, Pierre

    This work proposes a new tensor-based approach to solve the problem of blind identification of underdetermined mixtures of complex-valued sources exploiting the cumulant generating function (CGF) of the observations. We show that a collection of second-order derivatives of the CGF of the

  1. Interactions and Toxicity of Cu-Zn mixtures to Hordeum vulgare in Different Soils Can Be Rationalized with Bioavailability-Based Prediction Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiu, Hao; Versieren, Liske; Rangel, Georgina Guzman; Smolders, Erik

    2016-01-19

    Soil contamination with copper (Cu) is often associated with zinc (Zn), and the biological response to such mixed contamination is complex. Here, we investigated Cu and Zn mixture toxicity to Hordeum vulgare in three different soils, the premise being that the observed interactions are mainly due to effects on bioavailability. The toxic effect of Cu and Zn mixtures on seedling root elongation was more than additive (i.e., synergism) in soils with high and medium cation-exchange capacity (CEC) but less than additive (antagonism) in a low-CEC soil. This was found when we expressed the dose as the conventional total soil concentration. In contrast, antagonism was found in all soils when we expressed the dose as free-ion activities in soil solution, indicating that there is metal-ion competition for binding to the plant roots. Neither a concentration addition nor an independent action model explained mixture effects, irrespective of the dose expressions. In contrast, a multimetal BLM model and a WHAM-Ftox model successfully explained the mixture effects across all soils and showed that bioavailability factors mainly explain the interactions in soils. The WHAM-Ftox model is a promising tool for the risk assessment of mixed-metal contamination in soils.

  2. Synthesis of high-complexity rhythmic signals for closed-loop electrical neuromodulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zalay, Osbert C; Bardakjian, Berj L

    2013-06-01

    We propose an approach to synthesizing high-complexity rhythmic signals for closed-loop electrical neuromodulation using cognitive rhythm generator (CRG) networks, wherein the CRG is a hybrid oscillator comprised of (1) a bank of neuronal modes, (2) a ring device (clock), and (3) a static output nonlinearity (mapper). Networks of coupled CRGs have been previously implemented to simulate the electrical activity of biological neural networks, including in silico models of epilepsy, producing outputs of similar waveform and complexity to the biological system. This has enabled CRG network models to be used as platforms for testing seizure control strategies. Presently, we take the application one step further, envisioning therapeutic CRG networks as rhythmic signal generators creating neuromimetic signals for stimulation purposes, motivated by recent research indicating that stimulus complexity and waveform characteristics influence neuromodulation efficacy. To demonstrate this concept, an epileptiform CRG network generating spontaneous seizure-like events (SLEs) was coupled to a therapeutic CRG network, forming a closed-loop neuromodulation system. SLEs are associated with low-complexity dynamics and high phase coherence in the network. The tuned therapeutic network generated a high-complexity, multi-banded rhythmic stimulation signal with prominent theta and gamma-frequency power that suppressed SLEs and increased dynamic complexity in the epileptiform network, as measured by a relative increase in the maximum Lyapunov exponent and decrease in phase coherence. CRG-based neuromodulation outperformed both low and high-frequency periodic pulse stimulation, suggesting that neuromodulation using complex, biomimetic signals may provide an improvement over conventional electrical stimulation techniques for treating neurological disorders such as epilepsy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Non-complexed four cascade enzyme mixture: simple purification and synergetic co-stabilization.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suwan Myung

    Full Text Available Cell-free biosystems comprised of synthetic enzymatic pathways would be a promising biomanufacturing platform due to several advantages, such as high product yield, fast reaction rate, easy control and access, and so on. However, it was essential to produce (purified enzymes at low costs and stabilize them for a long time so to decrease biocatalyst costs. We studied the stability of the four recombinant enzyme mixtures, all of which originated from thermophilic microorganisms: triosephosphate isomerase (TIM from Thermus thermophiles, fructose bisphosphate aldolase (ALD from Thermotoga maritima, fructose bisphosphatase (FBP from T. maritima, and phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI from Clostridium thermocellum. It was found that TIM and ALD were very stable at evaluated temperature so that they were purified by heat precipitation followed by gradient ammonia sulfate precipitation. In contrast, PGI was not stable enough for heat treatment. In addition, the stability of a low concentration PGI was enhanced by more than 25 times in the presence of 20 mg/L bovine serum albumin or the other three enzymes. At a practical enzyme loading of 1000 U/L for each enzyme, the half-life time of free PGI was prolong to 433 h in the presence of the other three enzymes, resulting in a great increase in the total turn-over number of PGI to 6.2×10(9 mole of product per mole of enzyme. This study clearly suggested that the presence of other proteins had a strong synergetic effect on the stabilization of the thermolabile enzyme PGI due to in vitro macromolecular crowding effect. Also, this result could be used to explain why not all enzymes isolated from thermophilic microorganisms are stable in vitro because of a lack of the macromolecular crowding environment.

  4. Microwave Determination of Water Mole Fraction in Humid Gas Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuccaro, R.; Gavioso, R. M.; Benedetto, G.; Madonna Ripa, D.; Fernicola, V.; Guianvarc'h, C.

    2012-09-01

    A small volume (65 cm3) gold-plated quasi-spherical microwave resonator has been used to measure the water vapor mole fraction x w of H2O/N2 and H2O/air mixtures. This experimental technique exploits the high precision achievable in the determination of the cavity microwave resonance frequencies and is particularly sensitive to the presence of small concentrations of water vapor as a result of the high polarizability of this substance. The mixtures were prepared using the INRIM standard humidity generator for frost-point temperatures T fp in the range between 241 K and 270 K and a commercial two-pressure humidity generator operated at a dew-point temperature between 272 K and 291 K. The experimental measurements compare favorably with the calculated molar fractions of the mixture supplied by the humidity generators, showing a normalized error lower than 0.8.

