Electromagnetic response of thin disks

Summary The electromagnetic response of a thin disk with finite conductivity in free space to an arbitrary sinusoidal primary magnetic field is solved through use of an orthogonal expansion in Bessel functions. The eddy currents induced in the disk and the secondary magnetic field are calculated for various locations of a dipole generating the primary field and for different values of the induction number. Numerical computation is done only in the final stages of the analysis so that little computing time is needed to obtain detailed results.

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Zusammenfassung Der elektromagnetische Effekt einer von einem beliebigen sinusförmigen magnetischen Feld angeregten dünnen Scheibe endlicher Leitfähigkeit im Vakuum wird beschrieben unter Benutzung einer orthogonalen Entwicklung in Besselsche Funktionen. In der Scheibe induzierte Wirbelströme und das sekundäre Magnetfeld werden für verschiedene Orte eines Dipols der das Primärfeld erzeugt, und für verschiedene Induktions-Koeffizienten berechnet. Numerische Berechnungen werden nur in der letzten Phase der Analyse durchgeführt, so daß nur wenig Rechenzeit benötigt wird um konkrete Ergebnisse zu erhalten.

     

Porosity characteristics and pore developments of various particle sizes palm kernel shells activated carbon (PKSAC) and its potential applications

The adsorption behaviour and the micro- and mesopore size distributions of commercial palm kernel shell activated carbons (PKSAC) and other commercial activated carbon are characterized. The results showed that PKSAC are predominantly microporous materials, where micropores account 68–79% of total porosity. On the other hand, commercial activated carbons: Norit SX Plus, Calgon 12×40, and Shirasagi “A” activated carbons contained high mesopore fraction ranging from 33 to 52%. The analysis showed that the degree of mesoporosity of PKSAC is increased steadily with the decrease of particle size. This is due to the presence of channels interconnect the smaller pores in the interior of smaller particle size PKSAC. The smaller size PKSAC particle that is highly mesoporous has preformed better on the adsorption of larger molecules such as methylene blue. On the other hand, bigger size PKSAC particle has better performance on the adsorption of smaller adsorbates such as iodine.     

Bioactivities and Mode of Actions of Dibutyl Phthalates and Nocardamine from Streptomyces sp. H11809

Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) produced by Streptomyces sp. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"H11809","term_id":"876629"}}H11809 exerted inhibitory activity against human GSK-3β (Hs GSK-3β) and Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 (Pf 3D7) malaria parasites. The current study aimed to determine DBP’s plausible mode of action against Hs GSK-3β and Pf 3D7. Molecular docking analysis indicated that DBP has a higher binding affinity to the substrate-binding site (pocket 2; −6.9 kcal/mol) than the ATP-binding site (pocket 1; −6.1 kcal/mol) of Hs GSK-3β. It was suggested that the esters of DBP play a pivotal role in the inhibition of Hs GSK-3β through the formation of hydrogen bonds with Arg96/Glu97 amino acid residues in pocket 2. Subsequently, an in vitro Hs GSK-3β enzymatic assay revealed that DBP inhibits the activity of Hs GSK-3β via mixed inhibition inhibitory mechanisms, with a moderate IC₅₀ of 2.0 µM. Furthermore, the decrease in K_m value with an increasing DBP concentration suggested that DBP favors binding on free Hs GSK-3β over its substrate-bound state. However, the antimalarial mode of action of DBP remains unknown since the generation of a Pf 3D7 DBP-resistant clone was not successful. Thus, the molecular target of DBP might be indispensable for Pf survival. We also identified nocardamine as another active compound from Streptomyces sp. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"H11809","term_id":"876629"}}H11809 chloroform extract. It showed potent antimalarial activity with an IC₅₀ of 1.5 μM, which is ~10-fold more potent than DBP, but with no effect on Hs GSK-3β. The addition of ≥12.5 µM ferric ions into the Pf culture reduced nocardamine antimalarial activity by 90% under in vitro settings. Hence, the iron-chelating ability of nocardamine was shown to starve the parasites from their iron source, eventually inhibiting their growth.     

Development of Ultrahigh Permeance Hollow Fiber Membranes via Simple Surface Coating for CO2/CH4 Separation

Most researchers focused on developing highly selective membranes for CO₂/CH₄ separation, but their developed membranes often suffered from low permeance. In this present work, we aimed to develop an ultrahigh permeance membrane using a simple coating technique to overcome the trade-off between membrane permeance and selectivity. A commercial silicone membrane with superior permeance but low CO₂/CH₄ selectivity (in the range of 2–3) was selected as the host for surface modification. Our results revealed that out of the three silane agents tested, only tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) improved the control membrane’s permeance and selectivity. This can be due to its short structural chain and better compatibility with the silicone substrate. Further investigation revealed that higher CO₂ permeance and selectivity could be attained by coating the membrane with two layers of TEOS. The surface integrity of the TEOS-coated membrane was further improved when an additional polyether block amide (Pebax) layer was established atop the TEOS layer. This additional layer sealed the pin holes of the TEOS layer and enhanced the resultant membrane’s performance, achieving CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of ~19 at CO₂ permeance of ~2.3 × 10⁵ barrer. This performance placed our developed membrane to surpass the 2008 Robeson Upper Boundary.     

Unprecedented Acid‐Promoted Polymerization and Gelation of Acrylamide: A Serendipitous Discovery

Dilute acid polymerizes degassed, aqueous acrylamide with concomitant gelation, without the need for added free radical initiator or cross‐linking agent. This reaction is accelerated by sonication or UV irradiation, but inhibited by adventitious oxygen or the addition of a free radical inhibitor, suggesting an acid‐accelerated free radical process. The resulting hydrogels are thixotropic in nature and partially disrupted by the addition of chaotropic agents, indicating the importance of hydrogen bonding to the 3D network. This discovery was made while trying to prepare pectin‐polyacrylamide hydrogels. We observed that pectin initiated the gelation of acrylamide, but only if the aqueous pectin samples had a pH lower than ca. 5.     

Regression Density Estimation With Variational Methods and Stochastic Approximation

Regression density estimation is the problem of flexibly estimating a response distribution as a function of covariates. An important approach to regression density estimation uses finite mixture models and our article considers flexible mixtures of heteroscedastic regression (MHR) models where the response distribution is a normal mixture, with the component means, variances, and mixture weights all varying as a function of covariates. Our article develops fast variational approximation (VA) methods for inference. Our motivation is that alternative computationally intensive Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods for fitting mixture models are difficult to apply when it is desired to fit models repeatedly in exploratory analysis and model choice. Our article makes three contributions. First, a VA for MHR models is described where the variational lower bound is in closed form. Second, the basic approximation can be improved by using stochastic approximation (SA) methods to perturb the initial solution to attain higher accuracy. Third, the advantages of our approach for model choice and evaluation compared with MCMC-based approaches are illustrated. These advantages are particularly compelling for time series data where repeated refitting for one-step-ahead prediction in model choice and diagnostics and in rolling-window computations is very common. Supplementary materials for the article are available online.     

Tilianin: A Potential Natural Lead Molecule for New Drug Design and Development for the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disorders

Cardiovascular disorders (CVDs) are the leading risk factor for death worldwide, and research into the processes and treatment regimens has received a lot of attention. Tilianin is a flavonoid glycoside that can be found in a wide range of medicinal plants and is most commonly obtained from Dracocephalum moldavica. Due to its extensive range of biological actions, it has become a well-known molecule in recent years. In particular, numerous studies have shown that tilianin has cardioprotective properties against CVDs. Hence, this review summarises tilianin’s preclinical research in CVDs, as well as its mechanism of action and opportunities in future drug development. The physicochemical and drug-likeness properties, as well as the toxicity profile, were also highlighted. Tilianin can be a natural lead molecule in the therapy of CVDs such as coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, hypertension, and myocardial ischemia, according to scientific evidence. Free radical scavenging, inflammation control, mitochondrial function regulation, and related signalling pathways are all thought to play a role in tilianin’s cardioprotective actions. Finally, we discuss tilianin-derived compounds, as well as the limitations and opportunities of using tilianin as a lead molecule in drug development for CVDs. Overall, the scientific evidence presented in this review supports that tilianin and its derivatives could be used as a lead molecule in CVD drug development initiatives.