An Intensive Study on Assorted Substrates Suitable for High JFOM AlGaN/GaN HEMT

Silicon - The performance comparison and the temperature profile of AlGaN/GaN HEMT on different substrates are investigated. It results the maximum drain-source current (IDS) of 1.08 A/mm, 1.04...     

Validation of the Lagrangian Approach for Predicting Turbulent Dispersion and Evaporation of Droplets within a Spray

The accuracy of the Lagrangian approach for predicting droplet trajectories and evaporation rates within a simple spray has been addressed. The turbulent dispersion and overall evaporation rates of droplets are modeled reasonably well, although the downstream velocity decay of the larger droplets is underpredicted, which is attributed to a poor estimate of the radial fluctuating velocity of these droplets at the inlet boundary. Qualitative agreement is found between the predicted and experimental evolution of the droplet size distribution downstream of the nozzle. These results show that smaller droplets evaporate preferentially to larger droplets, because they disperse more quickly toward the edge of the jet, where the entrainment of fresh air from the surroundings produces a significant evaporative driving force. Droplet dispersion and evaporation rates are highly influenced by the rate of turbulence generation within the shear layer. This work demonstrates the potential of the Lagrangian approach for analyzing particle trajectories and drying within the more complex spray dryer system.     

Identification of Candidate Biomarker and Drug Targets for Improving Endometrial Cancer Racial Disparities

Racial disparities in incidence and survival exist for many human cancers. Racial disparities are undoubtedly multifactorial and due in part to differences in socioeconomic factors, access to care, and comorbidities. Within the U.S., fundamental causes of health inequalities, including socio-economic factors, insurance status, access to healthcare and screening and treatment biases, are issues that contribute to cancer disparities. Yet even these epidemiologic differences do not fully account for survival disparities, as for nearly every stage, grade and histologic subtype, survival among Black women is significantly lower than their White counterparts. To address this, we sought to investigate the proteomic profiling molecular features of endometrial cancer in order to detect modifiable and targetable elements of endometrial cancer in different racial groups, which could be essential for treatment planning. The majority of proteins identified to be significantly altered among the racial groups and that can be regulated by existing drugs or investigational agents are enzymes that regulate metabolism and protein synthesis. These drugs have the potential to improve the worse outcomes of endometrial cancer patients based on race.     

Single Soybean Seed NMR Calibration for Oil Measurement Using Commercial Cooking Oils

Development of high oil soybeans would reduce the cost of soybean oil production for biodiesel or edible oil applications. An accurate determination of soybean seed oil concentration is essential especially when developing superior cultivars with increased seed oil content. The objective of this study was to develop an oil measurement method for single seeds using NMR spectrometry. An NMR spectrometer was calibrated using commercial cooking oil. Fifteen cultivars of known mean oil content were used to evaluate the calibration curves. The calibration curves developed had a correlation coefficient of 0.99. It was found that soybean and corn oil gave identical results over the calibrated interval.     

Assessment of renal osteodystrophy in dialysis patients: use of bone alkaline phosphatase, bone mineral density and parathyroid ultrasound in comparison with bone histology

Bone biopsies were studied in 73 patients to determine if a two-site radioimmunometric assay for serum bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP), total serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), hand X-rays, regional bone mineral density (BMD) measurements and parathyroid enlargement detected by ultrasonography could accurately predict renal osteodystrophy. In the patients studied 57 had hyperparathyroid bone disease, 4 mixed renal osteodystrophy, 3 adynamic bone disease, 1 osteomalacia and 8 normal histology. Serum BAP, ALP and iPTH correlated positively with mineral apposition rate, osteoblastic, osteoid and eroded surface. In the diagnosis of hyperparathyroid bone disease serum iPTH was the most sensitive investigation, detecting 81% of patients at a level > 100 pg/ml but with a specificity of only 66%. Serum BAP was more sensitive, 70% at a level of > 10 ng/ml, than serum total ALP, 30% at a level of 300 IU/l, with similar specificities, 92 and 100%, respectively. Ultrasound detection of an enlarged parathyroid gland had a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 100% for the diagnosis of hyperparathyroid bone disease. Hand X-rays had a poor sensitivity, 47%, but a high specificity, 92%, for the detection of hyperparathyroid bone disease. The majority of patients had regional BMD values within the normal reference range and this test was of poor discriminatory value. The non-invasive markers were unable to distinguish between patients with low turnover, mild hyperparathyroidism and patients with normal histology. In conclusion the measurement of serum iPTH is a useful screening tool for the detection of hyperparathyroid bone disease which can be confirmed by the finding of a raised serum BAP or parathyroid enlargement. For definitive diagnosis, however, the gold standard remains bone biopsy and at present one cannot recommend any non-invasive method as an adequate substitute.     

New Pretreatment for Elastomers to Enhance Adhesion

The effects of various chemical pretreatments on the surface chemistry and adhesion performance of an additive-free styrene-butadiene block copolymer and an additive-free ethylene-propylene elastomer have been studied. Most of the powerful oxidising agents that are effective with hydrocarbon plastics were ineffective in enhancing the adhesion to elastomers despite causing major changes to their surface chemistries. The poor adhesion was attributed to the existence of weak boundary layers. Chlorinated agents were also examined and a new pretreatment for elastomers containing carbon-carbon double bonds has been identified. It was found that a mildly acidified dilute aqueous suspension of Chloramine-T was very effective at enhancing the adhesion performance of styrene butadiene copolymers.     

Interphase Formation and the Characterisation of Polymer/Ceramic Adhesion

The adhesion of photocured resins to ceramic substrates has been investigated using a variety of surface analytical techniques. Work has been aimed at establishing the physical and chemical interactions between resin and substrate in the interphase region and the effect of environmental exposure on these Analysis was aided by use of specially-designed, in-situ fracture facilities attached by an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. Specific attention was focused on identification of localised regions of varying chemical composition in adhesive and adherend by imaging spectroscopies (imaging XPS and ToF SIMS imaging) and the study of the significance of such heterogeneities on adhesion and subsequent failure mechanisms.     

Development of a CFD Model of Bubble Column Bioreactors: Part One – A Detailed Experimental Study

The holdup and bubble size distribution (BSD) in bubble columns using both air/water and an industrially relevant air/fermentation media system are investigated. It was found that the BSD in the air/fermentation media system was quite narrow and did not change with height. In contrast, the BSD in the air/water system varied considerably with height depending on the sparger design used. Holdup measurements were also performed for different superficial velocities. The holdup in the air/fermentation media system was greater than that for the air/water system, a result attributed to the presence of surface‐active compounds in the fermentation media.