Surface textures had long been recognized as primary factors to provide the skid resistance on pavements; however, no measurement of skid resistance on pervious concrete pavement with various surface texture parameter...Surface textures had long been recognized as primary factors to provide the skid resistance on pavements; however, no measurement of skid resistance on pervious concrete pavement with various surface texture parameters had been made. Fractal geometry was introduced in the present work to accurately simulate transect contour curves of pervious concrete specimens through fractal interpolation. It is proved that its fractal dimension (D) can be adopted to measure the skid resistance on pervious concrete pavement, overcoming the shortcomings of both macrotexture depth (DT ) and British portable pendulum number (NBP). Combined with Fujikawa-Koike tire/road contact model, the optimization method of all surface textures was recommended for designing and constructing excellently skid-resistant and noise-absorptive pervious concrete pavement. In addition, evaluating of the abrasion process and attenuation of the surface textures on concrete pavement slabs was also the focus of this work based on accelerated abrasion test. Results show that the surface textures on pervious concrete pavement slabs is extremely durable, compared to those on conventional grooved or exposed aggregate concrete pavement slabs.展开更多
Hydroxyethyl chitosan （HE-chitosan） is a water-soluble derivative of chitosan with many apparent biological properties. For example, it is non-toxic and rapidly biodegradable. Moreover, HE-chitosan has advantages in...Hydroxyethyl chitosan （HE-chitosan） is a water-soluble derivative of chitosan with many apparent biological properties. For example, it is non-toxic and rapidly biodegradable. Moreover, HE-chitosan has advantages in water-solubility, moisture retention and gelling property due to its hydroxyethyl group. However, the biocompatibility and biodegradability of this multifimctional de- rivative have rarely been documented although they are critical for its application in biomedical and clinical treatments. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the biosafety of HE-chitosan, and draw important clues for its diverse applications. HE-chitosan was synthesized and characterized its chemical structure with FTIR. Its molecular weight （Mw） was determined by gel permeation chro- matography （GPC）, and its deacetylation degree （DD） was investigated through potentiometric analysis. The cytotoxicity of HE-chitosan on mouse fibroblast cell L929 was tested. The biocompatibility and biodegradability of HE-chitosan in rat and rabbit were evaluated. The FTIR results indicated that the hydroxyethyl groups were linked to C6 of chitosan. The GPC analysis confirmed that its Mw was about 90.01 kDa. It was also demonstrated that HE-chitosan had excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability in vivo and had no cytotoxicity on L929. These findings indicated that HE-chitosan can potentially be applied as a biomaterial in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and other biomedical fields.展开更多
Benzo[a]pyrene （B[a]P） is an increasingly present marine environmental pollutant, yet our understanding of the long-term consequences of reproductive toxicity in marine benthic polychaetes remains limited. To test t...Benzo[a]pyrene （B[a]P） is an increasingly present marine environmental pollutant, yet our understanding of the long-term consequences of reproductive toxicity in marine benthic polychaetes remains limited. To test the reproductive toxicity of B[a]P on polychaetes, Perinereis nuntia was exposed to B[a]P-contaminated artificial seawater and sexual maturation, the sex ratio, number of eggs spawned, fertilization and hatching rated, as well as vitellogenin （VTG） mRNA expression levels were analyzed. A low concentration of B[a]P （2.5 gg/L） had no effects on the rate of sexual maturation, spawning, or fertilization but significantly increased the sex ratio （female： male） from 1.6±0.15：1 to 2.3±0.18：1, inhibited hatching rate by 27%, and significantly increased VTG mRNA expression level by 3.7-fold following a 60-day exposure, compared with those in the solvent controls. A higher concentration of B[a]P （25 μg/L） caused more serious effects; sexual maturation, fertilization success, and hatching decreased by 31%, 17% and 46%, respectively, and the sex ratio （female： male） and VTG mRNA gene expression level increased by 54% and 7.1-fold, respectively. These results demonstrate that sublethal concentrations of B[a]P negatively affect reproductive performance of the sandworm P. nuntia.展开更多
Hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anions and nitricoxide radicals are reactive species that can attack biomolecules such as DNA, lipids and proteins to cause many lifestyle-related diseases including hypertension and phot...Hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anions and nitricoxide radicals are reactive species that can attack biomolecules such as DNA, lipids and proteins to cause many lifestyle-related diseases including hypertension and photoaging. This study reports the synthesis of new copper-pyridoxine and iron-pyridoxine complexes. The complexes have been synthesized and characterized by molar conductances, IR, UV-Visible, mass spectrometry, melting points and magnetic moment datas. The molecular formula of the complex is found to be Fe（py ^-）2Cl.H2O. The pyH/pyligand is coordinated to copper and iron through N atom of the pyridine ring and O atom of 5＇-CH2OH group. The Fe（III） complex is found to be paramagnetic with one unpaired electron. The antioxidant activities of the free ligand and its complexes were determined in vitro.展开更多
This paper describes an application where a new KAE （Kansei/Affective Engineering） system was applied to define the properties of the facial images perceived as Iyashi. Iyashi is a Japanese word used to describe a p...This paper describes an application where a new KAE （Kansei/Affective Engineering） system was applied to define the properties of the facial images perceived as Iyashi. Iyashi is a Japanese word used to describe a peculiar phenomenon that is mentally soothing, but is yet to be clearly defined. Instead of analyzing facial expressions of an individual to determine his emotional state, the proposed system introduces a FQHNN （fuzzy-quantized holographic neural network） to find the rules involved in the Kansei evaluation provided by the subjects about the limited dataset of 20 facial images. In order to validate and gain a clear insight into the rules involved in the Kansei evaluation process, Procrustes analysis and CSRBFs （compactly-supported radial basis functions） are combined to generate new facial images. Procrustes analysis is used to find the minimal dissimilarity measure between two facial images with opposite classification （i.e., Iyashi and Non-lyashi）. CSRBFs are proposed for tuning of 17 facial parameters and mapping between facial images within opposite classes. The experiments with two subjects demonstrate that if only two from the five most important parameters of the face are changed, then the Kansei evaluation can change to the opposite class. This paper shows that a continuous and efficient tuning of the design space can be achieved by introducing CSRBF mapping into the new KAE system.展开更多
Peninsular Malaysia is located and lies in a low seismic region. Although Malaysia is not located in the active fault seismic area, it is closed to the Sumatran active seismic zones. Tall building are fIequently felt ...Peninsular Malaysia is located and lies in a low seismic region. Although Malaysia is not located in the active fault seismic area, it is closed to the Sumatran active seismic zones. Tall building are fIequently felt the tremor generated fTom Sumatran subduction and fault zones especially in the west cost of Peninsular Malaysia such as Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Existing design response spectra was developed based on attenuation relationship for each subduction and fault zone. In this study, the design response spectra were developed based on various attenuation relationships for selected location in Kuala Lumpur area, namely, Mutiara Damansara, Bandar Petaling Jaya and Bandar Puteri Puchong. The development of design response spectra based on various attenuation relationships is more reliable in selecting the appropriate attenuation relationship for the study area. Seven attenuations have been chosen and results show that Megawati et al. are the most appropriate attenuation relation for fault zone, where the predicted PGA （peak ground acceleration） is 0.0187 g which is the proposed PGA value for this study area. This study also found that most of soil in the study area can be categorized into SD （stiff soil） according to site classification in the NEHRP 2000 Provision/UBC 97. Bandar petaling Jaya was found to be highest AF （amplification factor） of 3.74 for stiff soil and Mutiara Damansara with AF of 2.67 for very dense soil or soft rock. The proposed design response spectra for each location were developed based on UBC 1997 （Uniform Building Code 1997）. The peak RSA （response spectrum acceleration） of 0.30 g for soil type SD for Bandar Petaling Jaya is the maximum level of acceleration on the soil surface with a period range of 0.10 to 0.52 seconds. All these values can be used for the seismic safety evaluation of existing structures and as a guideline in designing new structures to resist future earthquake, within the study area.展开更多
A polystyrene-based ion-exchange resin was employed as the precursor for preparation of resin-derived carbon spheres （RCSs） through KOH activation with various impregnation ratios. Pore structure, yield and hardness...A polystyrene-based ion-exchange resin was employed as the precursor for preparation of resin-derived carbon spheres （RCSs） through KOH activation with various impregnation ratios. Pore structure, yield and hardness, surface functional groups of the samples and their adsorption performance towards dibenzothiophene （DBT） were investigated. The RCSs with large surface areas （up to 2696 m2/g） and total pore volumes （up to 1.46 cm3/g） exhibited larger adsorption capacities than a commercial ac- tivated carbon, F400. Polanyi-Dubinin-Mane （PDM） model was applied to fit the adsorption data, which proved that micropore filling was involved during the adsorption process. Moreover, a good linear relationship was observed between the ex- tra-micropore volume and adsorption capacity. Intra-particle diffusion （IPD） model was used to describe the kinetic data of DBT onto the adsorbents. The adsorption processes were divided into three stages according to the different diffusion parame- ter. The selective adsorption towards DBT in the presence of competing compounds was also investigated and the high selec- tivity of the RSCs towards DBT may be attributed to the large quantity of acidic oxygen-containing groups.展开更多
Smart environment is being used in many areas to deliver more services to individuals in a physical space, such as a hospital. In the UK, the National Health Service(NHS) provides free and high quality healthcare serv...Smart environment is being used in many areas to deliver more services to individuals in a physical space, such as a hospital. In the UK, the National Health Service(NHS) provides free and high quality healthcare service for all residents. Smart hospital environment is able to support NHS and provide more convenience. Patient flow scheduling is a crucial section in a smart hospital environment. Smart hospital environment aims to provide a smart environment in the hospital to facilitate individual experience and improve the quality of healthcare service.First of all, this paper investigates a real world patient flow scenario of a hospital in the UK and models a general scheduling scheme based on the scenario using a compositional formal approach, i.e. performance evaluation process algebra(PEPA). This scheduling scheme uses an easy-implemented solution(the grouping scheme) to reduce the waiting queue in the hospital. Secondly, fluid flow analysis is used for the performance analysis by generating a set of ordinary differential equations(ODEs) in terms of the PEPA model.展开更多
基金Project(kfj080205) supported by Key Laboratory of Road Structure and Material of Ministry of Transport of Changsha, China
文摘Surface textures had long been recognized as primary factors to provide the skid resistance on pavements; however, no measurement of skid resistance on pervious concrete pavement with various surface texture parameters had been made. Fractal geometry was introduced in the present work to accurately simulate transect contour curves of pervious concrete specimens through fractal interpolation. It is proved that its fractal dimension (D) can be adopted to measure the skid resistance on pervious concrete pavement, overcoming the shortcomings of both macrotexture depth (DT ) and British portable pendulum number (NBP). Combined with Fujikawa-Koike tire/road contact model, the optimization method of all surface textures was recommended for designing and constructing excellently skid-resistant and noise-absorptive pervious concrete pavement. In addition, evaluating of the abrasion process and attenuation of the surface textures on concrete pavement slabs was also the focus of this work based on accelerated abrasion test. Results show that the surface textures on pervious concrete pavement slabs is extremely durable, compared to those on conventional grooved or exposed aggregate concrete pavement slabs.
基金supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology(2013BAB01B02)
文摘Hydroxyethyl chitosan （HE-chitosan） is a water-soluble derivative of chitosan with many apparent biological properties. For example, it is non-toxic and rapidly biodegradable. Moreover, HE-chitosan has advantages in water-solubility, moisture retention and gelling property due to its hydroxyethyl group. However, the biocompatibility and biodegradability of this multifimctional de- rivative have rarely been documented although they are critical for its application in biomedical and clinical treatments. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the biosafety of HE-chitosan, and draw important clues for its diverse applications. HE-chitosan was synthesized and characterized its chemical structure with FTIR. Its molecular weight （Mw） was determined by gel permeation chro- matography （GPC）, and its deacetylation degree （DD） was investigated through potentiometric analysis. The cytotoxicity of HE-chitosan on mouse fibroblast cell L929 was tested. The biocompatibility and biodegradability of HE-chitosan in rat and rabbit were evaluated. The FTIR results indicated that the hydroxyethyl groups were linked to C6 of chitosan. The GPC analysis confirmed that its Mw was about 90.01 kDa. It was also demonstrated that HE-chitosan had excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability in vivo and had no cytotoxicity on L929. These findings indicated that HE-chitosan can potentially be applied as a biomaterial in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and other biomedical fields.
基金Supported by the Guangdong High-Level University Project"Green Technologies for Marine Industries"(No.130-33106703)Guangdong Natural Science Foundation(2016A030313065)the Outstanding Young Teachers of Guangdong Colleges and Universities(No.YQ2015074)
文摘Benzo[a]pyrene （B[a]P） is an increasingly present marine environmental pollutant, yet our understanding of the long-term consequences of reproductive toxicity in marine benthic polychaetes remains limited. To test the reproductive toxicity of B[a]P on polychaetes, Perinereis nuntia was exposed to B[a]P-contaminated artificial seawater and sexual maturation, the sex ratio, number of eggs spawned, fertilization and hatching rated, as well as vitellogenin （VTG） mRNA expression levels were analyzed. A low concentration of B[a]P （2.5 gg/L） had no effects on the rate of sexual maturation, spawning, or fertilization but significantly increased the sex ratio （female： male） from 1.6±0.15：1 to 2.3±0.18：1, inhibited hatching rate by 27%, and significantly increased VTG mRNA expression level by 3.7-fold following a 60-day exposure, compared with those in the solvent controls. A higher concentration of B[a]P （25 μg/L） caused more serious effects; sexual maturation, fertilization success, and hatching decreased by 31%, 17% and 46%, respectively, and the sex ratio （female： male） and VTG mRNA gene expression level increased by 54% and 7.1-fold, respectively. These results demonstrate that sublethal concentrations of B[a]P negatively affect reproductive performance of the sandworm P. nuntia.
文摘Hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anions and nitricoxide radicals are reactive species that can attack biomolecules such as DNA, lipids and proteins to cause many lifestyle-related diseases including hypertension and photoaging. This study reports the synthesis of new copper-pyridoxine and iron-pyridoxine complexes. The complexes have been synthesized and characterized by molar conductances, IR, UV-Visible, mass spectrometry, melting points and magnetic moment datas. The molecular formula of the complex is found to be Fe（py ^-）2Cl.H2O. The pyH/pyligand is coordinated to copper and iron through N atom of the pyridine ring and O atom of 5＇-CH2OH group. The Fe（III） complex is found to be paramagnetic with one unpaired electron. The antioxidant activities of the free ligand and its complexes were determined in vitro.
文摘This paper describes an application where a new KAE （Kansei/Affective Engineering） system was applied to define the properties of the facial images perceived as Iyashi. Iyashi is a Japanese word used to describe a peculiar phenomenon that is mentally soothing, but is yet to be clearly defined. Instead of analyzing facial expressions of an individual to determine his emotional state, the proposed system introduces a FQHNN （fuzzy-quantized holographic neural network） to find the rules involved in the Kansei evaluation provided by the subjects about the limited dataset of 20 facial images. In order to validate and gain a clear insight into the rules involved in the Kansei evaluation process, Procrustes analysis and CSRBFs （compactly-supported radial basis functions） are combined to generate new facial images. Procrustes analysis is used to find the minimal dissimilarity measure between two facial images with opposite classification （i.e., Iyashi and Non-lyashi）. CSRBFs are proposed for tuning of 17 facial parameters and mapping between facial images within opposite classes. The experiments with two subjects demonstrate that if only two from the five most important parameters of the face are changed, then the Kansei evaluation can change to the opposite class. This paper shows that a continuous and efficient tuning of the design space can be achieved by introducing CSRBF mapping into the new KAE system.
