Nitric oxide metabolite levels during the ectopic osteoinduction in rats

Abstract Nitric oxide (NO) is a cell-signaling molecule that has diverse biological functions. Recent evidence suggests that its production may regulate the metabolism of the osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The aim of this study was to evaluate levels of nitrite and nitrates (NO metabolites) during ectopic osteoinduction in rats. Eighteen male Sprague–Dawley rats (body weight 200–300 g) were used in this study. All animals were anesthetized and the right and left flank areas were shaved, and under aseptic conditions, a muscular pouch was created in each flank: the left was filled with 20 mg of demineralized bone matrix and the right remained empty (sham). Radiographs were taken at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after surgery to trace the ectopic bone formation and muscle mineralization. Blood samples were taken before (as baseline values) and at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after surgery. The mean values of NO metabolites after 6 weeks were significantly higher (p<0.05) than baseline data and at 2 weeks post-surgery. Results from this study indicate that the ectopic osteoinduction caused increased activity of the osteoblasts which subsequently caused increased serum levels of NO metabolites (nitrites and nitrates)

Quantitative comparison of ammonia and 3-indoleacetic acid production in halophilic, alkalophilic and haloalkalophilic bacterial isolates in soil

In order to measure the concentration of ammonia production via corrected Nesslerization method and 3-indoleacetic acid as Salkowski method in halophilic, alkalophilic and haloalkalophilic bacterial isolates, soil samples were collected from six different areas of Khorasan Razavi and bacterial isolates isolated and purified using different growth medium accordingly. The alkalophiles isolates showed maximum ammonia production (0.055%) among the three groups of bacteria which this amount was 9.5 times of its average in haloalkalophiles isolates (0.0058%) and 13 times of ammonia production average in halophiles (0.004%). Mean comparison of the concentration3-indoleacetic acid production in three groups also showed that the most isolates of halophiles, alkalophiles and haloalkalophiles were IAA producer with 0.0003, 0.0001 and 0.0021percent respectively that the IAA amount in haloalkalophilic group was about 6 and 14.5 times of it in halophilic and alkalophilic isolates respectively. Equations to predict the concentration of ammonia and 3-indole acetic acid production was only significant in the haloalkalophilic isolates for ammonia production (P=0.046) and halophilic isolates for IAA production (P=0.015) under effect of electrical conductivity and pH in 0.05 probability level. Results represented that the multiple regression analysis for prediction of ammonia and IAA concentrations producing by isolates had not any significant performance in high and low concentrations under effect of electrical conductivity and pH. It seems that the uses of the two sensitive measuring methods (Nesslerization and Salkowski) after some modifications show promises and are recommend able in research due to their ease of implementation and relatively accurate results.Keywords: Alkalophiles; haloalkalophiles; halophiles; 3-indoleacetic acid; nesslerization method; salkowski method

On the Performance of Linear and Nonlinear Dynamic Absorbers for Beams Subjected to Moving Loads

The present work studies the performance of linear and nonlinear dynamic vibration absorbers mounted on Euler&ndash;Bernoulli beams subjected to moving loads. Absorbers used in this work consist of one mass, two springs and one linear damper.The springs may be considered either linear or non-linear. The objective is to compare the performance of these absorbers with classical dynamic and nonlinear absorbers. The partial differential equations governing the problem are reduced to a set of ordinary differential equations by means of Galerkin&ndash;Bubnov method. The performance of the dynamic absorbers in reduction of the beams&rsquo; vibration is estimated through the maximum amplitude of vibration and the portion of energy dissipated by the dynamic damper. Finally, after optimizations, the effectiveness of the dynamic absorbers is determined for different conditions and applications

Unsteady non-equilibrium condensation flow of 3-D wet steam stage of steam turbine with roughness using sliding mesh method

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordData availability: Data will be made available on request.This research develops the non-equilibrium condensation model with sliding mesh technology to solve the unsteady condensing flow inside a 3D wet steam stage of steam turbine with transient rotor-stator interaction. The maximum fluctuation of time-dependent condensation parameters is predicted. The condensation loss and entropy generation considering the off-design operation and rough blades are also evaluated quantitatively. The results showed that the secondary expansion and condensation occur near the rotor trailing edge. At design operation, the time-dependent subcooling fluctuates from −9.81 K to 8.06 K at the maximum fluctuation location. The frozen rotor method over-predicts the expansion and condensation characteristics in the steam turbine stage. Moreover, the maximum relative fluctuation of time-dependent wetness is 37.14% when it changes from 0.022 to 0.048. At off-design operation, the p-T diagram is applied to compare the expansion and condensation processes. The inlet subcooling increases by 40 K, resulting in an increase of 110.34% in outlet wetness. The phase of condensation loss with high off-design inlet subcooling is ahead of that with low off-design inlet subcooling. The fluctuation of time-dependent condensation loss with off-design inlet subcooling is about 102.28 kW. In addition, the back pressure ratio changes from 0.55 to 0.10, resulting in an increase of 190.91% in outlet wetness. The fluctuation of time-dependent condensation loss with off-design back pressure ratio can reach 112.3 kW. Besides, the maximum time-averaged entropy generation and exergy destruction due to the increase of surface roughness can reach 9.37 kJ kg−1 K−1 and 5.71 kW.National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaEuropean Union Horizon 202