We measured the water content （0.01% 0.25% w/w） in crude oil emulsions using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy （THz-TDS）. To improve the precision and range of the measurements, we used 1 and 10 mm thick quartz c...We measured the water content （0.01% 0.25% w/w） in crude oil emulsions using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy （THz-TDS）. To improve the precision and range of the measurements, we used 1 and 10 mm thick quartz cells. The experiments were performed at 20 ℃ and the THz wave was transmitted vertically to the samples and detected on the other side. The experimental results suggest linear relation for the THz absorption coefficient and the water content of the crude oil emulsions in the observed range. The linear dependence facilitates high-precision measurements of the water content of crude oil. This suggests the potential of THz-TDS in determining the water concentration in crude oil and borehole fluid identification.展开更多
Being divided into three groups-strong, moderate and weak-according to the different kinetic parameters (Fmax, km, Cmin) of potassium uptake by crops, 21 cultivars of rice have been studied to find out the relationshi...Being divided into three groups-strong, moderate and weak-according to the different kinetic parameters (Fmax, km, Cmin) of potassium uptake by crops, 21 cultivars of rice have been studied to find out the relationships between their potassium nutrition and the oxidation-reduction status in the rhizosphere soils.Results show that, with no application of K fertilizer, there were higher contents of active reducing substances and ferrous iron in rhizosphere soils planted with cultivars, such as Zhongguo 91, week in absorbing potassium than in soils cropped with cultivars, Shanyou 64, stronger in absorbing potassium. As a result of K application, however, these toxic substances were decreased appreciably in the soil, particularly in the root zone where weakly K-absorbing cultivars were growing, and the parameter of soil redox (pH +pE) was increased, the most striking example of this being found in the rhizosphere soil where the more strongly K-absorbing cultivars were growing. On and close to the root surface in soils where rice plants were supplied with potassium fertilizer, rather more iron oxide had been accumulated compared with rice receiving no potash, and even greater amounts of red iron oxide precipitated on the rice root in neutral paddy soils. As shown by the concentration distribution of active reducing substances and ferrous iron in a microzone of the profile, the redox range of rice roots supplied with potassium may extend as far as several centimeters from the root surface. It can thus be seen that potassium nutrition exerts its effect first on the morphological properties of rice roots and their exudation of oxygen, then on the content of soluble oxygen and the count and species of oxygen-consuming microbes in the rhizosphere soil, and finally on the redox status of the soil.展开更多
A novel approach for fruit shape detection in RGB space was proposed,which was based on fast level set and Chan-Vese model named as Modified Chan-Vese model(MCV) . This new algorithm is fast and suitable for fruit sor...A novel approach for fruit shape detection in RGB space was proposed,which was based on fast level set and Chan-Vese model named as Modified Chan-Vese model(MCV) . This new algorithm is fast and suitable for fruit sorting because it does not need re-initializing. MCV has three advantages compared to the traditional methods. First,it provides a unified frame-work for detecting fruit shape boundary,and does not need any preprocessing even though the raw image is noisy or blurred. Second,if the fruit has different colors at the edges,it can detect perfect boundary. Third,it processed directly in color space without any transformations that may lose much information. The proposed method has been applied to fruit shape detection with promising result.展开更多
