Effective diffusion constant and adsorption constant of synthesized alumina,zirconia, and alumina–zirconia composite material

In this study, Al₂O₃, ZrO₂, and Al₂O₃–ZrO₂ composite materials were prepared with the sol–gel technique. X-ray diffraction analysis, differential scanning calorimetry–thermogravimetry, scanning electron microscopy–energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, nitrogen adsorption isotherm measurements, and helium pycnometry were used to characterize the resultant materials. Effective diffusion coefficients of helium and hydrogen and the adsorption equilibrium constant of hydrogen in the resultant materials were determined using single-pellet moment technique. The effective diffusivities of helium and hydrogen in both ZrO₂ and Al₂O₃–ZrO₂ composite pellets were found to be smaller than the value found for Al₂O_3, due to the lower tortuosity factor values of the Al₂O₃ pellet. It was found that hydrogen was weakly adsorbed on all resultant materials.     

Preparation of comb‐type grafted hydrogels composed of polyacrylamide and chitosan and their use for DNA adsorption

Comb‐type grafted hydrogels composed of polyacrylamide (PAAm) and chitosan (CT) were prepared and used for DNA adsorption. Instead of direct grafting of the acrylamide monomer onto the CT chain, semitelechelic PAAm with carboxylic acid end groups (PAAm–COOH) was synthesized by free‐radical polymerization with mercaptoacetic acid as the chain‐transfer agent, and it was grafted onto CT with amino groups. The synthesis of telechelic PAAm–COOH and the formation of comb‐type grafted hydrogels were confirmed by attenuated total reflectance/Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy measurements. The prepared comb‐type grafted hydrogels were used as sorbents in DNA adsorption experiments conducted at +4°C in a tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid solution of pH 7.4. DNA adsorption capacities as high as 2.0 × 10³ μg of DNA/g of dry gel could be achieved by the comb‐type hydrogels with higher PAAm contents. This value was approximately 6 times higher than that of CT alone. In addition, the comb‐type hydrogels showed a high adsorption/desorption rate depending on the PAAm content in the hydrogel. As a result, these comb‐type hydrogels carrying higher amounts of DNA may be considered good candidates for achieving higher removal rates for anti‐DNA antibodies and for effective gene therapy systems. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Mechanical and viscoelastic properties of polyethylene-based microfibrillated composites from 100% recycled resources

In this study, recycled polyethylene (rPE) based microfibrillated composites (MFCs) were developed while incorporating recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (rPET) and recycled polyamide 6 (rPA) as the reinforcing fibrillar phases at a given weight ratio of 80 wt% (rPE)/20 wt% (rPET or rPA). The blends were first melt processed using a twin-screw extruder. The extrudates were then cold stretched at a drawing ratio of 2.5 to form rPET and rPA fibrillar structures. Next, the pelletized drawn samples were injection molded at the barrel temperatures below the melting temperatures of rPET and rPA. The tensile, three-point bending, impact strength, dynamic thermomechanical, and rheological properties of the fabricated MFCs were analyzed. The effects of injection molding barrel temperature (i.e., 150°C and 190°C) and extrusion melt processing temperature (i.e., 250°C and 275°C) on the generated fibrillar structure and the resultant properties were explored. A strong correlation between the fibrillar morphology and the mechanical properties with the extrusion and injection molding temperatures was observed. Moreover, the ethylene/n-butyl acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate (EnBAGMA) terpolymer and maleic anhydride grafted PE (MAH-g-PE) were, respectively, melt processed with rPE/rPET and rPE/rPA6 blends as compatibilizers. The compatibilizers refined the fibrillar structure and remarkably influenced mechanical properties, specifically the impact strength.     

Hydrogen Sulfide Metabolite,Sodium Thiosulfate: Clinical Applications and Underlying Molecular Mechanisms

Thiosulfate in the form of sodium thiosulfate (STS) is a major oxidation product of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), an endogenous signaling molecule and the third member of the gasotransmitter family. STS is currently used in the clinical treatment of acute cyanide poisoning, cisplatin toxicities in cancer therapy, and calciphylaxis in dialysis patients. Burgeoning evidence show that STS has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, making it a potential therapeutic candidate molecule that can target multiple molecular pathways in various diseases and drug-induced toxicities. This review discusses the biochemical and molecular pathways in the generation of STS from H₂S, its clinical usefulness, and potential clinical applications, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying these clinical applications and a future perspective in kidney transplantation.     

