WorldWideScience

Sample records for producing large amounts

  1. A simple biosynthetic pathway for large product generation from small substrate amounts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Djordjevic, Marko; Djordjevic, Magdalena

    2012-10-01

    A recently emerging discipline of synthetic biology has the aim of constructing new biosynthetic pathways with useful biological functions. A major application of these pathways is generating a large amount of the desired product. However, toxicity due to the possible presence of toxic precursors is one of the main problems for such production. We consider here the problem of generating a large amount of product from a potentially toxic substrate. To address this, we propose a simple biosynthetic pathway, which can be induced in order to produce a large number of the product molecules, by keeping the substrate amount at low levels. Surprisingly, we show that the large product generation crucially depends on fast non-specific degradation of the substrate molecules. We derive an optimal induction strategy, which allows as much as three orders of magnitude increase in the product amount through biologically realistic parameter values. We point to a recently discovered bacterial immune system (CRISPR/Cas in E. coli) as a putative example of the pathway analysed here. We also argue that the scheme proposed here can be used not only as a stand-alone pathway, but also as a strategy to produce a large amount of the desired molecules with small perturbations of endogenous biosynthetic pathways.

  2. A simple biosynthetic pathway for large product generation from small substrate amounts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Djordjevic, Marko [Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade (Serbia); Djordjevic, Magdalena [Institute of Physics Belgrade, University of Belgrade (Serbia)

    2012-10-01

    A recently emerging discipline of synthetic biology has the aim of constructing new biosynthetic pathways with useful biological functions. A major application of these pathways is generating a large amount of the desired product. However, toxicity due to the possible presence of toxic precursors is one of the main problems for such production. We consider here the problem of generating a large amount of product from a potentially toxic substrate. To address this, we propose a simple biosynthetic pathway, which can be induced in order to produce a large number of the product molecules, by keeping the substrate amount at low levels. Surprisingly, we show that the large product generation crucially depends on fast non-specific degradation of the substrate molecules. We derive an optimal induction strategy, which allows as much as three orders of magnitude increase in the product amount through biologically realistic parameter values. We point to a recently discovered bacterial immune system (CRISPR/Cas in E. coli) as a putative example of the pathway analysed here. We also argue that the scheme proposed here can be used not only as a stand-alone pathway, but also as a strategy to produce a large amount of the desired molecules with small perturbations of endogenous biosynthetic pathways. (paper)

  3. A simple biosynthetic pathway for large product generation from small substrate amounts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Djordjevic, Marko; Djordjevic, Magdalena

    2012-01-01

    A recently emerging discipline of synthetic biology has the aim of constructing new biosynthetic pathways with useful biological functions. A major application of these pathways is generating a large amount of the desired product. However, toxicity due to the possible presence of toxic precursors is one of the main problems for such production. We consider here the problem of generating a large amount of product from a potentially toxic substrate. To address this, we propose a simple biosynthetic pathway, which can be induced in order to produce a large number of the product molecules, by keeping the substrate amount at low levels. Surprisingly, we show that the large product generation crucially depends on fast non-specific degradation of the substrate molecules. We derive an optimal induction strategy, which allows as much as three orders of magnitude increase in the product amount through biologically realistic parameter values. We point to a recently discovered bacterial immune system (CRISPR/Cas in E. coli) as a putative example of the pathway analysed here. We also argue that the scheme proposed here can be used not only as a stand-alone pathway, but also as a strategy to produce a large amount of the desired molecules with small perturbations of endogenous biosynthetic pathways. (paper)

  4. Large amounts of antiproton production by heavy ion collision

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Hiroshi; Powell, J.

    1987-01-01

    To produce large amounts of antiprotons, on the order of several grams/year, use of machines to produce nuclear collisions are studied. These can be of either proton-proton, proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus in nature. To achieve high luminosity colliding beams, on the order of 10 41 m/cm 2 , a self-colliding machine is required, rather than a conventional circular colliding type. The self-colliding machine can produce additional antiprotons through successive collisions of secondary particles, such as spectator nucleons. A key problem is how to collect the produced antiprotons without capture by beam nuclei in the collision zone. Production costs for anti-matter are projected for various energy source options and technology levels. Dedicated facilities using heavy ion collisions could produce antiproton at substantially less than 1 million $/milligram. With co-production of other valuable products, e.g., nuclear fuel for power reactors, antiproton costs could be reduced to even lower values

  5. Large amounts of antiproton production by heavy ion collision

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takahashi, Hiroshi; Powell, J.

    1987-01-01

    To produce large amounts of antiprotons, on the order of several grams/year, use of machines to produce nuclear collisions are studied. These can be of either proton-proton, proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus in nature. To achieve high luminosity colliding beams, on the order of 10/sup 41/ m/cm/sup 2/, a self-colliding machine is required, rather than a conventional circular colliding type. The self-colliding machine can produce additional antiprotons through successive collisions of secondary particles, such as spectator nucleons. A key problem is how to collect the produced antiprotons without capture by beam nuclei in the collision zone. Production costs for anti-matter are projected for various energy source options and technology levels. Dedicated facilities using heavy ion collisions could produce antiproton at substantially less than 1 million $/milligram. With co-production of other valuable products, e.g., nuclear fuel for power reactors, antiproton costs could be reduced to even lower values.

  6. Integration of large amounts of wind power. Markets for trading imbalances

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Neimane, Viktoria; Axelsson, Urban [Vattenfall Research and Development AB, Stockholm (Sweden); Gustafsson, Johan; Gustafsson, Kristian [Vattenfall Nordic Generation Management, Stockholm (Sweden); Murray, Robin [Vattenfall Vindkraft AB, Stockholm (Sweden)

    2008-07-01

    The well-known concerns about wind power are related to its intermittent nature and difficulty to make exact forecasts. The expected increase in balancing and reserve requirements due to wind power has been investigated in several studies. This paper takes the next step in studying integration of large amounts of wind power in Sweden. Several wind power producers' and corresponding balance providers' perspective is taken and their imbalance costs modeled. Larger producers having wind power spread over larger geographical areas will have lower relative costs than producers having their units concentrated within limited geographical area. Possibilities of the wind power producers to reduce the imbalance costs by acting on after sales market are exposed and compared. (orig.)

  7. Imbalance costs in the Swedish system with large amounts of wind power

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carlsson, Fredrik; Neimane, Viktoria [Vattenfall Research and Development AB, Stockholm (Sweden)

    2009-07-01

    The well-known concerns about wind power are related to its intermittent nature and difficulty to make exact forecasts. The expected increase in balancing and reserve requirements due to wind power has been investigated in several studies. This paper takes the next step in studying integration of large amounts of wind power in Sweden. Several wind power producers' and corresponding balance providers' perspective is taken and their imbalance costs modeled. Larger producers having wind power spread over larger geographical areas will have lower relative costs than producers having their units concentrated within limited geographical area. Possibilities of the wind power producers to reduce the imbalance costs by acting on after sales market are exposed and compared. (orig.)

  8. Another way of managing large amounts of data

    CERN Multimedia

    2009-01-01

    Jeff Hammerbacher is Vice President of Products and Chief Scientist at Cloudera, a US software company that provides solutions for managing and analysing very large data sets. His invited talk on 21 August was a good opportunity to exchange views with the CERN experts who face similar problems. Although still relatively young, Jeff has considerable experience in developing tools for storing and processing large amounts of data. Before Cloudera Jeff conceived, built and led the Data team at Facebook. He has also worked as a quantitative analyst on Wall Street. Jeff holds a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics from Harvard University. At CERN, handling large amounts of data is the job of the Grid; Hadoop, the software Cloudera is developing, is intended for the same scope but has different technical features and implementations. "The Grid software products are designed for many organisations to collaborate on large-scale data analysis across many data centres. In contrast, Had...

  9. Screening and characterization of Lactobacillus strains producing large amounts of exopolysaccharides

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Geel-Schutten, G.H. van; Flesch, F.; Brink, B. ten; Smith, M.R.; Dijkhuizen, L.

    1998-01-01

    A total of 182 Lactobacillus strains were screened for production of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) by a new method: growth in liquid media with high sugar concentrations. Sixty EPS-positive strains were identified; 17 strains produced more than 100 mg/l soluble EPS. Sucrose was an excellent

  10. Health information search to deal with the exploding amount of health information produced.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, H; Hanbury, A; Al Shorbaji, N

    2012-01-01

    This focus theme deals with the various aspects of health information search that are necessary to cope with the challenges of an increasing amount and complexity of medical information currently produced. This editorial reviews the main challenges of health information search and summarizes the five papers of this focus theme. The five papers of the focus theme cover a large part of the current challenges in health information search such as coding standards, information extraction from complex data, user requirements analysis, multimedia data analysis and the access to big data. Several future challenges are identified such as the combination of visual and textual data for information search and the difficulty to scale when analyzing big data.

  11. Knowledge discovery: Extracting usable information from large amounts of data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whiteson, R.

    1998-01-01

    The threat of nuclear weapons proliferation is a problem of world wide concern. Safeguards are the key to nuclear nonproliferation and data is the key to safeguards. The safeguards community has access to a huge and steadily growing volume of data. The advantages of this data rich environment are obvious, there is a great deal of information which can be utilized. The challenge is to effectively apply proven and developing technologies to find and extract usable information from that data. That information must then be assessed and evaluated to produce the knowledge needed for crucial decision making. Efficient and effective analysis of safeguards data will depend on utilizing technologies to interpret the large, heterogeneous data sets that are available from diverse sources. With an order-of-magnitude increase in the amount of data from a wide variety of technical, textual, and historical sources there is a vital need to apply advanced computer technologies to support all-source analysis. There are techniques of data warehousing, data mining, and data analysis that can provide analysts with tools that will expedite their extracting useable information from the huge amounts of data to which they have access. Computerized tools can aid analysts by integrating heterogeneous data, evaluating diverse data streams, automating retrieval of database information, prioritizing inputs, reconciling conflicting data, doing preliminary interpretations, discovering patterns or trends in data, and automating some of the simpler prescreening tasks that are time consuming and tedious. Thus knowledge discovery technologies can provide a foundation of support for the analyst. Rather than spending time sifting through often irrelevant information, analysts could use their specialized skills in a focused, productive fashion. This would allow them to make their analytical judgments with more confidence and spend more of their time doing what they do best

  12. Very large amounts of radiation are needed to change cancer frequency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brooks, A.; Couch, L.

    2006-01-01

    Full text: A marked radio-phobia or excessive fear of radiation exposure is shared by the general public. A major factor in this fear is that the perception that each and every radiation-induced ionization increases the risk for cancer, thus even the smallest radiation exposure needs to be avoided. It is important to realize that this is not the case. It requires very large amounts of radiation delivered to large populations to produce an increase in cancer frequency. This has been demonstrated in many in experimental systems, animal studies and in human populations. If either the population size or the dose is reduced it is not possible to detect an increase in cancer frequency. This paper deals with real radiation-induced increases in cancer frequency that are statistically significant, rather than in extrapolated or calculated small increases in radiation-induced risks using linear models. Further, it demonstrates that there are barriers below which increases in cancer cannot be detected. Finally, the manuscript helps explain that there are transitions in the mechanisms of biological action as a function of radiation dose with very different mechanisms being triggered at high and at low doses. These transitions suggest the need for paradigm shifts. Concepts such as hit theory, independence in individual cellular responses and single mutations being responsible for cancer need to be re-evaluated. New paradigms such as b ystander effects , showing that the size of the responding target is much larger than the hit target, adaptive response demonstrating that cell/cell communication modifies individual cellular responses and genomic instability that is not dependent on radiation induced mutations in individual cells

  13. Impacts of Large Amounts of Wind Power on Design and Operation of Power Systems; Results of IEA Collaboration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parsons, B. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ela, E. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Holttinen, H. [VTT (Finland); Meibom, P. [DTU Riso (Denmark); Orths, A. [Energinet.dk (Denmark); O' Malley, M. [Univ. College Dubline (Ireland); Ummels, B. C. [Delft Univ. of Technology (Netherlands); Tande, J. [SINTEF (Norway); Estanqueiro, A. [INETI (Portugal); Gomez, E. [Univ. Castilla la Mancha (Spain); Smith, J. C. [Utility Wind Integration Group (UWIG), Reston, VA (United States)

    2008-06-01

    There are a multitude of studies completed and ongoing related to the cost of wind integration. However, the results are not easy to compare. An international forum for exchange of knowledge of power system impacts of wind power has been formed under the IEA Implementing Agreement on Wind Energy. IEA WIND R&D Task 25 on “Design and Operation of Power Systems with Large Amounts of Wind Power” produced a state-of-the-art report in October 2007, where the most relevant wind-power grid integration studies were analyzed, especially regarding methodologies and input data. This paper summarizes the results from 18 case studies, with discussion on differences in methodology as well as issues that have been identified to impact the cost of wind integration.

  14. Detection of tiny amounts of fissile materials in large-sized containers with radioactive waste

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batyaev, V. F.; Skliarov, S. V.

    2018-01-01

    The paper is devoted to non-destructive control of tiny amounts of fissile materials in large-sized containers filled with radioactive waste (RAW). The aim of this work is to model an active neutron interrogation facility for detection of fissile ma-terials inside NZK type containers with RAW and determine the minimal detectable mass of U-235 as a function of various param-eters: matrix type, nonuniformity of container filling, neutron gen-erator parameters (flux, pulse frequency, pulse duration), meas-urement time. As a result the dependence of minimal detectable mass on fissile materials location inside container is shown. Nonu-niformity of the thermal neutron flux inside a container is the main reason of the space-heterogeneity of minimal detectable mass in-side a large-sized container. Our experiments with tiny amounts of uranium-235 (<1 g) confirm the detection of fissile materials in NZK containers by using active neutron interrogation technique.

  15. Detection of tiny amounts of fissile materials in large-sized containers with radioactive waste

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Batyaev V.F.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper is devoted to non-destructive control of tiny amounts of fissile materials in large-sized containers filled with radioactive waste (RAW. The aim of this work is to model an active neutron interrogation facility for detection of fissile ma-terials inside NZK type containers with RAW and determine the minimal detectable mass of U-235 as a function of various param-eters: matrix type, nonuniformity of container filling, neutron gen-erator parameters (flux, pulse frequency, pulse duration, meas-urement time. As a result the dependence of minimal detectable mass on fissile materials location inside container is shown. Nonu-niformity of the thermal neutron flux inside a container is the main reason of the space-heterogeneity of minimal detectable mass in-side a large-sized container. Our experiments with tiny amounts of uranium-235 (<1 g confirm the detection of fissile materials in NZK containers by using active neutron interrogation technique.

  16. Producing fluorescent digital printing ink: Investigating the effect of type and amount of coumarin derivative dyes on the quality of ink

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ataeefard, Maryam, E-mail: ataeefard-m@icrc.ac.ir [Department of Printing Science and Technology, Institute for Color Science and Technology, P.O. Box 16765-654, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Nourmohammadian, Farahnaz, E-mail: nour@icrc.ac.ir [Centre of Excellence for Colour Science and Technology, Institute for Colour Science and Technology, P.O. Box 16765-654, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Department of Organic Colorants, Institute for Colour Science and Technology, P.O. Box 16765-654, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2015-11-15

    The aim of this work is to produce a composite powder as a fluorescent ink for digital electrophotographic printing. Three benzoxazolyl and benzimidazolyl coumarin derivative dyes are used as fluorescent dyes that are incorporated into poly (styrene-co-a crylic acid) using eco-friendly emulsion aggregation (EA) approaches in several amounts with final application of fluorescent laser printing ink called toner. Fluorescence and daylight spectrophotometry is used for investigating the emission and reflectance properties of fluorescent toner. It was found that the relations between emission of fluorescent toners and the amount of dyes are non-linear. Particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimeter and thermal gravimetric analysis were used to study the size, shape, morphology and thermal properties of fluorescent toner particles. Results verify that the polarity of the dyes and their compatibility with the environment could affect the shape of the fluorescent toner. In addition, the results show that the fluorescent toner produced by the EA method has appropriate characteristics comparing to an industrial toner. - Highlights: Fluorescent digital printing ink produced via emulsion aggregation technique. Fluorescent ink for produced for electrophotographic printing. The relations between fluorescent emission and the amount of dyes are non-linear. Different dyes, show different behavior.

  17. Producing fluorescent digital printing ink: Investigating the effect of type and amount of coumarin derivative dyes on the quality of ink

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ataeefard, Maryam; Nourmohammadian, Farahnaz

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this work is to produce a composite powder as a fluorescent ink for digital electrophotographic printing. Three benzoxazolyl and benzimidazolyl coumarin derivative dyes are used as fluorescent dyes that are incorporated into poly (styrene-co-a crylic acid) using eco-friendly emulsion aggregation (EA) approaches in several amounts with final application of fluorescent laser printing ink called toner. Fluorescence and daylight spectrophotometry is used for investigating the emission and reflectance properties of fluorescent toner. It was found that the relations between emission of fluorescent toners and the amount of dyes are non-linear. Particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimeter and thermal gravimetric analysis were used to study the size, shape, morphology and thermal properties of fluorescent toner particles. Results verify that the polarity of the dyes and their compatibility with the environment could affect the shape of the fluorescent toner. In addition, the results show that the fluorescent toner produced by the EA method has appropriate characteristics comparing to an industrial toner. - Highlights: Fluorescent digital printing ink produced via emulsion aggregation technique. Fluorescent ink for produced for electrophotographic printing. The relations between fluorescent emission and the amount of dyes are non-linear. Different dyes, show different behavior

  18. Discovering Related Clinical Concepts Using Large Amounts of Clinical Notes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganesan, Kavita; Lloyd, Shane; Sarkar, Vikren

    2016-01-01

    The ability to find highly related clinical concepts is essential for many applications such as for hypothesis generation, query expansion for medical literature search, search results filtering, ICD-10 code filtering and many other applications. While manually constructed medical terminologies such as SNOMED CT can surface certain related concepts, these terminologies are inadequate as they depend on expertise of several subject matter experts making the terminology curation process open to geographic and language bias. In addition, these terminologies also provide no quantifiable evidence on how related the concepts are. In this work, we explore an unsupervised graphical approach to mine related concepts by leveraging the volume within large amounts of clinical notes. Our evaluation shows that we are able to use a data driven approach to discovering highly related concepts for various search terms including medications, symptoms and diseases.

  19. Discovering Related Clinical Concepts Using Large Amounts of Clinical Notes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kavita Ganesan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The ability to find highly related clinical concepts is essential for many applications such as for hypothesis generation, query expansion for medical literature search, search results filtering, ICD-10 code filtering and many other applications. While manually constructed medical terminologies such as SNOMED CT can surface certain related concepts, these terminologies are inadequate as they depend on expertise of several subject matter experts making the terminology curation process open to geographic and language bias. In addition, these terminologies also provide no quantifiable evidence on how related the concepts are. In this work, we explore an unsupervised graphical approach to mine related concepts by leveraging the volume within large amounts of clinical notes. Our evaluation shows that we are able to use a data driven approach to discovering highly related concepts for various search terms including medications, symptoms and diseases.

  20. Alternative containers for low-level wastes containing large amounts of tritium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gause, E.P.; Lee, B.S.; MacKenzie, D.R.; Wiswall, R. Jr.

    1984-11-01

    High-activity tritiated waste generated in the United States is mainly composed of tritium gas and tritium-contaminated organic solvents sorbed onto Speedi-Dri which are packaged in small glass bulbs. Low-activity waste consists of solidified and adsorbed liquids. In this report, current packages for high-activity gaseous and low-activity adsorbed liquid wastes are emphasized with regard to containment potential. Containers for low-level radioactive waste containing large amounts of tritium need to be developed. An integrity may be threatened by: physical degradation due to soil corrosion, gas pressure build-up (due to radiolysis and/or biodegradation), rapid permeation of tritium through the container, and corrosion from container contents. Literature available on these points is summarized in this report. 136 references, 20 figures, 40 tables

  1. Sample preparation method for ICP-MS measurement of 99Tc in a large amount of environmental samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kondo, M.; Seki, R.

    2002-01-01

    Sample preparation for measurement of 99 Tc in a large amount of soil and water samples by ICP-MS has been developed using 95m Tc as a yield tracer. This method is based on the conventional method for a small amount of soil samples using incineration, acid digestion, extraction chromatography (TEVA resin) and ICP-MS measurement. Preliminary concentration of Tc has been introduced by co-precipitation with ferric oxide. The matrix materials in a large amount of samples were more sufficiently removed with keeping the high recovery of Tc than previous method. The recovery of Tc was 70-80% for 100 g soil samples and 60-70% for 500 g of soil and 500 L of water samples. The detection limit of this method was evaluated as 0.054 mBq/kg in 500 g soil and 0.032 μBq/L in 500 L water. The determined value of 99 Tc in the IAEA-375 (soil sample collected near the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor) was 0.25 ± 0.02 Bq/kg. (author)

  2. Analytics to Better Interpret and Use Large Amounts of Heterogeneous Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathews, T. J.; Baskin, W. E.; Rinsland, P. L.

    2014-12-01

    Data scientists at NASA's Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) are seasoned software application developers who have worked with the creation, archival, and distribution of large datasets (multiple terabytes and larger). In order for ASDC data scientists to effectively implement the most efficient processes for cataloging and organizing data access applications, they must be intimately familiar with data contained in the datasets with which they are working. Key technologies that are critical components to the background of ASDC data scientists include: large RBMSs (relational database management systems) and NoSQL databases; web services; service-oriented architectures; structured and unstructured data access; as well as processing algorithms. However, as prices of data storage and processing decrease, sources of data increase, and technologies advance - granting more people to access to data at real or near-real time - data scientists are being pressured to accelerate their ability to identify and analyze vast amounts of data. With existing tools this is becoming exceedingly more challenging to accomplish. For example, NASA Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) alone grew from having just over 4PBs of data in 2009 to nearly 6PBs of data in 2011. This amount then increased to roughly10PBs of data in 2013. With data from at least ten new missions to be added to the ESDIS holdings by 2017, the current volume will continue to grow exponentially and drive the need to be able to analyze more data even faster. Though there are many highly efficient, off-the-shelf analytics tools available, these tools mainly cater towards business data, which is predominantly unstructured. Inadvertently, there are very few known analytics tools that interface well to archived Earth science data, which is predominantly heterogeneous and structured. This presentation will identify use cases for data analytics from an Earth science perspective in order to begin to identify

  3. Progress of organic matter degradation and maturity of compost produced in a large-scale composting facility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakasaki, Kiyohiko; Marui, Taketoshi

    2011-06-01

    To monitor the progress of organic matter degradation in a large-scale composting facility, the percentage of organic matter degradation was determined by measuring CO(2) evolution during recomposting of compost samples withdrawn from the facility. The percentage of organic matter degradation was calculated as the ratio of the amount of CO(2) evolved from compost raw material to that evolved from each sample during recomposting in the laboratory composting apparatus. It was assumed that the difference in the cumulative emission of CO(2) between the compost raw material and a sample corresponds to the amount of CO( 2) evolved from the sample in the composting facility. Using this method, the changes in organic matter degradation during composting in practical large-scale composting facilities were estimated and it was found that the percentage of organic matter degradation increased more vigorously in the earlier stages than in the later stages of composting. The percentage of organic matter degradation finally reached 78 and 55% for the compost produced from garbage-animal manure mixture and distillery waste (shochu residue), respectively. It was thus ascertained that organic matter degradation progressed well in both composting facilities. Furthermore, by performing a plant growth assay, it was observed that the compost products of both the facilities did not inhibit seed germination and thus were useful in promoting plant growth.

  4. Proposal of the concept of selection of accidents that release large amounts of radioactive substances in the high temperature engineering test reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ono, Masato; Honda, Yuki; Takada, Shoji; Sawa, Kazuhiro

    2015-01-01

    In Position, construction and equipment of testing and research reactor to be subjected to the use standards for rules Article 53 (prevention of expansion of the accident to release a large amount of radioactive material) generation the frequency is a lower accident than design basis accident, when what is likely to release a large amount of radioactive material or radiation from the facility has occurred, and take the necessary measures in order to prevent the spread of the accident. There is provided a lower accident than frequency design basis accidents, for those that may release a large amount of radioactive material or radiation. (author)

  5. Core fueling to produce peaked density profiles in large tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikkelsen, D.R.; McGuire, K.M.; Schmidt, G.L.; Zweben, S.J.

    1994-06-01

    Peaking the density profile increases the usable bootstrap current and the average fusion power density; this could reduce the current drive power and increase the net output of power producing tokamaks. The use of neutral beams and pellet injection to produce peaked density profiles is assessed. We show that with radially ''hollow'' diffusivity profiles (and no particle pinch) moderately peaked density profiles can be produced by particle source profiles which are peaked off-axis. The fueling penetration requirements can therefore be relaxed and this greatly improves the feasibility of generating peaked density profiles in large tokamaks. In particular, neutral beam fueling does not require MeV particle energy. Even with beam voltages of ∼200 keV, however, exceptionally good particle confinement, τ p much-gt τ E is required to achieve net electrical power generation. In system with no power production requirement (e.g., neutron sources) neutral beam fueling should be capable of producing peaked density profiles in devices as large as ITER. Fueling systems with low energy cost per particle (such as cryogenic pellet injection) must be used in power producing tokamaks when τ p ∼ τ E . Simulations with pellet injection speeds of 7 km/sec show the peaking factor, n eo /left-angle n e right-angle, approaching 2

  6. Improved recovery of trace amounts of gold (III), palladium (II) and platinum (IV) from large amounts of associated base metals using anion-exchange resins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matsubara, I. [Lab. of Chemistry, Tokyo Women' s Medical Univ. (Japan); Takeda, Y.; Ishida, K. [Lab. of Chemistry, Nippon Medical School, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken (Japan)

    2000-02-01

    The adsorption and desorption behaviors of gold (III), palladium (II) and platinum (IV) were surveyed in column chromatographic systems consisting of one of the conventional anion-exchange resins of large ion-exchange capacity and dilute thiourea solutions. The noble metals were strongly adsorbed on the anion-exchange resins from dilute hydrochloric acid, while most base metals did not show any marked adsorbability. These facts made it possible to separate the noble metals from a large quantity of base metals such as Ag (I), Al (III), Co (II), Cu (II), Fe (III), Mn (II), Ni (II), Pb (II), and Zn (II). Although it used to be very difficult to desorb the noble metals from the resins used, the difficulty was easily overcome by use of dilute thiourea solutions as an eluant. In the present study, as little as 1.00 {mu}g of the respective noble metals was quantitatively separated and recovered from as much as ca. 10 mg of a number of metals on a small column by elution with a small amount of dilute thiourea solution. The present systems should be applicable to the separation, concentration and recovery of traces of the noble metals from a number of base metals coexisting in a more extended range of amounts and ratios. (orig.)

  7. Network connectivity paradigm for the large data produced by weather radar systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guenzi, Diego; Bechini, Renzo; Boraso, Rodolfo; Cremonini, Roberto; Fratianni, Simona

    2014-05-01

    The traffic over Internet is constantly increasing; this is due in particular to social networks activities but also to the enormous exchange of data caused especially by the so-called "Internet of Things". With this term we refer to every device that has the capability of exchanging information with other devices on the web. In geoscience (and, in particular, in meteorology and climatology) there is a constantly increasing number of sensors that are used to obtain data from different sources (like weather radars, digital rain gauges, etc.). This information-gathering activity, frequently, must be followed by a complex data analysis phase, especially when we have large data sets that can be very difficult to analyze (very long historical series of large data sets, for example), like the so called big data. These activities are particularly intensive in resource consumption and they lead to new computational models (like cloud computing) and new methods for storing data (like object store, linked open data, NOSQL or NewSQL). The weather radar systems can be seen as one of the sensors mentioned above: it transmit a large amount of raw data over the network (up to 40 megabytes every five minutes), with 24h/24h continuity and in any weather condition. Weather radar are often located in peaks and in wild areas where connectivity is poor. For this reason radar measurements are sometimes processed partially on site and reduced in size to adapt them to the limited bandwidth currently available by data transmission systems. With the aim to preserve the maximum flow of information, an innovative network connectivity paradigm for the large data produced by weather radar system is here presented. The study is focused on the Monte Settepani operational weather radar system, located over a wild peak summit in north-western Italy.

  8. Hyper-saline produced water treatment for beneficial use

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Al-Furaiji, Mustafa

    2016-01-01

    Producing oil and gas is always accompanied with large amounts of effluent water, called “produced water” (PW). These huge quantities of water can be used (if treated efficiently and economically) for many useful purposes like industrial applications, irrigation, cattle and animal consumption, and

  9. Core fuelling to produce peaked density profiles in large tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikkelsen, D.R.; McGuire, K.M.; Schmidt, G.L.; Zweben, S.J.

    1995-01-01

    Peaking the density profile increases the usable bootstrap current and the average fusion power density; this could reduce the current drive power and increase the net output of power producing tokamaks. The use of neutral beams and pellet injection to produce peaked density profiles is assessed. It is shown that with radially 'hollow' diffusivity profiles (and no particle pinch) moderately peaked density profiles can be produced by particle source profiles that are peaked off-axis. The fuelling penetration requirements can therefore be relaxed and this greatly improves the feasibility of generating peaked density profiles in large tokamaks. In particular, neutral beam fuelling does not require Megavolt particle energies. Even with beam voltages of ∼ 200 keV, however, exceptionally good particle confinement is needed to achieve net electrical power generation. The required ratio of particle to thermal diffusivities is an order of magnitude outside the range reported for tokamaks. In a system with no power production requirement (e.g., neutron sources) neutral beam fuelling should be capable of producing peaked density profiles in devices as large as ITER. Fuelling systems with low energy cost per particle - such as cryogenic pellet injection - must be used in power producing tokamaks when τ P ∼ τ E . Simulations with pellet injection speeds of 7 km/s show that the peaking factor, n e0 / e >, approaches 2. (author). 65 refs, 8 figs

  10. Effectiveness of the Solar Panels in the Castro Valley Unified School District Based on Projected Amount of Energy to be Produced

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sparks, J. R.; Palmer, T. C.; Siegel, A. P.

    2014-12-01

    In recent years Americans have warmed to the idea of installing solar panels to their homes and businesses. These panels help reduce the cost of receiving energy from power plants that lose a lot of energy in transportation. These power plants provide energy by burning gas or coal producing emissions that add to the growing problem of pollution and global warming. In 2010 the Castro Valley Unified School District decided to add solar panels to Canyon Middle School, Castro Valley High School, and Castro Valley Adult School. We researched whether the solar panels reached their projected amount of energy (74%) for the sites where the panels were placed. The solar panels at all three sites were found to exceed these projected amounts. The solar panels at each site produce a little over 74% for the each school.

  11. A Case of Special Complication following a Large Amount of Polyacrylamide Hydrogel Injected into the Epicranial Aponeurosis: Leukocytopenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Rong

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Polyacrylamide hydrogel (PAAG has been used as an injectable filler for soft tissue augmentation of different body parts, such as the face, breasts, and penis. However, this is the first report of leukocytopenia after injection of a large amount of PAAG in the epicranial aponeurosis. After receiving PAAG injection for craniofacial contouring, the female patient described herein experienced recurrent swelling, temporal pain (particularly with changes in ambient temperature and facial expression, and ultimately leukocytopenia due to widespread migration of the injected PAAG. We removed most of the PAAG from the affected tissues and the leukocytopenia disappeared 1 year after the operation. Based on this case, we hypothesize that injection of a large amount of PAAG into tissues that have ample blood supply, such as the epicranial aponeurosis, may induce leukocytopenia.

  12. Cellulase producing microorganism ATCC 55702

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dees, H. Craig

    1997-01-01

    Bacteria which produce large amounts of cellulase--containing cell-free fermentate have been identified. The original bacterium (ATCC 55703) was genetically altered using nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) treatment to produce the enhanced cellulase producing bacterium (ATCC 55702), which was identified through replicate plating. ATCC 55702 has improved characteristics and qualifies for the degradation of cellulosic waste materials for fuel production, food processing, textile processing, and other industrial applications. ATCC 55702 is an improved bacterial host for genetic manipulations using recombinant DNA techniques, and is less likely to destroy genetic manipulations using standard mutagenesis techniques.

  13. Determination of small amounts of nitric acid in the presence of large amounts of uranium (VI) and extraction of nitric acid into TBP solutions highly loaded with uranyl nitrate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kolarik, Z.; Schuler, R.

    1982-10-01

    A new method for the determination of small amounts of nitric acid in the presence of large amounts of uranium(VI) was elaborated. The method is based on the precipitation of uranium(VI) as iodate and subsequent alkalimetric titration of the acid in the supernatant. The extraction of nitric acid and uranium(VI) with 30% TBP in dodecane was studied at high loading of the organic phase with uranyl nitrate and at 25, 40 and 60 0 C. The results are compared with available published data on the extraction of nitric acid under similar conditions. (orig.) [de

  14. Impacts of large amounts of wind power on design and operation of power systems, results of IEA collaboration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holttinen, Hannele; Meibom, Peter; Orths, Antje

    2011-01-01

    There are dozens of studies made and ongoing related to wind integration. However, the results are not easy to compare. IEA WIND R&D Task 25 on Design and Operation of Power Systems with Large Amounts of Wind Power collects and shares information on wind generation impacts on power systems......, with analyses and guidelines on methodologies. In the state-of-the-art report (October, 2007), and the final report of the 3 years period (July, 2009) the most relevant wind power grid integration studies have been analysed especially regarding methodologies and input data. Several issues that impact...... on the amount of wind power that can be integrated have been identified. Large balancing areas and aggregation benefits of wide areas help in reducing the variability and forecast errors of wind power as well as help in pooling more cost effective balancing resources. System operation and functioning...

  15. A large amount synthesis of nanopowder using modulated induction thermal plasmas synchronized with intermittent feeding of raw materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, Y; Tsuke, T; Guo, W; Uesugi, Y; Ishijima, T; Watanabe, S; Nakamura, K

    2012-01-01

    A large amount synthesis method for titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanopowder is proposed by direct evaporation of titanium powders using Ar-O 2 pulse-modulated induction thermal plasma (PMITP). To realize a large amount synthesis of nanopowder, the PMITP method was combined with the intermittent and heavy load feeding of raw material powder, as well as the quenching gas injection. The intermittent powder feeding was synchronized with the modulation of the coil current sustaining the PMITP for complete evaporation of the injected powder. Synthesized particles by the developed method were analyzed by FE-SEM and XRD. Results indicated that the synthesized particles by the 20-kW PMITP with a heavy loading rate of 12.3 g min −1 had a similar particle size distribution with the mean diameter about 40 nm to those with light loading of 4.2 g min −1 .

  16. Highly Sensitive GMO Detection Using Real-Time PCR with a Large Amount of DNA Template: Single-Laboratory Validation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mano, Junichi; Hatano, Shuko; Nagatomi, Yasuaki; Futo, Satoshi; Takabatake, Reona; Kitta, Kazumi

    2018-03-01

    Current genetically modified organism (GMO) detection methods allow for sensitive detection. However, a further increase in sensitivity will enable more efficient testing for large grain samples and reliable testing for processed foods. In this study, we investigated real-time PCR-based GMO detection methods using a large amount of DNA template. We selected target sequences that are commonly introduced into many kinds of GM crops, i.e., 35S promoter and nopaline synthase (NOS) terminator. This makes the newly developed method applicable to a wide range of GMOs, including some unauthorized ones. The estimated LOD of the new method was 0.005% of GM maize events; to the best of our knowledge, this method is the most sensitive among the GM maize detection methods for which the LOD was evaluated in terms of GMO content. A 10-fold increase in the DNA amount as compared with the amount used under common testing conditions gave an approximately 10-fold reduction in the LOD without PCR inhibition. Our method is applicable to various analytical samples, including processed foods. The use of other primers and fluorescence probes would permit highly sensitive detection of various recombinant DNA sequences besides the 35S promoter and NOS terminator.

  17. Transient Stability Assessment of Power System with Large Amount of Wind Power Penetration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Leo; Chen, Zhe; Bak, Claus Leth

    2012-01-01

    Recently, the security and stability of power system with large amount of wind power are the concerned issues, especially the transient stability. In Denmark, the onshore and offshore wind farms are connected to distribution system and transmission system respectively. The control and protection...... methodologies of onshore and offshore wind farms definitely affect the transient stability of power system. In this paper, the onshore and offshore wind farms are modeled in detail in order to assess the transient stability of western Danish power system. Further, the computation of critical clearing time (CCT...... plants, load consumption level and high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission links are taken into account. The results presented in this paper are able to provide an early awareness of power system security condition of the western Danish power system....

  18. Comparing fixed-amount and progressive-amount DRO Schedules for tic suppression in youth with chronic tic disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capriotti, Matthew R; Turkel, Jennifer E; Johnson, Rachel A; Espil, Flint M; Woods, Douglas W

    2017-01-01

    Chronic tic disorders (CTDs) involve motor and/or vocal tics that often cause substantial distress and impairment. Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) schedules of reinforcement produce robust, but incomplete, reductions in tic frequency in youth with CTDs; however, a more robust reduction may be needed to affect durable clinical change. Standard, fixed-amount DRO schedules have not commonly yielded such reductions, so we evaluated a novel, progressive-amount DRO schedule, based on its ability to facilitate sustained abstinence from functionally similar behaviors. Five youth with CTDs were exposed to periods of baseline, fixed-amount DRO (DRO-F), and progressive-amount DRO (DRO-P). Both DRO schedules produced decreases in tic rate and increases in intertic interval duration, but no systematic differences were seen between the two schedules on any dimension of tic occurrence. The DRO-F schedule was generally preferred to the DRO-P schedule. Possible procedural improvements and other future directions are discussed. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  19. IL-9-Producing Mast Cell Precursors and Food Allergy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-10-01

    AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-15-1-0517 TITLE: IL-9-Producing Mast Cell Precursors and Food Allergy PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Dr. Simon P. Hogan PhD...IL-9-Producing Mast Cell Precursors and Food Allergy 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Yui Hsi Wang, Sunil...threatening anaphylaxis. We have identified a novel multi-functional IL-9-producing mucosal mast cells (MMC9s) that produce large amounts of IL-9, IL

  20. The Application Law of Large Numbers That Predicts The Amount of Actual Loss in Insurance of Life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinungki, Georgina Maria

    2018-03-01

    The law of large numbers is a statistical concept that calculates the average number of events or risks in a sample or population to predict something. The larger the population is calculated, the more accurate predictions. In the field of insurance, the Law of Large Numbers is used to predict the risk of loss or claims of some participants so that the premium can be calculated appropriately. For example there is an average that of every 100 insurance participants, there is one participant who filed an accident claim, then the premium of 100 participants should be able to provide Sum Assured to at least 1 accident claim. The larger the insurance participant is calculated, the more precise the prediction of the calendar and the calculation of the premium. Life insurance, as a tool for risk spread, can only work if a life insurance company is able to bear the same risk in large numbers. Here apply what is called the law of large number. The law of large numbers states that if the amount of exposure to losses increases, then the predicted loss will be closer to the actual loss. The use of the law of large numbers allows the number of losses to be predicted better.

  1. On numerical simulation of the global distribution of sulfate aerosol produced by a large volcanic eruption

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pudykiewicz, J.A.; Dastoor, A.P. [Atmospheric Environment Service, Quebec (Canada)

    1994-12-31

    Volcanic eruptions play an important role in the global sulfur cycle of the Earth`s atmosphere and can significantly perturb the global atmospheric chemistry. The large amount of sulfate aerosol produced by the oxidation of SO{sub 2} injected into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions also has a relatively big influence on the radiative equilibrium of the Earth`s climatic system. The submicron particles of the sulfate aerosol reflect solar radiation more effectively than they trap radiation in the infrared range. The effect of this is observed as cooling of the Earth`s surface. The modification of the global radiation budget following volcanic eruption can subsequently cause significant fluctuations of atmospheric variables on a subclimatic scale. The resulting perturbation of weather patterns has been observed and well documented since the eruptions of Mt. Krakatau and Mt. Tambora. The impact of the sulfate aerosol from volcanic eruptions on the radiative equilibrium of the Earth`s atmosphere was also confirmed by the studies done with Global Circulation Models designed to simulate climate. The objective of the present paper is to present a simple and effective method to estimate the global distribution of the sulfate aerosol produced as a consequence of volcanic eruptions. In this study we will present results of the simulation of global distribution of sulfate aerosol from the eruption of Mt Pinatubo.

  2. Environmental contamination due to release of a large amount of tritium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawai, Hiroshi

    1988-01-01

    Tritium release incidents have occurred many times in the Savannah Rever Plant in the U.S. A tritium release incident also took place in the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. The present article outlines the reports by the plant and laboratory on these incidents and makes some comments on environmental contamination that may results from release of a large amount of tritium from nuclear fusion facilities. Tritium is normally released in the form of a combination of chemical compounds such as HT, DT and T 2 and oxides such as HTO, DTO and T 2 O. The percentage of the oxides is given in the reports by the plant. Oxides, which can be absorbed through the skin, are considered to be nearly a thousand times more toxic than the other type of tritium compounds. The HT type compounds (HT, DT and T 2 ) can be oxidized by microorganisms in soil into oxides (HTO, DTO and T 2 O) and therefore, great care should also given to this type of compounds. After each accidental tritium release, the health physics group of the plant collected various environmental samples, including ground surface water, milk, leaves of plants, soil and human urine, in leeward areas. Results on the contamination of surface water, fish and underground water are outlined and discussed. (Nogami, K.)

  3. Evaluation of simulated-LOCA tests that produced large fuel cladding ballooning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Powers, D.A.; Meyer, R.O.

    1979-02-01

    A description is given of the NRC review and evaluation of simulated-LOCA tests that produced large axially extended ballooing in Zircaloy fuel cladding. Technical summaries are presented on the likelihood of the transient that was used in the tests, the effects of temperature variations on strain localization, and the results of other similar experiments. It is concluded that (a) the large axially extended deformations were an artifact of the experimental technique, (b) current NRC licensing positions are not invalidated by this new information, and (c) no new research programs are needed to study this phenomenon

  4. Real options and a large producer: the case of electricity markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keppo, J.

    2003-01-01

    In this paper we extend the real option theory to consider the situation of a large producer and we employ the model to electricity markets. This is important because many producers in these markets affect the market supply and, therefore, also the electricity price. This production price effect influences not only on the assets that the energy company owns but also on its investment opportunities. We show that this production's price effect has to be considered in the investment analysis if the company is not able to hedge the price effect in the financial markets and if there is no competition on the investment opportunity. (author)

  5. Consistency check of iron and sodium cross sections with integral benchmark experiments using a large amount of experimental information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baechle, R.-D.; Hehn, G.; Pfister, G.; Perlini, G.; Matthes, W.

    1984-01-01

    Single material benchmark experiments are designed to check neutron and gamma cross-sections of importance for deep penetration problems. At various penetration depths a large number of activation detectors and spectrometers are placed to measure the radiation field as completely as possible. The large amount of measured data in benchmark experiments can be evaluated best by the global detector concept applied to nuclear data adjustment. A new iteration procedure is presented for adjustment of a large number of multigroup cross sections, which has been implemented now in the modular adjustment code ADJUST-EUR. A theoretical test problem has been deviced to check the total program system with high precision. The method and code are going to be applied for validating the new European Data Files (JEF and EFF) in progress. (Auth.)

  6. ANAEROBIC BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF PRODUCED WATER

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    John R. Gallagher

    2001-07-31

    During the production of oil and gas, large amounts of water are brought to the surface and must be disposed of in an environmentally sensitive manner. This is an especially difficult problem in offshore production facilities where space is a major constraint. The chief regulatory criterion for produced water is oil and grease. Most facilities have little trouble meeting this criterion using conventional oil-water separation technologies. However, some operations have significant amounts of naphthenic acids in the water that behave as oil and grease but are not well removed by conventional technologies. Aerobic biological treatment of naphthenic acids in simulated-produced water has been demonstrated by others; however, the system was easily overloaded by the large amounts of low-molecular-weight organic acids often found in produced waters. The objective of this research was to determine the ability of an anaerobic biological system to treat these organic acids in a simulated produced water and to examine the potential for biodegradation of the naphthenic acids in the anaerobic environment. A small fixed-film anaerobic biological reactor was constructed and adapted to treat a simulated produced water. The bioreactor was tubular, with a low-density porous glass packing material. The inocula to the reactor was sediment from a produced-water holding pond from a municipal anaerobic digester and two salt-loving methanogenic bacteria. During start-up, the feed to the reactor contained glucose as well as typical produced-water components. When glucose was used, rapid gas production was observed. However, when glucose was eliminated and the major organic component was acetate, little gas was generated. Methane production from acetate may have been inhibited by the high salt concentrations, by sulfide, or because of the lack, despite seeding, of microbes capable of converting acetate to methane. Toluene, a minor component of the produced water (0.1 g/L) was removed in the

  7. Elephant’s breast milk contains large amounts of glucosamine

    Science.gov (United States)

    TAKATSU, Zenta; TSUDA, Muneya; YAMADA, Akio; MATSUMOTO, Hiroshi; TAKAI, Akira; TAKEDA, Yasuhiro; TAKASE, Mitsunori

    2016-01-01

    Hand-reared elephant calves that are nursed with milk substitutes sometimes suffer bone fractures, probably due to problems associated with nutrition, exercise, sunshine levels and/or genetic factors. As we were expecting the birth of an Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), we analyzed elephant’s breast milk to improve the milk substitutes for elephant calves. Although there were few nutritional differences between conventional substitutes and elephant’s breast milk, we found a large unknown peak in the breast milk during high-performance liquid chromatography-based amino acid analysis and determined that it was glucosamine (GlcN) using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. We detected the following GlcN concentrations [mean ± SD] (mg/100 g) in milk hydrolysates produced by treating samples with 6M HCl for 24 hr at 110°C: four elephant’s breast milk samples: 516 ± 42, three cow’s milk mixtures: 4.0 ± 2.2, three mare’s milk samples: 12 ± 1.2 and two human milk samples: 38. The GlcN content of the elephant’s milk was 128, 43 and 14 times greater than those of the cow’s, mare’s and human milk, respectively. Then, we examined the degradation of GlcN during 0–24 hr hydrolyzation with HCl. We estimated that elephant’s milk contains >880 mg/100 g GlcN, which is similar to the levels of major amino acids in elephant’s milk. We concluded that a novel GlcN-containing milk substitute should be developed for elephant calves. The efficacy of GlcN supplements is disputed, and free GlcN is rare in bodily fluids; thus, the optimal molecular form of GlcN requires a further study. PMID:28049867

  8. Generation Expansion Planning With Large Amounts of Wind Power via Decision-Dependent Stochastic Programming

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhan, Yiduo; Zheng, Qipeng P.; Wang, Jianhui; Pinson, Pierre

    2017-07-01

    Power generation expansion planning needs to deal with future uncertainties carefully, given that the invested generation assets will be in operation for a long time. Many stochastic programming models have been proposed to tackle this challenge. However, most previous works assume predetermined future uncertainties (i.e., fixed random outcomes with given probabilities). In several recent studies of generation assets' planning (e.g., thermal versus renewable), new findings show that the investment decisions could affect the future uncertainties as well. To this end, this paper proposes a multistage decision-dependent stochastic optimization model for long-term large-scale generation expansion planning, where large amounts of wind power are involved. In the decision-dependent model, the future uncertainties are not only affecting but also affected by the current decisions. In particular, the probability distribution function is determined by not only input parameters but also decision variables. To deal with the nonlinear constraints in our model, a quasi-exact solution approach is then introduced to reformulate the multistage stochastic investment model to a mixed-integer linear programming model. The wind penetration, investment decisions, and the optimality of the decision-dependent model are evaluated in a series of multistage case studies. The results show that the proposed decision-dependent model provides effective optimization solutions for long-term generation expansion planning.

  9. Microstructure and Textural Properties of Yoghurts Produced by Exopolysaccharides- Producing Starter Cultures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Lanjun

    conferred a ropy texture and resulted in yoghurts with decreased water holding capacity and an open microstructure. In addition, one of the LB strains with high amounts of EPS producing capacity improved water retention, when it was combined with an ST strain that produced negligible amounts of EPS...

  10. Quantitative analysis of large amounts of journalistic texts using topic modelling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jacobi, C.; van Atteveldt, W.H.; Welbers, K.

    2016-01-01

    The huge collections of news content which have become available through digital technologies both enable and warrant scientific inquiry, challenging journalism scholars to analyse unprecedented amounts of texts. We propose Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modelling as a tool to face this

  11. Development of device producing electrolyzed water for home care

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Umimoto, K; Nagata, S; Yanagida, J

    2013-01-01

    When water containing ionic substances is electrolyzed, electrolyzed water with strong bactericidal ability due to the available chlorine(AC) is generated on the anode side. Slightly acidic to neutral electrolyzed water (pH 6.5 to 7.5) is physiological pH and is suitable for biological applications. For producing slightly acidic to neutral electrolyzed water simply, a vertical-type electrolytic tank with an asymmetric structure was made. As a result, a small amount of strongly alkaline water was generated in the upper cathodic small chamber, and a large amount of weakly acidic water generated in the lower anodic large chamber. The pH and AC concentration in solutin mixed with both electrolyzed water were 6.3 and 39.5 ppm, respectively, This solution was slightly acidic to neutral electrolyzed water and had strong bactericidal activity. This device is useful for producing slightly acidic to neutral electrolyzed water as a disinfectant to employ at home care, when considering economic and environmental factors, since it returns to ordinary water after use.

  12. Expert system shell to reason on large amounts of data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giuffrida, Gionanni

    1994-01-01

    The current data base management systems (DBMS's) do not provide a sophisticated environment to develop rule based expert systems applications. Some of the new DBMS's come with some sort of rule mechanism; these are active and deductive database systems. However, both of these are not featured enough to support full implementation based on rules. On the other hand, current expert system shells do not provide any link with external databases. That is, all the data are kept in the system working memory. Such working memory is maintained in main memory. For some applications the reduced size of the available working memory could represent a constraint for the development. Typically these are applications which require reasoning on huge amounts of data. All these data do not fit into the computer main memory. Moreover, in some cases these data can be already available in some database systems and continuously updated while the expert system is running. This paper proposes an architecture which employs knowledge discovering techniques to reduce the amount of data to be stored in the main memory; in this architecture a standard DBMS is coupled with a rule-based language. The data are stored into the DBMS. An interface between the two systems is responsible for inducing knowledge from the set of relations. Such induced knowledge is then transferred to the rule-based language working memory.

  13. ANAEROBIC BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF PRODUCED WATER; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    John R. Gallagher

    2001-01-01

    During the production of oil and gas, large amounts of water are brought to the surface and must be disposed of in an environmentally sensitive manner. This is an especially difficult problem in offshore production facilities where space is a major constraint. The chief regulatory criterion for produced water is oil and grease. Most facilities have little trouble meeting this criterion using conventional oil-water separation technologies. However, some operations have significant amounts of naphthenic acids in the water that behave as oil and grease but are not well removed by conventional technologies. Aerobic biological treatment of naphthenic acids in simulated-produced water has been demonstrated by others; however, the system was easily overloaded by the large amounts of low-molecular-weight organic acids often found in produced waters. The objective of this research was to determine the ability of an anaerobic biological system to treat these organic acids in a simulated produced water and to examine the potential for biodegradation of the naphthenic acids in the anaerobic environment. A small fixed-film anaerobic biological reactor was constructed and adapted to treat a simulated produced water. The bioreactor was tubular, with a low-density porous glass packing material. The inocula to the reactor was sediment from a produced-water holding pond from a municipal anaerobic digester and two salt-loving methanogenic bacteria. During start-up, the feed to the reactor contained glucose as well as typical produced-water components. When glucose was used, rapid gas production was observed. However, when glucose was eliminated and the major organic component was acetate, little gas was generated. Methane production from acetate may have been inhibited by the high salt concentrations, by sulfide, or because of the lack, despite seeding, of microbes capable of converting acetate to methane. Toluene, a minor component of the produced water (0.1 g/L) was removed in the

  14. Producing Distribution Maps for a Spatially-Explicit Ecosystem Model Using Large Monitoring and Environmental Databases and a Combination of Interpolation and Extrapolation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arnaud Grüss

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available To be able to simulate spatial patterns of predator-prey interactions, many spatially-explicit ecosystem modeling platforms, including Atlantis, need to be provided with distribution maps defining the annual or seasonal spatial distributions of functional groups and life stages. We developed a methodology combining extrapolation and interpolation of the predictions made by statistical habitat models to produce distribution maps for the fish and invertebrates represented in the Atlantis model of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM Large Marine Ecosystem (LME (“Atlantis-GOM”. This methodology consists of: (1 compiling a large monitoring database, gathering all the fisheries-independent and fisheries-dependent data collected in the northern (U.S. GOM since 2000; (2 compiling a large environmental database, storing all the environmental parameters known to influence the spatial distribution patterns of fish and invertebrates of the GOM; (3 fitting binomial generalized additive models (GAMs to the large monitoring and environmental databases, and geostatistical binomial generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs to the large monitoring database; and (4 employing GAM predictions to infer spatial distributions in the southern GOM, and GLMM predictions to infer spatial distributions in the U.S. GOM. Thus, our methodology allows for reasonable extrapolation in the southern GOM based on a large amount of monitoring and environmental data, and for interpolation in the U.S. GOM accurately reflecting the probability of encountering fish and invertebrates in that region. We used an iterative cross-validation procedure to validate GAMs. When a GAM did not pass the validation test, we employed a GAM for a related functional group/life stage to generate distribution maps for the southern GOM. In addition, no geostatistical GLMMs were fit for the functional groups and life stages whose depth, longitudinal and latitudinal ranges within the U.S. GOM are not entirely covered by

  15. Obtaining accurate amounts of mercury from mercury compounds via electrolytic methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grossman, M.W.; George, W.A.

    1987-07-07

    A process is described for obtaining pre-determined, accurate rate amounts of mercury. In one embodiment, predetermined, precise amounts of Hg are separated from HgO and plated onto a cathode wire. The method for doing this involves dissolving a precise amount of HgO which corresponds to a pre-determined amount of Hg desired in an electrolyte solution comprised of glacial acetic acid and H[sub 2]O. The mercuric ions are then electrolytically reduced and plated onto a cathode producing the required pre-determined quantity of Hg. In another embodiment, pre-determined, precise amounts of Hg are obtained from Hg[sub 2]Cl[sub 2]. The method for doing this involves dissolving a precise amount of Hg[sub 2]Cl[sub 2] in an electrolyte solution comprised of concentrated HCl and H[sub 2]O. The mercurous ions in solution are then electrolytically reduced and plated onto a cathode wire producing the required, pre-determined quantity of Hg. 1 fig.

  16. Risk of a large amount of high-radioactive contaminated water leaking into the reactor building basement of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ebisawa, Toru; Sawai, Masako

    2013-01-01

    In November 2012 about one and half year after the accident at units 1, 2 and 3 of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, some 405 m 3 /day cooling water was being injected into the melt damaged core and leaked as highly-radioactive contaminated water from damaged lower part of containment into the basement of turbine hall. To treat a large amount of contaminated water in the basement, waste processing plant to remove cesium was installed in June 2011 with desalination plant, which produced clean water for circulating coolant system of damaged nuclear fuel while the rest went to storage. Radioactivity of contaminated water in the basement accumulated at initial almost 80 days of the accident was evaluated about 20% for Cs-137 of core inventory of units 1, 2 and 3 and 2.3% for Sr-90 of core inventory of units 2 and 3. Sr-90 from unit 1 was not released into the basement and almost remained at suppression chamber. By November 2012, Cs-137 released into the basement was evaluated to total about 40% of core inventory and stored contaminated water amounted to about 360 kilotons, while Cs-137 released into the atmosphere was estimated about 3.6% of core inventory with its one third contributed for land contamination. Sr-90 released into the basement was estimated as 6.3% or 4.4% of core inventory based on Sr-90 measured activity of treated water in December or September 2011 with stored contaminated water of 300 kilotons. Cs-137 and Sr-90 contaminated water kept continuously releasing into the basement as long as melt damaged core existed and cooling water washed out Cs-137 and Sr-90 attached on containment walls. Safe store of released radioactivity was highly important and acquired important data was recommended to publish for check and review. (T. Tanaka)

  17. Taking Energy to the Physics Classroom from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cid, Xabier; Cid, Ramon

    2009-01-01

    In 2008, the greatest experiment in history began. When in full operation, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will generate the greatest amount of information that has ever been produced in an experiment before. It will also reveal some of the most fundamental secrets of nature. Despite the enormous amount of information available on this…

  18. A Transmission-Cost-Based Model to Estimate the Amount of Market-Integrable Wind Resources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morales González, Juan Miguel; Pinson, Pierre; Madsen, Henrik

    2012-01-01

    are made to share the expenses in transmission derived from their integration, they may see the doors of electricity markets closed for not being competitive enough. This paper presents a model to decide the amount of wind resources that are economically exploitable at a given location from a transmission......In the pursuit of the large-scale integration of wind power production, it is imperative to evaluate plausible frictions among the stochastic nature of wind generation, electricity markets, and the investments in transmission required to accommodate larger amounts of wind. If wind producers......-cost perspective. This model accounts for the uncertain character of wind by using a modeling framework based on stochastic optimization, simulates market barriers by means of a bi-level structure, and considers the financial risk of investments in transmission through the conditional value-at-risk. The major...

  19. Effect of ascorbate, nitrate and nitrite on the amount of flavour compounds produced from leucine by Staphylococcus xylosus and Staphylococcus carnosus

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Pelle Thonning; Stahnke, Louise Heller; Talon, R.

    2004-01-01

    Resting cells of Staphylococcus xylosus and S. carnosus were incubated with ascorbate, nitrate and nitrite in defined reaction medium and their degradation of H-3-labelled leucine into methyl-branched catabolites were studied using HPLC/radiometric detection. The experiments were carried out...... of nitrite and nitrate for S. xylosus. Addition of alpha-ketoglutarate generally increased the concentration of 3-methylbutanoic acid for both S. xylosus and S. carnosus....... with and without addition of alpha-ketoglutarate. The main catabolic product of leucine degradation was 3-methylbutanoic acid but also small amounts of alpha-hydroxy isocaproic acid were produced. Nitrite addition lowered the concentration of 3-methylbutanoic acid for both Staphylococcus species and this effect...

  20. Producing energy from cardboard factory waste, Finding sustainable solutions for handling non-recyclable waste

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dijkstra, Thijs

    2008-01-01

    Eska Graphic Board is a cardboard factory which requires large amounts of energy in the form of heat for the production of graphical cardboard. Currently, Eska has on-site gas powered boilers to produce heat and a combined-heat-and-power (CHP) system to p

  1. Methods for the preparation of large quantities of complex single-stranded oligonucleotide libraries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murgha, Yusuf E; Rouillard, Jean-Marie; Gulari, Erdogan

    2014-01-01

    Custom-defined oligonucleotide collections have a broad range of applications in fields of synthetic biology, targeted sequencing, and cytogenetics. Also, they are used to encode information for technologies like RNA interference, protein engineering and DNA-encoded libraries. High-throughput parallel DNA synthesis technologies developed for the manufacture of DNA microarrays can produce libraries of large numbers of different oligonucleotides, but in very limited amounts. Here, we compare three approaches to prepare large quantities of single-stranded oligonucleotide libraries derived from microarray synthesized collections. The first approach, alkaline melting of double-stranded PCR amplified libraries with a biotinylated strand captured on streptavidin coated magnetic beads results in little or no non-biotinylated ssDNA. The second method wherein the phosphorylated strand of PCR amplified libraries is nucleolyticaly hydrolyzed is recommended when small amounts of libraries are needed. The third method combining in vitro transcription of PCR amplified libraries to reverse transcription of the RNA product into single-stranded cDNA is our recommended method to produce large amounts of oligonucleotide libraries. Finally, we propose a method to remove any primer binding sequences introduced during library amplification.

  2. No Large Scale Curvature Perturbations during Waterfall of Hybrid Inflation

    OpenAIRE

    Abolhasani, Ali Akbar; Firouzjahi, Hassan

    2010-01-01

    In this paper the possibility of generating large scale curvature perturbations induced from the entropic perturbations during the waterfall phase transition of standard hybrid inflation model is studied. We show that whether or not appreciable amounts of large scale curvature perturbations are produced during the waterfall phase transition depend crucially on the competition between the classical and the quantum mechanical back-reactions to terminate inflation. If one considers only the clas...

  3. Empirical relationships between tree fall and landscape-level amounts of logging and fire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindenmayer, David B; Blanchard, Wade; Blair, David; McBurney, Lachlan; Stein, John; Banks, Sam C

    2018-01-01

    Large old trees are critically important keystone structures in forest ecosystems globally. Populations of these trees are also in rapid decline in many forest ecosystems, making it important to quantify the factors that influence their dynamics at different spatial scales. Large old trees often occur in forest landscapes also subject to fire and logging. However, the effects on the risk of collapse of large old trees of the amount of logging and fire in the surrounding landscape are not well understood. Using an 18-year study in the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria, we quantify relationships between the probability of collapse of large old hollow-bearing trees at a site and the amount of logging and the amount of fire in the surrounding landscape. We found the probability of collapse increased with an increasing amount of logged forest in the surrounding landscape. It also increased with a greater amount of burned area in the surrounding landscape, particularly for trees in highly advanced stages of decay. The most likely explanation for elevated tree fall with an increasing amount of logged or burned areas in the surrounding landscape is change in wind movement patterns associated with cutblocks or burned areas. Previous studies show that large old hollow-bearing trees are already at high risk of collapse in our study area. New analyses presented here indicate that additional logging operations in the surrounding landscape will further elevate that risk. Current logging prescriptions require the protection of large old hollow-bearing trees on cutblocks. We suggest that efforts to reduce the probability of collapse of large old hollow-bearing trees on unlogged sites will demand careful landscape planning to limit the amount of timber harvesting in the surrounding landscape.

  4. Thickness determination of large-area films of yttria-stabilized zirconia produced by pulsed laser deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pryds, N. [Materials Research Department, Riso National Laboratory, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark)]. E-mail: nini.pryds@risoe.dk; Toftmann, B. [Department of Optics and Plasma Research, Riso National Laboratory, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark); Bilde-Sorensen, J.B. [Materials Research Department, Riso National Laboratory, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark); Schou, J. [Department of Optics and Plasma Research, Riso National Laboratory, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark); Linderoth, S. [Materials Research Department, Riso National Laboratory, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark)

    2006-04-30

    Films of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) on a polished silicon substrate of diameter up to 125 mm have been produced in a large-area pulsed laser deposition (PLD) setup under typical PLD conditions. The film thickness over the full film area has been determined by energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with use of a method similar to one described by Bishop and Poole. The attenuation of the electron-induced X-rays from the Si wafer by the film was monitored at a number of points along a diameter and the thickness was determined by Monte Carlo simulations of the attenuation for various values of film thickness with the program CASINO. These results have been compared with direct measurements in the SEM of the film thickness on a cross-section on one of the wafers. The results of these measurements demonstrate the ability of this technique to accurately determine the thickness of a large film, i.e. up to diameters of 125 mm, in a relatively short time, without destroying the substrate, without the need of a standard sample and without the need of a flat substrate. We have also demonstrated that by controlling the deposition parameters large-area YSZ films with uniform thickness can be produced.

  5. Thickness determination of large-area films of yttria-stabilized zirconia produced by pulsed laser deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pryds, N.; Toftmann, B.; Bilde-Sorensen, J.B.; Schou, J.; Linderoth, S.

    2006-01-01

    Films of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) on a polished silicon substrate of diameter up to 125 mm have been produced in a large-area pulsed laser deposition (PLD) setup under typical PLD conditions. The film thickness over the full film area has been determined by energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with use of a method similar to one described by Bishop and Poole. The attenuation of the electron-induced X-rays from the Si wafer by the film was monitored at a number of points along a diameter and the thickness was determined by Monte Carlo simulations of the attenuation for various values of film thickness with the program CASINO. These results have been compared with direct measurements in the SEM of the film thickness on a cross-section on one of the wafers. The results of these measurements demonstrate the ability of this technique to accurately determine the thickness of a large film, i.e. up to diameters of 125 mm, in a relatively short time, without destroying the substrate, without the need of a standard sample and without the need of a flat substrate. We have also demonstrated that by controlling the deposition parameters large-area YSZ films with uniform thickness can be produced

  6. Stable producer cell lines for adeno-associated virus (AAV) assembly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chadeuf, Gilliane; Salvetti, Anna

    2010-10-01

    Stable producer cell lines containing both the rep and cap genes and recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors can be infected with a helper virus to provide reliable and efficient production of rAAV stocks. However, the development of these cell lines is time-consuming. The procedure described here is therefore recommended only for studies requiring the production of high amounts of rAAV, such as preclinical studies performed in large animals.

  7. Renewable Energy Monitoring Protocol. Update 2010. Methodology for the calculation and recording of the amounts of energy produced from renewable sources in the Netherlands

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Te Buck, S.; Van Keulen, B.; Bosselaar, L.; Gerlagh, T.; Skelton, T.

    2010-07-15

    This is the fifth, updated edition of the Dutch Renewable Energy Monitoring Protocol. The protocol, compiled on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, can be considered as a policy document that provides a uniform calculation method for determining the amount of energy produced in the Netherlands in a renewable manner. Because all governments and organisations use the calculation methods described in this protocol, this makes it possible to monitor developments in this field well and consistently. The introduction of this protocol outlines the history and describes its set-up, validity and relationship with other similar documents and agreements. The Dutch Renewable Energy Monitoring Protocol is compiled by NL Agency, and all relevant parties were given the chance to provide input. This has been incorporated as far as is possible. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) uses this protocol to calculate the amount of renewable energy produced in the Netherlands. These data are then used by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to gauge the realisation of policy objectives. In June 2009 the European Directive for energy from renewable sources was published with renewable energy targets for the Netherlands. This directive used a different calculation method - the gross energy end-use method - whilst the Dutch definition is based on the so-called substitution method. NL Agency was asked to add the calculation according to the gross end use method, although this is not clearly defined on a number of points. In describing the method, the unanswered questions become clear, as do, for example, the points the Netherlands should bring up in international discussions.

  8. The economics of producing energy crops

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shapouri, H.; Duffield, J.

    1993-01-01

    The US agricultural sector has an immense supply of natural resources which can be used to product energy. Production of energy from these resources could stimulate economic growth, improve environmental quality, and enhance energy security. However, producing feedstocks and converting biomass to energy require large amounts of capital, equipment, labor, and processing facilities. This paper looks at the costs and benefits of producing energy crops for fuel conversion. A review of studies and crop data show that the cost of growing and converting various feedstocks with current technology is greater than the cost of producing conventional fuels. Conventional motor fuels have a price advantage over biofuels, but market prices don't always reflect the cost of negative externalities imposed on society. Government decisions to invest in alternative energy sources should be based on research that includes the environmental costs and benefits of energy production. The future of biofuels will depend on the continuation of government research and incentive programs. As new technologies advance, the costs of processing energy crops and residues will fall, making biofuels more competitive in energy markets

  9. Temporal trends for dioxins-related agrochemicals in sediments in a large-scale rice-producing area, Niigata, Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sakai, Mizuki; Hideo, Kajihara [Niigata Univ. (Japan). Graduate School of Science and Technology; Hiroaki, Muto; Yukio, Takahashi [Niigata Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

    2004-09-15

    Japanese people have historically eaten rice as the main grain constituent in their diet. In the past 50 years, a larger amount of agrochemicals have been applied to Japanese rice fields to increase rice production. Masunaga et al. reported that common Japanese agrochemicals such as pentachlorophenol (PCP) and chloronitrophen (CNP) used in rice fields in the past contain dioxins as impurities. Since Niigata Plain is the largest rice-producing area in Japan, the soil and/or sediment in the lower basin in Niigata Plain could be highly polluted. In the previous study, we measured the age of a sediment core and the amount of dioxins (PCDD/DFs) in Toyano Lagoon and estimated the historical trend and the sources of dioxin. Most of the sources of dioxin in Toyano Lagoon sediment were PCP and CNP. The aims of this work are to quantify the extent, clarify the historical trends of CNP and PCP pollution in the Toyano Lagoon sediment and consider the interrelation between them.

  10. Talaromyces atroroseus, a new species efficiently producing industrially relevant red pigments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frisvad, Jens Christian; Yilmaz, Neriman; Thrane, Ulf

    2013-01-01

    ., described in this study, produces the azaphilone biosynthetic families mitorubrins and Monascus pigments without any production of mycotoxins. Within the red pigment producing clade, T. atroroseus resolved in a distinct clade separate from all the other species in multigene phylogenies (ITS, β......Some species of Talaromyces secrete large amounts of red pigments. Literature has linked this character to species such as Talaromyces purpurogenus, T. albobiverticillius, T. marneffei, and T. minioluteus often under earlier Penicillium names. Isolates identified as T. purpurogenus have been...... reported to be interesting industrially and they can produce extracellular enzymes and red pigments, but they can also produce mycotoxins such as rubratoxin A and B and luteoskyrin. Production of mycotoxins limits the use of isolates of a particular species in biotechnology. Talaromyces atroroseus sp. nov...

  11. Automated analysis for large amount gaseous fission product gamma-scanning spectra from nuclear power plant and its data mining

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weihua Zhang; Kurt Ungar; Ian Hoffman; Ryan Lawrie; Jarmo Ala-Heikkila

    2010-01-01

    Based on the Linssi database and UniSampo/Shaman software, an automated analysis platform has been setup for the analysis of large amounts of gamma-spectra from the primary coolant monitoring systems of a CANDU reactor. Thus, a database inventory of gaseous and volatile fission products in the primary coolant of a CANDU reactor has been established. This database is comprised of 15,000 spectra of radioisotope analysis records. Records from the database inventory were retrieved by a specifically designed data-mining module and subjected to further analysis. Results from the analysis were subsequently used to identify the reactor coolant half-life of 135 Xe and 133 Xe, as well as the correlations of 135 Xe and 88 Kr activities. (author)

  12. [Morphological characteristics and physiological properties of aflatoxin B1 producing and non-producing Aspergillus flavus strains].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kogbo, W; Lemarinier, S; Boutibonnes, P

    1985-09-01

    Comparison between about 80 strains of Aspergillus flavus, belonging to the series flavus and oryzae, obtained from international collections but also isolated from French or African substrates revealed the following observations: 1. Cultural and morphological characteristics of toxicogenic and atoxicogenic strains of A. flavus are similar. However, the former produce a diffusible yellow pigment in 83% of isolates. 2. The two groups of conidiospores have the same resistance to UV irradiation (254 nm, 5 and 10 min). All the strains are equally sensitive to 4 antifungal antibiotics: nystatine, ketoconazole, clotrimazole and amphotericine. 3. A difference was seen in the capacity to produce enzymes as alpha-galactosidase, beta-galactosidase and beta-glucosidase, implicated in the glucid metabolism. The specific hydrolytic activity has been confirmed by the characterization of a large amount of beta-galactosidase and by a diauxic growth on glucose medium supplemented by lactose. Possible relationship between these characters and aflatoxin B1 production by A. flavus strains is discussed.

  13. How restrained eaters perceive the amount they eat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jansen, A

    1996-09-01

    The cognitive model of binge eating states that it is the awareness of a broken diet that disinhibits the restrained eater. It is, according to that model, the perception of having overeaten that triggers disinhibited eating. However, although the perception of the amount eaten plays a central role in cognitive restraint theory, it has never directly been tested how restrained subjects perceive the amount of food they eat. In the present studies, participants were given ad libitum access to large amounts of palatable food and both their perception of the amount eaten and their estimated caloric intake were compared with the amount they actually ate. The restrained participants in these studies ate more than the unrestrained participants. In the first and second studies, the restrained participants consumed 571 and 372 'forbidden' calories respectively, without having the feeling that they had eaten very much, let alone too much. Moreover in both studies, the restrained eaters underestimated their caloric intake, whereas unrestrained eaters estimated their caloric intake quite well. The potential implications of the present findings for the cognitive restraint model are discussed.

  14. Synthesis of biodiesel from waste vegetable oil with large amounts of free fatty acids using a carbon-based solid acid catalyst

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shu, Qing; Gao, Jixian; Nawaz, Zeeshan; Liao, Yuhui; Wang, Dezheng; Wang, Jinfu [Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Reaction Engineering and Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

    2010-08-15

    A carbon-based solid acid catalyst was prepared by the sulfonation of carbonized vegetable oil asphalt. This catalyst was employed to simultaneously catalyze esterification and transesterification to synthesis biodiesel when a waste vegetable oil with large amounts of free fatty acids (FFAs) was used as feedstock. The physical and chemical properties of this catalyst were characterized by a variety of techniques. The maximum conversion of triglyceride and FFA reached 80.5 wt.% and 94.8 wt.% after 4.5 h at 220 C, when using a 16.8 M ratio of methanol to oil and 0.2 wt.% of catalyst to oil. The high catalytic activity and stability of this catalyst was related to its high acid site density (-OH, Broensted acid sites), hydrophobicity that prevented the hydration of -OH species, hydrophilic functional groups (-SO{sub 3}H) that gave improved accessibility of methanol to the triglyceride and FFAs, and large pores that provided more acid sites for the reactants. (author)

  15. Comparison Analysis among Large Amount of SNS Sites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toriumi, Fujio; Yamamoto, Hitoshi; Suwa, Hirohiko; Okada, Isamu; Izumi, Kiyoshi; Hashimoto, Yasuhiro

    In recent years, application of Social Networking Services (SNS) and Blogs are growing as new communication tools on the Internet. Several large-scale SNS sites are prospering; meanwhile, many sites with relatively small scale are offering services. Such small-scale SNSs realize small-group isolated type of communication while neither mixi nor MySpace can do that. However, the studies on SNS are almost about particular large-scale SNSs and cannot analyze whether their results apply for general features or for special characteristics on the SNSs. From the point of view of comparison analysis on SNS, comparison with just several types of those cannot reach a statistically significant level. We analyze many SNS sites with the aim of classifying them by using some approaches. Our paper classifies 50,000 sites for small-scale SNSs and gives their features from the points of network structure, patterns of communication, and growth rate of SNS. The result of analysis for network structure shows that many SNS sites have small-world attribute with short path lengths and high coefficients of their cluster. Distribution of degrees of the SNS sites is close to power law. This result indicates the small-scale SNS sites raise the percentage of users with many friends than mixi. According to the analysis of their coefficients of assortativity, those SNS sites have negative values of assortativity, and that means users with high degree tend to connect users with small degree. Next, we analyze the patterns of user communication. A friend network of SNS is explicit while users' communication behaviors are defined as an implicit network. What kind of relationships do these networks have? To address this question, we obtain some characteristics of users' communication structure and activation patterns of users on the SNS sites. By using new indexes, friend aggregation rate and friend coverage rate, we show that SNS sites with high value of friend coverage rate activate diary postings

  16. Reconnection During Periods of Large IMF By Producing Shear Instabilities at the Dayside Convection Reversal Boundary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qamar, S.; Clauer, C. R.; Hartinger, M.; Xu, Z.

    2017-12-01

    During periods of large interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By component and small negative Bz (GSM Coordinates), the ionospheric polar electric potential system is distorted so as to produce large east-west convection shears across local noon. Past research has shown examples of ULF waves with periods of approximately 10 - 20 minutes observed at this convection shear by the Greenland west coast chain of magnetometers. Past work has shown examples of these waves and associated them with conditions in the solar wind and IMF, particularly periods of large IMF By component. Here we report the results of a search of several years of solar wind data to identify periods when the IMF By component is large and the magnetometer chains along the 40-degree magnetic meridian (Greenland west coast and conjugate Antarctic chains) are within a few hours of local noon. We test here the hypothesis that large IMF By reconnection leads to large convection shears across local noon that generate ULF waves through, presumably, a shear instability such as Kelvin-Helmholtz.

  17. Effect of the amount of yeast on fermentation in mixtures of molasses and grains

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Poluyanova, M T

    1960-01-01

    In the mixing of grains with molasses for ethanol fermentation, the amount of ethanol produced, the acidity, the amount of unfermented sugar, and other values change greatly with the amount of yeast cells present; for each mixture there exists not only the optimum temperature and the optimum concentration of the liquor, but there is also an optimum cell count.

  18. Microbiota-Produced Succinate Improves Glucose Homeostasis via Intestinal Gluconeogenesis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    De Vadder, Filipe; Kovatcheva-Datchary, Petia; Zitoun, Carine

    2016-01-01

    Beneficial effects of dietary fiber on glucose and energy homeostasis have long been described, focusing mostly on the production of short-chain fatty acids by the gut commensal bacteria. However, bacterial fermentation of dietary fiber also produces large amounts of succinate and, to date......, no study has focused on the role of succinate on host metabolism. Here, we fed mice a fiber-rich diet and found that succinate was the most abundant carboxylic acid in the cecum. Dietary succinate was identified as a substrate for intestinal gluconeogenesis (IGN), a process that improves glucose...

  19. Method for producing redox shuttles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pupek, Krzysztof Z.; Dzwiniel, Trevor L.; Krumdick, Gregory K.

    2015-03-03

    A single step method for producing a redox shuttle having the formula 2,5-di-tert-butyl-1,4-phenylene tetraethyl bis(phosphate) is provided, the method comprising phosphorylating tert butyl hydroquinone with a phosphate-containing reagent. Also provided is method for producing 2,5-di-tert-butyl-1,4-phenylene tetraethyl bis(phosphate), the method comprising solubilizing tert-butyl hydroquinone and tetrabutylammonium bromide with methyltetrahydrofuran to create a mixture; heating the mixture while adding base to the mixture in an amount to turn the mixture orange; and adding diethyl chlorophosphate to the orange mixture in an amount to phosphorylate the hydroquinone.

  20. Cellular and molecular deviations in bovine in vitro-produced embryos are related to the large offspring syndrome

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lazzari, G.; Wrenzycki, C.; Herrmann, D.; Duchi, R.; Kruip, T.; Niemann, H.; Galli, C.

    2002-01-01

    The large offspring syndrome (LOS) is observed in bovine and ovine offspring following transfer of in vitro-produced (IVP) or cloned embryos and is characterized by a multitude of pathologic changes, of which extended gestation length and increased birthweight are predominant features. In the

  1. Large-scale retrieval for medical image analytics: A comprehensive review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhongyu; Zhang, Xiaofan; Müller, Henning; Zhang, Shaoting

    2018-01-01

    Over the past decades, medical image analytics was greatly facilitated by the explosion of digital imaging techniques, where huge amounts of medical images were produced with ever-increasing quality and diversity. However, conventional methods for analyzing medical images have achieved limited success, as they are not capable to tackle the huge amount of image data. In this paper, we review state-of-the-art approaches for large-scale medical image analysis, which are mainly based on recent advances in computer vision, machine learning and information retrieval. Specifically, we first present the general pipeline of large-scale retrieval, summarize the challenges/opportunities of medical image analytics on a large-scale. Then, we provide a comprehensive review of algorithms and techniques relevant to major processes in the pipeline, including feature representation, feature indexing, searching, etc. On the basis of existing work, we introduce the evaluation protocols and multiple applications of large-scale medical image retrieval, with a variety of exploratory and diagnostic scenarios. Finally, we discuss future directions of large-scale retrieval, which can further improve the performance of medical image analysis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Multiscale Aspects of the Storm Producing the June 2013 Flooding in Uttarakhand, India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Houze, R. A. [Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington; McMurdie, L. A. [Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Rasmussen, K. L. [Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado; Kumar, A. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland; Chaplin, M. M. [Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

    2017-11-01

    Conditions producing disastrous flooding in Uttarakhand, India, in June 2013 differed from conditions that produced other notorious floods in the Himalayan region in recent years. During the week preceding the Uttarakhand flood, deep convection moistened the mountainsides, making them vulnerable to flooding. However, the precipitation producing the flood was not associated with a deep convective event. Rather, an eastward-propagating upper-level trough in the westerlies extended abnormally far southward, with the jet reaching the Himalayas. The south end of the trough merged with a monsoon low moving westward across India. The merged system produced persistent moist low-level flow oriented normal to the Himalayas that advected large amounts of water vapor into the Uttarakhand region. The flow was moist neutral when it passed over the Himalayan barrier, and orographic lifting produced heavy continuous rain over the region for 2–3 days. The precipitation was largely stratiform in nature although embedded convection of moderate depth occurred along the foothills, where some mild instability was being released. The Uttarakhand flood had characteristics in common with major 2013 floods in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Alberta, Canada.

  3. A rationale for large inertial fusion plants producing hydrogen for powering low emission vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Logan, B.G.

    1993-01-01

    Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) has been identified in the 1991 National Energy Strategy, along with Magnetic Fusion Energy (MFE), as one of only three inexhaustible energy sources for long term energy supply (past 2025), the other alternatives being fission and solar energy. Fusion plants, using electrolysis, could also produce hydrogen to power low emission vehicles in a potentially huge future US market: > 500 GWe would be needed for example, to replace all foreign oil imports with equal-energy hydrogen, assuming 70%-efficient electrolysis. Any inexhaustible source of electricity, including IFE and MFE reactors, can thus provide a long term renewable source of hydrogen as well as solar, wind and biomass sources. Hydrogen production by both high temperature thermochemical cycles and by electrolysis has been studied for MFE, but avoiding trace tritium contamination of the hydrogen product would best be assured using electrolysis cells well separated from any fusion coolant loops. The motivations to consider IFE or MFE producing renewable hydrogen are: (1) reducing US dependence on foreign oil imports and the associated trade deficient; (2) a hydrogen-based transportation system could greatly mitigate future air pollution and greenhouse gases; (3) investments in hydrogen pipelines, storage, and distribution systems could be used for a variety of hydrogen sources; (4) a hydrogen pipeline system could access and buffer sufficiently large markets that temporary outages of large (>> 1 GWe size) fusion hydrogen units could be tolerated

  4. Screening concepts for the isolation of biosurfactant producing microorganisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walter, Vanessa; Syldatk, Christoph; Hausmann, Rudolf

    2010-01-01

    This chapter gives an overview of current methods for the isolation of biosurfactant producing microbes. The common screening methods for biosurfactants are presented. Sampling and isolation of bacteria are the basis for screening of biosurfactant producing microbes. Hydrocarbon-contaminated sites are the most promising for the isolation of biosurfactant producing microbes, but many strains have also been isolated from undisturbed sites. In subsequent steps the isolates have to be characterized in order to identify the strains which are interesting for a further investigation. Several techniques have been developed for identifying biosurfactant producing strains. Most of them are directly based on the surface or interfacial activity of the culture supernatant. Apart from that, some screening methods explore the hydrophobicity of the cell surface. This trait also gives an indication on biosurfactant production. In recent years automation and miniaturization have led to the development of high throughput methods for screening. High throughput screening (HTS) for analyzing large amounts of potential candidates or whole culture collections is reflected in the end. However, no new principals have been introduced by HTS methods.

  5. NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Methods and Mechanisms for Producing Ions from Large Molecules

    CERN Document Server

    Ens, Werner

    1991-01-01

    A NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Methods and Mechanisms for Producing Ions from Large Molecules was held at Minaki Lodge, Minaki, Ontario, Canada, from 24 to 28 June 1990. The workshop was hosted by the time-of-flight group of the Department of Physics at the University of Manitoba, and was attended by 64 invited participants from around the world. Twenty-nine invited talks were given and 19 papers were presented as posters. Of the 48 contributions, 38 are included in these proceedings. The conference was organized to study the rapidly changing field of mass spectrometry of biomolecules. Particle-induced desorption (especially with MeV particles) has been the most effective method of producing molecular ions from biomolecules. An important part of the workshop was devoted to recent developments in this field, particularly to progress in understanding the fundamentals of the desorption process. In this respect, the meeting was similar to previous conferences in Marburg, FRG (1978); Paris, F (1980); Uppsala...

  6. Mesenchymal stromal cells derived from cervical cancer produce high amounts of adenosine to suppress cytotoxic T lymphocyte functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María de Lourdes Mora-García

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In recent years, immunomodulatory mechanisms of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs from bone marrow and other “classic” sources have been described. However, the phenotypic and functional properties of tumor MSCs are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to analyze the immunosuppressive capacity of cervical cancer-derived MSCs (CeCa-MSCs on effector T lymphocytes through the purinergic pathway. Methods We determined the expression and functional activity of the membrane-associated ectonucleotidases CD39 and CD73 on CeCa-MSCs and normal cervical tissue-derived MSCs (NCx-MSCs. We also analyzed their immunosuppressive capacity to decrease proliferation, activation and effector cytotoxic T (CD8+ lymphocyte function through the generation of adenosine (Ado. Results We detected that CeCa-MSCs express higher levels of CD39 and CD73 ectonucleotidases in cell membranes compared to NCx-MSCs, and that this feature was associated with the ability to strongly suppress the proliferation, activation and effector functions of cytotoxic T-cells through the generation of large amounts of Ado from the hydrolysis of ATP, ADP and AMP nucleotides. Conclusions This study suggests that CeCa-MSCs play an important role in the suppression of the anti-tumor immune response in CeCa through the purinergic pathway.

  7. Mesenchymal stromal cells derived from cervical cancer produce high amounts of adenosine to suppress cytotoxic T lymphocyte functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Lourdes Mora-García, María; García-Rocha, Rosario; Morales-Ramírez, Omar; Montesinos, Juan José; Weiss-Steider, Benny; Hernández-Montes, Jorge; Ávila-Ibarra, Luis Roberto; Don-López, Christian Azucena; Velasco-Velázquez, Marco Antonio; Gutiérrez-Serrano, Vianey; Monroy-García, Alberto

    2016-10-26

    In recent years, immunomodulatory mechanisms of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) from bone marrow and other "classic" sources have been described. However, the phenotypic and functional properties of tumor MSCs are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to analyze the immunosuppressive capacity of cervical cancer-derived MSCs (CeCa-MSCs) on effector T lymphocytes through the purinergic pathway. We determined the expression and functional activity of the membrane-associated ectonucleotidases CD39 and CD73 on CeCa-MSCs and normal cervical tissue-derived MSCs (NCx-MSCs). We also analyzed their immunosuppressive capacity to decrease proliferation, activation and effector cytotoxic T (CD8+) lymphocyte function through the generation of adenosine (Ado). We detected that CeCa-MSCs express higher levels of CD39 and CD73 ectonucleotidases in cell membranes compared to NCx-MSCs, and that this feature was associated with the ability to strongly suppress the proliferation, activation and effector functions of cytotoxic T-cells through the generation of large amounts of Ado from the hydrolysis of ATP, ADP and AMP nucleotides. This study suggests that CeCa-MSCs play an important role in the suppression of the anti-tumor immune response in CeCa through the purinergic pathway.

  8. Mineralogical, Microstructural and Thermal Characterization of Coal Fly Ash Produced from Kazakhstani Power Plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tauanov, Z.; Abylgazina, L.; Spitas, C.; Itskos, G.; Inglezakis, V.

    2017-09-01

    Coal fly ash (CFA) is a waste by-product of coal combustion. Kazakhstan has vast coal deposits and is major consumer of coal and hence produces huge amounts of CFA annually. The government aims to recycle and effectively utilize this waste by-product. Thus, a detailed study of the physical and chemical properties of material is required as the data available in literature is either outdated or not applicable for recently produced CFA samples. The full mineralogical, microstructural and thermal characterization of three types of coal fly ash (CFA) produced in two large Kazakhstani power plants is reported in this work. The properties of CFAs were compared between samples as well as with published values.

  9. Nutrient digestibility of veal calves fed large amounts of different solid feeds during the first 80 days of fattening

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marta Brscic

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The study aimed at evaluating nutrients apparent digestibility in veal calves fed 3 feeding plans based on milk-replacer plus large amounts of solid feeds differing in their composition during the first 80 days of fattening. Twelve Polish Friesian male calves (70.6±1.9 kg were randomly assigned to one of the following feeding treatments: i milk-replacer plus corn grain (CG; ii milk-replacer plus 80:20 mixture (as fed basis of corn grain and wheat straw (CGS; and iii milk-replacer plus 72:20:8 mixture of corn grain, wheat straw and extruded soybean (CGSES. Calves received the same milk-replacer but the daily amount was restricted (96% for CGSES calves to balance dietary protein. Total dry matter intake from milk-replacer and solid feeds was similar among treatments, but CGSES calves showed better growth performance than CG ones. Calves were introduced into a metabolism stall (1/pen during week 9 of fattening for a 3- day adaptation period and a 4-day digestibility trial. Calves fed CG showed the greatest DM, NFC, and ash digestibility while CGSES calves showed the lowest CP digestibility. Haemoglobin concentrations measured at day 5, 31 and 80 were similar among feeding treatments and significantly decreased over time. In CGSES treatment, the combination of milkreplacer with solid feed closer to a complete diet for ruminants led to better calves’ growth performance. However, the reduced protein digestibility with CGSES indicates that protein quality becomes a key factor when formulating diets for veal calves using alternatives to dairy sources.

  10. Preparation of polymer composites using nanostructured carbon produced at large scale by catalytic decomposition of methane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suelves, I.; Utrilla, R.; Torres, D.; Llobet, S. de; Pinilla, J.L.; Lázaro, M.J.; Moliner, R.

    2013-01-01

    Polymer-based composites were prepared using different concentrations of nanostructured carbons (NCs), produced by catalytic decomposition of methane (CDM). Four carbonaceous nanostructures were produced using different catalysts (with Ni and Fe as active phases) in a rotary bed reactor capable of producing up to 20 g of carbon per hour. The effect of nanostructured carbon on the thermal and electrical behaviour of epoxy-based composites is studied. An increase in the thermal stability and the decrease of electrical resistivity were observed for the composites at carbon contents as low as 1 wt%. The highest reduction of the electrical resistivity was obtained using multi-walled carbon nanotubes obtained with the Fe based catalysts. This effect could be related to the high degree of structural order of these materials. The results were compared with those obtained using a commercial carbon nanofibre, showing that the use of carbon nanostructures from CDM can be a valid alternative to the commercial nanofibres. -- Highlights: ► Preparation of polymer nanocomposites with enhanced thermal and electrical properties. ► Formation of nanostructured carbon materials with different textural and structural properties at large scale. ► Catalytic decomposition of methane to simultaneously produce hydrogen and carbon materials.

  11. Large mammal burrows in late Miocene calcic paleosols from central Argentina: paleoenvironment, taphonomy and producers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Cristina Cardonatto

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Large cylindrical sediment-filled structures interpreted as mammal burrows occur within the loess-paleosol sequence of the late Miocene Cerro Azul Formation of central Argentina. A total of 115 burrow fills from three localities were measured. They are typically shallowly dipping, subcylindrical, unbranched structures with rounded ends and lacking enlargements. The horizontal diameter of the burrows range between 0.15 and 1.50 m, with most of the burrows in the interval of 0.39 to 0.98 m. Geometric morphometric analysis of transverse cross-sections support their distinct subcircular and elliptical (horizontally flattened shapes. Burrow fills are typically laminated in the lower part and massive in the upper part. The laminated intervals reflect pulses of flowing water entering the abandoned burrow during moderate rains, whereas massive intervals reflect mass flow input of dense sediment-water mixtures during heavy rains that produced sheet floods. Approximately 1% of the burrows contained fragmentary, disarticulated and weathered mammal bones that were introduced in the open burrow by currents along with other sedimentary particles. Analysis of the tetrapod burrow fossil record suggests that Miocene burrows, including those studied herein, reflect a remarkable increase in the average size of the fossorial fauna. We conclude that large late Miocene mammals dug burrows essentially as a shelter against environmental extremes and to escape predation. The simple architecture of the burrows suggests that the producers essentially foraged aboveground. Several mammal groups acquired fossorial habits in response to cold and seasonally dry climatic conditions that prevailed during the late Miocene in southern South America. The considerable range of horizontal diameters of the studied burrows can be attributed to a variety of producers, including dasypodids, the notoungulate Paedotherium minor, Glyptodontidae and Proscelidodon sp.

  12. Type and amount of organic amendments affect enhanced biogenic methane production from coal and microbial community structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Katherine J.; Lu, Shipeng; Barnhart, Elliott P.; Parker, Albert E.; Fields, Matthew W.; Gerlach, Robin

    2018-01-01

    Slow rates of coal-to-methane conversion limit biogenic methane production from coalbeds. This study demonstrates that rates of coal-to-methane conversion can be increased by the addition of small amounts of organic amendments. Algae, cyanobacteria, yeast cells, and granulated yeast extract were tested at two concentrations (0.1 and 0.5 g/L), and similar increases in total methane produced and methane production rates were observed for all amendments at a given concentration. In 0.1 g/L amended systems, the amount of carbon converted to methane minus the amount produced in coal only systems exceeded the amount of carbon added in the form of amendment, suggesting enhanced coal-to-methane conversion through amendment addition. The amount of methane produced in the 0.5 g/L amended systems did not exceed the amount of carbon added. While the archaeal communities did not vary significantly, the bacterial populations appeared to be strongly influenced by the presence of coal when 0.1 g/L of amendment was added; at an amendment concentration of 0.5 g/L the bacterial community composition appeared to be affected most strongly by the amendment type. Overall, the results suggest that small amounts of amendment are not only sufficient but possibly advantageous if faster in situcoal-to-methane production is to be promoted.

  13. Forest amount affects soybean productivity in Brazilian agricultural frontier

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rattis, L.; Brando, P. M.; Marques, E. Q.; Queiroz, N.; Silverio, D. V.; Macedo, M.; Coe, M. T.

    2017-12-01

    Over the past three decades, large tracts of tropical forests have been converted to crop and pasturelands across southern Amazonia, largely to meet the increasing worldwide demand for protein. As the world's population continue to grow and consume more protein per capita, forest conversion to grow more crops could be a potential solution to meet such demand. However, widespread deforestation is expected to negatively affect crop productivity via multiple pathways (e.g., thermal regulation, rainfall, local moisture, pest control, among others). To quantify how deforestation affects crop productivity, we modeled the relationship between forest amount and enhanced vegetation index (EVI—a proxy for crop productivity) during the soybean planting season across southern Amazonia. Our hypothesis that forest amount causes increased crop productivity received strong support. We found that the maximum MODIS-based EVI in soybean fields increased as a function of forest amount across three spatial-scales, 0.5 km, 1 km, 2 km, 5 km, 10 km, 15 km and 20 km. However, the strength of this relationship varied across years and with precipitation, but only at the local scale (e.g., 500 meters and 1 km radius). Our results highlight the importance of considering forests to design sustainable landscapes.

  14. Seasonal variation in the environmental background level of cosmic ray produced 22Na

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tokuyama, Hideki; Igarashi, Shuichi

    1998-01-01

    22 Na (half life 2.6 year) is produced by cosmic rays, nuclear test and reactor. 7 Be (half life 53.3 day) is produced in atmosphere by reaction. 7 Be/ 22 Na activity ratio is good factor to observe the mixing process between stratosphere and troposphere atmosphere. The seasonal variation of 7 Be and 22 Na deposition, the ratio and the background level of 22 Na deposition were observed in Fukui city and reported in this paper. Very large reasonable change of 22 Na deposition was observed, especially the largest peak in winter. Because the concentration of cosmic-ray-produced nuclear in precipitation and the amount of precipitation were large in winter. 22 Na produced by the previous nuclear test was attenuated. The present 22 Na is only produced by cosmic rays, indicating the background level. 22 Na deposition at Fukui was 0.42Bq m -2 y -1 , one ten-thousandth of 7 Be deposition. 7 Be/ 22 Na activity ratio was changed in season and the largest peak was shown in autumn. In this reason, atmosphere showed relatively short residence time in the lower part of stratosphere, Mixture and exchange of atmosphere between stratosphere and troposphere were the most active in autumn. (S.Y.)

  15. Isolating behavioral mechanisms of intertemporal choice: nicotine effects on delay discounting and amount sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Locey, Matthew L; Dallery, Jesse

    2009-03-01

    Many drugs of abuse produce changes in impulsive choice, that is, choice for a smaller-sooner reinforcer over a larger-later reinforcer. Because the alternatives differ in both delay and amount, it is not clear whether these drug effects are due to the differences in reinforcer delay or amount. To isolate the effects of delay, we used a titrating delay procedure. In phase 1, 9 rats made discrete choices between variable delays (1 or 19 s, equal probability of each) and a delay to a single food pellet. The computer titrated the delay to a single food pellet until the rats were indifferent between the two options. This indifference delay was used as the starting value for the titrating delay for all future sessions. We next evaluated the acute effects of nicotine (subcutaneous 1.0, 0.3, 0.1, and 0.03 mg/kg) on choice. If nicotine increases delay discounting, it should have increased preference for the variable delay. Instead, nicotine had very little effect on choice. In a second phase, the titrated delay alternative produced three food pellets instead of one, which was again produced by the variable delay (1 s or 19 s) alternative. Under this procedure, nicotine increased preference for the one pellet alternative. Nicotine-induced changes in impulsive choice are therefore likely due to differences in reinforcer amount rather than differences in reinforcer delay. In addition, it may be necessary to include an amount sensitivity parameter in any mathematical model of choice when the alternatives differ in reinforcer amount.

  16. Plasmonic Titania Photo catalysts Active under UV and Visible-Light Irradiation: Influence of Gold Amount, Size, and Shape

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kowalska, E.; Rau, S.; Kowalska, E.; Kowalska, E.; Ohtani, B.

    2012-01-01

    Plasmonic titania photo catalysts were prepared by titania modification with gold by photo deposition. It was found that for smaller amount of deposited gold (≤ 0.1 wt%), anatase presence and large surface area were beneficial for efficient hydrogen evolution during methanol dehydrogenation. After testing twelve amounts of deposited gold on large rutile titania, the existence of three optima for 0.5, 2 and >6 wt% of gold was found during acetic acid degradation. Under visible light irradiation, in the case of small gold NPs deposited on fine anatase titania, the dependence of photo activity on gold amount was parabolic, and large gold amount (2 wt%), observable as an intensively coloured powder, caused photo activity decrease. While for large gold NPs deposited on large rutile titania, the dependence represented cascade increase, due to change of size and shape of deposited gold with its amount increase. It has been thought that spherical/hemispherical shape of gold NPs, in comparison with rod-like ones, is beneficial for higher level of photo activity under visible light irradiation. For all tested systems and regardless of deposited amount of gold, each rutile Au/TiO 2 photo catalyst of large gold and titania NPs exhibited much higher photo activity than anatase Au/TiO 2 of small gold and titania NPs

  17. Biological soil crusts emit large amounts of NO and HONO affecting the nitrogen cycle in drylands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamm, Alexandra; Wu, Dianming; Ruckteschler, Nina; Rodríguez-Caballero, Emilio; Steinkamp, Jörg; Meusel, Hannah; Elbert, Wolfgang; Behrendt, Thomas; Sörgel, Matthias; Cheng, Yafang; Crutzen, Paul J.; Su, Hang; Pöschl, Ulrich; Weber, Bettina

    2016-04-01

    Dryland systems currently cover ˜40% of the world's land surface and are still expanding as a consequence of human impact and global change. In contrast to that, information on their role in global biochemical processes is limited, probably induced by the presumption that their sparse vegetation cover plays a negligible role in global balances. However, spaces between the sparse shrubs are not bare, but soils are mostly covered by biological soil crusts (biocrusts). These biocrust communities belong to the oldest life forms, resulting from an assembly between soil particles and cyanobacteria, lichens, bryophytes, and algae plus heterotrophic organisms in varying proportions. Depending on the dominating organism group, cyanobacteria-, lichen-, and bryophyte-dominated biocrusts are distinguished. Besides their ability to restrict soil erosion they fix atmospheric carbon and nitrogen, and by doing this they serve as a nutrient source in strongly depleted dryland ecosystems. In this study we show that a fraction of the nitrogen fixed by biocrusts is metabolized and subsequently returned to the atmosphere in the form of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous acid (HONO). These gases affect the radical formation and oxidizing capacity within the troposphere, thus being of particular interest to atmospheric chemistry. Laboratory measurements using dynamic chamber systems showed that dark cyanobacteria-dominated crusts emitted the largest amounts of NO and HONO, being ˜20 times higher than trace gas fluxes of nearby bare soil. We showed that these nitrogen emissions have a biogenic origin, as emissions of formerly strongly emitting samples almost completely ceased after sterilization. By combining laboratory, field, and satellite measurement data we made a best estimate of global annual emissions amounting to ˜1.1 Tg of NO-N and ˜0.6 Tg of HONO-N from biocrusts. This sum of 1.7 Tg of reactive nitrogen emissions equals ˜20% of the soil release under natural vegetation according

  18. Barium in produced water: Is it a toxicological hazard to the marine environment?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neff, J.M.

    1993-01-01

    Produced water is a complex aqueous mixture of organic and inorganic chemicals that often is generated in large volumes as a by-product of production of oil and gas. Produced water from offshore oil production platforms sometimes is treated to remove particulate oil and then discharged to the ocean. Barium often is the most abundant inorganic chemical, other than the dominant sea salts, in produced water. Some concern has been expressed that the large amounts of barium discharged to the ocean in produced water may have adverse effects on marine biological communities. The ecological risks associated with discharge to the ocean in produced water may have adverse effects on marine biological communities. The ecological risks associated with discharge to the ocean of barium in produced water were evaluated. Concentrations of barium in produced water from different sources range from less than 1.0 to about 2,000 mg/L, and are inversely correlated with concentrations of sulfate. Concentrations of barium in the ocean usually are in the range of 10 to 20 μg/L; the ocean is undersaturated with respect to barite (BaSO 4 ). During mixing and dilution of a produced water plume in the ocean, barium reacts with the abundant sulfate in seawater and precipitates as barite. Barite is completely nontoxic to marine organisms. Because of the high concentration of sulfate in the ocean, ionic barium can not reach concentrations high enough to be toxic to marine organisms

  19. Ultra trace analysis of PAHs by designing simple injection of large amounts of analytes through the sample reconcentration on SPME fiber after magnetic solid phase extraction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khodaee, Nader; Mehdinia, Ali; Esfandiarnejad, Reyhaneh; Jabbari, Ali

    2016-01-15

    A simple solventless injection method was introduced based on the using of a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber for injection of large amounts of the analytes extracted by the magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) procedure. The resulted extract from MSPE procedure was loaded on a G-coated SPME fiber, and then the fiber was injected into the gas chromatography (GC) injection port. This method combines the advantages of exhaustive extraction property of MSPE and the solvent-less injection of SPME to improve the sensitivity of the analysis. In addition, the analytes were re-concentrated prior to inject into the gas chromatography (GC) inlet because of the organic solvent removing from the remaining extract of MSPE technique. Injection of the large amounts of analytes was made possible by using the introduced procedure. Fourteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with different volatility were used as model compounds to investigate the method performance for volatile and semi-volatile compounds. The introduced method resulted in the higher enhancement factors (5097-59376), lower detection limits (0.29-3.3pgmL(-1)), and higher sensitivity for the semi-volatile compounds compared with the conventional direct injection method. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. 21 CFR 101.12 - Reference amounts customarily consumed per eating occasion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ...,3,4 Product category Reference amount Label statement 5 Cereals, dry instant 15 g _ cup (_ g...) (_ g); _ piece(s) (_ g) for large pieces (e.g., large shells or lasagna noodles) or 2 oz (56 g/visual... chow mein noodles 25 g _ cup(s) (_ g) Starches, e.g., cornstarch, potato starch, tapioca, etc. 10 g...

  1. Talaromyces atroroseus, a new species efficiently producing industrially relevant red pigments.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jens C Frisvad

    Full Text Available Some species of Talaromyces secrete large amounts of red pigments. Literature has linked this character to species such as Talaromyces purpurogenus, T. albobiverticillius, T. marneffei, and T. minioluteus often under earlier Penicillium names. Isolates identified as T. purpurogenus have been reported to be interesting industrially and they can produce extracellular enzymes and red pigments, but they can also produce mycotoxins such as rubratoxin A and B and luteoskyrin. Production of mycotoxins limits the use of isolates of a particular species in biotechnology. Talaromyces atroroseus sp. nov., described in this study, produces the azaphilone biosynthetic families mitorubrins and Monascus pigments without any production of mycotoxins. Within the red pigment producing clade, T. atroroseus resolved in a distinct clade separate from all the other species in multigene phylogenies (ITS, β-tubulin and RPB1, which confirm its unique nature. Talaromyces atroroseus resembles T. purpurogenus and T. albobiverticillius in producing red diffusible pigments, but differs from the latter two species by the production of glauconic acid, purpuride and ZG-1494α and by the dull to dark green, thick walled ellipsoidal conidia produced. The type strain of Talaromyces atroroseus is CBS 133442.

  2. Querying Large Biological Network Datasets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gulsoy, Gunhan

    2013-01-01

    New experimental methods has resulted in increasing amount of genetic interaction data to be generated every day. Biological networks are used to store genetic interaction data gathered. Increasing amount of data available requires fast large scale analysis methods. Therefore, we address the problem of querying large biological network datasets.…

  3. Produced water radionuclide hazard/risk assessment, Phase 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hamilton, L.D.; Meinhold, A.F.; Nagy, J.

    1991-06-01

    Petroleum production may be accompanied by the production of saline water, called produced water.'' Produced water discharged into freshwater streams, estuaries, coastal and outer continental shelf waters can contained enhanced levels of radium isotopes. This document reports on the first phase of a study to estimate the risk to human health and the environment from radium discharged in produced water. The study involved five major steps: (1) evaluate the usefulness of available produced water outfall data for developing estimates of radium environmental concentrations; (2) review the literature on the bioaccumulation of radium by aquatic organism; (3) review the literature on the effects of radiation on aquatic organisms; (4) review the information available concerning the human health risks associated with exposure to Ra-226 and Ra-228 and (5) perform a conservative, screening-level assessment of the health and environmental risks posed by Ra-226 and Ra-228 discharged in produced waters. A screening-level analysis was performed to determine whether radium discharged to coastal Louisiana in produced waters presents potential health or environmental risks requiring further study. This conservative assessment suggested that no detectable impact on populations of fish, molluscs or crustaceans from radium discharged in produced waters is likely. The analysis also suggested that there is a potential for risk were an individual to ingest a large amount of seafood harvested near a produced water discharge point over a lifetime. The number of excess cancers predicted per year under a conservative scenario is comparable to those expected to result from background concentrations of radium.

  4. Produced water radionuclide hazard/risk assessment, Phase 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hamilton, L.D.; Meinhold, A.F.; Nagy, J.

    1991-06-01

    Petroleum production may be accompanied by the production of saline water, called ``produced water.`` Produced water discharged into freshwater streams, estuaries, coastal and outer continental shelf waters can contained enhanced levels of radium isotopes. This document reports on the first phase of a study to estimate the risk to human health and the environment from radium discharged in produced water. The study involved five major steps: (1) evaluate the usefulness of available produced water outfall data for developing estimates of radium environmental concentrations; (2) review the literature on the bioaccumulation of radium by aquatic organism; (3) review the literature on the effects of radiation on aquatic organisms; (4) review the information available concerning the human health risks associated with exposure to Ra-226 and Ra-228 and (5) perform a conservative, screening-level assessment of the health and environmental risks posed by Ra-226 and Ra-228 discharged in produced waters. A screening-level analysis was performed to determine whether radium discharged to coastal Louisiana in produced waters presents potential health or environmental risks requiring further study. This conservative assessment suggested that no detectable impact on populations of fish, molluscs or crustaceans from radium discharged in produced waters is likely. The analysis also suggested that there is a potential for risk were an individual to ingest a large amount of seafood harvested near a produced water discharge point over a lifetime. The number of excess cancers predicted per year under a conservative scenario is comparable to those expected to result from background concentrations of radium.

  5. Produced water radionuclide hazard/risk assessment, Phase 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamilton, L.D.; Meinhold, A.F.; Nagy, J.

    1991-06-01

    Petroleum production may be accompanied by the production of saline water, called ''produced water.'' Produced water discharged into freshwater streams, estuaries, coastal and outer continental shelf waters can contained enhanced levels of radium isotopes. This document reports on the first phase of a study to estimate the risk to human health and the environment from radium discharged in produced water. The study involved five major steps: (1) evaluate the usefulness of available produced water outfall data for developing estimates of radium environmental concentrations; (2) review the literature on the bioaccumulation of radium by aquatic organism; (3) review the literature on the effects of radiation on aquatic organisms; (4) review the information available concerning the human health risks associated with exposure to Ra-226 and Ra-228 and (5) perform a conservative, screening-level assessment of the health and environmental risks posed by Ra-226 and Ra-228 discharged in produced waters. A screening-level analysis was performed to determine whether radium discharged to coastal Louisiana in produced waters presents potential health or environmental risks requiring further study. This conservative assessment suggested that no detectable impact on populations of fish, molluscs or crustaceans from radium discharged in produced waters is likely. The analysis also suggested that there is a potential for risk were an individual to ingest a large amount of seafood harvested near a produced water discharge point over a lifetime. The number of excess cancers predicted per year under a conservative scenario is comparable to those expected to result from background concentrations of radium

  6. 7 CFR 1033.71 - Payments to the producer-settlement fund.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ....44(c) by the producer price differential as adjusted pursuant to § 1033.75; (2) An amount obtained by..., other solids, and butterfat prices, respectively; (3) The total value of the somatic cell adjustment to producer milk; and (4) An amount obtained by multiplying the pounds of skim milk and butterfat for which a...

  7. 7 CFR 1126.71 - Payments to the producer-settlement fund.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ....44(c) by the producer price differential as adjusted pursuant to § 1126.75; (2) An amount obtained by..., other solids, and butterfat prices respectively; (3) The total value of the somatic cell adjustment to producer milk; and (4) An amount obtained by multiplying the pounds of skim milk and butterfat for which a...

  8. 7 CFR 1124.71 - Payments to the producer-settlement fund.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ..., other solids, and butterfat prices respectively; and (3) An amount obtained by multiplying the pounds of skim milk and butterfat for which a value was computed pursuant to § 1124.60(h) by the producer price....44(c) by the producer price differential as adjusted pursuant to § 1124.75; (2) An amount obtained by...

  9. 7 CFR 1032.71 - Payments to the producer-settlement fund.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ....44(c) by the producer price differential as adjusted pursuant to § 1032.75; (2) An amount obtained by..., other solids, and butterfat prices respectively; (3) The total value of the somatic cell adjustment to producer milk; and (4) An amount obtained by multiplying the pounds of skim milk and butterfat for which a...

  10. 7 CFR 1030.71 - Payments to the producer-settlement fund.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ....44(c) by the producer price differential as adjusted pursuant to § 1030.75; (2) An amount obtained by..., other solids, and butterfat prices respectively; (3) The total value of the somatic cell adjustment to producer milk; and (4) An amount obtained by multiplying the pounds of skim milk and butterfat for which a...

  11. DOES ELECTRIC CAR PRODUCE EMISSIONS?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimír RIEVAJ

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This article focuses on the comparison of the amount of emissions produced by vehicles with a combustion engine and electric cars. The comparison, which is based on the LCA factor results, indicates that an electric car produces more emissions than a vehicle with combustion engine. The implementation of electric cars will lead to an increase in the production of greenhouse gases.

  12. 29 CFR 4219.14 - Amount of liability for 20-year-limitation amounts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... amount equal to the present value of all initial withdrawal liability payments for which the employer was not liable pursuant to section 4219(c)(1)(B) of ERISA. The present value of such payments shall be... 29 Labor 9 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Amount of liability for 20-year-limitation amounts. 4219.14...

  13. Synthesis of pure iron magnetic nanoparticles in large quantity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tiwary, C S; Kashyap, S; Chattopadhyay, K; Biswas, K

    2013-01-01

    Free nanoparticles of iron (Fe) and their colloids with high saturation magnetization are in demand for medical and microfluidic applications. However, the oxide layer that forms during processing has made such synthesis a formidable challenge. Lowering the synthesis temperature decreases rate of oxidation and hence provides a new way of producing pure metallic nanoparticles prone to oxidation in bulk amount (large quantity). In this paper we have proposed a methodology that is designed with the knowledge of thermodynamic imperatives of oxidation to obtain almost oxygen-free iron nanoparticles, with or without any organic capping by controlled milling at low temperatures in a specially designed high-energy ball mill with the possibility of bulk production. The particles can be ultrasonicated to produce colloids and can be bio-capped to produce transparent solution. The magnetic properties of these nanoparticles confirm their superiority for possible biomedical and other applications. (paper)

  14. Unusual amount of (-)-mesquitol from the heartwood of Prosopis juliflora.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirmah, Peter; Dumarçay, Stéphane; Masson, Eric; Gérardin, Philippe

    2009-01-01

    A large amount of flavonoid has been extracted and isolated from the heartwood of Prosopis juliflora, an exogenous wood species of Kenya. Structural and physicochemical elucidation based on FTIR, (1)H and (13)C NMR, GC-MS and HPLC analysis clearly demonstrated the presence of (-)-mesquitol as the sole compound without any noticeable impurities. The product was able to slow down oxidation of methyl linoleate induced by AIBN. The important amount and high purity of (-)-mesquitol present in the acetonic extract of P. juliflora could therefore be of valuable interest as a potential source of antioxidants from a renewable origin.

  15. Profile Control by Biased Electrodes in Large Diameter RF Produced Pl asma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shinohara, Shunjiro; Matsuoka, Norikazu; Yoshinaka, Toshiro

    1998-10-01

    Control of the plasma profile has been carried out, using the voltage biasing method in the large diameter (45 cm) RF (radio frequency) produced plasma in the presence of the uniform magnetic field (less than 1200 G). Under the low filling pressure condition of 0.16 mTorr, changing the biasing voltages to the three individual end plates with concentric circular ring shapes, the radial electron density (about 10^10 cm-3) profile could be changed from the hollow to the peaked one. On the contrary, the nearly flat electron temperature (several eV) profile did not change appreciably. The azimuthal rotation velocity measured by the Mach probe, i.e. directional probe, showed the different radial profiles (but nearly uniform along the axis) depending on the biasing voltage. This velocity became slower with the low magnetic field (less than 200 G) or in the higher pressure regime up to 20 mTorr with the higher electron density. The experimental results by other biasing methods will also be presented.

  16. CT and angiographic analysis of posterior communicating artery aneurysms: What factors influence the amount of subarachnoid blood?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Young Min; Jung, Kun Sik; Rho, Myung Ho; Choi, Pil Youb; Sung, Young Soon; Kwon, Jae Soo; Lee, Sang Wook

    1998-01-01

    To determine how clinical and angiographic factors relate to the amount of subarachnoid blood detected by computerized tomography in patients with a ruptured aneurysm. Between January 1996 and December 1997, 22 patients with a posterior communicating artery aneurysm were retrospectively evaluated. Oval(three of four cases), funnel(both cases), and daughter-sac (four of five cases) types of aneurysmal sac were found among the 13 patients with a large amount of subarachnoid blood;eight of these had a past history of hyertension or diabetes. Seven of eleven cases of cylindricaltype aneurysmal sac were found among the 9 patients with a small amount of sularachnoid blood;eight of these had no past history of hypertension or diabetes. The average S/N ratio (ratio of maximum sac length to neck diameter) of patients with a small amount of blood was higher than that of patients with a large amount of blood(2.72 vs 2.07). Although many factors influence the amount of subarachnoid blood in an aneurysmal rupture, we found that a large amount of blood was frequently present in the oval, funnel and daughter sac types of aneurysm, when S/N ratio was low, and when an underlying disease such as hypertension or diabetes was present. Conversely, a small amount of blood was present in the cylindrical type, when S/N ratio was high, and where there was no underlying disease.=20

  17. No large scale curvature perturbations during the waterfall phase transition of hybrid inflation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abolhasani, Ali Akbar; Firouzjahi, Hassan

    2011-01-01

    In this paper the possibility of generating large scale curvature perturbations induced from the entropic perturbations during the waterfall phase transition of the standard hybrid inflation model is studied. We show that whether or not appreciable amounts of large scale curvature perturbations are produced during the waterfall phase transition depends crucially on the competition between the classical and the quantum mechanical backreactions to terminate inflation. If one considers only the classical evolution of the system, we show that the highly blue-tilted entropy perturbations induce highly blue-tilted large scale curvature perturbations during the waterfall phase transition which dominate over the original adiabatic curvature perturbations. However, we show that the quantum backreactions of the waterfall field inhomogeneities produced during the phase transition dominate completely over the classical backreactions. The cumulative quantum backreactions of very small scale tachyonic modes terminate inflation very efficiently and shut off the curvature perturbation evolution during the waterfall phase transition. This indicates that the standard hybrid inflation model is safe under large scale curvature perturbations during the waterfall phase transition.

  18. Search for large extra dimensions in final states containing one photon or jet and large missing transverse energy produced in pp collisions at square root[s]=1.96 TeV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aaltonen, T; Adelman, J; Akimoto, T; Albrow, M G; Alvarez González, B; Amerio, S; Amidei, D; Anastassov, A; Annovi, A; Antos, J; Apollinari, G; Apresyan, A; Arisawa, T; Artikov, A; Ashmanskas, W; Attal, A; Aurisano, A; Azfar, F; Azzurri, P; Badgett, W; Barbaro-Galtieri, A; Barnes, V E; Barnett, B A; Bartsch, V; Bauer, G; Beauchemin, P-H; Bedeschi, F; Bednar, P; Beecher, D; Behari, S; Bellettini, G; Bellinger, J; Benjamin, D; Beretvas, A; Beringer, J; Bhatti, A; Binkley, M; Bisello, D; Bizjak, I; Blair, R E; Blocker, C; Blumenfeld, B; Bocci, A; Bodek, A; Boisvert, V; Bolla, G; Bortoletto, D; Boudreau, J; Boveia, A; Brau, B; Bridgeman, A; Brigliadori, L; Bromberg, C; Brubaker, E; Budagov, J; Budd, H S; Budd, S; Burkett, K; Busetto, G; Bussey, P; Buzatu, A; Byrum, K L; Cabrera, S; Calancha, C; Campanelli, M; Campbell, M; Canelli, F; Canepa, A; Carlsmith, D; Carosi, R; Carrillo, S; Carron, S; Casal, B; Casarsa, M; Castro, A; Catastini, P; Cauz, D; Cavaliere, V; Cavalli-Sforza, M; Cerri, A; Cerrito, L; Chang, S H; Chen, Y C; Chertok, M; Chiarelli, G; Chlachidze, G; Chlebana, F; Cho, K; Chokheli, D; Chou, J P; Choudalakis, G; Chuang, S H; Chung, K; Chung, W H; Chung, Y S; Ciobanu, C I; Ciocci, M A; Clark, A; Clark, D; Compostella, G; Convery, M E; Conway, J; Copic, K; Cordelli, M; Cortiana, G; Cox, D J; Crescioli, F; Cuenca Almenar, C; Cuevas, J; Culbertson, R; Cully, J C; Dagenhart, D; Datta, M; Davies, T; de Barbaro, P; De Cecco, S; Deisher, A; De Lorenzo, G; Dell'orso, M; Deluca, C; Demortier, L; Deng, J; Deninno, M; Derwent, P F; di Giovanni, G P; Dionisi, C; Di Ruzza, B; Dittmann, J R; D'Onofrio, M; Donati, S; Dong, P; Donini, J; Dorigo, T; Dube, S; Efron, J; Elagin, A; Erbacher, R; Errede, D; Errede, S; Eusebi, R; Fang, H C; Farrington, S; Fedorko, W T; Feild, R G; Feindt, M; Fernandez, J P; Ferrazza, C; Field, R; Flanagan, G; Forrest, R; Franklin, M; Freeman, J C; Furic, I; Gallinaro, M; Galyardt, J; Garberson, F; Garcia, J E; Garfinkel, A F; Genser, K; Gerberich, H; Gerdes, D; Gessler, A; Giagu, S; Giakoumopoulou, V; Giannetti, P; Gibson, K; Gimmell, J L; Ginsburg, C M; Giokaris, N; Giordani, M; Giromini, P; Giunta, M; Giurgiu, G; Glagolev, V; Glenzinski, D; Gold, M; Goldschmidt, N; Golossanov, A; Gomez, G; Gomez-Ceballos, G; Goncharov, M; González, O; Gorelov, I; Goshaw, A T; Goulianos, K; Gresele, A; Grinstein, S; Grosso-Pilcher, C; Grundler, U; Guimaraes da Costa, J; Gunay-Unalan, Z; Haber, C; Hahn, K; Hahn, S R; Halkiadakis, E; Han, B-Y; Han, J Y; Handler, R; Happacher, F; Hara, K; Hare, D; Hare, M; Harper, S; Harr, R F; Harris, R M; Hartz, M; Hatakeyama, K; Hauser, J; Hays, C; Heck, M; Heijboer, A; Heinemann, B; Heinrich, J; Henderson, C; Herndon, M; Heuser, J; Hewamanage, S; Hidas, D; Hill, C S; Hirschbuehl, D; Hocker, A; Hou, S; Houlden, M; Hsu, S-C; Huffman, B T; Hughes, R E; Husemann, U; Huston, J; Incandela, J; Introzzi, G; Iori, M; Ivanov, A; James, E; Jayatilaka, B; Jeon, E J; Jha, M K; Jindariani, S; Johnson, W; Jones, M; Joo, K K; Jun, S Y; Jung, J E; Junk, T R; Kamon, T; Kar, D; Karchin, P E; Kato, Y; Kephart, R; Keung, J; Khotilovich, V; Kilminster, B; Kim, D H; Kim, H S; Kim, J E; Kim, M J; Kim, S B; Kim, S H; Kim, Y K; Kimura, N; Kirsch, L; Klimenko, S; Knuteson, B; Ko, B R; Koay, S A; Kondo, K; Kong, D J; Konigsberg, J; Korytov, A; Kotwal, A V; Kreps, M; Kroll, J; Krop, D; Krumnack, N; Kruse, M; Krutelyov, V; Kubo, T; Kuhr, T; Kulkarni, N P; Kurata, M; Kusakabe, Y; Kwang, S; Laasanen, A T; Lami, S; Lammel, S; Lancaster, M; Lander, R L; Lannon, K; Lath, A; Latino, G; Lazzizzera, I; Lecompte, T; Lee, E; Lee, H S; Lee, S W; Leone, S; Lewis, J D; Lin, C S; Linacre, J; Lindgren, M; Lipeles, E; Lister, A; Litvintsev, D O; Liu, C; Liu, T; Lockyer, N S; Loginov, A; Loreti, M; Lovas, L; Lu, R-S; Lucchesi, D; Lueck, J; Luci, C; Lujan, P; Lukens, P; Lungu, G; Lyons, L; Lys, J; Lysak, R; Lytken, E; Mack, P; Macqueen, D; Madrak, R; Maeshima, K; Makhoul, K; Maki, T; Maksimovic, P; Malde, S; Malik, S; Manca, G; Manousakis-Katsikakis, A; Margaroli, F; Marino, C; Marino, C P; Martin, A; Martin, V; Martínez, M; Martínez-Ballarín, R; Maruyama, T; Mastrandrea, P; Masubuchi, T; Mattson, M E; Mazzanti, P; McFarland, K S; McIntyre, P; McNulty, R; Mehta, A; Mehtala, P; Menzione, A; Merkel, P; Mesropian, C; Miao, T; Miladinovic, N; Miller, R; Mills, C; Milnik, M; Mitra, A; Mitselmakher, G; Miyake, H; Moggi, N; Moon, C S; Moore, R; Morello, M J; Morlok, J; Movilla Fernandez, P; Mülmenstädt, J; Mukherjee, A; Muller, Th; Mumford, R; Murat, P; Mussini, M; Nachtman, J; Nagai, Y; Nagano, A; Naganoma, J; Nakamura, K; Nakano, I; Napier, A; Necula, V; Neu, C; Neubauer, M S; Nielsen, J; Nodulman, L; Norman, M; Norniella, O; Nurse, E; Oakes, L; Oh, S H; Oh, Y D; Oksuzian, I; Okusawa, T; Orava, R; Osterberg, K; Pagan Griso, S; Pagliarone, C; Palencia, E; Papadimitriou, V; Papaikonomou, A; Paramonov, A A; Parks, B; Pashapour, S; Patrick, J; Pauletta, G; Paulini, M; Paus, C; Pellett, D E; Penzo, A; Phillips, T J; Piacentino, G; Pianori, E; Pinera, L; Pitts, K; Plager, C; Pondrom, L; Poukhov, O; Pounder, N; Prakoshyn, F; Pronko, A; Proudfoot, J; Ptohos, F; Pueschel, E; Punzi, G; Pursley, J; Rademacker, J; Rahaman, A; Ramakrishnan, V; Ranjan, N; Redondo, I; Reisert, B; Rekovic, V; Renton, P; Rescigno, M; Richter, S; Rimondi, F; Ristori, L; Robson, A; Rodrigo, T; Rodriguez, T; Rogers, E; Rolli, S; Roser, R; Rossi, M; Rossin, R; Roy, P; Ruiz, A; Russ, J; Rusu, V; Saarikko, H; Safonov, A; Sakumoto, W K; Saltó, O; Santi, L; Sarkar, S; Sartori, L; Sato, K; Savard, P; Savoy-Navarro, A; Scheidle, T; Schlabach, P; Schmidt, A; Schmidt, E E; Schmidt, M A; Schmidt, M P; Schmitt, M; Schwarz, T; Scodellaro, L; Scott, A L; Scribano, A; Scuri, F; Sedov, A; Seidel, S; Seiya, Y; Semenov, A; Sexton-Kennedy, L; Sfyrla, A; Shalhout, S Z; Shears, T; Shepard, P F; Sherman, D; Shimojima, M; Shiraishi, S; Shochet, M; Shon, Y; Shreyber, I; Sidoti, A; Sinervo, P; Sisakyan, A; Slaughter, A J; Slaunwhite, J; Sliwa, K; Smith, J R; Snider, F D; Snihur, R; Soha, A; Somalwar, S; Sorin, V; Spalding, J; Spreitzer, T; Squillacioti, P; Stanitzki, M; St Denis, R; Stelzer, B; Stelzer-Chilton, O; Stentz, D; Strologas, J; Stuart, D; Suh, J S; Sukhanov, A; Suslov, I; Suzuki, T; Taffard, A; Takashima, R; Takeuchi, Y; Tanaka, R; Tecchio, M; Teng, P K; Terashi, K; Thom, J; Thompson, A S; Thompson, G A; Thomson, E; Tipton, P; Tiwari, V; Tkaczyk, S; Toback, D; Tokar, S; Tollefson, K; Tomura, T; Tonelli, D; Torre, S; Torretta, D; Totaro, P; Tourneur, S; Tu, Y; Turini, N; Ukegawa, F; Vallecorsa, S; van Remortel, N; Varganov, A; Vataga, E; Vázquez, F; Velev, G; Vellidis, C; Veszpremi, V; Vidal, M; Vidal, R; Vila, I; Vilar, R; Vine, T; Vogel, M; Volobouev, I; Volpi, G; Würthwein, F; Wagner, P; Wagner, R G; Wagner, R L; Wagner-Kuhr, J; Wagner, W; Wakisaka, T; Wallny, R; Wang, S M; Warburton, A; Waters, D; Weinberger, M; Wester, W C; Whitehouse, B; Whiteson, D; Wicklund, A B; Wicklund, E; Williams, G; Williams, H H; Wilson, P; Winer, B L; Wittich, P; Wolbers, S; Wolfe, C; Wright, T; Wu, X; Wynne, S M; Xie, S; Yagil, A; Yamamoto, K; Yamaoka, J; Yang, U K; Yang, Y C; Yao, W M; Yeh, G P; Yoh, J; Yorita, K; Yoshida, T; Yu, G B; Yu, I; Yu, S S; Yun, J C; Zanello, L; Zanetti, A; Zaw, I; Zhang, X; Zheng, Y; Zucchelli, S

    2008-10-31

    We present the results of searches for large extra dimensions in samples of events with large missing transverse energy E_{T} and either a photon or a jet produced in pp[over ] collisions at sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab II. For gamma+E_{T} and jet+E_{T} candidate samples corresponding to 2.0 and 1.1 fb;{-1} of integrated luminosity, respectively, we observe good agreement with standard model expectations and obtain a combined lower limit on the fundamental parameter of the large extra dimensions model M_{D} as a function of the number of extra dimensions in the model.

  19. Genetic 'fingerprints' to characterise microbial communities during organic overloading and in large-scale biogas plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kleyboecker, A.; Lerm, S.; Vieth, A.; Wuerdemann, H. [GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Bio-Geo-Engineering, Potsdam (Germany); Miethling-Graff, R. [Bundesforschungsanstalt fuer Landwirtschaft, Braunschweig (Germany). Inst. fuer Agraroekologie; Wittmaier, M. [Institut fuer Kreislaufwirtschaft, Bremen (Germany)

    2007-07-01

    Since fermentation is a complex process, biogas reactors are still known as 'black boxes'. Mostly they are not run at their maximum loading rate due to the possible failure in the process by organic overloading. This means that there are still unused capacities to produce more biogas in less time. Investigations of different large-scale biogas plants showed that fermenters are operated containing different amounts of volatile fatty acids. These amounts can vary so much that one of two digestors, both possessing the same VFA concentration, does not produce gas anymore while the other is still at work. A reason for this phenomenon might be found in the composition of the microbial communities or in differences in the operation of the plants. To gain a better understanding of the 'black box', structural changes in microbial communities during controlled organic overloading in a laboratory and biocenosis of large-scale reactors were investigated. A genetic fingerprint based on 16S rDNA (PCR-SSCP) was used to characterise the microbial community. (orig.)

  20. Analysis of road traffic crash injuries - a technique producing large un-decalcified histological sections

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Uhrenholt, Lars; Gregersen, Markil Ebbe Gregers; Vesterby, Annie

    Introduction:The lower cervical spine facet joints are important structures in cases of chronic pain syndromes following road traffic crashes. Pathophysiological segmental kinematics may occur, particularly during rear-impact collisions, which may cause injury to these joints. Detailed anatomical...... that prepares large un-frozen un-decalcified cervical spine specimens for analysis. Materials and Methods:The cervical spine segments from C4 to C7 are removed en bloc during autopsy. The specimen is fixed throughout in 70% increasing to 99% ethanol and embedded un-decalcified in hardening methyl methacrylate......-duty microtome followed by relevant staining.Results:The described method produces fine detail histological sections that may visualise normal anatomical structures as well as discrete pathoanatomical lesions in the lower cervical spine facet joints.Discussion:The cervical spine facet joints can be analysed...

  1. Comparative genomics of citric-acid-producing Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015 versus enzyme-producing CBS 513.88

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Mikael Rørdam; Salazar, Margarita Pena; Schaap, Peter J.

    2011-01-01

    The filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger exhibits great diversity in its phenotype. It is found globally, both as marine and terrestrial strains, produces both organic acids and hydrolytic enzymes in high amounts, and some isolates exhibit pathogenicity. Although the genome of an industrial enzyme......-producing A. niger strain (CBS 513.88) has already been sequenced, the versatility and diversity of this species compel additional exploration. We therefore undertook whole-genome sequencing of the acidogenic A. niger wild-type strain (ATCC 1015) and produced a genome sequence of very high quality. Only 15...

  2. Large-Scale Flows and Magnetic Fields Produced by Rotating Convection in a Quasi-Geostrophic Model of Planetary Cores

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guervilly, C.; Cardin, P.

    2017-12-01

    Convection is the main heat transport process in the liquid cores of planets. The convective flows are thought to be turbulent and constrained by rotation (corresponding to high Reynolds numbers Re and low Rossby numbers Ro). Under these conditions, and in the absence of magnetic fields, the convective flows can produce coherent Reynolds stresses that drive persistent large-scale zonal flows. The formation of large-scale flows has crucial implications for the thermal evolution of planets and the generation of large-scale magnetic fields. In this work, we explore this problem with numerical simulations using a quasi-geostrophic approximation to model convective and zonal flows at Re 104 and Ro 10-4 for Prandtl numbers relevant for liquid metals (Pr 0.1). The formation of intense multiple zonal jets strongly affects the convective heat transport, leading to the formation of a mean temperature staircase. We also study the generation of magnetic fields by the quasi-geostrophic flows at low magnetic Prandtl numbers.

  3. Soil fungal communities in a Castanea sativa (chestnut) forest producing large quantities of Boletus edulis sensu lato (porcini): where is the mycelium of porcini?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peintner, Ursula; Iotti, Mirco; Klotz, Petra; Bonuso, Enrico; Zambonelli, Alessandra

    2007-04-01

    A study was conducted in a Castanea sativa forest that produces large quantities of the edible mushroom porcini (Boletus edulis sensu lato). The primary aim was to study porcini mycelia in the soil, and to determine if there were any possible ecological and functional interactions with other dominant soil fungi. Three different approaches were used: collection and morphological identification of fruiting bodies, morphological and molecular identification of ectomycorrhizae by rDNA-ITS sequence analyses and molecular identification of the soil mycelia by ITS clone libraries. Soil samples were taken directly under basidiomes of Boletus edulis, Boletus aestivalis, Boletus aereus and Boletus pinophilus. Thirty-nine ectomycorrhizal fungi were identified on root tips whereas 40 fungal species were found in the soil using the cloning technique. The overlap between above- and below-ground fungal communities was very low. Boletus mycelia, compared with other soil fungi, were rare and with scattered distribution, whereas their fruiting bodies dominated the above-ground fungal community. Only B. aestivalis ectomycorrhizae were relatively abundant and detected as mycelia in the soil. No specific fungus-fungus association was found. Factors triggering formation of mycorrhizae and fructification of porcini appear to be too complex to be simply explained on the basis of the amount of fungal mycelia in the soil.

  4. Measuring the Amount of Eroded Soil and Surface Runoff Water in the Field

    OpenAIRE

    Abdulfatah Faraj Aboufayed

    2013-01-01

    Water erosion is the most important problems of the soil in the Jabel Nefusa area located in northwest of Libya; therefore, erosion station had been established in the Faculty of Veterinary and dryfarming research Station, University of the Al-japel Al-gharbi in Zentan. The length of the station is 72.6 feet, 6 feet width and the percentage of its slope is 3%. The station were established to measure the amount of soil eroded and amount of surface water produced during the seasons 95/96 and 96...

  5. Screening and identification of a cutinase-producing Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and properties of the cutinase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiao-Ning; Ran, Qin-Qin; Zhang, Xuejun

    2015-01-01

    Eucommia leaf contains large amounts of natural active products. In extracting the substances, the most important is the removal of the cuticle layer on the leaves and the cell wall in the leaves of Eucommia ulmoides. But the removal of the cuticle layer is a technical difficulty now. Cutinase (EC3.1.1.74) is a multifunctional enzyme with a common alpha/beta fold structure belonging to hydroplane that can make a substantial degradation of horny fatty acids. So this study isolated bacteria capable of producing cutinase from the lesion of Eucommia leaves and identified the bacteria. The identification using PCR-RFLP method confirmed that the strain belongs to Rhodotorula mucilaginosa. The fermentation conditions of the strain-producing cutinase were optimized in this study. The finding of cutinase-producing R. mucilaginosa is significant because the yeast is more secure than plant pathogens, being suitable for mass production.

  6. Utilisation of ISA Reverse Genetics and Large-Scale Random Codon Re-Encoding to Produce Attenuated Strains of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus within Days.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Fabritus, Lauriane; Nougairède, Antoine; Aubry, Fabien; Gould, Ernest A; de Lamballerie, Xavier

    2016-01-01

    Large-scale codon re-encoding is a new method of attenuating RNA viruses. However, the use of infectious clones to generate attenuated viruses has inherent technical problems. We previously developed a bacterium-free reverse genetics protocol, designated ISA, and now combined it with large-scale random codon-re-encoding method to produce attenuated tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), a pathogenic flavivirus which causes febrile illness and encephalitis in humans. We produced wild-type (WT) and two re-encoded TBEVs, containing 273 or 273+284 synonymous mutations in the NS5 and NS5+NS3 coding regions respectively. Both re-encoded viruses were attenuated when compared with WT virus using a laboratory mouse model and the relative level of attenuation increased with the degree of re-encoding. Moreover, all infected animals produced neutralizing antibodies. This novel, rapid and efficient approach to engineering attenuated viruses could potentially expedite the development of safe and effective new-generation live attenuated vaccines.

  7. Gastrointestinal absorption of large amounts of plutonium. Effect of valency state on transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lataillade, G.; Duserre, C.; Metivier, H.; Madic, C.; CEA Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Fontenay-aux-Roses, 92

    1989-01-01

    The gastrointestinal absorption of Pu, ingested in valency state III, IV, V or VI was studied in baboons. For each state, the absorption of Pu from masses ranging from 1 to 7 mg per kg of body weight was compared with that from masses ranging from 5 to 45 μg per kg of body weight. The mass ingested did not affect the gastrointestinal absorption of Pu(IV) or PU(VI), but for Pu(V) and to a lesser extent Pu(III), absorption clearly increased about 150-fold and 7-fold respectively, when large masses of Pu were ingested. When small masses were ingested, the valency state did not affect absorption. The increased Pu absorption observed after ingestion of large masses of Pu(V) or (III) might be due to the weak hydrolysis of these valency states. (author)

  8. Data-based method for creating electricity use load profiles using large amount of customer-specific hourly measured electricity use data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raesaenen, Teemu; Voukantsis, Dimitrios; Niska, Harri; Karatzas, Kostas; Kolehmainen, Mikko

    2010-01-01

    The recent technological developments monitoring the electricity use of small customers provides with a whole new view to develop electricity distribution systems, customer-specific services and to increase energy efficiency. The analysis of customer load profile and load estimation is an important and popular area of electricity distribution technology and management. In this paper, we present an efficient methodology, based on self-organizing maps (SOM) and clustering methods (K-means and hierarchical clustering), capable of handling large amounts of time-series data in the context of electricity load management research. The proposed methodology was applied on a dataset consisting of hourly measured electricity use data, for 3989 small customers located in Northern-Savo, Finland. Information for the hourly electricity use, for a large numbers of small customers, has been made available only recently. Therefore, this paper presents the first results of making use of these data. The individual customers were classified into user groups based on their electricity use profile. On this basis, new, data-based load curves were calculated for each of these user groups. The new user groups as well as the new-estimated load curves were compared with the existing ones, which were calculated by the electricity company, on the basis of a customer classification scheme and their annual demand for electricity. The index of agreement statistics were used to quantify the agreement between the estimated and observed electricity use. The results indicate that there is a clear improvement when using data-based estimations, while the new-estimated load curves can be utilized directly by existing electricity power systems for more accurate load estimates.

  9. Data-based method for creating electricity use load profiles using large amount of customer-specific hourly measured electricity use data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Raesaenen, Teemu; Niska, Harri; Kolehmainen, Mikko [Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Eastern Finland P.O. Box 1627, FIN-70211 Kuopio (Finland); Voukantsis, Dimitrios; Karatzas, Kostas [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki (Greece)

    2010-11-15

    The recent technological developments monitoring the electricity use of small customers provides with a whole new view to develop electricity distribution systems, customer-specific services and to increase energy efficiency. The analysis of customer load profile and load estimation is an important and popular area of electricity distribution technology and management. In this paper, we present an efficient methodology, based on self-organizing maps (SOM) and clustering methods (K-means and hierarchical clustering), capable of handling large amounts of time-series data in the context of electricity load management research. The proposed methodology was applied on a dataset consisting of hourly measured electricity use data, for 3989 small customers located in Northern-Savo, Finland. Information for the hourly electricity use, for a large numbers of small customers, has been made available only recently. Therefore, this paper presents the first results of making use of these data. The individual customers were classified into user groups based on their electricity use profile. On this basis, new, data-based load curves were calculated for each of these user groups. The new user groups as well as the new-estimated load curves were compared with the existing ones, which were calculated by the electricity company, on the basis of a customer classification scheme and their annual demand for electricity. The index of agreement statistics were used to quantify the agreement between the estimated and observed electricity use. The results indicate that there is a clear improvement when using data-based estimations, while the new-estimated load curves can be utilized directly by existing electricity power systems for more accurate load estimates. (author)

  10. Estimation of erosion amount by geochemical characteristic in the Horonobe area, northern Hokkaido

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Kazuharu; Niizato, Tadafumi; Yasue, Ken-ichi; Ishii, Eiichi

    2005-08-01

    This article presents the results of the estimated amount of erosion and uplifting based on mineralogy and organic geochemical characters of the Neogene siliceous rock (Wakkanai and Koetoi Formations) in Horonobe. As a result of the transformational change of silica minerals, it was clarified that the erosion amount was about 0.66 [m ky -1 ] or more at the large uplift site, and about 0.21 [m ky -1 ] or more at the small uplift site at Hokushin region, Horonobe area. In this case of the correlation with the palaeo-geothermal temperature and the sterane/sterene ratio, the ratio is effective measure to estimate the burial depth and erosion amount. We think that the estimation of the amount of erosion and uplifting became possible in high resolution by the organic geochemical character. (author)

  11. Laboratory for Large Data Research

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — FUNCTION: The Laboratory for Large Data Research (LDR) addresses a critical need to rapidly prototype shared, unified access to large amounts of data across both the...

  12. How can we constrain the amount of heat producing elements in the interior of Mars?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grott, M.; Plesa, A.; Breuer, D.

    2013-12-01

    The InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission to be launched in 2016 will study Mars' deep interior and help improving our knowledge about the interior structure and the thermal evolution of the planet - the latter is also directly linked to its volcanic history and atmospheric evolution. Measurements planned with the two main instruments, SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) and HP3 (Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package) aim to constrain the main structure of the planet, i.e. core, mantle and crust as well as the rate at which the planet loses the interior heat over its surface. Since the surface heat flow depends on the amount of radiogenic heat elements (HPE) present in the interior, it offers a measurable quantity which could constrain the heat budget. Being the principal agent regulating the heat budget which in turn influences partial melting in the interior, crustal and atmospheric evolution, the heat producing elements have a major impact on the entire the present temperature thermal history of the planet. To constrain the radiogenic heat elements of the planet from the surface heat flow is possible assuming that the urey number of the planet, which describes the contribution of internal heat production to the surface heat loss, is known. We have tested this assumption by calculating the thermal evolution of the planet with fully dynamical numerical simulations and by comparing the obtained present-day urey number for a set of different models/parameters (Fig. 1). For one-plate planets like Mars, numerical models show - in contrast to models for the Earth, where plate tectonics play a major role adding more complexity to the system - that the urey ratio is mainly sensitive to two effects: the efficiency of cooling due to the temperature-dependence of the viscosity and the mean half-life time of the long lived radiogenic isotopes. The temperature-dependence of the viscosity results in the

  13. How Reservoirs Alter DOM Amount and Composition: Sources, Sinks, and Transformations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraus, T. E.; Bergamaschi, B. A.; Hernes, P. J.; Doctor, D. H.; Kendall, C.; Losee, R. F.; Downing, B. D.

    2011-12-01

    Reservoirs are critical components of many water supply systems as they allow the storage of water when supply exceeds demand. However, during water storage biogeochemical processes can alter both the amount and composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM), which can in turn affect water quality. While the balance between production and loss determines whether a reservoir is a net sink or source of DOM, changes in chemical composition are also relevant as they affect DOM reactivity (e.g. persistence in the environment, removability during coagulation treatment, and potential to form toxic compounds during drinking water treatment). The composition of the DOM pool also provides information about the DOM sources and processing, which can inform reservoir management. We examined the concentration and composition of DOM in San Luis Reservoir (SLR), a large off-stream impoundment of the California State Water Project. We used an array of DOM chemical tracers including dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, optical properties, isotopic composition, lignin phenol content, and structural groupings determined by 13C NMR. There were periods when the reservoir was i) a net source of DOM due to the predominance of algal production (summer), ii) a net sink due to the predominance of degradation (fall/winter), and iii) balanced between production and consumption (spring). Despite only moderate variation in bulk DOC concentration (3.0-3.6 mg C/L), substantial changes in DOM composition indicated that terrestrial-derived material entering the reservoir was being degraded and replaced by aquatic-derived DOM produced within the reservoir. Results suggest reservoirs have the potential to reduce DOM amount and reactivity via degradative processes, however, these benefits can be decreased or even negated by the production of algal-derived DOM.

  14. A solid-phase extraction method for analyzing trace amounts of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in waste water

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hye-Sung Cho

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available The Korean government has regulated emission of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fsin waste water of manufacturing facilities producing chlorinated compounds since 2009. As this regulation is expected to bereinforced in 2013 to 50 pg I-TEQ/L, a large sample volume is required for the analysis of trace amounts of PCDD/Fs in wastewater. Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE is used to extract PCDD/Fs from aqueous samples; however, its low efficiency makes itinadequate for analyzing large sample volumes. Herein, we present a disk-type solid-phase extraction (SPE method for the analysisof dioxin at a part per quadrillion level in waste water. This SPE system contains airtight glass covers with a decompressionpump, which enables continuous semi-automated extraction. Small (0.5 L and large (7 L samples were extracted using LLE andSPE methods, respectively. The method detection limits (MDLs were 0.001−0.25 and 0.015−4.1 pg I-TEQ/L for the SPE andLLE methods, respectively. The concentrations of detected congeners with both methods were similar. However, the concentrationsof several congeners that were not detected with the LLE method were quantified using the SPE method

  15. 7 CFR 1001.71 - Payments to the producer-settlement fund.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... skim milk and butterfat for which a value was computed pursuant to § 1001.60(h) by the producer price... producer price differential and the statistical uniform price pursuant to § 1001.62 (except as provided for... the producer price differential as adjusted pursuant to § 1001.75; (2) An amount obtained by...

  16. Large-scale volcanism associated with coronae on Venus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, K. Magee; Head, James W.

    1993-01-01

    The formation and evolution of coronae on Venus are thought to be the result of mantle upwellings against the crust and lithosphere and subsequent gravitational relaxation. A variety of other features on Venus have been linked to processes associated with mantle upwelling, including shield volcanoes on large regional rises such as Beta, Atla and Western Eistla Regiones and extensive flow fields such as Mylitta and Kaiwan Fluctus near the Lada Terra/Lavinia Planitia boundary. Of these features, coronae appear to possess the smallest amounts of associated volcanism, although volcanism associated with coronae has only been qualitatively examined. An initial survey of coronae based on recent Magellan data indicated that only 9 percent of all coronae are associated with substantial amounts of volcanism, including interior calderas or edifices greater than 50 km in diameter and extensive, exterior radial flow fields. Sixty-eight percent of all coronae were found to have lesser amounts of volcanism, including interior flooding and associated volcanic domes and small shields; the remaining coronae were considered deficient in associated volcanism. It is possible that coronae are related to mantle plumes or diapirs that are lower in volume or in partial melt than those associated with the large shields or flow fields. Regional tectonics or variations in local crustal and thermal structure may also be significant in determining the amount of volcanism produced from an upwelling. It is also possible that flow fields associated with some coronae are sheet-like in nature and may not be readily identified. If coronae are associated with volcanic flow fields, then they may be a significant contributor to plains formation on Venus, as they number over 300 and are widely distributed across the planet. As a continuation of our analysis of large-scale volcanism on Venus, we have reexamined the known population of coronae and assessed quantitatively the scale of volcanism associated

  17. Application of backscatter electrons for large area imaging of cavities produced by neutron irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pastukhov, V.I. [Joint Stock Company “Institute of Nuclear Materials” (JSC “INM”), Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Region (Russian Federation); Ural Federal University Named After the First President of Russia, B. N. Yeltsyn, Ekaterinburg (Russian Federation); National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow (Russian Federation); Averin, S.A.; Panchenko, V.L. [Joint Stock Company “Institute of Nuclear Materials” (JSC “INM”), Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Region (Russian Federation); National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow (Russian Federation); Portnykh, I.A. [Joint Stock Company “Institute of Nuclear Materials” (JSC “INM”), Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Region (Russian Federation); Freyer, P.D. [Westinghouse Electric Company, Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Giannuzzi, L.A. [L.A. Giannuzzi & Associates LLC, Fort Myers, FL (United States); Garner, F.A., E-mail: frank.garner@dslextreme.com [National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow (Russian Federation); Radiation Effects Consulting LLC, Richland, WA (United States); Texas A& M University, College Station, TX (United States)

    2016-11-15

    It is shown that with proper optimization, backscattered electrons in a scanning electron microscope can produce images of cavity distribution in austenitic steels over a large specimen surface for a depth of ∼500–700 nm, eliminating the need for electropolishing or multiple specimen production. This technique is especially useful for quantifying cavity structures when the specimen is known or suspected to contain very heterogeneous distributions of cavities. Examples are shown for cold-worked EK-164, a very heterogeneously-swelling Russian fast reactor fuel cladding steel and also for AISI 304, a homogeneously-swelling Western steel used for major structural components of light water cooled reactors. This non-destructive overview method of quantifying cavity distribution can be used to direct the location and number of required focused ion beam prepared transmission electron microscopy specimens for examination of either neutron or ion-irradiated specimens. This technique can also be applied in stereo mode to quantify the depth dependence of cavity distributions.

  18. Process for producing curved surface of membrane rings for large containers, particulary for prestressed concrete pressure vessels of nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumpf, H.

    1977-01-01

    Membrane rings for large pressure vessels, particularly for prestressed-concrete pressure vessels, often have curved surfaces. The invention describes a process of producing these at site, which is particularly advantageous as the forming and installation of the vessel component coincide. According to the invention, the originally flat membrane ring is set in a predetermined position, is then pressed in sections by a forming tool (with a preformed support ring as opposite tool), and shaped. After this, the shaped parts are welded to the ring-shaped wall parts of the large vessel. The manufacture of single and double membrane rings arrangements is described. (HP) [de

  19. Prevalence and concentration of bacterial pathogens in raw produce and minimally processed packaged salads produced in and for the Netherlands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijnands, Lucas M; Delfgou-van Asch, Ellen H M; Beerepoot-Mensink, Marieke E; van der Meij-Florijn, Alice; Fitz-James, Ife; van Leusden, Frans M; Pielaat, Annemarie

    2014-03-01

    Recent outbreaks with vegetable or fruits as vehicles have raised interest in the characterization of the public health risk due to microbial contamination of these commodities. Because qualitative and quantitative data regarding prevalence and concentration of various microbes are lacking, we conducted a survey to estimate the prevalence and contamination level of raw produce and the resulting minimally processed packaged salads as sold in The Netherlands. A dedicated sampling plan accounted for the amount of processed produce in relation to the amount of products, laboratory capacity, and seasonal influences. Over 1,800 samples of produce and over 1,900 samples of ready-to-eat mixed salads were investigated for Salmonella enterica serovars, Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli O157, and Listeria monocytogenes. The overall prevalence in raw produce varied between 0.11% for E. coli O157 and L. monocytogenes and 0.38% for Salmonella. Prevalence point estimates for specific produce/pathogen combinations ranged for Salmonella from 0.53% in iceberg lettuce to 5.1% in cucumber. For Campylobacter, this ranged from 0.83% in endive to 2.7% in oak tree lettuce. These data will be used to determine the public health risk posed by the consumption of ready-to-eat mixed salads in The Netherlands.

  20. Amounts of NPK removed from soil in harvested coffee berries as ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Monthly samples of ripened improved robusta coffee berries from compact and large growth forms from three locations, which are representative of the main ecological zones where coffee is grown in Ghana, were taken for 3 years. The pulp and parchment and beans were analysed for N, P and K contents. The amounts of ...

  1. Oxidative stability during storage of fish oil from filleting by-products of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is largely independent of the processing and production temperature

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Honold, Philipp; Nouard, Marie-Louise; Jacobsen, Charlotte

    2016-01-01

    Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is the main fish species produced in Danish fresh water farming. Large amounts of fileting by-products like heads, bones, tails (HBT), and intestines are produced when rainbow trout is processed to smoked rainbow trout filets. The filleting by-products can...... be used to produce high quality fish oil. In this study, the oxidative stability of fish oil produced from filleting by-products was evaluated. The oil was produced from conventional or organic fish (low and high omega-3 fatty acid content) at different temperatures (70 and 90°C). The oxidative stability...

  2. Must producers earn a resource rent?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Austvik, Ole Gunnar

    2003-01-01

    In petroleum producing countries it has been a prevailing opinion that a resource rent should be earned by petroleum producers due to the commodities' non-renewable nature. An important element in this logic is that the supply of oil and natural gas is limited to relatively few places in the world. As the resources are exploited, the remaining reserves are reduced. What is extracted today cannot be extracted tomorrow. Rationing of the scarce resource takes place through pricing mechanisms. Due to the scarcity the consumers must pay a higher price than the marginal production costs, so that the amounts supplied and demanded become equal. Most producers of oil and gas and not just the ones that produce the cheapest, have therefore until now earned an economic rent

  3. Large-scale seismic signal analysis with Hadoop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Addair, T. G.; Dodge, D. A.; Walter, W. R.; Ruppert, S. D.

    2014-05-01

    In seismology, waveform cross correlation has been used for years to produce high-precision hypocenter locations and for sensitive detectors. Because correlated seismograms generally are found only at small hypocenter separation distances, correlation detectors have historically been reserved for spotlight purposes. However, many regions have been found to produce large numbers of correlated seismograms, and there is growing interest in building next-generation pipelines that employ correlation as a core part of their operation. In an effort to better understand the distribution and behavior of correlated seismic events, we have cross correlated a global dataset consisting of over 300 million seismograms. This was done using a conventional distributed cluster, and required 42 days. In anticipation of processing much larger datasets, we have re-architected the system to run as a series of MapReduce jobs on a Hadoop cluster. In doing so we achieved a factor of 19 performance increase on a test dataset. We found that fundamental algorithmic transformations were required to achieve the maximum performance increase. Whereas in the original IO-bound implementation, we went to great lengths to minimize IO, in the Hadoop implementation where IO is cheap, we were able to greatly increase the parallelism of our algorithms by performing a tiered series of very fine-grained (highly parallelizable) transformations on the data. Each of these MapReduce jobs required reading and writing large amounts of data. But, because IO is very fast, and because the fine-grained computations could be handled extremely quickly by the mappers, the net was a large performance gain.

  4. Method of producing thermally stable uranium carbonitrides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ugajin, M.; Takahashi, I.

    1975-01-01

    A thermally stable uranium carbonitride can be produced by adding tungsten and/or molybdenum in the amount of 0.2 wt percent or more, preferably 0.5 wt percent or more, to a pure uranium carbonitride. (U.S.)

  5. AL-PAM assisted filtration of mature fine tailings produced from oil sands development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alamgir, A.; Masliyah, J.; Xu, Z. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Chemical and Materials Engineering

    2010-07-01

    The inventory of mature fine tailings (MFT) produced by the oil sands extraction process continues to grow, and is considered as a long-term environmental liability. Large amounts of water are trapped in the MFT, and the tailings ponds present a threat to local wildlife and ecosystems. This PowerPoint presentation discussed a research project that is being conducted to identify conditions for producing stackable MFT deposits. The study is investigating various types and dosages of polymers and evaluating the degrees of MFT dilution and process configurations needed to maximize re-usable water recovery. Polymeric flocculants include AL-PAM and Magnafloc 1011. Settling tests have demonstrated that 50 ppm is the optimum dosage for both polymers when MFT is diluted to 5 wt percent solids, while 75 ppm of AL-PAM and 100 ppm of MF1011 are optimum dosages for MFT diluted to 10 wt percent solids. A novel supernatant filtration method was then used to produce filtration cakes and water. The study showed that the supernatant can be used to further dilute the MFTs. tabs., figs.

  6. Development of a Solid-State Fermentation System for Producing Bioethanol from Food Waste

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honda, Hiroaki; Ohnishi, Akihiro; Fujimoto, Naoshi; Suzuki, Masaharu

    Liquid fermentation is the a conventional method of producing bioethanol. However, this method results in the formation of high concentrations waste after distillation and futher treatment requires more energy and is costly(large amounts of costly energy).Saccharification of dried raw garbage was tested for 12 types of Koji starters under the following optimum culture conditions: temperature of 30°C and initial moisture content of 50%.Among all the types, Aspergillus oryzae KBN650 had the highest saccharifying power. The ethanol-producing ability of the raw garbage was investigated for 72 strains of yeast, of which Saccharomyces cerevisiae A30 had the highest ethanol production(yield)under the following optimum conditions: 1 :1 ratio of dried garbage and saccharified garbage by weight, and initial moisture content of 60%. Thus, the solid-state fermentation system consisted of the following 4 processes: moisture control, saccharification, ethanol production and distillation. This system produced 0.6kg of ethanol from 9.6kg of garbage. Moreover the ethanol yield from all sugars was calculated to be 0.37.

  7. Large-scale manufacture and characterization of a lentiviral vector produced for clinical ex vivo gene therapy application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merten, Otto-Wilhelm; Charrier, Sabine; Laroudie, Nicolas; Fauchille, Sylvain; Dugué, Céline; Jenny, Christine; Audit, Muriel; Zanta-Boussif, Maria-Antonietta; Chautard, Hélène; Radrizzani, Marina; Vallanti, Giuliana; Naldini, Luigi; Noguiez-Hellin, Patricia; Galy, Anne

    2011-03-01

    From the perspective of a pilot clinical gene therapy trial for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), we implemented a process to produce a lentiviral vector under good manufacturing practices (GMP). The process is based on the transient transfection of 293T cells in Cell Factory stacks, scaled up to harvest 50 liters of viral stock per batch, followed by purification of the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein-pseudotyped particles through several membrane-based and chromatographic steps. The process leads to a 200-fold volume concentration and an approximately 3-log reduction in protein and DNA contaminants. An average yield of 13% of infectious particles was obtained in six full-scale preparations. The final product contained low levels of contaminants such as simian virus 40 large T antigen or E1A sequences originating from producer cells. Titers as high as 2 × 10(9) infectious particles per milliliter were obtained, generating up to 6 × 10(11) infectious particles per batch. The purified WAS vector was biologically active, efficiently expressing the genetic insert in WAS protein-deficient B cell lines and transducing CD34(+) cells. The vector introduced 0.3-1 vector copy per cell on average in CD34(+) cells when used at the concentration of 10(8) infectious particles per milliliter, which is comparable to preclinical preparations. There was no evidence of cellular toxicity. These results show the implementation of large-scale GMP production, purification, and control of advanced HIV-1-derived lentiviral technology. Results obtained with the WAS vector provide the initial manufacturing and quality control benchmarking that should be helpful to further development and clinical applications.

  8. Secretome analysis of the thermophilic xylanase hyper-producer Thermomyces lanuginosus SSBP cultivated on corn cobs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winger, A M; Heazlewood, J L; Chan, L J G; Petzold, C J; Permaul, K; Singh, S

    2014-11-01

    Thermomyces lanuginosus is a thermophilic fungus known for its ability to produce industrially important enzymes including large amounts of xylanase, the key enzyme in hemicellulose hydrolysis. The secretome of T. lanuginosus SSBP was profiled by shotgun proteomics to elucidate important enzymes involved in hemicellulose saccharification and to characterise the presence of other industrially interesting enzymes. This study reproducibly identified a total of 74 proteins in the supernatant following growth on corn cobs. An analysis of proteins revealed nine glycoside hydrolase (GH) enzymes including xylanase GH11, β-xylosidase GH43, β-glucosidase GH3, α-galactosidase GH36 and trehalose hydrolase GH65. Two commercially produced Thermomyces enzymes, lipase and amylase, were also identified. In addition, other industrially relevant enzymes not currently explored in Thermomyces were identified including glutaminase, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase and cyanate hydratase. Overall, these data provide insight into the novel ability of a cellulase-free fungus to utilise lignocellulosic material, ultimately producing a number of enzymes important to various industrial processes.

  9. Research on the Technology of Producing Building Stone by Using Blast Furnace Slag

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Bingji; Zhang, Jianliang; Guo, Hongwei; Shi, Zhiwen; Liu, Feng

    During production of a large quantity of steel, slag is produced at the same time. This paper chooses blast furnace slag (BFS) as the main material for the research. The purpose of the research is to explore its optimal physicochemical properties and the use of BFS in building stone field. The paper elaborates the experimentation process of producing glass-ceramics and presents the results. The results show that SiO2 content in BFS and amount of Cr2O3 and Fe2O3 added as nucleating agents have certain effect on the properties of glass-ceramics. The results also show that the exothermic peak temperature of base glass is the lowest when adding 20% SiO2 to the BFS, and 2% Cr2O3 and 3% Fe2O3 as nucleating agents, which makes easy crystallization and optimal properties of the glass-ceramics.

  10. Producing tantalum or columbium powder

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rerat, C.F.

    1979-01-01

    A process is described for the production of tantalum or columbium powder with a high yield within a desired range of particle sizes. A molten salt bath of a double salt comprising either an alkali metal tantalum fluoride or an alkali metal columbium fluoride and a relatively large amount of alkali metal halide diluent salt to act as a heat sink is initially maintained at a temperature a little above the liquidus temperature of the salt mixture. A liquid alkali metal at a comparatively low temperature is added to the continuously stirred bath at a high mass flow rate, and reduces the double salt, producing tantalum or columbium. The reaction is exothermic and causes the temperature to rise rapidly to a desired final reaction temperature within the range 760 to 1000 0 . The liquid alkali metal is thereafter fed at a high mass flow rate to complete the reaction quickly at the final reaction temperature. Forced cooling at a heat extraction rate not less than 42 kilojoules/min./kg. of double salt is used during at least a portion of the reaction cycle at a rate sufficient to maintain the final reaction temperature within a desired range. (author)

  11. Preservation of large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea) by Coagulin L1208, a novel bacteriocin produced by Bacillus coagulans L1208.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, Linglin; Wang, Chong; Ruan, Xinming; Li, Gang; Zhao, Yu; Wang, Yanbo

    2018-02-02

    Large yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena crocea) is a cultivated fish of great economic importance and abundant nutritional value. However, due to its high protein and water contents, it is susceptible to decomposition, leading to considerable economic loss and adverse effects on consumer health. Here, we assessed the function of the bacterial strain Bacillus coagulans L1208 (Bcoa) in preserving large yellow croaker during storage at 4°C and found that Bcoa elongates the shelf-life significantly. Further investigations showed that Bcoa prolongs the storage time mainly by suppressing the growth of spoilage bacteria. Moreover, a novel bacteriocin, designated as Coagulin L1208 and produced by Bcoa, was purified and identified by N-terminal sequencing. Finally, the activity of Coagulin L1208 for suppressing spoilage bacteria during the preservation of large yellow croaker was assessed. Our results reveal the mechanism by which Bcoa aids the preservation of large yellow croaker and identify Coagulin L1208 as a potential novel antiseptic. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Influence of the reagent concentration of the colorimetric copper determination with sodium diethyl dithiocarbamate (abbreviated: D.D.C.) and its importance for the determination of copper in the presence of large amounts of iron

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Karsten, P.; Rademaker, S.C.; Walraven, J.J.

    1950-01-01

    From a research about the influence of the reagent concentration on the copper determination with sodium di-ethyl-di-thio-carbamate in the presence of large amounts of iron some insight was gained into factors which had never been examined so far and which were found to have great influence on the

  13. Optimization of Large-Scale Culture Conditions for the Production of Cordycepin with Cordyceps militaris by Liquid Static Culture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chao Kang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Cordycepin is one of the most important bioactive compounds produced by species of Cordyceps sensu lato, but it is hard to produce large amounts of this substance in industrial production. In this work, single factor design, Plackett-Burman design, and central composite design were employed to establish the key factors and identify optimal culture conditions which improved cordycepin production. Using these culture conditions, a maximum production of cordycepin was 2008.48 mg/L for 700 mL working volume in the 1000 mL glass jars and total content of cordycepin reached 1405.94 mg/bottle. This method provides an effective way for increasing the cordycepin production at a large scale. The strategies used in this study could have a wide application in other fermentation processes.

  14. Saturation transfer EPR (ST-EPR) for dating biocarbonates containing large amount of Mn2+: separation of SO3- and CO2- lines and geochronology of Brazilian fish fossil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sastry, M.D.; Andrade, M.B.; Watanabe, Shigueo

    2003-01-01

    A method using saturation transfer EPR (ST-EPR) is shown to be feasible for detecting EPR signal of radiation-induced defects in biocarbonates containing large amount of Mn 2+ . The ST-EPR measurements conducted at room temperature on fish fossil of Brazilian origin, enabled the identification of CO 2 - and SO 3 - radical ions, by partially suppressing the intense signal from Mn 2+ when the signal are detected 90 deg. out of phase with magnetic field modulating signal and at high microwave power (50 mW). Using these signals the age of fish fossil is estimated to be (36±5) Ma

  15. Niobium films produced by magnetron sputtering using an Ar-He mixture as discharge gas

    CERN Document Server

    Schucan, G M; Calatroni, Sergio

    1995-01-01

    Superconducting RF accelerating cavities have been produced at CERN by sputter-coating, with a thin niobium layer, cavities made of copper. In the present work, the discharge behaviour and niobium film properties have been investigated when part of the argon sputtering gas is replaced with helium. Helium is chosen because of its low mass, which reduces the energy lost by the niobium atoms colliding with the sputter gas atoms. The higher niobium atom energy should lead to higher adatom mobility on the substrate and, hence, to a larger grain size, a feature which is highly desirable to reduce the cavity surface resistance. It has been found that helium addition effectively helps to maintain the discharge at considerably lower argon pressures, via metastable-neutral ionisation and high secondary electron yield. However, a large amount of helium is trapped in the film, amount which is proportional to the helium partial pressure during the discharge, resulting in a reduction of both Residual Resistivity Ratio and ...

  16. New managing system of a large amount of images on Tore Supra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buravand, Y.; Ducobu, L.; Guilhem, D.; Roche, H.; Signoret, J.; Travere, J.M.; Utzel, N.

    2004-01-01

    After a major replacement of all internal components (terminated in 2002), Tore Supra has restarted operation with a new set of actively cooled components. The safety of these components relies on infrared (IR) thermography. Up to twelve IR cameras will be used to survey nearly all the high flux target zones which are essentially the 360 deg C toroidal pump limiter and the 5 power injection HF antennas. The high data rate produced by each camera ( ∼ 8 Mbytes/sec.) led us to implement a multi stages system: during experimentations, images are stored where they are acquired then, each night they are compressed using a lossy standard image compression algorithm (JPEG) and stored on a specialized IR data server. Between shots, acquisition systems act as servers and physicists can read data using a dedicated analysis software. For post-analysis purposes, all compressed images are read from the IR data server using the same analysis software or for in-depth analysis, physicists can use the Matlab interface we have developed. (authors)

  17. Fuel characteristics and trace gases produced through biomass burning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    BAMBANG HERO SAHARJO

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Saharjo BH, Sudo S, Yonemura S, Tsuruta H (2010 Fuel characteristics and trace gases produced through biomass burning. Biodiversitas 11: 40-45. Indonesian 1997/1998 forest fires resulted in forest destruction totally 10 million ha with cost damaged about US$ 10 billion, where more than 1 Gt CO2 has been released during the fire episode and elevating Indonesia to one of the largest polluters of carbon in the world where 22% of world’s carbon dioxide produced. It has been found that 80-90% of the fire comes from estate crops and industrial forest plantation area belongs to the companies which using fire illegally for the land preparation. Because using fire is cheap, easy and quick and also support the companies purpose in achieving yearly planted area target. Forest management and land use practices in Sumatra and Kalimantan have evolved very rapidly over the past three decades. Poor logging practices resulted in large amounts of waste will left in the forest, greatly elevating fire hazard. Failure by the government and concessionaires to protect logged forests and close old logging roads led to and invasion of the forest by agricultural settlers whose land clearances practices increased the risk of fire. Several field experiments had been done in order to know the quality and the quantity of trace produced during biomass burning in peat grass, peat soil and alang-alang grassland located in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Result of research show that different characteristics of fuel burned will have the different level also in trace gasses produced. Peat grass with higher fuel load burned produce more trace gasses compared to alang-alang grassland and peat soil.

  18. Method of producing the arched surfaces of diaphragm rings for large containers, especially for prestressed-concrete pressure vessels of nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumpf, H.

    1976-01-01

    In producing arched surfaces of diaphragm rings for large containers, especially for prestressed-concrete pressure vessels for nuclear power plants, it is of advantage to manufacture these directly on the construction site. According to the invention the, at first level, diaphragm ring is put on the predetermined place, sectionally pressed against and shaped by a shaping tool - with a profiled supporting ring as a counter-acting tool - and afterwards welded together with the annular wall sections of the large container along the shaped parts. The manufacture of single and double configurations of diaphragm rings is described. It is of advantage if shaping and mounting position coincide. (UWI) [de

  19. Preliminary Evaluation of Glyceric Acid-producing Ability of Acidomonas methanolica NBRC104435 from Glycerol Containing Methanol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Shun; Kitamoto, Dai; Habe, Hiroshi

    2017-06-01

    Some acetic acid bacteria produce large amounts of glyceric acid (GA) from glycerol in culture broth. However, methanol, which is a major contaminant of raw glycerol derived from the biodiesel fuel industry, sharply decreases cell growth and GA production [AMB Express, 3, 20, 2013]. Thus, we evaluated the methylotrophic acetic acid bacterium Acidomonas methanolica NBRC104435 for its ability to produce GA from glycerol containing methanol. This strain accumulated GA in its culture broth when 1-3 wt% glycerol was available as a carbon source. We observed improved cell growth and GA accumulation when 1 vol% methanol was added to the 3-5 wt% glycerol medium. The maximum concentration of GA was 12.8 g/L in medium containing 3 wt% glycerol plus 1 vol% methanol. In addition, the enantiomeric excess (ee) of the GA produced was revealed to be 44%, indicating that this strain converted glycerol to d-GA with a lower enantioselectivity than other acetic acid bacteria, which had 70-99% ee.

  20. Methods to isolate a large amount of generative cells, sperm cells and vegetative nuclei from tomato pollen for "omics" analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Yunlong; Wei, Liqin; Wang, Tai

    2015-01-01

    The development of sperm cells (SCs) from microspores involves a set of finely regulated molecular and cellular events and the coordination of these events. The mechanisms underlying these events and their interconnections remain a major challenge. Systems analysis of genome-wide molecular networks and functional modules with high-throughput "omics" approaches is crucial for understanding the mechanisms; however, this study is hindered because of the difficulty in isolating a large amount of cells of different types, especially generative cells (GCs), from the pollen. Here, we optimized the conditions of tomato pollen germination and pollen tube growth to allow for long-term growth of pollen tubes in vitro with SCs generated in the tube. Using this culture system, we developed methods for isolating GCs, SCs and vegetative cell nuclei (VN) from just-germinated tomato pollen grains and growing pollen tubes and their purification by Percoll density gradient centrifugation. The purity and viability of isolated GCs and SCs were confirmed by microscopy examination and fluorescein diacetate staining, respectively, and the integrity of VN was confirmed by propidium iodide staining. We could obtain about 1.5 million GCs and 2.0 million SCs each from 180 mg initiated pollen grains, and 10 million VN from 270 mg initiated pollen grains germinated in vitro in each experiment. These methods provide the necessary preconditions for systematic biology studies of SC development and differentiation in higher plants.

  1. 46 CFR 308.403 - Insured amounts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... total amount of war risk insurance obtainable from companies authorized to do an insurance business in a... MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS WAR RISK INSURANCE War Risk Builder's Risk Insurance § 308.403 Insured amounts. (a) Prelaunching period. The amount insured during...

  2. 31 CFR 235.5 - Reclamation amounts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Reclamation amounts. 235.5 Section 235.5 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE... ON DESIGNATED DEPOSITARIES § 235.5 Reclamation amounts. Amounts received by way of reclamation on...

  3. An introduction to in-situ produced cosmogenic nuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norton, K.P.

    2012-01-01

    Cosmogenic nuclides are produced through interactions between cosmic rays and target nuclei in Earth's atmosphere and surface materials. Those which are produced in Earth's atmosphere are termed 'meteoric' while the nuclides produced in surface material are known as in-situ cosmogenic nuclides. The past two decades have seen a proliferation of applications for cosmogenic nuclides. This is primarily due to a revolution in accelerator mass spectrometry, AMS, measurement techniques which has allowed the measurement of very small amounts of nuclides. The following is a brief introduction to the theory and application of in-situ produced cosmogenic nuclide methods. (author). 17 refs., figs., 1 tab.

  4. Heavy metal accumulation by carrageenan and agar producing algae

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burdin, K.S. [Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation). Faculty of Biology; Bird, K.T. [North Carolina Univ., Wilmington, NC (United States). Center for Marine Science Research

    1994-09-01

    The accumulation of six heavy metals Cu, Cd, Ni, Zn, Mn and Pb was measured in living and lzophilized algal thalli. The agar producing algae were Gracilaria tikvahiae and Gelidium pusillum. The carrageenan producing macroalgae were Agardhiella subulata and the gametophyte and tetrasporophyte phases of Chondrus crispus. These produce primarily iota, kappa and lambda carrageenans, respectively. At heavy metal concentrations of 0.5 mg L{sup -1}, living thalli of Gracilaria tikvahiae generally showed the greatest amount of accumulation of the 6 heavy metals tested. The accumulation of Pb was greater in the living thalli of all four species than in the lyophilized thalli. Except for Agardhiella subulata, lyophilized thalli showed greater accumulation of Ni, Cu and Zn. There was no difference in heavy metal accumulation between living and lyophilized thalli in the accumulation of Cd. Manganese showed no accumulation at the tested concentration. There did not appear to be a relationship between algal hydrocolloid characteristics and the amounts of heavy metals accumulated. (orig.)

  5. 13 CFR 400.202 - Loan amount.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Loan amount. 400.202 Section 400.202 Business Credit and Assistance EMERGENCY STEEL GUARANTEE LOAN BOARD EMERGENCY STEEL GUARANTEE LOAN PROGRAM Steel Guarantee Loans § 400.202 Loan amount. (a) The aggregate amount of loan principal guaranteed...

  6. [Isolation and identification of a lactate-utilizing, butyrate-producing bacterium and its primary metabolic characteristics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wei; Zhu, Wei-yun; Yao, Wen; Mao, Sheng-yong

    2007-06-01

    The distal mammalian gut harbors prodigiously abundant microbes, which provide unique metabolic traits to host. A lactate-utilizing, butyrate-producing bacterium, strain LB01, was isolated from adult swine feces by utilizing modified Hungate technique with rumen liquid-independent YCFA medium supplemented with lactate as the single carbon source. It was an obligate anaerobic, Gram positive bacterium, and could utilize glucose, fructose, maltose and lactate with a large amount of gas products. 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed that it had the high similarity with members of the genus Megasphaera. The metabolic characteristics of strain LB01 was investigated by using in vitro fermentation system. Lactate at the concentration of 65 mmol/L in YCFA medium was rapidly consumed within 9 hours and was mainly converted to propionate and butyrate after 24h. As the level of acetate declined, the concentration of butyrate rose only in the presence of glucose, suggesting that butyrate could possibly be synthesized by the acetyl CoA: butyryl CoA transferase. When co-cultured with lactic acid bacteria strain K9, strain LB01 evidently reduced the concentration of lactate produced by strain K9 and decelerated the rapid pH drop, finally producing 12.11 mmol/L butyrate and 4.06 mmol/L propionate. The metabolic characteristics that strain LB01 efficiently converts toxic lactate and excessive acetate to butyrate can prevent lactate and acetate accumulation in the large intestine and maintain the slightly acidic environment of the large intestine, consequently revealing that stain LB01 could act as a potential probiotics.

  7. 13 CFR 500.202 - Loan amount.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Loan amount. 500.202 Section 500.202 Business Credit and Assistance EMERGENCY OIL AND GAS GUARANTEED LOAN BOARD EMERGENCY OIL AND GAS GUARANTEED LOAN PROGRAM Oil and Gas Guaranteed Loans § 500.202 Loan amount. The aggregate amount of loan...

  8. Biofuels done right: land efficient animal feeds enable large environmental and energy benefits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dale, Bruce E; Bals, Bryan D; Kim, Seungdo; Eranki, Pragnya

    2010-11-15

    There is an intense ongoing debate regarding the potential scale of biofuel production without creating adverse effects on food supply. We explore the possibility of three land-efficient technologies for producing food (actually animal feed), including leaf protein concentrates, pretreated forages, and double crops to increase the total amount of plant biomass available for biofuels. Using less than 30% of total U.S. cropland, pasture, and range, 400 billion liters of ethanol can be produced annually without decreasing domestic food production or agricultural exports. This approach also reduces U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 670 Tg CO₂-equivalent per year, or over 10% of total U.S. annual emissions, while increasing soil fertility and promoting biodiversity. Thus we can replace a large fraction of U.S. petroleum consumption without indirect land use change.

  9. 45 CFR 32.8 - Amounts withheld.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ...) of this section, or (ii) An amount equal to 25% of the debtor's disposable pay less the amount(s... first pay day after the employer receives the order. However, if the first pay day is within 10 days after receipt of the order, the employer may begin deductions on the second pay day. (k) An employer may...

  10. Coalbed methane-produced water quality and its management options in Raniganj Basin, West Bengal, India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendhe, Vinod Atmaram; Mishra, Subhashree; Varma, Atul Kumar; Singh, Awanindra Pratap

    2017-06-01

    Coalbed methane (CBM) recovery is associated with production of large quantity of groundwater. The coal seams are depressurized by pumping of water for regular and consistent gas production. Usually, CBM operators need to pump >10 m3 of water per day from one well, which depends on the aquifer characteristics, drainage and recharge pattern. In India, 32 CBM blocks have been awarded for exploration and production, out of which six blocks are commercially producing methane gas at 0.5 million metric standard cubic feet per day. Large amount of water is being produced from CBM producing blocks, but no specific information or data are available for geochemical properties of CBM-produced water and its suitable disposal or utilization options for better management. CBM operators are in infancy and searching for the suitable solutions for optimal management of produced water. CBM- and mine-produced water needs to be handled considering its physical and geochemical assessment, because it may have environmental as well as long-term impact on aquifer. Investigations were carried out to evaluate geochemical and hydrogeological conditions of CBM blocks in Raniganj Basin. Totally, 15 water samples from CBM well head and nine water samples from mine disposal head were collected from Raniganj Basin. The chemical signature of produced water reveals high sodium and bicarbonate concentrations with low calcium and magnesium, and very low sulphate in CBM water. It is comprehend that CBM water is mainly of Na-HCO3 type and coal mine water is of Ca-Mg-SO4 and HCO3-Cl-SO4 type. The comparative studies are also carried out for CBM- and mine-produced water considering the geochemical properties, aquifer type, depth of occurrence and lithological formations. Suitable options like impounding, reverse osmosis, irrigation and industrial use after prerequisite treatments are suggested. However, use of this huge volume of CBM- and mine-produced water for irrigation or other beneficial purposes

  11. THE USE OF POULTRY SLAUGHTERHOUSE WASTE TO PRODUCE COMPOST

    OpenAIRE

    Michał Kopeć; Krzysztof Gondek; Kalina Orłowska; Zdzisław Kulpa

    2014-01-01

    Poultry industry generates large amounts of waste, which in the biological treatment process creates a number of problems. One of them is a high amount of fat and creatine which is hard to decompose. Composting process was carried out with the waste from poultry farms and abattoirs mixed with maize straw, which was used to improve the structure and to increase the amount of carbon in the substrate. The chemical composition of composts from poultry waste involving maize straw meets the minimum...

  12. 78 FR 54391 - Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-04

    ... Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service... purposes of the foreign tax credit. These regulations address certain highly structured arrangements that produce inappropriate foreign tax credit results. The regulations affect individuals and corporations that...

  13. 76 FR 42076 - Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-18

    ... Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service... purposes of the foreign tax credit. These regulations address certain highly structured arrangements that produce inappropriate foreign tax credit results. The text of those temporary regulations published in...

  14. 76 FR 53818 - Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-30

    ... Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service... of taxes paid for purposes of the foreign tax credit. These regulations address certain highly structured arrangements that produce inappropriate foreign tax credit results. The regulations affect...

  15. 76 FR 53819 - Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-30

    ... Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service... purposes of the foreign tax credit. These regulations address certain highly structured arrangements that produce inappropriate foreign tax credit results. The regulations affect individuals and corporations that...

  16. 76 FR 42036 - Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-18

    ... Determining the Amount of Taxes Paid for Purposes of the Foreign Tax Credit AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service... purposes of the foreign tax credit. These regulations address certain highly structured arrangements that produce inappropriate foreign tax credit results. The regulations affect individuals and corporations that...

  17. Sodium and potassium content and their ratio in meatballs in tomato sauce produced with lower amounts of sodium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lilić, S.; Nikolić, D.; Pejkovski, Z.; Velebit, B.; Lakićević, B.; Korićanac, V.; Vranić, D.

    2017-09-01

    The goal of this study was to examine the possibility of partial replacement of sodium chloride with potassium chloride and ammonium chloride, with the target of achieving less sodium content in meatballs and tomato sauce as well as achieving a better Na:K ratio. The trial consisted of five groups. In the control group of meatballs and sauce, only sodium chloride was added. In group 1, half of the sodium chloride was replaced with potassium chloride related to control group while in group 2 one third of the sodium chloride was replaced with potassium chloride. In group 3, one third of the sodium chloride was replaced with ammonium chloride, and in group 4, sodium chloride was reduced to half the amount in the control group, and 1 g (0.25%) of ammonium chloride was also added. All products were acceptable according to sensory analyses. The largest reductions of sodium content were 44.64%, achieved in meatballs from group 1 and 50.62% in tomato sauce from group 4 in relation to meatballs and tomato sauce from control group. The highest Na:K ratio was calculated in meatballs and tomato sauce from control group, 2.88 and 4.39, respectively. The best Na:K ratio was in meatballs and tomato sauce from group 1, 0.60 and 0.92, respectively, in which half of sodium chloride was replaced with potassium chloride. However, in meatballs and tomato sauce from group 4, with only half the amount of sodium chloride related to control group, the Na:K ratio was worse because in these products, potassium chloride was not added.

  18. 45 CFR 149.100 - Amount of reimbursement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Amount of reimbursement. 149.100 Section 149.100... REQUIREMENTS FOR THE EARLY RETIREE REINSURANCE PROGRAM Reinsurance Amounts § 149.100 Amount of reimbursement... reimbursement in the amount of 80 percent of the costs for health benefits (net of negotiated price concessions...

  19. Method for removing trace contaminants from multicurie amounts of 144Ce

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wagner, J.A.; Kanapilly, G.M.

    1976-01-01

    Removal of contaminants from stock solutions of 144 Ce(III) was required for large quantities of 144 Ce prior to incorporation into fused aluminosilicate particles for inhalation toxicology studies. Since available procedures for purification of 144 Ce could not be readily adapted to our laboratory conditions and requirements, a simple procedure was developed to purify 144 Ce in multicurie quantities of 144 Ce(III). This procedure consists of separation of 144 Ce from contaminants by precipitation and filtrations at different pH. Its simplicity and efficacy in providing a stock solution that would readily exchange into montmorillonite clay was demonstrated when it was used during the preparation of large amounts of 144 Ce in fused aluminosilicate particles

  20. Methods to isolate a large amount of generative cells, sperm cells and vegetative nuclei from tomato pollen for omics analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunlong eLu

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The development of sperm cells from microspores involves a set of finely regulated molecular and cellular events and the coordination of these events. The mechanisms underlying these events and their interconnections remain a major challenge. Systems analysis of genome-wide molecular networks and functional modules with high-throughput omics approaches is crucial for understanding the mechanisms; however, this study is hindered because of the difficulty in isolating a large amount of cells of different types, especially generative cells (GCs, from the pollen. Here, we optimized the conditions of tomato pollen germination and pollen tube growth to allow for long-term growth of pollen tubes in vitro with sperm cells (SCs generated in the tube. Using this culture system, we developed methods for isolating GCs, SCs and vegetative-cell nuclei (VN from just-germinated tomato pollen grains and growing pollen tubes and their purification by Percoll density gradient centrifugation. The purity and viability of isolated GCs and SCs were confirmed by microscopy examination and fluorescein diacetate staining, respectively, and the integrity of VN was confirmed by propidium iodide staining. We could obtain about 1.5 million GCs and 2.0 million SCs each from 180 mg initiated pollen grains, and 10 million VN from 270 mg initiated pollen grains germinated in vitro in each experiment. These methods provide the necessary preconditions for systematic biology studies of SC development and differentiation in higher plants.

  1. Thermostability of xylanolytic enzymes produced by Lentinula edodes UFV70

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ribeiro, Liliane Fraga Costa; Vaz, Marcelo Gomes Marçal Vieira; Chaves-Alves, Virgínia Maria; Vanetti, Maria Cristina Dantas; Vanetti, Maria Cristina Dantas; Kasuya, Maria Catarina Megumi; Passos, Flávia Maria Lopes; do Nascimento, Antônio Galvão

    2012-01-01

    Xylanolytic enzymes produced by Lentinula edodes UFV70, cultivated in eucalyptus sawdust/rice bran medium, were stable at 50, 60 and 65°C for 21 hours, losing only 15–25% activity. Fungus incubation at 50°C for 12 hours and at 65°C for 24 hours increased the amount of xylose produced. PMID:24031818

  2. Recycling of aluminum to produce green energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martinez, Susana Silva; Lopez Benites, Wendy; Alvarez Gallegos, Alberto A. [Centro de Investigacion en Ingenieria y Ciencias Aplicadas, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, Cuernavaca, Morelos C.P. 62210 (Mexico); Sebastian, P.J. [Centro de Investigacion en Energia-UNAM, 62580 Temixco, Morelos (Mexico)

    2005-07-15

    High-purity hydrogen gas was generated from the chemical reaction of aluminum with sodium hydroxide. Several molar relations of sodium hydroxide/aluminum were investigated in this study. The experimental results showed that hydrogen yields are acceptable and its purity was good enough to be used in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell to produce electricity. An estimation of the amount of energy produced from the reaction of 100 aluminum cans with caustic soda showed that the hydrogen production is feasible to be scaled up to reach up to 5kWh in a few hours. This study is environmentally friendly and also shows that green energy can be produced from aluminum waste at a low cost.

  3. Relation between the petrographic composition of coal and the morphology of pyrolysis char produced in fluidized bed

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    B. Valentim; M.J. Lemos de Sousa; P. Abelha; D. Boavida; I. Gulyurtlu [Centro de Geologia da Universidade do Porto, Porto (Portugal)

    2004-06-01

    Several previous studies have already established, for pulverized coal combustion conditions, global correlations between petrographic composition of the coal and those of char produced from the same coal. However, for fluidized bed combustion, there has not been much new work since the eighties. The results presented in this paper include the petrographic characterization of seven different coals from several origins and also of their respective chars produced at 700, 800, 900, and 1000{sup o}C in a laboratory fluidized bed reactor. The results show a marked predominance of tenuispheres as the trial temperatures increase. While vitrinite-rich coals essentially produced highly porous chars, the inertinite-rich coals produced large amounts of medium- and low-porous chars. Semi-anthracite vitrinite produced high-porous chars and thermal affected coal particles originated low-porous and angular char morphotypes. The analysis of the data obtained revealed that vitrinite + liptinite related well with the high-porous char (sum of cenospheres and tenuinetworks), classified as Group 1. The same trend, but with a weaker relation, was also observed between vitrinite and liptinite rich microlithotypes and Group 1. 32 refs., 17 refs., 3 tabs.

  4. Exploring the Amount and Type of Writing Instruction during Language Arts Instruction in Kindergarten Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puranik, Cynthia S.; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Sidler, Jessica Folsom; Greulich, Luana

    2014-01-01

    The objective of this exploratory investigation was to examine the nature of writing instruction in kindergarten classrooms and to describe student writing outcomes at the end of the school year. Participants for this study included 21 teachers and 238 kindergarten children from nine schools. Classroom teachers were videotaped once each in the fall and winter during the 90 minute instructional block for reading and language arts to examine time allocation and the types of writing instructional practices taking place in the kindergarten classrooms. Classroom observation of writing was divided into student-practice variables (activities in which students were observed practicing writing or writing independently) and teacher-instruction variables (activities in which the teacher was observed providing direct writing instruction). In addition, participants completed handwriting fluency, spelling, and writing tasks. Large variability was observed in the amount of writing instruction occurring in the classroom, the amount of time kindergarten teachers spent on writing and in the amount of time students spent writing. Marked variability was also observed in classroom practices both within and across schools and this fact was reflected in the large variability noted in kindergartners’ writing performance. PMID:24578591

  5. Exploring the Amount and Type of Writing Instruction during Language Arts Instruction in Kindergarten Classrooms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puranik, Cynthia S; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Sidler, Jessica Folsom; Greulich, Luana

    2014-02-01

    The objective of this exploratory investigation was to examine the nature of writing instruction in kindergarten classrooms and to describe student writing outcomes at the end of the school year. Participants for this study included 21 teachers and 238 kindergarten children from nine schools. Classroom teachers were videotaped once each in the fall and winter during the 90 minute instructional block for reading and language arts to examine time allocation and the types of writing instructional practices taking place in the kindergarten classrooms. Classroom observation of writing was divided into student-practice variables (activities in which students were observed practicing writing or writing independently) and teacher-instruction variables (activities in which the teacher was observed providing direct writing instruction). In addition, participants completed handwriting fluency, spelling, and writing tasks. Large variability was observed in the amount of writing instruction occurring in the classroom, the amount of time kindergarten teachers spent on writing and in the amount of time students spent writing. Marked variability was also observed in classroom practices both within and across schools and this fact was reflected in the large variability noted in kindergartners' writing performance.

  6. Influence of social norms and palatability on amount consumed and food choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pliner, Patricia; Mann, Nikki

    2004-04-01

    In two parallel studies, we examined the effect of social influence and palatability on amount consumed and on food choice. In Experiment 1, which looked at amount consumed, participants were provided with either palatable or unpalatable food; they were also given information about how much previous participants had eaten (large or small amounts) or were given no information. In the case of palatable food, participants ate more when led to believe that prior participants had eaten a great deal than when led to believe that prior participants had eaten small amounts or when provided with no information. This social-influence effect was not present when participants received unpalatable food. In Experiment 2, which looked at food choice, some participants learned that prior participants had chosen the palatable food, others learned that prior participants had chosen the unpalatable food, while still others received no information about prior participants' choices. The social-influence manipulation had no effect on participants' food choices; nearly all of them chose the palatable food. The results were discussed in the context of Churchfield's (1995) distinction between judgments about matters of fact and judgments about preferences. The results were also used to illustrate the importance of palatability as a determinant of eating behavior.

  7. An automated system for the preparation of Large Size Dried (LSD) Spikes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verbruggen, A.; Bauwens, J.; Jakobsson, U.; Eykens, R.; Wellum, R.; Aregbe, Y.; Van De Steene, N.

    2008-01-01

    Large size dried (LSD) spikes have been produced to fulfill the existing requirement for reliable and traceable isotopic reference materials for nuclear safeguards. A system to produce certified nuclear isotopic reference material as a U/Pu mixture in the form of large size dried spikes, comparable to those produced using traditional methods has been installed in collaboration with Nucomat, a company with a recognized reputation in design and development of integrated automated systems. The major components of the system are a robot, two balances, a dispenser and a drying unit fitted into a glove box. The robot is software driven and designed to control all movements inside the glove-box, to identify unambiguously the penicillin vials with a bar-code reader, to dispense the LSD batch solution into the vials and to weigh the amount dispensed. The system functionality has been evaluated and the performance validated by comparing the results from a series of samples dispensed and weighed by the automated system with the results by manual substitution weighing. After applying the proper correction factors to the data from the automated system balance no significant difference was observed between the two. However, an additional component of uncertainty of 3*10 -4 is introduced in the uncertainty budget for the certified weights provided by the automatic system. (authors)

  8. An automated system for the preparation of Large Size Dried (LSD) Spikes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Verbruggen, A.; Bauwens, J.; Jakobsson, U.; Eykens, R.; Wellum, R.; Aregbe, Y. [European Commission - Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), Retieseweg 211, B2440 Geel (Belgium); Van De Steene, N. [Nucomat, Mercatorstraat 206, B9100 Sint Niklaas (Belgium)

    2008-07-01

    Large size dried (LSD) spikes have been produced to fulfill the existing requirement for reliable and traceable isotopic reference materials for nuclear safeguards. A system to produce certified nuclear isotopic reference material as a U/Pu mixture in the form of large size dried spikes, comparable to those produced using traditional methods has been installed in collaboration with Nucomat, a company with a recognized reputation in design and development of integrated automated systems. The major components of the system are a robot, two balances, a dispenser and a drying unit fitted into a glove box. The robot is software driven and designed to control all movements inside the glove-box, to identify unambiguously the penicillin vials with a bar-code reader, to dispense the LSD batch solution into the vials and to weigh the amount dispensed. The system functionality has been evaluated and the performance validated by comparing the results from a series of samples dispensed and weighed by the automated system with the results by manual substitution weighing. After applying the proper correction factors to the data from the automated system balance no significant difference was observed between the two. However, an additional component of uncertainty of 3*10{sup -4} is introduced in the uncertainty budget for the certified weights provided by the automatic system. (authors)

  9. Carbon-Nitrogen Relationships during the Humification of Cellulose in Soils Containing Different Amounts of Clay

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Lasse Holst

    1981-01-01

    the 2 soils with the high content of clay had a relatively high content of available unlabeled soil-N which was used for synthesis of metabolic material. The proportionate retention of labeled C for a given soil was largely independent of the size of the amendments, whereas the proportionate amount....... Some of the labeled organic N when mineralized was re-incorporated into organic compounds containing increasing proportions of native soil-C, whereas labeled C when mineralized as CO2 disappeared from the soils. The amount of labeled amino acid-C, formed during decomposition of the labeled cellulose...... was most intense, and it held throughout the 4 yr of the incubation; proportionally it was independent of the amount of cellulose added and the temperature. The labeled amino acid-N content was not directly related to the amount of clay in the soil, presumably because more unlabeled soil-N was available...

  10. Coincident detection of electrons ejected at large angles and target recoil ions produced in multiply ionizing collisions for the 1-MeV/u Oq++Ar collision system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaither III, C.C.; Breinig, M.; Berryman, J.W.; Hasson, B.F.; Richards, J.D.; Price, K.

    1993-01-01

    The angular distributions of energetic electrons ejected at angles between 45 degree and 135 degree with respect to the incident-beam direction have been measured in coincidence with the charge states of the target recoil ions produced in multiply ionizing collisions for the 1-MeV/u O q+ (q=4,7)+Ar collision systems. These measurements have been made for ∼179-, ∼345-, and ∼505-eV electrons. Additionally, the energy distributions of electrons ejected into specific angular regions have been measured. Ar LMM satellite Auger electrons appear as a peak in the energy spectrum of electrons ejected at all large angles. The center of this peak is found at an electron energy of ∼179 eV. Electrons with ∼179 eV energy, ejected at large angles, are preferentially produced in coincidence with recoil ions of charge state 4+. Electrons with ∼345 eV energy and ∼505 eV energy ejected at large angles are preferentially produced in coincidence with recoil ions of charge state 3+. The angular distributions for these electrons are strongly peaked in the forward direction; essentially no electrons are observed at angles larger than 90 degree. These results are consistent with the dominant production mechanism for energetic electrons ejected at large angles being a binary-encounter process. Differential cross sections have been calculated from these angular distributions. They are on the order of 10 -21 cm 2 /(eV sr)

  11. Application of carbon isotopes to detect seepage out of coalbed natural gas produced water impoundments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, Shikha; Baggett, Joshua K.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Coalbed natural gas extraction results in large amount of produced water. → Risk of deterioration of ambient water quality. → Carbon isotope natural tracer for detecting seepage from produced water impoundments. - Abstract: Coalbed natural gas (CBNG) production from coal bed aquifers requires large volumes of produced water to be pumped from the subsurface. The produced water ranges from high quality that meets state and federal drinking water standards to low quality due to increased salinity and/or sodicity. The Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming is a major coalbed natural gas producing region, where water quality generally decreases moving from the southeastern portion of the basin towards the center. Most produced water in Wyoming is disposed into impoundments and other surface drainages, where it may infiltrate into shallow groundwater. Groundwater degradation caused by infiltration of CBNG produced water holding impoundments into arid, soluble salt-rich soils is an issue of immense importance because groundwater is a major source for stock water, irrigation, and drinking water for many small communities in these areas. This study examines the potential of using stable C isotope signatures of dissolved inorganic C (δ 13 C DIC ) to track the fate of CBNG produced water after it is discharged into the impoundments. Other geochemical proxies like the major cations and major anions were used in conjunction with field water quality measurements to understand the geochemical differences between CBNG produced waters and ambient waters in the study area. Samples were collected from the CBNG discharge outfalls, produced water holding impoundments, and monitoring wells from different parts of the Powder River Basin and analyzed for δ 13 C DIC . The CBNG produced waters from outfalls and impoundments have positive δ 13 C DIC values that fall within the range of +12 per mille to +22 per mille, distinct from the ambient regional surface and

  12. Very little in situ produced radiocarbon retained in accumulating Antarctic ice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kemp, W.J.M. van der; Alderliesten, C.; Borg, K. van der; Holmlund, P.; Jong, A.F.M. de; Karlöf, L.; Lamers, R.A.N.; Oerlemans, J.; Thomassen, M.; Wal, R.S.W. van de

    2000-01-01

    Ice samples from Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, were analyzed for 14CO2 and 14CO by accelerator mass spectrometry. Only a small amount (~2%) of in situ produced radiocarbon was detected. The calibrated radiocarbon ages, corrected for in situ produced 14C, are in fair agreement with age estimates

  13. Chemical milling solution produces smooth surface finish on aluminum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenzen, H. C.

    1966-01-01

    Elementary sulfur mixed into a solution of caustic soda and salts produces an etchant which will chemically mill end-grain surfaces on aluminum plate. This composition results in the least amount of thickness variation and pitting.

  14. Disentangling the Effects of Precipitation Amount and Frequency on the Performance of 14 Grassland Species

    Science.gov (United States)

    Didiano, Teresa J.; Johnson, Marc T. J.; Duval, Tim P.

    2016-01-01

    Climate change is causing shifts in the amount and frequency of precipitation in many regions, which is expected to have implications for plant performance. Most research has examined the impacts of the amount of precipitation on plants rather than the effects of both the amount and frequency of precipitation. To understand how climate-driven changes in precipitation can affect grassland plants, we asked: (i) How does the amount and frequency of precipitation affect plant performance? (ii) Do plant functional groups vary in their response to variable precipitation? To answer these questions we grew 14 monocot and eudicot grassland species and conducted a factorial manipulation of the amount (70 vs 90mm/month) and frequency (every 3, 15, or 30 days) of precipitation under rainout shelters. Our results show that both the amount and frequency of precipitation impact plant performance, with larger effects on eudicots than monocots. Above- and below-ground biomass were affected by the amount of precipitation and/or the interaction between the amount and frequency of precipitation. Above-ground biomass increased by 21–30% when the amount of precipitation was increased. When event frequency was decreased from 3 to 15 or 30 days, below-ground biomass generally decreased by 18–34% in the 70 mm treatment, but increased by 33–40% in the 90 mm treatment. Changes in stomatal conductance were largely driven by changes in event frequency. Our results show that it is important to consider changes in both the amount and frequency of precipitation when predicting how plant communities will respond to variable precipitation. PMID:27622497

  15. Highly crystallized nanometer-sized zeolite a with large Cs adsorption capability for the decontamination of water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torad, Nagy L; Naito, Masanobu; Tatami, Junichi; Endo, Akira; Leo, Sin-Yen; Ishihara, Shinsuke; Wu, Kevin C-W; Wakihara, Toru; Yamauchi, Yusuke

    2014-03-01

    Nanometer-sized zeolite A with a large cesium (Cs) uptake capability is prepared through a simple post-milling recrystallization method. This method is suitable for producing nanometer-sized zeolite in large scale, as additional organic compounds are not needed to control zeolite nucleation and crystal growth. Herein, we perform a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) study to evaluate the uptake ability of Cs ions by zeolite, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. In comparison to micrometer-sized zeolite A, nanometer-sized zeolite A can rapidly accommodate a larger amount of Cs ions into the zeolite crystal structure, owing to its high external surface area. Nanometer-sized zeolite is a promising candidate for the removal of radioactive Cs ions from polluted water. Our QCM study on Cs adsorption uptake behavior provides the information of adsorption kinetics (e.g., adsorption amounts and rates). This technique is applicable to other zeolites, which will be highly valuable for further consideration of radioactive Cs removal in the future. Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  16. Marine Vibrio Species Produce the Volatile Organic Compound Acetone

    OpenAIRE

    Nemecek-Marshall, M.; Wojciechowski, C.; Kuzma, J.; Silver, G. M.; Fall, R.

    1995-01-01

    While screening aerobic, heterotrophic marine bacteria for production of volatile organic compounds, we found that a group of isolates produced substantial amounts of acetone. Acetone production was confirmed by gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and high-performance liquid chromatography. The major acetone producers were identified as nonclinical Vibrio species. Acetone production was maximal in the stationary phase of growth and was stimulated by addition of l-leucine...

  17. A method to press powder at 6000 ton using small amount of explosive

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilmi, Ahmad Humaizi; Azmi, Nor Azmaliana; Ismail, Ariffin

    2017-12-01

    Large die hydraulic press forces are one of the key instruments in making jumbo planes. The machine can produce aircraft components such as wing spars, landing gear supports and armor plates. Superpower nations such as USA, Russia, Germany, Japan, Korea and China have large die hydraulic press which can press 50,000 tons. In Malaysia, heavy-duty press is available from companies such as Proton that builds chassis for cars. However, that heavy-duty press is not able to produce better bulkhead for engines, fuselage, and wings of an aircraft. This paper presents the design of an apparatus that uses 50 grams of commercial grade explosives to produce 6000 tons of compaction. This is a first step towards producing larger scale apparatus that can produce 50,000-ton press. The design was done using AUTODYN blast simulation software. According to the results, the maximum load the apparatus can withstand was 6000 tons which was contributed by 50 grams of commercial explosive(Emulex). Explosive size larger than 50 grams will lead to catastrophic failure. Fabrication of the apparatus was completed. However, testing of the apparatus is not presented in this article.

  18. Don't Cry over Spilled Water: Identifying Risks and Solutions for Produced Water Spills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shores, Amanda Rose

    -water generation, no mitigation of spill volume would be obtained by utilizing larger producers. Regardless of which operator was responsible for the spill, the groundwater depth at a spill site significantly predicted when a spill would result in groundwater contamination. This result was also validated though modeling; shallow depths to groundwater as well as larger spill volumes and coarse soil textures contributed to higher concentrations of groundwater contamination. Previous research has shown that a large fraction of spills occur at well pads. Our results suggest that fracking-site selection should preclude areas where the groundwater is shallow and soil is coarsely textured. Additionally, precautions should be taken to reduce the volume of spilled produced water to reduce the risk of groundwater contamination. This research additionally sought to reduce contaminant migration in soils towards groundwater at produced-water spill sites. In a greenhouse study it was shown that foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), can tolerate high salt concentrations in produced water while taking up minute levels of BTEX. The presence of plants changed the concentration of BTEX and naphthalene in the soil, but the direction of the change depended upon the particular plant and varied across contaminants. Additionally, the roots of either species saw no decrease of biomass upon exposure to BTEX and salt but shoots biomass was significantly reduced for foxtail barley. These results suggest that these grasses would not be capable of addressing large concentrations of BTEX at spill sites; however, these plants would be useful near well pads that regularly experience smaller spills, thus being able to tolerate spills while continually removing small amounts of BTEX in the soil. In conclusion, this thesis sought to identify holistic tools for produced-water spill prevention, mitigation and remediation to lessen environmental and health concerns while creating

  19. Reliability of large superconducting magnets through design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henning, C.D.

    1980-01-01

    As superconducting magnet systems grow larger and become the central component of major systems involving fusion, magnetohydrodynamics, and high-energy physics, their reliability must be commensurate with the enormous capital investment in the projects. Although the magnet may represent only 15% of the cost of a large system such as the Mirror Fusion Test Facility, its failure would be catastrophic to the entire investment. Effective quality control during construction is one method of ensuring success. However, if the design is unforgiving, even an inordinate amount of effort expended on quality control may be inadequate. Creative design is the most effective way of ensuring magnet reliability and providing a reasonable limit on the amount of quality control needed. For example, by subjecting the last drawing operation is superconductor manufacture to a stress larger than the magnet design stress, a 100% proof test is achieved; cabled conductors offer mechanical redundancy, as do some methods of conductor joining; ground-plane insulation should be multilayered to prevent arcs, and interturn and interlayer insulation spaced to be compatible with the self-extinguishing of arcs during quench voltages; electrical leads should be thermally protected; and guard vacuum spaces can be incorporated to control helium leaks. Many reliable design options are known to magnet designers. These options need to be documented and organized to produce a design guide. Eventually, standard procedures, safety factors, and design codes can lead to reliability in magnets comparable to that obtained in pressure vessels and other structures. Wihout such reliability, large-scale applications in major systems employing magnetic fusion energy, magnetohydrodynamics, or high-energy physics would present unacceptable economic risks

  20. AIDS Kaposi sarcoma-derived cells produce and respond to interleukin 6

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miles, S.A.; Rezai, A.R.; Salazar-Gonzalez, J.F.; Meyden, M.V.; Stevens, R.H.; Mitsuyasu, R.T.; Martinez-Maza, O.; Logan, D.M.; Taga, Tetsuya; Hirano, Toshio; Kishimoto, Tadamitsu

    1990-01-01

    Cell lines derived from Kaposi sarcoma lesions of patients with AIDS (AIDS-KS cells) produce several cytokines, including an endothelial cell growth factor, interleukin 1β, and basic fibroblast growth factor. Since exposure to human immunodeficiency virus increases interleukin 6 (IL-6) production in monocytes and endothelial cells produce IL-6, the authors examined IL-6 expression and response in AIDS-KS cell lines and IL-6 expression in AIDS Kaposi sarcoma tissue. The AIDS-KS cell lines (N521J and EKS3) secreted large amounts of immunoreactive and biologically active IL-6. The authors found both IL-6 and IL-6 receptor (IL-6-R) RNA by slot blot hybridization analysis of AIDS-KS cells. The IL-6-R was functional, as [ 3 H]thymidine incorporation by AIDS-KS cells increased significantly after exposure to human recombinant IL-6 (hrIL-6) at >10 units/ml. When AIDS-KS cells (EKS3) were exposed to IL-6 antisense oligonucleotide, cellular proliferation decreased by nearly two-thirds, with a corresponding decrease in the production of IL-6. These results show that both IL-6 and IL-6-R are produced by AIDS-KS cells and that IL-6 is required for optimal AIDS-KS cell proliferation, and they suggest that IL-6 is an autocrine growth factor for AIDS-KS cells

  1. High value added lipids produced by microorganisms: a potential use of sugarcane vinasse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandes, Bruna Soares; Vieira, João Paulo Fernandes; Contesini, Fabiano Jares; Mantelatto, Paulo Eduardo; Zaiat, Marcelo; Pradella, José Geraldo da Cruz

    2017-12-01

    This review aims to present an innovative concept of high value added lipids produced by heterotrophic microorganisms, bacteria and fungi, using carbon sources, such as sugars, acids and alcohols that could come from sugarcane vinasse, which is the main byproduct from ethanol production that is released in the distillation step. Vinasse is a rich carbon source and low-cost feedstock produced in large amounts from ethanol production. In 2019, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply estimates that growth of ethanol domestic consumption will be 58.8 billion liters, more than double the amount in 2008. This represents the annual production of more than 588 billion liters of vinasse, which is currently used as a fertilizer in the sugarcane crop, due to its high concentration of minerals, mainly potassium. However, studies indicate some disadvantages such as the generation of Greenhouse Gas emission during vinasse distribution in the crop, as well as the possibility of contaminating the groundwater and soil. Therefore, the development of programs for sustainable use of vinasse is a priority. One profitable alternative is the fermentation of vinasse, followed by an anaerobic digester, in order to obtain biomaterials such as lipids, other byproducts, and methane. Promising high value added lipids, for instance carotenoids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAS), with a predicted market of millions of US$, could be produced using vinasse as carbon source, to guide an innovative concept for sustainable production. Example of lipids obtained from the fermentation of compounds present in vinasse are vitamin D, which comes from yeast sucrose fermentation and Omega 3, which can be obtained by bacteria and fungi fermentation. Additionally, several other compounds present in vinasse can be used for this purpose, including sucrose, ethanol, lactate, pyruvate, acetate and other carbon sources. Finally, this paper illustrates the potential market and

  2. Process for producing a polymer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koshimura, M; Haruta, K; Matsuzaka, J; Terakado, H

    1969-02-13

    A novel polymer is produced by a novel polymerization or copolymerization process in the presence of a free radical-forming catalyst or radical-forming irradiation energy to provide a monomer of the general formula CH/sub 2/=C(R/sub 1/)(COO)-(R/sub 2/OOCR/sub 3/COO)sub(n)-R/sub 2/OH wherein R/sub 1/ is hydrogen, halogen or alkyl radical containing one or two atoms; R/sub 2/ is an epoxy compound residue; R/sub 3/ is a polybasic anhydride residue; and n is an integer. This polymer: (1) enables the cross-linking reaction, (2) improves the adhesiveness of adhesives, pigments, films and coatings; (3) is adjustable for mutual solubility and affinity when blending with other solvents and resins; (4) is resistant to yellowing and mechanically stronger than the benzene nucleus of styrene; (5) improves the textile dyeing affinity, adhesiveness and dispersion of pigments, and the dimensional stability of films and sheets; (6) is suitable as a molding material of synthetic resins, adhesives and coatings because of its three dimensional cross-linking construction; (7) can control the hardness, flexibility and rigidity of the molding materials; and (8) can lower the cost of production. In an example, 10 g of the monomer of the above mentioned formula wherein n=1, R/sub 1/=CH/sub 3/, R/sub 2/=-(CH/sub 2/)/sub 2/ and R/sub 3/ is ortho-substituted benzene, and 0.1 g of benzol peroxide, are added to ampoule, sealed and polymerized at 120/sup 0/C for 2 hours. Next the contents are precipitated in a large amount of benzene to produce a polymer having a molecular weight of 9,500. The products have good dimensional stability as molding materials.

  3. Effects of interactive transport and scavenging of smoke on the calculated temperature change resulting from large amounts of smoke

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MacCracken, M.C.; Walton, J.J.

    1984-12-01

    Several theoretical studies with numerical models have shown that substantial land-surface cooling can occur if very large amounts (approx. 100 x 10 12 = 100 Tg) of highly absorbing sooty-particles are injected high into the troposphere and spread instantaneously around the hemisphere (Turco et al., 1983; Covey et al. 1984; MacCracken, 1983). A preliminary step beyond these initial calculations has been made by interactively coupling the two-layer, three-dimensional Oregon State University general circulation model (GCM) to the three-dimensional GRANTOUR trace species model developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The GCM simulation includes treatment of tropospheric dynamics and thermodynamics and the effect of soot on solar radiation. The GRANTOUR simulation includes treatment of particle transport and scavenging by precipitation, although no satisfactory verification of the scavenging algorithm has yet been possible. We have considered the climatic effects of 150 Tg (i.e., the 100 Mt urban war scenario from Turco et al., 1983) and of 15 Tg of smoke from urban fires over North America and Eurasia. Starting with a perpetual July atmospheric situation, calculation of the climatic effects as 150 Tg of smoke are spread slowly by the winds, rather than instantaneously dispersed as in previous calculations, leads to some regions of greater cooling under the denser parts of the smoke plumes and some regions of less severe cooling where smoke arrival is delayed. As for the previous calculations, mid-latitude decreases of land surface air temperature for the 150 Tg injection are greater than 15 0 C after a few weeks. For a 15 Tg injection, however, cooling of more than several degrees centigrade only occurs in limited regions under the dense smoke plumes present in the first few weeks after the injection. 10 references, 9 figures

  4. Novel concept for producing energy integrating a solar collector with a man made mountain hollow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Xinping; Yang Jiakuan; Wang Jinbo; Xiao Bo

    2009-01-01

    The concept of the solar chimney thermal power technology was proven with the successful operation of the Manzanares prototype built in the 1980s. However, all previous attempts at producing energy from a commercial solar chimney thermal power plant on a large scale have failed because of bad engineering and safety. A novel concept for producing energy by integrating a solar collector with a mountain hollow is presented and described. Solar energy is collected in the collector and heats the ground, which is used to store heat energy and heat the indoor air. Then, the hot air is forced by the pressure difference between it and the ambient air to move along the tilted segment and up the vertical segment of the 'chimney', driving the turbine generators to generate electricity. The mountain hollow, formed by excavation in a large-elevation mountain, can avoid the safety issues of erecting a gigantic concrete chimney, which is needed for commercial solar chimney thermal power plants. Furthermore, it can also save a great amount of construction materials for constructing a robust chimney structure and reduce the energy cost to a level less than that of a clean coal power plant, providing a good solution to the reclamation and utilization of undeveloped mountains, especially in mountainous countries

  5. Novel concept for producing energy integrating a solar collector with a man made mountain hollow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou Xinping [School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China)], E-mail: zhxpmark@hotmail.com; Yang Jiakuan; Wang Jinbo; Xiao Bo [School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China)

    2009-03-15

    The concept of the solar chimney thermal power technology was proven with the successful operation of the Manzanares prototype built in the 1980s. However, all previous attempts at producing energy from a commercial solar chimney thermal power plant on a large scale have failed because of bad engineering and safety. A novel concept for producing energy by integrating a solar collector with a mountain hollow is presented and described. Solar energy is collected in the collector and heats the ground, which is used to store heat energy and heat the indoor air. Then, the hot air is forced by the pressure difference between it and the ambient air to move along the tilted segment and up the vertical segment of the 'chimney', driving the turbine generators to generate electricity. The mountain hollow, formed by excavation in a large-elevation mountain, can avoid the safety issues of erecting a gigantic concrete chimney, which is needed for commercial solar chimney thermal power plants. Furthermore, it can also save a great amount of construction materials for constructing a robust chimney structure and reduce the energy cost to a level less than that of a clean coal power plant, providing a good solution to the reclamation and utilization of undeveloped mountains, especially in mountainous countries.

  6. Novel concept for producing energy integrating a solar collector with a man made mountain hollow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou, Xinping [School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China); Yang, Jiakuan; Wang, Jinbo; Xiao, Bo [School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China)

    2009-03-15

    The concept of the solar chimney thermal power technology was proven with the successful operation of the Manzanares prototype built in the 1980s. However, all previous attempts at producing energy from a commercial solar chimney thermal power plant on a large scale have failed because of bad engineering and safety. A novel concept for producing energy by integrating a solar collector with a mountain hollow is presented and described. Solar energy is collected in the collector and heats the ground, which is used to store heat energy and heat the indoor air. Then, the hot air is forced by the pressure difference between it and the ambient air to move along the tilted segment and up the vertical segment of the 'chimney', driving the turbine generators to generate electricity. The mountain hollow, formed by excavation in a large-elevation mountain, can avoid the safety issues of erecting a gigantic concrete chimney, which is needed for commercial solar chimney thermal power plants. Furthermore, it can also save a great amount of construction materials for constructing a robust chimney structure and reduce the energy cost to a level less than that of a clean coal power plant, providing a good solution to the reclamation and utilization of undeveloped mountains, especially in mountainous countries. (author)

  7. Studies of agregates produced during venom irradiation of Crotalus durissus terrificus with gamma ray

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clissa, Patricia B.; Nascimento, Nanci do; Rogero, Jose R.

    1997-01-01

    Literature data show that 2.0 kGy dose of gamma radiation, generated by 60 Co source, reduces the toxic activity of Crotalus durissus terrificus venon, without altering its immunogenic capacity. When crotoxin, main toxin from crotalic venom, was irradiated with the same dose, toxicity was laos reduced and the immunogenicity was maintained. This fact was attributed to aggregates(compounds with high molecular weight generated during irradiation), that showed no toxicity but were able to induce the antibodies formation against native venom. Crotalus durissus terrificus venom was irradied with 2.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 10.0 kGy doses and submitted to molecular exclusion chromatography, in order to find an efficient dose that produces large amounts of non toxic but still immunogeneic aggregates. After being isolated, the products of irradiation were evaluated for the amount produced, molecular ateration, and toxic and immunogenic activities. The results from different doses irradiated venom were compared with native one, and 2.0 kGg dose was confirmed to be most efficient in the association of toxicity attenuation with maintenance of immunogenicity of the crotalic venom, while other doses, in spite of being efficient in the toxicity attenuation, they were not able to keep the immunogenicity property. So, the dose of 2.0 kGy could be used to immunize animals in order to improve anticrotalic sera production. (author). 14 refs., 6 figs., 4 tabs

  8. Fate and groundwater impacts of produced water releases at OSPER "B" site, Osage County, Oklahoma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kharaka, Y.K.; Kakouros, E.; Thordsen, J.J.; Ambats, G.; Abbott, M.M.

    2007-01-01

    For the last 5 a, the authors have been investigating the transport, fate, natural attenuation and ecosystem impacts of inorganic and organic compounds in releases of produced water and associated hydrocarbons at the Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research (OSPER) "A" and "B" sites, located in NE Oklahoma. Approximately 1.0 ha of land at OSPER "B", located within the active Branstetter lease, is visibly affected by salt scarring, tree kills, soil salinization, and brine and petroleum contamination. Site "B" includes an active production tank battery and adjacent large brine pit, two injection well sites, one with an adjacent small pit, and an abandoned brine pit and tank battery site. Oil production in this lease started in 1938, and currently there are 10 wells that produce 0.2-0.5 m3/d (1-3 bbl/d) oil, and 8-16 m3/d (50-100 bbl/d) brine. Geochemical data from nearby oil wells show that the produced water source is a Na-Ca-Cl brine (???150,000 mg/L TDS), with high Mg, but low SO4 and dissolved organic concentrations. Groundwater impacts are being investigated by detailed chemical analyses of water from repeated sampling of 41 boreholes, 1-71 m deep. The most important results at OSPER "B" are: (1) significant amounts of produced water from the two active brine pits percolate into the surficial rocks and flow towards the adjacent Skiatook reservoir, but only minor amounts of liquid petroleum leave the brine pits; (2) produced-water brine and minor dissolved organics have penetrated the thick (3-7 m) shale and siltstone units resulting in the formation of three interconnected plumes of high-salinity water (5000-30,000 mg/L TDS) that extend towards the Skiatook reservoir from the two active and one abandoned brine pits; and (3) groundwater from the deep section of only one well, BR-01 located 330 m upslope and west of the site, appear not to be impacted by petroleum operations. ?? 2007.

  9. Cosmic-ray produced nuclides in ground level air and in precipitation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schumann, G.; Roedel, W.; Stoeppler, M.

    1963-11-15

    There are mainly three kinds of radioactive substances in the atmosphere: emanations from the ground and their daughters, nuclides produced in the atmosphere by cosmic rays, and artificial products originating from nuclear weapon tests (and in a very small amount from other nuclear technical applications). This paper deals in particular with some of the cosmic-ray produced nuclides.

  10. K$^{-}$ over K$^{+}$ multiplicity ratio for kaons produced in DIS with a large fraction of the virtual-photon energy

    CERN Document Server

    Akhunzyanov, R.; The COMPASS collaboration; Alexeev, G.D.; Amoroso, A.; Andrieux, V.; Anfimov, N.V.; Anosov, V.; Antoshkin, A.; Augsten, K.; Augustyniak, W.; Austregesilo, A.; Azevedo, C.D.R.; Badełek, B.; Balestra, F.; Ball, M.; Barth, J.; Beck, R.; Bedfer, Y.; Bernhard, J.; Bicker, K.; Bielert, E.R.; Birsa, R.; Bodlak, M.; Bordalo, P.; Bradamante, F.; Bressan, A.; Büchele, M.; Burtsev, V.E.; Capozza, L.; Chang, W.-C.; Chatterjee, C.; Chiosso, M.; Chumakov, A.G.; Chung, S.-U.; Cicuttin, A.; Crespo, M.L.; Curiel, Q.; Dalla Torre, S.; Dasgupta, S.S.; Dasgupta, S.; Denisov, O.Yu.; Dhara, L.; Donskov, S.V.; Doshita, N.; Dreisbach, Ch.; Dünnweber, W.; Dusaev, R.R.; Dziewiecki, M.; Efremov, A.; Eversheim, P.D.; Faessler, M.; Ferrero, A.; Finger, M.; jr., M.Finger; Fischer, H.; Franco, C.; du Fresne von Hohenesche, N.; Friedrich, J.M.; Frolov, V.; Gautheron, F.; Gavrichtchouk, O.P.; Gerassimov, S.; Giarra, J.; Gnesi, I.; Gorzellik, M.; Grasso, A.; Gridin, A.; Grosse Perdekamp, M.; Grube, B.; Guskov, A.; Hahne, D.; Hamar, G.; von Harrach, D.; Heitz, R.; Herrmann, F.; Horikawa, N.; d'Hose, N.; Hsieh, C.-Y.; Huber, S.; Ishimoto, S.; Ivanov, A.; Ivanshin, Yu.; Iwata, T.; Jary, V.; Joosten, R.; Jörg, P.; Kabuß, E.; Kerbizi, A.; Ketzer, B.; Khaustov, G.V.; Khokhlov, Yu.A.; Kisselev, Yu.; Klein, F.; Koivuniemi, J.H.; Kolosov, V.N.; Kondo, K.; Konorov, I.; Konstantinov, V.F.; Kotzinian, A.M.; Kouznetsov, O.M.; Kral, Z.; Krämer, M.; Krinner, F.; Kroumchtein, Z.V.; Kulinich, Y.; Kunne, F.; Kurek, K.; Kurjata, R.P.; Kuznetsov, I.I.; Kveton, A.; Lednev, A.A.; Levchenko, E.A.; Levorato, S.; Lian, Y.-S.; Lichtenstadt, J.; Longo, R.; Lyubovitskij, V.E.; Maggiora, A.; Magnon, A.; Makins, N.; Makke, N.; Mallot, G.K.; Mamon, S.A.; Marchand, C.; Marianski, B.; Martin, A.; Marzec, J.; Matoušek, J.; Matsuda, H.; Matsuda, T.; Meshcheryakov, G.V.; Meyer, M.; Meyer, W.; Mikhailov, Yu.V.; Mikhasenko, M.; Mitrofanov, E.; Mitrofanov, N.; Miyachi, Y.; Moretti, A.; Nagaytsev, A.; Nerling, F.; Neyret, D.; Nový, J.; Nowak, W.-D.; Nukazuka, G.; Nunes, A.S.; Olshevsky, A.G.; Orlov, I.; Ostrick, M.; Panzieri, D.; Parsamyan, B.; Paul, S.; Peng, J.-C.; Pereira, F.; Pesaro, G.; Pešek, M.; Pešková, M.; Peshekhonov, D.V.; Pierre, N.; Platchkov, S.; Pochodzalla, J.; Polyakov, V.A.; Pretz, J.; Quaresma, M.; Quintans, C.; Ramos, S.; Regali, C.; Reicherz, G.; Riedl, C.; Ryabchikov, D.I.; Rybnikov, A.; Rychter, A.; Salac, R.; Samoylenko, V.D.; Sandacz, A.; Sarkar, S.; Savin, I.A.; Sawada, T.; Sbrizzai, G.; Schiavon, P.; Schmieden, H.; Seder, E.; Selyunin, A.; Silva, L.; Sinha, L.; Sirtl, S.; Slunecka, M.; Sozzi, F.; Smolik, J.; Srnka, A.; Steffen, D.; Stolarski, M.; Subrt, O.; Sulc, M.; Suzuki, H.; Szabelski, A.; Szameitat, T.; Sznajder, P.; Tasevsky, M.; Tessaro, S.; Tessarotto, F.; Thiel, A.; Tomsa, J.; Tosello, F.; Tskhay, V.; Uhl, S.; Vasilishin, B.I.; Vauth, A.; Veit, B.M.; Veloso, J.; Vidon, A.; Virius, M.; Wallner, S.; Wilfert, M.; Windmolders, R.; Zaremba, K.; Zavada, P.; Zavertyaev, M.; Zemlyanichkina, E.; Zhuravlev, N.; Ziembicki, M.

    2018-01-01

    The K$^{-}$ over K$^{+}$ multiplicity ratio is measured in deep-inelastic scattering, for the first time for kaons carrying a large fraction $z$ of the virtual-photon energy. The data were obtained by the COMPASS collaboration using a 160 GeV muon beam and an isoscalar $^6$LiD target. The regime of deep-inelastic scattering is ensured by requiring $Q^2>1$ (GeV/$c)^2$ for the photon virtuality and $W>5$ GeV/$c^2$ for the invariant mass of the produced hadronic system. Kaons are identified in the momentum range from 12 GeV/$c$ to 40 GeV/$c$, thereby restricting the range in Bjorken-$x$ to $0.010.75$. For very large values of $z$, $i.e.$ $z>0.8$, the results contradict expectations obtained using the formalism of (next-to-)leading order perturbative quantum chromodynamics. This may imply that cross-section factorisation or/and universality of (kaon) fragmentation functions do not hold. Our studies suggest that within this formalism an additional correction may be required, which takes into account th...

  11. Preparation of a large-scale and multi-layer molybdenum crystal and its characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujii, Tadayuki

    1989-01-01

    In the present work, the secondary recrystallization method was applied to obtain a large-scale and multi-layer crystal from a hot-rolled multi-laminated molybdenum sheet doped and stacked alternately with different amounts of dopant. It was found that the time and/or temperature at which secondary recrystallization commence from the multi- layer sheet is strongly dependent on the amounts of dopants. Therefore the potential nucleus of the secondary grain from layers with different amounts of dopant occurred first at the layer with a small amount of dopant and then grew into the layer with a large amount of dopant after an anneal at 1800 0 C-2000 0 C. Consequently a large -scale and multi-layer molybdenum crystal can easily be obtained. 12 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs. (Author)

  12. Properties of highly electronegative plasmas produced in a multipolar magnetic-confined device with a transversal magnetic filter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Draghici, Mihai; Stamate, Eugen

    2010-01-01

    Highly electronegative plasmas were produced in Ar/SF6 gas mixtures in a dc discharge with multipolar magnetic confinement and transversal magnetic filter. Langmuir probe and mass spectrometry were used for plasma diagnostics. Plasma potential drift, the influence of small or large area biased...... electrodes on plasma parameters, the formation of the negative ion sheath and etching rates by positive and negative ions have been investigated for different experimental conditions. When the electron temperature was reduced below 1 eV the density ratio of negative ion to electron exceeded 100 even for very...... low amounts of SF6 gas. The plasma potential drift could be controlled by proper wall conditioning. A large electrode biased positively had no effect on plasma potential for density ratios of negative ions to electrons larger than 50. For similar electronegativities or higher a negative ion sheath...

  13. Measurements of mitochondrial spaces are affected by the amount of mitochondria used in the determinations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, N.S.; Cheung, C.W.; Raijman, L.

    1987-01-01

    Mitochondrial (MITL) water spaces were determined by centrifugal filtration, using 3 H 2 O and 14 C-labelled sucrose, mannitol, inulin, and dextran. The volume (in μl/mg of MITL protein) of each of the spaces was inversely proportional to the amount of MIT (mg of protein) centrifuged. For every additional mg of MIT centrifuged, the total water space (in μl/mg of protein) decreased 0.62 μl, the sucrose space 0.50 μl, the intermembrane space 0.16 μl, and the matrix space 0.12 μl. For a given amount of MIT, the volume of each space was the same when centrifugation was done at 8000 and at 15,600g, and when the MIT were incubated with the markers for 15 sec to 5 min, indicating that sucrose, mannitol and inulin do not penetrate the matrix, nor dextran the intermembrane space, under the incubation and centrifugation conditions generally used to measure MITL spaces. They conclude that: (a) calculations of the concentration of compounds in the matrix or intermembrane space may contain large errors unless the same amount of MIT is used to measure MITL spaces and the compounds of interest; (b) large errors in the calculation of transport rates, proton-motive force, etc., may arise from errors originating as in (a) above; (c) disagreements found in the literature regarding, for example, the size of the sucrose space, may have arisen from the use of different amounts of MIT in different work

  14. 7 CFR 1427.175 - Liability of the producer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ..., maintaining a loan, or settling a loan or if the producer disposes of or moves the loan collateral without the... disposition or movement of the loan collateral; (iv) Applicable interest on such amounts; and (v) Liquidated... moved, the loan collateral without prior written approval from CCC, the value of such collateral...

  15. Large Amounts of Reactivated Virus in Tears Precedes Recurrent Herpes Stromal Keratitis in Stressed Rabbits Latently Infected with Herpes Simplex Virus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perng, Guey-Chuen; Osorio, Nelson; Jiang, Xianzhi; Geertsema, Roger; Hsiang, Chinhui; Brown, Don; BenMohamed, Lbachir; Wechsler, Steven L

    2016-01-01

    Recurrent herpetic stromal keratitis (rHSK), due to an immune response to reactivation of herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), can cause corneal blindness. The development of therapeutic interventions such as drugs and vaccines to decrease rHSK have been hampered by the lack of a small and reliable animal model in which rHSK occurs at a high frequency during HSV-1 latency. The aim of this study is to develop a rabbit model of rHSK in which stress from elevated temperatures increases the frequency of HSV-1 reactivations and rHSK. Rabbits latently infected with HSV-1 were subjected to elevated temperatures and the frequency of viral reactivations and rHSK were determined. In an experiment in which rabbits latently infected with HSV-1 were subjected to ill-defined stress as a result of failure of the vivarium air conditioning system, reactivation of HSV-1 occurred at over twice the normal frequency. In addition, 60% of eyes developed severe rHSK compared to tears of that eye and whenever this unusually large amount of reactivated virus was detected in tears, rHSK always appeared 4-5 days later. In subsequent experiments using well defined heat stress the reactivation frequency was similarly increased, but no eyes developed rHSK. The results reported here support the hypothesis that rHSK is associated not simply with elevated reactivation frequency, but rather with rare episodes of very high levels of reactivated virus in tears 4-5 days earlier.

  16. Decarbonization process for carbothermically produced aluminum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruno, Marshall J.; Carkin, Gerald E.; DeYoung, David H.; Dunlap, Sr., Ronald M.

    2015-06-30

    A method of recovering aluminum is provided. An alloy melt having Al.sub.4C.sub.3 and aluminum is provided. This mixture is cooled and then a sufficient amount of a finely dispersed gas is added to the alloy melt at a temperature of about 700.degree. C. to about 900.degree. C. The aluminum recovered is a decarbonized carbothermically produced aluminum where the step of adding a sufficient amount of the finely dispersed gas effects separation of the aluminum from the Al.sub.4C.sub.3 precipitates by flotation, resulting in two phases with the Al.sub.4C.sub.3 precipitates being the upper layer and the decarbonized aluminum being the lower layer. The aluminum is then recovered from the Al.sub.4C.sub.3 precipitates through decanting.

  17. Simplified method for preparation of concentrated exoproteins produced by Staphylococcus aureus grown on surface of cellophane bag containing liquid medium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikigai, H; Seki, K; Nishihara, S; Masuda, S

    1988-01-01

    A simplified method for preparation of concentrated exoproteins including protein A and alpha-toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus was successfully devised. The concentrated proteins were obtained by cultivating S. aureus organisms on the surface of a liquid medium-containing cellophane bag enclosed in a sterilized glass flask. With the same amount of medium, the total amount of proteins obtained by the method presented here was identical with that obtained by conventional liquid culture. The concentration of proteins obtained by the method, however, was high enough to observe their distinct bands stained on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This method was considered quite useful not only for large-scale cultivation for the purification of staphylococcal proteins but also for small-scale study using the proteins. The precise description of the method was presented and its possible usefulness was discussed.

  18. Hydrogen evolution in enzymatic photoelectrochemical cell using modified seawater electrolytes produced by membrane desalination process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joo, Hyunku; Yoon, Jaekyung [Hydrogen Energy Research Center, New and Renewable Energy Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research, 71-2 Jang-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-343 (Korea); Bae, Sanghyun [Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, 234 Maeji-ri, Hungub-myun, Wonju, Gangwon-do 220-710 (Korea); Kim, Chunghwan; Kim, Suhan [Korea Institute of Water and Environment, K-Water, 462-1 Jeonmin-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-730 (Korea)

    2009-09-15

    In the near future, potential water shortages are expected to occur all over the world and this problem will have a significant influence on the availability of water for water-splitting processes, such as photocatalysis and electrolysis, as well as for drinking water. For this reason, it has been suggested that seawater could be used as an alternative for the various water industries including hydrogen production. Seawater contains a large amount of dissolved ion components, thus allowing it to be used as an electrolyte in photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems for producing hydrogen. Especially, the concentrate (retentate) stream shows higher salinity than the seawater fed to the membrane desalination process, because purified water (fresh water) is produced as the permeate stream and the waste brine is more concentrated than the original seawater. In this study, we investigated the hydrogen evolution rate in a photoelectrochemical system, including the preparation and characterization of an anodized tubular TiO{sub 2} electrode (ATTE) as both the photoanode and the cathode with the assistance of an immobilized hydrogenase enzyme and an external bias (solar cell), and the use of various qualities of seawater produced by membrane desalination processes as the electrolyte. The results showed that the rate of hydrogen evolution obtained using the nanofiltration (NF) retentate in the PEC system is ca. 105 {mu}mol/cm{sup 2} h, showing that this is an effective seawater electrolyte for hydrogen production, the optimum amount of enzyme immobilized on the cathode is ca. 3.66 units per geometrical unit area (1 cm x 1 cm), and the optimum external external bias supplied by the solar cell is 2.0 V. (author)

  19. New ochratoxin A or sclerotium producing species in Aspergillus section Nigri

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Samson, R.A.; Frisvad, Jens Christian

    2004-01-01

    in Costa Rica and produces large pink to greyish brown sclerotia. Aspergillus lacticoffeatus was found on coffee beans in Venezuela and Indonesia, and is an effective producer of ochratoxin A. Aspergillus piperis was isolated from black ground pepper and produces large yellow to pink brown sclerotia...

  20. POLICY ANALYSIS OF PRODUCED WATER ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH IN-SITU THERMAL TECHNOLOGIES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robert Keiter; John Ruple; Heather Tanana

    2011-02-01

    Commercial scale oil shale and oil sands development will require water, the amount of which will depend on the technologies adopted and the scale of development that occurs. Water in oil shale and oil sands country is already in scarce supply, and because of the arid nature of the region and limitations on water consumption imposed by interstate compacts and the Endangered Species Act, the State of Utah normally does not issue new water rights in oil shale or oil sands rich areas. Prospective oil shale and oil sands developers that do not already hold adequate water rights can acquire water rights from willing sellers, but large and secure water supplies may be difficult and expensive to acquire, driving oil shale and oil sands developers to seek alternative sources of supply. Produced water is one such potential source of supply. When oil and gas are developed, operators often encounter ground water that must be removed and disposed of to facilitate hydrocarbon extraction. Water produced through mineral extraction was traditionally poor in quality and treated as a waste product rather than a valuable resource. However, the increase in produced water volume and the often-higher quality water associated with coalbed methane development have drawn attention to potential uses of produced water and its treatment under appropriations law. This growing interest in produced water has led to litigation and statutory changes that must be understood and evaluated if produced water is to be harnessed in the oil shale and oil sands development process. Conversely, if water is generated as a byproduct of oil shale and oil sands production, consideration must be given to how this water will be disposed of or utilized in the shale oil production process. This report explores the role produced water could play in commercial oil shale and oil sands production, explaining the evolving regulatory framework associated with produced water, Utah water law and produced water regulation

  1. Environmental risk assessments for transgenic crops producing output trait enzymes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuttle, Ann; Shore, Scott; Stone, Terry

    2009-01-01

    The environmental risks from cultivating crops producing output trait enzymes can be rigorously assessed by testing conservative risk hypotheses of no harm to endpoints such as the abundance of wildlife, crop yield and the rate of degradation of crop residues in soil. These hypotheses can be tested with data from many sources, including evaluations of the agronomic performance and nutritional quality of the crop made during product development, and information from the scientific literature on the mode-of-action, taxonomic distribution and environmental fate of the enzyme. Few, if any, specific ecotoxicology or environmental fate studies are needed. The effective use of existing data means that regulatory decision-making, to which an environmental risk assessment provides essential information, is not unnecessarily complicated by evaluation of large amounts of new data that provide negligible improvement in the characterization of risk, and that may delay environmental benefits offered by transgenic crops containing output trait enzymes. PMID:19924556

  2. A method to study response of large trees to different amounts of available soil water

    Science.gov (United States)

    D.H. Marx; Shi-Jean S. Sung; J.S. Cunningham; M.D. Thompson; L.M. White

    1995-01-01

    A method was developed to manipulate available soil water on large trees by intercepting thrufall with gutters placed under tree canopies and irrigating the intercepted thrufall onto other trees. With this design, trees were exposed for 2 years to either 25% less thrufall, normal thrufall, or 25% additional thrufall.Undercanopy construction in these plots moderately...

  3. Complete chemical analysis of produced water by modern inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Graham, G M; Sorbie, K S; Johnston, A; Boak, L S

    1997-12-31

    ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) spectroscopy is recognised as a very effective tool for monitoring ion compositions in many different waters. It has also been used by a number of laboratories to determine residual levels of phosphonate (PH) scale inhibitors in produced waters, based on phosphorus content. Until recently, it had not been used effectively to monitor phosphino-polycarboxylate (PPCA) returns. Large errors had frequently been observed where it had been applied. The poor detection limits and accuracy obtained for PPCA inhibitors relates to much lower amount of phosphorus present when compared with a typical phosphonate inhibitor. This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of IPC detection for PPCA and other phosphorus containing inhibitors by the use of modern instruments without the need of pre-treatment. 6 refs., 3 figs., 10 tabs.

  4. Risk Management of Large Component in Decommissioning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nah, Kyung Ku; Kim, Tae Ryong

    2014-01-01

    The need for energy, especially electric energy, has been dramatically increasing in Korea. Therefore, a rapid growth in nuclear power development has been achieved to have about 30% of electric power production. However, such a large nuclear power generation has been producing a significant amount of radioactive waste and other matters such as safety issue. In addition, owing to the severe accidents at the Fukushima in Japan, public concerns regarding NPP and radiation hazard have greatly increased. In Korea, the operation of KORI 1 has been scheduled to be faced with end of lifetime in several years and Wolsong 1 has been being under review for extending its life. This is the reason why the preparation of nuclear power plant decommissioning is significant in this time. Decommissioning is the final phase in the life-cycle of a nuclear facility and during decommissioning operation, one of the most important management in decommissioning is how to deal with the disused large component. Therefore, in this study, the risk in large component in decommissioning is to be identified and the key risk factor is to be analyzed from where can be prepared to handle decommissioning process safely and efficiently. Developing dedicated acceptance criteria for large components at disposal site was analyzed as a key factor. Acceptance criteria applied to deal with large components like what size of those should be and how to be taken care of during disposal process strongly affect other major works. For example, if the size of large component was not set up at disposal site, any dismantle work in decommissioning is not able to be conducted. Therefore, considering insufficient time left for decommissioning of some NPP, it is absolutely imperative that those criteria should be laid down

  5. Risk Management of Large Component in Decommissioning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nah, Kyung Ku; Kim, Tae Ryong [KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-10-15

    The need for energy, especially electric energy, has been dramatically increasing in Korea. Therefore, a rapid growth in nuclear power development has been achieved to have about 30% of electric power production. However, such a large nuclear power generation has been producing a significant amount of radioactive waste and other matters such as safety issue. In addition, owing to the severe accidents at the Fukushima in Japan, public concerns regarding NPP and radiation hazard have greatly increased. In Korea, the operation of KORI 1 has been scheduled to be faced with end of lifetime in several years and Wolsong 1 has been being under review for extending its life. This is the reason why the preparation of nuclear power plant decommissioning is significant in this time. Decommissioning is the final phase in the life-cycle of a nuclear facility and during decommissioning operation, one of the most important management in decommissioning is how to deal with the disused large component. Therefore, in this study, the risk in large component in decommissioning is to be identified and the key risk factor is to be analyzed from where can be prepared to handle decommissioning process safely and efficiently. Developing dedicated acceptance criteria for large components at disposal site was analyzed as a key factor. Acceptance criteria applied to deal with large components like what size of those should be and how to be taken care of during disposal process strongly affect other major works. For example, if the size of large component was not set up at disposal site, any dismantle work in decommissioning is not able to be conducted. Therefore, considering insufficient time left for decommissioning of some NPP, it is absolutely imperative that those criteria should be laid down.

  6. Lightning-produced NOx in an explicit electrical scheme: a STERAO case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barthe, C.; Pinty, J.; Mari, C.

    2006-12-01

    An explicit lightning-produced nitrogen oxide scheme has been implemented in the French mesoscale model Meso-NH. The electrical scheme simulates explicitly the whole electric charge life cycle: charge separation, transfer, transport and neutralization by lightning flashes. The frequency and the 3D morphology of the lightning flashes are reproduced realistically. Therefore, fresh nitrogen oxide molecules can be added along the complex flash path as a function of the pressure, as suggested by results from laboratory experiments. No integral constraint on the total LNOx production at the cloud scale is added. The scheme is tested on the 10 July 1996, STERAO (Stratosphere-Troposphere Experiment-Radiation, Aerosols, and Ozone) storm. The model reproduces many features of the observed increase of electrical activity and LNOx flux through the anvil between the multicell and supercell stages. A large amount of LNOx is selectively produced in the upper part of the cells close to the updraft cores. Instantaneous peak concentrations exceed a few ppbv, as observed. The computed flux of NOx across the anvil compares favorably with the observations. The NOx production is estimated to 36 moles per lightning flash.

  7. 24 CFR 201.10 - Loan amounts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Loan amounts. 201.10 Section 201.10... MORTGAGE AND LOAN INSURANCE PROGRAMS UNDER NATIONAL HOUSING ACT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES TITLE I PROPERTY IMPROVEMENT AND MANUFACTURED HOME LOANS Loan and Note Provisions § 201.10 Loan amounts. (a) Property...

  8. An Estimation of Construction and Demolition Debris in Seoul, Korea: Waste Amount, Type, and Estimating Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Seongwon; Hwang, Yongwoo

    1999-08-01

    Construction and demolition (C&D) debris is generated at the site of various construction activities. However, the amount of the debris is usually so large that it is necessary to estimate the amount of C&D debris as accurately as possible for effective waste management and control in urban areas. In this paper, an effective estimation method using a statistical model was proposed. The estimation process was composed of five steps: estimation of the life span of buildings; estimation of the floor area of buildings to be constructed and demolished; calculation of individual intensity units of C&D debris; and estimation of the future C&D debris production. This method was also applied in the city of Seoul as an actual case, and the estimated amount of C&D debris in Seoul in 2021 was approximately 24 million tons. Of this total amount, 98% was generated by demolition, and the main components of debris were concrete and brick.

  9. Maximal aerobic and anaerobic power generation in large crocodiles versus mammals: implications for dinosaur gigantothermy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seymour, Roger S

    2013-01-01

    Inertial homeothermy, the maintenance of a relatively constant body temperature that occurs simply because of large size, is often applied to large dinosaurs. Moreover, biophysical modelling and actual measurements show that large crocodiles can behaviourally achieve body temperatures above 30°C. Therefore it is possible that some dinosaurs could achieve high and stable body temperatures without the high energy cost of typical endotherms. However it is not known whether an ectothermic dinosaur could produce the equivalent amount of muscular power as an endothermic one. To address this question, this study analyses maximal power output from measured aerobic and anaerobic metabolism in burst exercising estuarine crocodiles, Crocodylusporosus, weighing up to 200 kg. These results are compared with similar data from endothermic mammals. A 1 kg crocodile at 30°C produces about 16 watts from aerobic and anaerobic energy sources during the first 10% of exhaustive activity, which is 57% of that expected for a similarly sized mammal. A 200 kg crocodile produces about 400 watts, or only 14% of that for a mammal. Phosphocreatine is a minor energy source, used only in the first seconds of exercise and of similar concentrations in reptiles and mammals. Ectothermic crocodiles lack not only the absolute power for exercise, but also the endurance, that are evident in endothermic mammals. Despite the ability to achieve high and fairly constant body temperatures, therefore, large, ectothermic, crocodile-like dinosaurs would have been competitively inferior to endothermic, mammal-like dinosaurs with high aerobic power. Endothermy in dinosaurs is likely to explain their dominance over mammals in terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Mesozoic.

  10. Maximal aerobic and anaerobic power generation in large crocodiles versus mammals: implications for dinosaur gigantothermy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roger S Seymour

    Full Text Available Inertial homeothermy, the maintenance of a relatively constant body temperature that occurs simply because of large size, is often applied to large dinosaurs. Moreover, biophysical modelling and actual measurements show that large crocodiles can behaviourally achieve body temperatures above 30°C. Therefore it is possible that some dinosaurs could achieve high and stable body temperatures without the high energy cost of typical endotherms. However it is not known whether an ectothermic dinosaur could produce the equivalent amount of muscular power as an endothermic one. To address this question, this study analyses maximal power output from measured aerobic and anaerobic metabolism in burst exercising estuarine crocodiles, Crocodylusporosus, weighing up to 200 kg. These results are compared with similar data from endothermic mammals. A 1 kg crocodile at 30°C produces about 16 watts from aerobic and anaerobic energy sources during the first 10% of exhaustive activity, which is 57% of that expected for a similarly sized mammal. A 200 kg crocodile produces about 400 watts, or only 14% of that for a mammal. Phosphocreatine is a minor energy source, used only in the first seconds of exercise and of similar concentrations in reptiles and mammals. Ectothermic crocodiles lack not only the absolute power for exercise, but also the endurance, that are evident in endothermic mammals. Despite the ability to achieve high and fairly constant body temperatures, therefore, large, ectothermic, crocodile-like dinosaurs would have been competitively inferior to endothermic, mammal-like dinosaurs with high aerobic power. Endothermy in dinosaurs is likely to explain their dominance over mammals in terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Mesozoic.

  11. Increasing the amount of usual rehabilitation improves activity after stroke: a systematic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emma J Schneider

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Questions: In people receiving rehabilitation aimed at reducing activity limitations of the lower and/or upper limb after stroke, does adding extra rehabilitation (of the same content as the usual rehabilitation improve activity? What is the amount of extra rehabilitation that needs to be provided to achieve a beneficial effect? Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis of randomised trials. Participants: Adults aged 18 years or older that had a diagnosis of stroke. Intervention: Extra rehabilitation with the same content as usual rehabilitation aimed at reducing activity limitations of the lower and/or upper limb. Outcome measures: Activity measured as lower or upper limb ability. Results: A total of 14 studies, comprising 15 comparisons, met the inclusion criteria. Pooling data from all the included studies showed that extra rehabilitation improved activity immediately after the intervention period (SMD = 0.39, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.71, I2 = 66%. When only studies with a large increase in rehabilitation (> 100% were included, the effect was greater (SMD 0.59, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.94, I2 = 44%. There was a trend towards a positive relationship (r = 0.53, p = 0.09 between extra rehabilitation and improved activity. The turning point on the ROC curve of false versus true benefit (AUC = 0.88, p = 0.04 indicated that at least an extra 240% of rehabilitation was needed for significant likelihood that extra rehabilitation would improve activity. Conclusion: Increasing the amount of usual rehabilitation aimed at reducing activity limitations improves activity in people after stroke. The amount of extra rehabilitation that needs to be provided to achieve a beneficial effect is large. Trial registration: PROSPERO CRD42012003221. [Schneider EJ, Lannin NA, Ada L, Schmidt J (2016 Increasing the amount of usual rehabilitation improves activity after stroke: a systematic review. Journal of Physiotherapy 62: 182–187

  12. Estimation of the outlooks for large-scale transmutation of fission-produced iodine

    CERN Document Server

    Galkin, B Y; Kolyadin, A B; Kocherov, N P; Lyubtsev, R I; Hosov, A A; Rimskij-Korsakov, A A

    2002-01-01

    To obtain data necessary for estimating sup 1 sup 2 sup 9 I transmutation efficiency in nuclear reactors the effective neutron capture cross section on sup 1 sup 2 sup 9 I isotope in neutral spectrum of the WWR-M reactor was determined. The calculated value of sup 1 sup 2 sup 9 I capture cross section, averaged by neutron spectrum in beryllium reflector of the WWR-M reactor, made up 17.8+-3.2 barn. On the basis of experimental data and estimations it was shown that in neutron flux 10 sup 1 sup 4 1/(cm sup 2 s) transmutation of iodine -129 loaded in the course of one year can amount to approximately 25%

  13. Treatment of produced water: is a flotation viable process?; Tratamento da agua produzida: a flotacao e um processo viavel?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Santana, Claudia Ramos; Freitas, Andrea Goncalves Bueno de; Silva, Gabriel Francisco da; Paixao, Ana Eleonora Almeida [Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), Aracaju, SE (Brazil); Oliveira, Rosivania da Paixao Silva [Fundacao de Apoio a Pesquisa e Extensao de Sergipe (FAPESE), Aracaju, SE (Brazil)

    2008-07-01

    In petroleum oil wells there comes a situation when most of the oil drilled accompanies a large amount of water. This may be due to the proper conditions of the reservoir or as a consequence of the water injection in the secondary recovery processes from the well. The amount of produced water together with oil can vary to a great extent and it frequently attains to about 50% of the drilled oil. One technique employed for the treatment of industrial effluents, mainly the oily ones which is of great interest is that of flotation. This phenomenon is being extensively used for oil removal from emulsified oils in various areas, such as that of dissolved air flotation (DAF) and the induced air flotation (IAF). The conventional flotation processes consist of the following stages: bubble gas generation (normally air) from the interior of the effluent; collision between the gas bubbles and the suspended oil drops in the water; adhesion of the gas bubbles in the oil drops and ascension of aggregate oil drops/bubbles until the surface, where the oil is removed. This work seeks to contribute for the understanding of the factors which contribute for the selection of the flotation process as one of the methods most viable for the treatment of the produced water. (author)

  14. Producing glass-ceramics from waste materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boccaccini, A.R.; Rawlings, R.D. [Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)

    2002-10-01

    An overview is given of recent research at the Department of Materials of Imperial College, London, UK, concerning the production of useful glass-ceramic products from industrial waste materials. The new work, using controlled crystallisation to improve the properties of vitrified products, could help to solve the problem of what to do with increasing amounts of slag, fly ash and combustion dust. The results show, that it is possible to produce new materials with interesting magnetic and constructive properties.

  15. Microemulsion extrusion technique: a new method to produce lipid nanoparticles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jesus, Marcelo Bispo de, E-mail: dejesusmb@gmail.com; Radaic, Allan [University of Campinas-UNICAMP, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biology (Brazil); Zuhorn, Inge S. [University of Groningen, Department of Membrane Cell Biology, University Medical Center (Netherlands); Paula, Eneida de [University of Campinas-UNICAMP, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biology (Brazil)

    2013-10-15

    Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) have been intensively investigated for different applications, including their use as drug and gene delivery systems. Different techniques have been employed to produce lipid nanoparticles, of which high pressure homogenization is the standard technique that is adopted nowadays. Although this method has a high efficiency, does not require the use of organic solvents, and allows large-scale production, some limitations impede its application at laboratory scale: the equipment is expensive, there is a need of huge amounts of surfactants and co-surfactants during the preparation, and the operating conditions are energy intensive. Here, we present the microemulsion extrusion technique as an alternative method to prepare lipid nanoparticles. The parameters to produce lipid nanoparticles using microemulsion extrusion were established, and the lipid particles produced (SLN, NLC, and liposomes) were characterized with regard to size (from 130 to 190 nm), zeta potential, and drug (mitoxantrone) and gene (pDNA) delivery properties. In addition, the particles' in vitro co-delivery capacity (to carry mitoxantrone plus pDNA encoding the phosphatase and tensin homologue, PTEN) was tested in normal (BALB 3T3 fibroblast) and cancer (PC3 prostate and MCF-7 breast) cell lines. The results show that the microemulsion extrusion technique is fast, inexpensive, reproducible, free of organic solvents, and suitable for small volume preparations of lipid nanoparticles. Its application is particularly interesting when using rare and/or costly drugs or ingredients (e.g., cationic lipids for gene delivery or labeled lipids for nanoparticle tracking/diagnosis)

  16. Microemulsion extrusion technique: a new method to produce lipid nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jesus, Marcelo Bispo de; Radaic, Allan; Zuhorn, Inge S.; Paula, Eneida de

    2013-01-01

    Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) have been intensively investigated for different applications, including their use as drug and gene delivery systems. Different techniques have been employed to produce lipid nanoparticles, of which high pressure homogenization is the standard technique that is adopted nowadays. Although this method has a high efficiency, does not require the use of organic solvents, and allows large-scale production, some limitations impede its application at laboratory scale: the equipment is expensive, there is a need of huge amounts of surfactants and co-surfactants during the preparation, and the operating conditions are energy intensive. Here, we present the microemulsion extrusion technique as an alternative method to prepare lipid nanoparticles. The parameters to produce lipid nanoparticles using microemulsion extrusion were established, and the lipid particles produced (SLN, NLC, and liposomes) were characterized with regard to size (from 130 to 190 nm), zeta potential, and drug (mitoxantrone) and gene (pDNA) delivery properties. In addition, the particles’ in vitro co-delivery capacity (to carry mitoxantrone plus pDNA encoding the phosphatase and tensin homologue, PTEN) was tested in normal (BALB 3T3 fibroblast) and cancer (PC3 prostate and MCF-7 breast) cell lines. The results show that the microemulsion extrusion technique is fast, inexpensive, reproducible, free of organic solvents, and suitable for small volume preparations of lipid nanoparticles. Its application is particularly interesting when using rare and/or costly drugs or ingredients (e.g., cationic lipids for gene delivery or labeled lipids for nanoparticle tracking/diagnosis)

  17. Influence of polyvinyl alcohol amount on producing in situ photo-crosslinked thioamide functionalized nanofiber membranes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeytuncu Bihter

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Poly(vinyl alcohol/maleic anhydride/acryloyl thioamide monomer (PVA/MA/ATM photo-cured nanofiber membranes and pure PVA nanofiber membranes were produced by electrospinning technique. In situ UV radiation was applied during the electrospinning in order to provide polymerization during the jet flight and promote crosslinking of ATM and MA with PVA. The cross-linking was examined by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR. The morphology and thermal behavior of electrospun nanofiber were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA, respectively. The surface area of nanofiber membranes was measured by Brunauer-Emmert-Teller (BET analysis. Furthermore, water durability test was examined. Water durability test demonstrated that in situ photo-cured PVA/MA/ATM nanofiber membrane had the least average mass loss. The surface areas of PVA/MA/ATM nanofiber membranes were 160-280 m2/g. The surface area and diameter of PVA/MA/ATM nanofibers decreased as the PVA content increased. The diameter of nanofibers was obtained less than 100 nm. The results showed that the water-insoluble nanofiber membranes with better chemical and thermal resistance were obtained. These nanofiber membranes may be a promising candidate for the usage of water treatment.

  18. A method for producing uniform dose distributions in the junction regions of large hinge angle electrol fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zavgorodni, S.F.; Beckham, W.A.; Roos, D.E.

    1996-01-01

    The planning problems presented by abutting electron fields are well recognised. Junctioning electron fields with large hinge angle compounds the problems because of the creation of closely situated 'hot' and 'cold' spots. The technique involving a compensated superficial x-ray (SXR) field to treat the junction region between electron fields was developed and used in a particular clinical case (treatment of a squamous cell carcinoma of the forehead/scalp). The SXR beam parameters were chosen and the compensator was designed to make the SXR field complementary to the electron fields. Application of a compensated SXR field eliminated 'cold' spots in the junction region and minimised 'hot' spots to (110%). In the clinical case discusses the 'hot' spots due to the SXR field would not appear because of increased attenuation of the soft x-rays in bone. The technique proposed produces uniform dose distribution up to 3 cm deep and can be considered as an additional tool for dealing with electron fields junctioning problems. (author)

  19. One-dimensional modeling of thermal energy produced in a seismic fault

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konga, Guy Pascal; Koumetio, Fidèle; Yemele, David; Olivier Djiogang, Francis

    2017-12-01

    Generally, one observes an anomaly of temperature before a big earthquake. In this paper, we established the expression of thermal energy produced by friction forces between the walls of a seismic fault while considering the dynamic of a one-dimensional spring-block model. It is noted that, before the rupture of a seismic fault, displacements are caused by microseisms. The curves of variation of this thermal energy with time show that, for oscillatory and aperiodic displacement, the thermal energy is accumulated in the same way. The study reveals that thermal energy as well as temperature increases abruptly after a certain amount of time. We suggest that the corresponding time is the start of the anomaly of temperature observed which can be considered as precursory effect of a big seism. We suggest that the thermal energy can heat gases and dilate rocks until they crack. The warm gases can then pass through the cracks towards the surface. The cracks created by thermal energy can also contribute to the rupture of the seismic fault. We also suggest that the theoretical model of thermal energy, produced in seismic fault, associated with a large quantity of experimental data may help in the prediction of earthquakes.

  20. Bacteriocin-producing Enterococci from Rabbit Meat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Szabóová, R.

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Aims: Enterococci are lactic acid bacteria belonging to the division Firmicutes. They occur in different ecosystems, rabbits including. Enterococci can possess probiotic properties and produce antimicrobial substances-bacteriocins. Rabbit meat as nutritionally healthy food offers novel source to study bacteriocin-producing and/or probiotic enterococci. Methodology and results: Enterococci were detected from rabbit meat samples (42. Most of the isolates were allotted to the species Enterococcus faecium by PCR method. The isolates have possessed the structural genes for enterocins A, P, B production. The inhibitory substances produced by the isolated enterococci inhibited the growth of 12 indicators. Of 34 isolates, 15 strains have shown the antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes CCM 4699, 12 strains against S. aureus 3A3, 10 strains against S. aureus 5A2 as well as Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis PT4. Moreover, enterococci have tolerated 5 % bile, low pH; they have produced lactid acid in the amount from 0.740 ± 0.091 to 1.720 ± 0.095 mmol/l. The isolates were mostly sensitive to antibiotics. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Bacteriocin-producing strain E. faecium M3a has been selected for more detail characterization of its bacteriocin and probiotic properties with the aim for its further application as an additive.

  1. Comparison of the amount of apically extruded debris produced by four retreatment techniques: an ex vivo study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristiane Ferreira Alfenas

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: the aim of this study was to compare the amount of apically extruded debris during the removal of root canal filling material using nickel-titanium rotary retreatment instruments and Hedström files. Material and Methods: sixty mandibular incisors with a single canal were instrumented and obturated by cold lateral compaction. For retreatment, specimens were randomly divided into four groups (n = 15: Hedström files with or without solvent; D-RaCe system and Mtwo retreatment system. Debris extruded apically during the removal of canal filling material was collected into preweighed Eppendorf tubes. The tubes were then stored in an incubator at 70°C for 5 days. The weight of the dry extruded debris was established by subtracting the preretreatment and postretreatment weight of the Eppendorf tubes for each group. The mean weights of extruded material were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. Results: the results showed that all retreatment techniques caused apical extrusion of debris, but no statistically significant difference was observed between groups (p>0.05. Conclusion: under the conditions of this study, all retreatment techniques caused apical debris extrusion.

  2. Determination of micro amounts of praseodymium by analogue derivative spectrophotometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishii, Hajime; Satoh, Katsuhiko.

    1986-01-01

    Derivative spectrophotometry using the analogue differentiation circuit was applied to the determination of praseodymium at the ppm level. By the proposed method, in which the second or fourth derivative spectrum of the characteristic absorption band of praseodymium(III) at 444 nm is measured, as little as 3 ppm of praseodymium can be determined directly and easily even in the presence of large amounts of other rare earths without any prior separation. Interferences from neodymium, samarium, dysprosium, holmium and erbium ions which have characteristic absorption bands around 444 nm can easily be removed by utilizing the isosbestic point in the derivative spectra of praseodymium(III) and the interfering rare earth(III). (author)

  3. 26 CFR 1.465-20 - Treatment of amounts borrowed from certain persons and amounts protected against loss.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... not increase the taxpayer's amount at risk because they are borrowed from a person who has an interest in the activity other than that of a creditor or from a person who is related to a person (other than the taxpayer) who has an interest in the activity other than that of a creditor; and (2) Amounts...

  4. Corrosion of Pipeline and Wellbore Steel by Liquid CO2 Containing Trace Amounts of Water and SO2

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGrail, P.; Schaef, H. T.; Owen, A. T.

    2009-12-01

    Carbon dioxide capture and storage in deep saline formations is currently considered the most attractive option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with continued use of fossil fuels for energy production. Transporting captured CO2 and injection into suitable formations for storage will necessarily involve pipeline systems and wellbores constructed of carbon steels. Industry standards currently require nearly complete dehydration of liquid CO2 to reduce corrosion in the pipeline transport system. However, it may be possible to establish a corrosion threshold based on H2O content in the CO2 that could allow for minor amounts of H2O to remain in the liquid CO2 and thereby eliminate a costly dehydration step. Similarly, trace amounts of sulfur and nitrogen compounds common in flue gas streams are currently removed through expensive desulfurization and catalytic reduction processes. Provided these contaminants could be safely and permanently transported and stored in the geologic reservoir, retrofits of existing fossil-fuel plants could address comprehensive emissions reductions, including CO2 at perhaps nearly the same capital and operating cost. Because CO2-SO2 mixtures have never been commercially transported or injected, both experimental and theoretical work is needed to understand corrosion mechanisms of various steels in these gas mixtures containing varying amounts of water. Experiments were conducted with common tool steel (AISI-01) and pipeline steel (X65) immersed in liquid CO2 at room temperature containing ~1% SO2 and varying amounts of H2O (0 to 2500 ppmw). A threshold concentration of H2O in the liquid CO2-SO2 mixture was established based on the absence of visible surface corrosion. For example, experiments exposing steel to liquid CO2-SO2 containing ~300 ppmw H2O showed a delay in onset of visible corrosion products and minimal surface corrosion was visible after five days of testing. However increasing the water content to 760 ppmw produced extensive

  5. Modelling financial markets with agents competing on different time scales and with different amount of information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wohlmuth, Johannes; Andersen, Jørgen Vitting

    2006-05-01

    We use agent-based models to study the competition among investors who use trading strategies with different amount of information and with different time scales. We find that mixing agents that trade on the same time scale but with different amount of information has a stabilizing impact on the large and extreme fluctuations of the market. Traders with the most information are found to be more likely to arbitrage traders who use less information in the decision making. On the other hand, introducing investors who act on two different time scales has a destabilizing effect on the large and extreme price movements, increasing the volatility of the market. Closeness in time scale used in the decision making is found to facilitate the creation of local trends. The larger the overlap in commonly shared information the more the traders in a mixed system with different time scales are found to profit from the presence of traders acting at another time scale than themselves.

  6. Application of nanotechnologies for solving ecological problems on produced water utilization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hajiyev, S.K.; Kalbaliyeva, E.S.; Kazimov, F.K.

    2010-01-01

    Utilization of produced water is connected with the problems of its purification, repeated use and following the corresponding ecological requirements.Constant growth of the amount of produced water in extracted fluid and contaminating components require improvement of existing methods of utilization and development of advanced technologies. In the result of development of nanocomposites on the base of metallic nanoparticles it has been achieved significant improvement of purification efficiency of produced water, as well as decrease of surface tension, viscosity, increase of corrosion resistance and protection against salt deposition.

  7. Produced water treatment and discharge solutions in TRANSPETRO maritime terminals; Solucoes de tratamento e descarte de agua produzida nos terminais aquaviarios da TRANSPETRO

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mansor, Leonardo Mitidiero; Burburan, Alexandre; Rodrigues, Fernanda Fonseca; Cerqueira, Ana Claudia F.P. de [TRANSPETRO - PETROBRAS Transporte S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Padilha, Carlos Frederico [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2008-07-01

    The PETROBRAS produced water programme, conducted by PETROBRAS S.A. is the response to the challenge faced in handling, treating and discharging produced water associated to oil production that comes from Campos Basin mainly. After run modeling studies in oil and produced water associated through 2015 scenario, it was identified the total amount of produced water that will be handle monthly, increasing from 215.000 m{sup 3} up to 420.000 m{sup 3}. To achieve the goals of treating e discharging that huge amount of water, the program understood the following main actions: built 5 produced water plants (Sao Sebastiao, Macae-Cabiunas, Angra dos Reis, Sao Francisco do Sul and Osorio) and 2 reinjection sites (Cabiunas and Lagoa Parda). These plants and sites will be able to treat monthly the total produced water amount of 677.000 m{sup 3}. (author)

  8. WWW expert system on producer gas cleaning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schouten, E.J.; Lammers, G.; Beenackers, A.A.C.M. [University of Groningen (Netherlands)

    1999-07-01

    The University of Groningen (RUG) has developed an expert system on cleaning of biomass producer gas. This work was carried out in close co-operation with the Biomass Technology Group B.V. (BTG) in Enschede, The Netherlands within the framework of the EC supported JOR3-CT95-0084 project. The expert system was developed as a tool for the designer-engineer of downstream gas cleaning equipment and consists of an information package and a flowsheet package. The packages are integrated in a client/server system. The flowsheeting package of the expert system has been designed for the evaluation of different gas cleaning methods. The system contains a number of possible gas cleaning devices such as: cyclone, fabric filter, ceramic filter, venturi scrubber and catalytic cracker. The user can select up to five cleaning steps in an arbitrary order for his specific gas cleaning problem. After specification of the required design parameters, the system calculates the main design characteristics of the cleaning device. The information package is a collection of HTML{sup TM} files. It contains a large amount of information, tips, experience data, literature references and hyperlinks to other interesting Internet sites. This information is arranged per cleaning device. (orig.)

  9. Volatile compounds of Aspergillus strains with different abilities to produce ochratoxin A.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeleń, Henryk H; Grabarkiewicz-Szczesna, Jadwiga

    2005-03-09

    Volatile compounds emitted by Aspergillus strains having different abilities to produce ochratoxin A were investigated. Thirteen strains of Aspergillus ochraceus, three belonging to the A. ochraceus group, and eight other species of Aspergillus were examined for their abilities to produce volatile compounds and ochratoxin A on a wheat grain medium. The profiles of volatile compounds, analyzed using SPME, in all A. ochraceus strains, regardless of their toxeginicity, were similar and comprised mainly of 1-octen-3-ol, 3-octanone, 3-octanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-octene, and limonene. The prevailing compound was always 1-octen-3-ol. Mellein, which forms part of the ochratoxin A molecule, was found in both toxigenic and nontoxigenic strains. Volatile compounds produced by other Aspergillus strains were similar to those of A. ochraceus. Incubation temperatures (20, 24, and 27 degrees C) and water content in the medium (20, 30, and 40%) influenced both volatile compounds formation and ochratoxin A biosynthesis efficiency, although conditions providing the maximum amount of volatiles were different from those providing the maximum amount of ochratoxin A. The pattern of volatiles produced by toxigenic A. ochraceus strains does not facilitate their differentiation from nontoxigenic strains.

  10. [A study of recombinant human sestrin 1 and sestrin 2 proteins produced in a prokaryotic system].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rai, N; Kumar, R; Haque, Md A; Hassan, Md I; Dey, S

    2017-01-01

    Sestrins are highly conserved stress-inducible proteins capable of suppressing the production of ROS and signalling through mTORC1. Here we report a study of human sestrin1 (sesn1) and sestrin2 (sesn2) proteins produced in a pET28^(+) vector based prokaryotic system. Mass spectrometry analysis, western blot and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of affinity purified sesn1 and sesn2 proteins confirmed their identity; biophysical characteristics were observed using circular dichroism (CD) showing that sesn1 and sesn2 have a predominant α-helical structure. Here we describe a simple, one step purification process to purify a large amount of sestrin proteins with significant yield. Further study of recombinant human sestrins may further facilitate the understanding of their roles in eukaryotic cells.

  11. 12 CFR 347.120 - Computation of investment amounts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Computation of investment amounts. 347.120... GENERAL POLICY INTERNATIONAL BANKING § 347.120 Computation of investment amounts. In computing the amount that may be invested in any foreign organization under §§ 347.117 through 347.119, any investments held...

  12. The Research Status and Progress of Heavy/Large Hydrostatic Thrust Bearing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xibing Li

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available How to improve the rotation speed of heavy/large CNC vertical lathe, the machining efficiency, and machining precision is one of the key issues which need to be solved urgently. Hydrostatic thrust bearing is the key part to the heavy/large CNC vertical lathe; its performance directly affects the machining quality and operation efficiency. This paper analyses the latest research results from the perspective of the mechanical properties of hydrostatic thrust bearing, oil film lubrication, static pressure bearing thermal deformation, and the high efficiency refrigeration and evaluates the future scientific research direction in this area. Analysis shows that with the development of hydrostatic thrust bearing to the high speed, high precision, high efficiency, high stability, high multifunction, and high power, the study of hydrostatic thrust bearing will focus on the optimal design of the oil chamber to produce the least amount of heat, how to control the thermal deformation of hydrostatic thrust bearing, and the high efficiency refrigeration to ensure the machining accuracy of CNC equipment.

  13. Very little in situ produced radiocarbon retained in accumulating Antarctic ice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kemp, W.J.M. van der; Alderliesten, C.; Borg, K. van der; Holmlund, P.; Jong, A.F.M. de; Karloef, L.; Lamers, R.A.N.; Oerlemans, J.; Thomassen, M.; Wal, R.S.W. van de

    2000-01-01

    Ice samples from Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, were analyzed for 14 CO 2 and 14 CO by accelerator mass spectrometry. Only a small amount (∼2%) of in situ produced radiocarbon was detected. The calibrated radiocarbon ages, corrected for in situ produced 14 C, are in fair agreement with age estimates obtained from stratigraphical methods added to a gas inclusion model. The ages of the entrapped air range from recent to ca. 1200 AD

  14. The estimation of the amount of radioactive waste from decommissioning of the nuclear facilities in Oarai Engineering Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanimoto, Kenichi; Aihara, Nagafumi; Imai, Katutomo; Tobita, Kazunori; Nemoto, Masaaki; Imahori, Shinji; Noguchi, Kouichi; Hasegawa, Makoto

    1998-11-01

    The estimation of the amount of radioactive waste produced from nuclear facilities in Oarai Engineering Center was performed for the purpose of using it for countermeasure of decommissioning planning. The conditions and the result of the estimation are as follows; (1) The total amount of occurrence of radioactive waste is 18,820 tons. As the items of the amount in radioactive level, the amount of 1 GBq/t and over is 820 tons and that of under 1 GBq/t is 18,000 tons. (2) The amount of metal waste is 5,820 tons and the amount of concrete is 13,000 tons. (3) Above calculation was based on related specifications, complete drawings, and visual observation. (4) To dismantle facilities, if must exfoliate the surface of wall. As for the polluted zone and the zone with possibility of pollution, it decided to exfoliate 5 cm in thickness from the surface of the wall. And, as for the zone that fundamentally pollution was not there, it decided to exfoliate surface 1 cm in thickness from the surface of the wall. (5) Using the suitable decontamination technology and exfoliation technology can reduce the amount of radioactive waste. (6) In the facilities dealing with sealed source judging from the past record of operation, there is no contact with the radioactive material, etc. Therefore, it can be disposed of all the waste that comes out from the facilities as non-radioactive waste. (author)

  15. 7 CFR 1710.107 - Amount lent for acquisitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Amount lent for acquisitions. 1710.107 Section 1710... GUARANTEES Loan Purposes and Basic Policies § 1710.107 Amount lent for acquisitions. The maximum amount that will be lent for an acquisition is limited to the value of the property, as determined by RUS. If the...

  16. 24 CFR 232.565 - Maximum loan amount.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MORTGAGE AND LOAN INSURANCE PROGRAMS UNDER NATIONAL HOUSING ACT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES MORTGAGE INSURANCE FOR NURSING HOMES, INTERMEDIATE CARE FACILITIES, BOARD AND CARE HOMES, AND ASSISTED... Fire Safety Equipment Eligible Security Instruments § 232.565 Maximum loan amount. The principal amount...

  17. Large quantity production of carbon and boron nitride nanotubes by mechano-thermal process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Y.; Fitzgerald, J.D.; Chadderton, L.; Williams, J.S.; Campbell, S.J.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: Nanotube materials including carbon and boron nitride have excellent properties compared with bulk materials. The seamless graphene cylinders with a high length to diameter ratio make them as superstrong fibers. A high amount of hydrogen can be stored into nanotubes as future clean fuel source. Theses applications require large quantity of nanotubes materials. However, nanotube production in large quantity, fully controlled quality and low costs remains challenges for most popular synthesis methods such as arc discharge, laser heating and catalytic chemical decomposition. Discovery of new synthesis methods is still crucial for future industrial application. The new low-temperature mechano-thermal process discovered by the current author provides an opportunity to develop a commercial method for bulk production. This mechano-thermal process consists of a mechanical ball milling and a thermal annealing processes. Using this method, both carbon and boron nitride nanotubes were produced. I will present the mechano-thermal method as the new bulk production technique in the conference. The lecture will summarise main results obtained. In the case of carbon nanotubes, different nanosized structures including multi-walled nanotubes, nanocells, and nanoparticles have been produced in a graphite sample using a mechano-thermal process, consisting of I mechanical milling at room temperature for up to 150 hours and subsequent thermal annealing at 1400 deg C. Metal particles have played an important catalytic effect on the formation of different tubular structures. While defect structure of the milled graphite appears to be responsible for the formation of small tubes. It is found that the mechanical treatment of graphite powder produces a disordered and microporous structure, which provides nucleation sites for nanotubes as well as free carbon atoms. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes appear to grow via growth of the (002) layers during thermal annealing. In the case of BN

  18. THE USE OF POULTRY SLAUGHTERHOUSE WASTE TO PRODUCE COMPOST

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michał Kopeć

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Poultry industry generates large amounts of waste, which in the biological treatment process creates a number of problems. One of them is a high amount of fat and creatine which is hard to decompose. Composting process was carried out with the waste from poultry farms and abattoirs mixed with maize straw, which was used to improve the structure and to increase the amount of carbon in the substrate. The chemical composition of composts from poultry waste involving maize straw meets the minimum requirements for organic fertilizers. It seems that recycling of organic waste from the poultry industry should be the primary method of nutrient recovery for plants and organic matter contained in them, however on condition that the health safety is preserved.

  19. Adsorption of Pb(II and Cu(II by Ginkgo-Leaf-Derived Biochar Produced under Various Carbonization Temperatures and Times

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Myoung-Eun Lee

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Ginkgo trees are common street trees in Korea, and the large amounts of leaves that fall onto the streets annually need to be cleaned and treated. Therefore, fallen gingko leaves have been used as a raw material to produce biochar for the removal of heavy metals from solutions. Gingko-leaf-derived biochar was produced under various carbonization temperatures and times. This study evaluated the physicochemical properties and adsorption characteristics of gingko-leaf-derived biochar samples produced under different carbonization conditions regarding Pb(II and Cu(II. The biochar samples that were produced at 800 °C for 90 and 120 min contained the highest oxygen- and nitrogen-substituted carbons, which might contribute to a high metal-adsorption rate. The intensity of the phosphate bond was increased with the increasing of the carbonization temperature up to 800 °C and after 90 min of carbonization. The Pb(II and Cu(II adsorption capacities were the highest when the gingko-leaf-derived biochar was produced at 800 °C, and the removal rates were 99.2% and 34.2%, respectively. The highest removal rate was achieved when the intensity of the phosphate functional group in the biochar was the highest. Therefore, the gingko-leaf-derived biochar produced at 800 °C for 90 min can be used as an effective bio-adsorbent in the removal of metals from solutions.

  20. 24 CFR 891.525 - Amount and terms of financing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Amount and terms of financing. 891... Handicapped-Section 8 Assistance § 891.525 Amount and terms of financing. (a) The amount of financing approved... financing provided shall not exceed the lesser of: (1) The dollar amounts stated in paragraphs (b) through...

  1. The FCC process as a producer of light olefins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yung, K.Y.; Yanik, S.; O'Connor, P.; Pouwels, C.

    1992-01-01

    To reduce emissions from the gasoline engine, aromatics content and vapor pressure of the motor gasoline pool will be reduced and a minimum amount of oxygen will be mandated. This reformulation will limit the application of high octane components like benzene, toluene and butanes and will require the use of oxygenates. To compensate for the loss in octane, the use of alkylate and, of course also oxygenates will grow. The Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit is, as producer of (olefinic) propanes, butanes and pentanes, an important feedstock producer for alkylate and oxygenate producing process. Hence, process adjustments and FCC catalyst formations to increase the yield of above desirable light products are of prime importance and will be dealt with in this paper

  2. An Analysis of the Number of Medical Malpractice Claims and Their Amounts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Bonetti

    Full Text Available Starting from an extensive database, pooling 9 years of data from the top three insurance brokers in Italy, and containing 38125 reported claims due to alleged cases of medical malpractice, we use an inhomogeneous Poisson process to model the number of medical malpractice claims in Italy. The intensity of the process is allowed to vary over time, and it depends on a set of covariates, like the size of the hospital, the medical department and the complexity of the medical operations performed. We choose the combination medical department by hospital as the unit of analysis. Together with the number of claims, we also model the associated amounts paid by insurance companies, using a two-stage regression model. In particular, we use logistic regression for the probability that a claim is closed with a zero payment, whereas, conditionally on the fact that an amount is strictly positive, we make use of lognormal regression to model it as a function of several covariates. The model produces estimates and forecasts that are relevant to both insurance companies and hospitals, for quality assurance, service improvement and cost reduction.

  3. An amplitude analysis of the K bar K and π+π- systems (M 2) produced in J/ψ radiative decay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Liang-Ping

    1991-10-01

    A mass independent amplitude of the K bar K and π + π - systems (M 2 ) produced in J/ψ radiative decay is presented. For the first time a large spin zero component in the θ(1720) mass region is observed, with all data samples analyzed. A small amount of spin two component in this mass region for the K bar K data samples is not ruled out with the present statistics. This study reveals, also for the first time, the production of the f o (1400) in the π + π - channel, and refines previous measurements of the f 2 (1270) and f' 2 (1525). 13 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs

  4. EXTRACELLULAR PROTEINS PRODUCED BY DIFFERENT SPECIES OF THE FUNGUS TRICHODERMA ON SECONDARY PAPER MILL SLUDGE SUBSTRATE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ida Vaskova,

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Kraft pulping is the most commonly used pulping process in the pulp and paper industry. In this process wood chips are chemically delignified using sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide. Delignification is usually followed by mechanical fiberization and a bleaching process of the resulting wood pulp. In addition to lignin-free wood pulp, this process also produces waste that contains residues of used chemicals, lignin, cellulose, hemicelluloses, and small amounts of other wood components. Because of the worldwide large-scale production of paper, the sludge from paper mills contributes significantly to environmental pollution. Although there have been great efforts being made to utilize this lignin-rich material, sludge is mostly disposed in landfills or incinerated in a boiler. This research project used secondary sludge as a substrate for 7 wood-decay fungi taxonomically belonging to the genus Trichoderma. The examined fungi expressed the capability of consuming sludge components as a carbon source to produce extracellular proteins. The proteins were separated by gel electrophoresis. Before and after fungi cultivation, the sludge was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR.

  5. Evaluation of library preparation methods for Illumina next generation sequencing of small amounts of DNA from foodborne parasites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nascimento, Fernanda S; Wei-Pridgeon, Yuping; Arrowood, Michael J; Moss, Delynn; da Silva, Alexandre J; Talundzic, Eldin; Qvarnstrom, Yvonne

    2016-11-01

    Illumina library preparation methods for ultra-low input amounts were compared using genomic DNA from two foodborne parasites (Angiostrongylus cantonensis and Cyclospora cayetanensis) as examples. The Ovation Ultralow method resulted in libraries with the highest concentration and produced quality sequencing data, even when the input DNA was in the picogram range. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  6. Landspotting: Social gaming to collect vast amounts of data for satellite validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fritz, S.; Purgathofer, P.; Kayali, F.; Fellner, M.; Wimmer, M.; Sturn, T.; Triebnig, G.; Krause, S.; Schindler, F.; Kollegger, M.; Perger, C.; Dürauer, M.; Haberl, W.; See, L.; McCallum, I.

    2012-04-01

    At present there is no single satellite-derived global land cover product that is accurate enough to provide reliable estimates of forest or cropland area to determine, e.g., how much additional land is available to grow biofuels or to tackle problems of food security. The Landspotting Project aims to improve the quality of this land cover information by vastly increasing the amount of in-situ validation data available for calibration and validation of satellite-derived land cover. The Geo-Wiki (Geo-Wiki.org) system currently allows users to compare three satellite derived land cover products and validate them using Google Earth. However, there is presently no incentive for anyone to provide this data so the amount of validation through Geo-Wiki has been limited. However, recent competitions have proven that incentive driven campaigns can rapidly create large amounts of input. The LandSpotting Project is taking a truly innovative approach through the development of the Landspotting game. The game engages users whilst simultaneously collecting a large amount of in-situ land cover information. The development of the game is informed by the current raft of successful social gaming that is available on the internet and as mobile applications, many of which are geo-spatial in nature. Games that are integrated within a social networking site such as Facebook illustrate the power to reach and continually engage a large number of individuals. The number of active Facebook users is estimated to be greater than 400 million, where 100 million are accessing Facebook from mobile devices. The Landspotting Game has similar game mechanics as the famous strategy game "Civilization" (i.e. build, harvest, research, war, diplomacy, etc.). When a player wishes to make a settlement, they must first classify the land cover over the area they wish to settle. As the game is played on the earth surface with Google Maps, we are able to record and store this land cover/land use classification

  7. Separation and preconcentration trace amounts of gold by using modified organo nanoclay closite 15A

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sayed Zia Mohammadi

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The application of organo nanoclay 5-(4-dimethylamino-benzylidene rhodanine-immobilized as a new, easily prepared, and stable solid sorbent for preconcentration trace amounts of Au(III ions in aqueous solution is presented. The sorption of Au(III ions was quantitative in the pH range of 2-4, and quantitative desorption occurred instantaneously with 10.0 mL of a mixture containing 0.5 mol L-1 Na2S2O3 and KSCN. Various parameters, such as the effect of pH, breakthrough volume, extraction time, and interference of a large number of anions and cations have been studied. The proposed method has been applied for determination of trace amount of gold in water samples.

  8. Determinants of Buying Behavior of Grain Producers: A Multiple Case Study with Mid and Large Size Producers in the State of Mato Grosso

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Fava Scare

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, Brazilian agribusiness has demanded for inputs, capital goods, financial services and technology. In addition, there have been changes in the size of the properties, as well as in risk management and commercialization practices, and level of education and posture of those responsible for the decision making of agricultural enterprises. It is fundamental for companies that supply inputs and services to farmers to understand some variables in such changing environment, considering that they influence the business model and the buying behavior of rural producers. The purpose of this study is to develop knowledge and familiarity with the buying behavior of grain farmers in the State of Mato Grosso, with the intent of understanding how this behavior can be influenced by theproducer's profile and the farm features, as well as the risk and business management practices, the decision making, the sources of information, and the products and suppliers. In order to achieve such a goal,a multiple case study was developed by interviewing, face to face, three grain producers, from the State of Mato Grosso. The results demonstrate that the most influential determinants on the buying behavior of the interviewed producers were their level of involvement in the decision making process, the benefit they expect from each type of product, the size of their farming operation, the kind of yield production, and the crop rotation and its relation to productivity. Additionally, the ownership or not of the land, the business profitability, credit restrictions and risk management, they all influence the level of the producer's capitalization and consequently his choices of channels for acquiring inputs and capital goods. Last, though not less important, the sources of information and their reliability have an impact on the producer's loyalty to a brand, or to a local distributor or to a salesperson.

  9. Derivation of total ozone amounts over Japan from NOAA/TOVS data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takahashi, S; Taguchi, M; Okano, S; Fukunishi, H [Tohoku University, Sendai (Japan). Upper Atmosphere and Space Research Laboratory; Kawamura, H [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies

    1992-10-25

    A new method for the derivation of the horizontal distribution of total ozone amounts from the brightness temperature data obtained by the HIRS/2 sensor on board the NOAA satelites was developed. This method is based on the regression method considering a transmittance of the ozone layer, and also includes the second-order terms of the brightness temperatures and the transmittance of ozone layer into the regression calculation. The total ozone data obtained by TOMS were used as the true values in determinating the regression coefficients. The transmittance for the slantwise-looking condition was converted into that for the nadir-looking condition using the angle correction method. Subsequently, the angle correction was also made for the brightness temperature using the corrected transmittance. Horizontal distributions of total ozone amounts were derived by this method with around 4% of accuracy for the wide latitudinal region from 15[degree] to 60[degree], including Japan where total ozone varies largely with latitude. It was demonstrated that inclusion of the second-order terms into the regression improves the accuracy of retrieval, especially in the low-latitude regions. 15 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

  10. Sizing the star cluster population of the Large Magellanic Cloud

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piatti, Andrés E.

    2018-04-01

    The number of star clusters that populate the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) at deprojected distances knowledge of the LMC cluster formation and dissolution histories, we closely revisited such a compilation of objects and found that only ˜35 per cent of the previously known catalogued clusters have been included. The remaining entries are likely related to stellar overdensities of the LMC composite star field, because there is a remarkable enhancement of objects with assigned ages older than log(t yr-1) ˜ 9.4, which contrasts with the existence of the LMC cluster age gap; the assumption of a cluster formation rate similar to that of the LMC star field does not help to conciliate so large amount of clusters either; and nearly 50 per cent of them come from cluster search procedures known to produce more than 90 per cent of false detections. The lack of further analyses to confirm the physical reality as genuine star clusters of the identified overdensities also glooms those results. We support that the actual size of the LMC main body cluster population is close to that previously known.

  11. A novel endophytic Huperzine A-producing fungus, Shiraia sp. Slf14, isolated from Huperzia serrata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, D; Wang, J; Zeng, Q; Zhang, Z; Yan, R

    2010-10-01

    To characterize and identify a novel Huperzine A (HupA)-producing fungal strain Slf14 isolated from Huperzia serrata (Thunb. ex Murray) Trev. in China. The isolation, identification and characterization of a novel endophytic fungus producing HupA specifically and consistently from the leaves of H. serrata were investigated. The fungus was identified as Shiraia sp. Slf14 by molecular and morphological methods. The HupA produced by this endophytic fungus was shown to be identical to authentic HupA analysed by thin layer chromatographic, High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), LC-MS, (1) H NMR and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition activity in vitro. The amount of HupA produced by Shiraia sp. Slf14 was quantified to be 327.8 μg l(-1) by HPLC, which was far higher than that of the reported endophytic fungi, Acremonium sp., Blastomyces sp. and Botrytis sp. The production of HupA by endophyte Shiraia sp. Slf14 is an enigmatic observation. It would be interesting to further study the HupA production and regulation by the cultured endophyte in H. serrata and in axenic cultures. Although the current accumulation of HupA by the endophyte is not very high, it could provide a promising alterative approach for large-scale production of HupA. However, further strain improvement and the fermentation process optimization are required to result in the consistent and dependable production. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

  12. Socioeconomic Status Moderates Genetic and Environmental Effects on the Amount of Alcohol Use

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamdi, Nayla R; Krueger, Robert F.; South, Susan C.

    2015-01-01

    Background Much is unknown about the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and alcohol use, including the means by which SES may influence risk for alcohol use. Methods Using a sample of 672 twin pairs (aged 25–74) derived from the MacArthur Foundation Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), the present study examined whether SES, measured by household income and educational attainment, moderates genetic and environmental influences on three indices of alcohol use: amount used, frequency of use, and problem use. Results We found significant moderation for amount of alcohol used. Specifically, genetic effects were greater in low-SES conditions, shared environmental effects (i.e., environmental effects that enhance the similarity of twins from the same families) tended to increase in high-SES conditions, and non-shared environmental effects (i.e., environmental effects that distinguish twins) tended to decrease with SES. This pattern of results was found for both income and education, and it largely replicated at a second wave of assessment spaced nine years after the first. There was virtually no evidence of moderation for either frequency of alcohol use or alcohol problems. Conclusions Our findings indicate that genetic and environmental influences on drinking amount vary as a function of the broader SES context, whereas the etiologies of other drinking phenomena are less affected by this context. Efforts to find the causes underlying the amount of alcohol used are likely to be more successful if such contextual information is taken into account. PMID:25778493

  13. Socioeconomic status moderates genetic and environmental effects on the amount of alcohol use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamdi, Nayla R; Krueger, Robert F; South, Susan C

    2015-04-01

    Much is unknown about the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and alcohol use, including the means by which SES may influence risk for alcohol use. Using a sample of 672 twin pairs (aged 25 to 74) derived from the MacArthur Foundation Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, this study examined whether SES, measured by household income and educational attainment, moderates genetic and environmental influences on 3 indices of alcohol use: amount used, frequency of use, and problem use. We found significant moderation for amount of alcohol used. Specifically, genetic effects were greater in low-SES conditions, shared environmental effects (i.e., environmental effects that enhance the similarity of twins from the same families) tended to increase in high-SES conditions, and nonshared environmental effects (i.e., environmental effects that distinguish twins) tended to decrease with SES. This pattern of results was found for both income and education, and it largely replicated at a second wave of assessment spaced 9 years after the first. There was virtually no evidence of moderation for either frequency of alcohol use or alcohol problems. Our findings indicate that genetic and environmental influences on drinking amount vary as a function of the broader SES context, whereas the etiologies of other drinking phenomena are less affected by this context. Efforts to find the causes underlying the amount of alcohol used are likely to be more successful if such contextual information is taken into account. Copyright © 2015 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

  14. 12 CFR 209.4 - Amounts and payments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... CANCELLATION OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANK CAPITAL STOCK (REGULATION I) § 209.4 Amounts and payments. (a) Amount of... lesser of 15 percent or 100 shares of its Reserve Bank capital stock, it shall file with the appropriate Reserve Bank an application for issue or cancellation of Reserve Bank capital stock in order to adjust its...

  15. Large scale electrolysers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    B Bello; M Junker

    2006-01-01

    Hydrogen production by water electrolysis represents nearly 4 % of the world hydrogen production. Future development of hydrogen vehicles will require large quantities of hydrogen. Installation of large scale hydrogen production plants will be needed. In this context, development of low cost large scale electrolysers that could use 'clean power' seems necessary. ALPHEA HYDROGEN, an European network and center of expertise on hydrogen and fuel cells, has performed for its members a study in 2005 to evaluate the potential of large scale electrolysers to produce hydrogen in the future. The different electrolysis technologies were compared. Then, a state of art of the electrolysis modules currently available was made. A review of the large scale electrolysis plants that have been installed in the world was also realized. The main projects related to large scale electrolysis were also listed. Economy of large scale electrolysers has been discussed. The influence of energy prices on the hydrogen production cost by large scale electrolysis was evaluated. (authors)

  16. Development and Technology of Large Thickness TMCP Steel Plate with 390MPA Grade Used for Engineering Machinery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaoshu; Zhang, Zhijun; Zhang, Peng

    Recently, with the rapid upgrading of the equipment in the steel Corp, the rolling technology of TMCP has been rapidly developed and widely applied. A large amount of steel plate has been produced by using the TMCP technology. The TMCP processes have been used more and more widely and replaced the heat treatment technology of normalizing, quenching and tempering heat process. In this paper, low financial input is considered in steel plate production and the composition of the steel has been designed with low C component, a limited alloy element of the Nb, and certain amounts of Mn element. During the continuous casting process, the size of the continuous casting slab section is 300 mm × 2400 mm. The rolling technology of TMCP is controlled at a lower rolling and red temperature to control the transformation of the microstructure. Four different rolling treatments are chosen to test its effects on the 390MPa grade low carbon steel of bainitic microstructure and properties. This test manages to produce a proper steel plate fulfilling the standard mechanical properties. Specifically, low carbon bainite is observed in the microstructure of the steel plate and the maximum thickness of steel plate under this TMCP technology is up to 80mm. The mechanical property of the steel plate is excellent and the KV2 at -40 °C performs more than 200 J. Moreover, the production costs are greatly reduced when the steel plate is produced by this TMCP technology when replacing the current production process of quenching and tempering. The low cost steel plate could well meet the requirements of producing engineering machinery in the steel market.

  17. PARTICLEBOARDS PRODUCED WITH Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maiden POLYSTYRENE AND POLYETHYLENE THEREPHTHALATE PARTICLES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antônio da Silva Maciel

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available This research investigated the properties of wood particleboards, containing particles of polystyrene (PS and polyethylene therephthalate (PET. Particleboards were produced with 0%, 25% or 50% of polystyrene and 100%, 75% or 50% of Eucalyptus grandis particles. Additional boards were produced with two amounts of PET/PS (5/20% or 10/40% and 75% or 50% wood particles. As binding agents three amounts (0%, 4% or 6% of urea-formaldehyde or phenol-formaldehyde adhesive and three amounts of polystyrene in toluene solution (0%, 4% or 6% were used. One-layer boards, measuring approximately 400,0 x 400,0 x 10,0 mm with density approximately equal to 0,60 g/cm3, were produced. Internal bond, modulus of rupture and elasticity, screw withdrawal, as well water absorption and thickness swelling, after 24 hours of immersion were determined. All mechanical boards’ properties were superior to the established by ANSI/A 208.1-1993 standards. All wood/plastic particleboards absorbed more water then those observed in commercial boards. However the observed thickness swelling was quite similar to the values of commercial wood particleboards. Boards in which the solution of polystyrene was applied were, in general, presented the best values for all properties.

  18. An empirical method to measure the relative efficiency of dairy producers using deterministic frontier analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahram RostamPour

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to measure the relative efficiencies of various cow husbandries. The proposed model of this paper uses distribution free analysis to measure the performance of different units responsible for taking care of cows. We gather the necessary information of all units including number of cows, amount of internet usage, number of subunits for taking care of cows, amount of forage produced in each province for grazing livestock and average hour per person training courses as independent variables and consider the amount of produced milk as dependent variable. The necessary information are collected from all available units located in different provinces of Iran and the production function is estimated using a linear programming model. The results indicate that the capital city of Iran, Tehran, holds the highest technical efficiency, the lowest efficiency belongs to province of Ilam and other provinces mostly performs poorly.

  19. Access to gram scale amounts of functional globular adiponectin from E. coli inclusion bodies by alkaline-shock solubilization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heiker, John T; Klöting, Nora; Blüher, Matthias; Beck-Sickinger, Annette G

    2010-07-16

    The adipose tissue derived protein adiponectin exerts anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic effects. Adiponectin serum concentrations are in the microgram per milliliter range in healthy humans and inversely correlate with obesity and metabolic disorders. Accordingly, raising circulating adiponectin levels by direct administration may be an intriguing strategy in the treatment of obesity-related metabolic disorders. However production of large amounts of recombinant adiponectin protein is a primary obstacle so far. Here, we report a novel method for large amount production of globular adiponectin from E. coli inclusion bodies utilizing an alkaline-shock solubilization method without chaotropic agents followed by precipitation of the readily renaturing protein. Precipitation of the mildly solubilized protein capitalizes on advantages of inclusion body formation. This approach of inclusion body protein recovery provides access to gram scale amounts of globular adiponectin with standard laboratory equipment avoiding vast dilution or dialysis steps to neutralize the pH and renature the protein, thus saving chemicals and time. The precipitated protein is readily renaturing in buffer, is of adequate purity without a chromatography step and shows biological activity in cultured MCF7 cells and significantly lowered blood glucose levels in mice with streptozotocin induced type 1 diabetes. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. DEFERRED TAXES GENERATED BY THE CAPITALIZED INTERESTS IN THE AMOUNT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PALIU – POPA LUCIA

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available According to the General Framework for preparing and presenting the financial statements elaborated by IASB, the utility of information is provided by attributes (qualitative features, such as: intelligibility, relevance, credibility and comparability. For being credible, the financial information shall be erroneous, shall not be biased or deforming the patrimony, and one of the elements representing and defining the information credibility is the prudency. Thus, the prudential accounting treatments affect, on the one hand, the accounting information relevance and credibility, and on the other hand, equally, both the producers as well as the users of the financial information, due to the economic consequences which are generated. From this perspective and considering that the implied economic agents are not neutral in terms of their option concerning the neutral accounting practices, prudent or aggressive, we opined that it is useful to conduct a study aiming the relevance of the accounting information related to the deferred taxes generated by the capitalized interests in the amount of the fix assets, recognizing the value of these taxes having as result the compliance with the principle of prudency within the accountancy. In this context, compared to the dominant accounting systems, respectively the continental system and the Anglo- Saxon system, within which the accounting information is characterized as legal, respectively addressed to the external users, especially to the investors, the conducted study aimed the following directions: the main differences between the provisions of the national, European, Anglo-Saxon accounting regulations and those of the international referential related to the prudency; the occurrence and evolution of the deferred taxes generated by the capitalized interests in the amount of the fix assets; informational benefits of the accounting prudency concerning the reflection of the deferred taxes established by the

  1. An overview on exploration and environmental impact of unconventional gas sources and treatment options for produced water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Tânia L S; Morales-Torres, Sergio; Castro-Silva, Sérgio; Figueiredo, José L; Silva, Adrián M T

    2017-09-15

    Rising global energy demands associated to unbalanced allocation of water resources highlight the importance of water management solutions for the gas industry. Advanced drilling, completion and stimulation techniques for gas extraction, allow more economical access to unconventional gas reserves. This stimulated a shale gas revolution, besides tight gas and coalbed methane, also causing escalating water handling challenges in order to avoid a major impact on the environment. Hydraulic fracturing allied to horizontal drilling is gaining higher relevance in the exploration of unconventional gas reserves, but a large amount of wastewater (known as "produced water") is generated. Its variable chemical composition and flow rates, together with more severe regulations and public concern, have promoted the development of solutions for the treatment and reuse of such produced water. This work intends to provide an overview on the exploration and subsequent environmental implications of unconventional gas sources, as well as the technologies for treatment of produced water, describing the main results and drawbacks, together with some cost estimates. In particular, the growing volumes of produced water from shale gas plays are creating an interesting market opportunity for water technology and service providers. Membrane-based technologies (membrane distillation, forward osmosis, membrane bioreactors and pervaporation) and advanced oxidation processes (ozonation, Fenton, photocatalysis) are claimed to be adequate treatment solutions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Nuclear operator. Liability amounts and financial security limits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2015-07-01

    This paper gives, for numerous countries involved (or would be involved) in nuclear activities, financial information on the liability amount imposed on the operator, the amounts provided from public funds beyond the Operator's Liability Amount, to be made available by the State in whose territory the nuclear installation of the liable operator is situated, and the public funds contributed jointly by all the States parties to the BSC or CSC according to a pre-determined formula

  3. Large Rotor Test Apparatus

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — This test apparatus, when combined with the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex, produces a thorough, full-scale test capability. The Large Rotor Test Apparatus...

  4. Study of magnetic helicity injection in the active region NOAA 9236 producing multiple flare-associated coronal mass ejection events

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Sung-Hong; Cho, Kyung-Suk; Bong, Su-Chan; Kumar, Pankaj; Kim, Yeon-Han; Park, Young-Deuk; Kusano, Kanya; Chae, Jongchul; Park, So-Young

    2013-01-01

    To better understand a preferred magnetic field configuration and its evolution during coronal mass ejection (CME) events, we investigated the spatial and temporal evolution of photospheric magnetic fields in the active region NOAA 9236 that produced eight flare-associated CMEs during the time period of 2000 November 23-26. The time variations of the total magnetic helicity injection rate and the total unsigned magnetic flux are determined and examined not only in the entire active region but also in some local regions such as the main sunspots and the CME-associated flaring regions using SOHO/MDI magnetogram data. As a result, we found that (1) in the sunspots, a large amount of positive (right-handed) magnetic helicity was injected during most of the examined time period, (2) in the flare region, there was a continuous injection of negative (left-handed) magnetic helicity during the entire period, accompanied by a large increase of the unsigned magnetic flux, and (3) the flaring regions were mainly composed of emerging bipoles of magnetic fragments in which magnetic field lines have substantially favorable conditions for making reconnection with large-scale, overlying, and oppositely directed magnetic field lines connecting the main sunspots. These observational findings can also be well explained by some MHD numerical simulations for CME initiation (e.g., reconnection-favored emerging flux models). We therefore conclude that reconnection-favored magnetic fields in the flaring emerging flux regions play a crucial role in producing the multiple flare-associated CMEs in NOAA 9236.

  5. Determination of micro amounts of samarium and europium by analogue derivative spectrophotometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishii, H.; Satoh, K.

    1982-01-01

    Derivative spectrophotometry using the analogue differentiation circuit was applied to the determination of samarium and europium at ppm levels. By measuring the second or the fourth derivative spectra of the characteristic absorption bands of both the rare earth ions around 400 nm, they can be determined directly and selectively in the presence of large amounts of most other rare earths without any prior separation. Further, aptly selecting conditions for the measurement of the derivative spectra, the simultaneous determination of both the rare earth elements was feasible. The principle and the characteristics of analogue derivative spectrophotometry are also described. (orig.) [de

  6. State of the art of produced water treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiménez, S; Micó, M M; Arnaldos, M; Medina, F; Contreras, S

    2018-02-01

    Produced water (PW) is the wastewater generated when water from underground reservoirs is brought to the surface during oil or gas extraction. PW is generated in large amounts and has a complex composition, containing various toxic organic and inorganic compounds. PW is currently treated in conventional trains that include phase separators, decanters, cyclones and coarse filters in order to comply with existing regulation for discharge. These treatment trains do not achieve more restrictive limitations related to the reuse of the effluent (reinjection into extraction wells) or other beneficial uses (e.g., irrigation). Therefore, and to prevent environmental pollution, further polishing processes need to be carried out. Characterization of the PW to determine major constituents is the first step to select the optimum treatment for PW, coupled with environmental factors, economic considerations, and local regulatory framework. This review tries to provide an overview of different treatments that are being applied to polish this type of effluents. These technologies include membranes, physical, biological, thermal or chemical treatments, where special emphasis has been made on advanced oxidation processes due to the advantages offered by these processes. Commercial treatments, based on the combination, modification and improvement of simpler treatments, were also discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Enrichment and determination of small amounts of 90Sr/90Y in water samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mundschenk, H.

    1979-01-01

    Small amounts of 90 Sr/ 90 Y can be concentrated from large volumes of surface water (100 l) by precipitation of the phosphates, using bentonite as adsorber matrix. In the case of samples containing no or nearly no suspended matter (tap water, ground water, sea water), the daughter 90 Y can be extracted directly by using filter beds impregnated with HDEHP. The applicability of both techniques is demonstrated under realistic conditions. (orig.) 891 HP/orig. 892 MKO [de

  8. The effect of amount and tangibility of endowment and certainty of recipients on selfishness in a modified dictator game.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Shao-Chuan; Lin, Li-Yun; Horng, Ruey-Yun; Wang, Yau-De

    2014-06-01

    Taiwanese college students (N = 101) participated in the study to examine the effects of the amount of an endowment, the tangibility of an endowment, and the certainty of the recipient on selfishness in a modified dictator game. Results showed that dictators were more selfish when allocating tangible (money) than less tangible (honor credits) endowments. Selfishness was higher when large amounts of money were involved. The certainty of the recipient was manipulated by whether the recipient was chosen and announced before or after the decision. Unexpectedly, participants were more self-interested in the certain-recipient condition than in the uncertain-recipient condition. In the honor condition, the amount of an endowment and the certainty of the recipient did not affect participants' allocations.

  9. Strenuous running exacerbates knee cartilage erosion induced by low amount of mono-iodoacetate in rats

    OpenAIRE

    Saito, Ryusuke; Muneta, Takeshi; Ozeki, Nobutake; Nakagawa, Yusuke; Udo, Mio; Yanagisawa, Katsuaki; Tsuji, Kunikazu; Tomita, Makoto; Koga, Hideyuki; Sekiya, Ichiro

    2017-01-01

    Background It is still debated whether strenuous running in the inflammatory phase produces beneficial or harmful effect in rat knees. We examined (1) the dropout rate of rats during a 30-km running protocol, (2) influences of strenuous running and/or low amounts of mono-iodoacetate injection on cartilage, and (3) the effect of strenuous running on synovitis. Methods Rats were forced to run 30?km over 6?weeks and the dropout rate was examined. One week after 0.1?mg mono-iodoacetate was inject...

  10. 46 CFR 308.303 - Amounts insured under interim binder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 308.303 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS WAR RISK INSURANCE Second Seamen's War Risk Insurance § 308.303 Amounts insured under interim binder. The amounts insured are the amounts specified in the Second Seamen's War Risk Policy (1955) or as modified by shipping...

  11. Titania may produce abiotic oxygen atmospheres on habitable exoplanets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narita, Norio; Enomoto, Takafumi; Masaoka, Shigeyuki; Kusakabe, Nobuhiko

    2015-09-10

    The search for habitable exoplanets in the Universe is actively ongoing in the field of astronomy. The biggest future milestone is to determine whether life exists on such habitable exoplanets. In that context, oxygen in the atmosphere has been considered strong evidence for the presence of photosynthetic organisms. In this paper, we show that a previously unconsidered photochemical mechanism by titanium (IV) oxide (titania) can produce abiotic oxygen from liquid water under near ultraviolet (NUV) lights on the surface of exoplanets. Titania works as a photocatalyst to dissociate liquid water in this process. This mechanism offers a different source of a possibility of abiotic oxygen in atmospheres of exoplanets from previously considered photodissociation of water vapor in upper atmospheres by extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light. Our order-of-magnitude estimation shows that possible amounts of oxygen produced by this abiotic mechanism can be comparable with or even more than that in the atmosphere of the current Earth, depending on the amount of active surface area for this mechanism. We conclude that titania may act as a potential source of false signs of life on habitable exoplanets.

  12. A search for quarks produced in heavy-ion interactions

    CERN Multimedia

    2002-01-01

    We propose to search for free fractional charges produced in 225~GeV/A heavy-ion collisions at the SPS. A tank of mercury placed in the NA38 beam stop will serve both as a production target and as an absorber to stop reaction products. Mercury from the tank will subsequently be distilled.\\\\ \\\\ This process will decrease the amount of mercury that has to be processed by a factor of about $10^{5}$. The concentrate will be searched for quarks using the proven SFSU automated Millikan apparatus.\\\\ \\\\ This experiment will be sensitive to about one quark produced per $2 \\times 10^{8}$ beam particles.

  13. An experimental test of the habitat-amount hypothesis for saproxylic beetles in a forested region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seibold, Sebastian; Bässler, Claus; Brandl, Roland; Fahrig, Lenore; Förster, Bernhard; Heurich, Marco; Hothorn, Torsten; Scheipl, Fabian; Thorn, Simon; Müller, Jörg

    2017-06-01

    The habitat-amount hypothesis challenges traditional concepts that explain species richness within habitats, such as the habitat-patch hypothesis, where species number is a function of patch size and patch isolation. It posits that effects of patch size and patch isolation are driven by effects of sample area, and thus that the number of species at a site is basically a function of the total habitat amount surrounding this site. We tested the habitat-amount hypothesis for saproxylic beetles and their habitat of dead wood by using an experiment comprising 190 plots with manipulated patch sizes situated in a forested region with a high variation in habitat amount (i.e., density of dead trees in the surrounding landscape). Although dead wood is a spatio-temporally dynamic habitat, saproxylic insects have life cycles shorter than the time needed for habitat turnover and they closely track their resource. Patch size was manipulated by adding various amounts of downed dead wood to the plots (~800 m³ in total); dead trees in the surrounding landscape (~240 km 2 ) were identified using airborne laser scanning (light detection and ranging). Over 3 yr, 477 saproxylic species (101,416 individuals) were recorded. Considering 20-1,000 m radii around the patches, local landscapes were identified as having a radius of 40-120 m. Both patch size and habitat amount in the local landscapes independently affected species numbers without a significant interaction effect, hence refuting the island effect. Species accumulation curves relative to cumulative patch size were not consistent with either the habitat-patch hypothesis or the habitat-amount hypothesis: several small dead-wood patches held more species than a single large patch with an amount of dead wood equal to the sum of that of the small patches. Our results indicate that conservation of saproxylic beetles in forested regions should primarily focus on increasing the overall amount of dead wood without considering its

  14. Use of by-products rich in carbon and nitrogen as a nutrient source to produce Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner)-based bio pesticide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valicente, Fernando H.; Mourao, Andre H.C.

    2008-01-01

    The amount and sources of carbon and nitrogen used to produce Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner)-based biopesticide may influence the quality of the fi nal product. The objective of this research was to test different levels of carbon and nitrogen: medium 1 - 1.5% maize glucose + 0.5% soy fl our, medium 2 - 3.0% maize glucose + 1.0% soy flour, medium 3 - 1.0% maize glucose + 3.0% soy fl our and medium 4 - Luria Bertani (LB) + salts (FeSO 4 , ZnSO 4 , MnSO 4 , MgSO 4 ). The seed culture was produced in LB medium plus salt, under agitation (200 rpm) for 18h at 30 deg C. The strain 344 of Bt was used (B. thuringiensis var tolworthi - belonging to the EMBRAPA's Bt Bank). The pH was measured at regular intervals, and After culturing for 96h, the pH of the four tested media was basified (6.91 and 8.15), the number of spores yielded 4.39 x 10 9 spores/ml in medium 3, where the amount of protein is high. The dry biomass weight accumulated in media 3 was 39.3 g/l. Mortality of 2-day-old larvae Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) was 100% when using Bt produced in media 3 and 4. CL 50 for medium 3 was 8.4 x 10 6 spores/ml. All tested media were satisfactory to Bt growth, and medium 3 was the most promising to be used on a large scale Bt-based biopesticide production. (author)

  15. Use of by-products rich in carbon and nitrogen as a nutrient source to produce Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner)-based bio pesticide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Valicente, Fernando H. [EMBRAPA Milho e Sorgo, Sete Lagoas, MG (Brazil)]. E-mail: valicent@cnpms.embrapa.br; Mourao, Andre H.C. [Curso de Meio Ambiente, Sete Lagoas, MG (Brazil)

    2008-11-15

    The amount and sources of carbon and nitrogen used to produce Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner)-based biopesticide may influence the quality of the fi nal product. The objective of this research was to test different levels of carbon and nitrogen: medium 1 - 1.5% maize glucose + 0.5% soy fl our, medium 2 - 3.0% maize glucose + 1.0% soy flour, medium 3 - 1.0% maize glucose + 3.0% soy fl our and medium 4 - Luria Bertani (LB) + salts (FeSO{sub 4}, ZnSO{sub 4}, MnSO{sub 4}, MgSO{sub 4}). The seed culture was produced in LB medium plus salt, under agitation (200 rpm) for 18h at 30 deg C. The strain 344 of Bt was used (B. thuringiensis var tolworthi - belonging to the EMBRAPA's Bt Bank). The pH was measured at regular intervals, and After culturing for 96h, the pH of the four tested media was basified (6.91 and 8.15), the number of spores yielded 4.39 x 10{sup 9} spores/ml in medium 3, where the amount of protein is high. The dry biomass weight accumulated in media 3 was 39.3 g/l. Mortality of 2-day-old larvae Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) was 100% when using Bt produced in media 3 and 4. CL{sub 50} for medium 3 was 8.4 x 10{sup 6} spores/ml. All tested media were satisfactory to Bt growth, and medium 3 was the most promising to be used on a large scale Bt-based biopesticide production. (author)

  16. Larger Neural Responses Produce BOLD Signals That Begin Earlier in Time

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serena eThompson

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Functional MRI analyses commonly rely on the assumption that the temporal dynamics of hemodynamic response functions (HRFs are independent of the amplitude of the neural signals that give rise to them. The validity of this assumption is particularly important for techniques that use fMRI to resolve sub-second timing distinctions between responses, in order to make inferences about the ordering of neural processes. Whether or not the detailed shape of the HRF is independent of neural response amplitude remains an open question, however. We performed experiments in which we measured responses in primary visual cortex (V1 to large, contrast-reversing checkerboards at a range of contrast levels, which should produce varying amounts of neural activity. Ten subjects (ages 22-52 were studied in each of two experiments using 3 Tesla scanners. We used rapid, 250 msec, temporal sampling (repetition time, or TR and both short and long inter-stimulus interval (ISI stimulus presentations. We tested for a systematic relationship between the onset of the HRF and its amplitude across conditions, and found a strong negative correlation between the two measures when stimuli were separated in time (long- and medium-ISI experiments, but not the short-ISI experiment. Thus, stimuli that produce larger neural responses, as indexed by HRF amplitude, also produced HRFs with shorter onsets. The relationship between amplitude and latency was strongest in voxels with lowest mean-normalized variance (i.e., parenchymal voxels. The onset differences observed in the longer-ISI experiments are likely attributable to mechanisms of neurovascular coupling, since they are substantially larger than reported differences in the onset of action potentials in V1 as a function of response amplitude.

  17. Effects of the amount of soy milk on thermorheological, thermal and textural properties of chocolate with soy milk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zarić Danica B.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Chocolate is a two-phase rheological system. The solid phase, consisting of non-fat cocoa particles, sugar and soy milk is wrapped in a fat phase - cocoa butter. Physical, thermal, textural and organoleptic properties of chocolate depend on the composition of the ingredients, manufacturing process and a properly conducted pre-crystallization phase. For this study, two chocolate masses were produced in a ball mill: one with 15% of soy milk powder (R1 and the other with 20% of soy milk powder (R2. The chocolate mass was produced at different milling times (30, 60 and 90 min, and pre-crystallization temperature (26, 28 and 30oC. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changes caused by different amounts of soy milk powder on the quality of the chocolate. The quality of chocolate was evaluated by comparing the nutritional composition, hardness, thermorheological and thermal properties of the chocolate mass. The results show that chocolate mass R2, due to the presence of higher amounts of soy milk proteins, should be milled longer, and also needs lower temperatures for pre-crystallization. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR 31014

  18. THE RESEARCH OF THE AMOUNT OF HEAVY METALS AND NITROSO COMPOUNDS IN CONCENTRATED TOMATO PRODUCTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V.V. Shutyuk

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The constant selling race results in need for improving the quality of nutrition products among in-house food and pharmaceutical processing industries, which is an all-important key to success on the consumer market. This requires constant improvement of the product producing technologies. The topical problem of quality is the presence of heavy metals and nitroso compounds in the products. The research aimed at studying the changes in the heavy metal concentration levels (including Zn, Cu, Pb in tomato products at their thickening has been conducted at the national University of Food Technologies. On the basis of the received results the relationship between the lead, copper, zinc, nitrosocompounds and the solid substances’ amount has been established. The conducted research allowed us to ascertain the fact that the amount of heavy metals and nitroso compounds in raw materials for the concentrated tomato products to be ofhigh quality must not exceed the values of 18…35 % of the limiting concentration.

  19. Diversity, metabolism and microbial ecology of butyrate-producing bacteria from the human large intestine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Louis, Petra; Flint, Harry J

    2009-05-01

    Butyrate-producing bacteria play a key role in colonic health in humans. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge of the diversity, metabolism and microbial ecology of this functionally important group of bacteria. Human colonic butyrate producers are Gram-positive firmicutes, but are phylogenetically diverse, with the two most abundant groups related to Eubacterium rectale/Roseburia spp. and to Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. Five different arrangements have been identified for the genes of the central pathway involved in butyrate synthesis, while in most cases butyryl-CoA : acetate CoA-transferase, rather than butyrate kinase, appears to perform the final step in butyrate synthesis. Mechanisms have been proposed recently in non-gut Clostridium spp. whereby butyrate synthesis can result in energy generation via both substrate-level phosphorylation and proton gradients. Here we suggest that these mechanisms also apply to the majority of butyrate producers from the human colon. The roles of these bacteria in the gut community and their influence on health are now being uncovered, taking advantage of the availability of cultured isolates and molecular methodologies. Populations of F. prausnitzii are reported to be decreased in Crohn's disease, for example, while populations of Roseburia relatives appear to be particularly sensitive to the diet composition in human volunteer studies.

  20. Remote collaboration system based on large scale simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kishimoto, Yasuaki; Sugahara, Akihiro; Li, J.Q.

    2008-01-01

    Large scale simulation using super-computer, which generally requires long CPU time and produces large amount of data, has been extensively studied as a third pillar in various advanced science fields in parallel to theory and experiment. Such a simulation is expected to lead new scientific discoveries through elucidation of various complex phenomena, which are hardly identified only by conventional theoretical and experimental approaches. In order to assist such large simulation studies for which many collaborators working at geographically different places participate and contribute, we have developed a unique remote collaboration system, referred to as SIMON (simulation monitoring system), which is based on client-server system control introducing an idea of up-date processing, contrary to that of widely used post-processing. As a key ingredient, we have developed a trigger method, which transmits various requests for the up-date processing from the simulation (client) running on a super-computer to a workstation (server). Namely, the simulation running on a super-computer actively controls the timing of up-date processing. The server that has received the requests from the ongoing simulation such as data transfer, data analyses, and visualizations, etc. starts operations according to the requests during the simulation. The server makes the latest results available to web browsers, so that the collaborators can monitor the results at any place and time in the world. By applying the system to a specific simulation project of laser-matter interaction, we have confirmed that the system works well and plays an important role as a collaboration platform on which many collaborators work with one another

  1. String cosmology. Large-field inflation in string theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Westphal, Alexander

    2014-09-01

    This is a short review of string cosmology. We wish to connect string-scale physics as closely as possible to observables accessible to current or near-future experiments. Our possible best hope to do so is a description of inflation in string theory. The energy scale of inflation can be as high as that of Grand Unification (GUT). If this is the case, this is the closest we can possibly get in energy scales to string-scale physics. Hence, GUT-scale inflation may be our best candidate phenomenon to preserve traces of string-scale dynamics. Our chance to look for such traces is the primordial gravitational wave, or tensor mode signal produced during inflation. For GUT-scale inflation this is strong enough to be potentially visible as a B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Moreover, a GUT-scale inflation model has a trans-Planckian excursion of the inflaton scalar field during the observable amount of inflation. Such large-field models of inflation have a clear need for symmetry protection against quantum corrections. This makes them ideal candidates for a description in a candidate fundamental theory like string theory. At the same time the need of large-field inflation models for UV completion makes them particularly susceptible to preserve imprints of their string-scale dynamics in the inflationary observables, the spectral index n s and the fractional tensor mode power r. Hence, we focus this review on axion monodromy inflation as a mechanism of large-field inflation in string theory.

  2. Method of producing buried porous silicon-geramanium layers in monocrystalline silicon lattices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fathauer, Robert W. (Inventor); George, Thomas (Inventor); Jones, Eric W. (Inventor)

    1997-01-01

    Lattices of alternating layers of monocrystalline silicon and porous silicon-germanium have been produced. These single crystal lattices have been fabricated by epitaxial growth of Si and Si--Ge layers followed by patterning into mesa structures. The mesa structures are stain etched resulting in porosification of the Si--Ge layers with a minor amount of porosification of the monocrystalline Si layers. Thicker Si--Ge layers produced in a similar manner emitted visible light at room temperature.

  3. Does the amount of school choice matter for student engagement?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaughn, Michael G.; Witko, Christopher

    2013-01-01

    School choice may increase student engagement by enabling students to attend schools that more closely match their needs and preferences. But this effect on engagement may depend on the characteristics of the choices available. Therefore, we consider how the amount of educational choice of different types in a local educational marketplace affects student engagement using a large, national population of 8th grade students. We find that more choice of regular public schools in the elementary and middle school years is associated with a lower likelihood that students will be severely disengaged in eighth grade, and more choices of public schools of choice has a similar effect but only in urban areas. In contrast, more private sector choice does not have such a general beneficial effect. PMID:23682202

  4. Metals concentration in phosphogypsum and phosphate fertilizers produced in Brazil using INAA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Bourlegat, Fernanda M.; Saueia, Catia H.R.; Mazzilli, Barbara P.; Favaro, Deborah I.T.

    2009-01-01

    Phosphogypsum is obtained by wet reaction of the igneous phosphate rock with concentrated sulphuric acid, giving as final product phosphoric acid and dihydrated calcium sulphate (CaSO 4 .2H 2 O) as by-product. It may contain high quantities of P 2 O 5 , trace metals and radionuclides of U and Th series. Phosphogypsum worldwide production on 2006 was estimated in 170 million tons. All the countries that produce phosphate fertilizers by wet process are facing the same problem of finding solutions for the safe application of phosphogypsum, in order to minimize the impact caused by the disposal of large amounts of this by-product. Phosphogypsum can be used in agriculture as a soil amendment; however, for its safe application the concentration of the impurities present and their behaviour in the environment should be better understood. The radiological characterization has been extensively studied in the last decade, but there are few studies about the metals concentration in phosphogypsum. This work intends to determine the concentration of metals (Ba, Co, Cr, Fe, Hf, Na, Sc, Ta, Th, U, Zn e Zr) and rare earth elements (REE) present in phosphogypsum produced in Brazil and to compare the results with those found in the phosphate fertilizers commonly commercialized. The technique used for the determination of the metals was instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). (author)

  5. The effects of physical activity on impulsive choice: Influence of sensitivity to reinforcement amount and delay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strickland, Justin C; Feinstein, Max A; Lacy, Ryan T; Smith, Mark A

    2016-05-01

    Impulsive choice is a diagnostic feature and/or complicating factor for several psychological disorders and may be examined in the laboratory using delay-discounting procedures. Recent investigators have proposed using quantitative measures of analysis to examine the behavioral processes contributing to impulsive choice. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of physical activity (i.e., wheel running) on impulsive choice in a single-response, discrete-trial procedure using two quantitative methods of analysis. To this end, rats were assigned to physical activity or sedentary groups and trained to respond in a delay-discounting procedure. In this procedure, one lever always produced one food pellet immediately, whereas a second lever produced three food pellets after a 0, 10, 20, 40, or 80-s delay. Estimates of sensitivity to reinforcement amount and sensitivity to reinforcement delay were determined using (1) a simple linear analysis and (2) an analysis of logarithmically transformed response ratios. Both analyses revealed that physical activity decreased sensitivity to reinforcement amount and sensitivity to reinforcement delay. These findings indicate that (1) physical activity has significant but functionally opposing effects on the behavioral processes that contribute to impulsive choice and (2) both quantitative methods of analysis are appropriate for use in single-response, discrete-trial procedures. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. The mineralogy of bauxite for producing smelter-grade alumina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Authier-Martin, M.; Forte, G.; Ostap, S.; See, J.

    2001-12-01

    Aluminum-producing companies rely on low-cost, high-purity, smelter-grade alumina (aluminum oxide), and alumina production utilizes the bulk of bauxites mined world-wide. The mineralogy of the bauxites has a significant impact on the operation of the Bayer process for alumina production. Typically, the Bayer process produces smelter-grade alumina of 99.5% Al2O3, starting from bauxite containing 30% to 60% Al2O3. The main objective of the Bayer process is to extract the maximum amount of aluminum from the bauxite at as high an aluminate concentration in solution as possible, while limiting any troublesome side reactions. Only with a better understanding of the chemistry of the mineral species and a strict control of the operating/processing conditions can the Bayer process produce efficiently, a low cost, high-quality alumina with minimum detrimental environmental impact.

  7. Modeling metabolic response to changes of enzyme amount in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Based on the work of Hynne et al. (2001), in an in silico model of glycolysis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is established by introducing an enzyme amount multiple factor (.) into the kinetic equations. The model is aimed to predict the metabolic response to the change of enzyme amount. With the help of .α, the amounts of ...

  8. 29 CFR 4.142 - Contracts in an indefinite amount.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act Determining Amount of Contract § 4.142 Contracts in an indefinite amount. (a) Every contract subject to this Act which is indefinite in amount is required to contain the....), a case arising under the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act. Such a contract, which may be in the...

  9. Metal-chelating compounds produced by ectomycorrhizal fungi collected from pine plantations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machuca, A; Pereira, G; Aguiar, A; Milagres, A M F

    2007-01-01

    To investigate the in vitro production of metal-chelating compounds by ectomycorrhizal fungi collected from pine plantations in southern Chile. Scleroderma verrucosum, Suillus luteus and two isolates of Rhizopogon luteolus were grown in solid and liquid modified Melin-Norkans (MMN) media with and without iron addition and the production of iron-chelating compounds was determined by Chrome Azurol S (CAS) assay. The presence of hydroxamate and catecholate-type compounds and organic acids was also investigated in liquid medium. All isolates produced iron-chelating compounds as detected by CAS assay, and catecholates, hydroxamates as well as oxalic, citric and succinic acids were also detected in all fungal cultures. Scleroderma verrucosum produced the greatest amounts of catecholates and hydroxamates whereas the highest amounts of organic acids were detected in S. luteus. Nevertheless, the highest catecholate, hydroxamate and organic acid concentrations did not correlate with the highest CAS reaction which was observed in R. luteolus (Yum isolate). Ectomycorrhizal fungi produced a variety of metal-chelating compounds when grown in liquid MMN medium. However, the addition of iron to all fungi cultures reduced the CAS reaction, hydroxamate and organic acid concentrations. Catecholate production was affected differently by iron, depending on the fungal isolate. The ectomycorrhizal fungi described in this study have never been reported to produce metal-chelating compound production. Moreover, apart from some wood-rotting fungi, this is the first evidence of the presence of catecholates in R. luteolus, S. luteus and S. verrucosum cultures.

  10. Efficiency of producing anion and relative humidity of the indigenous woody plants in Jeju islands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Son, S.-G.; Kim, K.-J.; Kim, H.-J.; Kim, C.-M.; Byun, K.-O.

    2009-04-01

    This study is to evaluate the ability of interior plants to produce anion and relative humidity that can purify polluted indoor air. Four indigenous woody plants in Jeju islands such as Sarcandra glaber (Thunb.) Nakai, Illicium anisatum L, Cleyera japonica Thunb. and Ilex rotunda Thunb. were used. Sansevieria trifasciata cv. Laurentii was also used as a comparative plant. The amount of anion and increment of relative humidity produced by five species of indoor plants was assessed by anion measurement (ITC-201A)in a sealed acryl chamber (118Ã-118Ã-119.5cm). The highest amount of anion was 515 ea/cm3produced by I. rotunda. The amounts of anion were 293 ea/cm3, 273 ea/cm3, and 211 ea/cm3 in S. glaber, I. anisatum and C. japonica, respecively while it was 220 ea/cm3 in S. trifasciata. The increment of relative humidity was highest in I. anisatum as 27.4% while it was lowest in S. trifasciata as 14.0%. This result suggested that all four indigenous plants tested were more effective to purify the indoor polluted air than S. trifasciata. Key words: interior plant, S. glaber, I. anisatum, C. japonica, I. rotunda, indoor polluted air

  11. Polymerizations of beta-substituted allylic arsonium ylides with catalytic amounts of organoboron compounds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mondiere, R.

    2004-01-01

    My Ph.D. work consisted in the generalization and optimization of a new polymerization reaction involving allylic arsonium ylides and catalytic amounts of various boron compounds. Thus, various β-substituted allylic arsonium salts were produced according to synthetic strategies that depended on the nature of the functional group born by the salt. These salts were converted in situ to the corresponding arsonium ylides which were then treated with boron compounds to yield polymers. Our new method of polymerization afforded either non conjugated polyenes that are functionalized every three atoms of carbon, or statistic copolymers, depending on the nature of the group R born on the β position of the ylide. These new polymers cannot be synthesized by usual methods of polymerization. Initial molar ratios of reactants were found to give molar mass control of the synthesized polymers. This controlled polymerization allowed us to produce several bloc copolymers. All the polymers were characterized by NMR techniques, by size exclusion chromatography and, for some of them, by mass spectrometry. Investigation of their physicochemical properties will need additional experiments. (author)

  12. Large transverse momentum hadronic processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Darriulat, P.

    1977-01-01

    The possible relations between deep inelastic leptoproduction and large transverse momentum (psub(t)) processes in hadronic collisions are usually considered in the framework of the quark-parton picture. Experiments observing the structure of the final state in proton-proton collisions producing at least one large transverse momentum particle have led to the following conclusions: a large fraction of produced particles are uneffected by the large psub(t) process. The other products are correlated to the large psub(t) particle. Depending upon the sign of scalar product they can be separated into two groups of ''towards-movers'' and ''away-movers''. The experimental evidence are reviewed favouring such a picture and the properties are discussed of each of three groups (underlying normal event, towards-movers and away-movers). Some phenomenological interpretations are presented. The exact nature of away- and towards-movers must be further investigated. Their apparent jet structure has to be confirmed. Angular correlations between leading away and towards movers are very informative. Quantum number flow, both within the set of away and towards-movers, and between it and the underlying normal event, are predicted to behave very differently in different models

  13. Trace amount analysis using spark mass spectrometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stefani, Rene

    1975-01-01

    Characteristics of spark mass spectrometers (ion source, properties of the ion beam, ion optics, and performance) and their use in qualitative and quantitative analysis are described. This technique is very interesting for the semi-quantitative analysis of trace amounts, down to 10 -8 atoms. Examples of applications such as the analysis of high purity materials and non-conducting mineral samples, and determination of carbon and gas trace amounts are presented. (50 references) [fr

  14. Nonlinear adaptive synchronization rule for identification of a large amount of parameters in dynamical models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma Huanfei; Lin Wei

    2009-01-01

    The existing adaptive synchronization technique based on the stability theory and invariance principle of dynamical systems, though theoretically proved to be valid for parameters identification in specific models, is always showing slow convergence rate and even failed in practice when the number of parameters becomes large. Here, for parameters update, a novel nonlinear adaptive rule is proposed to accelerate the rate. Its feasibility is validated by analytical arguments as well as by specific parameters identification in the Lotka-Volterra model with multiple species. Two adjustable factors in this rule influence the identification accuracy, which means that a proper choice of these factors leads to an optimal performance of this rule. In addition, a feasible method for avoiding the occurrence of the approximate linear dependence among terms with parameters on the synchronized manifold is also proposed.

  15. [Adverse Effect Predictions Based on Computational Toxicology Techniques and Large-scale Databases].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uesawa, Yoshihiro

    2018-01-01

     Understanding the features of chemical structures related to the adverse effects of drugs is useful for identifying potential adverse effects of new drugs. This can be based on the limited information available from post-marketing surveillance, assessment of the potential toxicities of metabolites and illegal drugs with unclear characteristics, screening of lead compounds at the drug discovery stage, and identification of leads for the discovery of new pharmacological mechanisms. This present paper describes techniques used in computational toxicology to investigate the content of large-scale spontaneous report databases of adverse effects, and it is illustrated with examples. Furthermore, volcano plotting, a new visualization method for clarifying the relationships between drugs and adverse effects via comprehensive analyses, will be introduced. These analyses may produce a great amount of data that can be applied to drug repositioning.

  16. A Physiological Stimulating Factor of Water Intake during and after Dry Forage Feeding in Large-type Goats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Thang, Tran; Sunagawa, Katsunori; Nagamine, Itsuki; Kishi, Tetsuya; Ogura, Go

    2012-04-01

    When ruminants consume dry forage, they also drink large volumes of water. The objective of this study was to clarify which factor produced when feed boluses enter the rumen is mainly responsible for the marked increase in water intake in the second hour of the 2 h feeding period in large-type goats fed on dry forage for 2 h twice daily. Six large-type male esophageal- and ruminal-fistulated goats (crossbred Japanese Saanen/Nubian, aged 2 to 6 years, weighing 85.1±4.89 kg) were used in two experiments. In experiment 1, the water deprivation (WD) control and the water availability (WA) treatment were conducted to compare changes in water intake during and after dry forage feeding. In experiment 2, a normal feeding conditions (NFC) control and a feed bolus removal (FBR) treatment were carried out to investigate whether decrease in circulating plasma volume or increase in plasma osmolality is mainly responsible for the marked increase in water intake in the second hour of the 2 h feeding period. The results of experiment 1 showed that in the WA treatment, small amounts of water were consumed during the first hour of feeding while the majority of water intake was observed during the second hour of the 2 h feeding period. Therefore, the amounts of water consumed in the second hour of the 2 h feeding period accounted for 82.8% of the total water intake. The results of experiment 2 indicated that in comparison with the NFC control, decrease in plasma volume in the FBR treatment, which was indicated by increase in hematocrit and plasma total protein concentrations, was higher (pforage feeding in large-type goats.

  17. High ethanol producing derivatives of Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ljungdahl, L.G.; Carriera, L.H.

    1983-05-24

    Derivatives of the newly discovered microorganism Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus which under anaerobic and thermophilic conditions continuously ferment substrates such as starch, cellobiose, glucose, xylose and other sugars to produce recoverable amounts of ethanol solving the problem of fermentations yielding low concentrations of ethanol using the parent strain of the microorganism Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus are disclosed. These new derivatives are ethanol tolerant up to 10% (v/v) ethanol during fermentation. The process includes the use of an aqueous fermentation medium, containing the substrate at a substrate concentration greater than 1% (w/v).

  18. Study of the influence of the amount of PBI-H{sub 3}PO{sub 4} in the catalytic layer of a high temperature PEMFC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lobato, Justo; Canizares, Pablo; Rodrigo, Manuel A.; Linares, Jose J.; Pinar, F. Javier [Chemical Engineering Department, Enrique Costa Building, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Av. Camilo Jose Cela, n 12, 13071, Ciudad Real (Spain)

    2010-02-15

    The influence of the amount of polybenzimidazole (PBI)-H{sub 3}PO{sub 4} (normalized with respect to the PBI loading, which expressed as C/PBI weight ratio) content in both the anode and cathode has been studied for a PBI-based high temperature proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. The electrodes prepared with different amounts of PBI have been characterized physically, by measuring the pore size distribution, and visualizing the surface microstructure. Afterwards, the electrochemical behaviour of the electrodes has been evaluated. The catalytic electrochemical activity has been measured by voltamperometry for each electrode prepared with a different PBI content, and the cell performance results have been studied, supported by the impedance spectra, in order to determine the influence of the PBI loading in each electrode. The best results have been achieved with a C/PBI weight ratio of 20, for both the anode and the cathode. A lower C/PBI weight ratio (larger amount of PBI in the catalytic layer) reduced the electrocatalytic activity, and impaired the mass transport processes, due to the large amount of polymer covering the catalyst particle, lowering the cell performance. A higher C/PBI weight ratio (lower amount of PBI in the catalytic layer) reduced the electrocatalytic activity, and slightly increased the ohmic resistance. The low amount of the polymeric ionic carrier PBI-H{sub 3}PO{sub 4} limited the proton mobility, despite of the presence of large amounts of ''free'' H{sub 3}PO{sub 4} in the catalytic layer. (author)

  19. Estimation of Potential Shale Gas Yield Amount and Land Degradation in China by Landcover Distribution regarding Water-Food-Energy and Forest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, N.; Heo, S.; Lim, C. H.; Lee, W. K.

    2017-12-01

    Shale gas is gain attention due to the tremendous reserves beneath the earth. The two known high reservoirs are located in United States and China. According to U.S Energy Information Administration China have estimated 7,299 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas and placed as world first reservoir. United States had 665 trillion cubic feet for the shale gas reservoir and placed fourth. Unlike the traditional fossil fuel, spatial distribution of shale gas is considered to be widely spread and the reserved amount and location make the resource as energy source for the next generation. United States dramatically increased the shale gas production. For instance, shale gas production composes more than 50% of total natural gas production whereas China and Canada shale gas produce very small amount of the shale gas. According to U.S Energy Information Administration's report, in 2014 United States produced shale gas almost 40 billion cubic feet per day but China only produced 0.25 billion cubic feet per day. Recently, China's policy had changed to decrease the coal powerplants to reduce the air pollution and the energy stress in China is keep increasing. Shale gas produce less air pollution while producing energy and considered to be clean energy source. Considering the situation of China and characteristics of shale gas, soon the demand of shale gas will increase in China. United States invested 71.7 billion dollars in 2013 but it Chinese government is only proceeding fundamental investment due to land degradation, limited water resources, geological location of the reservoirs.In this study, firstly we reviewed the current system and technology of shale gas extraction such as hydraulic Fracturing. Secondly, listed the possible environmental damages, land degradations, and resource demands for the shale gas extraction. Thirdly, invested the potential shale gas extraction amount in China based on the location of shale gas reservoirs and limited resources for the

  20. 28 CFR 70.73 - Collection of amounts due.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Collection of amounts due. 70.73 Section 70.73 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS... OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS After-the-Award Requirements § 70.73 Collection of amounts due. (a) Any...

  1. Reference Management Methodologies for Large Structural Models at Kennedy Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Corey; Bingham, Ryan; Schmidt, Rick

    2011-01-01

    There have been many challenges associated with modeling some of NASA KSC's largest structures. Given the size of the welded structures here at KSC, it was critically important to properly organize model struc.ture and carefully manage references. Additionally, because of the amount of hardware to be installed on these structures, it was very important to have a means to coordinate between different design teams and organizations, check for interferences, produce consistent drawings, and allow for simple release processes. Facing these challenges, the modeling team developed a unique reference management methodology and model fidelity methodology. This presentation will describe the techniques and methodologies that were developed for these projects. The attendees will learn about KSC's reference management and model fidelity methodologies for large structures. The attendees will understand the goals of these methodologies. The attendees will appreciate the advantages of developing a reference management methodology.

  2. 13 CFR 120.930 - Amount.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... percent of total Project cost plus 100 percent of eligible administrative costs. For good cause shown, SBA... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Amount. 120.930 Section 120.930 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Development Company Loan...

  3. One billion cubic meters of gas produced in Kikinda area

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vicicevic, M; Duric, N

    1969-10-01

    The Kikinda gas reservoir has just passed a milestone in producing one billion cubic meters of natural gas. The reservoir was discovered in 1962, and its present production amounts to 26 million cu m. One of the biggest problems was formation of hydrates, which has successfully been solved by using methanol. Four tables show production statistics by years and productive formations.

  4. Durum Wheat in Conventional and Organic Farming: Yield Amount and Pasta Quality in Southern Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Massimo Fagnano

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Five durum wheat cultivars were grown in a Mediterranean area (Southern Italy under conventional and organic farming with the aim to evaluate agronomic, technological, sensory, and sanitary quality of grains and pasta. The cultivar Matt produced the best pasta quality under conventional cropping system, while the quality parameters evaluated were unsatisfactory under organic farming. The cultivar Saragolla showed the best yield amount and pasta quality in all the experimental conditions, thus proving to be the cultivar more adapt to organic farming. In all the tested experimental conditions, nivalenol (NIV and deoxynivalenol (DON occurrence was very low and the other mycotoxins evaluated were completely absent. These data confirm the low risk of mycotoxin contamination in the Mediterranean climate conditions. Finally, it has been possible to produce high-quality pasta in Southern Italy from durum wheat grown both in conventional and organic farming.

  5. 22 CFR 226.73 - Collection of amounts due.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Collection of amounts due. 226.73 Section 226.73 Foreign Relations AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION OF ASSISTANCE AWARDS TO U.S. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS After-the-Award Requirements § 226.73 Collection of amounts due. (a...

  6. Portable, low-cost NMR with laser-lathe lithography produced microcoils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demas, Vasiliki; Herberg, Julie L; Malba, Vince; Bernhardt, Anthony; Evans, Lee; Harvey, Christopher; Chinn, Sarah C; Maxwell, Robert S; Reimer, Jeffrey

    2007-11-01

    Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is unsurpassed in its ability to non-destructively probe chemical identity. Portable, low-cost NMR sensors would enable on-site identification of potentially hazardous substances, as well as the study of samples in a variety of industrial applications. Recent developments in RF microcoil construction (i.e. coils much smaller than the standard 5mm NMR RF coils), have dramatically increased NMR sensitivity and decreased the limits-of-detection (LOD). We are using advances in laser pantographic microfabrication techniques, unique to LLNL, to produce RF microcoils for field deployable, high sensitivity NMR-based detectors. This same fabrication technique can be used to produce imaging coils for MRI as well as for standard hardware shimming or "ex-situ" shimming of field inhomogeneities typically associated with inexpensive magnets. This paper describes a portable NMR system based on the use of a 2 kg hand-held permanent magnet, laser-fabricated microcoils, and a compact spectrometer. The main limitations for such a system are the low resolution and sensitivity associated with the low field values and quality of small permanent magnets, as well as the lack of large amounts of sample of interest in most cases. The focus of the paper is on the setting up of this system, initial results, sensitivity measurements, discussion of the limitations and future plans. The results, even though preliminary, are promising and provide the foundation for developing a portable, inexpensive NMR system for chemical analysis. Such a system will be ideal for chemical identification of trace substances on site.

  7. Large scale disposal of waste sulfur: From sulfide fuels to sulfate sequestration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rappold, T.A.; Lackner, K.S.

    2010-01-01

    Petroleum industries produce more byproduct sulfur than the market can absorb. As a consequence, most sulfur mines around the world have closed down, large stocks of yellow sulfur have piled up near remote operations, and growing amounts of toxic H 2 S are disposed of in the subsurface. Unless sulfur demand drastically increases or thorough disposal practices are developed, byproduct sulfur will persist as a chemical waste problem on the scale of 10 7 tons per year. We review industrial practices, salient sulfur chemistry, and the geochemical cycle to develop sulfur management concepts at the appropriate scale. We contend that the environmentally responsible disposal of sulfur would involve conversion to sulfuric acid followed by chemical neutralization with equivalent amounts of base, which common alkaline rocks can supply cheaply. The resulting sulfate salts are benign and suitable for brine injection underground or release to the ocean, where they would cause minimal disturbance to ecosystems. Sequestration costs can be recouped by taking advantage of the fuel-grade thermal energy released in the process of oxidizing reduced compounds and sequestering the products. Sulfate sequestration can eliminate stockpiles and avert the proliferation of enriched H 2 S stores underground while providing plenty of carbon-free energy to hydrocarbon processing.

  8. Using GRACE to constrain precipitation amount over cold mountainous basins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrangi, Ali; Gardner, Alex S.; Reager, John T.; Fisher, Joshua B.

    2017-01-01

    Despite the importance for hydrology and climate-change studies, current quantitative knowledge on the amount and distribution of precipitation in mountainous and high-elevation regions is limited due to instrumental and retrieval shortcomings. Here by focusing on two large endorheic basins in High Mountain Asia, we show that satellite gravimetry (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)) can be used to provide an independent estimate of monthly accumulated precipitation using mass balance equation. Results showed that the GRACE-based precipitation estimate has the highest agreement with most of the commonly used precipitation products in summer, but it deviates from them in cold months, when the other products are expected to have larger errors. It was found that most of the products capture about or less than 50% of the total precipitation estimated using GRACE in winter. Overall, Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) showed better agreement with GRACE estimate than other products. Yet on average GRACE showed 30% more annual precipitation than GPCP in the study basins. In basins of appropriate size with an absence of dense ground measurements, as is a typical case in cold mountainous regions, we find GRACE can be a viable alternative to constrain monthly and seasonal precipitation estimates from other remotely sensed precipitation products that show large bias.

  9. Potency of Amylase-producing Bacteria and Optimization Amylase Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Indriati, G.; Megahati, R. R. P.; Rosba, E.

    2018-04-01

    Enzymes are capable to act as biocatalyst for a wide variety of chemical reactions. Amylase have potential biotechnological applications in a wide range of industrial processes and account for nearly 30% of the world’s enzyme market. Amylase are extracellular enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of internal α-1,4-glycosidic linkages in starch to dextrin, and other small carbohydrate molecules constituted of glucose units. Although enzymes are produced from animal and plant sources, the microbial sources are generally the most suitable for commercial applications. Bacteria from hot springs is widely used as a source of various enzymes, such as amylase. But the amount of amylase-producing bacteria is still very limited. Therefore it is necessary to search sources of amylase-producing bacteria new, such as from hot springs Pariangan. The purpose of this study was to isolation of amylase-producing bacteria from Pariangan hot spring, West Sumatera and amylase activity optimization. The results were obtained 12 isolates of thermophilic bacteria and 5 isolates of amyalse-producing bacteria with the largest amylolytic index of 3.38 mm. The highest amylase activity was obtained at 50°C and pH 7.5.

  10. Locally produced natural conditioners for dewatering of faecal sludge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gold, Moritz; Dayer, Pauline; Faye, Marie Christine Amie Sene; Clair, Guillaume; Seck, Alsane; Niang, Seydou; Morgenroth, Eberhard; Strande, Linda

    2016-11-01

    In urban areas of low-income countries, treatment of faecal sludge (FS) is insufficient or non-existent. This results in large amounts of FS being dumped into the environment. Existing treatment technologies for FS, such as settling-thickening tanks and drying beds, are land intensive which is limiting in urban areas. Enhanced settling and dewatering by conditioning was evaluated in order to reduce the treatment footprint (or increase treatment capacity). Conventional wastewater conditioners, such as commercially available lime and polymers, are expensive, and commonly rely on complex supply chains for use in low-income countries. Therefore, the treatment performance of five conditioners which could be produced locally was evaluated: Moringa oleifera seeds and press cake, Jatropha curcas seeds, Jatropha Calotropis leaves and chitosan. M. oleifera seeds and press cake, and chitosan improved settling and dewatering and had a similar performance compared to lime and polymers. Optimal dosages were 400-500 kg M. oleifera/t TS, 300-800 kg lime/t TS and 25-50 kg polymer solution/t TS. In comparison, chitosan required 1.5-3.75 kg/t TS. These dosages are comparable to those recommended for wastewater (sludge). The results indicate that conditioning of FS can reduce total suspended solids (TSS) in the effluent of settling-thickening tanks by 22-81% and reduce dewatering time with drying beds by 59-97%. This means that the area of drying beds could be reduced by 59-97% with end-use as soil conditioner, or 9-26% as solid fuel. Least expensive options and availability will depend on the local context. In Dakar, Senegal, chitosan produced from shrimp waste appears to be most promising.

  11. Tool Support for Parametric Analysis of Large Software Simulation Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schumann, Johann; Gundy-Burlet, Karen; Pasareanu, Corina; Menzies, Tim; Barrett, Tony

    2008-01-01

    The analysis of large and complex parameterized software systems, e.g., systems simulation in aerospace, is very complicated and time-consuming due to the large parameter space, and the complex, highly coupled nonlinear nature of the different system components. Thus, such systems are generally validated only in regions local to anticipated operating points rather than through characterization of the entire feasible operational envelope of the system. We have addressed the factors deterring such an analysis with a tool to support envelope assessment: we utilize a combination of advanced Monte Carlo generation with n-factor combinatorial parameter variations to limit the number of cases, but still explore important interactions in the parameter space in a systematic fashion. Additional test-cases, automatically generated from models (e.g., UML, Simulink, Stateflow) improve the coverage. The distributed test runs of the software system produce vast amounts of data, making manual analysis impossible. Our tool automatically analyzes the generated data through a combination of unsupervised Bayesian clustering techniques (AutoBayes) and supervised learning of critical parameter ranges using the treatment learner TAR3. The tool has been developed around the Trick simulation environment, which is widely used within NASA. We will present this tool with a GN&C (Guidance, Navigation and Control) simulation of a small satellite system.

  12. Determination of Absorbed Dose in Large 60-Co Fields Radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hrsak, H.

    2003-01-01

    Radiation in radiotherapy has selective impact on ill and healthy tissue. During the therapy the healthy tissue receives certain amount of dose. Therefore dose calculations in outer radiotherapy must be accurate because too high doses produce damage in healthy tissue and too low doses cannot ensure efficient treatment of cancer cells. A requirement on accuracy in the dose calculations has lead to improvement of detectors, and development of absolute and relative dosimetry. Determination of the dose distribution with use of computer is based on data provided by the relative dosimetry. This paper compares the percentage depth doses in cubic water phantoms of various dimensions with percentage depth doses calculated with use of Mayneord factor from the experimental depth doses measured in water phantom of large dimension. Depth doses in water phantoms were calculated by the model of empirical dosimetrical functions. The calculations were based on the assumption that large 6 0C o photon field exceeds the phantom's limits. The experimental basis for dose calculations by the model of empirical dosimetrical functions were exposure doses measured in air and dose reduction factors because of finite phantom dimensions. Calculations were performed by fortran 90 software. It was found that the deviation of dosimetric model was small in comparison to the experimental data. (author)

  13. Developments in commercially produced microbials at Biochem Products

    Science.gov (United States)

    John Lublinkhof; Douglas H. Ross

    1985-01-01

    Biochem Products is part of a large industrial and scientific family - the Solvay Group. Solvay, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium is a multinational company with 46,000 employees worldwide. In the U.S., our working partners include a large polymer manufacturer, a peroxygen producer and a leading poultry and animal health products company. Biochem Products is a...

  14. PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZATION AND HARVEST INTERVALS INFLUENCE ENERGETIC AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF BRIQUETTES AND LARGE BRANCHES OF MATE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Delmar Santin

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT In mate crop, the commercial part consists of leaves and thin branches, while the large branches (LB are considered unused residues and left in the field, although they may have potential for use as energy. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the influence of phosphorus fertilization and harvest interval in productivity of mate large branches and in their physical and energetic properties, as well as in derived briquettes. In a seven-year-old plantation, doses of 0, 20, 40, 80, 160 and 320 kg.ha-1 of P2O5 were applied considering harvest intervals of 12, 18 and 24 months. Dry mass, average diameter, P content, and physical and energetic properties of LB were determined. With LB, after its transformation into particles and briquetting, physical and energetic properties were determined, as well as P availability in soil. The phosphorus fertilization increased LB productivity in larger harvest intervals, increasing the amount of energy produced per unit of area, but did not change basic density and gross calorific value of wood. Mate harvest intervals did not affect the apparent density and calorific value of briquettes produced by LB. LB harvested at intervals of 18 and 24 months produced wood with higher basic density and gross calorific value. LB or briquettes have adequate energetic and physical properties, being technically a plant residue with great potential for use as energy.

  15. Productive performance of cowpea-radish intercropping under different amounts of rooster tree biomass incorporated into the soil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria F. S. Pereira

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Intercropping systems of cowpea with radish are beginning to be deployed in the semiarid region of Rio Grande do Norte state. The great challenge is to know whether or not there is productive efficiency in these systems when fertilized with organic matter produced by spontaneous species from the ‘Caatinga’ biome. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the productive performance of cowpea-radish intercropping systems under different amounts of rooster tree biomass incorporated into the soil. The study was conducted at the experimental farm Rafael Fernandes, rural zone of Mossoró, RN, in the period from June to September 2013, in an experimental design of randomized blocks with four treatments and five replicates. The treatments consisted of the following amounts of rooster tree biomass incorporated into the soil (10, 25, 40 and 55 t ha-1 on a dry weight basis. The best productive performance of the cowpea-radish intercrop was obtained when the rooster tree biomass amount of 50.01 t ha-1 was incorporated to the soil. The use of rooster tree biomass as green manure is agronomically viable in intercropped systems of cowpea-radish.

  16. The smell of success: the amount of prey consumed by predators determines the strength and range of cascading non-consumptive effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc Weissburg

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available We examined whether chemically mediated risk perception by prey and the effects of changes in prey behavior on basal resources vary as a function of the amount of prey biomass consumed by the predator. We studied these issues using a tritrophic system composed of blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus (top predator, mud crabs Panopeus herbstii (intermediate prey, and oysters Crassostrea virginica (basal resource. Working in a well characterized field environment where experiments preserve natural patterns of water flow, we found that biomass consumed by a predator determines the range, intensity and nature of prey aversive responses. Predators that consume large amounts of prey flesh more strongly diminish consumption of basal resources by prey and exert effects over a larger range (in space and time compared to predators that have eaten less. Less well-fed predators produce weaker effects, with the consequence that behaviorally mediated cascades preferentially occur in refuge habitats. Well-fed predators affected prey behavior and increased basal resources up to distances of 1–1.5 m, whereas predators fed restricted diet evoked changes in prey only when they were extremely close, typically 50 cm or less. Thus, consumptive and non-consumptive effects may be coupled; predators that have a greater degree of predatory success will affect prey traits more strongly and non-consumptive and consumptive effects may fluctuate in tandem, with some lag. Moreover, differences among predators in their degree of prey capture will create spatial and temporal variance in risk cue availability in the absence of underlying environmental effects.

  17. Assembling large, complex environmental metagenomes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Howe, A. C. [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Plant Soil and Microbial Sciences; Jansson, J. [USDOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Walnut Creek, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth Sciences Division; Malfatti, S. A. [USDOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Walnut Creek, CA (United States); Tringe, S. G. [USDOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Walnut Creek, CA (United States); Tiedje, J. M. [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Plant Soil and Microbial Sciences; Brown, C. T. [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Computer Science and Engineering

    2012-12-28

    The large volumes of sequencing data required to sample complex environments deeply pose new challenges to sequence analysis approaches. De novo metagenomic assembly effectively reduces the total amount of data to be analyzed but requires significant computational resources. We apply two pre-assembly filtering approaches, digital normalization and partitioning, to make large metagenome assemblies more computationaly tractable. Using a human gut mock community dataset, we demonstrate that these methods result in assemblies nearly identical to assemblies from unprocessed data. We then assemble two large soil metagenomes from matched Iowa corn and native prairie soils. The predicted functional content and phylogenetic origin of the assembled contigs indicate significant taxonomic differences despite similar function. The assembly strategies presented are generic and can be extended to any metagenome; full source code is freely available under a BSD license.

  18. 5 CFR 870.704 - Amount of Option A.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Amount of Option A. 870.704 Section 870... of Option A. (a) The amount of Option A coverage an annuitant or compensationer can continue is $10,000. (b) An annuitant's or compensationer's Option A coverage reduces by 2 percent of the original...

  19. 46 CFR 282.20 - Amount of subsidy payable.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Rates. Daily ODS rates shall be used to quantify the amount of ODS payable. The daily ODS rate... items is the daily amount of ODS payable for approved vessel operating days, excluding reduced crew... the daily wage ODS rate to conform to the complement remaining on the vessel. The man-day reduction...

  20. Food appropriation through large scale land acquisitions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cristina Rulli, Maria; D’Odorico, Paolo

    2014-01-01

    The increasing demand for agricultural products and the uncertainty of international food markets has recently drawn the attention of governments and agribusiness firms toward investments in productive agricultural land, mostly in the developing world. The targeted countries are typically located in regions that have remained only marginally utilized because of lack of modern technology. It is expected that in the long run large scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) for commercial farming will bring the technology required to close the existing crops yield gaps. While the extent of the acquired land and the associated appropriation of freshwater resources have been investigated in detail, the amount of food this land can produce and the number of people it could feed still need to be quantified. Here we use a unique dataset of land deals to provide a global quantitative assessment of the rates of crop and food appropriation potentially associated with LSLAs. We show how up to 300–550 million people could be fed by crops grown in the acquired land, should these investments in agriculture improve crop production and close the yield gap. In contrast, about 190–370 million people could be supported by this land without closing of the yield gap. These numbers raise some concern because the food produced in the acquired land is typically exported to other regions, while the target countries exhibit high levels of malnourishment. Conversely, if used for domestic consumption, the crops harvested in the acquired land could ensure food security to the local populations. (letter)

  1. A rapid and practical strategy for the determination of platinum, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, iridium and gold in large amounts of ultrabasic rock by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry combined with ultrasound extraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Gai; Tian, Min

    2015-04-01

    This proposed method regulated the determination of platinum, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, iridium and gold in platinum-group ores by nickel sulfide fire assay—inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) combined with ultrasound extraction for the first time. The quantitative limits were 0.013-0.023μg/g. The samples were fused to separate the platinum-group elements from matrix. The nickel sulfide button was then dissolved with hydrochloric acid and the insoluble platinum-group sulfide residue was dissolved with aqua regia by ultrasound bath and finally determined by ICP-OES. The proposed method has been applied into the determination of platinum-group element and gold in large amounts of ultrabasic rocks from the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe.

  2. Radiation-produced electron migration along 5-bromouracil-substituted DNA in cells and in solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beach, C.M.

    1981-01-01

    Results of work by other investigators support the theory of charge migration in DNA. Charge transfer between nucleotides and electron and energy migration in solid state DNA have been detected, but no previous experiments have demonstrated charge migration in aqueous solutions of DNA or in DNA inside an E. coli cell. Such experiments were performed by substituting different amounts of 5-bromouracil (BU) for thymine in E. coli DNA and assaying for the amount of bromide given off from the reaction of bromouracil with hydrated electrons produced by ionizing radiation to form uracil-5-yl radicals and free bromide. By varying the amount of BU incorporated in the DNA, the average distance between the BU bases was varied, and because the number of BU/electron reactions was monitored by the amount of bromide released, the maximum average electron migration distance along the BU-DNA was estimated. Charge migration was demonstrated, and the maximum average electron migration distance in aqueous solutions of BU-DNA was measured to be 8 to 10 base distances (assuming only intrastrand migration). Only 11 to 16% of the electrons produced attacked BU-DNA in aqueous solution, and only 1% resulted in bromide release from BU-DNA inside E. coli. Charge migration was demonstrated in BU-DNA inside E. coli, and the maximum average migration distance was measured to be 5 to 6 base distances

  3. Preparation and dosimetry of reactor-produced Xe-125 for ventilation scintigraphy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Junker, D.; Cordes, H.

    1978-01-01

    Xe-125 is produced in the reactor by the (n, γ)-reaction from Xe-124. The natural abundance of Xe-124, however, is only 0,1 percent. As the costs for Xe-124 enriched Xenon are considerable, natural Xenon is activated in the epithermal energy region. In contrast to the other stable isotopes of Xenon, Xe-124 shows a large resonance cross section in this energy region. The main activation product is Xe-125. In addition, a few nuclides (e.g. Xe-125m, Xe-127m, Xe-137) are produced, which due to their short half lives give no contribution to radiation dose. Radiocontaminants originating from parent-daughter decay (e.g. Cs-135 and Cs-137) are separated by filtration of the gas. I-125 produced by the decay of Xe-125 is removed by filtering of the gas before administration to the patient. Typical yields of a sample capsule are 20 to 30 mCi Xe-125 after irradiation of 4 hours in an epithermal flux of approximately 2.10 -11 s -1 cm -2 . The residual contaminants contributing to the radiation dose are Xe-135 and Xe-129m. Depending on the irradiation time they amount to a few percent of the total activity. Using Xe-125 for lung ventilation studies results in considerable reduction of radiation dose as compared to Xe-133. An additional advantage is the better tissue penetration of Xe-125 (γ-energies at 188 keV (55%) and 243 keV (29%)) permitting the reduction of the dose for a study. The daughter nuclide I-125 generated during the study causes only a few mrem of radiation dose if the thyroid is blocked. Altogether Xe-125 as compared to Xe-133 offers more suitable γ-energies for lung ventilation studies and in addition a reduced radiation dose to the patient. (author)

  4. Preserving Medieval Farm Mounds in a Large Stormwater Retention Area

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vorenhout, M.

    2016-01-01

    The Netherlands has denoted large areas as stormwater retention areas. These areas function as temporary storage locations for stormwater when rivers cannot cope with the amount of water. A large area, the Onlanden — 2,500 hectares — was developed as such a storage area between 2008 and 2013. This

  5. The amount and integrity of mtDNA in maize decline with development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oldenburg, Delene J; Kumar, Rachana A; Bendich, Arnold J

    2013-02-01

    In maize and other grasses there is a developmental gradient from the meristematic cells at the base of the stalk to the differentiated cells at the leaf tip. This gradient presents an opportunity to investigate changes in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that accompany growth under light and dark conditions, as done previously for plastid DNA. Maize mtDNA was analyzed by DAPI-DNA staining of individual mitochondria, gel electrophoresis/blot hybridization, and real-time qPCR. Both the amount and integrity of the mtDNA were found to decline with development. There was a 20-fold decline in mtDNA copy number per cell from the embryo to the light-grown leaf blade. The amount of DNA per mitochondrial particle was greater in dark-grown leaf blade (24 copies, on average) than in the light (2 copies), with some mitochondria lacking any detectable DNA. Three factors that influence the demise of mtDNA during development are considered: (1) the decision to either repair or degrade mtDNA molecules that are damaged by the reactive oxygen species produced as byproducts of respiration; (2) the generation of ATP by photophosphorylation in chloroplasts, reducing the need for respiratory-competent mitochondria; and (3) the shift in mitochondrial function from energy-generating respiration to photorespiration during the transition from non-green to green tissue.

  6. 45 CFR 1225.11 - Amount of attorney fees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Amount of attorney fees. 1225.11 Section 1225.11... § 1225.11 Amount of attorney fees. (a) When a decision of the agency provides for an award of attorney's fees or costs, the complainant's attorney shall submit a verified statement of costs and attorney's...

  7. Large-volume excitation of air, argon, nitrogen and combustible mixtures by thermal jets produced by nanosecond spark discharges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stepanyan, Sergey; Hayashi, Jun; Salmon, Arthur; Stancu, Gabi D.; Laux, Christophe O.

    2017-04-01

    This work presents experimental observations of strong expanding thermal jets following the application of nanosecond spark discharges. These jets propagate in a toroidal shape perpendicular to the interelectrode axis, with high velocities of up to 30 m s-1 and over distances of the order of a cm. Their propagation length is much larger than the thermal expansion region produced by the conventional millisecond sparks used in car engine ignition, thus greatly improving the volumetric excitation of gas mixtures. The shape and velocity of the jets is found to be fairly insensitive to the shape of the electrodes. In addition, their spatial extent is found to increase with the number of nanosecond sparks and with the discharge voltage, and to decrease slightly with the pressure between 1 and 7 atm at constant applied voltage. Finally, this thermal jet phenomenon is observed in experiments conducted with many types of gas mixtures, including air, nitrogen, argon, and combustible CH4/air mixtures. This makes nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharges particularly attractive for aerodynamic flow control or plasma-assisted combustion because of their ability to excite large volumes of gas, typically about 100 times the volume of the discharge.

  8. Seasonal and spatial trends in production and stable isotope signatures of primary producers in Alberta oil sands reclamation wetlands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boutsivongsakd, M; Chen, H.; Legg, A.; Farwell, A.; Dixon, G.

    2010-01-01

    Oil sands processing produces large amounts of waste water that contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and naphthenic acids (NAs). This study investigated the effects of exposure to PAHs and NA in aquatic organisms. The carbon and nitrogen dynamics in primary producers using stable isotopes in process-affected and reference wetlands were studied. Plankton and periphytic samples from artificial wetland substrates were collected and analyzed. Periphyton was collected in 14 to 20 day intervals for 5 different time periods in 2007 and 2008 in order to analyze seasonal trends in isotopic composition. Results of the study showed d15N enriched values for some consolidated tailings (CT) at sites in 2008. Other sites with mature fine tailings (MFT) as well as non-MFT sites did not have enriched d15N values. The study suggested that there are variations in ammonia levels in the CTs of different oil sands operators. Differences in the quality of the CT resulted in differences in d15N values of the periphyton-dominated by algae as well as in the periphyton dominated by microbes.

  9. Improving the Phosphoproteome Coverage for Limited Sample Amounts Using TiOsub>2sub>-SIMAC-HILIC (TiSH) Phosphopeptide Enrichment and Fractionation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Engholm-Keller, Kasper; Larsen, Martin R

    2016-01-01

    spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. Due to the sample loss resulting from fractionation, this procedure is mainly performed when large quantities of sample are available. To make large-scale phosphoproteomics applicable to smaller amounts of protein we have recently combined highly specific TiO2-based...... protocol we describe the procedure step by step to allow for comprehensive coverage of the phosphoproteome utilizing only a few hundred micrograms of protein....

  10. 39 CFR 601.111 - Interest on claim amounts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... that date is later, until the date of payment. Simple interest will be paid at the rate established by... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Interest on claim amounts. 601.111 Section 601.111... PROPERTY RIGHTS OTHER THAN PATENTS PURCHASING OF PROPERTY AND SERVICES § 601.111 Interest on claim amounts...

  11. The Effect of Starter Culture Producing Exopolysaccharide on Physicochemical Properties of Yoghurt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anatoli Cartasev

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of indigenous starter culture capable to synthesize exopolysaccharides (EPSs on physicochemical properties of yoghurt. Two starter cultures, EPS-producing and non-EPS-producing, were developed from the autochthonous lactic acid bacteria strains by pairwise combining Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus strains. In the present study the ropy strain of Streptococcus thermophilus CNMN LB-50 was incorporated in EPS-producing starter culture. The microstructure, viscosity, EPS amount, structural properties and syneresis of yoghurt samples were assessed. It has been established that the EPS-producing starter culture provided a reduction of structural degradation and increased degree of structural recovery after deformation. Besides, it was observed that the use of EPS synthesized starter culture in yoghurt production restrains the syneresis of the gel.

  12. 1000 tones of heavy water produced at ROMAG PROD, Drobeta-Turnu Severin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    On May 25, 2001 the heavy water plant ROMAG PROD at Drobeta-Turnu Severin recorded the production of the 1000-th tone of nuclear purity heavy water. The heavy water plant ROMAG PROD makes use of a technology based on the results of isotopic deuterium separation research carried out at the Research and Design Institutes of Cluj, Craiova, Pitesti and Ploiesti during 1957-1970 and the separation technology tested at Ramnicu-Valcea pilot plant (at present the Cryogenics and Isotope Separation Institute). The first investments at ROMAG PROD were made in 1979 and on July 17, 1988 was produced the first amount of heavy water at the required parameters for CANDU type nuclear reactors. The period between 1990-1992 was dedicated to the project completion, upgrading the technological facilities and retrofitting the environmental protection and monitoring systems. Production was resumed in 1992. The first 500 t of heavy water required for the Cernavoda NPP first reactor operation were produced by summer 1997. The additional amount of 500 t of heavy water was produced between 1997-2001. ROMAG PROD obtained the ISO 9001/2001 certificate for the quality management system, the ISO 14001/1997 certificate for the environmental management system and the new environmental permit

  13. Impurities in chromium deposits produced by electroplating and physical vapor deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dini, J.W.

    1994-05-01

    Impurity contents in electrodeposited (hexavalent and trivalent) chromium deposits and physically vapor deposited (thermal evaporation, electron beam evaporation and rf-sputtering) were compared. Oxygen is the key impurity obtained in electrodeposited films but it can be minimized in hexavalent plating solutions by operating at high temperature, e. g., 85 C. Electrodeposits produced in trivalent chromium plating solutions and physically vapor deposited films have much higher oxygen contents than electrodeposits produced in hexavalent chromium solutions operated at temperatures around 85 C. Depending on the target material used for physically vapor deposited films, these films can also have high amounts of other impurities.

  14. Scale-up fermentation of oil palm empty fruit bunch to produce ruminant feed by radiation processing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Awang, M.R.; Mutaat, H.H.; Deres, R.M.; Kume, Tamikazu.

    1992-01-01

    Scale-up fermentation and irradiation conditions of empty fruit bunch (EFB) of oil palm were examined to produce a large amount of fermented products for animal feeds. The EFB substrates pasteurized by irradiation were inoculated with Coprinus cinereus. After 1 month incubation, the crude fiber contents decreased to 20 - 38% and crude protein contents increased to 9 - 13% in small scale fermentation using conical flask (6 - 20 g EFB). In the case of fermentation using polypropylene bags with 400 g EFB, crude fiber and protein contents were 32 - 34% and 11 - 14%, respectively. A larger plastic container packed with 1.5 kg EFB fiber of 10cm thickness was used for mushroom cultivation. After harvest of mushroom (yields were about 250 g per container), the quality of residual substrates improved further as reflected by its crude fiber content of only 16 - 20%, crude protein content of 6 - 8%. These results show that a large volume of products are available under the good aeration by increasing the number of plastic bags or containers. For the irradiation of a lot of fermentation substrates, the advantage of 60 Co gamma-ray and electron beam irradiator was also discussed. (author)

  15. Appreciation of acai core of a pulp producer from Ananindeua/PA: proposal of reverse channel structure oriented by NPSW and reverse logistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Victoria da Costa Almeida

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The intensification of production and growth of consumption leads to generation of large amounts of waste, which is subsequently disposed of inappropriately, further polluting the environment. Within this context, the National Policy of Solid Waste (NPSW, through Reverse Logistics (RL, aims to maximize the use of resources by the sustainable production and rehabilitation of waste in production cycles. Acai, a valued-consumption commodity in domestic and international markets, is an example of a product whose potential has been underused. This article aims to enact these concepts on a producer from Para by the recycling of lump and consequent rationalization of the use of the product. A reverse channel structure was proposed, involving the phases of collection, screening, processing and disposal based on Fleishmann et al.’s model (2000, and other similar chain ractices, NPSW guidelines and additional influential factors on its construction based on Leite (1999. The results demonstrated the facilitators points and barriers faced by the producers.

  16. Uniform background assumption produces misleading lung EIT images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grychtol, Bartłomiej; Adler, Andy

    2013-06-01

    Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) estimates an image of conductivity change within a body from stimulation and measurement at body surface electrodes. There is significant interest in EIT for imaging the thorax, as a monitoring tool for lung ventilation. To be useful in this application, we require an understanding of if and when EIT images can produce inaccurate images. In this paper, we study the consequences of the homogeneous background assumption, frequently made in linear image reconstruction, which introduces a mismatch between the reference measurement and the linearization point. We show in simulation and experimental data that the resulting images may contain large and clinically significant errors. A 3D finite element model of thorax conductivity is used to simulate EIT measurements for different heart and lung conductivity, size and position, as well as different amounts of gravitational collapse and ventilation-associated conductivity change. Three common linear EIT reconstruction algorithms are studied. We find that the asymmetric position of the heart can cause EIT images of ventilation to show up to 60% undue bias towards the left lung and that the effect is particularly strong for a ventilation distribution typical of mechanically ventilated patients. The conductivity gradient associated with gravitational lung collapse causes conductivity changes in non-dependent lung to be overestimated by up to 100% with respect to the dependent lung. Eliminating the mismatch by using a realistic conductivity distribution in the forward model of the reconstruction algorithm strongly reduces these undesirable effects. We conclude that subject-specific anatomically accurate forward models should be used in lung EIT and extra care is required when analysing EIT images of subjects whose background conductivity distribution in the lungs is known to be heterogeneous or exhibiting large changes.

  17. Uniform background assumption produces misleading lung EIT images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grychtol, Bartłomiej; Adler, Andy

    2013-01-01

    Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) estimates an image of conductivity change within a body from stimulation and measurement at body surface electrodes. There is significant interest in EIT for imaging the thorax, as a monitoring tool for lung ventilation. To be useful in this application, we require an understanding of if and when EIT images can produce inaccurate images. In this paper, we study the consequences of the homogeneous background assumption, frequently made in linear image reconstruction, which introduces a mismatch between the reference measurement and the linearization point. We show in simulation and experimental data that the resulting images may contain large and clinically significant errors. A 3D finite element model of thorax conductivity is used to simulate EIT measurements for different heart and lung conductivity, size and position, as well as different amounts of gravitational collapse and ventilation-associated conductivity change. Three common linear EIT reconstruction algorithms are studied. We find that the asymmetric position of the heart can cause EIT images of ventilation to show up to 60% undue bias towards the left lung and that the effect is particularly strong for a ventilation distribution typical of mechanically ventilated patients. The conductivity gradient associated with gravitational lung collapse causes conductivity changes in non-dependent lung to be overestimated by up to 100% with respect to the dependent lung. Eliminating the mismatch by using a realistic conductivity distribution in the forward model of the reconstruction algorithm strongly reduces these undesirable effects. We conclude that subject-specific anatomically accurate forward models should be used in lung EIT and extra care is required when analysing EIT images of subjects whose background conductivity distribution in the lungs is known to be heterogeneous or exhibiting large changes. (paper)

  18. Isolation and screening of strains producing high amounts of rutin degrading enzymes from Fagopyrum tataricum seeds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Ya-Di; Luo, Qing-Lin; Zhou, Mei-Liang; Wang, De-Zhou; Zhang, Ye-Dong; Shao, Ji-Rong; Zhu, Xue-Mei; Tang, Yu

    2013-02-01

    The rutin degrading enzyme (RDE) was isolated and purified from tartary buckwheat seeds. The RDE was purified about 11.34-fold and its final yield was 3.5%, which was very low, due to our purification strategy of giving priority to purity over yield. The RDE molecular weight was estimated to be about 60 kDa. When rutin was used as substrate, an optimal enzyme activity was seen at around pH 5.0 and 40 °C. Strains isolation strategy characterized by the use of rutin as sole carbon source in enrichment cultures was used to isolate RDE-producing strains. Then the active strains were identified by morphology characterization and 18s rDNA-ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) gene sequencing. Three isolates coded as B3, W2, Y2 were successfully isolated from fusty Fagopyrum tataricum flour cultures. Strain B3 possessed the highest unit activity among these three strains, and its total activity reached up to 171.0 Unit. The active isolate (B3) could be assigned to Penicillium farinosum. When the Penicillium farinosum strains were added to tartary buckwheat flour cultures at pH 5.0, 30 °C after 5 days fermentation, the quercetin production raised up to 1.78 mg/l, almost 5.1 times higher than the fermentation without the above active strains. Hence, a new approach was available to utilize microorganism-aided fermentation for effective quercetin extraction from Fagopyrum tataricum seeds. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  19. Natural gas supply - a producer's perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Papa, M.G.

    1994-01-01

    The supply of natural gas from the producers standpoint is discussed. The following factors in the marketing demand for natural gas are considered to be important: gas demand is growing, U.S. gas resource base is large, chronic gas bubble has shrunk, and North American supply is more resilient than expected

  20. Different Amounts of DNA in Newborn Cells of Escherichia coli Preclude a Role for the Chromosome in Size Control According to the "Adder" Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huls, Peter G; Vischer, Norbert O E; Woldringh, Conrad L

    2018-01-01

    According to the recently-revived adder model for cell size control, newborn cells of Escherichia coli will grow and divide after having added a constant size or length, ΔL , irrespective of their size at birth. Assuming exponential elongation, this implies that large newborns will divide earlier than small ones. The molecular basis for the constant size increment is still unknown. As DNA replication and cell growth are coordinated, the constant ΔL could be based on duplication of an equal amount of DNA, ΔG , present in newborn cells. To test this idea, we measured amounts of DNA and lengths of nucleoids in DAPI-stained cells growing in batch culture at slow and fast rates. Deeply-constricted cells were divided in two subpopulations of longer and shorter lengths than average; these were considered to represent large and small prospective daughter cells, respectively. While at slow growth, large and small prospective daughter cells contained similar amounts of DNA, fast growing cells with multiforked replicating chromosomes, showed a significantly higher amount of DNA (20%) in the larger cells. This observation precludes the hypothesis that Δ L is based on the synthesis of a constant ΔG . Growth curves were constructed for siblings generated by asymmetric division and growing according to the adder model. Under the assumption that all cells at the same growth rate exhibit the same time between initiation of DNA replication and cell division (i.e., constant C+D -period), the constructions predict that initiation occurs at different sizes ( Li ) and that, at fast growth, large newborn cells transiently contain more DNA than small newborns, in accordance with the observations. Because the state of segregation, measured as the distance between separated nucleoids, was found to be more advanced in larger deeply-constricted cells, we propose that in larger newborns nucleoid separation occurs faster and at a shorter length, allowing them to divide earlier. We propose

  1. Properties of concretes produced with waste concrete aggregate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Topcu, Ilker Bekir; Sengel, Selim

    2004-01-01

    An environmentally friendly approach to the disposal of waste materials, a difficult issue to cope with in today's world, would only be possible through a useful recycling process. For this reason, we suggest that clearing the debris from destroyed buildings in such a way as to obtain waste concrete aggregates (WCA) to be reused in concrete production could well be a partial solution to environmental pollution. For this study, the physical and mechanical properties along with their freeze-thaw durability of concrete produced with WCAs were investigated and test results presented. While experimenting with fresh and hardened concrete, mixtures containing recycled concrete aggregates in amounts of 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100% were prepared. Afterward, these mixtures underwent freeze-thaw cycles. As a result, we found out that C16-quality concrete could be produced using less then 30% C14-quality WCA. Moreover, it was observed that the unit weight, workability, and durability of the concretes produced through WCA decreased in inverse proportion to their endurance for freeze-thaw cycle

  2. 26 CFR 1.6655-4 - Large corporations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Additions to the Tax, Additional Amounts, and Assessable Penalties § 1.6655-4 Large... not to be taken into account and the taxable income of a corporation for any taxable year during the...

  3. Nuclear liability amounts on the rise for nuclear installations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vasquez-Maignan, Ximena; Schwartz, Julia; Kuzeyli, Kaan

    2015-01-01

    The NEA Table on Nuclear Operator Liability Amounts and Financial Security Limits (NEA 'Liability Table'), which covers 71 countries, aims to provide one of the most comprehensive listings of nuclear liability amounts and financial security limits. The current and revised Paris and Brussels Supplementary Conventions ('Paris-Brussels regime'), the original and revised Vienna Conventions ('Vienna regime') and the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, newly entered into force in April 2015, provide for the minimum amounts to be transposed in the national legislation of states parties to the conventions, and have served as guidelines for non-convention states. This article examine in more detail increases in the liability amounts provided for under these conventions, as well as examples of non-convention states (China, India and Korea)

  4. Centralized treatment facility for low level radioactive waste produced in Belgium. The CILVA project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Renard, Cl.; Detilleux, M.; Debieve, P.

    1993-01-01

    Due to rather limited amount of waste produced and the small size of the Belgian territory (30 x 10 3 km 2 ), ONDRAF/NIRAS strategy aims at centralizing treatment conditioning and storage of radioactive waste. ONDRAF/NTRAS has decided to set up a new infrastructure: the CILVA unit. The CILVA facility is focused on the supercompaction and the incineration treatment, so that ONDRAF/NIRAS can safely manage all radioactive wastes produced in Belgium. (2 figs.)

  5. Gene Expression Browser: Large-Scale and Cross-Experiment Microarray Data Management, Search & Visualization

    Science.gov (United States)

    The amount of microarray gene expression data in public repositories has been increasing exponentially for the last couple of decades. High-throughput microarray data integration and analysis has become a critical step in exploring the large amount of expression data for biological discovery. Howeve...

  6. Amount, composition and seasonality of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen export from agriculture in contrasting climates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Graeber, Daniel; Meerhof, Mariana; Zwirnmann, Elke

    2014-01-01

    Agricultural catchments are potentially important but often neglected sources of dissolved organic matter (DOM), of which a large part is dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON). DOC is an important source of aquatic microbial respiration and DON may be an important source of nitrogen...... to aquatic ecosystems. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive studies on the amount, composition and seasonality of DOM export from agricultural catchments in different climates. The aim of our study was to assess the amount, composition and seasonality of DOM in a total of four streams in the wet......-temperate and subtropical climate of Denmark and Uruguay, respectively. In each climate, we investigated one stream with extensive agriculture (mostly pasture) and one stream with intensive agriculture (mostly intensively used arable land) in the catchment. We sampled each stream taking grab samples fortnightly for two...

  7. Amount of trace elements in marine cephalopods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ueda, Taiji; Nakahara, Motokazu; Ishii, Toshiaki; Suzuki, Yuzuru; Suzuki, Hamaji.

    1979-01-01

    For the estimation of internal radiation to human beings, the amounts of Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Co and Cs in 5 species of marine cephalopods were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and neutron activation analysis, and then the concentration factors were calculated. The average amount and the concentration factor of the elements in the edible parts (mantle, arms and tentacles) of cephalopods are as follows: 0.14 mg, 2 x 10 2 for Mn, 1.8 mg, 2 x 10 2 for Fe, 2.0 mg, 7 x 10 2 for Cu, 12.2 mg, 1 x 10 3 for Zn, 5.3 μg, 6 x 10 1 for Co and 3.4 μg, 7 for Cs. The amounts of Fe, Co, Cu and Zn in the liver and the branchial heart were much higher than those in the edible parts, although those of Cs and Mn were almost the same. The Co content in the visceral organs of O. Vulgaris showed extremely high value, particularly in the branchial heart. (author)

  8. Method of producing pitch (distillation residue)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stepanenko, M.A.; Belkina, T.V.; Krysin, V.P.

    1979-08-15

    A method is proposed for producing pitch by mixing hard coal pitch with anthracene fraction and thermal treatment of the mixture. The method is distinguished in that in order to increase the quality of the pitch, the anthracene fraction is subjected to thermal treatment at 250-300/sup 0/ for 10-13 hours in the presence of air. This duration of heat treatment allows one to build up in the anthracene fraction up to 20-24% of material which is not soluble and toluene, without the formation of products which are not soluble in quinoline. The fraction prepared in this manner is inserted into the initial pitch in the ratio 1:2 up to 1:9, the mixture is subject to heat treatment at temperature 360-380/sup 0/ and air consumption 7-91/kgX hours until the production of pitch with softening temperature of 85-90/sup 0/. As the initial raw material we used pitch with softening temperature of 60/sup 0/, content of substances which are not soluble in quinoline, 2.0% which are not soluble and toluene 20.6% and coking residue of 49.2%. Example. 80 grams of anthracene fraction is added to 320 grams of pitch. The anthracene fraction is subjected previously to heat treatment at 300/sup 0/ for 13 hours in the presence of air, supplied in the amount of 9 liters per hour. As a result of the heat treatment of the content of materials which are not soluble in toluence in the anthracene fraction is 24.0%, in quinoline it is 0.1%. The ratio of a pitch and thermally treated anthracene fraction in the mixture was 4:l. The produced mixture was subjected to heat treatment at 360/sup 0/ for 1.5 hours with air supply in the amount of 7 liters/ kilograms/hours. Pitch is produced with the following characteristics: softening temperature 88/sup 0/, content of substances which are not soluble in toluene 32.5%, in quinilone, 6.0%, coking residue, 56.7%. The invention can be used in the chemical coking and petrochemical industry.

  9. [New antibiotics produced by Bacillus subtilis strains].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malanicheva, I A; Kozlov, D G; Efimenko, T A; Zenkova, V A; Kastrukha, G S; Reznikova, M I; Korolev, A M; Borshchevskaia, L N; Tarasova, O D; Sineokiĭ, S P; Efremenkova, O V

    2014-01-01

    Two Bacillus subtilis strains isolated from the fruiting body of a basidiomycete fungus Pholiota squarrosa exhibited a broad range of antibacterial activity, including those against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus INA 00761 (MRSA) and Leuconostoc mes6nteroides VKPM B-4177 resistant to glycopep-> tide antibiotics, as well as antifungal activity. The strains were identified as belonging to the "B. subtilis" com- plex based on their morphological and physiological characteristics, as well as by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene fragments. Both strains (INA 01085 and INA 01086) produced insignificant amounts of polyene antibiotics (hexaen and pentaen, respectively). Strain INA 01086 produced also a cyclic polypeptide antibiotic containing Asp, Gly, Leu, Pro, Tyr, Thr, Trp, and Phe, while the antibiotic of strain INA 01085 contained, apart from these, two unidentified nonproteinaceous amino acids. Both polypeptide antibiotics were new compounds efficient against gram-positive bacteria and able to override the natural bacterial antibiotic resistance.

  10. 45 CFR 160.404 - Amount of a civil money penalty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Amount of a civil money penalty. 160.404 Section... RELATED REQUIREMENTS GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS Imposition of Civil Money Penalties § 160.404 Amount of a civil money penalty. (a) The amount of a civil money penalty will be determined in accordance...

  11. Modeling and simulation of large HVDC systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jin, H.; Sood, V.K.

    1993-01-01

    This paper addresses the complexity and the amount of work in preparing simulation data and in implementing various converter control schemes and the excessive simulation time involved in modelling and simulation of large HVDC systems. The Power Electronic Circuit Analysis program (PECAN) is used to address these problems and a large HVDC system with two dc links is simulated using PECAN. A benchmark HVDC system is studied to compare the simulation results with those from other packages. The simulation time and results are provided in the paper.

  12. CVSgrab : Mining the History of Large Software Projects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Voinea, S.L.; Telea, A.

    2006-01-01

    Many software projects use Software Configuration Management systems to support their development process. Such systems accumulate in time large amounts of information useful for process accounting and auditing. We study how software developers can get insight in this information in order to

  13. 26 CFR 25.2701-3 - Determination of amount of gift.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 14 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Determination of amount of gift. 25.2701-3... AND GIFT TAXES GIFT TAX; GIFTS MADE AFTER DECEMBER 31, 1954 Special Valuation Rules § 25.2701-3 Determination of amount of gift. (a) Overview—(1) In general. The amount of the gift resulting from any transfer...

  14. Experimental investigation of solid oxide fuel cells using biomass gasification producer gases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Norheim, Arnstein

    2005-07-01

    The main objective of this thesis is theoretical and experimental investigations related to utilisation of biomass gasification producer gases as fuel for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). Initial fundamental steps towards a future system of combined heat and power production based on biomass gasification and SOFC are performed and include: 1) Theoretical modeling of the composition of biomass gasification producer gases. 2) Experimental investigation of SOFC performance using biomass gasification producer gas as fuel. 3) Experimental investigation of SOFC performance using biomass gasification producer gas containing high sulphur concentration. The modeling of the composition of gasifier producer gas was performed using the program FactSage. The main objective was to investigate the amount and speciation of trace species in the producer gases as several parameters were varied. Thus, the composition at thermodynamic equilibrium of sulphur, chlorine, potassium, sodium and compounds of these were established. This was done for varying content of the trace species in the biomass material at different temperatures and fuel utilisation i.e. varying oxygen content in the producer gas. The temperature interval investigated was in the range of normal SOFC operation. It was found that sulphur is expected to be found as H2S irrespective of temperature and amount of sulphur. Only at very high fuel utilisation some S02 is formed. Important potassium containing compounds in the gas are gaseous KOH and K. When chlorine is present, the amount of KOH and K will decrease due to the formation of KCI. The level of sodium investigated here was low, but some Na, NaOH and NaCl is expected to be formed. Below a certain temperature, condensation of alkali rich carbonates may occur. The temperature at which condensation begins is mainly depending on the amount of potassium present; the condensation temperature increases with increasing potassium content. In the first experimental work

  15. Economic viability of large-scale fusion systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Helsley, Charles E., E-mail: cehelsley@fusionpowercorporation.com; Burke, Robert J.

    2014-01-01

    A typical modern power generation facility has a capacity of about 1 GWe (Gigawatt electric) per unit. This works well for fossil fuel plants and for most fission facilities for it is large enough to support the sophisticated generation infrastructure but still small enough to be accommodated by most utility grid systems. The size of potential fusion power systems may demand a different viewpoint. The compression and heating of the fusion fuel for ignition requires a large driver, even if it is necessary for only a few microseconds or nanoseconds per energy pulse. The economics of large systems, that can effectively use more of the driver capacity, need to be examined. The assumptions used in this model are specific for the Fusion Power Corporation (FPC) SPRFD process but could be generalized for any system. We assume that the accelerator is the most expensive element of the facility and estimate its cost to be $20 billion. Ignition chambers and fuel handling facilities are projected to cost $1.5 billion each with up to 10 to be serviced by one accelerator. At first this seems expensive but that impression has to be tempered by the energy output that is equal to 35 conventional nuclear plants. This means the cost per kWh is actually low. Using the above assumptions and industry data for generators and heat exchange systems, we conclude that a fully utilized fusion system will produce marketable energy at roughly one half the cost of our current means of generating an equivalent amount of energy from conventional fossil fuel and/or fission systems. Even fractionally utilized systems, i.e. systems used at 25% of capacity, can be cost effective in many cases. In conclusion, SPRFD systems can be scaled to a size and configuration that can be economically viable and very competitive in today's energy market. Electricity will be a significant element in the product mix but synthetic fuels and water may also need to be incorporated to make the large system

  16. Economic viability of large-scale fusion systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helsley, Charles E.; Burke, Robert J.

    2014-01-01

    A typical modern power generation facility has a capacity of about 1 GWe (Gigawatt electric) per unit. This works well for fossil fuel plants and for most fission facilities for it is large enough to support the sophisticated generation infrastructure but still small enough to be accommodated by most utility grid systems. The size of potential fusion power systems may demand a different viewpoint. The compression and heating of the fusion fuel for ignition requires a large driver, even if it is necessary for only a few microseconds or nanoseconds per energy pulse. The economics of large systems, that can effectively use more of the driver capacity, need to be examined. The assumptions used in this model are specific for the Fusion Power Corporation (FPC) SPRFD process but could be generalized for any system. We assume that the accelerator is the most expensive element of the facility and estimate its cost to be $20 billion. Ignition chambers and fuel handling facilities are projected to cost $1.5 billion each with up to 10 to be serviced by one accelerator. At first this seems expensive but that impression has to be tempered by the energy output that is equal to 35 conventional nuclear plants. This means the cost per kWh is actually low. Using the above assumptions and industry data for generators and heat exchange systems, we conclude that a fully utilized fusion system will produce marketable energy at roughly one half the cost of our current means of generating an equivalent amount of energy from conventional fossil fuel and/or fission systems. Even fractionally utilized systems, i.e. systems used at 25% of capacity, can be cost effective in many cases. In conclusion, SPRFD systems can be scaled to a size and configuration that can be economically viable and very competitive in today's energy market. Electricity will be a significant element in the product mix but synthetic fuels and water may also need to be incorporated to make the large system economically

  17. 75 FR 58407 - Medicare Program; Medicare Appeals; Adjustment to the Amount in Controversy Threshold Amounts for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-24

    ... Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearings and judicial review under the Medicare appeals process. The adjustment to the AIC threshold amounts will be effective for requests for ALJ hearings and judicial review filed on... judicial review. DATES: Effective Date: This notice is effective on January 1, 2011. FOR FURTHER...

