Experimental Equilibrium Moisture Content of Wood Under Vacuum

Wood equilibrium moisture content (EMC) was measured under vacuum by an electronic method. A wafer was used to measure EMC using an in-house designed vacuum instrument. EMC at 4 to 100 kPa and temperature from 30 to 90°C were measured. The relationships among temperature, pressure, and EMC were determined, and a diagram of wood EMC was produced. The results showed there are obvious differences between experimental EMC values obtained and theoretical EMC values of other researchers. It is suggested that corrections should be introduced into theoretical models or a new model for the vacuum condition developed

Efficacy and adverse effects of transdermal fentanyl and sustained-release oral morphine in treating moderate-severe cancer pain in Chinese population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous meta-analysis suggested that transdermal fentanyl was not inferior to sustained-release oral morphine in treating moderate-severe cancer pain with less adverse effects. Now, we updated the data and performed a systematic review.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Updated cohort studies on transdermal fentanyl and oral morphine in the treatment of cancer pain were searched in electronic databases including CBMdisc, CNKI, VIP, Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane Library. Primary end points assessed by meta-analysis were remission rate of pain and incidence of adverse effects. Quality of life was assessed by systematic review, which was the second end point.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>32 cohort studies, which included 2651 patients, were included in present study. The remission rate in transdermal fentanyl group and sustained-release oral morphine group were 86.60% and 88.31% respectively, there was no significant difference [RR = 1.13, 95% CI (0.92, 1.38), P = 0.23]. Compared with oral morphine group, there were less adverse effects in terms of constipation [RR = 0.35, 95% CI (0.27, 0.45), P < 0.00001], nausea/vomiting [RR = 0.57, 95% CI (0.49, 0.67), P < 0.00001], and vertigo/somnolence [RR = 0.59, 95% CI (0.51, 0.68), P < 0.00001] in transdermal fentanyl group. Six of selected trials supported either transdermal fentanyl or sustained-release oral morphine improved QOL of cancer patients and one of them showed more patients got better QOL after sustained-release oral morphine transferred to transdermal fentanyl.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study showed again that both transdermal fentanyl and oral morphine had the same efficacy in the treatment of moderate-severe cancer pain in Chinese population, but the former might have less adverse effects and better quality of life.</p

Therapeutic effect of a new posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation for high myopia with low astigmatism

AIM: To observe the efficacy and safety of a new posterior chamber intraocular lens(ICMO V4c)implantation in patients with high myopia and low astigmatism and to provide reference for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of these patients. METHODS: The study was to analyze the clinical data of patients with high myopia who underwent ICMO V4c implantation with low degree of astigmatism in our hospital from January 2015 to December 2016. The patients were followed up for 1, 3 and 6mo after operation. The items we analyzed including preoperative and postoperative uncorrected visual acuity(UCVA)and best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), diopter, spherical and cylinder equivalent, and manifest refraction spherical equivalent(MRSE), intraocular pressure(IOP), endothelial cell counting, anterior chamber depth(ACD), arch height and postoperative complications. RESULTS: Postoperative UCVA and BCVA improved compared with preoperative, and the difference between preoperative and postoperative was statistically significant(Pt=38.510, 20.100, 34.300; Pt=3.998, 2.837, all Pt=0.383, P>0.05). The corneal endothelium counts in the patients at 3mo and 6mo after surgery were lower than those before surgery(t=2.119, 2.411; all Pt=5.850, 5.260, 2.556; all PCONCLUSION: The new posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation in the treatment of high myopia with low astigmatism reaches satisfaction with less complications, is a good supplement to corneal refractive surgery

Invasive alien plants benefit more from clonal integration in heterogeneous environments than natives

What confers invasive alien plants a competitive advantage over native plants remains open to debate. Many of the world's worst invasive alien plants are clonal and able to share resources within clones (clonal integration), particularly in heterogeneous environments. Here, we tested the hypothesis that clonal integration benefits invasive clonal plants more than natives and thus confers invasives a competitive advantage.We selected five congeneric and naturally co-occurring pairs of invasive alien and native clonal plants in China, and grew pairs of connected and disconnected ramets under heterogeneous light, soil nutrient and water conditions that are commonly encountered by alien plants during their invasion into new areas.Clonal integration increased biomass of all plants in all three heterogeneous resource environments. However, invasive plants benefited more from clonal integration than natives. Consequently, invasive plants produced more biomass than natives.Our results indicate that clonal integration may confer invasive alien clonal plants a competitive advantage over natives. Therefore, differences in the ability of clonal integration could potentially explain, at least partly, the invasion success of alien clonal plants in areas where resources are heterogeneously distributed

Most Lithium-rich Low-mass Evolved Stars Revealed as Red Clump stars by Asteroseismology and Spectroscopy

Lithium has confused scientists for decades at almost each scale of the universe. Lithium-rich giants are peculiar stars with lithium abundances over model prediction. A large fraction of lithium-rich low-mass evolved stars are traditionally supposed to be red giant branch (RGB) stars. Recent studies, however, report that red clump (RC) stars are more frequent than RGB. Here, we present a uniquely large systematic study combining the direct asteroseismic analysis with the spectroscopy on the lithium-rich stars. The majority of lithium-rich stars are confirmed to be RCs, whereas RGBs are minor. We reveal that the distribution of lithium-rich RGBs steeply decline with the increasing lithium abundance, showing an upper limit around 2.6 dex, whereas the Li abundances of RCs extend to much higher values. We also find that the distributions of mass and nitrogen abundance are notably different between RC and RGB stars. These findings indicate that there is still unknown process that significantly affects surface chemical composition in low-mass stellar evolution.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures, 3 table

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) Science White Paper

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) project is a new generation multi-component instrument, to be built at 4410 meters of altitude in the Sichuan province of China, with the aim to study with unprecedented sensitivity the spec trum, the composition and the anisotropy of cosmic rays in the energy range between 10$^{12}$ and 10$^{18}$ eV, as well as to act simultaneously as a wide aperture (one stereoradiant), continuously-operated gamma ray telescope in the energy range between 10$^{11}$ and $10^{15}$ eV. The experiment will be able of continuously surveying the TeV sky for steady and transient sources from 100 GeV to 1 PeV, t hus opening for the first time the 100-1000 TeV range to the direct observations of the high energy cosmic ray sources. In addition, the different observables (electronic, muonic and Cherenkov/fluorescence components) that will be measured in LHAASO will allow to investigate origin, acceleration and propagation of the radiation through a measurement of energy spec trum, elemental composition and anisotropy with unprecedented resolution. The remarkable sensitivity of LHAASO in cosmic rays physics and gamma astronomy would play a key-role in the comprehensive general program to explore the High Energy Universe. LHAASO will allow important studies of fundamental physics (such as indirect dark matter search, Lorentz invariance violation, quantum gravity) and solar and heliospheric physics. In this document we introduce the concept of LHAASO and the main science goals, providing an overview of the project.Comment: This document is a collaborative effort, 185 pages, 110 figure

Pharmaceutical And Biomedical Applications Of Affinity Chromatography: Recent Trends And Developments

Affinity chromatography is a separation technique that has become increasingly important in work with biological samples and pharmaceutical agents. This method is based on the use of a biologically-related agent as a stationary phase to selectively retain analytes or to study biological interactions. This review discusses the basic principles behind affinity chromatography and examines recent developments that have occurred in the use of this method for biomedical and pharmaceutical analysis. Techniques based on traditional affinity supports are discussed, but an emphasis is placed on methods in which affinity columns are used as part of HPLC systems or in combination with other analytical methods. General formats for affinity chromatography that are considered include step elution schemes, weak affinity chromatography, affinity extraction and affinity depletion. Specific separation techniques that are examined include lectin affinity chromatography, boronate affinity chromatography, immunoaffinity chromatography, and immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography. Approaches for the study of biological interactions by affinity chromatography are also presented, such as the measurement of equilibrium constants, rate constants, or competition and displacement effects. In addition, related developments in the use of immobilized enzyme reactors, molecularly imprinted polymers, dye ligands and aptamers are briefly considered