Blood Phantom Concentration Measurement Using An I-Q Receiver Design

Near-infrared spectroscopy has been used as a non-invasive method of determining concentration of chemicals within living tissues of living organisms. This method employs LEDs of specific frequencies to measure concentration of blood constituents according to the Beer-Lambert Law. One group of instruments (frequency domain instruments) is based on amplitude modulation of the laser diode or LED light intensity, the measurement of light adsorption and the measurement of modulation phase shift to determine light path length for use in Beer-Lambert Law. This paper describes the design and demonstration of a frequency domain instrument for measuring concentration of oxygenated and de-oxygenated hemoglobin using incoherent optics and an in-phase quadrature (I-Q) receiver design. The design has been shown to be capable of resolving variations of concentration of test samples and a viable prototype for future, more precise, tools

TEACHER ENGAGEMENT WITH ACADEMIC READING IN A POST-SERVICE TESOL COURSE

Engaging school teachers with academic reading is challenging for all teacher trainers, yet if teachers’ knowledge base is to be up-to-date the input of new research information is essential. Within the field of teacher professional development, few research studies focus primarily on teacher academic reading.  On the Auckland New Zealand TESOL diploma course reported on here, academic readings are key. They theorise the weekly lecture topics and provide practical strategies that embed the theory. Three approaches to academic reading are used.  These three approaches are the focus of the study reported here, exploring the attitudes of the 49 elementary and secondary school teachers over the two years of the part-time course. Quantitative questionnaire findings and relevant qualitative interview data which explicate the quantitative findings are reported on. The key finding was that, on average, the entire sample exhibited a large and statistically significant increase in engagement in academic reading over the two-year period. A majority of the teachers favoured the third approach to academic reading, being tightly structured, supportive reading groups rather than independent reading or reading presentation to a group. They valued the interdependence and reciprocity of the tightly structured reading groups

Microhardness, Indentation Size Effect and Real Hardness of Plastically Deformed Austenitic Hadfield Steel

Microhardness testing is a widely used method for measuring the hardness property of small-scale materials. However, pronounced indentation size effect (ISE) causes uncertainties when the method is used to estimate the real hardness. In this paper, three austenitic Hadfield steel samples of different plastic straining conditions were subjected to Vickers microhardness testing, using a range of loads from 10 to 1000 g. The obtained results reveal that the origin of ISE is derived from the fact, that the indentation load P and the resultant indent diagonal d do not obey Kick’s law (P = A · d2). Instead, the P and d parameters obey Meyer’s power law (P = A · dn) with n < 2. The plastically strained samples showed not only significant work hardening, but also different ISE significance, as compared to the non-deformed bulk steel. After extensive assessment of several theoretical models, including the Hays-Kendall model, Li-Bradt model, Bull model and Nix-Gao model, it was found that the real hardness can be determined by Vickers microhardness indentation and subsequent analysis using the Nix-Gao model. The newly developed method was subsequently utilised in two case studies to determine the real hardness properties of sliding worn surfaces and the subsurface hardness profile

The Effects of a Natural Polyphenol Extract from Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) on the Growth, Survival, and Feed Conversion Efficiency of Juvenile Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon)

Farmed shrimp feeds are under continuous development to maximise shrimp growth, health, and feed efficiency. There is evidence in aquaculture species that botanical ingredients may be capable of improvements in each of these traits. However, the full potential of these ingredients remains largely unexplored. We investigated the effect of dietary additions of a polyphenol-rich sugarcane extract (PRSE) at the rate of 0, 2, 4, or 6 g kg−1 of diet, on the growth, survival, feed conversion ratio, and pathogen loading of black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) over a 10-week feeding period in a small-scale intensive RAS system. Shrimp fed the highest level of PRSE compared to the control were 54% heavier (15.4 vs. 10.0 g; p 0.05). These findings demonstrate that polyphenol-rich sugarcane extracts have the potential to improve shrimp growth and FCR when added into feed formulations. Further research should be conducted in commercial rearing conditions for validation

Effect of nitriding time on the structural evolution and properties of austenitic stainless steel nitrided using high power pulsed DC glow discharge Ar/N2 plasma

A high power pulsed DC glow discharge plasma (HPPGDP) system was employed to perform fast nitriding of AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel in Ar and N2 atmosphere. In-situ optical emission spectroscopy and Infrared pyrometer measurements were used during the plasma nitriding to investigate the effect of dynamic plasma on the nitriding behaviour. SEM and EDX, XRD, Knoop indentation, and tribo-tests were used to characterise microstructures and properties of the nitrided austenitic stainless steel samples. HPPGDP produced high ionization of both Ar and N2 in the plasma that corresponded to dense ion bombardment on the biased steel samples to induce effective plasma surface heating and to form high nitrogen concentration on the biased steel surfaces, and therefore fast nitriding (> 10µm/hour) was achieved. Various phases were identified on the nitrided stainless steel samples formed from a predominantly a single phase of nitrogen supersaturated austenite to a multi-phase structure comprising chromium nitride, iron nitride and ferrite dependent on the nitriding time. All the nitrided AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel samples were evaluated with high hardness (up to 17.3 GPa) and exceptional sliding wear resistance against hardened steel balls and tungsten carbide balls

