Abstract In order to study the spatial changes in the Yellow River basin, a new nonparametric method called the 0-1 test algorithm is introduced to detect the change rule between runoff and basin area. The test approach has the virtue of applying directly to the time series without phase-space reconstruction. This thesis takes the logistic map as an example, the numerical results demonstrate the advantages of the method. Then, the runoff time series (2002-2009) collected by the six hydrologic stations (Tangnaihai, Lanzhou, Toudaoguai, Longkou, Sanmenxia and Huayuankou) of Yellow River, are selected to analyze the laws of evolution in different spatial scales. The asymptotic growth rates of Kc are 0.8751, 0.8985, 0.9783, 0.9793, 0.9848 and 0.9976, respectively. Multiple spatial scales runoff data of Yellow River Basin shows chaotic characteristic. The minimum value of Kc is in the upper reaches of the Yellow River (Tangnaihai). The maximum value of Kc is in the lower reaches of the Yellow River (Huayuankou). The spatial runoff process changes greatly in temporal and spatial scales. And the drainage area is an important factor in causing chaos variation. The conclusion illustrates the feasibility of this method and provides scientific data for runoff prediction.

Microwave sulphating roasting was applied to zinc oxide fume from a fuming furnace for the removal of F and Cl. The effect of important parameters such as roasting temperature, holding time. and vapour flow were investigated and the process conditions were optimized using response surface methodology. The results showed that the effects of roasting temperature and holding time on the removal efficiency of F and Cl were most significant, and the effect of vapour flow is of much lower importance. The defluorination and dechlorination efficiency increased rapidly as the roasting temperature and holding time increased, while the vapour flow had little effect. The defluorination efficiency could reach 91.3% while the dechlorination efficiency could reach 89.5%, under the process conditions of roasting temperature 655°C, holding time 65.2 minutes, and vapour flow of 6.8 ml/min. The results showed that the removal of F and Cl from zinc oxide fume using a microwave direct roasting process is feasible and reliable.

Lipopolysaccharide exerts many effects on many cell lines, including cytokine secretion, and cell apoptosis and necrosis. We investigated the in vitro effects of lipopolysaccharide on apoptosis of cultured human dental pulp cells and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax. Dental pulp cells showed morphologies typical of apoptosis after exposure to lipopolysaccharide. Flow cytometry showed that the rate of apoptosis of human dental pulp cells increased with increasing lipopolysaccharide concentration. Compared with controls, lipopolysaccharide promoted pulp cell apoptosis (P < 0.05) from 0.1 to 100 μg/mL but not at 0.01 μg/mL. Cell apoptosis was statistically higher after exposure to lipopolysaccharide for 3 days compared with 1 day, but no difference was observed between 3 and 5 days. Immunohistochemistry showed that expression of Bax and Bcl-2 was enhanced by lipopolysaccharide at high concentrations, but no evident expression was observed at low concentrations (0.01 and 0.1 μg/mL) or in the control groups. In conclusion, lipopolysaccharide induced dental pulp cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, but apoptosis did not increase with treatment duration. The expression of the apoptosis regulatory proteins Bax and Bcl-2 was also up-regulated in pulp cells after exposure to a high concentration of lipopolysaccharide.

Phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure occurs during the cell death program and fluorescein-labeled lactadherin permits the detection of PS exposure earlier than annexin V in suspended cell lines. Adherent cell lines were studied for this apoptosis-associated phenomenon to determine if PS probing methods are reliable because specific membrane damage may occur during harvesting. Apoptosis was induced in the human tongue squamous carcinoma cell line (Tca8113) and the adenoid cystic carcinoma cell line (ACC-2) by arsenic trioxide. Cells were harvested with a modified procedure and labeled with lactadherin and/or annexin V. PS exposure was localized by confocal microscopy and apoptosis was quantified by flow cytometry. The detachment procedure without trypsinization did not induce cell damage. In competition binding experiments, phospholipid vesicles competed for more than 95 and 90% of lactadherin but only about 75 and 70% of annexin V binding to Tca8113 and ACC-2 cells. These data indicate that PS exposure occurs in three stages during the cell death program and that fluorescein-labeled lactadherin permitted the detection of early PS exposure. A similar pattern of PS exposure has been observed in two malignant cell lines with different adherence, suggesting that this pattern of PS exposure is common in adherent cells. Both lactadherin and annexin V could be used in adherent Tca8113 and ACC-2 cell lines when an appropriate harvesting procedure was used. Lactadherin is more sensitive than annexin V for the detection of PS exposure as the physical structure of PS in these blebs and condensed apoptotic cell surface may be more conducive to binding lactadherin than annexin V.