[en] P-glycoprotein (Pgp) and multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) expressions as well as Tc-99m methoxisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) images were assessed in 25 patients hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Tc-99m MIBI imaging was performed 10 minutes after intravenous injection of 20 mCi Tc-99m MIBI. Using immunohistochemical staining, 60% of the HCC lesions showed positive for Pgp and 64% showed positive for MRP. In 3 patients with MIBI uptake, immunohistochemical study of tumor tissue showed no Pgp stained cells. Nevertheless, they were all positive for MRP. The result of Tc-99m MIBI imaging is more related to the expression of Pgp than MRP gene. It is possible that other membrane transporters as well as Pgp and MRP are involved in the efflux of Tc-99m MIBI

[en] There are several kinds of nanofiller’s effect on silicone rubber inhibitors had been investigated. The result show that smaller diameter of particle will get better reinforcement effect, when 20nm Fe₂O₃ amount up to 10%, silicone rubber strength will get to 5.16Mpa, Different filler added into the silicone rubber show that quite different result, Fe₂O₃ is not only improve tensile strength but also enhance the heat stability of silicone rubber, and heat quality resume from 30.15%up to 86.15% at 500°C. (paper)

[en] Biological phosphorus removal (BPR), possesses the significant advantages of low operational costs and little environmental impacts, is an economical and sustainable process to remove P by recycling the activated sludge through anaerobic and aerobic processes. For the BPR system, the hydraulic retention times (HRT) in aerobic and anaerobic processes are the most significant controlling parameters which can directly affect the effluent quality, especially the effluent phosphorus removal efficiencies. In this study, six lab-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were operated to conduct the single-factor experiments. 13 experimental runs designed by a 2-factor and 5-level response surface methodology (RSM) using Central composite design (CCD) were used to optimize the relationship between anaerobic HRT (X1, h) and aerobic HRT (X2, h) and two most important responses, COD removal efficiency (CRE, Y1, %) and P removal efficiency (PRE, Y2, %). High squared regression coefficients R2 (> 0.99) and adjusted R2 (> 0.99) indicated a high degree of correlation between the predicted and actual responses, which means that the model could fit the response well. Experimental validation by operating under the optimal combination of the two operational HRTs were conducted. Good correlation between the predicted and experiments values provides confidence in the obtained models. (paper)

[en] Due to the problem of lacking hydraulic control devices, pump as turbine (PAT) has the disadvantage of optimum operation only within a small range discharge where the net head utilization and operating efficiency are the highest. Variable speed operation offers a good solution to this problem. Pump manufactures normally do not provide performance curves of their pumps working as turbines, especially when working at variable speed condition. Therefore, establishing a correlation between PAT's performance curve and rotational speed is essential. In this paper, a method of predicting PAT's performance at different rotational speeds was first developed using theoretical analysis. In the second step, a single stage centrifugal pump operated as a turbine was tested at different rotational speeds. Typical performance curves of PAT operating at variable speed condition were acquired. Finally computational fluid dynamics (CFD) had been used in this research. The accuracy of CFD prediction was proved when compared with experimental data. The validity of presented method by theoretical analysis was validated using test and CFD results.

[en] Fluid, particle-in-cell and hybrid models are the numerical simulation techniques commonly used for simulating low-temperature plasma discharges. Despite the complexity of plasma systems and the challenges in describing and modelling them, well-organized simulation methods can provide physical information often difficult to obtain from experiments. Simulation results can also be used to identify research guidelines, find optimum operating conditions or propose novel designs for performance improvements. In this paper, we present an overview of the principles, strengths and limitations of the three simulation models, including a brief history and the recent status of their development. The three modelling techniques are benchmarked by comparing simulation results in different plasma systems (plasma display panels, capacitively coupled plasmas and inductively coupled plasmas) with experimentally measured data. In addition, different aspects of the electron and ion kinetics in these systems are discussed based upon simulation results. (topical review)

[en] A kind of coating suitable for green sand steel casting was developed. The practical application showed that the strength of the coating was high enough with no crack and no peeling under room temperature after drying the spraying coating, the performance of the coating for anti-cracking was good under high temperature, and the gas evolution of the coating was low. Using the coating, the casting surfaces finish appeared very good. (paper)

[en] Inverse transition cycling is the most popular purification method for elastin-like polypeptides, a promising biomaterial with high biocompatibility and functional properties. However this mean depends on the high concentration of elastin-like protein in solution, large molecule weight or high-salt concentration. To overcome the defects of inverse transition cycling, we successfully developed a chromatographic method to effectively purify the recombinant elastin-like proteins expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), with formulation of MGRS ((VPGVG)10S)5 and a transition temperature higher than 40°C. Ion-exchange chromatography was carried out to remove the most charged proteins from cell lysis prior to hydrophobic proteins were isolated using reverse phase chromatography. A maximum quantity of 303.92 ± 10.17 mg per liter of culture was obtained for the recombinant elastin-like proteins and the purity of the recombinant ELP50 was more than 95%. (paper)

[en] Surface-textured InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) coated with transparent Al₂O₃ powder were fabricated by natural lithography combined with inductively coupled plasma etching. For surface texturing, 300 nm size Al₂O₃ powder is used as an etching mask by simply coating the surface using a spin-coating process. Also, the powders are left on the surface after surface texturing to further increase extraction efficiency. At 20 mA, the light output power of the textured indium tin oxide (ITO) InGaN/GaN LEDs coated with the Al₂O₃ powder is enhanced by ∼112% compared with the conventional nontextured ITO LED. The enhanced light output power is attributed to the improved extraction efficiency resulting from an overall decrease in the total internal reflection due to the textured surface and the Al₂O₃ powder coating.

[en] The secondary electron emission coefficient (γ_se) of ions and excited species in a plasma display panel (PDP) was studied by means of 2-dimensional fluid and 1-dimensional particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision simulations. Relations between the driving voltage and the luminous efficiency observed in experiments are reproduced at low and high Xe concentrations. Agreement between experiments and simulations, however, requires careful selection of the γ_se of ions and excited species. The trend of the efficiency as a function of the driving voltage is particularly sensitive to the γ_se of Xe excited species. For the conditions typically encountered in PDP cells (pd = 1-10 Torr cm), the dependence of the γ_se on the energy of impinging ions can be neglected in discharges of pure gases. This is a consequence of multiple charge exchange collisions in the cathode region. In Xe-Ne mixtures, however, the ion energy distribution function on the cathode depends on the mixture ratio. Typically more energetic ions can reach the cathode in gas mixtures and the γ_se is enhanced