Experimental infection of Naegleria fowleri in mice

PURPOSE: To determine possible cognitive and behavioral effects of antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy by assessing children with newly diagnosed epilepsy before and after initiation of treatment. A comparison group of children with diabetes mellitus (DM) was included to control for the effects of practice, maturation, and chronic illness. METHODS: Baseline neuropsychological assessments were completed for children with epilepsy (n = 37) and children with DM (n = 26) recruited through outpatient clinics at a regional children's hospital. Children were reevaluated 6 months from baseline testing. At follow-up, children with epilepsy had therapeutic AED levels and controlled seizures. Statistical analysis included a between-group repeated measures ANCOVA with pretest scores serving as the covariate. RESULTS: Significant differences between groups were not found for any cognitive or behavioral factors, including attention (p < 0.24), immediate memory (p < 0.24), delayed memory (p < 0.10), complex motor speed (p < 0.19), or behavior problems (p < 0.89). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in performance on cognitive and behavioral measures were not different for children treated with AEDs and controls. Although adverse effects may be associated with prolonged treatment, results would not suggest adverse effects from AED monotherapy during the first 6 months of therapy.     

Fracture mechanics of a shaft-loaded blister of thin flexible membrane on rigid substrate

A shaft-loaded blister test has been developed to measure the interfacial energy W of a thin flexible polymeric film adhered to a rigid substrate. A theoretical analysis is given of an axisymmetric debond (blister) in terms of an external applied load P, tensile stretching modulus E and thickness h of the adhering layer. The fracture mechanics model presented considers both elastic and elastoplastic deformations in the thin film. The intrinsic stable interface debonding process provides an attractive alternative to the conventional adhesion measurement techniques.     

Pulse chemical vapour infiltration of SiC in porous carbon or SiC participate preform using an r.f. heating system

SiC was infiltrated into a porous carbon or an SiC particulate preform from a gaseous system of 6% CH₃SiCl₃-H₂ using a pulse chemical vapour infiltration apparatus and r.f. heating at 1273 to 1423 K. At 1273 K, the SiC matrix infiltrated the porous carbon initially to half the thickness of the substrate and finally over the full thickness. After 10000 pulses, three-point flexural strength saturated at about 120MPa. SiC particulate preform made from an average particle size of 4m was infiltrated by SiC. After 30000 pulses at 1273 K, the flexural strength of the composite increased to 200 to 220 M Pa.     

英国国家公园内住宅建设管控政策研究

住宅是社区管理的重要物质载体,住宅建设管控是国家自然保护地体系建设的重要部分,英国国家公园内住宅建设管控的经验能为我国自然保护地社区管理带来新思路,有助于解决我国自然保护地人口聚居的问题.梳理英国国家公园内住宅建设管控背景,引介英国国家公园内住宅建设管控政策,借鉴强制管制结合柔性引导的管控经验,丰富我国自然保护地体系建设中住宅建设管控的思路.     

Fabrication of TiO2 composite materials for air purification by magnetic field effect and electrocodeposition

Novel air purification materials were fabricated by the application of a magnetic field. In a magnetic field perpendicular to a copper plate, nickel particles with a diameter of 10 m were arranged to form numerous pillar-like structures on the matrix surface, and copper as a binder was deposited onto the three-dimensional surface. The total surface area of the pillars and the matrix increased with the magnetic flux density, up to about 800 cm² per cm² of the original matrix surface at 6.2 T. After successful codeposition of TiO₂ particles on the fabricated materials by electroplating, their photocatalytic activities were evaluated on the basis of the removal efficiency of nitrogen oxides (NO _x ), which are some of the most hazardous air pollutants. It was concluded that the samples with the pillar-like structures had two opposite characteristics: large surface area as a positive effect and shadowing against ultraviolet (UV) irradiation as a negative effect. However, total photocatalytic activity increased to twice as much as that of the flat sample by improving the UV irradiation method and the preparation condition of the materials     

Fast computation of computer-generated hologram using Xeon Phi coprocessor

We report fast computation of computer-generated holograms (CGHs) using Xeon Phi coprocessors, which have massively x86-based processors on one chip, recently released by Intel. CGHs can generate arbitrary light wavefronts, and therefore, are promising technology for many applications: for example, three-dimensional displays, diffractive optical elements, and the generation of arbitrary beams. CGHs incur enormous computational cost. In this paper, we describe the implementations of several CGH generating algorithms on the Xeon Phi, and the comparisons in terms of the performance and the ease of programming between the Xeon Phi, a CPU and graphics processing unit (GPU).     

Study of nucleation activity and application of a nucleating agent to copolypropylene

The influences of nucleating agent content on crystallization peak temperature, crystallization curve shape, crystallization onset temperature, and crystallinity of a copolypropylene were studied in detail by differential scanning calorimetry. The results showed that crystallization onset temperature and crystallization peak temperature increased 17°C–22°C and 15°C–19°C, respectively, with increasing nucleating agent content. The behavior of the nucleating agent showed excellent efficiency. But the shape of the crystallization curve broadened with increasing nucleating agent content, and the crystallinity came to an extremum when the nucleating agent content was 0.2%. These results generally differed from those for crystallization of i‐PP by a nucleating agent. Modification of copolypropylene was studied by use of a nucleating agent, and the characteristics of the effects of the nucleating agent on copolypropylene were mastered. The results showed that the hardness of a copolypropylene improved observably. So the abrasion resistance of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film for cigarette packaging was improved by adopting the modified copolypropylene as the skin‐layer heat‐seal material of BOPP film. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101:3915–3919, 2006     

回收PET共混物的非等温结晶和熔融行为

采用双螺杆挤出机制备了聚丙烯(PP)/回收聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯(r-PET)、r-PET/马来酸酐接枝PP(PP-g-MAH)和r-PET/甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯接枝PP(PP-g-GMA)共混物,并研究了共混物组成、熔融温度与时间以及降温速率对共混物非等温结晶与熔融行为的影响.结果表明,r-PET与PP共混,结晶温度均提高,这与组分间起到异相成核诱导结晶作用有关.r-PET结晶温度随PP-g-MAH用量增加而降低,但受PP-g-GMA用量影响较小;r-PET可提高PP-g-MAH结晶温度,但降低PP-g-GMA结晶温度.熔融温度提高,共混物中PP结晶温度和熔点均降低,r-PET熔融峰形和熔点取决于共混物的熔融温度及界面相互作用.     

Toluene oxidation on Pd catalysts supported by CeO2–Y2O3 washcoated cordierite honeycomb

A novel CeO₂–Y₂O₃ (CY) washcoat on cordierite honeycomb was prepared by an impregnation method, which was used as a support to prepare a Pd catalyst. A model reaction of the complete combustion of toluene was conducted to evaluate the performance of the developed Pd/CY catalyst. The CY washcoat support and the Pd/CY catalyst were characterized by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, H₂-TPR and SEM techniques. The results show that compared with conventional washcoat the CY washcoat has better adhesion and higher vibration- and heat-resistance. The CY washcoat can anchor well Pd onto the cordierite honeycomb substrate. The formation of a CeO₂–Y₂O₃ solid solution and the steady present of PdO occur at high calcination temperatures, resulting in a better thermal stability. On a Pd/CY catalyst calcined at 500 °C, a 99% of toluene conversion was obtained at 210 °C, and it was stable for reaction time up to 30 h.