Design and development of a novel automatic valve system for long-term catheterized urinary incontinence patients

It has been estimated that over 3 million patients in the UK suffer from urinary incontinence, the result of which is often long-term catheterization. However, many catheters block prematurely through encrustation and their continuous drainage limits bladder rehabilitation. Although evidence shows that a catheter valve may overcome such weaknesses, only manual valves are currently available and many patients are not able to benefit from these owing to a lack of manual dexterity. A novel electronically controlled automatic valve system, the Shan-Lai (SL) valve system, has been designed and prototyped. The prototype is compact, reliable, and cost effective, and it has low power consumption. The mass of the overall packaged valve system is 34.2 g and it measures 4.5 cm x 4.5 cm x 1.2 cm. With an orifice of 3 mm diameter, the SL valve has achieved high flowrates with relatively low energy consumption. A flowrate-energy relationship (FER) has been introduced to assess the performance of a catheter valve, and the SL valve system prototype has achieved an FER of 0.66 m/s(-1) mJ(-1) while a commercially available electronic valve has an FER of 0.28 m/s(-1) mJ(-1). The valve demonstrated outstanding mechanical reliability after a series of performance tests and also indicated remarkable encrustation resistance in the vicinity of the valve during an in-vitro test.     

Selective and quantitative detection of influenza virus proteins in commercial vaccines using two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection

In this work, we report on the applicability of two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography (2D-HPLC) for the comprehensive characterization of inactivated influenza vaccine proteins. This novel procedure features minimal sample treatment and combines the on-line coupling of size exclusion HPLC to reversed-phase HPLC. A comparative analysis of commercial vaccines from three different manufacturers showed the method to be highly selective by providing characteristic reproducible chromatographic profiles for each vaccine. In addition, the method provided enhanced sensitivity for most constituents as a result of the use of native fluorescence detection in the reversed-phase HPLC step. The limits of detection (at a signal-to-noise ratio of >3) for hemagglutinin (HA) antigens were 105 and 172 ng/mL for influenza A/New Caledonia/20/99 and B/Jiangsu/10/2003 strains, respectively. The potential of this 2D-HPLC procedure in terms of quantitative antigen analysis was assessed by determination of the HA content of commercial vaccines. Results provided very good correlation with nominal HA values. The reproducibility (RSD) of the whole procedure was also evaluated and was found to be better than 2 and 3% for calculated antigen concentrations expressed as micrograms of HA per milliliter in commercial vaccines for samples of the same lot (n = 5) or different lots (n = 3), respectively. In addition, it allowed the selective detection of several influenza constituents including nucleoproteins from type A and B viruses and the highly hydrophobic matrix protein 1 from both virus strains.     

CHELSI: a portable neutron spectrometer for the 20-800 MeV region

CHELSI is a CsI-based portable spectrometer being developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory for use in high-energy neutron fields. Based on the inherent pulse shape discrimination properties of CsI(Tl), the instrument flags charged particle events produced via neutron-induced spallation events. Scintillation events are processed in real time using digital signal processing and a conservative estimate of neutron dose rate is made based on the charged particle energy distribution. A more accurate dose estimate can be made by unfolding the 2D charged particle versus pulse height distribution to reveal the incident neutron spectrum from which dose is readily obtained. A prototype probe has been assembled and data collected in quasi-monoenergetic fields at The Svedberg Laboratory (TSL) in Uppsala as well as at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). Preliminary efforts at deconvoluting the shape/energy data using empirical response functions derived from time-of-flight measurements are described.     

Superoxide mediated reduction of organically complexed iron(III): comparison of non-dissociative and dissociative reduction pathways

We have investigated the mechanism of reduction of organically complexed iron(III) in the presence of superoxide, the one-electron reduced form of dioxygen that is produced in natural waters by thermal, photochemical, and biological pathways. Experimental results show that reduction of organically complexed iron(III) by superoxide may occur by either (or, in some instances, both) reaction of superoxide with inorganic iron(III) after its dissociation from the complex (dissociative reduction) or by direct reaction of superoxide with the complex (non-dissociative reduction). In the presence of low concentrations of ligands such as citrate and sulfosalicylate that bind iron(III) relatively weakly and result in complexes with high dissociation rate constants (kd > 1 x 10(-4) s(-1)), a dissociative reduction pathway dominates. However, in the presence of strong ligands or high concentrations of weak ligands, only non-dissociative reduction of complexed iron(III) occurs. The relative contribution of each pathway has major implications for the lability and hence potential bioavailablity of iron in natural waters. The simple kinetic model developed here can be used to correctly predict the superoxide-mediated formation rates of iron(II) in natural systems.     

Optical field enhancement at cusps between adjacent nanoapertures

Optical nonlinear properties of cusps formed at the junction between two circular apertures in a metal film have been studied by scanning confocal microscopy. For gold, both second harmonic and broadband emission are enhanced when the pump polarization is directed across the gap between cusps, similar to the behavior of the recently studied bowtie antennas and apertures. However, field enhancements are also present when the polarization is perpendicular to the gap direction. A quantitative explanation of the observed relative signal intensities requires considering both field concentration near cusps and shape resonances of the entire structure. The occurrence of broadband emission from the cusp region when Al is used instead of Au indicates that broadband emission is the result of additional mechanisms besides pure two-photon luminescence.     

Uncovering forbidden optical transitions in PbSe nanocrystals

The 1S(h,e)-1P(e,h) exciton transition energy of PbSe nanocrystals was determined via two-photon photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy and was found to be in good agreement with predictions from a tight-binding calculation. The two-photon excitation peak occurs at energies very close to a strong feature in the one-photon absorption spectrum and suggests that it should be assigned as a formally forbidden S-P transition. Leading explanations for the unusual strength of the forbidden transition are discussed.     

一种改进的预测连续油管环空摩阻压降的计算方法

在前期分析计算连续油管管内摩阻压降的基础上,进一步介绍了一种准确确定连续油管环空摩阻压降的计算方法,分析了管道几何尺寸,表面粗糙度,泵排量,流体性能,雷诺数,摩阻系数,偏心度等参数对层流态和紊流太时的环空摩阻压降的影响效果,对各参数的确定,给出了计算公式,并进行了实验验证,还列举了带内管的连续油管环空偏心影响效果的分析方法,较全面地阐述了连续油管的环空水力性能,并给出计算实例。     

只有想不到 没有买不到：史上最强手机代购全攻略

不想行货被“阉割”？买水货。却要为如何应付JS层出不穷的诡计而头痛不已？其实你真的不用愁。有代购,哪有数码产品买不到？     

Optical systems design for a stratospheric lidar system

The optical systems for the transmitter and receiver of a high-power lidar for stratospheric measurements have been designed and analyzed. The system requirements and design results are presented and explained. An important and driving factor of this design was the requirement for a small image diameter in the plane of an optical chopper to allow the high-intensity lidar returns from the lower atmosphere to be shielded from the detection system. Some results relevant to the optical performance of the system are presented. The resulting system has been constructed and is now in operation at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, and is making regular measurements of stratospheric ozone, temperature, and aerosol profiles.     

基于小波变换的声波法输油管道泄漏检测方法

利用声波法对输油管道进行泄漏检测,能检测到管道小流量的缓慢泄漏,从而克服了负压波检测法的不足.通过对热油长输管道原油温度沿程变化所造成的声波速变化的研究,改进了热油长输管道中声波波速随距离变化的具体函数表达式.利用多尺度小波变换以及阈值消噪的方法对声波泄漏信号进行分析,小波变换系数极值的奇异性准确地反映了泄漏信号的突变点,提高了泄漏定位的精度.