Degradation of yew, ragwort and rhododendron toxins during composting

Recent concerns have been raised that plants such as ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), yew (Taxus baccata) and rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum) that are toxic to livestock may be included in compost windrows but may not be fully detoxified by the composting process. This study investigates the decomposition during composting of toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids present in ragwort, taxines (A and B) present in yew, and grayanotoxins (GTX I, II, and III) present in rhododendron during composting. Plant samples were contained within microporous bags either towards the edge or within the centre of a pilot-scale compost heap. They were destructively harvested at regular intervals over 1200 °C cumulative temperature (about three months). Samples were analysed for levels of toxins by liquid chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS). Pyrrolizidine alkaloids and taxines were shown to degrade completely during the composting process. While GTX I showed significant reductions, concentrations of GTX III remained unchanged after 1200 °C cumulative temperature. However, estimates of exposure to grazing livestock coming into contact with source-segregated green waste compost containing up to 7% rhododendron suggest that GTX III poses no appreciable risk.     

希林格利奥酒庄 奥地利布尔根兰

正总体上,希林格利奥酒庄设计将风景、葡萄种植和建筑三种元素融为一体。希林格利奥酒庄位于乔伊斯葡萄园中央,地下空间十分深邃,四周植被茂盛,其特殊的位置显得敏感又有些困难,建筑师需要考虑如何让希林格利奥酒庄风光迷人。在旧有地窖里的走道的基础上,我们特别地利用了地下环境,将展示区的悬挑梁设计成可见的小标记,夜晚月光透过大窗户便会照亮这些小印记。生产大厅上端有8个椎体,这些椎体面朝北,呈对角线排     

Modification, calibration and verification of the IWA River Water Quality Model to simulate a pilot-scale high rate algal pond

We implemented the IWA River Water Quality Model No. 1 (Reichert et al., 2001. River Water Quality Model No. 1, IWA Scientific & Technical Report No. 12) to simulate water-quality characteristics in two pilot-scale High Rate Algal Ponds. Simulation results were compared with two years' of data from the ponds. The first year's data from one pond were used for model calibration; the remaining data were used for validation. As originally formulated and parameterized, the model consistently yielded summer-time algal biomass concentrations which were too low - with consequent failures in its reproduction of dissolved oxygen, pH and nutrient dynamics. We experimented with various structural/parametric changes to improve the model's performance. The most effective strategy was to greatly increase the respiratory losses suffered by the heterotrophic osmotrophs (thereby giving the algae access to a larger fraction of the incoming dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen). This suggests that CO₂-bubbling alone cannot entirely preclude resource-limitation of algal production. We doubt that our parameterization of heterotrophic osmotrophs is correct and infer that the algae derive a large fraction of their nutrition by direct osmotrophic uptake of dissolved organic matter. This inference is supported by the literature concerning the physiology of the dominant algal species in our ponds.     

Functional Polysaccharide Composite Nanoparticles from Cellulose Acetate and Potential Applications

An in situ technique for preparing composite nanoparticles from hydrophobic cellulose acetate and hydrophilic polysaccharides using nanoprecipitation is presented. This technique allows the nanoparticles’ surface properties to be tuned very specifically. Spherical, narrow‐size‐distributed composite nanoparticles of different size, charge, functionality, and increased stability can be generated by using hydroxyethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, low molecular weight chitosan, and amino cellulose. The influence of the pH and hydrophilic polysaccharide content in the particle formation is shown. The pH‐ and ionic strength‐ effective zeta‐potential functions are evidence of the presence of functional polysaccharides at the nanoparticle surface. The in situ technique is compared with the adsorption of hydrophilic polysaccharides onto cellulose acetate nanoparticles in two steps. The great potential of in situ prepared composite nanoparticles in the pharmaceutical industry and bio‐ or food technology, as carriers of hydrophobic substances in aqueous media and for specific surface modifications, e.g., to selectively introduce strong antimicrobial properties, is illustrated.     

Haptic collision handling for simulation of transnasal surgery

Simulation of endoscopic navigation in the narrow nasal cavity poses important challenges to the computation of adequate and near‐realistic collision response and haptic feedback because extensive multidirectional contact and massive tissue deformations are inevitable. We present a virtual coupling algorithm that provides stable collision response as well as intuitive and smooth haptic interaction in all phases of the simulation. In each iteration, continuous collision detection between the point shell representing the surface of the virtual patient anatomy and the endoscope, represented by a cylinder, is performed. This allows for rolling back the instrument movement to the point in time the first collision occurred. Subsequently, a relaxation process locally optimizes the position and orientation of the instrument. A novel method of applying contact forces to colliding tissues and thus triggering appropriate deformations improves the fluency of navigation. This paper describes the algorithm and presents experimental results. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada 2012. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Medical Devices, National Research Council Canada.     

Differential somatic cell count in milk before,during, and after lipopolysaccharide- and lipoteichoic-acid-induced mastitis in dairy cows

Intramammary infections induce the initiation of the inflammatory response, resulting in an increase in somatic cell count (SCC) in milk. The SCC includes several different types of cells but does not differentiate between them. On the contrary, the new differential somatic cell count (DSCC) parameter allows for the differentiation between 2 groups of cells: polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and lymphocytes versus macrophages. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to describe the changes of both DSCC and SCC during mastitis induced by cell wall components from typical mastitis-causing pathogens [lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Escherichia coli; lipoteichoic acid (LTA), Staphylococcus aureus] known to trigger different severities of mastitis. In addition, the effect the glucocorticoid prednisolone (PRED), which is known to attenuate the immune response in the mammary gland, was investigated. Twenty dairy cows were equally divided into 5 groups and treated with LPS, LTA, LPS+PRED, LTA+PRED, or a saline control. Milk samples were taken at the following time points: baseline (d ?3, ?2, and ?1), right before treatment (d 0), 5 h after treatment (d 0.2), early cure phase (d 1 and 2), and late cure phase (d 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 14) and analyzed for DSCC and SCC. Mean DSCC values increased significantly from <60% at baseline and right before treatment to >81% 5 h after treatment and the early cure phase in all groups, except for the groups control and LTA+PRED. This increase clearly reflects a shift in cell populations to predominantly PMN. The SCC increased significantly following the stimulation, too, as expected. Interestingly, we observed cases where SCC increased moderately only whereas DSCC showed an evident increase, meaning that the shift in cell populations occurred even at low SCC levels. The PRED clearly lowered the cell migration in group LTA+PRED. This is the first ever study investigating DSCC during induced mastitis under controlled conditions. The combination of DSCC and SCC could be employed for the earlier detection of mastitis by revealing the shift in cell population independent from the SCC level. Furthermore, combining DSCC and SCC information could help to determine the stage of mastitis because we observed high DSCC and SCC results in the early stage of mastitis but evidently lower DSCC and high SCC in the cure phase. Hence, our results offer the first fundamental insights on how mastitis monitoring could be improved in the frame of dairy herd improvement programs.     

Highly Stable Plasmon Induced Hot Hole Transfer into Silicon via a SrTiO3 Passivation Interface

Extracting plasmon‐induced hot carriers over a metal–semiconductor Schottky barrier enables photodetection below the semiconductor bandgap energy. However, interfacial carrier recombination hinders the efficiency and stability of this process, severely limiting its implementation in telecommunication. This study proposes and demonstrates the use of epitaxially grown lattice‐matched SrTiO₃ for interfacial passivation of silicon‐based plasmonic Schottky devices. The devices are activated by an electrical soft‐breakdown of the interfacial SrTiO₃ layer, resulting in reproducible rectified Schottky characteristics. The transition to a low resistance state of the SrTiO₃ layer boosts the extraction efficiency of hot holes upon resonant plasmonic excitation, giving rise to a two orders of magnitude higher photocurrent compared to devices with a native oxide layer. Photoresponse, tunability, and barrier height studies under reverse biases as high as 100 V present superior stability with the incorporation of the SrTiO₃ layer. The investigation paves the way toward plasmon‐induced photodetection for practical applications including those under challenging operating conditions.     

Functional Patterning of Biopolymer Thin Films Using Enzymes and Lithographic Methods

Two different lithographic techniques for the patterning of thin biopolymer films are developed. The first method is based on using a microstructured elastomeric mold for the structuring of thin films of regenerated cellulose. The thin films are manufactured by spin‐coating of trimethylsilyl cellulose (TMSC) and subsequent regeneration. The microchannels formed by the mold and the cellulose film are filled with a cellulase solution by capillary action. In the areas exposed to the enzyme solution, the cellulose film is digested, whereas the area in contact with the mold is protected from the enzymatic activity. Optical thickness measurements, atomic force microscopy and fluorescent staining confirm a successful patterning of cellulose on several substrates by this method. The second method is based on the structured regeneration of thin TMSC films. TMSC surfaces are protected with metal masks and exposed to vapors of hydrochloric acid. These treatments result in hydrophilic cellulose structures surrounded by hydrophobic TMSC with differing physicochemical properties. Treatments of the obtained structures with cellulases allow the selective removal of pure cellulose, whereas a TMSC pattern remains on the surface. These TMSC can be regenerated back to pure cellulose by treatments with vapors of hydrochloric acid. The developed methods allow the effective fabrication of micropatterned biopolymer thin films suitable for further functionalization and application in, e.g., bioanalytical devices. This is shown by the immobilization and detection of single‐stranded DNA on structured cellulose surfaces. Owing to the versatility of both patterning approaches the methods can be further extended to other combinations of substrates and enzymes.     

Photoinduced Degradation of Polymer and Polymer–Fullerene Active Layers: Experiment and Theory

As organic photovoltaic efficiencies steadily improve, understanding degradation pathways becomes increasingly important. In this paper, the stability under prolonged illumination of a prototypical polymer:fullerene active layer is studied without the complications introduced by additional layers and interfaces in complete devices. Combining contactless photoconductivity with spectroscopy, structural characterization at the molecular and film level, and quantum chemical calculations, the mechanism of photoinduced degradation in bulk heterojunctions of poly (3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]‐phenyl C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) is studied. Bare films are subjected to four conditions for 1000 h with either constant illumination or dark and either ambient or inert atmosphere. All samples are found to be intrinsically stable for 1000+ h under inert conditions, in contrast to complete devices. While PCBM stabilizes P3HT films exposed to air, its fullerene cage is found to undergo a series of oxidations that are responsible for the deterioration of the photoconductivity of the material. Quantum chemical calculations show that PCBM oxides have deeper LUMO levels than pristine PCBM and therefore act as traps for electrons in the PCBM domains.     

Integrated solutions for GSM terminals

GSM is the most successful operating digital cellular communications system. Over the past few years the cost of handsets has plummeted while performance and attractiveness have improved significantly. This is due to the advances in IC technology, integration and new architectural approaches. This paper reviews the GSM standard and considers those aspects most significant for terminal design. It describes the different approaches and trade-offs involved in the development of a modern handset implementation and their realization as a commercial chipset. The different functional blocks of a terminal are reviewed, and the design choices, process technologies and partitioning strategies most applicable for each stage are compared. Finally, a brief discussion of some future possibilities and opportunities for further development is presented.