Six 19,20-epoxycytochalasans from endophytic Diaporthe sp. RJ-47.

Two new cytochalasins, deacetyl-19-epi-cytochalasin P1 (1), deacetyl-19,20-epoxycytochalasin D (2) were isolated from the endophytic fungus Diaporthe sp. RJ-47, along with four known compounds deacetyl-5,6-dihydro-7-oxo-19,20-epoxycytochalasin C (3), 19,20-epoxycytochalasin Q (4), 19,20-epoxycytochalasin C (5) and deacetyl-19,20-epoxy cytochalasin C (6). Their structures were unambiguously elucidated on the basis of the comprehensive analysis of extensive spectroscopic data. The antimicrobial effects of these compounds were evaluated.

Hyperjapones A-E, Terpenoid Polymethylated Acylphloroglucinols from Hypericum japonicum.

Hyperjapones A-E (1-5), novel terpenoid polymethylated acylphloroglucinols (TPAPs) with unusual architectures, were characterized from Hypericum japonicum. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined by comprehensive spectroscopic data and X-ray diffractions. Compound 1 was obtained as a racemic mixture and was separated by a column coated with cellulose tris(4-methylbenzoate) after attempts with various chiral materials. Compounds 1, 2, and 4 exhibited moderate antitumor activities in vitro.

[Development of a Laser On-Line Cement Raw Material Analysis Equipment].

In engineering construction, cement quality directly affects the safety of construction projects. So it is necessary that we use qualified cement in the engineering structure. It is of great signification that a method detects cement raw material rapidly to adjust the mixture ratio of raw ores to ensure the cement quality. Traditional detection method needs sampling, sample preparation and test, etc. With many procedures, the test results are seriously lagged behind the production process. This paper introduces a set of online analysis equipment to determinate elemental composition of cement powder timely based on laser induced breakdown spectroscopy. This equipment is composed of a LIBS detection system and a pneumatic system. The equipment can achieve the real-time measurement for it needn't sample preparation. Thus, it can guide cement raw material proportioning in time. In this paper, we have quantitatively analyzed the main components of Al2O3, CaO, Fe2O3, MgO and SiO2 in the cement raw materials using the full spectrum normalization method as well as the support vector machine. The corresponding maximum absolute errors were 0.34%, 0.35%, 0.07%, 0.14%, and 0.55%, respectively. Results showed that the measurement results of the newly developed LIBS equipment are in accord with those of the conventional chemical method. Furthermore, the measurement precision is in line with X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry. It is confirmed that the LIBS technique could be a prospect method for determination of elemental composition in the cement production industries.

[Influence of specification on chemical composition of dissolution and hepatocytes toxicity of Polygonum multiflorum].

According to different toxicities of various aqueous extracts of Polygonum multiflorum on hepatocyte, the impacts of chemical composition on the safety of P. multiforum was studied. In this study, 8 main chemical compositions in aqueous extracts of P. multiflorum were determined by the established HPLC method; at the same time, the inhibition ratios of different aqueous extracts of P. multiflorum on L02 cell were determined. Afterwards, the potential compounds related to the toxicity of P. multiforum were tentatively found through a multiple correlation analysis. The results showed that P. multiforum with different chemical compositions exhibited great differences in dissolution. The hepatocyte toxicity of P. multiflorum powder was much greater than P. multiflorum lumps. In addition, three constituents closely related to toxicity of P. multiflorum were found by multiple correlation analysis. The study revealed that chemical composition of P. multiflorum is closely related to the hepatotoxicity, and the hepatotoxicity of P. multiflorum powder is greater than that of other dosage forms. This study indicates that P. multiflorum with different chemical compositions show varying toxicity, which therefore shall be given high attention.

[High-Sensitive Carbon Dioxide Detection Using Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy with a 2.0 µm Distributed Feedback Laser].

A carbon dioxide (CO2) sensor is developed using quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) with a 2.0 µm distributed feedback diode laser. The detection is based on a 2f wavelength-modulation spectroscopy approach by dithering and scanning the laser current. The laser modulation depth is optimized at normal atmosphere pressure and room temperature. The influence of the H2O presence in the sample gas mixture on the CO2 sensor performance is also investigated. The results show that, with 1% CO2 concentration, the H2O in the concentration ranges of 0 to 0.2% has an effect on the CO2 signal amplitude and phase, and the largest amplitude difference is ~2.1 times. When the H2O concentration is over 0.2%, the CO2 signal amplitude is saturated and remains steady. Atmospheric CO2 concentration is well measured using the optimal sensor parameters. Benefiting from the strong absorption line intensity at 4989.97 cm(-1), a detection limit of 19 ppm (1σ, 300 ms averaging time) is achieved, which corresponds to a normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient of 4.71 × 10(-9) cm(-1) · W · Hz(-1/2).

[Research on locking of the output power of pulsed laser in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy].

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) as a rapid spectral analysis technology shows the outstanding application foreground and research value in coal quality on-line monitoring. In the practical application of this technology, the pulsed laser power fluctuation leads to the worse performance of long term stability, so a closed-loop feedback pulsed laser power locking device is set up, using laser power feedback signal to control and lock Nd:YAG laser output power. The laser power locking experiments are investigated in the same pre-set value with different splitting ratios, the different laser output power with the same proportion and the long time running modes. The results show that the beam split ration has little impact to the stability of the laser power, and the smaller split ration leads to the faster stabilization. This device can keep the output power of the pulsed laser being locked in the pre-set range for a long-term running, RSD values decrease from 2.4% of free-running to 1.1%.

[Experimental investigations of cavity ring-down spectroscopy under different threshold circuit design].

In the present paper, the authors simply describe the principle of cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) measurement technology and introduce a threshold circuit, based on 555 timer IC (integrated circuit), applied to CRDS. And we verify the feasibility of the circuit. By means of changing the input resistor and input capacity, we analyzee the influence of threshold circuit characteristics on single ring-down event, and found that the greater the input capacitance, and the smaller the input impedance of circuit, the more serious the distortion of measurement of ring-down curve, especially when the resistance is less than 50 omega the ring-down time produces very big change. Then we collected and analyzed the C2H2 absorption signal at 6 531.7805 cm(-1) with different input resistance and input capacitance, and fitted the absorption line with Voigt profile. We found that the change of the input capacitance and resistance caused the distortion of fitting curve. Finally We give the optimal design of threshold circuit: the input impedance of the threshold circuit should be great, minimum of 100 omega, the capacitive reactance should be as small as possible, preferably below 1 nf, at the same time it should be ensured that the threshold of the circuit time constant is much smaller than ring-down time. The experiment research on CRDS technique application has important reference value to threshold circuit design.

[Theoretical analysis of saturated spectral line shape of noise immune cavity enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy].

In the present paper a theoretical description of the line shapes of frequency modulated noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE-OHMS) under saturated conditions is presented. Expressions for both Doppler broadened and Doppler free frequency modulated NICE-OHMS signals at their absorption and dispersion phases are given. The modulation frequency, saturation parameter and frequency modulation index are set to 384 MHz, 10 and 0.2, respectively in the simulation. Based on the simulated line shape curves, in the absorption detection phase there are four sub Doppler structures existing in the spectral envelope of absorption signals of two sidebands, and in the dispersion phase there are five sub-Doppler structures existing in the spectral envelope of dispersion signals of carrier and two sidebands. The sub-Doppler structure originates from the fact that two counter propagating waves interact with the same group of molecules and one can act as a detecting beam and the other can act as a pumping beam. Therefore the sub-Doppler structure can appear at laser carrier and sidebands frequency and their middle frequencies of carrier and sidebands. Since NICE-OHMS absorption signal is only related to the absorption of sidebands the small saturation parameters of two sidebands can not saturate the Doppler broadened signal too much Although the NICE-OHMS dispersion signal includes the dispersion of carrier and two sidebands, the amplitude of Doppler broadened signal does not have so much influence by saturation except for the Doppler free signal. Therefore NICE-OHMS technique is a good candidate for the high sensitive detection of gas medium but with high selectivity under the condition of low pressure. Finally the dependences of NICE-OHMS line shape on the detection phase and saturation parameter are simulated and analyzed, the results of which nicely agree with the existing experimental results. The researches on NICE-OHMS line shapes will help explain the phenomena of related experiment.

[The research on residual amplitude modulation characteristics in fiber frequency modulation spectroscopy].

Frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) not only can be used to simultaneously measure the absorption and dispersion of atoms and molecules, but is the key technology of the noise immunity cavity enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE-OHMS). The optical devices or the instability of output light polarization of the laser source will induce the residual amplitude modulation (RAM) in the FMS. RAM greatly limits the FMS technology application in trace gas detection, so the research on the RAM characteristics in the FMS has very important significance. Firstly, the lineshape of FMS without absorption was analyzed, and the impact factors on the RAM were acquired, then the influence of input and output polarization direction and electro-optical modulation (EOM) temperature was measured, respectively. They all have linear relationship with the RAM. The results verify the theoretical analysis and provide the basis for reducing the RAM and other related working.

[Theoretical analysis of the residual amplitude modulation of frequency modulation strong absorption spectroscopy].

