feng

Based on a new hesitant fuzzy partial ordering proposed by Garmendia et al.~cite{GaCa:Pohfs}, in this paper a fuzzy disjunction ${D}$ on the set ${H}$ of finite and nonempty subsets of the unit interval and a t-conorm ${S}$ on the set $bar{{B}}$ of equivalence class on the set of finite bags of unit interval based on this partial ordering are introduced respectively. Then, hesitant fuzzy negations $N_n$ on ${H}$ and $mu_n$ on $bar{{B}}$ are proposed. Particularly, their De Morgan's laws are investigated with respect to binary operations ${C}$  and ${D}$ on ${H}$, as well as ${T}$  and {S} on $bar{{B}}$ respectively, where ${C}$ is a commutative fuzzy conjunction on $({H},leq_H)$ and ${T}$ is a t-norm on $(bar{{B}},leq_B)$. Finally, the new hesitant fuzzy aggregation operators are presented on ${H}$ and $bar{{B}}$ and their more general forms are given. Moreover, the validity of the aggregation operations is illustrated by a numerical example on decision making.

During upper and middle esophageal cancer patients' radiation therapy, dose hot spots located in the normal portion of the esophagus (NPE) may increase radiation esophagitis, so NPE may also needs sparing. Automatic planning may have an advantage on sparing NPE over conventional trial-and-error type planning. We compared radiation esophagitis predicted by two esophageal NTCP models between different optimization strategies.

20 upper and middle esophagus cancer patients were reviewed and re-optimized by three strategies: autoplan in which NPE was not spared called A1 plan; trial-and-error type plan in which NPE was spared called T plan; autoplan in which NPE was spared called A2 plan.Dose volume parameters of four different esophagus structures were compared between three types of plans. Predicted radiation esophagitis between different optimization strategies were compared.

Target dose coverage of three types of plans all met clinical desires. Dose hot spots of ESOwhole-PGTV and ESOinfield-PGTV from A2 plans are lowest in 3 types of plans. While Dose hot spots of ESOwhole and ESOin field from T plans are highest.V60 and Dmax of four types of esophagus structures in A2 plans are lower than T plans. AET =2 probabilities predicted by Kwint modle for A2 plans are slightly lower than T plans, respectively 70.1±2.5%,76.9±3.2%,54.8±1.7% and 72.7±2.8%.AET=3 probabilities were also lowest for A2 plans. Standard deviation of dose volume parameters and AETs of four types of esophagus structures in automatic plans are significant less than T plans.

Upper and middle esophagus cancer patients who received SIB-IMRT could benefited by a new NPE sparing technique by automatic planning. It may decrease patients’ radiation esophagitis.

ABSTRACT
Tumor cells exhibit an increased requirement for iron to support their rapid proliferation. Deferoxamine (DFO), an iron chelator, has been reported to have anti-proliferative effects on cancer cells through induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. X-rays also induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. However, limited information is available regarding the effect of iron depletion on radiotherapy. In this study, the radiosensitizing effect of DFO was investigated in human glioma U251 cells. U251 cells were pretreated with DFO before exposure to X-rays. The radiosensitizing effect of DFO on U251 cells was evaluated with a clonogenic formation assay. Apoptosis and autophagy were measured to explore the model of cell death during DFO radiosensitization. Intracellular calcium levels, cell cycle, and ROS levels were examined to study the mechanism of the cell death.  We found that DFO enhanced X-ray-induced growth inhibition of U251 cells. Increased protective autophagy, occurring in U251 cells the first day of being treated with DFO and X-rays, rendered the radiosensitivity enhancement of DFO insignificant. However, the radiosensitizing effect was clear from the fourth day, which was attributed to the increase of apoptosis and decrease of protective autophagy. Further investigation revealed that the high level of apoptosis induced by DFO plus X-rays was dependent on the level of cytoplasmic calcium because the apoptosis was inhibited by [1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid], a cytoplasmic calcium chelator. Our results clearly demonstrate that DFO can enhance the radiosensitivity of U251 cells by increased calcium-dependent apoptosis.

In this paper, we derive a nonlinear Picone identity to the pseudo p-Laplace operator, which contains some known Picone identities and removes a condition used in many previous papers. Some applications are given including a Liouville type theorem to the singular pseudo p-Laplace system, a Sturmian comparison principle to the pseudo p-Laplace equation, a new Hardy type inequality with weight and remainder term, a nonnegative estimate of the functional associated to pseudo p-Laplace equation.

Sandy fields have been reclaimed to exploit the grain production potential in northwest China. A 2-year statistically replicated field study was conducted to determine the effects of mulched drip irrigation on soil water, soil nitrate, shoot root growth and yields of maize on a sandy field in the Hetao Irrigation District. Treatments included border irrigation (BI), fully mulched drip irrigation (FMDI) and partially mulched drip irrigation (PMDI). Low frequency fertigation and high frequency fertigation were applied in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The results showed that high frequency mulched drip irrigation (MDI) maintained soil moisture and NO3--N at suitable levels and improved soil water uniformity (Cus). Soil NO3--N was adequate for the FMDI treatment of both high and low frequency fertigations, but it was insufficient for the PMDI treatment under low frequency fertigation. Soil water and Cus regulated root−shoot via leaf areas and surface root areas were described well by the ratio of root surface area to leaf area (Sr/l). Higher Cus tended to cause a lower Sr/l. Compared with the BI treatment, a higher yield and harvest index (HI) was obtained under the MDI treatments primarily due to the high number of grains per spike. The FMDI and PMDI treatments resulted in no yield differences under high frequency fertigation. Therefore, high frequency PMDI management with irrigation amounts based on the reference evapotranspiration after the jointing stage were recommended in the sandy maize field based on economic considerations. Under low frequency fertigation, the FMDI treatment was recommended for a higher yield, which was attributable to the higher dry matter of the vegetative organs and maintaining higher levels of soil NO3--N in the upper sand layer when compared to the PMDI treatment.

To gain insights into ink material deposition behavior during Aerosol Jet® printing, particle deposition patterns on the plate of inertial impactor with circular laminar jet are investigated numerically with a lagrangian solver implemented within the framework of the OpenFOAM® CFD package. Effects of taper angle of the nozzle channel and jet-to-plate distance are evaluated. The results show quite different particle deposition patterns between tapered nozzle and straight nozzle. At jet Reynolds number Re = 1132, a tapered nozzle deposits particles to form a pattern with a high density ring toward the deposition spot edge, especially when the particle Stokes number St > St50, which is absent with a straight nozzle. Increasing the jet-to-plate distance tends to reduce such particle density peak. Reducing Re to 283 yields particle deposition patterns without the high density ring near the spot edge, with the same tapered nozzle. The particle deposition patterns with the straight nozzle at Re = 283 exhibit further reduced particle density around the spot edge such that the particle density profile appears more like a Gaussian function. In general, the effect of reducing Re on particle deposition pattern seems to be similar to increasing the jet-to-plate distance. The computed particle deposition efficiency η shows the fact that those particles around the jet axis, even with very small values of St, always impact the center of plate, as indicated by the nonvanishing value of η with substantial reduction of St. Such a “small particle contamination” typically amounts to ~10% of small particles (with St

High-speed passenger car requires a lighter weight for improving power performance and reducing fuel consumption; a car with higher-speed and lighter weight will lead to the passenger car more sensitive to the crosswind, which will affect the stability and drivability of the passenger car. This study employs the fully-coupled method to investigate a passenger car subjected “1-cos” crosswind with consideration of the vehicle motion. Large eddy simulation (LES) and dynamic mesh is adopted to investigate the unsteady aerodynamic, and the vehicle is treated as a three-freedom-system and driver’s control is considered to investigate the vehicle dynamic. The one-way simulation and quasi-steady simulation are also conducted to compare with the fully-coupled simulation. The results of the three simulation methods show large difference. The peak value of the lateral displacement in fully-coupled simulation is the smallest between the three simulation approaches. While the change of aerodynamic loads and vehicle motion in fully-coupled simulation is more complicated than in one-way and quasi-steady simulation. These results clearly indicate the significance of including of the unsteady aerodynamic loads in passenger car moving analysis.

There are many unavoidable noise interferences in image acquisition and transmission. To make it better for subsequent processing, the noise in the image should be removed in advance. There are many kinds of image noises, mainly including salt and pepper noise and Gaussian noise. This paper focuses on the research of the Gaussian noise removal. It introduces many wavelet threshold denoising algorithms which include global threshold denoising, Maxmin threshold denoising, and BayesShrink threshold denoising. We emphatically analyze the strengths and weaknesses of different denoising methods based on different threshold functions. Besides, we make a comparative analysis for these denoising methods. The experimental result shows that the wavelet images denoising algorithm based on Gaussian mixture model is better than that of the global threshold and Maxmin threshold, and also slightly better than BayesShrink threshold.

