Impact of the reaction conditions on the photocatalytic reduction of water on mesoporous polymeric carbon nitride under sunlight irradiation

Sacrificial hydrogen evolution was studied with sol–gel prepared carbon nitride photocatalysts loaded in-situ with platinum in a photocatalytic setup with defined geometry and a solar simulator as light source. Reaction conditions (e.g. photocatalyst concentration, triethanolamine concentration, amount of Pt precursor, water quality, etc.), and catalyst properties (e.g. BET surface area) were varied to optimize the catalysts for hydrogen evolution. We found that most of the parameters strongly influence the in-situ co-catalyst loading. The optimum platinum loading is between 0.03 and 0.09 wt%, which is less than 5% of the initial amount of platinum. A long term stability test was conducted showing a stable hydrogen evolution rate for more than 10 days indicating a stable catalyst under applied reaction conditions. We found that a change in the BET surface area affects the photocatalytic activity rather than the experimental conditions.     

数值模拟与极限平衡方法在复杂边坡优化中的应用研究

露天矿山最终边坡角的设计是否合理,将对边坡的稳定性、矿山的生产安全和经济效益产生重大影响。结合一露天矿山的二期扩采需要,采用大型非线性固-流耦合FLAC数值模拟方法进行了边坡多种方案的应力场、破坏场、监测点位移、位移速度变化趋势等多种指标分析,并采用传统的极限平衡分析方法对数值模拟分析推荐的边坡设计方案进行稳定性计算, 最后,综合分析得出最佳方案。研究表明,数值模拟方法和极限平衡方法相结合是进行复杂边坡优化的一条合理有效途径,该方法可为矿山提出安全、经济、切实可行的边坡设计方案。     

Numerical study on the formation of Taylor bubbles in capillary tubes

Numerical simulations have been carried out for the transient formation of Taylor bubbles in a nozzle/tube co-flow arrangement by solving the unsteady, incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. A level set method was used to track the two-phase interface. The calculated bubble size, shape, liquid film thickness, bubble length, drift velocity, pressure drop and flow fields of Taylor flow agree well with the literature data. For a given nozzle/tube configuration, the formation of Taylor bubbles is found to be mainly dependent on the relative magnitude of gas and liquid superficial velocity. However, even under the same liquid and gas superficial velocities, the change of nozzle geometry alone can drastically change the size of Taylor bubbles and the pressure drop behavior inside a given capillary. This indicates that the widely used flow pattern map presented in terms of liquid and gas superficial velocities is not unique.     

岩体边坡渐进破坏的物理模拟和数值模拟研究

为了揭示岩体边坡渐进破坏的机理,在对边坡渐进破坏进行物理模拟的同时,应用FLAC软件对边坡渐进破坏过程进行了数值模拟。研究表明,只有将物理模拟和FLAC数值模拟相结合,才能既从表象上又从本质上揭示出边坡渐进破坏的机理。     

异构无线网络资源管理与切换控制技术

随着通信技术的发展,新型业务逐渐增多,传统的通信网络无法满足各种业务之间巨大的性能需求差异,未来的通信网络逐渐向异构网络进行发展。针对异构网络中资源调配与垂直切换的问题,利用虚拟网络技术与资源虚拟化技术设计了异构网络中的无线资源管理方法,并设计了子网间垂直切换算法。该算法利用层次分析法与熵权法得到各网络参数的综合权值,加权得到各网络的效用值并依此选择最优网络。通过搭建系统平台验证了设计的异构无线网络的有效性,为后续异构无线网络的研究提供了参考。     

节理边坡渗流离散元模拟及边坡可靠性分析

采用定性研究和定量分析相结合的方法,对地下水对节理边坡稳定性的影响进行了较为全面的研究.首先采用离散元方法进行了节理边坡地下水流动的数值模拟:其次用不确定性方法——模糊点估计方法对有水和无水作用两种情况下的边坡稳定性进行了模糊随机可靠性对比分析.研究表明,地下水的存在使边坡的破坏面积增大,破坏概率剧增,边坡可靠性指标极大地降低,因此地下水对节理边坡稳定性具有不可忽视的作用.     

