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Upgraded activated carbons (ACs) are typically synthesized by mixed methods, such as solid–solid mixing and wet impregnation of low-grade ACs with KOH. This study compares the properties of upgraded ACs prepared by different methods using elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N2 adsorption isotherms, and X-ray diffraction. In ACs produced by the solid–solid mixing, the ratio of potassium activator is proportional to the surface area and amount of gas produced. However, in wet impregnated ACs, the potassium ratio exhibits a zero or negative correlation. It is demonstrated that potassium ions in solution are not transferred to K2O and do not contribute to the surface area and pore size, generating less amount and different composition of gases. As such, impregnated ACs exhibit similar surface areas and large pores, regardless of the potassium ratio. The physical properties, such as specific surface areas and pore size distribution, of ACs using wet impregnation were similar to the ACs generated by the water physical activation. It indicated that the KOH does not efficiently act as a chemical activator in the wet impregnation method. Therefore, a certain amount and suitable mixing method of chemical activator play an important role in the property upgrade of ACs.

To prepare activated carbon with a high specific surface area, oxygen functional groups (OFGs) that can serve as useful electron donors during KOH activation were treated with nitric acid and incorporated into activated carbon. OFGs are incorporated differently according to the surface characteristics of starting materials. Up to 22.46% OFGs are incorporated into wood-based activated carbons (WACs), the C=O, COOH contents was 1.90, 17.05%, respectively. Whereas up to 12.82% OFGs are incorporated into coconut shell-based activated carbons, the C=O, COOH contents was 4.12, 6.15%, respectively. The OFGs used for increasing the specific surface area are the carbonyl group, and as the content of the functional group increases, the carbonyl group spreads to the carboxyl group. The specific surface area of activated carbons increased by 10–68% with an increase in the carbonyl group up to 6% (maximum point of carbonyl group). On the other hand, the specific surface area for WACs increased when the carboxyl group was 10% or below, but decreased by 6–15% when it increased to 10% or excess.

Major projects around the world have long been notorious for cost overruns and schedule delays. In response to the cost overruns, the U.S. Department of Transportation established a task force and took a range of steps to strengthen the stewardship, management, and oversight of major projects at the beginning of the 21st century. Through a classical test of hypotheses, this study first investigates the prevalence and magnitude of the cost overruns of the major infrastructure projects in the U.S. before and after the reform. The before and after comparison finds that the projects experiencing cost overrun have been reduced from 77% to 45% following the reform. Results revealed that the U.S. Department of Transportation has developed measurable outcomes but their success may be limited. To address the cost overruns, conversely, the U.K. adopted Kahneman’s Nobel Prize-winning theory to challenge biases in human judgment and mandated reference class forecasting for major projects at the beginning of the 21st century. Through before-and-after and with-and-without comparisons of major infrastructure projects, this empirical study then examines the practical relevance of reference class forecasting for infrastructure investments. A before-and-after comparison reveals that the average cost overrun declined from 50% to 5% following the introduction of reference class forecasting. A with-and-without comparison also demonstrates that the U.K. surpassed its targeted probability of completing projects within budget by 12% using reference class forecasting, whereas the U.S. underperformed by 23%. Thus, reference class forecasting has engendered notable improvements in estimation in the U.K. Although schedule delays not only result in significant financial implications to project sponsors but also lead to substantial social costs to the public, scant attention has been dedicated to schedule delays. Therefore, this study further investigates the frequency, magnitude, and characteristics of schedule delays occurring during the construction of major infrastructure projects built in the U.S. and the U.K. between 1999 and 2018. A multivariate regression analysis confirms that length of implementation phase and project type plays the most important role in project schedule performance. During extensive efforts were made to project controls in the U.S. and the U.K. over the last two decades, this study also finds, project performance has not improved at all from a schedule perspective. In order to address the issue, this study suggests reference class forecasting to develop more realistic and reliable schedule estimates. This empirical study demonstrates the benefits of supplementing or replacing the current forecasting method. The findings can be used to reduce substantial financial risks for the government as well as social and economic welfare losses for society.

Additional file 2:: Supplementary Table 1. Correlation of CSF AD biomarkers and plasma contact factors.

Endophytes, important plant-associated mycobionts, have attracted a great deal of attention because of their bioactive secondary metabolites. Even though halophytes have been reported to overcome salt stress via associations with their endophytes, few studies have investigated the metabolites produced by the endophytes from halophytes. In this study, a dark septate endophytic fungal strain (JS0464), identified as Gaeumannomyces sp. by ITS sequencing, was isolated from the rhizome of a halophyte, Phragmites communis, in Suncheon bay, South Korea. This strain was cultured on a large scale and extracted with ethyl acetate. Chemical investigations of extracts of JS0464 led to the isolation of two glycosylated dialkylresorcinol derivatives (1-2), an anthraquinone derivative (3) and eight known compounds (4-11), which were identified by spectroscopic analyses incorporating one-dimensional/2D NMR and MS. Nine compounds showed significant nitric oxide reduction activity in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated microglia BV-2 cells, seven of which did not impair cell viability. The results suggest that endophytes from the halophytes could be potential resources for bioactive natural products.

Additional file 2: Figure S1. Effect of PAP on the expression of iNOS, TNF-α, and IL-1β in LPS-stimulated rat primary microglia. Figure S2. Morphological changes of microglia in response to MPTP. Figure S3. High magnification images of GDNF-positive cells in the substantia nigra of MPTP-injected mice

Additional file 1: Table S1. List of primary antibodies used in Western blot analysis. Table S2. List of primary antibodies used in immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining

We have used the integral form of the conservation equations, to find a cubic formula for the drop size in liquid sprays in cross flows. Similar to our work on axial liquid sprays, the energy balance dictates that the initial kinetic energy of the gas and injected liquid be distributed into the final surface tension energy, kinetic energy of the gas and droplets, and viscous dissipation incurred. Kinetic energy of the cross flow is added to the energy balance. Then, only the viscous dissipation term needs to be phenomenologically modelled. The mass and energy balance for the spray flows renders to an expression that relates the drop size to all of the relevant parameters, including the gas- and liquid-phase velocities. The results agree well with experimental data and correlations for the drop size. The solution also provides for drop size-velocity cross-correlation, leading to drop size distributions based on the gas-phase velocity distribution. These aspects can be used in estimating the drop size for practical applications, and also in computational simulations of liquid injection in cross flows.

Our recently discovered, selective, on-resin route to N(τ)-alkylated imidazolium-containing histidine residues affords new strategies for peptide mimetic design. In this, we demonstrate the use of this chemistry to prepare a series of macrocyclic phosphopeptides, in which imidazolium groups serve as ring-forming junctions. Interestingly, these cationic moieties subsequently serve to charge-mask the phosphoamino acid group that directed their formation. Neighbor-directed histidine N(τ)-alkylation opens the door to new families of phosphopeptidomimetics for use in a range of chemical biology contexts., National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grants ES015339 and GM104047)

Learning and emotions are very important parts to implement intelligent robots. In this paper, we implement intelligent virtual character based on reinforcement learning which interacts with user and have internal emotion model. Virtual character acts autonomously in 3D virtual environment by internal state. And user can learn virtual character specific behaviors by repeated directions. Mouse gesture is used to perceive such directions based on artificial neural network. Emotion-Mood-Personality model is proposed to express emotions. And we examine the change of emotion and learning behaviors when virtual character interact with user.