Chirality and the origin of atmospheric humic-like substances

Aerosol water extracts and atmospheric humic-like substances (HULIS) obtained from PM2.5-fraction aerosol samples collected in a rural/continental background environment and in an urban environment in spring and summer, and at a tropical site that was heavily impacted by biomass burning were studied. HULIS was obtained as the water-soluble, methanol-elutable material isolated from a solid-phase extraction procedure. The mean organic matter-to-organic carbon mass conversion factor and the standard deviation of 2.04 +/- 0.06 were derived for HULIS from biomass burning. Mean atmospheric concentrations of HULIS for the rural and urban environments and for the biomass burning during daylight periods and nights, were 1.65, 2.2, 43, and 60 mu gm(-3), respectively. This and other abundances indicate that intense emission sources and/or formation mechanisms of HULIS operate in biomass burning. Mean contributions of C in HULIS (HULIS-C) to water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) were 35, 48, 63, and 76%, respectively, for the sample set listed. HULIS-C is the major component of the WSOC in tropical biomass burning. The data also suggest that HULIS most likely do not share common origin in the three environments studied. Differentiation among the possible formation processes was attempted by investigating the optical activity of HULIS through their (electronic and vibrational) circular dichroism properties. The urban HULIS did not show optical activity, which is in line with the concept of their major airborne formation from anthropogenic aromatics. The rural HULIS revealed weak optical activity, which may be associated with one of their important formation pathways by photo-oxidation and oligomerisation, i.e., with the formation from chiral biogenic precursors with one of the enantiomers slightly enriched. The The biomass burning of HULIS exhibited a strong effect in the vibrational circular dichroism as a clear distinction from the other two types. This was related to the contribution of the thermal degradation products of lignins and cellulose. The biomass burning of HULIS resemble Suwannee River Fulvic Acid standard more closely in some aspects than the urban and rural types of HULIS, which may be related to their common origin from plant material

Noble Metal based Catalysts for Natural Gas Steam Reforming Activity, Endurance and Kinetics

This thesis illustrates catalytic activity, stability and intrinsic kinetics of methane steam reforming (MSR) reaction over noble metal catalysts. The main objective of this thesis is to evaluate a best performing catalyst based on the maximization of H2 production and minimization of CO in the synthesis gas produced from MSR reaction. The noble metal catalysts tested towards MSR reaction were Rh, Ru and Pt supported on different reducible and irreducible oxides. The oxides (CeO2, MgO and Al2O3) used in this work were synthesized from their nitrite precursor by Simultaneous combustion synthesis (SCS) while Nb2O5 was prepared by heat treatment of Niobic acid obtained from Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracão (CBMM, Brasil). In all the catalysts the noble metals were deposited on the support by wetness impregnation method, except Pt/CeO2 which was prepared by one shoot SCS method. All the prepared catalysts were calcined under different calcination regimes. The best performing catalysts were characterized by different techniques BET, CO chemisorption, porosiometery, XRD, XPS, ICP, TEM and SEM analyses. Efforts have been made to correlate the catalytic activity with the physical characterization. All the catalysts prepared were initially screened by MSR reaction in a tubular fixed bed quartz reactor of 4mm ID containing 30mg of catalyst diluted with 50mg of inert. For catalytic screening and stability test the feed was introduced at a weight hourly space velocity of 20 NLh-1g-1cat and steam to carbon ratio 3-4 depending upon the catalyst. The results obtained from basic screening of the catalysts were analyzed in terms of methane conversion, H2 produced in dry reformate and CO2 selectivity. Among all the catalysts tested towards MSR only two were chosen based on initial screening, Rh/CeO2 and Pt/CeO2, for the further test concerning catalyst stability. The stability of Rh/CeO2 and Pt/CeO2 catalysts was determined based on daily start up and shut down cycle (DSS) with a 6h performance period. The Pt/CeO2 catalyst was tested for a total of 150 h in which 100h performance was with DSS in N2 environment while 50h of catalyst activity with DSS in reaction environment. The Rh/CeO2 catalyst was tested for a total of 25 h catalyst activity with DSS in N2 environment. Additionally the Rh/CeO2 catalyst was also tested in 100h continuous ageing. Both the catalysts showed good results in terms of catalyst activity and stability during the time period. As Rh/CeO2 catalyst showed good activity during 100h continuous endurance this catalysts was chosen to evaluate the intrinsic kinetics of methane steam reforming. For the kinetics test firstly the heat and mass transfer limitations were evaluated both experimentally and theoretically. The reactor was operated in an integral mode and no inert was used in feed for the kinetic experiments. The effect of WHSV at constant S/C 3 on the methane conversion and product composition was also determined. The partial pressures of the reactants were varied by varying the steam-to-carbon ratio of the feed. An attempt was made to fit kinetic data obtained using the models available in literature. The kinetic data obtained was perfect fit for the model proposed by Berman, and the activation energy of Rh/CeO2 was found to be 38.6 kJ/mol

