Basic Groups Research Articles

Impact of Low-Pressure Plasma Treatment of Wool Fabric for Dyeing with PEDOT: PSS.

This study presents the effect of non-thermal plasma modification on the changes of surface morphology, color characteristics and electrical conductivity of wool fabric dyed with intrinsically conductive polymer (ICP) poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS). The wool fabric was treated with an aqueous dispersion of PEDOT: PSS, Clevios F ET, providing electrically conductive properties to textiles. The wool fabric, containing basic groups of amines (NH2), was pre-activated with low-pressure plasma of non-polymer forming nitrogen (N2) gas before exhaust dyeing with PEDOT: PSS at 90 °C was applied. This treatment imparted hydrophilicity, reduced felting, increased adhesion, improved dye ability and ensured that more PEDOT: PSS negatively charged sulfonate counter ions would be electrostatically bounded with the cationic protonated amine groups of the wool fiber. Initially, before (N2) plasma treatment and after fabrics were evaluated according to the test method for aqueous liquid repellency, the surface morphology of the plasma-modified and -unmodified wool dyed fabric was observed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The functional groups introduced onto the surface after N2 gas plasma treatment of wool fabric were characterized by X-ray photoelectron and FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. The results of color difference measurements show that N2 gas plasma treatments provide more intense color on Clevios F ET dyed wool fabric and retain its electrical conductivity.

Optimization of hERG and Pharmacokinetic Properties for Basic Dihydro-8H-purin-8-one Inhibitors of DNA-PK.

The DNA-PK complex is activated by double-strand DNA breaks and regulates the non-homologous end-joining repair pathway; thus, targeting DNA-PK by inhibiting the DNA-PK catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) is potentially a useful therapeutic approach for oncology. A previously reported series of neutral DNA-PKcs inhibitors were modified to incorporate a basic group, with the rationale that increasing the volume of distribution while maintaining good metabolic stability should increase the half-life. However, adding a basic group introduced hERG activity, and basic compounds with modest hERG activity (IC50 = 10-15 μM) prolonged QTc (time from the start of the Q wave to the end of the T wave, corrected by heart rate) in an anaesthetized guinea pig cardiovascular model. Further optimization was necessary, including modulation of pK a, to identify compound 18, which combines low hERG activity (IC50 = 75 μM) with excellent kinome selectivity and favorable pharmacokinetic properties.

Study of in Vitro Antimicrobial Activity and in Vivo Wound Healing Potentiality of Leaves of Callistemon Viminalis

Callistemon viminalis, often known as the stream bottlebrush, is a tropical plant in the Myrtaceae familyand is renowned for its ability to grow rapidly in riparian zones. It is exclusively found in New South Wales,Queensland, and Western Australia. The roots of this species are entangled, which helps stabilize the soil, whichreduces the danger of erosion. This plant has antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, and other pharmacologicaland insecticidal abilities that are also related to other medicinal properties. This research investigates the benefits,applications, and features of several extracts obtained from components of C. viminalis (branches, flowers, fruits,bark, and leaves). Bioactive compounds were characterized in detail by noting their chemical structures. The useof C. viminalis in folk medicine was fully supported by the results. Collecting and compounding plant materials,including processing, drying, and grinding, and then doing research to screen pharmaceutical effects, are all partof making the cure. Rats had their wound healing ability tested using a method known as in vitro experimentation.This method relies on excision wounds. The capacity of the extracted substance to close wounds when appliedas an ointment was shown to be greater than in the control. The epithelization time in the standard and treatedgroups was significantly shorter than in the basic ointment base treatment group. The group treated with 5% w/wextract ointment had greater traction intensity than the control group (1.96 gm/mm2), with a significant differenceof (1.12) gm/mm2. The tensile strength of the (3.86) gm/mm2 of the 5% w/w treated group. A substantial increasein tensile strength was seen on the tenth day for both the extract level and the normal medicine.

Design, Synthesis, and Structure-Activity Relationship Studies of Bisamide Derivatives of Amphotericin B with Potent Efficacy and Low Toxicity.