文摘Peninsular Malaysia is located and lies in a low seismic region. Although Malaysia is not located in the active fault seismic area, it is closed to the Sumatran active seismic zones. Tall building are fIequently felt the tremor generated fTom Sumatran subduction and fault zones especially in the west cost of Peninsular Malaysia such as Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Existing design response spectra was developed based on attenuation relationship for each subduction and fault zone. In this study, the design response spectra were developed based on various attenuation relationships for selected location in Kuala Lumpur area, namely, Mutiara Damansara, Bandar Petaling Jaya and Bandar Puteri Puchong. The development of design response spectra based on various attenuation relationships is more reliable in selecting the appropriate attenuation relationship for the study area. Seven attenuations have been chosen and results show that Megawati et al. are the most appropriate attenuation relation for fault zone, where the predicted PGA （peak ground acceleration） is 0.0187 g which is the proposed PGA value for this study area. This study also found that most of soil in the study area can be categorized into SD （stiff soil） according to site classification in the NEHRP 2000 Provision/UBC 97. Bandar petaling Jaya was found to be highest AF （amplification factor） of 3.74 for stiff soil and Mutiara Damansara with AF of 2.67 for very dense soil or soft rock. The proposed design response spectra for each location were developed based on UBC 1997 （Uniform Building Code 1997）. The peak RSA （response spectrum acceleration） of 0.30 g for soil type SD for Bandar Petaling Jaya is the maximum level of acceleration on the soil surface with a period range of 0.10 to 0.52 seconds. All these values can be used for the seismic safety evaluation of existing structures and as a guideline in designing new structures to resist future earthquake, within the study area.
文摘A polystyrene-based ion-exchange resin was employed as the precursor for preparation of resin-derived carbon spheres （RCSs） through KOH activation with various impregnation ratios. Pore structure, yield and hardness, surface functional groups of the samples and their adsorption performance towards dibenzothiophene （DBT） were investigated. The RCSs with large surface areas （up to 2696 m2/g） and total pore volumes （up to 1.46 cm3/g） exhibited larger adsorption capacities than a commercial ac- tivated carbon, F400. Polanyi-Dubinin-Mane （PDM） model was applied to fit the adsorption data, which proved that micropore filling was involved during the adsorption process. Moreover, a good linear relationship was observed between the ex- tra-micropore volume and adsorption capacity. Intra-particle diffusion （IPD） model was used to describe the kinetic data of DBT onto the adsorbents. The adsorption processes were divided into three stages according to the different diffusion parame- ter. The selective adsorption towards DBT in the presence of competing compounds was also investigated and the high selec- tivity of the RSCs towards DBT may be attributed to the large quantity of acidic oxygen-containing groups.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.61502206 and 61472343)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(Nos.BK20160543 and BK20150523)the Open Project of Key Laboratory of Jiangsu Province(No.BM20082061507)
文摘Smart environment is being used in many areas to deliver more services to individuals in a physical space, such as a hospital. In the UK, the National Health Service(NHS) provides free and high quality healthcare service for all residents. Smart hospital environment is able to support NHS and provide more convenience. Patient flow scheduling is a crucial section in a smart hospital environment. Smart hospital environment aims to provide a smart environment in the hospital to facilitate individual experience and improve the quality of healthcare service.First of all, this paper investigates a real world patient flow scenario of a hospital in the UK and models a general scheduling scheme based on the scenario using a compositional formal approach, i.e. performance evaluation process algebra(PEPA). This scheduling scheme uses an easy-implemented solution(the grouping scheme) to reduce the waiting queue in the hospital. Secondly, fluid flow analysis is used for the performance analysis by generating a set of ordinary differential equations(ODEs) in terms of the PEPA model.