Numerical solutions of high-speed microdroplet impact onto a smooth solid surface are computed, using the interFoam VoF solver of the OpenFOAM® CFD package. Toward the solid surface, the liquid microdroplet is moving with an impinging gas flow, simulating the situation of ink droplets being deposited onto substrate with a collimated mist jet in the Optomec Aerosol Jet® printing process. For simplicity and computational efficiency, axisymmetric incompressible flow is assumed here for the free-surface fluid dynamic problem. The computed values of maximum spread factor ξ, for the range of parameters relevant to Aerosol Jet® printing, are found in good agreement with some of the correlation formulas proposed by previous authors in the literature. A formula of improved accuracy is then obtained for evaluating ξ of Aerosol Jet® deposited droplets, by combining selected formulas from different authors with appropriate modifications. The computational results also illustrate droplet impact dynamics with lamella shape evolution throughout the spreading, receding-relaxation, and wetting equilibrium phases, consistent with that observed and described by many authors. This suggests a scale-invariant nature of the basic droplet impact behavior such that experiments with larger droplets at the same nondimensional parameter values may be applicable for studying microdroplet impact dynamics. Significant free surface oscillations can be observed with low viscosity droplets. The border line between free surface oscillations and aperiodic creeping to the capillary equilibrium shape appears at Oh ∼ 0.25. Droplet bouncing after receding is prompted with large contact angles at solid surface (as consistent with findings reported in the literature), but can be suppressed by increasing the droplet viscosity.

A novel multiband multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system is proposed. The MIMO antenna system consists of two antenna elements, each of which comprises of three radiators: a driven monopole, an S-shaped strip and an inverted F-shaped strip and occupies footprint of 15x18.5x0.8 mm3 only. The driven monopole acts as a quarter-wave monopole and stimulates higher mode resonance. The two strips are excited by electromagnetic coupling from the driven monopole and serve as two additional monopoles leading to a wideband performance for the lower band. The bandwidths (VSWR ≤ 2.75) achieved for the antenna element are 1.67 – 2.2 GHz for the lower band and 2.28 –2.95 GHz for the upper band which cover LTE-1, LTE- 2, LTE- 3, LTE- 7, LTE- 40 and WLAN 2.4 GHz bands. A T-shaped slot and another two slots are introduced to reduce the coupling effect between the two multiband antenna elements. The isolation achieved is higher than 18 dB over the whole band, leading to an envelope correlation coefficient of less than 0.01. Furthermore, the diversity characteristics of mean effective gains (MEGs) and diversity gain (DG) are also studied. Both the simulated and measured results are shown to illustrate the performance of the proposed multiband MIMO antenna system, and that confirms the suitability for Long Term Evolution (LTE) and wireless local area network (WLAN) handset applications.

Methylene blue is widely used in various industrial branches. Due to insufficient treatment, its occurrence in wastewater is frequently detected, which may result in serious environment problems to aquatic organisms. Hydroponic experiments were conducted with rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L. cv. XZX 45) exposed to methylene blue to determine the effective concentration using relative growth rate and water use efficiency as response endpoints. Results showed that acute toxicity of methylene blue to rice seedlings was evident. Although a linear decrease in relative growth rate and water use efficiency was observed in rice seedlings with increasing methylene blue concentrations, relative growth rate of rice seedlings was more sensitive to change of methylene blue than water use efficiency. Using non-linear regression, EC-48 h values for 10%, 20% and 50% inhibition of the relative growth rate were estimated to be 1.54, 3.22 and 10.13 mg MB/L for rice seedlings exposed to methylene blue, respectively, while smaller EC were obtained for 96 h exposure. In conclusion, the toxic response of young rice seedlings to methylene blue is obvious and inhibitory effects are highly dependent on response endpoints and the duration of exposure period.

To identify and compare risk factors for recurrent respiratory infections in preschool children between resident and floating population in Yiwu, China. Investigations was conducted in resident and floating population in Yiwu city, Zhejiang province. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on influence factors. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out using the Binary logistic regression. The study was conducted in Yiwu from June 2009 to September 2010. We recruited 844 participants，resident population 639（75.7%） and floating population 205（24.3%） who were preschool children. Multivariate analysis showed that Childbearing age (OR=0.93, 95%CI: 0.88-0.99), Asthma (OR=3.20, 95%CI: 1.60-6.45), Rickets (OR=5.30, 95%CI: 1.99-14.09), Food preference (OR=1.57, 95%CI: 1.02-2.43), Snack (OR=1.50, 95%CI: 1.07-2.07) were the influence factors for recurrent respiratory infections in resident preschool children. Infant feeding (OR=2.24, 95%CI: 1.31-3.81), Snack (OR=2.06, 95%CI: 1.07-3.98,), Trip mode (OR=2.77, 95%CI: 1.11-6.94) were the influence factors for recurrent respiratory infections in floating preschool children. Public health measures against risk factors should be taken to protect against recurrent respiratory infections in resident and floating preschool children respectively.