  5. Prospective environmental risk assessment of mixtures in wastewater treatment plant effluents - Theoretical considerations and experimental verification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coors, Anja; Vollmar, Pia; Sacher, Frank; Polleichtner, Christian; Hassold, Enken; Gildemeister, Daniela; Kühnen, Ute

    2018-04-14

    The aquatic environment is continually exposed to a complex mixture of chemicals, whereby effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are one key source. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether environmental risk assessments (ERAs) addressing individual substances are sufficiently protective for such coincidental mixtures. Based on a literature review of chemicals reported to occur in municipal WWTP effluents and mode-of-action considerations, four different types of mixtures were composed containing human pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and chemicals regulated under REACH. The experimentally determined chronic aquatic toxicity of these mixtures towards primary producers and the invertebrate Daphnia magna could be adequately predicted by the concept of concentration addition, with up to 5-fold overestimation and less than 3-fold underestimation of mixture toxicity. Effluents of a municipal WWTP had no impact on the predictability of mixture toxicity and showed no adverse effects on the test organisms. Predictive ERAs for the individual mixture components based on here derived predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs) and median measured concentrations in WWTP effluents (MC eff ) indicated no unacceptable risk for any of the individual chemicals, while MC eff /PNEC summation indicated a possible risk for multi-component mixtures. However, a refined mixture assessment based on the sum of toxic units at species level indicated no unacceptable risks, and allowed for a safety margin of more than factor 10, not taking into account any dilution of WWTP effluents by surface waters. Individual substances, namely climbazole, fenofibric acid and fluoxetine, were dominating the risks of the investigated mixtures, while added risk due to the mixture was found to be low with the risk quotient being increased by less than factor 2. Yet, uncertainty remains regarding chronic mixture toxicity in fish, which was not included in the present study. The number and

  6. Ethane-xenon mixtures under shock conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flicker, Dawn; Magyar, Rudolph; Root, Seth; Cochrane, Kyle; Mattsson, Thomas

    2015-06-01

    Mixtures of light and heavy elements arise in inertial confinement fusion and planetary science. We present results on the physics of molecular scale mixing through a validation study of equation of state (EOS) properties. Density functional theory molecular dynamics (DFT/QMD) at elevated-temperature and pressure is used to obtain the properties of pure xenon, ethane, and various compressed mixture compositions along their principal Hugoniots. To validate the QMD simulations, we performed high-precision shock compression experiments using Sandia's Z-Machine. A bond tracking analysis of the simulations correlates the sharp rise in the Hugoniot curve with completion of dissociation in ethane. DFT-based simulation results compare well with experimental data and are used to provide insight into the dissociation as a function of mixture composition. Interestingly, we find that the compression ratio for complete dissociation is similar for ethane, Xe-ethane, polymethyl-pentene, and polystyrene, suggesting that a limiting compression exists for C-C bonded systems. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Company, Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

  7. A distillation tray with high efficiency and excellent operating flexibility for viscous mixture separation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Qunsheng

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The flow-guided sieve-valve tray(FGS-VTwith high efficiency was designed to overcome the shortcoming of low operating flexibility of the flow-guided sieve tray. Its dimensions and geometry, as well as structure characteristics, were presented. The hydrodynamics and mass transfer performance, including dry-plate pressure drop, wet plate-pressure drop, weeping, entrainment and tray efficiency, of two types of FGS-VTs (FGS-VTs with 14 and 8 valves, respectively and one flow-guided sieve tray were tested in an air-water-oxygen cold model experiment with a 0.6 m diameter plexiglass column. The results demonstrate that FGS-VT with 14 valves works better than FGS-VT with 8 valves, and in comparison with the flow-guided sieve tray, the flow-guided sieve-valve tray with 14 valves has higher tray efficiency, bigger operating flexibility, and lower wet-plate pressure drop (when all the valves are opened fully.Additionally, two typical applications to separate the mixture with high viscosity, solid, powder, easy-to-foam or easy self-polymerization components proved the unique advantages of FGS-VT.

  8. Identification of natural metabolites in mixture: a pattern recognition strategy based on (13)C NMR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hubert, Jane; Nuzillard, Jean-Marc; Purson, Sylvain; Hamzaoui, Mahmoud; Borie, Nicolas; Reynaud, Romain; Renault, Jean-Hugues

    2014-03-18

    Because of their highly complex metabolite profile, the chemical characterization of bioactive natural extracts usually requires time-consuming multistep purification procedures to achieve the structural elucidation of pure individual metabolites. The aim of the present work was to develop a dereplication strategy for the identification of natural metabolites directly within mixtures. Exploiting the polarity range of metabolites, the principle was to rapidly fractionate a multigram quantity of a crude extract by centrifugal partition extraction (CPE). The obtained fractions of simplified chemical composition were subsequently analyzed by (13)C NMR. After automatic collection and alignment of (13)C signals across spectra, hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) was performed for pattern recognition. As a result, strong correlations between (13)C signals of a single structure within the mixtures of the fraction series were visualized as chemical shift clusters. Each cluster was finally assigned to a molecular structure with the help of a locally built (13)C NMR chemical shift database. The proof of principle of this strategy was achieved on a simple model mixture of commercially available plant secondary metabolites and then applied to a bark extract of the African tree Anogeissus leiocarpus Guill. & Perr. (Combretaceae). Starting from 5 g of this genuine extract, the fraction series was generated by CPE in only 95 min. (13)C NMR analyses of all fractions followed by pattern recognition of (13)C chemical shifts resulted in the unambiguous identification of seven major compounds, namely, sericoside, trachelosperogenin E, ellagic acid, an epimer mixture of (+)-gallocatechin and (-)-epigallocatechin, 3,3'-di-O-methylellagic acid 4'-O-xylopyranoside, and 3,4,3'-tri-O-methylflavellagic acid 4'-O-glucopyranoside.

  9. Nonparametric Bayesian Modeling of Complex Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, Mikkel Nørgaard; Mørup, Morten

    2013-01-01

    an infinite mixture model as running example, we go through the steps of deriving the model as an infinite limit of a finite parametric model, inferring the model parameters by Markov chain Monte Carlo, and checking the model?s fit and predictive performance. We explain how advanced nonparametric models......Modeling structure in complex networks using Bayesian nonparametrics makes it possible to specify flexible model structures and infer the adequate model complexity from the observed data. This article provides a gentle introduction to nonparametric Bayesian modeling of complex networks: Using...

