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Depression is characterized by low moods, anhedonia, and social avoidance. Effective and acceptable treatments are required for depression. Positive effects on mood have been observed in patients with depression after treatment with botulinum toxin A (BoNT/A).A total of 88 patients with depression were randomly assigned to BoNT/A (n = 56) and placebo (saline, n = 22) groups. The primary objective was to determine the change in the 17-item version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), 12 weeks after the treatments when compared with the baseline.The BoNT/A and placebo groups did not differ significantly in all the collected baseline characteristics. However, there was a significant improvement in the depressive symptoms of the BoNT/A group compared to those of the placebo group throughout the 12-week follow-up period. This was according to the measurements of HAMD (F (1, 370) = 9.094, P = 0.0027), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) (F (1, 370) = 11.26, P0.001), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) (F (1, 410) = 8.673, P = 0.0034) and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) (F (1, 379) = 5.788, P = 0.017). Furthermore, the effectiveness was even higher at the end of the study period.The limitations include the absence of a multicenter study and an inadequate number of cases. Additionally, the mechanism of BoNT/A antidepression was not studied.This study showed that a single treatment with BoNT/A may accomplish a strong and sustained alleviation of depression in patients.

This paper deals with the sliding mode estimation for microgrid with time delays. Delay has a great impact on large power grids’ management for microgrid, which terribly reduces the stability and quality of microgrid. Random delay caused by load dependent congestion, constant transmission delay and constant delay in microgrid are considered in this paper. To eliminate the adverse effects of delays, a novel sliding mode estimation-based controller is designed to predict time delays and microgrid states, and to reject the disturbance of estimation errors. The mathematical inverter model containing electrical characteristics is regarded as the model of practical microgrid system. Delay estimation with learning parameter and state estimation are derived according to the inverter model. By regarding estimation errors as disturbance of sliding mode control (SMC), the control signal of SMC is adaptively changed in the sliding mode estimation-based control loop to ensure the stability of system and accuracy of estimation. Exponential reaching law (ERL) is implemented to improve the chattering issues and reaching performance of SMC. Lyapunov approach is exploited to analyze the stability of sliding motion. Finally, the proposed SMC strategy is validated by simulation experiments of a microgrid with time delays.

The novel model predictive control with feedback correction designed in this paper aims to optimize the energy dispatch and minimize the operation costs of a microgrid, which contributes to the improvement of pollution emissions and economic growth. The microgrid communication is based on power line communication, thus more accurate prediction models of photovoltaic and wind power generations of a networked microgrid can be designed from weather forecast information transmitted by power line communication. The prediction model for micro gas turbines and the loads of a microgrid are also proposed for optimization of the model predictive control. The rolling optimization model is updated by the latest forecast information to get minimization costs and optimal energy dispatch. The feedback correction designs predictions of generation and loads prediction errors to give an adjustment of the prediction model. Then the energy optimization dispatch will be updated by the adjusted prediction, so the most optimal dispatch will be obtained. Finally, the data of a microgrid in the Zhejiang province is applied in simulation and the minimization costs are compared with ideal costs to verify the performance and effectiveness of the proposed model predictive control strategy.

Microalgae are considered as an alternative feedstock for producing biodiesel. In this study, six oil-producing algae were cultivated with natural sunlight outdoors. The highest lipid content, biomass productivity, and lipid productivity were 29.99%, 208.42 mg/l/d, and 69.84 ml/d, respectively. In addition, the photosynthetic efficiency of PS II (Fv/Fm) was kept high during the cultivation and the preferred fatty acids (C16-C18) for producing biodiesel were more than 95% of total fatty acids for all of the strains.

