Integrated procurement of pulpwood and energy wood from early thinnings using whole-tree bundling

To increase the volume of energy wood and pulpwood harvested from early thinnings, their procurement costs will have to be significantly reduced. This can be done through the integration of pulpwood and energy wood procurement applying a newly-developed supply chain based on whole-tree bundling. In 2007, the first prototype of the bundle harvester capable of incorporating compaction into the cutting phase was launched. Cost savings, especially in primary and secondary transportation, can be achieved by increasing the load sizes by replacing undelimbed whole trees with bundles. The bundles can be hauled by a standard forwarder to the roadside storage area, from where they are transported by a standard timber truck to the pulp mill. Batches of bundles are then fed into a wood flow consisting of conventional delimbed pulpwood. Separation of the bundles into pulpwood and energy wood fractions does not take place until the wood reaches the debarking drum.In this feasibility study, the required productivity level of bundle harvesting (i.e., cutting and bundling) in Scots pine-dominated stands was assessed by comparing the total supply chain costs based on whole-tree bundling with those of the other pulpwood and energy wood supply chains by means of system analysis. The cost calculations indicated that whole-tree bundling enables the procurement costs to be reduced to below the current cost level of separate pulpwood and energy wood procurement in early thinnings. The greatest cost-saving potential lies in small-diameter (d_1.3 = 7-10 cm) first-thinning stands, which are currently unprofitable for conventional pulpwood procurement.     

Active Mixers for Direct Conversion Receivers with 0.35-μm BiCMOS

In this paper, the design requirements of different mixers for direct conversion receivers are discussed. Special attention has been paid into the detection of amplitude-modulated RF signal envelope. Three active mixers have been implemented to investigate the discussed requirements by using a 0.35-m, 25-GHz BiCMOS technology. The same process allows an objective comparison between the different topologies. The mixers are designed for a single 2.7 V supply, and specified for low power consumption. Different topologies are compared by their spurious free dynamic ranges (SFDR) with respect to their individual power consumption. Also, their performance were measured at different LO power levels and supply voltages. The results show insignificant differences between the topologies in low voltage applications.     

Across-path DN gradient in Landsat TM imagery of Amazonian forests: A challenge for image interpretation and mosaicking

An analysis of tropical rain forest covering Amazonian lowlands has highlighted a systematic across-path, east–west radiometric gradient within Landsat TM imagery. Visual assessment of 45 and quantitative analysis of 20 Amazonian Landsat-4 and -5 TM scenes show that the gradient is band dependent and pronounced in visible light bands 1 to 3 but significant also in IR bands 4 to 7. The results show that the scan line location of a pixel explains a considerable amount of the DN variation of forests in the width of the entire scene (B1: 70%, B2: 52%, B3: 44%, B4: 34%, B5: 46%, B7: 39%). In digital numbers, the difference between east and west side of a scene may be small (9, 4, 3, 10, 9, 3, respectively) but these differences become significant if the images are to be mosaicked, or the data are used for mapping relatively subtle differences of natural forests. Apparently, the gradient is a result of at least three factors: 1) shadows caused by the undulating terrain, 2) anisotropic reflectance of the varying surfaces, and 3) atmospheric scattering. The phenomenon becomes more significant when the sun is high and the scanning line is close to solar azimuth direction—a condition more easily encountered in lower latitudes of the earth.     

Why the old world cannot publish? Overcoming challenges in publishing high-impact IS research

We review the status of European publishing in high-impact Information System (IS) journals finding that the European publication record is disappointing. We consider popular explanations to this state of affairs and find them neither credible nor useful for improving the European record. We propose several constructive reasons for this including (1) the lack of appreciation of the article genre, (2) weak publishing cultures, (3) inadequate Ph.D. preparation for article publishing, (4) weak reviewing practices, (5) poorer command of research methods, (6) poorer understanding of the reviewing protocols, and (7) institutional shaping of research funding in Europe. We formulate several recommendations to affect these causes at the individual, institutional, journal, and European community level.     

A case study where pharmaceutical salts were used to address the issue of low in vivo exposure

The present active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is a lipophilic compound with a significant risk of not achieving therapeutic plasma concentrations due to solubility-limited absorption. The aim of the presented studies was to investigate whether three novel salts of a new selected candidate in the cardiovascular therapy area could be applied to improve intestinal absorption and the subsequent in vivo exposure. Three salts (chloride, hydrogen sulfate, and hemi-1.5-naphtalenedisulphonate) of the compound were manufactured and investigated regarding solubility, dissolution rate, and in vivo exposure in rats. The chemical and physical stability of the salt forms (and the crystalline parent compound) were followed in solid state, when dissolved and when formulated as microsuspensions. All salts showed improved solubility in investigated media, increased dissolution rate, and elevated in vivo exposures compared to a nanocrystal formulation (top-down) of the parent free base of the compound. The chloride- and the hydrogen sulfate salts of the API showed similar patterns regarding the chemical stability in solid state as the crystalline free base, while the salt formed of the hemi-1.5-naphtalenedisulphonic acid showed significantly improved stability. In conclusion, this study showed that three salts of a new selected candidate drug could be used to improve solubility, increase dissolution rate, and enhance oral absorption compared with a more commonly used nanocrystal formulation of the API. However, the identity of the counter ion appeared to be of less importance. On the other hand, only the salt of the hemi-1.5-naphtalenedisulphonic acid seemed to improve chemical stability compared with the API.     

'Plate-like-coral' polymer particles with dendritic structure and porous channels: Effective delivery of anti-cancer drugs

'Plate-like-coral' shaped polymer capsule (PC-PLCDB) with dendritic network structure and porous channels has been synthesized and used for therapeutic purposes. First di-block copolymer [(PEG)-b-(L-AspA)_n] has been synthesized from PEG (polyethylene glycol) and aspartic acid (AspA). Then the biocompatible PC-PLCDB has been achieved by homogeneous mixing of [(PEG)-b-(L-AspA)_n] and poly-N-isopropyl acrylamide (PNIPAM) followed by reprecipitation. Only H-bonding is responsible for the foundation of self-assembly of the polymer chains and to form PC-PLCDB. A huge extent of loading anticancer drug, for example, doxorubicin (DOX) in PC-PLCDB is possible. in vitro study has been performed to check the therapeutic efficacy of PC-PLCAD-DOX formulation on chronic myeloid leukemia cells (K562). The IC₅₀ has been calculated to be 0.405 (±0.014) ng μg⁻¹ of the formulation. PC-PLCAD-DOX inhibits 80% of the cancer cell only by 1.0 μg mL⁻¹ of the formulation. This study reveals that the PC-PLCAD could be a promising candidate for therapeutic applications.