Efficiency and efficacy of pre-treatment and bioreaction for bio-H2 energy production from organic waste

Two energy conversion parameters that are able to evaluate and score the pre-treatments and biohydrogen conversion processes of organic waste refuses have been introduced and applied using original experimental data. The parameters can be considered a suitable tool to score and select processes using rich lignocelluloses materials. The first efficiency (ξ) takes into account the quantity of energy that the process is able to extract as hydrogen, compared to the available amount of energy embedded in the refuse; the second efficacy (η) compares the energy conversion efficiency of the bioprocess using the refuse with the same energy conversion parameter obtained using glucose as a lignin-cellulose free substrate. Both the efficiency and efficacy have been applied in several experimental tests carried out with different kinds of experimental apparatus: an Erlenmeyer flask and bench bioreactor (2 L stirred-batch reactor STR), using mechanical (kitchen blade mixer) and chemical (HCl or NaOH for 24 h at 30 °C) pre-treated Organic Waste Market (OWM) refuse. The alkaline pre-treatment is the most efficient. A comparison of OWM efficiency with that of a glucose test under the same bench bioreactor experimental conditions, shows that the efficacy of energy production is 45%, which is equivalent to 7.3 L H2/kg as the gross material i.e. at its original undiluted strength. The paper shows that the two parameters are able to quantify the efficacy of energy production of such a bioprocess, including the pretreatment, using lignin-cellulose refuses, and to score different processes against glucose.     

甘蔗除草剂的更新

由于阿特拉津的除草效果正在逐年下降，因此必须更新甘蔗的除草剂。     

Selecting Serious or Satirical,Supporting or Stirring News? Selective Exposure to Partisan versus Mockery News Online Videos

The present investigation combines cognitive dissonance theory with entertainment-education frameworks to study selection and effects of news. Selective exposure to satirical and partisan news was examined with online clips to test hypotheses on overcoming resistance to persuasive messages. An experiment (n = 146) presented news choices, varied in stance (conservative vs. liberal) and format (serious partisan news vs. satirical news). Results show political interest fosters selection of serious partisan news. Clips with partisan alignment were more frequently selected; only for the satirical news clips, Democrats did not exhibit such confirmation bias. Selecting satirical news affected internal political efficacy, and selecting online news clips induced attitude reinforcement according to message stance.     

Insecticidal potential of a synthetic zeolite against the cowpea weevil,Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

The insecticidal potential of a synthetic zeolite was evaluated against the cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius). The synthetic zeolite was applied to concrete surfaces at 0, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 g/m², and the mortality of adults was assessed after 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 72 h at 28 °C and 65% r.h. The residual efficacy of zeolite applied at 5 g/m² was evaluated on concrete surfaces at 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 months post-treatment. Adults of C. maculatus were exposed to cowpeas treated with zeolite at 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/kg. The number of eggs deposited on cowpea kernels and their hatchability were determined after 7 and 14 d, respectively. The cumulative adult mortality was recorded after 1, 2, 3, and 4 d, and adult progeny production after 42 d. The residual efficacy of zeolite on cowpeas was tested at 0, 1, 2 and 3 months after treatment. On concrete, zeolite applied at ≥ 5 g/m² resulted in 100% mortality of C. maculatus adults after 24–72 h of exposure. Zeolite at 5 g/m² exhibited high residual efficacy with 100% mortality of C. maculatus adults after 36 h exposure on treated surfaces for up to 4 months. The mortality of C. maculatus adults exposed to zeolite-treated cowpeas increased with increasing concentration and exposure time. The number of eggs laid by C. maculatus, number of kernels with eggs, and adult progeny production decreased with increasing zeolite concentration. Zeolite applied to cowpeas at 1 g/kg produced 100, 99 and 77% adult mortality at 1, 2, and 3 months post-treatment. Progeny production on zeolite-treated cowpeas was significantly lower than that on untreated cowpeas. These results show that the synthetic zeolite is effective on concrete surfaces and on cowpeas in controlling C. maculatus.     

溴甲烷防除烟草苗床杂草研究

作者在云南省12个县（市），进行溴甲烷熏蒸烟草苗床防除杂草试验，结果表明：在烟草出苗前和出苗期，各处理对单、双子叶杂草防效分别为100％，94.7％～97.4％。在烟苗小十字期和五真时期，40～80g／m~2剂量对单、双子叶杂草防效分别为93.0％～96.8％、91.3％～94.3％；20g／m~2剂量对单、双子叶杂草防效较低，分别为86.8％～87.8％、81.5％～89.1％。各处理对烟草种子及烟苗安全，能间接促进烟草生长，处理区烟苗茎叶粗大，根系发达，烟苗单株茎叶鲜、干重分别比对照增1.27～1.375g、0.1～0.105g，侧根数比对照增10.4～14.7条，根鲜、干重分别比对照增0.038～0.071g、0.0083～0.01g，第五真叶长×宽比对照增1.l～2.3×1.8～1.9cm。认为40～60g/m~2剂量处理有效合理。     

