Key Stone Research Articles

Causes for the Rude Behavior of Elephants in and around the Udawalawe National Park

Sri Lankan elephants (Elphahas maximus maximus) genetically highly migrating sub-species need more and free natural ways to move to find their seasonal ecological niche as natural way of life. As study area, Udawalawe National Park (UNP) is a major elephant range and elephants are considered as key stone species of the park. The objective of this study was to find the causes for the rude behavior of elephants at the UNP. The fieldwork was conducted in east, west and south of the park through observation and interviews with officers and local people in April and December 2014. Data analysis was carried out based on obtained qualitative and quantitative data. The villagers trespass to the park and corridors for number of illegal activities and also to build fences and huts. Besides this, visitors throw stones, hoot vehicle hones and flash their cameras. Due to the above such human activities and with the attraction of fruits and vegetables around the park, at night around 7.00 pm to 1.00 am they feed and trample outside the park especially in March and April. People light crackers, light fires, shout, make noises with tins and coconut shells and sometimes shoot the elephants to chase. With such repeated incidents, the elephants become rude. According to the field study, out of nearly 325 to 400 elephants, three or four elephants throw long logs onto the electric wires and by connecting two wires together they defuse them. Some elephants also push and fell the posts on which the barbed wires are fixed. Another three elephants push the wire with their backs intermittently and then cross the fence. When the elephants find their habitats and corridors blocked by settlements, walls and cultivation, stubborn to change their route, they demolish the walls, eat the crops and trample them as they move on. If anybody happens to encounter the elephants in such a situation, they pitch violently to the ground and trample to death. Elephants have adopted this behavior as their self-defense mechanism because of unethical human practices in and around the park and elephant corridors. Keywords: Rude behaviour, Elephant, Udawala National Park

Literature Examined under the Diasporic Lens: Emotional Diaspora Present in Madame Butterfly

The typical myth of a Caucasian man and an Asian woman’s romance ends with tragedy, and this story is well versed in literature including Madame Butterfly by John Luther Long. In this story, Cho-Cho San, a young Japanese girl waits patiently for her American husband who betrayed her. However, the novel contains more than such myth in the aspect that it portrays emotional diasporic experience of an individual not falling directly into conventional diaspora criteria. Traditionally, diaspora mainly revolves around the notion of a home land, senses of alienation, maladjustment and communally shared experiences in foreign land. However, with the increase in international dislocations, there is paradigm shift in defining diaspora. It does not only envelop people in geographical displacement but in emotional, situational displacements. In this study, I hope to review the point that diaspora can occur to individuals who might not be geographically apart from their home land but are emotionally displaced due to different situational circumstances, which can be termed “emotional diaspora”. In Madame Butterfly, emotional diaspora occurs in Cho-Cho San who is displaced from Japanese society and confined in the walls of Pinkerton’s house which creates a particular diasporic experience for her. Therefore, through Madame Butterfly it can be suggested that the key stone of diaspora is the emotional displacement from whichever society one is in, not only confined by home land/ foreign land segregation or communal experiences of people in the same circumstance.

Florence Nightingale: The Mother of Nursing.

On May 12, it is the birth time of a great woman. We write this editorial for her honor. Florence Nightingale (Figure 1), the founder of modern nursing of professional nursing, was born in Florence, Italy, on 1820, in an English family; she was named of the city of her birth. Florence learned mathematics, language, philosophy and religion (all subjects that later influenced on her work) from her father (1). Figure 1. The Portrait of Florence Nightingale Florence from childhood loved God and holy Book. According to her, on the seventh of February 1837, while she was walking in a garden, she heard the voice of God, which was call her to a specific mission (1, 2). Florence in 1844 decided to work at the hospital. But, her parents were opposed to this idea. In England in the middle of the nineteen century, nursing was not a decent job (3). In July 1850, she went to Germany and France and worked as a volunteer in hospitals (1). Then in 1853, she returned to London and worked as a manager in the hospital that was called Institute of the sick women (2). A year later, something happened that opened a new way in the Florence life. Crimean war: In 1854, Britain, France and Turkey started a war with Russia thus Crimean war began. In September in one of the struggles in Alma, the Russia was defeated but England had a lot of casualties (2). There was a lack of medical facilities and high mortality in British military camps. Sydney Herbert, the minister of war, was a friend of Florence; so, she took the advantage (3). Florence in 1854 with 38 nurses went to a military camp of British soldiers, located on the outskirts of Constantinople (Istanbul) (2). Florence noticed that health status in these camps was devastating. Injured soldiers were left on the floor and the few doctors desperately were trying to manage patients with basic facilities, in dirty environment (4). Florence used her mathematical knowledge, and recorded the mortality rate in the hospital. Statistics showed that in every thousand injured soldiers, the six hundred were dying because of communicable and infectious diseases (2). The Florence interventions were simple. She tried to provide a clean environment. She provided medical equipment, clean water and fruits (2). With this work the mortality rate decreased from 60% to 42% and then to 2.2% (4). Florence was like mother for soldiers. She took the lamp every night and used to go to patients’ camp (3). Her great work attracted the attentions in England (5). She also used her fame and succeeded to attract the support of the Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. Florence asked them to have a permission to do an official investigation in the context of the military hospitals. The request was agreed and then the Royal Institute of research on the health of the military established. She was a great humanitarian and scientific figure. Nightingale was also a well-known statistician as she has invented a special pie chart (Figure 2) (2). Figure 2. A Polar-Area Diagram, Invented by Florence Nightingale Florence in 1860 established nightingale nursing school as the first nursing school in the world (4). With the establishment of this school, she changed nursing to a respectful profession. End of life: Florence Nightingale in the last years of her life was suffering from a disease, which she acquired it during her service in Crimea (2). She wrote many book and reports, mostly in the field of nursing (3). One of these books, “notes on nursing” was published in 1860 that is the first book in nursing education. She insisted on the importance of building trusting relationships with patients (6). Nightingale believed that nurses’ presence with a client is a key stone for making a professional communication. Empathy with patient and making a common experience in moving toward health has been validated by Florence nightingale that reaches us to an aesthetic nursing care (7). Radmehr et al. (8) in a phenomenological study that is published in the present issue of Nursing and Midwifery Studies reported that understanding beyond words, creating a good and nice feeling by making the patient happy, and the sense of unity by perceiving the patient and the nurse as one existence are some aesthetic aspects of nursing (8); and showed that Iranian nurses also follow the spirit of nursing that has been established by Florence Nightingale. Florence services were the first efforts to relieve suffering during war. She died in 13 August 1910 at the age of ninety (1). There are some sentences of Florence included in Table 1 (9). Table 1. Some Sentences of Florence

Stark-broadened profiles of the Lyman spectral lines in He II ions

This paper introduces a theoretical approach for the calculations of spectral line broadening in plasmas. As an example, the line profiles of Stark broadening or are calculated and investigated with this approach under some interesting plasma conditions. In our calculations, Dirac R-matrix methods are used to calculate electron-impact broadening operators, which are assumed to be diagonal matrix to simplify. The standard (Hooper) theory is chosen to calculate the electric microfield distribution function. Furthermore, the population density (bm) of ionization state m is obtained by the Boltzmann–Saha equations. The dipole matrix and the required atomic structure data are calculated by the atomic structure GRASP package. Thus Stark-broadened line profiles of the Lyman spectral lines in He II ion are computed in a systematic manner. These spectral line-broadening parameters are considerably important for plasma spectroscopy and plasma diagnosis as well as a key stone in plasma modeling.

Genome-wide survey of the seagrass Zostera muelleri suggests modification of the ethylene signalling network.

