AstroBlend: An astrophysical visualization package for Blender

Science.gov (United States)

Naiman, J. P.

2016-04-01

The rapid growth in scale and complexity of both computational and observational astrophysics over the past decade necessitates efficient and intuitive methods for examining and visualizing large datasets. Here, I present AstroBlend, an open-source Python library for use within the three dimensional modeling software, Blender. While Blender has been a popular open-source software among animators and visual effects artists, in recent years it has also become a tool for visualizing astrophysical datasets. AstroBlend combines the three dimensional capabilities of Blender with the analysis tools of the widely used astrophysical toolset, yt, to afford both computational and observational astrophysicists the ability to simultaneously analyze their data and create informative and appealing visualizations. The introduction of this package includes a description of features, work flow, and various example visualizations. A website - www.astroblend.com - has been developed which includes tutorials, and a gallery of example images and movies, along with links to downloadable data, three dimensional artistic models, and various other resources.

Development of automated blender and dispensing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, Anupama; Aherwal, P.; Patil, C.B.

2014-01-01

This paper describes automated blender and dispensing system designed and developed in Nuclear Recycle Board for its reprocessing plant. Obtaining sinterable grade oxide powder from the product solution received in the heavy metal product line involves skilled manpower and time consuming, laborious manual operations. Entire treatment is carried out in a train of closed containments called as glove boxes. In view of this Automated blender and dispensing system has been developed to reduce tedious manual operations. System consists of PLC based control system to drive motorised charging mechanism, a conical ribbon blender which homogenises the product and load cell triggered, indexing dispensing mechanism. Schematic design of the system has been done in-house, while fabrication was outsourced. System has been built, tested and installed at component test facility (CTF) at Tarapur. Actual blending tests were carried out by using dummy material like calcium carbonate and barium carbonate powder, with different sets of parameter. Blended product was chemically analysed for its homogeneity. System has now been put to trial runs by operating staff. This development has circumvented tedious operations of Scooping and increased the throughput. This paper describes challenges in undertaking this developmental work. (author)

Pyrite: A blender plugin for visualizing molecular dynamics simulations using industry-standard rendering techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajendiran, Nivedita; Durrant, Jacob D

2018-05-05

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations provide critical insights into many biological mechanisms. Programs such as VMD, Chimera, and PyMOL can produce impressive simulation visualizations, but they lack many advanced rendering algorithms common in the film and video-game industries. In contrast, the modeling program Blender includes such algorithms but cannot import MD-simulation data. MD trajectories often require many gigabytes of memory/disk space, complicating Blender import. We present Pyrite, a Blender plugin that overcomes these limitations. Pyrite allows researchers to visualize MD simulations within Blender, with full access to Blender's cutting-edge rendering techniques. We expect Pyrite-generated images to appeal to students and non-specialists alike. A copy of the plugin is available at http://durrantlab.com/pyrite/, released under the terms of the GNU General Public License Version 3. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cellulose nanofiber extraction from grass by a modified kitchen blender

Science.gov (United States)

Nakagaito, Antonio Norio; Ikenaga, Koh; Takagi, Hitoshi

2015-03-01

Cellulose nanofibers have been used to reinforce polymers, delivering composites with strength that in some cases can be superior to that of engineering plastics. The extraction of nanofibers from plant fibers can be achieved through specialized equipment that demands high energy input, despite delivering extremely low yields. The high extraction cost confines the use of cellulose nanofibers to the laboratory and not for industrial applications. This study aims to extract nanofibers from grass by using a kitchen blender. Earlier studies have demonstrated that paper sheets made of blender-extracted nanofibers (after 5 min to 10 min of blending) have strengths on par with paper sheets made from commercially available cellulose nanofibers. By optimizing the design of the blender bottle, nanofibrillation can be achieved in shorter treatment times, reducing the energy consumption (in the present case, to half) and the overall extraction cost. The raw materials used can be extended to the residue straw of agricultural crops, as an alternative to the usual pulp fibers obtained from wood.

Baking en Blender

OpenAIRE

Lobo Aránguez, Ángel

2017-01-01

El proyecto Baking en Blender engloba de forma práctica algunos de los aspectos más importantes y novedosos de las tecnologías existentes de creación de imágenes generadas por ordenador (CGI). El renderizado o generación de imágenes 3D por ordenador requiere equipos con una elevada potencia de cálculo así como un gran tiempo de representación en función del detalle de los modelos 3D que se van a generar a pesar de que el hardware de aceleración gráfica hace interactiva la representación en ti...

Blender master class a hands-on guide to modeling, sculpting, materials, and rendering

CERN Document Server

Simonds, Ben

2012-01-01

Blender is a powerful and free 3D graphics tool used by artists and designers worldwide. But even experienced designers can find it challenging to turn an idea into a polished piece.For those who have struggled to create professional-quality projects in Blender, author Ben Simonds offers this peek inside his studio. You'll learn how to create 3D models as you explore the creative process that he uses to model three example projects: a muscular bat creature, a futuristic robotic spider, and ancient temple ruins. Along the way, you'll master the Blender interface and learn how to create and refi

An exploration in kitchen blender interactions aimed at designing for high levels of engagement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Rheden, V.; Hengeveld, B.J.

2015-01-01

This paper illustrates three novel kitchen blender interactions aimed at bringing about a higher level of engagement with interactive products, as a response to current, seemingly un-engaging interactions. We describe our starting points and approach after which we present the designed blender

Analyzing the Mixing Dynamics of an Industrial Batch Bin Blender via Discrete Element Modeling Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maitraye Sen

2017-04-01

Full Text Available A discrete element model (DEM has been developed for an industrial batch bin blender in which three different types of materials are mixed. The mixing dynamics have been evaluated from a model-based study with respect to the blend critical quality attributes (CQAs which are relative standard deviation (RSD and segregation intensity. In the actual industrial setup, a sensor mounted on the blender lid is used to determine the blend composition in this region. A model-based analysis has been used to understand the mixing efficiency in the other zones inside the blender and to determine if the data obtained near the blender-lid region are able to provide a good representation of the overall blend quality. Sub-optimal mixing zones have been identified and other potential sampling locations have been investigated in order to obtain a good approximation of the blend variability. The model has been used to study how the mixing efficiency can be improved by varying the key processing parameters, i.e., blender RPM/speed, fill level/volume and loading order. Both segregation intensity and RSD reduce at a lower fill level and higher blender RPM and are a function of the mixing time. This work demonstrates the use of a model-based approach to improve process knowledge regarding a pharmaceutical mixing process. The model can be used to acquire qualitative information about the influence of different critical process parameters and equipment geometry on the mixing dynamics.

Acceleration of Blender Cycles Path-Tracing Engine Using Intel Many Integrated Core Architecture

OpenAIRE

Jaroš , Milan; Říha , Lubomír; Strakoš , Petr; Karásek , Tomáš; Vašatová , Alena; Jarošová , Marta; Kozubek , Tomáš

2015-01-01

Part 2: Algorithms; International audience; This paper describes the acceleration of the most computationally intensive kernels of the Blender rendering engine, Blender Cycles, using Intel Many Integrated Core architecture (MIC). The proposed parallelization, which uses OpenMP technology, also improves the performance of the rendering engine when running on multi-core CPUs and multi-socket servers. Although the GPU acceleration is already implemented in Cycles, its functionality is limited. O...

Safe-geometry pneumatic nuclear fuel powder blender

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyon, W.L.

1980-01-01

A safe geometry nuclear fuel powder is claimed blender of a pneumatic type having a plurality of narrow flat-walled blending chambers or ''slab tanks'' extending radially outward from a pneumatic spouting tube having an inlet and an outlet at bottom and top, respectively, open to each slab tank or blending chamber and contained within a cylindrical cone-bottomed shell filled with neutron-absorbing material between the blending chambers

Blender cycles lighting and rendering cookbook

CERN Document Server

Iraci, Bernardo

2013-01-01

An in-depth guide full of step-by-step recipes to explore the concepts behind the usage of Cycles. Packed with illustrations, and lots of tips and tricks; the easy-to-understand nature of the book will help the reader understand even the most complex concepts with ease.If you are a digital artist who already knows your way around Blender, and you want to learn about the new Cycles' rendering engine, this is the book for you. Even experts will be able to pick up new tips and tricks to make the most of the rendering capabilities of Cycles.

AstroBlend: Visualization package for use with Blender

Science.gov (United States)

Naiman, J. P.

2015-12-01

AstroBlend is a visualization package for use in the three dimensional animation and modeling software, Blender. It reads data in via a text file or can use pre-fab isosurface files stored as OBJ or Wavefront files. AstroBlend supports a variety of codes such as FLASH (ascl:1010.082), Enzo (ascl:1010.072), and Athena (ascl:1010.014), and combines artistic 3D models with computational astrophysics datasets to create models and animations.

Recycled fiber quality from a laboratory-scale blade separator/blender

Science.gov (United States)

Bei-Hong Liang; Stephen M. Shaler; Laurence Mott; Leslie Groom

1994-01-01

A simple and inexpensive fiber separator/blender was developed to generate useful secondary fibers from hydropulped waste paper. Processing wet hydropulped fiber resulted in a furnish with no change in average fiber length in three out of four types of recycled fibers tested. In all cases, the canadian standard freeness increased after processing compared to...

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding of locally advanced oro-pharygo-laryngeal cancer patients: Blenderized or commercial food?

Science.gov (United States)

Papakostas, Pyrros; Tsaousi, Georgia; Stavrou, George; Rachovitsas, Dimitrios; Tsiropoulos, Gavriil; Rova, Constantina; Konstantinidis, Ioannis; Michalopoulos, Antonios; Grosomanidis, Vasilios; Kotzampassi, Katerina

2017-11-01

Head and neck cancer patients commonly suffer from severe malnutrition at the time of tentative diagnosis. Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy [PEG] feeding is now considered as an efficient tool to reduce nutritional deterioration alongside concurrent treatment. We undertook the challenge to retrospectively evaluate the impact of a commercial, disease-specific, feeding formula [Supportan, Fresenius Kabi, Hellas] versus blenderized family food on nutritional outcome. This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected nutritional and anthropometric data at the time of PEG placement, at the 8th week [after treatment termination] and at 8 months [6mo of recovery from treatment]. All patients were prescribed a commercial feeding formula. The final dataset included 212 patients: 112 received the commercial formula, 69 voluntarily decided to switch into blenderized-tube-feeding, and 31 were prescribed to receive a home-made formula of standard ingredients. The commercial formula seemed to help patients to fight the catabolism of concurrent treatment, since, at the 8mo assessment, both Body Mass index and Fat Free Mass had almost recovered to the values at the time of first diagnosis. Neither group on blenderized or home-made formulas exhibited nutritional improvement, but experienced a significant deterioration throughout the study period, with the home-made formula group being the worst. These findings clearly indicate that home-made and blenderized foods do not adequately support the nutritional requirements of patients with HNC scheduled to receive concurrent CRT treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Turbulence-assisted shear exfoliation of graphene using household detergent and a kitchen blender

Science.gov (United States)

Varrla, Eswaraiah; Paton, Keith R.; Backes, Claudia; Harvey, Andrew; Smith, Ronan J.; McCauley, Joe; Coleman, Jonathan N.

2014-09-01

To facilitate progression from the lab to commercial applications, it will be necessary to develop simple, scalable methods to produce high quality graphene. Here we demonstrate the production of large quantities of defect-free graphene using a kitchen blender and household detergent. We have characterised the scaling of both graphene concentration and production rate with the mixing parameters: mixing time, initial graphite concentration, rotor speed and liquid volume. We find the production rate to be invariant with mixing time and to increase strongly with mixing volume, results which are important for scale-up. Even in this simple system, concentrations of up to 1 mg ml-1 and graphene masses of >500 mg can be achieved after a few hours mixing. The maximum production rate was ~0.15 g h-1, much higher than for standard sonication-based exfoliation methods. We demonstrate that graphene production occurs because the mean turbulent shear rate in the blender exceeds the critical shear rate for exfoliation.To facilitate progression from the lab to commercial applications, it will be necessary to develop simple, scalable methods to produce high quality graphene. Here we demonstrate the production of large quantities of defect-free graphene using a kitchen blender and household detergent. We have characterised the scaling of both graphene concentration and production rate with the mixing parameters: mixing time, initial graphite concentration, rotor speed and liquid volume. We find the production rate to be invariant with mixing time and to increase strongly with mixing volume, results which are important for scale-up. Even in this simple system, concentrations of up to 1 mg ml-1 and graphene masses of >500 mg can be achieved after a few hours mixing. The maximum production rate was ~0.15 g h-1, much higher than for standard sonication-based exfoliation methods. We demonstrate that graphene production occurs because the mean turbulent shear rate in the blender exceeds

Three dimensional hair model by means particles using Blender

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez-Cedillo, Jesús Antonio; Almanza-Nieto, Roberto; Herrera-Lozada, Juan Carlos

2010-09-01

The simulation and modeling of human hair is a process whose computational complexity is very large, this due to the large number of factors that must be calculated to give a realistic appearance. Generally, the method used in the film industry to simulate hair is based on particle handling graphics. In this paper we present a simple approximation of how to model human hair using particles in Blender. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

3D for iPhone Apps with Blender and SIO2 Your Guide to Creating 3D Games and More with Open-Source Software

CERN Document Server

Mullen, Tony

2010-01-01

Create exciting, interactive 3D apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. What a combination-using free, open-source Blender software and the SI02 game engine to create very cool 3D characters and games for the very hot devices of the moment, the iPhone and iPod Touch. Whether you're coming to this as an iPhone developer or as a Blender artist, this book is for you. Learn how to create 3D content using Blender's WYSIWYG approach, find helpful information on Xcode and other iPhone SDK topics, master physical collisions, and acquire the skills you need to bridge both worlds with fun, compelling conten

Visualizing SPH Cataclysmic Variable Accretion Disk Simulations with Blender

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Brian R.; Wood, Matthew A.

2015-01-01

We present innovative ways to use Blender, a 3D graphics package, to visualize smoothed particle hydrodynamics particle data of cataclysmic variable accretion disks. We focus on the methods of shape key data constructs to increasedata i/o and manipulation speed. The implementation of the methods outlined allow for compositing of the various visualization layers into a final animation. The viewing of the disk in 3D from different angles can allow for a visual analysisof the physical system and orbits. The techniques have a wide ranging set of applications in astronomical visualization,including both observation and theoretical data.

Quantitative characterization of agglomerate abrasion in a tumbling blender by using the Stokes number approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Willemsz, Tofan A; Nguyen, Tien Thanh; Hooijmaijers, Ricardo; Frijlink, Henderik W; Vromans, Herman; van der Voort Maarschalk, Kees

2013-03-01

Removal of microcrystalline cellulose agglomerates in a dry-mixing system (lactose, 100 M) predominantly occurs via abrasion. The agglomerate abrasion rate potential is estimated by the Stokes abrasion (StAbr) number of the system. The StAbr number equals the ratio between the kinetic energy density of the moving powder bed and the work of fracture of the agglomerate. Basically, the StAbr number concept describes the blending condition of the dry-mixing system. The concept has been applied to investigate the relevance of process parameters on agglomerate abrasion in tumbling blenders. Here, process parameters such as blender rotational speed and relative fill volumes were investigated. In this study, the StAbr approach revealed a transition point between abrasion rate behaviors. Below this transition point, a blending condition exists where agglomerate abrasion is dominated by the kinetic energy density of the powder blend. Above this transition point, a blending condition exists where agglomerates show (undesirable) slow abrasion rates. In this situation, the blending condition is mainly determined by the high fill volume of the filler.

Estimating the daily solar irradiation on building roofs and facades using Blender Cycles path tracing algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilba Mateusz

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the development of an daily solar irradiation algorithm with application of the free software Blender. Considerable attention was paid to the possibilities of simulation of reflections of direct and diffuse solar radiation. For this purpose, the rendering algorithm “Cycles” was used, based on the principle of bi-directional path tracing – tracing random paths of light beams. The value of global radiation in this study is the sum of four components: direct beam radiation, reflected beam radiation, diffuse radiation and reflected diffuse radiation. The developed algorithm allows calculation of solar irradiation for all elements of the 3D model created in Blender, or imported from an external source. One minute is the highest possible time resolution of the analysis, while the accuracy is dependent on the resolution of textures defined for each element of a 3D object. The analysed data is stored in the form of textures that in the algorithm are converted to the value of solar radiance. The result of the analysis is visualization, which shows the distribution of daily solar irradiation on all defined elements of the 3D model.

Nutritional and microbiological quality of commercial and homemade blenderized whole food enteral diets for home-based enteral nutritional therapy in adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Vieira, Maricy Machado Cavalca; Santos, Valdirene Francisca Neves; Bottoni, Andrea; Morais, Tania Beninga

2018-02-01

Serious nutritional and contamination risks may be involved in the preparation of blenderized tube-feeding diets and in the handling of commercial diets. Their nutritional and microbiological quality in home settings is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional and microbiological quality of commercial enteral and homemade blenderized whole foods diets intended to adult patients in home nutritional therapy. In a cross sectional study, 66 samples of commercial (CD) and noncommercial (NCD) enteral diets were collected at the homes of patients in home enteral nutritional therapy, 33 of each type. Commercial diets were either powder (PCD; n = 13) or liquid (LCD; n = 20). The samples were analyzed in laboratory to assess their nutritional and microbiological quality. Anthropometric data of mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and triceps skinfold (TST) thickness were obtained from the patients' medical records. NCD presented significantly lower values for protein, fat, fiber, carbohydrate and energy while water content was significantly higher. PCD and LCD did not show any statistically significant differences between them. In the NCD, the values measured for macronutrients and energy corresponded to less than 50% of the prescribed values (except for fat). In CD, protein value was about 20% more than the prescribed value; fat and energy values corresponded to approximately 100% of the prescription, while carbohydrate corresponded to 92%. Regardless the type of the diet, prevalence of undernutrition was high in both groups though patients of the NCD presented a higher percentage. Samples of NCD complied significantly less with the microbiological standards; only 6.0% complied with the standard for coliform bacteria. Escherichia coli was detected in 10, 2, and 2 samples of NCD, PCD and LCD, respectively. Homemade blenderized enteral diets showed low values of energy and macronutrients, delivered less than 50% of the prescribed values and had

A closed cabinet system with water flushers and a blender for breeding small animal administered 3HHO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, O.; Takeoka, S.; Tsujimura, T.; Kuroda, T.; Iwashita, T.; Amme, T.

1984-01-01

A closed cabinet system was developed for breeding small animals administered 3 HHO. 3 HHO vapor released from the animals in the chamber was absorbed with water in a water bubbler. Feces and urine which were washed out with water were ground in a blender, diluted, and then released. With this cabinet system we were successful in safely breeding mice even given a total single injection of 15.5 GBq (420 mCi) of 3 HHO without storing the 3 H-slops for a long time and without any significant leakage of 3 H from the cabinet. (author)

Quantification of Tribocharging of Pharmaceutical Powders in V-Blenders: Experiments, Multiscale Modeling, and Simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Naik, Shivangi; Hancock, Bruno; Abramov, Yuriy; Yu, Weili; Rowland, Martin; Huang, Zhonghui; Chaudhuri, Bodhisattwa

2016-04-01

Pharmaceutical powders are very prone to electrostatic charging by colliding and sliding contacts. In pharmaceutical formulation processes, particle charging is often a nuisance and can cause problems in the manufacture of products, such as affecting powder flow, fill, and dose uniformity. For a fundamental understanding of the powder triboelectrification, it is essential to study charge transfer under well-defined conditions. Hence, all experiments in the present study were conducted in a V-blender located inside a glove box with a controlled humidity of 20%. To understand tribocharging, different contact surfaces, namely aluminum, Teflon, poly methyl methacrylate, and nylon were used along with 2 pharmaceutical excipients and 2 drug substances. For the pharmaceutical materials, the work function values were estimated using MOPAC, a semiempirical molecular orbital package which has been previously used for the solid-state studies and molecular structure predictions. For a mechanistic understanding of tribocharging, a discrete element model incorporating charge transfer and electrostatic forces was developed. An effort was made to correlate tribocharging of pharmaceutical powders to properties such as cohesive energy density and surface energy. The multiscale model used is restricted as it considers only spherical particles with smooth surfaces. It should be used judiciously for other experimental assemblies because it does not represent a full validation of a tightly integrated model. Copyright © 2016 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

COMPARAÇÃO ENTRE OS MÉTODOS DE EXTRAÇÃO DE METACERCÁRIAS DE ASCOCOTYLE SP (TREMATODA: DIGENEA DOS TECIDOS DE MUGIL LIZA VALENCIENNES, 1836 (TELEOSTEI: MUGILIDAE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renato Ribeiro Nogueira Ferraz

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The demand and consumption of fish and their derivatives has increased considerably in recent years. However, fish are ideal hosts of numerous parasites, highlighting the need to develop new research methodologies for its detection. The aim of present study was to compare the efficacy of Ascocotyle metacercariae (Trematoda: Digenea extraction from visceral tissues of Mugil liza Valenciennes, 1836 (Teleostei: Mugilidae by two methods: homogenization by blender or mixer. Twentysix samples of M. liza were collected, being 16 liver samples and 10 samples of muscle tissue. Approximately 5g of each sample were processed by blender and mixer techniques homogenization for metacercariae extraction. In liver samples, up to 46 metacercariae were found in samples homogenized in blender. The lowest amount found was 2 metacercariae for blender and mixer techniques. In samples of muscle tissue, 4 metacercariae were observed in the mixer extraction. The lowest amount was found to be 2 parasites to blender and mixer. The mean metacercariae found and extracted from muscle tissue were 0.2 (+0.357 and 1.2 (+0.963 for blender and mixer, respectively. The averages of metacercariae found and extracted from fish liver, in blender and mixer, were 24 (+15.145 and 18 (+8.246, respectively. The homogenization techniques for blender and mixer were effective for the extraction of metacercariae of mullet fish tissues, suggesting that they may be directly applicable in the field of study, especially due to the ease of testing.

Development of a Rational Design Space for Optimizing Mixing Conditions for Formation of Adhesive Mixtures for Dry-Powder Inhaler Formulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Saurabh; Minatovicz, Bruna; Thalberg, Kyrre; Chaudhuri, Bodhisattwa

2017-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to develop guidance toward rational choice of blenders and processing conditions to make robust and high performing adhesive mixtures for dry-powder inhalers and to develop quantitative experimental approaches for optimizing the process. Mixing behavior of carrier (LH100) and AstraZeneca fine lactose in high-shear and low-shear double cone blenders was systematically investigated. Process variables impacting the mixing performance were evaluated for both blenders. The performance of the blenders with respect to the mixing time, press-on forces, static charging, and abrasion of carrier fines was monitored, and for some of the parameters, distinct differences could be detected. A comparison table is presented, which can be used as a guidance to enable rational choice of blender and process parameters based on the user requirements. Segregation of adhesive mixtures during hopper discharge was also investigated. Copyright © 2016 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Analytic Network Process approach for the environmental aspect selection problem — A case study for a hand blender

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bereketli Zafeirakopoulos, Ilke, E-mail: ibereketli@gsu.edu.tr; Erol Genevois, Mujde, E-mail: merol@gsu.edu.tr

2015-09-15

Life Cycle Assessment is a tool to assess, in a systematic way, the environmental aspects and its potential environmental impacts and resources used throughout a product's life cycle. It is widely accepted and considered as one of the most powerful tools to support decision-making processes used in ecodesign and sustainable production in order to learn about the most problematic parts and life cycle phases of a product and to have a projection for future improvements. However, since Life Cycle Assessment is a cost and time intensive method, companies do not intend to carry out a full version of it, except for large corporate ones. Especially for small and medium sized enterprises, which do not have enough budget for and knowledge on sustainable production and ecodesign approaches, focusing only on the most important possible environmental aspect is unavoidable. In this direction, finding the right environmental aspect to work on is crucial for the companies. In this study, a multi-criteria decision-making methodology, Analytic Network Process is proposed to select the most relevant environmental aspect. The proposed methodology aims at providing a simplified environmental assessment to producers. It is applied for a hand blender, which is a member of the Electrical and Electronic Equipment family. The decision criteria for the environmental aspects and relations of dependence are defined. The evaluation is made by the Analytic Network Process in order to create a realistic approach to inter-dependencies among the criteria. The results are computed via the Super Decisions software. Finally, it is observed that the procedure is completed in less time, with less data, with less cost and in a less subjective way than conventional approaches. - Highlights: • We present a simplified environmental assessment methodology to support LCA. • ANP is proposed to select the most relevant environmental aspect. • ANP deals well with the interdependencies between aspects

An Analytic Network Process approach for the environmental aspect selection problem — A case study for a hand blender

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bereketli Zafeirakopoulos, Ilke; Erol Genevois, Mujde

2015-01-01

Life Cycle Assessment is a tool to assess, in a systematic way, the environmental aspects and its potential environmental impacts and resources used throughout a product's life cycle. It is widely accepted and considered as one of the most powerful tools to support decision-making processes used in ecodesign and sustainable production in order to learn about the most problematic parts and life cycle phases of a product and to have a projection for future improvements. However, since Life Cycle Assessment is a cost and time intensive method, companies do not intend to carry out a full version of it, except for large corporate ones. Especially for small and medium sized enterprises, which do not have enough budget for and knowledge on sustainable production and ecodesign approaches, focusing only on the most important possible environmental aspect is unavoidable. In this direction, finding the right environmental aspect to work on is crucial for the companies. In this study, a multi-criteria decision-making methodology, Analytic Network Process is proposed to select the most relevant environmental aspect. The proposed methodology aims at providing a simplified environmental assessment to producers. It is applied for a hand blender, which is a member of the Electrical and Electronic Equipment family. The decision criteria for the environmental aspects and relations of dependence are defined. The evaluation is made by the Analytic Network Process in order to create a realistic approach to inter-dependencies among the criteria. The results are computed via the Super Decisions software. Finally, it is observed that the procedure is completed in less time, with less data, with less cost and in a less subjective way than conventional approaches. - Highlights: • We present a simplified environmental assessment methodology to support LCA. • ANP is proposed to select the most relevant environmental aspect. • ANP deals well with the interdependencies between aspects

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African Journals Online (AJOL)

ES Obe

connected by a clutch arrangement to the motor shaft of a disused electric blender and carefully secured in two bearings to run smoothly. The disc may spin at any of the 14 blender speeds designated in the increasing order as whip, stir, puree, beat, aerate, crumb, chop, grind, mix, grate, pulverize, churn, blend and liquefy.

A comparison of maximal bioenergetic enzyme activities obtained with commonly used homogenization techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Grace, M; Fletcher, L; Powers, S K; Hughes, M; Coombes, J

1996-12-01

Homogenization of tissue for analysis of bioenergetic enzyme activities is a common practice in studies examining metabolic properties of skeletal muscle adaptation to disease, aging, inactivity or exercise. While numerous homogenization techniques are in use today, limited information exists concerning the efficacy of specific homogenization protocols. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of four commonly used approaches to homogenizing skeletal muscle for analysis of bioenergetic enzyme activity. The maximal enzyme activity (Vmax) of citrate synthase (CS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured from homogenous muscle samples (N = 48 per homogenization technique) and used as indicators to determine which protocol had the highest efficacy. The homogenization techniques were: (1) glass-on-glass pestle; (2) a combination of a mechanical blender and a teflon pestle (Potter-Elvehjem); (3) a combination of the mechanical blender and a biological detergent; and (4) the combined use of a mechanical blender and a sonicator. The glass-on-glass pestle homogenization protocol produced significantly higher (P pestle homogenization protocol is the technique of choice for studying bioenergetic enzyme activity in skeletal muscle.

3D-grafiikka ja pelimoottorit

OpenAIRE

Sillanpää, Otto

2014-01-01

Tässä opinnäytetyössä tutkitaan miten 3D-mallit saadaan sellaiseen muotoon, että ne olisivat käytettävissä eri pelimoottoreissa. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää, miten luodaan 3D-malleja pelimoottoreihin, sekä miten 3D-mallinnusohjelmat ja pelimoottorit eroavat toisistaan, kun käsitellään 3D-malleja. Tässä työssä pelimoottoreina toimivat Valven Source sekä Epic Gamesin Unreal Engine 3. 3D-mallinnusohjelmista käytössä olivat Autodeskin 3ds Max 2014 ja Blender Foundationin Blender 2.7...

Particle physics and polyedra proximity calculation for hazard simulations in large-scale industrial plants

Science.gov (United States)

Plebe, Alice; Grasso, Giorgio

2016-12-01

This paper describes a system developed for the simulation of flames inside an open-source 3D computer graphic software, Blender, with the aim of analyzing in virtual reality scenarios of hazards in large-scale industrial plants. The advantages of Blender are of rendering at high resolution the very complex structure of large industrial plants, and of embedding a physical engine based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics. This particle system is used to evolve a simulated fire. The interaction of this fire with the components of the plant is computed using polyhedron separation distance, adopting a Voronoi-based strategy that optimizes the number of feature distance computations. Results on a real oil and gas refining industry are presented.

Uusika Muudised

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2004-01-01

BBC kokkuvõttest Inglismaa raadiojaamade enimmängitavatest artistidest ; USA muusikaajakirja Blender avaldatud halvimate poplaulude pingereast ; Ansambli Cure uuest ilmuvast heliplaadist ; Ansambli Spice Girls taasühinemisplaanidest

77 FR 69620 - Proposed Information Collection Request; Comment Request; Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) Program

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-20

.../intend to own RINs which include blenders, brokers and marketers dropped significantly. Importers dropped... marketers dropped from 3000 responses to 1650 thus lessoning the reporting burden. The number of responses...

Production of High-quality Few-layer Graphene Flakes by Intercalation and Exfoliation

KAUST Repository

Alzahrani, Areej A.

2017-01-01

, the source material was a commercially available graphiteintercalated compound, also known as expandable graphite. Several exfoliation-inducing tools were investigated including the use of blenders, homogenizers, and ultrasonic processors. To aid

Safe-geometry pneumatic nuclear fuel powder blender

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyon, W.L.

1979-01-01

The object of this invention is to provide a nuclear fuel powder mixing tank in which the powder can be rapidly and safely mixed and in which accumulation of critical amounts of fuel is prevented. (UK)

Agro 13 No 3 Ready

African Journals Online (AJOL)

processing cost and revenue for the 2011/2012 planting season were collected and a simulated. 10-year .... blender, fertilizer, herbicide, seedling planting, Planning and management (logistic), Risk .... Fertilizer application 2 man-day 2,000.

Fraction against Human Cancer Cell Lines

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research October 2015; 14(10): 1779-1785 ... Index Medicus, JournalSeek, Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Directory of Open Access Journals ... were blended in a Waring blender with 500 mL.

Ileke et al (5)

African Journals Online (AJOL)

big timmy

Toxicological and histopathological effects of Alstonia boonei stem bark powder on albino rats liver and kidney .... electric blender (Supermaster ®, Model SMB. 2977 ... relations of cells and tissues to one another. ... Measurement of the body.

the efficacy of anolyte as an environmentally friendly disin

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

The organisms were grown in 10 ml nutrient broth (Oxoid ... was homogenized in a stomacher (Lab Blender. 400, ART ..... Published in New Medical Technologies ... meats. Meat Science 71:327-333. GAO, Y & CRANSTON, R. 2008. Recent.

Method and apparatus for blending fine and cohesive powders in a fluidized bed with gas injection through ball valves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-01-01

A fluidized bed blender is described, suitable for blending powders including a mixture of fine and cohesive powders and in particular for converting a heterogeneous mixture of fine and cohesive UO 2 into a homogeneous mixture. (U.K.)

2262-IJBCS-Article-Charles Fokunang

African Journals Online (AJOL)

hp

texture using an electric blender, and kept in polyethylene bags ... was evaluated by measuring the inhibition zone of the tested ..... their foaming and lytic effect on cells (Okwu,. 2005; Okigbo ... methanol stem extracts of Costus afer Ker. Gawl.

The Holidays Are Coming! Time to Start Planning for Healthy Holiday Meals

Science.gov (United States)

... orange and apple through food processor, blender or food mill until evenly chopped. Stir in sugar to desired sweetness. Mix well and refrigerate several hours before serving. May be frozen. Pumpkin Bread (15 servings per loaf; 173 calories per ...

Evaluation of Beilschmiedia Seed Gum as a Tablet Binder MN FEMI

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Darmstadt, Germany). The tablet disintegration rates were determined using an Apex ... seeds were sun dried, crushed using a mortar and pestle and pulverized in a blender (Model 857,. Chrome white, Osterizer, U.S.A.) to produce the gum powder.

Eugenia uniflora

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

2010-04-04

Apr 4, 2010 ... kitchen blender with little water (pulp: water; 4:1) for 10 minutes. ... harvested for consumption on site or for sale in urban centers [2]. ... underutilized as a result of climate (season, harvest time, pest and insect attack) and.

KINETIC AND EQUILIBRIUM STUDIES OF Pb(II) AND Cd(II ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

manual blender to smaller particles followed by grinding and then sieved with 300 µm sieve size. ... values of Qmax and b were calculated from the slope and intercept of the Langmuir plot of Ce versus Ce/Qe. .... Moisture content. 16.2.

Changes in activities of tissues enzymes in rats administered Ficus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study evaluates the effects of methanolic extract of Ficus exasperata leaf on the ... measuring the levels of some key enzymes in ... powder using an electrical blender. .... of the cells at these doses. .... activities and acute toxicity of a stem.

METHOD FOR EVALUATING MOLD GROWTH ON CEILING TILE

Science.gov (United States)

A method to extract mold spores from porous ceiling tiles was developed using a masticator blender. Ceiling tiles were inoculated and analyzed using four species of mold. Statistical analysis comparing results obtained by masticator extraction and the swab method was performed. T...

Methodological proposal for the volumetric study of archaeological ceramics through 3D edition free-software programs: the case of the celtiberians cemeteries of the meseta

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Álvaro Sánchez Climent

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Nowadays the free-software programs have been converted into the ideal tools for the archaeological researches, reaching the same level as other commercial programs. For that reason, the 3D modeling tool Blender has reached in the last years a great popularity offering similar characteristics like other commercial 3D editing programs such as 3D Studio Max or AutoCAD. Recently, it has been developed the necessary script for the volumetric calculations of three-dimnesional objects, offering great possibilities to calculate the volume of the archaeological ceramics. In this paper, we present a methodological approach for the volumetric studies with Blender and a study case of funerary urns from several celtiberians cemeteries of the Spanish Meseta. The goal is to demonstrate the great possibilities that the 3D editing free-software tools have in the volumetric studies at the present time.

The VI-Suite: a set of environmental analysis tools with geospatial data applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Southall, Ryan; Biljecki, F.

2017-01-01

Background: The VI-Suite is a free and open-source addon for the 3D content creation application Blender, developed primarily as a tool for the contextual and performative analysis of buildings. Its functionality has grown from simple, static lighting analysis to fully parametric lighting,

Open 3D Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felician ALECU

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Many professionals and 3D artists consider Blender as being the best open source solution for 3D computer graphics. The main features are related to modeling, rendering, shading, imaging, compositing, animation, physics and particles and realtime 3D/game creation.

Eichhornia crassipes

African Journals Online (AJOL)

MICHAEL

tryptophan, tyrosine, leucine and lysine), phosphorous, protein, organic matter and cyanide. Some of these phenolic compounds and ... The high protein and total organic matter content of Eichhornia crassipes, however, make E. .... with an electronic blender and stored in plastic containers at room temperature for a week ...

40 CFR 80.131 - Agreed upon procedures for GTAB, certain conventional gasoline imported by truck, previously...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

..., certain conventional gasoline imported by truck, previously certified gasoline used to produce gasoline... gasoline used to produce gasoline, and butane blenders. (a) Attest procedures for GTAB. The following are... conventional gasoline and of RFG produced. Agree the volumes from the tank activity records to the batch volume...

Kinetically based NMR method of measuring blending octane number of olefins

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Golombok, M.; Bruijn, J.; Morley, C.

1995-01-01

Olefins are highly nonlinear octane blenders so that standard GC analyses are poor predictors of blend quality. Engine rating is the only way of measuring olefin octane number nonlinearity. It is thus not possible to rapidly assess the quality of the product obtained from an olefin-producing

Application of process analytical technology in tablet process development using NIR spectroscopy : Blend uniformity, content uniformity and coating thickness measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moes, Johannes J; Ruijken, Marco M; Gout, Erik; Frijlink, Henderik W; Ugwoke, Michael I

2008-01-01

Near-infrared (NIR)spectroscopy was employed as a process analytical technique in three steps of tabletting process: to monitor the blend homogeneity, evaluate the content uniformity of tablets and determine the tablets coating thickness. A diode-array spectrometer mounted on a lab blender (SP15 NIR

Afican Health Sciences Vol 10 No 3.pmd

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

Antidiabetic and haematinic effects of Parquetina nigrescens on alloxan induced .... after induction of diabetes and continually measured weekly afterwards for ... electric blender/mill grate and was then soaked in. 300 ml of distilled ... The packed cell volume (PCV) ..... the ethanolic extract of Alstonia Boonei (De-Wild) stem.

Handbook for Handling, Storing, and Dispensing E85 and Other Ethanol-Gasoline Blends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2013-09-17

This document serves as a guide for blenders, distributors, sellers, and users of E85 and other ethanol blends above E10. It provides basic information on the proper and safe use of E85 and other ethanol blends and includes supporting technical and policy references.

Handbook for Handling, Storing, and Dispensing E85 and Other Ethanol-Gasoline Blends (Book)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriarty, K.

2013-09-01

This document serves as a guide for blenders, distributors, sellers, and users of E85 and other ethanol blends above E10. It provides basic information on the proper and safe use of E85 and other ethanol blends and includes supporting technical and policy references.

27 CFR 6.11 - Meaning of terms.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

..., or kind designation; appellation of origin (wine); vintage date (wine); age (distilled spirits); or... business. Industry member. Any person engaged in business as a distiller, brewer, rectifier, blender, or other producer, or as an importer or wholesaler, of distilled spirits, wine or malt beverages, or as a...

Approximation of a foreign object using x-rays, reference photographs and 3D reconstruction techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Briggs, Matt; Shanmugam, Mohan

2013-12-01

This case study describes how a 3D animation was created to approximate the depth and angle of a foreign object (metal bar) that had become embedded into a patient's head. A pre-operative CT scan was not available as the patient could not fit though the CT scanner, therefore a post surgical CT scan, x-ray and photographic images were used. A surface render was made of the skull and imported into Blender (a 3D animation application). The metal bar was not available, however images of a similar object that was retrieved from the scene by the ambulance crew were used to recreate a 3D model. The x-ray images were then imported into Blender and used as background images in order to align the skull reconstruction and metal bar at the correct depth/angle. A 3D animation was then created to fully illustrate the angle and depth of the iron bar in the skull.

A robust quantitative near infrared modeling approach for blend monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohan, Shikhar; Momose, Wataru; Katz, Jeffrey M; Hossain, Md Nayeem; Velez, Natasha; Drennen, James K; Anderson, Carl A

2018-01-30

This study demonstrates a material sparing Near-Infrared modeling approach for powder blend monitoring. In this new approach, gram scale powder mixtures are subjected to compression loads to simulate the effect of scale using an Instron universal testing system. Models prepared by the new method development approach (small-scale method) and by a traditional method development (blender-scale method) were compared by simultaneously monitoring a 1kg batch size blend run. Both models demonstrated similar model performance. The small-scale method strategy significantly reduces the total resources expended to develop Near-Infrared calibration models for on-line blend monitoring. Further, this development approach does not require the actual equipment (i.e., blender) to which the method will be applied, only a similar optical interface. Thus, a robust on-line blend monitoring method can be fully developed before any large-scale blending experiment is viable, allowing the blend method to be used during scale-up and blend development trials. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Production of ethanol from Carica papaya (pawpaw) agro waste ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Owner

sample was pulverised with a blender, packed in plastic container and stored in the freezer for subsequent analysis. Dried baker's yeast (Sacchromyces cerevisiae) is .... Production from Corn-cob Wastes and Grass-straw. Nig. J. Biotechnol. 6: 110 - 112. Akin-Osanaiye et al. 659. Association of Official Analytical Chemists ...

Engagement through embodiment : A case for mindful interaction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Rheden, V.; Hengeveld, B.J.

2016-01-01

In this paper we describe the development and evaluation of three kitchen blenders that were specifically designed to stimulate mindfulness in interaction, that is: engagement with, and care for what you are doing. We find that the directness we used to have preparing our food has been sacrificed to

Developmentally Delayed Male with Mincer Blade Obstructing the Oesophagus for a Period of Time Suspected to Be 6 Months

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Christian Grønhøj; Charabi, Birgitte

2015-01-01

prior to surgical intervention, the patient was hospitalized in a condition of sepsis and pneumonia where the thoracic X-ray reveals a foreign body in the proximal oesophagus. When rehospitalized 6 months later, a mincer blade of the type used in immersion blenders was surgically removed. During these 6...

Allelopathic effect of aqueous extract of fresh leaf castor beans ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rukevwe S. Abraka

2016-12-07

Dec 7, 2016 ... In this study, the allelopathic effect of aqueous extract from fresh leaves of castor .... triturated with electric blender and sieved for the extract preparation. .... (A), Leaf fresh mass; (B), root fresh mass; (C), stem diameter; (D), aerial part length. .... Naphthoquinones as allelochemical triggers of programmed cell.

Chromolaena odorata

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ADOWIE PERE

Evaluation of the Repellent and Insecticidal Activities of the Leaf, Stem and Root .... using an electric blender (Braun Multiquick ... grains gives a measure of repellency of the different powders. ... repellent and mortality effects of the different C. odorata powders on C. maculatus were .... effects on cells (De Geyter, 2012).

