Dissolution of copper, tin, and iron from sintered tungsten-bronze spheres in a simulated avian gizzard, and an assessment of their potential toxicity to birds

The rates of dissolution of copper, tin, and iron from sintered tungsten-bronze spheres (51.1%W, 44.4%Cu, 3.9%Sn, 0.6%Fe, by mass) were measured in an in vitro simulated avian gizzard at pH 2.0, and 42C. Most of the spheres had disintegrated completely to a fine powder by day 14. Dissolution of copper, tin, and iron from the spheres was linear over time; all r>0.974; all P<0.001. The mean rate of release of copper, tin, and iron was 30.4 mg, 2.74 mg, and 0.38 mg per g tungsten-bronze per day, respectively. These rates of metal release were compared to those in published studies to determine whether the simultaneous ingestion of eight spheres of 3.48 mm diameter would pose a toxic risk to birds. The potential absorption rates of iron and tin (0.54 mg Fe/day, and 3.89 mg Sn/day) from eight tungsten-bronze spheres of total mass 1.42 g would not prove toxic, based on empirical studies of tin and iron ingestion in waterfowl. The release of 43.17 mg copper/day from eight tungsten-bronze spheres, while exceeding the daily copper requirements of domesticated birds, is far below the levels of copper known to cause copper toxicosis in birds. We conclude that sintered tungsten-bronze material made into gunshot, fishing weights, or wheel balance weights, would not pose a toxic risk to wild birds when ingested.     

Anticoagulant, Antioxidant and Antitumor Activities of Heterofucans from the Seaweed Dictyopteris delicatula

In the present study, six families of sulfated polysaccharides were obtained from seaweed Dictyopteris delicatula by proteolytic digestion, followed by acetone fractionation and molecular sieving on Sephadex G-100. Chemical analyses demonstrated that all polysaccharides contain heterofucans composed mainly of fucose, xylose, glucose, galactose, uronic acid, and sulfate. The fucans F0.5v and F0.7v at 1.0 mg/mL showed high ferric chelating activity (～45%), whereas fucans F1.3v (0.5 mg/mL) showed considerable reducing power, about 53.2% of the activity of vitamin C. The fucan F1.5v presented the most prominent anticoagulant activity. The best antiproliferative activity was found with fucans F1.3v and F0.7v. However, F1.3v activity was much higher than F0.7v inhibiting almost 100% of HeLa cell proliferation. These fucans have been selected for further studies on structural characterization as well as in vivo experiments, which are already in progress.     

POWIRTRAIN功率转换系统解决方案

IR公司已开发了一系列称为POWIRTRAIN的、用于0.37～11KW(0.5～15hp)交流电机的功率转换子系统。这些新的子系统把现代电机驱动和控制所需的所有功率转换和功率控制以模块或组件的形式结合在一起,比常规的解决方案的密集度提高了75％。 新的POWIRTRAIN方案代表了功率技术的一个突破,为电机驱动用户提供了一个适用于其产品的、经过全面优化的功率转换方法。采用POWIRTRAIN,电机驱动工程师们可以大大降低把功率半导体设计成驱动设备过程中设计、元件测试、器件特性研究等的工作量。而且,在POWIRTRAIN模块和组件中也考虑了热量和无噪     

规模勘探三维地震燃料的有限差分深度偏移

大多数偏移方法是以波动方程的各种单向近似法为基础，一个明显的例外是有限差分逆时深度偏移的算法，与其它的偏移算法相比，由于这种方法需要庞大的计算机设备，所以其最初应用只局限于二信资料的合成处理。因此，对于用波前相长干涉进行实际资料叠后偏移和复杂三维构造成像来说，此方法的潜力一直未能发挥出来。     

利用无桥式技术提供更高效率的功率因数修正器

国际整流器公司交流转直流应用部门的Ron Brown与Marco Soldano,利用周期控制技术(one-cycle control)来实现更高效率的无桥式功率因数修正器的设计. 最近,无桥式升压型功率因数修正器线路,获得了很多关注的焦点.借助移除传统转换器其输入级的桥式整流器,切换损失可以降低,而使设计者设计出更高的效率.尤有甚者,无桥式的方法可以避免因导通损,而降低效率,这种现象特别是出现在低的输入电压,其根本的原因是二极管整流器的顺向导通压降.最后,无桥式设计具有先天上更简单,需要更少器件的优点.     

The National Cohort of Dairy Farms--a data collection platform for mastitis research in Canada

Costs and feasibility of extensive sample collection and processing are major obstacles to mastitis epidemiology research. Studies are often consequentially limited, and fundamental mastitis researchers rarely have the opportunity to conduct their work in epidemiologically valid populations. To mitigate these limitations, the Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network has optimized research funds by creating a data collection platform to provide epidemiologically meaningful data for several simultaneous research endeavors. This platform consists of a National Cohort of Dairy Farms (NCDF), Mastitis Laboratory Network, and Mastitis Pathogen Culture Collection. This paper describes the implementation and operation of the NCDF, explains its sampling protocols and data collection, and documents characteristics, strengths and limitations of these data for current and potential users. The NCDF comprises 91 commercial dairy farms in 6 provinces sampled over a 2-yr period. Primarily Holstein-Friesian herds participating in Dairy Herd Improvement milk recording were selected in order to achieve a uniform distribution among 3 strata of bulk tank somatic cell counts and to reflect regional proportions of freestall housing systems. Standardized protocols were implemented for repeated milk samplings on clinical mastitis cases, fresh and randomly selected lactating cows, and cows at dry-off and after calving. Just fewer than 133,000 milk samples were collected. Demographic and production data were recorded at individual cow and farm levels. Health management data are documented and extensive questionnaire data detailing farm management and cleanliness information are also captured. The Laboratory Network represents coordinated regional mastitis bacteriology laboratories using standardized procedures. The Culture Collection archives isolates recovered from intramammary infections of cows in the NCDF and contains over 16,500 isolates, all epidemiologically cross-referenced between linked databases. The NCDF is similar to Canadian dairies in relation to mean herd size, average production, and freestall percentages. Pathogen recovery was greater than anticipated, particularly for coagulase-negative staphylococci and Corynebacterium spp. International scientists are encouraged to use this extensive archive of data and material to enhance their own mastitis research.