Up-regulation of CD4+CD25+CD127low/- regulatory T cells (Tregs) is a new target in the treatment of asthma. Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can up-regulate CD4+CD25+CD127low/- regulatory T cells in vitro, meanwhile, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) plays an important role in the development and maintenance of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells. However the mechanism has not yet been adequately understood. Hence, we wondered what effect of Heme Oxygenase-1 made on regulation of CD4+CD25+CD127low/- regulatory T cells mediated by mesenchymal stem cells.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from asthmatic patients and healthy controls were co-cultured with human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells which were pretreated with Hemin (the revulsive of Heme Oxygenase-1), Protoporphyrin Ⅸ zinc (the inhibitor of Heme Oxygenase-1) and saline.The expression of Heme Oxygenase-1 in MSCs was enhanced by Hemin and inhibited by Protoporphyrin zinc in vitro. Overexpression of Heme Oxygenase-1 elevated the proportion of CD4+CD25+CD127low/- regulatory T cells in CD4+ T cells, meanwhile, inhibition of Heme Oxygenase-1 decreased the proportion of CD4+CD25+CD127low/- regulatory T cells in CD4+ T cells as compared with mesenchymal stem cells alone.Taken together, these data demonstrated that Heme Oxygenase-1 contributed to the up-regulation of CD4+CD25+CD127low/- regulatory T cells mediated by mesenchymal stem cells in asthma.

Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in gastric cancer (GC). Accumulated evidence suggests that functional MMP-1 and MMP-7 gene polymorphisms are associated with several tumors. The aim of this study was to investigate two single nucleotide polymorphisms, MMP-1 -1607 1G/2G and MMP-7 -181 A/G, and their potential relationship with GC.We examined 246 GC patients and 252 age-and sex-matched controls from Sichuan province in China. Genotypes were determined using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism strategy and DNA sequencing. We also performed a meta-analysis of relevant studies, involving 1084 cases and 1721 controls, to place our findings in a broader context.No significant relationship was observed between the MMP-1 -1607 1G/2G alleles and genotypes and the risk of GC. There were significant differences in the genotypes and allele distributions of the -181 A/G polymorphism of the MMP-7 gene between cases and controls. The -181 A allele carriers had a significantly increased risk of GC compared with -181 G allele carriers (OR=3.051, 95% CI, 1.475-6.310, P=0.002), and the AA genotype of -181 A/G was associated with an increased risk of GC compared with the AG genotype (OR=3.189, 95% CI, 1.523-6.676, P=0.001).A meta-analysis of six studies also showed a significant risk of GC associated with MMP-7 polymorphism.

A group is called morphic if for each normal endomorphism α in end(G),there exists β such that ker(α)= Gβ and Gα= ker(β). In this paper, we consider the case that there exist normal endomorphisms β and γ such that ker(α)= Gβ and Gα = ker(γ). We call G quasi morphic, if this happens for any normal endomorphism α in end(G). We get the following G is quasi-morphic if and only if, for any normal subgroup K and N such that G/K≌N, there exist normal subgroup T and H such that G/T≌K and G/N≌H. Further, we investigate the quasi-morphic property of finitely generated abelian group and get that a finitely generated abelian group is quasi-morphic if and only if it is finite.

Paraquat dichloride (PQ) is an effective and widely used herbicide for eliminating weeds. However, once being accidentally or voluntarily ingested, PQ-poisoned patients have the very high incidence of adult respiratory distress syndrome because lung can actively absorb PQ. Since the 1970s, evidence suggested that polyamine competitively inhibited uptake of PQ into lung tissue; therefore, polyamine transport system has been regarded as an important vehicle for PQ uptake into lung. However, so far, we cannot clone or detect the polyamine transport system in mammalian animal. Recent evidence from diverse sources has suggested that caveola may be an important vehicle for polyamine absorption into lung. Herein we hypothesise that caveola is a key vehicle for PQ uptake in lung and hence blocking the expression of caveola may serve as new targets for treatment of PQ poisoning.