Modeling Kepler Transit Light Curves as False Positives: Rejection of Blend Scenarios for Kepler-9, and Validation of Kepler-9 d, a Super-Earth-Size Planet in a Multiple System

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Guillermo; Fressin, Francois; Batalha, Natalie M.; Borucki, William J.; Brown, Timothy M.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Charbonneau, David; Ciardi, David R.; Dunham, Edward W.;

Untitled

African Journals Online (AJOL)

and also malignant suppurating in wounds, when treated by washing them infusion from these plants, get healed. Author for correspondence system of the with. 43 ... Extraction. The air-dried material was cut into smaller pieces and pulverised using a blender. Some . quantity of the pulverised material (181.00g) was.

An anthology of advances in enteral tube feeding formulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Sheila M

2006-08-01

This article summarizes several major advances in tube feeding formulas marketed in the United States. It traces the progress in tube feeding formulas, starting with blenderized formulas to commercially available intact-nutrient formulas and culminating in the introduction of the concept of immunonutrition. The impact of packaging is also described.

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Momordica charantia from ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ufo

2013-03-27

Mar 27, 2013 ... In the present study, unripe/ripe seed and fruit ethanol extracts of M. charantia from Turkey were screened for .... materials were then blended into powder using an electric blender .... cooled to room temperature, the absorbance of the solution was ..... ion reducing power of extracts was dependent on the.

Computer-Based Phonological Skills Training for Primary Students with Mild to Moderate Dyslexia--A Pilot Study

Science.gov (United States)

Blythe, John M.

2006-01-01

This pilot study investigated the efficacy of "Phonics Alive 2: The Sound Blender", a computer-based phonological skills training program, delivered with both at-home and at-school components over a 10-week period, as a potential treatment of phonological dyslexia. Participants were 20 dyslexic primary students with an average delay of…

Nuclear blenders: blended learning from Rensselaer's Reactor Critical Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haley, T.C.

2011-01-01

Rensselaer's senior level undergraduate nuclear engineering course 'Critical Reactor Laboratory' is highly regarded and much loved. If you can get in, that is. But now it's a required course, nuclear engineering enrollment is up, and others are knocking on our door to get in. How might one offer such a unique course to the masses, without losing the whole point of a laboratory experience? This presentation looks at the costs and benefits of the transition to a 'blended learning' mode -- the merging of traditional, face-to-face instruction and web-based instruction as a solution. As part of the presentation, the course and the facility will be highlighted by short excepts from the 50 minute movie 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Neutron Chain Reactions (but were afraid to ask)'.

coupling the image analysis and the artificial neural networks to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Y. Mahdi, L. Mouhi, N. Guemras and K. Daoud

mixture, we use the method of Image processing, figure 2. Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the image acquisition setup. The pictures taken during the processes of mixture at the wall of the blenders have been analyzed using ImageJ software and have been validated with the results obtained by the. UV-vis spectrophotometer ...

Recycled fiber quality from a laboratory-scale blade separator/blend

Science.gov (United States)

Bei-Hong Liang; Stephen M. Shaler; Laurence Mott; Leslie Groom

1994-01-01

A simple and inexpensive fiber separator/blender was developed to generate useful secondary fibers from hydropulped waste paper. Processing wet hydropulped fiber resulted in a furnish with no change in average fiber length in three out of four types of recycled fibers tested. In all cases, the Canadian Standard freeness increased after processing compared to...

Environmental Assessment Temporary Use of a Training Airport

Science.gov (United States)

2003-01-01

NOISE LEVEL COMMON INDOOR NOISE LEVELS (dBA) NOISE LEVELS -- 110 Rock Band - - 100 Gas Lawn Mower at 3 ft. Inside Subway Train (New York) - - 90...Diesel Truck at 50 ft. Food Blender at 3 ft. Noise Urban Daytime - -80 Garbage Disposal at 3 ft. Shouting at 3 ft. Gas Lawn Mower at 100 ft

Environmental Assessment of the Privatization of Military Family Housing, Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington

Science.gov (United States)

2006-05-01

Subway Train (New York) 9° Food Blender at 3 ft. 80 Garbage Disposal at 3 ft. Shouting at 3 ft. 70 Vacuum Cleaner at 10 ft. Normal Speech 60 at...service is provided by Cable Montana through a franchise agreement with USAF (92 ARW 2004). The undeveloped optional parcel does not have existing

ANTIBACTERIAL AND TOXICOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF LEAF ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2017-01-27

Jan 27, 2017 ... kill them and have no or least toxicity to host cells and in most cases are ... further ground into a fine powder using an electric blender. This was done to ... conducted and measurements of the zones of inhibition in diameters were carried ..... Antimicrobial screening of stem bark extracts of Vitellaria paradoxa ...

Effects of Fusarium verticilloides, its metabolites and neem leaf ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2008-07-18

Jul 18, 2008 ... effect of neem leaf extracts on F. verticilloides, its meta- bolites on germination and ... blended into powder using an electric blender (National Mx 319 M). ... Niger State was measured into eight Buchuner flasks and added with 200 ml of .... been implicated in seed viability, wilting of plants, stem flaccidity and ...

Simulation of hypothetical criticality accidents involving homogeneous damp low-enriched UO2 powder systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basoglu, B.; Brewer, R.W.; Haught, C.F.; Hollenbach, D.F.; Wilkinson, A.D.; Dodds, H.L.; Pasqua, P.F.

1994-01-01

This paper describes the development of a computer model for predicting the excursion characteristics of a postulated, hypothetical, critically accident involving a homogeneous mixture of low-enriched UO 2 powder and water contained in a cylindrical blender. The model uses point neutronics coupled with simple lumped-parameter thermal-hydraulic feedback. The temperature of the system is calculated using a simple time-dependent energy balance where two extreme conditions for the thermal behavior of the system are considered, which bound the real life situation. Using these extremes, three different models are developed. To evaluate the models, the authors compared the results with the results of the POWDER code, which was developed by the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique/United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (CEA/UKAEA) for damp powder systems. The agreement in these comparisons is satisfactory. Results of the excursion studies in this work show that approximately 10 19 fissions occur as a result of accidental water ingress into powder blenders containing 5,000 kg of low-enriched (5%) UO 2 powder

IJS v10 n1.cdr

African Journals Online (AJOL)

De Don

and or as a medicinal plant (Kuti et al., 1996). Thjs may inform its local name in ... forms were grinded into powder using Kenwood food blender. .... compound is notlikc1y to pose any danger in Jatropha rwljorensis .... of Processing on Total Organic Acid Content and. Mineral Avai ... lmpair Iron Absorption in Dog. Am. J. Clin.

Final Environmental Assessment: Lodging Improvements

Science.gov (United States)

2004-06-01

LEVELS {dBA) NOISE LEVELS - r- 110 Rock Band Jet Flyover at 1 000 ft. - f- 100 Gas Lawn Mower at 3 ft. Inside Subway Train (New York) - f- 90...Diesel Truck at 50 ft. Food Blender at 3 ft. Noise Urban Daytime - f- 80 Garbage Disposal at 3 ft. Shouting at 3 ft. ,...... ; Gas Lawn Mower at 1

Environmental Assessment Use of Golden Triangle Regional Airport by 14th Flying Training Wing Aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

2004-03-01

NOISE LEVEL COMMON INDOOR NOISE LEVELS (dBA) NOISE LEVELS - .- 110 Rock Band - 1- 100 Gas Lawn Mower at 3 ft . Inside Subway Train (New York...1- 90 Diesel Truck at 50 ft. Food Blender at 3 ft. Noise Urban Daytime - 1- 80 Garbage Disposal at 3 ft. Shouting at 3 ft. Gas Lawn Mower at 100ft

Environmental Assessment T-1, T-6, and T-37 Aircraft Operations at Perry Municipal Airport

Science.gov (United States)

2006-04-01

110 Rock Band - 1- 100 Inside Subway Train (New York) Gas Lawn Mower at 3 ft. Diesel Truck at 50 ft. - 1- 90 Food Blender at 3 ft. Noisy Urban...Daytime - 1- 80 Garbage Disposal at 3 ft. Shouting at 3 ft. Gas Lawn Mower at 100ft. Vacuum Cleaner at 10ft. - 1- 70 Commercial Area Normal

Download this PDF file

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Dr Olaleye

Full Length Research Paper ... mill 1) and old (attrition mill 2) plates, wooden mortar and pestle, grinding stone and electric blender on iron content of wet- .... stone. Figure 3a shows iron concentrations obtained in wet- ground cowpea using traditional grinding stone. The concentrations were 177.33 ± 1.23 mg/g, 69.83 ± ...

Tesfaye Alemu.pmd

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ACSS

After 12 days of incubation at 30 ± 1oC, the mycelial mats were filtered through Whatman filter paper No 42, washed with sterile distilled water thrice and churned separately in a blender/ mixer with 100 ml sterilised distilled water. The blended material of each flask, containing the mycelial bits and spores, was resuspended ...

Biodiesel Handling and Use Guide (Fifth Edition)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alleman, T.L.; McCormick, R.L.; Christensen, E.D.; Fioroni, G.; Moriarty. K.; Yanowitz, J.

2016-11-08

This document is a guide for those who blend, distribute, and use biodiesel and biodiesel blends. It provides basic information on the proper and safe use of biodiesel and biodiesel blends in engines and boilers, and is intended to help fleets, individual users, blenders, distributors, and those involved in related activities understand procedures for handling and using biodiesel fuels.

Deactivation of the SR-71 Program at Beale Air Force Base, California

Science.gov (United States)

1989-07-01

110 Rock Band Jet, F vover at 1000 Feet -- 100 Inside Subway Tran iNew York) Gas Lawn Mower at 3 Feet - •90 Dieses Truck at 50 Feet Food Blender...at 3 Feet Noisy Urban Daytime - - 80 Garbage Dsciosai at 3 Feet Shouting at 3 Feet Gas Lawn Mower at 100 Feet - 70 Vacuum Cleaner at 10 Peet Commercial

Growth and opportunities in the lubricants business in Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burke, B.F.

1995-01-01

The demand for lubricants is increasing faster in Asia than any other part of the world. This development is being propelled largely by the expansion of the transportation and manufacturing sectors. By the year 2000, lubricant consumption in Asia will exceed that of Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East combined. Aside from this growth, most of the region is shifting from very low quality to higher quality value-added products. In view of these factors, there has been an explosion of activity over the past few years as lubricant blenders and additive suppliers attempt to position themselves within the market. Over the past year, Chem Systems has undertaken an extensive study of the lubricants business in East Asia, focusing on the evolution of this complex market structure and the identification of attractive opportunities. The overview presented in this paper is a product of these efforts. Whether you are a multinational oil company, independent blender, national oil company or multinational additive suppler, the questions are the same when developing a strategy for the region: regional overview of lubricant business structure; outlook for Asian demand; profile of lube/additives businesses; and successful competition--what is required?

Optimization of phenol extraction procedures for preparation of RNA from mammalian lymphoid organs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Griffin, G.D.; Sellin, H.G.; Novelli, G.D.

1978-07-01

Methods have been developed to optimize the extraction of RNA from mammalian lymphoid organs (spleen) with respect to both quantity and quality of RNA and with minimal DNA contamination. Nuclease inhibitors, including diethyl pyrocarbonate, polyvinyl sulfate, and bentonite were used in the initial disruption of the tissue, which was accomplished by blender, Dounce homogenizer, or preparation of a cell suspension. Seven buffer systems, varying with respect to pH, detergent, and NaCl concentration, were used in the initial extraction with phenol, and the temperature of extraction was also varied. Protocols involving the selective use of naphthalene 1.5-disulfonic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate were developed to provide an initial RNA extract with minimal DNA content. Dounce homogenization, followed by separate treatment of nuclear and cytosol fractions, was found to be the most effective technique, both in terms of RNA yield (averaging 76%) and the quality of RNA recovered (as judged by gel electrophoresis). RNA from blender preparations contained larger amounts of DNA and RNA yield was decreased to 54%. RNA extracted from spleen cell suspensions was of poor quality and gave very poor yield (27%).

Proanthocyanidin-based Endotoxin Removal

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-16

settings: plasmid DNA preparations used for gene therapy , therapeutic recombinant protein preparations, and implanted medical devices all face the need...juice, Lipton black tea, whole cranberries, chocolate , coffee, and green tea. Purification of proanthocyanidins through hydrophobic adsorption... chocolate were masticated using a Waring blender (100 g) with 75% ethanol in water (60 mL). Vacuum filtration was used to separate the solids from the

40 CFR 80.525 - What requirements apply to kerosene blenders?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGULATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Motor Vehicle Diesel Fuel; Nonroad, Locomotive, and Marine Diesel Fuel; and ECA Marine Fuel Motor Vehicle Diesel Fuel Standards and Requirements § 80... means any refiner who produces NRLM or motor vehicle diesel fuel by adding kerosene to NRLM or motor...

40 CFR 80.835 - What requirements apply to butane blenders?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... gasoline downstream of the refinery that produced the gasoline or the import facility where the gasoline... PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGULATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Gasoline Toxics Gasoline Toxics Performance... gasoline. ...

40 CFR 80.830 - What requirements apply to oxygenate blenders?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... into gasoline downstream of the refinery that produced the gasoline or the import facility where the gasoline was imported are not subject to the requirements of this subpart applicable to refiners for this... PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGULATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Gasoline Toxics Gasoline Toxics Performance...

40 CFR 80.212 - What requirements apply to oxygenate blenders?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... blend oxygenate into gasoline downstream of the refinery that produced the gasoline or the import facility where the gasoline was imported, are not subject to the requirements of this subpart applicable to... PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGULATION OF FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Gasoline Sulfur Gasoline Sulfur Standards § 80...

Preparation of High Density Polyethylene/Waste Polyurethane Blends Compatibilized with Polyethylene-Graft-Maleic Anhydride by Radiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jong-Seok Park

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Polyurethane (PU is a very popular polymer that is used in a variety of applications due to its good mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties. However, PU recycling has received significant attention due to environmental issues. In this study, we developed a recycling method for waste PU that utilizes the radiation grafting technique. Grafting of waste PU was carried out using a radiation technique with polyethylene-graft-maleic anhydride (PE-g-MA. The PE-g-MA-grafted PU/high density polyethylene (HDPE composite was prepared by melt-blending at various concentrations (0–10 phr of PE-g-MA-grafted PU. The composites were characterized using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR, and their surface morphology and thermal/mechanical properties are reported. For 1 phr PU, the PU could be easily introduced to the HDPE during the melt processing in the blender after the radiation-induced grafting of PU with PE-g-MA. PE-g-MA was easily reacted with PU according to the increasing radiation dose and was located at the interface between the PU and the HDPE during the melt processing in the blender, which improved the interfacial interactions and the mechanical properties of the resultant composites. However, the elongation at break for a PU content >2 phr was drastically decreased.

Space Station galley design

Science.gov (United States)

Trabanino, Rudy; Murphy, George L.; Yakut, M. M.

1986-01-01

An Advanced Food Hardware System galley for the initial operating capability (IOC) Space Station is discussed. Space Station will employ food hardware items that have never been flown in space, such as a dishwasher, microwave oven, blender/mixer, bulk food and beverage dispensers, automated food inventory management, a trash compactor, and an advanced technology refrigerator/freezer. These new technologies and designs are described and the trades, design, development, and testing associated with each are summarized.

Environmental Impact Statement. Disposal and Reuse of George Air Force Base, California. Volume 1

Science.gov (United States)

1992-03-01

the SST Commission designated a consortium headed by the Bechtel Corporation to be the franchisee (subject to a franchise agreement) to build and...Noise Levels 110 Rock Band Jet Flyover at 1000 ft 100 Inside Subway Train (New York) Gas Lawnmower at 3 ft 90 Food Blender at 3 ft Noisy Urban Daytime...on-site and Indirect jobs (e.g., retallcommercial, recreational, food services, etc.) In San Bernardino and Riverside counties (ROI). Approximately

Nuclear blenders: blended learning from Rensselaer's Reactor Critical Facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haley, T.C. [Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States)

2011-07-01

Rensselaer's senior level undergraduate nuclear engineering course 'Critical Reactor Laboratory' is highly regarded and much loved. If you can get in, that is. But now it's a required course, nuclear engineering enrollment is up, and others are knocking on our door to get in. How might one offer such a unique course to the masses, without losing the whole point of a laboratory experience? This presentation looks at the costs and benefits of the transition to a 'blended learning' mode -- the merging of traditional, face-to-face instruction and web-based instruction as a solution. As part of the presentation, the course and the facility will be highlighted by short excepts from the 50 minute movie 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Neutron Chain Reactions (but were afraid to ask)'.

An experimental study of the corrosion and precipitation of aluminum in the presence of trisodium phosphate buffer following a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) scenario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seung Jun; Howe, Kerry J.; Leavitt, Janet J.; Hammond, Kyle; Mitchell, Lana; Kee, Ernie; Blandford, Edward D.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Experimental head loss testing was conducted by aggressively promoting corrosion in loss of coolant accidents. • Blender-processed debris beds have higher head loss but tend to be less reproducible than NEI-processed debris beds. • Precipitation was observed from aluminum concentration and turbidity measurements. • Precipitation results were compared to predictions from Visual MINTEQ. - Abstract: This paper presents the results of an integrated chemical effects experiment of head loss across the sump pump screen with fibrous debris bed over a non-prototypical 10-day post-LOCA incident window. The corrosion head loss experiments (CHLE) is a reduced scaled integral effects testing facility built at the University of New Mexico (UNM) to investigate potential chemical effects on head loss across prepared fibrous debris beds. The results in this paper come from two integral effect tests performed at UNM in order to determine the chemical effects on head loss induced by a zinc source effect and an aluminum precipitation effect (T3: without Zn source case, T4: with Zn source case in containment). The tests were performed with a large surface area of aluminum coupons in the testing facility for an extended period of elevated temperature to accelerate corrosion above that expected under prototypical conditions. These conditions were sufficient to force aluminum precipitation to occur and induce the onset of chemical effects on debris bed head loss. The head loss behavior on two different types of fiber debris beds (blender-processed and NEI-processed debris bed) was evaluated in this study. It was found that the blender-processed bed is much more sensitive in filtering than the NEI-processed bed and consequently had a much higher head loss value across the beds. Aluminum precipitation was observed, with aluminum concentration and turbidity measurements, to form starting on day 7 in Test T3 and on day 6 in Test T4. The onset of aluminum precipitation

An experimental study of the corrosion and precipitation of aluminum in the presence of trisodium phosphate buffer following a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) scenario

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Seung Jun [Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of New Mexico (United States); Howe, Kerry J. [Department of Civil Engineering, University of New Mexico (United States); Leavitt, Janet J. [Department of Civil Engineering, University of New Mexico (United States); Alion Science and Technology (United States); Hammond, Kyle; Mitchell, Lana [Department of Civil Engineering, University of New Mexico (United States); Kee, Ernie [South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) (United States); Blandford, Edward D., E-mail: edb@unm.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of New Mexico (United States)

2015-02-15

Highlights: • Experimental head loss testing was conducted by aggressively promoting corrosion in loss of coolant accidents. • Blender-processed debris beds have higher head loss but tend to be less reproducible than NEI-processed debris beds. • Precipitation was observed from aluminum concentration and turbidity measurements. • Precipitation results were compared to predictions from Visual MINTEQ. - Abstract: This paper presents the results of an integrated chemical effects experiment of head loss across the sump pump screen with fibrous debris bed over a non-prototypical 10-day post-LOCA incident window. The corrosion head loss experiments (CHLE) is a reduced scaled integral effects testing facility built at the University of New Mexico (UNM) to investigate potential chemical effects on head loss across prepared fibrous debris beds. The results in this paper come from two integral effect tests performed at UNM in order to determine the chemical effects on head loss induced by a zinc source effect and an aluminum precipitation effect (T3: without Zn source case, T4: with Zn source case in containment). The tests were performed with a large surface area of aluminum coupons in the testing facility for an extended period of elevated temperature to accelerate corrosion above that expected under prototypical conditions. These conditions were sufficient to force aluminum precipitation to occur and induce the onset of chemical effects on debris bed head loss. The head loss behavior on two different types of fiber debris beds (blender-processed and NEI-processed debris bed) was evaluated in this study. It was found that the blender-processed bed is much more sensitive in filtering than the NEI-processed bed and consequently had a much higher head loss value across the beds. Aluminum precipitation was observed, with aluminum concentration and turbidity measurements, to form starting on day 7 in Test T3 and on day 6 in Test T4. The onset of aluminum precipitation

Microbiological evaluation of hot beverages dispensed by vending machines from the Army barracks of Brigata Meccanizzata Aosta located in Messina

OpenAIRE

Chiara Beninati; Daniele Muscolino; Antonio Panebianco; Alessandro Giuffrida; Filippo Giarratana; Attilio Longo

2013-01-01

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the microbiological quality of hot beverages dispensed by vending machines (VMs). The study was carried out on 203 samples from 15 VMs located in 5 Army barracks in Messina. The samples included: water used for preparation of beverages, swab of water tank, swab of blender machine, chocolate powder, milk powder, cappuccino and chocolate drink (29 samples for each types). All samples were examined for total bacterial count (TBC), coliforms, Escherich...

Mii School: New 3D Technologies Applied in Education to Detect Drug Abuses and Bullying in Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Carmona, José Alberto; Espínola, Moisés; Cangas, Adolfo J.; Iribarne, Luis

Mii School is a 3D school simulator developed with Blender and used by psychology researchers for the detection of drugs abuses, bullying and mental disorders in adolescents. The school simulator created is an interactive video game where the players, in this case the students, have to choose, along 17 scenes simulated, the options that better define their personalities. In this paper we present a technical characteristics description and the first results obtained in a real school.

The strategic support of CRM in the governance of the relationships between data and knowledge: the Balanced Score Card approach.

OpenAIRE

Antonio Lorenzon; Luciano Pilotti; Peter Van Baalen

2006-01-01

The term CRM, Customer Relationship Management, is one of the most used word both in Marketing and IT literature and applications. This term is most of the time used as a replacement of a misleading narrow term: Relationship Management (RM). Operations, Customer Service, Sales, human resources, credit controls are essential ingredients in the customer satisfaction blender. So, as a matter of fact, we can conclude that the definition of CRM is also its objective: the development and maintenanc...

Evaluation of Rheological Properties of Apple Mass Based Desserts

OpenAIRE

Sigita Boca; Ruta Galoburda; Inta Krasnova; Dalija Seglina; Aivars Aboltins; Imants Skrupskis

2013-01-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of texturizers on the rheological properties of the apple mass and desserts made from various raw materials. The apple varieties - ‘Antonovka’, ‘Baltais Dzidrais’, and ‘Zarja Alatau’ harvested in Latvia, were used for the experiment. The apples were processed in a blender unpeeled for obtaining a homogenous mass. The apple mass was analyzed fresh and after storage at –18ºC. Both fresh and thawed apple mass samples with added...

The story of global patent inventions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yeun Jung

1996-11-01

This book introduces the global patent inventions, which are soap floating on the water, computer, radar, zipper, fuel cell, a raincoat, a pencil, a ball point pen, vitamin, an ice saw, a subway, post it, endoscope, ultrasonic detector, machine to pierce the hall, hair-restorer, a refrigerator, tricycle tractor of Benz steam engine of watt, carburettor, aluminum smelting process, video game, ice cream freezer, lead powder, piling system, burner using infrared rays, small projector, blender for recycling of resource, and artificial silk.

The story of global patent inventions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Yeun Jung

1996-11-15

This book introduces the global patent inventions, which are soap floating on the water, computer, radar, zipper, fuel cell, a raincoat, a pencil, a ball point pen, vitamin, an ice saw, a subway, post it, endoscope, ultrasonic detector, machine to pierce the hall, hair-restorer, a refrigerator, tricycle tractor of Benz steam engine of watt, carburettor, aluminum smelting process, video game, ice cream freezer, lead powder, piling system, burner using infrared rays, small projector, blender for recycling of resource, and artificial silk.

Biosteel

OpenAIRE

Remelin, Rickard

2008-01-01

This is the reflection of a graduation work done by Rickard Remelin. The work was made to create a proof of concept for a complex 3D computer game. All common elements such as creating Design document, story, programming, 3D modeling, texturing, animation, sound, etc, has been developed singlehandedly. Software used are Gimp, Blender, Gameblender and Audacity. The code was partly written in Python. Detta är reflektionen av ett kandidatarbete gjort av Rickard Remelin. Arbetet har gått ut p...

Development of an integrated closed loop control system with virtual reality monitoring for Prototype Robotic Articulated System (PRAS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rastogi, Naveen; Dutta, Pramit; Gotewal, K.K.

2015-01-01

The Prototype Robotic Articulated System (PRAS) is a servo driven 4 degrees of freedom robotic arm capable of handling of upto 5 kg payload. A virtual reality based monitoring application has been developed in blender and was intergrated with the control system to read the joint values of the robotic arm at 10Hz and update the CAD model to visualize the robotic operations remotely. This paper presents the design details and implementation results of the integrated control system for PRAS

A study of the concentration of micro and macro nutrients in blenderised liquid diet in nasogastric feeding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antia, F.P.; Vege, A.; Swarup, S.; Turel, Z.R.

1990-01-01

Neutron activation analysis was used to determine the amount of macro (Na, K, P, Ca) and trace elements (Fe, Co, Zn, Mo, Se) present in the blenderised liquid diet in nasogastric feeding of patients having throat cancer. It is concluded that Se, Cu, Mo, Fe, Zn and Na are well within the range of the prescribed elemental requirement per day in the blenderized liquid diet, but macro elements like K, P and Ca require some augmentation in diet. (author) 4 tabs

Google SketchUp for Game Design Beginner's Guide

CERN Document Server

de Jongh, Robin

2011-01-01

The book takes a clear, step-by-step approach to building a complete game level using SketchUp with many props and textures. This book is designed for anyone who wants to create entire 3D worlds in freely available game engines such as Unity 3D, CryEngine, Ogre, Panda3D, Unreal Engine, and Blender Game Engine. It also targets all those who wish to create new levels and assets to sell in game asset stores or use in visualization or animation.

TEKNIK ISOLASI - IDENTIFIKASI Yersinia pestis SEBAGAI PENYEBAB PENYAKIT PES (HASIL PELATIHAN DI BALAI BESAR VETERINER BOGOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dewi Marbawati

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Teknik isolasi dan identifikasi Y. pestis mempunyai prinsip- prinsip umum pertumbuhan yaitu terdiri dari tiga tahap yaitu: tahap pengkayaan, seleksi pada media agar dan uji biokimia. Tahap pengkayaan dilakukan dengan cara menimbang sebanyak 10-25 gram spesimen kemudian dimasukkan dalam blender atau plastik steril dan ditambah 90-225 ml media pengkayaan (dapat menggunakan Buffered Peptone Water (BPW, Brain Heart Infusion (BHI atau menggunakan Nutrient Broth. Setelah itu dibuat suspensi spesimen 10%, kemudian dilakukan homogenisasi selama ± 2 menit dan diinkubasikan pada suhu 37 derajat Celcius selama 24 jam.

MakerBot projects blueprints

CERN Document Server

Larson, Joseph

2013-01-01

MakerBot Projects Blueprints is a project-based book, with each chapter taking you through the creation of an awesome stand-alone project. MakerBot Project Blueprints is for anyone with an interest in the 3D printing revolution and the slightest bit of computer skills. Whether you own a 3D printer or not you can design for them. All it takes is Blender, a free 3D modeling tool, this book and a little creativity and someday you'll be able to hold something you designed in the computer in your hands.

Spherical Panoramas for Astrophysical Data Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Brian R.

2017-05-01

Data immersion has advantages in astrophysical visualization. Complex multi-dimensional data and phase spaces can be explored in a seamless and interactive viewing environment. Putting the user in the data is a first step toward immersive data analysis. We present a technique for creating 360° spherical panoramas with astrophysical data. The three-dimensional software package Blender and the Google Spatial Media module are used together to immerse users in data exploration. Several examples employing these methods exhibit how the technique works using different types of astronomical data.

Software Development: 3D Animations and Creating User Interfaces for Realistic Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Gordillo, Orlando Enrique

2015-01-01

My fall 2015 semester was spent at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center working in the Integrated Graphics, Operations, and Analysis Laboratory (IGOAL). My first project was to create a video animation that could tell the story of OMICS. OMICS is a term being used in the field of biomedical science to describe the collective technologies that study biological systems, such as what makes up a cell and how it functions with other systems. In the IGOAL I used a large 23 inch Wacom monitor to draw storyboards, graphics, and line art animations. I used Blender as the 3D environment to sculpt, shape, cut or modify the several scenes and models for the video. A challenge creating this video was to take a term used in biomedical science and describe it in such a way that an 8th grade student can understand. I used a line art style because it would visually set the tone for what we thought was an educational style. In order to get a handle on the perspective and overall feel for the animation without overloading my workspace, I split up the 2 minute animation into several scenes. I used Blender's python scripting capabilities which allowed for the addition of plugins to add or modify tools. The scripts can also directly interact with the objects to create naturalistic patterns or movements. After collecting the rendered scenes, I used Blender's built-in video editing workspace to output the animation. My second project was to write software that emulates a physical system's interface. The interface was to simulate a boat, ROV, and winch system. Simulations are a time and cost effective way to test complicated data and provide training for operators without having to use expensive hardware. We created the virtual controls with 3-D Blender models and 2-D graphics, and then add functionality in C# using the Unity game engine. The Unity engine provides several essential behaviors of a simulator, such as the start and update functions. A framework for Unity, which was developed in

TECHNICAL MEANS FOR OBTAINING INTERMEDIATE PRODUCTS OF THE CASING AND TOPPINGS FOR EXTRUDED FOOD PRODUCTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. N. Pal’chikov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The following article is devoted to the new technical facilities for food production, which technological chain of production process includes computer hardware as a part of the equipment used for body of semi-processed food preparation, blancher for hydrobionts and abrasive blender. For the whole group of the necessary equipment the principal schemes are designed, and the abrasive blender was tested during the experimental approbation to reveal the optimal design. The culinary fish pastes have already been produced in the enterprises in many countries for many years and they are particularly popular in Japan, Germany, Scandinavian and other country. In Poland the mixtures of fish pasted have become widely spread, and are used for production of portioned meals. These pastes may be blended into larger or smaller pieces. The aromatization process of such pastes is conducted with adding the liquid smoke, natural or synthetic fragrances. There is an increasing popularization of the use of flaxseed as a source of alpha-linoleic acid, high-quality protein, phenolics, fiber and minerals. Products with flax meal can be recommended for inclusion in the diet to make up for the deficit of polyunsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber. In this regard, it is appropriate to use the semi-finished product formulations for the respective housings extruded snack food. The results of the conducted research could be used in the production of domestic extruded snacks, which have the form of the cushions with vitaminized dough body and hydrobionts stuffing if setting the special extrusion modes.

Open Source e transmedialità. L'esperienza del Cineca nel campo del Virtual Heritage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele De Luca

2013-07-01

Full Text Available CINECA experience in virtual archaeological reconstructions has led towards the creation of philological and communicative realizations such as «Apa the Etruscan and 2700 years of Bolognese History» – for the Museum of the History of Bologna – and «Marcus Caelius – the value of memory», for the Archaeological Museum of Bologna. The aim of both projects is communicating culture in a narrative way with a philological care and implementing a modelling methodology suitable for a transmedial reuse. The open source approach, mainly trough the adoption of the Blender sw, has provided the right tools.

Turning Research into opportunities: Application of Nuclear Science and Technology for Social and Economic Development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyambura, M.

2017-01-01

Asia and Africa lose 11% of GNP every year owing to poor nutrition and there is Serious implication in the Africa's poverty and food security. Post harvest management problems cause food safety issues.Current food systems - Sustainably meet growing food demand. Soil-Plants Spectroscopy is Simplicity of light-Light based techniques for measurement of soil and plant materials that can help farmers in advisory. Soil Health Surveillance Enables surveillance science and evidence-based approaches - things not previously feasible. Using information from mapping and response trials, blenders can make formulations that will offer better returns to 80-95% of smallholders

Optimization of the agar-gel method for isolation of migrating Ascaris suum larvae from the liver and lungs of pigs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Saeed, I.; Roepstorff, A.; Rasmussen, T.

2001-01-01

Experiments on use of an agar-gel method for recovery of migrating Ascaris suum larvae from the liver and lungs of pigs were conducted to obtain fast standardized methods. Subsamples of blended tissues of pig liver and lungs were mixed with agar to a final concentration of 1% agar and the larvae...... clean suspension which reduced the sample counting time. Blending the liver for 60 sec in a commercial blender showed significantly higher larvae recovery than blending for 30 sec. Addition of gentamycin to reduce bacterial growth during incubation, glucose to increase larval motility during migration...

Development of nuclear fuel microsphere handling techniques and equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mack, J.E.; Suchomel, R.R.; Angelini, P.

1979-01-01

Considerable progress has been made in the development of microsphere handling techniques and equipment for nuclear applications. Work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with microspherical fuel forms dates back to the early sixties with the development of the sol-gel process. Since that time a number of equipment items and systems specifically related to microsphere handling and characterization have been identified and developed for eventual application in a remote recycle facility. These include positive and negative pressure transfer systems, samplers, weighers, a blender-dispenser, and automated devices for particle size distribution and crushing strength analysis. The current status of these and other components and systems is discussed

Petroleum supply monthly, April 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-04-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographical regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US. The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US.

Petroleum supply monthly, January 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-01-01

Data presented describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States. The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States.

PCs The Missing Manual

CERN Document Server

Karp, David

2005-01-01

Your vacuum comes with one. Even your blender comes with one. But your PC--something that costs a whole lot more and is likely to be used daily and for tasks of far greater importance and complexity--doesn't come with a printed manual. Thankfully, that's not a problem any longer: PCs: The Missing Manual explains everything you need to know about PCs, both inside and out, and how to keep them running smoothly and working the way you want them to work. A complete PC manual for both beginners and power users, PCs: The Missing Manual has something for everyone. PC novices will appreciate the una

uPy: a ubiquitous computer graphics Python API with Biological Modeling Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Autin, L.; Johnson, G.; Hake, J.; Olson, A.; Sanner, M.

2015-01-01

In this paper we describe uPy, an extension module for the Python programming language that provides a uniform abstraction of the APIs of several 3D computer graphics programs called hosts, including: Blender, Maya, Cinema4D, and DejaVu. A plugin written with uPy is a unique piece of code that will run in all uPy-supported hosts. We demonstrate the creation of complex plug-ins for molecular/cellular modeling and visualization and discuss how uPy can more generally simplify programming for many types of projects (not solely science applications) intended for multi-host distribution. uPy is available at http://upy.scripps.edu PMID:24806987

Study of medical education in 3D surgical modeling by surgeons with free open-source software: Example of mandibular reconstruction with fibula free flap and creation of its surgical guides.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganry, L; Hersant, B; Bosc, R; Leyder, P; Quilichini, J; Meningaud, J P

2018-02-27

Benefits of 3D printing techniques, biomodeling and surgical guides are well known in surgery, especially when the same surgeon who performed the surgery participated in the virtual surgical planning. Our objective was to evaluate the transfer of know how of a neutral 3D surgical modeling free open-source software protocol to surgeons with different surgical specialities. A one-day training session was organised in 3D surgical modeling applied to one mandibular reconstruction case with fibula free flap and creation of its surgical guides. Surgeon satisfaction was analysed before and after the training. Of 22 surgeons, 59% assessed the training as excellent or very good and 68% considered changing their daily surgical routine and would try to apply our open-source software protocol in their department after a single training day. The mean capacity in using the software improved from 4.13 on 10 before to 6.59 on 10 after training for OsiriX ® software, from 1.14 before to 5.05 after training for Meshlab ® , from 0.45 before to 4.91 after training for Netfabb ® and from 1.05 before and 4.41 after training for Blender ® . According to surgeons, using the software Blender ® became harder as the day went on. Despite improvement in the capacity in using software for all participants, more than a single training day is needed for the transfer of know how on 3D modeling with open-source software. Although the know-how transfer, overall satisfaction, actual learning outcomes and relevance of this training were appropriated, a longer training including different topics will be needed to improve training quality. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

CIECAM02 and Perception of Colour in 3D Computer Generated Graphics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bratuž Nika

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Kljub tehnološkemu napredku zadnjih stoletij in desetletij se še vedno soočamo s problematiko prikaza in upodobitve barve v različnih medijih in ohranjanja zaznave barve. Ena od možnosti, za katero se lahko odločimo pri zagotavljanju stalne barvne zaznave, so modeli barvnega zaznavanja. Trenutno je aktualen CIECAM02, ki se še vedno ne uporablja v 3D računalniški grafi ki, s katero se vsak dan srečujemo. Namen raziskave je bil pregled barvnih prostorov v 3D računalniški grafiki, pregled reprodukcije barv in materialov, algoritmov za senčenje ter izbranih sodobnih tehnologij upodabljanja za doseganje korektne končne vizualizacije. V nadaljevanju smo želeli proučiti model barvnega zaznavanja CIECAM02 do te mere, da bi ga lahko uporabili v povezavi s 3D računalniško grafiko. V ta namen smo v programu Blender postavili testno sceno in jo upodobili s tremi upodobljevalniki: Blender Render in Cycles, ki sta že vgrajena, in z dodatkom Yafaray. Izkazalo se je, da CIECAM02 lahko uporabimo tudi v 3D prostoru in da z njegovo uporabo dobimo boljše rezultate ujemanja barv pri spremembi ozadja. Poleg tega smo ugotovili, da barv ne upodabljajo vsi upodobljevalniki enako. Omenjena raziskava je aktualna za vse, ki želijo svoje dvo- ali tridimezionalne izdelke predstaviti s pomočjo 3D računalniške grafike, torej tudi za področje vizualizacij oblačil in tekstilnih izdelkov, ki se uporabljajo pri modnem oblikovanju in oblikovanju interjerjev, avtomobilski, navtični in letalski industriji ter tudi širše, kjer so dovršene 3D vizualizacije tekstilij in oblačil nepogrešljivi element vizualnih in grafičnih komunikacij.

Visualising Earth's Mantle based on Global Adjoint Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Bozdag, E.; Pugmire, D.; Lefebvre, M. P.; Hill, J.; Komatitsch, D.; Peter, D. B.; Podhorszki, N.; Tromp, J.

2017-12-01

Recent advances in 3D wave propagation solvers and high-performance computing have enabled regional and global full-waveform inversions. Interpretation of tomographic models is often done on visually. Robust and efficient visualization tools are necessary to thoroughly investigate large model files, particularly at the global scale. In collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), we have developed effective visualization tools and used for visualization of our first-generation global model, GLAD-M15 (Bozdag et al. 2016). VisIt (https://wci.llnl.gov/simulation/computer-codes/visit/) is used for initial exploration of the models and for extraction of seismological features. The broad capability of VisIt, and its demonstrated scalability proved valuable for experimenting with different visualization techniques, and in the creation of timely results. Utilizing VisIt's plugin-architecture, a data reader plugin was developed, which reads the ADIOS (https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/center-projects/adios/) format of our model files. Blender (https://www.blender.org) is used for the setup of lighting, materials, camera paths and rendering of geometry. Python scripting was used to control the orchestration of different geometries, as well as camera animation for 3D movies. While we continue producing 3D contour plots and movies for various seismic parameters to better visualize plume- and slab-like features as well as anisotropy throughout the mantle, our aim is to make visualization an integral part of our global adjoint tomography workflow to routinely produce various 2D cross-sections to facilitate examination of our models after each iteration. This will ultimately form the basis for use of pattern recognition techniques in our investigations. Simulations for global adjoint tomography are performed on ORNL's Titan system and visualization is done in parallel on ORNL's post-processing cluster Rhea.

NeuroVR: an open source virtual reality platform for clinical psychology and behavioral neurosciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Riva, Giuseppe; Gaggioli, Andrea; Villani, Daniela; Preziosa, Alessandra; Morganti, Francesca; Corsi, Riccardo; Faletti, Gianluca; Vezzadini, Luca

2007-01-01

In the past decade, the use of virtual reality for clinical and research applications has become more widespread. However, the diffusion of this approach is still limited by three main issues: poor usability, lack of technical expertise among clinical professionals, and high costs. To address these challenges, we introduce NeuroVR (http://www.neurovr.org--http://www.neurotiv.org), a cost-free virtual reality platform based on open-source software, that allows non-expert users to adapt the content of a pre-designed virtual environment to meet the specific needs of the clinical or experimental setting. Using the NeuroVR Editor, the user can choose the appropriate psychological stimuli/stressors from a database of objects (both 2D and 3D) and videos, and easily place them into the virtual environment. The edited scene can then be visualized in the NeuroVR Player using either immersive or non-immersive displays. Currently, the NeuroVR library includes different virtual scenes (apartment, office, square, supermarket, park, classroom, etc.), covering two of the most studied clinical applications of VR: specific phobias and eating disorders. The NeuroVR Editor is based on Blender (http://www.blender.org), the open source, cross-platform suite of tools for 3D creation, and is available as a completely free resource. An interesting feature of the NeuroVR Editor is the possibility to add new objects to the database. This feature allows the therapist to enhance the patient's feeling of familiarity and intimacy with the virtual scene, i.e., by using photos or movies of objects/people that are part of the patient's daily life, thereby improving the efficacy of the exposure. The NeuroVR platform runs on standard personal computers with Microsoft Windows; the only requirement for the hardware is related to the graphics card, which must support OpenGL.

Petroleum Supply Monthly, July 1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1990-09-28

Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in Primary Supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States.

Petroleum supply monthly, March 1995 with data for January 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-03-30

Data presented in this report for March 1995, describes the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States.

Cortometraje de animación 3D

OpenAIRE

Alemañ Baeza, Tomás

2014-01-01

Usando técnicas y equipos de cine de animación 3D se realizará un cortometraje de temática libre. Se desarrollará UN CORTO DE ANIMACION en formato de animación digital en un tamaño no inferior a 640 x 480 píxeles, con un mínimo de 24 fotogramas por segundo. Tendrá una duración máxima de 10 minutos. El tema a desarrollar es libre, la temática no contendrá escenas agresivas, discriminatorias u ofensivas. Se utilizará Blender u otro programa de animación. Además se tendrá que usar un traje de ca...

Quantitative characterization of agglomerate abrasion in a tumbling blender by using the Stokes number approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Willemsz, Tofan A.; Nguyen, Tien Thanh; Hooijmaijers, Ricardo; Frijlink, Henderik W.; Vromans, Herman; van der Voort Maarschalk, Kees

2013-01-01

Removal of microcrystalline cellulose agglomerates in a dry-mixing system (lactose, 100 M) predominantly occurs via abrasion. The agglomerate abrasion rate potential is estimated by the Stokes abrasion (StAbr) number of the system. The StAbrnumber equals the ratio between the kinetic energy density

Method and apparatus for adding and mixing second cohesive powders in a fluidized bed blender

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larson, R.I.; Brassfield, H.C.; Adomitis, J.T.

1981-01-01

Injection and uniform dispersion of a second cohesive powdered ingredient or ingredients having hydrophobic, hydrophilic or hydroscopic properties into a fluidized bed of UO 2 powder is effected by impinging the second ingredient against a deflection plate 21 mounted within the fluidized bed. The apparatus also includes an eductor, a pressurised vortex mill 11 and a pneumatic conveying system. Before entering the fluidized bed, the second ingredient is entrained in a gas and conveyed under pressure to the vortex mill 11 where the particles of the second ingredient are propelled radially outwardly through channels 28 and collide against tungsten carbide impact, blocks 32 causing comminution of the particles. (author)

Economic analysis of U.S. ethanol expansion issues

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhuri, Malika

analyzed when consumers are faced with restricted choice sets. Results suggest that possible government mandates on the consumption of E-10 and E-85 diminish welfare of individuals belonging to the segment 'Conventional Gasoline Acceptor'. Similarly, individuals belonging to 'Ethanol Acceptor' segment experience welfare losses if corn grain ethanol is not available as an alternative transportation fuel. Ethanol is increasingly being used as a gasoline oxygenate and a volume extender in the refinery and blender industry in the U.S. This paper estimates refinery and blender factor demand and evaluates price responsiveness of inputs. The study also develops and tests hypotheses regarding existence of structural change in the industry's demand for inputs. It determines whether there is a common shift point and adjustment rate for structural change in all the refinery and blender inputs by using gradual switching multivariate regression techniques and maximum likelihood methods. Results suggest a structural change in factor demand for inputs in the industry that occurs at different points and rates. Results also suggest that the demand for inputs, except for capital and unfinished oil, has become more inelastic over time.

Petroleum Supply Monthly, September 1990. [Contains glossary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Whited, D.; Jacobus, P. (eds.)

1990-11-28

Data presented in this PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in Primary Supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. 12 figs., 46 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly, October 1990. [Contains Glossary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1990-12-27

Data presented in this report describes the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in Primary Supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. 12 figs., 54 tabs.

Conditions for ingestion and organ content studies: Summary of data submitted by questionnaire

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamura, H.

1998-01-01

In China, food materials are blended locally and frozen for transport. Most participants will food materials in polyethylene containers by land or by air under refrigeration without any preservative such as formaldehyde. In most centres, a 'conventional' laboratory is used for sample preparation, but with additional facilities to prevent contamination of samples. A constant temperature electric oven, or vacuum drier if available, and blender (or mortar and pestle for some limited purposes) are being used. A blender with titanium blades is felt preferable by participants. In India, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan and Vietnam (and probably in Bangladesh), NAA is used for most of the first priority elements, and PIXE for some elements. In China, Japan, Malaysia and Philippines, atomic absorption spectrometry, and ICP emission and mass spectrometry are to be employed. However, INAA or RNAA for iodine determination as well as PIXE are also used. For the latter case, samples are generally ashed in a muffle furnace with special care against inclusion of foreign materials; acid decomposition is accomplished with a borosilicate glass beaker and watch glass on a hot plate, and mostly using analytical grade acids. A PTF crucible or pressure vessel with an electric or microwave oven and high purity acids will be useful for ICP-MS determination of Th and U. Standardization procedures should be clearly described, such as the use of standard solutions or the preparation of laboratory standards for neutron irradiation or PIXE measurements. In general, natural matrix reference materials should not be used as calibration standards. Water used, partly in sample preparation, and in chemical analysis is mostly distilled and/or deionized water. Doubly distilled or doubly deionized water is also used. A laminar-flow clean bench (preferably with exhaust function for protection against acid fumes and biological hazard) was previously recommended. However, as also stated before, a conventional

Petroleum supply monthly, December 1998 with data for October 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-12-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. 82 tabs.

The activity of the Italian Archaeological School of Carthage 2016-2017

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Attilio Mastino

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Resoconto dell'attività 2016-2017 della Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Cartagine. In allegato un modello 3D di Salvatore Ganga dell'altare della Gens Iulia conservato al Museo del bardo di Tunisi prodotto con tecnica fotogrammetrica del tipo structure from motion. Sono state utilizzate 149 foto realizzate con una macchina digitale Sony Nex-5 con obiettivo grandangolare 16 mm. Per l'elaborazione è stato impiegato il software "Agisoft Photoscan" che ha restituito una nuvola di punti densa costituita da 14 315 667 punti (medium quality. La mesh di 946 320 facce si appoggia su 478 375 vertici. La texture è contenuta in due immagini da 8192x8192 pixels.Il breve filmato di una rotazione completa dell'oggetto è stato realizzato col software Blender.

Petroleum supply monthly, August 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-08-26

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics.

The Marcus Caelius Project: a transmedial approach to support cultural communication and educational activities at the Civical Archaeological Museum of Bologna

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Bentini

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The project “Marcus Caelius – the Value of Memory” is a 8 minute short animation movie located in the Roman Bologna at the Augustan Age. It originated with the Civical Archaeological Museum of Bologna in collaboration with Cineca VisIT-Lab. The project emploies a well known historical fact (the Battle of Teutoburg to enable a philological approach within an emotional/narrative process. New philologically accurate reconstructions (i.e archaeological finds hedged in the Museum’s collection are integrated with 3D historical sets caming form previous Cineca projects. Mixed movie-making techniques, such as Blender rendering, Chroma key and Machinima animation, implemented an ad hoc production pipeline in order to define times and costs which could be supported by a small production.

Authenticity analysis of citrus essential oils by HPLC-UV-MS on oxygenated heterocyclic components

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Fan

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Citrus essential oils are widely applied in food industry as the backbone of citrus flavors. Unfortunately, due to relatively simple chemical composition and tremendous price differences among citrus species, adulteration has been plaguing the industry since its inception. Skilled blenders are capable of making blends that are almost indistinguishable from authentic oils through conventional gas chromatography analysis. A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC method was developed for compositional study of nonvolatile constituents in essential oils from major citrus species. The nonvolatile oxygenated heterocyclic components identified in citrus oils were proved to be more effective as markers in adulteration detection than the volatile components. Authors are hoping such an analysis procedure can be served as a routine quality control test for authenticity evaluation in citrus essential oils.

Petroleum supply monthly, August 1995 with data for June 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-08-25

Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics.

Petroleum supply monthly, October 1991. [Contains glossary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-10-30

Data presented in this report describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in Primary Supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importer, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data are divided into two sections (1) the Summary Statistics and (2) the Detailed Statistics 14 figs., 56 tabs.

The recommendation of line-balancing improvement on MCM product line 1 using genetics algorithm and moodie young at XYZ Company, Co.

Science.gov (United States)

Sriwana, I. K.; Marie, I. A.; Mangala, D.

2017-12-01

Kencana Gemilang, Co. is one electronics industry engaging in the manufacture sector. This company manufactures and assembles household electronic products, such as rice cooker, fan, iron, blender, etc. The company deals with an issue of underachievement of an established production target on MCM products line 1. This study aimed to calculate line efficiencies, delay times, and initial line smoothness indexes. The research was carried out by means of depicting a precedence diagram and gathering time data of each work element followed by examination and calculation of standard time as well as line balancing using methods of Moodie Young and Generics Algorithm. Based on results of calculation, better line balancing than the existing initial conditions, i.e. improvement in the line efficiency by 18.39%, deterioration in balanced delay by 28.39%, and deterioration of a smoothness index by 23.85% was obtained.

Validation of small Kepler transiting planet candidates in or near the habitable zone

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torres, Guillermo; Kane, Stephen R.; Rowe, Jason F.

2017-01-01

A main goal of NASA's Kepler Mission is to establish the frequency of potentially habitable Earth-size planets (). Relatively few such candidates identified by the mission can be confirmed to be rocky via dynamical measurement of their mass. Here we report an effort to validate 18 of them...... statistically using the BLENDER technique, by showing that the likelihood they are true planets is far greater than that of a false positive. Our analysis incorporates follow-up observations including high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, high-resolution imaging, and information from...... the analysis of the flux centroids of the Kepler observations themselves. Although many of these candidates have been previously validated by others, the confidence levels reported typically ignore the possibility that the planet may transit a star different from the target along the same line of sight...

uPy: a ubiquitous CG Python API with biological-modeling applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Autin, Ludovic; Johnson, Graham; Hake, Johan; Olson, Arthur; Sanner, Michel

2012-01-01

The uPy Python extension module provides a uniform abstraction of the APIs of several 3D computer graphics programs (called hosts), including Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D, and DejaVu. A plug-in written with uPy can run in all uPy-supported hosts. Using uPy, researchers have created complex plug-ins for molecular and cellular modeling and visualization. uPy can simplify programming for many types of projects (not solely science applications) intended for multihost distribution. It's available at http://upy.scripps.edu. The first featured Web extra is a video that shows interactive analysis of a calcium dynamics simulation. YouTube URL: http://youtu.be/wvs-nWE6ypo. The second featured Web extra is a video that shows rotation of the HIV virus. YouTube URL: http://youtu.be/vEOybMaRoKc.

Developmentally Delayed Male with Mincer Blade Obstructing the Oesophagus for a Period of Time Suspected to Be 6 Months

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Grønhøj Larsen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Sharp, retained foreign bodies in the oesophagus are associated with severe complications. Developmentally delayed patients are especially subject to foreign objects. We describe a 37-year-old, developmentally delayed male with a mincer blade obstructing the oesophagus. Six months prior to surgical intervention, the patient was hospitalized in a condition of sepsis and pneumonia where the thoracic X-ray reveals a foreign body in the proximal oesophagus. When rehospitalized 6 months later, a mincer blade of the type used in immersion blenders was surgically removed. During these 6 months the patient’s main symptoms were dysphagia, weight loss, and diarrhoea. When developmentally delayed patients present with dysphagia, we strongly encourage the awareness of the possible presence of foreign bodies. To our knowledge this is the first reported case of a mincer blade in the oesophagus.

Economical and eco-friendly recycling of used dry batteries for synthesis of graphene oxide by sheer exfoliation in presence of SDS

Science.gov (United States)

Kochrekar, Sachin; Agharkar, Mahesh; Salgaonkar, Manjunath; Gharge, Mrunal; Hidouri, Slah; Azeez, Musibau A.

2015-06-01

Graphene is a two-dimensional form of graphite that has attracted great curiosity for its novel physical properties. A key challenge that has emerged is how to create large amounts of graphene at low cost. The purpose of this Paper is to explore a new method to exfoliate graphite extracted from used dry battery in a small scale blender; in presence of SDS surfactant to synthesize graphene oxide, which can be then reduced to graphene. Quantity of SDS required is extremely less (1/10th) of graphite, and it replaces several steps and chemicals such as KMnO4, H2O2, H2SO4 and NaNO3. In this paper, we present the new process and preliminary characterization of synthesized graphene oxide by Raman and UV-Vis absorbance spectroscopy and ATR-IR spectroscopy.

Analytical quality assurance procedures developed for the IAEA's Reference Asian Man Project (Phase 2)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamura, H.; Parr, R.M.; Dang, H.S.; Tian, W.; Barnes, R.M.; Iyengar, G.V.

2000-01-01

Analytical quality assurance procedures adopted for use in the IAEA Co-ordinated Research Project on Ingestion and Organ Content of Trace Elements of Importance in Radiological Protection are designed to ensure comparability of the analytical results for Cs, I, Sr, Th, U and other elements in human tissues and diets collected and analysed in nine participating countries. The main analytical techniques are NAA and ICP-MS. For sample preparation, all participants are using identical food blenders which have been centrally supplied after testing for contamination. For quality control of the analyses, six NIST SRMs covering a range of matrices with certified and reference values for the elements of interest have been distributed. A new Japanese reference diet material has also been developed. These quality assurance procedures are summarized here and new data are presented for Cs, I, Sr, Th and U in the NIST SRMs. (author)

Mucilage extraction and substrates in the seedling development of yellow passion fruit plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Sfeir Aguiar

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The object of this work was to evaluate different methods of mucilage extraction and substrates on passion fruit seedling emergence and development , in a mist chamber. Five methods of mucilage extraction were used: water, water + sand, water + virgin whitewash; blender with protected blades and fermentation in water, and three different types of substrates: rice hull, vermiculite and coconut fiber. The experiment had a completely randomized design with five replications in a factorial 5 x 3 scheme (5 extraction methods of seed mucilage and 3 substrates being each parcel composed of 25 seeds. The parameters evaluated were: seedling emergence, speed of emergence index, leaf number, stem length, longest root length, weight of dry matter of roots and shoots. Water and fermentation in water are the best method for mucilage extraction and rice hull and coconut fiber are the best substrate for passionfruit seedling emergence and development.

Landscape Modelling and Simulation Using Spatial Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amjed Naser Mohsin AL-Hameedawi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper a procedure was performed for engendering spatial model of landscape acclimated to reality simulation. This procedure based on combining spatial data and field measurements with computer graphics reproduced using Blender software. Thereafter that we are possible to form a 3D simulation based on VIS ALL packages. The objective was to make a model utilising GIS, including inputs to the feature attribute data. The objective of these efforts concentrated on coordinating a tolerable spatial prototype, circumscribing facilitation scheme and outlining the intended framework. Thus; the eventual result was utilized in simulation form. The performed procedure contains not only data gathering, fieldwork and paradigm providing, but extended to supply a new method necessary to provide the respective 3D simulation mapping production, which authorises the decision makers as well as investors to achieve permanent acceptance an independent navigation system for Geoscience applications.

Petroleum supply monthly with data from January 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-03-01

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of nickel coated multi walled carbon nanotube reinforced stainless steel 316L matrix composites by laser sintering process

Science.gov (United States)

Mahanthesha, P.; Mohankumar, G. C.

2018-04-01

Electroless Ni coated Multi-walled Carbon nanotubes reinforced with Stainless Steel 316L matrix composite was developed by Direct Metal Laser Sintering process (DMLS). Homogeneous mixture of Stainless Steel 316L powder and carbon nanotubes in different vol. % was obtained by using double cone blender machine. Characterization of electroless Ni coated carbon nanotubes was done by using X-ray diffraction, FESEM and EDS. Test samples were fabricated at different laser scan speeds. Effect of process parameters and CNT vol. % content on solidification microstructure and mechanical properties of test samples was investigated by using Optical microscopy, FESEM, and Hounsfield tensometer. Experimental results reveal DMLS process parameters affect the density and microstructure of sintered parts. Dense parts with minimum porosity when processed at low laser scan speeds and low CNT vol. %. Tensile fractured surface of test specimens evidences the survival of carbon nanotubes under high temperature processing condition.

Petroleum supply monthly with data for March 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-05-01

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major U.S. geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States.

Countermeasure technology for environmental pollution due to radioactive substances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Hideki

2014-01-01

This paper introduces the progress of challenges by Maeda Corporation toward the countermeasures for the environmental pollution caused by radioactive substances that covers the whole areas of Naraha Town in Fukushima Prefecture. It also introduces in full detail the environmental pollution countermeasure technologies against radioactive substances challenged by the said company. These technologies are as follows; (1) porous block kneaded with zeolite, (2) Aqua-filter System (technique to automatically and continuously purify construction work water to the level of tap water), (3) super vacuum press (dehydration unit to realize the dehydration, volume reduction and solidification, and insolubilization at the same time), (4) mist blender (technique to manufacture bentonite-mixed soil), (5) wet-type classification washing technique for contaminated soil, (6) soil sorting technique (continuous discrimination technique to sort soil depending on radiation level), and (7) speedy construction technique for dam body using CSG (cemented sand and gravel). (A.O.)

Gas chromatographic determination of calcium propionate added as preservative to bread.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamkin, W M; Unruh, N C; Pomeranz, Y

1987-01-01

A simple and rapid gas chromatographic procedure was developed for determining low concentrations of propionate added as a preservative to bread. A bread sample to be analyzed was ground in a meat grinder with a 3 mm hole plate and finely divided by rubbing through a No. 8 sieve. The propionate was then extracted into 0.050M formic acid in a blender at low speed for 5 min, and an aliquot of a filtrate was analyzed directly by gas chromatography. Chromatographic separation was accomplished on a Carbopack C column coated with 0.3% (w/w) Carbowax 20M and 0.1% (w/w) phosphoric acid. Less than 0.2 ppm propionic acid could be detected in the aqueous extract. Over the range of 0.03-0.23% calcium propionate, average relative error was -1.20% with an average coefficient of variation of 2.02%.

Aplikasi Virtual Kata Untuk Komunikasi Penyandang Tunarungu Berbasis Android

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fras Setia Rahman

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Deaf people are people who lose either their partial or complete hearing ability which will make the sense of hearing unusable. The problem encountered when meeting a deaf person is unable to communicate well. To solve this problem, it is necessary to build a virtual word application that is android based to help communicate with the deaf people. This app uses 3D virtual characters as a voice-translating medium into a sign language. The sign language is converted to 3D animation to make it easier to understand and attractive. The sign language system used in this application is the SIBI system (Sistem Isyarat Bahasa Indonesia. This application is built by using Unity 3D software with C # and Java programming language, while to create 3D animation is using Blender software. From the test results of this application, obviously it can facilitate the communication with the deaf people.   Keywords: word virtual application, deaf communication, 3D sign language animation, SIBI, android.

Free Software Beyond Radical Politics: Negotiations of Creative and Craft Autonomy in Digital Visual Media Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Velkova

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Free software development and the technological practices of hackers have been broadly recognised as fundamental for the formation of political cultures that foster democracy in the digital mediascape. This article explores the role of free software in the practices of digital artists, animators and technicians who work in various roles for the contemporary digital visual media industries. Rather than discussing it as a model of organising work, the study conceives free software as a production tool and shows how it becomes a locus of politics about finding material security in flexible capitalism. This politics is ultimately contradictory in that it extends creative and craft autonomy of digital artists but does not mobilise a critical project. Instead, it nurtures further precarious labour. Empirically, the article draws on ethnographically collected material from the media practices of digital artists and programmers who engage with two popular free software production tools, Blender and Synfig.

UPSCALING OF SOLAR INDUCED CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE FROM LEAF TO CANOPY USING THE DART MODEL AND A REALISTIC 3D FOREST SCENE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Liu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Solar induced chlorophyll a fluorescence (SIF has been shown to be an excellent proxy of photosynthesis at multiple scales. However, the mechanical linkages between fluorescence and photosynthesis at the leaf level cannot be directly applied at canopy or field scales, as the larger scale SIF emission depends on canopy structure. This is especially true for the forest canopies characterized by high horizontal and vertical heterogeneity. While most of the current studies on SIF radiative transfer in plant canopies are based on the assumption of a homogeneous canopy, recently codes have been developed capable of simulation of fluorescence signal in explicit 3-D forest canopies. Here we present a canopy SIF upscaling method consisting of the integration of the 3-D radiative transfer model DART and a 3-D object model BLENDER. Our aim was to better understand the effect of boreal forest canopy structure on SIF for a spatially explicit forest canopy.

Architecture of a highly modular lighting simulation system

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2014-01-01

This talk will discuss the challenges before designing a highly modular, parallel, heterogeneous rendering system and their solutions. It will review how different lighting simulation algorithms could be combined to work together using an unified framework. We will discuss how the system can be instrumented for collecting data about the algorithms' runtime performance. The talk includes an overview of how collected data could be visualised in the computational domain of the lighting algorithms and be used for visual debugging and analysis. About the speaker Hristo Lesev has been working in the software industry for the last ten years. He has taken part in delivering a number of desktop and mobile applications. Computer Graphics programming is Hristo's main passion and he has experience writing extensions for 3D software like 3DS Max, Maya, Blender, Sketchup, and V-Ray. Since 2006 Hristo teaches Photorealistic Ray Tracing in the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at the Paisii Hilendarski...

Modelling and Simulation of the Knee Joint with a Depth Sensor Camera for Prosthetics and Movement Rehabilitation

Science.gov (United States)

Risto, S.; Kallergi, M.

2015-09-01

The purpose of this project was to model and simulate the knee joint. A computer model of the knee joint was first created, which was controlled by Microsoft's Kinect for Windows. Kinect created a depth map of the knee and lower leg motion independent of lighting conditions through an infrared sensor. A combination of open source software such as Blender, Python, Kinect SDK and NI_Mate were implemented for the creation and control of the simulated knee based on movements of a live physical model. A physical size model of the knee and lower leg was also created, the movement of which was controlled remotely by the computer model and Kinect. The real time communication of the model and the robotic knee was achieved through programming in Python and Arduino language. The result of this study showed that Kinect in the modelling of human kinematics and can play a significant role in the development of prosthetics and other assistive technologies.

Verifying different-modality properties for concepts produces switching costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Pecher, Diane; Zeelenberg, René; Barsalou, Lawrence W

2003-03-01

According to perceptual symbol systems, sensorimotor simulations underlie the representation of concepts. It follows that sensorimotor phenomena should arise in conceptual processing. Previous studies have shown that switching from one modality to another during perceptual processing incurs a processing cost. If perceptual simulation underlies conceptual processing, then verifying the properties of concepts should exhibit a switching cost as well. For example, verifying a property in the auditory modality (e.g., BLENDER-loud) should be slower after verifying a property in a different modality (e.g., CRANBERRIES-tart) than after verifying a property in the same modality (e.g., LEAVES-rustling). Only words were presented to subjects, and there were no instructions to use imagery. Nevertheless, switching modalities incurred a cost, analogous to the cost of switching modalities in perception. A second experiment showed that this effect was not due to associative priming between properties in the same modality. These results support the hypothesis that perceptual simulation underlies conceptual processing.

Estimating cranial musculoskeletal constraints in theropod dinosaurs.

Science.gov (United States)

Lautenschlager, Stephan

2015-11-01

Many inferences on the biology, behaviour and ecology of extinct vertebrates are based on the reconstruction of the musculature and rely considerably on its accuracy. Although the advent of digital reconstruction techniques has facilitated the creation and testing of musculoskeletal hypotheses in recent years, muscle strain capabilities have rarely been considered. Here, a digital modelling approach using the freely available visualization and animation software Blender is applied to estimate cranial muscle length changes and optimal and maximal possible gape in different theropod dinosaurs. Models of living archosaur taxa (Alligator mississippiensis, Buteo buteo) were used in an extant phylogenetically bracketed framework to validate the method. Results of this study demonstrate that Tyrannosaurus rex, Allosaurus fragilis and Erlikosaurus andrewsi show distinct differences in the recruitment of the jaw adductor musculature and resulting gape, confirming previous dietary and ecological assumptions. While the carnivorous taxa T. rex and Allo. fragilis were capable of a wide gape and sustained muscle force, the herbivorous therizinosaurian E. andrewsi was constrained to small gape angles.

Petroleum supply monthly, November 1996 with data for September 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-11-01

Data presented in this report describes the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products fin the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 16 figs., 66 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly: September 1996, with data for July 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-09-01

Data presented in this report describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 56 tabs.

How policies affect international biofuel price linkages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajcaniova, Miroslava; Drabik, Dusan; Ciaian, Pavel

2013-01-01

We estimate the role of biofuel policies in determining which country is the price leader in world biofuel markets using a cointegration analysis and a Vector Error Correction (VEC) model. Weekly prices are analyzed for the EU, US, and Brazilian ethanol and biodiesel markets in the 2002–2010 and 2005–2010 time periods, respectively. The US blender's tax credit and Brazil's consumer tax exemption are found to play a role in determining the ethanol prices in other countries. For biodiesel, our results demonstrate that EU policies – the consumer tax exemption and blending target – tend to determine the world biodiesel price. - Highlights: • We estimate the role of biofuel policies in determining biofuel prices. • We use a cointegration analysis and the Vector Error Correction (VEC) model. • The biofuel policies in US and Brazil determine the world ethanol prices. • EU biofuel policies tend to form the world biodiesel price

Pigment and Lovastatin content on the Red Rice cultivar Bah Butong and BP 1804 IF 9 which Fermented by Monascus purpureus Jmba

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ERNAWATI KASIM

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Research on the red rice fermented by Monascus purpureus had been done. The rice consisted of 2 cultivars such as Bah Butong and BP 1804 IF 9. The aim of the research was to know the content of the pigment and lovastatin of the fermentation result/ angkak. Angkak was powdered by using blender. To measure the content of pigment, the powder was extracted by methanol. By using spectrophotometer the content of the pigment could be measured with 390 nm wave lengths for yellow pigment and 500 nm for the red pigment. For lovastatin the powder was extracted by acetonitrile and H2SO4. By using HPLC the content of lovastatin could be measured. The results showed that the highest pigment content for yellow pigment was on the PB 1804 IF 9 cultivar, and red pigment was on the Bah Butong cultivar. The highest lovastatin content was on the BP 1804 IF 9.

The influence of high shear mixing on ternary dry powder inhaler formulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hertel, Mats; Schwarz, Eugen; Kobler, Mirjam; Hauptstein, Sabine; Steckel, Hartwig; Scherließ, Regina

2017-12-20

The blending process is a key step in the production of dry powder inhaler formulations, but only little is known about the influence of process parameters. This is especially true for high shear blending of ternary formulations. For this reason, this study aims to investigate the influence of high shear mixing process parameters (mixing time and rotation speed) on the fine particle fraction (FPF) of ternary mixtures when using budesonide as model drug, two different carrier materials and two different mixing orders. Prolonged mixing time and higher rotation speeds led to lower FPFs, possibly due to higher press-on forces acting on the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). In addition, a clear correlation between the energy consumption of the blender (the energy input into the blend) and the reduction of the FPF could be shown. Furthermore blending the carrier and the fines before adding the API was also found to be favorable. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Forum Renascens (Los Bañales de Uncastillo, Zaragoza: Archaeology of Architecture of the Roman forum in the service of the dissemination through the Virtual Archaeology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Serrano Basterra

2015-10-01

Full Text Available An archaeological site concerning the remains of an ancient Roman city, developed mainly from 1st BC to III AD, in the area named "Los Bañales", is located at the south of the current town of Uncastillo (Zaragoza, Spain in Comarca de las Cinco Villas. From 2008 the archaeological site is been studied in a interdisciplinar research project leaded by Fundación Uncastillo under the autorizathion of Gobierno de Aragón. Last seasons of excavation have been focused in the forum, the ancient public square of the roman town, still in process of research. It was a quite small square but following all the requeriments of those type of buildings in Roman Achitecture. Using Blender software, a model of recreation of the forum is being done. The following paper presents a brief summary of the dossier of decissions concerning this recreation result, however, of the interdisciplinar cooperation between historians, archaeologists and architects.

Circumstances of fatal lockout/tagout-related injuries in manufacturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulzacchelli, Maria T; Vernick, Jon S; Sorock, Gary S; Webster, Daniel W; Lees, Peter S J

2008-10-01

Over the past few decades, hundreds of manufacturing workers have suffered fatal injuries while performing maintenance and servicing on machinery and equipment. Using lockout/tagout procedures could have prevented many of these deaths. A narrative text analysis of OSHA accident investigation report summaries was conducted to describe the circumstances of lockout/tagout-related fatalities occurring in the US manufacturing industry from 1984 to 1997. The most common mechanisms of injury were being caught in or between parts of equipment, electrocution, and being struck by or against objects. Typical scenarios included cleaning a mixer or blender, cleaning a conveyor, and installing or disassembling electrical equipment. Lockout procedures were not even attempted in the majority (at least 58.8%) of fatal incidents reviewed. Lockout/tagout-related fatalities occur under a wide range of circumstances. Enhanced training and equipment designs that facilitate lockout and minimize worker contact with machine parts may prevent many lockout/tagout-related injuries. Published 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Bioremediation of petroleum contaminated soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Autry, A.R.; Ellis, G.M.

1992-01-01

This paper reports on bioremediation, which offers a cost-competitive, effective remediation alternative for soil contaminated with petroleum products. These technologies involve using microorganisms to biologically degrade organic constituents in contaminated soil. All bioremediation applications must mitigate various environmental rate limiting factors so that the biodegradation rates for petroleum hydrocarbons are optimized in field-relevant situations. Traditional bioremediation applications include landfarming, bioreactors, and composting. A more recent bioremediation application that has proven successful involves excavation of contaminated soil. The process involves the placement of the soils into a powerscreen, where it is screened to remove rocks and larger debris. The screened soil is then conveyed to a ribbon blender, where it is mixed in batch with nutrient solution containing nitrogen, phosphorus, water, and surfactants. Each mixed soil batch is then placed in a curing pile, where it remains undisturbed for the remainder of the treatment process, during which time biodegradation by naturally occurring microorganisms, utilizing biochemical pathways mediated by enzymes, will occur

Method to study the effect of blend flowability on the homogeneity of acetaminophen.

Science.gov (United States)

Llusá, Marcos; Pingali, Kalyana; Muzzio, Fernando J

2013-02-01

Excipient selection is key to product development because it affects their processability and physical properties, which ultimately affect the quality attributes of the pharmaceutical product. To study how the flowability of lubricated formulations affects acetaminophen (APAP) homogeneity. The formulations studied here contain one of two types of cellulose (Avicel 102 or Ceollus KG-802), one of three grades of Mallinckrodt APAP (fine, semi-fine, or micronized), lactose (Fast-Flo) and magnesium stearate. These components are mixed in a 300-liter bin blender. Blend flowability is assessed with the Gravitational Displacement Rheometer. APAP homogeneity is assessed with off-line NIR. Excluding blends dominated by segregation, there is a trend between APAP homogeneity and blend flow index. Blend flowability is affected by the type of microcrystalline cellulose and by the APAP grade. The preliminary results suggest that the methodology used in this paper is adequate to study of the effect of blend flow index on APAP homogeneity.

Modelling and Simulation of the Knee Joint with a Depth Sensor Camera for Prosthetics and Movement Rehabilitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Risto, S; Kallergi, M

2015-01-01

The purpose of this project was to model and simulate the knee joint. A computer model of the knee joint was first created, which was controlled by Microsoft's Kinect for Windows. Kinect created a depth map of the knee and lower leg motion independent of lighting conditions through an infrared sensor. A combination of open source software such as Blender, Python, Kinect SDK and NI-Mate were implemented for the creation and control of the simulated knee based on movements of a live physical model. A physical size model of the knee and lower leg was also created, the movement of which was controlled remotely by the computer model and Kinect. The real time communication of the model and the robotic knee was achieved through programming in Python and Arduino language. The result of this study showed that Kinect in the modelling of human kinematics and can play a significant role in the development of prosthetics and other assistive technologies. (paper)

Petroleum supply monthly, May 1999, with data for March 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-05-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary supplies of petroleum products in the US (50 states and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 72 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly, June 1999, with data for April 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-06-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 16 figs., 66 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly, April 1999, with data for February 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-04-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 72 tabs.

Pembuatan Aplikasi Catalog 3D Desain Rumah Sebagai Sarana Promosi Dengan Menggunakan Unity 3D

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siryantini Nurul Adnin

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This study incorporate AR into a technology home Catalog sales, thus Catalog home is becoming more real with 3D objects in it. This research aims to produce an application that can display a 3D model of a house that can help buyers to know well the home to be purchased, and will simplify the home seller as a media campaign to consumers. 3D objects used to develop two kinds of Software that Sweet Home 3D and Blender, whereas to create application in programming used Unity 3D Software using the C # programming language. Application home design Catalog is made through several stages of design 3D objects, Marker workmanship and application design. The end result consists of two forms, namely in the form of physical (in the form of print media Catalog that contains a marker on some pages and Augmented Reality applications based on Android in the form of .apk which is then installed on Smartphones, where the two are complementary.

Petroleum supply monthly, November 1998, with data for September 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-11-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the Unites States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 72 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly, December 1997 with data from October 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-12-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describes the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregates, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 16 figs., 66 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly, January 1999 with data for November 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-01-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 82 tabs.

[U.S. renewable fuel standard implementation mechanism and market tracking].

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Liping; Earley, Robert; An, Feng; Zhang, Yu

2013-03-01

U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a mandatory policy for promoting the utilization of biofuels in road transpiration sector in order to reduce the country's dependency on foreign oil and greenhouse gas emissions. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines the proportion of renewable fuels according to RFS annual target, and requests obligated parties such like fossil fuel refiner, blenders and importer in the U.S. to complete Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) every year. Obligated parties prove they have achieved their RVO through a renewable fuels certification system, which generates Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) for every gallon of qualified renewable fuels produced or imported into U.S., RINs is a key for tracking renewable fuel consumption, which in turn is a key for implementing the RFS in the U.S., separated RINs can be freely traded in market and obligated parties could fulfill their RVO through buying RINs from other stakeholders. This briefing paper highlights RFS policy implementing mechanism and marketing tracking, mainly describes importance of RINs, and the method for generating and tracking RINs by both government and fuels industry participants.

Petroleum supply monthly - with data for May 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-07-01

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major U.S. geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. This document contains a glossary.

Petroleum supply monthly with data from April 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-06-01

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major U.S. geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States.

Introducing Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation into Olfactory Display

Science.gov (United States)

Ishida, Hiroshi; Yoshida, Hitoshi; Nakamoto, Takamichi

An olfactory display is a device that delivers various odors to the user's nose. It can be used to add special effects to movies and games by releasing odors relevant to the scenes shown on the screen. In order to provide high-presence olfactory stimuli to the users, the display must be able to generate realistic odors with appropriate concentrations in a timely manner together with visual and audio playbacks. In this paper, we propose to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in conjunction with the olfactory display. Odor molecules released from their source are transported mainly by turbulent flow, and their behavior can be extremely complicated even in a simple indoor environment. In the proposed system, a CFD solver is employed to calculate the airflow field and the odor dispersal in the given environment. An odor blender is used to generate the odor with the concentration determined based on the calculated odor distribution. Experimental results on presenting odor stimuli synchronously with movie clips show the effectiveness of the proposed system.

Petroleum supply monthly, July 1997 with data from May 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-07-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describes the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 16 figs., 66 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly, February 1999, with data for December 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-02-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describes the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 16 figs., 66 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly, March 1999, with data for January 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four petroleum supply publications produced by the Petroleum Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics.

Towards further understanding on the antioxidative activities of Prunus persica fruit: A comparative study with four different fractions

Science.gov (United States)

Dhingra, Naveen; Sharma, Rajesh; Kar, Anand

2014-11-01

In the present study we have evaluated the antioxidant activities of different fractions (hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and aqueous fractions) of Prunus persica fruit. For extraction simple warring blender method was employed and total phenolic and flavonoid contents were correlated with different antioxidant activities (total antioxidant, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), H2O2 scavenging, superoxide radical scavenging, iron chelating and their reducing power properties). Different in vitro antioxidant studies showed that ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions had the maximum activities that were well correlated with total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Maximum yield (25.14 ± 2.2%) was obtained in its aqueous fraction. Both ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions showed significant inhibitory effects on different antioxidant activities. A significantly high correlation coefficient existed between total antioxidant activities and with total phenolic as well as total flavonoid contents. It appears that ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions of P. persica may serve as new potential sources of natural antioxidants and could be of therapeutic use in treating several diseases.

Petroleum supply monthly, August 1998, with data for June 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-08-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 16 fig., 66 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly: July 1998, with data for May 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-07-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describes the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 16 figs., 56 tabs.

Arquitectura Clúster de Alto Rendimiento Utilizando Herramientas de Software Libre

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonardo Chuquiguanca

2015-05-01

Full Text Available El artículo presenta la implementación de una arquitectura clúster que convierte un laboratorio inicialmente concebido para la eseñanza de la comunidad estudiantil, en una sala de altas prestaciones mediante el uso de herramientas de software libre como: MPICH, Mosix, Blender, Hadoop, Ganglia Monitoring System. Con el clúster se obtiene un rendimiento similar al de un supercomputador, optimizando el tiempo de procesamiento en: simulación de procesos, reconocimiento de patrones, renderizado de imagen y video, análisis de grandes volúmenes de datos Big Data, cifrado de códigos, evaluación de algoritmos, etc. Además, con esta arquitectura se puede procesar millones de operaciones por segundo en los procesos antes mencionados. Este importante avance facilita la investigación académica en otros campos donde se requiera procesar grandes volúmenes de información y obtener resultados en un corto tiempo lo cual permitirá una adecuada toma de decisiones.

In situ TEM visualization of superior nanomechanical flexibility of shear-exfoliated phosphorene.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Feng; Ma, Hongyu; Lei, Shuangying; Sun, Jun; Chen, Jing; Ge, Binghui; Zhu, Yimei; Sun, Litao

2016-07-14

Recently discovered atomically thin black phosphorus (called phosphorene) holds great promise for applications in flexible nanoelectronic devices. Experimentally identifying and characterizing nanomechanical properties of phosphorene are challenging, but also potentially rewarding. This work combines for the first time in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging and an in situ micro-manipulation system to directly visualize the nanomechanical behaviour of individual phosphorene nanoflakes. We demonstrate that the phosphorene nanoflakes can be easily bent, scrolled, and stretched, showing remarkable mechanical flexibility rather than fracturing. An out-of-plane plate-like bending mechanism and in-plane tensile strain of up to 34% were observed. Moreover, a facile liquid-phase shear exfoliation route has been developed to produce such mono-layer and few-layer phosphorene nanoflakes in organic solvents using only a household kitchen blender. The effects of surface tensions of the applied solvents on the ratio of average length and thickness (L/T) of the nanoflakes were studied systematically. The results reported here will pave the way for potential industrial-scale applications of flexible phosphorene nanoelectronic devices.

SWeRF--A method for estimating the relevant fine particle fraction in bulk materials for classification and labelling purposes.

Science.gov (United States)

Pensis, Ingeborg; Luetzenkirchen, Frank; Friede, Bernd

2014-05-01

In accordance with the European regulation for classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP) as well as the criteria as set out in the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), fine fraction of crystalline silica (CS) has been classified as a specific target organ toxicity, the specific organ in this case being the lung. Generic cut-off values for products containing a fine fraction of CS trigger the need for a method for the quantification of the fine fraction of CS in bulk materials. This article describes the so-called SWeRF method, the size-weighted relevant fine fraction. The SWeRF method combines the particle size distribution of a powder with probability factors from the EN 481 standard and allows the relevant fine fraction of a material to be calculated. The SWeRF method has been validated with a number of industrial minerals. This will enable manufacturers and blenders to apply the CLP and GHS criteria for the classification of mineral products containing RCS a fine fraction of CS.

Petroleum supply monthly, January 1997 with data for November 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-01-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 16 figs., 66 tabs.

Petroleum supply monthly, May 1996 with data from March 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-05-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. 16 figs., 66 tabs.

Viburnum opulus: Could it be a new alternative, such as lemon juice, to pharmacological therapy in hypocitraturic stone patients?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Devrim Tuglu

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Citrate, potassium, and calcium levels in Viburnum opulus (V. opulus and lemon juice were compared to evaluate the usability of V. opulus in mild to moderate level hypocitraturic stone disease. Materials and Methods: V. opulus and lemon fruits were squeezed in a blender and 10 samples of each of 100 ml were prepared. Citrate, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and pH levels in these samples were examined. Results: Potassium was found to be statistically significantly higher in V. opulus than that in lemon juice (p = 0.006 whereas sodium (p = 0.004 and calcium (p = 0.008 were found to be lower. There was no difference between them in terms of the amount of magnesium and citrate. Concusions: Because V. opulus contains citrate as high as lemon juice does and it is a potassium-rich and calciumand sodium-poor fluid, it can be an alternative to pharmaceutical treatment in mild-to-moderate degree hypocitraturic stone patients. These findings should be supported with clinical studies.

Turning Research into opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyambura, M.

2017-01-01

Asia and Africa lose 11% of GNP every year owing to poor nutrition. The current food systems - Sustainably meet the growing food demand with triple burden of malnutrition: undernourishment, micronutrient deficiencies, obesity. Light-based soil and plant analysis for evidence-based decision making Leveraging latest technology from lab to space. Soil-Plants Spectroscopy is the Simplicity of light-Light based techniques for measurement of soil and plant materials and farmers advisory. Interaction of light with matter provides rapid, low cost & reproducible soil characterization. Soil Health Surveillance enables surveillance science and evidence-based approaches - things not previously feasible.Improved agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability a strategic approach in a Fertilizer Industry Perspective Using information from mapping and response trials, blenders can make formulations that will offer better returns to 80-95% of smallholders. Human and laboratory capacity for diagnosing, surveying and managing soil nutrient deficiencies in Sub-Saharan Africa is woefully inadequate for the task. Strengthening Africa capacity on new science and technology a key resilience strategy for rapid and low cost analytical and diagnostic techniques, improved and well-targeted guidelines and Scientific expertise

Space Science Investigation: NASA ISS Stowage Simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, Gary

2017-01-01

During this internship the opportunity was granted to work with the Integrated, Graphics, Operations and Analysis Laboratory (IGOAL) team. The main assignment was to create 12 achievement patches for the Space Station training simulator called the "NASA ISS Stowage Training Game." This project was built using previous IGOAL developed software. To accomplish this task, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator were used to craft the badges and other elements required. Blender, a 3D modeling software, was used to make the required 3D elements. Blender was a useful tool to make things such as a CTB bag for the "No More Bob" patch which shows a gentleman kicking a CTB bag into the distance. It was also used to pose characters to the positions that was optimal for their patches as in the "Station Sanitation" patch which portrays and astronaut waving on a U.S module on a truck. Adobe Illustrator was the main piece of software for this task. It was used to craft the badges and upload them when they were completed. The style of the badges were flat, meaning that they shouldn't look three dimensional in any way, shape or form. Adobe Photoshop was used when any pictures need brightening and was where the texture for the CTB bag was made. In order for the patches to be ready for the game's next major release, they have to go under some critical reviewing, revising and re-editing to make sure the other artists and the rest of the staff are satisfied with the final products. Many patches were created and revamped to meet the flat setting and incorporate suggestions from the IGOAL team. After the three processes were completed, the badges were implemented into the game (reference fig1 for badges). After a month of designing badges, the finished products were placed into the final game build via the programmers. The art was the final piece in showcasing the latest build to the public for testing. Comments from the testers were often exceptional and the feedback on the badges were

Processamento de sementes de Moringa oleifera utilizando-se diferentes equipamentos para obtenção de solução coagulante Processing of Moringa oleifera seeds using different equipments to obtain coagulant solution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camila C. Arantes

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Desenvolveu-se este trabalho para avaliar o uso de quatro equipamentos no processamento das sementes de Moringa oleifera, visando à produção de solução coagulante a ser empregada no tratamento de água com turbidez obtida sinteticamente. Seis soluções coagulantes com diferentes tipos de processamento foram utilizadas em ensaios de coagulação, floculação e sedimentação em equipamento Jar-Test. A dosagem da solução coagulante utilizada foi 500 mg L-1 e os parâmetros avaliados foram turbidez e cor aparente; verificou-se, após 30 min de sedimentação, que para redução de turbidez e cor aparente os melhores processamentos foram com pilão e máquina de moer, respectivamente, sendo que em ambos os casos o peneiramento do pó foi essencial para a redução dos parâmetros em questão. Através de liquidificador e mixer, os índices de redução de turbidez e cor aparente foram os menores encontrados e a trituração das sementes durante o processamento na máquina de moer e no pilão remove parte do óleo neles presente, o que não ocorre com o uso do liquidificador e mixer, evidenciando que a retirada do óleo presente nas sementes resulta em solução coagulante com maior eficiência.This work was condcted to assess four different equipments used in processing seeds of Moringa oleifera to produce a coagulant solution to be used in water treatment with the turbidity obtained synthetically. Six coagulant solutions with different types of processing were used in assays of coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation in Jar-Test equipment. The dose of coagulant solution was 500 mg L-1 and the evaluated parameters were turbidity and apparent color. After 30 min of sedimentation, it was clear that the best processes to reduce turbidity and apparent color were the pestle and grinder, respectively, however, in both cases the sieving of the powder was essential in reducing the parameters in question. Using a blender and a mixer the

Petroleum supply monthly, April 1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1990-06-26

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of three publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other two publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly describe (PSM) the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in Primary Supply.'' Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: (1) the Summary Statistics and (2) the Detailed Statistics.

Graft Copolymerization of Methyl Methacrylate Monomer onto Starch and Natural Rubber Latex Initiated by Gamma Irradiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Iskandar

2011-04-01

Full Text Available To obtain the degradable plastic, the graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto starch and natural rubber latex was conducted by a simultaneous irradiation technique. Gamma-ray from cobalt-60 source was used as the initiator. The grafted copolymer of starch-polymethyl methacrylate and the grafted copolymer of natural rubber-polymethyl methacrylate were mixed in the blender, and dried it in the oven. The dried grafted copolymer mixture was then molded using hydraulic press machine. The effect of irradiation dose, composition of the grafted copolymer mixture, film forming condition and recycle effect was evaluated. The parameters observed were tensile strength, gel fraction and soil burial degradability of grafted copolymer mixture. It was found that the tensile strength of grafted copolymer mixture increased by -ray irradiation. Increasing of the grafted copolymer of natural rubber-polymethyl methacrylate content, the gel fraction and tensile strength of the grafted copolymer mixture increased. The tensile strength of the grafted copolymer mixture was increased from 18 MPa to 23 MPa after recycled (film forming reprocessed 3 times. The grafted copolymer mixture was degraded completely after soil buried for 6 months

War in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegowina, and Kosovo, and PCBs hazards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Picer, M.; Kovac, T.; Picer, N.; Calic, V. [Rudjer Boskovic Inst., Zagreb (Croatia); Miosic, N. [Geological Survey, Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegowina); Kodba, Z.C. [Maribor Environmental Protection Inst., Maribor (Slovenia); Rugova, A. [Pristina Univ., Pristina (Serbia)

2005-07-01

Recent warfare in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegowina, and Kosovo has increased hazardous waste levels in the involved regions. Data on contaminant levels from water and soil samples collected before 1995 did not demonstrate significant levels of contamination. This paper provided the results of a study which showed that significant levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) exist in many of the areas worst affected by the war. During the study, soil and sediment samples were extracted with n-hexane. Fish extracts were extracted using a high revolution blender. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were then separated from organochlorine insecticides on a silica gel column. Electron capture detection gas chromatography (ECD-GC) was used to quantify the POPs. Results showed that levels of PCBs in soil samples from Bosnia and Herzegowina sampled during 2003 showed significantly high levels of total PCBs. Levels of contamination exceeded tolerance levels accepted in Netherlands. Fish samples did not demonstrate high levels of contaminants. Sediment samples from Bosnian rivers showed significant levels of PCBs. It was concluded that levels of PCBs in Bosnia and Herzegowina in 2003 were lower than levels observed in fish sampled in Dalmatia and Croatia. 5 refs., 1 tab., 3 figs.

Exploring modality switching effects in negated sentences: Further evidence for grounded representations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lea eHald

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Theories of embodied cognition (e.g., Perceptual Symbol Systems Theory; Barsalou, 1999, 2009 suggest that modality-specific simulations underlie the representation of concepts. Supporting evidence comes from modality switch costs: Participants are slower to verify a property in one modality (e.g., auditory, BLENDER-loud after verifying a property in a different modality (e.g., gustatory, CRANBERRIES-tart compared to the same modality (e.g., LEAVES-rustling, Pecher, Zeelenberg, & Barsalou, 2003. Similarly, modality switching costs lead to a modulation of the N400 effect in event related potentials (ERPs (Collins, Pecher, Zeelenberg, & Coulson, 2011; Hald, Marshall, Janssen, & Garnham, 2011. This effect of modality switching has also been shown to interact with the veracity of the sentence (Hald, et al., 2011. The current event-related potentials study (ERPs further explores the role of modality match/mismatch on the processing of veracity as well as negation (sentences containing not. Our results indicate a modulation in the ERP based on modality and veracity, plus an interaction. The evidence supports the idea that modality-specific simulations occur during language processing, and furthermore suggest that these simulations alter the processing of negation.

Petroleum supply monthly, January 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-02-15

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics.

Petroleum supply monthly, September 1995 with data for July 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-09-27

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics.

Petroleum supply monthly, May 1995 with data for March 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-05-25

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States.Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics.

Petroleum Supply Monthly

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-02-01

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major U.S. geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics.

Petroleum supply monthly, October 1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-10-26

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics.

Huntington Disease - principles and practice of nutritional management.

Science.gov (United States)

Zukiewicz-Sobczak, Wioletta; Król, Renata; Wróblewska, Paula; Piątek, Jacek; Gibas-Dorna, Magdalena

2014-01-01

Huntington disease (HD) is a degenerative brain disease clinically manifested by the characteristic triad: physical symptoms including involuntary movements and poor coordination, cognitive changes with less ability to organize routine tasks, and some emotional and behavioral disturbances. For patients with HD, feeding is one of the problems they have to face. People with HD often have lower than average body weight and struggle with malnutrition. As a part of therapy, good nutrition is an intervention maintaining health and functional ability for maximally prolonged time. In the early stages of HD, small amounts of blenderized foods given orally are recommended. In more advanced stages, enteral nutrition is essential using gastric, or jejunal tubes for short term. Most severe cases require gastrostomy or gastrojejunostomy. Although enteral feeding is well tolerated by most of the patients, a number of complications may occur, including damage to the nose, pharynx, or esophagus, aspiration pneumonia, sinusitis, metabolic imbalances due to improper nutrient and fluid supply, adverse effects affecting gastrointestinal system, and refeeding syndrome. Copyright © 2014 Polish Neurological Society. Published by Elsevier Urban & Partner Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.

Validation of the coupling of mesh models to GEANT4 Monte Carlo code for simulation of internal sources of photons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caribe, Paulo Rauli Rafeson Vasconcelos; Cassola, Vagner Ferreira; Kramer, Richard; Khoury, Helen Jamil

2013-01-01

The use of three-dimensional models described by polygonal meshes in numerical dosimetry enables more accurate modeling of complex objects than the use of simple solid. The objectives of this work were validate the coupling of mesh models to the Monte Carlo code GEANT4 and evaluate the influence of the number of vertices in the simulations to obtain absorbed fractions of energy (AFEs). Validation of the coupling was performed to internal sources of photons with energies between 10 keV and 1 MeV for spherical geometries described by the GEANT4 and three-dimensional models with different number of vertices and triangular or quadrilateral faces modeled using Blender program. As a result it was found that there were no significant differences between AFEs for objects described by mesh models and objects described using solid volumes of GEANT4. Since that maintained the shape and the volume the decrease in the number of vertices to describe an object does not influence so meant dosimetric data, but significantly decreases the time required to achieve the dosimetric calculations, especially for energies less than 100 keV

Home food preparation techniques impacted the availability of natural antioxidants and bioactivities in kale and broccoli.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Lu; Gao, Boyan; Li, Yanfang; Wang, Thomas T Y; Luo, Yinghua; Wang, Jing; Yu, Liangli Lucy

2018-01-24

This study evaluated the effects of grinding and chopping with/without microwaving on the health-beneficial components, and antioxidant, anti-inflammation and anti-proliferation capacities of commercial kale and broccoli samples. The availability of indole-3-carbinol (I3C) was evaluated using high-performance liquid chromatography. The total phenolic contents, the scavenging activities against DPPH, oxygen, hydroxyl and ABTS cation radicals, and cell-based antioxidant activities were determined for the antioxidant capacities. The results indicated that chopping released the least nutraceutical components and antioxidant compounds. Microwaving had no effect on the I3C release from kale, but resulted in an elevated (more than 2-fold) release of I3C from broccoli. In addition, the choice of a blender affected the availability of the anti-proliferative compounds from the vegetables, while it had no effect on the availability of their anti-inflammatory compounds. In summary, different food preparation methods could strongly impact the availability of bioactive factors in the selected vegetables. These findings suggest that choosing an appropriate food processing method for each vegetable might be critical to obtain desirable health-beneficial effects.

Petroleum Supply Monthly, March 1996 (with data for January 1996)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-04-04

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics.

The organic agricultural waste as a basic source of biohydrogen production

Science.gov (United States)

Sriwuryandari, Lies; Priantoro, E. Agung; Sintawardani, Neni; Astuti, J. Tri; Nilawati, Dewi; Putri, A. Mauliva Hada; Mamat, Sentana, Suharwadji; Sembiring, T.

2016-02-01

Biohydrogen production research was carried out using raw materials of agricultural organic waste that was obtained from markets around the Bandung city. The organic part, which consisted of agricultural waste material, mainly fruit and vegetable waste, was crushed and milled using blender. The sludge that produced from milling process was then used as a substrate for mixed culture microorganism as a raw material to produce biohydrogen. As much as 1.2 kg.day-1 of sludge (4% of total solid) was fed into bioreactor that had a capacity of 30L. Experiment was done under anaerobic fermentation using bacteria mixture culture that maintained at pH in the range of 5.6-6.5 and temperature of 25-30oC on semi-continuous mode. Parameters of analysis include pH, temperature, total solid (TS), organic total solid (OTS), total gas production, and hydrogen gas production. The results showed that from 4% of substrate resulted 897.86 L of total gas, which contained 660.74 L (73.59%) of hydrogen gas. The rate of hydrogen production in this study was 11,063 mol.L-1.h-1.

The use of nuclear and related analytical techniques for the determination of ingestion and organ content of trace elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djojosubroto, H.

2000-01-01

This is a report on the progress and development of the project following the First Research Co-ordination Meeting in Manila, Philippines, 1-4 July, 1996. The collection of food samples is performed by modified market basket (i.e. based on the Daily Average Per Capita Consumption of Caloric data for every food commodities, and energy values per gram of individual vegetables, fruit, meat etc.) and duplicate diet method. The food was blended using a commercially available blender, then was freeze dried. Several autopsy samples have been collected and are stored at -40 deg. C in a freezer. Preliminary experiment for quantification of potassium, calcium and strontium in 9 food samples has been performed by atomic absorption spectrometry. From the atomic absorption analysis it was estimated that the average daily intake for strontium, potassium and calcium are respectively 2.3 mg/day, 2.5 g/day and 0.36 g/day. It was found that from instrumental neutron activation analysis, the average daily intake for cesium and zinc (from 7 samples) are respectively 36 μg/day and 5.4 mg/day. Future activities to complete the project are presented at the end of this report. (author)

In-line Raman spectroscopic monitoring and feedback control of a continuous twin-screw pharmaceutical powder blending and tableting process.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagy, Brigitta; Farkas, Attila; Gyürkés, Martin; Komaromy-Hiller, Szofia; Démuth, Balázs; Szabó, Bence; Nusser, Dávid; Borbás, Enikő; Marosi, György; Nagy, Zsombor Kristóf

2017-09-15

The integration of Process Analytical Technology (PAT) initiative into the continuous production of pharmaceuticals is indispensable for reliable production. The present paper reports the implementation of in-line Raman spectroscopy in a continuous blending and tableting process of a three-component model pharmaceutical system, containing caffeine as model active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), glucose as model excipient and magnesium stearate as lubricant. The real-time analysis of API content, blend homogeneity, and tablet content uniformity was performed using a Partial Least Squares (PLS) quantitative method. The in-line Raman spectroscopic monitoring showed that the continuous blender was capable of producing blends with high homogeneity, and technological malfunctions can be detected by the proposed PAT method. The Raman spectroscopy-based feedback control of the API feeder was also established, creating a 'Process Analytically Controlled Technology' (PACT), which guarantees the required API content in the produced blend. This is, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first ever application of Raman-spectroscopy in continuous blending and the first Raman-based feedback control in the formulation technology of solid pharmaceuticals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Petroleum Supply Monthly, September 1998, with data for July 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-09-28

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the suppiy and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major U.S. geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics

Petroleum supply monthly, October 1998, with data for August 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-10-01

Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. A feature article, Accuracy of petroleum supply data, is also included. 72 tabs.

Discovery of a transiting planet near the snow-line

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kipping, D. M.; Torres, G.; Buchhave, L. A.; Kenyon, S. J.; Henze, C.; Bryson, S. T.; Isaacson, H.; Kolbl, R.; Marcy, G. W.; Stassun, K.; Bastien, F.

2014-01-01

In most theories of planet formation, the snow-line represents a boundary between the emergence of the interior rocky planets and the exterior ice giants. The wide separation of the snow-line makes the discovery of transiting worlds challenging, yet transits would allow for detailed subsequent characterization. We present the discovery of Kepler-421b, a Uranus-sized exoplanet transiting a G9/K0 dwarf once every 704.2 days in a near-circular orbit. Using public Kepler photometry, we demonstrate that the two observed transits can be uniquely attributed to the 704.2 day period. Detailed light curve analysis with BLENDER validates the planetary nature of Kepler-421b to >4σ confidence. Kepler-421b receives the same insolation as a body at ∼2 AU in the solar system, as well as a Uranian albedo, which would have an effective temperature of ∼180 K. Using a time-dependent model for the protoplanetary disk, we estimate that Kepler-421b's present semi-major axis was beyond the snow-line after ∼3 Myr, indicating that Kepler-421b may have formed at its observed location.

Discovery of a transiting planet near the snow-line

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kipping, D. M.; Torres, G.; Buchhave, L. A.; Kenyon, S. J. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Henze, C.; Bryson, S. T. [NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Isaacson, H.; Kolbl, R.; Marcy, G. W. [University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Stassun, K. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, 1807 Station B, Nashville, TN 37235 (United States); Bastien, F., E-mail: dkipping@cfa.harvard.edu [Physics Department, Fisk University, 1000 17th Ave. N, Nashville, TN 37208 (United States)

2014-11-01

In most theories of planet formation, the snow-line represents a boundary between the emergence of the interior rocky planets and the exterior ice giants. The wide separation of the snow-line makes the discovery of transiting worlds challenging, yet transits would allow for detailed subsequent characterization. We present the discovery of Kepler-421b, a Uranus-sized exoplanet transiting a G9/K0 dwarf once every 704.2 days in a near-circular orbit. Using public Kepler photometry, we demonstrate that the two observed transits can be uniquely attributed to the 704.2 day period. Detailed light curve analysis with BLENDER validates the planetary nature of Kepler-421b to >4σ confidence. Kepler-421b receives the same insolation as a body at ∼2 AU in the solar system, as well as a Uranian albedo, which would have an effective temperature of ∼180 K. Using a time-dependent model for the protoplanetary disk, we estimate that Kepler-421b's present semi-major axis was beyond the snow-line after ∼3 Myr, indicating that Kepler-421b may have formed at its observed location.

Use of the 3D surgical modelling technique with open-source software for mandibular fibula free flap reconstruction and its surgical guides.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganry, L; Hersant, B; Quilichini, J; Leyder, P; Meningaud, J P

2017-06-01

Tridimensional (3D) surgical modelling is a necessary step to create 3D-printed surgical tools, and expensive professional software is generally needed. Open-source software are functional, reliable, updated, may be downloaded for free and used to produce 3D models. Few surgical teams have used free solutions for mastering 3D surgical modelling for reconstructive surgery with osseous free flaps. We described an Open-source software 3D surgical modelling protocol to perform a fast and nearly free mandibular reconstruction with microvascular fibula free flap and its surgical guides, with no need for engineering support. Four successive specialised Open-source software were used to perform our 3D modelling: OsiriX ® , Meshlab ® , Netfabb ® and Blender ® . Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) data on patient skull and fibula, obtained with a computerised tomography (CT) scan, were needed. The 3D modelling of the reconstructed mandible and its surgical guides were created. This new strategy may improve surgical management in Oral and Craniomaxillofacial surgery. Further clinical studies are needed to demonstrate the feasibility, reproducibility, transfer of know how and benefits of this technique. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Petroleum Supply Monthly, August 1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1990-10-30

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of three publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other two publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) district movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in Primary Supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections (1) the Summary Statistics and (2) the Detailed Statistics.

Petroleum supply monthly, September 1991

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-09-30

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of three publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other two publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administrations for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in Primary Supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections (1) the Summary Statistics and (2) the Detailed Statistics. 65 tabs.

Landschappen in 3D : 3D-printen van hoge resolutie terreinmodellen met overlays van geologie en orthofoto's met ArcGIS en Blender

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Magnússon, R.Í.; de Boer, W.M.; Seijmonsbergen, A.C.

2016-01-01

Detection And Ranging), een relatief nieuwe remote sensing-techniek, worden steeds gedetailleerdere digitale hoogtemodellen gemaakt, waardoor het aardoppervlak in zeer hoog detail in 3D kan worden weergegeven. 3D-printen biedt hierop een uitstekende aanvulling, doordat het hiermee niet nodig is 3D

Biofuel supply chain, market, and policy analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Leilei

Renewable fuel is receiving an increasing attention as a substitute for fossil based energy. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has employed increasing effort on promoting the advanced biofuel productions. Although the advanced biofuel remains at its early stage, it is expected to play an important role in climate policy in the future in the transportation sector. This dissertation studies the emerging biofuel supply chain and markets by analyzing the production cost, and the outcomes of the biofuel market, including blended fuel market price and quantity, biofuel contract price and quantity, profitability of each stakeholder (farmers, biofuel producers, biofuel blenders) in the market. I also address government policy impacts on the emerging biofuel market. The dissertation is composed with three parts, each in a paper format. The first part studies the supply chain of emerging biofuel industry. Two optimization-based models are built to determine the number of facilities to deploy, facility locations, facility capacities, and operational planning within facilities. Cost analyses have been conducted under a variety of biofuel demand scenarios. It is my intention that this model will shed light on biofuel supply chain design considering operational planning under uncertain demand situations. The second part of the dissertation work focuses on analyzing the interaction between the key stakeholders along the supply chain. A bottom-up equilibrium model is built for the emerging biofuel market to study the competition in the advanced biofuel market, explicitly formulating the interactions between farmers, biofuel producers, blenders, and consumers. The model simulates the profit maximization of multiple market entities by incorporating their competitive decisions in farmers' land allocation, biomass transportation, biofuel production, and biofuel blending. As such, the equilibrium model is capable of and appropriate for policy analysis, especially for those policies

An Interactive Augmented Reality Implementation of Hijaiyah Alphabet for Children Education

Science.gov (United States)

Rahmat, R. F.; Akbar, F.; Syahputra, M. F.; Budiman, M. A.; Hizriadi, A.

2018-03-01

Hijaiyah alphabet is letters used in the Qur’an. An attractive and exciting learning process of Hijaiyah alphabet is necessary for the children. One of the alternatives to create attractive and interesting learning process of Hijaiyah alphabet is to develop it into a mobile application using augmented reality technology. Augmented reality is a technology that combines two-dimensional or three-dimensional virtual objects into actual three-dimensional circles and projects them in real time. The purpose of application aims to foster the children interest in learning Hijaiyah alphabet. This application is using Smartphone and marker as the medium. It was built using Unity and augmented reality library, namely Vuforia, then using Blender as the 3D object modeling software. The output generated from this research is the learning application of Hijaiyah letters using augmented reality. How to use it is as follows: first, place marker that has been registered and printed; second, the smartphone camera will track the marker. If the marker is invalid, the user should repeat the tracking process. If the marker is valid and identified, the marker will have projected the objects of Hijaiyah alphabet in three-dimensional form. Lastly, the user can learn and understand the shape and pronunciation of Hijaiyah alphabet by touching the virtual button on the marker

3D virtual environment of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in a web

Science.gov (United States)

Wardijono, B. A.; Wardhani, I. P.; Chandra, Y. I.; Pamungkas, B. U. G.

2018-05-01

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah known as TMII is a largest recreational park based on culture in Indonesia. This park has 250 acres that consist of houses from provinces in Indonesia. In TMII, there are traditional houses of the various provinces in Indonesia. The official website of TMII has informed the traditional houses, but the information was limited to public. To provide information more detail about TMII to the public, this research aims to create and develop virtual traditional houses as 3d graphics models and show it via website. The Virtual Reality (VR) technology was used to display the visualization of the TMII and the surrounding environment. This research used Blender software to create the 3D models and Unity3D software to make virtual reality models that can be showed on a web. This research has successfully created 33 virtual traditional houses of province in Indonesia. The texture of traditional house was taken from original to make the culture house realistic. The result of this research was the website of TMII including virtual culture houses that can be displayed through the web browser. The website consists of virtual environment scenes and internet user can walkthrough and navigates inside the scenes.

Dip-strip method for monitoring environmental contamination of aflatoxin in food and feed: use of a portable aflatoxin detection kit.

Science.gov (United States)

Sashidhar, R B

1993-10-01

Aflatoxin contamination of food and feed have gained global significance due to its deleterious effect on human and animal health and its importance in the international trade. The potential of aflatoxin as a carcinogen, mutagen, teratogen, and immunosuppressive agent is well documented. The problem of aflatoxin contamination of food and feed has led to the enactment of various legislation. However, meaningful strategies for implementation of this legislation is limited by nonavailability of simple, cost-effective method for screening and detection of aflatoxin under field conditions. Keeping in mind the analytical constraints in developing countries, a simple-to-operate, rapid, reliable, and cost-effective portable aflatoxin detection kit has been developed. The important components of the kit include a hand-held UV lamp (365 nm, 4 W output), a solvent blender (12,000 rpm) for toxin extraction, and adsorbent-coated dip-strips (polyester film) for detecting and quantifying aflatoxin. Analysis of variance indicates that there were no significant differences between various batches of dip-strips (p > 0.05). The minimum detection limit for aflatoxin B1 was 10 ppb per spot. The kit may find wide application as a research tool in public health laboratories, environmental monitoring agencies, and in the poultry industry.

Investigation of the combined effect of MgO and PEG on the release profile of mefenamic acid prepared via hot-melt extrusion techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Alshehri, Sultan M; Tiwari, Roshan V; Alsulays, Bader B; Ashour, Eman A; Alshetaili, Abdullah S; Almutairy, Bjad; Park, Jun-Bom; Morott, Joseph; Sandhu, Bhupinder; Majumdar, Soumyajit; Repka, Michael A

2017-09-01

This study aimed to investigate the combined effect of magnesium oxide (MgO) as an alkalizer and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a plasticizer and wetting agent in the presence of Kollidon® 12 PF and 17 PF polymer carriers on the release profile of mefenamic acid (MA), which was prepared via hot-melt extrusion technique. Various drug loads of MA and various ratios of the polymers, PEG 3350 and MgO were blended using a V-shell blender and extruded using a twin-screw extruder (16-mm Prism EuroLab, ThermoFisher Scientific, Carlsbad, CA) at different screw speeds and temperatures to prepare a solid dispersion system. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction data of the extruded material confirmed that the drug existed in the amorphous form, as evidenced by the absence of corresponding peaks. MgO and PEG altered the micro-environmental pH to be more alkaline (pH 9) and increased the hydrophilicity and dispersibility of the extrudates to enhance MA solubility and release, respectively. The in vitro release study demonstrated an immediate release for 2 h with more than 80% drug release within 45 min in matrices containing MgO and PEG in combination with polyvinylpyrrolidone when compared to the binary mixture, physical mixture and pure drug.

Virtual Character Animation Based on Affordable Motion Capture and Reconfigurable Tangible Interfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamberti, Fabrizio; Paravati, Gianluca; Gatteschi, Valentina; Cannavo, Alberto; Montuschi, Paolo

2018-05-01

Software for computer animation is generally characterized by a steep learning curve, due to the entanglement of both sophisticated techniques and interaction methods required to control 3D geometries. This paper proposes a tool designed to support computer animation production processes by leveraging the affordances offered by articulated tangible user interfaces and motion capture retargeting solutions. To this aim, orientations of an instrumented prop are recorded together with animator's motion in the 3D space and used to quickly pose characters in the virtual environment. High-level functionalities of the animation software are made accessible via a speech interface, thus letting the user control the animation pipeline via voice commands while focusing on his or her hands and body motion. The proposed solution exploits both off-the-shelf hardware components (like the Lego Mindstorms EV3 bricks and the Microsoft Kinect, used for building the tangible device and tracking animator's skeleton) and free open-source software (like the Blender animation tool), thus representing an interesting solution also for beginners approaching the world of digital animation for the first time. Experimental results in different usage scenarios show the benefits offered by the designed interaction strategy with respect to a mouse & keyboard-based interface both for expert and non-expert users.

Petroleum supply monthly, December 1995: With data for October 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-12-01

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. In most cases, the statistics are presented for several geographic areas--the US (50 States and the District of Columbia), five PAD Districts, and 12 Refining Districts. At the US and PAD District level, the total volume and the daily rate of activities are presented. 16 figs., 6 tabs.

Ingestion and organ content of trace elements of importance in radiological protection. Country report, Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

The main elements of radiological importance to be studied under the CRP are Strontium, Cesium, Iodine, Uranium and Thorium. Total diets for daily intake of human consisting of eleven common food samples were collected from the local market of Dhaka, the central part of the Country. The food samples were collected on market basket basis and according to the statistical dietary survey for the people of age ranging from 20-50 years. The number of frequency for the sample collection for the total daily diets was eleven, five for man and six for women. After collection, the food items were washed, cleaned and dried at room temperature and weighed and then cooked as is normally eaten in the Bangladeshi style. The cooked samples were then homogenized using commercial blender, mortar and pestle. The samples were then dried at 100-110 deg. C in an electric oven. Before drying a pail of the cooked samples was kept separately in polyethylene bottles with screw caps for iodine determination. Percentage of moisture content of these samples was calculated which varied from max 55.5% to min 40.4%. Ile dried samples were then kept in polyethylene bottles and tight with screw caps and then stored in refrigerator for elemental analysis. (author)

Classification and Processing Optimization of Barley Milk Production Using NIR Spectroscopy, Particle Size, and Total Dissolved Solids Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jasenka Gajdoš Kljusurić

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Barley is a grain whose consumption has a significant nutritional benefit for human health as a very good source of dietary fibre, minerals, vitamins, and phenolic and phytic acids. Nowadays, it is more and more often used in the production of plant milk, which is used to replace cow milk in the diet by an increasing number of consumers. The aim of the study was to classify barley milk and determine the optimal processing conditions in barley milk production based on NIR spectra, particle size, and total dissolved solids analysis. Standard recipe for barley milk was used without added additives. Barley grain was ground and mixed in a blender for 15, 30, 45, and 60 seconds. The samples were filtered and particle size of the grains was determined by laser diffraction particle sizing. The plant milk was also analysed using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS, in the range from 904 to 1699 nm. Furthermore, conductivity of each sample was determined and microphotographs were taken in order to identify the structure of fat globules and particles in the barley milk. NIR spectra, particle size distribution, and conductivity results all point to 45 seconds as the optimal blending time, since further blending results in the saturation of the samples.

Ethanol production from waste processing tomato dry; Producao de etanol a partir de residuo do processamento de tomate seco

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmidt, Carla A.P.; Dal Sotto, Jessica; Schutz, Fabiana Costa de Araujo [Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana (UTFPR), Medianeira, PR (Brazil)], emails: carlaschmidt@utfpr.edu.br, jeh.dalsotto@hotmail.com, fabianaschutz@utfpr.edu.br

2011-07-01

The generation of waste increases with the development of a region and increases the power consumption. Research about the reuse of waste for energy generation favors solving these two problems. This study aimed to evaluate the potential use of tomato seeds discarded from the production process of tomato pulp dried in ethanol production. Any product that has sugar or other carbohydrate constituted a feedstock for ethanol production, in this study was observed that approximately 26% by weight of 2kg of tomatoes assessed were represented by seeds. We obtained the juice of tomato seeds by use a blender to grind the product to facilitate the process of fermentation. Added to the fermenting yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae producing a pre inoculum with Brix and pH adjusted, sterilized at 121 deg C for 15 minutes, which was subsequently incubated at 28-30 deg C until the end of process. Mixed up to follow this pre inoculum to the rest of the must was sterilized and incubated again at 28-30 deg C until the end of the process. The acquisition of ethanol was carried through a distillation. It was concluded that the seed discarded in the process of the product can be used for this purpose. (author)

Scalable shear-exfoliation of high-quality phosphorene nanoflakes with reliable electrochemical cycleability in nano batteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Feng; Min, Huihua; Zhu, Chongyang; Xia, Weiwei; Li, Zhengrui; Li, Shengli; Yu, Kaihao; Sun, Litao; Ge, Binghui; Chen, Jing; Cui, Yiping; Nathan, Arokia; Xin, Linhuo L; Ma, Hongyu; Wu, Lijun; Zhu, Yimei

2016-01-01

Atomically thin black phosphorus (called phosphorene) holds great promise as an alternative to graphene and other two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, bulk black phosphorus (BP) suffers from rapid capacity fading and poor rechargeable performance. This work reports for the first time the use of in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to construct nanoscale phosphorene LIBs. This enables direct visualization of the mechanisms underlying capacity fading in thick multilayer phosphorene through real-time capture of delithiation-induced structural decomposition, which serves to reduce electrical conductivity thus causing irreversibility of the lithiated phases. We further demonstrate that few-layer-thick phosphorene successfully circumvents the structural decomposition and holds superior structural restorability, even when subject to multi-cycle lithiation/delithiation processes and concomitant huge volume expansion. This finding provides breakthrough insights into thickness-dependent lithium diffusion kinetics in phosphorene. More importantly, a scalable liquid-phase shear exfoliation route has been developed to produce high-quality ultrathin phosphorene using simple means such as a high-speed shear mixer or even a household kitchen blender with the shear rate threshold of ∼1.25 × 10 4 s −1 . The results reported here will pave the way for industrial-scale applications of rechargeable phosphorene LIBs. (paper)

Kepler Confirmation of Multi-Planet Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Cochran, W. D.

2011-10-01

The NASA Kepler spacecraft has detected 170 candidate multi-planet systems in the first two quarters of data released in February 2011 by Borucki et al. (2011). These systems comprise 115 double candidate systems, 45 triple candidate sys- tems, and 10 systems with 4 or more candidate planets. The architecture and dynamics of these systems were discussed by Lissauer et al. (2011), and a comparison of candidates in single- and multi-planet systems was presented by Latham et al. (2011). Proceeding from "planetary candidate" systems to confirmed and validated multi-planet systems is a difficult process, as most of these systems orbit stars too faint to obtain extremely precise (1ms-1) radial velocity confimation. Here, we discuss in detail the use of transit timing vari- ations (cf. e.g. Holman et al., 2010) to confirm planets near a mean motion resonance. We also discuss extensions to the BLENDER validation (Torres et al., 2004, 2011; Fressin et al., 2011) to validate planets in multi-planet systems. Kepler was competitively selected as the tenth Discovery mission. Funding for the Kepler Mis- sion is provided by NASA's Science Mission Direc- torate. We are deeply grateful for the very hard work of the entire Kepler team.

openPSTD: The open source pseudospectral time-domain method for acoustic propagation

Science.gov (United States)

Hornikx, Maarten; Krijnen, Thomas; van Harten, Louis

2016-06-01

An open source implementation of the Fourier pseudospectral time-domain (PSTD) method for computing the propagation of sound is presented, which is geared towards applications in the built environment. Being a wave-based method, PSTD captures phenomena like diffraction, but maintains efficiency in processing time and memory usage as it allows to spatially sample close to the Nyquist criterion, thus keeping both the required spatial and temporal resolution coarse. In the implementation it has been opted to model the physical geometry as a composition of rectangular two-dimensional subdomains, hence initially restricting the implementation to orthogonal and two-dimensional situations. The strategy of using subdomains divides the problem domain into local subsets, which enables the simulation software to be built according to Object-Oriented Programming best practices and allows room for further computational parallelization. The software is built using the open source components, Blender, Numpy and Python, and has been published under an open source license itself as well. For accelerating the software, an option has been included to accelerate the calculations by a partial implementation of the code on the Graphical Processing Unit (GPU), which increases the throughput by up to fifteen times. The details of the implementation are reported, as well as the accuracy of the code.

KERTAS SENI BERBAHAN LIMBAH PEWARNA ALAM RUMPUT LAUT JENIS SARGASSUM, ULVA DAN PELEPAH PISANG ABAKA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guring Briegel Mandegani

2016-06-01

Full Text Available ABSTRAKKertas seni merupakan kerajinan tangan dengan bahan dasar berbagai macam tanaman berserat. Serat pisang abaka, serat jerami dan serat padi telah mampu diolah menjadi kertas seni secara mandiri tanpa bahan perekat tambahan. Selama ini industri kertas seni yang ada sebagian besar menggunakan bahan baku pelepah pisang raja, pisang abaka, jerami, serat padi dan sebagainya. Oleh karena itu, perlu adanya peningkatan keanekaragaman bahan baku, di antaranya dengan memanfaatkan material dari rumput laut maupun limbah rumput laut limbah pewarna alam tekstil. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui karakter kertas seni yang terbuat dari limbah pewarna alam dari rumput laut Sargassum sp. dan Ulva serta kombinasinya dengan material serat pisang abaka. Bahan baku pelepah pisang abaka dan limbah rumput laut diolah dengan cara pencacahan dengan ukuran 2-3 cm, direbus dengan soda api selama 2 jam, kemudian disaring dan didinginkan. Bahan kemudian saling dikombinasi dan dijadikan pulp menggunakan mesin blender. Pulp kemudian dicetak dan dianalisis secara fisik. Limbah rumput laut jenis Sargassum sp. dan Ulva dalam keadaan murni (100% tidak dapat digunakan sebagai bahan pembuatan produk kertas seni, dikarenakan kandungan selulosa yang masih di bawah 40% sehingga kertas yang dihasilkan dari proses pencetakan bersifat rapuh, mudah sobek dan tidak rekat antara satu dengan yang lain. Sedangkan kertas dengan campuran serat pisang abaka, menghasilkan kualitas kertas seni dengan kekuatan fisik yang lebih baik daripada kertas seni murni dari rumput laut Sargassum sp. dan Ulva. Kata Kunci: kertas seni, rumput laut, Sargassum sp., Ulva, pisang abaka  ABSTRACTPaper art is a craft that uses a wide variety of fibrous plants. Abaca, straw and rice fibers can be processed into paper art independently without additional adhesive material. During this time, the existing art paper industries use many raw materials such as banana, abaca, etc., Therefore, it is

Exploring the Dynamics of Cell Processes through Simulations of Fluorescence Microscopy Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Angiolini, Juan; Plachta, Nicolas; Mocskos, Esteban; Levi, Valeria

2015-01-01

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) methods are powerful tools for unveiling the dynamical organization of cells. For simple cases, such as molecules passively moving in a homogeneous media, FCS analysis yields analytical functions that can be fitted to the experimental data to recover the phenomenological rate parameters. Unfortunately, many dynamical processes in cells do not follow these simple models, and in many instances it is not possible to obtain an analytical function through a theoretical analysis of a more complex model. In such cases, experimental analysis can be combined with Monte Carlo simulations to aid in interpretation of the data. In response to this need, we developed a method called FERNET (Fluorescence Emission Recipes and Numerical routines Toolkit) based on Monte Carlo simulations and the MCell-Blender platform, which was designed to treat the reaction-diffusion problem under realistic scenarios. This method enables us to set complex geometries of the simulation space, distribute molecules among different compartments, and define interspecies reactions with selected kinetic constants, diffusion coefficients, and species brightness. We apply this method to simulate single- and multiple-point FCS, photon-counting histogram analysis, raster image correlation spectroscopy, and two-color fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy. We believe that this new program could be very useful for predicting and understanding the output of fluorescence microscopy experiments. PMID:26039162

Flat-pressed wood plastic composites from sawdust and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET): physical and mechanical properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Khandkar-Siddikur; Islam, Md Nazrul; Rahman, Md Mushfiqur; Hannan, Md Obaidullah; Dungani, Rudi; Khalil, Hps Abdul

2013-01-01

This study deals with the fabrication of composite matrix from saw dust (SD) and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at different ratio (w/w) by flat-pressed method. The wood plastic composites (WPCs) were made with a thickness of 6 mm after mixing the saw dust and PET in a rotary type blender followed by flat press process. Physical i.e., density, moisture content (MC), water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS), and mechanical properties i.e., Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) and Modulus of Rupture (MOR) were assessed as a function of mixing ratios according to the ASTM D-1037 standard. WA and TS were measured after 24 hours of immersion in water at 25, 50 and 75°C temperature. It was found that density decreased 18.3% when SD content increased from 40% to 70% into the matix. WA and TS increased when the PET content decreased in the matrix and the testing water temperature increased. MOE and MOR were reached to maximum for the fabricated composites (2008.34 and 27.08 N/mm(2), respectively) when the SD content were only 40%. The results indicated that the fabrication of WPCs from sawdust and PET would technically feasible; however, the use of additives like coupling agents could further enhance the properties of WPCs.

Risk assessment of cooking utensils role of the bacterial contamination in the hospital kitchen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monireh Majlesi Nasr

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Food contact surfaces are a major concern for food services facilities in controlling the spread of food borne pathogens. This study was aimed to investigate roles of food utensils in transmission of the most important bacteria associated with nosocomial infections and hospital food borne diseases in one hospital in Tehran. Materials and methods: During the three independent sampling processes, samples of common used utensils were analyzed for bacterial contamination. Through a sterile swab the samples were collected in sterile tubes and after transferring, were immediately subjected to culture on gram negative specific and general media for bacteria. Total bacterial counts of each sample were determined and their characterizations were performed by biochemical diagnostic tests according to standards methods. Results: Among the studied cooking utensils’ and food samples, the most contaminated samples were determined as samples from board and blender as 38% and 35%, respectively. The most bacteria isolated from these samples were related to species of Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bacillus species that were similar to the isolates from studied food samples. Conclusion: Results of this study, in addition to high contamination rates of medical foods and utensils in their contact showed that there are significant weaknesses in proper cooking and utensils hygiene conditions in preparation and distribution of medical food in the studied hospital’s samples.

ESTRUTURA TRÓFICA E COMPOSIÇÃO DA NEMATOFAUNA EM UM ECOSSISTEMA COSTEIRO DE DUNAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo Agripino Medeiros

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Nematodes are abundant metazoans in all ecosystems with some species surviving in extreme conditions. The sand dunes are dynamic systems and are always in a state of successional change in terms of succession and only recently has the distribution and succession of soil animals in coastal dunes been given wider attention. This research focused on to describe the trophic structure of nematode community associated with two stages of a vegetation succession in a coastal moving sand dunes ecosystem in the north shore of the Rio Grande do Norte State. Five sites were classified in two stages of an ecological succession defined as "beach" and "deflation hollows among dunes" where samples of soil, roots and shoots were collected. Nematodes were extracted from the soil by centrifugal flotation procedure and from the roots by this method associated to blender trituration and classified in families and trophic groups according to feeding habits. The structure of nematode fauna was described by maturity index, plant parasite index and modified maturity index and fungal feeders/bacterial feeders and omnivores+predators/bacterial feeders+fungal feeders+plant parasites rates. The ecosystem was characterized by low diversity of families which composed trophic groups, low values of maturity indexes and omnivores+predators/bacterial feeders+fungal feeders+plant parasites ratio and low abundance of dorylaimids. These datas reflected high level of disturbance which this habitat faces.

A cost analysis of Colorado's 1991-92 oxygenated fuels program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manderino, L.A.; Bowles, S.L.

1993-01-01

This paper discusses the methodology used to conduct a cost analysis of Colorado's 1991-92 Oxygenated Fuels Program. This program requires the use of oxygenated fuels during the winter season in Denver and surrounding areas. The cost analysis was conducted as part of an overall cost-effectiveness study of the 1991-92 program conducted by PRC Environmental Management, Inc. (PRC). The paper, however, focuses on cost analysis and does not consider potential benefits of the program. The study analyzed costs incurred by different segments of society, including government, industry, and consumers. Because the analysis focused on a specific program year, neither past nor future costs were studied. The discussion of government costs includes the agencies interviewed and the types of costs associated with government administration and enforcement of the program. The methodology used to calculate costs to private industry is also present. The study examined the costs to fuel refineries, pipelines, and blenders, as well as fuel retailers and automobile fleet operators. Finally, the paper discusses the potential costs incurred by the consumer purchasing oxygenated fuels. Costs associated with issues such as vehicle driveability, automobile parts durability and performance, and fuel economy are also examined. A summary of all costs by category is presented along with an analysis of the major cost components. These include costs which are sensitive to specific circumstances and which may vary among programs

Some notes on the digitalization and the virtual reconstruction of San Chuis Hillfort (Allande, Asturias, Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juana Molina Salido

2016-11-01

Full Text Available With the firm conviction that current archaeology needs to use all the tools that computer science provides, we have developed a project for digitising and structuring all the information gathered from the different excavation campaigns carried out in San Chuis hillfort (Allande, Asturias, Spain.  In order to do it, we have developed the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI of the hillfort, in order to proceed subsequently to its virtualization. To implement the SDI, we have reinstated the archaeological record in its original coordinates based on the information that we had. This restitution has allowed us to perform the spatial analysis of the elements of the record, to elaborate different plans of its distribution, not only campaigns but also types, and perform at the same time, a study of the densities.  Likewise, we have developed a general database of the hillfort, in which, aside of including the detailed table of the elements of the record and their coordinates, also contains the descriptive table of the stratigraphic units (SU and the descriptive table of the wall stratigraphic units (WSU.  Finally, we have built an extensive planimetry and a web page in order to spread the information. With regard to the hillfort virtualization, we have developed two consistent models with two historical stages: the Iron Age and the Roman occupation. We have used Blender for its development.

A Survey of Home Enteral Nutrition Practices and Reimbursement in the Asia Pacific Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alvin Wong

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Literature regarding the use of home enteral nutrition (HEN and how it is reimbursed in the Asia Pacific region is limited. This research survey aims to determine the availability of HEN, the type of feeds and enteral access used, national reimbursement policies, the presence of nutrition support teams (NSTs, and clinical nutrition education in this region. An electronic questionnaire was sent to 20 clinical nutrition societies and leaders in the Asia Pacific region in August 2017, where thirteen countries responded. Comparison of HEN reimbursement and practice between countries of different income groups based on the World Bank’s data was investigated. Financial support for HEN is only available in 40% of the countries. An association was found between availability of financial support for HEN and health expenditure (r = 0.63, p = 0.021. High and middle-upper income countries use mainly commercial supplements for HEN, while lower-middle income countries use mainly blenderized diet. The presence of NSTs is limited, and only present mainly in acute settings. Sixty percent of the countries indicated an urgent need for funding and reimbursement of HEN. This survey demonstrates the varied clinical and economic situation in the Asia Pacific region. There is a lack of reimbursement, clinical support, and inadequate educational opportunities, especially for the lower-middle income countries.

Impacts of renewable fuel regulation and production on agriculture, energy, and welfare

Science.gov (United States)

McPhail, Lihong Lu

The purpose of this dissertation is to study the impact of U.S. federal renewable fuel regulations on energy and agriculture commodity markets and welfare. We consider two federal ethanol policies: the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) contained in the Energy Security and Independence Act of 2007 and tax credits to ethanol blenders contained in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. My first essay estimates the distribution of short-run impacts of changing federal ethanol policies on U.S. energy prices, agricultural commodity prices, and welfare through a stochastic partial equilibrium model of U.S. corn, ethanol, and gasoline markets. My second essay focuses on studying the price behavior of the renewable fuel credit (RFC) market, which is the mechanism developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to meet the RFS. RFCs are a tradable, bankable, and borrowable accounting mechanism to ensure that all obligated parties use a mandated level of renewable fuel. I first develop a conceptual framework to understand how the market works and then apply stochastic dynamic programming to simulate prices for RFCs, examine the sensitivity of prices to relevant shocks, and estimate RFC option premiums. My third essay assesses the impact of policy led U.S. ethanol on the markets of global crude oil and U.S. gasoline using a structural Vector Auto Regression model of global crude oil, U.S. gasoline and ethanol markets.

Three-dimensional immersive virtual reality for studying cellular compartments in 3D models from EM preparations of neural tissues

KAUST Repository

Cali, Corrado

2015-07-14

Advances for application of electron microscopy to serial imaging are opening doors to new ways of analyzing cellular structure. New and improved algorithms and workflows for manual and semiautomated segmentation allow to observe the spatial arrangement of the smallest cellular features with unprecedented detail in full three-dimensions (3D). From larger samples, higher complexity models can be generated; however, they pose new challenges to data management and analysis. Here, we review some currently available solutions and present our approach in detail. We use the fully immersive virtual reality (VR) environment CAVE (cave automatic virtual environment), a room where we are able to project a cellular reconstruction and visualize in 3D, to step into a world created with Blender, a free, fully customizable 3D modeling software with NeuroMorph plug-ins for visualization and analysis of electron microscopy (EM) preparations of brain tissue. Our workflow allows for full and fast reconstructions of volumes of brain neuropil using ilastik, a software tool for semiautomated segmentation of EM stacks. With this visualization environment, we can walk into the model containing neuronal and astrocytic processes to study the spatial distribution of glycogen granules, a major energy source that is selectively stored in astrocytes. The use of CAVE was key to observe a nonrandom distribution of glycogen, and led us to develop tools to quantitatively analyze glycogen clustering and proximity to other subcellular features. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Development of edible films obtained from submicron emulsions based on whey protein concentrate, oil/beeswax and brea gum.

Science.gov (United States)

Cecchini, Juan Pablo; Spotti, María J; Piagentini, Andrea M; Milt, Viviana G; Carrara, Carlos R

2017-06-01

Edible films with whey protein concentrate (WPC) with a lipid component, sunflower oil (O) or beeswax (W), to enhance barrier to water vapor were obtained. Brea gum was used as emulsifier and also as matrix component. In order to achieve emulsion with small and homogeneous droplet size, an ultrasonicator equipment was used after obtaining a pre-emulsion using a blender. The films were made by casting. Effects of lipid fraction on droplet size, zeta potential, mechanical properties, water vapor permeability (WVP), solubility, and optical properties were determined. The droplet size of emulsions with BG decreased when decreasing the lipid content in the formulation. The zeta potential was negative for all the formulations, since the pH was close to 6 for all of them and pI of BG is close to 2.5, and pI of ß-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin (main proteins in WPC) are 5.2 and 4.1, respectively. Increasing W or SO content in blended films reduced the tensile strength and puncture resistance significantly. BG and WPC films without lipid presented better mechanical properties. The presence of lipids decreased the WVP, as expected, and those films having BG improved this property. BG films were slightly amber as a result of the natural color of the gum. BG has shown to be a good polysaccharide for emulsifying the lipid fraction and improving the homogeneity and mechanical properties of the films with WPC and beeswax or oil.

Numerical study of natural convection in a horizontal cylinder filled with water-based alumina nanofluid.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Xiangyin; Li, Yan

2015-01-01

Natural heat convection of water-based alumina (Al2O3/water) nanofluids (with volume fraction 1% and 4%) in a horizontal cylinder is numerically investigated. The whole three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) procedure is performed in a completely open-source way. Blender, enGrid, OpenFOAM and ParaView are employed for geometry creation, mesh generation, case simulation and post process, respectively. Original solver 'buoyantBoussinesqSimpleFoam' is selected for the present study, and a temperature-dependent solver 'buoyantBoussinesqSimpleTDFoam' is developed to ensure the simulation is more realistic. The two solvers are used for same cases and compared to corresponding experimental results. The flow regime in these cases is laminar (Reynolds number is 150) and the Rayleigh number range is 0.7 × 10(7) ~ 5 × 10(7). By comparison, the average natural Nusselt numbers of water and Al2O3/water nanofluids are found to increase with the Rayleigh number. At the same Rayleigh number, the Nusselt number is found to decrease with nanofluid volume fraction. The temperature-dependent solver is found better for water and 1% Al2O3/water nanofluid cases, while the original solver is better for 4% Al2O3/water nanofluid cases. Furthermore, due to strong three-dimensional flow features in the horizontal cylinder, three-dimensional CFD simulation is recommended instead of two-dimensional simplifications.

Grain and cellulosic ethanol: History, economics, and energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solomon, Barry D.; Barnes, Justin R.; Halvorsen, Kathleen E.

2007-01-01

The United States (US) and Brazil have been the two leading producers of fuel ethanol since the 1970s. National policies have supported the production and use of ethanol from corn and sugarcane. US support in particular has included exemption from federal gasoline excise taxes, whole or partial exemption from road use (sales) taxes in nine states, a federal production tax credit, and a federal blender's credit. In the last decade the subsidization of grain-based ethanol has been increasingly criticized as economically inefficient and of questionable social benefit. In addition, much greater production of ethanol from corn may conflict with food production needs. A promising development is the acceleration of the technical readiness of cellulosic alcohol fuels, which can be produced from the woody parts of trees and plants, perennial grasses, or residues. This technology is now being commercialized and has greater long-term potential than grain ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol is projected to be much more cost-effective, environmentally beneficial, and have a greater energy output to input ratio than grain ethanol. The technology is being developed in North America, Brazil, Japan and Europe. In this paper, we will review the historical evolution of US federal and state energy policy support for and the currently attractive economics of the production and use of ethanol from biomass. The various energy and economic policies will be reviewed and assessed for their potential effects on cellulosic ethanol development relative to gasoline in the US. (author)

Presentation of an experimental method to induce in vitro ("organ chambers") respiratory acidosis and its effect on vascular reactivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadai, Tales Rubens de; Silveira, Ana Paula Cassiano; Monteiro, Ariadne Santana e Neves; Campos, Debora Ribeiro; Carvalho, Marco Tulio Rezende de; Albuquerque, Agnes Afrodite Sumarelli; Celotto, Andrea Carla; Evora, Paulo Roberto Barbosa

2014-11-01

To create in vitro a model to generate acidosis by CO2 bubbling "organ chambers", which would be useful for researchers that aim to study the effects of acid-base disturbs on the endothelium-dependent vascular reactivity. Eighteen male Wistar rats (230-280 g) were housed, before the experiments, under standard laboratory conditions (12h light/dark cycle at 21°C), with free access to food and water. The protocol for promoting in vitro respiratory acidosis was carried out by bubbling increased concentrations of CO2. The target was to achieve an ideal way to decrease the pH gradually to a value of approximately 6.6.It was used, initially, a gas blender varying concentrations of the carbogenic mixture (95% O2 + 5% CO2) and pure CO2. 1) 100% CO2, pH variation very fast, pH minimum 6.0; 2) 90%CO2 pH variation bit slower, pH minimum 6.31; 3) 70%CO2, pH variation slower, pH minimum 6.32; 4) 50% CO2, pH variation slower, pH minimum 6:42; 5) 40 %CO2, Adequate record, pH minimum 6.61, and; 6) 30 %CO2 could not reach values below pH minimum 7.03. Based on these data the gas mixture (O2 60% + CO2 40%) was adopted. This gas mixture (O2 60% + CO2 40%) was effective in inducing respiratory acidosis at a speed that made, possible the recording of isometric force.

Interactive 3d Landscapes on Line

Science.gov (United States)

Fanini, B.; Calori, L.; Ferdani, D.; Pescarin, S.

2011-09-01

The paper describes challenges identified while developing browser embedded 3D landscape rendering applications, our current approach and work-flow and how recent development in browser technologies could affect. All the data, even if processed by optimization and decimation tools, result in very huge databases that require paging, streaming and Level-of-Detail techniques to be implemented to allow remote web based real time fruition. Our approach has been to select an open source scene-graph based visual simulation library with sufficient performance and flexibility and adapt it to the web by providing a browser plug-in. Within the current Montegrotto VR Project, content produced with new pipelines has been integrated. The whole Montegrotto Town has been generated procedurally by CityEngine. We used this procedural approach, based on algorithms and procedures because it is particularly functional to create extensive and credible urban reconstructions. To create the archaeological sites we used optimized mesh acquired with laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques whereas to realize the 3D reconstructions of the main historical buildings we adopted computer-graphic software like blender and 3ds Max. At the final stage, semi-automatic tools have been developed and used up to prepare and clusterise 3D models and scene graph routes for web publishing. Vegetation generators have also been used with the goal of populating the virtual scene to enhance the user perceived realism during the navigation experience. After the description of 3D modelling and optimization techniques, the paper will focus and discuss its results and expectations.

INTERACTIVE 3D LANDSCAPES ON LINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Fanini

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The paper describes challenges identified while developing browser embedded 3D landscape rendering applications, our current approach and work-flow and how recent development in browser technologies could affect. All the data, even if processed by optimization and decimation tools, result in very huge databases that require paging, streaming and Level-of-Detail techniques to be implemented to allow remote web based real time fruition. Our approach has been to select an open source scene-graph based visual simulation library with sufficient performance and flexibility and adapt it to the web by providing a browser plug-in. Within the current Montegrotto VR Project, content produced with new pipelines has been integrated. The whole Montegrotto Town has been generated procedurally by CityEngine. We used this procedural approach, based on algorithms and procedures because it is particularly functional to create extensive and credible urban reconstructions. To create the archaeological sites we used optimized mesh acquired with laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques whereas to realize the 3D reconstructions of the main historical buildings we adopted computer-graphic software like blender and 3ds Max. At the final stage, semi-automatic tools have been developed and used up to prepare and clusterise 3D models and scene graph routes for web publishing. Vegetation generators have also been used with the goal of populating the virtual scene to enhance the user perceived realism during the navigation experience. After the description of 3D modelling and optimization techniques, the paper will focus and discuss its results and expectations.

Circulation, retention, and mixing of waters within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, Southern Ocean: The role of stratified Taylor columns

Science.gov (United States)

Meredith, Michael P.; Meijers, Andrew S.; Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.; Brown, Peter J.; Venables, Hugh J.; Abrahamsen, E. Povl; Jullion, Loïc.; Messias, Marie-José

2015-01-01

The waters of the Weddell-Scotia Confluence (WSC) lie above the rugged topography of the South Scotia Ridge in the Southern Ocean. Meridional exchanges across the WSC transfer water and tracers between the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to the north and the subpolar Weddell Gyre to the south. Here, we examine the role of topographic interactions in mediating these exchanges, and in modifying the waters transferred. A case study is presented using data from a free-drifting, intermediate-depth float, which circulated anticyclonically over Discovery Bank on the South Scotia Ridge for close to 4 years. Dimensional analysis indicates that the local conditions are conducive to the formation of Taylor columns. Contemporaneous ship-derived transient tracer data enable estimation of the rate of isopycnal mixing associated with this column, with values of O(1000 m2/s) obtained. Although necessarily coarse, this is of the same order as the rate of isopycnal mixing induced by transient mesoscale eddies within the ACC. A picture emerges of the Taylor column acting as a slow, steady blender, retaining the waters in the vicinity of the WSC for lengthy periods during which they can be subject to significant modification. A full regional float data set, bathymetric data, and a Southern Ocean state estimate are used to identify other potential sites for Taylor column formation. We find that they are likely to be sufficiently widespread to exert a significant influence on water mass modification and meridional fluxes across the southern edge of the ACC in this sector of the Southern Ocean.

Airborne concentrations of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in North American wood mills during the manufacturing of oriented strand board (OSB).

Science.gov (United States)

Karoly, William J; Flatley, John J; Stevenson, Ralph D; Bowers, John D

2004-12-01

Air monitoring data were collected from industrial hygiene surveys over an 8-year period in oriented strand board (OSB) mills. Personal samples were taken to evaluate potential employee exposures to MDI. Area samples were taken to determine the effectiveness of control measures used in the mills to prevent fugitive emissions of wood dust, MDI, and MDI-coated wood dust from the OSB manufacturing process. Personal sampling results (578 samples covering 11 different job categories) ranged from 0.0002-0.524 mg/m3, with a GM = 0.001 and GSD = 3.71. Area sampling results (1657 samples covering 14 stationary locations in the mills) ranged from 0.0002-2.5 mg/m3, with a GM = 0.004 and GSD = 5.52. The statistical range of the data suggests high variability. While exposures to MDI above the established limits (0.051 mg/m3, 8-hour time-weighted average, 0.2 mg/m3, ceiling) can and do occur when engineering controls are not maintained and/or proper work practices and personal protective equipment are not followed/used for certain high exposure potential tasks, the data indicate that over 97% of the personal and 92% of the area sampling results are less than 0.051 mg/m3. Wipe testing was performed to determine the presence of removable, unreacted diisocyanates (NCO functional groups)from various surfaces. Positive results were found in about 13% of the wipe tests on surfaces confined to the blender, forming line, and hopper deck process areas.

Real-time determination of critical quality attributes using near-infrared spectroscopy: a contribution for Process Analytical Technology (PAT).

Science.gov (United States)

Rosas, Juan G; Blanco, Marcel; González, Josep M; Alcalà, Manel

2012-08-15

Process Analytical Technology (PAT) is playing a central role in current regulations on pharmaceutical production processes. Proper understanding of all operations and variables connecting the raw materials to end products is one of the keys to ensuring quality of the products and continuous improvement in their production. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been successfully used to develop faster and non-invasive quantitative methods for real-time predicting critical quality attributes (CQA) of pharmaceutical granulates (API content, pH, moisture, flowability, angle of repose and particle size). NIR spectra have been acquired from the bin blender after granulation process in a non-classified area without the need of sample withdrawal. The methodology used for data acquisition, calibration modelling and method application in this context is relatively inexpensive and can be easily implemented by most pharmaceutical laboratories. For this purpose, Partial Least-Squares (PLS) algorithm was used to calculate multivariate calibration models, that provided acceptable Root Mean Square Error of Predictions (RMSEP) values (RMSEP(API)=1.0 mg/g; RMSEP(pH)=0.1; RMSEP(Moisture)=0.1%; RMSEP(Flowability)=0.6 g/s; RMSEP(Angle of repose)=1.7° and RMSEP(Particle size)=2.5%) that allowed the application for routine analyses of production batches. The proposed method affords quality assessment of end products and the determination of important parameters with a view to understanding production processes used by the pharmaceutical industry. As shown here, the NIRS technique is a highly suitable tool for Process Analytical Technologies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design and implementation of a virtual laboratory of radiation measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alvarez T, J. R.; Morales S, J. B.

2009-10-01

The work involves the implementation of a virtual laboratory, this project is conducted in the Faculty of Engineering of National Autonomous University of Mexico with the name of LANUVI. It is intended that the laboratory can be used by students who have interest in the nuclear radiation knowledge as well as in its detection and attenuation, in addition serve as and introduction to nuclear systems. In the first part of project will conduct a source that can simulate the particle radiation of Alfa, beta, neutrons and gamma rays. The project will take sources used in class laboratories and elements that are dangerous but are used in different practical applications. After taking the source analyzing the particles behaviour in different media like air, animal tissue, aluminium, lead, etc. The analysis is done in different ways in order to know with which material can stop or mitigate the different types of radiation. Finally shall be measure radioactivity with different types of detectors. At this point, has the behaviour of ionization chamber but in the future is expected to make the simulation of some other radiation detectors. The mathematical models we represent the behaviour of these cases were implemented in free software. The program will be used to implement the virtual laboratory with radiation sources, detectors and different types of shields will be Blender which is a free software that is used by many users for the embodiment of games but try to use as a tool to help visualize the different equipment that is widely used in a radioactive materials laboratory. (Author)

[Five years after the Spanish neonatal resuscitation survey. Are we improving?].

Science.gov (United States)

Iriondo, M; Izquierdo, M; Salguero, E; Aguayo, J; Vento, M; Thió, M

2016-05-01

An analysis is presented of delivery room (DR) neonatal resuscitation practices in Spanish hospitals. A questionnaire was sent by e-mail to all hospitals attending deliveries in Spain. A total of 180 questionnaires were sent, of which 155 were fully completed (86%). Less than half (71, 46%) were level i or ii hospitals, while 84 were level iii hospital (54%). In almost three-quarters (74.2%) of the centres, parents and medical staff were involved in the decision on whether to start resuscitation or withdraw it. A qualified resuscitation team (at least two members) was available in 80% of the participant centres (63.9% level i-ii, and 94.0% level iii, PNeonatal resuscitation courses were held in 90.3% of the centres. The availability of gas blenders, pulse oximeters, manual ventilators, and plastic wraps was higher in level iii hospitals. Plastic wraps for pre-term hypothermia prevention were used in 63.9% of the centres (40.8% level i-iiand 83.3% level iii, PCPAP in preterm infants was applied in 91.7% of the tertiary hospitals. In last 5 years some practices have improved, such neonatal resuscitation training, pulse oximeter use, or early CPAP support. There is an improvement in some practices of neonatal resuscitation. Significant differences have been found as regards the equipment or practices in the DR, when comparing hospitals of different levels of care. Copyright © 2015 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Design and implementation of a virtual laboratory of radiation measurement; Diseno e implementacion de un laboratorio virtual de medicion de radiaciones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alvarez T, J. R.; Morales S, J. B. [Facultad de Ingenieria, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Mexico, D. F. (Mexico)], e-mail: jms0620@yahoo.com.mx

2009-10-15

The work involves the implementation of a virtual laboratory, this project is conducted in the Faculty of Engineering of National Autonomous University of Mexico with the name of LANUVI. It is intended that the laboratory can be used by students who have interest in the nuclear radiation knowledge as well as in its detection and attenuation, in addition serve as and introduction to nuclear systems. In the first part of project will conduct a source that can simulate the particle radiation of Alfa, beta, neutrons and gamma rays. The project will take sources used in class laboratories and elements that are dangerous but are used in different practical applications. After taking the source analyzing the particles behaviour in different media like air, animal tissue, aluminium, lead, etc. The analysis is done in different ways in order to know with which material can stop or mitigate the different types of radiation. Finally shall be measure radioactivity with different types of detectors. At this point, has the behaviour of ionization chamber but in the future is expected to make the simulation of some other radiation detectors. The mathematical models we represent the behaviour of these cases were implemented in free software. The program will be used to implement the virtual laboratory with radiation sources, detectors and different types of shields will be Blender which is a free software that is used by many users for the embodiment of games but try to use as a tool to help visualize the different equipment that is widely used in a radioactive materials laboratory. (Author)

Co-ordinated research project: Ingestion and organ content of trace elements of importance in radiological protection (CRP: E4.30.08). Reference Asian man project, phase 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

The Second Research Coordination Meeting for the Co-ordinated Research Project (CRP) on 'Ingestion and Organ Content of Trace Elements of Importance in Radiological Protection: Reference Asian Man Project, Phase 2' was held at the China Institute for Radiation Protection (CIRP) in Taiyuan, People's Republic of China. During the first technical Session, an overview of the current status of the CRP was presented by the IAEA technical officer, Dr. Parr, and the responsible officer of the Central Reference Laboratory (NIRS, Japan), Dr. Kawamura. They drew attention to the agreed programme of work, as described in the project documentation, and the timetable foreseen for the CRP as summarized in table 1. In general, they concluded that the achievements of the CRP to-date appear to be good, particularly in relation to sample collection (in most countries) and quality control (the development of appropriate reference materials). However, some aspects of the work appear to be a little behind schedule, particularly (1) the final stages of preparation of total diet samples (because of delays in providing a suitable food blender), (2) the analysis of some of the elements of first priority (because of the non-availability, until now, of suitable analytical reference materials), and (3) in some countries, the collection of autopsy specimens. One country (Malaysia) has experienced considerable difficulties in implementing the project due to the retirement of the former Chief Scientific Investigator. For this reason it was unfortunately not possible for the Malaysian representative to be present at the RCM

Petroleum supply monthly, July 1999, with data for May 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-07-01

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four petroleum supply publications produced by the Petroleum Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. The other publications are the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR), the Winter Fuels Report, and the Petroleum Supply Annual (PSA). Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The Detail Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. In most cases, the statistics are presented for several geographic areas--the US (50 States and the District of Columbia), five PAD Districts, and 12 Refining Districts. At the US and PAD District level, the total volume and the daily rate of activities are presented. The statistics are developed from monthly survey forms submitted by respondents to the EIA and from data provided from other sources.

Sci-Thur PM – Brachytherapy 06: 3D Printed Surface Applicators for High Dose Rate Brachytherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarke, Scott; Yewondwossen, Mammo; Robar, James

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to develop a new applicator for administering high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy using 3D printing technology. Primary advantages of using a 3D printed applicator will be to offer a more streamlined approach for therapists and patients while achieving better conformity, reproducibility, and patient specific applicators. Methods: A phantom study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of a 3D printed surface applicator by analyzing tumours on three locations of the body: the foot, nose, and scalp. The applicator was designed using Eclipse and further modified using Blender to create the catheter tunnels before being printed on a Lulzbot Taz 5 3D printer. A radiation plan was made using Oncentra Brachytherapy for a control treatment option using Freiburg Flaps and one with the novel method of a 3D printed applicator. A comparative analysis was made using D90, D100, V100, V150, and V200 Results: The 3D printed applicator showed comparable dose coverage with significant improvements on highly irregular surfaces when analyzed against a plan made using Freiburg Flaps. Although both plans exhibited complete tumour coverage, the 3D applicator showed improvements in D90 and V150 and the 3D applicator had a dose homogeneity index (DHI) of 0.99 compared to a DHI of 0.97 for the control. Therapist prep time also dropped significantly due to the lack of need for a thermoplastic mesh. Conclusions: 3D printed applicators for treatment of superficial sites proved to offer more patient convenience, less prep time, better conformity and tighter margins.

Validation of Small Kepler Transiting Planet Candidates in or near the Habitable Zone

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Guillermo; Kane, Stephen R.; Rowe, Jason F.; Batalha, Natalie M.; Henze, Christopher E.; Ciardi, David R.; Barclay, Thomas; Borucki, William J.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Crepp, Justin R.; Everett, Mark E.; Horch, Elliott P.; Howard, Andrew W.; Howell, Steve B.; Isaacson, Howard T.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Latham, David W.; Petigura, Erik A.; Quintana, Elisa V.

2017-12-01

A main goal of NASA’s Kepler Mission is to establish the frequency of potentially habitable Earth-size planets ({η }\\oplus ). Relatively few such candidates identified by the mission can be confirmed to be rocky via dynamical measurement of their mass. Here we report an effort to validate 18 of them statistically using the BLENDER technique, by showing that the likelihood they are true planets is far greater than that of a false positive. Our analysis incorporates follow-up observations including high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, high-resolution imaging, and information from the analysis of the flux centroids of the Kepler observations themselves. Although many of these candidates have been previously validated by others, the confidence levels reported typically ignore the possibility that the planet may transit a star different from the target along the same line of sight. If that were the case, a planet that appears small enough to be rocky may actually be considerably larger and therefore less interesting from the point of view of habitability. We take this into consideration here and are able to validate 15 of our candidates at a 99.73% (3σ) significance level or higher, and the other three at a slightly lower confidence. We characterize the GKM host stars using available ground-based observations and provide updated parameters for the planets, with sizes between 0.8 and 2.9 R ⊕. Seven of them (KOI-0438.02, 0463.01, 2418.01, 2626.01, 3282.01, 4036.01, and 5856.01) have a better than 50% chance of being smaller than 2 R ⊕ and being in the habitable zone of their host stars.

Processamento e estudo da estabilidade de pasta de pequi (Caryocar brasiliense Processing and stability study of pequi paste (Caryocar brasiliense

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aroldo Arévalo-Pinedo

2010-09-01

Full Text Available O presente trabalho de pesquisa teve como objetivo desenvolver um processo de obtenção de pasta de pequi (Caryocar brasiliense para uso culinário e avaliar a sua estabilidade quando acondicionada em embalagens de plástico e de vidro durante 180 dias de armazenamento. O processamento da pasta envolveu: descascamento, retirada da polpa em forma de lascas, obtenção da pasta em liquidificador, acidificação do produto com ácido cítrico até um pH The aim of this paper was to develop a process to obtain a salted and unsalted pequi paste for culinary use and to evaluate its stability when packed in plastic or in glass jars during 180 days of storage. The process included peeling of pequi fruit, pulp cutting, obtain the paste with the use of a blender, acidification of the product with citric acid at a pH < 4,5, addition 10% of NaCl (to avoid the development of deteriorating microorganisms and enzymatic darkening, thermal treatment at 80 ºC during 10 minutes, and hot filling in plastic and glass jars. The final product was submitted to microbiological and physicochemical analysis of the pH values and acidity and color evaluation. The results showed what the acidification with citric acid and hot filling process was effective to establish commercial sterility to the pequi paste in glass jars during a four-month period. The paste was more stable when packed in glass jars than in plastic jars with respect to microbiological and physicochemical analysis and color degradation during the four-month period.

A single portion of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L) improves protection against DNA damage but not vascular function in healthy male volunteers.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Bó, Cristian; Riso, Patrizia; Campolo, Jonica; Møller, Peter; Loft, Steffen; Klimis-Zacas, Dorothy; Brambilla, Ada; Rizzolo, Anna; Porrini, Marisa

2013-03-01

It has been suggested that anthocyanin-rich foods may exert antioxidant effects and improve vascular function as demonstrated mainly in vitro and in the animal model. Blueberries are rich sources of anthocyanins and we hypothesized that their intake could improve cell protection against oxidative stress and affect endothelial function in humans. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of one portion (300 g) of blueberries on selected markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant protection (endogenous and oxidatively induced DNA damage) and of vascular function (changes in peripheral arterial tone and plasma nitric oxide levels) in male subjects. In a randomized cross-over design, separated by a wash out period ten young volunteers received one portion of blueberries ground by blender or one portion of a control jelly. Before and after consumption (at 1, 2, and 24 hours), blood samples were collected and used to evaluate anthocyanin absorption (through mass spectrometry), endogenous and H(2)O(2)-induced DNA damage in blood mononuclear cells (through the comet assay), and plasma nitric oxide concentrations (through a fluorometric assay). Peripheral arterial function was assessed by means of Endo-PAT 2000. Blueberries significantly reduced (P < .01) H(2)O(2)-induced DNA damage (-18%) 1 hour after blueberry consumption compared to control. No significant differences were observed for endogenous DNA damage, peripheral arterial function and nitric oxide levels after blueberry intake. In conclusion, one portion of blueberries seems sufficient to improve cell antioxidant defense against DNA damage, but further studies are necessary to understand their role on vascular function. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NASA Tech Briefs, May 2013

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Topics include: Test Waveform Applications for JPL STRS Operating Environment; Pneumatic Proboscis Heat-Flow Probe; Method to Measure Total Noise Temperature of a Wireless Receiver During Operation; Cursor Control Device Test Battery; Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Signals Measure Neuronal Activity in the Cortex; ESD Test Apparatus for Soldering Irons; FPGA-Based X-Ray Detection and Measurement for an X-Ray Polarimeter; Sequential Probability Ratio Test for Spacecraft Collision Avoidance Maneuver Decisions; Silicon/Carbon Nanotube Photocathode for Splitting Water; Advanced Materials and Fabrication Techniques for the Orion Attitude Control Motor; Flight Hardware Packaging Design for Stringent EMC Radiated Emission Requirements; RF Reference Switch for Spaceflight Radiometer Calibration; An Offload NIC for NASA, NLR, and Grid Computing; Multi-Scale CNT-Based Reinforcing Polymer Matrix Composites for Lightweight Structures; Ceramic Adhesive and Methods for On-Orbit Repair of Re-Entry Vehicles; Self-Healing Nanocomposites for Reusable Composite Cryotanks; Pt-Ni and Pt-Co Catalyst Synthesis Route for Fuel Cell Applications; Aerogel-Based Multilayer Insulation with Micrometeoroid Protection; Manufacturing of Nanocomposite Carbon Fibers and Composite Cylinders; Optimized Radiator Geometries for Hot Lunar Thermal Environments; A Mission Concept: Re-Entry Hopper-Aero-Space-Craft System on-Mars (REARM-Mars); New Class of Flow Batteries for Terrestrial and Aerospace Energy Storage Applications; Reliability of CCGA 1152 and CCGA 1272 Interconnect Packages for Extreme Thermal Environments; Using a Blender to Assess the Microbial Density of Encapsulated Organisms; Mixed Integer Programming and Heuristic Scheduling for Space Communication; Video Altimeter and Obstruction Detector for an Aircraft; Control Software for Piezo Stepping Actuators; Galactic Cosmic Ray Event-Based Risk Model (GERM) Code; Sasquatch Footprint Tool; and Multi-User Space Link Extension (SLE) System.

Sci-Thur PM – Brachytherapy 06: 3D Printed Surface Applicators for High Dose Rate Brachytherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clarke, Scott; Yewondwossen, Mammo; Robar, James [Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Cancer Centre, Capital District Health Authority (Canada)

2016-08-15

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to develop a new applicator for administering high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy using 3D printing technology. Primary advantages of using a 3D printed applicator will be to offer a more streamlined approach for therapists and patients while achieving better conformity, reproducibility, and patient specific applicators. Methods: A phantom study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of a 3D printed surface applicator by analyzing tumours on three locations of the body: the foot, nose, and scalp. The applicator was designed using Eclipse and further modified using Blender to create the catheter tunnels before being printed on a Lulzbot Taz 5 3D printer. A radiation plan was made using Oncentra Brachytherapy for a control treatment option using Freiburg Flaps and one with the novel method of a 3D printed applicator. A comparative analysis was made using D90, D100, V100, V150, and V200 Results: The 3D printed applicator showed comparable dose coverage with significant improvements on highly irregular surfaces when analyzed against a plan made using Freiburg Flaps. Although both plans exhibited complete tumour coverage, the 3D applicator showed improvements in D90 and V150 and the 3D applicator had a dose homogeneity index (DHI) of 0.99 compared to a DHI of 0.97 for the control. Therapist prep time also dropped significantly due to the lack of need for a thermoplastic mesh. Conclusions: 3D printed applicators for treatment of superficial sites proved to offer more patient convenience, less prep time, better conformity and tighter margins.

K2-231 b: A Sub-Neptune Exoplanet Transiting a Solar Twin in Ruprecht 147

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Jason Lee; Vanderburg, Andrew; Torres, Guillermo; Kraus, Adam L.; Huber, Daniel; Mann, Andrew W.; Rizzuto, Aaron C.; Isaacson, Howard; Howard, Andrew W.; Henze, Christopher E.; Fulton, Benjamin J.; Wright, Jason T.

2018-04-01

We identify a sub-Neptune exoplanet (R p = 2.5 ± 0.2 {R}\\oplus ) transiting a solar twin in the Ruprecht 147 star cluster (3 Gyr, 300 pc, [Fe/H] = +0.1 dex). The ∼81 day light curve for EPIC 219800881 (V = 12.71) from K2 Campaign 7 shows six transits with a period of 13.84 days, a depth of ∼0.06%, and a duration of ∼4 hr. Based on our analysis of high-resolution MIKE spectra, broadband optical and NIR photometry, the cluster parallax and interstellar reddening, and isochrone models from PARSEC, Dartmouth, and MIST, we estimate the following properties for the host star: M ⋆ = 1.01 ± 0.03 {M}ȯ , R ⋆ = 0.95 ± 0.03 {R}ȯ , and {T}{{eff}} = 5695 ± 50 K. This star appears to be single based on our modeling of the photometry, the low radial velocity (RV) variability measured over nearly 10 yr, and Keck/NIRC2 adaptive optics imaging and aperture-masking interferometry. Applying a probabilistic mass–radius relation, we estimate that the mass of this planet is M p = 7 + 5 – 3 {M}\\oplus , which would cause an RV semi-amplitude of K = 2 ± 1 {\\text{m s}}-1 that may be measurable with existing precise RV facilities. After statistically validating this planet with BLENDER, we now designate it K2-231b, making it the second substellar object to be discovered in Ruprecht 147 and the first planet; it joins the small but growing ranks of 22 other planets and three candidates found in open clusters.

A polychromator-type near-infrared spectrometer with a high-sensitivity and high-resolution photodiode array detector for pharmaceutical process monitoring on the millisecond time scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Murayama, Kodai; Genkawa, Takuma; Ishikawa, Daitaro; Komiyama, Makoto; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2013-02-01

In the fine chemicals industry, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, advanced sensing technologies have recently begun being incorporated into the process line in order to improve safety and quality in accordance with process analytical technology. For estimating the quality of powders without preparation during drug formulation, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been considered the most promising sensing approach. In this study, we have developed a compact polychromator-type NIR spectrometer equipped with a photodiode (PD) array detector. This detector is consisting of 640 InGaAs-PD elements with 20-μm pitch. Some high-specification spectrometers, which use InGaAs-PD with 512 elements, have a wavelength resolution of about 1.56 nm when covering 900-1700 nm range. On the other hand, the newly developed detector, having the PD with one of the world's highest density, enables wavelength resolution of below 1.25 nm. Moreover, thanks to the combination with a highly integrated charge amplifier array circuit, measurement speed of the detector is higher by two orders than that of existing PD array detectors. The developed spectrometer is small (120 mm × 220 mm × 200 mm) and light (6 kg), and it contains various key devices including the high-density and high-sensitivity PD array detector, NIR technology, and spectroscopy technology for a spectroscopic analyzer that has the required detection mechanism and high sensitivity for powder measurement, as well as a high-speed measuring function for blenders. Moreover, we have evaluated the characteristics of the developed NIR spectrometer, and the measurement of powder samples confirmed that it has high functionality.

Production of High-quality Few-layer Graphene Flakes by Intercalation and Exfoliation

KAUST Repository

Alzahrani, Areej A.

2017-11-30

Graphene, a two-dimensional nanomaterial, has been given much attention since it was first isolated in 2004. Driving this intensive research effort are the unique properties of this one atom thick sheet of carbon, in particular its electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. While the technological applications proposed for graphene abound, its low-cost production in large scales is still a matter of interrogation. Simple methods to obtain few-layered graphene flakes of high structural quality are being investigated with the exfoliation of graphite taking a prominent place in this arena. From the many suggested approaches, the most promising involve the use of liquid media assisted by intercalants and shear forces acting on the basal layers of graphite. In this thesis, it is discussed how a novel method was developed to produce flakes with consistent lateral dimensions that are also few-layered and retain the expected structural and chemical characteristics of graphene. Here, the source material was a commercially available graphiteintercalated compound, also known as expandable graphite. Several exfoliation-inducing tools were investigated including the use of blenders, homogenizers, and ultrasonic processors. To aid in this process, various solvents and intercalants were explored under different reactive conditions. The more efficient approach in yielding defect-free thin flakes was the use of thermally expanded graphite in boiling dimethylformamide followed by ultrasonic processing and centrifugation. In parallel, a method to fraction the flakes as a function of their lateral size was developed. Ultimately, it was possible to obtain samples of graphene flakes with a lateral dimension of a few micrometers (<5 μm) and thickness of 1-3 nm (i.e. <10 layers).

A polychromator-type near-infrared spectrometer with a high-sensitivity and high-resolution photodiode array detector for pharmaceutical process monitoring on the millisecond time scale

Science.gov (United States)

Murayama, Kodai; Genkawa, Takuma; Ishikawa, Daitaro; Komiyama, Makoto; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2013-02-01

In the fine chemicals industry, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, advanced sensing technologies have recently begun being incorporated into the process line in order to improve safety and quality in accordance with process analytical technology. For estimating the quality of powders without preparation during drug formulation, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been considered the most promising sensing approach. In this study, we have developed a compact polychromator-type NIR spectrometer equipped with a photodiode (PD) array detector. This detector is consisting of 640 InGaAs-PD elements with 20-μm pitch. Some high-specification spectrometers, which use InGaAs-PD with 512 elements, have a wavelength resolution of about 1.56 nm when covering 900-1700 nm range. On the other hand, the newly developed detector, having the PD with one of the world's highest density, enables wavelength resolution of below 1.25 nm. Moreover, thanks to the combination with a highly integrated charge amplifier array circuit, measurement speed of the detector is higher by two orders than that of existing PD array detectors. The developed spectrometer is small (120 mm × 220 mm × 200 mm) and light (6 kg), and it contains various key devices including the high-density and high-sensitivity PD array detector, NIR technology, and spectroscopy technology for a spectroscopic analyzer that has the required detection mechanism and high sensitivity for powder measurement, as well as a high-speed measuring function for blenders. Moreover, we have evaluated the characteristics of the developed NIR spectrometer, and the measurement of powder samples confirmed that it has high functionality.

Determination of Abundance of Tellurite-Resistant Bacteria and the Ability of Remove of them from Qom Province Industrial Wastewater, Qom, Iran

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Mahboubeh Soleimani Sasani

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Accumulation of toxic oxyanion of potassium tellurite, which has increased in the environment due to industrial activities, can cause complications in human, such as skin irritation, dermatitis, anorexia, tremor, nausea, vomiting, nervous system stimulation, convulsion, and respiratory arrest. The purpose of this research was to isolate tellurite-resistant bacteria, determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC, and evaluate bioreduction of tellurite in strains.Methods: MIC was measured by agar dilution method in 84 resistant strains isolated from wastewater. QWTm6 strain with tolerance of tellurite concentration of 6684μg/ml was selected as superior strain. Toleration of this level of tellurite has not been reported yet. Results: According to biochemical, phenotypic, and physiological characteristics, QWTm6 was initially classified into Staphylococcus genus. Using the spectrophotometric technique and DDTC reagent (A340nm & sodium diethyldithiocarbamate trihydrate, maximum elimination was seen in 0.4mM concentration of potassium tellurite in 24 hours. The strain showed high ability in the elimination of toxic oxyanion of potassium tellurite under a wide range of factors such as pH=(5-11, temperature (15-50◦C, blender speed (50, 100, 150, and 200rpm, various oxyanion concentrations (0.04-1mM, and different percentages of NaCl (0-20%. This strain was also resistant to penicillin, cefixime, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, neomycin, erythromycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, norfloxacin, and ciprofloxacin.Conclusion: The results of this study showed that QWTm6 could be introduced in the international societies as an acceptable candidate for bioremediation, because of its high ability in removal and reduction of potassium tellurite.

Petroleum supply monthly, April 1998, with data for February 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-04-01

The Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) is one of a family of four publications produced by the Petroleum Supply Division within the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reflecting different levels of data timeliness and completeness. Data presented in the PSM describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the US and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the US (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the US. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. Most time series include preliminary estimates for one month based on the Weekly Petroleum Supply Reporting System; statistics based on the most recent data from the Monthly Petroleum Supply Reporting System (MPSRS); and statistics published in prior issues of the PSM and PSA. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. In most cases, the statistics are presented for several geographic areas--the US (50 States and District of Columbia), 5 PAD Districts and 12 Refining Districts. 16 figs., 56 tabs.

PENGARUH KONSENTRASI PERASAN MENGKUDU (Morinda citrofilia Linn TERHADAP PERTUMBUHAN Shygella disenteriae

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Diah Ariana

2017-09-01

Abstract Mengkudu (Morinda citrofilia Linn Indonesia is known as a medicinal plant that can treat a variety of diseases. This study  to determine the effect of noni juice concentration on the growth of Shigella dysenteriae, the bacteria that causes the disease shigellosis (bacillary dysentery. The design of this study used an experimental design to test laboratory, noni juice obtained by weighing 100g were still ripe noni fruit (puti yellowish color and texture is still hard and washed, blender 100gr noni plus 100ml of sterile distilled water, filtered with sterile gauze and then Stril put in a test tube, back in autoclav sterilized for 15 minutes at a temperature of 1210C that noni juice is really sterile. Inhibition test with freshly made juice dilution method at concentrations of 100%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%, 6.25%, 3.13%, 1.57% and 0.78%, followed planted in the media Muller Hinton Shigella to know whether it is growing or not growing, Statistical data analysis using Chisquer test on α = 0.05. The test results showed λ2 Chisquer count> λ2 table, then Ho is rejected. The results showed 12.5% of concentration - 100% can inhibit the growth of Shigella dysenteriae while the concentration of 0.78% - 6.25% solid not inhibit the growth of Shigella dysenteriae, so it can be concluded that the noni (Morinda citrofilia Linn can inhibit the growth of Shigella dysenteriae and noni efficiently used for dysentery patients because of the concentration of 12.5% was able to inhibit the growth of Shygella dysenteriae. Keywords: Mengkudu (Morinda citrofilia Linn , Shigella dysenteriae

Employing 3D Virtual Reality and the Unity Game Engine to Support Nuclear Verification Research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patton, T.

2015-01-01

This project centres on the development of a virtual nuclear facility environment to assist non-proliferation and nuclear arms control practitioners - including researchers, negotiators, or inspectors - in developing and refining a verification system and secure chain of custody of material or equipment. The platform for creating the virtual facility environment is the Unity 3D game engine. This advanced platform offers both the robust capability and flexibility necessary to support the design goals of the facility. The project also employs Trimble SketchUp and Blender 3D for constructing the model components. The development goal of this phase of the project was to generate a virtual environment that includes basic physics in which avatars can interact with their environment through actions such as picking up objects, operating vehicles, dismantling a warhead through a spherical representation system, opening/closing doors through a custom security access system, and conducting CCTV surveillance. Initial testing of virtual radiation simulation techniques was also explored in preparation for the next phase of development. Some of the eventual utilities and applications for this platform include: 1. conducting live multi-person exercises of verification activities within a single, shared virtual environment, 2. refining procedures, individual roles, and equipment placement in the contexts of non-proliferation or arms control negotiations 3. hands on training for inspectors, and 4. a portable tool/reference for inspectors to use while carrying out inspections. This project was developed under the Multilateral Verification Project, led by the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC) in the United Kingdom, and financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The environment was constructed at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP). (author)

An inexpensive underwater mine countermeasures simulator with real-time 3D after action review

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Robert Stone

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of a concept capability demonstration pilot study, the aim of which was to investigate how inexpensive gaming software and hardware technologies could be exploited in the development and evaluation of a simulator prototype for training Royal Navy mine clearance divers, specifically focusing on the detection and accurate reporting of the location and condition of underwater ordnance. The simulator was constructed using the Blender open source 3D modelling toolkit and game engine, and featured not only an interactive 3D editor for underwater scenario generation by instructors, but also a real-time, 3D After Action Review (AAR system for formative assessment and feedback. The simulated scenarios and AAR architecture were based on early human factors observations and briefings conducted at the UK's Defence Diving School (DDS, an organisation that provides basic military diving training for all Royal Navy and Army (Royal Engineers divers. An experimental pilot study was undertaken to determine whether or not basic navigational and mine detection components of diver performance could be improved as a result of exposing participants to the AAR system, delivered between simulated diving scenarios. The results suggest that the provision of AAR was accompanied by significant performance improvements in the positive identification of simulated underwater ordnance (in contrast to non-ordnance objects and on participants' description of their location, their immediate in-water or seabed context and their structural condition. Only marginal improvements were found with participants' navigational performance in terms of their deviation accuracies from a pre-programmed expert search path. Overall, this project contributes to the growing corpus of evidence supporting the development of simulators that demonstrate the value of exploiting open source gaming software and the significance of adopting established games design

ADSORPSI LOGAM BESI (FE SUNGAI BARITO MENGGUNAKAN ADSORBEN DARI BATANG PISANG

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Nur Hidayah

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Grounded on BLHD’s report of South Borneo on 2009, Fe contents in Barito river achieve 2,5455 mg/L. This level pass by KEPMENKES on 2002 which only permit Fe contents in water as many 0,3 mg/L. The goals of this research are to study ability of banana stem to decrease Fe contents in water sample of Barito river. Knowing the best adsorbent condition to decrease Fe contents in Barito river based on variations of activation process, kind of activator, adsorbent diameter size, stirring of velocity and adsorption duration as well as to find water of Barito river which appropriate with clean or drink water standart based on KEPMENKES on 2002.This research started with adsorption process and finishing with filtration process. Banana stem is washed until clean and then cut to small slice to abridge vaporization of water contents when is hoted under the sun. The dried banana stem be broken with blender. Banana stem is screned to find diameter size as big as 20, 30 and 40 mesh. Then, banana stem is activated using KMnO4 ­0,1 M dan ZnCl2 0,1 M solution during 24 hours. Whereas in physics activation, banana stem is pyrolysed during 30 minute at 500oC. Activated carbon is used to adsorption with some variation. The result will test use spectofotometry.Result of this research indicate that banana stem can decrease Fe content in water of Barito river. Activated carbon with size 40 mesh which use physic-chemical activation with KMnO40,1 M solution as well as 150 rpm strring velocity and ahour adsorption duration give the best result.

Preoperative simulation for the planning of microsurgical clipping of intracranial aneurysms.

Science.gov (United States)

Marinho, Paulo; Vermandel, Maximilien; Bourgeois, Philippe; Lejeune, Jean-Paul; Mordon, Serge; Thines, Laurent

2014-12-01

The safety and success of intracranial aneurysm (IA) surgery could be improved through the dedicated application of simulation covering the procedure from the 3-dimensional (3D) description of the surgical scene to the visual representation of the clip application. We aimed in this study to validate the technical feasibility and clinical relevance of such a protocol. All patients preoperatively underwent 3D magnetic resonance imaging and 3D computed tomography angiography to build 3D reconstructions of the brain, cerebral arteries, and surrounding cranial bone. These 3D models were segmented and merged using Osirix, a DICOM image processing application. This provided the surgical scene that was subsequently imported into Blender, a modeling platform for 3D animation. Digitized clips and appliers could then be manipulated in the virtual operative environment, allowing the visual simulation of clipping. This simulation protocol was assessed in a series of 10 IAs by 2 neurosurgeons. The protocol was feasible in all patients. The visual similarity between the surgical scene and the operative view was excellent in 100% of the cases, and the identification of the vascular structures was accurate in 90% of the cases. The neurosurgeons found the simulation helpful for planning the surgical approach (ie, the bone flap, cisternal opening, and arterial tree exposure) in 100% of the cases. The correct number of final clip(s) needed was predicted from the simulation in 90% of the cases. The preoperatively expected characteristics of the optimal clip(s) (ie, their number, shape, size, and orientation) were validated during surgery in 80% of the cases. This study confirmed that visual simulation of IA clipping based on the processing of high-resolution 3D imaging can be effective. This is a new and important step toward the development of a more sophisticated integrated simulation platform dedicated to cerebrovascular surgery.

Marked hypercapnia during cardiopulmonary bypass for myocardial revascularization. Case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Nascimento, Maurício Serrano; Bernardes, Cassiano Franco; de Medeiros, Roberta Louro

2002-04-01

Bypassing heart blood and returning it oxygenated to systemic circulation is achieved at the expenses of major cardiopulmonary physiologic changes. The aim of this report was to present an anesthetic complication during CPB and to warn for the need of interaction of the whole anesthetic-surgical team to prevent adverse perioperative events. A brown female patient, 56 years old, 95 kg, height 1.65 m, physical status ASA IV, with chronic renal failure under hemodialysis was admitted for myocardial revascularization. Monitoring consisted of ECG, invasive blood pressure, pulse oximetry, capnography, esophageal temperature, central venous pressure and anesthetic gases analysis. Patient was premedicated with intravenous midazolam (0.05 mg kg(-1)). Anesthesia was induced with fentanyl (16 microg kg(-1)), etomidate (0.3 mg kg(-1)) and pancuronium (0.1 mg kg(-1)), and was maintained with O2, isoflurane (0.5 - 1 MAC) and fentanyl continuous infusion. Blood gas analysis after induction has shown: pH: 7.41; PaO2: 288 mmHg; PaCO2: 38 mmHg; HCO3: 24 mmol L(-1); BE: 0 mmol L(-1); SatO2 100%. A second blood gases analysis, sampled soon after CPB, returned in 30 minutes, showing: pH 7.15; PaO2: 86 mmHg; PaCO2 224 mmHg; HCO3: 29 mmol L(-1); BE: -3 mmol L(-1); SatO2 99%. Thorough and urgent checking of anesthetic and perfusion equipment was performed and revealed that the gas blender was connected to the O2 line and to a CO2 cylinder, when it should be connected to the compressed air cylinder. Bypass circuit mechanical problems may occur in the intraoperative period, and demand prompt repairs. Technological advances in anesthesia equipment, monitoring and safety standards will lessen the possibility of cases such as this to be repeated, but will never replace anesthesiologists surveillance.

Ecohydrological implications of aeolian sediment trapping by sparse vegetation in drylands

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzales, Howell B.; Ravi, Sujith; Li, Junran; Sankey, Joel B.

2018-01-01

Aeolian processes are important drivers of ecosystem dynamics in drylands, and important feedbacks exist among aeolian – hydrological processes and vegetation. The trapping of wind-borne sediments by vegetation may result in changes in soil properties beneath the vegetation, which, in turn, can alter hydrological and biogeochemical processes. Despite the relevance of aeolian transport to ecosystem dynamics, the interactions between aeolian transport and vegetation in shaping dryland landscapes where sediment distribution is altered by relatively rapid changes in vegetation composition such as shrub encroachment, is not well understood. Here, we used a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling framework to investigate the sediment trapping efficiencies of vegetation canopies commonly found in a shrub-grass ecotone in the Chihuahuan Desert (New Mexico, USA) and related the results to spatial heterogeneity in soil texture and infiltration measured in the field. A CFD open-source software package was used to simulate aeolian sediment movement through three-dimensional architectural depictions of Creosote shrub (Larrea tridentata) and Black Grama grass (Bouteloua eriopoda) vegetation types. The vegetation structures were created using a computer-aided design software (Blender), with inherent canopy porosities, which were derived using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) measurements of plant canopies. Results show that considerable heterogeneity in infiltration and soil grain size distribution exist between the microsites, with higher infiltration and coarser soil texture under shrubs. Numerical simulations also indicate that the differential trapping of canopies might contribute to the observed heterogeneity in soil texture. In the early stages of encroachment, the shrub canopies, by trapping coarser particles more efficiently, might maintain higher infiltration rates leading to faster development of the microsites (among other factors) with enhanced ecological

The Effect of Freezing and Hydrocolloids on the Physical Parameters of Strawberry Mass-Based Desserts

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Boča Sigita

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of freezing, thickening and storage on the physical properties of the strawberry desserts made with addition of various hydrocolloids. The strawberry cultivars ‘Polka’, ‘Honeoye’, and ‘Senga Sengana’ harvested in Latvia were used in the study. The strawberries were processed in a blender for obtaining a homogenous mass. The strawberry mass was analyzed fresh and after storage at -18 °C. Both fresh and frozen strawberry mass samples with added gelatine, xanthan gum, and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose were whisked until obtaining dessert. For determination of the optimum hydrocolloid amount, sensory evaluation was done using a five-point hedonic scale. Moisture, soluble solids content, density, and pH of the product were determined. Apparent viscosity was measured using a rotational viscometer DV–III Ultra. Consistency of the dessert during its storage was evaluated using a texture analyser TA.XT.plus. The results of sensory evaluation allow concluding that in order to provide the most acceptable consistency, colour, and taste of strawberry dessert, the optimum quantity of carboxymethyl cellulose and xanthan gum to be added is 0.6% and that of gelatine is 6%. During freezing, the soluble solids content and pH level decreased in the strawberry mass, whereas the addition of hydrocolloids increased these values. The moisture content in strawberry puree, in its turn, as a result of freezing increased under the influence of syneresis, but added hydrocolloids, on the contrary, decreased this influence. Also the viscosity and consistency of the strawberry puree prepared from the researched cultivars decreased under the influence of freezing, whereas the addition of hydrocolloids increased both the values, making the strawberry dessert firmer. The research suggests that strawberry dessert with gelatine had the most pronounced changes during storage, but strawberry dessert with added xanthan

Using Mixed Reality
to Bring interactivity to Metabolism Teaching

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J.C; M.L.; E. Vega Garzón; Magrini; Galembeck

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Visual literacy is the ability to understand (read and use (write images and to think and learn regarding images (both static and moving. Visual literacy and visualization are key learning components in the biochemistry because that science uses models of molecules to explain how cells work. Many studies have shown that visualization technologies (VT can be useful to develop essential visual literacy. The term “mixed reality” can be defined as the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. The VT taps the brain's inherent ability to process visual information rapidly, identify patterns and sense order in complex situations generally making the complex simpler. OBJECTIVES: Design a Mixed Reality (MR application named VRMET to help the development of visual literacy skills to understand and represent biochemical concepts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: VRMET app was developed using Unity3D, Vuforia Augmented Reality SDK and Google VR SDK for Unity. 3D molecules were obtained from Protein Data Bank and ChemSpider and optimized using Blender. VRMET uses a 3D scaled animal cell model. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: VRMET requires a device with a camera. The user can get the App from the Google Play Store. VRMET has two different scenes: the Augmented reality (AR scene and the Virtual Reality (VR scene. AR Allows visualizing, from various angles, a scale model of an animal cell. VR allows one to realize a biochemical route within the cellular model, visualizing each one of the organelles and observing each of the reactions of glycolysis and the Krebs cycle. CONCLUSIONS: VRMET allows students to visualize the molecular structure of substrates and products, thus perceiving changes in each molecule along the metabolic pathway. It also allows observing where in the cell each metabolic pathway occurs.

Breakage and drying behaviour of granules in a continuous fluid bed dryer: Influence of process parameters and wet granule transfer.

Science.gov (United States)

De Leersnyder, F; Vanhoorne, V; Bekaert, H; Vercruysse, J; Ghijs, M; Bostijn, N; Verstraeten, M; Cappuyns, P; Van Assche, I; Vander Heyden, Y; Ziemons, E; Remon, J P; Nopens, I; Vervaet, C; De Beer, T

2018-03-30

Although twin screw granulation has already been widely studied in recent years, only few studies addressed the subsequent continuous drying which is required after wet granulation and still suffers from a lack of detailed understanding. The latter is important for optimisation and control and, hence, a cost-effective practical implementation. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to increase understanding of the drying kinetics and the breakage and attrition phenomena during fluid bed drying after continuous twin screw granulation. Experiments were performed on a continuous manufacturing line consisting of a twin-screw granulator, a six-segmented fluid bed dryer, a mill, a lubricant blender and a tablet press. Granulation parameters were fixed in order to only examine the effect of drying parameters (filling time, drying time, air flow, drying air temperature) on the size distribution and moisture content of granules (both of the entire granulate and of size fractions). The wet granules were transferred either gravimetrically or pneumatically from the granulator exit to the fluid bed dryer. After a certain drying time, the moisture content reached an equilibrium. This drying time was found to depend on the applied airflow, drying air temperature and filling time. The moisture content of the granules decreased with an increasing drying time, airflow and drying temperature. Although smaller granules dried faster, the multimodal particle size distribution of the granules did not compromise uniform drying of the granules when the target moisture content was achieved. Extensive breakage of granules was observed during drying. Especially wet granules were prone to breakage and attrition during pneumatic transport, either in the wet transfer line or in the dry transfer line. Breakage and attrition of granules during transport and drying should be anticipated early on during process and formulation development by performing integrated experiments on the granulator

VALIDATION OF 12 SMALL KEPLER TRANSITING PLANETS IN THE HABITABLE ZONE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Torres, Guillermo; Kipping, David M.; Fressin, Francois; Newton, Elisabeth R. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Caldwell, Douglas A.; Twicken, Joseph D. [SETI Institute/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Ballard, Sarah [University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Batalha, Natalie M.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Henze, Christopher E.; Howell, Steve B.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Barclay, Thomas; Borucki, William J. [NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States); Ciardi, David R. [NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Isaacson, Howard T.; Petigura, Erik A. [Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Muirhead, Philip S. [Department of Astronomy, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 (United States); Crepp, Justin R. [University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Everett, Mark E., E-mail: gtorres@cfa.harvard.edu [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); and others

2015-02-20

We present an investigation of 12 candidate transiting planets from Kepler with orbital periods ranging from 34 to 207 days, selected from initial indications that they are small and potentially in the habitable zone (HZ) of their parent stars. Few of these objects are known. The expected Doppler signals are too small to confirm them by demonstrating that their masses are in the planetary regime. Here we verify their planetary nature by validating them statistically using the BLENDER technique, which simulates large numbers of false positives and compares the resulting light curves with the Kepler photometry. This analysis was supplemented with new follow-up observations (high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, adaptive optics imaging, and speckle interferometry), as well as an analysis of the flux centroids. For 11 of them (KOI-0571.05, 1422.04, 1422.05, 2529.02, 3255.01, 3284.01, 4005.01, 4087.01, 4622.01, 4742.01, and 4745.01) we show that the likelihood they are true planets is far greater than that of a false positive, to a confidence level of 99.73% (3σ) or higher. For KOI-4427.01 the confidence level is about 99.2% (2.6σ). With our accurate characterization of the GKM host stars, the derived planetary radii range from 1.1 to 2.7 R {sub ⊕}. All 12 objects are confirmed to be in the HZ, and nine are small enough to be rocky. Excluding three of them that have been previously validated by others, our study doubles the number of known rocky planets in the HZ. KOI-3284.01 (Kepler-438b) and KOI-4742.01 (Kepler-442b) are the planets most similar to the Earth discovered to date when considering their size and incident flux jointly.

FASH and MASH: female and male adult human phantoms based on polygon mesh surfaces: I. Development of the anatomy

Science.gov (United States)

Cassola, V. F.; de Melo Lima, V. J.; Kramer, R.; Khoury, H. J.

2010-01-01

Among computational models, voxel phantoms based on computer tomographic (CT), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or colour photographic images of patients, volunteers or cadavers have become popular in recent years. Although being true to nature representations of scanned individuals, voxel phantoms have limitations, especially when walled organs have to be segmented or when volumes of organs or body tissues, like adipose, have to be changed. Additionally, the scanning of patients or volunteers is usually made in supine position, which causes a shift of internal organs towards the ribcage, a compression of the lungs and a reduction of the sagittal diameter especially in the abdominal region compared to the regular anatomy of a person in the upright position, which in turn can influence organ and tissue absorbed or equivalent dose estimates. This study applies tools developed recently in the areas of computer graphics and animated films to the creation and modelling of 3D human organs, tissues, skeletons and bodies based on polygon mesh surfaces. Female and male adult human phantoms, called FASH (Female Adult meSH) and MASH (Male Adult meSH), have been designed using software, such as MakeHuman, Blender, Binvox and ImageJ, based on anatomical atlases, observing at the same time organ masses recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection for the male and female reference adult in report no 89. 113 organs, bones and tissues have been modelled in the FASH and the MASH phantoms representing locations for adults in standing posture. Most organ and tissue masses of the voxelized versions agree with corresponding data from ICRP89 within a margin of 2.6%. Comparison with the mesh-based male RPI_AM and female RPI_AF phantoms shows differences with respect to the material used, to the software and concepts applied, and to the anatomies created.

Humidification performance of two high-flow nasal cannula devices: a bench study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chikata, Yusuke; Izawa, Masayo; Okuda, Nao; Itagaki, Taiga; Nakataki, Emiko; Onodera, Mutsuo; Imanaka, Hideaki; Nishimura, Masaji

2014-08-01

Delivering heated and humidified medical gas at 20-60 L/min, high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) creates low levels of PEEP and ameliorates respiratory mechanics. It has become a common therapy for patients with respiratory failure. However, independent measurement of heat and humidity during HFNC and comparison of HFNC devices are lacking. We evaluated 2 HFNC (Airvo 2 and Optiflow system) devices. Each HFNC was connected to simulated external nares using the manufacturer's standard circuit. The Airvo 2 outlet-chamber temperature was set at 37°C. The Optiflow system incorporated an O2/air blender and a heated humidifier, which was set at 40°C/3. For both systems, HFNC flow was tested at 20, 40, and 50 L/min. Simulating spontaneous breathing using a mechanical ventilator and TTL test lung, we tested tidal volumes (VT) of 300, 500, and 700 mL, and breathing frequencies of 10 and 20 breaths/min. The TTL was connected to the simulated external nares with a standard ventilator circuit. To prevent condensation, the circuit was placed in an incubator maintained at 37°C. Small, medium, and large nasal prongs were tested. Absolute humidity (AH) of inspired gas was measured at the simulated external nares. At 20, 40, and 50 L/min of flow, respective AH values for the Airvo 2 were 35.3 ± 2.0, 37.1 ± 2.2, and 37.6 ± 2.1 mg/L, and for the Optiflow system, 33.1 ± 1.5, 35.9 ± 1.7, and 36.2 ± 1.8 mg/L. AH was lower at 20 L/min of HFNC flow than at 40 and 50 L/min (P 30 mg/L.

The study on development of easily chewable and swallowable foods for elderly.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Soojeong; Joo, Nami

2015-08-01

When the functions involved in the ingestion of food occurs failure, not only loss of enjoyment of eating, it will be faced with protein-energy malnutrition. Dysmasesis and difficulty of swallowing occurs in various diseases, but it may be a major cause of aging, and elderly people with authoring and dysmasesis and difficulty of swallowing in the aging society is expected to increase rapidly. In this study, we carried out a survey targeting nutritionists who work in elderly care facilities, and examined characteristics of offering of foods for elderly and the degree of demand of development of easily chewable and swallowable foods for the elderly who can crush foods and take that by their own tongues, and sometimes have difficulty in drinking water and tea. In elderly care facilities, it was found to provide a finely chopped food or ground food that was ground with water in a blender for elderly with dysmasesis. Elderly satisfaction of provided foods is appeared overall low. Results of investigating the applicability of foods for elderly and the reflection will of menus, were showed the highest response rate in a gelification method in molecular gastronomic science technics, and results of investigating the frequent food of the elderly; representative menu of beef, pork, white fish, anchovies and spinach, were showed Korean barbecue beef, hot pepper paste stir fried pork, pan fried white fish, stir fried anchovy, seasoned spinach were the highest offer frequency. This study will provide the fundamentals of the development of easily chewable and swallowable foods, gelification, for the elderly. The study will also illustrate that, in the elderly, food undergone gelification will reduce the risk of swallowing down to the wrong pipe and improve overall food preference.

FIELD TESTING & OPTIMIZATION OF CO2/SAND FRACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raymond L. Mazza

2004-11-30

These contract efforts involved the demonstration of a unique liquid free stimulation technology which was, at the beginning of these efforts, in 1993 unavailable in the US. The process had been developed, and patented in Canada in 1981, and held promise for stimulating liquid sensitive reservoirs in the US. The technology differs from that conventionally used in that liquid carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}), instead of water is the base fluid. The CO{sub 2} is pumped as a liquid and then vaporizes at reservoir conditions, and because no other liquids or chemicals are used, a liquid free fracture is created. The process requires a specialized closed system blender to mix the liquid CO{sub 2} with proppant under pressure. These efforts were funded to consist of up to 21 cost-shared stimulation events. Because of the vagaries of CO{sub 2} supplies, service company support and operator interest only 19 stimulation events were performed in Montana, New Mexico, and Texas. Final reports have been prepared for each of the four demonstration groups, and the specifics of those demonstrations are summarized. A summary of the demonstrations of a novel liquid-free stimulation process which was performed in four groups of ''Candidate Wells'' situated in Crockett Co., TX; San Juan Co., NM; Phillips Co., MT; and Blaine Co., MT. The stimulation process which employs CO{sub 2} as the working fluid and the production responses were compared with those from wells treated with conventional stimulation technologies, primarily N{sub 2} foam, excepting those in Blaine Co., MT where the reservoir pressure is too low to clean up spent stimulation liquids. A total of 19 liquid-free CO{sub 2}/sand stimulations were performed in 16 wells and the production improvements were generally uneconomic.

The Effect of pH and High-Pressure Homogenization on Droplet Size

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ah Pis Yong

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aims of this study are to revisit the effect of high pressure on homogenization and the influence of pH on the emulsion droplet sizes. The high-pressure homogenization (HPH involves two stages of processing, where the first stage involves in blending the coarse emulsion by a blender, and the second stage requires disruption of the coarse emulsion into smaller droplets by a high-pressure homogenizer. The pressure range in this review is in between 10-500 MPa. The homogenised droplet sizes can be reduced by increasing the homogenization recirculation, and there is a threshold point beyond that by applying pressure only, the size cannot be further reduced. Normally, homogenised emulsions are classified by their degree of kinetic stability. Dispersed phase present in the form of droplets while continuous phase also known as suspended droplets. With a proper homogenization recirculation and pressure, a more kinetically stable emulsion can be produced. The side effects of increasing homogenization pressure are that it can cause overprocessing of the emulsion droplets where the droplet sizes become larger rather than the expected smaller size. This can cause kinetic instability in the emulsion. The droplet size is usually measured by dynamic light scattering or by laser light scattering technique. The type of samples used in this reviews are such as chocolate and vanilla based powders; mean droplet sizes samples; basil oil; tomato; lupin protein; oil; skim milk, soymilk; coconut milk; tomato homogenate; corn; egg-yolk, rapeseed and sunflower; Poly(4-vinylpyridine/silica; and Complex 1 until complex 4 approaches from author case study. A relationship is developed between emulsion size and pH. Results clearly show that lower pH offers smaller droplet of emulsion and the opposite occurs when the pH is increased.

The technique for 3D printing patient-specific models for auricular reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Flores, Roberto L; Liss, Hannah; Raffaelli, Samuel; Humayun, Aiza; Khouri, Kimberly S; Coelho, Paulo G; Witek, Lukasz

2017-06-01

Currently, surgeons approach autogenous microtia repair by creating a two-dimensional (2D) tracing of the unaffected ear to approximate a three-dimensional (3D) construct, a difficult process. To address these shortcomings, this study introduces the fabrication of patient-specific, sterilizable 3D printed auricular model for autogenous auricular reconstruction. A high-resolution 3D digital photograph was captured of the patient's unaffected ear and surrounding anatomic structures. The photographs were exported and uploaded into Amira, for transformation into a digital (.stl) model, which was imported into Blender, an open source software platform for digital modification of data. The unaffected auricle as digitally isolated and inverted to render a model for the contralateral side. The depths of the scapha, triangular fossa, and cymba were deepened to accentuate their contours. Extra relief was added to the helical root to further distinguish this structure. The ear was then digitally deconstructed and separated into its individual auricular components for reconstruction. The completed ear and its individual components were 3D printed using polylactic acid filament and sterilized following manufacturer specifications. The sterilized models were brought to the operating room to be utilized by the surgeon. The models allowed for more accurate anatomic measurements compared to 2D tracings, which reduced the degree of estimation required by surgeons. Approximately 20 g of the PLA filament were utilized for the construction of these models, yielding a total material cost of approximately $1. Using the methodology detailed in this report, as well as departmentally available resources (3D digital photography and 3D printing), a sterilizable, patient-specific, and inexpensive 3D auricular model was fabricated to be used intraoperatively. This technique of printing customized-to-patient models for surgeons to use as 'guides' shows great promise. Copyright © 2017 European

Microbiological evaluation of hot beverages dispensed by vending machines from the Army barracks of Brigata Meccanizzata Aosta located in Messina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chiara Beninati

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to evaluate the microbiological quality of hot beverages dispensed by vending machines (VMs. The study was carried out on 203 samples from 15 VMs located in 5 Army barracks in Messina. The samples included: water used for preparation of beverages, swab of water tank, swab of blender machine, chocolate powder, milk powder, cappuccino and chocolate drink (29 samples for each types. All samples were examined for total bacterial count (TBC, coliforms, Escherichia coli, enterococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostri - dium perfringens, Aeromonas spp., Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes. For the water samples the colony count (CC at 22°C and at 37°C was made. The average values of CC at 22°C and at 37°C were of 10.86x10²±8.72x10² CFU/mL and of 21.72x10²±16.44x10² CFU/mL, respectively. P. aeruginosa, coliform bacteria, S. aureus, E. coli and molds were detected from water. The TBC ranged from 176 CFU/g (±275.2 for chocolate powder to 294.8±69.4 CFU/g for milk powder. S. aureus and molds were isolated from milk powder, while coliforms, E. coli and S. aureus were observed in chocolate powder. The average TBC for hot beverages ranged from 34.32x10³±97.77x10³ CFU/mL for cappuccino to 36.59x10³±10.47x104 CFU/mL for chocolate drink. Coliforms, E. coli, enterococci and molds were detected from cappuccino, while enterococci and molds were observed in chocolate drink. The microbiological characteristics of the water and powders, hygiene, and the periodic cleaning of machines, influenced the microbiological quality of the hot beverages dispensed by VMs.

Glycogen distribution in adult and geriatric mice brains

KAUST Repository

Alrabeh, Rana

2017-05-01

Astrocytes, the most abundant glial cell type in the brain, undergo a number of roles in brain physiology; among them, the energetic support of neurons is the best characterized. Contained within astrocytes is the brain’s obligate energy store, glycogen. Through glycogenolysis, glycogen, a storage form of glucose, is converted to pyruvate that is further reduced to lactate and transferred to neurons as an energy source via MCTs. Glycogen is a multi-branched polysaccharide synthesized from the glucose uptaken in astrocytes. It has been shown that glycogen accumulates with age and contributes to the physiological ageing process in the brain. In this study, we compared glycogen distribution between young adults and geriatric mice to understand the energy consumption of synaptic terminals during ageing using computational tools. We segmented and densely reconstructed neuropil and glycogen granules within six (three 4 month old old and three 24 month old) volumes of Layer 1 somatosensory cortex mice brains from FIB-SEM stacks, using a combination of semi-automated and manual tools, ilastik and TrakEM2. Finally, the 3D visualization software, Blender, was used to analyze the dataset using the DBSCAN and KDTree Nearest neighbor algorithms to study the distribution of glycogen granules compared to synapses, using a plugin that was developed for this purpose. The Nearest Neighbors and clustering results of 6 datasets show that glycogen clusters around excitatory synapses more than inhibitory synapses and that, in general, glycogen is found around axonal boutons more than dendritic spines. There was no significant accumulation of glycogen with ageing within our admittedly small dataset. However, there was a homogenization of glycogen distribution with age and that is consistent with published literature. We conclude that glycogen distribution in the brain is not a random process but follows a function distribution.

Framatome-ANP France UO2 fuel fabrication. Criticality safety analysis in the light of the JCO accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doucet, M.; Zheng, S.; Mouton, J.; Porte, R.

2003-01-01

In France the 1999' Tokai Mura criticality accident in Japan had a big impact on the nuclear fuel manufacturing facility community. Moreover this accident led to a large public discussion about all the nuclear facilities. The French Safety Authorities made strong requirements to the industrials to revisit completely their safety analysis files mainly those concerning nuclear fuels treatments. The FRAMATOME-ANP production of its French low enriched (5 w/o) UO2 fuel fabrication plant (FBFC/Romans) exceeds 1000 metric tons a year. Special attention was given to the emergency evacuation plan that should be followed in case of a criticality accident. If a criticality accident happens, site internal and external radioprotection requirements need to have an emergency evacuation plan showing the different routes where the absorbed doses will be as low as possible for people. The French Safety Authorities require also an update of the old based neutron source term accounting for state of the art methodology. UO2 blenders units contain a large amount of dry powder strictly controlled by moderation; a hypothetical water leakage inside one of these apparatus is simulated by increasing the water content of the powder. The resulted reactivity insertion is performed by several static calculations. The French IRSN/CEA CRISTAL codes are used to perform these static calculations. The kinetic criticality code POWDER simulates the power excursion versus time and determines the consequent total energy source term. MNCP4B performs the source term propagation (including neutrons and gamma) used to determine the isodose curves needed to define the emergency evacuation plant. This paper deals with the approach FRAMATOME-ANP has taken to assess Safety Authorities demands using the more up to date calculation tools and methodology. (author)

Petroleum supply monthly, March 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-03-30

Data presented in the Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) describe the supply and disposition of petroleum products in the United States and major US geographic regions. The data series describe production, imports and exports, inter-Petroleum Administration for Defense (PAD) District movements, and inventories by the primary suppliers of petroleum products in the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia). The reporting universe includes those petroleum sectors in primary supply. Included are: petroleum refiners, motor gasoline blenders, operators of natural gas processing plants and fractionators, inter-PAD transporters, importers, and major inventory holders of petroleum products and crude oil. When aggregated, the data reported by these sectors approximately represent the consumption of petroleum products in the United States. Data presented in the PSM are divided into two sections: Summary Statistics and Detailed Statistics. The tables and figures in the Summary Statistics section of the PSM present a time series of selected petroleum data on a US level. Most time series include preliminary estimates for one month based on the Weekly Petroleum Supply Reporting System; statistics based on the most recent data from the Monthly Petroleum Supply Reporting System (MPSRS); and statistics published in prior issues of the PSM and PSA. The Detailed Statistics tables of the PSM present statistics for the most current month available as well as year-to-date. In most cases, the statistics are presented for several geographic areas -- the United States (50 States and the District of Columbia), five PAD Districts, and 12 Refining Districts. At the US and PAD District level, the total volume and the daily rate of activities are presented. The statistics are developed from monthly survey forms submitted by respondents to the EIA and from data provided from other sources.

Use of nonpathogenic, green fluorescent protein-marked Escherichia coli Biotype I cultures to evaluate the self-cleansing capabilities of a commercial beef grinding system after a contamination event.

Science.gov (United States)

Wages, Jennifer A; Williams, Jennifer; Adams, Jacquelyn; George, Bruce; Oxford, Eric; Zelenka, Dan

2014-11-01

Inoculated beef trim containing a cocktail of green fluorescent protein-marked Escherichia coli biotype I cultures as surrogates for E. coli O157:H7 was introduced into two large, commercial grinding facilities capable of producing 180,000 kg of ground product in 1 day. Three repetitions were performed over 3 days. Sampling occurred at three different points within the process: postprimary grind, postsecondary grind-blender, and postpackaging. Resulting data show that, as the inoculated meat passes through the system, the presence of the marked surrogate quickly diminishes. The depletion rates are directly related to the amount of product in kilograms (represented by time) that has passed through the system, but these rates vary with each step of the process. The primary grinder appears to rid itself of the contaminant the most quickly; in all repetitions, the contaminant was not detected within 5 min of introduction of the contaminated combo bin into the system, which in all cases, was prior to the introduction of a second combo bin and within 1,800 kg of product. After the blending step and subsequent secondary grinding, the contaminant was detected in product produced from both the parent combo and the combo bin added directly after the parent combo bin; however, for those days on which three combo bins (approximately 2,700 kg) were available for sampling, the contaminant was not detected from product representing the third combo bin. Similarly, at the packaging step, the contaminant was detected in the product produced by both the parent and second combo bins; however, on those days when a third combo bin was available for sampling (repetitions 2 and 3), the contaminant was not detected from product produced from the third combo bin.

FASH and MASH: female and male adult human phantoms based on polygon mesh surfaces: I. Development of the anatomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cassola, V F; Kramer, R; Khoury, H J; De Melo Lima, V J

2010-01-01

Among computational models, voxel phantoms based on computer tomographic (CT), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or colour photographic images of patients, volunteers or cadavers have become popular in recent years. Although being true to nature representations of scanned individuals, voxel phantoms have limitations, especially when walled organs have to be segmented or when volumes of organs or body tissues, like adipose, have to be changed. Additionally, the scanning of patients or volunteers is usually made in supine position, which causes a shift of internal organs towards the ribcage, a compression of the lungs and a reduction of the sagittal diameter especially in the abdominal region compared to the regular anatomy of a person in the upright position, which in turn can influence organ and tissue absorbed or equivalent dose estimates. This study applies tools developed recently in the areas of computer graphics and animated films to the creation and modelling of 3D human organs, tissues, skeletons and bodies based on polygon mesh surfaces. Female and male adult human phantoms, called FASH (Female Adult meSH) and MASH (Male Adult meSH), have been designed using software, such as MakeHuman, Blender, Binvox and ImageJ, based on anatomical atlases, observing at the same time organ masses recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection for the male and female reference adult in report no 89. 113 organs, bones and tissues have been modelled in the FASH and the MASH phantoms representing locations for adults in standing posture. Most organ and tissue masses of the voxelized versions agree with corresponding data from ICRP89 within a margin of 2.6%. Comparison with the mesh-based male RPI A M and female RPI A F phantoms shows differences with respect to the material used, to the software and concepts applied, and to the anatomies created.

[Impact of the decrease of nitrous oxide use on the consumption of halogenated agents].

Science.gov (United States)

Laverdure, F; Gaudin, A; Bourgain, J-L

2013-11-01

Nitrous oxide (N2O) toxicity and its impact on pollution lead to restrict its use. A decrease of N2O consumption should increase the hypnotic inhaled consumption. This monocentric study estimated consumptions and costs of halogenated agents (HA) and N2O over 5 years when the N2O consumption was reduced. Retrospective from a computerized database. Between 2006 and 2010, 34,097 procedures were studied after two meetings exposing the risks of the N2O. At the end of anesthesia, consumptions of hypnotic agents (millilitres transmitted by the injectors and the blender) were archived in the database. The annual consumption of agents was obtained by adding the individual consumptions, then divided by the annual number of cases. The costs were given by the hospital pharmacy from invoices. N2O consumption per anesthesia constantly decreased during the study, from 75.1L by act to 22.7L. The sum of the annual consumptions of N2O and air did not change suggesting that total fresh gas flow remained stable. Between 2006 and 2010, the sevoflurane consumption by act increased by 25%, from 16.5 to 20.6mL, and desflurane consumption by 37%, from 46.1 to 63.1mL by patient. The costs of the administration of hypnotic agents remained stable. N2O consumption decrease had an impact on the consumption of HA. The cost reduction of the N2O was counterbalanced by the increase of halogenated vapor cost. The profit of the ecological impact of the reduction in N2O use could be quantified. Copyright © 2013 Société française d’anesthésie et de réanimation (Sfar). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

SU-E-T-64: CG-Based Radiation Therapy Simulator with Physical Modeling for Avoidance of Collisions Between Gantry and Couch Or Patient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamanouchi, M; Arimura, H; Yuda, I

2014-01-01

Purpose: It is time-consuming and might cause re-planning to check couch-gantry and patient-gantry collisions on a radiotherapy machine when using couch rotations for non-coplanar beam angles. The aim of this study was to develop a computer-graphics (CG)-based radiation therapy simulator with physical modeling for avoidance of collisions between gantry and couch or patient on a radiotherapy machine. Methods: The radiation therapy simulator was three-dimensionally constructed including a radiotherapy machine (Clinac iX, Varian Medical Systems), couch, and radiation treatment room according to their designs by using a physical-modeling-based computer graphics software (Blender, free and open-source). Each patient was modeled by applying a surface rendering technique to their planning computed tomography (CT) images acquired from 16-slice CT scanner (BrightSpeed, GE Healthcare). Immobilization devices for patients were scanned by the CT equipment, and were rendered as the patient planning CT images. The errors in the collision angle of the gantry with the couch or patient between gold standards and the estimated values were obtained by fixing the gantry angle for the evaluation of the proposed simulator. Results: The average error of estimated collision angles to the couch head side was -8.5% for gantry angles of 60 to 135 degree, and -5.5% for gantry angles of 225 to 300 degree. Moreover, the average error of estimated collision angles to the couch foot side was -1.1% for gantry angles of 60 to 135 degree, and 1.4% for gantry angles of 225 to 300 degree. Conclusion: The CG-based radiation therapy simulator could make it possible to estimate the collision angle between gantry and couch or patient on the radiotherapy machine without verifying the collision angles in the radiation treatment room

Bacterial flora of processed broiler chicken skin after successive washings in mixtures of potassium hydroxide and lauric acid.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinton, Arthur; Cason, John A

2008-08-01

Changes in the size of populations of different groups of bacteria composing the normal flora of processed broiler skin were examined after each of five consecutive washings in mixtures of potassium hydroxide (KOH) and lauric acid (LA). Portions of skin from commercially processed broiler carcasses were washed in distilled water (control) or in mixtures of 0.25% KOH-0.5% LA or 0.5% KOH-1% LA by using a stomacher laboratory blender to agitate the skin in the solutions. After each wash, skin was transferred to fresh solutions, and washing was repeated to provide samples washed one to five times in each solution. Bacteria in rinsates of the washed skin were enumerated on plate count (PC) agar, Staphylococcus (STA) agar, Levine eosin methylene blue (EMB) agar, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) agar, and Perfringens (PER) agar with TSC supplement. Selected isolates recovered on each medium were identified. Overall, no significant differences were observed in numbers of bacteria recovered on PC, STA, or EMB agars from skin after repeated washing in water, but there were significant reductions in the number of bacteria recovered on LAB and PER agars. Repeated washing of skin in 0.25% KOH-0.5% LA or 0.5% KOH-1% LA generally produced significant reductions in the number of bacteria recovered on all media. Furthermore, no bacteria were recovered on PER agar from skin washed five times in 0.25% KOH-0.5% LA. Likewise, no bacteria were recovered on EMB or LAB agars from skin washed three or more times in 0.5% KOH-1% LA or on PER agar from skin washed four or five times in this solution. Staphylococcus spp. were identified as the skin isolates with the highest degree of resistance to the bactericidal activity of KOH-LA. Findings indicate that although bacteria may be continually shed from poultry skin after repeated washings, bactericidal surfactants can be used to remove and kill several types of bacteria found on the surface of the skin of processed broilers.

3D for Geosciences: Interactive Tangibles and Virtual Models

Science.gov (United States)

Pippin, J. E.; Matheney, M.; Kitsch, N.; Rosado, G.; Thompson, Z.; Pierce, S. A.

2016-12-01

Point cloud processing provides a method of studying and modelling geologic features relevant to geoscience systems and processes. Here, software including Skanect, MeshLab, Blender, PDAL, and PCL are used in conjunction with 3D scanning hardware, including a Structure scanner and a Kinect camera, to create and analyze point cloud images of small scale topography, karst features, tunnels, and structures at high resolution. This project successfully scanned internal karst features ranging from small stalactites to large rooms, as well as an external waterfall feature. For comparison purposes, multiple scans of the same object were merged into single object files both automatically, using commercial software, and manually using open source libraries and code. Files with format .ply were manually converted into numeric data sets to be analyzed for similar regions between files in order to match them together. We can assume a numeric process would be more powerful and efficient than the manual method, however it could lack other useful features that GUI's may have. The digital models have applications in mining as efficient means of replacing topography functions such as measuring distances and areas. Additionally, it is possible to make simulation models such as drilling templates and calculations related to 3D spaces. Advantages of using methods described here for these procedures include the relatively quick time to obtain data and the easy transport of the equipment. With regard to openpit mining, obtaining 3D images of large surfaces and with precision would be a high value tool by georeferencing scan data to interactive maps. The digital 3D images obtained from scans may be saved as printable files to create physical 3D-printable models to create tangible objects based on scientific information, as well as digital "worlds" able to be navigated virtually. The data, models, and algorithms explored here can be used to convey complex scientific ideas to a range of

A Flexible Method for Producing F.E.M. Analysis of Bone Using Open-Source Software

Science.gov (United States)

Boppana, Abhishektha; Sefcik, Ryan; Meyers, Jerry G.; Lewandowski, Beth E.

2016-01-01

This project, performed in support of the NASA GRC Space Academy summer program, sought to develop an open-source workflow methodology that segmented medical image data, created a 3D model from the segmented data, and prepared the model for finite-element analysis. In an initial step, a technological survey evaluated the performance of various existing open-source software that claim to perform these tasks. However, the survey concluded that no single software exhibited the wide array of functionality required for the potential NASA application in the area of bone, muscle and bio fluidic studies. As a result, development of a series of Python scripts provided the bridging mechanism to address the shortcomings of the available open source tools. The implementation of the VTK library provided the most quick and effective means of segmenting regions of interest from the medical images; it allowed for the export of a 3D model by using the marching cubes algorithm to build a surface mesh. To facilitate the development of the model domain from this extracted information required a surface mesh to be processed in the open-source software packages Blender and Gmsh. The Preview program of the FEBio suite proved to be sufficient for volume filling the model with an unstructured mesh and preparing boundaries specifications for finite element analysis. To fully allow FEM modeling, an in house developed Python script allowed assignment of material properties on an element by element basis by performing a weighted interpolation of voxel intensity of the parent medical image correlated to published information of image intensity to material properties, such as ash density. A graphical user interface combined the Python scripts and other software into a user friendly interface. The work using Python scripts provides a potential alternative to expensive commercial software and inadequate, limited open-source freeware programs for the creation of 3D computational models. More work

KEPLER-10 c: A 2.2 EARTH RADIUS TRANSITING PLANET IN A MULTIPLE SYSTEM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fressin, Francois; Torres, Guillermo; Desert, Jean-Michel; Charbonneau, David; Holman, Matthew J.; Batalha, Natalie M.; Fortney, Jonathan J.; Fabrycky, Daniel C.; Rowe, Jason F.; Allen, Christopher; Borucki, William J.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Henze, Christopher E.; Brown, Timothy M.; Ciardi, David R.; Cochran, William D.; Deming, Drake; Dunham, Edward W.; Gautier III, Thomas N.; Gilliland, Ronald L.

2011-01-01

The Kepler mission has recently announced the discovery of Kepler-10 b, the smallest exoplanet discovered to date and the first rocky planet found by the spacecraft. A second, 45 day period transit-like signal present in the photometry from the first eight months of data could not be confirmed as being caused by a planet at the time of that announcement. Here we apply the light curve modeling technique known as BLENDER to explore the possibility that the signal might be due to an astrophysical false positive (blend). To aid in this analysis we report the observation of two transits with the Spitzer Space Telescope at 4.5 μm. When combined, they yield a transit depth of 344 ± 85 ppm that is consistent with the depth in the Kepler passband (376 ± 9 ppm, ignoring limb darkening), which rules out blends with an eclipsing binary of a significantly different color than the target. Using these observations along with other constraints from high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy, we are able to exclude the vast majority of possible false positives. We assess the likelihood of the remaining blends, and arrive conservatively at a false alarm rate of 1.6 x 10 -5 that is small enough to validate the candidate as a planet (designated Kepler-10 c) with a very high level of confidence. The radius of this object is measured to be R p = 2.227 +0.052 -0.057 R + (in which the error includes the uncertainty in the stellar properties), but currently available radial-velocity measurements only place an upper limit on its mass of about 20 M + . Kepler-10 c represents another example (with Kepler-9 d and Kepler-11 g) of statistical 'validation' of a transiting exoplanet, as opposed to the usual 'confirmation' that can take place when the Doppler signal is detected or transit timing variations are measured. It is anticipated that many of Kepler's smaller candidates will receive a similar treatment since dynamical confirmation may be difficult or impractical with the sensitivity of

Validation results of satellite mock-up capturing experiment using nets

Science.gov (United States)

Medina, Alberto; Cercós, Lorenzo; Stefanescu, Raluca M.; Benvenuto, Riccardo; Pesce, Vincenzo; Marcon, Marco; Lavagna, Michèle; González, Iván; Rodríguez López, Nuria; Wormnes, Kjetil

2017-05-01

The PATENDER activity (Net parametric characterization and parabolic flight), funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) via its Clean Space initiative, was aiming to validate a simulation tool for designing nets for capturing space debris. This validation has been performed through a set of different experiments under microgravity conditions where a net was launched capturing and wrapping a satellite mock-up. This paper presents the architecture of the thrown-net dynamics simulator together with the set-up of the deployment experiment and its trajectory reconstruction results on a parabolic flight (Novespace A-310, June 2015). The simulator has been implemented within the Blender framework in order to provide a highly configurable tool, able to reproduce different scenarios for Active Debris Removal missions. The experiment has been performed over thirty parabolas offering around 22 s of zero-g conditions. Flexible meshed fabric structure (the net) ejected from a container and propelled by corner masses (the bullets) arranged around its circumference have been launched at different initial velocities and launching angles using a pneumatic-based dedicated mechanism (representing the chaser satellite) against a target mock-up (the target satellite). High-speed motion cameras were recording the experiment allowing 3D reconstruction of the net motion. The net knots have been coloured to allow the images post-process using colour segmentation, stereo matching and iterative closest point (ICP) for knots tracking. The final objective of the activity was the validation of the net deployment and wrapping simulator using images recorded during the parabolic flight. The high-resolution images acquired have been post-processed to determine accurately the initial conditions and generate the reference data (position and velocity of all knots of the net along its deployment and wrapping of the target mock-up) for the simulator validation. The simulator has been properly

Teores do óleo essencial de cidrão [Aloysia triphylla (L'Hérit Britton (Verbenaceae] em diferentes horários de colheita e processamentos pós-colheita Lemon verbena's [Aloysia triphylla (L'Hérit Britton (Verbenaceae] essential oil content in different harvest periods and post-harvesting process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renata da Silva Brant

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Este estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar o teor do óleo essencial de cidrão [Aloysia triphylla (L´Hérit Britton] em diferentes horários de colheita e processamentos pós-colheita. O delineamento utilizado foi inteiramente casualizado. As colheitas foram realizadas em três horários distintos (8 h, 12 h e 16 h, com três repetições. Os processamentos pós-colheita foram cinco: T1- folhas frescas fragmentadas em 1cm; T2- folhas frescas processadas em liquidificador; T3- folhas frescas inteiras; T4- folhas secas inteiras; T5- folhas secas pulverizadas em moinho, com três repetições. O óleo essencial de cada tratamento foi extraído pela técnica de hidrodestilação, utilizando o aparelho modificado de Clevenger, por uma hora e trinta minutos. Os horários de colheita quando se detectou maior teor de óleo foram 8 h e 16 h. Os maiores teores de óleo essencial foram encontrados em folhas frescas fragmentadas em 1cm, folhas frescas processadas em liquidificador, folhas frescas inteiras e folhas secas inteiras.This study was carried out in order to evaluate the essential oil content of lemon verbena at different harvest times and post-harvest processings. The experimental design used was completely randomized. The harvested material was collected at three different hours (8:00, 12:00 and 16:00 pm, and it was taken three times. In post-harvest processings, three replications and five treatments were us do: 1 cm fresh leaf fragments, blended fresh leaves, whole fresh leaves, whole dry leaves and dry leaves ground in mill. The essential oil was determined in Clevenger's modified apparatus for 1 hour and 30 minutes. The periods of the day that detected high essential oil content were at 8:00 am and 16:00 pm. The high essential oil level was in 1 cm fresh leaf fragments, blender processed fresh leaves, whole fresh leaves and whole dry leaves.

A novel educational tool for teaching ocular ultrasound

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa MS

2011-06-01

Full Text Available MS Mustafa1, J Montgomery2, HR Atta11Department of Ophthalmology, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, UK; 2Medi-CAL, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, UKAbstract: Ocular ultrasound is now in increasing demand in routine ophthalmic clinical practice not only because it is noninvasive but also because of ever-advancing technology providing higher resolution imaging. It is however a difficult branch of ophthalmic investigations to grasp, as it requires a high skill level to interface with the technology and provide accurate interpretation of images for ophthalmic diagnosis and management. It is even more labor intensive to teach ocular ultrasound to another fellow clinician. One of the fundamental skills that proved difficult to learn and teach is the need for the examiner to “mentally convert” 2-dimensional B-scan images into 3-dimensional (3D interpretations. An additional challenge is the requirement to carry out this task in real time. We have developed a novel approach to teach ocular ultrasound by using a novel 3D ocular model. A 3D virtual model is built using widely available, open source, software. The model is then used to generate movie clips simulating different movements and orientations of the scanner head. Using Blender, Quicktime motion clips are choreographed and collated into interactive quizzes and other pertinent pedagogical media. The process involves scripting motion vectors, rotation, and tracking of both the virtual stereo camera and the model. The resulting sequence is then rendered for twinned right- and left-eye views. Finally, the twinned views are synchronized and combined in a format compatible with the stereo projection apparatus. This new model will help the student with spatial awareness and allow for assimilation of this awareness into clinical practice. It will also help with grasping the nomenclature used in ocular ultrasound as well as helping with localization of

Assessment of physicochemical characteristics and hygienic practices along the value chain of raw fruit juice vended in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Nonga, Hezron E; Simforian, Edeltruds A; Ndabikunze, Bernadette K

2014-10-01

Fresh fruit juice is an essential component of human diet and there is considerable evidence of health and nutritional benefits. However, nature of the fruits used in juicing and unhygienic processes in the value chain may cause poor quality of juice. This cross- sectional study was conducted to assess physicochemical characteristics and hygienic practices along the value chain of raw fruit juice vended in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A total of 90 juice vendors were interviewed. Ninety juice samples were collected and analysed for physicochemical quality. The pH of juices ranged between 2.7 and 6.4, acidity 0.01% and 1.3% and, total soluble solids ranged between -1.5 and 18.04 °Brix. Most juices (67.8%) had -Brix levels below Codex recommended values classified as weak and watery. Juices were made of mango, passion, tamarind, sugar cane and mixture of these fruits sourced from open markets in the city. Water for washing of fruits and dilution of juices was from deep wells (53.3%) and taps (46.7%). About one third (37.8%) of the juice vendors didn't wash the fruits before juicing and 44.4% didn't boil water for juice dilution. Juice extraction was done by kitchen blenders, boiling in water and squeezing by simple machines. Juice pasteurization was not done. The majority of vendors (78.9%) stored juices in plastic buckets and juice was sold in glass cups, reused plastic bottles and disposable cups. Vending sites were restaurants, bus stands and along roadsides. The majority of premises (78.9%) were in unhygienic condition that likely encouraged or introduced contaminants to the juices. It is concluded that, the overall handling, preparation practices and physicochemical quality of raw fruit juices vended in Dare es Salaam City are poor. The government should educate the vendors on food safety and hygiene as well as enforcing regular monitoring of the quality of street fruit juices.

A methodology to develop computational phantoms with adjustable posture for WBC calibration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fonseca, T C Ferreira; Vanhavere, F; Bogaerts, R; Hunt, John

2014-01-01

A Whole Body Counter (WBC) is a facility to routinely assess the internal contamination of exposed workers, especially in the case of radiation release accidents. The calibration of the counting device is usually done by using anthropomorphic physical phantoms representing the human body. Due to such a challenge of constructing representative physical phantoms a virtual calibration has been introduced. The use of computational phantoms and the Monte Carlo method to simulate radiation transport have been demonstrated to be a worthy alternative. In this study we introduce a methodology developed for the creation of realistic computational voxel phantoms with adjustable posture for WBC calibration. The methodology makes use of different software packages to enable the creation and modification of computational voxel phantoms. This allows voxel phantoms to be developed on demand for the calibration of different WBC configurations. This in turn helps to study the major source of uncertainty associated with the in vivo measurement routine which is the difference between the calibration phantoms and the real persons being counted. The use of realistic computational phantoms also helps the optimization of the counting measurement. Open source codes such as MakeHuman and Blender software packages have been used for the creation and modelling of 3D humanoid characters based on polygonal mesh surfaces. Also, a home-made software was developed whose goal is to convert the binary 3D voxel grid into a MCNPX input file. This paper summarizes the development of a library of phantoms of the human body that uses two basic phantoms called MaMP and FeMP (Male and Female Mesh Phantoms) to create a set of male and female phantoms that vary both in height and in weight. Two sets of MaMP and FeMP phantoms were developed and used for efficiency calibration of two different WBC set-ups: the Doel NPP WBC laboratory and AGM laboratory of SCK-CEN in Mol, Belgium. (paper)

Raman spectroscopy as a PAT for pharmaceutical blending: Advantages and disadvantages.

Science.gov (United States)

Riolo, Daniela; Piazza, Alessandro; Cottini, Ciro; Serafini, Margherita; Lutero, Emilio; Cuoghi, Erika; Gasparini, Lorena; Botturi, Debora; Marino, Iari Gabriel; Aliatis, Irene; Bersani, Danilo; Lottici, Pier Paolo

2018-02-05

Raman spectroscopy has been positively evaluated as a tool for the in-line and real-time monitoring of powder blending processes and it has been proved to be effective in the determination of the endpoint of the mixing, showing its potential role as process analytical technology (PAT). The aim of this study is to show advantages and disadvantages of Raman spectroscopy with respect to the most traditional HPLC analysis. The spectroscopic results, obtained directly on raw powders, sampled from a two-axis blender in real case conditions, were compared with the chromatographic data obtained on the same samples. The formulation blend used for the experiment consists of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API, concentrations 6.0% and 0.5%), lactose and magnesium stearate (as excipients). The first step of the monitoring process was selecting the appropriate wavenumber region where the Raman signal of API is maximal and interference from the spectral features of excipients is minimal. Blend profiles were created by plotting the area ratios of the Raman peak of API (A API ) at 1598cm -1 and the Raman bands of excipients (A EXC ), in the spectral range between 1560 and 1630cm -1 , as a function of mixing time: the API content can be considered homogeneous when the time-dependent dispersion of the area ratio is minimized. In order to achieve a representative sampling with Raman spectroscopy, each sample was mapped in a motorized XY stage by a defocused laser beam of a micro-Raman apparatus. Good correlation between the two techniques has been found only for the composition at 6.0% (w/w). However, standard deviation analysis, applied to both HPLC and Raman data, showed that Raman results are more substantial than HPLC ones, since Raman spectroscopy enables generating data rich blend profiles. In addition, the relative standard deviation calculated from a single map (30 points) turned out to be representative of the degree of homogeneity for that blend time. Copyright © 2017

Effect of Red Pepper (Capsicum frutescens) Powder or Red Pepper Pigment on the Performance and Egg Yolk Color of Laying Hens.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Huaqiang; Jin, Liji; Wu, Feifei; Thacker, Philip; Li, Xiaoyu; You, Jiansong; Wang, Xiaoyan; Liu, Sizhao; Li, Shuying; Xu, Yongping

2012-11-01

Two experiments were conducted to study the effects of red pepper (Capsicum frutescens) powder or red pepper pigment on the performance and egg yolk color of laying hens. In Exp. 1, 210, thirty-wk old, Hy-line Brown laying hens were fed one of seven diets containing 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, 2.0, 4.8 or 9.6 ppm red pepper pigment or 0.3 ppm carophyll red. Each diet was fed to three replicate batteries of hens with each battery consisting of a row of five cages of hens with two hens per cage (n = 3). In Exp. 2, 180, thirty-wk old, Hyline Brown laying hens, housed similarly to those in Exp. 1, were fed an unsupplemented basal diet as well as treatments in which the basal diet was supplemented with 0.8% red pepper powder processed in a laboratory blender to an average particle size of 300 μm, 0.8% red pepper powder processed as a super fine powder with a vibrational mill (44 μm) and finally 0.8% red pepper powder processed as a super fine powder with a vibrational mill but mixed with 5% Na2CO3 either before or after grinding. A diet supplemented with 0.3 ppm carophyll red pigment was also included (n = 3). In both experiments, hens were fed the red pepper powder or pigment for 14 days. After feeding of the powder or pigment was terminated, all hens were fed the basal diet for eight more days to determine if the dietary treatments had any residual effects. In Exp. 1, there were no differences in egg-laying performance, feed consumption or feed conversion ratio due to inclusion of red pepper pigment in the diet. Average egg weight was higher (pfeeding red pepper powder did not affect egg-laying performance, feed consumption or feed conversion ratio (p>0.05). However, compared with the control group, supplementation with all of the red pepper powder treatments increased egg weight (pfeed additives for improving egg yolk color for laying hens.

Approaches to brain stress testing: BOLD magnetic resonance imaging with computer-controlled delivery of carbon dioxide.

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W Alan C Mutch

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: An impaired vascular response in the brain regionally may indicate reduced vascular reserve and vulnerability to ischemic injury. Changing the carbon dioxide (CO(2 tension in arterial blood is commonly used as a cerebral vasoactive stimulus to assess the cerebral vascular response, changing cerebral blood flow (CBF by up to 5-11 percent/mmHg in normal adults. Here we describe two approaches to generating the CO(2 challenge using a computer-controlled gas blender to administer: i a square wave change in CO(2 and, ii a ramp stimulus, consisting of a continuously graded change in CO(2 over a range. Responses were assessed regionally by blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD magnetic resonance imaging (MRI. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We studied 8 patients with known cerebrovascular disease (carotid stenosis or occlusion and 2 healthy subjects. The square wave stimulus was used to study the dynamics of the vascular response, while the ramp stimulus assessed the steady-state response to CO(2. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR maps were registered by color coding and overlaid on the anatomical scans generated with 3 Tesla MRI to assess the corresponding BOLD signal change/mmHg change in CO(2, voxel-by-voxel. Using a fractal temporal approach, detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA maps of the processed raw BOLD signal per voxel over the same CO(2 range were generated. Regions of BOLD signal decrease with increased CO(2 (coded blue were seen in all of these high-risk patients, indicating regions of impaired CVR. All patients also demonstrated regions of altered signal structure on DFA maps (Hurst exponents less than 0.5; coded blue indicative of anti-persistent noise. While 'blue' CVR maps remained essentially stable over the time of analysis, 'blue' DFA maps improved. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This combined dual stimulus and dual analysis approach may be complementary in identifying vulnerable brain regions and thus constitute a regional as

A methodology to develop computational phantoms with adjustable posture for WBC calibration

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira Fonseca, T. C.; Bogaerts, R.; Hunt, John; Vanhavere, F.

2014-11-01

A Whole Body Counter (WBC) is a facility to routinely assess the internal contamination of exposed workers, especially in the case of radiation release accidents. The calibration of the counting device is usually done by using anthropomorphic physical phantoms representing the human body. Due to such a challenge of constructing representative physical phantoms a virtual calibration has been introduced. The use of computational phantoms and the Monte Carlo method to simulate radiation transport have been demonstrated to be a worthy alternative. In this study we introduce a methodology developed for the creation of realistic computational voxel phantoms with adjustable posture for WBC calibration. The methodology makes use of different software packages to enable the creation and modification of computational voxel phantoms. This allows voxel phantoms to be developed on demand for the calibration of different WBC configurations. This in turn helps to study the major source of uncertainty associated with the in vivo measurement routine which is the difference between the calibration phantoms and the real persons being counted. The use of realistic computational phantoms also helps the optimization of the counting measurement. Open source codes such as MakeHuman and Blender software packages have been used for the creation and modelling of 3D humanoid characters based on polygonal mesh surfaces. Also, a home-made software was developed whose goal is to convert the binary 3D voxel grid into a MCNPX input file. This paper summarizes the development of a library of phantoms of the human body that uses two basic phantoms called MaMP and FeMP (Male and Female Mesh Phantoms) to create a set of male and female phantoms that vary both in height and in weight. Two sets of MaMP and FeMP phantoms were developed and used for efficiency calibration of two different WBC set-ups: the Doel NPP WBC laboratory and AGM laboratory of SCK-CEN in Mol, Belgium.

Validation of pestice multi residue analysis method on cucumber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

In this study we aimed to validate the method of multi pesticide residue analysis on cucumber. Before real sample injection, system suitability test was performed in gas chromatography (GC). For this purpose, a sensitive pesticide mixture was used for GC-NPD and estimated the performance parameters such as number of effective theoretical plates, resolution factor, asymmetry, tailing and selectivity. It was detected that the system was suitable for calibration and sample injection. Samples were fortified at the level of 0.02, 0.2, 0.8 and 1 mg/kg with mixture of dichlorvos, malathion and chloropyrifos pesticides. In the fortification step 1 4C-carbaryl was also added on homogenized analytical portions to make use of 1 4C labelled pesticides for the determining extraction efficiency. Then the basic analytical process, such as ethyl acetate extraction, filtration, evaporation and cleanup, were performed. The GPC calibration using 1 4C- carbaryl and fortification mixture (dichlorvos, malathion and chloropyrifos) showed that pesticide fraction come through the column between the 8-23 ml fractions. The recovery of 1 4C-carbaryl after the extraction and cleanup step were 92.63-111.73 % and 74.83-102.22 %, respectively. The stability of pesticides during analysis is an important factor. In this study, stability test was performed including matrix effect. Our calculation and t test results showed that above mentioned pesticides were not stabile during sample processing in our laboratory conditions and it was found that sample comminution with dry ice may improve stability. In the other part of the study, 1 4C-chloropyrifos was used to determine homogeneity of analytical portions taken from laboratory samples. Use of 1 4C labelled pesticides allows us for quick quantification analyte, even with out clean-up. The analytical results show that after sample processing with waring blender, analytical portions were homogenous. Sample processing uncertainty depending on quantity of

China: Ingestion study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

Diet samples in China were collected according to the sampling strategy devised for the 'First Total Diet Study in China' in 1990 by the Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. Based on geographic location, dietary habits and cooking style, the whole of China was divided into 4 regions and from each region one province was selected for the survey. In each of these provinces, 3 survey points (one town and two countryside) were identified, from where 30 families were randomly chosen. The diet composition and the consumption of various food items were recorded by means of weight record for three successive days. Some of these details are given in second total diet study, carried out in China in 1992 [48]. The total diet composition as well as the average daily consumption of each food for Chinese adults, engaged in light physical activity was calculated for each region. Based on the composition of diet and individual food materials, all foods and the products derived from them were classified into the following 13 types: (1) Grain; (2). Beans and nuts; (3) Yam; (4) Meat (including poultry); (5) Egg; (6) Aquatic foods; (7) Milk; (8) Vegetable; (9) Fruits and its salads, etc.; (10) Sugar; (11) Soft beverages and drinking water; (12) Alcoholic beverages; (13) Spices and cooking oil. These foods were collected in 1997 from nearby vegetable markets, subsidiary food stores and farmer markets within the three-survey points in each region. Various foods thus collected were treated and cooked according to the local dietary habit in assigned restaurants and kitchens. Cooked foods were then ground and mixed in the blender. In all, 48 individual food samples were obtained representing the four regions. Samples under frozen condition were shipped to the analytical laboratory for further processing and analysis. All possible precautions already stated in the sampling and quality control chapter were taken to avoid contamination of samples

Case report of 5 siblings: malnutrition? Rickets? DiGeorge syndrome? Developmental delay?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harris William

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Parents of six children are facing a trial on charges of aggravated manslaughter in the care a 5 1/2 month old infant who died suddenly and neglect of their four older children for causing them to be malnourished by feeding them all an exclusively raw foods vegan diet. Both parents declined plea bargains and plan to defend themselves in court. Case presentation The fifth child born to a married couple was breast-fed until 2 1/2 months. Subsequently, the parents fed the baby an exclusively raw foods diet prepared in a blender at home. The four older children, ages 18 months – 6 1/2 years also ate an exclusively raw foods vegan diet. None of the four older children had significant previous injuries or serious illnesses. At autopsy, the infant weighed 3180 mg (6.99 pounds and appeared emaciated. The thymus gland was absent and parathyroid glands were not located. The lungs were "congested." DiGeorge anomaly cannot be ruled out from these findings. Although, the coroner ruled that "malnutrition" was the sole cause of death, malnutrition, according to the World Health Organization definition, cannot be diagnosed in this infant. Compared with standard growth charts, the older children fell 2.1–4.1 standard deviations below the mean for North American children in height and weight. Labs were normal except for a low cholesterol level in all and a low prealbumin in one of three children tested. Therefore, malnutrition cannot be diagnosed in these children. The pediatrician diagnosed rickets in the four-year-old. However, chest x-rays were normal in all and long bone x-rays showed minimal changes in one child – no sign of rickets. The clinical diagnosis of rickets was not confirmed by the Center for Disease Control's criteria. A psychologist diagnosed the 18-month-old as developmentally delayed to the level of a 15-month-old, but this diagnosis is questionable. Conclusion The raw foods vegan diet and possibly inherited small

Effect of Red Pepper ( Powder or Red Pepper Pigment on the Performance and Egg Yolk Color of Laying Hens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huaqiang Li

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Two experiments were conducted to study the effects of red pepper (Capsicum frutescens powder or red pepper pigment on the performance and egg yolk color of laying hens. In Exp. 1, 210, thirty-wk old, Hy-line Brown laying hens were fed one of seven diets containing 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, 2.0, 4.8 or 9.6 ppm red pepper pigment or 0.3 ppm carophyll red. Each diet was fed to three replicate batteries of hens with each battery consisting of a row of five cages of hens with two hens per cage (n = 3. In Exp. 2, 180, thirty-wk old, Hyline Brown laying hens, housed similarly to those in Exp. 1, were fed an unsupplemented basal diet as well as treatments in which the basal diet was supplemented with 0.8% red pepper powder processed in a laboratory blender to an average particle size of 300 μm, 0.8% red pepper powder processed as a super fine powder with a vibrational mill (44 μm and finally 0.8% red pepper powder processed as a super fine powder with a vibrational mill but mixed with 5% Na2CO3 either before or after grinding. A diet supplemented with 0.3 ppm carophyll red pigment was also included (n = 3. In both experiments, hens were fed the red pepper powder or pigment for 14 days. After feeding of the powder or pigment was terminated, all hens were fed the basal diet for eight more days to determine if the dietary treatments had any residual effects. In Exp. 1, there were no differences in egg-laying performance, feed consumption or feed conversion ratio due to inclusion of red pepper pigment in the diet. Average egg weight was higher (p0.05. However, compared with the control group, supplementation with all of the red pepper powder treatments increased egg weight (p<0.05. All the red pepper powder treatments also increased (p<0.05 the yolk color score compared with the control. The results of the present study suggest that both red pepper powder and pigment are effective feed additives for improving egg yolk color for laying hens.

Cellular reactions to three-dimensional matrices of polylactic acid and hydroxyapatite generated by 3D-printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. V. Druzhinina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to estimate Ex vivo physicochemical and biological features of three-dimensional (3D biodegradable matrices “polylactic acid/calcium phosphates” (hereafter 3D composites designed with the help of additive technologies (3D printing as potential materials for bone tissue regeneration.Materials and methods. Experimental samples (disks 1,2–1,6 mm thick, and 11 mm or 8 mm in diameter of composite biodegradable 3D matrices (hereafter 3D composites have been produced from initial mixture of 95 mas% polylactic acid (PLA and 5 mas% hydroxyapatite (HAP. Computer-aided design method, Blender software and fused filament fabrication (FFF; fiber diameter 1,75 mm with 3D printing were used in sample production. 100 mas% PLA disks served as control. One of the sample surfaces was textured with 0,3–0,5 mm wide grooves. Physicochemical properties of 11 mm disks (geometry, mass, morphology, roughness, electrostatic voltage, surface wettability, and element composition were studied. Biological trials included the evaluation of 24-hour cytotoxicity of 8 mm samples in culture of mononuclear leukocytes of a healthy volunteer or human Jurkat T cell leukemia-derived cell line (hereafter Jurkat T cells. Moreover, osteogenic potential of 11 mm disks was determined in 21-day culture of human adipose-derived multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (AMMSCs be means of osteocalcin secretion and intercellular matrix mineralization visualized by alizarin red S staining.Results. The features of PLA-HAP 3D composites generated by 3D printing correspond to physicochemical parameters which are crucial for bone tissue recovery. In case of small amount of calcium and phosphorus they facilitated ex vivo mineralization of extracellular matrix formed in AMMSCs culture. The number of died (by necrosis, mainly leukemic Jurkat T cells but not mononuclear leukocytes of a health volunteer increased to 9–10% in 24-hour in vitro contact with PLA-HAP 3D

Baculite 3D Modeling: a New Method for Computing Buoyancy, Stability, and Orientation with Implications for Ectocochleate Cephalopod Hydrostatics

Science.gov (United States)

Peterman, D. J.; Barton, C. C.

2017-12-01

Ectocochleate (external) cephalopod shells are comprised of a body chamber which houses the organism's soft parts and the phragmocone which consists of a series of progressively larger chambers (camerae) divided by septa. The phragmocone is used as a passive gas float for buoyancy regulation. The soft body and the mineralized shell are denser than water and are negatively buoyant while the phragmocone is positively buoyant due to some fraction of gas in its chambers. This provides a neutrally buoyant condition when the total mass of the organism is equal to the mass of the displaced water. The static orientation of the organism occurs when the centers of buoyancy and mass are vertically aligned and stability is determined by their degree of separation. Three-dimensional modeling of a specimen of Baculites compressus (which has a straight conical shell) was performed using Autodesk Meshmixer, Netfabb ®, Blender 2.78, and MeshLab. The initial 3D mesh shapefile was created by Autodesk ReCap 360™ photogrammetry software. The specimen requirements for the models include: an external shell (ideally complete, otherwise approximated), a septum showing lower order frilling, and a suture pattern to reconstruct the higher order septal frilling (for complex septa). Volumes and centers of mass/buoyancy were calculated with MeshLab in order to determine neutrality, stability, and orientation. Our method can be used to investigate the influence of morphological features on these hydrostatic properties of ectocochleate cephalopods and also the paleoecological implications of different morphotypes. Baculites compressus, is found to assume relatively stable vertical orientations when the shell is positively or neutrally buoyant. By arbitrarily flooding all chambers, the ammonite becomes negatively buoyant, and the centers of buoyancy and mass virtually coincide. This reduces stability but allows the living ammonite to assume a larger range of orientations, including horizontal

High-Uranium-Loaded U3O8-Al fuel element development program. Part 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knight, R.

1993-01-01

Texas Instruments is a product intensive company that manufactures very high volumes of different products, and because of this, their technique in manufacturing is what we call hard tooling. So all of the tools we use at this site whether it is for HFIR, ORR or HFBR are hard tooling. A fuel plate never sees a lathe, milling machine, or any other tool of that nature. I have just a few viewgraphs here that will illustrate some of the types of tooling we use to keep away from machining and get high production at as low as possible cost. Figure I shows weighing aluminum powder. It's done in a glove box more to keep air flow away from the balance than any other reason. The weighing of the U 3 O 8 is similar and the glove box is for personnel protection. Figure 2 shows our blender, and I won't try to explain why it works. This is the only one we have ever found that really blends our powder and does a good job. Figure 3 shows our powder die on the press, and you can see the rectangular compact being extracted. Here is the way we make our frames in a blanking die Figure 4. You will notice there are two holes in the frame. We start off with two cores in a frame. Our lot size is 24, but twelve billets go into the furnace for preheating, at the seventh pass, we cut the two cores apart and at that point they become individual fuel plates. Figure 5 shows the loading of the compacts into the frame. We use a loose fit. We can just drop the cores into the frame with, I think, about 2 mils side clearance and it works very satisfactorily. Figure 6 shows a forming die. Once you make the investment for the fuel plate blanking die shown in Figure 7, you can blank out a fuel plate on the order of about one per minute, to size and to the tolerances required. Figure 8 shows a unique tool developed at Oak Ridge. It's a Homogeneity Scanner. It works on the principal of x-ray attenuation going through an electronic analysis

Development of a pilot system for converting sweet potato starch into glucose syrup

Science.gov (United States)

Silayo, Valerian C K.; Lu, John Y.; Aglan, Heshmat A.; Bovell-Benjamin, A. C. (Principal Investigator)

2003-01-01

Sweet potato has been chosen as one of NASA's crops to support human beings in future space missions. One of the possible uses is to make syrup that can be used as a general sweetener. In this work a simple engineering system for converting sweet potato starch into glucose syrup was studied on a laboratory scale. The system comprises the following main units: a blender, continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), centrifugal and vacuum filters, deionization column and vacuum evaporator. The system was tested by carrying out conversion processes from fresh sweet potato roots. The roots were pealed, sliced, homogenized, heated and hydrolyzed by diastase of malt and Dextrozyme C (Novo Nordisk BioChem, North America, Inc.) enzymes in the CSTR. After hydrolysis the slurry was filtered, de-ionized and concentrated to get glucose syrup. The performance of the system was evaluated based on the quality of the conversion. The main factor was the level of reducing sugars except for the deionization where ash content and color were the main factors. Through careful control of the system units, good heating performance in the CSTR was obtained and the hydrolysis process attained sufficient conversion. The filtration process that incorporated the centrifuge was faster than when it was by-passed to the vacuum filter but losses in sugars were higher. Deionization removed more than 90% of the ash and reduced pigmentation, with probable insignificant losses in sugars during the deionization process. Recovery levels when the centrifuge was used and when it was by-passed could reach about 65% and 78%, respectively. These correspond to reducing sugar concentration of 259 and 310 mg/ml in 150-ml syrups from 300 g of sweet potatoes in each process. However, from concentration trials, syrups with volumes of 100 and 70 ml with the respective dextrose equivalence of 281 and 213 mg/ml were obtained. The syrups obtained were brownish in color and the process that employed centrifugal filtration

Virtual environment to quantify the influence of colour stimuli on the performance of tasks requiring attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Alessandro P; Frère, Annie F

2011-08-19

Recent studies indicate that the blue-yellow colour discrimination is impaired in ADHD individuals. However, the relationship between colour and performance has not been investigated. This paper describes the development and the testing of a virtual environment that is capable to quantify the influence of red-green versus blue-yellow colour stimuli on the performance of people in a fun and interactive way, being appropriate for the target audience. An interactive computer game based on virtual reality was developed to evaluate the performance of the players.The game's storyline was based on the story of an old pirate who runs across islands and dangerous seas in search of a lost treasure. Within the game, the player must find and interpret the hints scattered in different scenarios. Two versions of this game were implemented. In the first, hints and information boards were painted using red and green colours. In the second version, these objects were painted using blue and yellow colours. For modelling, texturing, and animating virtual characters and objects the three-dimensional computer graphics tool Blender 3D was used. The textures were created with the GIMP editor to provide visual effects increasing the realism and immersion of the players. The games were tested on 20 non-ADHD volunteers who were divided into two subgroups (A1 and A2) and 20 volunteers with ADHD who were divided into subgroups B1 and B2. Subgroups A1 and B1 used the first version of the game with the hints painted in green-red colors, and subgroups A2 and B2 the second version using the same hints now painted in blue-yellow. The time spent to complete each task of the game was measured. Data analyzed with ANOVA two-way and posthoc TUKEY LSD showed that the use of blue/yellow instead of green/red colors decreased the game performance of all participants. However, a greater decrease in performance could be observed with ADHD participants where tasks, that require attention, were most affected

Hipercapnia acentuada durante circulação extracorpórea em cirurgia para revascularização do miocárdio: relato de caso Hipercapnia acentuada durante circulación extracorpórea en cirugía para revascularización del miocárdio: relato de caso Marked hypercapnia during cardiopulmonary bypass for myocardial revascularization: case report

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Maurício Serrano Nascimento

2002-04-01

Full Text Available JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A função primordial de desviar o sangue do coração e retorná-lo oxigenado à circulação sistêmica é conseguida às custas de importantes alterações na fisiologia cardiopulmonar. O objetivo deste relato é apresentar uma complicação anestésica que ocorreu durante a CEC e alertar para a necessidade da interação de toda a equipe anestésico-cirúrgica na prevenção de eventos adversos per-operatórios. RELATO DO CASO: Paciente feminina, parda, 56 anos, 95 kg, altura 1,65 m, estado físico ASA IV, portadora de insuficiência renal crônica em hemodiálise, foi admitida para realização de revascularização do miocárdio. A monitorização constou de eletrocardiograma (ECG, medida invasiva da pressão arterial, oximetria de pulso, capnografia, temperatura esofágica, pressão venosa central e análise dos gases anestésicos. A paciente recebeu como medicação pré-anestésica, midazolam (0,05 mg.kg-1, por via venosa. Iniciou-se indução venosa com fentanil (16 µg.kg-1, etomidato (0,3 mg.kg-1 e pancurônio (0,1 mg.kg-1. A manutenção foi feita com oxigênio, isoflurano (0,5 - 1 CAM e infusão contínua de fentanil. A gasometria arterial colhida após a indução demonstrou: pH: 7,41; PaO2: 288 mmHg; PaCO2: 38 mmHg; HCO3: 24 mmol.L-1; BE: 0 mmol.L-1; SatO2: 100%. A segunda gasometria arterial, colhida logo após o início da CEC, chegou em 30 minutos e apresentou: pH 7,15; PaO2: 86 mmHg; PaCO2 224 mmHg; HCO3: 29 mmol.L-1; BE: -3 mmol.L-1; SatO2: 99%. Foi feita verificação completa e urgente dos equipamentos anestésicos e de perfusão. Foi constatada conexão do misturador de gases de perfusão (blender à rede de O2 e a um cilindro de dióxido de carbono (CO2, quando deveria estar conectado ao cilindro de ar comprimido. CONCLUSÕES: Falhas mecânicas dos componentes do circuito de extracorpórea podem ocorrer no per-operatório e exigem correções rápidas. Os avanços tecnológicos nos equipamentos