Pengembangan Motif Batik Khas Aceh Gayo

Industri batik mulai berkembang di daerah Aceh Gayo, namun motif-motif batiknya kurang mencerminkanidentitas khas daerah. Oleh karena itu perlu diciptakan desain motif batik khas Aceh Gayo yang sumberinspirasinya diambil dari seni budaya daerah setempat. Tujuan penelitian dan penciptaan seni ini adalah untukmenciptakan motif batik yang mempunyai bentuk unik dan karakteristik sehingga dapat mencerminkan kekhasandaerah Aceh Gayo. Metode yang digunakan yaitu eksplorasi, perancangan, dan perwujudan karya motif batik,serta uji estetikanya. Dari penciptaan seni ini berhasil diciptakan 6 motif batik yaitu: (1) Motif Ceplok Gayo; (2)Motif Kerawang Tegak; (3) Motif Kerawang Datar; (4) Motif Parang Gayo; (5) Motif Kerawang Lembut; dan (6)Motif Geometris Gayo. Berdasarkan hasil penilaian “Selera Estetika” diketahui bahwa motif yang paling banyakdisukai adalah Motif Ceplok Gayo dan Motif Parang

Ukiran Kerawang Aceh Gayo Sebagai Inspirasi Penciptaan Motif Batik Khas Gayo

Batik industry began to develop in Gayo, but have not had a typical batik motif itself. Therefore, it is necessary to create batik motifs of Gayo, by taking inspiration from the carvings found in traditional houses commonly called kerawang Gayo. The purpose of this art is to create motifs those have a Gayo characteristic. The method used are the idea exploration, design, and motifs embodiment. In this activity has created six Gayo batik motifs, namely: (1) Motif Ceplok Gayo; (2) Motif Gayo Tegak; (3) Motif GayoLurus; (4) Motif Parang Gayo; (5) Motif Gayo Lembut; dan (6) Motif Geometris Gayo. The test results fondness of the motives to fifty respondents indicated that the Motif Ceplok Gayo most preferred by respondents ie 19%, while Motif Parang Gayo 18%, Motif Gayo Lembut 17%, Motif Geometris Gayo 17%, Motif Gayo Lurus 15% and Motif Gayo Tegak 14%. Average motifs generated to get a good appreciation of the respondents, so they all can be produced as batik Gayo

Evaluation of the quality of life in patients with coronary heart disease: using two measuring assessment tools

Background: Coronary heart diseases (CHD) are considered to be as a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) test and assessment is considered as a major an important measuring tool of the disease effects results and other variables related to the patient’s life.Objectives: The purpose of this observational study is to assess and compare the quality of life in patients with coronary heart disease.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted at Al-shaab Teaching Hospital, where 100 patients with definite diagnosis of CHD were responded. The data was collected using two quality of life assessment tools: the Seattle angina questionnaire (SAQ) (disease specific measuring tool) and the SF-36 questionnaire (generic measuring tool).Results: Based on the 1) SAQ, out of the 50 patients who were recruited, the patients physical functioning in terms of activities performed 58% said “not limited” and 42% said “limited” in case of chest pain 26% noted “much more often” while 10% “much less often” Based on the 2) SF-36, out of the 50 patients who were recruited, the patients physical functioning in terms of activates performed 26% said “no, not limited” and 74% said “limited”. 34% had felt full of life “all the time” while 10% “none of the time”.Conclusion: HRQL measurement gives health care providers an additional tool for the assessment of the impact of specific clinical decisions on the health status of patients. Of the SAQ and SF-36, the SAQ offers more reliable assessment of quality of life.Keywords: Coronary heart Disease, measuring assessment tool

Penambahan Nilai Guna pada Kreasi Baru Produk Boneka Batik Kayu Krebet Bantul

Penciptaan produk baru merupakan aspek penting bagi IKM industri kreatif dalam menjalankan USAhanya. Kebaruan desain menjadi salah satu daya tarik konsumen dalam membeli suatu produk. Salah satu cara memberi nilai kebaruan adalah dengan menambahkan nilai guna pada produk. Penambahan nilai guna pada produk batik kayu Krebet Bantul dapat menambah keunggulan produk yaitu selain indah juga mempunyai kegunaan tertentu secara fisik. Tujuan penelitian penciptaan seni ini adalah untuk menghasilkan produk baru dengan ide menambahkan nilai guna pada produk boneka batik kayu. Metode yang digunakan yaitu pengumpulan data, pengkajian sumber inspirasi, pembuatan desain, pembuatan kerajinan kayu, pembatikan pada bahan kayu, dan uji tahan luntur warnanya. Hasil penelitian ini berupa kreasi produk baru yang dikembangkan dari inspirasi boneka multifungsi. Uji tahan luntur penting dilakukan untuk memastikan warna pembentuk motif batik pada permukaan kayu tidak mudah luntur. Hal ini untuk menjamin kualitas produk dalam perdagangan. Skor nilai uji dengan penilaian angka 1 - 5. Nilai uji ketahanan luntur warna terhadap gosok kering dan basah 4- 5 (baik), uji ketahanan luntur warna terhadap cahaya terang hari 3- 4 (cukup baik), dan uji ketahanan luntur warna yang dilapisi cat Bening 5 (sangat baik)

The Truncated Moment Problem for Unital Commutative R-Algebras

Let A be a unital commutative R-algebra, B a linear subspace of A and K a closed subset of the character space of A. For a linear functional L: B --> R, we investigate conditions under which L admits an integral representation with respect to a positive Radon measure supported in K. When A is equipped with a submultiplicative seminorm, we employ techniques from the theory of positive extensions of linear functionals to prove a criterion for the existence of such an integral representation for L. When no topology is prescribed on A, we identify suitable assumptions on B, A, L and K which allow us to construct a seminormed structure on A, so as to exploit our previous result to get an integral representation for L. We then use our main theorems to obtain, as applications, several well known results on the classical truncated moment problem, the moment problem for point processes, and the subnormal completion problem for 2-variable weighted shifts

Primary Cilium Depletion Typifies Cutaneous Melanoma In Situ and Malignant Melanoma

Cutaneous melanoma is a lethal malignancy that arises spontaneously or via in situ precursor neoplasms. While melanoma in situ and locally invasive malignant melanoma can be cured surgically, these lesions can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from melanocytic nevi. Thus, the identification of histolopathologic or molecular features that distinguish these biologically distinct lesions would represent an important advance. To this end, we determined the abundance of melanocytic primary cilia in a series of 62 cases composed of typical cutaneous melanocytic nevi, melanoma in situ, invasive melanoma, and metastatic melanoma. Primary cilia are sensory organelles that modulate developmental and adaptive signaling and notably, are substantially depleted from the neoplastic epithelium of pancreatic carcinoma at a stage equivalent to melanoma in situ. In this series, we find that while nearly all melanocytes in 22 melanocytic nevi possessed a primary cilium, a near-complete loss of this organelle was observed in 16 cases of melanoma in situ, in 16 unequivocal primary invasive melanomas, and in 8 metastatic tumors, each associated with a cutaneous primary lesion. These findings suggest that the primary cilium may be used to segregate cutaneous invasive melanoma and melanoma in situ from melanocytic nevi. Moreover, they place the loss of an organelle known to regulate oncogenic signaling at an early stage of melanoma development