Nd3+ Doped Silicate Glass Photonic Crystal Fiber with Random Hole Distributions

The fabrication of one kind of large core area Nd3 doped silicate glass photonic crystal fiber, and demonstration of the fiber's waveguidence properties were reported. This fiber owns a random air hole distribution in the cladding. The measured minimum loss of this kind of fiber is 10 dB·m-1 at 660 nm. These fibers can sustain only a single mode at least over wavelength ranging from 660 nm to 980 nm.     

Oil Spill Cleanup from Sea Water by Sorbent Materials

Three sorbents were compared in order to determine their potential for oil spill cleanup. Polypropylene nonwoven web, rice hull, and bagasse with two different particle sizes were evaluated in terms of oil sorption capacities and oil recovery efficiencies. Polypropylene can sorb almost 7 to 9 times its weight from different oils. Bagasse, 18 to 45 mesh size, follows polypropylene as the second sorbent in oil spill cleanup. Bagasse, 14 to 18 mesh size, and rice hull have comparable oil sorption capacities, which are lower than those of the two former sorbents. It was found that oil viscosity plays an important role in oil sorption by sorbents. All adsorbents used in this work could remove the oil from the surface of the water preferentially.     

Magnetic Resonance Visualisation of Flow and Pore Structure in Packed Beds with Low Aspect Ratio

Different NMR techniques were combined to obtain the structure and velocity information for a systematic investigation of fixed beds with low aspect ratio (tube diameter to particle diamter, d_t/d_p) in the range 1.4 to 32. The structure of the void space was determined for a variety of packed beds of glass beads or regular and irregular porous pellets by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Based on the images the radial distribution of the voids within the bed was obtained. Ordering effects were found even for non‐spherical and polydisperse particles, and a maximum of the fluid density near the tube wall was confirmed for all pellet geometries and sizes. By combining MRI with velocity encoding, velocity profiles and distributions of flow velocity components of a single fluid phase through packed beds have been acquired. The radial velocity distribution follows an oscillatory pattern which largely reflects the ordering of the particles, which can be accessed from the density distribution of the interparticle fluid. Maximum velocities of up to four times the average value were found to occur near the tube wall. This wall effect was observed for all but the smallest particles, where the aspect ratio was d_t/d_p = 32. Moreover, a visualisation of flow pattern in the presence of packed particles was achieved by using a tagging technique, and the stationary flow field could be identified for an experimental time of several hours.     

Nucleotide sequence and genome structure of mink enteritis virus

Diabetes mellitus is a common disease. It affects multiple organ systems. Adverse effects of hyperglycemia on infection, fracture healing, and bone remodeling have been recently reported. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and radiographic results of 93 total hip arthroplasties in 78 consecutive patients with diabetes. All femoral components were cemented using contemporary cementing techniques. Prophylactic antibiotics were given in each case. The mean follow-up period was 4.1 years (range, 2-6.5 years). Ninety-six percent of the hips were rated excellent or good. Radiolucencies were observed in only 3.7% of the stems, while 22.2% of the cups showed radiolucencies. There was a 4% revision incidence. There was no postoperative infection in this series--a distinct improvement from previously reported series. However, complications remained high at 24.3%. The most frequent complication was urinary tract infection (14.2%). The most serious complication was myocardial infarction. The authors believe total hip arthroplasty can be safely performed in patients with diabetes, provided that adequate medical and follow-up evaluations are performed. The medium-term clinical and radiographic follow-up evaluations are not inferior to reported series in patients without diabetes.     

Biofiltration of toluene in the absence and the presence of ethyl acetate under continuous and intermittent loading

BACKGROUND: Two peat biofilters were used for the removal of toluene from air for one year. One biofilter was fed with pure toluene and the other received 1:1 (by weight) ethyl acetate:toluene mixture. RESULTS: The biofilters were operated under continuous loading: the toluene inlet load (IL) at which 80% removal occurred was 116 g m^?3 h^?1 at 57 s gas residence time. Maximum elimination capacity of 360 g m^?3 h^?1 was obtained at an IL of 745 g m^?3 h^?1. The elimination of toluene was inhibited by the presence of ethyl acetate. Intermittent loading, with pollutants supplied for 16 h/day, 5 days/week, did not significantly affect the removal efficiency (RE). Biomass was fully activated in 2 h after night closures, but 6 h were required to recover RE after weekend closures. Live cell density remained relatively constant over the operational period, while the dead cell fraction increased. Finally, a 15 day starvation period was applied and operation then re‐started. Performance was restored with similar re‐acclimatization period to that after weekend closures, and a reduction in dead cell fraction was observed. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the capacity of the system to handle intermittent loading conditions that are common in industrial practices, including long‐term starvation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

One‐step production of 2,3‐butanediol from starch by secretory over‐expression of amylase in Klebsiella pneumoniae

