High temperature rate coefficient measurements of CO + O chemiluminescence

Spectral intensities from the chemiluminescent reaction CO + O → CO₂ + hv have been measured in the range 2600–7000 Å from reacting mixtures of H₂O₂COCO₂argon, shock heated in a shock tube to temperatures of 1300 and 2700K. Intergrals of the photon production rate yield an overall rate coefficient I₀ = 6.8 (±0.6) × 10⁵, exp(− 1960/T) cm³ mole⁻¹ s⁻¹. Extrapolated to 300K, this rate coefficient is in excellent agreement with the room temperature measurements of Pravilov.     

乔木根径、含量和分布类型对根土复合体饱和渗透系数的影响

植物根系对土体的水力特性具有重要影响,但关于乔木根系对土体饱和渗透系数的定量研究缺乏。利用自制渗透实验箱,采用定水头实验方法,针对重塑根土复合体开展不同根径（1 mm≤d≤3mm、3 mm<d≤5 mm和5 mm<d≤8 mm）及含量（根体积含量0.4%~2.4%）和根的分布类型（水平和竖直）对其饱和渗透系数影响的定量研究。结果表明,相同根径条件下,根土复合体的饱和渗透系数与根体积含量呈线性正相关关系,但随着根径的增加,该线性关系斜率不断降低;根土复合体饱和渗透系数与根表面积含量也存在显著的线性正相关关系,方差分析表明,该线性关系不受根径的影响;确定了根的不同分布类型（水平和竖直）下根表面积含量与其饱和渗透系数之间的线性关系;此外,研究发现,根竖直向分布时的根土复合体饱和渗透系数随根表面积含量的变化率是水平分布的1.8倍左右。研究结果表明,根的存在可以显著提高土体的饱和渗透系数,且根土的表面接触是影响其水力特性的根本原因。     

Therapeutic Effects of Saponins for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer by Ameliorating Inflammation and Angiogenesis and Inducing Antioxidant and Apoptotic Effects in Human Cells

Saponins are natural compounds found in plants and have a diverse range of applications. However, the therapeutic potential of saponins in regulating cytotoxicity, angiogenesis, and inflammation in mammalian cells is yet to be explored. Here, we investigated the therapeutic effects of saponins from green tea by exploring the cytotoxic effects of saponins by inducing apoptosis in the human cancer cell lines hepatocellular carcinoma (HEPG2) and colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29). The anti-angiogenesis effect of saponins was also investigated in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). We explored the ability of saponins to attenuate inflammation in a dose-dependent manner in normal human cells. It was found that saponins exhibit cytotoxic effects in cancer cells and not in normal cells at the same concentration. Cytotoxicity was measured by inducing apoptosis by enhancing caspase-3 (cas-3) activation and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein (BAX) gene expression and suppressing the antiapoptotic protein, Bcl-2. The inhibition of HUVEC proliferation was due to the suppression of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). We also observed the antioxidant potential of green tea-derived saponins against free radicals in reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced cells. Here we observed that the saponins exhibited free radical scavenging activities and activated nuclear factorerythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF-2) leading to the upregulation of antioxidant-related genes in human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the anti-inflammatory effects were due to the suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in HEK293 cells. The significance of the work is we are the first to report on the anti-cancer effects of saponins based on the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-angiogenesis, and apoptosis induction properties. In conclusion, green tea-derived saponins could be effective therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.     

Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-α (PPARα) Expression in a Clinical Population of Pakistani Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Dyslipidemia

Poor glycemic control and dyslipidemia are hallmarks of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which predispose to cardiovascular diseases. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) has been associated with atherosclerosis, but its role in T2DM is less clear. Previously, we studied PPARα expression levels in diabetics with and without dyslipidemia (DD). In this study we described the association with fasting blood glucose, HbA1c levels and lipid levels of the study population. Patient demography and biochemical data were collected from hospitals in Islamabad, Pakistan, and RT-PCR data of PPARα expression were retrieved from our previous study from the same cohort. We performed t-tests and regression analysis to evaluate the relationships between PPARα expression and demographic and clinical variables. As expected, body mass index and HbA1c were elevated in T2DM and DD patients compared to controls. Blood lipids (total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL) were significantly higher in the DD group compared to the other two groups. In the T2DM and DD groups, the PPARα expression was not associated with any of the physical and biochemical parameters measured in this study. Expression of the PPARα gene was independent of blood lipids and glycemic control in this study. Further research is necessary to better understand the biological parameters of PPARα expression.     

