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.     

十氢十硼酸双四乙基铵/纳米铝复合物的制备及其性能

为了改善硼氢燃料的能量输出特性,提高其作为推进剂及火炸药添加剂的燃烧效率,使用溶剂-非溶剂法制备了十氢十硼酸双四乙基铵/纳米铝含能复合物,并对其表面形貌、比表面积、热性能及气体分解产物进行了研究。结果表明,使用溶剂-非溶剂方法可制备具有良好分散性的十氢十硼酸双四乙基铵/纳米铝复合物,并能极大的减少纳米铝的团聚。复合物的比表面积为7. 06 m~2/g,远大于混合物的0. 20 m~2/g。BHN-10/纳米铝复合物在分解过程中可形成一种熔融分解型的中间产物,分解过程分为两个阶段,两阶段的分解温度分别为285. 1℃和304. 4℃,在形成BHN-10/纳米铝复合物后分解温度提前,第一分解放热峰提前到262. 0℃,第二分解放热峰提前到298. 8℃。分解气体产物主要为乙烯、乙烷、氨气和氢气等具有高热值的可燃性小分子气体。     

几个扩展基础上的载荷试验及其蠕变行为研究

应用一个新的模型分析了几个扩展基础载荷试验,着重揭示前人无法解释的土体的蠕变行为。发现:使用的模型能够表征扩展基础载荷试验下土体的蠕变行为,且经模型变换后的应变时间曲线在双对数轴上是一条直线,其斜率为模型的指数n值,且n的取值与模型的参考量无关;载荷试验下土体蠕变行为的原始数据受到木制反力梁的自重蠕变、卸载-再加载、不等的蠕变观察时间等三个因素的干扰,当剔除这些干扰后得到的n值荷载水平曲线,显示n值与应力水平无关,n可以被看作表征土体的蠕变特性的一个指标。     

Lithium isotope evidence for subduction-enriched mantle in the source of mid-ocean-ridge basalts

'Recycled' crustal materials, returned from the Earth's surface to the mantle by subduction, have long been invoked to explain compositional heterogeneity in the upper mantle. Yet increasingly, problems have been noted with this model. The debate can be definitively addressed using stable isotope ratios, which should only significantly vary in primitive, mantle-derived materials as a consequence of recycling. Here we present data showing a notable range in lithium isotope ratios in basalts from the East Pacific Rise, which correlate with traditional indices of mantle heterogeneity (for example, 143Nd/144Nd ratios). Such co-variations of stable and radiogenic isotopes in melts from a normal ridge segment provide critical evidence for the importance of recycled material in generating chemical heterogeneity in the upper mantle. Contrary to many models, however, the elevated lithium isotope ratios of the 'enriched' East Pacific Rise lavas imply that subducted ocean crust is not the agent of enrichment. Instead, we suggest that fluid-modified mantle, which is enriched during residency in a subduction zone, is mixed back into the upper mantle to cause compositional variability.     

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.