  10. Coupling Analysis of Low-Speed Multiphase Flow and High-Frequency Electromagnetic Field in a Complex Pipeline Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaokai Huo

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Accurate estimation of water content in an oil-water mixture is a key technology in oil exploration and production. Based on the principles of the microwave transmission line (MTL, the logging probe is an important water content measuring apparatus. However, the effects of mixed fluid flow on the measurement of electromagnetic field parameters are rarely considered. This study presents the coupling model for low-speed multiphase flow and high-frequency electromagnetic field in a complex pipeline structure. We derived the S-parameter equations for the stratified oil/water flow model. The corresponding relationship between the S-parameters and water holdup is established. Evident coupling effects of the fluid flow and the electromagnetic field are confirmed by comparing the calculated S-parameters for both stratified and homogeneous flow patterns. In addition, a multiple-solution problem is analyzed for the inversion of dielectric constant from the S-parameters. The most sensitive phase angle range is determined to improve the detection of variation in the dielectric constant. Suggestions are proposed based on the influence of the oil/water layer on measurement sensitivity to optimize the geometric parameters of a device structure. The method proposed elucidates how accuracy and sensitivity can be improved in water holdup measurements under high water content conditions.

  11. Characterisation of Oil-Gas Mixtures by Raman Spectroscopy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Susanne Brunsgaard; Berg, Rolf W.; Stenby, Erling Halfdan

    2004-01-01

    . The present project deals with development of a technique for quick analysis of oil-gas mixtures. The main emphasis is laid on characterisation of gas phases in equilibrium with oil at high pressures and high temperatures by Raman spectroscopy. The Raman technique has a great potential of being useful, due...

  12. Extractive spectrophotometric determination of molybdenum in steels and nickel base high-temperature alloys as a ternary complex with hydroxylamine hydrochloride and 4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reddy, M.R.P.; Kumar, P.V.S.; Shyamsundar, J.P.; Anjaneyulu, Y.

    1990-01-01

    The red coloured, ternary complex formed by molybdenum(VI) with hydroxylamine hydrchloride and 4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol (PAR), on heating for 20 minutes in a hot water bath at pH 6-8, can be extracted with a mixture of n-butanol and benzene (4:1). This complex exhibits absorption maximum at 530nm with a molar absorptivity of 2.8x10 4 lit. mol -1 cm -1 and obeys Beer's law upto 4.5μg/ml of Mo(VI). The composition of the complex is found to be 1:1:1, for Mo(VI): hydroxylamine hydrochloride: PAR. Large amounts of tartaric acid and 2, 2-diamino-cyclohexane tetra acetic acid (CyDTA) can be tolerated in this method. The extraction becomes highly selective in presence of CyDTA (3ml of 5x10 -2 M) and interference of ions like Fe(III)(5mg), Pb(II)(4mg), Zn(II)(2mg), Cu(II)(4mg), Mn(II)(3mg), Ni(II)(4mg), Sn(II)(3mg), Cr(VI)(2mg) and Bi(III)(0.5mg) can be effectively supressed in the determination of 10-45μg of molybdenum. The method can be successfully applied for the determination of molybdenum in steels and nickel base high temperature alloys. (author). 2 tabs., 8 refs

  13. Microbial comparative pan-genomics using binomial mixture models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ussery David W

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The size of the core- and pan-genome of bacterial species is a topic of increasing interest due to the growing number of sequenced prokaryote genomes, many from the same species. Attempts to estimate these quantities have been made, using regression methods or mixture models. We extend the latter approach by using statistical ideas developed for capture-recapture problems in ecology and epidemiology. Results We estimate core- and pan-genome sizes for 16 different bacterial species. The results reveal a complex dependency structure for most species, manifested as heterogeneous detection probabilities. Estimated pan-genome sizes range from small (around 2600 gene families in Buchnera aphidicola to large (around 43000 gene families in Escherichia coli. Results for Echerichia coli show that as more data become available, a larger diversity is estimated, indicating an extensive pool of rarely occurring genes in the population. Conclusion Analyzing pan-genomics data with binomial mixture models is a way to handle dependencies between genomes, which we find is always present. A bottleneck in the estimation procedure is the annotation of rarely occurring genes.

  14. A review of asphalt and asphalt mixture aging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wilmar Darío Fernández-Gómez

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an extensive review of the pertinent literature regarding asphalt and asphalt mixture Aging. Aging affects flexible pavement performance and is produced by intrinsic and extrinsic variables as well as exposure time. Intrinsic variables include asphalt and aggregate properties, a mixture’s asphalt content, binder film thickness and air void content; extrinsic variables are associated with production (short-term aging and exposure to environmental field conditions (long-term aging. Taken together, both variables demonstrate that aging results from three distinct mechanisms: volatilisation, oxidation and steric hardening. Temperature, pressure and photo degradation treatments are used to simulate aging in the laboratory and empirical and semi-empirical models are created to represent and study aging. Aging increases asphalt complex modulus and decreases the phase angle. Mixtures become stiffer while fatigue life becomes reduced. Carbonyl and sulfoxide group formation in asphalt are often studied as such chemical changes show oxidation in aged asphalts. The prevailing models used to predict asphalt aging are discussed, though more comprehensive research into asphalt aging is still needed.