In the present paper a phase controllable waveplate model was applied to the analysis of polarization maintaining fiber. Under the temperatures of 24 degrees C and 26.8 degrees C there is no residual amplitude modulation (RAM) existing in frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) when performing the measurement of fiber temperature dependence on the RAM. However, the temperature setting can not reduce the background long term drift and a servo feedback suggested by N. C. Wong and J. L. Hall can be used to actively reduce the RAM. The error signal for feedback is from the dispersion background signal of FMS without gas sample. The variation of RAM induced by the temperature changing of PM fiber is the main reason for the long term background drift of dispersion signal of FMS.

[IM/FM phase delay time measurement method of laser for TDLAS].

The present paper presents an method of using fiber Michelson interferometer to measure the Intensity-frequency (IM/FM) phase delay change of the laser, it could realize the phase delay time measurement, while modulating the laser. Experimental results show that the laser output signal intensity-frequency (IM/FM) phase delay of the laser has some differences from the theoretical value. The proposed method can be used to compensate for real-time signal strength-frequency (IM/FM) phase delay effect on the gas concentration measurement results.

[Research on the identification method of LTE condition in the laser-induced plasma].

Because of the poor accuracy of the commonly used Boltzmann plot method and double-line method, the Boltzmann-Maxwell distribution combined with the Saha-Eggert formula is proposed to improve the measurement accuracy of the plasma temperature; the simple algorithm for determining the linewidth of the emission line was established according to the relationship between the area and the peak value of the Gaussian formula, and the plasma electron density was calculated through the Stark broadening of the spectral lines; the method for identifying the plasma local thermal equilibrium (LTE) condition was established based on the McWhirter criterion. The experimental results show that with the increase in laser energy, the plasma temperature and electron density increase linearly; when the laser energy changes within 127~510 mJ, the plasma electron density changes in the range of 1.30532X10(17)~1.87322X10(17) cm(-3), the plasma temperature changes in the range of 12586~12957 K, and all the plasma generated in this experiment meets the LTE condition threshold according to the McWhirter criterion. For element Al, there exist relatively few observable lines at the same ionization state in the spectral region of the spectrometer, thus it is unable to use the Boltzmann plane method to calculate temperature. One hundred sets of Al plasma spectra were used for temperature measurement by employing the Saha-Boltzmann method and the relative standard deviation (RSD) value is 0.4%, and compared with 1.3% of the double line method, the accuracy has been substantially increased. The methods proposed can be used for rapid plasma temperature and electron density calculation, the LTE condition identification, and are valuable in studies such as free calibration, spectral effectiveness analysis, spectral temperature correction, the best collection location determination, LTE condition distribution in plasma, and so on.

The association of Chinese hospital work environment with nurse burnout, job satisfaction, and intention to leave.

The purpose of this study was to describe nurse burnout, job satisfaction, and intention to leave and to explore the relationship of work environment to nursing outcomes in a sample of 9,698 nurses from 181 hospitals in China. Nurses reported moderate levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and high levels of reduced personal accomplishment. Nearly one-fifth of the nurses reported high levels of burnout on all three dimensions. Forty-five percent of the nurses were dissatisfied with their current job; these nurses were most dissatisfied with their salary. Five percent of nurses reported an intention to leave. Nurses reporting mixed and good work environments were less likely to report high burnout, job dissatisfaction, and intention to leave compared with those in poor work environments. The results suggest that high burnout and low job satisfaction are prominent problems for Chinese nurses, and improving work environment might be an effective strategy for better nursing outcomes in Chinese hospitals.

Chukfuransins A-D, four new phragmalin limonoids with ß-furan ring involved in skeleton reconstruction from Chukrasia tabularis.

Four new phragmalin limonoids (chukfuransins A-D) were isolated from the twigs and leaves of Chukrasia tabularis. Chukfuransins A (1) and B (2) feature a unique C-15/C-20 linkage proposed to be built by a biogenetic pathway involving Michael addition. Chukfuransins C (3) and D (4) feature the C-15/C-21 linkage. Their structures and absolute configurations were established by NMR techniques and X-ray crystallographic analysis.

[Experimental research on optimization of QEPAS based spectrophone].

The present paper studied the impact of geometry dimensions, located angle and detection position of a quartz tuning fork (QTF) on the sensitivity of QEPAS system. Ten kinds of QTFs were employed to compare the sensitivity with each other, and the results show that the QTF with a wedge-shape top obtains a higher quality factor and turns to be 50% more sensitive than the ones with a regular cuboid top when detecting the water concentration at 7 306 cm-1. By studying the located angle of a QTF, it was found that it nearly makes no difference, but more noise is introduced when there is an angle phi between the laser beam and QTF. The optimal detection position of a QTF appears to be 3. 1 cm away from the bottom of the QTF under the case of the normal incidence. At last the influence of external contamination on the resonant frequency of a QTF is discussed. The authors found that the frequency of the QTF decreases along with the contamination increasing. A novel method to lower the frequency of the QTF is proposed. This may make a contribution to the QEPAS used in detecting trace gas with a low V-T relaxation.