PET/CT Imaging and Physiology of Mice on High Protein Diet

Background: High protein (HP) diets have been proposed to reduce body weight in humans. The diets are known to alter energy metabolism, which can affect the quality of [¹⁸F]FDG PET heart images. In this preclinical study, we therefore explore the impact of a prolonged HP diet on myocardial [¹⁸F]FDG uptake. Methods: C57BL/6J (Black six (Bl6)) and apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE^−/−) mice were fed chow, a HP diet, or a low protein (LP) diet for 12 weeks. At baseline and after treatment, the animals were injected with 33.0 MBq of [¹⁸F]FDG and a 30 min PET/CT scan was made. Myocardial volume and [¹⁸F]FDG uptake were quantified using PET and the % of body fat was calculated from CT. Results: Myocardial [¹⁸F]FDG uptake was similar for all diets at the follow-up scan but an increase between baseline and follow-up scans was noticed in the LP groups. Myocardial volume was significantly smaller in the C57BL HP group compared to the other Bl6 groups. Body weight increased less in the two HP groups compared to the chow and LP groups. Body fat percentage was significantly higher in the LP groups. This effect was stronger in C57BL mice (28.7%) compared to apoE^−/− mice (15.1%). Conclusions: Myocardial uptake of [¹⁸F]FDG in mice is not affected by increased protein intake but [¹⁸F]FDG uptake increases when the amount of protein is lowered. A lower body weight and percentage of body fat were noticed when applying a HP diet.     

Central Role of Dendritic Cells in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Human and Mice

The pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is not fully understood, but evidence is accumulating that immune dysfunction plays a significant role. We previously reported that 31-week-old Tnfaip3^DNGR1-KO mice develop pulmonary hypertension (PH) symptoms. These mice harbor a targeted deletion of the TNFα-induced protein-3 (Tnfaip3) gene, encoding the NF-κB regulatory protein A20, specifically in type I conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s). Here, we studied the involvement of dendritic cells (DCs) in PH in more detail. We found various immune cells, including DCs, in the hearts of Tnfaip3^DNGR1-KO mice, particularly in the right ventricle (RV). Secondly, in young Tnfaip3^DNGR1-KO mice, innate immune activation through airway exposure to toll-like receptor ligands essentially did not result in elevated RV pressures, although we did observe significant RV hypertrophy. Thirdly, PH symptoms in Tnfaip3^DNGR1-KO mice were not enhanced by concomitant mutation of bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (Bmpr2), which is the most affected gene in PAH patients. Finally, in human IPAH lung tissue we found co-localization of DCs and CD8+ T cells, representing the main cell type activated by cDC1s. Taken together, these findings support a unique role of cDC1s in PAH pathogenesis, independent of general immune activation or a mutation in the Bmpr2 gene.     

Aspects of high hydrostatic pressure food processing: Perspectives on technology and food safety

The last two decades saw a steady increase of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) used for treatment of foods. Although the science of biomaterials exposed to high pressure started more than a century ago, there still seem to be a number of unanswered questions regarding safety of foods processed using HHP. This review gives an overview on historical development and fundamental aspects of HHP, as well as on potential risks associated with HHP food applications based on available literature. Beside the combination of pressure and temperature, as major factors impacting inactivation of vegetative bacterial cells, bacterial endospores, viruses, and parasites, factors, such as food matrix, water content, presence of dissolved substances, and pH value, also have significant influence on their inactivation by pressure. As a result, pressure treatment of foods should be considered for specific food groups and in accordance with their specific chemical and physical properties. The pressure necessary for inactivation of viruses is in many instances slightly lower than that for vegetative bacterial cells; however, data for food relevant human virus types are missing due to the lack of methods for determining their infectivity. Parasites can be inactivated by comparatively lower pressure than vegetative bacterial cells. The degrees to which chemical reactions progress under pressure treatments are different to those of conventional thermal processes, for example, HHP leads to lower amounts of acrylamide and furan. Additionally, the formation of new unknown or unexpected substances has not yet been observed. To date, no safety-relevant chemical changes have been described for foods treated by HHP. Based on existing sensitization to non-HHP-treated food, the allergenic potential of HHP-treated food is more likely to be equivalent to untreated food. Initial findings on changes in packaging materials under HHP have not yet been adequately supported by scientific data.     

An environment for reusing ontologies within a knowledge engineering approach

Domain models can be constructed more easily and made more robust by reusing ontologies in a well-defined way. In this paper the KARO approach is introduced which provides various means of retrieving and adapting components of an ontology as part of a domain model construction process. KARO is based on the knowledge-processing component LILOG-KR provided by the LILOG text-understanding system. Above all, the notion of classification is applied for the retrieval of relevant categories. The upper structure of LILOG-KB serves as an exemplary ontology. By integrating KARO into the Model-based and Incremental Knowledge Engineering Environment (MIKE) the reuse of a predefined ontology can be integrated into the development process of expert systems in a systematic way.