Investigation of extractable materials from biochar

Biochar has been used to improve soil productivity and has been a subject of discussion since 1804. However, research and development of biochar for environmental purposes on a global scale are a recent development. Due to the increase of its uses and interest in biochar as soil amendment, there is a need to understand the intrinsic chemistry of biochar to understand how this might affect its action in the soil. In this work two principal topics were addressed: 1) Investigation of volatile organic compounds in biochar that has been derived from various biomasses and the effect of different temperatures of pyrolysis 2) Identification of some chemical structures of biochar. GC-MS analysis identified 60 extractable organic compounds. With respect to pyrolysis temperature, GC-MS results of Green Waste chars and Sucrose chars shows that extractable organic compounds changed their proportions with differing pyrolysis temperatures. MALDI-TOF and high resolution mass spectrometry results suggested that the characteristic ions for biochar that appear in MALDI-TOF spectra with m/z values of 301,317, 413,429 and 453 are plasticizers whereas 685/ 701 are ions, [M+Na] ⁺/ [M+K] ⁺ respectively that are intrinsic to biochar

Cross-Cultural Redesign Based on the Cultural Differences Between Finland and China

With the rapid development of world economic and technology, more and more multinational companies, international business, cross-cultural designs have appeared in people’s lives. However, the cultural differences among different cultures affect numerous aspects of economic cooperation and design direction. In this thesis, based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Finnish and Chinese were chose as 2 culture groups which were used to analyze how cultural differences influence on human mindsets and the design-related work, especially website user interface design. A Finnish company’s website (including its design style and the related website content) were redesigned to meet Chinese users’ needs and preferences. 8 Chinese website design implications were summarized at last. At the beginning of this thesis, the theoretical background and related work of crosscultural design and website design were provided. Website design principles and current design trends were presented. Then, the Geert Hofstede’s culture dimensions were introduced. According to the results of the Hofstede’s model, the cultural differences between Finland and China were summarized. By comparing the cultural differences and design differences, totally 24 UI design differences were concluded to support the following design work. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews and online questionnaire investigation were conducted to study on how Chinese users feel about using Finnish websites and participating in Finnish projects, as well as local Chinese users’ preferences and website using habits. Combining the results of cultural model analysis and user research work, as well as the design principles and trends summarized in the related work, the Finnish company - Demola’s website and project concept was redesigned. After redesigning work, user evaluation (including 3 focus groups, totally 6 participants) was conducted to examine whether the redesigned website conforms to the usage habits of Chinese local users. After completing the redesign work and user evaluation, design implications for Chinese web service design are summarized in order to help designers from other cultures to create the website for Chinese users