This study aims to quantify the impacts of land use changes on ecosystem service value during large scale land development, and to provide key information for both economic development and policy makers for eco-environmental protection. The study area locates in Manas river watershed which is a typical land development region in northwest China. Landsat MSS/TM/ETM+ images in 1976, 1989, 1999 and 2008 were applied to estimate ecosystem service value based on land use, and subsequently ecosystem service value dynamics were analyzed in response to land use changes. It is found that the built-up area and cultivated land increased significantly from 1976 to 2008. The decreasing ecosystem service value (from 17362.2 million Yuan in 1976 to 16975.0 million Yuan in 2008) is mainly caused by the reduced grassland. The combined ecosystem service value of water body and grassland is over 60% of the total value. Functions of water supply, waste treatment, soil formation and retention and biodiversity protection contributed to over 70% of the total service value. The results suggest that a reasonable land use plan should emphasize protection of water body, woodland and grassland as they have the highest ecosystem service value.

Despite significant advancements in renal transplantation, certain basic surgical practices such as the routine use of ureteral stents (US) remain controversial. A recent met-analysis of ureteral stenting concluded that the routine use of US resulted in improved outcomes. In contrast, the indiscriminate use of US can lead to adverse complications. To better define this question, we reviewed our single center experience in which US were placed selectively. 301 patients were eligible to be enrolled. 55 living donor and 246 deceased-donor charts were analyzed for donor and recipient clinical characteristics, immunosuppressive therapy and outcomes. 28 US were placed for either small bladder capacity (n=7), unhealthy appearing bladder tissue (n=8) or for an uncertain vascular supply to the ureter (n=13). Patients with US did not develop urinary leaks, 8 (28%) developed complications including obstruction, encrustation, and urinary tract infections. 12 (4.3%) non-stented patients developed a clinically significant urinary leak. Risk factors for urinary leaks included dual and en-bloc pediatric donor kidney transplants, extended criteria donors and the use of single U stitch technique for ureteral anastomoses. Our results demonstrate that the majority of patients can be successfully transplanted without the routine use of US. Selective use of US should be reserved for high-risk situations.

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grows in dry season but summer maize (Zea mays L.) coincides with rainfall in the North China Plain (NCP). Increasing rainfall use efficiency and harmonizing its utilization between the two species is an effective way to mitigate impact on groundwater deriving from wheat irrigation. One to four times water supply (W1, to W4) were employed in wheat, three water treatments (W1, W2, and W4) in 2007-2008 and four (W1, W2, W3, and W4) in 2008-2009 were established in the field condition, the characteristics of water consumption in wheat and effects on rainfall utilization during subsequent maize were studied. The maximum wheat grain yield and the maximum water use efficiency were observed on the limited water treatment W2. Wheat consumed water mainly came from irrigation and precipitation on excessive water treatments. Limited water supply enhanced water consumption from soil and vacated more water storage space. Compared with W4, the vacated water storage space increased 103-116 mm (W2) and 162-168 mm (W1). The difference of soil water content derived from previous wheat disappeared (P>0.05) around at maize elongation stage because of subsequent summer rainfall, and the rainfall stored in 2 m soil body increased more 83-88 mm (W1), and 69 mm (W2) than the treatment of W4, respectively. Drainage from 2 m soil profile on excessive water treatments (55-61 mm on W4, 9 mm on W3 during wheat growth period, and 36-40 mm on W4, 18 mm on W3 from wheat harvest to maize elongation) was determined but not on limited water treatments. These results indicate that the limited irrigation would be an effective practice for water-saving and high-yielding production of wheat in the NCP.

Donor safety is the first priority in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). To determine the characteristics and outcome of live liver donors who underwent donor hepatectomy from January, 1997 to May, 2007 at Massachusetts General Hospital. 30 patients underwent LDLT between January, 1997 and May, 2007 at our institution. The type of graft was the right lobe (segments 5-8) in 14, left lobe (segments 2-4) in 4, and left lateral sector (segments 2 and 3) in 12 patients. The mean donor age was 36 (range: 26-57) years. The mean follow-up was 48 (range: 18-120) months. No deaths occurred. Overall, 8 (26.6%) patients experienced a total of 14 post-operative complications. Donor complications based on graft type were as follows: left lateral sector (16.7%), left lobe (25%), and right lobe (35.7%). The experience was divided into two periods 1997-2001 (n=15) and 2002-2007 (n=15). Overall complications during 2 periods were 40% and 13.3%, respectively (p<0.001). The incidence of grade III complication also significantly decreased; 66.7% vs 33.3% (p<0.01). Partial hepatectomy in living donors has a learning curve which appears to be approximately 15 cases. This learning curve is not restricted to the surgeons performing the procedure but involves all aspects of patient care.