  15. Effects of tropical high tannin non legume and low tannin legume browse mixtures on fermentation parameters and methanogenesis using gas production technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seresinhe, T; Madushika, S A C; Seresinhe, Y; Lal, P K; Orskov, E R

    2012-10-01

    In vitro experiments were conducted to evaluate the suitability of several mixtures of high tanniniferous non legumes with low tanniniferous legumes on in vitro gas production (IVGP), dry matter degradation, Ammonia-N, methane production and microbial population. Eight treatments were examined in a randomized complete block design using four non-legumes and two legumes (Carallia integerrima×Leucaena leucocephala (LL) (Trt 1), C. integerrima×Gliricidia sepium (GS) (Trt 2), Aporosa lindeliyana×LL (Trt 3), A. lindeliyana×GS (Trt 4), Ceiba perntandra×LL (Trt 5), C. perntandra×GS (Trt 6), Artocarpus heterophyllus×LL (Trt 7), A. heterophyllus×GS (Trt 8). The condensed tannin (CT) content of non legumes ranged from 6.2% (Carallia integerrima) to 4.9% (Ceiba perntandra) while the CT of legumes were 1.58% (Leucaena leucocephala) and 0.78% (Gliricidia sepium). Forage mixtures contained more than 14% of crude protein (CP) while the CT content ranged from 2.8% to 4.0% respectively. Differences (pheterophyllus×L. leucocephala (Trt 7) and A. heterophyllus×G. sepium (Trt 8). Highest (p>0.05) NH3-N (ml/200 mg DM) production was observed with the A. heterophyllus×G. sepium (Trt 8) mixture which may be attributed with it's highest CP content. The correlation between IVGP and CT was 0.675 while IVGP and CP was 0.610. In vitro dry matter degradation (IVDMD) was highest in Trt 8 as well. Methane production ranged from 2.57 to 4.79 (ml/200 mg DM) to be synonimous with IVGP. A higher bacteria population (pArtocarpus heterophyllus+G. sepium (Trt 8) and the same trend was observed with the protozoa population as well. The results show that supplementing high tannin non leguminous forages by incremental substitution of legume forage increased gas production parameters, NH3-N, IVDMD and microbial population in the fermentation liquid. Methane production was not significantly affected by the presence of CT or different levels of CP in forage mixtures. Among non legumes, Ceiba

  16. Effects of Tropical High Tannin Non Legume and Low Tannin Legume Browse Mixtures on Fermentation Parameters and Methanogenesis Using Gas Production Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Seresinhe

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available In vitro experiments were conducted to evaluate the suitability of several mixtures of high tanniniferous non legumes with low tanniniferous legumes on in vitro gas production (IVGP, dry matter degradation, Ammonia-N, methane production and microbial population. Eight treatments were examined in a randomized complete block design using four non-legumes and two legumes (Carallia integerrima×Leucaena leucocephala (LL (Trt 1, C. integerrima×Gliricidia sepium (GS (Trt 2, Aporosa lindeliyana×LL (Trt 3, A. lindeliyana×GS (Trt 4, Ceiba perntandra×LL (Trt 5, C. perntandra×GS (Trt 6, Artocarpus heterophyllus×LL (Trt 7, A. heterophyllus×GS (Trt 8. The condensed tannin (CT content of non legumes ranged from 6.2% (Carallia integerrima to 4.9% (Ceiba perntandra while the CT of legumes were 1.58% (Leucaena leucocephala and 0.78% (Gliricidia sepium. Forage mixtures contained more than 14% of crude protein (CP while the CT content ranged from 2.8% to 4.0% respectively. Differences (p0.05 NH3-N (ml/200 mg DM production was observed with the A. heterophyllus×G. sepium (Trt 8 mixture which may be attributed with it’s highest CP content. The correlation between IVGP and CT was 0.675 while IVGP and CP was 0.610. In vitro dry matter degradation (IVDMD was highest in Trt 8 as well. Methane production ranged from 2.57 to 4.79 (ml/200 mg DM to be synonimous with IVGP. A higher bacteria population (p<0.05 was found in C. perntandra×G. sepium (Trt 6 followed by Artocarpus heterophyllus+G. sepium (Trt 8 and the same trend was observed with the protozoa population as well. The results show that supplementing high tannin non leguminous forages by incremental substitution of legume forage increased gas production parameters, NH3-N, IVDMD and microbial population in the fermentation liquid. Methane production was not significantly affected by the presence of CT or different levels of CP in forage mixtures. Among non legumes, Ceiba perntandra and Artocarpus

  17. Resonance ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry for the analysis of trace substances in complex gas mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagel, Holger; Weickhardt, Christian; Boesl, Ulrich; Frey, Ruediger

    1995-01-01

    The analysis of mixtures of technical gases still comprises a lot of problems: the large number of components with very different and often rapidly varying concentrations makes great demands on analytical methods. By use of conventional analytical methods, signals of trace substances may interfere with signals of main components, whereas small signals representing low concentrations are covered by signals of main substances.The resonant-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) makes use of excited intermediate states of molecules. As these states are characteristic of each substance, one or more components of interest can be ionized with high efficiency without interference of other molecules by using a special laser-wavelength. The combination of the above mentioned ionization method with a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer permits a very fast and sensitive detection of preselected trace substances.As ionization processes of higher order strongly depend on the laser intensity, there is no direct relation between ion signals and concentrations of exhaust components. Quantitative assessments are based on an especially developed calibration technique that makes use of internal standards. Applied under environmental aspects, this new analytical method helps to analyze a large number of components extracted from exhaust gases of combustion engines with high time resolution (<20 ms motor synchronously), high sensitivity (1 ppm) and high quantitative accuracy (more than 10%). A preliminary list of detectable compounds contains 30 substances

  18. Experimental complex for high flux-materials interaction research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gagen-Torn, V.K.; Kirillov, I.R.; Komarov, V.L.; Litunovsky, V.N.; Mazul, I.V.; Ovchinnikov, I.B.; Prokofjev, Yu.G.; Saksagansky, G.L.; Titov, V.A.

    1995-01-01

    The experimental complex for high heat flux testing of divertor materials and bumper mock-ups under conditions close to both ITER stationary and plasma disruption PFC heat loads is described. High power plasma and electron beams are using as high heat flux sources. The former are applied to disruption simulation experiments. The values of pulsed plasma heat flux load up to 110 MJ/m 2 and stationary e-beam load up to 15 MW/m 2 can obtained on these facilities. (orig.)

