Apparent Amount Research Articles

Sustainable approach to quality assurance in cement-improved soil: applications of handheld XRF for geotechnical solutions

Traditional methods for evaluating the quality of the Deep Mixing Method (DMM) in Japan, such as the phenolphthalein tracer method, present limitations in ensuring strength improvement. This study explores handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) as a sustainable alternative for quality assessment. The elemental composition of cement-treated soil was investigated, focusing on Calcium (Ca), Silicate (Si), and Sulfate (S), which play crucial roles in the formation of hydrated products, aiming to accurately determine their influence on the strength development of the improved soil. A controlled protocol was employed using commercial Kaolin clay and the needle penetration test for strength assessment. Our laboratory experiments, conducted with a cement-based binder (C) dosage of 110 kg/m3 and a water-cement (W/C) ratio of 1, furthered our understanding of the hydration process. Results indicate an apparent increase in Ca amount over time, correlating with improved strength, while the apparent amount of Si decreases, suggesting its integration into hydration products such as C-S–H gel. Strength assessment rose significantly between day 1 and 28, aligning with variations observed in Si, Ca, and S, underlining their role in strength evolution. This research underscores the potential of handheld XRF as a sustainable substitute for conventional methods in field-quality assurance, offering real-time data on the formation of possible hydrated products during the hydration process for improved soil in geotechnical engineering.

Practical implications of lowering dietary starch content on waste management in recirculating aquaculture systems operated with drum filtration or sedimentation in yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi)

Dietary starch negatively affects faecal removal efficiency by sedimentation in yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi). In general, research on waste management in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) is conducted on solid removal by sedimentation. However, most commercial farms operate with screen filtration. Compared to sedimentation, where the efficiency of removed faeces depends on faecal particle size and density, faecal removal by screen filtration is based on particle size and its stability. Accordingly, this study investigated the effect of dietary starch level on solid waste loading and faecal removal efficiency by different solid removal techniques, namely drum filtration and sedimentation. This was tested in six individual operating RAS over an experimental period of 47 days. The experimental period was divided into two consecutive phases (Phase 1 and Phase 2). During Phase 1 (42 days), the six independent RAS were operated with drum filtration, while during Phase 2 (5 days), the same RAS were operated with sedimentation. Two experimental diets, one with low starch (LS; 0% gelatinized wheat flour inclusion) and one with high starch (HS; 20% gelatinized wheat flour inclusion) levels, were formulated to test the effect of dietary starch level. HS diet negatively affected the apparent faecal waste production, apparent faecal removal efficiency by sedimentation, and the apparent amount of non-removed faeces. No dietary treatment effect was observed when RAS were operated with drum filtration. However, to achieve similar apparent faecal removal efficiency by drum filtration, the backwash frequency was on average 110% higher at HS RAS compared to LS RAS. This is likely to be related to both an increased apparent faecal waste production and the tendency for increased clogging of the drum filter screen at HS RAS throughout the experimental period. Overall, lowering dietary starch level has the potential to reduce solid loading (sedimentation) or improve drum filter performance (water usage) in RAS for yellowtail kingfish.

In vitro evaluation of cytotoxic potential of essential oil extracted from leaves of Croton heliotropiifolius Kunth in human tumor cells

ABSTRACT Croton heliotropiifolius Kunth, popularly known as “velame,” is a shrub that resides in northeastern Brazil. The essential oil of C. heliotropiifolius contains high concentrations of volatile compounds in the leaves and is widely used in folk medicine for many purposes as an antiseptic, analgesic, sedative, and anti-inflammatory agent. Due to the apparent limited amount of information, the aim of this study was to determine the cytotoxic potential of essential oil extracted from leaves of C. heliotropiifolius, utilizing different human cancer cell lines (HL-60, leukemia; HCT-116, colon; MDA-MB435, melanoma; SF295, glioblastoma) and comparison to murine fibroblast L929 cell line. The chemical characterization of the essential oil revealed the presence of large amounts of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, the majority of which were aristolene (22.43%), germacrene D (11.38%), ɣ-terpinene (10.85%), and limonene (10.21%). The essential oil exerted significant cytotoxicity on all cancer cells, with low activity on murine L929 fibroblasts, independent of disruption of cell membranes evidenced by absence of hemolytic activity. The cytotoxicity identified was associated with oxidative stress, which culminated in mitochondrial respiration dysfunction and direct or indirect DNA damage (strand breaks and oxidative damage), triggering cell death via apoptosis. Our findings suggest that extracts of essential oil of C. Heliotropiifolius may be considered as agents to be used therapeutically in treatment of certain cancers.

The kinetics of amino acid disappearance in the small intestine is related to the extent of amino acids absorbed in growing pigs.

This study evaluated the importance of a correction for amino acids (AA) released into the hindgut on a measure of AA absorption kinetics and tested whether AA absorption kinetics are related to the extent of AA absorption using the growing pig as a model for humans. Thirty-six nine-week-old pigs (22·3 kg) received a diet containing whey protein as the sole protein source for 8 d. Pigs received their last meal containing the indigestible marker titanium dioxide before being euthanised at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 h post-feeding. The entire content of each gastrointestinal tract (GIT) region was collected to determine AA released into the hindgut, and the kinetics and extent of AA absorption (uncorrected and corrected for AA entering the hindgut). Amounts of AA released into the hindgut increased over time (e.g. 33 and 180 mg of Glu for 4 and 6 h post-feeding). The corrected apparent amount of each AA absorbed from the GIT lumen after 4 h post-feeding was generally lower (P ≤ 0·05) than the uncorrected counterpart. Differences in both the kinetics and extent of AA absorption were observed across AA. For example, the time to reach half of the apparent AA absorption (T50) was 1·5 and 3·4 h for Met and Arg, respectively, whereas their extent of apparent absorption was 93 and 73 %. Negative correlations between parameters related to kinetics and the extent of apparent absorption were observed (e.g. for T50 r = -0·81; P < 0·001). The kinetics of AA absorption is related to the extent of AA absorption.

Experimental Study on the Preparation of Polycarboxylic Acid System

Considering the compatibility of PCE and SAC, the influence of branch length and density on the compatibility of PCE and SAC, and the influence of PCE branch lengths and densities on the influence of SAC performance from the perspective of apparent adsorption amount. Using nanoscale monomer maleic-anhydride (M-A), allyl-polyethylene glycol (A-P), sodium methylpropylene sulfonate (S-M) as monomers, ammonia persulfate (KPA) as the initiator, solution polymerization, orthogonal test design, synthesized a polymer (PR) in thialuminate cement (SAC), and study the influence of various factors (KPA dosage, reaction time, length, and density of PR branch chain on PR performance). The test bear fruits resules showed that the best formula is the polymerization degree of A-P is 48, the molar ratio of the three monomer mass is N (M-A): N (A-P): N (S-M) = 3.0:2.4.0:1.5, KPA is 8.5% of the total molar amount of monomers, the temperature of reaction is 72 °C, and the time of reaction is 6 h.

Synergistic effect of doping-induced oxygen vacancies, in-built Tb4+/Tb3+ redox centers and heterojunction on the photocatalytic activity of Sm-doped ZnO/Y-doped Tb2O3 for H2 evolution

The present work signifies the impact of doping-induced oxygen vacancies, the formation of heterojunction, and the role of Tb4+/Tb3+ redox centers on the photo-activity of Sm-ZnO/Y–Tb2O3 composite. The generation of oxygen vacancies in the produced materials is explained by PL, FTIR, and XRD analyses as a result of distortion in the local framework of oxygen ions around Zn and Tb ions. Under simulated sunlight irradiation, the Sm-ZnO/Y–Tb2O3 catalyst demonstrates efficient photocatalytic activity, obtaining an apparent amount of 21,270 mol g−1 h−1, which is around 60 times greater than that obtained over ZnO. The Sm-ZnO/Y–Tb2O3 catalyst also manifests strong stability. The generation of oxygen vacancies, the effective role of Tb4+/Tb3+ redox centers, the design of heterojunction, and high specific surface area are the responsible factors for the increased optical response, spatial separation, and fast transport of charge carriers and large density of catalytic sites to boost the H2 evolution performance. The present study can deepen the knowledge of the design and construction of novel heterosystems with strong photocatalytic aptitudes.

