Influence of fibers on the dust dislodgement efficiency of bag filters

In recent years non-woven bag filters have been used in waste incinerators for the efficient collection of dust and removal of detrimental gas. However, dust collection efficiency decreases with time until the bag filters are no longer effective. Dust adhering to the fabric is a major determinant of bag filter life. In the present study a flat filter was used to study the relationship between various parameters of a bag filter structure and its dust dislodgement efficiency. The results confirm that fiber linear density, modulus of elasticity, and the form of the fiber cross-section of the felt can each affect the dust collection efficiency of a bag filter. Higher fiber linear density in a bag filter prevents dust from penetrating the filter, and this allows the dust to be more easily dislodged from the filter. Examination of various forms of fiber cross-section indicates that for the same fiber linear density the triangular form is better than the circular form. A lower Young's modulus allows the fiber to bend more easily and prevents the dust from penetrating the filter. Fiber linear density, fiber modulus of elasticity and form of the fiber cross-section are the variables affecting bag filter efficiency.ArticleTEXTILE RESEARCH JOURNAL. 84(7):764-771 (2014)journal articl

New Maximum Likelihood Estimators for Eukaryotic Intron Evolution

The evolution of spliceosomal introns remains poorly understood. Although many approaches have been used to infer intron evolution from the patterns of intron position conservation, the results to date have been contradictory. In this paper, we address the problem using a novel maximum likelihood method, which allows estimation of the frequency of intron insertion target sites, together with the rates of intron gain and loss. We analyzed the pattern of 10,044 introns (7,221 intron positions) in the conserved regions of 684 sets of orthologs from seven eukaryotes. We determined that there is an average of one target site per 11.86 base pairs (bp) (95% confidence interval, 9.27 to 14.39 bp). In addition, our results showed that: (i) overall intron gains are ~25% greater than intron losses, although specific patterns vary with time and lineage; (ii) parallel gains account for ~18.5% of shared intron positions; and (iii) reacquisition following loss accounts for ~0.5% of all intron positions. Our results should assist in resolving the long-standing problem of inferring the evolution of spliceosomal introns

Exchange Interaction and TcT_c in Alkaline-earth-metal-oxide-based DMS without Magnetic Impurities: First Principle Pseudo-SIC and Monte Carlo Calculation

The prospects of half-metallic ferromagnetism being induced by the incorporation of C atoms into alkaline-earth-metal-oxides are investigated by the first principle calculation. The origin of the ferromagnetism is discussed through the calculation of the electronic structure and exchange coupling constant by using the pseudo-potential-like self-interaction-corrected local spin density method. The Curie temperature ($T_c$) is also predicted by employing the Monte Carlo simulation. It is shown that by taking the electron self-interaction into account, the half-metallic ferromagnetism induced by C in the host materials is more stabilized in comparison with the standard LDA case, and the C's $2p$ electron states in the bandgap become more localized resulting in the predominance of the short-ranged exchange interaction. While the ferromagnetism in MgO$_{1-x}$C$_x$ is stabilized due to the exchange interaction of the $1st$-nearest neighbor pairs and might be suppressed by the anti-ferromagnetic super-exchange interaction at higher $x$, the ferromagnetism in CaO$_{1-x}$C$_x$, SrO$_{1-x}$C$_x$, and BaO$_{1-x}$C$_x$ is stabilized by both the $1st$- and $2nd$-nearest neighbor pairs, and $T_c$ monotonously increases with the C concentration.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Intron Dynamics in Ribosomal Protein Genes

The role of spliceosomal introns in eukaryotic genomes remains obscure. A large scale analysis of intron presence/absence patterns in many gene families and species is a necessary step to clarify the role of these introns. In this analysis, we used a maximum likelihood method to reconstruct the evolution of 2,961 introns in a dataset of 76 ribosomal protein genes from 22 eukaryotes and validated the results by a maximum parsimony method. Our results show that the trends of intron gain and loss differed across species in a given kingdom but appeared to be consistent within subphyla. Most subphyla in the dataset diverged around 1 billion years ago, when the “Big Bang” radiation occurred. We speculate that spliceosomal introns may play a role in the explosion of many eukaryotes at the Big Bang radiation

The ribosomal protein genes and Minute loci of Drosophila melanogaster.

