Comparison of number of citations to full original articles versus brief reports

Most biomedical journals accept original research articles in the form of “brief reports”. We compared the citations to full papers versus brief reports in a sample of journals on Infectious Diseases, Clinical Microbiology, and Antimicrobial Agents. Brief reports were cited less often than full-size articles [regression coefficient: 10.94 (95 % CI: 5.19, 16.69)] even after adjustment for the journal’s impact factor. Our findings may influence decisions of editors and authors regarding brief reports.     

Development and Laboratory Performance Evaluation of a Personal Multipollutant Sampler for Simultaneous Measurements of Particulate and Gaseous Pollutants

A personal multipollutant sampler has been developed. This sampler can be used for measuring exposures to particulate matter and criteria gases. The system uses asingle personalsampling pump that operates at a flow rate of 5.2 l/min. The basic unit consists of two impaction-based samplers for PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ attached to a single elutriator. Two mini PM_2.5 samplers are also attached to the elutriator for organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), sulfate, and nitrate measurements. For the collection of nitrate and sulfate, the minisampler includes a miniaturized honeycomb glass denuder that is placed upstream of the filter to remove nitric acid and sulfur dioxide and to minimize artifacts. Two passive samplers can also be attached to the elutriator for measurements of gaseous copollutants such as O₃, SO₂, and NO₂. The performance of the multipollutant sampler was examined through a series of laboratory chamber tests. The results showed a good agreement between the multipollutant sampler and the reference methods. The overall sampler performance demonstrates its suitability for personal exposure assessment studies.     

Peptidomimetic–functionalized carbon nanotubes with antitrypsin activity

Water-soluble functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been prepared and further conjugated through a stable covalent bond with two peptidomimetics. The structural design of the covalently grafted peptidomimetics to the CNTs is based on their structural similarity with the metabolites of antagonist G of substance P. A variety of analytical spectroscopic methods, in combination with electron microscopy and thermal analysis, aided the structural and morphological characterization of the four newly synthesized peptidomimetic–CNT conjugates. It is demonstrated that the trypsin inhibitory effect of the peptidomimetic–CNT is enhanced as a result of the high-loading of peptidomimetics onto the skeleton of the modified water-soluble CNTs. Additionally, the peptidomimetic–functionalized CNT conjugates can be recovered and re-employed up to six biological evaluation cycles showing the same trypsin inhibitory activity. Such a nanosized system is extremely advantageous for the inhibition of inflammation or malignancy and could find potential future biological applications in the area of drug delivery systems.     

Error statistics for slope and aspect when derived frominterpolated data

Error models of slope and aspect of a terrain are presented. Such data are often extracted from a geographic information system (GIS), which may contain information from digital maps and remote sensing images. Although the sources of these data are usually of diverse resolution, all of them are usually resampled to refer to the same resolution. The authors examine the error associated with such data because of subsampling. The error distributions are modeled empirically     

Sensitivity analysis of technological,economic and sustainability evaluation of power plants using the analytic hierarchy process

Technological, economic and sustainability evaluation of power plants by use of the analytic hierarchy process and nine end node criteria for a reference scenario based on subjective criteria weighting has been presented in a previous paper by authors. However, criteria weight variations may substantially modify overall evaluations and rankings of power plants.     

Design and experimental performance of a PV Ice-maker without battery

This paper presents a solar photovoltaic powered ice-maker which operates without the use of batteries and is therefore environmentally friendly and may be used in truly autonomous applications in remote areas. The successful operation of the refrigeration compressors by the PV panels is ensured by the use of a novel concept dedicated controller, which provides easy startup, maximum power tracking and power management for the four compressors of the system. The prototype results have shown very good ice-making capability and reliable operation as well as a great improvement in the startup characteristics of the compressors, which remain operational even during days with low solar irradiation and operate with improved utilization of the available photovoltaic power.     

Simultaneous solvent extraction of cobalt and magnesium in the presence of nickel from sulfate solutions by Ionquest 801

The simultaneous extraction of Co(II) and Mg(II) from nickel sulfate solutions has been carried out using the organophosphonic extractant Ionquest 801 diluted in Exxsol D‐80. Statistical design and analysis of experiments were used in order to determine the main effects and interactions of the solvent extraction parameters, which were the extraction pH at equilibrium, the temperature, the extractant concentration and the organic/aqueous phase ratio. A statistically designed experiment was also carried out to study the stripping of the Ionquest 801 organic phase loaded with cobalt and magnesium by sulfuric acid solution. The number of stages required for both extraction and stripping processes of cobalt and magnesium was evaluated. The results of continuous counter‐current mini‐plant tests demonstrated the simultaneous recovery of cobalt and magnesium from nickel sulfate solution. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry