One or more of the Following Statements may affect this Document. This document has been ...... where Ksc designates the scattering efficiency factor ( called. Qsc by van de Hulst, ...... Geiger, 1966) are presented for the period of 48 hours. The ...

All of these factors, including the ice sheet surface mass balance processes, undergo ... Aerosols affect the earth's energy budget and climate by scattering and ...... tors, which operate in Geiger mode with $60% photon-counting efficiency.

factors were less than 2% of this value for electrons of ... two geiger tubes operated properly, counting cosmic rays. ..... supply would not affect the ratio of the counting rates importantly . Fig. .... for the efficiency for detection of electrons and the ...

forth the presently known factors affecting vehicle shape. Singled out along ..... the vehicle aerodynamic characteristics, efficiency of the engine-inlet combi- nation ...... Geiger, Richard E.: Errperimental Lift and Drag of a Series of Glide Con- ...

protection systems which are most affected by the factors mentioned above are identified in Table II. ..... room for improvements in the collection efficiency methods for rotating machinery such as turbo ..... Geiger-Muller counter. As the ice builds ...

Jobz K. Geiger ..... the limiting factors of each configuration in terms of' neg~tive margins; where a positive .... to provide efficient Earth orbit use, The battery capability is increased ... will not significantly affect the value of the canbined mission.

Jan 20, 2012... the tropical upper troposphere as affected by deep convection, EOS, 72, (44), .... Tao, 1996: Factors responsible for different precipitation efficiencies ..... S. Lang, C. Peters-Lidard, J. Simpson, S. Xie, S. Kumar, J. V. Geiger, ...

One or more of the Following Statements may affect this Document .... Correction factor for effect of non-lines; , pitching moment on ...... In order to utilize the wind tunnel more efficiently, several launch assemblies can ...... Geiger, Richard E.

Tumor hypoxia negatively regulates cell growth and causes a more malignant phenotype by increasing the expression of genes encoding angiogenic, metabolic and metastatic factors. Of clinical importance, insufficient tumor oxygenation affects the efficiency of chemotherapy and radiotherapy by poorly u...

One or more of the Following Statements may affect this Document ...... modeling studies of warm season convection identified some factors that can affect the skill ...... Chou M.-D., and M. J. Suarez, 1994: An efficient thermal infrared radiation ... Kumar, S. V., C. D. Peters-Lidard, Y. Tian, P. R. Houser, J. Geiger, S. Olden, ...

efficiency of the counter and transmission of the counter window. A method for ... Geiger and proportional counters and the open end photomultipliers. The selection of ... counting stability as affected, for example, by the shortening of the plateau ... it is necessary to know, among other factors, the gas absorption efficiency of ...

Four major factors differentiate the analysis section from the engineer- ... Geiger. Analysis and Spectroscopy. Coull'k, L. El Hadidpk, Elfl:, B. El Hadidy, Hartner,. Miller, Trout. Biology and .... and less efficient than if all personnel were located under one roof. ...... Another recent factor affecting costs has been the added cost of ...

This paper presents an experimental study on factors affecting the combustion efficiency of a typical British coal in a 161 mm ID circulating fluidized bed. The combustion efficiency based on unburnt fuel losses was found in the range of 91.62% to 99.99% for operating conditions examined, which involved a temperature change from 800 to 860[degree]C and an excess air variation from 5% to 65%. The combustion efficiency was found to increase with increasing bed temperature, and with increasing excess air ratio. It was found that combustion-air staging caused the combustion efficiency to decrease to a certain extent. Preliminary results indicated that superficial gas velocity was also an influencing factor for the combustion efficiency. On the other hand, solids circulating rate did not seem to affect the combustion efficiency. The combustion behaviour was also characterised by O[sub 2] and CO concentrations at selected positions of the combustion chamber. 6 refs., 12 figs., 1 tab.

The measurement of technical efficiency allows managers and policy makers to enhance existing differentials and potential improvements across a sample of analyzed units. The next step involves relating the obtained efficiency estimates to some external or environmental factors which may influence the production process, affect the performances and explain the efficiency differentials. Recently introduced conditional efficiency measures (Daraio and Simar, 2005, 2007a,b), including conditional FDH, conditional DEA, conditional order-m and conditional order-a, have rapidly developed into a useful tool to explore the impact of exogenous factors on the performance of Decision Making Units in a nonparametric framework. This paper contributes in a twofold fashion. It first extends previous studie...

This paper considers railway operations in 23 European countries during 1995-2001, where a series of reform initiatives were launched by the European Commission, and analyses whether these reform initiatives improved the operating efficiency of the railways. Efficiency is measured using Multi-directional Efficiency Analysis, which enables investigation of how railway reforms affect the inefficiencies of specific cost drivers. The main findings are that the reform initiatives generally improve operating efficiency but potentially differently for different cost drivers. Specifically, the paper provides clear empirical evidence that accounting separation is important for improving operating efficiency for both material and staff costs, whereas other reforms only influenced one of these factors

...consequence of physical, physiological, ecological, or behavioral factors. Quantitative measures...natural or man-made factors affecting its continued existence...the species. Summary of Factors Affecting the Southern...

factor of 2 uncertainty i n the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of' the datac i6)n. 2,2 Neutron ... through the Geiger tube and give no information on the energy or specific energy loss. ... duced by geometrical and efficiency considerations, vihile t h e efficiency of each of ..... Another quantity affecting charged cosmic rays is the earth's ...

Presentation on real-time imaging of plant cell wall structure at nanometer scale. Objectives are to develop tools to measure biomass at the nanometer scale; elucidate the molecular bases of biomass deconstruction; and identify factors that affect the conversion efficiency of biomass-to-biofuels.

confirmed that these results were not affected adversely by a shift of the ... efficient is corrected by a factor proportional to the volume of expansion. £ii]: C p. Ic .... with a Geiger-Muller counter, no precise parameter measurement is possible. 10 ...

Universal Time and Magnetic Local Time; Does the magnetosphere affect weather? ... (Followed by Geiger Counters (2) ... Surely this would be a cheap and efficient form of "free energy" perhaps? .... What ideal factors would have to be present (in the solar system) or together to create a condition that would contribute to a ...

The detector is basically a sandwich of Geiger tubes, plastic scin- tillator, and lead plates ... a total factor of 5 in modulation,but the spectral shape does not appear to change. ..... cerning sensitive times, Geiger tube tray efficiencies and directional ..... placed relative to each other ( one tube diameter ) does not affect the ...

the land surface model, therefore, is an important factor in determining the strength ... fects the efficiency and veracity of information transfer into the root zone through ..... must, in any case, be affected by spatial heterogeneity in surface properties. .... Kumar, S.V., C.D. Peters-Lidard, T. Tian, P.R. Houser, J. Geiger, S. Olden, ...

Detectors. (Geiger Tubes) ... 2) The design had to provide an efficient circularly polarized feed at. 960 MHz. ..... without affecting the H-plane beam; therefore, the diameter of the dual-mode horn was ... One design factor in a dual-mode horn is ...

One or more of the Following Statements may affect this Document ...... j operationally efficient algorithm for an extraction of moisture information from the microwave data will not ..... In addition, runoff enters as an important factor on sloping surfaces. It should be ...... Schmugge, T., P. Gloersen, T. Wilhei. and F. Geiger. 1974.

directly toward the Sun provided maximum efficiency for obtaining solar electric power. ..... any degradation of the surfaces due to ultraviolet radiation or other factors. ... particularly those aspects of the environment which might affect future ..... The ionization chamber and Geiger-Mueller tube measured the ionization ...

J Geiger Tub1. J Scintillator .... an edge of 100 MeV is consistent with the efficiency curve of Gabbe et al. (1967). ... where the atmospheric density fluctuations with the solar cycle were thought to be a dominant factor ... each L- value where the atmospheric density fluctuations affected the proton population in an energy- ...

attributed to a significant reduction in lifting efficiency on the round bottom as the cones ..... fits will probably be affected by such factors as variations in Reynolds num- ..... Geiger, Richard E.: Experimental Lift and Drag of a Series of Glide Con- ...

operated in this mode the efficiency of the channel for the detection of electrons over the energy ... Techniques, such as continuous gas flow Geiger counters, refrigerated ... in the applied voltage, if they should occur, will not affect the particle ... upon two factors; first on the probability that the incident particle will produce one ...

measured leakage current and quantum efficiency data and are shown to be higher than. 10"~mHz''~/W ... in this range is not affected by the solar radiation and is practically solar blind. ... Richardson's constant, @, is the barrier height, n is the ideality factor, kB is Boltzmann's constant, q is ..... and Geiger mode”, ZEEE Trans.

One or more of the Following Statements may affect this Document. This document .... one day, and this object shows factor-of-two changes for periods as short as 2 minutes. ..... cloud of stationary matter is converted into radiation with an efficiency of n• The shortest ...... EXPLORERS UNVIELDED GEIGER COUNTER. 26 ...

General p . 64. 1221 . External Efficiency for Flight in a Space Free from Gravity ..... vehicles excel ordinary propeller aircraft by about a factor twenty as regards maximum ...... principle and which is affected only to a very slight extent by in- adequacies of ...... Geiger-Scheel, Handbuch der Physik (Handbook of physics), vol. 7, ...

on the ground, increased receiver sensitivities, and higher efficiency ... linear and Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode detectors (APDs) and focal plane ... higher atmospheric attenuation; a feature that can affect the number of ground stations ..... aperture averaging factor A, is defined as the ratio of the intensity variance for ...

... plates multiply each photoelectron (one per photon) by a factor of approx- .... The variations in gain affect the position measurement triggering in the FEE and as ...... compromise between opening the fault limits and improving mission efficiency. ... These are likely Geiger-type events in the tube or possibly interactions ...

One or more of the Following Statements may affect this Document. This document has ... factor of ten, correlates with the appearance of major active regions on the .... represents the theoretical efficiency for a Geiger tube with a gas of 440 mm ...

some of the rare elements such as fluorine is reduced by a factor of. 10,000. Such low intensities ..... orbital electrons and because the efficiency of energy exchange is much lower. .... counter, and the Geiger-MLiller mode of operation. 17 .... measure of the degree to which a particular scintillator is affected by the type of ...

May 15, 2011 ... most efficient signaling scheme for an optical telecommunications link utilizes the serially ... 20 krad with a radiation dose factor (RDF) of 2 ..... The baseline detector array is a resonant cavity, enhanced silicon absorber, Geiger mode .... critical as they affect beam pointing, whereas roll, and X, Y, and Z ...

The efficiency of ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection of wastewater effluent using a large-scale pilot system was studied. The relationship between biofilm and siderophore production and UV doses received by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain ATCC 15442 was determined. UV decreased pyoverdine production and enhanced biofilm production. Consequently external factors conditioned by both pyoverdine and biofilm may affect the UV effect on bacterial disinfection. PMID:21779938

One or more of the Following Statements may affect this Document ... Conservation Act, requires major energy consuming firms within industries for which energy efficiency .... This decision was based on the following factors: (1) technical feasibility; (2) economic feasibility; ..... the best choice for reject energy recovery.

Operational data from nine dairy wastewater plants (DWTPs) in Wisconsin were collected and analyzed to determine reasons for poor enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) efficiency. Several factors affecting EBPR performances in dairy were identified. Since many dairies operate five days a week, DWTPs suffer low F/M ratios during off-days, leading to sludge bulking and unstable EBPR efficiency. The most pronounced factor affecting EBPR performance was uneven organic loading caused by lack of an equalization tank or too a small volume to alleviate the fluctuation in flow and organic loading. The other factor was imbalance of nutrients, especially nitrogen. The other factors include sudden change of pH in a matter of hours and higher temperature (> 30?C) in the summer. The high tempera...

There are many factors which affect the productivity of a front end loader. One of the most obvious is the characteristics of the material being mined. Characteristics such as size distribution, swell factor or heave, and material hardness/abrasiveness will all effect the efficiency of the mucking cycle. The focus of this paper is to look specifically at the size distribution of blasted material, and quantify the effects on loader productivity.

Land salinization and desalinization are complex processes affected by both biophysical and human-induced driving factors. Conventional approaches of land salinization assessment and simulation are either too time consuming or focus only on biophysical factors. The cellular automaton (CA)-Markov model, when coupled with spatial pattern analysis, is well suited for regional assessments and simulations of salt-affected landscapes since both biophysical and socioeconomic data can be efficiently incorporated into a geographic information system framework. Our hypothesis set forth that the CA-Markov model can serve as an alternative tool for regional assessment and simulation of land salinization or desalinization. Our results suggest that the CA-Markov model, when incorporating biophysical and...

The use flocculants on the recovery of freshwater microalgae is studied. Flocculants tested include metal salts, chitosan, and polyelectrolytes used in wastewater treatment processes. Influence of flocculant, but also the doses and biomass concentrations affecting biomass recovery as well as the concentration factor has been evaluated. Results showed that the use of metal salts or chitosan was not efficient, whereas polyelectrolytes allow the efficient recovery of biomass, at doses of 2-25 mg per gram of microalgae biomass. The required doses depend on the particular polyelectrolyte and the freshwater strain present; but cationic polyelectrolytes are generally recommended. The use of polyelectrolytes does not adversely affect water reuse in the production process. The concentration factors obtained are higher than 35 in most cases. Such high concentration factors allow a reduction in the equipment size necessary for biomass dewatering, thus improving the viability of using these microorganisms in biofuel or wastewater processes. PMID:22705512

Predator parasitism can modify predator-prey interactions through long-term (numerical) and short-term (functional response) impacts. However, mutual interference is another density-dependent factor that may affect predator foraging efficiency in the presence or absence of parasitism. This study examined the effects of parasitism of the invader Nephus includens (Kirsch) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) by Homalotylus flaminius Dalman (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), predator density, and prey density on the searching efficiency (a measure of area of discovery) using the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as alternate prey. Mutual interference reduced foraging efficiency by 47% in parasitized fourth-instar larvae compared to 44% in those unparasitized. Increasing predator densi...

This study applies the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to measure the technical efficiency of China's thermal power generation based on cross-sectional data for 1995 and 1996. Our results show that municipalities and provinces along the eastern coast of China and those with rich supplies of coal achieved the highest levels of technical efficiency. There is no clear evidence of excess capacity. However, the presence of labor slack in many regions indicates that labor redundancy was a serious problem. In our second stage regression analysis, we find that fuel efficiency and the capacity factor significantly affect technical efficiency. Provinces and autonomous regions that were not under the control of the State Power Corporation (SPC) achieved higher levels of efficiency. The presence of foreign investment, however, did not have a significant effect on efficiency. (Author)

Purpose: This study aimed to compare technical efficiency of general practice (GP) delivered by the twenty Regions of Italy's decentralized healthcare system and to determine if it was affected by contextual factors. Methods: First, we calculated the Regional efficiency scores by means of Data Envelopment Analysis. Then we carried out a regression analysis to investigate the influence of contextual factors on the efficiency in the provision of GP services. Results: Six Northern Regions were identified as efficient using the best combinations of general practitioners to deliver a given level of GP outcomes. Compared with peer benchmarks, inefficient Regions used more (on-call and regular) general practitioners with important underproductions of outputs (e.g. avoidable hospitalizations). The...

In the conventional procedure for fabricating binary optical elements (BOEs), we ascertained, by optical simulation, that the alignment error is a principal factor in diffraction efficiency. To deal with this problem we have developed a novel self-aligned procedure, and we have fabricated BOEs with high diffraction efficiency. The key point of the novel procedure is that every step of the element is determined by the first Cr hard mask. To achieve this, we used a negative photoresist with back exposure. We fabricated four-level BOEs, and the diffraction efficiency of the BOEs is only 3% below the theoretical value. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of the remaining fabrication error in the novel method. The remaining error consists of the etching depth error and critical dimension (CD) error. According to the optical simulation, the CD error negligibly affects the diffraction efficiency. The only factor we should consider is the etching depth error.   

The utilization of modified magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) with a cationic surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)) as an efficient adsorbent was successfully carried out to remove reactive black 5 (RBBA), reactive red 198 (RRR) and reactive blue 21 (RTB) dyes from aqueous solutions. First, a reactor was designed to be simple, repeatable and efficient in its synthesis of Fe3O4 NPs via co-precipitation method. Then, an orthogonal array design (OAD), four factor-four level (44) matrix was applied to assign affecting factors on removing of the dyes from aqueous solutions. The obtained results from ANOVA showed that the amount of CTAB and NaCl% significantly affect the adsorption of RBBA, RRR and RTB dyes. The sorption kinetics of the dyes were best described by a second-order k...

An efficient and reliable method based on gas chromatography?mass spectrometry (GC?MS) was developed for the extraction and analysis of six phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), nonylphenol-mono-ethoxylate (NP1EO), nonylphenol-di-ethoxylate (NP2EO), 4-tert-octylphenol (4-t-OP), bisphenol A (BPA) and 4-cumylphenol (4-CP) in surface water and sediment. The method was developed by using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), solid phase extraction (SPE) and derivatization procedure. The MAE procedures were performed by optimizing three key process factors, consisted of extraction solvent, extraction temperature and holding time, affecting the extraction efficiency from sediment samples. For SPE, various parameters that may affect the recovery efficiency o...

Background The economic downturn exacerbates the inadequacy of resources for combating the worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic and amplifies the need to improve the efficiency of HIV/AIDS programs. Methods We used data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate efficiency of national HIV/AIDS programs in transforming funding into services and implemented a Tobit model to identify determinants of the efficiency in 68 low- and middle-income countries. We considered the change from the lowest quartile to the average value of a variable a "notable" increase. Results Overall, the average efficiency in implementing HIV/AIDS programs was moderate (49.8%). Program efficiency varied enormously among countries with means by quartile of efficiency of 13.0%, 36.4%, 54.4% and 96.5%. A country's governance, financing mechanisms, and economic and demographic characteristics influence the program efficiency. For example, if countries achieved a notable increase in "voice and accountability" (e.g., greater participation of civil society in policy making), the efficiency of their HIV/AIDS programs would increase by 40.8%. For countries in the lowest quartile of per capita gross national income (GNI), a notable increase in per capita GNI would increase the efficiency of AIDS programs by 45.0%. Conclusions There may be substantial opportunity for improving the efficiency of AIDS services, by providing more services with existing resources. Actions beyond the health sector could be important factors affecting HIV/AIDS service delivery. PMID:8219945

An improvement has been made to couple isoelectric focusing (IEF) sample injection and capillary zone electrophoresis in an untreated fused silica capillary. Electroosmotic flow is efficiently prevented by simply using a rubber block at the outlet end of the capillary during IEF sample injection. The experimental conditions that affect the concentration effect are discussed. A concentration enhancement factor of over 100-fold can be easily obtained for two model proteins: lysozyme and ribonuclease A.   

The filaggrin protein is expressed as profilaggrin mainly in stratum granulosum cells of the epidermis. The profilaggrin gene codes for 10-12 filaggrin repeats. The filaggrin protein is important for skin barrier function. Filaggrin deficiency due to functional null-polymorphisms affects 8-10% of the people in Northern Europe and is a strong risk factor for several diseases. Here, we describe a novel method for efficient, multiplexed genotyping of variations in the profilaggrin gene.

A method is devised for the deposition of CuSCN on ruthenium bipyridyl dye coated nanocrystalline TiO{sub 2} films from a solution in n-propyl sulphide. The dye-sensitized solid state photovoltaic cell formed was found to yield higher short-circuit photocurrent, open-circuit voltage and efficiency compared to the cells made with CuSCN by other deposition techniques. Factors affecting the stability of the cell are investigated.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease with autoimmune traits of unknown aetiology which primarily affects synovial joints. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are still widely used in RA treatment despite the expanding use of targeted and very efficient agents. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of treatment with tumour necrosis factor-? inhibitors (TNFi) on GC utilization in real-life practice among Danish RA patients.

...consequence of physical, physiological, ecological, or behavioral factors (quantitative measures...other natural or manmade factors affecting the species continuing...causative section 4(a)(1) factors. Listing...

Electrochemical and physical measurements elucidate several thermodynamic properties and chemical factors that affect the performance of a non-aqueous all-vanadium flow battery. An H-type test cell was constructed that demonstrates stable coulombic efficiencies of 70% without flow after several weeks of slow cycling, with a steady plateau voltage near 1.7V during most of the discharge step. Environmental oxygen and water are associated with side reactions that affect long-term charge/discharge response of the battery. Oxygen passivates the electrode and may react with the solvent or supporting electrolyte, while water can cause the formation of oxovanadium complexes. Reversible cycling of the vanadyl acetylacetonate complex appears possible.

Abstract in english Ethanol is the most suitable substitute for oil-based fuels. The performance of the fermentation is affected by several factors, therefore the aim of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of the fermentation of a hydrolyzed must of sweet potato using three strains of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It was also evaluated the effect of three forms of the processes conduction in the fermentation yield, efficiency and viability of yeast at the end process. Among the paramete (more) rs evaluated, only the cell viability showed significant difference. The strain PE-2 would be the most suitable for the fermentation of the hydrolysed sweet potato.

Scientific evidence for an enhanced greenhouse effect and changes in global temperatures were reviewed. Climatic changes and factors affecting them, including geological factors, were discussed.. Factors affecting carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were summarized. Methods for determining historical levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and temperatures were presented. The problem of unaccounted for carbon dioxide which has been absorbed by some unknown sink was also discussed. According to this author the case for greenhouse effect has not been conclusively proven. Nevertheless, in view of the uncertainties regarding climate and greenhouse gases, he recommended the search for ways to use fossil fuels efficiently, and to replace it wherever possible with renewable energy sources. Complete abandonment of fossil fuels, however, was not recommended until more definite evidence linking the two occurrences is discovered. 12 refs., 2 tabs.

Although, the development of steam turbine technology has the characteristics of increase of a single plant capacity, high temperature and pressure of steam condition and high efficiency, in the major technologies which are effective to the high efficiency of steam turbine plant, there are an improvement of steam condition at the inlet to the turbine which is the most important factor affecting to the efficiency of steam cycle and an improvement technology of turbine internal efficiency taking account of turbine internal fluid flow. The various efforts improving the plant efficiency of large fossil-fired conventional power plant are made to provide for global environmental problems which are highlighted recently. The adoption of higher steam condition, the improvement of turbine internal efficiency and lengthening of the last-stage blades are typical technologies being adopted to improve the plant efficiency. As refer to improvement of flow-path, the three-dimensional method in consideration of the viscosity are applied recently to the design of the stages. The advanced flow pattern (AFP) stages designed by this method have been applied to the latest steam turbines, and the AFP stages are designed such that the growth of the whirlpool, which is an important factor in the secondary loss is restrained. 5 refs., 8 figs.

...natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence...warranted due to any of the factors listed under section...consequence of physical, physiological, ecological or behavioral...Natural or Manmade Factors Affecting Its Existence...

...approach affect consumer adoption...contribution factor, if we were...contribution factor would have...a system affect states...residential consumers and enterprise...contribution factor was applied...to enable consumers to make informed choices...

Abstract The present study is conducted to measure the technical (TE), allocative (AE) and cost efficiency (CE) of pangas fish-producing farmers of Bangladesh. Data envelopment analysis is used to measure the efficiency while Tobit regression is applied to identify the factors affecting efficiencies. The estimated mean TE, AE and CEs are 86%, 62% and 54% respectively. Pangas production is characterized by considerable technical inefficiencies and substantial allocative and cost inefficiencies. Pond size, fingerling size, culture length and use of pelleted feed are important determinants of efficiencies. It is nevertheless profitable in terms of benefit-cost ratio, break-even yield and price criteria. Production of pangas can be made further profitable by eliminating inefficiencies. Proper ...

The destruction of ammonium by the semi-continuous addition of sodium nitrite during acidic evaporation can be achieved with a wide range of waste compositions. The efficiency of nitrite utilization for ammonium destruction was observed to vary from less than 20% to 60% depending on operating conditions. The effects of nitric acid concentration and nitrite addition rate are dominant factors that affect the efficiency of nitrite utilization for ammonium destruction. Reducing the acid concentration by performing acid recovery via steam stripping prior to performing nitrite destruction of ammonium will require more nitrite due to the low destruction efficiency. The scale-up of the baseline rate nitrite addition rate from the 100 mL to the 1600 gallon batch size has significant uncertainty and poses the risk of lower efficiency at the plant scale. Experience with plant scale processing will improve confidence in the application of nitrite destruction of ammonium to different waste streams.

With global climate change, more and more attention has been paid to the development of bio-energy. Biogas fermentation, as a fairly mature technology of bio-matter energy transformation, has received considerable attention and experienced much development. How to improve the efficiency of biogas fermentation and promote its industrialization is a pressing issue. Anaerobic co-digestion is a simple, low-cost, and high-efficiency method for enhancing the efficiency of biogas fermentation, and received increasing attention from related researchers. This paper summarized the characteristics of various fermentation substrates, reviewed the research advances in the co-digestion of animal manure, sewage sludge, and industrial waste, with the focus on the advantages of co-digestion and the factors affecting the rate and efficiency of co-digestion, and prospected the future research of co-digestion and its application, aimed to provide theoretical guidance for the promotion and application of co-digestion techniques. PMID:23173482

Results on the behaviour of several bakelite resistive plate chambers (RPCs) without the linseed oil treatment of the internal electrodes will be presented. Efficiency, collected charge and cluster size distributions will be compared to the ones of a standard oiled RPC. Currents and single rate are the quantities most affected by the surface treatment of the electrodes beyond the optical/mechanical properties. A factor 4 less in currents and at least a factor 10 less in single rate is achieved using standard oiled RPCs operated in streamer mode. (orig.).

Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) are often used in scanning imaging systems requiring high sensitivity, due to their low noise and high gain. Solid-state photomultipliers (SSPMs), an array of independent Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes, each with an integrated quenching resistor, have shown potential to outperform PMTs in terms of signal to noise ratio (SNR) because of higher achievable photon detection efficiency and lower excessive noise factor. Here, the factors affecting SNR of commercially available PMTs and SSPMs will be compared under different wavelengths (simulating dye emissions: 500-700 nm) in order to quantify the potential performance gain when PMTs are replaced by SSPMs.

An efficient protocol for genetic transformation of rutabaga (Brassica napus var. napobrassica) cultivar ?American Purple Top Yellow? was developed by optimizing several factors influencing gene delivery and plant regeneration. A two-step regeneration protocol, adapted from canola, was optimal for rutabaga regeneration using hypocotyl explants. Transient expression studies monitored by histochemical ?-glucuronidase (GUS) assays indicated that several factors, including Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain, cocultivation time, and cocultivation medium, affected gene delivery. For stable transformation, precultured hypocotyl explants were cocultivated with Agrobacterium cells on sterilized filter paper overlaid on callus induction medium containing 100??M acetosyringone for 6?d under a 16-h phot...

Land salinization and desalinization are complex processes affected by both biophysical and human-induced driving factors. Conventional approaches of land salinization assessment and simulation are either too time consuming or focus only on biophysical factors. The cellular automaton (CA)-Markov model, when coupled with spatial pattern analysis, is well suited for regional assessments and simulations of salt-affected landscapes since both biophysical and socioeconomic data can be efficiently incorporated into a geographic information system framework. Our hypothesis set forth that the CA-Markov model can serve as an alternative tool for regional assessment and simulation of land salinization or desalinization. Our results suggest that the CA-Markov model, when incorporating biophysical and human-induced factors, performs better than the model which did not account for these factors when simulating the salt-affected landscape of the Yinchuan Plain (China) in 2009. In general, the CA-Markov model is best suited for short-term simulations and the performance of the CA-Markov model is largely determined by the availability of high-quality, high-resolution socioeconomic data. The coupling of the CA-Markov model with spatial pattern analysis provides an improved understanding of spatial and temporal variations of salt-affected landscape changes and an option to test different soil management scenarios for salinity management. PMID:23085467

This study investigates efficiency and quality of care in nursing homes. By means of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the efficiency of 40 nursing homes that deliver their services in the north-western area of the Lombardy Region was assessed over a 3-year period (2005-2007). Lombardy is a very peculiar setting, since it is the only Region in Italy where the healthcare industry is organised as a quasi-market, in which the public authority buys health and nursing services from independent providers-establishing a reimbursement system for this purpose. The analysis is conducted by generating bootstrapped DEA efficiency scores for each nursing home (stage one), then regressing those scores on explanatory variables (stage two). Our DEA model employed two input (i.e. costs for health and nursing services and costs for residential services) and three output variables (case mix, extra nursing hours and residential charges). In the second-stage analysis, Tobit regressions and the Kruskall-Wallis tests of hypothesis to the efficiency scores were applied to define what are the factors that affect efficiency: (a) the ownership (private nursing houses outperform their public counterparts); and (b) the capability to implement strategies for labour cost and nursing costs containment, since the efficiency heavily depends upon the alignment of the costs to the public reimbursement system. Lastly, even though the public institutions are less efficient than the private ones, the results suggest that public nursing homes are moving towards their private counterparts, and thus competition is benefiting efficiency. PMID:20922483

Drug-loading transfersomes were prepared with itraconazole, a lipophilic drug, as a model drug to investigate the key factor affecting transfersomes quality and to evaluate their qualities. Drug-loading transfersomes were prepared using film dispersion method. The quality of transfersomes was evaluated by HPLC, transmission electron microscope, particle size analyzer and in vitro release. Itraconazole transfersomes was transparent solution in ivory white color with a mean entrapment efficiency of about 80%. The shape of hollow vesicles was spheroidal with the diameter of approximately 100nm, and the zeta potential of 45mV, which had a good transdermal effect. It can be concluded via single-factor investigation that the quality of transfersomes is significantly affected by solvent, salt ion...

Many deaf children and adults show lags in mathematical abilities. The current study examines the basic number representations that allow individuals to perform higher-level arithmetical procedures. These representations are normally present in the earliest stages of development, but they may be affected by cultural, developmental, and educational factors. Deaf and hearing participants were asked to perform two number comparison tasks. Analysis of response times revealed that all participants showed effects normally associated with representation of magnitude on a visual-analog mental number line: SNARC, distance, and size effects. However, deaf participants were slower overall in making comparative judgements, suggesting that whilst their numerical representation does not differ from that of hearing individuals, the efficiency with which they process basic numerical information is lower. The results are discussed in terms of interactions between biologically determined numerical representations and cultural and schooling factors that differentially affect deaf and hearing individuals.

Providing utilities incentives to develop energy-efficiency programs for their customers can be a useful tool for regulators seeking to reap the benefits of least-cost plans for their state. Yet many factors affect the performance and value of demand-side resources, and the utility has control over only some of them. The goal of regulatory review should be to insure equitable balancing of these factors between participants, nonparticipants, and shareholders. At the same time, efforts to reduce some of the uncertainties associated with measuring the output of demand-side resources should be given high priority. Inherent differences among different demand-side programs call for different types of incentives. These differences suggest a continuing need for creative regulatory approaches to stimulate utility participation in using energy efficiency programs as a viable resource option. 2 figs. 1 tab.

This book examines how a variety of behavioral factors, generally overlooked in existing models, affect energy use. It points the way-to-more accurate energy demand forecasts and more effective policies built on analyses that take these factors into account. This book begins with a description of how two analytic strategies - formal economic modeling and problem-centered research - are used to analyze and forecast energy demand. It notes the strengths and limitations of each approach and suggests areas where more knowledge is needed. To illustrate the importance of behavioral aspects in energy demand analysis, case studies examine: the effect of prices on consumer decisions; the effect of financial incentives on investments in residential energy efficiency; the effect of information on energy demand; and the role of energy efficiency in appliance purchases. The final chapter describes a multimethod strategy for analysis that relies not only on models, but also on surveys, experiments, evaluation research, and other analytic tools.

In Great Britain, several policy measures have been implemented in order to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. In the domestic sector, this could, for example, be achieved by improving space heating efficiency and thus decreasing heating expenditure. However, in order to efficiently design and implement such policy measures, a better understanding of the determinants affecting heating expenditure is needed. In this paper we examine the following determinants: socio-economic factors, building characteristics, heating technologies and weather conditions. In contrast to most other studies we use panel data to investigate household demand for heating in Great Britain. Our data sample is the result of an annual set of interviews with more than 5000 households, starting in 1...

Carbonation efficiency was evaluated for three cementitious materials having different CaO-bearing minerals (lime, Portland cement and waste concrete) using various extraction reagents (HCl, CH3COOH, NH4Cl and deionized water). The cementitious materials were subjected to Ca extraction and carbonation tests under ambient pressure and temperature conditions. The Ca extraction efficiency generally decreased in the order lime, Portland cement and waste concrete, regardless of the extraction solution. Among the extraction solutions, NH4Cl was the most effective for Ca extraction and carbonation. The results of this study suggest that the types of extraction solution and CaO-bearing mineral of the materials are primary factors affecting carbonation efficiency. PMID:22856314

From the beginning, physicians, human factors engineers, and psychologists expressed .... Today's astronauts and cosmonauts benefit from tremendous advances in nutrition ...... Psychosocial factors affecting simulated and actual space ...

Many chemical, physiological, and trophic factors are known to affect ioaccumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in biota. Understanding the primary factors affecting fish contamination is critical for predicting and assessing risks to upper-trophic level consumers, including humans. Here we...

One or more of the Following Statements may affect this Document. This document has been .... Factors Affecting Product Cost Indirect Costs • . • . 4. ` 3. factors .... Participants at these meetings Neill ...... Safety training exercises. 2. Periodic ...

...platform owners affect the interests of consumers, advertisers...marketplace or other factors would encourage...owners? 31. Consumers of broadcast...content also have choices for video programming...or members. Consumers of broadcast...the Internet affect the financial...newspapers factor into...

The impact of several factors on the assimilation efficiency (AE) of Cd and Zn from food in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was studied. Tested prey species were midge larvae (Chironomus riparius), zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and oligochaetes (Tubifex tubifex). The Cd load of the larvae did not affect the Cd AE in the carp. The Zn AE however, was negatively related to the Zn load of the prey. Food quantity and starvation of the carp did not significantly affect the Cd AE. For Zn, a significant decrease in AE was found when carp were fed ad libitum. Decreasing the temperature from 25 {sup o}C to 15 {sup o}C did not influence the Cd AE, while for Zn a significant decrease of the AE was measured. Carp assimilated Cd from both zebra mussels and oligochaetes with a significantly lower efficiency in comparison to the midge larvae, although Zn AEs was prey independent. - Assimilation efficiency of Cd and Zn in food of carp is affected by metal load, prey type and temperature.

The concept of 'design for remanufacture' (DfRem) originates from the understanding that decisions made during the design process may have a considerable effect upon the efficiency and effectiveness of the remanufacturing process. As well as the technical factors relating to DfRem - physical product properties and characteristics - it is also important to determine and explain the operational factors that affect the integration of DfRem into a company's design process. This paper presents the findings from case study research into these operational factors, providing a 'wider picture' of DfRem integration. Our case studies of three original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from the UK mechanical industry sector have led to the identification of significant external and internal operational f...

The detection of energetic neutral atoms allows for the remote examination of the interactions between plasmas and neutral populations in space. Before these neutral atoms can be measured, they must first be converted to ions. For the low energy end of this spectrum, interaction with a conversion surface is often the most efficient method to convert neutrals into ions. It is generally thought that the most efficient surfaces are low work functions materials. However, by their very nature, these surfaces are highly reactive and unstable, and therefore are not suitable for space missions where conditions cannot be controlled as they are in a laboratory. We therefore are looking to optimize a stable surface for conversion efficiency. Conversion efficiency can be increased either by changing the incident angle of the neutral particles to be grazing incidence and using stable surfaces with high conversion efficiencies. We have examined how to increase the angle of incidence from -80 degrees to -89 degrees, while maintaining or improving the total active conversion surface area without increasing the overall volume of the instrument. We are developing a method to micro-machine silicon, which will reduce the volume to surface area ratio by a factor of 60. We have also examined the material properties that affect the conversion efficiency of the surface for stable surfaces. Some of the parameters we have examined are work function, smoothness, and bond structure. We find that for stable surfaces, the most important property is the smoothness of the surface.

We report a template-driven nucleation and mineral growth process for the high-affinity integration of calcium phosphate (CP) with a poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) hydrogel scaffold. A mineralization technique was developed that exposes carboxylate groups on the surface of crosslinked pHEMA, promoting high-affinity nucleation and growth of calcium phosphate on the surface along with extensive calcification of the hydrogel interior. External factors such as the heating rate, the agitation of the mineral stock solution and the duration of the process that affect the outcome of the mineralization were investigated. This template-driven mineralization technique provides an efficient approach toward bonelike composites with high mineral-hydrogel interfacial adhesion strength.

This paper presents an application of Fracture Mechanics for a statically indeterminate structure to a pressurized thermal shock (PTS) problem of pressure vessel of PWR. This method is efficient to clarify the mechanical characteristics of PTS event. The following results were obtained: 1) Stress intensity factor (K) under PTS is affected by the compliance of the shell of pressure vessel. 2) The bending moment occurred by flexural constraint is important for K under PTS. 3) As a new test method of PTS simulation with high precision, 4-point bending of a plate with axial load is proposed.

Summary Species immigration is vital for the success of restoring degraded ecosystems, but the effectiveness of enhancing dispersal following restoration is seldom evaluated. Running water is an important vector for plant dispersal. Frequency and duration of floods and channel-network complexity are important factors influencing propagule dispersal. In Sweden, these functions have been modified by channelization to facilitate timber floating, thus hampering emigration and immigration of riparian propagules. During the last 10-20 years, affected watercourses have been restored by removing barriers and replacing boulders into channels. This is hypothesized to facilitate retention of water-dispersed propagules. We studied the efficiency of propagule retention following restoration by releasin...

Abstract in english Peracids are strong oxidant species and their use is being largely studied in the delignification and cellulose pulp bleaching. Some of them has already an industrial application, specially in non-conventional bleaching sequences like ECF (Elemental chlorine free) and TCF (Totally chlorine free). This review presents the main aspects of the structure, properties, preparation and reaction of peracids (peracetic acid, peroxymonosulfuric acid and their mixture) with lignin, (more) specially for peracetic acid. Information about bleaching and delignification of wood pulps with peracids and the factors affecting its efficiency are also presented.

An ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (UADLLME) was developed as a simple, sensitive, and robust method for the simultaneous determination of quinocetone (QCT) and three of its synthesized desoxy metabolites in swine urine samples via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Experimental parameters were optimized using the one-factor-at-a-time approach and were followed using an orthogonal array design. The results indicate that ultrasonic irradiation significantly affects the DLLME extraction efficiency. Moreover, the intermolecular binding energies and octanol-water partition ratio (Kow) of the target analytes were calculated using the density functional theory and the atom-additive method, respectively. A high correlation was found between the extraction ...

A new method is described for the determination of silver based on triple-phase microextraction using diethyldithio-carbamate (DDTC) and thioaminophenol. Ag is separated and preconcentrated from the matrix of the sample solution, and finally determined by electrothermal atomic-absorption spectroscopy. The parameters that affect the efficiency were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, a 30-fold preconcentration factor with a detection limit of 0.05 µg L-1 was achieved. The relative standard deviation was 10% (5 determinations). The developed method was applied to the determination of trace Ag in water samples.   

The computer program FLEET (Fleet Longevity Evaluation Emulation Tool) developed by Lloyd`s register is described. It is a generic simulation tool which provides a practical method of support for management and engineering decisions in the liquid gas trade. The simulation involves modelling of all critical factors affecting trade efficiency from gas source and processing through transport to gas send-out. This ``total trade`` approach includes functional modelling of all shore, jetty or vessel equipment and has been applied to support many current liquefied natural gas trade studies. An example illustrating its potential commercial and operational benefits is given. (5 figures; 11 references). (UK)

For high process reproducibility and optimized coating quality in thermal spray applications on complex geometries, atmospheric plasma spraying and high-velocity oxygen fuel torches are guided by advanced robot systems. The trajectory of the torch, the spray angle, and the relative speed between torch and component are crucial factors which affect the coating microstructure, properties, and, especially, the residual stress distribution. Thus, the requirement of high-performance thermally sprayed coatings with narrow dimensional tolerances leads to challenges in the field of robot-assisted handling, and software tools for efficient trajectory generation and robot programming are demanded. By appropriate data exchange, the automatically generated torch trajectory and speed profile can be int...

The relative efficiency of 2 topical anaesthetic agents in controlling the pain arising from myringotomy and grommet insertion has been assessed by a prospective, single blind controlled trial. The 2 anaesthetics were 5% cocaine and a new lignocaine and prilocaine mixture named Emla. Following a standardized anaesthetic procedure the pain arising from myringotomy, aspiration of the middle ear and subsequent insertion of a grommet was recorded by the patient on a linear analogue scale. A multivariate analysis was performed to assess the factors which significantly affected the pain levels. Only the type of anaesthetic used played a major role, with Emla giving significantly better anaesthesia than cocaine. PMID:3228990

The objective of our study was to prepare and characterize basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-loaded nanoparticles. Protein-loaded chitosan nanoparticles were obtained by ionotropic gelation process based on the interaction between chitosan and tripolyphosphate (TPP). The protein-loading capacity and encapsulation efficiency were 0.021% and 27.388%, respectively. The bFGF-loaded nanoparticles have a mean diameter of 424 nm, a narrow size distribution, spherical shape and positive surface charges. In vitro release showed that the extent of release was 68% at 24 hr. The protein integrity was investigated by SDS-PAGE analysis that confirmed protein integrity was not affected by the encapsulation procedure and release conditions. PMID:18027182

Iterative cross-correlation (ICC) is the most popularly used schema for correcting eddy current (EC)-induced distortion in diffusion-weighted imaging data, however, it cannot process data acquired at high b-values. We analyzed the error sources and affecting factors in parameter estimation, and propose an efficient algorithm by expanding the ICC framework with a number of techniques: (1) pattern recognition for excluding brain ventricles; (2) ICC with the extracted ventricle for parameter initialization; (3) gradient-based entropy correlation coefficient (GECC) for optimal and finer registration. Experiments demonstrated that our method is robust with high accuracy and error tolerance, and outperforms other ICC-family algorithms and popular approaches currently in use. PMID:22835646

Precipitation samples were collected for approximately 90 daily and 50 weekly sampling periods at Finley Farm, near Raleigh, North Carolina from August 1981 through October 1982. Ten wet-deposition samplers (AEROCHEM METRICS MODEL 301) were used; 4 samplers were operated for daily sampling, and 6 samples were operated for weekly-sampling periods. This design was used to determine if: (1) collection efficiencies of precipitation are affected by small distances between the Universal (Belfort) precipitation gage and collector; (2) measurable evaporation loss occurs and (3) pH and specific conductance of precipitation vary significantly within small distances. Average collection efficiencies were 97% for weekly sampling periods compared with the rain gage. Collection efficiencies were examined by seasons and precipitation volume. Neither factor significantly affected collection efficiency. No evaporation loss was found by comparing daily sampling to weekly sampling at the collection site, which was classified as a subtropical climate. Correlation coefficients for pH and specific conductance of daily samples and weekly samples ranged from 0.83 to 0.99.

To give an insight into the clocking effect and its influence on the wake transportation and its interaction, the unsteady three-dimensional flow through a 1.5-stage axial low pressure turbine is simulated numerically by using a density-correction based, Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations commercial CFD code. The 2nd stator clocking is applied over ten equal tangential positions. The results show that the harmonic blade number ratio is an important factor affecting the clocking effect. The clocking effect has very small influence on the turbine efficiency in this investigation. The difference between the maximum and minimum efficiency is about 0.1%. The maximum efficiency can be achieved when the 1st stator wake enters the 2nd stator passage near blade suction surface and its adjacent wake passes through the 2nd stator passage close to blade pressure surface. The minimum efficiency appears if the 1st stator wake impinges upon the leading edge of the 2nd stator and its adjacent wake of the 1st stator passes through the mid-channel in the 2nd stator. The wake convective transportation and the blade circulation variation due to its impingement on the subsequent blade are the main mechanism affecting the pressure variation in blade surface.

This book is divided into: technology of energy-efficient motors, selection and application of energy-efficient motors, efficiency labeling and verification, power factor, single-phase and synchronous motors, adjustable speed drives, and ac motor control and protection. (DLC)

Although previous studies have shown that ecosystem functions are affected by either trophic structure or habitat structure, there has been little consideration of their combined effects. Such interactions may be particularly important in systems where habitat and trophic structure covary. I use the aquatic insects in bromeliads to examine the combined effects of trophic structure and habitat structure on a key ecosystem function: detrital processing. In Costa Rican bromeliads, trophic structure naturally covaries with both habitat complexity and habitat size, precluding any observational analysis of interactions between factors. I therefore designed mesocosms that allowed each factor to be manipulated separately. Increases in mesocosm complexity reduced predator (damselfly larva) efficiency, resulting in high detritivore abundances, indirectly increasing detrital processing rates. However, increased complexity also directly reduced the per capita foraging efficiency of the detritivores. Over short time periods, these trends effectively cancelled each other out in terms of detrital processing. Over longer time periods, more complex patterns emerged. Increases in mesocosm size also reduced both predator efficiency and detritivore efficiency, leading to no net effect on detrital processing. In many systems, ecosystem functions may be impacted by strong interactions between trophic structure and habitat structure, cautioning against examining either effect in isolation. PMID:16896779

Chief Scientist for Aerospace Human Factors. NASA Ames Research ... Individual Factors: goals; technical & interpersonal skills; experience and currency; physiological state; attitudes .... Other Factors Affecting Vulnerability to Forgetting to Act ...

...share and other factors may indicate whether a firm can exercise a major controlling...Federal Contracting Factor Besides industry...number of variables affecting small business participation in the Federal...Federal contracting factor alone that...

...Commission interprets those factors. Accordingly, it is...potential for adversely affecting the quality of the human...1119--CIVIL PENALTY FACTORS Sec. 1119.1 Purpose...relevant premarket and production testing of the product...standards; and other factors as the Commission...

The relationships between placental characteristics and litter weight, factors affecting these characteristics, and the relationship between these characteristics and neonatal behaviour of goat kids were investigated in this study. The study was carried out over three consecutive years and animal material consisted of total 152 Turkish Saanen goats and their 230 kids. The results of the study demonstrated that there were positive correlations between litter weight (LW), cotyledon number (CN), placental weight (PW) (r=0.64 and 0.76, P0.05), but buck within year affected placental efficiency (P0.05). There were strong relationships between CD and birth-to-standing (B-St), and CD and birth-to-suckling (B-Su) (r=-0.42 and -0.51, P=0.01 and P<0.01). The results of the present study have shown similarities to the findings of the studies in sheep. Further studies are required to investigate the basis of the relationship between CD and neonatal behaviour. PMID:17045429

This paper investigates the concept of low energy building, examines how urban density might affect building energy design in high density cities, and discuss the strategies for low energy building design in densely populated areas. Using Hong Kong as a case study, the characteristics of dense building development and the major factors affecting low energy building are evaluated. The approaches taken in Hong Kong to accommodate its growing population provide an interesting background for understanding the constraints and potential of low energy design. The energy situation in Hong Kong is explained and the major considerations for energy efficiency in high density conditions are discussed. It is hoped that the research findings would contribute useful information for designing methods to achieve low energy building in a complex and dense urban environment. (author)

The fate of dissolved organic matter (DOM) during horizontal subsurface-flow constructed wetlands (HSSF CWs) was examined. In several studies it had been demonstrated that factors such as vegetation and substrates type affected the treatment efficiency of DOM, while very few studies discerned their influence on the transformations of DOM. Thus three pilot-scale HSSF CWs, i.e. reed (Phragmites australis)/gravel bed (W1), hybrid vegetation{cattail (Typha latifolia), bulrush (Scirpus validus), reed}/gravel bed (W2) and reed/hybrid substrates bed (gravel, zeolite, slag) (W3), were designed, and were operated continuously to investigate soluble COD (SCOD) removal and DOM transformations affected by vegetation and substrate type, and to explore the correlation between SCOD and biodiversity. The ...

The recent trends of HVGO cutpoints above 1 050deg F and the concomitant increases in Conradson Carbon Residue (CCR), nickel, and vanadium in the heavier crudes make vacuum unit optimization important. Various design parameters affect HVGO quality and should be considered in any vacuum column revamp design, since optimization can significantly improve HVGO quality at high cutpoints. This paper analyzes four factors affecting HVGO quality: (1) The distribution of contaminants in the crude oil; (2) mode of column operation; (3) overflash rates; and (4) wash zone efficiency. In the analysis, a common Middle East crude was chosen and four modes of column operation were studied: dry, wet, damp without stripping, and damp with stripping. The analysis shows that a well designed stripping section utilizing the maximum quantity of stripping steam (while minimizing coil steam consistent with minimizing cracking) and minimum flash zone oil partial pressure will yield the highest quality HVGO at any given cutpoint. (orig.).

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) dissipation efficiency can be increased in the plant rhizosphere, but may be affected by various environmental factors. We investigated the effects of the watering regime and phosphorus concentration on PAH dissipation in the rhizosphere of mycorrhizal plants in a pot experiment. Two plant species, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), were co-cultured and inoculated with an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus (Glomus intraradices) in PAH (phenanthrene (PHE)=500mgkg-1, pyrene (PYR)=500mgkg-1, dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (DBA)=65mgkg-1) spiked agricultural soil for 6weeks. Treatments with different phosphorus concentrations and watering regimes were compared. The PHE dissipation reached 90% in all treatments and was not affected by ...

Currently a 50 gram micro quad rotor vehicle is being developed in collaboration with Daedalus Flight Systems. Optimization of the design at this scale requires a systematic study to be carried out to investigate the factors that affect the vehicles performance. Endurance of hovering vehicles at this scale is severely limited by the low efficiencies of their propulsion systems and rotor design and optimization has been performed in the past in an attempt to increase endurance, but proper coupling of the rotor with the motor has been lacking. The current study chose to investigate the factors that had the greatest effect on the vehicle's endurance through analysis of the propulsion system. Therefore, a coupled aerodynamic and structural analysis was carried out that incorporated low Reynolds number airfoil table lookup in order to predict micro rotor performance. A parametric study on rotor design was performed further determine the effect of different rotor designs on hover performance. The experiments performed showed that airfoil camber had the biggest impact on rotor efficiency and other factors such as leading edge shape, number of blades, max camber location, and blade planform taper only had negligible influence on performance. Systematic studies of the interactions between micro rotor blades operating in close proximity to each other were performed in order to determine the changes in rotor efficiency that might occur in a compact quad rotor design. Tests done on the effect of rotor separation demonstrated that there is a negligible interaction between rotors operating near each other. Brushless motors were also tested systematically and characterized by their torque, rpm, and efficiency. It was found that the maximum efficiency of the motors tested was only 60%, which has significant effects on the efficiency of the coupled system. A method for rotor and motor coupling was also established that utilized the motor efficiency curves and the known torque and rotational speed of the rotors at their operating thrust. Through this, it was found that propulsion system efficiency could be increased by 10% by simply using the proper motor and rotor combination. Further, coupled design would have additional benefits and could increase vehicle efficiency further.

Electrokinetics is an emerging soil remediation technology. Contaminants are extracted from the soil as a result of a complex set of phenomena that occur when an electric gradient is imposed across a soil-water system. The primary phenomena include electroosmosis, electromigration, and electrophoresis. Secondary phenomena, such as changes in solubility or speciation of various chemical components, may occur as a result of electrically induced changes in the chemical environment of the system. Numerous factors, such as temperature, may affect each of these phenomena and, consequently, the overall process efficiency. We have begun an investigation of thermal effects in the extraction of potassium dichromate from kaolinite soils under conditions of constant saturation and dewatering. Preliminary results suggest that increasing the soil temperature from 21 to 55{degrees}C may decrease the processing time under saturated conditions. However, increasing the soil temperature under dewatering, conditions causes soil cracking, which reduces the overall process efficiency.

In this study, the operational factors affecting the bioregeneration of AO7-loaded MAMS particles in batch system, namely redox condition, initial acclimated biomass concentration, shaking speed and type of acclimated biomass were investigated. The results revealed that with the use of mixed culture acclimated to AO7 under anoxic/aerobic conditions, enhancement of the bioregeneration efficiency of AO7-loaded MAMS and the total removal efficiency of COD could be achieved when the bio-decolorization and bio-mineralization stages were fully aerated with dissolved oxygen above 7 mg/L. Shorter duration of bioregeneration was achieved by using relatively higher initial biomass concentration and lower shaking speed, respectively, whereas variations of biomass concentration and shaking speed did n...

Plant viruses cause many diseases that lead to significant economic losses. However, most of the approaches to control plant viruses, including transgenic processes or drugs are plant-species-limited or virus-species-limited, and not very effective. We introduce an application of jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA), a broad-spectrum, efficient and nontransgenic method, to improve plant resistance to RNA viruses. Applying 0.06?mM JA and then 0.1?mM SA 24?h later, enhanced resistance to Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and Turnip crinkle virus (TCV) in Arabidopsis, tobacco, tomato and hot pepper. The inhibition efficiency to virus replication usually achieved up to 80?90%. The putative molecular mechanism was investigated. Some possible factors affecting the syn...

A marine bacterium was isolated from seawater near the Korean south coast for efficient saccharification from alginate. Based on 16S rDNA sequence, the isolated strain was identified as Pseudoalteromonas agarovorans. Various environmental factors affecting saccharification of alginate using P. agarovorans CHO-12 have been investigated in flask cultures. The optimum concentration of sugar was obtained at 30?rpm and 29??C. Among various NaCl concentrations, when NaCl concentration was increased from 10 to 30?g/l, the cell concentration sharply increased, while there is no increase at above 40?g/l. The maximum sugar concentration was obtained at 13.8 when 30?g/l of NaCl was used. Yeast extract and corn steep liquor were the best nitrogen source for efficient saccharification. Especially, the ...

The electric properties of solar cells based on co-evaporated Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) thin film show a good tolerance regarding the absorber Cu content (y=[Cu]/([In]+[Ga])) for standard Ga concentration, i.e. x=[Ga]/([In]+[Ga])~0.3. In the present contribution, we show that this tolerance is lost when the gallium content is increased. Wide bandgap CIGSe samples (x~0.55) with a variation in y from 0.97 to 0.84 have been grown. The efficiency of the cells decreases from 12.6% to 6.5% for y=0.97 and 0.84 respectively. For the lowest y, the efficiency is harmed because of a low short-circuit current density (Jsc), an increased voltage dependency in the current collection, which affects the fill factor (FF), and a decrease of the open-circuit voltage (Voc). For y=0.97 and 0.84 respectively, the de...

A process for carboxymethylation of maize starch (St.) at 30degreeC was adopted. Although mild reaction conditions were employed, 100% reaction efficiency and a completely cold water soluble product with a clear and transparent solution were obtained. A multifunctional catalyst was used to accelerate the carboxymethylation reaction at 30degreeC. An increase in the catalyst concentration was found to increase the reaction rate, thus the reaction time was reduced from 168 to 24h. Factors affecting the carboxymethylation reaction such as material:liquor ratio, using different solvents in the reaction medium, the ratio between solvent and water, the sequence of addition of the reactants and cooling during addition of the reactants were studied. 100% reaction efficiency was obtained using equiv...

Bioleaching of Cu and Fe in low-grade chalcopyrite using Penicillium janthinellum strain GXCR was studied. The results showed that shaking bioleaching was more efficient than submerged bioleaching, and Cu bioleaching was much better than Fe bioleaching. Under optimum carbon source (10% sucrose; W/V), optimum nitrogen source (1.5% NaNO3; W/V), shaking bioleaching and the optimum combination of conditions (initial pH 6.0 in leaching media, 5% (W/V) 200-mesh-sieved ore and initial inocula of 3.0x105 conidia/mL), Cu bioleaching efficiency reached 87.31% (W/W). One of the most important factors affecting Cu bioleaching in shaking bioleaching was the initial pH in leaching media (F > F0.05). The major organic acids for Cu and Fe bioleaching were citric and oxalic acids, respectively. Low bioleac...

The purpose of this study was to establish a rationale for the cleaning of microfilteration (MF) membranes fouled by milk. Milk was processed using a hydrophilic GVWP membrane. Fouling is the most important problem associated with the membrane-based milk sterilization process. This is mostly due to the deposition of bacteria, fats, proteins, and minerals on the membrane surfaces. In the first part of this work, the factors affecting the chemical cleaning efficiency were studied. This includes the effect of concentration, temperature, cleaning time, and cross-flow velocity. A wide range of cleaning agents including acids, bases, and surfactant was used. Flux recovery (FR) was employed for presenting the cleaning efficiency. In the second part of this study, FR was optimized using response-s...

A mutant strain of Escherichia coli designated as GR219 that allows efficient molecular cloning of highly methylated bean DNA has been developed by UV light mutation of the parent LE392 str[sup r] strain. This mutant strain, like the parent, is streptomycin resistant and is biologically contained, because it requires thymidine for growth. Both the wild type and the mutant strain have lambda phage receptors so both can be utilized for construction of genomic libraries using the phase as a vector. The efficiency of transformation of the parent and the mutant strain with a recombinant plasmid containing bean DNA was compared to the efficiency of transformation of the PLK-F[prime] strain, which has a deletion of mcrA and mcrB genes and, therefore, allows transformation with methylated bean DNA. It has been found that the GR219 strain has the highest efficiency of transformation, while the PLK-F[prime] strain shows less, and the parent LE392 str[sup r] strain the least efficiency of transformation. These results indicate that strains of E. coli with mcrA and mcrB genes can recognize and degrade highly methylated DNA. However, other undefined factors affected by the altered gene(s) in the GR219 strain are also involved in the recognition and degradation of any cloned foreign DNA.

Abstract in english Chicken embryos kept in culture medium were bombarded using a high helium gas pressure biolistic device. To optimize the factors that affect transformation efficiency, the lacZ gene under control of the human cytomegalovirus immediate early enhancer/promoter was used as a reporter gene. There was an inverse relationship between survival rate and transformation efficiency. The best conditions obtained for high embryo survival and high transformation efficiency were achieve (more) d with 800 psi helium gas pressure, 500 mmHg vacuum, gold particles, an 8 cm DNA-coated microparticle flying distance to the embryo and embryo placement 0.5 cm from the center of the particle dispersion cone. Under these conditions, transformation efficiency was 100%, survival rate 25% and the number of expression units in the embryo body cells ranged from 100 to 1,000. Expression of green fluorescent protein was also detected in embryos bombarded under optimal conditions. Based on the results obtained, the biolistic process can be considered an efficient method for the transformation of chicken embryos and therefore can be used as a model system to study transient gene expression and tissue-specific promoters.

A number of major studies on emission permit trading, including laboratory studies in which paid subjects participate in controlled markets to test both proposals for emissions trading and the theories on which they are based, were reviewed. The majority of studies were found to suggest that modest efficiencies have been obtained, but in general, there are too many market forces that are capable of distorting the emission trading market, and permit trading has not lived up to expectations. Distinct evidence of market power has been found in vertically related markets for emission permits. The review of some other proposals, among them some Canadian ones, indicated that the trading of annual permits and shares in future permit distributions may be both feasible and efficient. Based on the review of controlled experiments, the authors concluded that (1) emission permit markets tend to capture some but not all of the potential gains from emission trading, (2) market institutions governing emissions trading significantly affect efficiency, (3) the design features of emission markets, such as for example whether permits may be banked, or whether time streams may be traded, affect performance, and (4) market power in emissions trading is a significant factor, and should not be ignored. 29 refs., 6 figs.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, has completed a study of ground-water recharge by injection in the Palo Alto baylands along San Francisco Bay, California. Selected wells within the Water District 's injection-extraction network were monitored to determine hydraulic and chemical interactions affecting well-field operation. The well field was installed to prevent and eliminate saline contamination in the local shallow aquifer system. The primary focus of this study is on factors that affect injection efficiency, specifically well and aquifer clogging. Mixing and break-through curves for major chemical constituents indicate ion exchange, adsorption, and dissolution reactions. Freshwater breakthrough was detected in water-level data, which reflected fluid-density change as well as head buildup. Dissolution of calcium carbonate caused by dilution of saline ground water probably accounts for an apparent increase in specific capacity possibly related to improved aquifer permeability. Adsorption evidently removed trace elements during passage of injected water through the aquifer. In terms of hydraulic and chemical compatibility, the well field is a viable system for ground-water recharge. Aquifer heterogeneity and operational constraints reduce the efficiency of the system. Efficiency may be maximized by careful attention to extraction distribution and quantity and to injection distribution, quantity, and water quality. (USGS)

A method for Ge determination in hot spring water and acid extracts from coal fly ash samples involving hydride generation, trapping and atomisation of the hydride generated from Ir-treated graphite tubes (GTs) has been developed. Hydride was generated from hydrochloric acid medium using sodium tetrahydroborate. Several factors affecting the hydride generation, transport, trapping and atomisation efficiency were studied by using a Plackett-Burman design. Results obtained from Plackett-Burman designs suggest that trapping and atomisation temperatures are the significant factors involved on the procedure. The accuracy was studied using NIST-1633a (coal fly ash) reference material. The detection limit of the proposed method was 2.4{mu}gl{sup -1} and the characteristic mass of 233pg was achieved. The Ge concentrations in fly ash and hot spring samples were between 6.25-132{mu}gg{sup -1} and 12.84-36.2{mu}gl{sup -1}.

Intranasal lidocaine hydrochloride (LID, CAS 73-78-9) has been shown useful in the control of a series of symptoms such as migraine, cluster headache and trigeminal neuralgia in clinical studies. However, rapid nasal mucociliary clearance of intranasal solution usually affects its efficiency. In this study, a nasal gel formulation was designed using hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) as mucoadhesive polymer to increase the residence time of LID on the nasal mucosa. Based on the results of a preliminary single factor study, the gel formulation was optimized by central composite design to provide better drug release and bioadhesive intensity. The methods for investigating the gel's bioadhesive intensity and for spectrophotometric determination of LID were established. Then the parameters for the LID in vitro release study such as release medium, release apparatus and rotation rate were decided upon a method of f2 fit factor. The in vitro drug release property of the optimized formulation was proved to comply with the Higuchi equation. PMID:20066962

One of the problems that encounters desalination industry is the fouling that takes place due to the poor quality of the sea water received, especially when it rains. In such a situation, the sea water reaches the desalination plant having high turbidity. Chitosan was tested as a coagulant in the removal of the turbidity of sea water to replace inorganic coagulants having hazardous effects. Jar test was performed to test some factors that may affect the coagulation process. The factors tested were dose of coagulant (0-370mg/L), initial pH (2-11), type of coagulant (chitosan versus metal coagulants), and the chitosan solvent. Chitosan's turbidity removal efficiency was found to be greater than ferrous sulfate and comparable to that of alum. While most researches emphasize the use of chitosa...

A cloud point extraction (CPE) method for the preconcentration of ultra-trace aluminum in human albumin prior to its determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) had been developed in this paper. The CPE method was based on the complex of Al(III) with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) and Triton X-114 was used as non-ionic surfactant. The main factors affecting cloud point extraction efficiency, such as pH of solution, concentration and kind of complexing agent, concentration of non-ionic surfactant, equilibration temperature and time, were investigated in detail. An enrichment factor of 34.8 was obtained for the preconcentration of Al(III) with 10mL solution. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limit of Al(III) was 0.06ngmL^-^1. The relative standard de...

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the secondary effluent discharged from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are of great concern in the process of water reuse. Ozonation has been reported as a powerful oxidation technology to eliminate micropollutants in water treatment. Due to the complexity of the wastewater matrix, orthogonal experiments and single factor experiments were conducted to study the influence of operational parameters on the degradation of 17a-ethinylestradiol (EE2) in the synthetic secondary effluent. The results of the orthogonal experiments indicated that the initial ozone and natural organic matter (NOM) concentration significantly affected EE2 degradation efficiency, which was further validated by the single factor confirmation experiments. EE2 was shown to be e...

The rapid advance of cockpit automation in the last decade has outstripped the ability of the human factors profession to understand the changes in human functions required. High technology cockpits require less physical (observable) workload, but are highly demanding of cognitive functions such as planning, alternative selection, and monitoring. Furthermore, automation creates opportunity for new and more serious forms of human error, and many pilots are concerned about the possibility of complacency affecting their performance. On the positive side, the equipment works as advertized with high reliability, offering highly efficient, computer-based flight. These findings from the cockpit studies probably apply equally to other industries, such as nuclear power production, other modes of transportation, medicine, and manufacturing, all of which traditionally have looked to aviation for technological leadership. The challenge to the human factors profession is to aid designers, operators, and training departments in exploiting the positive side of automation, while seeking solutions to the negative side. Viewgraphs are given.

Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is an equine skin allergy caused by bites of Culicoides spp. and impacts on the welfare of affected horses. The aim of this study was to identify and quantify risk factors for IBH. Data from 3453 Friesian horse mares and 7074 Shetland pony mares scored for IBH by inspectors during obligatory foal inspections were analysed using breed-specific multivariable logistic regression models. The combined effect of month and year of scoring, Province and inspector were significantly associated with IBH in both breeds. In Shetland pony mares, withers height and coat colour were also significantly associated with IBH, while body condition had a nearly significant effect. The outcomes from this study on risk factors might contribute to the development of more efficient measures to reduce the prevalence of IBH. PMID:22841449

Abstract in english The objective of this study was to determine the optimal feeding level and feeding frequency for the culture of freshwater angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare). A randomized block design in a factorial scheme (3 × 2) with three feeding levels (30, 60 and 90 g/kg of body weight (BW)/day) and two feeding frequencies (1x and 2x/day) was set up in duplicate, representing 24 experimental units. Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA and the Tukey test for comparison between means (more) . After 84 days, results indicated that both factors influenced fish performance. No interaction between these factors was, however, observed. Increased feeding level and feeding frequency resulted in increased feed intake. The feed conversion ratio was negatively affected by feeding level, but not affected by feeding frequency. Final weights were higher when fish were fed twice daily, at levels of 60 or 90 g/kg BW/day. Specific growth rate was higher when fish received 60 or 90 g/kg BW/day, regardless of the feeding frequency. Survival was not affected by any treatment, with mean survival rates higher than 90%. It is recommended that juveniles be fed at a level of 60 g/kg BW/day with a minimum of two meals per day, to attain optimal survival, growth and feed efficiency.

Condensing economizers increase the thermal efficiency of boilers by recovering sensible and latent heat from exhaust gas. These economizers are currently being used commercially for this purpose in a wide range of applications. Performance is dependent upon application-specific factors affecting the utility of recovered heat. With the addition of a condensing economizer boiler efficiency improvements up to 10% are possible. Condensing economizers can also capture flue gas particulates. In this work, the potential use of condensing economizers for both efficiency improvement and control of particulate emissions from small, coal water slurry-fired boilers was evaluated. Analysis was done to predict heat transfer and particulate capture by mechanisms including: inertial impaction, interception, diffusion, thermophoretic forces, and condensation growth. Shell-and-tube geometries were considered with flue gas on the outside of Teflon-covered tubes. Experimental studies were done with both air- and water-cooled economizers refit to a small boiler. Two experimental arrangements were used including oil-firing with injection of flyash upstream of the economizer and direct coal water slurry firing. Firing rates ranged from 27 to 82 kW (92,000 to 280,000 Btu/hr). Inertial impaction was found to be the most important particulate capture mechanism and removal efficiencies to 95% were achieved. With the addition of water sprays directly on the first row of tubes, removal efficiencies increased to 98%. Use of these sprays adversely affects heat recovery. Primary benefits of the sprays are seen to be the addition of small impaction sites and future design improvements are suggested in which such small impacts are permanently added to the highest velocity regions of the economizer. Predicted effects of these added impactors on particulate removal and pressure drop are presented.

Air pollution control devices (APCDs) are installed at coal-fired power plants for air pollutant regulation. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems have the co-benefits of air pollutant and mercury removal. Configuration and operational conditions of APCDs and mercury speciation affect mercury removal efficiently at coal-fired utilities. The Ontario Hydro Method (OHM) recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was used to determine mercury speciation simultaneously at five sampling locations through SCR-ESP-FGD at a 190 MW unit. Chlorine in coal had been suggested as a factor affecting the mercury speciation in flue gas; and low-chlorine coal was purported to produce less oxidized mercury (Hg2+) and more elemental mercury (Hg0) at the SCR inlet compared to higher chlorine coal. SCR could oxidize elemental mercury into oxidized mercury when SCR was in service, and oxidation efficiency reached 71.0%. Therefore, oxidized mercury removal efficiency was enhanced through a wet FGD system. In the non-ozone season, about 89.5%-96.8% of oxidized mercury was controlled, but only 54.9%-68.8% of the total mercury was captured through wet FGD. Oxidized mercury removal efficiency was 95.9%-98.0%, and there was a big difference in the total mercury removal efficiencies from 78.0% to 90.2% in the ozone season. Mercury mass balance was evaluated to validate reliability of OHM testing data, and the ratio of mercury input in the coal to mercury output at the stack was from 0.84 to 1.08. PMID:20397418

In the present study, a novel quantitative method, namely magnetic nanoparticle-based solid-phase extraction (MSPE), was applied to extract vitamin B(12) from pharmaceutical formulations. The technique involves the use of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles modified by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as an efficient adsorbent for solid-phase extraction of vitamin B(12). Collection of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) from aqueous solution was simply achieved by applying external magnetic field. The analyte was desorbed from MNPs using alkali 1-propanol. The extracted analyte was analyzed by using flow injection inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Factors affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, enhancement factor of 184, linear dynamic range of 2.5-500 ?g L(-1) with correlation of determination (R(2) > 0.999), and limit of detection of 1.0 ?g L(-1) were obtained for vitamin B(12). The percent relative standard deviation based on five-replicate determination was less than 6.2%. The method was successfully applied for extraction and determination of vitamin B(12) in different types of pharmaceutical samples such as multivitamin tablet, effervescent tablet, and injection sample. The results showed that the proposed method based on SDS-Fe(3)O(4) MSPE was a simple, accurate, and highly efficient approach for analysis of vitamin B(12). PMID:22187326

Beaches are an important consideration in coastal management. Morphodynamic classification of sandy beaches is used for open-ocean, wave-dominated environments, but fails to describe the shape of natural sandy beaches located in low-energy environments. An important consequence of this is that these environments are excluded from current morphodynamic models, making the design of efficient coastal management plans difficult to achieve.Many of these types of beaches occur in quick succession along the coastline in protected environments such as estuaries, lagoons, fjords and rías, which are favourite sites for human settlements. These particular environments are of enormous economic importance and constitute the zones of greatest human impact on the coast. Correct management requires a good understanding of the physical factors that affect each type of beach and of the interactions between such factors.Fifteen beaches in the Ría de Vigo (NW Spain) were studied in order to determine how the gradational changes from oceanic to estuarine conditions affect the beach morphology and intertidal sediments. The balance between wave action and sedimentary supply was found to be the controlling factor in the ría. The results of this study provide useful information about a coastal ría environment, which will enable better design of a suitable integrated coastal plan for management of rías.

Huanglongbing (HLB) is the most devastating disease of citrus. The global citrus industry is in urgent need of effective chemical treatments for HLB control because of its rapid spreading worldwide. Due to the fastidious nature of the pathogens, and the poor permissibility of citrus leaf surfaces, effective screening of chemicals for the HLB control can be challenging. In this study, we developed a graft-based chemotherapy method to rapidly screen potential HLB-controlling chemical compounds. In addition, we improved transmission efficiency by using the best HLB-affected scion-rootstock combination, and demonstrated the HLB bacterial titer was the critical factor in transmission. The HLB-affected lemon scions had a high titer of HLB bacterium, survival rate (83.3%), and pathogen transmission rate (59.9%). Trifoliate, a widely used commercial rootstock, had the highest survival rate (>70.0%) compared with grapefruit (52.6%) and sour orange (50.4%). Using this method, we confirmed a mixture of penicillin and streptomycin was the most effective compounds in eliminating the HLB bacterium from the HLB-affected scions, and in successfully rescuing severely HLB-affected citrus germplasms. These findings are useful not only for chemical treatments but also for graft-based transmission studies in HLB and other Liberibacter diseases. PMID:22568814

This Building America Measure Guideline is intended for builders, contractors, homeowners, and policy-makers. This document is intended to explore the issues surrounding heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) to ensure that homeowners and contractors have the tools needed to appropriately and efficiently install HPWHs. Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) promise to significantly reduce energy consumption for domestic hot water (DHW) over standard electric resistance water heaters (ERWHs). While ERWHs perform with energy factors (EFs) around 0.9, new HPWHs boast EFs upwards of 2.0. High energy factors in HPWHs are achieved by combining a vapor compression system, which extracts heat from the surrounding air at high efficiencies, with electric resistance element(s), which are better suited to meet large hot water demands. Swapping ERWHs with HPWHs could result in roughly 50% reduction in water heating energy consumption for 35.6% of all U.S. households. This Building America Measure Guideline is intended for builders, contractors, homeowners, and policy-makers. While HPWHs promise to significantly reduce energy use for DHW, proper installation, selection, and maintenance of HPWHs is required to ensure high operating efficiency and reliability. This document is intended to explore the issues surrounding HPWHs to ensure that homeowners and contractors have the tools needed to appropriately and efficiently install HPWHs. Section 1 of this guideline provides a brief description of HPWHs and their operation. Section 2 highlights the cost and energy savings of HPWHs as well as the variables that affect HPWH performance, reliability, and efficiency. Section 3 gives guidelines for proper installation and maintenance of HPWHs, selection criteria for locating HPWHs, and highlights of important differences between ERWH and HPWH installations. Throughout this document, CARB has included results from the evaluation of 14 heat pump water heaters (including three recently released HPWH products) installed in existing homes in the northeast region of the United States.

This paper uses a total-factor framework to investigate energy efficiency in 23 developing countries during the period of 1980-2005. We explore the total-factor energy efficiency and change trends by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA) window, which is capable of measuring efficiency in cross-sectional and time-varying data. The empirical results indicate that Botswana, Mexico and Panama perform the best in terms of energy efficiency, whereas Kenya, Sri Lanka, Syria and the Philippines perform the worst during the entire research period. Seven countries show little change in energy efficiency over time. Eleven countries experienced continuous decreases in energy efficiency. Among five countries witnessing continuous increase in total-factor energy efficiency, China experienced the most rapid rise. Practice in China indicates that effective energy policies play a crucial role in improving energy efficiency. Tobit regression analysis indicates that a U-shaped relationship exists between total-factor energy efficiency and income per capita. (author)

Organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) have demonstrated the potential for solid state lighting as well as full color display applications. Use of triplet harvesting phosphorescent materials has led to very high efficiency OLEDs especially in green and red phosphorescent OLEDs. However in case of blue OLEDs the efficiency achieved is still room for improvement. Charge balance is a very important factor for achieving high efficiency organic light emitting diodes. In most OLED devices, hole mobility of hole transport layer is orders of magnitude higher than the electron mobility of electron transport layer. We study how this affects the charge balance and hence the device performance in the blue phosphorescent OLEDs with Iridium (III)bis [(4,6-di-fluorophenyl)- pyridinato-N,C2'] picolinate (FIrpic) emitter. Charge balance is studied in these devices and the devices are found to be hole dominant. Additionally, effect of charge balance on device performance is demonstrated with different electron transport layers. Using this approach, a very high efficiency of 60 Cd/A (50 lm/W) is achieved with 3,5'-N,N'-dicarbazole-benzene (mCP) host.

The influence of the environment on gas surface density and star formation efficiency of cluster spiral galaxies is investigated. We extend previous work on radial profiles by a pixel-to pixel analysis looking for asymmetries due to environmental interactions. The star formation rate is derived from GALEX UV and Spitzer total infrared data. As in field galaxies, the star formation rate for most Virgo galaxies is approximately proportional to the molecular gas mass. Except for NGC 4438, the cluster environment does not affect the star formation efficiency with respect to the molecular gas. Gas truncation is not associated with major changes in the total gas surface density distribution of the inner disk of Virgo spiral galaxies. In three galaxies, possible increases in the molecular fraction and the star formation efficiency with respect to the total gas, of factors of 1.5 to 2, are observed on the windward side of the galactic disk. A significant increase of the star formation efficiency with respect to the m...

Non-viral gene transfer into a wide range of human cells was examined in order to clarify the factors that affect the efficiency and safety of non-viral vectors and to optimize the conditions so that high efficiency and low toxicity could be achieved. Six non-viral vectors (Lipofectin, LipofectAMINE PLUS, SuperFect, Effectene, DMRIE-C and DOTAP) were used to transfect a mammalian expression plasmid pCMV? into 16 types of human primary cells and cultured cell lines. Transfection efficiency was quantified using a galactosidase assay. Cytotoxic effects were measured by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay and WST-8 assay. In serum-free conditions, LipofectAMINE PLUS, Effectene and SuperFect, on average, transfected DNA more successfully than Lipofectin, DMRIE-C, and DOTAP, although the levels of gene expression with these vectors varied remarkably in different cells. The most effective vector also differed depending on the cell type. Serum was found to inhibit gene transfer and reduce the cytotoxicity of all of these vectors except Effectene. The efficiency and toxicity of the non-viral vectors used depended on the type of vector, the DNA/vector ratio, the type of cell, and the presence of serum. These results provided useful information for the optimization of transfer conditions of these non-viral vectors.   

Analytic solutions are developed for the single-scattering properties of an infinite dielectric cylinder embedded in an absorbing medium with normal incidence, which include extinction, scattering and absorption efficiencies, the scattering phase function, and the asymmetry factor. The extinction and scattering efficiencies are derived by the near-field solutions at the surface of the particle. The normalized scattering phase function is obtained by use of the far-field approximation. Computational results show that while the absorbing medium significantly reduces the scattering efficiency, it has little effect on absorption efficiency. The absorbing medium can significantly change the conventional phase function. The absorbing medium also strongly affects the polarization of the scattered light. However, for large absorbing particles the degrees of polarization change little with the medium s absorption. This implies that if the transmitting lights are strongly weakened inside the particle the scattered polarized lights can be used to identify objects even when the absorption property of the host medium is unknown, which is very important for both active and passive remote sensing.

Health status and quality of life are affected by psychological and social factors. Psychological distress directly affects health and indirectly influences a person’s motivation to keep their diabetes in control. When motivation ...

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Alternaria brassicicola is a successful saprophyte and necrotrophic plant pathogen. Several A. brassicicola genes have been characterized as affecting pathogenesis of Brassica species. To study regulatory mechanisms of pathogenesis, we mined 421 genes in silico encoding putative transcription factors in a machine-annotated, draft genome sequence of A. brassicicola. In this study, targeted gene disruption mutants for 117 of the transcription factor genes were produced and screened. Three of these genes were associated with pathogenesis. Disruption mutants of one gene (AbPacC) were nonpathogenic and another gene (AbVf8) caused lesions less than half the diameter of wild-type lesions. Unexpectedly, mutants of the third gene, Amr1, caused lesions with a two-fold larger diameter than the wild type and complementation mutants. Amr1 is a homolog of Cmr1, a transcription factor that regulates melanin biosynthesis in several fungi. We created gene deletion mutants of ?amr1 and characterized their phenotypes. The ?amr1 mutants used pectin as a carbon source more efficiently than the wild type, were melanin-deficient, and more sensitive to UV light and glucanase digestion. The AMR1 protein was localized in the nuclei of hyphae and in highly melanized conidia during the late stage of plant pathogenesis. RNA-seq analysis revealed that three genes in the melanin biosynthesis pathway, along with the deleted Amr1 gene, were expressed at low levels in the mutants. In contrast, many hydrolytic enzyme-coding genes were expressed at higher levels in the mutants than in the wild type during pathogenesis. The results of this study suggested that a gene important for survival in nature negatively affected virulence, probably by a less efficient use of plant cell-wall materials. We speculate that the functions of the Amr1 gene are important to the success of A. brassicicola as a competitive saprophyte and plant parasite. PMID:17485670

Abstract in portuguese Este estudo teve como objetivo mensurar a eficiência dos programas de pós-graduação acadêmicos em Administração, Contabilidade e Turismo, além de possibilitar uma reflexão sobre os fatores determinantes de sua eficiência, no triênio 2004/2006. Foram utilizados Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA) e modelo de regressão censurada (Tobit) com dados em painel. Os resultados revelaram que os programas com maior número de alunos matriculados apresentaram-se mais efi (more) cientes, sugerindo que os programas de pós-graduação alcançam maior eficiência quando operam em maior escala. O envolvimento dos docentes em projetos de pesquisa, bem como a participação de membros externos aos programas em suas atividades, influenciam positivamente o nível de eficiência. Essas ações devem ser incentivadas de forma a maximizar a eficiência dos programas de pós-graduação acadêmicos em Administração, Contabilidade e Turismo, e contribuir com o desenvolvimento científico das referidas áreas do conhecimento. Abstract in english The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the academic graduate programs in Administration, Accounting and Tourism, as well as to allow a reflection about the factors determining their efficiency, during the three-year period 2004-2006. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the censured regression model (Tobit) with panel data were used. The results show the programs with higher numbers of enrolled students to be more efficient, therefore suggesting th (more) at the graduate programs reach higher efficiency when operating at higher scales. The teachers' involvement in research projects, as well as the participation of members external to the programs also positively affect the efficiency level. Those actions should be encouraged in order to maximize the efficiency of the academic graduate programs in Administration, Accounting and Tourism, as well as to contribute for the scientific development in these fields of knowledge.

To assess the total human health risks associated with human exposure to ultrafine particle (UFP), the concentrations and fates of UFPs in the in-cabin atmospheres must be understood. In order to assess human exposure more accurately and further prevent adverse health effects from UFP exposure in the in-cabins, it is essential to gain insight into UFP transport dynamics between in-cabin and outside atmospheres and the factors that are able to affect them. In this dissertation, mathematical model are developed and formulated as tools to improve the understanding of UFP dynamics in the in-cabin atmosphere. Under three different ventilation conditions, (i) Fan off-recirculation (RC) off, (ii) Fan on-RC off, and (iii) Fan on-RC on, the average modeled UFP I/O ratios were found to be 0.40, 0.25 and 0.10, respectively, and agree with the experimental data very well. Then, analysis focused on how the factors, such as ventilation settings, vehicle speed, filtration, penetration, and deposition, affect I/O ratios in broader categories of vehicle cabin microenvironments. Ventilation is the only mechanical process of exchanging air between the in-cabin and the outside. Under condition (ii), I/O ratio that varies from 0.2 to 0.7 was proportional to the airflow rate in the range of 0-360 m3/h. Under condition (iii), the modeled I/O ratio was inversely proportional to the airflow rate from mechanical ventilation within the range of 0.15-0.45 depending on the particle size. Significant variability of the penetration factor (5˜20%) was found due to the pressure difference. A coefficient "B" was successfully introduced to account for the electric charge effect on penetration factors. The effect of penetration on the I/O ratio was then evaluated by substituting penetration factor into the model. Under condition (i), the modeled I/O ratios increased linearly, up to ˜20%, within the penetration factor range. Under condition (iii), the effect of penetration factor is less but still significant (˜10%). The most penetrating particle size was observed at ˜300 nm, where the filtration efficiency was ˜20% in this study. As the filter face velocity (0.1 m s-1 ˜ 0.5 m s-1) increased, filtration efficiency reductions were 10%-20%. As filter usage is increased, filtration efficiency enhancements were 5%-15% but mechanical airflow rate decreased ˜10%. Due to the discrepancy of filtration efficiencies, the UFP I/O ratios changes 5%-15% under condition (ii), and ˜5% under condition (iii). Vehicle speed directly affects the differential pressure between the ambient and the in-cabin environments, which determines the leakage flow rate. When there is no mechanical air supply from outside, in the vehicle (conditions (i) and (iii)), driving speed plays an important role for the air exchange resulting in a greater effect (˜8%). Under condition (ii), vehicle speed has a little effect on the I/O ratios (<5%).

This chapter overviews the reliability evaluation in forecasting the models of environmental transfer, putting emphasis on factors that affect the confidence of models forecasting and models verification.

Since the eco-efficiency of all industrial processes/plants has become increasingly important, engineers need to find a way to integrate the control loop configuration and the measurements of eco-efficiency. A new measure of eco-efficiency, the exergy eco-efficiency factor, for control loop configuration, is proposed in this paper. The exergy eco-efficiency factor is based on the thermodynamic concept of exergy which can be used to analyse a process in terms of its efficiency associated with the control configuration. The combination of control pairing configuration techniques (such as the relative gain array, RGA and Niederlinski index, NI) and the proposed exergy eco-efficiency factor will guide the process designer to reach the optimal control design with low operational cost (i.e., energy consumption). The exergy eco-efficiency factor is implemented in the process simulation case study and the reliability of the proposed method is demonstrated by dynamic simulation results. PMID:23089301

Emissions trading is considered to be a cost-effective environmental economic instrument for pollution control. However, the pilot emissions trading programs in China have failed to bring remarkable success in the campaign for pollution control. The policy design of an emissions trading program is found to have a decisive impact on its performance. In this study, an artificial market for sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions trading applying the agent-based model was constructed. The performance of the Jiangsu SO2 emissions trading market under different policy design scenario was also examined. Results show that the market efficiency of emissions trading is significantly affected by policy design and existing policies. China's coal-electricity price system is the principal factor influencing the performance of the SO2 emissions trading market. Transaction costs would also reduce market efficiency. In addition, current-level emissions discharge fee/tax and banking mechanisms do not distinctly affect policy performance. Thus, applying emissions trading in emission control in China should consider policy design and interaction with other existing policies. PMID:20590153

Development of new catalysts is a promising approach to more efficient coal liquefaction. It has been recognized that dispersed catalysts are superior to supported catalysts for primary liquefaction of coals, because the control of initial coal dissolution or depolymerization requires intimate contact between the catalyst and coal. This research is a fundamental and exploratory study on catalytic coal liquefaction, with the emphasis on exploring novel bimetallic dispersed catalysts for coal liquefaction and the effectiveness of temperature-programmed liquefaction using dispersed catalysts. The primary objective of this research was to explore novel bimetallic dispersed catalysts from organometallic molecular precursors, that could be used in low concentrations but exhibit relatively high activity for efficient hydroliquefaction of coals under temperature-programmed conditions. We have synthesized and tested various catalyst precursors in liquefaction of subbituminous and bituminous coals and in model compound studies to examine how do the composition and structure of the catalytic precursors affect their effectiveness for coal liquefaction under different reaction conditions, and how do these factors affect their catalytic functions for hydrogenation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, for cleavage of C-C bonds in polycyclic systems such as 4-(1-naphthylmethyl)bibenzyl, for hydrogenolysis of C-O bond such as that in dinaphthylether, for hydrodeoxygenation of phenolic compounds and other oxygen-containing compounds such as xanthene, and for hydrodesulfurization of polycyclic sulfur compounds such as dibenzothiophene. The novel bimetallic and monometallic precursors synthesized and tested in this project include various Mo- and Fe-based compounds.

5-HT (5-Hydroxy-tryptamine) or serotonin receptors are found both in central and peripheral nervous system as well as in non-neuronal tissues. In the animal and human nervous system, serotonin produces various functional effects through a variety of membrane bound receptors. In this study, we focus on 5-HT receptor family from different mammals and examined the factors that account for codon and nucleotide usage variation. A total of 110 homologous coding sequences from 11 different mammalian species were analyzed using relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU), correspondence analysis (COA) and hierarchical cluster analysis together with nucleotide base usage frequency of chemically similar amino acid codons. The mean effective number of codon (ENc) value of 37.06 for 5-HT(6) shows very high codon bias within the family and may be due to high selective translational efficiency. The COA and Spearman's rank correlation reveals that the nucleotide compositional mutation bias as the major factors influencing the codon usage in serotonin receptor genes. The hierarchical cluster analysis suggests that gene function is another dominant factor that affects the codon usage bias, while species is a minor factor. Nucleotide base usage was reported using Goldman, Engelman, Stietz (GES) scale reveals the presence of high uracil (>45%) content at functionally important hydrophobic regions. Our in silico approach will certainly help for further investigations on critical inference on evolution, structure, function and gene expression aspects of 5-HT receptors family which are potential antipsychotic drug targets. PMID:22480817

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a Gram-negative bacterium associated with the development of periodontitis. The evolutionary success of this pathogen results directly from the presence of numerous virulence factors, including a peptidylarginine deiminase (PPAD), an enzyme, which converts arginine to citrulline in proteins and peptides. Such posttranslational modification is thought to affect the function of many different signaling molecules. Taking into account the importance of tissue remodeling and repair mechanisms for periodontal homeostasis, which are orchestrated by ligands of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), we investigated the ability of PPAD to distort cross-talk between the epithelium and the EGF signaling pathway. We found that EGF preincubation with purified recombinant PPAD, or a wild-type strain of P. gingivalis, but not with a PPAD-deficient isogenic-mutant, efficiently hindered the ability of the growth factor to stimulate epidermal cell proliferation and migration. In addition, PPAD abrogated EGFR-EGF interaction-dependent stimulation of expression of Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3 (SOCS3) and Interferon Regulatory Factor 1 (IRF-1). Biochemical analysis clearly showed that the PPAD-exerted effects on EGF activities were solely due to deimination of the C-terminal arginine. Interestingly, citrullination of two internal Arg residues with human endogenous peptidylarginine deiminases did not alter EFG function, arguing that the C-terminal arginine is essential for EGF biological activity. Cumulatively, these data suggest that PPAD-activity-abrogating EGF function in gingival pockets may at least partially contribute to tissue damage and delayed healing within P. gingivalis-infected periodontia.

Language change takes place primarily via diffusion of linguistic variants in a population of individuals. Identifying selective pressures on this process is important not only to construe and predict changes, but also to inform theories of evolutionary dynamics of socio-cultural factors. In this paper, we advocate the Price equation from evolutionary biology and the Pólya-urn dynamics from contagion studies as efficient ways to discover selective pressures. Using the Price equation to process the simulation results of a computer model that follows the Pólya-urn dynamics, we analyze theoretically a variety of factors that could affect language change, including variant prestige, transmission error, individual influence and preference, and social structure. Among these factors, variant prestige is identified as the sole selective pressure, whereas others help modulate the degree of diffusion only if variant prestige is involved. This multidisciplinary study discerns the primary and complementary roles of linguistic, individual learning, and socio-cultural factors in language change, and offers insight into empirical studies of language change. PMID:22427981

... that can affect our bodies, such as sleep, diet, or stress. These factors may act alone or ... epigenetics —The study of how environmental factors like diet, stress and post-natal care can change gene ...

Communication is an indispensable component of animal societies, yet many open questions remain regarding the factors affecting the evolution and reliability of signalling systems. A potentially important factor is the level of genetic relatedness between signallers and receivers. To quantitatively ...

... the risk factors for basal and squamous cell skin cancers? A risk factor is anything that affects your ... who have had radiation treatment for cancer. Previous skin cancer Anyone who has had a basal or squamous ...

for factors that produce an average planetary temperature that is habitable. Evaluating the ... To appreciate how humans can modify the environment, students participate in an exercise to describe .... Factors Affecting the Habitability of a Planet ...

Hypoxia is a pervasive microenvironmental factor that affects normal development as well as tumor progression. In most normal cells, hypoxia stabilizes hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs), particularly HIF-1, which activates genes involved in anaerobic metabolism and angiogenesis. As hypo...

... factors. If we were to define it on paper, it’s having three out of five factors. Including ... to affect things like quitting smoking, walking, losing weight. What is the evidence for the use of ...

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...assists informed consumer choice. The existing luminaire...sensor readings and other factors. DATES: Written comments...efficacy calculation a factor to address the fraction...labels would provide consumers with useful information...participants think would affect test procedures and...

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... What are the risk factors for small cell lung cancer? A risk factor is anything that affects your ... pronounced in smokers. Personal or family history of lung cancer If you have had lung cancer, you have ...

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One or more of the Following Statements may affect this Document. This document has been ..... importance in human nutrition and international trade. .... factors; once established, partitioning is essentially fixed for years. Factors being equal ...

Abstract in spanish Como alternativa para aumentar la eficiencia térmica de calderas bagaceras productoras de vapor, se evalúa la inyección de aire secundario al hogar, previamente calentado. Además, se reúne información sobre la combustión y los factores que influyen en dicho fenómeno. Se calculó el rendimiento térmico en una caldera bagacera con inyección de aire secundario frío, mediante el empleo de balances de masa y energía con datos de ensayos experimentales. Se planteó (more) luego un modelo teórico para el caso de calentar todo este aire secundario, y se determinó el nuevo rendimiento térmico. Finalmente se realizó un análisis técnico-económico para evaluar la rentabilidad del uso de esta tecnología, teniendo en cuenta el ahorro de bagazo y su equivalente en gas natural. Para el caso analizado, los resultados mostraron: aumento del rendimiento térmico de la caldera (1,62 puntos); mejora del índice de generación de vapor (2,27%); reducción del consumo de bagazo (2,45%); aceptable periodo de repago de la inversión (114 días de zafra). Abstract in english Previously heated secondary air injection is evaluated as an alternative to increase thermal efficiency of bagasse steam boilers. Aspects regarding the combustion process and the factors affecting it are also described. Tests were made in a bagasse boiler of a sugar mill. Thermal efficiency of the bagasse boiler with cold secondary air injection was determined by solving mass and energy balances. A new thermal efficiency for the case in which all secondary air is pre-heat (more) ed with hot gases was determined afterwards. Finally, a technical-economic analysis was made to evaluate the yield of this technology, taking into account bagasse saving and its equivalent in natural gas. For the analyzed case, the results showed: an increase in the thermal efficiency of the boiler (1,62 points); a higher steam production index (2,27%); a reduction in bagasse consumption (2,45%); an acceptable payback period of the investment (114 days of the harvest season).

Astrocytomas affect a significant portion of patients with intramedullary tumors. These infiltratively growing tumors are treated by a variety of methods?biopsy and decompressive surgery, maximal safe resection, adjuvant oncological therapy. Also, numerous prognostic factors are reported in the literature. Better understanding of factors that influence prognosis may help in treatment planning with the goal of prolonging survival. We have thus undertaken an extensive literature review in order to define factors affecting prognosis. A total of 38 articles were studied. Only tumor grade was consistently reported as the major factor affecting prognosis. The influence of other clinical factors (age, gender, history length, functional status, tumor location or extent, syrinx or cyst presence) ca...

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among the elderly in developed countries, and its pathogenesis is underlined by genetic and environmental factors. Oxidative stress is a major environmental risk factor of AMD; namely, AMD is associated with the increased level of reactive oxygen species, which may be produced in reactions catalyzed by iron present in the retina. Therefore, variability of the genes of iron metabolism may be important in the AMD risk. In the present study, we analyzed the association between AMD and the -576G>A polymorphism of the transferrin gene or the 1892C>T polymorphism of the transferrin receptor 2 (TFR2) gene in 278 patients with AMD and 105 controls. The former polymorphism is located in the promoter region of the transferrin gene and may affect the level of its transcription, while the latter is a synonymous mutation in the exon 16, which may affect the efficiency of translation of TFR2 mRNA. Transferrin and TFR2 are important in iron homeostasis. The A allele of the -576A>G polymorphism was significantly associated with the increased risk of AMD in tobacco smokers, whereas the 1892C>T polymorphism did not influence the risk of AMD related to smoking. Moreover, each polymorphism does not influence the risk of AMD associated with age, sex or the family history of the disease. In conclusion, the A allele of the -576A>G polymorphism of the transferrin gene may increase the risk of AMD in smokers.   

Radiators must be constructed of materials which have high emittance in order to efficiently radiate heat from high temperature space power systems. In addition, if these radiators are to be used for applications in the low Earth orbital environment, they must not be detrimentally affected by exposure to atomic oxygen. Four materials selected as candidate radiator materials 304 stainless steel, copper, titanium-6% aluminum-4% vanadium (Ti-6%Al-4%V), and niobium-1% zirconium (Nb-1%Zr) were surface modified by acid etching, heat treating, abrading, sputter texturing, electrochemical etching, and combinations of the above in order to improve their emittance. Combination treatment techniques with heat treating as the second treatment provided about a factor of two improvement in emittance for 304 stainless steel, Ti-6%Al-4%V, and Nb-1%Zr. A factor of three improvement in emittance occurred for discharge chamber sputter textured copper. Exposure to atomic oxygen in RF plasma asher did not significantly change the emittance of those samples that had been heat treated as part of their texturing process. An evaluation of oxygen penetration is needed to understand how oxidation affects the mechanical properties of these materials when heat treated.

The management of risk is now recognized as central to the effective and efficient operation of industry and commerce and is widely practiced. Risk Management has economic, political and human dimensions, which in all cases involve pivotal judgments relating to the acceptability or (as appropriate) tolerability of the criteria which underpin the executive decisions and actions in the risk management process. How robust are the techniques used to arrive at such judgments? And how can existing variations in tolerability criteria be explained or justified? The developing methodologies contain many uncertainties (for example, selection of failure cases from a range of possibilities; failure possibilities in each case; scale of modeling and consequence uncertainties; model validation; parameter values of the models used; uncertainties in enhancing and mitigating factors). How far do these uncertainties affect the validity of risk management decisions? And how sensitive are these decisions to aspects of uncertainty? How far do the influences affecting public perception of the type, nature and magnitude of any risks affect the nature of risk management? (For example, issues such as voluntary vs involuntary exposure; natural vs man-made risks, perceptions of personal control, familiarity, perceptions of benefit or disbenefit, the nature of the hazard, the nature of the threat, the special vulnerability of sensitive groups, public perceptions of comparators, reversibility of effects, all may be felt to influence significantly the decision making process.) Expression and communication of risk (particularly methods of calculating and expressing societal risk) may compound any problems.

Mechanisms for meconium-induced inactivation of pulmonary surfactant as part of the meconium aspiration syndrome in newborn infants, to our knowledge, are not clearly understood. Here we have studied the biophysical mechanisms of how meconium affects surface activity of pulmonary surfactant and whether the membrane-perturbing effects of meconium can be mimicked by exposure of surfactant to a mixture of bile acids and cholesterol. Surface activity of pulmonary surfactant complexes purified from animal lungs was analyzed in the absence and in the presence of meconium in standard surface balances and in a captive bubble surfactometer. We have also evaluated accumulation of surfactant at the air-liquid interface by what we believe to be a novel microtiter plate fluorescent assay, and the effect of meconium components on surfactant membrane fluidity using Laurdan fluorescence thermotropic profiles and differential scanning calorimetry thermograms. Rapid interfacial adsorption, low surface tension upon film compression, efficient film replenishment upon expansion, and thermotropic properties of surfactant complexes are all adversely affected by meconium, and, in a similar manner, they are affected by cholesterol/taurocholate mixtures but not by taurocholate alone. We conclude that inhibition of surfactant by meconium can be mimicked by a bile salt-promoted incorporation of excess cholesterol into surfactant complexes. These results highlight the potential pathogenic role of cholesterol-mobilizing agents as a crucial factor resulting in cholesterol induced alterations of structure and dynamics of surfactant membranes and films. PMID:20721530

In this study, we present nanofiber-mediated gene delivery for myocardial infarction (MI). Branched polyethylenimine cross-linked via disulfide bonds (ssPEI) complexed with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were immobilized on electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL)/polyethylenimine (PEI) nanofibers for the local expression of VEGF angiogenic factor. We studied whether the production of VEGF from myoblast cells adhering on the nanofibers has therapeutic potential for MI. In this method, the non-specific adsorption of VEGF nanoparticles to the nanofibers occurred uniformly over all of the surface area of the nanofibers, resulting in increased transgene uptake and expression in a great number of cells. The amount of DNA required for transfection was also minimal compared to bolus delivery, because the adhered DNA was directly available in the cell microenvironment, which also helps in localized delivery. Reporter genes luciferase (Luc), red fluorescence protein (RFP), and therapeutic gene VEGF were tested to evaluate the transfection efficiency of ssPEI nanoparticles immobilized on the nanofiber surface. Our results demonstrated that the delivery of therapeutic genes from biodegradable nanoparticles immobilized on the nanofiber represented minimal cytotoxicity of H9C2 myoblasts than branched PEI 25 kDa did. According to Luc assay, fluorescence microscope analysis, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), this vector showed high transgene expression efficiency to the reporter gene and VEGF gene. The surface-mediated delivery of the DNA nanoparticles did not adversely affect cell growth, and facilitated the transgene expression inside the cells. PMID:22103127