Characterization of an acrylic polymer under hygrothermal aging as an optically clear adhesive for touch screen panels

Optically clear adhesives (OCAs) are key components of touch screen panels (TSPs). It is important that OCAs do not affect the transparent electrodes in TSPs because OCAs are contacted to the transparent electrodes. Therefore, N-vinyl caprolactam (NVC) was incorporated in the composition of an acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) with excluding an acidic component to maintain the cohesion for OCA preparation. With increasing amounts of NVC, the tack and peel strength of UV-cured PSA increased, but high amounts of NVC led to decreased peel strength. The UV-cured PSA films were placed in a high temperature and humidity chamber for 8 weeks to investigate the durability and corrosion property under hygrothermal conditions. In this study, the corrosion test method using copper foil was suggested as a simple and economical method and was used to evaluate the effect of NVC on the corrosion property of PSA. This method helped identify suitable OCAs that do not have corrosive property. PSA films containing more than 20 wt% of NVC promoted the corrosion of copper foil under hygrothermal aging conditions. The caprolactam ring was opened by moisture, and the PSA structure morphed into a polar structure during the aging process. This change caused a glass transition shift, an increase in the storage modulus at the rubbery plateau, and an increase in peel strength. The surface free energy of the PSA films also increased due to the increase in the polar property. However, high amounts of NVC caused a decrease in the peel strength after 8 weeks of aging because of increased molecular interactions.     

Calculating the degree of degradation of the volatile solids in continuously operated bioreactors

Determining the degree of degradation is an important means of assessing the efficiency of biological processes. However, one should consider the fact that during degradation, the reference value, such as volume or the mass of total solids, is also subject to change. The assumption that the incoming and outgoing mass flows are identical is only possible for substrates with a high water content and hence, a low energy density. For substrates with a higher energy density, a correction by the gaseous mass flow is required, but usually its quantification is difficult, especially when examining full-scale plants or open systems. Based on the assumption that the mass of inorganic solids is constant during the process, a universally applicable equation has been developed, requiring only the input and output volatile solids concentrations for calculation.     

Comparison of the RAPID-B® flow cytometer and the BAX® system for the detection of non-O157 shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in beef products

The beef industry continues to be interested in reliable rapid detection technologies for shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). Current rapid technologies require several hours of pre-enrichment and additional time on the rapid technology instrument. A flow cytometer-based system (RAPID-B^®) has been shown to improve the turn-around for results with a more rapid pre-enrichment requiring only 6.5 h pre-enrichment for a 25 g and 8.5 h for a 375 g sample, followed by an additional 30 min time to achieve final results using the screening technology. The purpose of this study was to validate the RAPID-B^® technology for non-O157 STEC detection as compared to the USDA-FSIS reference method which utilizes the BAX^® system. A total of 180 STEC isolates from various sources and 20 non-STEC strains were used to evaluate specificity and sensitivity using the RAPID-B^® flow cytometer. Also, three different weights (25, 325 and 375 g) of beef trim and ground beef samples were spiked with each STEC to verify detection sensitivity of BAX^® system and RAPID-B^® flow cytometer. For both methods, samples were confirmed by culturing using the USDA-FSIS reference method regardless of the screening result. The RAPID-B^® flow cytometer showed that 180 isolates were all positive and the 20 non-STEC strains were all negative. For spiked beef samples, overall detection sensitivity was the same for both the BAX^® system and RAPID-B^® flow cytometer. When detection sensitivity was based on sample weight, there was no differences in 25 and 375 g samples between RAPID-B^® flow cytometer and USDA-FSIS reference method. The RAPID-B^® system yielded the same sensitivity as the reference method with a decrease of over 10 h of pre-enrichment time and 3 h of rapid screening detection time. In conclusion, the RAPID-B^® flow cytometer based on whole cell detection generated similar results as BAX^® system therefore the RAPID-B^® flow cytometer system could be a valuable rapid method for the detection of non-O157 STEC in beef products.     

Immobilization of surface non-affinitive protein onto a metal surface by an external electric field

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Fast Quantitative Analysis of Hidden Dangerous Substances in Mail Based on Specific Interval PLS

Journal of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves - Terahertz radiation has many unique characteristics that make it useful for noninvasive mail inspection. While qualitative analysis of mail...     

Differential gene expression of the healthy conjunctiva during the day

PurposeTo determine if there is diurnal variation in gene expression in normal healthy conjunctival cells.MethodsBulbar conjunctival swab samples were collected from four healthy subjects in the morning and evening of the same day. The two swab samples were taken from one eye of each participant, with a minimum of five hours gap between the two samples. RNA was extracted and analysed using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq).ResultsA total of 121 genes were differentially expressed between the morning and the evening conjunctival samples, of which 94 genes were upregulated in the morning, and 27 genes were upregulated in the evening. Many of the genes that were upregulated in the morning were involved in defence, cell turnover and regulation of gene expression, while the genes upregulated in the evening were involved in signalling and mucin production.ConclusionsThis study has identified several genes whose expression changes over the course of the day. Knowledge of diurnal variations of conjunctival gene expression provides an insight into the regulatory status of the healthy eye and provides a baseline for examining changes during ocular surface disease.     

Poly(ionic liquid)-derived nanoporous carbon analyzed by combination of gas physisorption and small-angle neutron scattering

The preparation of nanoporous carbon materials and their characterization combining small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) with gas physisorption is presented. Carbon with a porous structure and tunable form is obtained here by a salt-templating approach using poly(ionic liquid) as precursor. SANS in combination with contrast matching by deuterated p-xylene was used for a separation of the scattering component deriving from the density fluctuations of the carbon matrix and the inaccessible porosity. The resulting scattering curves could be used for an unambiguous characterization of the pore structure of the materials. SANS curves measured at different partial pressure of the matching agent p-xylene were used for a differential filling of the micro- and mesopores. The analysis using the chord length distribution (CLD) was employed to determine the specific surface area and the pore size at different adsorption steps. The SANS results were in good agreement with the quenched solid density functional theory (QSDFT) analysis of the nitrogen physisorption. By the comparison of both characterization methods the pore shape could be determined. The combination of both SANS and gas physisorption is thus shown to provide a comprehensive characterization of the pore structure of the carbon monoliths throughout the entire pertinent length scale.     

锁阳膳食纤维的制备及其物理性质

以锁阳为原料,制备锁阳膳食纤维。锁阳粉碎成黄豆大小颗粒,由体积分数95%乙醇提取去除脂溶性物质,残渣分别由半胱氨酸加维生素C水溶液或纯水在60℃下浸泡提取48h,清洗残渣、烘干粉碎过40目筛,测定制得的两种膳食纤维的物理特性。半胱氨酸酸溶液处理的膳食纤维其持水性为9.20g/g、溶胀性为7.5mL/g,水处理的膳食纤维这两种性质分别是5.83g/g和4.4mL/g;半胱氨酸酸溶液处理后所得膳食纤维的明显质量优于水处理所得膳食纤维。半胱氨酸酸溶液可将大分子缩合鞣质降解为可溶性的小分子,在水洗过程中被除去,得到更纯的膳食纤维。