Dominion

<p>FADE IN: New Zealand. 2020s. While Wellington has suffered a major earthquake and is on the way to recovery, Masterton is complete disintegration ...</p>

Dominion

<p>FADE IN: New Zealand. 2020s. While Wellington has suffered a major earthquake and is on the way to recovery, Masterton is complete disintegration ...</p>

Acetosolv pretreatment of wood for biorefinery applications

The production of biofuels and biochemicals requires a pretreatment to cleave the composite-like structure of lignocellulosic biomass and thus facilitate further conversion. In the case of liquid-based pretreatment, it is important to know which pretreatment liquids allow for an effective conversion of biomass. For the development of effective pretreatment strategies, simple criteria for a fast evaluation of pretreatment results are advantageous. In this study, we use the example of acetosolv pretreatment of beech wood to explore the influence of composition of the employed acetosolv liquids. To this end, we investigate pretreatment phenomena on different scales including macroscopic disintegration, overall mass balances and compositional changes of beech wood. We relate the investigated phenomena with the type and amount of catalyst acid as well as water content of the employed acetosolv liquids. The results show that disintegration increases with both a higher concentration and acidity of the catalyst acid, while excessive disintegration can be balanced by an increased water content up to equimolar ratios of water and acetic acid. Furthermore, an increasing disintegration correlates with an increasing non-recovered fraction up to a maximum of 40 wt%. The non-recovered fraction in turn linearly depends on the amount of removed hemicellulose and lignin. Overall, a low lignin content together with complete disintegration after pretreatment in acetosolv liquids with a high water content allows for increased sugar yields in subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. Thus, disintegration and non-recovered fraction serve as a simple indicator for a first assessment of pretreatment effectiveness.

The application of the KdV type equation in engineering simulation

Bores propagating in shallow water transform into undular bores and, finally, into trains of solitons. The observed number and height of these undulations and later discrete solitons are strongly dependent on the propagation length of the bore. Empirical results show that the final height of the leading soliton in the far-field is twice the initial mean bore height. The complete disintegration of the initial bore into a train of solitons requires very long propagation, but unfortunately, these required distances are usually not available in experimental tests of nature. Therefore, the analysis of the bore decomposition for experimental data into solitons is complicated and requires different approaches. Previous studies have shown that by applying the nonlinear Fourier transform based on the Ko- rteweg–de Vries equation (KdV-NFT) to bores and long-period waves propagating in constant depth, the number and height of all solitons can be reliably predicted already based on the initial bore-shaped free surface. Against this background, this study presents the systematic analysis of the leading-soliton amplitudes for non-breaking and breaking bores with different strengths in different water depths to validate the KdV-NFT results for non-breaking bores to show the limitations of wave breaking on the spectral results. The analytical results are compared with data from experimental tests, numerical simulations and other approaches from the literature.

Natural Superdisintegrant: Opportunity in Oral Drug Delivery System

The present work concerned with formulation and evaluation of fast disintegrating tablet of Topiramate by using natural superdisintegrants like Trigonellafoenum graceum (fenugreek) powder, Plantago ovata powder, dehydrated banana powder, soy polysaccharide, linseed powder. Topiramate is an antiepileptic drug and also used in migraine. Preformulation studies like solubility, melting point were studied. Five formulations were prepared using different natural superdisintegrant with same concentrations by using direct compression method. All the formulations were evaluated for precompression parameters and all the parameters were found to be within the pharmacopoeial limits. Post compression parameters like hardness of the tablet, thickness of the tablet, friability test, weight variation, disintegration test, in-vitro dissolution test, drug content were performed. The formulation F-5 containing Trigonellafoenum-graceum (fenugreek) powder shown disintegration time of 12sec. Rapid disintegration of the Trigonellafoenum-graceum due to its rapid water absorbency swells in water to the extent of 200–300% disintegrates rapidly for quick and complete disintegration of the tablet. An accelerated stability study on optimized formulation was performed and it was found to be stable. It can be concluded that Trigonellafoenum-graceum (fenugreek) powder as Superdisintegrant showed better release than soy polysaccharide, plantago ovata powder, dehydrated banana powder and linseed powder.

Preservation of Soft Tissues in Dinosaur Fossils

The recent discovery of preserved cells and soft tissues in certain dinosaur bones seems incompatible with an age of millions of years, given the expectation that cells and soft tissues should have decayed away after millions of years. However, evidence from radiometric dating shows that dinosaur fossils are indeed millions of years old. Under certain circumstances, cells and soft tissues in bone are protected from complete disintegration. Formation of a mineral concretion around a bone protects biomolecules inside it from hydrolysis by groundwater. Infusion and coating with iron and iron compounds at a critical point in the decay process protects cells within a bone from autolysis. Cross-linking and association with bone mineral surfaces furnish added protection to collagen fibers in a bone. These protective factors can result in soft-tissue preservation that lasts millions of years. It would benefit educators to be aware of these phenomena, in order to better advise students whose acceptance of biological evolution has been challenged by young-Earth creationist arguments that are based on soft tissues in dinosaur fossils.

