Determination of the total concentration and speciation of Al(III) in tea infusions

The aluminium species in different tea infusions were investigated, by determining their stability constants and concentration. This was done for some particular samples using a simple experimental method based on the sorption of aluminium on the strongly sorbing resin Chelex 100, by a batch procedure. From the thermodynamic information obtained it is possible to calculate the concentration of the different species, and in particular that of the free metal ion, which is very important for evaluating the adsorption of aluminium on biological membranes. It was found that aluminium in the tea infusions here considered is present at high total concentration, approximately 0.1 mM, but mainly linked to strong complexes, for instance with side reaction coefficient higher than 10(5.11) at pH 3.95 in one case (tea 1). This could be the reason for the low toxicity of aluminium in tea. These strong complexes were not dissociated even in the presence of Chelex 100. In this case only a limiting value of the reaction coefficient could be evaluated. The presence of the very strong complexes was found in all the tea sample here considered. In two of the considered samples (one black and one green tea) a part of Al(III) was linked to less strong complexes, for example with a reaction coefficient 10(4.14) (tea 2, pH 4.20). The presence in the considered tea infusions of other substances able to complex aluminium was also detected, by the well known ligand titration procedure, at concentration ranging from 0.65 to 3.37 mM in three tea infusions, and at somewhat higher concentration in the case of the ready drink, which was also considered for comparison.     

Self-controlled case series analyses: Small-sample performance

Second-order expressions for the asymptotic bias and variance of the log relative incidence estimator are derived for the self-controlled case series model in a simplified scenario. The dependence of the bias and variance on factors such as the relative incidence and ratio of risk to observation period are studied. Small-sample performance of the estimator in realistic scenarios is investigated using simulations. It is found that, in scenarios likely to arise in practice, asymptotic methods are valid for numbers of cases in excess of 20-50 depending on the ratio of the risk period to the observation period and on the relative incidence. The application of Monte Carlo methods to self-controlled case series analyses is also discussed.     

Modeling and performance analysis of IP access interface in optical transmission networks with packet switching

The article analyzes the influence of the Internet Protocol (IP) access interface on the packet loss probability and delay times in the optical packet switched network. The network and node model have been proposed, and the structure of the IP access interface, including assembler and holder, have been included in the analysis. It has been shown that the increase of the maximum optical packet sizes, as well as use of the holding feature as contention resolution mechanism, decrease the packet loss probability, but introduce delays at the optical network access points. Modeling and analysis were based on the discrete event simulation assuming self-similar traffic sources. IP packet lengths were modeled using empirical data. This work has been conducted while the author was affiliated with the Telecommunication Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL-STI-ITOP-TCOM), Lausanne, Switzerland     

Issues in modelling of advanced heterogeneous ceramics

Summary The conceptual and computational issues regarding the development of models to predict microstructure/mechanical-property relationships in advanced ceramics are discussed. Advanced ceramics provide a particular challenge because their higher toughness or reliability, relative to monolithic ceramics, is a result of stable, distributed damage evolution. Capturing the details of distributed damage at atomistic and microstructural length scales is computationally prohibitive, but only in certain systems does it appear plausible to neglect atomistic and crack-tip details in favor of larger-scale damage propagation and interaction. Examples, mainly from the author's own work, are briefly presented to indicate the range of problems that have been addressed and the relative successes and failures.     

同心球所夹空间电场的电像法求解

采用电像法分析研究了二同心导体球所夹空间的静电场分布。     

AlGaAs／GaAs HBT表面效应的二维数值分析

采用表面效应集总模型综合考虑表面费米能级钉扎和表面复合效应，对ＡｌＧａＡｓ／ＧａＡｓＨＢＴ表面效应的影响进行了二维数值模拟。结果表明，表面态的存在对集电极电流几乎不产生影响，但显著增加基极电流，使得电流增益明显下降。同时还发现在台面结构ＡＩＧａＡｓ／ＧａＡｓＨＢＴ中外基区表面复合的集边效应，即外基区表面复合主要发生在发射极台面与外基区的交界处附近，与外基区长度基本无关。模拟还表明基区缓变结构可以减少表面复合，提高电流增益。     

漳泽水库最优兴利调度研究

漳泽水库供水能力下降。优化调度方式是提高水库效益的最有效途径。通过采用随机动态规划方法与模拟模型交互运算得到现行控制水位的水库优化调度图。采用同样方法对不同控制水位的水库运行方式进行优化调度，选出的规划水库最优控制水位为汛限水位９０４ ．５ ｍ ，正常高水位９０５ ．５ ｍ 。优化的控制水位方案在保障水库防洪安全的前提下可供给城市生活和工业用水６ ３００ 万ｍ３ ，较现行控制水位下的供水量提高１ ２５５ 万ｍ３ 。但农业用水仍然不足，应采取一定措施给予解决，如对灌区工程进行改造，因地制宜采取不同节水措施和污水回用等。     

感应电动机转速对定子电流暂态过程的影响

本文运用根轨迹法，分析了感应电动机转速对定子电流暂态过程的影响。并通过对稳态时定子电流在电压阶跃干扰下的暂太响应分析，验证了结论有效性。     

Activation of action rules in action observation.

Visually perceiving an action may activate corresponding motor programs. This automatic motor activation can occur both for higher level (i.e., the goal of an action) and for lower level (i.e., the specific effector with which it is executed) aspects of an action. The authors used a tool-use action paradigm to experimentally dissociate priming effects for observing the target, the movement, or the target-to-movement mapping of a tool-use action. In 3 experiments, participants took turns in acting, observing the tool-use action of another person in trial n-1, and executing an action in trial n. Trial transitions from n-1 to n were manipulated in 4 conditions with (a) mapping repeated and movement and target changed, (b) target repeated and movement and mapping changed, (c) movement repeated and target and mapping changed, or (d) all components repeated. Results indicate priming effects for repeating the target-to-movement mapping (i.e., the action rule) of a tool-use action and suggest that a rather abstract action schema is activated during action observation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The determinants of heat-shock element-directed lacZ expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Heat-shock induction of heat-shock protein genes is due to a specific promoter element (the heat-shock element, HSE). This study used lacZ under HSE control (HSE-lacZ) to characterize HSE activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells of different physiological states and differing genetic backgrounds. In batch fermentations HSE-lacZ induction by heat shock was maximal in exponential growth, and showed marked decline with the approach to stationary phase. Expression in the absence of heat shock was unaffected by growth phase, indicating that the growth-dependent expression of many yeast heat-shock genes uses promoter elements in addition to the HSE. Heat-induced expression was strongly influenced by the temperature at which cultures were grown. While basal, uninduced expression was constant during growth at different temperatures to 30 degrees C, induction by transfer to 39 degrees C was reduced by increases in growth temperature as low as 18-24 degrees C. Maximal HSE-lacZ induction (30- to 50-fold) was in cultures grown at low temperatures (18-24 degrees C), then heat shocked at 39 degrees C. Ethanol was a poor inducer. Mutations having little effect on HSE-lacZ expression included a respiratory petite; ubi4 (which inactivates the poly-ubiquitin gene); also ubc4 and ubc5 (which each inactivate one of the ubiquitin ligases involved in degradation of aberrant protein). pep4-3 increased both basal and induced beta-galactosidase about two-fold, probably because of slower turnover of this enzyme in pep4-3 strains.