Development Of Experimental Studies Research Articles

Volumetric study on sheep brain using stereology technique

AbstractThree‐dimensional morphometric data better show the structural and functional characteristics of the brain. The objective of this study was to estimate the volume of the cerebral structures of the sheep using design‐based stereology. The brains of five sheep were used, fixed in formalin 10% and embedded in agar 6%. An average of 10–12 slab was obtained from each brain. All slabs were stained using Mulligan's method and photographs were recorded. The volume of the brain and its structures were estimated using the Cavalieri's estimator and the point counting system. The total volume was 70604.8 ± 132.45 mm3. The volume fractions of the grey and white matters were calculated as 42.55 ± 0.21% and 24.23 ± 0.51% of the whole brain, respectively. The fractional volume of the caudate nucleus and claustrum were estimated at 2.39 ± 0.08% and at 1.008 ± 0.057% of total brain volume. The volumes of corpus callosum, internal capsule and external capsule were 1.24 ± 0.053%, 3.63 ± 0.22% and 0.698 ± 0.049% of total cerebral volume, respectively. These data could help improve the veterinary comparative neuroanatomy knowledge and development of experimental studies in the field.

Three-dimensional numerical analysis of fin-tube desiccant-coated heat exchanger for air dehumidification in tropics

High-performance desiccant-coated heat exchangers (DCHEs) can be employed in air-conditioning systems to improve energy efficiency. While there are significant developments in experimental studies, theoretical approaches for analyzing the DCHE are impeded by the complex and coupled heat and mass transport mechanisms. Therefore, a 3D mathematical model has been developed in this work to study the dehumidification performance of a DCHE. Unlike other works reported in the literature, the developed model is able to simulate the complex coupling between heat and mass transfers in the entire volume of the heat exchanger. The model is calibrated and validated with experimental data, and a maximum discrepancy of ±8 % is recorded. A time-dependent study on the performance of the DCHE is carried out to understand the distribution of temperature, reaction rates, and water uptake in the heat exchanger. Effects of key influencing operational factors are investigated and discussed. It is indicated that the DCHE enters a stable performance state regardless of its initial adsorption state. The regeneration time should be equal to the dehumidification time to optimize the performance. A higher thermal COP is achieved under lower cooling/regeneration temperature, lower air flowrate, and shorter half-cycle time, while higher inlet air humidity ratio. Higher coated desiccant mass also provides a higher thermal COP, but this enhancement levels off once the coating grows. For DCHEs with less coating, reducing cycle time is recommended over increasing the coating amount.

Quality of Photovoltaic Modules, Experimental Evaluation and Mathematical Modelling

Over the world rapid growth of demand for photovoltaic systems installations brings forward magnificent increase in production numbers in manufacturing facilities of PV systems. Production companies are facing challenges in providing the best quality simultaneously with rising manufacturing quantities. Due to technology behind not all the quality decisions can be done in real time. This study is focused on the development of experimental study and mathematical modelling of the PV modules quality control parameters, which could only be tested during chemical processes and could not be monitored constantly by operators at the production line.

Density functional theory study of mixed halide influence on structures and optoelectronic attributes of CsPb(I/Br)3.

This paper reports on the influence of the bromine (Br) atoms substitution on the structures and optoelectronic traits of ${\text{CsPbI}_3}$CsPbI3, wherein the density functional theory (DFT) simulation was performed, using all electrons full potential linearized augmented plane-wave method. Furthermore, the generalized gradient approximation, local density approximation, and modified Becke-Johnson exchange-correlation potential were used to improve the optimization and band structure calculations. The calculated lattice constants of ${\text{CsPbI}_3}$CsPbI3 and ${\text{CsPbBr}_3}$CsPbBr3 were consistent with the experimental values. All the studied compounds revealed wide and direct bandgap energies at the R-symmetry point, which varied from 1.74-2.23 eV. The obtained refractive indices of the ${\text{CsPbI}_3}$CsPbI3, ${\text{CsPbBrI}_2}$CsPbBrI2, ${\text{CsPbIBr}_2}$CsPbIBr2, and ${\text{CsPbBr}_3}$CsPbBr3 compounds were correspondingly 2.265, 2.245, 2.090, and 2.086. Present findings may contribute towards the development of experimental studies on the proposed compounds with controlled properties useful for the solar cells.

