Inhibitory effect of sowthistle (Ixeris dentata) on development and expression of behavioral locomotor sensitization to nicotine in rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sowthistle (Ixeris dentata, IXD) on development and expression of nicotine-induced locomotor sensitization and underlying neuronal activation reflected by c-Fos expression in rats. Rats were pretreated with IXD 30 min before a daily injection of nicotine during an 8-day development phase and then challenged with nicotine after a 6-day withdrawal period. In another set of experiments, same IXD doses were administered once 30 min before nicotine challenge. Daily IXD treatment during development phase was not effective in blocking nicotine-induced locomotor sensitization in rats. However, a single IXD treatment after the development and withdrawal periods of nicotine sensitization significantly alleviated sensitized locomotor behavior on day 15. These behavioral results were coincident with significant inhibition of nicotineinduced c-Fos expression in the nucleus accumbens. These results indicated that IXD pretreatment significantly blocked the expression, but not the development of nicotine-induced locomotor sensitization in rats.     

Determination of total arsenic content and arsenic speciation in different types of rice

Food Science and Biotechnology - The objectives of this study was to examine the amount of total arsenic and arsenic speciation in different types of rice from two areas in Korea using inductively...     

Design of sustainable V-based hydrogen separation membranes based on grain boundary segregation

Inter-diffusion between vanadium and palladium coating layers in vanadium-based hydrogen separation membranes is investigated by using a computational approach based on first-principles calculations and semi-empirical atomistic simulations, paying attention to the surface stability and the prevention of the degradation of hydrogen permeability. It is found that the governing mechanism of the inter-diffusion is the grain boundary diffusion, and therefore a diffusion barrier based on the grain boundary segregation of impurities can be an efficient way to inhibit the inter-diffusion that causes the degradation. An interesting aspect in previous experimental works that showed a good resistance to the inter-diffusion by an addition of a trace amount of yttrium is discussed from the view point of the grain boundary segregation. An experiment that proves the validity of the present alloy design scheme (inhibition of inter-diffusion using grain boundary segregation) is carried out, and a process to maximize the sustainability of the membrane is also proposed.     

Effects of moisture on properties of epoxy molding compounds

In this article the effects of moisture on a novel epoxy molding compound, including the mechanical properties, temperature transition, and thermal degradation behavior, are studied. The experimental results reveal that the absorbed water acts predominantly as a crazing agent, continuously decreasing the mechanical strength with the time in water. The glass-transition temperature decreases at the early stage and is finally equilibrated. The thermal degradation behavior of the materials is not greatly influenced by the hydrothermal age. The decomposition of samples in oxygen is composed of two independent steps: the thermal degradation and oxidation at high temperature. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 81: 2253–2259, 2001     

Modeling of a membrane reactor system for crude palm oil transesterification. Part II: Transport phenomena

The mechanistic modeling of biodiesel production process in membrane reactor with the consideration of chemical reaction, phase equilibrium, and ultrafiltration is important for the membrane reactor design. In part II of this work, the chemical and phase equilibrium (CPE) model for crude palm oil transesterification reaction in the membrane reactor developed in part I is extended to an integration of CPE with modified Maxwell–Stefan model, which considers multicomponent mass transport phenomena of concentration polarization and intramembrane. A good fit of simulated permeate fluxes and apparent solute rejection to the experimental data shows that the model has a good prediction capability. Reversible fouling was found to be the major fouling and no pore plugging was observed. Simulation results verified that micelles were retained by the membrane at CPO:MEOH molar ratio of 1:24 and catalyst concentration of 0.5 wt %. However, phase inversion happened when catalyst concentration of 0.05 and 0.1 wt % were used. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 1981–1996, 2015     

Enforcement avoidance behavior near automated speed enforcement areas in Korean expressways

Automated speed enforcement system (ASES) has been deployed as a safety countermeasure on Korean roadways to reduce speeding-related traffic crashes; information on ASES locations is mandated to be open to the public. However, because drivers are alerted about enforcement via on-board navigation systems and roadside signs, they can avoid enforcement by momentarily reducing their speeds near ASES locations. This enforcement avoidance behavior (EAB) can induce sudden changes in speed near the enforcement locations and thereby increase risk of crash occurrence.     

High‐Performance Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Photodetectors Enhanced by Self‐Assembled Monolayer Doping

Most doping research into transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has been mainly focused on the improvement of electronic device performance. Here, the effect of self‐assembled monolayer (SAM)‐based doping on the performance of WSe₂‐ and MoS₂‐based transistors and photodetectors is investigated. The achieved doping concentrations are ≈1.4 × 10¹¹ for octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) p‐doping and ≈10¹¹ for aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) n‐doping (nondegenerate). Using this SAM doping technique, the field‐effect mobility is increased from 32.58 to 168.9 cm² V^?1 s in OTS/WSe₂ transistors and from 28.75 to 142.2 cm² V^?1 s in APTES/MoS₂ transistors. For the photodetectors, the responsivity is improved by a factor of ≈28.2 (from 517.2 to 1.45 × 10⁴ A W^?1) in the OTS/WSe₂ devices and by a factor of ≈26.4 (from 219 to 5.75 × 10³ A W^?1) in the APTES/MoS₂ devices. The enhanced photoresponsivity values are much higher than that of the previously reported TMD photodetectors. The detectivity enhancement is ≈26.6‐fold in the OTS/WSe₂ devices and ≈24.5‐fold in the APTES/MoS₂ devices and is caused by the increased photocurrent and maintained dark current after doping. The optoelectronic performance is also investigated with different optical powers and the air‐exposure times. This doping study performed on TMD devices will play a significant role for optimizing the performance of future TMD‐based electronic/optoelectronic applications.     

Ultrasonic atomization of highly viscous biodegradable oils for MQL applications

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - This paper establishes the vibrating-mesh ultrasonic mist-generation of highly viscous biodegradable oils as a novel implementation for MQL (minimum...