  19. Using finite mixture models in thermal-hydraulics system code uncertainty analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carlos, S., E-mail: scarlos@iqn.upv.es [Department d’Enginyeria Química i Nuclear, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s.n, 46022 València (Spain); Sánchez, A. [Department d’Estadística Aplicada i Qualitat, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s.n, 46022 València (Spain); Ginestar, D. [Department de Matemàtica Aplicada, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s.n, 46022 València (Spain); Martorell, S. [Department d’Enginyeria Química i Nuclear, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s.n, 46022 València (Spain)

    2013-09-15

    Highlights: • Best estimate codes simulation needs uncertainty quantification. • The output variables can present multimodal probability distributions. • The analysis of multimodal distribution is performed using finite mixture models. • Two methods to reconstruct output variable probability distribution are used. -- Abstract: Nuclear Power Plant safety analysis is mainly based on the use of best estimate (BE) codes that predict the plant behavior under normal or accidental conditions. As the BE codes introduce uncertainties due to uncertainty in input parameters and modeling, it is necessary to perform uncertainty assessment (UA), and eventually sensitivity analysis (SA), of the results obtained. These analyses are part of the appropriate treatment of uncertainties imposed by current regulation based on the adoption of the best estimate plus uncertainty (BEPU) approach. The most popular approach for uncertainty assessment, based on Wilks’ method, obtains a tolerance/confidence interval, but it does not completely characterize the output variable behavior, which is required for an extended UA and SA. However, the development of standard UA and SA impose high computational cost due to the large number of simulations needed. In order to obtain more information about the output variable and, at the same time, to keep computational cost as low as possible, there has been a recent shift toward developing metamodels (model of model), or surrogate models, that approximate or emulate complex computer codes. In this way, there exist different techniques to reconstruct the probability distribution using the information provided by a sample of values as, for example, the finite mixture models. In this paper, the Expectation Maximization and the k-means algorithms are used to obtain a finite mixture model that reconstructs the output variable probability distribution from data obtained with RELAP-5 simulations. Both methodologies have been applied to a separated

  20. An oxyde mixture fuel containing uranium and plutonium dioxides and process to obtain this oxyde mixture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hannerz, K.

    1976-01-01

    An oxide-mixture fuel containing uranium and plutonium dioxides having the slage of spherical, or nearly spherical, oxide-mixture particles with a diameter within the range of from 0.2 to 2 mn charactarized in that each oxide-mixture particles is provided with an outer layer comprising mainly UO2, the thickness of which is at least 0.05; whereas the inner portion of the oxide-mixture particles comprises mainly PUO 2

  1. 42 CFR 493.1453 - Condition: Laboratories performing high complexity testing; clinical consultant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Condition: Laboratories performing high complexity testing; clinical consultant. The laboratory must have a... 42 Public Health 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Condition: Laboratories performing high complexity testing; clinical consultant. 493.1453 Section 493.1453 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID...

  2. High-Speed, High-Performance DQPSK Optical Links with Reduced Complexity VDFE Equalizers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maki Nanou

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Optical transmission technologies optimized for optical network segments sensitive to power consumption and cost, comprise modulation formats with direct detection technologies. Specifically, non-return to zero differential quaternary phase shift keying (NRZ-DQPSK in deployed fiber plants, combined with high-performance, low-complexity electronic equalizers to compensate residual impairments at the receiver end, can be proved as a viable solution for high-performance, high-capacity optical links. Joint processing of the constructive and the destructive signals at the single-ended DQPSK receiver provides improved performance compared to the balanced configuration, however, at the expense of higher hardware requirements, a fact that may not be neglected especially in the case of high-speed optical links. To overcome this bottleneck, the use of partially joint constructive/destructive DQPSK equalization is investigated in this paper. Symbol-by-symbol equalization is performed by means of Volterra decision feedback-type equalizers, driven by a reduced subset of signals selected from the constructive and the destructive ports of the optical detectors. The proposed approach offers a low-complexity alternative for electronic equalization, without sacrificing much of the performance compared to the fully-deployed counterpart. The efficiency of the proposed equalizers is demonstrated by means of computer simulation in a typical optical transmission scenario.

  3. Performance evaluation of Louisiana superpave mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-12-01

    This report documents the performance of Louisiana Superpave mixtures through laboratory mechanistic tests, mixture : volumetric properties, gradation analysis, and early field performance. Thirty Superpave mixtures were evaluated in this : study. Fo...

  4. Development of a ratiometric time-resolved luminescence sensor for pH based on lanthanide complexes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Mingjing; Ye, Zhiqiang; Xin, Chenglong; Yuan, Jingli

    2013-01-25

    Time-resolved luminescence bioassay technique using lanthanide complexes as luminescent probes/sensors has shown great utilities in clinical diagnostics and biotechnology discoveries. In this work, a novel terpyridine polyacid derivative that can form highly stable complexes with lanthanide ions in aqueous media, (4'-hydroxy-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine-6,6''-diyl) bis(methylenenitrilo) tetrakis(acetic acid) (HTTA), was designed and synthesized for developing time-resolved luminescence pH sensors based on its Eu(3+) and Tb(3+) complexes. The luminescence characterization results reveal that the luminescence intensity of HTTA-Eu(3+) is strongly dependent on the pH values in weakly acidic to neutral media (pK(a) = 5.8, pH 4.8-7.5), while that of HTTA-Tb(3+) is pH-independent. This unique luminescence response allows the mixture of HTTA-Eu(3+) and HTTA-Tb(3+) (the HTTA-Eu(3+)/Tb(3+) mixture) to be used as a ratiometric luminescence sensor for the time-resolved luminescence detection of pH with the intensity ratio of its Tb(3+) emission at 540 nm to its Eu(3+) emission at 610 nm, I(540 nm)/I(610 nm), as a signal. Moreover, the UV absorption spectrum changes of the HTTA-Eu(3+)/Tb(3+) mixture at different pHs (pH 4.0-7.0) also display a ratiometric response to the pH changes with the ratio of absorbance at 290 nm to that at 325 nm, A(290 nm)/A(325 nm), as a signal. This feature enables the HTTA-Eu(3+)/Tb(3+) mixture to have an additional function for the pH detection with the absorption spectrometry technique. For loading the complexes into the living cells, the acetoxymethyl ester of HTTA was synthesized and used for loading HTTA-Eu(3+) and HTTA-Tb(3+) into the cultured HeLa cells. The luminescence imaging results demonstrated the practical utility of the new sensor for the time-resolved luminescence cell imaging application. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Radioimmunoassay procedure using a stabilized complex

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sultanian, I.V.; Irani, J.H.