BACKGROUND: Mutations in genes encoding ribosomal proteins (RPs) have been shown to cause an array of cellular and developmental defects in a variety of organisms. In Drosophila melanogaster, disruption of RP genes can result in the 'Minute' syndrome of dominant, haploinsufficient phenotypes, which include prolonged development, short and thin bristles, and poor fertility and viability. While more than 50 Minute loci have been defined genetically, only 15 have so far been characterized molecularly and shown to correspond to RP genes. RESULTS: We combined bioinformatic and genetic approaches to conduct a systematic analysis of the relationship between RP genes and Minute loci. First, we identified 88 genes encoding 79 different cytoplasmic RPs (CRPs) and 75 genes encoding distinct mitochondrial RPs (MRPs). Interestingly, nine CRP genes are present as duplicates and, while all appear to be functional, one member of each gene pair has relatively limited expression. Next, we defined 65 discrete Minute loci by genetic criteria. Of these, 64 correspond to, or very likely correspond to, CRP genes; the single non-CRP-encoding Minute gene encodes a translation initiation factor subunit. Significantly, MRP genes and more than 20 CRP genes do not correspond to Minute loci. CONCLUSION: This work answers a longstanding question about the molecular nature of Minute loci and suggests that Minute phenotypes arise from suboptimal protein synthesis resulting from reduced levels of cytoribosomes. Furthermore, by identifying the majority of haplolethal and haplosterile loci at the molecular level, our data will directly benefit efforts to attain complete deletion coverage of the D. melanogaster genome.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Ion cyclotron resonance heating system in the RT-1 magnetospheric plasma

We have developed an ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating system for the Ring Trap 1 (RT-1) magnetospheric device. We excite slow waves from the polar region of the dipole magnetic field. The target helium plasma is produced by electron cyclotron heating. The electrons comprise high-temperature (>10 keV) and low-temperature (<100 eV) components with both typically exhibiting densities of the same order of magnitude. The ICRF heating causes an increase in the ion temperatures and toroidal flow velocities in the core plasma region. We observe appreciable temperature differences between the different ion species (main He+ and impurity C2+), suggesting a strong influence of the charge-exchange loss, which caused the bulk ions to remain relatively cold (~20 eV) compared to the impurity ions (~40 eV). By developing an electro-optical measurement system, we have measured the local wave electric field in the plasma

Loss of Ribosomal Protein L11 Affects Zebrafish Embryonic Development through a p53-Dependent Apoptotic Response

Ribosome is responsible for protein synthesis in all organisms and ribosomal proteins (RPs) play important roles in the formation of a functional ribosome. L11 was recently shown to regulate p53 activity through a direct binding with MDM2 and abrogating the MDM2-induced p53 degradation in response to ribosomal stress. However, the studies were performed in cell lines and the significance of this tumor suppressor function of L11 has yet to be explored in animal models. To investigate the effects of the deletion of L11 and its physiological relevance to p53 activity, we knocked down the rpl11 gene in zebrafish and analyzed the p53 response. Contrary to the cell line-based results, our data indicate that an L11 deficiency in a model organism activates the p53 pathway. The L11-deficient embryos (morphants) displayed developmental abnormalities primarily in the brain, leading to embryonic lethality within 6–7 days post fertilization. Extensive apoptosis was observed in the head region of the morphants, thus correlating the morphological defects with apparent cell death. A decrease in total abundance of genes involved in neural patterning of the brain was observed in the morphants, suggesting a reduction in neural progenitor cells. Upregulation of the genes involved in the p53 pathway were observed in the morphants. Simultaneous knockdown of the p53 gene rescued the developmental defects and apoptosis in the morphants. These results suggest that ribosomal dysfunction due to the loss of L11 activates a p53-dependent checkpoint response to prevent improper embryonic development