The aim of this study was to characterize the quinolone resistance of Salmonella enterica serovar Indiana isolated from chickens in China. A total of 293 Salmonella strains were isolated from chicken farms and slaughterhouses in Shandong province of China, and 130 (44.4%) were characterized as Salmonella enterica Indiana (chicken farms, n = 52 strains; slaughter houses, n = 78 strains). All isolate serotypes were tested with the Kauffmann–White classification system and examined for susceptibility to the quinolones: nalidixic acid, enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, and ciprofloxacin. The resistance of the Salmonella Indiana strains to nalidixic acid, enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, and ciprofloxacin were 100, 73.1, 71.2, and 82.7%, and 100, 59.0, 79.5, and 80.2%, respectively. Selected quinolone resistant strains were evaluated for mutations in genes (gyr A, gyr B, par C, and mar A) by DNA sequencing. The gyr A mutation was found in all isolates, the par C mutation was only found in some isolates, and the gyr B and mar A mutations were not observed. Quinolone resistance was evaluated in the representative isolates by screening for the quinolone resistance determinants, qnr A, qnr B, qnr S, qep A, and aac (6 ′)-Ib-cr using PCR technology. The quinolone resistance determinants in Salmonella, qnr A, qnr B, qnr S, and qep A were negative by PCR, but aac(6 ′)-Ib-cr had high detection rates of 90.4 and 96.2% in chicken farms and slaughterhouses, respectively. Salmonella Indiana containing the gyr A mutation was prevalent in farms and slaughterhouses and possessed a high frequency of the quinolone resistance determinant aac(6 ′)-Ib-cr. These bacteria may have originated from the same source.

This paper proposes a sliding mode estimation-based control to solve the stochastic time delay problem in networked microgrid, because stochastic delay has a great impact on the stability and performance of large power grids (LPG). To analyze the delay effects, the microgrid system model is derived according to the characteristics of the inverter in grid-connected microgrid. Based on the microgrid system model, the stochastic delay estimation with learning parameter and delayed states are derived. The control signal designed by sliding mode control (SMC) and the learning parameter of delay estimation are adaptively changed in the sliding mode estimation-based control loop. Exponential reaching law (ERL) is proposed to solve the chattering issues of SMC. The 3.3 KW microgrid parameters are added into simulation to verify the effectiveness and performance of the proposed control strategy.

High energy consumption is a crucial issue for the regeneration of solvent for postcombustion CO2 capture by chemical absorption. Primary modeling results show the potential to reduce the energy consumption through a novel solvent regeneration process by direct steam stripping. This work is an extension of our previous exploration and aims to validate the direct steam stripping process by experimental studies on a lab-scale stripping platform. We investigated the direct steam stripping and the conventional stripping mode in terms of energy consumption and steam condensation. The results showed, for the direct steam stripping mode, the optimum energy consumption at 1 atm was 2.98 MJ/kg CO2, 23.2% lower than that of the conventional stripping mode. Higher solvent feeding temperature and carrier steam superheating temperature were beneficial to reduce steam condensation in the column. We found 96–99.5 °C feeding solvent temperature was suitable considering both the energy consumption and steam condensation. ...

Several zirconium (or aluminum) incorporated mesoporous MCM-48 solid acid catalysts (SO 4 2− /Zr-MCM-48 and SO 4 2− /Al-MCM-48) were prepared by the impregnation method and their physicochemical properties were characterized by means of XRD, FT-IR, TEM, NH 3 -TPD and N 2 physical adsorption. Also, the catalytic activities of these solid acid catalysts were evaluated by the alkylation of phenol with tert -butyl alcohol. The effect of weight hour space velocity (WHSV), reaction time and reaction temperature on catalytic properties was also studied. The results show that the SO 4 2− /Zr-MCM-48 and SO 4 2− /Al-MCM-48 still have good mesoporous structure and long range ordering. Compared with the Zr (or Al)–MCM-48 samples, SO 4 2− /Zr-MCM-48 and SO 4 2− /Al-MCM-48 solid acid catalysts have strong acidity and exhibit high activities in alkylation reaction of phenol with tert -butyl alcohol. The SO 4 2− /Zr-MCM-48-25 (molar ratio of Si/Zr=0.04) catalyst was found to be the most promising and gave the highest phenol conversion among all catalysts. A maximum phenol conversion of 91.6% with 4- tert -butyl phenol (4-TBP) selectivity of 81.8% was achieved when the molar ratio of tert -butyl alcohol:phenol is 2:1, reaction time is 2 h, the WHSV is 2 h −1 and the reaction temperature is 140 °C.

