A reduction in the track width of magnetic recording systems results in a welcome increase in Areal Density(AD),but can severely deteriorate system performance in the unfortunate appearance of extreme Inter-Track Interference(ITI).The effect of severe ITI may be mitigated by using coding schemes.In this paper,therefore,we present a rate-5/62-Dimensional(2D)modulation code based on a proposed Single-Reader/Two-track Reading(SRTR)technique to cope with this serious problem in staggered Bit-Pattemed Magnetic Recording(BPMR)systems.We then evaluate the Bit-Error Rate(BER)performance of the proposed system in the presence of media noises,e.g.,position and size fluctuations.Our simulation results indicate that,at the same User Density(UD),the proposed system performs better than an uncoded system by about 1.0 dB at the BER of 105 and is also superior to the conventional recording system.
The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of docosahexaenoic acid （DHA）-enriched hen egg yolks and L-cysteine supplementation on the qualities of the cryopreserved boar semen. A total of 15 ejaculates from 5 Pietrain boars were divided into 4 groups according to the compositions of the freezing extenders used, that is, normal hen egg yolk （group Ⅰ）, DHA-enriched hen egg yolk （group Ⅱ）, normal hen egg yolk with 5 mmol L^-1 of cysteine supplementation （group Ⅲ） and DHA-enriched hen egg yolk with 5 mmol L1 of cysteine supplementation （group Ⅳ）. The semen was cryopreserved using controlled rate freezer and was thawed at 50℃ for 12 s. Progressive motility, sperm viability, acrosome integrity and functional integrity of sperm plasma membrane of the post-thawed semen were evaluated. The supplementation of L-cysteine in the freezing extender alone （group Ⅲ） improved progressive motility （P 〈 0.05）, and the supplementation of L-cysteine in combination with DHA-enriched hen egg yolk （group Ⅳ） improved both progressive motility （P 〈 0.05） and acrosome integrity （P 〈 0.01）. The use of DHA-enriched hen egg yolk alone （group Ⅱ） did not enhance any of the post-thawed semen qualities （P 〉 0.05）. In conclusion, the supplementation of antioxidant L-cysteine alone or in combination with DHA-enriched hen egg yolk significantly improved the post-thawed semen qualities, especially progressive motility and acrosome integrity.
Rainfall induced shallow landslides are known to be extremely dangerous since the sliding mass can propagate quickly and travel far from the source. Although the sliding mechanism in sloping ground is simple to understand, the problem may be complicated by unsaturated transient water flow. The flow behavior of rainwater in unsaturated sloping ground and the consequent factor of safety must be clearly understood to assess slope stability under rainfall conditions. A series of laboratory experiments was conducted to examine the critical hydrological states so that assessment of slope stability under rainfall condition can be performed. Based on the test results, a unique relationship between critical hydrological states, rainfall intensity, and soil properties was formulated. Sequential stability analysis provided insights into the stability of slopes subjected to variations in soil properties, slope angles and rainfall intensities, and the consequent variation in the depth of the failure plane, vital in landslide risk assessment, was determined through this analysis.The variation of rainfall intensity was found to strongly affect the depth of the failure plane in cohesionless sloping ground. Furthermore, the influence of rainfall intensity on the depth of the failure plane may be alleviated by a small magnitude of cohesive strength. The results of this study will reinforce knowledge of landslide behavior and help to improve mitigation measures in susceptible areas.
Objective:To investigate the influence of ABCB1 polymorphisms on the plasma level of efavirenz in Thai adult cases infected with HIV-1.Methods:A single nucleotide polymorphism of ABCB13435 C>T(rs1045642)in the gene encoding ABCB1 was genotyped using real-time PCR-based alleles in 149 HIV-infected Thai adults receiving efavirenz treatment.Plasma concentrations of efavirenz were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography 12 hr after administration.The relationship between plasma efavirenz concentrations and ABCB13435 C>T polymorphisms was analyzed.Results:Logistic regression analysis showed no significant predictors of high plasma efavirenz concentration in relation to age,gender,body weight,CD4 count and plasma HIV-1 RNA,blood biochemical parameters,antiretroviral duration or ABCB13435 C>T polymorphisms,except for height(OR=0.902,95%CI:0.835-0.973)(P<0.05).The minor allele frequency of ABCB13435 C>T was0.446.The frequency of the heterozygous mutant ABCB13435 C/T was 53.02%(n=79),ABCB13435 T/T homozygous mutant was 18.12%(n=21)and the wild type ABCB13435 C/C genotype was 28.86%(n=43).The overall median plasma concentration of efavirenz in 149 HIV-infected Thai cases was 2.41 mg/L[IQR:(1.46-4.12)mg/L].The plasma concentration of efavirenz was higher in cases with ABCB13435 T/T homozygous mutant[2.73 mg/L,IQR:(2.02-4.19)mg/L]and ABCB13435 C/T heterozygous mutant[2.29 mg/L,IQR:(1.41-4.28)mg/L]genotypes compared to the wild type ABCB13435 C/C homozygous[2.1 mg/L,IQR:(1.37-3.53)mg/L].However,there was no statistically significant difference in the efavirenz concentration between the different genotypes(P>0.05).Objective:To investigate the influence of ABCB1 polymorphisms on the plasma level of efavirenz in Thai adult cases infected with HIV-1.Methods:A single nucleotide polymorphism of ABCB13435 C>T(rs1045642)in the gene encoding ABCB1 was genotyped using real-time PCR-based alleles in 149 HIV-infected Thai adults receiving efavirenz treatment.Plasma concentrations of efavirenz were measured by high-performance
The objective of this research was to investigate CO2adsorption capacity of tetraethylenepentamine-functionalized basic-modified calcined hydrotalcite（TEPA/b-c HT）sorbents at atmospheric pressure formed under varying TEPA loading levels,temperatures,sorbent weight to total gaseous flow rate（W/F）ratios and CO2concentrations in the influent gas.The TEPA/b-c HT sorbents were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction（XRD）,Fourier transform infrared spectrometry（FT–IR）,thermal gravimetric analysis（TGA）,Brunauer–Emmet–Teller（BET）analysis of nitrogen（N2）adsorption/desorption and carbon–hydrogen–nitrogen（CHN）elemental analysis.Moreover,a full 2~4factorial design with three central points at a 95%confidence interval was used to screen important factor（s）on the CO2adsorption capacity.It revealed that85.0%variation in the capacity came from the influence of four main factors and the15.0%one was from their interactions.A face-centered central composite design response surface method（FCCCD–RSM）was then employed to optimize the condition,the maximal capacity of 5.5–6.1 mmol/g was achieved when operating with a TEPA loading level of 39%–49%（W/W）,temperature of 76–90℃,W/F ratio of 1.7–2.60（g·sec）/cm^3and CO2concentration of 27%–41%（V/V）.The model fitted sufficiently the experimental data with an error range of±1.5%.From cyclical adsorption/desorption and selectivity at the optimal condition,the 40%TEPA/b-c HT still expressed its effective performance after eight cycles.
This study aimed to evaluate the patient-friendly methods that are used in the delivery of hydrophilic macromolecules into deep skin layers,in particular,the combination of microneedles patch(MNs patch)and low-frequency sonophoresis(SN).The hydrophilic macromolecule drug fluorescein isothiocyanate(FITC)-dextrans(FD-4:MW 4.4 kDa)was used as the model drug in our experimental design.In this study,excised porcine skin was used to investigate and optimize the key parameters that determine effective MNs-and SNfacilitated FD-4 delivery.In vitro skin permeation experiments revealed that the combination of MNs patch with SN had a superior enhancing effect of skin permeation for FD-4 compared to MNs alone,SN alone or untreated skin,respectively.The optimal parameters for the combination of MNs and SN included the following:10 N insertion force of MNs,4 W/cm^(2)SN intensity,6 mm radiation diameter of the SN probe,2 min application time,and the continuous mode duty cycle of SN.In addition,vertical sections of skin,clearly observed under a confocal microscope,confirmed that the combination of MNs and SN enhanced permeation of FD-4 into the deep skin layers.These studies suggest that the combination of MNs and SN techniques could have great potential in the delivery of hydrophilic macromolecules into deep skin.
In this work,a novel conjugate of ractopamine and bovine serum albumin(RAC–BSA)has been developed via the Mannich reaction,with a mole coupling ratio for RAC–BSA of 9:1.The proposed conjugation method provides a simple and one-step method with the use of fewer reagents compared with other conjugation methods for competitive immunoassays.RAC–BSA conjugation was used to fabricate a competitive lateral flow strip test for RAC detection in animal feed.For sample preparation,RAC was spiked in swine feed purchased from the local markets in Thailand,and methanol and running buffer at a volume ratio of 10:90 was used as extraction buffer.The procedures for sample preparation were completed within 25 min.Under optimal conditions,the limit of detection(LOD),assessed by the naked eye within 5 min,was found to be 1 ng/g.A semi-quantitative analysis was also conducted using a smart phone and computer software,with a linearity of 0.075–0.750 ng/g,calculated LOD of 0.10 ng/g,calculated limit of quantitation of 0.33 ng/g,and good correlation of 0.992.The recoveries were found in the range of 96.4%–103.7%with a relative standard deviation of 2.5%–3.6%for intra-and inter-assays.Comparison of the results obtained by the strip test with those obtained by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay had a good agreement in terms of accuracy.Furthermore,this strip test exhibited highly specific RAC detection without cross reactivity with related compounds.Therefore,the RAC–BSA conjugation via the Mannich reaction can be accepted as a one-step and easy conjugation method and applied to the competitive lateral flow strip test.
Objectives:The difficulties in the early detection consequent to the lack of sensitive biomarkers render patients with cholangiocarcinoma(CCA)to have poor outcomes.Recently,sensitive and specific volatile organic compounds(VOCs)were identified in several cancers.However,the VOC profiles in CCA are not well-studied.Thus,we investigated the VOC profiles in exhaled breath of CCA patients and controls.Methods:We prospectively collected exhaled breath samples from 30 consecutive patients newly diagnosed with CCA and 30 controls who did not have CCA(seven had benign biliary strictures and 23 had other medical conditions).Exhaled VOCs were identified using gas chromatography mass spectrometry Triple Quadrupoles system.Analysis of the significant differences in VOCs between cases and controls was conducted using supervised multivariate regression analysis.Further validation was performed for these VOCs in another cohort of 18 CCA patients and 22 controls.Results:Levels of six compounds were significantly different between CCA patients and controls,namely,acetone,isopropyl alcohol,dimethyl sulfide,1,4-pentadiene,allyl methyl sulfide,and N,N-dimethylacetamide.Acetone and dimethyl sulfide were independently associated with CCA as demonstrated in the multivariate analysis.Using the cut-off value of 8.59107 arbitrary unit(AU),acetone had a sensitivity and specificity of 82.1%and 75.8%,respectively,with an area under the receiving operator curve(AUROC)of 0.85 for the CCA diagnosis.Acetone level was also significantly different between cases and controls in the validation cohort.Using the same cut-off value,the sensitivity,specificity,and AUROC was 59.1%,66.7%,and 0.85,respectively.Conclusion:Breath analysis may potentially be useful for CCA diagnosis.A cohort of patients with earlystage CCA in further studies is needed to confirm the ability of exhaled VOCs for the early detection of CCA.
The mechanical properties, thermal and gasohol resistance of the natural zeolite, rice husk ash （RHA） and perlite-filled natural rubber （NR） with addition of carbon black （CB） loading was studied. The amount of fillers （natural zeolite, RHA and perlite） filled in the vulcanizates has been fixed at 20 phr, while CB loading was varied in a range of 0-45 phr. It was found that the tensile strength, percentage of elongation at break, modulus and hardness of the vulcanizates filled with all kinds of fillers increased with the increase of CB loading, while there was no significant change in the compression set. Moreover, at this particular filler loading （20 phr）, the addition of perlite has significant effect on gasohol resistance of the vulcanizates in which gasohol resistance （various ethanol ratio） of the vulcanizates was significantly improved with perlite loading compared with others.
Dimensionless variable groups(DGs)of free-fall grain dryer were developed by using the characteristic scaling method and engineering intuition.These DGs were intended for the analyses of drying characteristics and sizes of this dryer.Experiments of the free-fall rough rice dryer were carried out using different drying chambers(small and medium scales),drying air temperatures(100°C-150°C),and drying air speeds(1-3 m/s).Experimental data were used to study relationships and to validate similarities among these DGs.The results of the study showed the five appropriate dimensionless variables representing and describing the drying mechanism of the free-fall dryer.These DGs could be applied to design and analyze scaling up the dryer.In addition,the dimensionless correlation was established to predict the moisture contents of rough rice while being dried by the free-fall dryer.The predicted values from this correlation were in relatively good agreement with the experimental data under the proposed drying conditions(R2=0.989,MRD=1.82%and RMSE=0.0168).
