Determination of sulfa antibiotic residues in river and particulate matter by field-amplified sample injection-capillary zone electrophoresis

In the present research, field-amplified sample injection–CZE (FASI–CZE) coupled with a diode array detector was established to determine trace level sulfa antibiotic. Sulfathiazole, sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine, sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfisoxazole were selected as analytes for the experiments. The background electrolyte solution consisted of 70.0 mmol/L borax and 60.0 mmol/L boric acid (including 10% methanol, pH 9.1). The plug was 2.5 mmol/L borax, which was injected into the capillary at a pressure of 0.5 psi for 5 s. Then the sample was injected into the capillary at an injection voltage of –10 kV for 20 s. The electrophoretic separation was carried out under a voltage of +19 kV. The capillary temperature was maintained at 20˚C throughout the analysis, and six sulfonamides were completely separated within 35 min. Compared with pressure injection-CZE, the sensitivity of FASI-CZE was increased by 6.25–10.0 times, and the LODs were reduced from 0.2–0.5 to 0.02–0.05 μg/mL. The method was applied to the determination of sulfonamides in river water and particulate matter samples. The recoveries were 78.59–106.59%. The intraday and interday precisions were 2.89–7.35% and 2.77–7.09%, respectively. This provides a simpler and faster method for the analysis of sulfa antibiotic residues in environmental samples.     

A unified theory for brittle and ductile shear mode fracture

A unified theory captures both brittle and ductile fracture. The fracture toughness is proportional to the applied stress squared and the length of the crack. For purely brittle solids, this criterion is equivalent to Griffith's theory. In other cases, it provides a theoretical basis for the Irwin-Orowan formula. For purely ductile solids, the theory makes direct contact with the Bilby-Cottrell-Swinden model. The toughness is highest in ductile materials because the shielding dislocations in the plastic zone provide additional resistance to crack growth. This resistance is the force opposing dislocation motion, and the Peach-Koehler force overcomes it. A dislocation-free zone separates the plastic zone from and the tip of the crack. The dislocation-free zone is finite because molecular forces responsible for the cohesion of the surfaces near the crack tip are not negligible. At the point of crack growth, the length of the dislocation-free zone is constant and the shielding dislocations advance in concert. As in Griffith's theory, the crack is in unstable equilibrium. The theory shows that a dimensionless variable controls the elastoplastic behaviour. A relationship for the size of the dislocation-free zone is derived in terms of the macroscopic and microscopic parameters that govern the fracture.     

Academic maturity of students in an extended programme in mathematics

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the students who are registered in the University of Pretoria’s academic development programme, named the Four-year Programme (FYP). The programme was introduced as a gateway for students who are underprepared but have the potential to succeed and then continue their studies into the mainstream science programmes. Our research focuses on measuring the change in the academic maturity of these students. In the theoretical framework that we developed, academic maturity is subdivided into two components namely non-subject based maturity and subject based maturity (mathematical maturity). This paper focuses on measuring non-subject based academic maturity. The survey used for this purpose is called the Student Academic Readiness Survey (STARS), taken at the beginning of the year and after the first semester respectively. The results of the surveys are compared to measure the change in students’ views. Results show that in all constructs there is a surprising decline in students’ perceptions regarding their own abilities over the first semester at university. We use the Dunning–Kruger effect to explain this unexpected decline, in that students seem to develop a more realistic view of their own maturity, which in itself can be seen as a growth in academic maturity.     

西部开发中能源配置模型的研究

开发西部丰富的能源资源,解决东部地区能源紧缺的矛盾,是东西部经济合作、优势互补、东西联动双赢战略研究的一项重要课题.在国家投资主体和市场经济条件下,以能源消费效益最大为目标,建立了基于边际效益均衡的能源空间配置优化模型;兼顾经济效益与环境效益的能源部门配置优化模型.结果显示,各地区、部门要获得更多的能源,就必须提高能源的使用效率,提高能源消费的边际效益,降低污染排放水平.     

Designing an effective federal biomass program

This article addresses two questions: Has the effectiveness of the US governments federal research and development (R&;D) spending suffered from the post-1980 strategic change from freely shared and publicly owned to privately owned scientific advances? What criteria would a federal R&;D program use to design a strategy that most effectively enhances the well-being of farmers and rural communities? Several studies found that the pre-1980 US Department of Agriculture research strategy was very effective. No comparable studies have analyzed the comparative effectiveness of the post-1980 strategy of restricting access to the results of public research. Recent experience and several analytical studies suggest that to significantly enhance the health of rural economies from an expanded use of plant matter as an industrial material, federal policy should channel scientific and engineering research into small- and medium-sized production and processing technologies and should encourage farmer-owned, value-added enterprises.     

Color Zone Map in Peripheral Vision at Various Illuminance Levels

We measured the entire region of mesopic and photopic vision to determine the color zone covering the visual field with unique red, yellow, green, and blue hue components. Eight kinds of test stimuli in the natural color system (NCS) color notation system were used. These stimuli were presented at horizontal and vertical meridians, and at meridians inclined at 45° angles. The illuminance level was set at six levels: 0.01 lx-1000 lx. The evaluation method measured chromatic, white, and black components as well as the hue component of the stimuli. Results show that the color zone of the retina extended further into the periphery with increasing illuminance; the response of opponent colors y-b was shown to be greater than that of the opponent colors r-g.     

Vibrational control of crystal growth from liquid phase

Modeling and numerical simulations of the convective flows induced by the vibration of the monocrystal during crystal growth have been performed for two configurations simulating the Cz and FZ methods. This permitted to emphasize the role of different vibrational mechanisms in the formation of the average flows. It is shown that an appropriate combination of these mechanisms can be used to counteract the usual convective flows (buoyancy- and/or thermocapillary-driven) inherent to crystal growth processes from the liquid phase. While vibrational convection is rather complex due to these identified mechanisms, the new modeling used in the present paper opens up very promising perspectives to efficiently control heat and mass transfer during real industrial applications of crystal growth from the liquid phase.     

Dynamic Model of R&D,Spillovers, and Efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot Equilibria

Using an infinite-horizon two-player differential game, we derive and compare Bertrand and Cournot equilibria for a differentiated duopoly engaging in the process of R&D competition. The main findings of this study are as follows. First, Bertrand competition is more efficient if either R&D productivity is low or products are very different. Second, Cournot competition is more efficient provided that R&D productivity is high, products are close substitutes, and spillovers are not close to zero. This last result is different from what has been obtained in the literature. Hence, this shows that considering a dynamic model and more general investment costs does have an impact on the efficiency results.     

Li(AlxCo1-x)O2晶体中Co3+电子态的变化及对结构演化的影响

研究了应用于锂二次电池正极的新型高能量密度存贮材料Li(AlxCo1-x)O2 (x=01—05)的磁性.发现Al3+的掺杂可导致Co3+中d电子自旋态发生变化，即有部分d电子进入高自旋态.伴随Co3+中电子状态的改变，材料结构演化也发生了相应变化，表现为c/a比增大明显减缓，较好地解释了材料结构对Vegard定律的正偏离.这对材料的微观结构与性能设计具有重要意义. 关键词： 锂电池材料 Li（AlxCo1-x）O2 磁性 自旋态 结构演化