Data from a Public–industry Partnership for Enhancing corn Nitrogen Research

Improving corn (Zeamays L.) N managementis pertinent to economic andenvironmental objectives. However, there are limited comprehensive data sources to develop and test N fertilizer decision aid tools across a wide geographic range of soil and weather scenarios. Therefore, a public-industry partnership was formed to conduct standardized corn N rate response field studies throughout the U.S. Midwest. This research was conducted using a standardized protocol at 49 site-years across eight states over the 2014–2016 growing seasons with many soil, plant, and weather related measurements. This note provides the data (found in supplemental files), outlines the data, summarizes key findings, and highlights the strengths and weakness for those who wish to use this dataset

Inhibitors of Mammalian Aquaporin Water Channels

Aquaporins (AQPs) are water channel proteins that are essential to life, being expressed in all kingdoms. In humans, there are 13 AQPs, at least one of which is found in every organ system. The structural biology of the AQP family is well-established and many functions for AQPs have been reported in health and disease. AQP expression is linked to numerous pathologies including tumor metastasis, fluid dysregulation, and traumatic injury. The targeted modulation of AQPs therefore presents an opportunity to develop novel treatments for diverse conditions. Various techniques such as video microscopy, light scattering and fluorescence quenching have been used to test putative AQP inhibitors in both AQP-expressing mammalian cells and heterologous expression systems. The inherent variability within these methods has caused discrepancy and many molecules that are inhibitory in one experimental system (such as tetraethylammonium, acetazolamide, and anti-epileptic drugs) have no activity in others. Some heavy metal ions (that would not be suitable for therapeutic use) and the compound, TGN-020, have been shown to inhibit some AQPs. Clinical trials for neuromyelitis optica treatments using anti-AQP4 IgG are in progress. However, these antibodies have no effect on water transport. More research to standardize high-throughput assays is required to identify AQP modulators for which there is an urgent and unmet clinical need

Human aquaporins: regulators of transcellular water flow

Background: Emerging evidence supports the view that (AQP) aquaporin water channels are regulators of transcellular water flow. Consistentwith their expression in most tissues, AQPs are associatedwith diverse physiological and pathophysiological processes. Scope of review: AQP knockout studies suggest that the regulatory role of AQPs, rather than their action as passive channels, is their critical function. Transport through all AQPs occurs by a common passive mechanism, but their regulation and cellular distribution varies significantly depending on cell and tissue type; the role of AQPs in cell volumeregulation (CVR) is particularly notable. This reviewexamines the regulatory role of AQPs in transcellular water flow, especially in CVR.We focus on key systems of the human body, encompassing processes as diverse as urine concentration in the kidney to clearance of brain oedema. Major conclusions: AQPs are crucial for the regulation of water homeostasis, providing selective pores for the rapidmovement ofwater across diverse cellmembranes and playing regulatory roles in CVR. Gatingmechanisms have been proposed for human AQPs, but have only been reported for plant andmicrobial AQPs. Consequently, it is likely that the distribution and abundance of AQPs in a particular membrane is the determinant of membrane water permeability and a regulator of transcellular water flow. General significance: Elucidating the mechanisms that regulate transcellular water flow will improve our understanding of the human body in health and disease. The central role of specific AQPs in regulating water homeostasis will provide routes to a range of novel therapies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Aquaporins

Facilitation Differentially Affects Competitive Responses of Aspen and Subalpine Fir Through Stages of Stand Development

Spatial interactions between trees influence forest community succession. The objective of this study was to investigate how shifts in forest composition and proximity between tree species affect stand development over time in mixed forest systems. At six locations across the Fishlake National Forest, Utah, USA, in stands where facilitation has been documented previously, tree-ring samples were collected from aspen and subalpine fir trees. Basal area increment was calculated to characterize the effects of the proximity of overstory trees on multidecadal growth responses of aspen and subalpine fir in aspen-dominant and mixed aspen–conifer stands. Subalpine fir seedlings were established next to aspen (within 10 cm) when aspen was between 15 and 120 years old with a mean age of 60 years. Aspen and subalpine fir growth rates were reduced with increasing conifer abundance. Aspen trees growing next to a proximate subalpine fir tree had slower growth rates over time than aspen trees growing independently. Growth rates of subalpine fir in aspen-dominated stands were similar when growing independently or near aspen trees. However, subalpine fir in conifer-dominated stands maintained higher growth rates when growing next to an aspen tree than when growing independently. The data suggest that as stand competition increases with conifer abundance, the proximity of overstory trees increases competitive exclusion of aspen while having a beneficial growth effect on subalpine fir. These results underscore the importance of maintaining natural fire regimes in forest systems that keep competitive interactions in balance