    1978-01-01

    An improved radioimmunoassay procedure involves the use of a stabilized complex of labelled antigen and antibody which has an extended shelf life as compared to the same complex absent the stabilizers. Since the time needed to incubate the mixture of labelled antigen and antibody is eliminated, the time for completing the assay is considerably shortened and simplified. The components for carrying out the procedure are packaged in a kit basically including standard antigen for generation of a standard curve, a stabilized labelled antigen-antibody complex and reference serum, if used. A plurality of stabilizers are used in the complex to provide a shelf life of six weeks or more. 10 claims

  6. Power cycles with ammonia-water mixtures as working fluid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thorin, Eva

    2000-05-01

    It is of great interest to improve the efficiency of power generating processes, i.e. to convert more of the energy in the heat source to power. This is favorable from an environmental point of view and can also be an economic advantage. To use an ammonia-water mixture instead of water as working fluid is a possible way to improve the efficiency of steam turbine processes. This thesis includes studies of power cycles with ammonia-water mixtures as working fluid utilizing different kinds of heat sources for power and heat generation. The thermophysical properties of the mixture are also studied. They play an important role in the calculations of the process performance and for the design of its components, such as heat exchangers. The studies concern thermodynamic simulations of processes in applications suitable for Swedish conditions. Available correlations for the thermophysical properties are compared and their influence on simulations and heat exchanger area predictions is investigated. Measurements of ammonia-water mixture viscosities using a vibrating wire viscometer are also described. The studies performed show that power cycles with ammonia-water mixtures as the working fluid are well suited for utilization of waste heat from industry and from gas engines. The ammonia-water power cycles can give up to 32 % more power in the industrial waste heat application and up to 54 % more power in the gas engine bottoming cycle application compared to a conventional Rankine steam cycle. However, ammonia-water power cycles in small direct-fired biomass-fueled cogeneration plants do not show better performance than a conventional Rankine steam cycle. When different correlations for the thermodynamic properties are used in simulations of a simple ammonia-water power cycle the difference in efficiency is not larger than 4 %, corresponding to about 1.3 percentage points. The differences in saturation properties between the correlations are, however, considerable at high

  7. Characterization of Mixtures. Part 2: QSPR Models for Prediction of Excess Molar Volume and Liquid Density Using Neural Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajmani, Subhash; Rogers, Stephen C; Barley, Mark H; Burgess, Andrew N; Livingstone, David J

    2010-09-17

    In our earlier work, we have demonstrated that it is possible to characterize binary mixtures using single component descriptors by applying various mixing rules. We also showed that these methods were successful in building predictive QSPR models to study various mixture properties of interest. Here in, we developed a QSPR model of an excess thermodynamic property of binary mixtures i.e. excess molar volume (V(E) ). In the present study, we use a set of mixture descriptors which we earlier designed to specifically account for intermolecular interactions between the components of a mixture and applied successfully to the prediction of infinite-dilution activity coefficients using neural networks (part 1 of this series). We obtain a significant QSPR model for the prediction of excess molar volume (V(E) ) using consensus neural networks and five mixture descriptors. We find that hydrogen bond and thermodynamic descriptors are the most important in determining excess molar volume (V(E) ), which is in line with the theory of intermolecular forces governing excess mixture properties. The results also suggest that the mixture descriptors utilized herein may be sufficient to model a wide variety of properties of binary and possibly even more complex mixtures. Copyright © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. Dirichlet Process Parsimonious Mixtures for clustering

    OpenAIRE

    Chamroukhi, Faicel; Bartcus, Marius; Glotin, Hervé

    2015-01-01

    The parsimonious Gaussian mixture models, which exploit an eigenvalue decomposition of the group covariance matrices of the Gaussian mixture, have shown their success in particular in cluster analysis. Their estimation is in general performed by maximum likelihood estimation and has also been considered from a parametric Bayesian prospective. We propose new Dirichlet Process Parsimonious mixtures (DPPM) which represent a Bayesian nonparametric formulation of these parsimonious Gaussian mixtur...

  9. Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of binary mixtures of surfactants using continuous wavelet transformation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Afkhami, Abbas; Nematollahi, Davood; Madrakian, Tayyebeh; Abbasi-Tarighat, Maryam; Hajihadi, Mitra

    2009-01-01

    This work presents a simple, rapid, and novel method for simultaneous determination of binary mixtures of some surfactants using continuous wavelet transformation. The method is based on the difference in the effect of surfactants Cetyltrimethylammoniumbromide (CTAB), dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) and TritonX-100 (TX-100) on the absorption spectra of complex of Beryllium with Chrome Azurol S (CAS) at pH 5.4. Binary mixtures of CTAB-DTAB, DTAB-CPB and CTAB-TX-100 were analyzed without prior separation steps. Different mother wavelets from the family of continuous wavelet transforms were selected and applied under the optimal conditions for simultaneous determinations. The proposed methods, under the working conditions, were successfully applied to simultaneous determination of surfactants in hair conditioner and mouthwash samples.

  10. Treatment of refractory powders by a novel, high enthalpy dc plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pershin, L.; Mitrasinovic, A.; Mostaghimi, J.

