Characterization of Different Molecular Weight Fractions Separated from Utah Maltenes by Gel Permeation Chromatography

ABSTRACT

Maltenes derived from Utah bitumens were separated by gel permeation chromatography ( OPC) into fractions having number average molecular weights ( MW) in the range from 300 to 11985. The fractions were examined by vapor pressure osmometry, absorption spectrometry in the visible region as well as proton and carbon -13 NMR. The results are reported in comparison with those for the corresponding fractions separated from Athabasca maltenes. Utah fractions appeared to be more aliphatic with longer average aliphatic chains lengths. Branched and alicyciic types were more abundant in Utah samples, especially those with low MW, There was an apparent difference in the hydrocarbon structure of both Utah and Athabasca maltenes GPC     

超超临界机组锅炉用不锈钢管表面冷作硬化处理对其抗蒸汽氧化性能的影响

通过对一组运行了4年的不锈钢过热器管样内表面机加工区和非机加工区氧化皮的结构和形貌特征进行对比分析,探讨内表面冷作硬化处理对于超超临界机组锅炉用不锈钢管蒸汽氧化性能的影响.结果表明,内表面冷作硬化处理对于改善细晶TP347H FG和Super304奥氏体不锈钢在相对较低温度蒸汽中的抗氧化性能非常有效,但在600℃左右高温蒸汽中Super304管样内表面冷作硬化效应消失,除冷作硬化试样氧化皮的总体厚度略薄外,氧化皮的结构形貌特征与未冷作硬化处理的管样没有多大区别.另外,含Cr量大于22%的SAVE25具有非常优秀的抗蒸汽氧化性能,其机加工区域和未机加工区域的蒸汽氧化行为没有任何区别.     

Generating experimental designs involving control and noise variables using genetic algorithms

Efficient estimation of response variables in a process is an important problem that requires experimental designs appropriated for each specific situation. When we have a system involving control and noise variables, we are often interested in the simultaneous optimization of the prediction variance of the mean (PVM) and the prediction variance of the slope (PVS). The goal of this simultaneous optimization is to construct designs that will result in the efficient estimation of important parameters. We construct new computer‐generated designs using a desirability function by transforming PVM and PVS into one desirability value that can be optimized using a genetic algorithm. Fraction of design space (FDS) plots are used to evaluate the new designs and six cases are discussed to illustrate the procedure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Steam oxidation of X20CrMoV121: Comparison of laboratory exposures and in situ exposure in power plants

X20CrMoV121 is a 12% Cr martensitic steel which has been used in power plants in Europe for many decades. Specimens have been removed from superheater tubes to investigate long‐term exposure with respect to steam oxidation. These tubes have been exposed for various durations up to 135 000 h in power plants in Denmark at steam temperatures varying from 450–565 °C. This paper collates the data, compares oxide morphologies and assesses to what extent parabolic kinetics can be used to describe the oxidation rate. The steam oxidation behaviour has been investigated in the laboratory in an Ar‐46%H₂O mixture at 500, 600 and 700 °C for 336 h. It was observed that the morphology of the oxide layers was strongly influenced by temperature, and some of the same morphologies are also observed for power plant specimens. However, the temperatures at which they occur were different for plant and laboratory specimens, e.g. the presence of Cr rich bands within the oxide occurred at a lower temperature in the plant than in the laboratory. In addition there is a greater variety of oxide morphologies for long‐term plant specimens compared to laboratory specimens.     

Identity and spirituality: A psychosocial exploration of the sense of spiritual self.

The authors examined the structure and content of adults' sense of spiritual identity by analyzing semistructured interviews with 13 spiritually devout men and 15 devout women, ages 22 to 72. Individuals' responses to the Role-Related Identity Interview (G. T. Sorell, M. J. Montgomery, & N. A. Busch-Rossnagel, 1997b) were content analyzed and rated on the role-related spiritual identity dimensions of role salience and flexibility. Individuals were categorized as spiritually foreclosed, achieved, or in moratorium, on the basis of their motivational, affective, self-evaluative, and behavioral investments in spiritually defined roles and their reflectiveness about and behavioral changes in role-related spiritual identity. Similarities and differences within and between spiritual identity status groups were observed, suggesting a variety of ways that spiritual identity provides a sense of continuity as well as a domain for adult developmental change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Seroprevalence survey of Egyptian tourism workers for hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, and Treponema pallidum infections: association of hepatitis C virus infections with specific regions of Egypt

Blood samples from 740 Egyptian Nationals working in the tourism industry at two sites in the South Sinai governorate were screened for markers of infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and Treponema pallidum. Study subjects included 467 individuals from a rural seashore tourist village and 273 persons at two hotels in a well-established resort town. Subjects' ages ranged from 15 to 70 years; 99.3% were male. The prevalence of serologic markers for currently asymptomatic or past HBV infection alone was 20.7% (n = 153), of markers for past or chronic HCV infection alone was 7.4% (n = 55), and of markers for both HBV and HCV was 6.9% (n = 51). Of the 204 individuals positive for anti-HBV core antibody, 12 (5.9%) were also positive for hepatitis B surface antigen. Two individuals (0.3%) had a serologic market suggestive of an active syphilitic infection. No subject was found to be HIV-seropositive. History of prior injections and number of injections were associated with infection with HCV. Primary residence in the Nile delta and valley areas where schistosomiasis is highly endemic, was also a statistically significant risk factor for HCV, but not HBV infection.     