BACKGROUND: 2,3‐Butanediol (2,3‐BD) is a valuable chemical that can be biosynthesized from many kinds of substrates. For commercial biological production of 2,3‐BD, it is desirable to use cheap substrate without pretreatment, such as starch. However, there have been few reports on the production of 2,3‐BD directly from starch. RESULTS: In this work, gene malS coding for α‐amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) precursor was inserted into plasmid pUC18K, and secretory over‐expression of α‐amylase was achieved by engineered Klebsiella pneumoniae. The extracellular recombinant amylase accelerated the hydrolyzation of starch, and one‐step production of 2,3‐BD from starch was carried out by engineered K. pneumoniae. A 2,3‐BD concentration of 3.8 g L^?1 and yield of 0.19 g 2,3‐BD g^?1 starch were obtained after 24 h fermentation. CONCLUSION: The one‐step production of 2,3‐BD from starch was achieved by secretory over‐expression of amylase in K. pneumoniae. This would simplify the process and reduce the production cost considerably by enabling use of starch with minimal pretreatment. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Inhibition of sulfide on the simultaneous removal of nitrate and p‐cresol by a denitrifying sludge

BACKGROUND: Many industrial discharges, such as those generated from petrochemical refineries, contain large amounts of sulfurous, nitrogenous and organic contaminants. Denitrification has emerged as a suitable technology for the simultaneous removal of these pollutants in a single reactor unit; however, more evidence is demanded to clarify the limitations of denitrification on the simultaneous removal of sulfide and phenolic contaminants and to optimize the biological process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of a denitrifying sludge to simultaneously convert sulfide and p‐cresol via denitrification. RESULTS: Sulfide was the preferred electron donor over p‐cresol, imposing a 5 h lag phase (required for complete sulfide removal) on organotrophic denitrification. Addition of sulfide (20 mg S^2? L^?1) to p‐cresol‐amended denitrifying cultures also decreased the reduction rate of nitrate and nitrite, as well as the production rate of nitrogen gas. Nitrite reduction rate was the most affected step by sulfide, decreasing from 35 to 21 mg N (g VSS d)^?1. A synergistic inhibitory effect of nitrate and sulfide was also observed on nitrite reduction. Despite the effects of sulfide on the respiratory rates monitored, complete removal of nitrate, sulfide and p‐cresol could be achieved after 48 h of incubation. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that simultaneous removal of sulfide and p‐cresol could be achieved in denitrifying reactors, but a large hydraulic residence time may be required to sustain an efficient process due to inhibitory effects of sulfide. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis of p‐aminophenol from the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene over metal–solid acid bifunctional catalyst

BACKGROUND: A single‐step conversion of nitrobenzene (NB) to p‐aminophenol (PAP) through catalytic hydrogenation is a widely used synthesis route for PAP. The main shortcoming of this route is the use of sulfuric acid for rearrangement of the phenylhydroxylamine (PHA) intermediate. In this paper, S₂O₈^2?/ZrO₂ (PSZ) solid acid and Pt‐S₂O₈^2?/ZrO₂ (Pt‐PSZ) bifunctional catalysts were prepared for the synthesis of PAP in non‐acid medium. RESULTS: Calcination temperature has a substantial effect on the acidity, structure and activity for PHA rearrangement of PSZ. The highest PAP yield was 33.8% over PSZ calcined at 823 K when the reaction was carried out in water at 423 K. A high PAP yield of 23.9% was achieved by a single‐step reaction of nitrobenzene over Pt‐PSZ bifunctional catalysts. CONCLUSION: PSZ solid acid exhibits high activity for PHA rearrangement. Perfect tetragonal ZrO₂ and much stronger acid sites play important roles in catalytic activity. Inhibiting the hydrogenation activity by reducing the amount of Pt loading on Pt‐PSZ can improve the competition of PHA rearrangement on acid sites with hydrogenation of PHA on metal active sites, resulting in better selectivity to PAP. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Photodegradation mechanism and stabilization of polyphenylene oxide and rigid‐rod polymers

Poly(2,4‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) (PPO), poly(benzo[1,2‐d:5,4‐d′]bisoxazole‐2,6‐diyl‐1,4‐phenylene) (PBO) and poly(benzo[1,2‐d:4,5‐d′]bisthiazole‐2,6‐diyl‐1,4‐phenylene) (PBZT), which are polymers with extended conjugated structures, undergo a self‐sensitized photo‐induced electron‐transfer reaction. A second component is not required. This article presents many similar observations on these polymers when they are exposed to light and evidence to support the proposed photo‐induced electron‐transfer mechanism. Methods to stabilize these polymers against photo‐oxidation are also described. Workers investigating other conjugated polymeric systems may find the experimental methods, observations and polymer stabilization approaches discussed in this review useful. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry