The atomization current and droplet size of ethanol in two different small-scale electro-spraying systems

An experimental study on electro-spraying from small-scale combustors is carried out using liquid ethanol as fuel. Two systems of electro-spraying are employed in the present study; one is a nozzle system (without a ring electrode) and the other is a nozzle-ring system (with a ring electrode). The photos of electro-spraying at the cone-jet mode are taken by a digital camera. The voltage drop across the resistance in the loop is measured by a data acquisition instrument, and the atomization current is calculated according to Ohm's Law. The size and velocity of electro-spraying droplets are measured by a Phase Doppler Anemometer. A non-dimensional analysis on atomization current is completed to explain the electro-spraying phenomena of liquid at the stable cone-jet mode. The results show that, the lower atomization current and droplet velocity corresponds to smaller size of droplet. Based on the results of non-dimensional analysis, it is found that the dimensionless atomization current in both the nozzle system and nozzle-ring system obeys the scaling law as square root of the dimensionless flow rate. The charge density is of a −1.5 power dependence on droplet diameter. Both of the nozzle and the nozzle-ring systems show a good agreement with Rayleigh instability

Measuring direct non-medical burden among patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer in China: is there a difference in health status?

ObjectiveThis study was conducted to estimate the direct non-medical cost of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and explore whether its associated factors vary by health status.MethodsData were obtained from 13 centers in five provinces for patients with advanced NSCLC in China. The direct non-medical cost of patients since the patients were diagnosed with NSCLC included the cost of transportation, accommodation, meal, hired caregiving, and nutrition. We measured patients' health status by EQ-5D-5L instrument and divided them into good (≥0.75) and poor (<0.75) groups based on the utility score. A generalized linear model (GLM) was used to assess independent associations between statistically significant factors and non-medical financial burden in health status subgroups.ResultsData from 607 patients were analyzed. The direct non-medical cost associated with advanced NSCLC since diagnosis was $2,951 per case ($4,060 in the poor health group and $2,505 in the other), with nutrition costing the most. GLM results showed that residence(Urban area vs. Rural area: −1.038, [−2.056, −0.02]), caregivers' occupation type (Farmer vs. Employee: −1.303, [−2.514, −0.093]), hospitalization frequency (0.077, [0.033, 0.12]), average length of hospital stay (0.101, [0.032, 0.17]), and pathological type (Squamous carcinoma vs. Non-squamous carcinoma: −0.852, [−1.607, −0.097]) were independent factors influencing direct non-medical cost in the poor health group. Among participants with good health status, residence (Urban area vs. Rural area: −0.621, [−1.005, −0.236]), marital status (Others vs. Married: 0.762, [0.035, 1.488]), patients' employment status, current caregiving time per day (more than 9 hours per day vs. less than 3 hours per day: 0.471, [0.134, 0.807]), duration of disease (0.015, [0.007, 0.024]), and hospitalization frequency (0.091, [0.068, 0.113]) were statistically associated factors.ConclusionThe direct non-medical economic burden of advanced NSCLC patients in China is considerable and differs by health status. Strengthening accessibility for more effective therapies and early nutritional intervention to improve prognosis, and further promoting accessible care forms within relevant healthcare insurance coverage may be potentially feasible approaches to alleviate the direct non-medical economic burden for patients and their families

Preliminary Investigation on Laser Ultrasonic NDE of Nano-meter Materials

Some experimental results about laser ultrasonic NDE of nano-meter materials of silver and copper (hereafter nmAg and nmCu) are obtained. A pulsed laser is used as the ultrasonic source, and a capacitive transducer as the receiver. The phenomenon related to the particle size effect and the interface effect between particles of nano-mater material is observed. The response signal resulting from artificial interface layer in nmCu is clearly seen

Influence of Synthetic Limestone Sand on the Frost Resistance of Magnesium Potassium Phosphate Cement Mortar

Synthetic limestone sand has advantages, such as stable quality and adjustable particle size distribution, and has gradually substituted high-quality natural sand as a fine aggregate in concrete production. The project team has prepared Magnesium Potassium Phosphate Cement (MKPC) mortar by replacing part of the river sand with machine-made limestone sand in equal amounts, which proves that its physical and mechanical properties are obviously better than mortar prepared by whole river sand. However, the research on the impact of machine-made limestone sand on the durability of MKPC mortar has not been carried out. As the repairing material of concrete structures, the frost resistance of MKPC mortar must be evaluated. In this study, the effect of synthetic limestone sand on the frost resistance of Magnesium Potassium Phosphate Cement (MKPC) mortar was investigated by characterizing the strength, mass loss rate, and water absorption of specimens subjected to freeze–thaw cycling. MKPC mortars prepared using solely river sand (M0) or limestone sand (M1) were completely degraded after 225 freezing–thawing cycles in water, whereas the flexural and compressive strengths of MKPC mortar (M2) prepared using both river and synthetic limestone sands was 29.3 and 22.0% of the initial strengths, respectively. The water freeze–thaw resistance of M2 specimens were significantly higher than that of M0 and M1 specimens, and the sulfate freeze–thaw resistance of M1 and M2 were significantly higher than that of M0. The mass loss of MKPC mortar is not more than 0.4% when it is frozen and thawed 225 times in water and 5% Na2SO4 solution, which is far lower than the damage standard of 5%. Based on the favorable composition of the two aggregates, the initial open porosity of M2 was relatively low, owing to the lower water–cement ratio of the mortar at the same flow rate

The landscape of the long non-coding RNAs in developing mouse retinas

Abstract Background The long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are critical regulators of diverse biological processes. Nevertheless, a global view of its expression and function in the mouse retina, a crucial model for neurogenesis study, still needs to be made available. Results Herein, by integrating the established gene models and the result from ab initio prediction using short- and long-read sequencing, we characterized 4,523 lncRNA genes (MRLGs) in developing mouse retinas (from the embryonic day of 12.5 to the neonatal day of P28), which was so far the most comprehensive collection of retinal lncRNAs. Next, derived from transcriptomics analyses of different tissues and developing retinas, we found that the MRLGs were highly spatiotemporal specific in expression and played essential roles in regulating the genesis and function of mouse retinas. In addition, we investigated the expression of MRLGs in some mouse mutants and revealed that 97 intergenic MRLGs might be involved in regulating differentiation and development of retinal neurons through Math5, Isl1, Brn3b, NRL, Onecut1, or Onecut2 mediated pathways. Conclusions In summary, this work significantly enhanced our knowledge of lncRNA genes in mouse retina development and provided valuable clues for future exploration of their biological roles

Hasil utama penelitian kacang-kacangan dan umbi-umbian tahun 2005

iv, 22 hal. : Ilus. ; 28 c

Xist nucleates local protein gradients to propagate silencing across the X chromosome

The lncRNA Xist forms ∼50 diffraction-limited foci to transcriptionally silence one X chromosome. How this small number of RNA foci and interacting proteins regulate a much larger number of X-linked genes is unknown. We show that Xist foci are locally confined, contain ∼2 RNA molecules, and nucleate supramolecular complexes (SMACs) that include many copies of the critical silencing protein SPEN. Aggregation and exchange of SMAC proteins generate local protein gradients that regulate broad, proximal chromatin regions. Partitioning of numerous SPEN molecules into SMACs is mediated by their intrinsically disordered regions and essential for transcriptional repression. Polycomb deposition via SMACs induces chromatin compaction and the increase in SMACs density around genes, which propagates silencing across the X chromosome. Our findings introduce a mechanism for functional nuclear compartmentalization whereby crowding of transcriptional and architectural regulators enables the silencing of many target genes by few RNA molecules