Isocyanate and total inhalable particulate air measurements in the European wood panel industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Vangronsveld, E; Berckmans, S; Verbinnen, K; Van Leeuw, C; Bormans, C

2010-11-01

It is well known that the use of MDI (methylene diphenyldiisocyanate) as an alternative for formaldehyde-based resins is seen as a responsible option to reduce formaldehyde emissions for CWP (Composite Wood Products) in buildings. However, there are concerns raised regarding the exposure risk of workers. The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with factual information to demonstrate that the use of MDI compared to other agents used in CWP production processes does not pose increased inhalation exposure risks for workers. Personal and area air measurements were carried out at nine Composite Wood Panel plants throughout Europe to assess potential inhalation exposures to MDI and wood dust as Total Inhalable Particulates (TIP). In total, 446 pairs of samples were collected for MDI and TIP of which 283 pairs were personal samples and the remaining 163 pairs were area samples collected at key locations along the production line. This data together with published formaldehyde exposure data has been used to evaluate the exposure safety margin opposite what are considered relevant occupational exposure limits. The methods used for sampling and analysing MDI and TIP are based on internationally accepted methods, i.e. MDHS 25/3 (or ISO 16702) for MDI, and MDHS 14/3 for TIP. The job functions with an increased exposure profile for TIP were the cleaners, drying operators and quality control staff, and for MDI, the cleaners and quality control staff. The areas with an increased exposure profile for TIP are the conveyor area from OSB blender to former area and the OSB press infeed, and for MDI the OSB weigh belt and OSB former bin area. The exposure safety margin opposite the selected exposure limits can be ranked as MDI>TIP>formaldehyde (high margin of safety to low margin of safety), indicating that the use of MDI also reduces the exposure risks to workers during production of CWP compared to formaldehyde. By reducing the airborne TIP concentrations, a respiratory

Evaluation of larvicidal activity of Acalypha alnifolia Klein ex Willd. (Euphorbiaceae) leaf extract against the malarial vector, Anopheles stephensi, dengue vector, Aedes aegypti and Bancroftian filariasis vector, Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Kovendan, Kalimuthu; Murugan, Kadarkarai; Vincent, Savariar

2012-02-01

The leaf extract of Acalypha alnifolia with different solvents - hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol - were tested for larvicidal activity against three important mosquitoes such as malarial vector, Anopheles stephensi, dengue vector, Aedes aegypti and Bancroftian filariasis vector, Culex quinquefasciatus. The medicinal plants were collected from the area around Kallar Hills near the Western Ghats, Coimbatore, India. A. alnifolia plant was washed with tap water and shade dried at room temperature. The dried leaves were powdered mechanically using commercial electrical stainless steel blender. The powder 800 g of the leaf material was extract with 2.5 litre of various each organic solvents such as hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol for 8 h using Soxhlet apparatus, and filtered. The crude plant extracts were evaporated to dryness in a rotary vacuum evaporator. The yield of extracts was hexane (8.64 g), chloroform (10.74 g), ethyl acetate (9.14 g), acetone (10.02 g), and methanol (11.43 g). One gram of the each plant residue was dissolved separately in 100 ml of acetone (stock solution) from which different concentrations, i.e., 50, 150, 250, 350 and 450 ppm, was prepared. The hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone was moderate considerable mortality; however, the highest larval mortality was methanolic extract observed in three mosquito vectors. The larval mortality was observed after 24 h exposure. No mortality was observed in the control. The early fourth-instar larvae of A. stephensi had values of LC(50) = 197.37, 178.75, 164.34, 149.90 and 125.73 ppm and LC(90) = 477.60, 459.21, 435.07, 416.20 and 395.50 ppm, respectively. The A. aegypti had values of LC(50) = 202.15, 182.58, 160.35, 146.07 and 128.55 ppm and LC(90) = 476.57, 460.83, 440.78, 415.38 and 381.67 ppm, respectively. The C. quinquefasciatus had values of LC(50) = 198.79, 172.48, 151.06, 140.69 and 127.98 ppm and LC(90) = 458.73, 430

Virtual environment to quantify the influence of colour stimuli on the performance of tasks requiring attention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frère Annie F

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent studies indicate that the blue-yellow colour discrimination is impaired in ADHD individuals. However, the relationship between colour and performance has not been investigated. This paper describes the development and the testing of a virtual environment that is capable to quantify the influence of red-green versus blue-yellow colour stimuli on the performance of people in a fun and interactive way, being appropriate for the target audience. Methods An interactive computer game based on virtual reality was developed to evaluate the performance of the players. The game's storyline was based on the story of an old pirate who runs across islands and dangerous seas in search of a lost treasure. Within the game, the player must find and interpret the hints scattered in different scenarios. Two versions of this game were implemented. In the first, hints and information boards were painted using red and green colours. In the second version, these objects were painted using blue and yellow colours. For modelling, texturing, and animating virtual characters and objects the three-dimensional computer graphics tool Blender 3D was used. The textures were created with the GIMP editor to provide visual effects increasing the realism and immersion of the players. The games were tested on 20 non-ADHD volunteers who were divided into two subgroups (A1 and A2 and 20 volunteers with ADHD who were divided into subgroups B1 and B2. Subgroups A1 and B1 used the first version of the game with the hints painted in green-red colors, and subgroups A2 and B2 the second version using the same hints now painted in blue-yellow. The time spent to complete each task of the game was measured. Results Data analyzed with ANOVA two-way and posthoc TUKEY LSD showed that the use of blue/yellow instead of green/red colors decreased the game performance of all participants. However, a greater decrease in performance could be observed with ADHD participants

Allelopathic effect of sunflower water extract on the germination of soybean and hairy beggartick / Efeito alelopático do extrato aquoso de folhas de girassol sobre a germinação de soja e picão-preto

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel Leszczynski

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to evaluate the allelopathic effect of water extract from sunflower fresh leaves on the germination and initial development of conventional and transgenic soybean cultivars, and of the invasive hairy beggartick (Bidens pilosa L.. Experiments were carried out at Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, in 2007. Fresh leaves from sunflower were ground in a blender at the proportion 200g/1L distilled water, resulting in crude extract (100%, in which pH was measured. Dilutions of 80%, 60%, 40% and 20% were done from the crude extract, and only distilled water was used as control. Statistical analysis (Tukey 5% probability indicated that only the highest extract concentrations (60%, 80% and 100% influenced the analyzed parameters for conventional and transgenic soybean. Beggartick seeds, however, had germination percentage completely inhibited when 40% water extract was applied, which indicates that sunflower straw could be used as a natural herbicide. Nevertheless, field studies must be carried out to prove such effect.O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito alelopático do extrato aquoso de folhas frescas de girassol sobre a germinação das sementes e desenvolvimento inicial das plântulas das cultivares de soja (Glycine max (L. Merrill convencional (CD232, transgênica (CD213RR e uma de suas invasoras, o picão preto (Bidens pilosa L.. Os experimentos foram realizados no Laboratório de Fisiologia Vegetal da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná no ano de 2007. As folhas de girassol colhidas na época da floração foram trituradas com o auxílio de um liquidificador na proporção de 200g/1L de água destilada resultando no extrato bruto (100%. A partir do extrato bruto foram feitas as diluições de 80%, 60%, 40% e 20%, sendo utilizado como testemunha apenas água destilada. Após análise estatística (Tukey 5% de probabilidade, pode-se verificar que o extrato aquoso das

Elaboração e caracterização físico-química e microbiológica da farinha da palma (Opuntia fícusindica Mill em diferentes temperaturas

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D. S. Severo

2015-11-01

Pombal - PB, they have been dewatered to the full withdrawal of moisture in air circulating oven at the following temperatures: 70, 80 and 90 ° C, subsequently passed through an industrial blender, then by a slicer to obtain the flour. After obtaining it was conducted microbiological analyzes and physicochemical analysis. Employment in food , the cactus is a great productive potential with the Semi-Arid alternatives sustained development.

Mobile Augmented Reality enhances indoor navigation for wheelchair users

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Luciene Chagas de Oliveira

Full Text Available Introduction: Individuals with mobility impairments associated with lower limb disabilities often face enormous challenges to participate in routine activities and to move around various environments. For many, the use of wheelchairs is paramount to provide mobility and social inclusion. Nevertheless, they still face a number of challenges to properly function in our society. Among the many difficulties, one in particular stands out: navigating in complex internal environments (indoors. The main objective of this work is to propose an architecture based on Mobile Augmented Reality to support the development of indoor navigation systems dedicated to wheelchair users, that is also capable of recording CAD drawings of the buildings and dealing with accessibility issues for that population. Methods Overall, five main functional requirements are proposed: the ability to allow for indoor navigation by means of Mobile Augmented Reality techniques; the capacity to register and configure building CAD drawings and the position of fiducial markers, points of interest and obstacles to be avoided by the wheelchair user; the capacity to find the best route for wheelchair indoor navigation, taking stairs and other obstacles into account; allow for the visualization of virtual directional arrows in the smartphone displays; and incorporate touch or voice commands to interact with the application. The architecture is proposed as a combination of four layers: User interface; Control; Service; and Infrastructure. A proof-of-concept application was developed and tests were performed with disable volunteers operating manual and electric wheelchairs. Results The application was implemented in Java for the Android operational system. A local database was used to store the test building CAD drawings and the position of fiducial markers and points of interest. The Android Augmented Reality library was used to implement Augmented Reality and the Blender open source

Astronomers Discover Fastest-Spinning Pulsar

Science.gov (United States)

2006-01-01

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope have discovered the fastest-spinning neutron star ever found, a 20-mile-diameter superdense pulsar whirling faster than the blades of a kitchen blender. Their work yields important new information about the nature of one of the most exotic forms of matter known in the Universe. Pulsar Graphic Pulsars Are Spinning Neutron Stars CREDIT: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF (Click on image for larger version) "We believe that the matter in neutron stars is denser than an atomic nucleus, but it is unclear by how much. Our observations of such a rapidly rotating star set a hard upper limit on its size, and hence on how dense the star can be.," said Jason Hessels, a graduate student at McGill University in Montreal. Hessels and his colleagues presented their findings to the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Washington, DC. Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that sling "lighthouse beams" of radio waves or light around as they spin. A neutron star is what is left after a massive star explodes at the end of its "normal" life. With no nuclear fuel left to produce energy to offset the stellar remnant's weight, its material is compressed to extreme densities. The pressure squeezes together most of its protons and electrons to form neutrons; hence, the name "neutron star." "Neutron stars are incredible laboratories for learning about the physics of the fundamental particles of nature, and this pulsar has given us an important new limit," explained Scott Ransom, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and one of Hessels' collaborators on this work. The scientists discovered the pulsar, named PSR J1748-2446ad, in a globular cluster of stars called Terzan 5, located some 28,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. The newly-discovered pulsar is spinning 716 times per second, or at 716 Hertz (Hz), readily beating the previous record of 642 Hz from a pulsar

Cinética de inativação da polifenoloxidase e peroxidase de abacate (Persea americana Mill. Kinetic of inactivation of polyphenoloxidase and peroxidase of avocado (Persea americana Mill.

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Rúbia Caroline Luíz

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Extratos enzimáticos foram preparados a partir da polpa de abacate (Persea americana Mill. dos cultivares Quintal, Fortuna e Choquete, em dois estádios de maturação (verde e maduro. A polpa de abacate (150,00g foi homogeneizada em liquidificador, com 300 mL de solução tampão fosfato de sódio 100mM em pH 7,4 para polifenoloxidase (PPO e pH 6,0 para peroxidase (POD. A peroxidase ionicamente ligada foi extraída usando solução de NaCl 1,0M, em tampão fosfato de sódio 100mM pH 6,0. Para o estudo da estabilidade térmica, os extratos foram submetidos a temperaturas de 60, 65, 70, 75 e 80ºC e por períodos que variaram de 1 à 10 minutos e a atividade enzimática foi determinada por espectrofotometria (lambda= 395nm para PPO e lambda= 460nm para POD. Pode-se observar que o declínio rápido da atividade das enzimas era maior nos primeiros quatro minutos e após esse período, com o aumento da temperatura e do tempo, a atividade continuou diminuindo, porém de forma mais lenta. A energia de ativação na faixa de temperatura estudada para as porções termolábil e termorresistente, apresentou valores dentro da faixa 12-100 kcal/mol.Enzymatic extracts were prepared from the avocado pulp (Persea americana Mill., using the cultivars Quintal, Fortuna and Choquete, in two different maturation stages (green and mature avocados. The avocado pulp (150,00g was homogenized in blender with 300 mL of sodium phosphate buffer 100mM at pH 7.4 for polyphenoloxidase (PPO and pH 6.0 for peroxidase (POD. The peroxidase ionically bound was extracted using NaCl solution 1.0M in sodium phosphate buffer 100mM pH 6.0. For the study of the thermal stability the extracts were submitted at temperatures of 60, 65, 70, 75 and 80ºC for periods that had a variation from 1 to 10 minutes and the enzymatic activity was determined using a spectrophotometer (lambda= 395nm for PPO and lambda= 460nm for POD. It was possible to observe a fast decline of the enzyme activity in

Value-added products from chicken feather fiber and protein

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Xiuling

Worldwide poultry consumption has generated a huge amount of feather "waste" annually. Currently, the feather has a low value-being used for animal feed in the world. The quality of fibrous air filters depend on their main component, fibers. The main physical structure of chicken feathers is barbs which can be used directly as fibers. They have small diameter, which makes them a good choice for air filtration. The main chemical structure of chicken feathers is structural fibrous protein, keratin. Therefore, chicken feathers could potentially be used for protein fiber production. To obtain chicken feather fibers, barbs were stripped from the quills by a stripping device and separated with a blender. Some feather fibers were entangled with polyester staple fibers, and needlepunched to form a nonwoven fabric. Some feather fibers were blended with CelBond(TM) bi-component polyester as binder fibers, and pressed between two hot plates to produce thermobonded nonwovens. Whole chicken feathers were ground into powder and their keratin was reduced in water. The reduced keratin was salt precipitated, dried and dissolved in ionic liquid with/without bleach cotton. The reduced chicken feather keratin ionic liquid solutions were spun into regenerated fibers through dry-jet wet spinning. The needlepunched and thermobonded nonwovens were tested for filtration and other properties. With an increase of areal density and feather fiber composition, the air permeability of the needlepunched nonwovens decreased, and their filtration efficiency and pressure drop both increased. The case can be made that feather fibers gave fabrics better filtration at the same fabric weight, but at the expense of air permeability and pressure drop. The scrim and needlepunching process improved the filtration efficiency. Their strength depended on scrim. The hot-press process was very simple. The thermobonded nonwovens had very high air permeability. In them, there was also an inverse relation between

Volume de iogurte light e sensações subjetivas do apetite de homens eutróficos e com excesso de peso Volume of light yogurt and subjective appetite sensations in normal-weight and overweight men

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciana Neri Nobre

2006-10-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Avaliar, independentemente de outras variáveis, o efeito do volume de iogurte light sobre os parâmetros de ingestão alimentar de homens saudáveis. MÉTODOS: Foi feita incorporação de ar ao iogurte por adição de um produto comercialmente disponível -Emustab® - (6g/300ml com posterior homogeneização em liqüidificador semi-industrial. Utilizaram-se três volumes de iogurte: 300, 450 e 600ml. Trabalhou-se com 20 participantes saudáveis, sendo 10 eutróficos, com índice de massa corporal entre 19 e 24,9kg/m² e 10 com excesso de peso, índice de massa corporal >25kg/m². Cada um deles recebeu um volume de iogurte em três diferentes dias, pela manhã, em jejum de 12 horas. Uma escala de analogia visual foi utilizada, num período de 4 horas e 30 minutos após ingestão de cada volume do iogurte, para avaliar sensações subjetivas de saciedade, fome e desejo por alimentos específicos. RESULTADOS: Os volumes do iogurte light afetaram a saciedade dos dois grupos estudados, sendo que o maior volume exerceu melhor essa ação (pOBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of light yogurt volume on the food intake of healthy men regardless of other variables. METHODS: Air was added to the yogurt by mixing it with a commercially available product, Emustab®, (6g/300ml and homogenized in a semi-industrial blender. Three volumes of yogurt were used: 300, 450 and 600ml. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in the study, 10 with normal weight, Body Mass Index from 19 to 24.9kg/m² and 10 with excess weight, Body Mass Index >25kg/m². Each one of them was given a yogurt volume in three different days in the morning, after a 12 hour fast. After the intake of each yogurt volume, a visual analog scale was used to assess the subjective sensations of satiety, hunger and desire for specific foods. RESULTS: Light yogurt volumes affected the satiety of both studied groups and the greater volume was more effective (p<0.01. The highest

Organic Geochemistry of Sediments in Nearshore Areas of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers: I. General Organic Characterization

Science.gov (United States)

Orem, William H.; Rosenbauer, Robert J.; Swarzenski, Peter W.; Lerch, Harry E.; Corum, Margo D.; Bates, Anne L.

2007-01-01

sites with oxic water columns, and thus atomic C/S values may be useful as a proxy for identifying sites impacted by hypoxic conditions in the water column and for examining historical trends in hypoxia. At one site examined in this study, maximum hypoxic conditions were observed in the mid 1960's. The organic elemental composition (C, N, P, and S) of sediments was also used to guide sample selection for contaminant analysis, and to normalize the contaminant data to organic C content of the sediments. Dissolved hydrocarbon gases in sediments showed a dominance of methane, but identifiable concentrations of ethane and hexane, and trace concentrations of propane, butane, and pentane were also detected. All dissolved gases except hexane were dominated by 'bound' gas, gas released only after agitation of the sediment in a blender. Hexane, in contrast was observed mostly as free gas, determined by headspace analysis.

An optimized method for extraction and detection of Coconut cadang-cadang viroid(CCCVd) from oil palm.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadi, M R; Vadamalai, G; Joseph, H

2010-01-01

Coconut cadong-cadong viroid (CCCVd) causes the Lethal cadang-cadang disease of coconut palms in the Philippines and it is recently reported to be associated with the orange spotting disease on oil palm in Malaysia. The low concentration of the viroid RNA in oil palm as well as the high content of polyphenols and polysaccharides in this plant which interfere with the purification steps makes it difficult to extract and detect this viroid from oil palm. A previously described method was modified and optimized for extraction and detection of CCCVd from infected oil palms. Briefly, 7 g of leaf material was homogenized in a mortar or a blender using liquid nitrogen. 10 ml of extraction buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.5, 100 mM NaCl, 10 mM EDTA) along with 100 mM 2-mercaptoethanol and 10 ml water saturated phenol was added to the frozen powder. After centrifuging at 4 degrees C, 4000 g for 30 min, the aqueous phase was extracted once more with phenol then once with chloroform-isoamyl alcohol (24:1). After adding sodium acetate, pH 5.6 to 200 mM, the mixture was precipitated with 2.5 vol ethanol overnight in -20 freezer and then the pellet was washed with 70% ethanol and air-dried. One milliliter of 8 M LiCl was added to the dried pellet and after shaking overnight at 4 degrees C and another centrifugation step the supernatant was collected and precipitated again with ethanol and then the resulting pellet was washed and air-dried. To carry out northern blotting, samples equivalent to 40 g of plant tissue were mixed with formamide buffer and loaded onto a 12% polyacrylamide gel containing 7 M urea and after separation by electrophoresis, were electroblotted onto membrane and fixed by UV cross-linking. Pre-hybridization and hybridization using hybridization buffer (50% formamide, 25%SSPE, 0.1% Ficol and PVP, 0.1 % SDS, 0.02 % DNA (5mg/ml)) was carried out at 45 degrees C for 90 min and 16 h, respectively followed by two low stringency washes (0.5 X SSC, 0.1% SDS, at room

Estudo da Contaminação Microbiana no Preparo de Fórmulas Lácteas Infantis em Lactário de um Hospital Universitário do Sul de Minas Gerais / Study of Microbial Contamination in Milk Formula Preparation for Children in a Lactary of a University Hospital in Southern of Minas Gerais State

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafaela da Silva Lanziotti

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Objetivo: Avaliar condições microbiológicas do preparo de fórmulas lácteas infantis no lactário do Hospital Escola de Itajubá. Materiais e Métodos: Foram realizadas contagens de microrganismos mesófilos viáveis, bolores e leveduras, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, coliformes totais e de origem fecal e Escherichia coli. Resultados: Todas as amostras de fórmulas lácteas se encontraram aptas para o consumo humano. O crescimento de microrganismos foi superior ao esperado em algumas amostras da colher e do copo do liquidificador utilizados para o preparo das fórmulas. Houve a presença de mesófilos ao primeiro dia, o que indica condições insatisfatórias na produção das fórmulas, como armazenamento e temperatura; não houve presença de coliformes fecais, o que indica boa prática de higiene quanto a manipulação das mesmas, e de acordo com a literatura, esses podem ser considerados os piores indicadores de condições higiênico-sanitárias no manuseio de alimentos. O crescimento nos utensílios revela falha na higienização dos mesmos, oferecendo riscos aos usuários dos serviços do lactário. Os resultados mostram que a boa prática de medidas higiênico-sanitárias promove qualidade das fórmulas. Conclusão: O uso de utensílios plásticos aumenta o risco de contaminações e poderia ser substituído por objetos metálicos, garantindo melhor qualidade dos produtos. Objective: To evaluate microbiological preparation of infant milk formulas in lactary of Hospital Escola de Itajubá. Material and Methods: We performed viable mesophilic counts, molds and yeast, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, total coliforms of fecal origin and Escherichia coli. Results: All samples of infant formula are fit for human consumption in accordance with current legal resolution. It occurred growth of microorganisms higher than expected in some samples from the spoon and from the blender cup used for the preparation. Presence of

Measurement of {sup 14}C/{sup 12}C ratios in plant samples that were affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashimoto, Risa; Inoue, Aki; Muramatsu, Yasuyuki [Gakushuin University, 1-5-1 Mejiro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, 171-8588 (Japan); Matsuzaki, Hiroyuki [The University of Tokyo, Micro Analysis Laboratory, Tandem Accelerator, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0032 (Japan)

2014-07-01

In nature, {sup 14}C is produced by cosmic ray reactions in the upper atmosphere, and its production is influenced by the flux of cosmic rays. This nuclide is also released into the atmosphere by anthropogenic sources such as nuclear weapons testing and a nuclear accident. The produced {sup 14}C immediately becomes {sup 14}CO{sub 2} and it is absorbed by plants through photosynthesis. Therefore, plants are reflected by atmospheric {sup 14}C levels at that time. Although there are many papers reporting the release of several nuclides by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident occurred in March, 2011, it is not clear whether appreciable amounts of {sup 14}C were released into the environment due to the accident. In this study, we focus on {sup 14}C levels in plant samples collected from several locations in Fukushima Prefecture (Okuma, Namie, Iitate, and Fukushima-city) and examine the possible influence on the {sup 14}C revels in plants. Since cedars and pines are evergreen, the leaves should have been contaminated at the time of the accident. We analyzed old leaves, which were grown before the accident, and new leaves, which were grown after the accident. Both old and new leaves were collected in the same branch. In order to compare delta {sup 14}C values in leaves collected from Fukushima Prefecture with background values, we have used plant samples collected from remote areas such as Chiba and Niigata Prefectures. The samples were dried, pulverized in a blender and homogenized. Then samples were placed between copper oxide wires in a quarts tube, burned and oxidized. The produced CO{sub 2} mixed gases were purified in a vacuum line. To prepare a graphite target for AMS, the purified CO{sub 2} was reduced. {sup 14}C/{sup 12}C ratio in the graphite was measured by AMS at the University of Tokyo or Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Analytical results showed that delta {sup 14}C values in plant samples collected from the highly contaminated areas such as

Evaluación del impacto de un ensayo comunitario sobre el consumo de frutas y verduras en Colombia Evaluation of the impact of a community intervention on the consumption of fruits and vegetables in Colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gloria Esperanza Prada

2007-02-01

evaluation was carried out on two levels: the family and the HC. The Bland-Alman method was used to determine the intra- and inter-group impact. A multiple linear regression model enabled the evaluation of the intervention's effect on consumption frequency, adjusted for economic and demographic variables. RESULTS: The frequency of consumption of fruits increased an average of 1.3 times per week (CI 0.3, 1.8, p= 0.040. This was achieved when the probability of having a blender was higher than 75% (R² for the regression 0.33; n= 26. The frequency of vegetable consumption did not increase. CONCLUSIONS: In poor populations an increase in the consumption of fruits can be achieved through educational strategies. However, the limited access to equipment for transforming and preserving alimentary products is decisive to the final result.

Leucaena allelopathy on weeds and soybean seed germination / Alelopatia de Leucena sobre soja e plantas invasoras

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel Leszczynski

2009-07-01

Full Text Available With the advance of agriculture, there was consequent rising in environment degradation. Therefore, It is interesting the use of plants which have in their chemical composition substances capable of helping in the control of weeds to minimize the use of pesticides. Hence, the objective of this paper was to evaluate solutions of leucena extract on weeds that are frequent on soybean crop. The treatments were leucena extracts at 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% at room temperature water and water heated to 80°C. The extracts were obtained by crushing 200g of leucena leaves and mixing them with one liter of distilled water with the help of a blender. Seeds were kept in B.O.D. at a temperature of 25°C, with a photoperiod of 12 hours of light. Evaluations were done on a daily basis, from the first to the last day of the experiment, varying according to the species. Results show a negative interference of the extracts, both hot and cold, in the root length of Ipomoea grandifolia, in the percentage of germination and in the root length of Arrowleaf sida and Hair beggarticks. There was no negative interference in the analyzed parameters for soybean seeds. Thus, the results indicate allelopatic potential of Leucaena leuucocephala as an alternative for the management of weeds without interfering on the development of the soybean crop.Com o desenvolvimento da agricultura surgiram os conseqüentes aumentos na degradação ambiental. Assim, estuda-se a utilização de plantas que possuam em sua composição química substâncias capazes de auxiliar no controle de plantas invasoras, amenizando o uso de agrotóxicos. Desta forma, o objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar soluções de extratos de leucena sobre plantas invasoras que freqüentemente ocorrem na cultura da soja. Foram utilizados como tratamentos os seguintes extratos de leucena nas proporções de: 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 e 100% com água à temperatura ambiente e com água aquecida à 80°C. Os extratos foram

Densification and crystalization kinetics of mullite diphasic gels from non_isothermal dilatometry experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orgaz, Felipe

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Mullite (3 AI₂O₃_2 SiO₂ was processed by mixing silica and alumina colloids at pH below 3 in a high shear blender. The gels were sieved to ‹ 125 microns and cold isostatically pressed to form rods. The various processes involved during the sintering process such as condensation-polymerization and the competition between mullite crystallization and densification were analysed from constant heating rate equations and rate controlled sintering dilatometer experiments. Changes in the slopes permitted the identification of such processes and the activation energy for mullitization was calculated. Fast firing (20-30 K/min in the critical mullitization temperature range of 1230-1505^ºC and low heating rates (2-3 K/min in the viscous flow densification intervals of below 1230^ºC and higher than 1505 gives rise to near full density and fine grain microstructures of sintered mullite. Fast firing and high (0.5 to 1 % /min densification rate controlled processes seem to be the most suitable approaches to high density gel processed mullite. Amorphous silica is the rate controlling mechanism for the viscous flow densification process before alumina is solved and nucleation and crystallization of mullite appears. Deviations from the linear Frenkel model for viscous flow are also observed.

Mullita de composición (3Al₂O₃ -2 SiO₂ ha sido preparada mezclando coloides de sílice y alúmina en un mezclador de alta velocidad a pH inferior a 3. Los geles formados eran secados, tamizados por debajo de 125 micras y prensados isostáticamrente para formar varillas de unos 6 mm de diámetro. Los diferentes procesos que ocurren durante el proceso de sinterización, tales como polimerización- condensación y la competición entre cristalización y densificación, han sido analizados utilizando las ecuaciones de ecuaciones de velocidad de calentamiento constantte y experimentos

Development of Adjustable 3D computational phantoms for breast radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emam, Zohal Alnour Ahmed

2016-06-01

Radiotherapy has become an essential part of breast cancer treatment and it was given a great concern during last decades due to aspects of managing breast cancer successfully, reducing recurrence and breast cancer mortality. Monte Carlo simulation has been used heavily in this issue. To use monte Carlo the suitable data set must be found to perform the study. This process is not straight forward and difficult to achieve and an effort is needed to obtain it. In this work we aimed to develop a methodology for obtaining 3D adjustable computational phantoms with different breast sizes to treat this problem. At first make human software was used to generate outer surfaces models with desired anthropomorphic features for our purpose. Three breasts cup sizes have been developed: small (A), medium (C) and large (D) according to European standardization system of dress, then blender software was used to join skeleton and internal organs outer surfaces of the body models in correct anatomical positions and the results were poly mesh anthropomorphic phantom has three breast sizes easy to manipulate positioning and modifying, the prepared models have been voxelised in 3D matrixes (256*256*256) using Binvox software, then voxelised models prepared in suitable formats for Gate (mhd/raw) in 70 axial slice with voxel dimension of 1.394*1.394*5 mm 3 for width, depth and length respectively. Gate monte Carlo was used to simulate the irradiation of virtual tumor bed site in left breasts with direct field electron beam, each breast size was treated with five energies 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 MeV by field size 5*5 cm 2 , and 100 cm source surface distance (SSD). The results were studied to evaluate the effect of breast size variation on dose distribution. According to criteria of tumor bed coverage by 100% 90% normalised maximum dose and minimum dose to heart and lug which are considering the organs at risks, results show the energy 6 MeV give under cover to tumor bed in the small, medium

Uso de oxigênio puro e shunt veno-arterial nos oxigenadores de membrana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MORAES Domingos Junqueira de

1997-01-01

semana. Concluímos que o emprego do shunt veno-arterial e oxigênio puro nos oxigenadores de membrana mostrou ser método adequado para abolir o uso de ar comprimindo e blenders nesses oxigenadores, ao mesmo tempo que, teoricamente, reduz em 40% a 50% os efeitos deletérios ou inflamatórios causados pelos oxigenadores artificiais. Na hipotermia, o método pode ser usado com mais liberdade, conforme trabalho por nós publicado, utilizando oxigenadores de bolhas.

Holodeck Testbed Project

Science.gov (United States)

Arias, Adriel (Inventor)

2016-01-01

objects inside the hybrid reality ISS environment. This task looked at using an Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset to collect brain state data that could be mapped to commands that a computer could execute. On this Task, I had a setback with the hardware, which stopped working and was returned to the vendor for repair. However, I was still able to collect some data, was able to process it, and started to create correlation algorithms between the electrical patterns in the brain and the commands we wanted the computer to carry out. I also carried out a test to investigate the comfort of the headset if it is worn for a long time. The knowledge gained will benefit me in my future career. I learned how to use various modeling and programming tools that included Blender, Maya, Substance Painter, Artec Studio, Github, and Unreal Engine 4. I learned how to use a professional grade 3D scanner and 3D printer. On the BCI Project I learned about data mining and how to create correlation algorithms. I also supported various demos including a live demo of the hybrid reality lab capabilities at ComicPalooza. This internship has given me a good look into engineering at NASA. I developed a more thorough understanding of engineering and my overall confidence has grown. I have also realized that any problem can be fixed, if you try hard enough, and as an engineer it is your job to not only fix problems but to embrace coming up with solutions to those problems.

Mobile Advertising System Based on Augmented Reality and Location-Based Services%基于增强现实和位置服务的手机广告系统

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

叶小榕; 邵晴

2013-01-01

当前国内移动互联网发展极其迅速,但平面广告进入手机广告市场时遇到了一些困难,广告效果并不理想.针对这个现状,本文提出新的解决思路:利用现实增强和位置服务等技术,借鉴和运用ARToolKit、Hadoop、Blender、min3D等多个开源软件模块化设计开发了基于安卓(Android)平台的手机广告系统.系统包括手机客户端和服务器端两大部分,手机客户端负责从平面广告中识别二维码,定位当前手机的位置坐标,然后将用户信息、二维码和位置坐标发送给服务器端；服务器端接收后,通过范围搜索算法检索地图数据库和虚拟影像文件库,根据地域的不同得到对应的3D虚拟影像广告文件,将其回传给手机,手机客户端就能显示出3D虚拟影像广告了.此系统使平面广告通过二维码在手机中显示出3D虚拟影像效果,还能根据手机所在地域动态投放不同广告,增加了广告的吸引力,使手机广告更具有针对性、点击率更高、更有效果.%The mobile internet in China is under very rapid development, but the print advertisement encounters some difficulties to enter the mobile advertising market, lack of desirable effects. This paper proposes a new solution. Based on the Android platform, a mobile advertising system is designed, which takes advantage of technologies such as the augmented reality and the location based services, with the adoption of the ARToolKit, Hadoop, Blender, min3D and other open source software modularization designs. This system consists of two parts: the mobile client side and the server side. In the first step, the mobile client is responsible to recognize the two-dimensional codes from the print advertisement, and to locate the coordinates of the current location of the phone. Then these data are sent to the server. In the second step, the server using the scope of the search algorithm obtains the corresponding 3D virtual image advertisement

Flyash and sewage sludge as liner material - Preparations for a pilot test with fly-ash stabilised sewage sludge as landfill liner; Linermaterial med aska och roetslam - Underlag foer genomfoerande av pilotfoersoek med stabiliserat avloppsslam som taetskiktsmaterial

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macsik, J.; Rogbeck, Y.; Svedberg, B.; Uhlander, O. [Scandiaconsult Sverige AB, Stockholm (Sweden); Mossakowska, A. [Stockholm Vatten AB (Sweden)

2003-11-01

The aim of this project was to develop a new liner material based on biofuel fly ash and sewage sludge and to plan for a pilot test with this new liner (FSA) on a landfill. The investigation shows that FSA has potential to fulfil technical and economical requirements as well as requirements of durability. This project constitutes part of a larger one, where the overall aim is to collect information/experience of FSA as a liner for presentation in a handbook. During the conducted laboratory work recipes for mixture proportions for application as landfill liner were controlled according to technical and environmental aspects. A recipe for FSA material has been prepared, which has permeability values lower than 10-9 m/s. This low permeability can assure a low percolation of precipitated water through the landfill liner, < 50 litre/m{sup 2}/year. FSA has sufficient un-drained shear strength and has an estimated slow bio-degradation, which can assure a long duration period. Based on results from tests conducted in this and other projects, where FSA materials were tested, necessary quality verifications has been conducted for the ingredients bio-fly-ash and sewage sludge and for the FSA-mixture. The FSA materials potential as liner increases with darker colour (bordering black). FSA-40 is a mixture of 40 % dry solid (DS) fly ash and 60 % DS sewage sludge, and FSA-60 is a mixture containing 60 % DS fly ash and 40 % DS sewage sludge and so on. Some important parameters of the ingredient materials are DS content (or water content) and pH and CaO content of the fly ash. A liner made of FSA should have surrounding layers of high water containing capacity in order to protect the FSA-liner from drying. The drainage and oxidation protection layers have to transport precipitated water as well as contain sufficient pore water in order to be an oxygen barrier above the liner (FSA). In addition, the investigation shows that a paddle blender should be used in order to guarantee a

Students Excited by Stellar Discovery

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-01

follow-up observations, and Thompson joined online. "Observing with the students is very exciting. It gives the students a chance to learn about radio telescopes and pulsar observing in a very hands-on way, and it is extra fun when we find a pulsar," said Rosen. Snider, on the other hand, said, "I got very, very nervous. I expected when I went there that I would just be watching other people do things, and then I actually go to sit down at the controls. I definitely didn't want to mess something up." Everything went well, and the observations confirmed that the students had found an exotic pulsar. "I learned more in the two hours in the control room than I would have in school the whole day," Mabry said. Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that sling lighthouse beams of radio waves or light around as they spin. A neutron star is what is left after a massive star explodes at the end of its normal life. With no nuclear fuel left to produce energy to offset the stellar remnant's weight, its material is compressed to extreme densities. The pressure squeezes together most of its protons and electrons to form neutrons; hence, the name neutron star. One tablespoon of material from a pulsar would weigh 10 million tons -- as much as a supertanker. The object that the students discovered is in a special class of pulsar that spins very fast - in this case, about 30 times per second, comparable to the speed of a kitchen blender. "The big question we need to answer first is whether this is a young pulsar or a recycled pulsar," said Maura McLaughlin, an astronomer at WVU. "A pulsar spinning that fast is very interesting as it could be newly born or it could be a very old, recycled pulsar." A recycled pulsar is one that was once in a binary system. Material from the companion star is deposited onto the pulsar, causing it to speed up, or be recycled. Mystery remains, however, about whether this pulsar has ever had a companion star. If it did, "it may be that this pulsar had a massive

A Public-Private-Acadmic Partnership to Advance Solar Power Forecasting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haupt, Sue Ellen [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

2016-04-19

chemistry models. A sixth development accounts for the feedbacks that sub-grid scale clouds produce in shortwave irradiance as implemented in a shallow cumulus parameterization Finally, WRF-Solar™ also allows assimilation of infrared irradiances from satellites to determine the three dimensional cloud field, allowing for an improved initialization of the cloud field that increases the performance of short-range forecasts. We find that WRF-Solar™ can improve clear sky irradiance prediction by 15-80% over a standard version of WRF, depending on location and cloud conditions. In a formal comparison to the NAM baseline, WRF-Solar™ showed improvements in the Day-Ahead forecast of 22-42%. The SunCast™ system requires substantial software engineering to blend all of the new model components as well as existing publically available NWP model runs. To do this we use an expert system for the Nowcasting blender and the Dynamic Integrated foreCast (DICast®) system for the NWP models. These two systems are then blended, we use an empirical power conversion method to convert the irradiance predictions to power, then apply an analog ensemble (AnEn) approach to further tune the forecast as well as to estimate its uncertainty. The AnEn module decreased RMSE (root mean squared error) by 17% over the blended SunCast™ power forecasts and provided skill in the probabilistic forecast with a Brier Skill Score of 0.55. In addition, we have also developed a Gridded Atmospheric Forecast System (GRAFS) in parallel, leveraging cost share funds. An economic evaluation based on Production Cost Modeling in the Public Service Company of Colorado showed that the observed 50% improvement in forecast accuracy will save their customers $819,200 with the projected MW deployment for 2024. Using econometrics, NCAR has scaled this savings to a national level and shown that an annual expected savings for this 50% forecast error reduction ranges from $11M in 2015 to $43M expected in 2040 with increased

Plant Measurement, Sampling and Analysis for Accountancy Purposes with Particular Reference to Separation Plants at Windscale; Mesures, Echantillonnages et Analyses en Usine a des Fins Comptables, Notamment dans les Installations de Separation de Windscale; Izmereniya, vzyatie obraztsov i analizy v tselyakh ucheta na opyte ustanovki razdeleniya radioizotopov v uindskejle; Medicion, Muestreo y Analisis para Fines Contables, Especialmente en las Plantas de Separacion de Windscale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davidson, A. S.; Elliott, F.; Powell, R.; Swinburn, K. A. [United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Windscale and Calder Works, Cumberland (United Kingdom)

1966-02-15

All figures for special materials accountancy purposes contain one or more of three parameters, namely plant measurement, sampling and analysis. For plant measurements it is best to use weighings wherever possible, e.g. the plutonium in the feed to the New Separation Plant is based on the weight of uranium rods fed. Methods used for measuring volumes are discussed, e.g. (a) pneumercator, and (b) tracer method using radioactive caesium. Judged accuracies and precisions of each method are given. The sampling of solutions in a batch process is done by using evacuated tubes after thorough homogenization of the solution. For ''flowing'' streams, where high accuracy is required, a continuous sampler has been devised and is used on the feed to the New Separation Plant. Drilling of metal ingots is the normal sampling method at Windscale, whereas for other solids the method is to homogenize as far as possible (e.g. a Y cone blender is used for plutonium oxide) and then sample. For the chemical analysis, the precision required of the method depends on the number of determinations in each accounting period. Thus a large number of analyses are required for an accurate but imprecise method. It may be more economical to use fewer determinations with a more precise method. Methods for determining plutonium are discussed in detail, e.g. (a) radiochemistry, (b) colorimetrically using thoronol, (c) plutonium separation, complexing with EDTA and back titration of the excess EDTA, (d) titrimetry (e) isotope dilution followed by mass spectrometry and (f) differential spectrometry. Methods for determining uranium are outlined, e.g. (a) gravimetry as U{sub 3}O{sub 8}, (b) ether extraction followed by gravimetry or colorimetry, (c) titrimetry, (d) isotope dilution followed by mass spectrometry and (e) enrichment determination by mass spectrometry or line shift emission spectrography. With all accounting methods standards are used to give quality control and to show any inaccuracy which