Carbon mineralization from composts and food industry wastes added to soil

We have studied the short term C mineralization of six wastes from important food industries, one sludge from a biogas plant and three composts. All the wastes were characterized chemically and fractionated according to the Van Soest method. The fresh wastes were incubated under controlled environment conditions to determine the C mineralization rate. Based on first order mineralization kinetics, we calculated the hypothetical amount of stable C in the wastes as the amount of C that would not be mineralized within one year under field conditions. The percentage of stable organic C in the organic matter was in general much larger in the composts than in the other wastes, but when expressed on dry matter, the non-composted wastes had comparable or larger amounts of stable organic C than the composts and have a considerable potential for supplying organic matter to soils, and hence for C sequestration. The amount of stable organic C could best be predicted by the total N content of the wastes (R _a ² = 0.855), whereas the results of the fractionation had very little predictive power, probably due to problems related to the high ash content of some of the wastes. An index that combined stable organic C and N and P content in the wastes was calculated to assess possible limitations for applying these wastes in agriculture. Under current nutrient legislation in Western Europe, a number of these wastes will only be usable in small amounts, but these and other food industry wastes could still prove to be valuable soil amendments in nutrient poor situations, for increasing soil organic C content and supplying nutrients.     

Spontaneous erythroid colony formation as the clue to an underlying myeloproliferative disorder in patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome or portal vein thrombosis

Results from this laboratory have shown that bone metabolism is directly related to extracellular pH and that high concentrations of tobramycin released from impregnated polymethylmethacryrate (PMMA) beads has pH-dependent toxic effects on bone. In the present study, beneficial effects of calcium hydroxide-impregnated PMMA were investigated regarding tobramycin toxicity and bone metabolism in chick embryo tibiae in vitro. Also using Ca(OH)2 as a pH regulator, the antibiotic efficacy of tobramycin-impregnated PMMA was evaluated with respect to inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus growth. When Ca(OH)2 was added to PMMA beads containing tobramycin, the beads released hydroxyl and calcium ions into the culture medium and released more antibiotic than beads containing only tobramycin. Bone metabolism (glycolysis, total protein synthesis, and collagen synthesis) was enhanced by Ca(OH)2-impregnated beads with or without tobramycin. Additionally, bacterial growth was inhibited more strongly when S. aureus was incubated with tobramycin- and Ca(OH)2-impregnated PMMA disks than with disks containing only tobramycin. This study demonstrates the feasibility of adding Ca(OH)2 to tobramycin-impregnated PMMA beads as a regulator of local pH and a promoter of bone metabolism for protection of bone when high concentrations of tobramycin are used to treat osteomyelitis. It also suggests that lower concentrations of antibiotic may be effective if Ca(OH)2 and tobramycin are administered simultaneously.     

建立数据库用微机进行钻井液设计

为了更好地指导现场钻井液施工,利用微机建立有关数据库和相应的设计软件,根据地质、工程的要求和井下情况进行钻井液设计,其特点是资料全面、程序运行可靠且操作简便,设计符合现场情况,施工顺利。在千12区块,用微机设计的109口井与人工设计的75口井相比,钻井速度提高,井下复杂情况减少,提高了经济效益。     

Temperature Oscillation Calorimetry: Robustness analysis of different algorithms for the evaluation of the heat transfer coefficient

Applicability of different temperature oscillation calorimetry algorithms, previously proposed in the literature, for the evaluation of the heat transfer coefficient during the course of the reaction, is analysed by referring to the experimental data from a methyl methacrylate polymerisation reactor.Results are coincident in the nominal case (no errors on data), while differences appear in the elaboration of real data. The effect of uncertainty in the experimental data has been simulated in terms of error on the amplitude and on the phase of reactor and jacket temperature profiles.This approach allows to indicate algorithms having the best robustness properties and to give an explanation of phase errors in terms of a lumped parameter which accounts for different phenomena, not included in the basic hypotheses of the method. Based on this observation, a procedure to eliminate this source of errors from experimental data is proposed for the more general algorithm presented to handle oscillating temperature profiles generated by different techniques.     

Fabrication and characterization of planar and channel polymer wave guides. I. Plasma-polymerized HMDS films

Plasma-polymerized hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS) films have been prepared as both planar and channel wave guides. The optical attenuation results measured in both the planar and channel HMDS wave guides were found to be similar, thus demonstrating that the inherent solvent resistance and chemical inertness of the plasma polymerized films allows the use of common photoresist techniques, including application of the photoresist, photomasking, and subsequent etching. This may be contrasted with wave guides made from conventional polymers, where careful consideration must be given to photoresist/polymer compatibility, because the photoresist solvents may adversely affect the underlying polymer and lead to degradation of the material during processing. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Chronic abdominal pain: role of video-laparoscopic adhesiolysis

Adhesions have been suggested as a possible cause of chronic abdominal pain, but the reports of their etiological role conflict. Lysis of adhesions has been proposed as the therapeutic modality of choice, although the reports of success are controversial. The aim our prospective study was to determine whether laparoscopic adhesiolysis ameliorates chronic abdominal pain in patients with abdominal adhesions. Forty-one patients with chronic abdominal pain lasting for more than 6 months, but with no abnormal findings other than adhesions found at laparoscopy, underwent laparoscopic adhesiolysis. 37 patients (90.2%) were available for follow-up after a median time interval of 18 months (range: 12-41 months). Twenty-two patients (59.4%) were free from abdominal pain and 9 (24.3%) patients reported significant amelioration of their pain. Six (16.2%) patients had no amelioration. In conclusion the laparoscopy is an effective tool for the evaluation of patients with chronic abdominal pain, and laparoscopic adhesiolysis cures of ameliorates chronic abdominal pain in more than 80% of patients.     

A new epitope presenting system displays a HIV-1 V3 loop sequence and induces neutralizing antibodies

The principal neutralizing domain, IGPGRAF sequence, from the V3-loop of HIV-1 was inserted in two positions on the surface of the protein that makes up the capside shell of the insect Flock House Virus. The hybrid proteins were expressed in insect cells via recombinant baculoviruses. Three different hybrids were used as immunogens: two with a single copy of the insert in different positions of the carrier protein and a third with two copies of the insert at the same positions as before. All hybrid proteins induced strong and broad specific immune response in guinea pigs against different V3-loop sequences. However, only one of the hybrid proteins was able to induce a strong neutralizing response against MN and IIIB HIV-1 isolates. Our results demonstrate that a very short peptide sequence of HIV-1 can constitute a valuable immunogen able to induce a neutralizing response if presented to the immune system in the context of the FHV capsomer structure.     

Parallel feedforward class-AB control circuits for low-voltage bipolar rail-to-rail output stages of operational amplifiers

A new family of class-AB control circuits for bipolar rail-to-rail output stages of operational amplifiers is presented. Step by step, we report the development of five simple class-AB control circuits showing the advantages of using parallel feedforward. The circuits have been designed in such a way that temperature, supply voltage and process parameters have little influence. To test the output stages, one of them has been implemented in a very simple two-stage operational amplifier on a semi-custom chip. Measurements show a bandwidth of 2.5 MHz, a gain of 40 dB, a quiescent current of 23µA and a maximum output current of 250µA. Simulation results of three other simple operational amplifiers with the new class-AB control circuits are shown, which have a higher gain and maximum output current.