Effects of Eriobotrya japonica (Lindl.) flower extracts on mercuric chloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

Mercury(II) is an important factor in hepatotoxicity that can enter the body through marine diets and amalgams.In the present study,the protective effect of the Eriobotrya japonica flower extract(EJFE) on HgCl 2-induced hepatotoxicity was investigated.Five mg/kg of mercuric chloride in drinking water was given to rats either with saline or EJFE(100 and 200 mg/kg as intraperitoneal(IP)) for 30 d.The mercury levels in different groups of liver tissues of the rats were measured with flameless atomic absorption spectroscopy(F-AAS).Also,mercury accumulation in the liver of the rats was modeled by using a parallel chemical kinetic model.The results showed that HgCl 2-induced oxidative damage led to a significant decrease in glutathione(GSH) and the total antioxidant capacity(TAC) levels,and to a significant increase in lipid peroxidation level.Accumulated mercury was 14.47% more in the livers of the stress groups than in those of the control groups(P<0.001),whereas the amount of Hg was adjusted to 13.49% and 13.93% in groups treated with 100 and 200 mg/kg of EJFE respectively,as compared with stress groups(P<0.001).HPLC analysis of EJFE revealed that hesperetin and gallic acid are the major antioxidants in EJFE.Results demonstrate that flowers of the Eriobotrya japonica cause a significant protection against HgCl 2 induced hepatotoxicity in all diagnostic parameters by strengthening the antioxidant defense mechanisms and they may have a therapeutic function in free radical mediated diseases.     

Weldability and liquation cracking behavior of ZhS6U superalloy during electron-beam welding

The weldability of the ZhS6U nickel-based superalloy, which is prone to solidification cracking during electron-beam welding(EBW) repair processes, was investigated. The effects of two different pre-weld heat-treatment cycles on the final microstructure before and after welding were examined. Welds were made on flat coupons using an EBW machine, and the two heat-treatment cycles were designed to reduce γ′ liquation before welding. Microstructural features were also examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the change in the morphology and size of the γ′ precipitates in the pre-weld heat-treatment cycles changed the ability of the superalloy to release the tensile stresses caused by the matrix phase cooling after EBW. The high hardness in the welded coupons subjected to the first heat-treatment cycle resulted in greater resistance to stress release by the base alloy, and the concentration of stress in the base metal caused liquation cracks in the heat-affected zone and solidification cracks in the weld area.     

An analysis of medieval solar theories

Archive for History of Exact Sciences - From Antiquity through the early modern period, the apparent motion of the Sun in longitude was simulated by the eccentric model set forth in Ptolemy’s...     

Effect of SrCO<Subscript>3</Subscript> addition on the dynamic compressive strength of ZTA

Ceramic parts usually experience dynamic load in armor applications. Therefore, studying the dynamic behaviors of ceramics is important. Limited data are available on the dynamic behaviors of ceramics; thus, it is helpful to predict the dynamic strength of ceramics on the basis of their mechanical properties. In this paper, the addition of SrCO₃ into zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) was demonstrated to improve the fracture toughness of ZTA due to the formation of the SrAl₁₂O₁₉ (SA6) phase. The porosity of ZTA was found to be increased by the addition of SrCO₃. These newly formed pores served as the nucleation sites of cracks under dynamic load; these cracks eventually coalesced to form damaged zones in the samples. Although the K IC values of the samples were improved, the dynamic strength was not enhanced because of the increase in porosity; in fact, the dynamic strength of ZTA ceramics decreased with the addition of SrCO₃.     

Performance of GARCH models in forecasting stock market volatility

This paper studies the performance of GARCH model and its modifications, using the rate of returns from the daily stock market indices of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) including Composite Index, Tins Index, Plantations Index, Properties Index, and Finance Index. The models are stationary GARCH, unconstrained GARCH, non‐negative GARCH, GARCH‐M, exponential GARCH and integrated GARCH. The parameters of these models and variance processes are estimated jointly using the maximum likelihood method. The performance of the within‐sample estimation is diagnosed using several goodness‐of‐fit statistics. We observed that, among the models, even though exponential GARCH is not the best model in the goodness‐of‐fit statistics, it performs best in describing the often‐observed skewness in stock market indices and in out‐of‐sample (one‐step‐ahead) forecasting. The integrated GARCH, on the other hand, is the poorest model in both respects. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparing two clustering-based techniques to track mobile nodes in industrial wireless sensor networks

Tracking mobile nodes in dynamic and noisy conditions of industrial environments has provided a paradigm for many issues inherent in the area of distributed control systems in general and wireless sensor networks in particular. Due to the dynamic nature of the industrial environments, a practical tracking system is required that is adaptable to the changes in the environment. More specifically, given the limited resources of wireless nodes and the challenges created by harsh industrial environments there is a need for a technique that can modify the configuration of the system on the fly as new wireless nodes are added to the network and obsolete ones are removed. To address these issues, two cluster-based tracking systems, one static and the other dynamic, are proposed to organize the overall network field into a set of tracking zones, each composed of a sink node and a set of corresponding anchor nodes. To manage the wireless nodes activities and inter and intra cluster communications, an agent-based technique is employed. To compare the architectures, we report on a set of experiments performed in JADE (Java Agent Development Environment). In these experiments, we compare two agent-based approaches (dynamic and static) for managing clusters of wireless sensor nodes in a distributed tracking system. The experimental results corroborate the efficiency of the static clusters versus the robustness and effectiveness of the dynamic clusters.     

Extraction and characterization of alumina nanopowders from aluminum dross by acid dissolution process

A significant amount of aluminum dross is available as a waste in foundry industries in Bangladesh. In this study, alumina was extracted from aluminum dross collected from two foundry industries situated in Dhamrai and Manikgang, near the capital city, Dhaka. Aluminum dross samples were found to approximately contain 75wt% Al₂O₃ and 12wt% SiO₂. An acid dissolution process was used to recover the alumina value from the dross. The effects of various parameters, e.g., temperature, acid concentration, and leaching time, on the extraction of alumina were studied to optimize the dissolution process. First, Al(OH)₃ was produced in the form of a gel. Calcination of the Al(OH)₃ gel at 1000℃, 1200℃, and 1400℃ for 2 h produced θ-Al₂O₃, (α+θ)-Al₂O₃, and α-alumina powder, respectively. Thermal characterization of the Al(OH)₃ gel was performed by thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The phases and crystallite size of the alumina were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The dimensions of the alumina were found to be on the nano level. The chemical compositions of the aluminum dross and alumina were determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. The microstructure and morphology of the alumina were studied with scanning electron microscopy. The purity of the alumina extracted in this study was found to be 99.0%. Thus, it is expected that the obtained alumina powders can be potentially utilized as biomaterials.     

Modeling the effects of ore properties on water recovery in the thickening process

A better understanding of solid-liquid separation would assist in improving the thickening performance and perhaps water recovery as well. The present work aimed to develop an empirical model to study the effects of ore properties on the thickening process based on pilot tests using a column. A hydro-cyclone was used to prepare the required samples for the experiments. The model significantly predicted the experimental underflow solid content using a regression equation at a given solid flux and bed level for different samples, indicating that ore properties are the effective parameters in the thickening process. This work confirmed that the water recovery would be increased about 5% by separating the feed into two parts, overflow and underflow, and introducing two different thickeners into them separately. This is duo to the fact that thickeners are limited by permeability and compressibility in operating conditions.