    2013-06-01

    Thermophysical properties of CO2-CH4 mixtures at high temperatures are very attractive for materials processing. In comparison with argon, at the same temperature, such a mixture possesses much higher enthalpy and higher thermal conductivity. At high temperatures, CO2-CH4 mixture has a complex composition with strong presence of CO which, in the case of powder treatment, could reduce oxidation. In this work, a dc plasma torch with graphite cathode was used to study the effect of plasma gas composition on spheroidization of tungsten carbide and alumina powders. Two different gas compositions were used to generate the plasma while the torch current was kept at 300 A. Various techniques were employed to assess the average concentration of carbides and oxides and the final shape of the treated powders. Process parameters such as input power and plasma gas composition allow controlling the degree of powder oxidation and spheroidization of high melting point ceramic powders.

  11. Treatment of refractory powders by a novel, high enthalpy dc plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pershin, L; Mitrasinovic, A; Mostaghimi, J

    2013-01-01

    Thermophysical properties of CO 2 –CH 4 mixtures at high temperatures are very attractive for materials processing. In comparison with argon, at the same temperature, such a mixture possesses much higher enthalpy and higher thermal conductivity. At high temperatures, CO 2 –CH 4 mixture has a complex composition with strong presence of CO which, in the case of powder treatment, could reduce oxidation. In this work, a dc plasma torch with graphite cathode was used to study the effect of plasma gas composition on spheroidization of tungsten carbide and alumina powders. Two different gas compositions were used to generate the plasma while the torch current was kept at 300 A. Various techniques were employed to assess the average concentration of carbides and oxides and the final shape of the treated powders. Process parameters such as input power and plasma gas composition allow controlling the degree of powder oxidation and spheroidization of high melting point ceramic powders. (paper)

  12. A semi-nonparametric mixture model for selecting functionally consistent proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Lianbo; Doerge, Rw

    2010-09-28

    High-throughput technologies have led to a new era of proteomics. Although protein microarray experiments are becoming more common place there are a variety of experimental and statistical issues that have yet to be addressed, and that will carry over to new high-throughput technologies unless they are investigated. One of the largest of these challenges is the selection of functionally consistent proteins. We present a novel semi-nonparametric mixture model for classifying proteins as consistent or inconsistent while controlling the false discovery rate and the false non-discovery rate. The performance of the proposed approach is compared to current methods via simulation under a variety of experimental conditions. We provide a statistical method for selecting functionally consistent proteins in the context of protein microarray experiments, but the proposed semi-nonparametric mixture model method can certainly be generalized to solve other mixture data problems. The main advantage of this approach is that it provides the posterior probability of consistency for each protein.

  13. An equiratio mixture model for non-additive components : a case study for aspartame/acesulfame-K mixtures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schifferstein, H.N.J.

    1996-01-01

    The Equiratio Mixture Model predicts the psychophysical function for an equiratio mixture type on the basis of the psychophysical functions for the unmixed components. The model reliably estimates the sweetness of mixtures of sugars and sugar-alchohols, but is unable to predict intensity for

  14. Nitrogen and Fluorine co-doped carbon catalyst with high oxygen reduction performance, prepared by pyrolyzing a mixture of melamine and PTFE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Hongliang; Liu, Fangfang; Qiao, Xiaochang; Xiong, Ziang; Li, Xiuhua; Shu, Ting; Liao, Shijun

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: A novel N and F co-doped metal-free doped carbon catalyst with three dimensional vesicles structures and ultra thin walls are prepared by pyrolyzing the mixture of melamine and PTFE. The catalyst has high N and F contents (13 and 6 at.%), and exhibits high ORR activity, high stability, and high limitation current density in both alkaline and acid medium. - Highlights: • N and F co-doped carbon catalyst was derived from the mixture of PTFE and melamine. • The N and F contents of the catalyst are up to 13 and 6 at.%, respectively. • The catalyst has three dimensional vesicles structure with ultra thin walls. • ORR activity of the catalyst is superior to that of Pt/C catalyst in alkaline medium. - Abstract: A novel nitrogen and fluorine co-doped carbon catalyst (C-Mela-PTFE) is prepared by pyrolyzing a mixture of melamine and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), the catalyst has a three-dimensional vesicular structure with ultrathin wall, and exhibits excellent ORR performance in both alkaline and acidic mediums. In an alkaline medium, the catalyst exhibits superior ORR activity to that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. Notably, the ORR activity of the catalyst is just slightly lower than that of Pt/C catalyst in acidic medium. It is interesting that the ORR limiting current density of our C-Mela-PTFE catalyst is much higher than that of Pt/C catalyst. The effects of the melamine/PTFE ratio and the pyrolysis temperature on the catalyst's ORR performance are investigated. The optimal melamine/PTFE ratio by weight is 1:1.5, and the optimal pyrolysis temperature is 950 °C. The catalyst samples are characterized by XRD, SEM/TEM, Raman analysis, and XPS, the results reveal the ultra-thin-walled vesicular structure, high surface area and porosity, and high doping amounts of N and F of the catalyst. For the optimal sample, the N and F contents are up to 13 and 6 at.%, respectively, the proportion of pyridinic N is up to 45 at.% according to the

  15. Relationship between the cohesion of guest particles on the flow behaviour of interactive mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangal, Sharad; Gengenbach, Thomas; Millington-Smith, Doug; Armstrong, Brian; Morton, David A V; Larson, Ian

    2016-05-01

    In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects cohesion of small surface-engineered guest binder particles on the flow behaviour of interactive mixtures. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) - a model pharmaceutical binder - was spray-dried with varying l-leucine feed concentrations to create small surface-engineered binder particles with varying cohesion. These spray-dried formulations were characterised by their particle size distribution, morphology and cohesion. Interactive mixtures were produced by blending these spray-dried formulations with paracetamol. The resultant blends were visualised under scanning electron microscope to confirm formation of interactive mixtures. Surface coverage of paracetamol by guest particles as well as the flow behaviour of these mixtures were examined. The flow performance of interactive mixtures was evaluated using measurements of conditioned bulk density, basic flowability energy, aeration energy and compressibility. With higher feed l-leucine concentrations, the surface roughness of small binder particles increased, while their cohesion decreased. Visual inspection of the SEM images of the blends indicated that the guest particles adhered to the surface of paracetamol resulting in effective formation of interactive mixtures. These images also showed that the low-cohesion guest particles were better de-agglomerated that consequently formed a more homogeneous interactive mixture with paracetamol compared with high-cohesion formulations. The flow performance of interactive mixtures changed as a function of the cohesion of the guest particles. Interactive mixtures with low-cohesion guest binder particles showed notably improved bulk flow performance compared with those containing high-cohesion guest binder particles. Thus, our study suggests that the cohesion of guest particles dictates the flow performance of interactive mixtures. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Preparation and use of viscous-elastic clay-polymer mixtures in drilling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davydov, V K; Tyurin, I P

