River run: an interactive GIS and dynamic graphing website for decision support and exploratory data analysis of water quality parameters of the lower Cape Fear river

To visualize the water quality of the Lower Cape Fear River basin a Decision Support System (DSS) web site was developed which incorporates dynamic graphing and Geographic Information System (GIS) software. Together, these two software packages enable users to interact with water quality variables in order to investigate the spatial and temporal complexity of the data. The result of this research is that graphing and GIS technology are capable of being implemented over the Internet and that complex water quality data can be successfully disseminated using this medium. However, there remains a need to seamlessly link the graphing and GIS software which will make the visualization tools much more successful at communicating the complex spatial and temporal data.     

Synthesis and photoluminescent properties of high-efficient color-tunable Ba3Y2B6O15: Ce3+, Tb3+ phosphors

High-efficient Ce³⁺/Tb³⁺ co-doped Ba₃Y₂B₆O₁₅ phosphors with multi color-emitting were firstly prepared, and their structural and luminescent properties were studied by XRD Rietveld refinement, emission/excitation spectra, fluorescence lifetimes as well as temperature-variable emission spectra. Upon 365?nm excitation, the characteristic blue Ce³⁺ band along with green Tb³⁺ peaks were simultaneously found in the emission spectra. Moreover, by increasing concentration of Tb³⁺, a blue-to-green tunable emitting color could be realized by effective Ce³⁺→Tb³⁺ energy transfer. Furthermore, all Ba₃Y₂B₆O₁₅: Ce³⁺, Tb³⁺ phosphors exhibit high internal quantum efficiency of ~?90%, while the temperature-variable emission spectra reveal that the phosphors possess impressive color stability as well as good thermal stability (T₅₀ =?~?120?°C). The results indicate that these efficient color-tuning Ba₃Y₂B₆O₁₅: Ce³⁺, Tb³⁺ might be candidate as converted phosphor for UV-excited light-emitting diodes.     

Synthesis of monodispersed pH-sensitive Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles and the potential medical application of adsorption for bovine serum album

We synthesized Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) by co-precipitation method and performed its adsorption of bovine serum albumin V(BSA (V)). The Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ MNPs in nitrogen atmosphere annealed at 400, 500, 600, 700 and 800°C, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer(VSM) were used to characterize the resulting powders of the structure and properties. XRD results show that the Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ powder is a typical single-phase cubic spinel structure, and has no impurity phases. TEM results show that the Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ crystalline size is approximately 30–50 nm, which is similar with the XRD estimate results. The magnetic measurements show that Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ samples, super paramagnetic material, have high saturation magnetization and small coercivity properties. Moreover, We adopted ultraviolet spectrophotometer to analysis adsorption of BSA(V) on the Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ MNPs at room temperature, which show that annealed temperatures, pH, and stirring time can affect BSA(V) adsorption on the Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ MNPs. Most importantly, when ultrasonic stirring 2 hours in the liquor BSA(V) at pH = 7.0, the Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ samples annealed at 600°C has a highest value of 39.81mgg^?1. From above these results, Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ MNPs reveals a great adsorbing ability for BSA(V) that probable are a potential BSA-carrier candidate.     

Microstructures and electrochemical performances of La2Mg(Ni0.85Co0.15)9Crx (x = 0–0.2) electrode alloys prepared by casting and rapid quenching

In order to improve the electrochemical cycle stability of La–Mg–Ni system (PuNi₃-type) hydrogen storage alloy, a trace of Cr was added and rapid quenching techniques were employed. The electrochemical performances and microstructures of the as-cast and -quenched alloys were determined and measured. The effects of Cr content and quenching rate on the microstructures and electrochemical properties of the alloys were investigated in detail. The obtained results show that the as-cast and -quenched alloys are composed of the (La, Mg)Ni₃ phase (PuNi₃-type structure) and the LaNi₅ phase as well as the LaNi₂ phase. The amount of the LaNi₂ phase increases with the increase of Cr content. The addition of Cr enhances the cycle stability of the as-cast and -quenched alloys, but decreases the discharge capacities of the alloys. The cycle lives of the alloys increase with the increase of the quenching rate. The as-cast and -quenched alloys have an excellent activation performance.     

Bottom-up discovery of frequent rooted unordered subtrees

In the past decade, XML has emerged as the standard language for information exchanging over the Internet. Due to its tree-structure paradigm, XML is superior for its capability of storing, querying, and manipulating complex data. Therefore, discovering frequent tree patterns over tree-structured data has become an interesting topic for XML data management. In this paper, we propose a tree mining algorithm, named BUXMiner, for finding a special class of frequent trees, called rooted unordered trees, from a tree-structured database. BUXMiner employs an efficient bottom-up approach to enumerate all candidate trees over a compact global tree guide and computes the frequent trees based on the tree guide. In addition to BUXMiner, we also propose a mining approach called BUMXMiner to discover the maximal frequent rooted unordered trees. We compare BUXMiner with previous tree-structure mining algorithms, namely XQPMinerTID and FastXMiner, which were also proposed to discover rooted unordered trees. The experimental results show that our algorithm outperforms XQPMinerTID and FastXMiner in terms of efficiency. The performance results from real-world applications also indicate the usefulness of our proposed tree mining algorithms in a variety of web applications, such as analysis of web page access patterns and mining frequent XML query patterns for caching.     

Total forearm support during a typing task may reduce the risk of Trapezius' Myalgia development

ObjectiveEvaluate the influence of alternating the position of the upper limbs, between fully supported and unsupported forearms, in the Upper Trapezius (UT) activity during a typing task on a straight-edged desk.BackgroundErgonomic barriers, such as reduced desk area, is one of the reasons that force computer users to work without supporting their forearms. Unsupported forearms may lead to increased UT muscle fatigue, increasing the potential for lesions, with Trapezius Myalgia (TM) being a possible outcome.Method15 healthy volunteers were assessed (6 females, average age of 3,7 ± 9,5 years old). The protocol included an alternated position of forearms every 5 min between fully supported and unsupported forearms, with a 20-min total duration of a typing task. Surface electromyography readings were collected from both UTs.ResultsSignificant differences were found in the variation of the EMG signal between the two positions for the non-dominant arm after 10 min (p < .05) of typing. The non-dominant UT registered higher levels of activity than the dominant UT. Supported forearms reduced the electrical activity in both UTs, with a greater difference in the non-dominant.ConclusionThis study consolidates the current knowledge that unsupported upper limb during typing tasks significantly increases UT's electrical activity. By fully supporting the forearm, that activity is reduced. Females and the non-dominant UT showed higher electrical activity, potentially increasing the risk of developing TM.ApplicationHealthcare providers, safety and health professionals, and ergonomists should be mindful of the forearm position when advising computer users to prevent TM.