Electrocatalysis of fuel cell reactions: Investigation of alternate electrolytes

Oxygen reduction and transport properties of the electrolyte in the phosphoric acid fuel cell are studied. The areas covered were: (1) development of a theoretical expression for the rotating ring disk electrode technique; (2) determination of the intermediate reaction rate constants for oxygen reduction on platinum in phosphoric acid electrolyte; (3) determination of oxygen reduction mechanism in trifluoreomethanesulfonic acid (TFMSA) which was considered as an alternate electrolyte for the acid fuel cells; and (4) the measurement of transport properties of the phosphoric acid electrolyte at high concentrations and temperatures

Electrocatalysis of fuel cell reactions: Investigation of alternate electrolytes

Oxygen reduction and transport properties of the electrolyte in the phosphoric acid fuel cell are studied. A theoretical expression for the rotating ring-disk electrode technique; the intermediate reaction rate constants for oxygen reduction on platinum in phosphoric acid electrolyte; oxygen reduction mechanism in trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMSA), considered as an alternate electrolyte for the acid fuel cells; and transport properties of the phosphoric acid electrolyte at high concentrations and temperatures are covered

Equilibrium vortex formation in ultrarapidly rotating two-component Bose-Einstein condensates

Equilibrium vortex formation in rotating binary Bose gases with a rotating frequency higher than the harmonic trapping frequency is investigated theoretically. We consider the system being evaporatively cooled to form condensates and a combined numerical scheme is applied to ensure the binary system being in an authentic equilibrium state. To keep the system stable against the large centrifugal force of ultrafast rotation, a quartic trapping potential is added to the existing harmonic part. Using the Thomas-Fermi approximation, a critical rotating frequency \Omega_c is derived, which characterizes the structure with or without a central density hole. Vortex structures are studied in detail with rotation frequency both above and below ?\Omega_c and with respect to the miscible, symmetrically separated, and asymmetrically separated phases in their nonrotating ground-state counterparts.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

A Study on Tourism Development Strategy of Kaohsiung City in Taiwan after Urban Style Regeneration

Urban tourism has gradually been emphasized in past years; especially, it is regarded as a savior of urban regeneration in old industrial cities. When losing the competitive advantages and getting declined, old industrial cities are facing the challenge of transformation. The development of urban tourism is considered as the opportunity of industrial cities in dark recession that they start to involve in the development of tourism. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is applied in this study to evaluate key success factors in the tourism development strategy of Kaohsiung City after the urban style regeneration. AHP is used for confirming the levels of various evaluation factors. The first hierarchy contains four evaluation dimensions, and 14 evaluation standards are covered in the second hierarchy. The results reveal the important sequence of four evaluation factors in the second hierarchy as (1) marketing activity, (2) management strategy, (3) recreational environment, and (4) infrastructure, where the importance of evaluation factors in the third hierarchy is sequenced as (1) urban attraction, (2) environmental facility maintenance, (3) celebrations, (4) local characteristics, and (5) natural landscape. The research results and suggestions in this study are expected to enhance the tourism development of Kaohsiung City in Taiwan after the urban style regeneration.     Keywords: urban style, tourism development strategy, key success factors, Delphi method, AH

Key Factors in the Medical Examination Product Design and Development Using Human Cell Image Totems

The industry of cultural creativity has a significant influence on the overall economy of a country. The development and application of cultural and creative products in different fields are growing more diverse. In the field of medicine, cultural and creative products can deliver more than aesthetic functions. They can bring healing benefits for patients with different symptoms in different age groups. Creative product designs that combine medicine and cultural/artistic creativity can make medical products warmer and friendlier to users. Focusing on the creative design of medical examination products, this study aims to provide references for more creative and friendly design of medical examination products to help reduce the fear and anxiety of patients when using such products. In this study, micro images of human cells are converted into totems as design elements for the design and development of cultural and creative products. These image totems not only represent the lively cellular world inside human body but also add aesthetics to the product design and make the products look warmer and friendlier to users. The research methods of literature survey, expert interview survey, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to first find out the factors in the medical product design using image totems of human cell mutation and reproduction and then measure the relative weight of each factor. Hopefully, the findings of this study can provide references for the creative design and development of medical examination products and help to enhance the design effectiveness.     Keywords: cultural creativity industry, medical examination, products with healing effects, expert interview, analytic hierarchy process (AHP

Comparative bactericidal activities of daptomycin, glycopeptides, linezolid and tigecycline against blood isolates of Gram-positive bacteria in Taiwan

ABSTRACTIn-vitro MICs and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of daptomycin, linezolid, tigecycline, vancomycin and teicoplanin against Gram-positive bacteria were determined using the broth microdilution method for ten blood isolates each of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), including two vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis. One strain of VISA was tested in a time-kill synergism assay of daptomycin combined with oxacillin, imipenem, rifampicin and isepamicin. Daptomycin showed excellent in-vitro bactericidal activity against all the isolates tested, with no tolerance or synergism effects when combined with other agents, except with rifampicin against VISA. Vancomycin had better bactericidal activity against MRSA and MSSA than did teicoplanin. Linezolid had the poorest bactericidal activity against the isolates tested, with 100% tolerance by the MSSA and VRE isolates, and 80% tolerance by the MRSA isolates. Tolerance towards tigecycline was exhibited by 40% of the MRSA isolates, 100% of the MSSA and vancomycin-resistant E. faecalis isolates, and 90% of the vancomycin-resistant E. faecium isolates

Spontaneous Crystallization of Skyrmions and Fractional Vortices in the Fast-rotating and Rapidly-quenched Spin-1 Bose-Einstein Condensates

We investigate the spontaneous generation of crystallized topological defects via the combining effects of fast rotation and rapid thermal quench on the spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates. By solving the stochastic projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we show that, when the system reaches equilibrium, a hexagonal lattice of skyrmions, and a square lattice of half-quantized vortices can be formed in a ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic spinor BEC, respetively, which can be imaged by using the polarization-dependent phase-contrast method

Stability of Solid State Reaction Fronts

We analyze the stability of a planar solid-solid interface at which a chemical reaction occurs. Examples include oxidation, nitridation, or silicide formation. Using a continuum model, including a general formula for the stress-dependence of the reaction rate, we show that stress effects can render a planar interface dynamically unstable with respect to perturbations of intermediate wavelength

Epidemiological investigation of a case of nosocomial Legionnaires' disease in Taiwan: implications for routine environmental surveillance

AbstractAn epidemiological investigation with Legionella and molecular subtyping was conducted to determine the source of a case of nosocomial Legionnaires' disease (LD) who was hospitalized in three hospitals within a month. Legionella pneumophila serogroup 3, an uncommon serogroup for infection, was isolated from the patient's sputum. Environmental surveillance revealed Legionella colonization in all three hospitals; the patient isolate matched the isolate from the first hospital by molecular typing. Culturing the hospital water supply for Legionella is a pro-active strategy for detection of nosocomial LD even in hospitals experiencing no previous cases