The Effect of Sulphur and Water Treatments on the Performance of Pd/��-Zeolite Diesel Oxidation Catalysts

Sulphur, sulphur-water, and water pretreatments were done to find out the effect of these compounds on a diesel oxidation Pd/??-zeolite catalyst and ??-zeolite washcoat. After pretreatments, the samples were analysed by BET, XRF, TEM-SEM, and XPS. In addition, the activity of fresh and pretreated Pd/??-zeolite catalysts was studied utilizing the by Gasmet FT-IR in production gas analysis. Sulphur compounds (SO₂ or ?SO₄) were found to have a deactivating effect on the activity of the studied Pd/??-zeolite catalyst.     

Use of nanoparticular and soluble anionic celluloses in coagulation-flocculation treatment of kaolin suspension

In this work, the effectiveness of a novel, combined coagulation-flocculation treatment based on alum and soluble or nanoparticular anionic derivatives of dialdehyde cellulose, ADAC, was evaluated by studying the removal of colloidal material in a model suspension containing kaolin. Four different ADACs with varying degrees of substitution, size and water solubility were synthesized by periodate oxidation and sulfonation of cellulose. The effects of ADAC dosage, solution pH and temperature on flocculation were studied by measuring residual turbidity of the settled suspension. Moreover, the charge densities, sizes, ζ-potentials and stability of the ADACs in aqueous solutions were studied. The combined treatment was effective in the removal of colloidal particles, as demonstrated by reduced residual turbidity with remarkably lower total chemical consumption compared with coagulation with alum alone. Of the ADACs, samples with lower solubility that contained cellulose nanoparticles performed better than the fully water-soluble sample. Due to the restricted pH tolerance of alum, the combined treatment was effective only at acidic conditions (pH < 5), although the ADACs were found to be stable in a much broader pH range (pH of 3 to about 9). ADACs also retained strong activity at higher temperatures (30-60 °C) and after several days of storage in aqueous solution.     

Quality-oriented optimization of wave soldering process by using self-organizing maps

In this paper, the optimal process parameters of a wave soldering process were defined. The optimization was performed in respect to soldering quality by minimizing a cost function describing the total repairing cost of a wave-soldered printed circuit board (PCB). The data analysis stages were as follows. First, the process data were coded into inputs for a self-organizing map (SOM). Next, a function for the repairing cost was constructed and used to find the optimal map neurons. At the last phase, the optimal parameters were approximated on the basis of the reference vectors of the optimal neurons. The results showed clearly potential in the optimization of the wave soldering process, especially in the visualization of the optimal process conditions. Therefore, it would be useful to exploit the method more widely in the electronics industry.     

Using iron catalyst to enhance the drying properties of crude tall oil-based wood preservative

Crude tall oil (CTO) is known to be capable of preventing moisture uptake by wood. One problem limiting its use for industrial wood protection is its tendency to exude from the wood. Because of the lack of oxygen, oil polymerization does not occur inside the wood, and the unpolymerized oil may exude from it in time to form a pitch-like surface. The aim of this work was to investigate the potential of iron for catalyzing the CTO oxidation process and to determine the optimum amount of iron catalyst needed. The latter was decided on the basis of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements and an inclined-plane test. Both methods proved that the drying properties of pure CTO are too low for it to be used as such in wood preservation but its oxidation rate can be greatly enhanced by means of iron catalysts so that oil exudation from the wood can be prevented.     

Activation of type IV procollagenases by human tumor-associated trypsin-2

Increased production of proteinases, such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), is a characteristic feature of malignant tumors. Some human cancers and cell lines derived from them also express trypsinogen, but the function of the extrapancreatic trypsin has remained unclear. In this study we cloned and sequenced trypsinogen-2 cDNA from human COLO 205 colon carcinoma cells and characterized the ability of the enzyme to activate latent human type IV procollagenases (proMMP-2 and proMMP-9). As shown by cloning and N-terminal amino acid sequencing, the amino acid sequence of tumor-associated trypsin-2 is identical to that of pancreatic trypsin-2. We found that both pancreatic trypsin-2 and tumor cell-derived trypsin-2 are efficient activators of proMMP-9 and are capable of activating proMMP-9 at a molar ratio of 1:1000, the lowest reported so far. Human trypsin-2 was a more efficient activator than widely used bovine trypsin and converted the 92-kDa proMMP-9 to a single 77-kDa product that was not fragmented further. The single peptide bond cleaved by trypsin-2 in proMMP-9 was Arg87-Phe88. The generation of the 77-kDa species coincided with the increase in specific activity of MMP-9. In contrast, trypsin-2 only partially activated proMMP-2. Trypsin-2 cleaved the Arg99-Lys100 peptide bond of proMMP-2 generating 62-65-kDa MMP-2 species. Trypsin-2-induced proMMP-2 and -9 conversions were inhibited by tumor-associated trypsin inhibitor added either prior to or during activation indicating that proMMPs were not activated autocatalytically. Trypsin-2 also activated proMMPs associated with tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases, the complexes of which are thought to be the major MMP forms in vivo. The ability of human tumor cell-derived trypsin-2 to activate latent MMPs suggests a role for trypsin-2 in initiating the proteinase cascade that mediates tumor invasion and metastasis formation.     

Living cells of Staphylococcus aureus immobilized onto the capillary surface in electrochromatography: a tool for screening of biofilms

Microorganisms attach to nonliving surfaces in many natural, industrial, and medical environments, enveloped within extracellular polymeric substances. The result is a biofilm. Biofilms are reported to exist in 65-80% of bacterial infections refractory to host defenses and antibiotics therapy and are regarded as a central problem in present-day medical microbiology. Understanding of the parameters governing the interaction of antimicrobials with biofilms is thus of great interest in any attempt to increase biocide efficacy. In this work, study was made of the feasibility of using open tubular capillary electrochromatography (CEC) in bacterial biofilm studies with living cells. Staphylococcus aureus was selected as model bacterium. First, S. aureus was shown, under various conditions, to form a biofilm on the inner wall of a fused-silica capillary coated with poly(L-lysine). Optimal conditions for biofilm formation, such as bacterial concentration, growing time, and the stability of the ensemble, were preliminarily defined with conventional 96-microtiter well plates. Continuous flushing of the capillary with fresh cells meant that no growth medium was needed. The presence of biofilm in the capillary was confirmed by atomic force microscopy. Interactions between S. aureus biofilms and different antibiomicrobial agents were studied by capillary electrochromatography. The effect of five antibiotics (penicillin G, oxacillin, fusidic acid, rifampicin, vancomycin) on biofilms was examined in terms of retention factors and reduced mobilities of the antibiotics. The antibiotic susceptibility profile for S. aureus is similar as the result of minimal inhibitory concentrations registered on the 96-microtiter well plates for both planktonic and biofilm cells. The results show, for the first time, that bacterial biofilms can be studied by CEC. The technique allows highly efficient and easy characterization of interactions between S. aureus biofilms and potentially active antimicrobial compounds under different conditions. Reagent and cell consumption are minimal.     

A Direct Digital Synthesizer with Tunable Delta Sigma Modulator

In direct digital synthesizer (DDS) applications, the drawback of the conventional delta sigma () modulator structure is that its signal band is fixed. In the new architecture presented in this paper, the signal band of the modulator is tuned according to the DDS output frequency. We use a hardware efficient phase-to-sine amplitude converter in the DDS that approximates the first quadrant of the sine function with sixteen equal length second degree polynomial segments. The DDS is capable of frequency, phase, and quadrature amplitude modulation. Two DDSs with tunable 1-bit D/A converters (real and complex) were designed and implemented on a programmable logic device (PLD); experimental results show their desired operation and performance.     

The combi heat store— a combined rock cavern/borehole heat store

Since 1988, Sweden and Finland have collaborated bilaterally on thermal energy storage with respect to information exchange and collaborative R&D projects. The two countries have both investigated underground thermal energy storage for nearly two decades, and have similar bedrock—the Fenno-Scandian granitic rocks. This paper reviews the work performed in the field of combined rock cavern and borehole heat stores, concerned with construction technology, costs and design principles. One example is an asymmetric store, in the form of 40- to 60-m-long horizontal boreholes between two rock caverns, with the caverns themselves comprising only about 10% of the total storage volume. This design has a specific cost of $US0.40 million/ GWh and $US0.24 million/ GWh for storage capacities of 6 GWh and 36 GWh, respectively. Half of the total construction cost relates to the rock cavern part of the store.