新型环保缓释杀虫颗粒剂对甘蔗害虫的田间药效试验

本研究以常规5%杀单·毒死蜱颗粒剂及3%呋喃丹颗粒剂为对照药剂,进行新型环保5%杀单·毒死蜱缓释颗粒剂对甘蔗害虫田间防治效果试验。结果显示新型环保5%杀单·毒死蜱缓释颗粒剂对甘蔗螟虫、绵蚜、蓟马、金龟子具有较好的防治效果,持效期长达4~5个月,且药效优于常规颗粒剂农药;于甘蔗下种及大培土时各施药1次,能持续有效地控制甘蔗整个生产阶段的害虫,且对作物及环境安全环保,可作为常规吸附包衣生产的颗粒剂农药的替代品。     

中西医结合治疗不孕不育78例临床探讨

目的探讨中西医结合治疗不孕不育的病因及临床疗效情况。方法将78例随机平均分为治疗组(中西医结合治疗组)和对照组(单纯西医治疗组)各39例,对照组采用西药阿司匹林、克罗米芬、绒毛膜促性腺激素治疗;治疗组在对照组治疗的基础上加用中医中药治疗。结果治疗组(中西医结合治疗组)与对照组(单纯西医治疗组)总有效率比较,差异有显著意义(P<0.05)。男性不育患者发病的主要原因为精液异常,占61.5%;女性不孕症的病因主要为输卵管炎,占35.9%。结论中西医结合治疗不孕不育的总有效率比较高,疗效是肯定的。     

Up-and-Down Designs for Selecting the Dose with Maximum Success Probability

Abstract

Assume that the probability of success is unimodal as a function of dose, such as may be the case when too much of a drug is toxic and too little is ineffective. We characterize a class of up-and-down designs, that is, treatment allocation methodologies, for identifying the dose that maximizes the patients' success probability. These designs are constructed to use accruing information to limit the number of patients that are exposed to doses with high probabilities of failure. This treatment allocation procedure is motivated by Kiefer–Wolfowitz's stochastic approximation procedure. However, we take the response to be binary and the possible treatment space to be a lattice. The procedure is shown to allocate treatments to pairs of subjects in a way that causes the treatment distribution to center around the treatment with maximum success probability. The procedure defines a nonhomogeneous random walk, so well-known theory is used to explicitly characterize the treatment distribution. As an estimator of the best dose, the mode of the empirical treatment distribution is shown to converge faster than does the last dose allocated, which is used as an estimator of the optimal dose in stochastic approximation procedures.     

Formulation and efficacy studies of new topical anesthetic creams

Local anesthetics (lidocaine or tetracaine) spontaneously melted at 25°C when mixed with thymol and aqueous isopropyl alcohol solution (IPA) at proper ratios and formed novel two-phase melt systems (TMS). The TMS consisted of a homogeneous oil phase containing primarily a local anesthetic agent (lidocaine or tetracaine) and thymol, and a homogeneous aqueous phase containing primarily IPA and pH 9.2 buffer. The relationship between melting of the solid components and system composition was determined from the phase diagram obtained by a titration method. A select TMS of a local anesthetic agent (lidocaine or tetracaine) was directly emulsified to prepare an O/W cream and tested for the anesthetic efficacy on intact human skin. While both lidocaine (6%) and tetracaine (4%) creams were highly effective for dermal anesthesia with a similar onset time, the tetracaine cream exhibited a significantly longer duration of action than the lidocaine cream. An accelerated stability study indicated that lidocaine was significantly more stable than tetracaine in the creams.     

An Extended Privacy Calculus Model for SNSs: Analyzing Self‐Disclosure and Self‐Withdrawal in a Representative U.S. Sample

The privacy calculus established that online self‐disclosures are based on a cost‐benefit tradeoff. For the context of SNSs, however, the privacy calculus still needs further support as most studies consist of small student samples and analyze self‐disclosure only, excluding self‐withdrawal (e.g., the deletion of posts), which is essential in SNS contexts. Thus, this study used a U.S. representative sample to test the privacy calculus' generalizability and extend its theoretical framework by including both self‐withdrawal behaviors and privacy self‐efficacy. Results confirmed the extended privacy calculus model. Moreover, both privacy concerns and privacy self‐efficacy positively predicted use of self‐withdrawal. With regard to predicting self‐disclosure in SNSs, benefits outweighed privacy concerns; regarding self‐withdrawal, privacy concerns outweighed both privacy self‐efficacy and benefits.