Revealing Silicon’s Delithiation Behaviour through Empirical Analysis of Galvanostatic Charge–Discharge Curves

The galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) behaviour of silicon (Si) is known to depend strongly on morphology, cycling conditions and electrochemical environment. One common method for analysing GCD curves is through differential capacity, but the data processing required necessarily degrades the results. Here we present a method of extracting empirical information from the delithiation step in GCD data for Si at C-rates above equilibrium conditions. We find that the function is able to quickly and accurately determine the best fit to historical half-cell data on amorphous Si nanowires and thin films, and analysis of the results reveals that the function is capable of distinguishing the capacity contributions from the Li3.5Si and Li2Si phases to the total capacity. The method can also pick up small differences in the phase behaviour of the different samples, making it a powerful technique for further analysis of Si data from the literature. The method was also used for predicting the size of the reservoir effect (the apparent amount of Li remaining in the electrode), making it a useful technique for quickly determining voltage slippage and related phenomena. This work is presented as a starting point for more in-depth empirical analysis of Si GCD data.

Gaussian Process for GPS Receiver Predictor and INS GPS Integration

Global Positioning System (GPS) has become important and necessary in daily life. It is possible to reach any destination using GPS, which is included in many lands and marine applications. In this work, GPS was applied to a real navigation boat, integrated with the inertial navigation system (INS) device, and installed on the boat. The navigational devices were linked to the (mission planer) program, through which the results of the navigation process were shown. The system can provide better navigation performance accuracy and reliability due to the integration between GPS and INS. The data extracted from the navigation devices are processed using the Gaussian process (GP) prediction algorithm, to perform the GPS synchronization with the INS and predict the GPS cut-off values for specified periods. The prediction results of the GP algorithm are effective for the cut-off GPS data as the apparent error amount of the algorithm is low. In addition the inertial navigation system provides the location, speed, and position of the boat, but it contains a cumulative error that increases over time. On the other hand, the GPS better accuracy with a lower data rate than the INS, so the integration system between INS/GPS is necessary. It must be developed to overcome the negatives in both systems. Two types of integration were introduced and implemented herein: loosely and tightly. From the results obtained, one can see that the tight system is better at improving errors.

Efficient separation of aristolochic acid I from Caulis aristolochiae manshuriensis (Guan-mu-tong) with copper mediated magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer.

Screening bioactive compounds from natural products is one of the most effective ways for new drug research and development. However, obtaining a single extract component on a large scale and with high purity from a complex matrix is still an arduous and challenging task. Herein, one metal mediated magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (mMIP) was rationally designed and prepared for specifically capturing Aristolochic acid I (AAI). The preparation was done with copper(II) as binding pivot, (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane as functional monomer, and Fe3O4 as core, by a one-step sol-gel method. Under the optimized conditions, the apparent maximum binding amount of copper mediated mMIP (Cu-mMIP) reaches as high as 349.72 mg g-1, the highest among the reported AAI-MIPs. Moreover, the nanoparticles exhibit excellent specificity and selectivity, good reproducibility and stability, high superparamagnetism (60.32 emu g-1), and high imprinting efficiency (an imprinting factor of 7). By simulating an industrial-scale separation, 16.56 mg AAI (purity of 95.11%) is obtained after six cycles with 100 mg nanoparticles from 20 g Caulis aristolochiae manshuriensis (Guan-mu-tong). Notably, this takes only 3 hours and consumes 50 mL of methanol. The study provides a potent tool for the green, fast, and specific extraction of high-purity ingredients from natural plants in the manufacturing industry and conventional analysis in the lab.

Development of early age autogenous and thermal strains of alkali-activated slag-fly ash pastes

Replacing ordinary Portland cement-based materials with alkali-activated industrial wastes is often limited because of significant volume changes occurring in these materials at early age. This experimental study aims to quantify the extent of the volume changes and explore the underlying mechanisms of pastes composed of slag and fly ash (ratio 50:50) which are activated by sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate. Eight compositions were tested, with silica modulus (Ms) varying between 1.04 and 1.58 and with solution-to-binder ratios (S/B) varying between 0.47 and 0.70. Specimen length changes in sealed conditions are monitored by applying repeated thermal variations in an adapted AutoShrink device and are accompanied by isothermal calorimetry, uniaxial compressive strength, and internal relative humidity (IRH) tests. This way, the temporal evolutions of autogenous strains, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), the heat release, the apparent activation energy (Ea), the IRH and the strength are determined and compared to each other. Both the measured autogenous shrinkage and CTEs are rather large; they amount to 4,000–5,000 μm/m and roughly 40 μm/m/°C, respectively, at material ages of 2 weeks. An increase in S/B leads to a decrease in autogenous shrinkage and an increase in CTE. An increase in the Ms causes a decrease in both the autogenous shrinkage and the CTE. Most strikingly, autogenous shrinkage evolves linearly with the cumulative heat released by the binders. The IRH remains continuously above 94% during the first 2 weeks. The apparent activation energy amounts to roughly 74 kJ/mol and is virtually unaffected by S/B and Ms.

Particle-based analysis elucidates the real retention capacities of virus filters and enables optimal virus clearance study design with evaluation systems of diverse virological characteristics.

In virus clearance study (VCS) design, the amount of virus loaded onto the virus filters (VF) must be carefully controlled. A large amount of virus is required to demonstrate sufficient virus removal capability; however, too high a viral load causes virus breakthrough and reduces log reduction values. We have seen marked variation in the virus removal performance for VFs even with identical VCS design. Understanding how identical virus infectivity, materials and operating conditions can yield such different results is key to optimizing VCS design. The present study developed a particle number‐based method for VCS and investigated the effects on VF performance of discrepancies between apparent virus amount and total particle number of minute virus of mice. Co‐spiking of empty and genome‐containing particles resulted in a decrease in the virus removal performance proportional to the co‐spike ratio. This suggests that empty particles are captured in the same way as genome‐containing particles, competing for retention capacity. In addition, between virus titration methods with about 2.0 Log10 difference in particle‐to‐infectivity ratios, there was a 20‐fold decrease in virus retention capacity limiting the throughput that maintains the required LRV (e.g., 4.0), calculated using infectivity titers. These findings suggest that ignoring virus particle number in VCS design can cause virus overloading and accelerate filter breakthrough. This article asserts the importance of focusing on virus particle number and discusses optimization of VCS design that is unaffected by virological characteristics of evaluation systems and adequately reflect the VF retention capacity.

Evaluation of contribution rate of the infiltrated water collected using zero-tension lysimeter to the downward migration of 137Cs derived from the FDNPP accident in a cedar forest soil

The vertical distribution of 137Cs in forest soil is important for predicting air dose rates and future cycling in forest ecosystems. However, there are many unexplained questions about the mechanisms of its downward migration. In this study, the 137Cs flux by rainfall infiltration was observed for three years from August 2017 using zero-tension lysimeters in a mature cedar forest where monitoring of the vertical distribution of 137Cs has been conducted since 2011. As a result, the 137Cs concentration in infiltrated water through the litter layer, 5 cm and 10 cm showed a tendency to be high in summer, but no such seasonal variation was found at 20 cm. Although the 137Cs inventory in the litter layer has been exponentially decreasing, the annual 137Cs fluxes in infiltrated water through the litter layer were almost the same in three years, and about 0.14–0.17% of the deposition density of 137Cs. Comparing these 137Cs fluxes with the apparent amounts of downward migration of 137Cs estimated from the change in the vertical distribution of 137Cs, the contribution rate of the infiltrated water to downward migration of 137Cs from litter to soil was calculated to be 8.5–17.7%. Similarly, the contribution rate in mineral soil layers was calculated to be 0.6–0.8% on a measured basis and estimated to be 3.0 ± 0.2% after correcting the amount of collected water, which is a problem with zero-tension lysimeter. It indicates that rainfall infiltration can explain a small part of the downward migration of 137Cs, thus further studies are required to clarify the contribution rate of remaining mechanisms such as advection-diffusion, colloidal transport, physical mixing, bioturbation, and growth and death of plant roots.

Reasons for the Dissatisfaction of Residents with the Recent Reduction in the Amount of Crop Damage by Japanese Macaques—a Case Study in a Typical Depopulating Prefecture in Northern Japan

A decrease in the amount of crop damage by Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) is often defined as the primary official goal for conflict resolution. Recent government-led countermeasures have resulted in a decline in the amount of such damage, at least per the government statistics; however, residents rarely recognize this decline as a success of conflict management. We hypothesized that this unexpected perception of residents is because crop damage has changed not only quantitatively but also qualitatively, thereby affecting their perceptions of damage. We verified this hypothesis in terms of temporal variations influencing the psychological pressure on residents—that is, the geographical locations where severe crop damage occurred and the characteristics of macaque troops including their attitude toward residents—determined using multivariable analyses with questionnaire surveys and geographical information in Yamagata Prefecture, northern Japan. The results showed that the areas with severe crop damage had expanded to urban agriculture land, with a higher density of human population, and that the troop characteristics had changed substantially to facilitate this expansion. These findings support our hypothesis and indicate that the current attention of decision-makers is being, often and intensively, directed toward only the apparent total amount of damage.