Impact of high glucose on functions of cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are major players to eliminate aberrant cells such as tumor cells and infected cells. To kill their target cells, CTLs employ in most cases two mechanisms: cytotoxic protein containing lytic granules (LG) and Fas/FasL pathway. High levels of blood glucose, also termed hyperglycemia, is a typical symptom of diabetes mellitus. Although it is known that CTLs are involved in development of diabetes, to date, however, the functional impact of high glucose on CTLs and the corresponding mechanisms remain largely elusive. To address this question, primary human CD8+ T cells were used, which were stimulated by CD3/CD28 beads and cultured in medium containing either high glucose (HG, 25 mM) or normal glucose (NG, 5.6 mM). I found that expression of cytotoxic proteins including perforin, granzyme A, granzyme B and FasL and LGs release remained unchanged in HG-cultured CTLs. Interestingly, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) was upregulated in CTLs by HG. With flow cytometry and inhibitors, I have identified that ROS and the PI3K-Akt-NFκB axis play an important role in the HG-induced TRAIL expression. In addition, TRAIL expressing CTLs can induce apoptosis of insulin-producing beta cells, which is significantly higher in the case of HG-CTLs compared to their counterparts cultured in NG. Further investigation shows that both metformin and vitamin D can reduce HG-enhanced expression of TRAIL in CTLs and coherently protect beta cells from TRAIL-mediated apoptosis by HG-cultured CTLs. This effect of metformin and vitamin D on down-regulation of TRAIL is also confirmed in CTLs isolated from patients with diabetes. Thus, this work reveals an antigen-independent pathway regulated by HG to modulate CTL killing efficiency, suggesting a novel mechanism of CTL involvement in progression of diabetes and proposing a combination of metformin and vitamin D as a potentially promising strategy to protect beta cells of diabetic patients.Zytotoxische T-Lymphozyten (CTLs) spielen eine wichtige Rolle bei der Eliminierung abweichender Zellen wie Tumorzellen und infizierter Zellen. Um ihre Zielzellen abzutöten, wenden CTLs in den meisten Fällen zwei Mechanismen an: zytotoxisches Protein, das lytische Granula (LG) enthält, und den Fas/FasL-Weg. Hohe Blutzuckerwerte, auch Hyperglykämie genannt, sind ein typisches Symptom von Diabetes mellitus. Obwohl bekannt ist, dass CTLs an der Entwicklung von Diabetes beteiligt sind, bleiben die funktionellen Auswirkungen hoher Glukose auf CTLs und die entsprechenden Mechanismen bis heute weitgehend unklar. Um diese Frage zu beantworten, wurden primäre menschliche CD8+ T-Zellen verwendet, die durch CD3/CD28-Kügelchen stimuliert und in Medium kultiviert wurden, das entweder hohe Glukose (HG, 25 mM) oder normale Glukose (NG, 5,6 mM) enthielt. Ich fand heraus, dass die Expression von zytotoxischen Proteinen, einschließlich Perforin, Granzym A, Granzym B und FasL und LGs-Freisetzung, in HG-kultivierten CTLs unverändert blieb. Interessanterweise wurde TNF-verwandter Apoptose-induzierender Ligand (TRAIL) in CTLs durch HG hochreguliert. Mit Durchflusszytometrie und Inhibitoren habe ich identifiziert, dass ROS und die PI3K-Akt-NFκB-Achse eine wichtige Rolle bei der HGinduzierten TRAIL-Expression spielen. Darüber hinaus können TRAIL-exprimierende CTLs die Apoptose insulinproduzierender Betazellen induzieren, die im Fall von HGCTLs signifikant höher ist als bei ihren in NG kultivierten Gegenstücken. Weitere Untersuchungen zeigen, dass sowohl Metformin als auch Vitamin D die HG-verstärkte Expression von TRAIL in CTLs reduzieren und Betazellen kohärent vor TRAIL vermittelter Apoptose durch HG-kultivierte CTLs schützen können. Diese Wirkung von Metformin und Vitamin D auf die Herunterregulierung von TRAIL wird auch in CTLs bestätigt, die aus Patienten mit Diabetes isoliert wurden. Somit enthüllt diese Arbeit einen Antigen-unabhängigen Weg, der durch HG reguliert wird, um die CTLAbtötungseffizienz zu modulieren, was auf einen neuen Mechanismus der CTLBeteiligung am Fortschreiten von Diabetes hindeutet und eine Kombination aus Metformin und Vitamin D als potenziell vielversprechende Strategie zum Schutz von Betazellen von Diabetikern vorschlägt Patienten

Do economic complexity and trade diversification promote green growth in the BRICTS region? Evidence from advanced panel estimations

Green growth is a comprehensive and integrated approach that ensures the potential economic deliverables of the natural capital on a sustainable basis. Existing studies have explored various deriving factors of green growth. However, none of the studies has evaluated the combined effect of economic complexity, trade diversification, renewable energy consumption, and environment-related taxes to promote green growth. Therefore, this study quantified the impact of these variables on achieving green growth goals for BRICTS countries (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China, Turkey, and South Africa) from 1995 to 2018. The study addressed the potential econometric issues of panel data, such as cross-section dependency, slope heterogeneity, data nonstationary through robust testing. Cross- Sectional ARDL has been applied to investigate the long-run and short-run association among the study variables. The findings suggest that economic complexity, trade diversification, renewable energy consumption, and environment-related taxes significantly drive green growth in BRICTS countries. However, their marginal contribution substantially varied. Similar results are endorsed using alternative estimators and offer pertinent policy implications

