Impact of Ionic Liquid 1-Ethyl-3-Methylimidazolium Acetate Mediated Extraction on Lignin Features

This study aims at investigating the impact of ionic liquid extraction on lignin structure by studying the mechanism of lignin depolymerization in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate EMIM[OAc]) and comparing it with that of organosolv and milled wood methods. Ionic liquid mediated lignin (ILL) using EMIM[OAc]), ethanol organosolv lignin (EOL) and milled wood lignin (MWL) were isolated from Typha capensis (TC) and subjected to several analytical characterizations. Experimental data shows that ILL exhibited a relatively lower degree of condensation, lower aromatic C-C structures and a higher aliphatic OH with values of 0.42/Ar, 1.94/Ar and 1.33/Ar moieties compared with EOL values of 0.92/Ar, 2.22/Ar and 0.51/Ar moieties respectively. The ILL was depolymerized under mild conditions giving relatively higher β-aryl ether linkages content, higher molecular mass, and exhibited closer structures and reactivity to native lignin than EOL. These insights on TC lignin depolymerization in EMIM[OAc]) acetate may contribute to better value-addition of lignocellulosic biomass.

The Spin-Charge-Family Theory Is Explaining the Origin of Families,of the Higgs and the Yukawa Couplings

The (extremely efficient) standard model of the elementary particles and fields makes several assumptions, which call for explanations. Any theory offering next step beyond the standard model must explain at least the existence and properties of families and their members and correspondingly the existence of the scalar Higgs and the Yukawa couplings, which in this model take care of masses of fermions and weak bosons and influence the decaying properties of families. The spin-charge-family theory [1-11] is offering a possible explanation for the assumptions of the standard model—for the appearance of families and their members (for the charges of a family members), for the gauge fields, for the scalar fields—interpreting the standard model as its low energy effective manifestation. The spin-charge-family theory predicts at the low energy regime two decoupled groups of four families of quarks and leptons. The predicted fourth family waits to be observed, while the stable fifth family is the candidate to form the dark matter. In this paper properties of families are analysed. The appearance of several scalar fields, all in the bosonic (adjoint) representations with respect to the family groups, while they are doublets with respect to the weak charge, is presented, their properties discussed, it is explained how these scalar fields can effectively be interpreted as the standard model Higgs and the Yukawa couplings. The spin-charge-family theory predicts that there are no supersymmetric partners of the observed fermions and bosons.

The Explanation for the Origin of the Higgs Scalar and for the Yukawa Couplings by the Spin-Charge-Family Theory

The spin-charge-family theory is a kind of the Kaluza-Klein theories, but with two kinds of the spin connection fields, which are the gauge fields of the two kinds of spins. The SO(13,1) representation of one kind of spins manifests in d = (3 + 1) all the properties of family members as assumed by the standard model;the second kind of spins explains the appearance of families. The gauge fields of the first kind, carrying the space index m = (0,...,3), manifest in d = (3 + 1) all the vector gauge fields assumed by the standard model. The gauge fields of both kinds of spins, which carry the space index (7, 8) gaining at the electroweak break nonzero vacuum expectation values, manifest in d = (3 + 1) as scalar fields with the properties of the Higgs scalar of the standard model with respect to the weak and the hyper charge ( and , respectively), while they carry additional quantum numbers in adjoint representations, offering correspondingly the explanation for the scalar Higgs and the Yukawa couplings, predicting the fourth family and the existence of several scalar fields. The paper 1) explains why in this theory the gauge fields are with the scalar index s = (5,6,7,8) doublets with respect to the weak and the hyper charge, while they are with respect to all the other charges in the adjoint representations;2) demonstrates that the spin connection fields manifest as the Kaluza-Klein vector gauge fields, which arise from the vielbeins;and 3) explains the role of the vielbeins and of both kinds of the spin connection fields.

