Control Growth Factor Release Using a Self-Assembled [polycation∶heparin] Complex

The importance of growth factors has been recognized for over five decades; however their utilization in medicine has yet to be fully realized. This is because free growth factors have short half-lives in plasma, making direct injection inefficient. Many growth factors are anchored and protected by sulfated glycosaminoglycans in the body. We set out to explore the use of heparin, a well-characterized sulfated glycosaminoglycan, for the controlled release of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2). Heparin binds a multitude of growth factors and maintains their bioactivity for an extended period of time. We used a biocompatible polycation to precipitate out the [heparin∶FGF-2] complex from neutral buffer to form a release matrix. We can control the release rate of FGF-2 from the resultant matrix by altering the molecular weight of the polycation. The FGF-2 released from the delivery complex maintained its bioactivity and initiated cellular responses that were at least as potent as fresh bolus FGF-2 and fresh heparin stabilized FGF-2. This new delivery platform is not limited to FGF-2 but applicable to the large family of heparin-binding growth factors

Information sharing in a collectors-led closed-loop supply chain

This paper considers a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) in which two collectors provide used products to a manufacturer for remanufacturing. The collectors act as the channel leader, while the manufacturer is the follower and possesses private demand forecast information. We aim to investigate the manufacturer’s information sharing strategy and the effect of different information sharing strategies on the participants in the CLSC. We find that the manufacturer has an incentive to share its demand forecast information with the collectors. When the collectors’ investment cost-efficiency is high, the manufacturer prefers to share its information with only one collector. Under this scenario, the collector obtains the highest expected profit in all the information sharing cases. In addition, when the investment cost-efficiency is low, the manufacturer is willing to share its information with both collectors

Development of a Machine Vision System for Solar Wafer Counting

The traditional manual counting wafers leaded to the silicon wafer cracked by operating frequently. Instead of the manual work, this paper proposed a system to counting wafers based on Machine Vision theory and Image Processing algorithm. We designed a counter system and adopted infrared led as parallel illumination source. In image pre-processing, this paper presented a series of algorithms, which contained image smoothing, uneven image correction and image morphology operation. This paper proposed a vertical projection counting based on statistics analysis substitute for the Hough straight lines detection, and the method had been achieved ideal effects by experimental results. DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v12i5.510

Influences of Two Calculation Methods about Dynamic Tension on Vibration Characteristics of Cable-Bridge Coupling Model

For the cable-bridge coupling model, the dynamic tension of cables is an important parameter to study the vibration characteristics of the model. Based on this concept, two calculation methods about dynamic tension of cables were introduced in great detail, and the influences of these two calculation methods on the vibration characteristics of cable-bridge coupling model were systematically investigated. Firstly, the vibration equation of the cable was derived based on the variational principle for Hamiltonian, and the vibration equation of the bridge deck was obtained by Newton’s law. Then, the vibration equation of the cable and bridge deck was transformed into ordinary differential vibration equation by the Galerkin method. In addition, the differences of the coefficients in the ordinary differential vibration equation obtained by these two calculation methods about dynamic tension were compared, and a parameter analysis was listed. Finally, the resonance mode of the cable-bridge coupling model was analyzed by a multiple scales method, and an example analysis was listed. The results of parameter analysis show that there are obvious differences in the linear coefficient and nonlinear coefficient of the ordinary differential vibration equation obtained by these two calculation methods. The results of example analysis show that, for the cable-bridge coupling model with 1 : 1 resonance, the amplitude of the model would not be different because of the two calculation methods about dynamic tension, but the amplitude of the cable would be affected by the calculation method significantly. It can be found that the research conclusions here can be helpful to the perfection of theoretical modeling and has certain guiding value for practical engineering

Study on the Control Performance of Rainwater Quality in the Ini-tial Stage of Urban Runoff by New Environmentally Friendly Rainwater Pass

In view of the current situation of gully in China, new type of environmentally-friendly gully with anti-mosquito and odor-reducing function has been developed. The control performance of new gully on the initial rainwater pollutants under the condition of different filter material ratio and filter bag thickness. The results show that the new environmentally-friendly gully has better removal effect of various pollutants in the initial rainwater under the condition of 1:3 filter material and 3cm filter bag. The removal rate of SS is over 80%, total nitrogen the removal rate is above 75%, and the removal rate of COD and total phosphorus is over 70%

Uncertainty in simulating gross primary production of cropland ecosystem from satellite-based models

Accurate estimates of gross primary production (GPP) for croplands are needed to assess carbon cycle and crop yield. Satellite-based models have been developed to monitor spatial and temporal GPP patterns. However, there are still large uncertainties in estimating cropland GPP. This study compares three light use efficiency (LUE) models (MODIS-GPP, EC-LUE, and VPM) with eddy-covariance measurements at three adjacent AmeriFlux crop sites located near Mead, Nebraska, USA. These sites have different croprotation systems (continuous maize vs. maize and soybean rotated annually) and water management practices (irrigation vs. rainfed). The results reveal several major uncertainties in estimating GPP which need to be sufficiently considered in future model improvements. Firstly, the C4 crop species (maize) shows a larger photosynthetic capacity compared to the C3 species (soybean). LUE models need to use different model parameters (i.e., maximal light use efficiency) for C3 and C4 crop species, and thus, it is necessary to have accurate species-distribution products in order to determine regional and global estimates of GPP. Secondly, the 1 km sized MODIS fPAR and EVI products, which are used to remotely identify the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by the vegetation canopy, may not accurately reflect differences in phenology between maize and soybean. Such errors will propagate in the GPP model, reducing estimation accuracy. Thirdly, the water-stress variables in the remote sensing models do not fully characterize the impacts of water availability on vegetation production. This analysis highlights the need to improve LUE models with regard to model parameters, vegetation indices, and water-stress inputs

Investigation on the Accuracy of Approximate Solutions Obtained by Perturbation Method for Galloping Equation of Iced Transmission Lines

Perturbation method is a commonly used method to solve galloping equation of iced transmission lines, but few scholars have studied the influences of perturbation method on the accuracy of approximate solutions of the galloping equation. In order to analyze the accuracy of approximate solutions obtained by perturbation method for galloping equation of iced transmission lines, the partial differential galloping equation of iced transmission lines with quadratic and cubic nonlinear terms is obtained firstly. Then, the partial differential galloping equation is transformed into ordinary differential galloping equation by Galerkin method. Finally, the approximate solutions of the partial differential galloping equation are obtained by averaging method and first-order, second-order, third-order, and fourth-order multiple scales methods, and the results obtained by these methods are compared systematically. By comparing the numerical solutions and the approximate solutions obtained by averaging method, it can be found that, with the increasing in wind velocity and Young’s modulus of iced transmission lines, the nonlinearity of the system would strengthen and the drift of the vibration center of the system would also increase. The larger the drift is, the greater the error between the approximate solutions obtained by averaging method and the numerical solutions will be. And when the wind velocity reaches 32 m/s, the error would arrive at 17.321%. By comparing the numerical solutions and the approximate solutions obtained by the first-order, the second-order, the third-order, and the fourth-order multiple scales methods, it can be concluded that the first-order multiple scales method is less complex computationally. The accuracy of approximate solutions obtained by the fourth-order multiple scales method is better than that obtained by the first-order, the second-order, and the third-order multiple scales methods, and the error between the approximate solutions obtained by the fourth-order multiple scales method and the numerical solutions is less than 0.639%. The conclusions obtained in this paper would be helpful to the solutions of galloping equation of iced transmission lines and could also give some references to practical engineering