Demulsification of emulsified water-in-oil droplets was worked out with the employment of wetting coalescence materials. Demulsification is carried out in conventional stirred-column and packed-column. Among the four ...Demulsification of emulsified water-in-oil droplets was worked out with the employment of wetting coalescence materials. Demulsification is carried out in conventional stirred-column and packed-column. Among the four kinds of natural fibers and two kinds of inorganic materials tested, natural fiber A, originated from wood shavings was found to give the best performance of demulsification. The demulsification efficiency can exceed 96.5% when demulsification conditions are optimized. The packed-column showed much better performance both in terms of demulsification efficiency and repeated use of the recovered oil phase for extracting cadmium in simulated wastewater. Operating variables governing the demulsification efficiency were investigated.展开更多
The vacuum residual from Iranian Light crude oil are separated into a series of 16 narrow fractions according to the molecular weight by the supercritical fluid extraction and fractional (SFEF) technology. The chemica...The vacuum residual from Iranian Light crude oil are separated into a series of 16 narrow fractions according to the molecular weight by the supercritical fluid extraction and fractional (SFEF) technology. The chemical element and the UV spectrum of each fraction are analyzed. The effects of several factors on the interfacial tension are investigated, which are the fraction concentration in oil phase, the ratio of oil component, the salts dissolved in the water phase and the pH value. The interfacial tension decreases rapidly as the concentration of the residual fraction in the oil increases, showing a higher interfacial activity of the fraction. The interfacial tension changes, as the amount of absorption or the state of the fractions in the interface changes resulting from different ratios of oil, different kinds or concentrations of salts in water, and different pH values. It is concluded that the interfacial tension changes regularly, corresponding to the regular molecular parameters of the vacuum residual fractions.展开更多
Knowledge about the influence of soil layers on evaporation is essential for the optimization of infield rainwater harvesting （IRWH） in the semi-arid areas of the Free State province of South Africa. Among the soils...Knowledge about the influence of soil layers on evaporation is essential for the optimization of infield rainwater harvesting （IRWH） in the semi-arid areas of the Free State province of South Africa. Among the soils earmarked for 1RWH development include the Tukulu, Sepane and Swartland soil types that have contrasting soil layers. These soils have to capture and store rainwater within the soil profile layers away from the evaporation zone. To determine how the three soils release and deliver soil water at the evaporating site, a 21-day evaporation experiment was conducted on pre-drained monoliths. Instantaneous soil water content （SWC） from in-situ and soil water characteristic curve （SWCC） from laboratory was measured. Separate soil samples of 15 mm thickness were also evaporated under the same conditions to establish the extent of drying and hydraulic gradient at the soil surface. The Darcian evaporative flux and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity （K-coefficient） were also determined. At the surface suctions of magnitude greater than 1,500 kPa were observed from all monoliths. Total contributions to evaporation from the Tukulu, Sepane and Swartland were 43, 51 and 70 mm, respectively. The low contributions were explained by the presence of the prismacutanic C-horizon in the Tukulu and Sepane at respective depths of 600 and 700 mm. This layer was associated with the steepest suction gradient that restrained further upward fluxes by subsequent lowering for the K-coefficient with more than two orders of magnitudes within a narrow range of SWC. However, the presence of the pedocutanic B-horizon at depths of 300 mm undermined this restrictive function through the appreciable capillary activity demonstrated by clays at near evaporating surfaces. The shallowness and deficiency in structure of the Swartland was consistent with the high contribution to evaporation that gave this soil a dry soil water regime. It was therefore concluded that the Tukulu offered soil profile layers that could reasonably satisfy the soil water conservation requirements for IRWH.展开更多
Gene therapy targeted to vascular cells repre- sents a promising approach for prevention and treatment of pathological conditions such as intimal hyperplasia, in-stent and post-angioplasty restenosis. In this context,...Gene therapy targeted to vascular cells repre- sents a promising approach for prevention and treatment of pathological conditions such as intimal hyperplasia, in-stent and post-angioplasty restenosis. In this context, polymeric non-viral gene delivery systems are a safe alternative to viral vectors but a further improvement in efficiency and cytocom- patibility is needed to improve their clinical success. Herein, a library of 24 branched polyethylenimine （bPEI） derivatives modified with hydrophobic moieties was synthesised, char- acterised and tested in vitro on primary vascular cells, aim- ing to identify delivery agents with superior transfection effi- ciency and low cytotoxicity. Low molecular weight PEIs （0.6, 1.2 and 2 kDa） were grafted with long （C18） and short （C3） aliphatic chains, featuring different unsaturation degrees and degrees of substitution. 0.6 kDa bPEI-based derivatives were generally ineffective in transfection on vascular smooth mus- cle cells （VSMCs）, while among the other derivatives some promising vectors were identified. Forcing polyplexes on the cell surface by means of centrifugation invariably boosted transfection levels but increased cytotoxicity as well. Of note, a propionyl-snbstituted derivative （PEI2-PrA1, C3：0） was the most effective on both VSMCs and endothelial cells （ECs）, with higher and more sustained gene expression in combi- nation with markedly lower cytotoxicity with respect to the gold standard 25 kDa bPEI. In addition, a linoleoyl-substi- tuted derivative （PEI1.2-LA6, C18：2） owing to its high effi- ciency in VSMCs and relative inefficacy in ECs, combined with tolerable cytotoxicity was proposed as a vector for spe- cific VSMCs targeting.展开更多
Zinc(Zn) deficiency in paddy soils is often a problem for rice production.Flooding can decrease metal availability in some noncalcareous soils through different mechanisms associated with soil redox status.Laboratory ...Zinc(Zn) deficiency in paddy soils is often a problem for rice production.Flooding can decrease metal availability in some noncalcareous soils through different mechanisms associated with soil redox status.Laboratory experiments were performed in order to better understand the processes that governed the dynamics of Zn in non-calcareous paddy soils at varying redox potentials(Eh).Airdried non-calcareous soil samples collected from four different paddy field sites in the Philippines were submerged and incubated in a reaction cell with continuous stirring and nitrogen purging for 4 weeks,and then purged with compressed air for another week to reoxidize the system.The Eh of the four soils started at 120 to 300 mV,decreased to —220 to —300 mV after 100 to 250 h of reduction,and was maintained at this low plateau for about 2 weeks before increasing again upon reoxidation.Zinc solubility showed contrasting patterns in the four soils,with two of the soils showing a decrease in soluble Zn as the Eh became low,probably due to zinc sulfide(ZnS) precipitation.In contrast,the other two soils showed that Zn solubility was maintained during the reduced phase which could be due to the competition with iron(Fe) for precipitation with sulfide.Differences in the relative amounts of S,Fe,and manganese(Mn) oxides in the four soils apparently influenced the pattern of Zn solubility after flooding.展开更多
基金sponsored jointly by the National Key Basic Research Program of China(No.2013CB328706)the Special-funded Program on National Key Scientific Instruments and Equipment Development(No.2012YQ140005)+1 种基金the Beijing National Science Foundation(No.4122064)the Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum(Beijing)(No.QZDX-2010-01 and KYJJ2012-06-27)
文摘We measured the water content （0.01% 0.25% w/w） in crude oil emulsions using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy （THz-TDS）. To improve the precision and range of the measurements, we used 1 and 10 mm thick quartz cells. The experiments were performed at 20 ℃ and the THz wave was transmitted vertically to the samples and detected on the other side. The experimental results suggest linear relation for the THz absorption coefficient and the water content of the crude oil emulsions in the observed range. The linear dependence facilitates high-precision measurements of the water content of crude oil. This suggests the potential of THz-TDS in determining the water concentration in crude oil and borehole fluid identification.
文摘Being divided into three groups-strong, moderate and weak-according to the different kinetic parameters (Fmax, km, Cmin) of potassium uptake by crops, 21 cultivars of rice have been studied to find out the relationships between their potassium nutrition and the oxidation-reduction status in the rhizosphere soils.Results show that, with no application of K fertilizer, there were higher contents of active reducing substances and ferrous iron in rhizosphere soils planted with cultivars, such as Zhongguo 91, week in absorbing potassium than in soils cropped with cultivars, Shanyou 64, stronger in absorbing potassium. As a result of K application, however, these toxic substances were decreased appreciably in the soil, particularly in the root zone where weakly K-absorbing cultivars were growing, and the parameter of soil redox (pH +pE) was increased, the most striking example of this being found in the rhizosphere soil where the more strongly K-absorbing cultivars were growing. On and close to the root surface in soils where rice plants were supplied with potassium fertilizer, rather more iron oxide had been accumulated compared with rice receiving no potash, and even greater amounts of red iron oxide precipitated on the rice root in neutral paddy soils. As shown by the concentration distribution of active reducing substances and ferrous iron in a microzone of the profile, the redox range of rice roots supplied with potassium may extend as far as several centimeters from the root surface. It can thus be seen that potassium nutrition exerts its effect first on the morphological properties of rice roots and their exudation of oxygen, then on the content of soluble oxygen and the count and species of oxygen-consuming microbes in the rhizosphere soil, and finally on the redox status of the soil.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation ofChina (No. 30671197)the Program for New Century ExcellentTalents in University (No. NCET-04-0524), China
文摘A novel approach for fruit shape detection in RGB space was proposed,which was based on fast level set and Chan-Vese model named as Modified Chan-Vese model(MCV) . This new algorithm is fast and suitable for fruit sorting because it does not need re-initializing. MCV has three advantages compared to the traditional methods. First,it provides a unified frame-work for detecting fruit shape boundary,and does not need any preprocessing even though the raw image is noisy or blurred. Second,if the fruit has different colors at the edges,it can detect perfect boundary. Third,it processed directly in color space without any transformations that may lose much information. The proposed method has been applied to fruit shape detection with promising result.
文摘Demulsification of emulsified water-in-oil droplets was worked out with the employment of wetting coalescence materials. Demulsification is carried out in conventional stirred-column and packed-column. Among the four kinds of natural fibers and two kinds of inorganic materials tested, natural fiber A, originated from wood shavings was found to give the best performance of demulsification. The demulsification efficiency can exceed 96.5% when demulsification conditions are optimized. The packed-column showed much better performance both in terms of demulsification efficiency and repeated use of the recovered oil phase for extracting cadmium in simulated wastewater. Operating variables governing the demulsification efficiency were investigated.
基金Supported by the National Key Basic Research Programme (No.973-G1999022505),University of Petroleum Basic Research Fund(No.ZX9904)
文摘The vacuum residual from Iranian Light crude oil are separated into a series of 16 narrow fractions according to the molecular weight by the supercritical fluid extraction and fractional (SFEF) technology. The chemical element and the UV spectrum of each fraction are analyzed. The effects of several factors on the interfacial tension are investigated, which are the fraction concentration in oil phase, the ratio of oil component, the salts dissolved in the water phase and the pH value. The interfacial tension decreases rapidly as the concentration of the residual fraction in the oil increases, showing a higher interfacial activity of the fraction. The interfacial tension changes, as the amount of absorption or the state of the fractions in the interface changes resulting from different ratios of oil, different kinds or concentrations of salts in water, and different pH values. It is concluded that the interfacial tension changes regularly, corresponding to the regular molecular parameters of the vacuum residual fractions.
文摘Knowledge about the influence of soil layers on evaporation is essential for the optimization of infield rainwater harvesting （IRWH） in the semi-arid areas of the Free State province of South Africa. Among the soils earmarked for 1RWH development include the Tukulu, Sepane and Swartland soil types that have contrasting soil layers. These soils have to capture and store rainwater within the soil profile layers away from the evaporation zone. To determine how the three soils release and deliver soil water at the evaporating site, a 21-day evaporation experiment was conducted on pre-drained monoliths. Instantaneous soil water content （SWC） from in-situ and soil water characteristic curve （SWCC） from laboratory was measured. Separate soil samples of 15 mm thickness were also evaporated under the same conditions to establish the extent of drying and hydraulic gradient at the soil surface. The Darcian evaporative flux and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity （K-coefficient） were also determined. At the surface suctions of magnitude greater than 1,500 kPa were observed from all monoliths. Total contributions to evaporation from the Tukulu, Sepane and Swartland were 43, 51 and 70 mm, respectively. The low contributions were explained by the presence of the prismacutanic C-horizon in the Tukulu and Sepane at respective depths of 600 and 700 mm. This layer was associated with the steepest suction gradient that restrained further upward fluxes by subsequent lowering for the K-coefficient with more than two orders of magnitudes within a narrow range of SWC. However, the presence of the pedocutanic B-horizon at depths of 300 mm undermined this restrictive function through the appreciable capillary activity demonstrated by clays at near evaporating surfaces. The shallowness and deficiency in structure of the Swartland was consistent with the high contribution to evaporation that gave this soil a dry soil water regime. It was therefore concluded that the Tukulu offered soil profile layers that could reasonably satisfy the soil water conservation requirements for IRWH.
基金financially supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, (Discovery Grant to UludagH and Mantovani D)the Canadian Institute for Health Research (Operating grant to Uludag H)the Fonds de Recherche du Quebec sur les Natures et Technologies (Bilateral Grant to Mantovani D)
文摘Gene therapy targeted to vascular cells repre- sents a promising approach for prevention and treatment of pathological conditions such as intimal hyperplasia, in-stent and post-angioplasty restenosis. In this context, polymeric non-viral gene delivery systems are a safe alternative to viral vectors but a further improvement in efficiency and cytocom- patibility is needed to improve their clinical success. Herein, a library of 24 branched polyethylenimine （bPEI） derivatives modified with hydrophobic moieties was synthesised, char- acterised and tested in vitro on primary vascular cells, aim- ing to identify delivery agents with superior transfection effi- ciency and low cytotoxicity. Low molecular weight PEIs （0.6, 1.2 and 2 kDa） were grafted with long （C18） and short （C3） aliphatic chains, featuring different unsaturation degrees and degrees of substitution. 0.6 kDa bPEI-based derivatives were generally ineffective in transfection on vascular smooth mus- cle cells （VSMCs）, while among the other derivatives some promising vectors were identified. Forcing polyplexes on the cell surface by means of centrifugation invariably boosted transfection levels but increased cytotoxicity as well. Of note, a propionyl-snbstituted derivative （PEI2-PrA1, C3：0） was the most effective on both VSMCs and endothelial cells （ECs）, with higher and more sustained gene expression in combi- nation with markedly lower cytotoxicity with respect to the gold standard 25 kDa bPEI. In addition, a linoleoyl-substi- tuted derivative （PEI1.2-LA6, C18：2） owing to its high effi- ciency in VSMCs and relative inefficacy in ECs, combined with tolerable cytotoxicity was proposed as a vector for spe- cific VSMCs targeting.
基金supported by the Global Rice Science Partnership(GRiSP) Staff Development Fundthe Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation(SDC) awarded to Dr.S.M.Impa,International Rice Research Institute,Philippines,through its Research Fellow Partnership Programme
文摘Zinc(Zn) deficiency in paddy soils is often a problem for rice production.Flooding can decrease metal availability in some noncalcareous soils through different mechanisms associated with soil redox status.Laboratory experiments were performed in order to better understand the processes that governed the dynamics of Zn in non-calcareous paddy soils at varying redox potentials(Eh).Airdried non-calcareous soil samples collected from four different paddy field sites in the Philippines were submerged and incubated in a reaction cell with continuous stirring and nitrogen purging for 4 weeks,and then purged with compressed air for another week to reoxidize the system.The Eh of the four soils started at 120 to 300 mV,decreased to —220 to —300 mV after 100 to 250 h of reduction,and was maintained at this low plateau for about 2 weeks before increasing again upon reoxidation.Zinc solubility showed contrasting patterns in the four soils,with two of the soils showing a decrease in soluble Zn as the Eh became low,probably due to zinc sulfide(ZnS) precipitation.In contrast,the other two soils showed that Zn solubility was maintained during the reduced phase which could be due to the competition with iron(Fe) for precipitation with sulfide.Differences in the relative amounts of S,Fe,and manganese(Mn) oxides in the four soils apparently influenced the pattern of Zn solubility after flooding.
