Transverse shear modulus of SILICOMB cellular structures

This work describes the transverse shear stiffness properties of a novel honeycomb with zero Poisson’s ratio. The cellular configuration is simulated using a series of finite element models representing full-scale and representative unit cells of the honeycomb topology. The models are benchmarked against experimental results from pure shear and 3-point bending ASTM tests. The benchmarked models are used to perform a parametric study of the shear moduli (G13 and G23) against the geometry of the unit cell and the gauge thickness of the honeycomb panels. The shear stiffness maps obtained allow comparison of the SILICOMB configuration against classical centresymmetric and rectangular honeycomb topologies

Synthesis of novel derivatives of murrayafoline A and their inhibitory effect on LPS-stimulated production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells

Cu(I)-catalyzed Huisgen–Meldal–Sharpless type dipolar ‘click’ reactions between azido-tetrathiafulvalene derivatives and ethynylferrocene yield the first examples of ferrocenyl-1,2,3-triazolyl-tetrathiafulvalene assemblies (4a, 4b). The electrochemical behavior of 4a and 4b, which integrate two distinctive redox probes, has been investigated, and their binding ability for various transition-metal cations has been studied by cyclic voltammetry. The contribution of the triazolyl ring in the guest binding process is illustrated by the specific electrochemical recognition of Zn2+ by receptor 4b

Trans-ancestry genome-wide association study identifies 12 genetic loci influencing blood pressure and implicates a role for DNA methylation

We carried out a trans-ancestry genome-wide association and replication study of blood pressure phenotypes among up to 320,251 individuals of East Asian, European and South Asian ancestry. We find genetic variants at 12 new loci to be associated with blood pressure (P = 3.9 × 10-11 to 5.0 × 10-21). The sentinel blood pressure SNPs are enriched for association with DNA methylation at multiple nearby CpG sites, suggesting that, at some of the loci identified, DNA methylation may lie on the regulatory pathway linking sequence variation to blood pressure. The sentinel SNPs at the 12 new loci point to genes involved in vascular smooth muscle (IGFBP3, KCNK3, PDE3A and PRDM6) and renal (ARHGAP24, OSR1, SLC22A7 and TBX2) function. The new and known genetic variants predict increased left ventricular mass, circulating levels of NT-proBNP, and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality (P = 0.04 to 8.6 × 10-6). Our results provide new evidence for the role of DNA methylation in blood pressure regulation

A century of trends in adult human height

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5-22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3-19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8-144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries

Reaction of decabrominated diphenyl ether by zerovalent iron nanoplarticles

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) recognized as a new class of environmental persistent toxic contaminants have been distributed widely in the world. In this study, the synthesized nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) in the laboratory was used to investigate the removal kinetics and mechanisms of decabrominated diphenyl ether (DBDE) at different pH. Within 40 min 90% of DBDE was rapidly removed by NZVI as compared to around 40 d needed for 24-fold weight of microscale ZVI. The removal by NZVI is much faster than that by microscale ZVI due to its high surface area and reactivity. At a different pH, the pseudo-first-order removal rate constants of DBDE linearly increased from 0.016 to 0.024 min(-1) with the decreasing of aqueous initial pH values from 10 to 5. The degradation of DBDE with NZVI is favorable in an acid condition. The debromination pathways of DBDE with NZVI were proposed on the basis of the identified reaction intermediates ranging from nona- to mono-brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs) for an acid condition and from nona- to penta-BDFs for an alkaline condition. The debromination of PBDEs from para positions is more difficult than that from meta or ortho positions. Adsorption on NZVI also plays a role on the removal of DBDE. These findings can facilitate the treatment and fate prediction of PBDEs with NZVI in the environment. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Inside Director’s Excess Compensation and Firm’s Future Performance: An Empirical Analysis of Implicit Contract Perspective

