Measurement of Spatially Resolved Impedance Spectroscopy with Local Perturbation

The characteristics of the measured total impedance spectra of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells are often not representative of the performance of the cell. This is due in part mainly to two reasons; total impedance measurements are not representative of local phenomena and perturbation of the cell around the steady‐state polarization can result in oscillations of the gas concentrations downstream the flow channels that can affect the trend of the local spectrum. In this study, we overcome these two challenges by measuring the spectra of a segmented cell using local excitation of the segments. With these capabilities, we experimentally investigate the explanation given in works found in literature in regards to the oxygen oscillation in the channel and its effect on the spectra of locally perturbed segments. We further investigate the characteristics of the low frequency arc, measuring for the first time a loop in the spectrum around the transition frequency between the high and low frequency arcs. The characteristics of the spectra are investigated by varying the flow properties with a focus on the effect of air stoichiometry.     

Physical and chemical characterization of aerosol in fresh and aged emissions from open combustion of biomass fuels

Biomass burning (BB) emissions and their atmospheric oxidation products can contribute significantly to direct aerosol radiative forcing of climate. Limited knowledge of BB organic aerosol chemical and optical properties leads to large uncertainties in climate models. In this article, we describe the experimental setup and the main findings of a laboratory BB study aimed at comprehensive optical, physical, and chemical characterization of fresh and aged BB emissions. An oxidation flow reactor (OFR) was used to mimic atmospheric oxidation processes. The OFR was characterized in terms of OH? production rate, particle transmission efficiency, and characteristic lifetimes of condensible compounds. Emission factors (EFs) of main air pollutants (particulate matter, organic carbon [OC], elemental carbon [EC], carbon monoxide [CO], and nitrogen oxides [NO_x]) were determined for five globally and regionally important biomass fuels: Siberian (Russia), Florida (USA), and Malaysian peats; mixed conifer and aspen fuel from Fishlake National Forest, Utah, USA; and mixed grass and brush fuel representative of the Great Basin, Nevada, USA. Measured fuel-based EFs for OC ranged from 0.85?±?0.24 to 6.56?±?1.40?mg g^?1. Measured EFs for EC ranged from 0.02?±?0.01 to 0.16?±?0.01?mg g^?1. The ratio of organic mass to total carbon mass for fresh emissions from these fuels ranged from 1.04?±?0.04 to 1.34?±?0.24. The effect of OFR aging on aerosol optical properties, size distribution, and concentration is also discussed.

Copyright © 2018 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Impact of planned water resource development on current and future water demand in the Koshi River basin,Nepal

The water resources of the Koshi Basin (87,311 km²) are largely untapped, and while proposals for their development exist, their impacts on current and future water demand are not quantified. The current study is the first to evaluate the impacts of 11 proposed development projects for hydropower generation and water storage. We find that 29,733 GWh of hydropower could be generated annually and 8382 million m³ of water could be stored. This could satisfy unmet demand in the current (660 million m³) basin situation and in future scenarios – i.e. population, agricultural and industrial growth – that are projected to have 920, 970 and 1003 million m³ of unmet demand, respectively, by 2050.     

Amphiphilic triblock copolymer based on poly(p‐dioxanone) and poly(ethylene glycol): Synthesis,characterization, and aqueous dispersion

Amphiphilic triblock copolymers composed of poly(p‐dioxanone) (PPDO) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were synthesized by ring opening polymerization of PDO initiated through dihydroxyl‐terminated PEG in the presence of stannous 2‐ethylhexanoate [Sn(oct)₂] as a catalyst. Polymeric nanoparticles were prepared in an aqueous medium (triple distilled water and phosphate buffer pH 7.4) by cosolvent evaporation technique at room temperature (25°C). Stability of nanoparticles was significantly enough in triple distilled water when compared with the phosphate buffer. Core‐shell geometry of polymeric nanoparticles was characterized by ¹H‐NMR spectroscopy and further confirmed by spectrophotometric analysis using pyrene as a probe. Variation in physicochemical characteristics of polymeric nanoparticles with the fraction of PPDO was investigated through the analysis of microscopic, spectroscopic, and light scattering techniques. Critical micelle concentration of polymer in triple distilled water decreased from 2.3 × 10^?3 to 4.7 × 10^?3. Atomic force microscopic observation revealed that polymeric nanoparticles were spherical and uniform with smooth textured of around 50–68 nm diameter. Dynamic light scattering and electrophoretic light scattering measurements showed a mono‐disperse size distribution of around 113–171 nm hydrodynamic diameters and negative zeta (ζ)‐potential (?4.00 to ?5.87 mV), respectively. The investigation showed a significant effect of polymeric composition on the physicochemical characteristic of polymeric nanoparticles. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 2695–2702, 2007     

Poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) grafted dextran biodegradable electrospun matrix: A novel scaffold for tissue engineering

The main objective of the present work was to fabricate poly(?‐caprolactone) grafted dextran (PGD) electrospun matrix (matrix) and to investigate the scaffold potential in tissue engineering application. In this work, at first we synthesized PGD polymer via ring opening polymerization (ROP), and with predetermined electrospinning conditions, nanofibrous matrix with high molecular weight PGD (PGD‐50, M_w = 45,500) has been successfully fabricated for the first time. Mouse osteoblast like cells, MC3T3 was used to test biocompatibility, assays of cell adhesion, survival, and effects on cell morphology of the matrix. The data demonstrate that PGD‐50 matrix represent a suitable substrate for supporting cell proliferation, process outgrowth and migration and as such would be a good material for artificial extra cellular matrix. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008     

The ATX–LPA Axis Regulates Vascular Permeability during Cerebral Ischemic-Reperfusion

Endothelial permeability is a major complication that must be addressed during stroke treatment. Study of the mechanisms underlying blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption and management of the hypoxic stress-induced permeability of the endothelium following reperfusion are both urgently needed for stroke management. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a bioactive lipid essential for basic cellular functions, causes unfavorable outcomes during stroke progression. LPA-producing enzyme autotaxin (ATX) is regulated in ischemic stroke. We used an electrical cell-substrate impedance sensor (ECIS) to measure endothelial permeability. Mitochondrial bioenergetics were obtained using a Seahorse analyzer. AR-2 probe fluorescence assay was used to measure ATX activity. LPA increased endothelial permeability and reduced junctional protein expression in mouse brain microvascular endothelial cells (MBMEC). LPA receptor inhibitors Ki16425 and AM095 attenuated the LPA-induced changes in the endothelial permeability and junctional proteins. LPA significantly diminished mitochondrial function in MBMEC. ATX was upregulated (p < 0.05) in brain microvascular endothelial cells under hypoxic reperfusion. ATX activity and permeability were attenuated with the use of an ATX inhibitor in a mouse stroke model. The upregulation of ATX with hypoxic reperfusion leads to LPA production in brain endothelial cells favoring permeability. Inhibition of the ATX–LPA–LPAR axis could be therapeutically targeted in stroke to achieve better outcomes.     

Simulation Study for Pneumatic Conveying Drying of Sawdust for Pellet Production

Pneumatic conveying drying (PCD) is a combination of heat and mass transfer and pneumatic handling technology. This technology has been extensively used in chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries, as well as many others. The PCD technique is beneficial for agricultural products, because it can achieve high-quality drying with reduced heat damage in a very short time. In this study, one-dimensional and three-dimensional mathematical models for the drying of sawdust particles in a pneumatic dryer were developed and verified with experiments. The three-dimensional modeling was done with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package (ANSYS FLUENT, Ver. 13.0, Ansys, Inc.), in which the gas phase is modeled as a continuum using the Euler approach, and the droplet/particle phase is modeled by a discrete phase model with a Lagrange approach. One-dimensional analysis was performed in MATLAB (Ver. 7.0). The experiments were carried out to validate the model in a pneumatic dryer with a horizontal length of 1 m, vertical height of 1.1 m, and diameter of 0.14 m. Sawdust, a raw material used for producing pellets, was prepared from well-seasoned pinewood timber. The initial moisture content of the sawdust was 22% (wb). The hot air inlet temperature in the dryer was fixed at 100°C. The variations in air pressure, air velocity, air temperature, and particle moisture content were investigated along the length of the dryer. The final moisture contents of sawdust and air temperature were reduced by 2% (wb) and 5°C, respectively. The simulated values were in good agreement with the experimental values. The developed model was then employed for the design of a pilot-scale pneumatic dryer (length 7 m and diameter 0.14 m). The final moisture content of the sawdust particles was reduced to 14% (wb) when the dryer length was increased from 1 to 7 m. In addition, the modeling was performed using buffers in the pilot-scale dryers. The use of a buffer noticeably increased the drying efficiency.     