Thermally induced deformation of laminated composite structures

The implications of somewhat unfamiliar thermo-elastic phenomena in laminated fibre composites are discussed in physical terms. By this approach certain simplified relationships are developed and the attendant physical interpretations are encouraged. Specifically, laminated flat plates exhibiting finite, negative thermal expansion coefficients and hoop-wound composite rings subjected to temperature changes are treated so as to emphasize the importance of the phenomena. It is also shown that the translaminar expansion coefficient is an important parameter in the hoop-wound ring which develops significant circumferential stresses when subjected to uniform changes in temperature.     

Effect of kappa distribution on the damping rate of the obliquely propagating magnetosonic mode

Data from spacecrafts suggest that space plasma has an abundance of suprathermal particles which are controlled by the spectral index κ when modeled on kappa particle velocity distribution. In this paper, considering homogeneous plasma, the effect of integer values of κ on the damping rate of an obliquely propagating magnetosonic(MS) wave is studied. The frequency of the MS wave is assumed to be less than ion cyclotron frequency, i.e.,iw(28)w. Under this assumption, the dispersion relation is investigated both numerically and analytically, and it is found that the real frequency of the wave is not a sensitive function of κ, but the imaginary part of the frequency is. It is also shown that for those values of κ where a large number of resonant particles participate in wave–particle interaction, the wave is heavily damped, as expected. The possible application of the results to the solar wind is discussed.     

Resonance self-shielding calculation using subgroup method and ABC algorithm

In this study, we propose a new method to optimize subgroup parameters for resonance self-shielding calculation. Our approach integrates the merits of both the subgroup method and ABC optimization technique to effectively evaluate self-shielded resonance cross-sections. The ABC algorithm is used to obtain subgroup level in a way that guarantees reproduction of shielded effective cross sections in the subgroup formulation. The temperature dependency of the cross-section is included in both subgroup level and subgroup weight. We used the conjugate gradient method based on the normal equations (CGNR) to evaluate the subgroup weights. An iteration technique is also used to consider the resonance interference. The proposed method is verified by analyzing Rowlands benchmark problems and Mosteller benchmark problems and comparing the obtained results with corresponding Monte Carlo solutions. The multiplication factor results show small errors and also good agreement.     

Optimization of refueling cycle length by an enhanced PSO with novel mutation operator

In this paper, a new method for optimizing the fuel arrangement in a WWER-1000 reactor core during refueling cycle is presented. Finding the best configuration corresponding to the desired pattern, an enhanced PSO with a Novel Mutation operator is applied. WIMS and PARCS (Purdue Advanced Reactor Core Simulator) codes are used to calculate the neutronics cross sections and multiplication factor of core with corresponded power peaking factors (PPFs) during burn up cycles, respectively. Cross sections and burn up during cycle length were calculated by WIMS code, then core parameters were calculated by PARCS and finally hybridization of intelligent PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization) method and novel mutation were used to obtain optimal arrangement. The purposed algorithm is based on increasing burn up value and refueling cycle length and by keeping power peaking factor in safe margins. In this way, neutronic parameters of the reactor during operation cycle from BOC (Begin Of Cycle) to EOC (End Of Cycle), were calculated. Implementation of this algorithm has been done in MATLAB. In this case, Bushehr WWER-1000 NPP reactor was studied. The comparison between results and Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) data shows good agreement.     

Modelling effects on axial neutron flux in a Tokamak device

Using Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP5), three different Tokamak models using different geometries were simulated, maintaining some basic parameters from the ITER design. The neutron flux and the reaction rates were obtained over different volumes: FW, divertor and along the different device walls. The three geometries were compared under the same conditions. The results showed the behaviour of the neutron flux spectra along the different walls, as well as, the most suitable model taking in consideration the different analyses and the final purpose of adding a transmutation layer. Finally, the chosen geometry will be used to analyse the burnup, buildup, decay, and processing of material under irradiation.