Micro-Nanostructure of Coal and Adsorption-Diffusion Characteristics of Methane.

The adsorption and diffusion characteristics of coal are important parameters for coalbed methane (CBM) extraction and mine gas control. However, the adsorption test can only obtain the apparent adsorption amount, and it cannot obtain the actual adsorption amount, which leads to a large error during the calculation of the coal diffusion coefficient. Taking the anthracite coal in the Jiulishan Mine as the research object, the micro-nanostructure and instantaneous apparent methane adsorption isotherms of the primary structure coal and tectonic coal were determined by low-temperature CO₂ adsorption, mercury intrusion and methane diffusion kinetics tests, and the instantaneous apparent adsorption isotherms of methane were corrected to the instantaneous actual adsorption isotherm by the Langmuir model. The results demonstrate that the micro-nanopore, Density Function Theory (DFT) pore volume and specific surface area values below 1-2 nm in tectonic coal are larger than those in the primary structure coal, which is the fundamental reason why the ultimate adsorption capacity of tectonic coal is larger than that of the primary structure coal. The apparent adsorption amounts of the tectonic coal and the primary structure coal reach the maximum at 8 MPa and 10 MPa, respectively. Thereafter, the instantaneous isotherms of the apparent adsorption amount decrease with increasing of gas pressure. However, the instantaneous isotherms of the actual adsorption amount tend to be stable. The diffusion coefficient undergoes a rapid decay with time under low gas pressure, and undergoes a slow decay with under the high gas pressure.

High-Density Linkage Maps Based on Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) Confirm a Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly and Reveal Variation in Recombination Rate for the Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas.

Studies of linkage and linkage mapping have advanced genetic and biological knowledge for over 100 years. In addition to their growing role, today, in mapping phenotypes to genotypes, dense linkage maps can help to validate genome assemblies. Previously, we showed that 40% of scaffolds in the first genome assembly for the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas were chimeric, containing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mapping to different linkage groups. Here, we merge 14 linkage maps constructed of SNPs generated from genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) methods with five, previously constructed linkage maps, to create a compendium of nearly 69 thousand SNPs mapped with high confidence. We use this compendium to assess a recently available, chromosome-level assembly of the C. gigas genome, mapping SNPs in 275 of 301 contigs and comparing the ordering of these contigs, by linkage, to their assembly by Hi-C sequencing methods. We find that, while 26% of contigs contain chimeric blocks of SNPs, i.e., adjacent SNPs mapping to different linkage groups than the majority of SNPs in their contig, these apparent misassemblies amount to only 0.08% of the genome sequence. Furthermore, nearly 90% of 275 contigs mapped by linkage and sequencing are assembled identically; inconsistencies between the two assemblies for the remaining 10% of contigs appear to result from insufficient linkage information. Thus, our compilation of linkage maps strongly supports this chromosome-level assembly of the oyster genome. Finally, we use this assembly to estimate, for the first time in a Lophotrochozoan, genome-wide recombination rates and causes of variation in this fundamental process.

Expression of a TMC6-TMC8-CIB1 heterotrimeric complex in lymphocytes is regulated by each of the components

The TMC genes encode a set of homologous transmembrane proteins whose functions are not well understood. Biallelic mutations in either TMC6 or TMC8 are detected in more than half of cases of the pre-malignant skin disease epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV). It is controversial whether EV induced by mutations in TMC6 or TMC8 originates from keratinocyte or lymphocyte defects. Quantification of TMC6 and TMC8 RNA levels in various organs revealed that lymphoid tissues have the highest levels of expression of both genes, and custom antibodies confirmed protein expression in mouse lymphocytes. To study the function of these proteins we generated mice with targeted deletion mutant alleles of Tmc6 or Tmc8 Either TMC6 or TMC8 deficiency induced a reduction in apparent molecular weight and/or amount of the other TMC molecule. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments indicated that TMC6 and TMC8 formed a protein complex in mouse and human T cells. MS and biochemical analysis demonstrated that TMC6 and TMC8 additionally interacted with the CIB1 protein to form TMC6-TMC8-CIB1 trimers. We demonstrated that TMC6 and TMC8 regulated CIB1 levels by protecting CIB1 from ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. Reciprocally, CIB1 was needed for stabilizing TMC6 and TMC8 levels. These results suggest why inactivating mutations in any of the three human genes leads to similar clinical presentations. We also demonstrated that TMC6 and TMC8 levels are drastically lower and the proteins are less active in regulating CIB1 in keratinocytes than in T cells. Our study suggests that defects in lymphocytes may contribute to the etiology and pathogenesis of EV.

