Synthesis and characterization of poly (linoleic acid)-g-poly(methyl methacrylate) graft copolymer with applying in Au/PLiMMA/n-Si diode

Poly (linoleic acid)-g-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PLiMMA) graft copolymer was synthesized and characterized. PLiMMA graft copolymer was synthesized from polymeric linoleic acid peroxide (PLina) possessing peroxide groups in the main chain by free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate. Later, PLiMMA was characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. Furthermore, Au/PLiMMA/n-Si diode was fabricated for the purpose of investigating PLiMMA׳s conformity in diodes. The main electrical characteristics of this diode were investigated using experimental current–voltage (I–V) measurements in dark and at room temperature. Obtained results, such as sufficiently high rectifying ratio of 4.5×10⁴, indicate that PLiMMA is a promising organic material for electronic device applications.     

Homogenization with uncertainty in Poisson ratio for polymers with rubber particles

The main aim of this work is dual computer analysis of probabilistic coefficients for the homogenized tensor of the polymer filled with the rubber particles having randomized Poisson ratios of both constituents. The major issue is to verify an influence of a randomness in rubber Poisson ratio close to the compressibility limit on the uncertainty of the effective tensor probabilistic characteristics. Probabilistic analysis presented here is carried out using mainly the stochastic perturbation technique provided by the common application of the traditional FEM commercial code ABAQUS and the symbolic computations package MAPLE. This FEM-based technique employs polynomial response function of the optimum order recovered from the weighted least squares method and following a set of deterministic solutions obtained for various values of the randomized input parameter. Optimization procedure is released entirely into a symbolic environment, where maximization of the correlation factor together with minimization of the fitting variance and approximation error are applied. Homogenization technique consists in equating of deformation energies for the real composite and the artificial one characterized by the effective elasticity tensor with uncertainty.     

LTE系统多小区上行联合功控算法

针对传统的小区内开环功率控制算法通常以提升本小区的吞吐量性能为目标，忽略了当前小区用户对邻小区用户同频干扰的问题，为提升边缘用户性能的同时兼顾系统整体性能，提出了一种LTE系统小区间上行联合功率控制（UJPC）算法。该算法采用单基站三扇区为系统模型，以最优化系统吞吐量比例公平函数为目标，首先根据最小信干噪比（SINR）约束值和用户最大发射功率这两个约束条件得到相应的数学优化模型，然后采用连续凸近似的方法求解优化问题得出各个基站所管辖的小区内所有用户的最优发射功率。仿真结果表明，与基准的开环功控方案相比，联合功控方案在保证系统平均频谱利用率的情况下能够较大幅度地提高小区边缘频谱利用率，其最佳性能增益能达到50%。     

Chloride migration in concrete with superabsorbent polymers

Superabsorbent polymers (SAP) can be used as a means for internal curing of concrete. In the present study, the development of transport properties of concrete with SAP is investigated. The chloride migration coefficient according to NT BUILD 492 is used as a measure of this. Twenty concrete mixtures are tested 7, 14, and 28 days after casting. The development of degree of hydration is followed for 20 corresponding paste mixtures.Both when SAP is added with extra water to compensate the SAP water absorption in fresh concrete and without extra water, the internal curing water held by SAP may contribute to increase the degree of hydration. No matter if SAP is added with or without extra water, it appears that the so-called gel space ratio can be used as a key parameter to link age and mixture proportions (water-to-cement ratio and SAP dosage) to the resulting chloride migration coefficient; the higher the volume of gel solid relative to the space available for it, the lower the chloride migration coefficient, because the pore system becomes more tortuous and the porosity becomes less.     

Multiplex PCR system to track authorized and unauthorized genetically modified soybean events in food and feed

A diverse range of genetic elements has been used to develop genetically modified organisms (GMOs) over the last 18 years. Screening methods that target few elements, such as the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter (P-35S) and Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline terminator (T-nos), are not sufficient to screen GMOs. In the present study, a multiplex PCR system for all globally commercialized GM soybean events was developed to easily trace the events. For this purpose, screening elements of 24 GM soybean events were investigated and 9 screening targets were selected and divided into three individual triplex PCR systems: P-35S, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit promoter of Arabidopsis thaliana, T-nos, T-35S, pea E9 terminator, open reading frame 23 terminator of A. tumefaciens, proteinase inhibitor II terminator of potato, acetohydroxy acid synthase large subunit terminator of A. thaliana, and the revealed 3′ flanking sequences of DP-305423-1. The specificity of the assays was confirmed using thirteen GM soybean events as the respective positive/negative controls. The limit of detection of each multiplex set, as determined using certified reference materials of specific GM events, ranged from 0.03 to 0.5%, depending upon target. Furthermore, 26 food samples that contained soybean ingredients, which were purchased from the USA, China, Japan, and Korea, were analyzed, 17 of which contained one or more GM soybean events. These results suggest that the developed screening method can be used to efficiently track and identify 24 GM soybean events in food and feed.     