Monopole dynamics of Bose–Fermi mixtures in a three-dimensional optical lattice on a harmonic trap

Motivated by recent developments in experimental studies of Bose–Fermi mixtures, we investigate monopole oscillation dynamics of Bose–Fermi mixtures in a three-dimensional (3D) optical lattice and an external isotropic harmonic trap potential. We use dynamical Gutzwiller approximation and calculate time dependence of the average spatial extent of particles in a coexisting phase where superfluid bosons and metal fermions coexist. With the trap potential, the bosons concentrate at and around the center of the potential and the fermions surround the bosons. They begin to demonstrate monopole oscillations when the trap potentials are suddenly changed to the ones with smaller curvature. In particular, the correlation between the oscillations of the bosons and fermions is different depending on the condition of the initial confinement. We also show the case where only one of the two trap potentials is changed.

A review on antimicrobial botanicals, phytochemicals and natural resistance modifying agents from Apocynaceae family: Possible therapeutic approaches against multidrug resistance in pathogenic microorganisms.

Accelerated emergence of drug- resistant pathogenic microbes, their unbeatable virulence and a gradual loss of efficacy of currently used antimicrobial agents over the last decade, have expanded the scope of herbal medicine to combat this emerging challenge to have a wide spectrum of activity to develop effective medicines with lesser untoward side effects. Plant-based natural products should be of utmost interest to today's pharmaceutical industries since they are a primary source of new chemical entities directed at new drug targets. Apocynaceae or 'Dogbane' family has attained a global reputation as a source of some life-saving plant-derived products and novel compounds. Members of this family have also been extensively investigated against several nosocomial pathogenic microbes through in vitro and in vivo experimental settings. Several plant-derived components obtained from members of this family have also exhibited remarkable microbial growth inhibitory properties. Popular and widely accepted international databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, ResearchGate, Scopus, Google Scholar, JSTOR and more were searched using the various search strings such as Apocynaceae, antimicrobials, multidrug resistance, resistance modifying agents and pathogenic microorganisms were used in various combinations to retrieve several citations related to the topic. The current review encompasses recent developments in experimental studies and phytochemical analyses which correlates with antimicrobial efficacy of selected Apocynaceous plants along with synergistic mechanism and structural details. The present review recognizes and leverages the importance of Apocynaceae plants, which could be of significant interest in the development of more effective and less toxic antimicrobial drugs which may surmount multidrug resistance. Three different paradigm models harnessing clinical antimicrobial resistance (AMR) including the plant family Apocynaceae, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial species have been broadly discussed in this review. In a nutshell, the present review represents a comprehensive account on the antimicrobials and resistance modifying agents obtained from the members of the plant family Apocynaceae and derived phytochemicals. It also gives an insight into the underlying mode of action of these phytochemicals against an array of pathogenic bacteria, their mechanism of antibiosis, plant parts from which the phytochemicals were isolated or the extracts was prepared with a critical discussion on the botanically-derived antibiotics as a template for antimicrobial drug development.

Three-Dimensional Nonlinear Finite Element Modeling for Bond Performance of Ribbed Steel Bars in Concrete Under Lateral Tensions

Development of experimental studies in bond behavior between deformed bar and concrete under complex stress conditions in the last 2 decades is significantly affecting the concrete design specification. This article presents a rib-scale finite element model (FEM) to study the bond behavior of deformed bar in concrete under lateral tensions. In this model, detailed modeling including the reinforcing bar ribs and the concrete keys in contact region is realized with real geometric parameters. At the concrete–bar interface, surface-to-surface contacts with tie constraints are used and relative sliding or separation between contact surfaces are inhibited; adhesion between concrete and deformed bar is ignored. A user-defined subroutine named VUSDFLD in ABAQUS software was incorporated into the concrete damaged plasticity (CDP) model to acquire more accurate concrete constitutive relations. The FEM is calibrated using pullout test data from published papers. The simulation results show that all specimens failed in splitting mode. The lateral tension is an adverse factor on the bond property between steel bar and concrete, both the ultimate bond strength and the slip at the peak bond stress decrease with the increase of the lateral tensions. Comparison of computational simulation with the experimental data indicates that the proposed model gives a reasonable prediction of the bond stress–slip curves as well as the concrete crack patterns.

Progress in Establishment of Endometriosis in Vitro Histological Models

The etiology and pathogenesis of endometriosis are hotspots in the field of obstetrics and gynecology today.With the rapid development of experimental studies of endometriosis, the establishment of in vitro histological models is increasingly important.The establishment and application of in vitro histological model provides a new research platform for exploring the pathogenesis and treatment of endometriosis. It is an important method to study endometriosis. Recently a variety of models have been successfully constructed, but still have many deficiencies. Up to now, studies on in vitro histological models have been qualitative, and no studies have involved quantitative analysis. Whether peritoneal mesothelial defect is the cause or result of adhesion, that is, peritoneal mesothelial defect itself exists in the patient, or the damage of the mesothelial during operation, or the destruction of the mesothelial by some cytokines secreted by implanted endometrial tissue? These problems have not yet been decided. Therefore, the choice of appropriate histological model to establish a method is conducive to further reveal the etiology of endometriosis, pathogenesis and evaluation of treatment. This paper reviews the research progress about the development of endometriosis with establishment of in vitro histological models, to further explore the best and stable culture conditions of human endometriosis histological model, and to establish a good model basis for further study of endometriosis.

Development of experimental study on coupled heat and moisture transfer in porous building envelope

A new facility was presented which can expediently and cheaply measure the transient moisture content profile in multi-layer porous building envelope. Then, a common multi-layer porous building envelope was provided, which was constructed by cement mortar-red brick-cement plaster. With this kind of building envelope installed in the south wall, a well-controlled air-conditioning room was set up in Changsha, which is one of typical zones of hot and humid climate in China. And experiments were carried out to investigate the temperature and moisture distribution in multi-layer building envelope in summer, both in sunny day and rainy day. The results show that, the temperature and humidity at the interface between the brick and cement mortar are seriously affected by the changes of outdoor temperature and humidity, and the relative humidity at this interface keeps more than 80% for a long-term, which can easily trigger the growth of mould. The temperature and humidity at the interface between the brick and cement plaster change a little, and they are affected by the changes of indoor temperature and humidity. The temperature and humidity at the interface of the wall whose interior surface is affixed with a foam plastic wallpaper are generally higher than those of the wall without wallpaper. The heat transfer and moisture transfer in the envelope are coupled strongly.

Study on Seismic Performance of Raw-Soil Structure in China

First, the features of raw-soil structure in China are introduced briefly from its building materials, its building mode, its structure system and houses damage in the earthquakes. Then its research process and present condition is summarized, and the results of investigation in recent years of raw-soil structure in China are presented. For raw-soil structure in China, the development of experimental study on the seismic performance is expounded from the performance of its materials, the bearing capacity and seismic performance of the bearing wall, its constructional measures, and the whole of the structure, etc. The results of constructing method and related norms written of raw-soil structure are summarized. The problems of the seismic ability of raw-soil structure are pointed out. Finally, the development of raw-soil structure in China is predicted in the future.

The development of experimental methods in structural dynamics

The development of experimental studies in the general field of structural dynamics is presented, with particular reference to earthquake and wind engineering. It starts with the 1960s studies at Laboratorio National de Engenharia Civil (LNEC) Lisbon, which were the first to consider and apply the conditions for dynamic similitude of models vibrating in water, and ends with current advances that make use of shaking tables and reaction walls, the two principal facilities now used. It is divided into two main parts, the first concerned with laboratory measurements, and the second with field measurements on as-built structures. In the first part, the emphasis is on thin arch dams, with particular concern for the hydrodynamic effect of the impounded reservoir water, and some reference to a cable-stayed bridge model. The second part deals with eccentric-mass vibrators and wind-induced vibration of two large arch dams in Switzerland, together with wind and traffic effects on the Humber suspension bridge.

Organic molecular beam deposition: fundamentals, growth dynamics, and in situstudies

We review recent progress on thin film growth by organic molecular beam deposition(OMBD). We give a brief overview of growth physics with emphasis on the specificcharacteristics of organic materials, such as weak van der Waals binding forces andconformational and orientational degrees of freedom of the molecular building blocks. Tworecent developments in experimental studies of OMBD will be discussed in moredetail: (1) we will give examples for real-time and in situ growth studies duringdeposition of the organic semiconductors pentacene, diindenoperylene, and PTCDAand (2) we will give an overview of high precision in situ investigations of thefirst molecular monolayer, in particular using the x-ray standing wave technique.

Development of Experimental Studies in the Bark splitting Injury Caused by Autumn Frost of Young Tea Plants and Establishment of the Methods for Prevention to the Injury

Development of Experimental Studies in the Bark splitting Injury Caused by Autumn Frost of Young Tea Plants and Establishment of the Methods for Prevention to the Injury

Cellular and histopathologic consequences of immunologically induced experimental glomerulonephritis.

It is now generally accepted that many, if not all, human cases of glomerulonephritis develop on the basis of immunologic mechanisms. Several key developments in experimental studies have contributed to our current understanding of the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis.