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Biomedical subjects

J P Hsu

Publications and source records attributed to J P Hsu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Micromechanics of wastewater sludge floc: force-deformation relationship at cyclic freezing and thawing.

This study examined shape changes in two typical wastewater flocs subjected to cyclic freezing and thawing and the associated force exerted by the ice front. While freezing, the engulfing ice front gradually pulled the floc apart. Subsequent thawing only partially restored the floc's shape. By the Maxwell model, used to interpret gross shape deformations, both flocs were visco-elastic objects exhibiting time-varying rheological characteristics which were more viscous than elastic. Detailed observations of floc 1 deformation demonstrated a two-stage force-displacement relationship. Following 1 cycle of freezing and thawing, the interior structure of the floc deteriorated and the force required to elongating a unit length of floc decreased by 60%. The original floc 2 had a dense "core" and loose "tail"; the core was more resistant to deformation under normal stress than the loose tail. Although both flocs had similar shapes and sizes and were acquired from the same activated sludge stream at a wastewater treatment plant, their rheological behaviors differed substantially. A comprehensive theoretical model for freezing and thawing processes should incorporate these rheological characteristics as they corresponded to observed structural changes and reduction in bound water content in sludge following a cyclic treatment of freezing and thawing.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Electrophoretic mobility of a particle covered with an ion-penetrable membrane.

The electrophoretic behavior of a planar particle covered by an ion-penetrable membrane, which simulates a biological entity, is investigated. We show that, in general, a point charge model will overestimate the electrophoretic mobility of a particle and the deviation increases with the increase in the concentration of fixed charge and with the decrease in the thickness of membrane layer. As in the case of a point charge model, the present model also predicts a local maximum in the absolute mobility as the thickness of membrane layer varies. If the sizes of counterions of various valences are the same, then the lower the valence of counterions, the larger the mobility, and the larger the counterions, the greater the mobility. The latter is consistent with the experimental observations in the literature. For the level of the concentration of fixed charge examined, the effect of coions on the mobility is negligible.

Colloids↗
PubMed2000

The role of cell density in the survival of cultured cerebellar granule neurons.

The dependence for survival of cerebellar granule neurons on the cell density was examined both experimentally and theoretically. The results of batch experiments revealed that the cell survival index (CSI) was inappreciable, if cell density was below a critical level. If cell density exceeded this critical value, CSI increased with the increase in cell density. In addition, CSI was significantly increased by using a conditioned medium from the dense cultures. This suggests that not only cell density promotes survival of neurons, but also an increased concentration of growth factors produced by neurons has a direct effect on the survival of the neurons. A quantitative model describing the distribution of the growth factor at different cell densities was proposed to investigate the role of cell density in the survival of the neurons. We showed the existence of a critical level for cell density, and good agreement in the improvement of CSI was found between the theoretical prediction and the experimental result. Finally, the average concentration of growth factor necessary for cell survival based on our model was in a reasonable range compared to the practice of the addition of neurotrophic factors to the medium of cultured cerebellar granule neurons.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Electrophoretic mobility of concentrated spheres with a charge-regulated surface.

The electrophoretic behavior of a concentrated spherical colloidal particle is modeled theoretically under the Debye-Hückel condition. The surface of a particle contains dissociable functional groups, the dissociation of which yields negative fixed charges. The model derived is applicable to an arbitrarily thick double layer. We show that the absolute surface potential decreases with the increase in kappa(a); kappa and a are the reciprocal Debye length and the radius of a particle, respectively. Moreover, the variation of the absolute electrophoretic mobility as a function of kappa(a) has a maximum.

Electrophoresis↗
PubMed2000

Electrokinetic flow in a planar slit covered by an ion-penetrable charged membrane.

The electrokinetic flow of an electrolyte solution in a planar slit covered by an ion-penetrable charged membrane layer is analyzed theoretically. An approximate analytical expression for the spatial variation in the electrical potential is derived, and the electroosmotic velocity, the total electric current, and the streaming potential of the system under consideration are evaluated. The effects of epsilon' (relative permittivity of liquid phase/relative permittivity of membrane layer), eta' (viscosity of liquid phase/viscosity of membrane layer) and the valence of anions (coions) on the volumetric flow rate and total current are examined. We show that the effect of the valence of cations (counterions) on the volumetric flow rate is less significant than that of epsilon' and that of eta'. However, the effect of epsilon' on the total current is less significant than that of the valence of cations and that of eta'. The variation of total current as a function of ionic strength is found to have a local minimum, regardless of whether a pressure gradient is applied or not. The absolute streaming potential has a local maximum as the concentration of fixed charge varies, which was not found in previous studies.

Electrons↗
PubMed1996

Electrophoretic mobility of biological cells in asymmetric electrolyte solutions.

The electrophoretic mobility of a particle covered by a membrane in an a:b electrolyte solution is modeled theoretically. The membrane, which simulates the surface of a biological cell, is ion-penetrable, and carries homogeneously distributed negative fixed charges. An approximate expression for the electrophoretic mobility is derived. Based on the results of numerical simulation, we conclude the following: (1) The absolute Donnan potential increases with the concentration of the fixed charges C0, but decreases with the ionic strength I. (2) The greater the valence of cation alpha, the lower the absolute potential distribution. (3) The greater the C0, the greater the absolute mobility of a particle, magnitude of mu, and the greater the friction coefficient of the membrane phase gamma, the smaller the magnitude of mu. (4) A large I or a large a leads to a small magnitude of mu. (5) The greater the ratio (permittivity of solution/permittivity of membrane phase), the smaller the magnitude of mu. (6) For a large gamma, magnitude of mu decreases with the thickness of membrane d under the condition of constant amount of fixed charges. However, if gamma is sufficiently small, the variation of magnitude of mu as a function of d exhibits a maximum. The classic result of Smoluchowski for the electrophoretic mobility of a rigid particle can be recovered as a limiting case of the present model.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Estimation and hypothesis testing of treatment effects in animal reproductive toxicology studies.

Healy (1) and Dempster et al. (8) proposed statistical methods to evaluate the treatment effects in animal reproductive toxicology research. Both methods assume homogeneous variance for the dams and the pups, respectively, in all the treatment groups. In this paper, via mixed effect modeling, we propose a method to estimate the treatment effects allowing heterogeneous variances for the dams and the pups, respectively, in different treatment groups. Covariates will also be included in the model. A procedure to test the fixed effects is also discussed. An example from an animal reproductive toxicological study is used to illustrate the procedures.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

A theoretical analysis of a new drug delivery system: a cylindrical device with a vertical opening on its surface.

A theoretical analysis of a proposed drug delivery device is presented. The device is of cylindrical shape with an opening on its side surface. Analytical expressions for the temporal variations in the amount of drug released and the size of the unreleased portion of the device are derived. The result of numerical simulation reveals that an approximately zero-order mechanism can be obtained, provided that the device is designed appropriately. The applicability of the analytical expressions derived is justified by examining the release of sodium salicylate embedded in polyethylene. The present work is a generalization of analyses suggested previously for some similar devices.

Drug Delivery Systems↗
PubMed1991

Modeling the repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks.

A problem often overlooked in the study of the repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breads (DSBs) is the question of what the status of a regular site is in the DNA duplex immediately after a radiation treatment. Here, we suggest a mixed repair mechanism which consists of a gradual process and an instantaneous process. A comparison of the present kinetic model with those which have appeared in the literature shows that the former is a generalization of the latter. We have shown that different repair mechanisms may lead to equivalent mathematical representations. Therefore, care must be taken in interpreting the repair mechanism on the basis of the experimentally observed transient number of DSBs.

DNA↗
PubMed1990

The effect of multivalent cations on adhesion time for cellular adhesion to solid surfaces.

The dynamic behavior of the adhesion of a charge-regulated cell to a solid surface of constant potential is investigated. In particular, the effect of the presence of multivalent cations in the suspension medium on adhesion time is discussed. By neglecting the effect of hydrodynamic retardation and assuming that the bulk liquid phase is stagnant, we show that the presence of multivalent cations has the effect of retarding cell adhesion. At a fixed level of ionic strength, the adhesion time increases with the increase of the concentration of multivalent cations in the suspension medium, and decreases with the increase in magnitude of the Hamaker constant. For a fixed concentration of cations, the adhesion time decreases with the increase of ionic strength. The effect of the magnitude of Hamaker constant on adhesion time is appreciable if both the ionic strength and the concentration of cations are high.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

A comparison of the parameter estimating procedures for the Michaelis-Menten model.

