Extraction of Salvia miltiorrhiza Using Subcritical Water

Salvia miltiorrhiza, also known as Danshen, is an herb commonly used in Chinese medicine to treat cardiovascular and other diseases. As it has recently gained more recognition, this herb is currently being investigated for its anticancer properties. In traditional Chinese medicine, the patients extracted the prescribed herbs using boiling water, then consumed the extracts as medication. However, the extraction temperature of approximately 100 'C used in this traditional method may not be the most effective condition to remove the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from the herb. Previous studies show that higher temperatures can more efficiently extract anticancer agents, such as tanshinones, from Salvia miltiorrhiza. The goal of this study is to determine the most efficient subcritical water extraction temperature that extracts the APIs from the herb. The extraction process was performed at four different temperatures: 75 'C, 100 'C, 125 'C, and 150 'C. After the high-temperature water extraction, the APIs in the water extracts were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Comparison of hydrochar fractionation and composition in batch and continuous hydrothermal liquefaction

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Semiconductor manufacturing simulation design and analysis with limited data

This paper discusses simulation design and analysis for Silicon Carbide (SiC) manufacturing operations management at New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium (PEMC) facility. Prior work has addressed the development of manufacturing system simulation as the decision support to solve the strategic equipment portfolio selection problem for the SiC fab design [1]. As we move into the phase of collecting data from the equipment purchased for the PEMC facility, we discuss how to redesign our manufacturing simulations and analyze their outputs to overcome the challenges that naturally arise in the presence of limited fab data. We conclude with insights on how an approach aimed to reflect learning from data can enable our discrete-event stochastic simulation to accurately estimate the performance measures for SiC manufacturing at the PEMC facility

The very nearby M/T dwarf binary SCR 1845-6357

The recently discovered star SCR 1845-6357 is the first late M/T dwarf binary discovered. SCR 1845 is a particular object due to its tight orbit (currently around 4 AU) and its proximity to the Sun (3.85 pc). We present spatially resolved VLT/NACO images and low resolution spectra of SCR 1845 in the J, H and K near-infrared bands. Since the T dwarf companion, SCR 1845B, is so close to the primary SCR 1845A, orbital motion is evident even within a year. Following the orbital motion, the binary's mass can be measured accurately within a decade, making SCR 1845B a key T-dwarf mass-luminosity calibrator. The NIR spectra allow for accurate determination of spectral type and also for rough estimates of the object's physical parameters. The spectral type of SCR 1845B is determined by direct comparison of the flux calibrated JHK spectra with T dwarf standard template spectra and also by NIR spectral indices obtained from synthetic photometry. Constrained values for surface gravity, effective temperature and metallicity are derived by comparison with model spectra. Our data prove that SCR 1845B is a brown dwarf of spectral type T6 that is co-moving with and therefore gravitationally bound to the M8.5 primary. Fitting the NIR spectrum of SCR 1845B to model spectra yields an effective temperature of about 950K and a surface gravity log(g)=5.1 (cgs) assuming solar metallicity. Mass and age of SCR 1845B are in the range 40 to 50 Jupiter masses and 1.8 to 3.1 Gyr.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Rheumatoid Meningitis

An 80-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis had gait difficulties and frequent falls. MRI of the brain showed an extra-axial enhancing lesion overlying the right frontal–parietal cortex, that progressively extended to the contralateral side. This was accompanied by further decline in her functional status. We discuss the diagnostic and therapeutic approach of a pachy–leptomeningeal process in a rheumatoid patient

Ingested foreign bodies and societal wealth: three year observational study of swallowed coins

Objective To examine the relation between coins ingested by children and the Dow Jones Industrial Average