Formation of bromoform in irradiated titanium dioxide suspensions with varying photocatalyst, dissolved organic carbon and bromide concentrations

We report the formation of bromoform in TiO₂ suspensions (P25) under simulated solar UV irradiation at different concentrations of photocatalyst (0.5-1.5 g L⁻¹) as well as initial concentrations of bromide ions (1-3 mg L⁻¹) and 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2-10 mg L⁻¹). The extent of bromoform formation (3-17 μg L⁻¹) was most strongly affected by the amount of photocatalyst present and by the initial bromide concentration, increasing either of which leads to increased bromoform formation. Important interaction effects were observed when simultaneously increasing the concentrations of TiO₂ and bromide as well as of bromide and DHBA. The time it takes for bromoform to appear in measurable concentrations in the irradiated TiO₂ suspensions was between 10 and 90 min and most strongly depended on the initial concentration of dissolved organic carbon present in the suspensions, along with the amount of photocatalyst, also in interaction with the initial bromide concentration.     

Non-isothermal Characterization of the Precipitation Hardening of a Cu-11Ni-19Zn-1Sn Alloy

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - The precipitation hardening of a Cu-11Ni-19Zn-1Sn alloy has been studied by means of Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), High-Resolution...     

Potential of Medicinal Plants as Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Agents in Food Industry: A Hypothesis

Many food preservation strategies can be used for the control of microbial spoilage and oxidation; however, these quality problems are not yet controlled adequately. Although synthetic antimicrobial and antioxidant agents are approved in many countries, the use of natural safe and effective preservatives is a demand of food consumers and producers. This paper proposes medicinal plants, traditionally used to treat health disorders and prevent diseases, as a source of bioactive compounds having food additive properties. Medicinal plants are rich in terpenes and phenolic compounds that present antimicrobial and antioxidant properties; in addition, the literature revealed that these bioactive compounds extracted from other plants have been effective in food systems. In this context, the present hypothesis paper states that bioactive molecules extracted from medicinal plants can be used as antimicrobial and antioxidant additives in the food industry.     

Regenerative medium-voltage AC drive based on a multicell arrangement with reduced energy storage requirements

Multicell power circuit topologies have proved to be an effective alternative to medium-voltage ac drives. The main advantage is the improved power quality at both the ac system and the motor sides. However, several drawbacks are present in these configurations, such as a lack of sustained regenerative operating mode, uncontrolled input reactive power, and a large second current harmonic that is injected by the load into the dc link of each cell, which leads to a bulky electrolytic capacitor. This paper proposes to replace the input diode-based front-end rectifier with an active front-end rectifier in all cells of the topology and a novel control strategy in order to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks. In fact, the active front-end rectifier allows the topology to regenerate and the control strategy handles the reactive input power and reduces the large second current harmonic from the dc-link capacitor, thus reducing its size. These features are achieved without any penalties in the quality of both the ac input current and the motor voltage waveforms. Experimental results confirm the theoretical considerations.     

Coexistent minocycline-induced systemic lupus erythematosus and autoimmune hepatitis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The K-ras gene is one of the most extensively investigated oncogenes in a wide variety of human tumors, but has rarely been studied in distal bile duct carcinoma (DBDC). We sought to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of K-ras codon 12 mutations in this type of tumor. METHODS: Forty-seven patients who had undergone resection for DBDC were analyzed to reveal the incidence of K-ras codon 12 mutations, the locus most frequently involved. A rapid and simple two-step, semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used to detect mutations in paraffin-embedded tumor samples. RESULTS: The PCR mismatch amplification technique demonstrated that 35 (75%) of the 47 tumors harbored a point mutation in codon 12 of the K-ras oncogene. Patients with mutated tumors had no statistically different survival time compared to those patients without a mutation in the tumor. In contrast, negative microscopic margins proved to be a significant prognosticator. CONCLUSIONS: K-ras codon 12 mutations are common in DBDC and may be useful in the diagnosis and early detection of these tumors. However, no prognostic value of these mutations could be identified in this analysis. The results of this study also suggest that negative surgical margins remain the mainstay of prognostication in resectable DBDC. However, due to the small number of patients included in this study, the results obtained should be interpreted with care.     

A pattern based strategy for using multidimensional sensors in process control

Multidimensional sensors can deliver vast and rich information about the industrial processes operation. At industrial level, they are becoming widely available for supervising tasks. However, their use at control level is not very widespread, since there are no standard methodologies for including the information provided by this type of sensors into existing control systems. This paper describes the traditional approach to include multidimensional information into conventional control systems, and proposes a new structure based on pattern recognition. The latter makes use of artificial neural networks and finite state machines as a framework for designing the control system. The main characteristics and limitations of both approaches are illustrated by the image based control of an experimental fluidization bed.     

Neonatal lupus syndrome: a case with chondrodysplasia punctata and other unusual manifestations

We report a case of a newborn infant whose mother had systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) diagnosed before pregnancy. The child had clinical manifestations of neonatal lupus as well as chondrodysplasia punctata and other findings that resemble the congenital anomalies associated with the use of oral anticoagulants, with no history of exposure. We speculate that the combined action of the different maternal autoantibodies may produce the whole spectrum of manifestations.     

Cak1 is required for Kin28 phosphorylation and activation in vivo

Complete activation of most cyclin-dependent protein kinases (CDKs) requires phosphorylation by the CDK-activating kinase (CAK). In the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the major CAK is a 44-kDa protein kinase known as Cak1. Cak1 is required for the phosphorylation and activation of Cdc28, a major CDK involved in cell cycle control. We addressed the possibility that Cak1 is also required for the activation of other yeast CDKs, such as Kin28, Pho85, and Srb10. We generated three new temperature-sensitive cak1 mutant strains, which arrested at the restrictive temperature with nonuniform budding morphology. All three cak1 mutants displayed significant synthetic interactions with loss-of-function mutations in CDC28 and KIN28. Loss of Cak1 function reduced the phosphorylation and activity of both Cdc28 and Kin28 but did not affect the activity of Pho85 or Srb10. In the presence of the Kin28 regulatory subunits Ccl1 and Tfb3, Kin28 was phosphorylated and activated when coexpressed with Cak1 in insect cells. We conclude that Cak1 is required for the activating phosphorylation of Kin28 as well as that of Cdc28.