Essential oils of Alpinia conchigera Griff. and their antimicrobial activities

The essential oils from the dried leaves, pseudostems and rhizomes of Alpinia conchigera Griff. (KL 5049), collected from Jeli province of Kelantan, east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, were isolated by hydrodistillation. The collected oils were analyzed by capillary GC and GC–MS. Forty one compounds were identified, among which 13 have not been detected previously. The leaf, pseudostem and rhizome oils afforded 40, 33 and 39 constituents, respectively. The most abundant components in the leaf oil included β-bisabolene (15.3%), β-pinene (8.2%), β-sesquiphellandrene (7.6%), chavicol (7.5%) and β-elemene (6.0%), while β-bisabolene (19.9%), β-sesquiphellandrene (11.3%), β-caryophyllene (8.8%) and β-elemene (4.7%) were the main components in the pseudostem. In the rhizome, 1,8-cineole (17.9%), β-bisabolene (13.9%), β-sesquiphellandrene (6.8%) and β-elemene (4.0%) were the major components. The essential oils were also subjected to antifungal and antibacterial tests, using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method. Results revealed weak inhibitions against the microorganisms tested.     

Proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells during tumor growth

The influence of transplantable tumour on migration, proliferation and differentiation of haemopoietic stem cells was studied. It is shown that in the initial period of tumour development the migration and proliferation of stem cells intensify. In the final stage of the tumour growth the quantity of haemopoietic stem cells decreases considerably in the bone marrow, spleen, and peripheral blood. It is established that during the tumour growth the differentiation of stem cells from the spleen changed towards erythropoiesis.     

中性硼硅玻璃与药物相容性研究进展

目的 药品包装材料与药物相容性实验是评价药品包装材料安全性能与药品质量的重要研究项目,中性硼硅玻璃具有膨胀系数小、耐极冷极热性强、不易炸裂、化学稳定性好等特点,已成为注射剂包装的首选材质.探索中性硼硅玻璃与药物相容性的研究进展与发展趋势,为中性硼硅玻璃用于药品包装材料提供参考.方法 分别从玻璃成分中金属离子向药液中的迁移量、有害物质的浸出量、不同温度与酸碱条件下玻璃的脱片、玻璃对药物的吸附以及药物对玻璃表面的侵蚀程度等方面综述中性硼硅玻璃与药物相容性的研究进展,考察中性硼硅玻璃对于药品质量的影响.结论 中性硼硅玻璃与药物的相容性评价方法逐渐完善,为中性硼硅玻璃作为药用包装材料的研究提供参考.     

A GIS-ANN-Based Approach for Enhancing the Effect of Slope in the Modified Green-Ampt Model

Most infiltration models survey infiltration in large scale regions using an assumption that the slope of the ground is equal to zero. The Modified Green and Ampt model is one of a few infiltration models that considers slope as an input parameter in its formulation. Here, using artificial neural networks in a raster-based design, basic research is presented regarding the effect of surface slope on infiltration. For the investigation, three catchments with different areas and slopes were selected as case studies, based on existing runoff stations in the upstream region of the Johor River Basin in southern Malaysia. In this research, the efficiency of six different functions was studied in order to determine the best performer for slope in the Modified Green and Ampt model. We also sought to find the most suitable ANN transfer function for infiltration calculations. By calculating runoff for each pixel, accumulation maps were used for corroborating the suitability of the obtained results. The results indicated that the Log-sigmoid was the most appropriate transfer function. We also determined that using the exponential form for the slope in the Modified Green and Ampt model formulation was more accurate, as compared to the original linear shape.     

Effects of palm oil-based fatty acids on fouling of ultrafiltration membranes during the clarification of glycerin-rich solution

Ultrafiltration (UF) is an alternative option that can be used to clarify glycerin-rich solutions in the oleochemical industry. However, the UF membranes used in the process were observed to have been seriously fouled in our preliminary study. Thus, the ultrafiltration of a glycerol-water-fatty acid mixture was carried out to investigate the membrane binding properties of the components and their contributions to membrane fouling. Palmitic, stearic, and oleic acid were used as fouling substances in the glycerol-water mixture. The flux decline experiments were carried out using polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) as well as polyethersulphone (PES) membranes with a MWCO of 30 and 25 kDa, respectively at specific conditions (T = 40 °C; ΔP = 2 bar). It was found that the PES membrane exhibited severe fouling for all types of fatty acids in solution with glycerol-water. As the pH decreased to acidic conditions, the PES membrane tended to exhibit more severe fouling than the PVDF membrane.     

Ferroelectric‒to‒relaxor crossover in KNN‒based lead‒free piezoceramics

This study investigated the phase transition behavior and electrical properties of (K_0.5Na_0.5)(Nb_1-xZr_x)O₃ (KNN?100xZ) and (K_0.5Na_0.5)NbO₃–yBaZrO₃ (KNN–100yBZ) lead–free piezoelectric ceramics. The phase transitions in crystal structures were compared in KNN ceramics between single Zr⁴⁺ doping and Ba²⁺Zr⁴⁺ co?doping. Piezoelectric properties such as the piezoelectric constant (d₃₃) and electromechanical coupling factor (k_p) are optimized for KNN?6BZ ceramics and were clarified via the polymorphic phase transition from the orthorhombic to pseudocubic phase. The fitted degree of diffuseness (γ) for a phase transition from the modified Curie–Weiss law indicated that KNN ceramics as ferroelectrics are gradually transformed through BaZrO₃ modification. Accordingly, the enhanced strain properties at y = 0.08 consist of coexisting ferroelectric domains and polar nanoregions that are supported by ferroelectric–to–relaxor crossover in KNN?100BZ ceramics.