ACP-ADA: A Boosting Method with Data Augmentation for Improved Prediction of Anticancer Peptides

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, and therapeutic peptides that target and destroy cancer cells have received a great deal of interest in recent years. Traditional wet experiments are expensive and inefficient for identifying novel anticancer peptides; therefore, the development of an effective computational approach is essential to recognize ACP candidates before experimental methods are used. In this study, we proposed an Ada-boosting algorithm with the base learner random forest called ACP-ADA, which integrates binary profile feature, amino acid index, and amino acid composition with a 210-dimensional feature space vector to represent the peptides. Training samples in the feature space were augmented to increase the sample size and further improve the performance of the model in the case of insufficient samples. Furthermore, we used five-fold cross-validation to find model parameters, and the cross-validation results showed that ACP-ADA outperforms existing methods for this feature combination with data augmentation in terms of performance metrics. Specifically, ACP-ADA recorded an average accuracy of 86.4% and a Mathew’s correlation coefficient of 74.01% for dataset ACP740 and 90.83% and 81.65% for dataset ACP240; consequently, it can be a very useful tool in drug development and biomedical research.     

Comparative DC Characteristic Analysis of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs Grown on Si(111) and Sapphire Substrates by MBE

A comparative assessment of AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy on silicon and sapphire substrates has been carried out. Large-area power GaN HEMTs with identical device dimensions were fabricated on both substrates. A thicker AlN buffer layer was used for the GaN HEMT on silicon to achieve similar quality and uniformity of GaN epitaxy for rational comparison with that grown on sapphire. Direct-current analysis and physical characterization were carried out to understand the performance of the devices. Mathematical measurement of the instability of the current–voltage (I–V) characteristic at high applied drain bias was carried out to evaluate the performance of both devices. An improved two-dimensional (2D) analysis of the I–V characteristic was performed from a thermal perspective including appropriate scattering effects on the 2D electron gas mobility. The experimental and analytical studies were correlated to reveal the effects of temperature-sensitive scattering phenomena on the mobility as well as on the I–V characteristic at high drain bias in terms of lattice thermal heating. It is observed that the HEMT on Si has improved stability compared with sapphire due to its weaker scattering phenomena at high drain bias, associated with its thermal conductivity. Simulation of 2D thermal mapping was also carried out to distinguish the hot-spot regions of the devices. The comparable electrical performance of these devices illustrates the viability of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on Si(111) to achieve low-cost stable devices with better thermal power handling for high-voltage applications.     

QNBC Is Associated with High Genomic Instability Characterized by Copy Number Alterations and miRNA Deregulation

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) can be further classified into androgen receptor (AR)-positive TNBC and AR-negative TNBC or quadruple-negative breast cancer (QNBC). Here, we investigated genomic instability in 53 clinical cases by array-CGH and miRNA expression profiling. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that 64% of TNBC samples lacked AR expression. This group of tumors exhibited a higher level of copy number alterations (CNAs) and a higher frequency of cases affected by CNAs than TNBCs. CNAs in genes of the chromosome instability 25 (CIN25) and centrosome amplification (CA) signatures were more frequent in the QNBCs and were similar between the groups, respectively. However, expression levels of CIN25 and CA20 genes were higher in QNBCs. miRNA profiling revealed 184 differentially expressed miRNAs between the groups. Fifteen of these miRNAs were mapped at cytobands with CNAs, of which eight (miR-1204, miR-1265, miR-1267, miR-23c, miR-548ai, miR-567, miR-613, and miR-943), and presented concordance of expression and copy number levels. Pathway enrichment analysis of these miRNAs/mRNAs pairings showed association with genomic instability, cell cycle, and DNA damage response. Furthermore, the combined expression of these eight miRNAs robustly discriminated TNBCs from QNBCs (AUC = 0.946). Altogether, our results suggest a significant loss of AR in TNBC and a profound impact in genomic instability characterized by CNAs and deregulation of miRNA expression.