Showing papers by "National Tsing Hua University published in 1997"

Arsenic methylation capacity, body retention, and null genotypes of glutathione S-transferase M1 and T1 among current arsenic-exposed residents in Taiwan.

Abstract: In order to elucidate the relationships among arsenic methylation capacity, body retention, and genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase (GST) M1 and T1, a total of 115 study subjects were recruited from Lanyang Basin located on the northeast coast of Taiwan. Specimens of drinking water, blood, urine, hair and toenail were collected from each study subject. Urinary inorganic and methylated arsenic were speciated by high performance liquid chromatography combined with hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrometry. Arsenic concentration in hair and toenail were quantitated by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The polymerase chain reaction was used to determine genetic polymorphisms of GST M1 and T1. Arsenic concentrations in urine, hair, and toenail of study subjects were positively correlated with arsenic levels in their drinking water. Percentages of various arsenic species in urine (mean ± standard error (SE)) were 11.8 ± 1.0, 26.9 ± 1.2 and 61.3 ± 1.4, respectively, for inorganic arsenic, monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). Men and women had similar arsenic methylation capability. No associations were observed between arsenic methylation capability and arsenic content in either drinking water or urine. Ratios of arsenic contents in hair and toenail to urinary arsenic content (mean ± standard error) were 6.2 ± 0.7 and 16.5 ± 1.7, respectively. Genetic polymorphisms of GST M1 and T1 were significantly associated with arsenic methylation. Subjects having the null genotype of GST M1 had an increased percentage of inorganic arsenic in urine, while those with null genotype of GST T1 had an elevated percentage of DMA in urine. Arsenic contents in hair and toenail were significantly correlated with the increase in arsenic concentrations of drinking water and urine, while no significant associations were observed between arsenic contents in hair and toenail and polymorphisms of GST M1 and T1. The relationship between arsenic methylation capability and body retention was modified by genetic polymorphisms of GST M1 and T1. Arsenic contents in hair and toenail were negatively associated with MMA percentage and positively associated with DMA percentage among subjects having null genotypes of GST M1 and T1, but not among those with non-null genotypes.

Serum beta-carotene level, arsenic methylation capability, and incidence of skin cancer.

Abstract: To elucidate the associations of arsenic-induced skin cancer with serum beta-carotene level and arsenic methylation capability, a total of 654 residents of age 30 or older were recruited from three arseniasis-hyperendemic villages in Taiwan and regularly examined for skin lesions during the follow-up period. There were 33 cases affected with newly diagnosed skin cancer during the follow-up, giving an incidence of 14.74 per 1000 person-years. Although most study subjects had stopped consuming high-arsenic artesian well water more than 20 years ago, the risk of skin cancer was found to increase significantly with cumulative arsenic exposure before the cessation of drinking artesian well water in a dose-response relationship. Frozen serum samples collected at the recruitment from newly developed skin cancer cases and matched controls were tested for beta-carotene levels by high-performance liquid chromatography. Frozen urine samples of these subjects were examined by high-performance liquid chromatography to speciate arsenite (AsIII), arsenate (AsV), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), and dimethylarsinic acid and then quantitated by hydride generator combined with atomic absorption spectrometry. Skin cancer cases had a significantly lower serum level of beta-carotene than matched healthy controls. Although the primary methylation capability indexed by the ratio of MMA/(AsIII + AsV) was greater in cases than in controls, the secondary methylation capability indexed by the ratio of dimethylarsinic acid/MMA was lower in cases than in controls. An elevated proportion of MMA in total urinary arsenic level was associated with an increased risk of skin cancer. Subjects with a cumulative arsenic exposure of > or = 20.0 mg/liter-year and a proportion of MMA in total urinary arsenic level >26.7% had a multivariate-adjusted odds ratio of developing skin cancer as high as 20.91 (95% confidence interval, 2.63-166.5) compared wih those who had a cumulative arsenic exposure of <20.0 mg/liter-year and a MMA percentage of < or = 26.7%. Whether the association with capability of inorganic methylation is also applied to cancers of internal organs, including lung, liver, and urinary bladder, remains to be elucidated.