The performance of four parameter estimating procedures for the estimation of the adjustable parameters in the Michaelis-Menten model, the maximum initial rate Vmax, and the Michaelis-Menten constant Km, including Lineweaver & Burk transformation (L-B), Eadie & Hofstee transformation (E-H), Eisenthal & Cornish-Bowden transformation (ECB), and Hsu & Tseng random search (H-T) is compared. The analysis of the simulated data reveals the followings: (i) Vmax can be estimated more precisely than Km. (ii) The sum of square errors, from the smallest to the largest, follows the sequence H-T, E-H, ECB, L-B. (iii) Considering the sum of square errors, relative error, and computing time, the overall performance follows the sequence H-T, L-B, E-H, ECB, from the best to the worst. (iv) The performance of E-H and ECB are on the same level. (v) L-B and E-H are appropriate for pricesly measured data. H-T should be adopted for data whose error level are high. (vi) Increasing the number of data points has a positive effect on the performance of H-T, and a negative effect on the performance of L-B, E-H, and ECB.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

A stochastic analysis of the repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks.

A three-state stochastic model is described for the repair of radiation-induced double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA. If irradiated, a site or region in DNA is assumed to be in a potentially damaged state; this site may either become permanently damaged or be repaired after a certain period of time. The result of the analysis of the available experimental data reveals that the present two-parameter model is capable of interpreting the rapid decrease in the number of DSBs in the initial period, which cannot be predicted by previously proposed models. The stochastic analysis yields not only the temporal variation of the mean of the number of DSBs but also its variance, and therefore is a generalization of the conventional deterministic models.

DNA↗
PubMed1990

Dynamic modelling of the growth of a surface fungal colony.

The growth of a surface fungal colony in the three-dimensional space was modeled kinetically. The present analysis led to the conclusion that the radius of a fungal colony increases exponentially in the initial period followed by a constant increase in its radius at large times. This is justified by analyzing the available experimental data. The elevation of a fungal colony was limited by a balance of the transport of protoplasm inside a growing hyphae and a maintenance factor. A numerical simulation revealed that a typical fungal colony had a disk-shaped base with a flat top and a side face generated by rotating a concave upward curve about a vertical axis.

Fungi↗
PubMed1990

A kinetic analysis of the repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks.

The repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is analyzed kinetically. It is assumed that a fraction of the damaged sites in the DNA duplex are irreparable. The kinetic model takes the effect of radiation dose into account. The analysis of the available experimental data reveals that, although the number of irreparable DSBs is a quadratic function of radiation dose, the normalized number of irreparable DSBs correlates linearly with this variable.

DNA↗
PubMed1990

A stochastic simulation of tumor growth.

The growth of a tumor is described by a nonlinear stochastic representation. A systematic approach based on Taylor series expansion is adopted to solve the nonlinear master equation governing the variation of tumor weight as a function of time. The analysis of the available experimental data reveals that the growth rate of a tumor has a power law dependence on its weight.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Analytical methods for detection of nonoccupational exposure to pesticides.

An analytical protocol is developed to analyze for 33 compounds in ambient air around the household, drinking water, and from dermal contact while applying pesticides. Soxhlet extraction is used on both the polyurethane foam plugs, which were used as air sample trapping media, and the gloves reflecting dermal contact. The extraction procedure of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 608 is used for water samples. A stringent gas chromatography/electron capture detection (GC/ECD) and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy/multiple ion detection (GC/MS/MID) analytical approach parallel to the procedures of the current EPA contract laboratory program is used for analysis.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1987

Kinetics of bacterial adhesion--a stochastic analysis.

In a previous work (Hsu & Wang, 1986), a birth-death type of stochastic model was proposed to analyze bacterial adhesion onto the substrate surface. The model is based upon the assumption that the number of available active sites on the substrate surface is relatively large compared to that of the cells in the system. This assumption is relaxed in the present study, and thus, the problem is considered in a more rigorous manner. The transient behavior of bacterial adhesion is examined through simulation studies. It is found that the present stochastic model should be employed when the number of available active sites is less than or on the same order of magnitude as that of the cells.

Bacterial Adhesion↗