Amphotericin B (AMB, 1) is the most powerful antibiotic in treating potentially life-threatening invasive fungal infections (IFIs), though severe toxicity derived from self-aggregation greatly limits its clinical application. Herein, we applied a bisamidation strategy at the C16-COOH and C3'-NH2 to improve the therapeutic properties by suppressing self-aggregation. It was found that basic amino groups at the residue of C16 amide were beneficial to activity, while lipophilic fragments contributed to toxicity reduction. Additionally, N-methyl-amino acetyl and amino acetyl moieties at C3' amide could help keep the fungistatic effectiveness. The modification work culminated in the discovery of 36 (ED50 = 0.21 mg/kg), which exerted a 1.5-fold stronger antifungal efficacy than amphamide, the optimal derivative theretofore, in mice, low self-aggregation propensity, and thus low acute toxicity. With the improvement in therapeutic index and good PK profile, 36 is promising for further development as a second-generation polyene antifungal agent.

Assessing the Role of a Malonamide Linker in the Design of Potent Dual Inhibitors of Factor Xa and Cholinesterases.

The rational discovery of new peptidomimetic inhibitors of the coagulation factor Xa (fXa) could help set more effective therapeutic options (to prevent atrial fibrillation). In this respect, we explored the conformational impact on the enzyme inhibition potency of the malonamide bridge, compared to the glycinamide one, as a linker connecting the P1 benzamidine anchoring moiety to the P4 aryl group of novel selective fXa inhibitors. We carried out structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies aimed at investigating para- or meta-benzamidine as the P1 basic group as well as diversely decorated aryl moieties as P4 fragments. To this end, twenty-three malonamide derivatives were synthesized and tested as inhibitors of fXa and thrombin (thr); the molecular determinants behind potency and selectivity were also studied by employing molecular docking. The malonamide linker, compared to the glycinamide one, does significantly increase anti-fXa potency and selectivity. The meta-benzamidine (P1) derivatives bearing 2′,4′-difluoro-biphenyl as the P4 moiety proved to be highly potent reversible fXa-selective inhibitors, achieving inhibition constants (Ki) in the low nanomolar range. The most active compounds were also tested against cholinesterase (ChE) isoforms (acetyl- or butyrylcholinesterase, AChE, and BChE), and some of them returned single-digit micromolar inhibition potency against AChE and/or BChE, both being drug targets for symptomatic treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Compounds 19h and 22b were selected as selective fXa inhibitors with potential as multimodal neuroprotective agents.

In Situ 29Si solid-state NMR study of grafting of organoalkoxysilanes to mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Since the catalytic activity and the stability of silica-bound organometallic complexes are affected by their interactions with hydroxyl groups on the surface, isolated hydroxyls are often created prior to the introduction of catalytic species. Here, we investigate a method to remove the indigenous hydroxyls and create new isolated hydroxyls by grafting organo-trimethoxysilane (R-TMS) to generate a silicon T2 site, (≡SiO‒)2SiR(‒OH). We used in situ 29Si solid-state NMR experiments to monitor the evolution of Tn sites, (≡SiO‒)nSiR(‒OH)3-n (n = 1, 2, 3). The study indicates that i) the grafting proceeds in a consecutive manner as T1 → T2 → T3, and ii) the kinetics depend on the type of functional groups in the silane. However, the rates of T1 formation and T2 → T3 conversion are also controlled to a significant extent by the entropy loss associated to the initial silane binding and the spatial arrangement of surface hydroxyls, respectively. The grafting of R-TMS with a basic functional group leads to a lower concentration of T1 sites. The nucleophilicity of the functional group facilitates the grafting process by lowering the enthalpy barrier, while the T1 formation rate is more influenced by the entropy barrier than the T1 → T2 conversion rate. Thus, the basic functional group promotes the T1 → T2 conversion more than the T1 formation, resulting in a lower concentration of T1 sites.

High-performance pyridine-containing fluorinated poly(aryl ether) membranes for vanadium flow batteries

Vanadium flow battery (VFB) is increasingly attractive for large-scale energy storage. However, developing high-power-density VFB remains challenging due to the lack of high-performance membranes. Here, we report a novel pyridine-containing fluorinated poly(aryl ether)(PyPEF) membrane for VFB. PyPEF membranes are pre-swelled with H3PO4 (85 wt%) and then exchanged with H2SO4 (3 mol L−1) to obtain the resulting H2SO4-doped PyPEF membranes. The basic pyridine groups are protonated to form positively charged groups and pre-swelled by H3PO4 to build highly connected ionic transport channels, which provide high selectivity and enhanced conductivity for the membrane. Moreover, the rigid, strongly hydrophobic perfluorophenyl-containing PyPEF backbone has high swelling resistance. As a result, the H2SO4-doped PyPEF membranes exhibit low swelling, high selectivity, high conductivity, and robust mechanical strength. The VFB with PyPEF-90 membrane delivered excellent battery performance, 91.7% energy efficiency at 80 mA cm−2, and 80.3% energy efficiency at 260 mA cm−2. In addition, the VFB with PyPEF-90 membrane maintained stable performance after continuously running for 1200 cycles at a much high current density of 220 and 200 mA cm−2, showing excellent stability.

ON THE WAY TO QMS IMPLEMENTATION: THE MAIN MILESTONES AND ISSUES IN EMERGING ECONOMY

The aim of the research is to analyze typical problems in the implementation of quality management systems (QMS) on the basis of private production enterprises which operate in emerging economy context and to develop a rational strategic plan for the design and implementation of such a system, taking into account the experience of successful organizations. The main benefits of implementing QMS are presented. In the article it is recommended to consider the formation of QMS as a project with the appropriate stages of activities. The following positions are envisaged at the initiation stage: formalization of the decision on QMS implementation, appointment of project participants, project team training, as well as development of mission, vision, quality policy and QMS process structure. At the implementation stage, it is proposed to develop and approve QMS documents, as well as to implement an internal audit program. At the stage of project closure, it is advisable to put into operation the developed system and pass a certification audit in order to obtain a certificate of compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001. The article presents the structure, content, sequence and estimated duration of all the stages of the project, as well as the division of responsibilities between the project team members. Emphasis is placed on the main issues which can arise at different stages of such a project. In the paper the following range of issues was identified: inconsistency of QMS processes structure with the existing organizational structure of the enterprise; incorrect definition of the performance indicators for processes at different hierarchy levels; erroneous decisions in the internal documentation system organizing. In its turn, in the article the causes for the above-mentioned issues were identified, namely: insufficient motivation of project participants, lack of time or other necessary resources, unwillingness to change the current management system of the company, inconsistency of real goals with the stated ones, etc. In the article it is proposed to divide the main causes of issues into three basic groups: by project participants (personal), bureaucratic (systemic) and leadership (administrative). The authors propose a number of measures to minimize the risks of issues in the QMS implementation, and determine the distribution of areas of responsibility for these measures organizing.

SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH STUNTED GROWTH AMONG CHILDREN AGED UNDER FIVE YEARS IN FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN

The study aim is to identify socioeconomic stunted growth factors among under 5 years children in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The prevalence of stunted growth is a serious public health issue worldwide, including South-Asia. Pakistan is reported one of the highest levels of stunting prevalence in children as compared to other developing countries. The prevalence of child stunted growth in Pakistan is still very high, but unfortunately little is known about the associated factors. A community-based study was carried outwith400 respondents (pairs of mother and children) between under 5 years of aged. To select the study participant, sample a multistage sampling technique was used for data collection from community. Children anthropometric measurements was taken to determine prevalence of stunted growth and structured questioner was used to collect the information about socioeconomic associated factors with malnutrition. For the data analysis, version 23 of the SPSS is used. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to found the socioeconomic factors associated with stunting among children. Study results indicated that contributed socioeconomic factors toward stunting are number of children under 5 years, child birth size, household food security, hand washing practice, feeding colostrum to newborn child, Exclusive breastfeeding, dietary diversity, and basic food groups. Keywords: Factors, undernutrition, stunting, five years, children, Pakistan.

SOCIALIZATION OF RHODAMIN B DYE CONTENT IN FLAVORED DRINKS TRADED IN LUBUK PAKAM WHICH WAS ANALYZED WITH UV-VIS SPECTROPHOTOMETRY

At this time many flavored drinks are traded in the market. Flavored drinks or what are often referred to as soft drinks are the terms used to describe the types of drinks that are sold in special packaging so that they can be consumed directly without having to be processed first. At this time the dyes that are often used in processed foods or beverages are divided into natural dyes and synthetic dyes. Synthetic dyes are generally made from chemicals. Sometimes entrepreneurs who want to make big profits use non-food grade dyes to give color to food or drinks. Rhodamine B textile dye is a synthetic dye in the form of a green or reddish-purple crystalline powder at high concentrations, while at low concentrations it is light in color and belongs to the basic xanthene group. Rhodamine B is made from raw materials of meta-diethylaminophenol and phthalic anhydride. These two raw materials are not edible but are only used for dyeing textiles, paints, paper, or clothing. These substances are often misused as food coloring and cosmetics in many countries. Foods found to contain Rhodamine B included crackers (58%), shrimp paste (51%), and snacks (42%). Rhodamin B is found in confectionery, syrup, sweets, dawet, porridge, smoked fish and cendol. Red-flavoured drinks that are traded in the Lubuk Pakam area contain Rhodamine B dye.

Tedarikçi Risk Değerlendirmesi Üzerine Örnek Bir Uygulama

Küresel rekabette firmaların ayakta kalabilmesi için tedarik zinciri yönetimi önemli bir faktör olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Ürünler, son hallerini alarak tüketiciye ulaşırken zincirdeki pek çok firmaya temas ederler. Bu durum değer artırıcı ve maliyet düşürücü faydalar sağlamakta olsa da zincir üzerindeki firmaların birbirine olan bağımlılıklarını artırarak çeşitli risklerin ortaya çıkmasına neden olmaktadır. Firmaların rekabette başarı sağlayabilmesi için kendi iç risklerinin yanında tedarikçilerinin risklerini belirlemesi, yönetmesi ve gerektiğinde belirlenen risklerden kaçınabilmesi gerekmektedir. Araştırma, literatürdeki diğer tedarikçi riski değerlendirmelerinden yola çıkarak geliştirilmiş ve daha kolay uygulanabilir bir metot ortaya koymayı amaçlamıştır. Buradan yola çıkılarak risk etmenlerinin ve geliştirilmiş uygulamaların belirlenebilmesi için literatürdeki benzer çalışmalar taranmıştır. Uygulama kolaylığı nedeni ile temel risk gruplarının ağırlıklandırılmasında Analitik Hiyerarşi Prosesi (AHP) prosesi kullanılırken, tedarikçi performansı belirlenmesi için de değerlendirme formu oluşturulmuştur. Geliştirilen uygulama Aydın İl sınırları içerisinde faaliyet göstermekte olan bir firmaya uygulanmıştır. Uygulamanın gerçekleştirildiği firmada en önemli risk kriteri “Lojistik Riski” olarak çıkarken, şirket için en riskli tedarikçi ve ürün de ortaya konulmuştur. Araştırma, Blackhurst vd. (2008) çalışmasının -kendilerinin de belirttiği yönde- risk ağırlıkları belirleme yönteminin geliştirilmesi ile akademik yazına katkı sağlamayı amaçlamıştır. Aynı zamanda tedarikçilerinin performansı ve riskleri hakkında elinde yeterli veri bulunmayan organizasyon yöneticileri için kolay uygulanabilir bir metot geliştirilmesi çalışmanın bir diğer hedefi olmuştur.

Trash to treasure: Converting red mud into efficient catalysts for the hydrogenation of p-nitrobenzene compounds

Herein, we demonstrate that the red mud can be employed as a valuable resource for fabrication of efficient catalysts for the hydrogenation of p-nitrobenzene compounds. The pyrolysis of reed effectively promotes the reduction of hematite (Fe2O3) of RM into magnetite (Fe3O4). The structural characterizations indicate that the magnetite nanoparticles are distributed on the surfaces of biomass carbon with strong interaction. Moreover, the as-obtained catalysts contain vast basic groups inherited from red mud, which facilitate the adsorption and ionization of p-nitrobenzene compounds. At the same time, the magnetic Fe3O4 components catalyze the hydrolysis of NaBH4 to produce active hydrogen species, resulting in the hydrogenation of nitro to amino group under ambient conditions. Therefore, this work may provide a new strategy of trash to treasure by the rational design and development of red mud based functional materials.

Nitrogen Dense Distributions of Imidazole Grafted Dipyridyl Polybenzimidazole for a High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane.

The introduction of basic groups in the polybenzimidazole (PBI) main chain or side chain with low phosphoric acid doping is an effective way to avoid the trade-off between proton conductivity and mechanical strength for high temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM). In this study, the ethyl imidazole is grafted on the side chain of the PBI containing bipyridine in the main chain and blended with poly(2,2′-[p-oxydiphenylene]-5,5′-benzimidazole) (OPBI) to obtain a series of PBI composite membranes for HT-PEMs. The effects of the introduction of bipyridine in the main chain and the ethyl imidazole in the side chain on proton transport are investigated. The result suggests that the introduction of the imidazole and bipyridine group can effectively improve the comprehensive properties as HT-PEM. The highest of proton conductivity of the obtained membranes under saturated phosphoric acid (PA) doping can be up to 0.105 S cm−1 at 160 °C and the maximum output power density is 836 mW cm−2 at 160 °C, which is 2.3 times that of the OPBI membrane. Importantly, even at low acid doping content (~178%), the tensile strength of the membrane is 22.2 MPa, which is nearly 2 times that of the OPBI membrane, the proton conductivity of the membrane achieves 0.054 S cm−1 at 160 °C, which is 2.3 times that of the OPBI membrane, and the maximum output power density of a single cell is 540 mW cm−2 at 160 °C, which is 1.5 times that of the OPBI membrane. The results suggest that the introduction of a large number of nitrogen-containing sites in the main chain and side chain is an efficient way to improve the proton conductivity, even at a low PA doping level.

Modern Approaches for the Physical Training of Young Female Basketball Players

The study purpose was to substantiate, develop and test the effectiveness of the author’s program for physical training of young female basketball players in the pre-competition period of the macrocycle preparatory stage, and to experimentally test its effectiveness. 
 Materials and methods. The subjects were 15 young female basketball players born in 2007-2008, third year of study (1st year of study in the basic training group), members of the All-Ukrainian Youth Basketball League (AUYBL), who participated in the experimental program to improve their physical fitness. Three tests on six indicators of physical fitness were conducted. The results of a consecutive experiment for young basketball players during their training in the camp were analyzed and interpreted.
 Results. The author’s program for physical training of young female basketball players was developed and implemented during the training camp in order to increase their level of physical fitness and preparation for participation in the AUYBL competitions. The results of the study, which were obtained during a series of experiments, allowed to examine and analyze six indicators of physical fitness, and to substantiate the effectiveness of modern approaches to physical training of young female basketball players in the pre-competition period of the macrocycle preparatory stage. They were based on the minimization of additional workload and focused concentration of female athletes on the quality of specific exercises in a limited period.
 Conclusions. The analysis of the results, the indicators of physical fitness of young female basketball players, allows to state that the use of the author’s program for physical training makes it possible to record the improvement of physical fitness on tests that have speed-strength and strength orientation, namely: high jump, long jump, run for 40 s, flexion-extension of the arms at thrust lying for 30 s. According to the indicators of speed tests (20 m run and 60 m sprint), no statistically significant differences were recorded, with a tendency to their improvement.

Functional and Pragmatic Potential of Toponyms in Russian Political Advertising Videotexts

The paper is aimed at studying the functioning particularities of toponyms in videotexts of Russian political advertisement and determines the role of these onyms in the implementation of linguistic manipulation. Toponymic lexis is classified in terms of its functioning. The study reveals tendencies of interaction between verbal and visual components of multimodal videotexts and determines the specificity of world-building that involves toponyms in Russian political advertising discourse. The research material includes political advertising videotexts referring to all presidential campaigns in Russia from early 1990s to 2018. The corpus is examined with the help of componential, contextual and semiotic analyses. The research has revealed two basic groups of toponymic lexis in the mentioned videotexts: toponyms in their conventional reference, and precedent toponyms. The former are mostly used in their denotative meaning and in a verbal form. The latter have additional value-based and cultural connotations, are well-known and recognizable, and often correlate with visual components. It is noted that conventional toponyms are more numerous and are usually involved in political advertising discourse for discussing domestic or foreign policy issues. Precedent toponyms are encountered less frequently but, due to their unique properties, serve as important tools of affective influence on the voters. Both groups of proper names contribute to modelling the spatial and political worldview, which reflects the position of Russia and the key directions of its domestic and foreign policy. The author pinpoints the generalized and schematic character of the revealed geopolitical worldview, which is determined by the heterogeneity of the toponymic content of different political advertising videotexts and by their thematic variety.

The Effects of Fenugreek Extract on Growth Performance, Serum Biochemical Indexes, Immunity and NF-κB Signaling Pathway in Broiler.

In order to study the regulation of Fenugreek seed extract (FSE) on the immunity of broilers, and explore the appropriate amount of FSE in broilers' production, 1-day-old yellow feather broilers with a total of 420 birds were randomly allocated into seven treatments. Each treatment had six replicates, with 10 birds per replicate. The two control groups were the basic fodder group fed with basal diet and the bacitracin zinc group added 30 mg/kg bacitracin zinc to the basal diet. Experimental groups included five levels of FSE (50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg FSE to the basal diet, respectively). The pre-test period was 7 days and the formal test lasted for 56 days. The results showed that the average daily gain (ADG) of 50 and 800 mg/kg FSE groups was significantly increased (P < 0.01), and the feed to gain ratio (F/G) of FSE groups was significantly decreased (P < 0.01) compared with the basic fodder and the bacitracin zinc groups. Compared with the basic fodder group, the serum total cholesterol (TC) content in the FSE groups was significantly decreased (P < 0.05), the serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) content of 50, 100, and 800 mg/kg FSE groups was significantly lower than that of the basic fodder group (P < 0.05). Compared with the basic fodder and bacitracin zinc groups, the serum immunoglobulins (IgG, IgM, IgA) content of 100 and 200 mg/kg FSE groups were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Compared with the bacitracin zinc group, the serum interleukins (IL-1, IL-10) content of 400 mg/kg FSE group were significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05), and the serum interferon-γ (IFN-γ) content of 100 and 200 mg/kg FSE groups was significantly increased (P < 0.05). Compared with the basic fodder group, the lower doses (0–400 mg/kg) of FSE had no significant effect on the mRNA expression of toll-like receptors 4/ myeloid differentiation factor 88/ nuclear factor-κB (TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB) signaling pathways (P > 0.05). The 800 mg/kg FSE treatment group significantly increased the expression levels of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) mRNA in the spleen of broilers (P < 0.05). The zinc bacitracin group significantly increased the expression levels of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) mRNA (P ≤ 0.05). The results showed that FSE could promote the secretion of immunoglobulins, regulate the body's cytokines, and have a positive effect on immunity in broilers. Furthermore, the recommended supplement of FSE is 100 mg/kg in the broiler diet.

A novel part-level feature extraction method for fine-grained vehicle recognition

In this paper, we propose a novel part-level feature extraction method to enhance the discriminative ability of deep convolutional features for the task of fine-grained vehicle recognition. Generally, the challenges for fine-grained vehicle recognition are mainly caused by the subtle visual differences between part regions of vehicles. Therefore, it is essential to extract discriminative features from part regions. Many existing methods, especially deep convolutional neural networks (D-CNNs), tend to detect the discriminative part regions explicitly or learn the part information implicitly through network restructuring and neglect the abundant part-level information contained in the high-level features generated by CNNs. In light of this, we propose a simple and effective part-level feature extraction method to enhance the representation of part-level features within the global features of target object generated by the backbone networks. The proposed method is built on the deep convolutional layers from which the discriminative part features could be integrated and extracted accordingly. More specifically, a basic feature grouping module is adopted to integrate the feature maps of deep convolutional layers into groups in each of which the related discriminative parts are assembled. The feature grouping process is performed in a multi-stage manner to ensure the integration process. Then a fusion module follows to model the coarse-to-fine relationship of the part features and further ensure the integrity and effectiveness of the part features. We conduct comparison experiments on public datasets, and the results show that the proposed method achieves comparable performance with state-of-the-art algorithms.

Coke powder improving the performance of desulfurized activated carbon from the cyclic thermal regeneration

Thermal regeneration is widely used in industry for the activated carbon/coke for flue gas desulfurization. But the serious carbon and mechanical loss of AC results in the rapid dropping of desulfurization performance. This paper studies the effect of coke powder (CP) as an additive for improving the performance of AC for the flue gas desulfurization/regeneration. Results show that the addition of CP decreased the carbon and mechanical loss by 33% and 41% after 10 cycles, and improve the cyclic desulfurization performance by slowing down the decrease of sulfur capacity. Physicochemical structure analyses confirmed that the addition of CP maintained the structural stability and prevented the generation of acidic oxygen-containing functional groups as well as the reduction of π − π* basic functional group. The conducive effect might be attributed to the reduction of the redox reaction from the addition of CP. This study suggests that AC with CP addition has a great potential for the application on the activated carbon/coke flue gas desulfurization (ACFGD).

Dietary Supplementation With Hydroxyproline Enhances Growth Performance, Collagen Synthesis and Muscle Quality of Carassius auratus Triploid

An eight-week experiment was undertaken to examine the effect of dietary hydroxyproline (Hyp) supplementation on growth performance, collagen synthesis, muscle quality of an improved triploid crucian carp (Carassius auratus Triploid) (ITCC). Six isonitrogenous (340 g/kg diet), isolipidic (60 g/kg diet) and isocaloric (17.80 MJ/kg diet) diets were formulated containing a certain amount of Hyp: 0.09% (the control group), 0.39, 0.76, 1.14, 1.53 and 1.90%. Each diet was randomly assigned to three tanks and each group was fed two times daily until apparent satiation. The results showed that growth performance and feed utilization of ITCC were significantly improved with the dietary Hyp level was increased from 0.09 to 0.76%. Crude protein, threonine and arginine content in the dorsal muscle in 0.76% hydroxyproline group were significantly higher than those in basic diet group (p < 0.05). The muscle textural characteristics increased remarkably with the amount of Hyp in the diet rising from 0.09 to 1.53% (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the contents of type I collagen (Col I) and Pyridinium crosslink (PYD) in the muscle of fish were significantly increased by dietary Hyp (p < 0.05). The muscle fiber diameter and density of the fish were significantly increased when fed with 0.76% Hyp (p < 0.05). Furthermore, dietary supplementation with an appropriate concentration of Hyp substantially increased the expression of genes involved in collagen synthesis (col1a1, col1a2, p4hα1, p4hβ, smad4, smad5, smad9, and tgf-β) and muscle growth (igf-1, tor, myod, myf5, and myhc) (p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of Hyp can enhance fish growth performance, collagen production, muscle textural characteristics and muscle growth of ITCC. According to the SGR broken-line analysis, the recommended supplementation level of Hyp was 0.74% in the diet for ITCC, corresponding to 2.2% of dietary protein.

Occupational health risk for workers from basic occupational groups employed at copper and zinc ore mining enterprises: Assessment and management

A great share of workers employed at polymetallic ores mining have to face harmful working conditions at their workplaces. To provide safe working conditions for them and to preserve their health is a vital task occupational medicine has to tackle. Polymetallic ore mining enterprises employ certain common technological processes; nevertheless, there are specific features depending on ore mining techniques and the mineralogical composition of different ores. These features determine differences both in working conditions and in occupational risks of developing occupational morbidity (OM) and work-related morbidity (WRM). By now, there have been enough studies on peculiarities of occupational health risks for workers employed at sulfide ore mines, copper-nickel ore mines and ferruginous quartzite mines. Considerably less attention has been given to assessing occupational risks for workers dealing with mining and processing copper-zinc ores. We performed complex clinical and hygienic examinations at a major copper-zinc ore mining enterprise located in the Southern Urals. The research results gave grounds for determining a category of working conditions, establishing formation peculiarities and the structure of occupational and work-related diseases among workers from various occupational groups. Occupational risks were assessed considering hygienic and medical-biological indicators. We established the highest occupational health risks for shaft sinkers, followed by drilling unit operators, timberers, excavator drivers, load haul dumper (LHD) operators and underground self-propelled machine (USPM) operators. The research results gave grounds for developing a conceptual model of assessing and managing occupational risks in the branch. The urgency of developing and implementing activities aimed at risk mitigation should be determined depending on how validated a risk is and on its rates established for specific occupational groups.