Effects of materials of construction on tastes and odours in drinking water

Products and materials used incontact with drinking water have the potentialto cause tainting of drinking water. Whilsthealth effects are not necessarily associatedwith such effects, for consumers, flavour orodour are the main parameters they use toassess the wholesomeness of their drinkingwater. There are a number of possible causes oftainting from products and materials and theseare discussed. In many countries products usedin contact with drinking water are screened toavoid odour or flavour problems. However,despite these safeguards tainting problems canand do still occur. Some relate tomisapplication of products in distributionsystems, poor domestic plumbing practices orthe use of domestic appliances after the pointof supply.     

The structural basis of oscillation damping in plant stems - biomechanics and biomimetics

1 Introduction Dynamic wind loads can excite potentially de-structive oscillations in plants. Without dissipation ofmechanical energy a resonance catastrophe is likely tooccur in dynamic winds with frequency componentsclose to the resonant frequencies of the plant. Four modesof oscillation damping are considered [1] ? Friction with other members of the plant commu-nity as for instance in the dense stand of bamboos. ? Structural damping: other than in the engineeringscien…     

一种菊科植物抽提物对小鼠血液生化成分的影响

探讨一种菊科植物抽提物对小鼠血液生化成分的影响。利用半自动生化分析仪测定血液生化成分,结果表明该抽提物可降低血清白蛋白和总蛋白含量;降低乳酸脱氢酶、肌酸激酶活性和丙氧酸氧基转移酶活性;对血清中尿素、尿酸、肌酐都有明显降低作用;可减少血清二价金属离子Ca^2 、Mg^2 含量,增加Cl^-含量;对碱性磷酸酶、天冬氨酸氧基转移酶、血清无机磷影响不明显。     

获取复配农药最佳增效配方的一种简易方法

借鉴共毒因子法评价农药复配联合作用的思想,将参与复配的单剂引起25％死亡率的剂量定为零水平,利用二次回归通用旋转组合设计安排实验研究氯氰菊酯和喹硫磷复配对斜纹夜蛾（Spodoptera litura）2龄幼虫的增效作用,得出杀虫剂使用量与斜纹夜蛾幼虫死亡率机率值之间的关系,从共毒系数（CTC）的计算公式推导出共毒系数与杀虫混剂中两单剂使用浓度N1、N2之间的数学关系,CTC＝100／N1／α N2/b（α、b分别为氯氰菊酯和喹硫磷的LC50）,进而确定最优化问题的目标函数j=N1/α＋N2／b,利用国际统计分析软件SAS的NLP过程求最大共毒系数和最优配方,所得结论与共毒系数法一致。     

生物陶瓷材料研究进展

本文综述了生物陶瓷材料研制发展的历史和现状,介绍了生物陶瓷材料在当前临床应用的情况,展望了其应用前景。     

Photo-catalytic preparation of silver-coated TiO2 particles for antibacterial applications

Colloidal silver has been known to have unique antimicrobial activity that may be useful in the construction of antibacterial materials (self-cleaning materials) to aid in the fight against bacteria-related infections. In this study, silver-coated TiO₂ (Ag/TiO₂) particles prepared through the photo-reduction of Ag⁺ were investigated as an antibacterial agent against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The deposition of Ag onto the surface was confirmed with SEM and EDS analysis of the post-reaction particles. It was also determined that the initial concentration of Ag⁺ in solution played a significant role in the effective size of the post-irradiation particles. The antibacterial effectiveness of the Ag/TiO₂ was evaluated through the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AgTiO₂ for each species of bacteria. The MIC values for the Ag/TiO₂, on both E. coli and S. aureus, were much lower than the MIC values for Ag metal, and quite comparable to the MIC values for AgNO₃. A disc diffusion/antibiotic sensitivity test was also performed using the Ag/TiO₂ particles and the results compared with the results obtained for Ag metal, AgNO₃ and common antibacterial agents; tetracycline, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, and neomycin. The zone of inhibition diameters for the Ag/TiO₂ particles were found to be comparable with those of the other antimicrobial agents.     

害虫防治决策的复序贯分析方法及抽样技术研究

复序贯抽样决策技术实际应用的受限 ,原因在于截止限序贯抽样模型的缺乏。本文在检验昆虫种群空间格局回归模型的基础上 ,推导出了目前国内常用检验回归模型的截止限序贯抽样模型 ,并将其运用于复序贯分析决策过程中。实例分析表明 ,对于同一种生物种群 ,在一定的精度 (D)和置信水平(tα)要求下 ,复序贯抽样决策技术可以大幅度地节约抽样成本     

The molecular path to inorganic materials - Zinc oxide and beyond

In the current article, we present a concept for the synthesis of complex nanoscaled materials. The synthetic strategy involves a stepwise assembly of materials starting from special molecular precursors possessing multiple information. Therefore, the article focuses on a strong pervasion of inorganic materials chemistry, solid-state chemistry and molecular chemistry. The concept introduced is finally highlighted by examples from our current research in the field of zinc oxide materials.     

Accuracy of genomic selection for age at puberty in a multi‐breed population of tropically adapted beef cattle

Genomic selection is becoming a standard tool in livestock breeding programs, particularly for traits that are hard to measure. Accuracy of genomic selection can be improved by increasing the quantity and quality of data and potentially by improving analytical methods. Adding genotypes and phenotypes from additional breeds or crosses often improves the accuracy of genomic predictions but requires specific methodology. A model was developed to incorporate breed composition estimated from genotypes into genomic selection models. This method was applied to age at puberty data in female beef cattle (as estimated from age at first observation of a corpus luteum) from a mix of Brahman and Tropical Composite beef cattle. In this dataset, the new model incorporating breed composition did not increase the accuracy of genomic selection. However, the breeding values exhibited slightly less bias (as assessed by deviation of regression of phenotype on genomic breeding values from the expected value of 1). Adding additional Brahman animals to the Tropical Composite analysis increased the accuracy of genomic predictions and did not affect the accuracy of the Brahman predictions.     

Elaboration and application of mathematical model for estimation of mould contamination of some building materials based on ergosterol content determination

The study presents a mathematical function describing a correlation between the amount of ergosterol and the number of colony-forming units (CFU) of mould contaminating selected building materials such as: a block of cellular concrete, gypsum—carton board and gypsum—carton board covered with emulsion paint. The dependence obtained for a particular material as well as an average dependence for all the investigated materials has been described by means of an exponential equation. It has been found out that there is high, statistically significant correlation between ergosterol content and CFU number of mould in all of the building materials. The correlation coefficients have ranged from r=0.790 to 0.933. The elaborated equation describing the above dependence can be applied to estimate mould contamination by means of culture methods within the range 10³–10⁸ CFU/m² of the surface. In addition, the estimated level of ergosterol in these materials has been shown to be the criterion by which to evaluate the degree of filamentous fungal contamination. It has been assessed that an ergosterol content exceeding the level of 3.96 mg/m² indicates the active development of mould. This criterion has been applied to evaluate several building materials i.e.: concrete, gypsum board, emulsion coatings, brick, plaster, wallpaper, glass wool, mineral wool and wood. No statistically significant differences have been observed between CFU number of mould calculated from a model equation on the basis of the ergosterol content and CFU number of mould experimentally determined by traditional methods. The results presented in this paper show that the elaborated equation of correlation between the ergosterol content and CFU number of mould can be applied to estimate mould contamination of different building materials, based on the determination of ergosterol.