[Theoretical analysis of the residual amplitude modulation of frequency modulation strong absorption spectroscopy].

The application of frequency modulation (FM) spectroscopy technology in the trace gas detection is greatly restricted by the residual amplitude modulation (RAM) which induced by the birefringence of the electro-optic modulator (EOM) and the misaligned linear polarization direction of laser to the EOM. Based on the interaction between the laser field and crystal, a line-shape expression of the FM spectroscopy with RAM is obtained. The angle between the polarization direction of input light and the principle axis of EOM, theta, the phase difference between the two principle axes of electro-optic crystal, delta phi, and the modulation index FM, beta, are the major factors to influence the lineshape. The larger theta and larger delta phi are, the stronger distortion of the lineshape is. Meanwhile a DC offset exists in the FM dispersion spectroscopy which is influenced by theta and delta phi. Finally a servo control of theta and delta phi is suggested to reduce the RAM. These phenomenon and the analysis of the lineshape provide a necessary technical support for the fiber components based FM spectroscopy.

A new submerged split-thickness skin graft technique to rebuild peri-implant keratinized soft tissue in composite flap reconstructed mandible or maxilla.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to introduce our preliminary experience on a submerged split-thickness skin graft (STSG) technique combined with secondary vestibuloplasty to rebuild keratinized peri-implant soft tissue and oral vestibule for patients with large oromandibular defects reconstructed by composite flaps. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Five patients were enrolled in this study. Stage 1 was submerged STSG and simultaneous implant placement. Stage 2 was the uncovering of the STSG and vestibuloplasty. The implant-borne fixed denture was inserted after this 2-stage treatment. All patients were followed for at least 12 months (average 18 months). RESULT: Eighteen implants were placed. The rebuilt peri-implant keratinized soft tissue was healthy clinically. The STSG graft had firm adherence to the underlying periosteum. The vestibule had adequate depth to maintain local hygiene. All implants were osseointegrated and all implant-borne prostheses were functioning well. CONCLUSION: Submerged STSG technique combined with secondary vestibuloplasty may become a feasible and effective solution to rebuild keratinized soft tissue before dental implant restoration.

Nurse staffing levels make a difference on patient outcomes: a multisite study in Chinese hospitals.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between nurse staffing and patient outcomes in hospitals in mainland China. METHODS: The study was conducted in 181 hospitals across all of the eight economic zones in mainland China using a four-stage sampling design. Two instruments, the China Nurse Survey and the patient satisfaction measurement from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, were employed in data collection. In this article, 7,802 nurse surveys and 5,430 patient surveys from 600 medical and surgical units were analyzed. RESULTS: The adjusted joint effects of nurse staffing on patient outcomes from logistic regression analyses showed that more nursing staff per patient had statistically significant positive effects on all necessary nursing care, nurses' reports of quality of care, their confidence on patients' self-care ability on discharge from the hospital, patient adverse events, as well as patients' report of satisfaction. When the nurse-to-patient ratio (total number of nurses on all shifts on the unit divided by total number of patients who stay on the unit) increased to the 0.5-<0.6 category, most patient outcomes were significantly improved, considering hospital and patient factors and nurse skill mix in the logistic regression models. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide evidence on how inadequate nurse staffing might result in missed but needed nursing care and negative patient outcomes, while better staffing levels could be an effective strategy for improving patient outcomes. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: We recommend that the nurse-to-patient ratio on medical and surgical units in Chinese hospitals be increased to at least 0.5-0.6 so as to secure patient safety and the quality of health services.

[Analysis of software for identifying spectral line of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy based on LabVIEW].

Self-designed identifying software for LIBS spectral line was introduced. Being integrated with LabVIEW, the soft ware can smooth spectral lines and pick peaks. The second difference and threshold methods were employed. Characteristic spectrum of several elements matches the NIST database, and realizes automatic spectral line identification and qualitative analysis of the basic composition of sample. This software can analyze spectrum handily and rapidly. It will be a useful tool for LIBS.

[Research on accurate measurement of oxygen content in coal using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in air environment].

A technique about accurate measurement of oxygen content in coal in air environment using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is introduced in the present paper. Coal samples were excited by the laser, and plasma spectra were obtained. Combining internal standard method, temperature correction method and multi-line methods, the oxygen content of coal samples was precisely measured. The measurement precision is not less than 1.37% for oxygen content in coal analysis, so is satisfied for the requirement of coal-fired power plants in coal analysis. This method can be used in surveying, environmental protection, medicine, materials, archaeological and food safety, biochemical and metallurgy application.