Dark Energy and Cosmological Model

Today the space of our universe is filled with invisible stuff matter which expanding under the action of gravity which was dark matter. In 1990’s astronomical observation and theoretical calculation was leading astrophysicists to believe that not only the dark matter but also there is vacuum empty space filled in universe that is dark energy. It is suggested that the apparently disparate cosmological phenomenon attributed to so called “dark matter” and dark energy arise from quantum level of space -time itself. This creation of space time results in metric expansion. A recent modification of Einstein’s theory of general relativity by Chadwick, Hodgkinson and McDonald incorporate space time expansion. Recent evidence predicts that apparent amount of dark matter increases with age of universe. In addition proposal leads to the same result for the small but non-vanishing cosmological constant, related to dark energy.

Research on quantitative method of GIS partial discharge

Optical method is a commonly used method for detecting partial discharge in electrical equipment. How to use photometric quantitative detection is one of the most urgent problems to be solved. Based on the in-depth analysis of the physical meaning of the integral value of the PD optical signal, it is concluded that the linear integral value of the signal is linear with the apparent discharge. The experimental results show that the integral value of the PD photometric signal at different polarities and different distances is linear with the apparent discharge. The larger the gap distance between the needle and the plate electrode is, the larger the slope is. The linear relationship between the average primary integrated value of the PD photometric signal and the average apparent discharge is different. With the increase of the applied voltage, the PD discharge intensity and the pulse repetition rate increase, and the phase interval of the PD becomes wider. The actual air gap volume of the PD becomes larger, and the variation interval becomes wider, that is, the apparent discharge amount distribution interval becomes wider, and the maximum value and the minimum value of the distribution interval become larger. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the PD apparent discharge amount by using the photometric signal, and it is effective and feasible to quantitatively detect the internal PD of the GIS by optical method.

Clustered allocation as a way of understanding historical controls: Components of variation and regulatory considerations.

There has been increasing interest in recent years in the possibility of increasing the efficiency of clinical trials by using historical controls. There has been a general recognition that in replacing concurrent by historical controls, the potential for bias is serious and requires some down-weighting to the apparent amount of historical information available. However, such approaches have generally assumed that what is required is some modification to the standard inferential model offered by the parallel group trial. In our opinion, the correct starting point that requires modification is a trial in which treatments are allocated to clusters. This immediately shows that the amount of information available is governed not just by the number of historical patients but also by the number of centres and of historical studies. Furthermore, once one accepts that external patients may be used as controls, this raises the issue as to which patients should be used. Thus, abandoning concurrent control has implications for many aspects of design and analysis of trials, including (a) identification, pre-specification and agreement on a suitable historical dataset; (b) an agreed, enforceable and checkable plan for recruiting the experimental arm; (c) a finalised analysis plan prior to beginning the trial and (d) use of a hierarchical model with sufficient complexity. We discuss these issues and suggest approaches to design and analysis making extensive reference to the partially randomised Therapeutic Arthritis Research and Gastrointestinal Event Trial study. We also compare some Bayesian and frequentist approaches and provide some important regulatory considerations. We conclude that effective use of historical data will require considerable circumspection and discipline.

Photocatalytic performance of novel chromium oxide-silicon dioxide decorated on multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide nanocomposites: Preparation, structural, and optimization

Abstract In this project, we successfully prepared Cr2O3-SiO2/graphene oxide (GO) or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by microwave/ultrasonic/hydrothermally method, aiming for the photo-degradation capture of Parathion compound from aqueous solutions. For the removal of Parathion, the photocatalysis properties is different and the apparent degradation amount sequence is SiO2