Wandering Julia components of cubic rational maps

We prove that every wandering Julia component of cubic rational maps eventually has at most two complementary components.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Research on the cultivation and strategy of innovative high skilled talents in Higher Vocational Colleges

at this stage, China’s economic structure is in an important period of strategic transformation, and the development of higher vocational colleges has also ushered in an important period of opportunity. With the development of social economy, higher vocational colleges are more competitive in talent orientation, professional construction, and the establishment of innovative teacher teams. The fi rst is that the requirements of social and economic development for highly skilled and innovative talents are increasing. The second is that higher vocational colleges themselves are also facing great challenges of adjustment. How to face these challenges, improve the level and quality of talent training, and achieve sustainable development is an arduous task. We must vigorously reform vocational education, focus on cultivating innovative high skilled talents, and meet the needs of economic development for the transformation and upgrading of higher vocational education

MR imaging of intracranial solitary fibrous tumor: a retrospective study of 7 cases

Objective: To investigate the MR imaging diagnostic features of intracranial solitary fibrous tumors (ISFTs).Materials and methods: Seven patients (mean age of 52.9 years; M:F=3:4) with histopathologically proven ISFTs were identified at our institute. Clinical presentations and pathological features were reviewed. MR Imaging findings including signal intensity, gadopentetate dimeglumine enhanced pattern, and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) characterization of the tumors were retrospectively evaluated.Results: Six tumors showed a multi-lobular contour. Five tumors showed heterogeneous signal intensity, and two tumors showed homogeneous signal intensity on T1WI. Low signal intensity linear, curved or interlacing lines were observed within the tumors in all seven cases. Seven tumors demonstrated moderate or strong enhancement, six showed heterogeneous enhancement, and one homogenous enhancement. All tumors showed heterogeneous signal intensity on DWI.A ring–like high signal intensity band distributed around within the tumor was noted in six cases on DWI.Conclusion: Diagnostic evidence for ISFT on MR image includes heterogeneous signal intensity, intense enhancement of T2 signal intensity, low signal intensity lines within the tumor, heterogeneous signal intensity on DWI and a ring-like band around the tumor on DWI.Keywords: Intracranial Solitary Fibrous Tumor, Magnetic resonance imaging, Diffusion-weighted Imaging

Structural phase transition and material properties of few-layer monochalcogenides

GeSe and SnSe monochalcogenide monolayers and bilayers undergo a two-dimensional phase transition from a rectangular unit cell to a square unit cell at a temperature $T_c$ well below the melting point. Its consequences on material properties are studied within the framework of Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics and density-functional theory. No in-gap states develop as the structural transition takes place, so that these phase-change materials remain semiconducting below and above $T_c$. As the in-plane lattice transforms from a rectangle onto a square at $T_c$, the electronic, spin, optical, and piezo-electric properties dramatically depart from earlier predictions. Indeed, the $Y-$ and $X-$points in the Brillouin zone become effectively equivalent at $T_c$, leading to a symmetric electronic structure. The spin polarization at the conduction valley edge vanishes, and the hole conductivity must display an anomalous thermal increase at $T_c$. The linear optical absorption band edge must change its polarization as well, making this structural and electronic evolution verifiable by optical means. Much excitement has been drawn by theoretical predictions of giant piezo-electricity and ferroelectricity in these materials, and we estimate a pyroelectric response of about $3\times 10^{-12}$ $C/K m$ here. These results uncover the fundamental role of temperature as a control knob for the physical properties of few-layer group-IV monochalcogenidesComment: Supplementary information included. Published versio