Phosphorus-containing epoxy for flame retardant. III: Using phosphorylated diamines as curing agents

Abstract: Two phosphorus-containing diamine compounds, bis(4-aminophenoxy)-phenyl phosphine oxide and bis(3-aminophenyl)phenyl phosphine oxide, were synthesized for use as curing agents of epoxy resins. Phosphorylated epoxy resins were obtained by curing Epon 828 and Eponex 1510 with these two diamine agents. For raising the phosphorus contents of the resulting epoxy resins, the phosphorus-containing epoxy, bis(glycidyloxy)phenyl phosphine oxide (BGPPO), was also used. These two diamine agents showed similar reactivity toward epoxies. Their reactivities were higher than DDS and lower than DDM. High char yields in TGA evaluation were found for all the phosphorylated epoxy resins, implying their high flame retardancy. The excellent flame-retardant properties of these phosphorylated epoxy resins were also demonstrated by the high limiting oxygen index (LOI) values of 33 to 51. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 63: 895–901, 1997

Adsorption and Desorption of Carbon Dioxide onto and from Activated Carbon at High Pressures

Abstract: Adsorption of carbon dioxide near its critical point on DeGussa IV activated carbon is investigated in this study. A volumetric method was used to measure the adsorption/desorption isotherms at 284, 300, 305, 310, and 314 K over a large pressure range. At subcritical temperatures, adsorption isotherms display a discontinuity at the vapor pressure of carbon dioxide, and desorption hysteresis is observed. However, there is no desorption hysteresis if adsorption is terminated before vapor−liquid transition occurs. At supercritical temperatures, adsorption isotherms display a plateau, and the excess decreases beyond the critical pressure. No hysteresis occurs during the desorption process. The adsorption isotherms can be represented very well by the simplified local density model.

A new measure for supplier performance evaluation

Abstract: Recently the concept of dimensional analysis was used to propose a supplier performance measure and to obtain an index called the VPI (Vendor Performance Index). Usually the performance criteria used in supplier performance evaluation include quantitative and qualitative criteria. Here a new supplier performance measure is proposed as an alternative to the VPI. For qualitative criteria, a two-directional consideration is used instead of a one-directional approach, which results in only a single score. The fuzzy bag method is used to compensate for blindness in human judgement. Then all scores for quantitative and qualitative criteria are combined in an intuitive sum of weighted averages called the SUR. The SUR is illustrated and compared with the VPI by means of two examples.

Guaranteed quality-of-service wireless access to ATM networks

Abstract: We study the problem of wireless access to asynchronous transfer modes (ATMs). We consider three classes of ATM sources: constant bit rate (CBR), variable bit rate (VBR), and available bit rate (ABR). We propose a polling scheme with nonpreemptive priority. Under such a scheme, we derive sufficient conditions such that all the CBR sources satisfy their jitter constraints and all the VBR sources satisfy their delay constraints. The remaining bandwidth is used by the ABR sources, for which we adapt a random access scheme proposed by Chen and Lee (1994). For this random access scheme, we derive the throughput-offer load characteristic, and thus the capacity. Based on this, we propose adaptive random access schemes that track the offer load to its optimal value. Our simulations show that our adaptive schemes maintain a high throughput with respect to the whole range of system load.

Incorporation of vanadium in mesoporous MCM-41 and microporous AFI zeolites

Abstract: Vanadium-containing silicate MCM-41 (V-MCM-41) zeolite and aluminophosphate AFI (VAPO-5) zeolite were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic techniques. In as-synthesized form, the vanadyl ions (VIVO)2+ were found to be the major vanadium species in the form of atomic dispersion on AFI by EPR and to exist simultaneously with tetrahedral (Td) V5+ in MCM-41 by UV−vis. 29Si MAS NMR investigations suggested that the vanadium ions might attach to MCM-41 through interaction with the silanol groups on the internal wall of hexagonal tubes. The V5+ (in Td) ions are incorporated into the lattice of MCM-41 during synthesis, while the VO2+ (in Td) is the loosely bound V species. The results of Raman spectroscopy indicated that the rodlike aggregation of cationic surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB) was encapsulated in the intrachannel space of synthetic MCM-41 as in an aqueous solution. After calcination and hydration, the V4+ species in as-synthesized V-MCM-41 was totally oxidized to +5 as shown...

Alternating Copolymerization of Carbon Dioxide and Propylene Oxide with a Rare-Earth-Metal Coordination Catalyst

Abstract: The copolymerization of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide using rare-earth-metal catalyst systems was investigated in this study. It was found that the ternary rare-earth-metal coordination catalyst consisting of Y(CF3CO2)3 (I), diethylzinc (II), and glycerine (III) was the most effective catalyst system to generate an alternating polycarbonate. The effects of the molar ratio of catalyst components, the solvent, and the operating temperature and pressure on the yield and the molecular weight of polycarbonate were systematically studied. At an appropriate combination of all variables, the yield could be as high as 4200 (g/(mol of Y))/h and the molecular weight as high as 1.0 × 105 in a 12 h reaction period. The carbonate content in the resulting polycarbonate was found to be 95.6%.

Synthesis, characterization, thermal, and flame retardant properties of phosphate-based epoxy resins

Abstract: A new phosphorus-containing oxirane bis-glycidyl phenylphosphate (BGPP), and a diamine, bis(4-aminophenyl)phenylphosphate (BAPP), were synthesized. Both of these two phosphorus-containing compounds lead to phosphate-containing epoxy resin via curing reaction. The kinetics of the curing reaction of BGPP with various curing agents, including BAPP, were studied. The introduction of electron-withdrawing group into the compounds increases the BGPP and decreases the BAPP reactivity in the curing reaction. The thermal and the weight loss behavior of the cured epoxy resins were studied by TGA. High char yields (32–52%) as well as high limiting oxygen index (LOI) values (34–49) of these phosphorylated resins were found, confirming the usefulness of these phosphorus-containing epoxy resins as flame retardants. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35: 565–574, 1997.

Connection admission control for mobile multiple-class personal communications networks

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the connection admission control problem in mobile personal communications networks. Since user mobility and multimedia traffic are important factors in personal communications networks, in contrast to other studies on this aspect which either focused on only single-class call connections or ignored user mobility, our study directly addresses the connection admission control for multiple-class calls with user mobility. A generic class of coordinate-convex admission control policies is considered. An efficient numerical method is proposed to derive the connection-level quality of service (QoS), and is verified with computer simulation results. The results obtained show that, besides offered load, user mobility can have a great impact on the connection-level QoS. The proposed analysis may be employed in a network design tool for studying the admission control policy and for selecting system parameters to satisfy the required connection-level QoS.

The mechanism of 2,2,2-trichloroacetic acid-induced protein precipitation

Abstract: The mechanism of 2,2,2-trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-induced precipitation of proteins is studied. The TCA-induced protein precipitation curves are observed to be U-shaped. It is bound that the protein-precipitate-inducing effects of TCA are due to the three chloro groups in the molecule. Using cardiotoxin III (CTX III) isolated from the Taiwan cobra (Naja naja atra), as a model protein, we attempt to understand the molecular basis for the TCA-induced effects. Employing circular dichroism, proton-deuterium exchange in conjunction with conventional 2D NMR techniques, and 1-anilino naphthalene-8-sulfonate-binding experiments, we demonstrate that CTX III is in a partially structured state similar to the 'A state' in 3% w/v TCA. It is postulated that the formation of this 'sticky' partial structured 'A state' in the TCA-induced unfolding pathway is responsible for the acid-induced protein precipitation.

Photoassisted titanium dioxide mediated degradation of organophosphorus pesticides by hydrogen peroxide

Abstract: The photooxidation of organophosphorus pesticides (OPP) such as methamidophos, phorate, malathion, diazion and EPN, was investigated in UVTiO 2 , UVH 2 O 2 and UVTIO 2  2 O 2 systems. Apparent first-order rate constants were used to describe the photodecomposition behaviors of OPP. Batch results demonstrate that the degradation efficiencies of OPP increased in the order of phorate > methamidophos > malathion ≈ diazion > EPN. The photooxidation of methamidophos and phorate is primarily attributed to direct photolysis. Whereas the presence of TiO 2 promotes the degradation efficiencies of diazion, malathion and EPN. Hydrogen peroxide was found to be an intermediate in UVTiO 2 system during the photocatalytical reaction process. Longer irradiation decreased H 2 O 2 concentration due to the high electron-hole recombination rate on the surface of TiO 2 . Adding H 2 O 2 is more effective on the photocatalytic oxidation of OPP than TiO 2 . Threefold to tenfold of the quantum efficiency of the UVH 2 O 2 system was obtained for the UVTiO 2 system. Moreover, the quantum efficiencies for degradation of OPP decreased when light intensity is increased from 100 to 450 W, although increasing light intensity can increase the apparent first-order rate constants of OPP.

Three-scale factorization theorem and effective field theory: Analysis of nonleptonic heavy meson decays

Abstract: We develop a perturbative QCD factorization theorem which is compatible with effective field theory. The factorization involves three scales: an infrared cutoff of order $\Lambda_{\rm QCD}$, a hard scale of order the $B$ meson mass, and an ultraviolet cutoff of order the $W$ boson mass. Our approach is renormalization group invariant and moderates the scale-dependence problem in effective field theory. Applying this formalism to exclusive nonleptonic $B$ meson decays, we clarify the controversy over the Bauer-Stech-Wirbel parameters $a_2/a_1$ for charm and bottom decays. It is found that the nonfactorizable contribution plays an important role in the explanation of the sign and magnitude of $a_2/a_1$.

Snake Venom Cardiotoxins-Structure, Dynamics, Function and Folding

Abstract: Snake cardiotoxins are highly basic (pI>10) small molecular weight (∼6.5 kDa), all β-sheet proteins. They exhibit a broad spectrum of interesting biological activities. The secondary structural ele...

Economic and social correlates of regional suicide rates: A pooled cross-section and time-series analysis

Abstract: This paper uses a cross-sectionally hetero scedastic and time-wise autoregressive technique to examine the pooled suicide rates of 23 cities and counties in Taiwan from 1983 to 1993. A combination of economic and sociological variables were found to account for a significant proportion of the variations in suicide rates across regions and over time. Economic variables appeared to have a greater impact on regional suicide rates than sociological correlates. In particular, the level of income per capita in a region stood out as the most important predictor of the suicide rate. This study has also uncovered gender differences in the effect of some correlates on regional suicide rates, such as the proportion of the poverty population in the region and the presence of a local life-line center.

A nonlinear adaptive H/sup /spl infin// tracking control design in robotic systems via neural networks

Abstract: An adaptive neural-network tracking control with a guaranteed H/sup /spl infin// performance is proposed for robotic systems with plant uncertainties and external disturbances. A neural-network system is introduced to learn these unknown (or uncertain) dynamics by an adaptive algorithm, Moreover, the effects on the tracking error due to the approximation error via the adaptive neural network must be attenuated to a prescribed level, i.e. an H/sup /spl infin// tracking performance is achieved. Hence, in this study, both the H/sup /spl infin// tracking theory and adaptive neural-network control scheme are combined together to achieve the nonlinear adaptive H/sup /spl infin// tracking control design for uncertain or unknown robotic systems. The developed control scheme is smooth and semiglobal as well as very simple and computationally efficient, since it does not require a knowledge of either the mathematical model or the parameterization of the robotic dynamics. Finally, extensive simulations are given to illustrate the tracking performance of a two-link robotic manipulator with the proposed adaptive neural H/sup /spl infin// control design.