Vaccenic Acid and <Emphasis Type="Italic">cis</Emphasis>-9,<Emphasis Type="Italic">trans</Emphasis>-11 CLA in the Rumen and Different Tissues of Pasture- and Concentrate-Fed Beef Cattle

The objective of present study was the comparison of trans-11 18:1 (VA) and cis-9,trans-11 CLA concentrations in the rumen and different tissues in beef cattle, and to examine the diet and breed effects on the compound concentration and deposition. Sixty-four German Holstein and German Simmental bulls were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments, based on concentrate or pasture. The concentration of cis-9,trans-11 CLA and VA in rumen, duodenal digesta and different tissues was determined by gas chromatography. The results showed that pasture relative to concentrate feeding significantly increased the concentration of VA in duodenal digesta, plasma and erythrocyte phospholipids. Pasture-based feeding resulted in a significant enrichment of cis-9,trans-11 CLA in plasma lipids and erythrocyte phospholipids, but not in rumen and duodenal digesta, compared to concentrate-fed diet. Diet did not affect the cis-9,trans-11 CLA concentrations (mg/100 g fresh tissue) in semitendinosus muscle and subcutaneous fat. There was a breed effect on the deposition of cis-9,trans-11 CLA in longissimus muscle with lower concentration in pasture-fed German Simmental bulls compared to concentrate-fed bulls. However, pasture feeding significantly increased both, the VA and cis-9,trans-11 CLA concentrations in liver and heart tissues. Both diet and breed effects on Δ⁹-desaturase index was observed in muscle and subcutaneous fat tissues. There was a linear relationship between the concentration of VA and cis-9,trans-11 CLA and the coefficients of determination (R ²) varied between 0.29 and 0.87 from rumen to the different tissues.     

Numerical Model for Biaxial Earthquake Response of Reinforced Concrete

Abstract:   A numerical constitutive model is developed to simulate the biaxial nonlinear flexural response of slender reinforced concrete members subjected to earthquake excitation. The model is tested using data from two types of experiments with reinforced concrete elements: (1) elements subjected to varying pseudo-static biaxial lateral loads and (2) elements that responded biaxially to simulated earthquake motions. The goal for the model was not only to help determine the absolute maxima for earthquake response but also to enable calculation of the entire waveform, including the ranges of low- and moderate-amplitude response. The comparisons of measured and calculated results and sensitivity of the proposed model to variations in the input parameters are discussed. The output was found to be insensitive to the changes in input parameters related to concrete and sensitive to input parameters related to reinforcing steel. The results of the calculations were tested using experimental data.     

Organic donor, acceptor and buffer layers of small molecules prepared by OVPD technique for photovoltaics

Organic vapour-phase deposition (OVPD^®) is used for the growth of the organic solar cell component materials such as the donor copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), the acceptor fullerene C₆₀, and electron-conducting buffer layers of bathocuproine (BCP) on Si1 0 0 wafers and indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates on areas as large as 15×15 cm². By means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis we show that under continuous operating conditions the source materials possess long-term stability. The CuPc, C₆₀ and BCP thin film morphology and structure are characterised using scanning electron microscopy and XRD analysis. We demonstrate CuPc thin films with a highly folded surface morphology suitable for the preparation of solar cells with an interpenetrating donor–acceptor interface. The XRD diffraction patterns of the CuPc and C₆₀ layers deposited under conditions appropriate for the preparation of organic solar cells show spectra typical for these materials. Mixed CuPc:C₆₀ layers with controlled constituent ratios and layer thickness are deposited for the preparation of organic solar cells. First ITO/CuPc:C₆₀/Al organic photovoltaic devices are prepared with an efficiency of 1% (conditions AM1.5).     

Optimizing the use of public transit system during no-notice evacuation of urban areas

This paper proposes a methodology that can be used to design plans for evacuating transit-dependent citizens during no-notice disasters. A mixed-integer linear program is proposed to model the problem of finding optimal evacuation routes. The objective of the problem is to minimize the total evacuation time and the number of casualties, simultaneously. A traffic simulation package is used to explicitly incorporate the traffic flow dynamics into our model in order to generate solutions which are consistent with the dynamics of traffic network. Due to the long running time of CPLEX, a Tabu search algorithm is designed that finds evacuation routes for transit vehicles. Computational experiments demonstrate that the solutions found are of high-quality. Numerical experiments are conducted using the transportation network of the city of Forth Worth, TX to illustrate the modeling procedure and solution approach.     

Biologically Active Tissue Factor-Bearing Larger Ectosome-Like Extracellular Vesicles in Malignant Effusions from Ovarian Cancer Patients: Correlation with Incidence of Thrombosis

The development of malignant effusions such as ascites reflects a massive progression of a malignant disease. In patients with ovarian carcinoma, a high amount of ascites (>500 mL) is an independent negative prognostic marker. The composition and constituents of ascites reflect the inflammatory environment of the underlying tumor. Increased cellular resistance of ascites-derived tumor cells and the development of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) are major risks for these patients, especially in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma. In this study, we discuss the release of tissue factor-bearing extracellular vesicles (TF⁺ EVs) from tumor cells into the environment (ascites fluid) and their systemic spreading as a possible causal explanation of the pathologic coagulation status in these patients. We obtained ascites from patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma, collected during surgery or therapeutic paracentesis (n = 20). Larger ectosome-like EVs were isolated using sequential centrifugation, quantified by high-resolution flow cytometry and analyzed using nanoparticle tracking analysis. Furthermore, the pro-coagulant properties (TF activity) of EVs were determined. Compared to published TF activities of EVs from healthy persons, TF activities of EVs derived from ascites of patients with ovarian cancer were very high, with a median of 80 pg/mL. The rate of VTE, as reported in the patient files, was high as well (35%, 7 out of 20). Furthermore, all but one patient with VTE had EV concentrations above the median within their ascetic fluid (p < 0.02). Since VTE continues to be a frequent cause of death in cancer patients, prophylactic antithrombotic treatment might be worth considering in these patients. However, given the risk of bleeding, more clinical data are warranted. Although the study is too small to enable reaching a conclusion on direct clinical implementation, it can well serve as a proof of principle and a rationale to initiate a prospective clinical study with different patient subgroups. We also show ex vivo that these larger ectosome-like EVs induce intracellular ERK phosphorylation and tumor cell migration, which is not directly related to their pro-coagulative potency, but might help to understand why cancer patients with thromboembolic events have a poorer prognosis.     

Comparison of co–gasification efficiencies of coal,lignocellulosic biomass and biomass hydrolysate for high yield hydrogen production

The diversity in the chemical composition of lignocellulosic feedstocks can affect the conversion technologies employed for hydrogen production. Gasification and co–gasification activities of lignocellulosic biomass, biomass hydrolysate, and coal were evaluated for hydrogen rich gas production. The hydrolysates of biomass materials showed the best performance for gasification. The results indicated that biomass hydrolysates obtained from lignocellulosic biomass were more sensitive to degradation and therefore, produced more hydrogen and gaseous products than that of lignocellulosic biomass. The effects of feed (kenaf and sorghum hydrolysate), flow rate (0.3–2.0 mL/min) and temperature (700–900 °C) on hydrogen production and gasification yields were investigated. It was observed that 0.5 mL/min the optimum feed flow rate for the maximum total gas and hydrogen production. Synergism effects were observed for co–gasification of coal/biomass and coal/biomass hydrolysate. In all co–gasification processes, the main component of the gas mixture was hydrogen (≥70%).     

A near zero coefficient of thermal expansion ceramic: Tantalum oxyfluoride

Cubic tantalum oxyfluoride (TaO₂F) powders were synthesized and consolidated by hot pressing. The effects of sodium fluoride (NaF) and lithium fluoride (LiF) sintering aids on the densification and microstructure of TaO₂F were investigated. Hot pressing conditions employed in this study appeared to change the stoichiometry of TaO₂F, and most likely created an oxygen deficient TaO_2?δF. It was shown that TaO₂F decomposes in air at temperatures ≥500 °C but that the kinetics of its decomposition is very slow up to 750–800 °C. Hot-pressed TaO₂F had a near-zero coefficient of thermal expansion over 25–600 °C that did not change after exposure to air for extended periods of time (24 h) at 600 °C. TaO₂F has no inherent absorption bands in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) region up to about 5 μm suggesting that polycrystalline TaO₂F ceramic can be IR transparent provided that it can be densified without altering its chemistry.     

CHANGE OF PHYSICAL AND THERMAL DECOMPOSITION PROPERTIES OF IN SITU HEAVY OIL WITH STEAM TEMPERATURE

ABSTRACT

Ikiztepe crude oil was subjected to four different steam temperatures during steam injection which was applied as an enhanced oil recovery process on a linear limestone model saturated with oil. Produced oils were characterized using density, viscosity measurements, pyrolysis experiments utilizing TGA and elemental analysis runs. Results showed that produced crude oils change in measured characteristics as compared to the original oil. These changes include an increase in H/C, and cracking activation energy, decrease in density, viscosity and amount of residue remaining after cracking (coke). Also, decrease in asphaltene amount, changes in the elemental composition of asphaltenes and increase in the cracking activation energies were observed at 225 °C run. These measurements show that the produced oils get lighter and differ compositionally from the original oil as steam temperature increases. Decrease in elemental sulphur amount is one of the major changes when environmental considerations are concerned. Residual oil left in the limestone pack on the other hand shows an increase in the low temperature oxidation (LTO), fuel deposition (FD) and high temperature oxidation (HTO) activation energies as determined from TGA combustion experiments on the samples taken from the pack after steam injection experiments.     

The impact of growth, energy and financial development on the environment in China: A cointegration analysis

This article aims to investigate the impact of financial development, economic growth and energy consumption on environmental pollution in China from 1953 to 2006 using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing procedure. The main objective is to examine the long run equilibrium relationship between financial development and environmental pollution. The results of the analysis reveal a negative sign for the coefficient of financial development, suggesting that financial development in China has not taken place at the expense of environmental pollution. On the contrary, it is found that financial development has led to a decrease in environmental pollution. It is concluded that carbon emissions are mainly determined by income, energy consumption and trade openness in the long run. Moreover, the findings confirm the existence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve in the case of China.     

On the constant wall temperature boundary condition in internal convection heat transfer studies including viscous dissipation

In this study, viscous heating effect on convective flow in an unheated adiabatic duct is studied analytically and numerically. Two different geometries are considered: circular duct and plane duct between two parallel plates. Two new parameters are defined for internal convection studies: adiabatic wall temperature and adiabatic bulk temperature. Variations of these two parameters with varying intensity of viscous dissipation effect are determined. In view of the results obtained, usage of the constant wall temperature thermal boundary condition when viscous dissipation is included is discussed and questioned.