Analysis of Bore Characteristics Using KdV-Based Nonlinear Fourier Transform

Bores propagating in shallow water transform into undular bores and, finally, into trains of solitons. The observed number and height of these undulations, and later discrete solitons, is strongly dependent on the propagation length of the bore. Empirical results show that the final height of the leading soliton in the far-field is twice the initial mean bore height. The complete disintegration of the initial bore into a train of solitons requires very long propagation lengths, but unfortunately these required distances are usually not available in experimental tests or nature. Therefore, the analysis of the bore decomposition for experimental data into solitons is difficult and requires further approaches. Previous studies have shown that by application of the nonlinear Fourier transform based on the Korteweg–de Vries equation (KdV-NFT) to bores and long-period waves propagating in constant depth, the number and height of all solitons can be reliably predicted already based on the initial bore-shaped free surface. Against this background, this study presents the systematic analysis of the leading-soliton amplitudes for non-breaking and breaking bores with different strengths in different water depths in order to validate the KdV-NFT results for non-breaking bores, and to show the limitations of wave breaking on the spectral results. The analytical results are compared with data from experimental tests, numerical simulations and other approaches from literature.

Ideological myths of European union on the example of Laeken declaration

The European Council adopted Laeken Declaration in which it was first stated about EU aspiration to take the lead on world globalization together with USA. The subject of this study is the analysis of myths and ideological cliches of Laeken Declaration by which EU and USA legitimize their foreign policy. The author concludes that the future of EU was not as optimistic as stated in the text of the declaration. Until recently, the EU was a state in the process of formation, and its legal area acquired the features of a domestic order. These processes have slowed down now. An external challenge was the change in the format of relations with Russia, which openly declared its national interests and cooperation only as a equal partner. Previously unthinkable social problems appeared in the space of well-being. The history of Russia teaches that going to Europe can be done in different ways. The path of european integration put the Russian state on the brink of complete disintegration of the late XXth century. The consequences of this choice are currently being overcome in the framework of Eurasian integration and integration with states outside the post-Soviet space that have common interests with Russia.

Charge-exchange emission and cold clumps in multiphase galactic outflows

ABSTRACT Large-scale outflows from starburst galaxies are multiphase, multicomponent fluids. Charge-exchange lines that originate from the interfacing surface between the neutral and ionized components are a useful diagnostic of the cold dense structures in the galactic outflow. From the charge-exchange lines observed in the nearby starburst galaxy M82, we conduct surface-to-volume analyses and deduce that the cold dense clumps in its galactic outflow have flattened shapes, resembling a hamburger or a pancake morphology rather than elongated shapes. The observed filamentary H α features are therefore not prime charge-exchange line emitters. They are stripped material torn from the slow-moving dense clumps by the faster moving ionized fluid, which are subsequently warmed and stretched into elongated shapes. Our findings are consistent with numerical simulations that have shown that cold dense clumps in galactic outflows can be compressed by ram pressure, and also progressively ablated and stripped before complete disintegration. We have shown that some clumps could survive their passage along a galactic outflow. These are advected into the circumgalactic environment, where their remnants would seed condensation of the circumgalactic medium to form new clumps. The infall of these new clumps back into the galaxy and their subsequent re-entrainment into the galactic outflow form a loop process of galactic material recycling.

Formulation of Broccoli Sprout Powder in Gastro-Resistant Capsules Protects against the Acidic pH of the Stomach In Vitro but Does Not Increase Isothiocyanate Bioavailability In Vivo

Broccoli sprout powder is a rich source of glucosinolates, which are hydrolysed to isothiocyanates in the presence of the enzyme myrosinase. We showed that in vitro incubation of broccoli sprout powder extract with isolated lymphocytes resulted in the upregulation of transcription factor Nrf2, however, there was no increase in Nrf2 protein levels in lymphocytes isolated 3 h following the ingestion of broccoli sprout powder by healthy volunteers. This highlights the general issue that potential health benefits of food-derived compounds can be compromised by limitations in bioavailability. In vitro experiments showed that the generation of isothiocyanates was reduced when the powder was first exposed to the low pH (1.2) of the stomach and then transferred to the higher pH (6.8) of the intestine. The loss of activity due to pre-exposure to the low stomach pH indicates that formulating the broccoli sprout powder in gastro-resistant formulations should increase that amount of isothiocyanate generated in the intestine for absorption. Gelatin capsules were hand-coated with either Eudragit® L100 or Eudragit® L100-55 and were assessed for their gastro-resistant properties using paracetamol as a model active for dissolution studies. Disintegration and dissolution studies showed that Eudragit® L100-55 coated capsules and DRcapsTM (Capsugel®) failed the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) requirements for gastro-resistant capsules, whereas the Eudragit® L100 coated capsules passed. Five healthy participants were administered 1 g of broccoli sprout powder, ingested either with water or encapsulated in uncoated or gastro-resistant capsules. Urinary excretion of isothiocyanate metabolites over the 24 h period post ingestion was assessed by HPLC. Broccoli sprout powder and uncoated gelatin-encapsulated powder showed comparable excretion of isothiocyanate metabolites (18.4 ± 2.3 and 23.9 ± 2.7 µmol, respectively). The enteric coated capsules provided a significantly longer Tmax than the uncoated gelatin capsules (15.4 ± 2.3 versus 3.7 ± 0.7 h, respectively), indicating protection from disintegration in the stomach, however, the excretion of isothiocyanate metabolites was significantly decreased compared with uncoated capsules (i.e., 8.5 ± 1.1 µmol). The lower in vivo formation or absorption of isothiocyanates observed for the gastro-resistant capsules may be due to participant variation in intestinal pH or transit times, resulting in inappropriate pH conditions or insufficient time for the complete disintegration and dissolution of the capsules.