Piperacillin/tazobactam‐induced neurotoxicity in a hemodialysis patient: A case report

Antibiotics are potentially a cause of neurotoxicity in dialysis patients, the most common are the beta‐lactams as ceftazidime and cefepime, and few cases have been reported after piperacillin/tazobactam use. This report presents a case of a hypertensive and diabetic 67‐year‐old woman in regular hemodialysis, which previously had a stroke. She was hospitalized presenting pneumonia, which was initially treated with cefepime. Two days after treatment, she presented dysarthria, left hemiparesis, ataxia, and IX and X cranial nerves paresis. Computed tomography showed no acute lesions and cefepime neurotoxicity was hypothesized, and the antibiotic was replaced by piperacillin/tazobactam. The neurologic signs disappeared; however, 4 days after with piperacillin/tazobactam treatment, the neurological manifestations returned. A new computed tomography showed no new lesions, and the second antibiotic regimen withdrawn. After two hemodialysis sessions, the patient completely recovered from neurological manifestations. The patient presented sequentially neurotoxicity caused by two beta‐lactams antibiotics. This report meant to alert clinicians that these antibiotics have dangerous neurological effects in chronic kidney disease patients.     

Linear friction welding of Ti6Al4V: experiments and modelling

Linear friction welding of the Ti6Al4V alloy is studied. A new definition of the energy input rate is proposed, based on an integration over time of the in-plane force and velocity; a strong correlation with the upset rate is then found. The effective friction coefficient is estimated to be 0·5±0·1 for varying frequencies and amplitudes, with only a weak dependence on the processing conditions displayed. A model is proposed that accounts for both the conditioning and equilibrium stages of the process, which is shown to be in good agreement with the experimental data. The model is used to study the mechanism by which the flash is formed. A criterion is proposed by which the rippled nature of its morphology can be predicted.     

Comparison of two Analytical Methods (ELISA and LC-MS/MS) for Determination of Aflatoxin B1 in Corn and Aflatoxin M1 in Milk

The aim of this paper is to assess the closeness of agreement between results of ELISA and LC-MS/MS methods for determination of aflatoxin B₁ in corn and aflatoxin M₁ in milk. Samples of corn (n=100) and milk (n=250) were simultaneously analyzed using ELISA and LC-MS/MS methods, after the severe drought that affected Serbia in summer 2012 resulting in occurrence of aflatoxin B1 in corn and aflatoxin M₁ in milk. Regression analysis showed higher level of agreement between aflatoxin B₁ samples (R²=0.994), compared to aflatoxin M₁ samples (R²=0.920). However, both techniques were satisfactory in meeting the requirements for official control purposes.     

Systematic convergence of nonlinear stochastic estimators on the Special Orthogonal Group SO(3)

This paper introduces two novel nonlinear stochastic attitude estimators developed on the Special Orthogonal Group with the tracking error of the normalized Euclidean distance meeting predefined transient and steady‐state characteristics. The tracking error is confined to initially start within a predetermined large set such that the transient performance is guaranteed to obey dynamically reducing boundaries and decrease smoothly and asymptotically to the origin in probability from almost any initial condition. The proposed estimators produce accurate attitude estimates with remarkable convergence properties using measurements obtained from low‐cost inertial measurement units. The estimators proposed in continuous form are complemented by their discrete versions for the implementation purposes. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed estimators against uncertain measurements and large initialization error, whether in continuous or discrete form.     

Simultaneous determination of mycotoxin in commercial coffee

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi that usually contaminate food products. Coffee is a natural product susceptible to mycotoxin contamination. The present study evaluates the presence of nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, T-2 and HT-2 Toxin, diacetoxyscirpenol, aflatoxin B₁, aflatoxin B₂, aflatoxin G₁, aflatoxin G₂, fumonisin B₁, fumonisin B₂, ochratoxin A, zearalenone, enniatin A, enniatin A₁, enniatin B, enniatin B₁, and beauvericin in coffee samples, using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The results show that zearalenone was not present in any sample. In the positive samples the contents of fumonisins ranged from 58.62 to 537.45 μg/kg, emerging mycotoxins ranged from 0.10 to 3569.92 μg/kg, aflatoxins ranged from 0.25 to 13.12 μg/kg, and trichothecenes, excepting nivalenol, ranged from 5.70 to 325.68 μg/kg. Nivalenol presented the highest concentrations, from 0.40 to 25.86 mg/kg. Ochratoxin A ranged from 1.56 to 32.40 μg/kg, and five samples exceeded the maximum limit established by the European Commission.