The low CO2 absorption rate and high ammonia volatile loss rate are two major issues for the ammonia-based CO2 capture technology. In this work, we investigated the effect of total pressure on CO2 absorption and ammonia vaporization in ammonia solutions on a wetted-wall column. We found that the elevated pressure absorption process was an effective way to increase CO2 absorption rate and suppress ammonia vaporization at the same time. We also studied the mass transfer mechanism at elevated pressure and found the overall mass transfer coefficients of CO2 absorption in both ammonia and MEA solutions at elevated pressures were lower than that under atmospheric pressure. The overall mass transfer coefficients of CO2 absorption in 3 M NH3 (298 K) at 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 bar were 0.723 × 10−6, 0.652 × 10−6, 0.591 × 10−6, 0.555 × 10−6 mol/(s m2 Pa) and the corresponding gas side mass transfer coefficients were 13.8 × 10−6, 4.52 × 10−6, 2.61 × 10−6, 2.03 × 10−6 mol/(s m2 Pa), respectively. We also found the gas side mass transfer coefficient in the wetted-wall column was not only dependent on the hydrodynamic conditions of the column but also influenced by the total pressure. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) acting as cementing substance (chelator) of biological soil crusts (BSCs) are a considerable amount of metabolic investment for cyanobacteria. However, their partition mechanism has long been overlooked. In this paper, we investigated the effects of light intensity on production, distribution pattern, carbohydrate and protein contents, monosaccharide composition, and topographical structures of EPS from Microcoleus vaginatus, the first dominant cyanobacterium of BSCs. The results showed that the amounts of released polysaccharides (RPS), capsular polysaccharides (CPS), and total EPS increased with enhanced light intensity. The weaker the light, the higher the ratio of CPS to EPS and the lower the ratio of RPS to EPS. Although the highest light intensity significantly reduced the charge distribution in RPS, it had no effect on the charge distribution of CPS. For monosaccharide composition, although light intensity did not influence either RPS or CPS, the proportions of main components were still different. Carbohydrate, glucose, galactose, and arabinose were most abundant in RPS; whereas, glucose and galactose were highest in CPS. Comparison with protein content in RPS, carbohydrate was dominant in water eluates under 40 mu E m(-2) s(-1), whereas protein was dominant in 1.0 M NaCl eluates. Carbohydrate was dominant in both eluates under 80 mu E m(-2) s(-1). Protein content of the same fraction in CPS generally decreased with increasing light intensity. The images from atomic force microscopy showed that light intensity significantly affected the molecular weight of EPS, as well as the topographical structures, namely, long chains only found in RPS at 80 mu E m(-2) s(-1) and CPS at 4 mu E m(-2) s(-1). Short chains and irregular lumps occurred under all test light intensities. The above results strongly suggested that light intensity not only affects the EPS yield but also its partition pattern, component, and spatial structure. Therefore, light intensity also likely influences BSCs gluing cohesion.

High energy consumption during solvent regeneration is a crucial issue for the CO 2 post-combustion capture by chemical absorption. In order to save the latent heat in the regeneration process, it is possible to regenerate the solvent through direct steam stripping. This work aims to validate the direct steam stripping process by experimental study on a lab-scale stripper column. The novel direct steam stripping process showed potential to reduce regeneration energy in comparison to the conventional regeneration process. The minimum energy consumption of direct steam stripping mode was 2.98 MJ/kg CO 2 , 23% lower than that of the conventional regeneration mode which is 3.88 MJ/kg CO 2 . Water balance was also investigated. Based on the experimental results, a high feeding solvent temperature close to solvent boiling point and superheated carrier steam was preferred for direct steam stripping process.

A crucial problem for the promising absorbent aqueous ammonia (NH 3 ) is the low CO 2 absorption rate and high ammonia volatile loss rate. This work investigated the effect of potential promoters for CO 2 absorption into aqueous ammonia solutions on a wetted wall column. Monoethanolamine, sarcosinate, taurinate, glycinate, piperazine and 1-methyl piperazine were introduced to NH 3 solutions as promoters. We found sarcosinate, piperazine and 1-methyl piperazine could increase the mass transfer coefficient of CO 2 into the ammonia-based solutions significantly. We further undertook a detailed mass transfer study of CO 2 into ammonia based blended solutions to investigate the effects of temperature and additive concentration. Besides, a novel ammonia separation method from low concentration ammonia solution by membrane vacuum regeneration was developed which could recover more than 80% of ammonia gas from low concentration ammonia.

Mesoporous H-Al (or Zr)-MCM-48 solid acid catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation method through using Al (or Zr)-MCM-48 mesoporous molecular sieves derived from conventional hydrothermal method as starting materials. These solid acid catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, NH 3 -TPD and N 2 physical adsorption, respectively. The alkylation of phenol with tert -butyl alcohol was carried out over these solid acid catalysts. The effect of various factors including reactant molar ratio, weight hour space velocity (WHSV), reaction time and temperature on phenol conversion and product selectivity was investigated and the results were discussed. Experimental results reveal that the resulting solid acid catalysts still retained a typical cubic mesoporous framework of MCM-48. Under comparable conditions, the H-Al-MCM-48-25 catalyst exhibits much high catalytic activity and gives a maximum phenol conversion of 98.9% with 70.3% selectivity to 4-t-butyl phenol (4-TBP). The optimum reaction conditions over these solid acid catalysts are the following: WHSV = 5 h −1 , time = 2 h, temperature = 140 °C, the molar ratio of tert -butyl alcohol:phenol = 2:1.

Ampicillin (AMP) was coupled with mcKLH by the method of EDC intermediate and injected into Balb/c mice as immunogen. The hybridomas were obtained by fusing mouse myeloma cells SP2/0 with splenocytes from the mice immunized with AMP-KLH. The chromosomal numbers were 97-104, the results indicated that the subclass of the McAb was IgG2a, the titer of ascitic fluid was 2×10 6 , the affinity constant was 3×10 -10 mol/L, the molecular weight was 154KD. The cross-reactivities of McAb to other antibiotics were below 0.01%. The linear detecting range of calibration curves to detect AMP was 0.5 ng/mL-100 ng/mL. The formular was Y = 0.0569X+0.1308, R 2 = 0.9948. The limit of detection was 0.3 ng/mL.

Chlorella sp. (FACHB-1748) was cultivated outdoors under natural sunlight to evaluate its potential for biofuel production. Urea was selected as nitrogen source, and the concentration was optimized. When the culture reached the late exponential stage, a triggering lipid accumulation test was conducted using different concentrations of sodium chloride and acetate. A scaling-up experiment was also conducted in a 70 L photobioreactor. The highest biomass productivity (222.42, 154.48 mg/L/d) and lipid productivity (64.30, 33.69 mg/L/d) were obtained with 0.1 g/L urea in 5 and 70 L bioreactors, respectively. The highest lipid content (43.25%) and lipid yield (1243.98 mg/L) were acquired with the combination of 10 g/L sodium chloride and acetate. Moreover, the qualities of biodiesel, cetane number, saponification value, iodine value, and cold filter plugging point complied with the standards set by the National Petroleum Agency (ANP255), Standard ASTMD6751, and European Standard (EN 14214). (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the template and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica source, ordered cubic mesoporous ZrMCM-48 molecular sieves were synthesized by addition of sodium fluoride in hydrothermal crystallization process. The structure and property of the calcined sample were characterized by XRD, TEM, XPS, and N 2 physical adsorption, respectively. The effect of crystallization time, crystallization temperature and F − /Si molar ratio on synthesis process of sample was systematically investigated. Also, the different molar ratios of Si/Zr on textural properties of ZrMCM-48 samples were also evaluated. The results show that the optimum synthesis conditions of cubic ZrMCM-48 sample are the following: crystallization temperature is 120 °C, crystallization time is 24 h and F − /Si ratio is 0.1. A small amount substitution of Zr ions for Si 4+ in the framework of MCM-48 did not significantly change the textural properties while the higher Zr content incorporated leads to decrease of the surface area and deterioration of structural regularity.

Zr-based MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves (ZrMCM-41) were successfully synthesized by microwave irradiation method and hydrothermal method, respectively. The obtained samples were characterized by XRD, TEM, FT-IR and N2 physical adsorption. The results show that the samples synthesized by the two different methods both possess typical hexagonal mesoporous structure of MCM-41 and high specific surface areas (over 800 m2/g). After calcination at 750°C for 3 h or hydrothermal treatment at 100°C for 6 days, the mesoporous structure of the samples still retained, however, the mesoporous ordering is poor. Under the comparable conditions, the reaction time required in the synthesis of ZrMCM-41 by microwave irradiation method was greatly reduced, and microwave irradiation method is eco-friendly and is easy to operate.

The hydrothermal synthesis of zirconium incorporated MCM-48 mesoporous materials (ZrMCM-48) was carried out using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as template and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and sodium fluoride as raw materials. The changes in textural properties were evaluated by means of XRD, TEM, FT-IR, XPS and N 2 physical adsorption, respectively. The thermal and hydrothermal stabilities of ZrMCM-48 were also investigated in detail. The results show that the cubic structure ZrMCM-48 with high specific surface area was successfully synthesized. With increase of Zr content incorporated, the mesoporous ordering and surface area of sample decreased. The resulting ZrMCM-48 still maintained a cubic mesoporous framework even after calcination at 800 °C for 4 h or hydrothermal treatment at 100 °C for 24 h. The as synthesized ZrMCM-48 possesses good thermal and hydrothermal stability.

Using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the template and sodium silicate as the silicon source, the MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves with Eu incorporated in the framework were synthesized under microwave irradiation condition and the influence of the Si/Eu molar ratio on the crystalline structure, textural properties and the long-range ordering of the resulting sample was investigated by various physicochemical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), diffuse reflectance ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), thermal gravimetric–differential scanning calorimeter (TG–DSC) and N 2 physical adsorption. The results of N 2 adsorption and XRD reveal that the synthesized sample has the ordered hexagonal mesoporous structure. UV–vis spectra provide the strong evidences that most of europium ions were incorporated into the framework of the MCM-41 sample. The crystalline structure, textural properties and mesoporous ordering of the resultant mesoporous materials are related to the amount of europium incorporation. Small amount europium incorporated into the silica-based MCM-41 does not strongly modify the structure of mesoporous molecular sieve. An increase of the Eu content in sample led to reduction of the specific surface area and the deterioration of the long-range ordering.

Transition metal cobalt incorporated MCM-48 mesoporous molecular sieves (CoMCM-48) with different Co contents were synthesized hydrothermally at 120 °C for 24 h by directly adding fluoride ions to the initial gel. The resulting materials were characterized by means of XRD, TEM, FT–IR, UV–vis, TPR and N 2 physical adsorption, respectively. The effect of various factors, such as the Si/Co molar ratio, calcination temperature and hydrothermal treatment time, on the crystalline structure and textural properties of CoMCM-48 was investigated in detail. The results show that the CoMCM-48 mesoporous materials with high specific surface area were successfully synthesized. A small amount substitution of Co for Si in MCM-48 did not significantly change the textural properties while the higher cobalt incorporated leads to decrease of the surface area and deterioration of structural regularity. Furthermore, the resulting CoMCM-48 still retained the cubic mesoporous framework even after calcination at 800 °C for 4 h or hydrothermal treatment at 100 °C for 24 h.

ZrMCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves were synthesized by using the zirconium sulfate as zirconium source and using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide as a template under microwave irradiation condition. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), inductive coupled plasma (ICP) technique, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and N2 physical adsorption, respectively. The effect of the different initial ZrO2: SiO2 molar ratio, the different thermal treatment temperature and hydrothermal treatment time on textural property was investigated. The results show that the obtained products possess a typical mesoporous structure of MCM-41 and have specific surface areas in the range of 598·1∼971·4 m2/g and average pore sizes in the range of ca. 2·46∼3·43 nm. On the other hand, the BET specific surface area and pore volume of the synthesized ZrMCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieve decrease with the increased amount of zirconium incorporated in the starting material, the rise of thermal treatment temperature and the prolonging of hydrothermal treatment time, the mesoporous ordering deteriorates. The mesoporous structure of the ZrMCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieve still retains after calcination at 750°C for 3 h or hydrothermal treatment at 100°C for 6 days, however, the mesoporous ordering is poor.

Ordered hexagonal arrangement MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves were synthesized by the traditional hydrothermal method, and Fe-loaded MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves (Fe/MCM-41) were prepared by the wet impregnation method. Their mesoporous structures were testified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the N2 physical adsorption technique. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method via the pyrolysis of ethanol at atmospheric pressure using Fe/MCM-41 as a catalytic template. The effect of different reaction temperatures ranging from 600 to 800 ∘C on the formation of CNTs was investigated. The resulting carbon materials were characterized by various physicochemical techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with an internal diameter of ca. 7.7 nm and an external diameter of ca. 16.9 nm were successfully obtained by the pyrolysis of ethanol at 800 ∘C utilizing Fe/MCM-41 as a catalytic template.

Zr-containing mesoporous molecular sieves were synthesized by hydrothermal method using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide as a template and sodium silicate and zirconium sulfate as raw materials. The structure and morphology of the synthesized samples were characterized via various physicochemical methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance ( 29 Si MAS-NMR) techniques, thermal gravimetric–differential scanning calorimeter (TG–DSC) and N 2 physical adsorption, respectively. The effect of the different initial ZrO 2 :SiO 2 molar ratio, the different thermal treatment temperature and the different hydrothermal treatment time on textural property was investigated. The experimental results reveal that the as synthesized samples possess a typical mesoporous structure of MCM-41. On the other hand, the specific surface area and pore volume of the synthesized Zr-MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieve decrease with the increase of the amount of zirconium incorporated in the starting material, the rise of thermal treatment temperature and the prolonging of hydrothermal treatment time, the mesoporous ordering becomes poor. Also, when the molar ratio of ZrO 2 :SiO 2 in the starting material is 0.1, the mesoporous structure of the Zr-MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieve still retains after calcination at 750 °C for 3 h or hydrothermal treatment at 100 °C for 6 d, and have specific surface areas of 423.9 and 563.9 m 2 /g, respectively.

To evaluate therapeutic effectiveness and safety of botulinum toxin type A in the treatment of idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia in patients older than 70 years.The total 64 patents were involved from neurology clinic and inpatient department from Aug 2008 to Sep 2013. They were divided into two groups according to the age (older than 70 years versus younger than 60 years. The therapeutic dose, safety, effectiveness were compared between two groups. Visual analog scores were employed to measure the degree of pain.The mean dosage was (88 ± 30) U in the group aged above 70 years old, and (72 ± 33) U in the group aged below 60 years old respectively. There was no significant difference of dosage between the two groups. The average visual analog score of all patients was (7.7 ± 2.2) before the treatment and decreased to (4.4 ± 2.9) one month after the treatment. To be precise, the average visual analog score of the group aged above 70 years old was (8.2 ± 1.9) before and (4.5 ± 3.2) after the treatment, and the visual analog score of the group aged below 60 years old was (7.2 ± 2.4) before and (4.4 ± 2.5) after the treatment. The effect of botulinum toxin type A in the treatment of idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia was considered statistically significant. The D-value of visual analog score in the elderly group was (3.5 ± 3.6), and (2.8 ± 3.5) in the younger group. There was no significant difference in the D-value between the two groups. Five patients had transient minor side effects in the former group and two patients had transient minor side effects in latter group. There was no significant difference in the incidence rate of side effects between the two groups (P0.05).Botulinum toxin type A is safe and effective in the treatment of idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia for the patients older than 70 years and the dosages of it are approximate to the patients under 60 years old.

In this study, Scenedesmus obtusus XJ-15 was firstly selected from seven strains microalgae (Chlorophyta, Scenedesmaceae) and then cultivated using a two-stage strategy, which composed of fast cell growth in stage I and followed by lipid induction in stage II in 5-L flasks outdoors. In stage I, the biomass productivity was increased from 139.4 to 212.1 mg L-1 d(-1). In stage II, lipid content was increased from 26.1% to 47.7% by adding NaCl into the culture. This two-stage process was also realized in an 140-L photobioreactor outdoors, with a biomass productivity of 86.5 mg L-1 d(-1) and CO2 fixation rate of 170.0 mg L-1 d(-1) in the first stage, and high lipid content of 42.1% in the second stage. With such a culture strategy, the overall lipid productivity was improved and better biodiesel quality was obtained. These results suggested the photoautotrophic two-stage system was not only feasible but also effective. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

To evaluate the processing gain performance of the binary maximal-length sequence (m sequence), the Gold sequence and the Kasami sequence in a time spread pulse position modulation/code division multiple access (PPM/ CDMA) system, the merit factors of these sequences are calculated and a lower bound on the processing gain of a time spreading filter is derived using the merit factors. It is shown that, under the condition that the sequence length is large, the merit factor of the m sequence approaches 3, the merit factors of the Gold sequence and the Kasami sequence approach 1, the m sequence having the strongest impulse noise resistibility. Furthermore, the cross merit factor between two pseudonoise sequences is defined as a parameter expressing the capability of suppressing multiple access interference. It is shown that the cross merit factors of m sequences, synchronous Gold sequences, and good synchronous Kasami sequences approach 3, and the cross merit factor of bad synchronous Kasami sequence having the strongest multiple access interference suppression capability and the bad synchronous Kasami sequence having almost no multiple access interference suppression capability.

A study on the effects of light intensity (40 and 80 mu E/m(2)/sec) on the components and topographical structures of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) was carried out in cyanobacteria Nostoc sp.. EPS yield increased with light intensity. However, light intensity did not significantly affect the EPS fractions and monosaccharide composition. Higher light intensity generally resulted in higher protein content of EPS in similar fractions. The topographical structure of EPS, investigated by atomic force microscopy, appeared as spherical lumps, chains and networks. The long chains were observed at higher light intensity. Thus, light intensity affected the yield and nature of EPS.

A total of 310 Salmonella isolates were isolated from 6 broiler farms in Eastern China, serotyped according to the Kauffmann-White classification. All isolates were examined for susceptibility to 17 commonly used antimicrobial agents, representative isolates were examined for resistance genes and class I integrons using PCR technology. Clonality was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). There were two serotypes detected in the 310 Salmonella strains, which included 133 Salmonella enterica serovar Indiana isolates and 177 Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis isolates. Antimicrobial sensitivity results showed that the isolates were generally resistant to sulfamethoxazole, ampicillin, tetracycline, doxycycline and trimethoprim, and 95% of the isolates sensitive to amikacin and polymyxin. Among all Salmonella enterica serovar Indiana isolates, 108 (81.2%) possessed the bla TEM, floR, tetA, strA and aac (6')-Ib-cr resistance genes. The detected carriage rate of class 1 integrons was 66.5% (206/310), with 6 strains carrying gene integron cassette dfr17-aadA5. The increasing frequency of multidrug resistance rate in Salmonella was associated with increasing prevalence of int1 genes (rs = 0.938, P = 0.00039). The int1, bla TEM, floR, tetA, strA and aac (6')-Ib-cr positive Salmonella enterica serovar Indiana isolates showed five major patterns as determined by PFGE. Most isolates exhibited the common PFGE patterns found from the chicken farms, suggesting that many multidrug-resistant isolates of Salmonella enterica serovar Indiana prevailed in these sources. Some isolates with similar antimicrobial resistance patterns represented a variety of Salmonella enterica serovar Indiana genotypes, and were derived from a different clone.

Zirconium incorporated mesoporous MCM-48 solid acid catalysts with the different Si/Zr molar ratios were prepared by modification with H2SO4 and NH4NO3 solution, respectively. Their physicochemical properties were characterized by XRD, TEM, NH3–TPD and N2 physical adsorption. The catalytic performances of these catalysts were investigated by using the alkylation reaction of phenol and tert-butyl alcohol as the target reaction. The results reveal that the SO42−/ZrMCM-48 and H-ZrMCM-48 catalysts still maintained the cubic mesporous structure of MCM-48, but the mesoporous ordering decreased. Under comparable conditions, the catalytic activity of SO42−/ZrMCM-48(25) solid acid catalyst is the highest among all catalysts. The lower reaction temperature is favorable for formation of the 2,4-DTBP and the 4-TBP is easily formed at the higher reaction temperature.

Amino acid salts are promising absorptions for CO 2 capture. This work investigated six common potassium amino acid solutions: L-proline, sarcosine, glycine, β- alanine, taurine, and L- threonine solutions using wetted-wall column at 313 K and atmospheric pressure (1 bar). We found potassium L-proline solution has significant mass transfer properties similar to 30 wt% MEA. The influence of total pressure in wetted-wall column on CO 2 absorption rate in potassium L-prolinate solutions is determined. It is found that elevated total pressure has positive effect on CO 2 absorption rate. The CO 2 absorption flux increases approximately by 40% from 1 bar to 3 bar when CO 2 inlet concentration is 10%. What's more, the gas side mass transfer coefficient is found not only dependent on the hydrodynamic conditions of wetted-wall column, but also the total pressure in the apparatus. The analytical relations between the hydrodynamic conditions of the column and k g in wetted-wall column at different pressures are got in this work, and the gas mass transfer coefficient k g is found decreases by 86% from 1 bar to 3 bar.