Chemotaxonomic Classification of Peucedanum japonicum and Its Chemical Correlation with Peucedanum praeruptorum,Angelica decursiva,and Saposhnikovia divaricata by Liquid Chromatography Combined with Chemometrics

The roots of Peucedanum japonicum (Apiaceae) have been used as an alternative to the roots of Saposhnikovia divaricata (Apiaceae) to treat common cold-related symptoms in Korea. However, a variety of Peucedanum species, including the roots of P. praeruptorum or Angelica decursiva (=P. decursivum), have been used to treat phlegm–heat-induced symptoms in China. Hence, as there are differences in the medicinal application of P. japonicum roots between Korea and China, chemotaxonomic classification of P. japonicum was evaluated. Sixty samples derived from P. japonicum, P. praeruptorum, A. decursiva, and S. divaricata were phylogenetically identified using DNA barcoding tools, and chemotaxonomic correlations among the samples were evaluated using chromatographic profiling with chemometric analyses. P. japonicum samples were phylogenetically grouped into the same cluster as P. praeruptorum samples, followed by S. divaricata samples at the next cluster level, whereas A. decursiva samples were widely separated from the other species. Moreover, P. japonicum samples showed higher chemical correlations with P. praeruptorum samples or A. decursiva samples, but lower or negative chemical correlations with S. divaricata samples. These results demonstrate that P. japonicum is more genetically and chemically relevant to P. praeruptorum or A. decursiva and, accordingly, the medicinal application of P. japonicum might be closer to the therapeutic category of these two species than that of S. divaricata.     

No association of prion protein gene polymorphisms with Alzheimer's disease in Korean population

The polymorphism at codon 129 (M129V) of the human prion protein gene (PRNP) is a known risk factor for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in Caucasians. There are few reports of this polymorphism's effect on memory and on the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The M129V genotype distributions among Asians are very different from Caucasians. Another polymorphism, codon 219 (E219K) is not found in Caucasians. We investigated two polymorphisms of PRNP, M129V (rs1799990) and E219K (rs1800014) in 297 Korean AD patients and 217 healthy subjects. The analysis of the genotype and allele distributions showed no significant difference between the AD patients and the controls in both polymorphisms (P=0.19 genotype, P=0.51 allele for M129V; P=0.64 genotype, P=0.50 allele for E219K). Also, the PRNP polymorphisms were not significantly associated with AD when the populations were stratified for the presence or absence of apolipoprotein E-epsilon4 (ApoE-epsilon4) allele. These results suggest that the PRNP genetic variants are not associated with the risk for AD in Korean population.     

A preliminary investigation upon the electrochemical behavior of CoO and NiO anodes — comparative study

Among the variety of alternate anode materials being studied, the research on the exploration of 3d-metal oxide anodes gains paramount importance in the recent time, as it is bestowed with an easy preparation method and a less complicated decomposition mechanism. Towards this direction, an attempt to synthesize the compound CoO and to investigate the electrochemical behavior of the same both individually and in comparison with NiO compounds was made with a view to understand the extent to which the chosen candidates, viz., CoO and NiO can be exploited as high capacity anodes. Between the two oxides, CoO exhibited a specific capacity of at least 550 mAh/g, against NiO with an average capacity of ∼330 mAh/g. Also, the magnitude of irreversible capacity loss and the extent of capacity fade upon cycling corresponding to CoO anode were found to be lesser than NiO anodes. The enhanced specific capacity values and the better cycleability properties of CoO anodes are believed to be due to the inherent electrochemical characteristics of the compound. The type and the nature of SEI formed over the electrode surface and the formation of possible progressive agglomeration of the products of decomposition are expected to be the factors responsible for the difference in the electrochemical behavior of CoO and NiO anodes. In short, electrochemical characterization of the individual oxides are studied and probable reasons for the observed difference in the charge-discharge behavior of CoO and NiO anodes are discussed in this communication.     

Application of modal wavelets to PIV measurements by selecting basis function

A modal wavelet transform, which overcomes the intrinsic data number limitation of power of two to conventional wavelet transform, has been applied to analysis of axial and eddy pseudo velocity fields, standard PIV velocity field and experimental PIV measurement. The modal wavelet transform is compared with the discrete wavelet transform in order to select the optimum basis function among Neumann, Dirichlet and Green function types basis functions. Consequently, it is verified that Neumann type function is the best basis because the correlation of Neumann type basis function is higher and the root mean square is lower than the other basis functions. Also, the decomposition vector patterns by Neumann type are similar to that by conventional Daubechies basis function of 4th order.     

Non-contact 3D flow-structure interaction measurement (FSIM) system for motion and flow fields

A simultaneous measurement system that can analyze the flow-structure interactions has been developed. This system consists of four CCD cameras, two for capturing instantaneous flow fields and two for tracking a solid body. The three-dimensional vector fields around a cylinder are measured while the motion of the cylinder forced by the flow field is measured simultaneously with the constructed system. The cylinder is suspended in the circulating water channel and the surface of the working fluid is forced sinusoidal to make the cylinder bounced. Reynolds number for the mean main stream is about 3500. The interaction between the flow fields and the cylinder motion is examined quantitatively.     

The size and strain effects on the Raman spectra of Ce1−xNdxO2−δ (0≤x≤0.25) nanopowders

Ultrafine Ce_1−xNd_xO_2−δ (x=0-0.25) powders were synthesized by self-propagating room temperature synthesis. Raman spectra were measured at room temperature in the 300-700 cm⁻¹ spectral range. The shift and asymmetric broadening of the Raman F_2g mode at about 454 cm⁻¹ in pure and doped ceria samples could be explained with combined size and inhomogenous strain effects. Increased concentration of O²⁻ vacancies with doping is followed by an appearance of new Raman feature at about 545 cm⁻¹.     

Effects of nozzles array configuration on cross-talk in multi-nozzle electrohydrodynamic inkjet printing head

This paper presents the analysis of a triangular array of nozzles in a multi-nozzle electrohydrodynamic (EHD) inkjet printing head. A methodology has been proposed to minimize the “end effect” by changing the traditional linear array of nozzles to triangular array of nozzles in multi-nozzle EHD printing head. Interaction (cross-talk) between the electrically charged neighboring jets is investigated and analyzed both numerically and experimentally using three glass nozzles with independent voltage connections and independent ink supply to each nozzle. In order to scrutinize the performance of triangular array multi-nozzle EHD inkjet printing head, comparative study of triangular array multi-nozzle EHD inkjet printing head to the linear array multi-nozzle EHD inkjet printing head has been made on the basis of electric field simulations and experiments. Experimental results illustrate that in triangular array multi-nozzle EHD inkjet printing head, the over potential requirement is low and individual capillaries are operating with more independence as compared to linear array multi-nozzle EHD inkjet printing head.     

Visualizations of fluid flows in the TIG welding region for different shapes of the shield gas nozzle

Abstract  

The tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding enables to produce high welding qualities. However, it has some problems such as a large distortion and a shallow penetration into the welding parts. To overcome those problems, there have been many studies on A-TIG welding in which active flux and a shield gas are used. The shield gas pressure, velocity, and distribution area are dominant factors in producing better welding condition which can be evaluated by the gas penetration, the gap between the nozzle tip and welding plate and the nozzle shape of the shield gas. In this study, the influences of the shield gas distribution onto the melting efficiency and penetration shape in TIG welding were investigated using a numerical simulation. The gap distances between the nozzle tip and the welding plate were changed 3, 4, 5 mm and two nozzle shapes, convergent parallel (CP) and CDP, were tested. 100% Ar gas was used as the shield gas. CDP type nozzle showed deeper penetrations and higher melting efficiency compared to those of CD type and CP type nozzles.     

Raman study of the variation in anatase structure of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanopowders due to the changes of sol–gel synthesis conditions

TiO₂ nanopowders were produced by sol–gel technique under different synthesis conditions. XRD results have shown that obtained nanopowders are in anatase phase, with the presence of a small amount of highly disordered brookite phase, whereas nanocrystallite size and amount of brookite slightly depend on sol–gel synthesis conditions. Raman measurements confirm these results. The analyses of the shift and width of the most intensive anatase E _g Raman mode by phonon confinement model suggest that anatase crystallite size should be in the range between 11 and 15 nm, what is in excellent correlation with XRD results. Obtained results have shown that Raman spectroscopy is a highly sensitive method for the estimation of anatase crystallite size as well as brookite content in TiO₂ nanopowders synthesized by variable sol–gel synthesis conditions.