Kinetic, Isotherm and Thermodynamic Studies of the Adsorption of Thymol Blue onto Powdered Activated Carbons from <i>Garcinia cola Nut</i>Shells Impregnated with H₃PO₄and KOH: Non-Linear Regression Analysis

In this work, activated carbons (ACs) prepared by chemical activation of garcinia cola nut shell impregnated with H3PO4 (CBH2/1) and KOH (CBK1/1) were used to study the kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamics of the adsorption of thymol blue from aqueous solution. The characterization of ACs showed the BET measurements gave surface area and total pore volume respectively of 328.407 m2·g-1 and 0.1032 cm3·g-1 for CBH2/1 and 25.962 m2·g-1 and 0.03 cm3·g-1for CBK1/1;elemental analysis showed a high percentage of carbon in both ACs. Influence of parameters such as initial pH, contact time, adsorbent mass, initial concentration, ionic strength and the effect of temperature on the removal of thymol blue from aqueous solution were studied in batch mode. The studies showed that equilibrium adsorption was attained after 60 minutes for the two ACs, adsorption capacity increased with increasing concentration of thymol blue, and maximum adsorption capacity was obtained at an acidic environment with pH 2. Avrami’s non-linear kinetic expression was the best suited for describing the adsorption kinetics of thymol blue onto ACs, while equilibrium data showed that the three-parameter isotherms better described the adsorption process since R2 > 0.96, and the error functions were lowest for all of them. Maximum adsorption capacity values obtained using the three-parameter Fritz-Schlunder equation were 32.147 mg·g-1 for CBH2/1 and 67.494 mg·g-1 for CBK1/1. The values of the model parameters g and mFS respectively, obtained using the Redlich-Peterson and Fritz-Schlunder III isotherms below 1, showed that the adsorption of thymol blue by the ACs occurred on heterogeneous surfaces. Thermodynamic analyses of the data of the adsorption of thymol blue onto ACs revealed that the adsorption process was temperature dependent, endothermic and spontaneous.

超声检查评估胎儿宫内感染临床价值

大多数宫内感染胎儿的超声检查无明显异常或仅有非特异性异常,颅内钙化灶和脑室扩张等是宫内病毒感染常见的超声表现。少数病例可有特异性超声表现,考虑诊断先天性病毒感染。宫内病毒感染常累及胎儿多个器官,若超声发现异常,应进行详细的系列超声检查。高危孕妇胎儿出现特异性的超声表现对胎儿感染有较高预测价值。

Interpolation by G^(2) Quintic Pythagorean-Hodograph Curves

In this paper,the G^(2) interpolation by Pythagorean-hodograph(PH)quintic curves in R^(d),d≥2,is considered.The obtained results turn out as a useful tool in practical applications.Independently of the dimension d,they supply a G^(2) quintic PH spline that locally interpolates two points,two tangent directions and two curvature vectors at these points.The interpolation problem considered is reduced to a system of two polynomial equations involving only tangent lengths of the interpolating curve as unknowns.Although several solutions might exist,the way to obtain the most promising one is suggested based on a thorough asymptotic analysis of the smooth data case.The numerical algorithm traces this solution from a particular set of data to the general case by a homotopy continuation method.Numerical examples confirm the efficiency of the proposed method.

Damping of Pressure Pulsations in Mobile Hydraulic Applications by the Use of Closed Cell Cellular Rubbers Integrated into a Vane Pump

The present study evaluates the potential of a bio-inspired pulsation damper in a vane pump used in mobile hydraulic ap- plications. Pressure pulsations caused by such positive displacement pumps can lead to malfunctions and noise in a hydraulic system. A common measure to reduce pressure pulsations is the integration of pressure pulsation dampers downstream of the pump. This type of damping measure can also be found in biology as e.g. in the human blood circulatory system. Such working principles found in living organisms offer a high potential for a biomimetic transfer into technical applications. The newly developed bio-inspired damper consists of cellular rubbers with non-linear viscoelastic material properties. In order to evaluate the new damping method, pressure pulsations were measured at two different back pressures and at a wide engine speed range of the vane pump. For further assessment, different setups, varying the stiffness of the cellular rubber materials and the damper volume, were tested. Within the tested back pressures, the pressure pulsations could be reduced by up to 40%. The developed integrated pulsation damper offers a high potential to dampen pressure pulsations of positive displacement pumps used in mobile hydraulic applications ooeratin~ below 10 bar.