Seagrasses are flowering plants which grow fully submerged in the marine environment. They have evolved a range of adaptations to environmental challenges including light attenuation through water, the physical stress of wave action and tidal currents, high concentrations of salt, oxygen deficiency in marine sediment, and water-borne pollination. Although, seagrasses are a key stone species of the costal ecosystems, many questions regarding seagrass biology and evolution remain unanswered. Genome sequence data for the widespread Australian seagrass species Zostera muelleri were generated and the unassembled data were compared with the annotated genes of five sequenced plant species (Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Phoenix dactylifera, Musa acuminata, and Spirodela polyrhiza). Genes which are conserved between Z. muelleri and the five plant species were identified, together with genes that have been lost in Z. muelleri. The effect of gene loss on biological processes was assessed on the gene ontology classification level. Gene loss in Z. muelleri appears to influence some core biological processes such as ethylene biosynthesis. This study provides a foundation for further studies of seagrass evolution as well as the hormonal regulation of plant growth and development.

Traumatic Hip Dislocation in A Child Younger Than 3 Years- A rare Case Report And Review of Literature.

Introduction:Hip dislocation in a child less than 3 years is a very rare event. Only a few case reports have been documented in Western literature. It is rarely reported from Indian population. Hip dislocations are mostly due to low velocity injury in children younger than 3 years. We report such a case of hip dislocation in a 2 year old child.Case Report:A 25 month old child presented to our casualty following a fall from a slide 3 hours prior to presentation. His right lower limb was adducted and internally rotated. There was severe pain on attempting movements. An X-ray of the pelvis was taken which showed a posterior hip dislocation on the right side. The child had an emergency closed reduction under general anaesthesia followed by a broom stick plaster cast with hips in 30° abduction. Congruency of reduction was checked with image intensifier before plaster application. The plaster was removed at 6 weeks and gradual weight bearing started. The child was reviewed at 6 and 18 months with MRI scans at 6 and 18 months. There were no signs of avascular necrosis or chondrolysis.Conclusion:Paediatric hip dislocation (less than 3 years of age) is a very rare entity whose incidence is on the rise due to the increase in road traffic accidents. The key stone in proper management is clinical suspicion, early recognition and promptreduction (within 6 hours). Also gentle manipulation during reduction has a definite role in preventing iatrogenic chondrolysis and osteonecrosis of femoral head.

Implementación de Prospectiva Energética como Estrategia Prioritaria para la Soberanía Energética y Sostenibilidad Nacional

El objetivo del presente trabajo es exponer la importancia de implementar procesos de análisis prospectivo en el sector energético ecuatoriano, de tal manera que se genere información científicotécnica que sirva como insumo para la formulación de políticas y la toma de decisiones entorno a las inversiones requeridas para el desarrollo sostenible y soberano del sector energético en el contexto del cambio de la matriz energética y productiva. La planificación energética requiere como punto de partida la elaboración del balance energético actual y la construcción de balances energéticos proyectados, basados en escenarios y modelos que consideren variables múltiples. Dado el reto que representan el cambio de matriz energética y productiva en el país, el análisis riguroso de todos los factores que intervienen en los procesos de transformaciónes imperante para el cumplimiento de las metas gubernamentales, en un marco de suficiencia y renovabilidad. Sobre esta base, el INER ha planteado el desarrollo de un proyecto cuyo objetivo es establecer un panel interinstitucional para la gestión integrada de la información energética, así como evaluar e implementar metodologías para el análisis de escenarios de prospectiva energética multicriterio. Uno de los aspectos clave contemplados es la consolidación de capacidades técnicas y científicas interinstitucionales para la elaboración de modelos prospectivos cuyos resultados permitirán fortalecer los mecanismos políticos y estratégicos para garantizar la seguridad energética y la sostenibilidad ambiental , incidiendo en la reestructuración de la matriz energética, la transformación de la matriz productiva, y la erradicación de la pobreza.

Theory Practice Gaps in Nursing Education: A Qualitative Perspective

Abstract: The last three decades have focused on moving nursing education from hospitals toward universities. The theoretical part has started to gain more popularity in nursing education. The literature shows that there is a clear gap between what is taught in classroom and what student nurses experience in clinical area. This study aimed to identify reasons for this gap and present suggestions to overcome it. An exploratory qualitative approach was adopted. Individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews with thirty students were done. The findings shed light on one main theme the reasons for theory-practice Many of students explained that lack of qualifications of clinical instructors formed a key stone in increasing gap between theory and practice. Lack of communication between Theory and Practice teachers was viewed as another reason for this gap. The students showed complexity of clinical learning environment in comparison with theory controlled environment. Poor communication between clinical instructors and lack of support in clinical training was viewed crucial and was expected to increase feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction among nursing students. In conclusion, qualitative design used in this study provided deep and rich data about theory-practice gaps in nursing education in Jordan. The results of this study could be useful for undergraduate students, nursing schools, nursing teachers and stakeholders in Jordan.Keywords: Theory-Practice Gap, Nursing, EducationIntroductionThe last three decades focused on moving nursing education from hospitals to universities. There is point of view shows that nursing is a practice discipline and students' clinical training is considered to be core of nursing education (Jonsen et al., 2013; Parker and Carlisle, 1996). It was suggested that theory as being complementary to practice and they expect more focus on teaching in clinical setting (Landers, 2000). This view was originated from ability of clinical education to provide students with real life events that enable them to develop, apply and evaluate their own understanding of concepts being studied (Ranse and Grealish, 2007). However, other authors did not ignore importance of theory in nursing education (Stockhausen, 2005). They believed that theory information provides students with opportunity to build a range of powerful exemples that gained from experience.The theoretical part is started to gain more popularity in nursing education. Several programs and sub-specialists are newly developed and this reduced concentration on clinical education. Nursing teachers also started to focus on research and theory more than clinical skills. Nolan (1998) indicated that existing curriculum content and clinical experiences were failing to meet learners' needs. Jeffreys (2007) explained that this failure is resulted from making clinical education secondary to priorities of services.The literature showed that there is a clear gap between what is taught in classroom and what student nurses experience in clinical area (Brasell-Brian and Vallance, 2002; Landers, 2000; McKenna and Wellard, 2004). This gap was viewed as a normal phenomenon by some authors. For example, (Steele, 1991) explained that what is taught in classroom can never truly resemble real event and that a full comprehension of nursing principles does not ensure their application to practice. In same vein, (McCaugherty, 1991) pointed out that textbooks cannot possibly give full picture of a patient's clinical status. This suggests that theory-practice gap is difficult to be avoided. However, there is a limit for this gap should not be exceeded. The above discussion shows difficulty of avoiding theory-practice gap in nursing education. The literature review highlighted several reasons for presence of this gap. …

High-performance liquid chromatography on glass chips using precisely defined porous polymer monoliths as particle retaining elements

A stable and permanent integration of miniature packed bed separation columns into microfluidic systems is a major issue in nano liquid chromatography. Various approaches like differently shaped retaining elements or the use of key stone effect have been investigated. We show a flexible integration of miniature packed bed separation columns into microfluidic chips utilising common HPLC material achieved by laser-assisted generation of narrow, photopolymerised frits. The generated retaining elements serve as an in- and outlet frits for the columns. An optimised pre-polymeric solution, consisting of butyl acrylates and a porogen, allows a precise fabrication of frit-type structures with lengths of less than 100μm and the capability to withstand common slurry packing pressures of more than 250bar. The separation of seven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by pressure-driven, reversed-phase chromatography proves the high quality of the created chromatographic column inside a glass chip. Plate heights down to 2.9 were achieved and extremely fast separations with sub-second peak widths were performed in isocratic and gradient elution modes on very short columns (≤25mm).

Control of multiplicative noise stochastic gene regulation systems by the attractive ellipsoid technique

This article describes the application of the so-called attractive ellipsoidal method to solve the trajectory stabilization problem for a class of genetic network systems modelled by a stochastic model. The genetic network model is described by a stochastic quasi-linear system affected by additive and multiplicative noises simultaneously. The solution of the control design provided in this study is based on a linear feedback structure. In this paper the algorithm to construct a suboptimal gain for adjusting the control design is introduced. The attractive ellipsoidal method is the key stone for designing the so-called suboptimal gain. Moreover, the practical stability of the genetic network trajectories is demonstrated on the mean and in almost sure senses. Some numerical simulations show how a set of stochastic trajectories are stabilized by the controller suggested in this study and how the predicted ellipsoid region is achieved by these trajectories.

Studies on the Plant diversity of Muniandavar Sacred Groves of Thiruvaiyaru, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India

Plan: Muniandavar Sacred Groves from Vaduvakudi at Thiruvaiyaru Taluk, Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu was selected for floristic exploration to know the plant diversity of the vegetation, the availability of rare and endangered floras, the ecological significance, regeneration status and the anthropogenic pressures, to document the religious beliefs and spirituality and the participation of locals on conservation. Outcome : In the present study, the flora of Muniandavar Sacred Groves comprises about 180 plant species belonging to 158 genera and 75 plant families, Key stone species available in the Sacred groves includes Anacardium occidentale, Borassus flabellifer, Ficus benghalensis that harbors a number of birds and other survival of many other species. Muniandavar sacred grove is in good vegetation status and the conservationists should take necessary action to protect this grove from plastic pollution. An environmental awareness programme is planned to conduct for the local people in order to safeguard this sacred grove from pollution.

Comments on: Farkas’ lemma: three decades of generalizations for mathematical optimization

I am thankful to the Editor-In-Chief of Top, Prof. M. A. Goberna, for his kind invitation to write a comment to this invited article. My gratitude to him obeys two main reasons. The first one is that Farkas’ Lemma (and related topics) is one of the main tools in my research along the years, and also a key stone in my teaching of optimization. The second one comes from my deep professional respect and recognition to these outstanding researchers, that I consider also my friends, after an extremely satisfactory collaboration along the years, whose fruitful outcomes were gathered in several joint papers.

Role of Glomalin in Improving Soil Fertility: A Review

Mycorrhizalfungiare found naturallyin undisturbedsoilsaround the world.They form symbiotic relationships with almost all plants ranging from ornamentals, fruits, vegetables, trees and shrubs. Most of the plants have a strong dependency on mycorrhizal fungi for optimal growth. The mycorrhizal symbiosis is a key stone to the productivity and diversity of natural plant ecosystems. The symbiotic relationships are found between fungi and plants and the most prevalent plant symbiosis known and as a result VAM symbiosis is found in more than 80% of vascular plant families. Glomalin

Performance of pyroclastic rocks from Abakaliki Metropolis (southeastern Nigeria) in road construction projects

A total of 15 samples from the Abakaliki pyroclastic rock bodies were subjected to petrographic and mechanical analyses to determine the suitability of the rock type as a road aggregate. Results indicate that the Abakaliki pyroclastic rock yield aggregates with marginal performance in road projects. Although the aggregates meet a number of road stone requirements (i.e., ten percent fines and their ability to absorb water), they fail to meet other key road stone requirements. Whilst their aggregate impact values, Los Angeles abrasion values, and flakiness index are generally above the recommended limits, petrographic analyses reveal appreciable amounts of shaley to muddy lithic fragment and volcanic glassy groundmass. These detrimental constituents and marginal laboratory test results would likely translate to long term poor field performance where the pyroclastic aggregate is used for road construction. This study suggests that utilization of the Abakaliki pyroclastic rock as an aggregate, especially for road construction, requires informed caution, particularly when the material is exposed to climatic extremes (high volume of rainfall and high and fluctuating temperature) as is the case in the tropics.

Ultradeep 16S rRNA Sequencing Analysis of Geographically Similar but Diverse Unexplored Marine Samples Reveal Varied Bacterial Community Composition

BackgroundBacterial community composition in the marine environment differs from one geographical location to another. Reports that delineate the bacterial diversity of different marine samples from geographically similar location are limited. The present study aims to understand whether the bacterial community compositions from different marine samples harbour similar bacterial diversity since these are geographically related to each other.Methods and Principal FindingsIn the present study, 16S rRNA deep sequencing analysis targeting V3 region was performed using Illumina bar coded sequencing. A total of 22.44 million paired end reads were obtained from the metagenomic DNA of Marine sediment, Rhizosphere sediment, Seawater and the epibacterial DNA of Seaweed and Seagrass. Diversity index analysis revealed that Marine sediment has the highest bacterial diversity and the least bacterial diversity was observed in Rhizosphere sediment. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the dominant taxa present in all the marine samples. Nearly 62–71% of rare species were identified in all the samples and most of these rare species were unique to a particular sample. Further taxonomic assignment at the phylum and genus level revealed that the bacterial community compositions differ among the samples.ConclusionThis is the first report that supports the fact that, bacterial community composition is specific for specific samples irrespective of its similar geographical location. Existence of specific bacterial community for each sample may drive overall difference in bacterial structural composition of each sample. Further studies like whole metagenomic sequencing will throw more insights to the key stone players and its interconnecting metabolic pathways. In addition, this is one of the very few reports that depicts the unexplored bacterial diversity of marine samples (Marine sediment, Rhizosphere sediment, Seawater) and the host associated marine samples (Seaweed and Seagrass) at higher depths from uncharacterised coastal region of Palk Bay, India using next generation sequencing technology.

Is the Interplay between Epigenetic Markers Related to the Acclimation of Cork Oak Plants to High Temperatures?

Trees necessarily experience changes in temperature, requiring efficient short-term strategies that become crucial in environmental change adaptability. DNA methylation and histone posttranslational modifications have been shown to play a key role in both epigenetic control and plant functional status under stress by controlling the functional state of chromatin and gene expression. Cork oak (Quercus suber L.) is a key stone of the Mediterranean region, growing at temperatures of 45°C. This species was subjected to a cumulative temperature increase from 25°C to 55°C under laboratory conditions in order to test the hypothesis that epigenetic code is related to heat stress tolerance. Electrolyte leakage increased after 35°C, but all plants survived to 55°C. DNA methylation and acetylated histone H3 (AcH3) levels were monitored by HPCE (high performance capillary electrophoresis), MS-RAPD (methylation-sensitive random-amplified polymorphic DNA) and Protein Gel Blot analysis and the spatial distribution of the modifications was assessed using a confocal microscope. DNA methylation analysed by HPCE revealed an increase at 55°C, while MS-RAPD results pointed to dynamic methylation-demethylation patterns over stress. Protein Gel Blot showed the abundance index of AcH3 decreasing from 25°C to 45°C. The immunohistochemical detection of 5-mC (5-methyl-2′-deoxycytidine) and AcH3 came upon the previous results. These results indicate that epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation and histone H3 acetylation have opposite and particular dynamics that can be crucial for the stepwise establishment of this species into such high stress (55°C), allowing its acclimation and survival. This is the first report that assesses epigenetic regulation in order to investigate heat tolerance in forest trees.

Are There Early Clinical Factors to Decide Early Surgical Management for Secondary Chylothorax? A Review of 32 Cases

Background: Chylothorax may be primary (spontaneous) or secondary and more often arising as a postoperative complication of thoracic surgery. It occurs when the thoracic duct or its lymphatic tributaries become blocked or perforated or divided resulting in a chylous pleural effusion. Loss of chyle leads to nutritional deficiencies, dehydration, ionic perturbation and lymphocytes leaks thus increasing the vulnerability for infections and respiratory dysfunction. It is a life-threatening complication increasing the postoperative hospital stay. Management of chylothorax is firstly medical which leads to the cessation of leaks in most of the cases. Surgical treatment by thoracic duct ligation is sometimes necessary after failure of medical treatment. The appropriate time for surgical treatment is a subject of controversy. Methods: Reviewing a series of patients treated between 2000 to 2010 in a single center with the same protocol management, the aim of the study was to identify early clinical variables allowing early surgical treatment in postoperative chylothorax. Results: Thirty-two patients were identified in the study period. There were 21 males (65.6%) and 11 females (34.4%) with a mean age of 55.7 years (range from 9 to 79 years) (Table 1). Twenty-two patients (68.75%) had chylothorax after a surgical intervention, seven patients (21.8%) had chylothorax due to medical causes and three patients (9.3%) after chest trauma. Thirty-eight percent of patients treated conservatively were after lung cancer resection and 35% of patients treated surgically where after esophageal resection. Chylothorax was stopped in 33% of patients after lymphangiography. Cumulative leak per day was 1007 ml/day for operated patients and 397 ml/day for patient treated conservatively. Esophageal resection surgery and the amount of fluid leak were the two factors founded to be associated for the decision of an earlier surgical treatment. Conclusion: Chylothorax arising after esophageal resection with a flow rate of leak of more than 500 ml/day should be proposed to an earlier surgical treatment. Lymphangiography remains a key stone assessment with a double aim diagnostic and therapeutic in chyle leakage.

RHuEPO Hyporesponsiveness and Related High Dosages Are Associated with Hyperviscosity in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Objective. Increased viscosity may increase the risk of thrombosis or thromboembolic events. Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) is the key stone treatment in anemic ESRD patients with the thrombotic limiting side effect. We evaluated the influence of clinical and laboratory findings on plasma viscosity in MHD patients in the present study. Method. After applying exclusion criteria 84 eligible MHD patients were included (30 female, age: 54.7 ± 13.7 years). Results. Patients with high viscosity had longer MHD history, calcium × phosphorus product, and higher rHuEPO requirement (356.4 versus 204.2 U/kg/week, P: 0.006). rHuEPO hyporesponsiveness was also more common in hyperviscosity group. According to HD duration, no rHuEPO group had the longest and the low rHuEPO dosage group had the shortest duration. Despite similar Hb levels, 68% of patients in high rHuEPO dosage group; and 38.7% of patients in low rHuEPO dosage group had higher plasma viscosity (P: 0.001). Patients with hyperviscosity had higher rHuEPO/Hb levels (P: 0.021). Binary logistic regression analyses revealed that rHuEPO hyporesponsiveness was the major determinant of hyperviscosity. Conclusion. We suggest that the hyperviscous state of the hemodialysis patients may arise from the inflammatory situation of long term HD, the calcium-phosphorus mineral abnormalities, rHuEPO hyporesponsiveness, and related high dosage requirements.

Optimal reaction concept and plant wide optimization of the ethylene oxide process

In this paper, a new method for the identification of the best reaction concept from an overall process point of view is proposed. Using this method the optimal reaction route is determined independent of existing apparatuses and the recycle affecting the reactor is fully considered. The reaction concept and the design parameters of the process are simultaneously optimized. For this purpose, a detailed model of the reaction system including reaction kinetics, thermodynamic relationships, and intrinsic boundaries such as explosion limits as well as a complete model of the downstream process is set up. The potential of different reaction concepts including innovative process intensification alternatives can easily be determined by comparison with an optimized reference case.The example considered in this paper is the oxygen based ethylene oxide process, which is one of the most important chemical bulk processes. Sophisticated cooling in combination with distributed oxygen dosing along the reactor length is identified as best technical reaction concept with a potential of reducing the operating costs of an average sized plant by 1.35Mio$/a compared to an optimized reference case. In addition, the utility consumption is reduced, especially the consumption of electricity is decreased by 46.3%, and the overall CO2 emissions are cut by 8%.In conclusion, the proposed method enables the predictive determination of the best reaction concept from an overall process point of view taking the full interconnections between the reaction concept and the process into account and considering highly innovative process intensification options. Thereby, this method provides a key stone for the development of more economical and more sustainable chemical reactors and processes of the future.

북부 동중국해 수괴 변화 감시를 위한 유종섬모류 분포 적용

Tintinnid species distribution has been monitored in the northern East China Sea (ECS) in the summer of 2006 through 2011. This is used to understand the water mass movements in the northern ECS. The warm oceanic tintinnid species had largely spread in 2007 in the area, indicating that there was greater warm water extension into the northern ECS. However the extension of neritic water within the Changjiang diluted water mass has strengthened in 2008 and 2010 because the neritic species distribution had relatively grown in both years. These annual results based on the biological indicators of tintinnid species are well matched with the salinity change in the area. The warm oceanic species, Dadayiella ganymedes had frequently occurred over the study years and had shown a significant relationship with the salinity change. This is valuable as a key stone species for monitoring the intrusion of the Kuroshio within the northern ECS. Information from tintinnid biological indicators can support physical oceanography data to confirm ambiguous water mass properties.