Catalytic oxidation of phenol in wastewater-A new application of the amorphous Fe78Si9B13 alloy

The amorphous Fe78Si9B13 alloy was used as a heterogeneous Fenton catalyst in the process of phenol degradation.The influences of main operating parameters such as reaction temperature,catalyst amount,hydrogen peroxide dosage and initial pH of solution on phenol degradation rate were investigated.The maximum mineralization of phenol was achieved at 60°C,6 g/L Fe78Si9B13, 0.31 mol/L hydrogen peroxide,with an initial pH of 2.5.More than 99%of phenol was completely removed under the optimum conditions within 10 min for a solution containing 1000 mg/L of phenol.Batch experiments for solutions containing phenol con- centrations ranging from 50 to 2000 mg/L were investigated under the above conditions and the same excellent degradation rate was obtained.The Fe78Si9B13 showed better catalytic activity than iron powder and Fe 2+ .Addition of n-butannol(hydroxyl radical scavenger)decreased the degradation rate of phenol,which demonstrates that hydroxyl radicals were mainly responsible for the removal of phenol.We demonstrated that phenol may be degraded by hydroxyl radicals decomposed by hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Fe78Si9B13 and illustrated the reaction mechanism for this process.This amorphous alloy exhibited high stability in recycling experiments and showed excellent reuse performance even after continuous operations of 8 cycles.     

Knockdown of <Emphasis Type="Italic">MRP4</Emphasis> by lentivirus-mediated siRNA improves sensitivity to adriamycin in adriamycin-resistant acute myeloid leukemia cells

Chemotherapy remains the standard treatment for acute myeloid leukemia;however,the emergence of drug resistance is a major hurdle in the successful treatment of leukemia.The expression of multidrug resistance-associated protein 4(MRP4)induces re- sistance in the adriamycin-resistant acute myeloid leukemia cell line,K562/ADR.The aim of this study was to investigate whether knockdown of MRP4 by lentivirus-mediated siRNA could improve the sensitivity of K562/ADR cells to adriamycin.Five lenti- virus-mediated short hairpin RNAs(lv-shRNAs-MRP4)were designed to trigger the gene silencing RNA interference(RNAi) pathway.The efficiency of lentivirus-mediated siRNA infection into K562/ADR cells was determined using fluorescence mi- croscopy to observe lentivirus-mediated GFP expression.MRP4 expression in infected K562/ADR cells was evaluated by real- time PCR and Western blot analysis.The MTS assay was used to measure cell viability and flow cytometry was used to measure apoptosis.The transfection efficiency of K562/ADR cells was over 80 percent.The gene silencing efficacy of lv-shRNA1-MRP4 was superior to the other constructs.Infection of K562/ADR cells with lv-shRNA1-MRP4 led to strong inhibition of MRP4 mRNA and protein expression.Combined treatment with lv-shRNA1-MRP4 and adriamycin decreased cell growth and increased apoptosis compared to treatment with lv-shRNA1-MRP4 or adriamycin alone.These data indicate that in K562/ADR cells MRP4 is involved in drug resistance mechanisms and that lentivirus-mediated knockdown of MRP4 may enhance sensitivity to adriamycin.     

Changes in the power spectrum of electrical signals in maize leaf induced by osmotic stress

To quantify the characteristics of the power spectrum of plant electrical signals, we defined the following concepts:spectral edge frequency (SEF), spectral center frequency (SCF), power index (PI) and power spectral entropy (PSE). These parameters were used to examine and quantify changes in the power spectrum of electrical signals in maize leaves under osmotic stress. In the absence of osmotic stress, the SEF of the electrical signal in maize leaves was approx. 0.2 Hz and the SCF was approx. 0.1 Hz. The electrical signal in maize leaves was mainly a slow wave signal with a frequency of 0-0.1 Hz. After 2 h osmotic stress, the SEF and SCF of the electrical signal increased to higher frequencies. The proportion of the fast wave frequency also increased to 0.1-0.2 Hz, resulting in a dramatic increase in PSE. We also found that the changes in PSE and SCF were significantly correlated during osmotic stress. We propose that the changes in the PSE and SCF in maize leaves can be used as a sensitive signal indicating water deficit in leaf cells under osmotic stress. Thus, measurement of SCF or PSE of electrical signals in maize leaves could be used to develop early warning and rapid diagnosis techniques for the water demands of plants.     

AN EXTENSION OF TOPSIS FOR FUZZY MCDM BASED ON VAGUE SET THEORY

1.Introduction The multicriteria decision-making problem(Kickert1978)is a kind of problem that all the alternatives in the choice set can be evaluated according to a number of criteria.A MCDM problem can be concisely expressed in matrix format as C1C2C n11112122122212nnm m m mnA x x xMA x x xA x x x=W={w1,w2,,wn}where A1,A2,,Am are possible alternatives among which decision-makers have to choose,C1,C2,,C n are the criteria with which alternative performance are measured,xi j is the rati…     

VIEWING URBAN DISRUPTIONS FROM A DECISION INFORMATICS PERSPECTIVE

1. Introduction Urban infrastructures are the focus of terrorist acts because, quite simply, they produce the most visible impact, if not casualties. From the September 11, 2001 (i.e., “9/11”) attack on New York City’s World Trade Center to the more recent March 11, 2004, attack on Madrid’s commuter trains, it is obvious that urban centers are indeed vulnerable to such hideous acts. A systemic or holistic approach to securing the infrastructure systems that underpin an urban center isr…     

MODELING COMMERCIAL PROCESSES AND CUSTOMER BEHAVIORS TO ESTIMATE THE DIFFUSION RATE OF NEW PRODUCTS

1. Introduction In his famous seminal book (Rogers 1962), Rogers introduced and popularized a generic framework for analyzing and describing how the mechanism of diffusion of innovations works inside a given population. In this general approach, “innovation” can of course be understood in a large way: it may indeed referto various contexts such as the learning of a new practice, the use of a new tool, the launch of a new product, etc. The strength of Rogers' point of view comes from the fac…     

AGENT-BASED SIMULATION FOR KANSEI ENGINEERING： TESTING A FUZZY LINEAR QUANTIFICATION METHOD IN AN ARTIFICIAL WORLD

This paper argues that agent-based simulation can be used as a way for testing Kansei Engineering methods which deal with the human reaction from sensory to mental state, that is, sensitivity, sense, sensibility, feeling, esthetics, emotion affection and intuition. A new fuzzy linear quantification method is tested in an artificial world by agent-based modeling and simulations, and the performance of the fuzzy linear method is compared with that of a genetic algorithm. The simulations can expand people＇s imagination and enhance people＇s intuition that the new fuzzy linear quantification method is effective.     

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND VENDOR SUPPORT QUALITY BY THE USAGE OF APPLICATION SOFTWARE PACKAGES： A STUDY OF ASIAN ENTREPRENEURS

In this paper we study how organizational learning impacts organizational behavior, and howvendor support quality enhances product adoption and usage behavior.These constructs were verifiedusing Application Software Packages(ASP)-a prewritten, precoded, commercially available set ofprograms that eliminates the need for individuals or organizations to write their own softwareprograms for certain functions. The relationship between ASP usage, usage outcomes and useprocesses were also investigated. Two hundred and ninety-five Chinese, Indian, and Malayentrepreneurships were studied. It was found that usage outcome strongly determines usage, while useprocess has only an indirect relationship (via outcome) on usage. The impact of organizational learningand vendor service quality on usage, usage outcome, and use process were robust. Theoretical andpractical implications of the research are discussed.     

An Improved Underwater Confrontation Simulation Method of Naval Amphibious Operational Training System

This paper described an improved underwater confrontation simulation method of naval amphibious operational training system. The initial position of submarine forces on the enemy is generated automatically, and the attacking distance model of torpedoes is established based on the kinematics theory, which is more flexible and reasonable to judge the launch condition compared to traditional method. The two kinds of confrontation behavior models on the enemy submarine are created to depict its tactical action from the defensive to the offensive as well as the contrary, ensuring that operational style is simulated more comprehensively and properly. The existing motion trajectory estimation and collision detection algorithms on operational platforms are also improved to reduce the iteration error and further enhance the detection accuracy of target hit.