    1979-01-01

    A highly viscous-elastic mixture (VUS) has been widely used as a buffer liquid. It consists of a weakly concentrated aqueous polyacrylamide solute with additives of small quantities of an aqueous hexaresorcin tar and formalin solution. Laboratory tests have shown that when this mixture is prepared, a bentonite suspension is required with a pH 7, containing minimum 10% solid phase and an aqueous polyacrylamide solution with concentration of no less than 1%. Tests have shown that the effect of this formula varies according to proportions in the mixture. Temperature and selection of the formula must be made on an individual basis.

  17. Human exposure to chemical mixtures: Challenges for the integration of toxicology with epidemiology data in risk assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernández, Antonio F; Tsatsakis, Aristidis M

    2017-05-01

    Little is known about the potential adverse effects from longterm exposure to complex mixtures at low doses, close to health-based reference values. Traditional chemical-specific risk assessment based on animal testing may be insufficient and the lack of toxicological studies on chemical mixtures remains a major regulatory challenge. Hence, new methodologies on cumulative risk assessment are being developed but still present major limitations. Evaluation of chemical mixture effects requires an integrated and systematic approach and close collaboration across different scientific fields, particularly toxicology, epidemiology, exposure science, risk assessment and statistics for a proper integration of data from all these disciplines. Well designed and conducted epidemiological studies can take advantage of this new paradigm and can provide insight to support the correlation between humans low-dose exposures and diseases, thus avoiding the uncertainty associated with extrapolation across species. In this regard, human epidemiology studies may play a significant role in the new vision of toxicity testing. However, this type of information has not been fully considered in risk assessment, mainly due to the inherent limitations of epidemiologic studies. An integrated approach of in vivo, in vitro and in silico data, together with systematic reviews or meta-analysis of high quality epidemiological studies will improve the robustness of risk assessment of chemical mixtures and will provide a stronger basis for regulatory decisions. The ultimate goal is that experimental and mechanistic data can lend support and biological plausibility to the human epidemiological observations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Supercritical Water Mixture (SCWM) Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hicks, Michael C.; Hegde, Uday G.

    2012-01-01

    The subject presentation, entitled, Supercritical Water Mixture (SCWM) Experiment, was presented at the International Space Station (ISS) Increment 33/34 Science Symposium. This presentation provides an overview of an international collaboration between NASA and CNES to study the behavior of a dilute aqueous solution of Na2SO4 (5% w) at near-critical conditions. The Supercritical Water Mixture (SCWM) investigation, serves as important precursor work for subsequent Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) experiments. The SCWM investigation will be performed in DECLICs High Temperature Insert (HTI) for the purpose of studying critical fluid phenomena at high temperatures and pressures. The HTI includes a completely sealed and integrated test cell (i.e., Sample Cell Unit SCU) that will contain approximately 0.3 ml of the aqueous test solution. During the sequence of tests, scheduled to be performed in FY13, temperatures and pressures will be elevated to critical conditions (i.e., Tc = 374C and Pc = 22 MPa) in order to observe salt precipitation, precipitate agglomeration and precipitate transport in the presence of a temperature gradient without the influences of gravitational forces. This presentation provides an overview of the motivation for this work, a description of the DECLIC HTI hardware, the proposed test sequences, and a brief discussion of the scientific research objectives.

  19. High pressure oxidation of sponge-Zr in steam/hydrogen mixtures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Y.S.

    1997-01-01

    A thermogravimetric apparatus for operation in 1 and 70 atm steam-hydrogen or steam-helium mixtures was used to investigate the oxidation kinetics of sponge-Zr containing 215 ppm Fe. Weight-gain rates, reflecting both oxygen and hydrogen uptake, were measured in the temperature range 350-400 C. The specimens consisted of thin sponge-Zr layers metallurgically bonded to a Zircaloy disk. The edges of the disk specimens were coated with a thin layer of pure gold to avoid the deleterious effect of corners. Following each experiment, the specimens were examined metallographically to reveal the morphology of the oxide and/or hydride formed. Two types of oxide, one black and uniform and the other white and nodular, were observed on sponge-Zr surfaces oxidized in steam environments at 70 atm. The oxidation rate when white-nodular oxide formed was a factor of two higher than that of black-uniform oxide at 400 C for steam contents above 1 mol%. The oxidation rate was independent of total pressure, the carrier gas (H 2 or He) and steam content above ∝1 mol%. The oxidation kinetics of sponge-Zr follows a linear law for maximum reaction times up to ∝6 days. The oxidation rate in steam-hydrogen mixtures at 70 atm total pressure decreases when the steam content approaches the steam-starved region (∝0.5 mol% steam at 400 C and ∝0.02 mol% steam at 350 C). Lower steam concentrations cause massive hydriding of the specimens. Even at steam concentrations above the critical value, direct hydrogen absorption from the gas was manifest by hydrogen pickup fractions greater than unity. (orig.)

  20. Using Ion Exchange Chromatography to Separate and Quantify Complex Ions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Brian J.

    2014-01-01

    Ion exchange chromatography is an important technique in the separation of charged species, particularly in biological, inorganic, and environmental samples. In this experiment, students are supplied with a mixture of two substitution-inert complex ions. They separate the complexes by ion exchange chromatography using a "flash"…