本研究主旨在探討內部董事超額薪酬與公司未來績效的關連性。本研究定義內部董事之應領薪酬為「績效」、「複雜度」及「風險」所組成的函數，而實際薪酬減去應領薪酬則為超額薪酬，此外依據隱性合約，「超額薪酬」係指未能由本期可以公開觀察到的財務與市場績效指標所解釋的薪酬變異。本研究除了探討內部董事的總超額薪酬外，亦一併分析內部董事的董事身份超額薪酬及經理人身份超額薪酬。本研究實證結果顯示不論是以下一期 Tobin’s Q，或是下兩期 Tobin’s Q 作為未來績效指標，亦或是僅以非電子產業公司為研究樣本，內部董事的總超額薪酬及董事身份超額薪酬都和公司未來績效具顯著正相關性，支持隱性合約觀點。然而內部董事的經理人身份超額薪酬和公司未來績效則不具顯著正相關性。This paper investigates the relationship between inside director’s excessive pay and the firm’s future performance. The excessive pay is derived by subtracting actual pay with reasonable pay. Our paper assumes that the firm’s outsiders would consider the reasonable pay as compensation for inside directors’ current observable performance measures in three dimensions: performance, complexity, and risk. The excessive pay represents the proportion of compensation unable to be explained by current observable performance measures. However, excessive pay may be due to implicit incentive contracts for unobservable performance measures that contribute to the firm’s future performance. Every inside director is rewarded with both of managerial pay and director’s pay. Our empirical results show that the excessive pay for the two roles and that only for the director’s role are significantly and positively associated with the Tobin’s Q from the following year, which supports the existence of implicit contracts. Nevertheless, excessive pay for inside directors’ managerial role lacks significant relations to the firm’s future Tobin’s Q as well as return on assets

Heritabilities and genetic correlations of laying performance in Muscovy ducks selected in Taiwan

1. Genetic parameters in the base population of a closed experimental strain of Muscovy ducks, selected for body weight at 10 weeks of age, were estimated from data in 8 successive generations, for the following traits: age at first egg (AGE1EGG), total number of eggs laid at 40 and 52 weeks of age (NEGG40 and NEGG52), number of eggs laid during 15 and 22 weeks in the first laying cycle (NEGG15W and NEGG22W), and their Box-Cox transformed data. 2. The method of multi-trait restricted maximum likelihood with an animal model was used to estimate genetic parameters. Only the results obtained with non-transformed data are shown. 3. Heritability estimates for laying performance showed moderate values, increasing little with age: 0.20 +/- 0.03 (AGE1EGG), 0.23 +/- 0.03 (NEGG40), 0.27 +/- 0.03 (NEGG52), 0.20 +/- 0.03 (NEGG15W), and 0.22 +/- 0.03 (NEGG22W). 4. Genetic correlations between laying traits were high. Genetic correlation between AGE1EGG and egg number was negative, it was positive between total numbers of eggs at 40 and 52 weeks and egg numbers in the first laying cycle. 5. Body weight at 10 weeks of age exhibited positive genetic correlations (0.46 +/- 0.06) with age at first egg and negative with egg production traits (-0.28 +/- 0.06 to -0.41 +/- 0.06). 6. The cumulated predicted genetic gains, after 7 generations of selection, expressed per genetic standard deviation unit (sigma(g)) were 0.06sigma(g), 0.07sigma(g), 0.17sigma(g), 0.23sigma(g), and 0.25sigma(g) for AGE1EGG, NEGG40, NEGG52, NEGG15W, and NEGG22W, respectively. 7. Selecting Muscovy ducks to improve laying in Taiwanese climatic conditions would be possible using the number of eggs laid up to 52 weeks of age as the selection criterion. Because unintended selection effects for laying traits were present, the selection experiment for body weight at 10 weeks of age was not antagonistic with laying traits

Biocompati bility and osteoconductivity of the pyrost bone substitutes

The purpose of this study was to re-evaluate the bone regeneration power and the in vitro biocompatibility of the Pyrost bone substitute. Twentyfour adult New Zealand White rabbits were used. Bony defect over both iliac crest and mid-diaphyseal portion of the ulna bone were created. Appropriate sized-block of Pyrost bone substitute were implanted. Four of the animals were killed at each postoperative month to evaluate its bone regeneration power by histologic study. The Pyrost bones were co-cultured with osteoblasts to evaluate its biocompatibility. The results showed that Pyrost bone substitute was quite stable and incorporated well with active bone regeneration. The Pyrost heal better at the iliac crest than at the ulnar defect. The Pyrost was compatible to the osteoblasts. Osteoblasts had successfully seeded and mitotically expanded on the porous surface of the Pyrost bone graft. The result showed that Pyrost bone obviously exerts an intense stimulus on osteo-regeneration in the presence of osteoblasts. We consider Pyrost to be an altemate to the conventional preserved allografts that is occasionally necessary