Simplified Procedure for Developing Joint Distribution of amax and Mw for Probabilistic Liquefaction Hazard Analysis

This paper presents an innovative approach for a probabilistic analysis of liquefaction hazard at a given site in a specified exposure time based on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Maps data. The foundation of this new approach is a simplified procedure for obtaining a joint distribution of peak ground surface acceleration (amax) and moment magnitude of earthquake (Mw) at any given locality in the United States based on the USGS website data. The developed joint probability distribution of amax and Mw can be readily combined with the conditional probability of liquefaction (given a pair of amax and Mw) to obtain the total probability of liquefaction at a given site in a specified exposure time. Detailed formulation of the new approach is presented and demonstrated with examples.     

Comparative delivery of Diltiazem hydrochloride through synthesized polymer: Hydrogel and hydrogel microspheres

In this study, interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) networking with polyacrylic acid (PAA) were prepared by a non‐conventional emulsion method without any added crosslinker, using benzoyl peroxide as initiator and sodium chloride (NaCl) as additive. The IPN hydrogel was characterized by using Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometry, Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). (PVA‐co‐PAA)/NaCl normal IPN hydrogel (H) were fabricated into hydrogel microspheres (HM) by modified emulsion crosslinking method using glutaraldehyde‐saturated toluene as crosslinker and were loaded with Diltiazem hydrochloride (DL). The IPN hydrogel showed more swelling in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). (PVA‐co‐PAA)/NaCl HM formulation A1 showed comparatively higher DL entrapment (79%) and better control over DL release up to 24 h. By comparing antihypertensive activity of DL loaded two formulations in normotensive rats, HM formulation A1 found more effective in reducing blood pressure to 40.1%. The experimental results demonstrated that (PVA‐co‐PAA)/NaCl HM had the greater potential than normal hydrogel to be used as a drug carrier. A single use of the prepared hydrogel microsphere system of DL can effectively control hypertension in rats. The system holds promise for clinical studies. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Agent-based flight planning system for enhancing the competitiveness of the air cargo industry

In this paper, we propose a multi-agent-based framework to facilitate process automation for the air cargo industry. The focus is on enhancing two labor-intensive flight planning processes, namely cargo consolidation and equalization. By employing a software agent-based flight planning module, which is linked with an RFID-based warehouse management system, air cargo items received at a freight forwarder’s warehouse can be processed more efficiently and flight plans can be generated automatically. In particular, we employ agents equipped with simulated annealing optimization engines to handle the time-consuming tasks of optimization. By doing so, the latest flight plans can be generated more efficiently. The system has been evaluated experimentally by both simulated and real-life data. The results are encouraging. For example, operation steps that normally require over 30 minutes to complete can now be carried out in as quickly as two minutes, and produce a better solution.     

Syngas formation in methane flames and carbon monoxide release during quenching

Following a recent investigation into chemi-ionization and chemiluminescence during gradual aeration of small, laminar methane flames, we proposed that partial oxidation products, or syngas constituents, formed in the pre-flame zone well below the luminous region, were responsible for the observed effects. We therefore map temperature, CO, and H₂ for geometries and conditions relevant to burners in domestic boiler systems, to assess the potential hazard of CO release into the ambient atmosphere, should any partial quenching occur. CO concentrations peaks of 5.5 volume % are recorded in the core surrounding the axis. Appreciable CO concentrations are also found in the absence of added air. Experiments on various burner port geometries and temperatures suggest that this is not due to air entrainment at the flame base but to diffusion from zones closer to the flame. Next, quenching surfaces such as grids, perforated plates and flame trap matrices of different metals are progressively lowered into the flame. To avoid flow line distortion, suction aspirates the quenched products. The highest emission rate occurs with the quenching plane some 4 mm above the burner; further lowering of the quenching surface causes flame extinction. The maximum CO release is close to converting 10% of the CH₄ feed, with some variation with quenching material. Expressing this potential release in terms of, e.g. boiler power, predicts a potentially serious hazard. Results of numerical simulations adequately parallel the experimental sampling profiles and provide insights into local concentrations, as well as the spatially resolved CO flux, which is calculated for a parabolic inlet flow profile. Integration across the stream implies, on the basis of the simulation, a possible tripling of the experimental CO release, were quenching simply to release the local gas composition into the atmosphere. Comparison with experiment suggests some chemical interaction with the quenching surface.     

Patent search on biologics as potential biosimilar candidates

The biological pharmaceutical market is one of the fastest growing sectors in the health care business. Sales of biologic drugs reached $120 billion in 2008 [1] and the worldwide market of biologics continues to grow (IMS Health). As patents on first generation of biologic drugs, including epoetin, insulin granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and interferon alpha, will soon expire, if they have not already, and patents on some of the second generation of biological drugs, such as antibody drugs, are going to be expire in the next few years, there exists a great opportunity in developing biosimilars, especially for large pharmaceutical companies which face great challenges in developing new blockbuster drugs. In the past few years, the United States, Canada, and Japan have debated or passed legislation on biosimilars with active involvement from top pharmaceutical and generic drug companies. The successful leader in this field will be the one that has the foresight and resources to position themselves well to gain in the future. So what are biosimilars? What are the technological differences between biosimilars and small molecule generic drugs? Finally, what are the considerations for biosimilars in terms of patent searching? An example on a biosimilar study is given here.     

Hydroxyapatite filled chitosan-polyacrylic acid polyelectrolyte complexes

Chitosan (CHI) has been complexed with polyacrylic acid (PAA) in the presence of hydroxyapatite (HAP) to prepare composites intended for bone substitute applications. Thermogravimetric analysis of the composite showed that the presence of HAP had little effect on the degradation profile of the polyelectrolyte complex (PEC), except for the onset of degradation. Optimum compressive strength was observed for 70-weight percentage HAP filled PEC. The morphological analysis revealed that the HAP particles were uniformly distributed in the PEC matrix. The results indicate that HAP filled PEC of CHI and PAA could be prepared following the proposed simple route.     

Tuning of magnetic parameters in cobalt-polystyrene nanocomposites by reduction cycling

Cobalt nanoparticles were prepared by a reduction process inside polymer pores using CoSO₄·7H₂O and NaBH₄. A porous polymer network (sulphonated polystyrene) was chosen, as the template for the synthesis of elementary cobalt as high surface area cobalt nanoparticles are prone to oxidation. The preliminary studies reveal that the cobalt is first formed with an oxide protective layer outside and upon repeating the reduction cycles, inner pores of the polymers are opened which enhanced the yield of metallic cobalt. These high surface area cobalt nanoparticles embedded in a polymer are ideal for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes as cobalt can act as a catalyst for the nanotube synthesis. The concentration of cobalt can be tuned in this technique by repeating the cycling process.     

Energy levels and radiative transition rates for Ge XXXI,As XXXII,and Se XXXIII

Fine-structure energies of the 67 levels belonging to the 1s², 1s 2l$l$, 1s3l$l$, 1s4l$l$, 1s5l$l$, and 1s6l$l$ configurations of Ge XXXI, As XXXII, and Se XXXIII have been calculated using the General-Purpose Relativistic Atomic Structure Package. In addition, radiative rates, oscillator strengths, transition wavelengths, and line strengths have been calculated for all electric dipole, magnetic dipole, electric quadrupole, and magnetic quadrupole transitions among these levels. Lifetimes are also presented for all excited levels of these three ions. We have compared our results with the results available in the literature and the accuracy of the data is assessed. We predict new energy levels, oscillator strengths, and transition probabilities where no other theoretical or experimental results are available, which will form the basis for future experimental work.     

Large-scale biomedical image analysis in grid environments

This paper presents the application of a component-based Grid middleware system for processing extremely large images obtained from digital microscopy devices. We have developed parallel, out-of-core techniques for different classes of data processing operations employed on images from confocal microscopy scanners. These techniques are combined into a data preprocessing and analysis pipeline using the component-based middleware system. The experimental results show that: 1) our implementation achieves good performance and can handle very large datasets on high-performance Grid nodes, consisting of computation and/or storage clusters and 2) it can take advantage of Grid nodes connected over high-bandwidth wide-area networks by combining task and data parallelism.