U73122 and U73343 inhibit receptor-mediated phospholipase D activation downstream of phospholipase C in CHO cells

We investigated the effects of nitric oxide (NO) donors, S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine and sodium nitroprusside on basal and K+-evoked release of [3H]noradrenaline from superfused synaptosomes from the rat cerebral cortex. Both substances produced concentration-dependent increases in the release of the labeled transmitter under basal and depolarized conditions. The effects of the donors on basal release were Ca2+-independent but were not inhibited by the carrier-uptake blocker, desipramine; the effects were abolished by hemoglobin (an NO scavenger). Thirty-five minutes after stimulation with sodium nitroprusside, the synaptosomes were still responsive to KCl stimulation, indicating that the donor's effects were not caused by damage to the synaptosome membrane. The cGMP analogue, 8-bromo-cGMP, had no effect on basal release, and the enhanced release produced by sodium nitroprusside was not inhibited by the specific inhibitor of soluble guanylate cyclase, 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-alpha]quinoxalin-1-one, indicating that NO's effects on basal release of the neurotransmitter are guanylate cyclase-independent. Both of the NO donors had more marked effects on release of [3H]noradrenaline during K+-stimulated depolarization. The NO-mediated increase in this case was partially antagonized by 10 microM LH-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-alpha]quinoxalin-1-one, and 8-Br-cGMP was also capable of producing concentration-dependent increases in the K+-stimulated release of the transmitter. These findings indicate that the effects of the NO donors on [3H]noradrenaline release during depolarization are partially mediated by the activation of guanylate cyclase.     

Brain natriuretic peptide enhances the endothelium-independent cAMP and vasorelaxant responses of calcitonin gene-related peptide in rat aorta

The localization of cathepsin K protein in mouse osteoclasts was examined by immunolight and immunoelectron microscopy using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method with anti-cathepsin K (mouse) antibody. With light microscopy, a strong immunoreaction for cathepsin K was found extracellularly along the bone and cartilage resorption lacunae and detected intracellularly in vesicles, granules, and vacuoles throughout the cytoplasm of multinuclear osteoclasts and chondroclasts attached to the surface of the bone or cartilage. Mononuclear cells, probably preosteoclasts, some distance from the bone also contained a few cathepsin K-positive vesicles and granules. Cathepsin K was sometimes found in the cisternal spaces of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and vesicles of the Golgi apparatus with electron microscopy of the basolateral region of the osteoclasts. Cathepsin K-positive vesicles and granules as lysosomal compartments were present in various stages of fusion with vacuoles as endosomal compartments that contained fragmented cathepsin K-negative fibril-like structures. Some of the vacuoles (endolysosomes), which seemed to be formed by this process of fusion, contained cathepsin K-positive vesicles and fibril-like structures that did not show the regular cross striation of type I collagen fibrils. In the apical region of the osteoclasts, cathepsin K-positive vesicles and pits had already fused with or were in the process of fusing with the ampullar extracellular spaces. There were large deposits of cathepsin K on fragmented fibril-like structures without regular cross striation in the extracellular spaces, as well as on and between the cytoplasmic processes of the ruffled border. There were also extensive deposits of cathepsin K on the type I collagen fibrils with cross striation in the bone resorption lacunae. Osteoblasts and osteocytes were negative for cathepsin K. In the immunocytochemical controls, no immunoreaction was found in the osteoclasts or preosteoclasts, or on the collagen fibrils in the resorption lacunae. The results indicate that cathepsin K is produced in mature osteoclasts attached to the bone and secreted into the bone resorption lacunae. The findings suggest that cathepsin K participates in the extracellular degradation of collagen fibrils in the resorption lacunae and in the subsequent degradation of the fragmented fibrils in the endolysosomes. It is also suggested that cathepsin K degrades the organic cartilage matrix.     

Involvement of CD14 and complement receptors CR3 and CR4 in nuclear factor-kappaB activation and TNF production induced by lipopolysaccharide and group B streptococcal cell walls

This study was undertaken to evaluate the role of CD14 and complement receptors type 3 (CR3) and 4 (CR4) in mediating TNF release and NF-kappaB activation induced by LPS and cell wall preparations from group B streptococci type III (GBS). LPS and GBS caused TNF secretion from human monocytes in a CD14-dependent manner, and soluble CD14, LPS binding protein, or their combination potentiated both LPS- and GBS-induced activities. Blocking of either CD14 or CD18, the common beta-subunit of CR3 and CR4, decreased GBS-induced TNF release, while LPS-mediated TNF production was inhibited by anti-CD14 mAb only. Chinese hamster ovary cell transfectants (CHO) that express human CD14 (CHO/CD14) responded to both LPS and GBS with NF-kappaB translocation, which was inhibited by anti-CD14 mAb and enhanced by LPS binding protein. While LPS showed fast kinetics of NF-kappaB activation in CHO/CD14 cells, a slower NF-kappaB response was induced by GBS. LPS also activated NF-kappaB in CHO cells transfected with either human CR3 or CR4 cDNA, although responses were delayed and weaker than those of CHO/CD14 cells. In contrast to LPS, GBS failed to induce NF-kappaB in CHO/CR3 or CHO/CR4 cells. Both C3H/OuJ (Lps[n]) and C3H/HeJ (Lps[d]) mouse peritoneal macrophages responded to GBS with TNF production and NF-kappaB translocation, whereas LPS was active only in C3H/OuJ macrophages. Thus, LPS and GBS differentially involve CD14 and CR3 or CR4 for signaling NF-kappaB activation in CHO cells and TNF release in human monocytes, and engage a different set of receptors and/or intracellular signaling pathways in mouse macrophages.