Donor safety is the first priority in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). To determine the characteristics and outcome of live liver donors who underwent donor hepatectomy from January, 1997 to May, 2007 at Massachusetts General Hospital. 30 patients underwent LDLT between January, 1997 and May, 2007 at our institution. The type of graft was the right lobe (segments 5-8) in 14, left lobe (segments 2-4) in 4, and left lateral sector (segments 2 and 3) in 12 patients. The mean donor age was 36 (range: 26-57) years. The mean follow-up was 48 (range: 18-120) months. No deaths occurred. Overall, 8 (26.6%) patients experienced a total of 14 post-operative complications. Donor complications based on graft type were as follows: left lateral sector (16.7%), left lobe (25%), and right lobe (35.7%). The experience was divided into two periods 1997-2001 (n=15) and 2002-2007 (n=15). Overall complications during 2 periods were 40% and 13.3%, respectively (p<0.001). The incidence of grade III complication also significantly decreased; 66.7% vs 33.3% (p<0.01). Partial hepatectomy in living donors has a learning curve which appears to be approximately 15 cases. This learning curve is not restricted to the surgeons performing the procedure but involves all aspects of patient care.

In this study, nitrogen fertilizer was applied to corn (Zea mays L.) at conventional (excessive) and recommended levels, and the growth response was assessed by measuring plant height and stem perimeter. Corn plant maximum height was observed in recommended rates of N fertilizer treatment, and the height without N fertilizer was the same as that receiving excess N fertilizer. Stem perimeter was greatest in the treatment with recommended levels of N fertilizer, followed by the excess N fertilizer treatment. Greater increases in stem perimeter and plant height were observed after application of fertilizer at recommended rates, compared to control without N fertilizer and treatment with excessive N fertilizer, showing that application of N fertilizer at recommended rates results in better growth than that observed after application of fertilizer at excessive rates (i.e. those used in local farming practice). This study shows that soil testing to determine appropriate rates of fertilizer application can reduce fertilizer application rates by more than 50%, while retaining optimum growth in plant height and stem perimeter. Therefore, decreasing application of fertilizer is feasible to reduce environmental pollution and the cost of agriculture.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are a super-family of low molecular weight cysteine-rich proteins. Although many research works have been reported on their structure, application, etc., there is not any article reported on imprinted mechanism of MT-imprinted polymers, yet. These polymers are prepared by using acrylic acid (AA) as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a cross-linker, 2,2''-azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) (AIBN) as an initiator, and chloroform as a solvent. The imprinted mechanism is first studied by infrared spectroscopy analysis, Scatchard analysis, and TEM technique. Infrared spectrograms indicate the functional groups of SH in thiolate sulphurs have lone pair electrons which can form π-π bond with C=O in AA. Scatchard plot shows at least three kinds of binding sites exist in MTimprinted polymer and TEM technique indicates that most terminal thiolate sulphurs in MT are polymerized mostly as binding sites during the polymerization. The study will offer experimental foundation for further research and application of MT-imprinted polymers.

Soil water content is one of the most important parameters for estimating irrigation frequency and providing the plant’s water requirement. Since measurement of soil water content is both expensive and time consuming, water movement models are used to estimate these values. In this study, LEACHW model was used to estimate soil water content for two “dry” (20-29 Aug) and “wet” (1-6 Jul) periods during the 1995 growing season. Different values of hydraulic parameters were applied to investigate the sensitivity analysis of these parameters in the estimation of soil water content. Thus the values of b (pore distribution coefficient in Campbell’s equation (2) were selected from 2 to 24, and k(θ)/ks ratios of 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 were used. Finally 32 treatments were investigated for each period. Results showed that despite large variation for the hydraulic parameters, similar trends of results were obtained for all soil water content estimations. Statistical analysis comparing the estimated and measured results showed a systematic difference which can be adjusted using a few measured values of soil moistures. As an example, simulated results using b=24 and =0.1 were calibrated to adjust the simulated results. The results of this study showed that a simple calibration method can be used for the estimation of soil moisture content without using extensive data required to represent hydraulic characteristics of soils.

A simple and efficient procedure for converting a variety of 1,1-diacetates into the corresponding aldehydes was developed. The methodology has been done with zirconium sulfate tetrahydrate-silica gel as catalyst. The temperature plays an important role in these reactions. The phenolic acetate function can selectively be deprotected into phenol.