Human gene therapy is currently seeing an increase in the use of plasmid (pDNA)-based vectors as a preferred choice of vehicle for delivery of the therapeutic gene into the body. In this regard, the environmental impacts of the waste streams from the possible industrial scale manufacture of pDNA require more detailed assessment. In this study, an initial assessment was made of the nutrient phosphorus (P) inputs to four fermentation processes recommended for the industrial scale production of pDNA for the purposes of gene therapy. Phosphorus inputs to each of the four selected fermentation processes ranged from approximately 60 mg l?1 up to 3000 mg l?1 in the fresh media. However, the spent media waste from each of the processes exhibited only a minor reduction in the phosphorus concentrations indicating minimal uptake of P by the microorganisms. This unutilised excess level of phosphorus nutrient within the waste streams poses a strong potential for environmental impact. Waste minimisation studies were undertaken on one model fermentation process with the aim of reducing unnecessary phosphorus input. An optimised media containing a 98% reduction in added P to the media was developed. This phosphorus-minimised media had little quantitative effect upon cell biomass produced and no effect upon the quantity or quality of pDNA produced, relative to the control media. The reduction in P requirement results in an overall cost savings of 12% per fermentation batch, would simplify subsequent wastewater treatment and would contribute to slowing the depletion rate of a valuable, finite natural resource. 相似文献
Lizards are now relatively well known from the Yixian Formation of northeastern China. In this study, we describe a juvenile
lizard from a fossil horizon at Daohugou, Inner Mongolia. These beds predate the Yixian Formation, and are probably Late Jurassic
or earliest Cretaceous in age. The new specimen thus documents the first lizard material from the Daohugou locality and is
the earliest lizard skeleton from China. Comparisons with developmental stages of modern lizards suggest the Daohugou lizard
is a hatchling. Although tiny, the specimen is notable in preserving exquisite skin impressions showing the variation in scalation
across the body, the shape and position of the cloacal outlet, and details of the manus and pes. These are the earliest recorded
lepidosaurian skin traces. In its general proportions and the possession of paired frontals, the small Daohugou lizard resembles
both the Yixian taxon Yabeinosaurus tenuis and the questionable Jeholacerta formosa, but it differs from the latter in scalation and, based on other characters, may be distinct from both. 相似文献
The development and implementation of a microstructure-based finite element model for the machining of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites is presented. A new approach to interfacial modeling is introduced where the material interface is modeled using continuum elements, allowing failure to take place in either tension or compression. The model is capable of describing the fiber failure mode occurring throughout the chip formation process. Characteristic fiber length in the chips, and machining forces for microstructures with fibers orientated at 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° are examined. For model validation purposes, the model-based machining performance predictions are compared to the machining responses from a set of orthogonal machining experiments. A parametric study is presented that identifies a robust tool geometry, which minimizes the effects of fiber orientation and size on the machining forces. 相似文献
Tool life has been a vital issue in machining titanium alloys. Recently, an atomization-based cutting fluid (ACF) application has been found to be an effective approach for cooling and lubrication in micromachining operations. In this study, an ACF spray system is developed for macro-scale turning of Ti–6Al–4V. The spray system is designed to minimize interaction between the fluid droplets, and the gas nozzle to control the divergence of the fluid droplets. Experiments are conducted to study the effect of five specific ACF spray parameters including fluid flow rate, spray distance, impingement angle, and type and pressure level of the droplet carrier gas on cutting forces, tool life, and chip characteristics. It has been observed that the combination of lower pressure (150 psi) air-mixed CO2 with a higher flow rate (20 ml/min) and a larger spray distance (35 mm) produces a significantly longer tool life and broken chips. The results also reveal that the ACF spray system can extend tool life up to 40–50% over flood cooling. 相似文献
Fever can reduce mortality in infected animals. Yet, despite its fitness-enhancing qualities, fever often varies among animals. We used several approaches to examine this variation in insects. Texas field crickets (Gryllus texensis) exhibited a modest fever (1 °C increase in preferred body temperature, Tpref) after injection of prostaglandin, which putatively mediates fever in both vertebrates and invertebrates, but they did not exhibit fever during chronic exposure to heat-killed bacteria. Further, chronic food limitation and mating status did not affect Tpref or the expression of behavioural fever, suggesting limited context dependency of fever in G. texensis. Our meta-analysis of behavioural fever studies indicated that behavioural fever occurs in many insects, but it is not ubiquitous. Thus, both empirical and meta-analytical results suggest that the fever response in insects ‘is widespread, although certainly not inevitable’ (Moore 2002). We highlight the need for future work focusing on standardizing an experimental protocol to measure behavioural fever, understanding the specific mechanism(s) underlying fever in insects, and examining whether ecological or physiological costs often outweigh the benefits of fever and can explain the sporadic nature of fever in insects. 相似文献
Robust decision making, a growing approach to infrastructure planning under climate change uncertainty, aims to evaluate infrastructure performance across a wide range of possible conditions and identify the most robust strategies and designs. Robust decision making seeks to find potential weaknesses in systems in order to gird these through a combination of policy, infrastructure, and, in some cases, resilient or recovery strategies. A system can be explored by simulating many combinations of uncertain climatic and economic parameters; statistical clustering can identify parameter thresholds that lead to unacceptable performance. Often, however, uncertain variables are correlated, complicating the robustness analysis and casting doubt upon the thresholds identified. Here, we evaluate the impact of ordinary, hidden correlations in uncertainty parameters that drive simulation in robust decision making. We induced correlations between temperature and key climatic and economic parameters. We tested correlations of 0%, 30%, 60%, and 90% between temperature and the absolute value of precipitation, coefficient of variation, and downward surface solar radiation, and negative correlations between temperature and net variable benefit and the discount rate. We used a calibrated simulation model of a dam system regulating Lake Tana, Ethiopia, to compute the agricultural supply and net present value of the reservoirs. As the correlation strength increased, the results converged in a smaller region. We found that strong correlations depressed robustness scores of lower-performing alternatives and conversely increased results of the higher-performing alternatives. As the correlations increased in favorable alternatives, the failure thresholds became more extreme, speciously suggesting that only intense changes would result in poor performance. This overall analysis highlights the degree to which correlations of an interconnected climatic and economic system can impact outcomes of robust decision making and suggests methods to avoid confounding results.