2,152 research outputs found
Effects of different drying methods on the antioxidant activities of leaves and berries of cayratia trifolia
This study aimed to assess the effects of fresh, thermal drying method (vacuum oven drying), and nonthermal drying method (freeze drying) on the antioxidant activities of leaves and berries of Cayratia trifolia using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 1,1-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging capacity (DPPH) assays. The total phenolic content (TPC) and flavonoid content (TFC) of the leaves and berries of C. trifolia were also measured. Based on the results obtained, the TPC, TFC, and antioxidant activities of the leaves and berries were arranged in the following order: freeze-dried sample with methanol extraction > vacuum-dried sample with methanol extraction > freeze-dried sample with water extraction > vacuum-dried sample with water extraction > fresh sample with methanol extraction > fresh sample with water extraction. The results showed a significant difference (p<0.05) between the fresh and dried samples. In conclusion, freeze drying was found to be a good method for maintaining TPC, TFC, and antioxidant activities by FRAP and DPPH methods in the leaves and berries of C. trifolia
The effect of organic pollution on the abundance and distribution of aquatic oligochaetes in an urban water basin, Taiwan
Aquatic oligochaetes are abundant in polluted areas and are, therefore, commonly used as bioindicators to study organic pollution in rivers and streams. In order to develop a species-level oligochaete biotic index to reflect the River Pollution Index (RPI) in the Taichung Water Basin in Taiwan, we conducted a systematic sampling scheme to collect aquatic oligochaetes from the sediment samples of watercourses in the Taichung Water Basin, Taiwan. We evaluated the relationships between aquatic oligochaetes and the sewage pollution using statistical methods. The distribution of aquatic oligochaetes in relation to environmental variables, such as water quality and sediment characteristics of the regional urban contaminated streams was expressed by Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). We identified 17 species of aquatic oligochaetes (Annelida, Clitellata) including 3 species of Tubificidae, 13 species of Naididae, and 1 species of Enchytraeidae from the watercourses of an urban region in the Taichung Water Basin in Taiwan, during the summer and winter of 2005 and 2006. A positive correlation was found between the total abundance of aquatic oligochaetes and the RPI (r = 0.58, P < 0.05). However, only population density of the most abundant tubificid, Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, increased with increasing RPI values and a significantly negative correlation was found between the population density of the naidid, Nais communis, and RPI values. The results of CCA indicated that certain naidids, such as Aulophorus furcatus and Allonais gwaliorensis also tolerated extremely polluted environments in upper stream or stony habitats, implying that tubificids should not be the sole representation of simple biotic indices but should also include pollution-tolerant naidids. We found that the community structure of aquatic oligochaetes was influenced by short-term variations in microhabitat rather than according to seasonal factors in our study region. The results proved that aquatic oligochaetes were sensitive enough to provide a supplement for the regional urban pollution assessment applications for biotic indicators at the species-level
Phase coexistence in the hard-sphere Yukawa chain fluid with chain length polydispersity: High temperature approximation
High temperature approximation (HTA) is used to describe the phase behavior
of polydisperse multi-Yukawa hard-sphere chain fluid mixtures with chain length
polydispersity. It is demonstrated that in the frames of the HTA the model
belongs to the class of ``truncatable free energy models'', i.e. the models
with thermodynamical properties (Helmholtz free energy, chemical potential and
pressure) defined by the finite number of generalized moments. Using this
property we were able to calculate the complete phase diagram (i.e., cloud and
shadow curves as well as binodals) and chain length distribution functions of
the coexisting phases.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure
Globalization and Knowledge Spillover: International Direct Investment, Exports and Patents
This paper examines the impact of the three main channels of international trade on domestic innovation, namely outward direct investment, inward direct investment (IDI) and exports. The number of Triadic patents serves as a proxy for innovation. The data set contains 37 countries that are considered to be highly competitive in the world market, covering the period 1994 to 2005. The empirical results show that increased exports and outward direct investment are able to stimulate an increase in patent output. In contrast, IDI exhibits a negative relationship with domestic patents. The paper shows that the impact of IDI on domestic innovation is characterized by two forces, and the positive effect of cross-border mergers and acquisitions by foreigners is less than the negative effect of the remaining IDI
The correction of the littlest Higgs model to the Higgs production process in collisions
The littlest Higgs model is the most economical one among various little
Higgs models. In the context of the littlest Higgs(LH) model, we study the
process and calculate the contributions of the
LH model to the cross section of this process. The results show that, in most
of parameter spaces preferred by the electroweak precision data, the value of
the relative correction is larger than 10%. Such correction to the process
is large enough to be detected via
collisions in the future high energy linear collider()
experiment with the c.m energy =500 GeV and a yearly integrated
luminosity , which will give an ideal way to test the
model.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
The Sub-Surface Structure of a Large Sample of Active Regions
We employ ring-diagram analysis to study the sub-surface thermal structure of
active regions. We present results using a large number of active regions over
the course of Solar Cycle 23. We present both traditional inversions of
ring-diagram frequency differences, with a total sample size of 264, and a
statistical study using Principal Component Analysis. We confirm earlier
results on smaller samples that sound speed and adiabatic index are changed
below regions of strong magnetic field. We find that sound speed is decreased
in the region between approximately r=0.99R_sun and r=0.995R_sun (depths of 3Mm
to 7Mm), and increased in the region between r=0.97R_sun and r=0.985R_sun
(depths of 11Mm to 21Mm). The adiabatic index is enhanced in the same deeper
layers that sound-speed enhancement is seen. A weak decrease in adiabatic index
is seen in the shallower layers in many active regions. We find that the
magnitudes of these perturbations depend on the strength of the surface
magnetic field, but we find a great deal of scatter in this relation, implying
other factors may be relevant.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physic
Transport Measurements on Nano-engineered Two Dimensional Superconducting Wire Networks
Superconducting triangular Nb wire networks with high normal-state resistance
are fabricated by using a negative tone hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) resist.
Robust magnetoresistance oscillations are observed up to high magnetic fields
and maintained at low temperatures, due to the eective reduction of wire
dimensions. Well-defined dips appear at integral and rational values (1/2, 1/3,
1/4) of the reduced flux f = Phi/Phi_0, which is the first observation in the
triangular wire networks. These results are well consistent with theoretical
calculations for the reduced critical temperature as a function of f.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Mesoscale magnetism at the grain boundaries in colossal magnetoresistive films
We report the discovery of mesoscale regions with distinctive magnetic
properties in epitaxial LaSrMnO films which exhibit
tunneling-like magnetoresistance across grain boundaries. By using
temperature-dependent magnetic force microscopy we observe that the mesoscale
regions are formed near the grain boundaries and have a different Curie
temperature (up to 20 K {\it higher}) than the grain interiors. Our images
provide direct evidence for previous speculations that the grain boundaries in
thin films are not magnetically and electronically sharp interfaces. The size
of the mesoscale regions varies with temperature and nature of the underlying
defect.Comment: 4 pages of text, 4 figure
Quantum-mechanical model for particles carrying electric charge and magnetic flux in two dimensions
We propose a simple quantum mechanical equation for particles in two
dimensions, each particle carrying electric charge and magnetic flux. Such
particles appear in (2+1)-dimensional Chern-Simons field theories as charged
vortex soliton solutions, where the ratio of charge to flux is a constant
independent of the specific solution. As an approximation, the charge-flux
interaction is described here by the Aharonov-Bohm potential, and the
charge-charge interaction by the Coulomb one. The equation for two particles,
one with charge and flux () and the other with () where
is a pure number is studied in detail. The bound state problem is solved
exactly for arbitrary and when . The scattering problem is
exactly solved in parabolic coordinates in special cases when takes integers or half integers. In both cases the cross sections obtained
are rather different from that for pure Coulomb scattering.Comment: 12 pages, REVTeX, no figur
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