Comparison of concentrations and size distributions of fungal spores in buildings with and without mould problems

Concentrations and types of airborne fungal spores and their aerodynamic sizes were studied in nine buildings with mould problems and in matched reference buildings in order to characterize the exposure in buildings with mould problems. Samples were taken with Andersen six-stage impactors in the autumn and winter. In winter, total concentrations of fungal spores in buildings with mould problems were twice those in reference buildings, even though all concentrations were quite small. In the autumn, the differences were less obvious due to the masking effect of outdoor air fungi. Also, the compositions of fungal genera differed in buildings with mould problems from that in reference buildings. The difference was most significant in the size range 2.1-4.7 μm. The size distribution of fungal spores in dwellings with mould problems skewed towards larger particles than in reference dwellings. The observed differences in size distribution indicate differences in airborne behaviour of fungal spores and, consequently, in respiratory exposure.     

Extension of the decidability of the marked PCP to instances with unique blocks

In the Post Correspondence Problem (PCP) an instance (h,g)$(h,g)$ consists of two morphisms h$h$ and g$g$, and the problem is to determine whether or not there exists a nonempty word w$w$ such that h(w)=g(w)$h\left(w\right)=g\left(w\right)$. Here we prove that the PCP is decidable for instances with unique blocks using the decidability of the marked PCP. Also, we show that it is decidable whether an instance satisfying the uniqueness condition for continuations has an infinite solution. These results establish a new and larger class of decidable instances of the PCP, including the class of marked instances.     

Effect of Austenite Pancaking on the Microstructure,Texture, and Bendability of an Ultrahigh-Strength Strip Steel

The effect of austenite pancaking in the non-recrystallization regime on microstructure and texture evolution and thereby on bendability was investigated in an ultrahigh-strength strip steel with a martensitic-bainitic microstructure. The results indicate that an increase in rolling reduction (R _tot) below the non-recrystallization temperature, which improves the strength and toughness properties, increases the intensities of the ~{554}〈225〉 _α and ~{112}〈110〉 _α texture components along the strip centerline and of the ~{112}〈111〉 _α component at the surface region. Even with the highest R _tot of 79 pct, the bendability along the rolling direction was good, but the preferred alignment of rod-shaped MA constituents along the rolling direction led to a dramatic decrease in the bendability transverse to the rolling direction, with severe cracking occurring even at small bending angles. The early cracking is attributed to localization of the strain in narrow shear bands. It is concluded that the R_tot value has to be limited to guarantee successful bendability.     

Introducing Glycolinkers for the Functionalization of Cytotoxic Drugs and Applications in Antibody–Drug Conjugation Chemistry

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are promising alternatives to naked antibodies for selective drug‐delivery applications and treatment of diseases such as cancer. Construction of ADCs relies upon site‐selective, efficient and mild conjugation technologies. The choice of a chemical linker is especially important, as it affects the overall properties of the ADC. We envisioned that hydrophilic bifunctional chemical linkers based on carbohydrates would be a useful class of derivatization agents for the construction of linker–drug conjugates and ADCs. Herein we describe the synthesis of carbohydrate‐based derivatization agents, glycolinker–drug conjugates featuring the tubulin inhibitor monomethyl auristatin E and an ADC based on an anti‐EGFR antibody. In addition, an initial in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation of the individual components and the ADC is provided against EGFR‐positive cancer cells.     

Consensus kNN QSAR: a versatile method for predicting the estrogenic activity of organic compounds in silico. A comparative study with five estrogen receptors and a large, diverse set of ligands

Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) have proved increasingly useful for predicting the biological activities of molecules (e.g., their binding affinities to different receptors) and can be used in environmental chemistry as a preliminary tool for screening the activities of untested molecules, producing valuable information on which compounds should be tested more thoroughly with experimental affinity assays or in animals. The predictive ability of the consensus kNN QSAR method is corroborated here using a diverse set of 245 compounds, which have been assayed for their relative binding affinities to the estrogen receptor of four species: human (ER alpha and ER beta), calf, mouse, and rat. Leave-one-out cross-validation (LOO-CV) and gamma-randomization tests were applied to the QSAR models for internal validation, and separate training and test sets were used for external validation. The internal predictive abilities of the consensus models for all five data sets were convincing, with cross-validated correlation coefficients (LOO-CV q2 values) varying from 0.69 (human ER beta data) to 0.79 (human ER alpha data). The external predictive abilities were also encouraging, as the predictive r2 scores (pr-r2 values) varied from 0.62 (human ER beta data) to 0.77 (calf and mouse data). The results indicate that consensus kNN QSAR is a feasible method for rapid screening of the estrogenic activity of organic compounds.     

建筑的工艺

当我几个月前走进奥布兰位于纽约教堂街315号的工作室时,我一下子就被这里工匠作坊般的氛围打动了.用各种材料制作的无数工作模型,从和火柴盒一样小的到巨大的结构、室内和细部研究模型.这些模型立刻说明了他们认真的、实体的、亲密的方法,与当今建筑事务所普遍的诊所般的气氛——更像是律师事务所,而不是一个有人和生活参与的工作场所——大相径庭.奥布兰建筑设计事务所反映了个人的奉献,和对建筑艺术的实质的深厚兴趣,而不是仅仅将设计视为一种职业服务.和奥布兰的建筑师聊天,阅读他们的文字让我理解到对于他们来说建筑创作是一种个人自省的方式,一种培养他们自己个性和世界观的方法.正如路德维希·维特根斯坦所述:"建筑和哲学相似,他们都是人们用来影响自己的方式,针对看待事物的方式."     

A Model for Chlorine Dioxide Delignification of Chemical Pulp

Abstract

A phenomenon based model for chlorine dioxide delignification of chemical pulp is introduced. The pulp suspension environment is modeled using the concept of two liquid phases, one inside and the other external to the fiber wall. Physico-chemical processes taking place during delignification are implemented with thermodynamic, mass transfer and reaction kinetic models. A broad library of chemical reactions is introduced. Inclusion of each reaction is justified. The model response is tested against experimental laboratory delignification results (o-delignified birch pulp). The experimental data consists of kappa number, hexenuronic acid, inorganic oxy-chlorine compound, and organochlorine (AOX, OX) measurements at several time points during five delignification experiments. The model predictions are mainly in good agreement with the experimental results. The predictions regarding hypochlorous acid driven processes (HexA removal, organochlorine formation, chlorite and chlorate concentration) are somewhat incoherent, indicating that knowledge regarding the intermediately formed hypochlorous acid is presently insufficient.