Contour diagram fuzzy model for maximum surface ozone prediction

A contour diagram approach is presented for the identification of surface ozone concentration feature based on a set of rules by considering the meteorological variables such as the solar radiation, wind speed, temperature, humidity and rainfall. A fuzzy rule system approach is used because of the imprecise, insufficient, ambiguous and uncertain data available. The contour diagrams help to identify qualitative ozone concentration variability rules which are more general than conventional statistical or time series analysis. In the methodology, ozone concentration contours are based on a fixed variable as ozone precursor, namely, NO_x and as the third variable one of the meteorological factors. Such contour diagrams for ozone concentration variation are prepared for six months. It is possible to identify the maximum ozone concentration episodes from these diagrams and then to set up the valid rules in the form of IF-THEN logical statements. These rules are obtained from available daily ozone, NO_x and meteorological data as a first approximate reasoning step. In this manner, without mathematical formulations, expert maximum ozone concentration systems are identified. The application of the contour diagram approach is performed for daily ozone concentration measurements on European side of Istanbul city. It is concluded that through approximate reasoning with fuzzy rules, the maximum ozone concentration episodes can be identified and predicted without any mathematical expression.     

Contextual Information Requirements of Cost Estimators from Past Construction Projects

Past project data sources provide key information for construction cost estimators. Previous research studies show that relying only on one’s own experience during estimation results in estimators’ bias. Having and referring to historical databases, containing objective information on what happened in past projects, are essential for reducing estimators’ biases. The first step toward development of useful project history databases is to understand what information estimators require from past projects. The research described in this paper targets estimators’ information needs identified through interviews, brainstorming sessions, task analyses, and card games conducted with estimators with different experience levels and specialized in heavy/civil and commercial construction projects, and exploration of historical and standard databases available in companies to determine what is being currently represented. Findings show that estimators need contextual information, depicting the conditions under which specific production rates were achieved, so that they can identify which production rate would be more realistic to use during the production rate estimation of an activity in a new bid. Comparison of the contextual information needs identified in this research with information items available in historical data sources (such as company cost reports, RSMeans, previous studies) highlighted some gaps and important opportunities for improvements in those sources. The identified contextual information items are significant for practitioners in developing ways to augment their existing project history databases to make them more beneficial for estimators.     

Knowledge,attitudes and self-reported practices of food service staff regarding food hygiene in Edirne,Turkey

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices among food service staff with regards to food hygiene in hospitals in Edirne, Turkey, and to provide baseline data for implementing HACCP in hospital food services by carrying out a questionnaire by a face-to-face interview. The current study shows that food service staff in Edirne hospitals have insufficient knowledge regarding the basics of food hygiene. And also revealed a discrepancy between attitudes and practices towards food hygiene. There is an immediate need for continuous training among food handlers regarding safe food handling practices.     

Kinetic and equilibrium studies in removing lead ions from aqueous solutions by natural sepiolite

The capacity of sepiolite for the removal of lead ions from aqueous solution was investigated under different experimental conditions. The Langmuir and Freundlich equations, which are in common use for describing sorption equilibrium for wastewater-treatment applications, were applied to data. The constants and correlation coefficients of these isotherm models for the present system at different conditions such as pH, temperature and particle size were calculated and compared. The equilibrium process was well described by the Langmuir isotherm model and the maximum sorption capacity was found to be 93.4 mg/g for the optimal experimental condition. The thermodynamic parameters (DeltaG(o), DeltaH(o) and DeltaS(o)) for lead sorption on the sepiolite were also determined from the temperature dependence. The influences of specific parameters such as the agitation speed, particle size and initial concentration for the kinetic studies were also examined. The sorption kinetics were tested for first order reversible, pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order reaction and the rate constants of kinetic models were calculated. The best correlation coefficients were obtained using the pseudo-second order kinetic model, indicating that lead uptake process followed the pseudo-second order rate expression.     

Robust content-based image indexing using contextual clues and automatic pseudofeedback

In this paper we present a robust information integration approach to identifying images of persons in large collections such as the Web. The underlying system relies on combining content analysis, which involves face detection and recognition, with context analysis, which involves extraction of text or HTML features. Two aspects are explored to test the robustness of this approach: sensitivity of the retrieval performance to the context analysis parameters and automatic construction of a facial image database via automatic pseudofeedback. For the sensitivity testing, we reevaluate system performance while varying context analysis parameters. This is compared with a learning approach where association rules among textual feature values and image relevance are learned via the CN2 algorithm. A face database is constructed by clustering after an initial retrieval relying on face detection and context analysis alone. Experimental results indicate that the approach is robust for identifying and indexing person images.Y. Alp Aslandogan: Correspondence to: