Analysis of Correlation between Concentration of Atmospheric Particulates and Humidity Based on the Aerodynamic Particle Sizer

The TSI-3321 APS was used to measure concentration of atmospheric particulates in Ranjiaba region of Yubei District in Chongqing City during March 21- 29,2014,and the temporal variations in the hourly average mass and number concentration and median particle diameter of PM10 and PM2.5 as well as their correlation with relative humidity were analyzed. The results showed that the three indicators of PM10 and PM2.5 except for the mass concentration correlated with relative humidity,of which the correlation between the mass median particle diameter and relative humidity was the best. The correlation coefficient R^2 between the mass median particle diameter of PM10（ PM2.5） and relative humidity was up to 0. 943（ 0. 832）. Therefore,relative humidity and pressure are key impact factors of indicators of particles.

Semen analysis and sperm function testing

Despite controversy regarding the clinical value of semen analysis, male fertility investigation still relies on a standardized analysis of the semen parameters. This is especially true for infertility clinics in both developing and developed countries. Other optional tests or sophisticated technologies have not been widely applied. The current review addresses important changes in the analysis of semen as described in the new World Health Organization （WHO） manual for semen analysis. The most important change in the manual is the use of evidence-based publications as references to determine cutoff values for normality. Apart from the above mentioned changes, the initial evaluation and handling methods remain, in most instances, the same as in previous editions. Furthermore, the review evaluates the importance of quality control in andrology with emphasis on the evaluation of sperm morphology. WHO sperm morphology training programmes for Sub-Saharan countries were initiated at Tygerberg Hospital in 1995. The external qualitY control programme has ensured that the majority of participants have maintained their morphological reading skills acquired during initial training. This review reports on current sperm functional tests, such as the induced acrosome reaction, and sperm-zona pellucida binding assays, as well as the impact of sperm quality in terms of DNA integrity, and the relationship of sperm function tests to sperm morphology.

Surrogate potency assays:Comparison of binding profiles complements dose response curves for unambiguous assessment of relative potencies

Surface plasmon resonance(SPR) systems are widely used for detailed characterization of antibody activities including antigen and Fc-receptor binding. During the later stages of development, where the focus is to ensure that established critical quality attributes(CQAs) are maintained during cell culture,purification and formulation processes, analysis is simplified, and relative potencies are often determined. Here, simulation of binding data revealed that relative potency values, determined via parallel line analysis(PLA) and half maximal effective concentration(EC50) analysis accurately reflect changes in active concentration only if binding kinetics remain unchanged. Changes in the association rate constant shifted dose response curves, and therefore relative potencies, in the same way as changes in analyte concentration do. However, for interactions characterized by stable binding, changes in the dissociation rate constant did not result in any shift, suggesting that this type of change may go unnoticed in the dose response curve. Thus, EC50 and PLA analyses of dose response curves obtained with an anti-TNF-α antibody were complemented with the Biacore functionality for sensorgram comparison analysis, whereby changes in antigen and Fc-receptor binding profiles could be detected. Next, analysis of temperature stressed TNF-α antibody revealed that calibration free concentration analysis(CFCA) data correlated perfectly with relative potency values. Together, these results demonstrate that combinations of SPR based dose response curves, sensorgram comparison and CFCA can be used to strengthen the confidence in relative potency assessments, and suggest that SPR can potentially be used as a surrogate potency assay in the quality control of biotherapeutic medicines.

ANALYSIS OF THE CHAOTIC DYNAMICS OF A HIGH-FLUX CFB RISER USING SOLIDS CONCENTRATION MEASUREMENTS

A high-flux circulating fluidized bed （CFB） riser （0.076-m I.D. and 10-m high） was operated in a wide range of operating conditions to study its chaotic dynamics, using FCC catalyst particles （dp= 67μm, ρp = 1500 kg·m^-3）. Local solids concentration fluctuations measured using a reflective-type fiber optic probe were processed to determine chaotic invariants （Kolmogorov entropy and correlation dimension）, Radial and axial profiles of the chaotic invariants at different operating conditions show that the core region exhibits higher values of the chaotic invariants than the wall region. Both invariants vary strongly with local mean solids concentration. The transition section of the riser exhibits more complex dynamics while the bottom and top sections exhibit a more uniform macroscopic and less-complex microscopic flow structure. Increasing gas velocity leads to more complex and less predictable solids concentration fluctuations, while increasing solids flux generally lowers complexity and increases predictability. Very high solids flux, however, was observed to increase the entropy.

Prediction of effluent concentration in a wastewater treatment plant using machine learning models

Of growing amount of food waste, the integrated food waste and waste water treatment was regarded as one of the efficient modeling method. However, the load of food waste to the conventional waste treatment process might lead to the high concentration of total nitrogen（T-N） impact on the effluent water quality. The objective of this study is to establish two machine learning models-artificial neural networks（ANNs） and support vector machines（SVMs）, in order to predict 1-day interval T-N concentration of effluent from a wastewater treatment plant in Ulsan, Korea. Daily water quality data and meteorological data were used and the performance of both models was evaluated in terms of the coefficient of determination（R^2）, Nash-Sutcliff efficiency（NSE）, relative efficiency criteria（d rel）. Additionally, Latin-Hypercube one-factor-at-a-time（LH-OAT） and a pattern search algorithm were applied to sensitivity analysis and model parameter optimization, respectively. Results showed that both models could be effectively applied to the 1-day interval prediction of T-N concentration of effluent. SVM model showed a higher prediction accuracy in the training stage and similar result in the validation stage.However, the sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the ANN model was a superior model for 1-day interval T-N concentration prediction in terms of the cause-and-effect relationship between T-N concentration and modeling input values to integrated food waste and waste water treatment. This study suggested the efficient and robust nonlinear time-series modeling method for an early prediction of the water quality of integrated food waste and waste water treatment process.

Investigation of radionuclide～(63)Ni(Ⅱ) sequestration mechanisms on mordenite by batch and EXAFS spectroscopy study

The sorption behavior and microscopic sequestration mechanisms of radionuclide 63Ni（II） on mordenite as a function of aging time, ionic srength, initial 63Ni（II） concentrations, solid content and coexistent electrolyte ions were investigated by the combination of batch and EXAFS techniques. Macroscopic experiment results show that the sorption of 63Ni（II） is dependent on ionic strength at pH〈7, and independent of ionic strength at pH〉7. The sorption percentage of 63Ni（II） on mordenite increases with increasing solid content, while the sorption capacity decreases as solid content increases. The presence of different electrolyte ions can enhance or inhibit the sorption of Ni（II） on mordenite in various degrees. EXAFS analysis results of the sam- ples under three different ionic strengths suggest that the retained 63Ni（II） in these samples exists in an octahedral environment with six water ligands. In the initial period of rapid uptake, the sorption of 63Ni（II） is dominated by the formation of innersphere surface complexes. As aging time increases, 63Ni（II） sequestration behavior tends to be mainly controlled by the formation of Ni phyllosilicate coprecipitates and/or Ni（OH）2（s） precipitates. Results for the second shell fit of the sample prepared at an initial 63Ni（II） concentration of 100 mg/L indicate the possible formation of Ni polynuclear surface complexes. Both the macroscopic sorption data and the molecular level evidence of 63Ni（II） surface speciation at the mordenite/water interfaces should be factored into better predictions of the mobility and bioavailability of 63Ni（II） in environment mediums.

Characterization of particulate matter from diesel passenger cars tested on chassis dynamometers

Emission characterization of particle number as well as particle mass from three diesel passenger cars equipped with diesel particulate filter（DPF）, diesel oxidation catalyst（DOC）and exhaust gas recirculation（EGR） under the vehicle driving cycles and regulatory cycle.Total particle number emissions（PNEs） decreased gradually during speed-up of vehicle from 17.3 to 97.3 km/hr. As the average vehicle speed increases, the size-segregated peak of particle number concentration shifts to smaller size ranges of particles. The correlation analysis with various particulate components such as particle number concentration（PNC）,ultrafine particle number concentration（UFPNC） and particulate matter（PM） mass was conducted to compare gaseous compounds（CO, CO2, HC and NOx）. The UFPNC and PM were not only emitted highly in Seoul during severe traffic jam conditions, but also have good correlation with hydrocarbons and NOxinfluencing high potential on secondary aerosol generation. The effect of the dilution temperature on total PNC under the New European Driving Cycle（NEDC）, was slightly higher than the dilution ratio. In addition, the nuclei mode（DP： ≤ 13 nm） was confirmed to be more sensitive to the dilution temperature rather than other particle size ranges. Comparison with particle composition between vehicle speed cycles and regulatory cycle showed that sulfate was slightly increased at regulatory cycle, while other components were relatively similar. During cold start test, semivolatile nucleation particles were increased due to effect of cold environment. Research on particle formation dependent on dilution conditions of diesel passenger cars under the NEDC is important to verify impact on vehicular traffic and secondary aerosol formation in Seoul.