  18. Comparative genomics of citric-acid-producing Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015 versus enzyme-producing CBS 513.88

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Mikael R.; Salazar, Margarita P.; Schaap, Peter J.; van de Vondervoort, Peter J.I.; Culley, David; Thykaer, Jette; Frisvad, Jens C.; Nielsen, Kristian F.; Albang, Richard; Albermann, Kaj; Berka, Randy M.; Braus, Gerhard H.; Braus-Stromeyer, Susanna A.; Corrochano, Luis M.; Dai, Ziyu; van Dijck, Piet W.M.; Hofmann, Gerald; Lasure, Linda L.; Magnuson, Jon K.; Menke, Hildegard; Meijer, Martin; Meijer, Susan L.; Nielsen, Jakob B.; Nielsen, Michael L.; van Ooyen, Albert J.J.; Pel, Herman J.; Poulsen, Lars; Samson, Rob A.; Stam, Hein; Tsang, Adrian; van den Brink, Johannes M.; Atkins, Alex; Aerts, Andrea; Shapiro, Harris; Pangilinan, Jasmyn; Salamov, Asaf; Lou, Yigong; Lindquist, Erika; Lucas, Susan; Grimwood, Jane; Grigoriev, Igor V.; Kubicek, Christian P.; Martinez, Diego; van Peij, Noël N.M.E.; Roubos, Johannes A.; Nielsen, Jens; Baker, Scott E.

    2011-01-01

    The filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger exhibits great diversity in its phenotype. It is found globally, both as marine and terrestrial strains, produces both organic acids and hydrolytic enzymes in high amounts, and some isolates exhibit pathogenicity. Although the genome of an industrial enzyme-producing A. niger strain (CBS 513.88) has already been sequenced, the versatility and diversity of this species compel additional exploration. We therefore undertook whole-genome sequencing of the acidogenic A. niger wild-type strain (ATCC 1015) and produced a genome sequence of very high quality. Only 15 gaps are present in the sequence, and half the telomeric regions have been elucidated. Moreover, sequence information from ATCC 1015 was used to improve the genome sequence of CBS 513.88. Chromosome-level comparisons uncovered several genome rearrangements, deletions, a clear case of strain-specific horizontal gene transfer, and identification of 0.8 Mb of novel sequence. Single nucleotide polymorphisms per kilobase (SNPs/kb) between the two strains were found to be exceptionally high (average: 7.8, maximum: 160 SNPs/kb). High variation within the species was confirmed with exo-metabolite profiling and phylogenetics. Detailed lists of alleles were generated, and genotypic differences were observed to accumulate in metabolic pathways essential to acid production and protein synthesis. A transcriptome analysis supported up-regulation of genes associated with biosynthesis of amino acids that are abundant in glucoamylase A, tRNA-synthases, and protein transporters in the protein producing CBS 513.88 strain. Our results and data sets from this integrative systems biology analysis resulted in a snapshot of fungal evolution and will support further optimization of cell factories based on filamentous fungi. PMID:21543515

  19. Large trees drive forest aboveground biomass variation in moist lowland forests across the tropics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Slik, J.W.F.; Paoli, G.; McGuire, K.; Amaral, I.; Barroso, J.; Bongers, F.; Poorter, L.

    2013-01-01

    Aim - Large trees (d.b.h.¿=¿70¿cm) store large amounts of biomass. Several studies suggest that large trees may be vulnerable to changing climate, potentially leading to declining forest biomass storage. Here we determine the importance of large trees for tropical forest biomass storage and explore

  20. Change in energy metabolism of in vitro produced embryos: an alternative to make them more cryoresistant?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luzia Renata Oliveira Dias

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available For the development of in vitro produced (IVP as well as in vivo produced bovine embryos, it is extremely important that their energy metabolism works properly because the embryo must be able to metabolize energy substrates that are necessary for producing energy. Lipids play an important role in early embryonic development, acting as source of energy for oocytes and embryos. However, it is known that oocytes and embryos, mainly IVP, accumulate large amounts of lipids in the cytoplasm. Although they are extremely important in embryonic development, lipids have been associated with the reduced survival of bovine embryos following cryopreservation. There is evidence that at least four different categories of lipids affect embryo survival after cryopreservation, including triglycerides (TAG, free fatty acids, cholesterol and phospholipids. Thus, many studies are being conducted to improve the resistance of IVP embryos to the cryopreservation process by reducing the concentration or removing the source of serum from the medium or by reducing oocyte/embryo lipids using mechanical or chemical means. Regarding the use of delipidating agents that reduce the uptake and synthesis of fatty acids (FA by cells, substances such as phenazine ethosulfate (PES, forskolin, L-carnitine and isomers of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA have been utilized. This review aims to address important issues related to embryonic energy metabolism, the importance of lipid metabolism and its relation to the cryopreservation of IVP bovine embryos by summarizing the latest research in this field.

  1. Technology for producing synthetic cast iron for nuclear power station parts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blozhko, N.K.; Kurochkin, V.S.; Narkevich, E.A.; Nikitin, L.A.; Petrov, L.A.

    1984-01-01

    A technology was developed and implemented for producing grades SCh-30 through SCh-40 synthetic cast iron in industrial-frequency induction melting furnaces. Alternative innoculations with ferrosilicon and silicocalcium and alloying with chrome and nickel were studied. The mechanical properties and structure of cast irons produced by various technological methods were studied. The research showed that the sector's plants, equipped with industrial-frequency induction furnaces, can produce high-quality synthetic cast irons containing flake graphite for nuclear-power-station casting, without the use of expensive innoculants. Careful observance of the melting and innoculating technologies makes it possible to produce SCh 40 cast iron, without cementite inclusions, by innoculating with FS 75 ferrosilicon in the amount of 0.7% of the total melt weight. Using an innoculant mixture of 0.2% FS 75 and 0.5% SK 30 and low alloying with nickel and chromium, the cast-iron strength can be increased to 440-450 MPa, although the danger of cementite inclusions increase

  2. Social Media- A source of intelligence

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    First page Back Continue Last page Graphics. Any technology that produces large amount of data like social media and CDR is a source of intelligence for the LEA. Any technology that produces large amount of data like social media and CDR is a source of intelligence for the LEA. Data Mining, Machine learning, Big Data, ...

  3. 76 FR 59138 - Medicare Program; Medicare Appeals; Adjustment to the Amount in Controversy Threshold Amounts for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-23

    ... Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearings and judicial review under the Medicare appeals process. The adjustment to the AIC threshold amounts will be effective for requests for ALJ hearings and judicial review filed on... $1,350 for judicial review. DATES: Effective Date: This notice is effective on January 1, 2012. FOR...

  4. 78 FR 59702 - Medicare Program; Medicare Appeals: Adjustment to the Amount in Controversy Threshold Amounts for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-27

    ... Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearings and judicial review under the Medicare appeals process. The adjustment to the AIC threshold amounts will be effective for requests for ALJ hearings and judicial review filed on... ALJ hearings and $1,430 for judicial review. DATES: This notice is effective on January 1, 2014. FOR...

  5. 77 FR 59618 - Medicare Program; Medicare Appeals; Adjustment to the Amount in Controversy Threshold Amounts for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-28

    ... Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearings and judicial review under the Medicare appeals process. The adjustment to the AIC threshold amounts will be effective for requests for ALJ hearings and judicial review filed on... $1,400 for judicial review. Effective Date: This notice is effective on January 1, 2013. FOR FURTHER...

  6. Effect of Producing Different Phenazines on Bacterial Fitness and Biological Control in Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Myoung Yu

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84 is a biological control agent selected for its ability to suppress diseases caused by fungal pathogens. P. chlororaphis 30-84 produces three phenazines: phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA, 2-hydroxy-phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (2OHPCA and a small amount of 2-hydroxy-phenazine (2OHPHZ, and these are required for fungal pathogen inhibition and wheat rhizosphere competence. The two, 2-hydroxy derivatives are produced from PCA via the activity of a phenazine-modifying enzyme encoded by phzO. In addition to the seven biosynthetic genes responsible for the production of PCA, many other Pseudomonas strains possess one or more modifying genes, which encode enzymes that act independently or together to convert PCA into other phenazine derivatives. In order to understand the fitness effects of producing different phenazines, we constructed isogenic derivatives of P. chlororaphis 30-84 that differed only in the type of phenazines produced. Altering the type of phenazines produced by P. chlororaphis 30-84 enhanced the spectrum of fungal pathogens inhibited and altered the degree of take-all disease suppression. These strains also differed in their ability to promote extracellular DNA release, which may contribute to the observed differences in the amount of biofilm produced. All derivatives were equally important for survival over repeated plant/harvest cycles, indicating that the type of phenazines produced is less important for persistence in the wheat rhizosphere than whether or not cells produce phenazines. These findings provide a better understanding of the effects of different phenazines on functions important for biological control activity with implications for applications that rely on introduced or native phenazine producing populations.

  7. Mapping the energy footprint of produced water management in New Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zemlick, Katie; Kalhor, Elmira; Thomson, Bruce M.; Chermak, Janie M.; Sullivan Graham, Enid J.; Tidwell, Vincent C.

    2018-02-01

    Hydraulic fracturing (HF) and horizontal drilling have revolutionized the fossil fuel industry by enabling production from unconventional oil and gas (UOG) reserves. However, UOG development requires large volumes of water, and subsequent oil and gas production from both conventional and unconventional wells generate large volumes of produced water (PW). While PW is usually considered a waste product, its reuse may lessen demand for freshwater supplies, reduce costs for transportation and disposal, and reduce the risks for injection-induced seismicity. Whether this water is disposed of or treated and reused, both methods require significant amounts of energy. The objective of this study was to identify the primary energy demands of alternative water management strategies, and to characterize and quantify their geographic variability in four oil and gas producing basins in New Mexico using a single year of production. Results illustrate the importance of each component of each produced water management strategy in determining its total energy footprint. Based on 2015 production and water use data, the energy to extract fresh groundwater for hydraulic fracturing (34 GWh-th yr-1.) exceeds the energy that would be required if the same volume of PW were treated chemically (19 GWh-th yr-1.). In addition, the energy required to transport fresh water and dispose of PW (167 GWh-th yr-1.) is far greater than that required to move treated PW (8 GWh-th yr-1.) to a point of reuse. Furthermore, transportation distances, which contribute significantly to the total energy footprint of a given management strategy, are underestimated by nearly 50% state-wide. This indicates that reuse may be an even more energy efficient way to manage PW, even with energy-intensive treatment strategies like electrocoagulation. Reuse of PW for HF is not only more energy efficient than conventional management techniques, it also reduces both demand for scarce fresh water resources and

  8. 33 CFR 135.203 - Amount required.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Amount required. 135.203 Section 135.203 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) MARINE POLLUTION FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND COMPENSATION OFFSHORE OIL POLLUTION COMPENSATION FUND...

  9. Recovery of Fresh Water Resources from Desalination of Brine Produced During Oil and Gas Production Operations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    David B. Burnett; Mustafa Siddiqui

    2006-12-29

    Management and disposal of produced water is one of the most important problems associated with oil and gas (O&G) production. O&G production operations generate large volumes of brine water along with the petroleum resource. Currently, produced water is treated as a waste and is not available for any beneficial purposes for the communities where oil and gas is produced. Produced water contains different contaminants that must be removed before it can be used for any beneficial surface applications. Arid areas like west Texas produce large amount of oil, but, at the same time, have a shortage of potable water. A multidisciplinary team headed by researchers from Texas A&M University has spent more than six years is developing advanced membrane filtration processes for treating oil field produced brines The government-industry cooperative joint venture has been managed by the Global Petroleum Research Institute (GPRI). The goal of the project has been to demonstrate that treatment of oil field waste water for re-use will reduce water handling costs by 50% or greater. Our work has included (1) integrating advanced materials into existing prototype units and (2) operating short and long-term field testing with full size process trains. Testing at A&M has allowed us to upgrade our existing units with improved pre-treatment oil removal techniques and new oil tolerant RO membranes. We have also been able to perform extended testing in 'field laboratories' to gather much needed extended run time data on filter salt rejection efficiency and plugging characteristics of the process train. The Program Report describes work to evaluate the technical and economical feasibility of treating produced water with a combination of different separation processes to obtain water of agricultural water quality standards. Experiments were done for the pretreatment of produced water using a new liquid-liquid centrifuge, organoclay and microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes

  10. Impact of heuristics in clustering large biological networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shafin, Md Kishwar; Kabir, Kazi Lutful; Ridwan, Iffatur; Anannya, Tasmiah Tamzid; Karim, Rashid Saadman; Hoque, Mohammad Mozammel; Rahman, M Sohel

    2015-12-01

    Traditional clustering algorithms often exhibit poor performance for large networks. On the contrary, greedy algorithms are found to be relatively efficient while uncovering functional modules from large biological networks. The quality of the clusters produced by these greedy techniques largely depends on the underlying heuristics employed. Different heuristics based on different attributes and properties perform differently in terms of the quality of the clusters produced. This motivates us to design new heuristics for clustering large networks. In this paper, we have proposed two new heuristics and analyzed the performance thereof after incorporating those with three different combinations in a recently celebrated greedy clustering algorithm named SPICi. We have extensively analyzed the effectiveness of these new variants. The results are found to be promising. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Fast crawling methods of exploring content distributed over large graphs

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Pinghui

    2018-03-15

    Despite recent effort to estimate topology characteristics of large graphs (e.g., online social networks and peer-to-peer networks), little attention has been given to develop a formal crawling methodology to characterize the vast amount of content distributed over these networks. Due to the large-scale nature of these networks and a limited query rate imposed by network service providers, exhaustively crawling and enumerating content maintained by each vertex is computationally prohibitive. In this paper, we show how one can obtain content properties by crawling only a small fraction of vertices and collecting their content. We first show that when sampling is naively applied, this can produce a huge bias in content statistics (i.e., average number of content replicas). To remove this bias, one may use maximum likelihood estimation to estimate content characteristics. However, our experimental results show that this straightforward method requires to sample most vertices to obtain accurate estimates. To address this challenge, we propose two efficient estimators: special copy estimator (SCE) and weighted copy estimator (WCE) to estimate content characteristics using available information in sampled content. SCE uses the special content copy indicator to compute the estimate, while WCE derives the estimate based on meta-information in sampled vertices. We conduct experiments on a variety of real-word and synthetic datasets, and the results show that WCE and SCE are cost effective and also “asymptotically unbiased”. Our methodology provides a new tool for researchers to efficiently query content distributed in large-scale networks.

  12. Producing superhydrophobic roof tiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carrascosa, Luis A M; Facio, Dario S; Mosquera, Maria J

    2016-01-01

    Superhydrophobic materials can find promising applications in the field of building. However, their application has been very limited because the synthesis routes involve tedious processes, preventing large-scale application. A second drawback is related to their short-term life under outdoor conditions. A simple and low-cost synthesis route for producing superhydrophobic surfaces on building materials is developed and their effectiveness and their durability on clay roof tiles are evaluated. Specifically, an organic–inorganic hybrid gel containing silica nanoparticles is produced. The nanoparticles create a densely packed coating on the roof tile surface in which air is trapped. This roughness produces a Cassie–Baxter regime, promoting superhydrophobicity. A surfactant, n-octylamine, was also added to the starting sol to catalyze the sol–gel process and to coarsen the pore structure of the gel network, preventing cracking. The application of ultrasound obviates the need to use volatile organic compounds in the synthesis, thereby making a ‘green’ product. It was also demonstrated that a co-condensation process effective between the organic and inorganic species is crucial to obtain durable and effective coatings. After an aging test, high hydrophobicity was maintained and water absorption was completely prevented for the roof tile samples under study. However, a transition from a Cassie–Baxter to a Wenzel state regime was observed as a consequence of the increase in the distance between the roughness pitches produced by the aging of the coating. (paper)

  13. 41 CFR 301-71.307 - How do we collect the amount of a travel advance in excess of the amount of travel expenses...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... amount of a travel advance in excess of the amount of travel expenses substantiated by the employee? 301-71.307 Section 301-71.307 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Travel Regulation System TEMPORARY DUTY (TDY) TRAVEL ALLOWANCES AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES 71-AGENCY TRAVEL ACCOUNTABILITY REQUIREMENTS...

  14. Software Defined Optics and Networking for Large Scale Data Centers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mehmeri, Victor; Andrus, Bogdan-Mihai; Tafur Monroy, Idelfonso

    Big data imposes correlations of large amounts of information between numerous systems and databases. This leads to large dynamically changing flows and traffic patterns between clusters and server racks that result in a decrease of the quality of transmission and degraded application performance....... Highly interconnected topologies combined with flexible, on demand network configuration can become a solution to the ever-increasing dynamic traffic...

  15. 20 CFR 362.12 - Computation of amount of reimbursement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Computation of amount of reimbursement. 362.12 Section 362.12 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, POLICY AND... the cost of repair is the amount payable. (b) Depreciation in value of an item of personal property is...

  16. Elastin in large artery stiffness and hypertension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagenseil, Jessica E.; Mecham, Robert P.

    2012-01-01

    Large artery stiffness, as measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV), is correlated with high blood pressure and may be a causative factor in essential hypertension. The extracellular matrix components, specifically the mix of elastin and collagen in the vessel wall, determine the passive mechanical properties of the large arteries. Elastin is organized into elastic fibers in the wall during arterial development in a complex process that requires spatial and temporal coordination of numerous proteins. The elastic fibers last the lifetime of the organism, but are subject to proteolytic degradation and chemical alterations that change their mechanical properties. This review discusses how alterations in the amount, assembly, organization or chemical properties of the elastic fibers affect arterial stiffness and blood pressure. Strategies for encouraging or reversing alterations to the elastic fibers are addressed. Methods for determining the efficacy of these strategies, by measuring elastin amounts and arterial stiffness, are summarized. Therapies that have a direct effect on arterial stiffness through alterations to the elastic fibers in the wall may be an effective treatment for essential hypertension. PMID:22290157

  17. Monetary Shocks in Models with Inattentive Producers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alvarez, Fernando E; Lippi, Francesco; Paciello, Luigi

    2016-04-01

    We study models where prices respond slowly to shocks because firms are rationally inattentive. Producers must pay a cost to observe the determinants of the current profit maximizing price, and hence observe them infrequently. To generate large real effects of monetary shocks in such a model the time between observations must be long and/or highly volatile. Previous work on rational inattentiveness has allowed for observation intervals that are either constant-but-long ( e.g . Caballero, 1989 or Reis, 2006) or volatile-but-short ( e.g . Reis's, 2006 example where observation costs are negligible), but not both. In these models, the real effects of monetary policy are small for realistic values of the duration between observations. We show that non-negligible observation costs produce both of these effects: intervals between observations are infrequent and volatile. This generates large real effects of monetary policy for realistic values of the average time between observations.

  18. 4P: fast computing of population genetics statistics from large DNA polymorphism panels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benazzo, Andrea; Panziera, Alex; Bertorelle, Giorgio

    2015-01-01

    Massive DNA sequencing has significantly increased the amount of data available for population genetics and molecular ecology studies. However, the parallel computation of simple statistics within and between populations from large panels of polymorphic sites is not yet available, making the exploratory analyses of a set or subset of data a very laborious task. Here, we present 4P (parallel processing of polymorphism panels), a stand-alone software program for the rapid computation of genetic variation statistics (including the joint frequency spectrum) from millions of DNA variants in multiple individuals and multiple populations. It handles a standard input file format commonly used to store DNA variation from empirical or simulation experiments. The computational performance of 4P was evaluated using large SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) datasets from human genomes or obtained by simulations. 4P was faster or much faster than other comparable programs, and the impact of parallel computing using multicore computers or servers was evident. 4P is a useful tool for biologists who need a simple and rapid computer program to run exploratory population genetics analyses in large panels of genomic data. It is also particularly suitable to analyze multiple data sets produced in simulation studies. Unix, Windows, and MacOs versions are provided, as well as the source code for easier pipeline implementations.

  19. Increasing the amount of payment to research subjects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Resnick, DB

    2014-01-01

    This article discusses some ethical issues that can arise when researchers decide to increase the amount of payment offered to research subjects to boost enrollment. Would increasing the amount of payment be unfair to subjects who have already consented to participate in the study? This article considers how five different models of payment—the free market model, the wage payment model, the reimbursement model, the appreciation model, and the fair benefits model—would approach this issue. The article also considers several practical problems related to changing the amount of payment, including determining whether there is enough money in the budget to offer additional payments to subjects who have already enrolled, ascertaining how difficult it will be to re-contact subjects, and developing a plan of action for responding to subjects who find out they are receiving less money and demand an explanation. PMID:18757614

  20. Collagenolytic activity is produced by rabbit ligaments and tendon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harper, J.; Amiel, D.; Harper, E.

    1986-01-01

    The authors examined the patellar tendon (PT), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) from normal rabbits for collagenase activity. All three connective tissues contain large amounts of collagen and the catabolism of this structural protein is important to their integrity. The authors cultured each tissue in serum free medium for 14 days. Collagenase was produced by all three connective tissues after a lag period of up to 7 days, as detected by the 14 C-glycine peptide-release assay. Culture media that did not express enzyme the authors found to contain inhibitory activity. The collagenases and inhibitors from each tissue have been quantitated and characterized. After 9 days the collagenase activity for the rabbit periarticular tissues was 6.1 (PT), 4.4 (MCL) and 8.6 (ACL) units per milligram of secreted protein. The cleavage site of all three collagenases was found to be similar to that observed for rabbit skin collagenase, and generation of reaction products TC/sup A/ and TC/sup B/ was demonstrated by collagenases from PT, MCL and ACL. These results suggest that the metabolism of ligaments and tendon is regulated by the production of zymogen, active collagenase and inhibitor, similar to other connective tissues. The role of these components in joint injury and joint diseases is currently being investigated

  1. Volatile fatty acids influence on the structure of microbial communities producing PHAs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Slawomir Ciesielski

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs can be produced by microorganisms and are a biodegradable alternative to fossil-fuel based plastics. Currently, the focus is on reducing production costs by exploring alternative substrates for PHAs production, and on producing copolymers which are less brittle than monomers. Accordingly, this study used a substrate consisting of wastewater from waste-glycerol fermentation, supplemented with different amounts of acetic and propionic acids. These substrates were used to feed mixed microbial communities enriched from activated sludge in a sequencing batch reactor. A reactor supplemented with 2 mL of acetic acid produced 227.8 mg/L of a homopolymer of hydroxybutyrate (3HB; 4 mL of acetic acid produced 279.8 mg/L 3HB; whereas 4 mL of propionic acid produced 673.0 mg/L of a copolymer of 3HB and 3HV (hydroxyvalerate. Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (RISA was used to show the differences between the communities created in the reactors. Thauera species predominated in biomass that produced 3HB; Paracoccus denitrificans in the biomass that produced 3HB-co-3HV. Because P. denitrificans produced the more desirable copolymer, it may be advantageous to promote its growth in PHAs-producing reactors by adding propionate.

  2. An estimation of the capacity to produce hydrogen by wasted hydroelectric energy for the three largest Brazilian hydroelectric

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Padilha, Janine C.; Trindade, Leticia G. da; Souza, Roberto F. de [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil). Inst. of Chemistry], Email: janine@iq.ufrgs.br; Miguel, Marcelo [Itaipu Binacional, Foz do Iguacu, PR (Brazil)

    2010-07-01

    The use of water wasted in hydroelectric plants as normalization dam excess, which constitute a hydrodynamic potential useful to generate electric energy which can be subsequently used to produce hydrogen and its subsequent consumption in fuel cells has been considered as an alternative for hydraulic energy-rich countries like Brazil. The case is examined in which all the water wasted in the hydroelectric plants, spilled by dam gates to maintain acceptable water levels, from the 3 largest Brazilian hydroelectric plants was used to produce hydrogen. During the year of 2008, the electric energy produced from this utilization would have been equivalent to 52.8 TWh, an amount that corresponds to an increase of ca. 15% of the total electric energy produced in the country. Furthermore, if this amount of hydrogen was used in the replacement of internal combustion vehicles by fuel cells, this would have prevented the production of 2.26 x 10{sup 7} ton of Co{sub 2} per year. This plan would also significantly decrease production and release of greenhouse gases. (author)

  3. Large-scale preparation of plasmid DNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heilig, J S; Elbing, K L; Brent, R

    2001-05-01

    Although the need for large quantities of plasmid DNA has diminished as techniques for manipulating small quantities of DNA have improved, occasionally large amounts of high-quality plasmid DNA are desired. This unit describes the preparation of milligram quantities of highly purified plasmid DNA. The first part of the unit describes three methods for preparing crude lysates enriched in plasmid DNA from bacterial cells grown in liquid culture: alkaline lysis, boiling, and Triton lysis. The second part describes four methods for purifying plasmid DNA in such lysates away from contaminating RNA and protein: CsCl/ethidium bromide density gradient centrifugation, polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation, anion-exchange chromatography, and size-exclusion chromatography.

  4. Sequencing historical specimens: successful preparation of small specimens with low amounts of degraded DNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sproul, John S; Maddison, David R

    2017-11-01

    Despite advances that allow DNA sequencing of old museum specimens, sequencing small-bodied, historical specimens can be challenging and unreliable as many contain only small amounts of fragmented DNA. Dependable methods to sequence such specimens are especially critical if the specimens are unique. We attempt to sequence small-bodied (3-6 mm) historical specimens (including nomenclatural types) of beetles that have been housed, dried, in museums for 58-159 years, and for which few or no suitable replacement specimens exist. To better understand ideal approaches of sample preparation and produce preparation guidelines, we compared different library preparation protocols using low amounts of input DNA (1-10 ng). We also explored low-cost optimizations designed to improve library preparation efficiency and sequencing success of historical specimens with minimal DNA, such as enzymatic repair of DNA. We report successful sample preparation and sequencing for all historical specimens despite our low-input DNA approach. We provide a list of guidelines related to DNA repair, bead handling, reducing adapter dimers and library amplification. We present these guidelines to facilitate more economical use of valuable DNA and enable more consistent results in projects that aim to sequence challenging, irreplaceable historical specimens. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Large-Scale Purification of r28M: A Bispecific scFv Antibody Targeting Human Melanoma Produced in Transgenic Cattle.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katrin Spiesberger

    Full Text Available 30 years ago, the potential of bispecific antibodies to engage cytotoxic T cells for the lysis of cancer cells was discovered. Today a variety of bispecific antibodies against diverse cell surface structures have been developed, the majority of them produced in mammalian cell culture systems. Beside the r28M, described here, no such bispecific antibody is known to be expressed by transgenic livestock, although various biologicals for medical needs are already harvested-mostly from the milk-of these transgenics. In this study we investigated the large-scale purification and biological activity of the bispecific antibody r28M, expressed in the blood of transgenic cattle. This tandem single-chain variable fragment antibody is designed to target human CD28 and the melanoma/glioblastoma-associated cell surface chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4.With the described optimized purification protocol an average yield of 30 mg enriched r28M fraction out of 2 liters bovine plasma could be obtained. Separation of this enriched fraction by size exclusion chromatography into monomers, dimers and aggregates and further testing regarding the biological activity revealed the monomer fraction as being the most appropriate one to continue working with. The detailed characterization of the antibody's activity confirmed its high specificity to induce the killing of CSPG4 positive cells. In addition, first insights into tumor cell death pathways mediated by r28M-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells were gained. In consideration of possible applications in vivo we also tested the effect of the addition of different excipients to r28M.Summing up, we managed to purify monomeric r28M from bovine plasma in a large-scale preparation and could prove that its biological activity is unaffected and still highly specific and thus, might be applicable for the treatment of melanoma.

  6. Possible future effects of large-scale algae cultivation for biofuels on coastal eutrophication in Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blaas, Harry; Kroeze, Carolien

    2014-10-15

    Biodiesel is increasingly considered as an alternative for fossil diesel. Biodiesel can be produced from rapeseed, palm, sunflower, soybean and algae. In this study, the consequences of large-scale production of biodiesel from micro-algae for eutrophication in four large European seas are analysed. To this end, scenarios for the year 2050 are analysed, assuming that in the 27 countries of the European Union fossil diesel will be replaced by biodiesel from algae. Estimates are made for the required fertiliser inputs to algae parks, and how this may increase concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in coastal waters, potentially leading to eutrophication. The Global NEWS (Nutrient Export from WaterSheds) model has been used to estimate the transport of nitrogen and phosphorus to the European coastal waters. The results indicate that the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in the coastal waters may increase considerably in the future as a result of large-scale production of algae for the production of biodiesel, even in scenarios assuming effective waste water treatment and recycling of waste water in algae production. To ensure sustainable production of biodiesel from micro-algae, it is important to develop cultivation systems with low nutrient losses to the environment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Produce Your Own: A Community Gardening Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, JoLynn; Arnold, Shannon

    2012-01-01

    Many County Extension offices offer an adult Master Gardener Program, which includes advanced gardening training, short courses, newsletters, and conferences. However, with the comprehensive training provided comes a large time commitment. The Produce Your Own program was created to introduce adults to gardening in a similar manner, but with…

  8. 42 CFR 438.704 - Amounts of civil money penalties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Amounts of civil money penalties. 438.704 Section... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS MANAGED CARE Sanctions § 438.704 Amounts of civil money penalties. (a) General rule. The limit on, or the maximum civil money penalty the State may impose varies...

  9. Radioactive ion beams produced by neutron-induced fission at ISOLDE

    CERN Document Server

    Catherall, R; Gilardoni, S S; Köster, U

    2003-01-01

    The production rates of neutron-rich fission products for the next-generation radioactive beam facility EURISOL are mainly limited by the maximum amount of power deposited by protons in the target. An alternative approach is to use neutron beams to induce fission in actinide targets. This has the advantage of reducing: the energy deposited by the proton beam in the target; contamination from neutron-deficient isobars that would be produced by spallation; and mechanical stress on the target. At ISOLDE CERN, tests have been made on standard ISOLDE actinide targets using fast neutron bunches produced by bombarding thick, high-Z metal converters with 1 and 1.4 GeV proton pulses. This paper reviews the first applications of converters used at ISOLDE. It highlights the different geometries and the techniques used to compare fission yields produced by the proton beam directly on the target with neutron-induced fission. Results from the six targets already tested, namely UC2/graphite and ThO2 targets with tungsten an...

  10. Plasma treatment for producing electron emitters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coates, Don Mayo; Walter, Kevin Carl

    2001-01-01

    Plasma treatment for producing carbonaceous field emission electron emitters is disclosed. A plasma of ions is generated in a closed chamber and used to surround the exposed surface of a carbonaceous material. A voltage is applied to an electrode that is in contact with the carbonaceous material. This voltage has a negative potential relative to a second electrode in the chamber and serves to accelerate the ions toward the carbonaceous material and provide an ion energy sufficient to etch the exposed surface of the carbonaceous material but not sufficient to result in the implantation of the ions within the carbonaceous material. Preferably, the ions used are those of an inert gas or an inert gas with a small amount of added nitrogen.

  11. Extracellular proteolytic enzymes produced by human pathogenic Vibrio species

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shin-Ichi eMiyoshi

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Bacteria in the genus Vibrio produce extracellular proteolytic enzymes to obtain nutrients via digestion of various protein substrates. However, the enzymes secreted by human pathogenic species have been documented to modulate the bacterial virulence. Several species including Vibrio cholerae and V. vulnificus are known to produce thermolysin-like metalloproteases termed vibriolysin. The vibriolysin from V. vulnificus, a causative agent of serious systemic infection, is a major toxic factor eliciting the secondary skin damage characterized by formation of the hemorrhagic brae. The vibriolysin from intestinal pathogens may play indirect roles in pathogenicity because it can activate protein toxins and hemagglutinin by the limited proteolysis and can affect the bacterial attachment to or detachment from the intestinal surface by degradation of the mucus layer. Two species causing wound infections, V. alginolyticus and V. parahaemolyticus, produce another metalloproteases so-called collagenases. Although the detailed pathological roles have not been studied, the collagenase is potent to accelerate the bacterial dissemination through digestion of the protein components of the extracellular matrix. Some species produce cymotrypsin-like serine proteases, which may also affect the bacterial virulence potential. The intestinal pathogens produce sufficient amounts of the metalloprotease at the small intestinal temperature; however, the metalloprotease production by extra-intestinal pathogens is much higher around the body surface temperature. On the other hand, the serine protease is expressed only in the absence of the metalloprotease.

  12. Radiation-produced electron migration along 5-bromouracil-substituted DNA in cells and in solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beach, C.M.

    1981-01-01

    Results of work by other investigators support the theory of charge migration in DNA. Charge transfer between nucleotides and electron and energy migration in solid state DNA have been detected, but no previous experiments have demonstrated charge migration in aqueous solutions of DNA or in DNA inside an E. coli cell. Such experiments were performed by substituting different amounts of 5-bromouracil (BU) for thymine in E. coli DNA and assaying for the amount of bromide given off from the reaction of bromouracil with hydrated electrons produced by ionizing radiation to form uracil-5-yl radicals and free bromide. By varying the amount of BU incorporated in the DNA, the average distance between the BU bases was varied, and because the number of BU/electron reactions was monitored by the amount of bromide released, the maximum average electron migration distance along the BU-DNA was estimated. Hydrated electrons, e/sub aq/, were shown to react with BU in BU-DNA with the resultant release of bromide with G(-BR - ) = 0.519 +- 0.062. OH radicals were half as reactive as e/sub aq/ toward producing bromide from BU-DNA. O 2 , which has been shown to transfer charge to BU in aqueous solution, did not transfer charge to BU-DNA. The CO 2 radical was shown to cause the release of bromide from BU-DNA at least as effectively as e/sub aq/. Charge migration was demonstrated, and the maximum average electron migration distance in aqueous solutions of BU-DNA was measured to be 8 to 10 base distances (assuming only intrastrand migration). Only 11% to 16% of the electrons produced attacked BU-DNA in aqueous solution, and only 1% resulted in bromide release from BU-DNA inside E. coli. Charge migration was demonstrated in BU-DNA inside E. coli., and the maximum average migration distance was measured to be 5 to 6 base distances

  13. 29 CFR 530.302 - Amounts of civil money penalties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Amounts of civil money penalties. 530.302 Section 530.302... EMPLOYMENT OF HOMEWORKERS IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES Civil Money Penalties § 530.302 Amounts of civil money penalties. (a) A civil money penalty, not to exceed $500 per affected homeworker for any one violation, may...

  14. Chinese large solar telescopes site survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yu

    2017-04-01

    In order to observe the solar surface with unprecedentedly higher resolution, Chinse solar physics society decided to launch their solar site survey project in 2010 as the first step to look for the best candidate sites for the Chinese next-generation large-aperture solar telescopes, i.e., the 5-8 meter Chinese Giant Solar Telescope, and the 1 meter level coronagraph. We have built two long-term monitoring sites in Daocheng, with altitudes of around 4800 meters above the sea level located in the large Shangri-La mountain area, and we have collected systematic site data since 2014. Clear evidence, including the key parameters of seeing factor, sky brightness and water vapor content, has indicated that the large Shangri-La area owns the potential conditions of excellent seeing level and sufficient amount of clear-sky hours suitable for developing large solar telescopes. We will review the site survey progress and present the preliminary statistical results in this talk.

  15. A cost-benefit analysis of produced water management opportunities in selected unconventional oil and gas plays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsters, P.; Macknick, J.; Bazilian, M.; Newmark, R. L.

    2013-12-01

    Unconventional oil and gas production in North America has grown enormously over the past decade. The combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made production from shale and other unconventional resources economically attractive for oil and gas operators, but has also resulted in concerns over potential water use and pollution issues. Hydraulic fracturing operations must manage large volumes of water on both the front end as well as the back end of operations, as significant amounts of water are coproduced with hydrocarbons. This water--often called flowback or produced water--can contain chemicals from the hydraulic fracturing fluid, salts dissolved from the source rock, various minerals, volatile organic chemicals, and radioactive constituents, all of which pose potential management, safety, and public health issues. While the long-term effects of hydraulic fracturing on aquifers, drinking water supplies, and surface water resources are still being assessed, the immediate impacts of produced water on local infrastructure and water supplies are readily evident. Produced water management options are often limited to underground injection, disposal at centralized treatment facilities, or recycling for future hydraulic fracturing operations. The costs of treatment, transport, and recycling are heavily dependent on local regulations, existing infrastructure, and technologies utilized. Produced water treatment costs also change over time during energy production as the quality of the produced water often changes. To date there is no publicly available model that evaluates the cost tradeoffs associated with different produced water management techniques in different regions. This study addresses that gap by characterizing the volume, qualities, and temporal dynamics of produced water in several unconventional oil and gas plays; evaluating potential produced water management options, including reuse and recycling; and assessing how hydraulic

  16. Staphylococcus aureus in locally produced white cheese in Tirana market

    OpenAIRE

    ELVIRA BELI; RENIS MAÇI; SONILA ÇOÇOLI; HALIT MEMOÇI

    2014-01-01

    Cheese has nutritional value, its consumption is very common in Albania, but is also excellent medium for bacterial growth, source of bacterial infection, particularly when it is produced from raw poor quality or unpasteurized milk. Microbial safety of cheeses may be enhanced by usage good quality raw milk, pasteurized milk, following GMP in aim to prevent cross-contamination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence and amount of Staphylococcus aureus in white cheeses, as an Albani...

  17. Modelling rainfall amounts using mixed-gamma model for Kuantan district

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zakaria, Roslinazairimah; Moslim, Nor Hafizah

    2017-05-01

    An efficient design of flood mitigation and construction of crop growth models depend upon good understanding of the rainfall process and characteristics. Gamma distribution is usually used to model nonzero rainfall amounts. In this study, the mixed-gamma model is applied to accommodate both zero and nonzero rainfall amounts. The mixed-gamma model presented is for the independent case. The formulae of mean and variance are derived for the sum of two and three independent mixed-gamma variables, respectively. Firstly, the gamma distribution is used to model the nonzero rainfall amounts and the parameters of the distribution (shape and scale) are estimated using the maximum likelihood estimation method. Then, the mixed-gamma model is defined for both zero and nonzero rainfall amounts simultaneously. The formulae of mean and variance for the sum of two and three independent mixed-gamma variables derived are tested using the monthly rainfall amounts from rainfall stations within Kuantan district in Pahang Malaysia. Based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness of fit test, the results demonstrate that the descriptive statistics of the observed sum of rainfall amounts is not significantly different at 5% significance level from the generated sum of independent mixed-gamma variables. The methodology and formulae demonstrated can be applied to find the sum of more than three independent mixed-gamma variables.

  18. Financial performance of a mobile pyrolysis system used to produce biochar from sawmill residues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dongyeob Kim; Nathaniel McLean Anderson; Woodam Chung

    2015-01-01

    Primary wood products manufacturers generate significant amounts of woody biomass residues that can be used as feedstocks for distributed-scale thermochemical conversion systems that produce valuable bioenergy and bioproducts. However, private investment in these technologies is driven primarily by financial performance, which is often unknown for new technologies with...

  19. 24 CFR 206.105 - Amount of MIP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... DEVELOPMENT MORTGAGE AND LOAN INSURANCE PROGRAMS UNDER NATIONAL HOUSING ACT AND OTHER AUTHORITIES HOME EQUITY CONVERSION MORTGAGE INSURANCE Contract Rights and Obligations Mortgage Insurance Premiums § 206.105 Amount of...

  20. Large-scale, multi-compartment tests in PANDA for LWR-containment analysis and code validation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paladino, Domenico; Auban, Olivier; Zboray, Robert

    2006-01-01

    The large-scale thermal-hydraulic PANDA facility has been used for the last years for investigating passive decay heat removal systems and related containment phenomena relevant for next-generation and current light water reactors. As part of the 5. EURATOM framework program project TEMPEST, a series of tests was performed in PANDA to experimentally investigate the distribution of hydrogen inside the containment and its effect on the performance of the Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) designed for the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR). In a postulated severe accident, a large amount of hydrogen could be released in the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) as a consequence of the cladding Metal- Water (M-W) reaction and discharged together with steam to the Drywell (DW) compartment. In PANDA tests, hydrogen was simulated by using helium. This paper illustrates the results of a TEMPEST test performed in PANDA and named as Test T1.2. In Test T1.2, the gas stratification (steam-helium) patterns forming in the large-scale multi-compartment PANDA DW, and the effect of non-condensable gas (helium) on the overall behaviour of the PCCS were identified. Gas mixing and stratification in a large-scale multi-compartment system are currently being further investigated in PANDA in the frame of the OECD project SETH. The testing philosophy in this new PANDA program is to produce data for code validation in relation to specific phenomena, such as: gas stratification in the containment, gas transport between containment compartments, wall condensation, etc. These types of phenomena are driven by buoyant high-momentum injections (jets) and/or low momentum injection (plumes), depending on the transient scenario. In this context, the new SETH tests in PANDA are particularly valuable to produce an experimental database for code assessment. This paper also presents an overview of the PANDA SETH tests and the major improvements in instrumentation carried out in the PANDA

  1. Comparing centralised and decentralised anaerobic digestion of stillage from a large-scale bioethanol plant to animal feed production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drosg, B; Wirthensohn, T; Konrad, G; Hornbachner, D; Resch, C; Wäger, F; Loderer, C; Waltenberger, R; Kirchmayr, R; Braun, R

    2008-01-01

    A comparison of stillage treatment options for large-scale bioethanol plants was based on the data of an existing plant producing approximately 200,000 t/yr of bioethanol and 1,400,000 t/yr of stillage. Animal feed production--the state-of-the-art technology at the plant--was compared to anaerobic digestion. The latter was simulated in two different scenarios: digestion in small-scale biogas plants in the surrounding area versus digestion in a large-scale biogas plant at the bioethanol production site. Emphasis was placed on a holistic simulation balancing chemical parameters and calculating logistic algorithms to compare the efficiency of the stillage treatment solutions. For central anaerobic digestion different digestate handling solutions were considered because of the large amount of digestate. For land application a minimum of 36,000 ha of available agricultural area would be needed and 600,000 m(3) of storage volume. Secondly membrane purification of the digestate was investigated consisting of decanter, microfiltration, and reverse osmosis. As a third option aerobic wastewater treatment of the digestate was discussed. The final outcome was an economic evaluation of the three mentioned stillage treatment options, as a guide to stillage management for operators of large-scale bioethanol plants. Copyright IWA Publishing 2008.

  2. Growth, carcass and meat quality of Casertana, Italian Large White and Duroc x (Landrace x Italian Large White pigs reared outdoors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Maiorano

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available To compare growth, skeletal development, carcass traits and meat quality of different genotypes, 10 Casertana (CT, 10 Italian Large White (LW and 10 Duroc x (Landrace x Italian Large White (DU crosses, barrows of 90-day-old, were allotted to the same outdoor rearing and feeding conditions. Live weight was recorded and average daily gain (ADG was calculated. At slaughter (330-day-old dressing and lean percentages were determined; backfat thickness and loin eye depth were measured. Carcasses were dissected into commercial cuts. Water holding capacity, pH and colour (45 min and 24 h post-mortem were measured. Longissimus lumborum muscle samples were collected for cholesterol, α-tochopherol and intramuscular collagen (IMC analyses. CT compared to DU and LW had the lowest growth rate and skeletal development. CT showed higher backfat thickness, lower lean cut/fatty cut ratio and less lean meat (P<0.05. Loin eye depth differed among genotypes with LW > DU > CT (P<0.05. CT showed higher red colour of the meat than DU and LW (P<0.05. CT compared to LW had the highest hydroxylysylpiridinoline (HLP crosslink concentration and HLP/IMC ratio, and a lower IMC amount (P<0.05. CT pigs produced meat that could be tougher than that from the improved breed, but more acceptable from the technological point of view. At eleven months of age bone weight, length and diameter were clearly genetic type-related; differently, the bone maturity was similar among the genotypes studied.

  3. Produced Water Management and Beneficial Use

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, Terry; Frost, Carol; Hayes, Thomas; Heath, Leo; Johnson, Drew; Lopez, David; Saffer, Demian; Urynowicz, Michael; Wheaton, John; Zoback, Mark

    2007-01-01

    Large quantities of water are associated with the production of coalbed methane (CBM) in the Powder River Basin (PRB) of Wyoming. The chemistry of co-produced water often makes it unsuitable for subsequent uses such as irrigated agriculture. However, co-produced waters have substantial potential for a variety of beneficial uses. Achieving this potential requires the development of appropriate water management strategies. There are several unique characteristics of co-produced water that make development of such management strategies a challenge. The production of CBM water follows an inverse pattern compared to traditional wells. CBM wells need to maintain low reservoir pressures to promote gas production. This need renders the reinjection of co-produced waters counterproductive. The unique water chemistry of co-produced water can reduce soil permeability, making surface disposal difficult. Unlike traditional petroleum operations where co-produced water is an undesirable by-product, co-produced water in the PRB often is potable, making it a highly valued resource in arid western states. This research project developed and evaluated a number of water management options potentially available to CBM operators. These options, which focus on cost-effective and environmentally-sound practices, fall into five topic areas: Minimization of Produced Water, Surface Disposal, Beneficial Use, Disposal by Injection and Water Treatment. The research project was managed by the Colorado Energy Research Institute (CERI) at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) and involved personnel located at CERI, CSM, Stanford University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Wyoming, the Argonne National Laboratory, the Gas Technology Institute, the Montana Bureau of Mining and Geology and PVES Inc., a private firm

  4. Produced Water Management and Beneficial Use

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Terry Brown; Carol Frost; Thomas Hayes; Leo Heath; Drew Johnson; David Lopez; Demian Saffer; Michael Urynowicz; John Wheaton; Mark Zoback

    2007-10-31

    Large quantities of water are associated with the production of coalbed methane (CBM) in the Powder River Basin (PRB) of Wyoming. The chemistry of co-produced water often makes it unsuitable for subsequent uses such as irrigated agriculture. However, co-produced waters have substantial potential for a variety of beneficial uses. Achieving this potential requires the development of appropriate water management strategies. There are several unique characteristics of co-produced water that make development of such management strategies a challenge. The production of CBM water follows an inverse pattern compared to traditional wells. CBM wells need to maintain low reservoir pressures to promote gas production. This need renders the reinjection of co-produced waters counterproductive. The unique water chemistry of co-produced water can reduce soil permeability, making surface disposal difficult. Unlike traditional petroleum operations where co-produced water is an undesirable by-product, co-produced water in the PRB often is potable, making it a highly valued resource in arid western states. This research project developed and evaluated a number of water management options potentially available to CBM operators. These options, which focus on cost-effective and environmentally-sound practices, fall into five topic areas: Minimization of Produced Water, Surface Disposal, Beneficial Use, Disposal by Injection and Water Treatment. The research project was managed by the Colorado Energy Research Institute (CERI) at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) and involved personnel located at CERI, CSM, Stanford University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Wyoming, the Argonne National Laboratory, the Gas Technology Institute, the Montana Bureau of Mining and Geology and PVES Inc., a private firm.

  5. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and CTX-M β-lactamase producing clinical isolates from burn patients in Islamabad, Pakistan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mubbashir Hussain

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL in clinical isolates from burn patients using phenotypic and genotypic analyses. Methods: During 2015–2016, a total of 126 samples were collected at a tertiary care hospital, Islamabad. Antibiotic sensitivity and ESBL prevalence were evaluated according to the Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute, and molecular analysis of the CTX-M type ESBL gene was performed in 225 bacterial isolates from these samples. Results: The most prevalent bacterial species were Escherichia coli (28.4%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (22.2%, Staphylococcus aureus (19.6%, Klebsiella pneumoniae (16.4%, and coagulase-negative staphylococci (13.3%. Of the 225 bacterial isolates, 89 (39.5% were found to be ESBL producers. The isolates were highly susceptible to meropenem (88% and imipenem (84%, followed by the aminoglycoside amikacin (81%. Molecular epidemiology of the ESBL isolates indicated 19% prevalence of CTX-M. Resistance to antibiotics was exhibited by 28% isolates. Conclusions: In the present study, bacteria such as P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, S. aureus, and E. coli isolated from burn patients exhibited resistance to one or more antibiotics and produced large amounts of ESBL. Further studies are needed to investigate the virulence and epidemiology of CTX-M type ESBL in clinical isolates from burn patients.

  6. A Study on Developing and Refining a Large Citation Service System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kwang-Young Kim

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Today, citation index information is used as an outcome scale of spreading technology and encouraging research. Article citation information is an important factor to determine the authority of the relevant author. Google Scholar uses the article citation information to organize academic article search results with a rank algorithm. For an accurate analysis of such important citation index information, large amounts of bibliographic data are required. Therefore, this study aims to build a fast and efficient system for large amounts of bibliographic data, and to design and develop a system for quickly analyzing cited information for that data. This study also aims to use and analyze citation data to be a basic element for providing various advanced services to the academic article search system.

  7. ICARUS An Innovative Large LAR Detector for Neutrino Physics

    CERN Document Server

    Vignoli, C; Disdier, J.M.; Rampoldi, D.; Passardi, G.

    2006-01-01

    ICARUS is an international project that foresees the installation of very large LAr detectors inside the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in order to be sensitive to rare phenomena of particle physics. The detection technique is based on the collection of electrons produced by particle interactions in LAr by a matrix of thousands of thin wires. At the moment the project foresees the installation of a 600,000‐kg vessel (T600). The total amount of LAr can be expanded in a modular way to masses of the order of 106 kg. The T600 houses two identical 300,000‐kg Ar sub‐cryostats that are aluminum boxes about 20‐m long, 4‐m high and 4‐m wide. Safety requirements for the underground installation have led to a unique design for the vessels to prevent LAr spillages even in the case of inner cryostat failure. Electrons must drift over meters requiring the development of special gas and liquid Ar purification units to provide an extremely high LAr purity (better then 0.1 ppb). The cooling system has been desi...

  8. Comparative genomics of citric-acid producing Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015 versus enzyme-producing CBS 513.88

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andersen, Mikael R.; Salazar, Margarita; Schaap, Peter; van de Vondervoort, Peter; Culley, David E.; Thykaer, Jette; Frisvad, Jens C.; Nielsen, Kristian F.; Albang, Richard; Albermann, Kaj; Berka, Randy; Braus, Gerhard; Braus-Stromeyer, Susanna A.; Corrochano, Luis; Dai, Ziyu; van Dijck, Piet; Hofmann, Gerald; Lasure, Linda L.; Magnuson, Jon K.; Menke, Hildegard; Meijer, Martin; Meijer, Susan; Nielsen, Jakob B.; Nielsen, Michael L.; van Ooyen, Albert; Pel, Herman J.; Poulsen, Lars; Samson, Rob; Stam, Hein; Tsang, Adrian; van den Brink, Johannes M.; ATkins, Alex; Aerts, Andrea; Shapiro, Harris; Pangilinan, Jasmyn; Salamov, Asaf; Lou, Yigong; Lindquist, Erika; Lucas, Susan; Grimwood, Jane; Grigoriev, Igor V.; Kubicek, Christian P.; Martinez, Diego; van Peij, Noel; Roubos, Johannes A.; Nielsen, Jens B.; Baker, Scott E.

    2011-06-01

    The filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger exhibits great diversity in its phenotype. It is found globally, both as marine and terrestrial strains, produces both organic acids and hydrolytic enzymes in high amounts, and some isolates exhibit pathogenicity. Although the genome of an industrial enzyme-producing A. niger strain (CBS 513.88) has already been sequenced, the versatility and diversity of this species compels additional exploration. We therefore undertook whole genome sequencing of the acidogenic A. niger wild type strain (ATCC 1015), and produced a genome sequence of very high quality. Only 15 gaps are present in the sequence and half the telomeric regions have been elucidated. Moreover, sequence information from ATCC 1015 was utilized to improve the genome sequence of CBS 513.88. Chromosome-level comparisons uncovered several genome rearrangements, deletions, a clear case of strain-specific horizontal gene transfer, and identification of 0.8 megabase of novel sequence. Single nucleotide polymorphisms per kilobase (SNPs/kb) between the two strains were found to be exceptionally high (average: 7.8, maximum: 160 SNPs/kb). High variation within the species was confirmed with exo-metabolite profiling and phylogenetics. Detailed lists of alleles were generated, and genotypic differences were observed to accumulate in metabolic pathways essential to acid production and protein synthesis. A transcriptome analysis revealed up-regulation of the electron transport chain, specifically the alternative oxidative pathway in ATCC 1015, while CBS 513.88 showed significant up regulation of genes associated with biosynthesis of amino acids that are abundant in glucoamylase A, tRNA-synthases and protein transporters.

  9. Data acquisition system issues for large experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siskind, E.J.

    2007-01-01

    This talk consists of personal observations on two classes of data acquisition ('DAQ') systems for Silicon trackers in large experiments with which the author has been concerned over the last three or more years. The first half is a classic 'lessons learned' recital based on experience with the high-level debug and configuration of the DAQ system for the GLAST LAT detector. The second half is concerned with a discussion of the promises and pitfalls of using modern (and future) generations of 'system-on-a-chip' ('SOC') or 'platform' field-programmable gate arrays ('FPGAs') in future large DAQ systems. The DAQ system pipeline for the 864k channels of Si tracker in the GLAST LAT consists of five tiers of hardware buffers which ultimately feed into the main memory of the (two-active-node) level-3 trigger processor farm. The data formats and buffer volumes of these tiers are briefly described, as well as the flow control employed between successive tiers. Lessons learned regarding data formats, buffer volumes, and flow control/data discard policy are discussed. The continued development of platform FPGAs containing large amounts of configurable logic fabric, embedded PowerPC hard processor cores, digital signal processing components, large volumes of on-chip buffer memory, and multi-gigabit serial I/O capability permits DAQ system designers to vastly increase the amount of data preprocessing that can be performed in parallel within the DAQ pipeline for detector systems in large experiments. The capabilities of some currently available FPGA families are reviewed, along with the prospects for next-generation families of announced, but not yet available, platform FPGAs. Some experience with an actual implementation is presented, and reconciliation between advertised and achievable specifications is attempted. The prospects for applying these components to space-borne Si tracker detectors are briefly discussed

  10. Ion-Ion Plasmas Produced by Electron Beams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernsler, R. F.; Leonhardt, D.; Walton, S. G.; Meger, R. A.

    2001-10-01

    The ability of plasmas to etch deep, small-scale features in materials is limited by localized charging of the features. The features charge because of the difference in electron and ion anisotropy, and thus one solution now being explored is to use ion-ion plasmas in place of electron-ion plasmas. Ion-ion plasmas are effectively electron-free and consist mainly of positive and negative ions. Since the two ion species behave similarly, localized charging is largely eliminated. However, the only way to produce ion-ion plasmas at low gas pressure is to convert electrons into negative ions through two-body attachment to neutrals. While the electron attachment rate is large at low electron temperatures (Te < 1 eV) in many of the halogen gases used for processing, these temperatures occur in most reactors only during the afterglow when the heating fields are turned off and the plasma is decaying. By contrast, Te is low nearly all the time in plasmas produced by electron beams, and therefore electron beams can potentially produce ion-ion plasmas continuously. The theory of ion-ion plasmas formed by pulsed electron beams is examined in this talk and compared with experimental results presented elsewhere [1]. Some general limitations of ion-ion plasmas, including relatively low flux levels, are discussed as well. [1] See the presentation by D. Leonhardt et al. at this conference.

  11. Ultrafast gated imaging of laser produced plasmas using the optical Kerr effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Symes, D. R.; Wegner, U.; Ahlswede, H.-C.; Streeter, M. J. V.; Gallegos, P. L.; Divall, E. J.; Rajeev, P. P.; Neely, D.; Smith, R. A.

    2010-01-01

    Optical imaging is a versatile diagnostic for investigations of plasmas generated under intense laser irradiation. Electro-optic gating techniques operating on the >100 ps timescale are commonly used to reduce the amount of light detected from self-emission of hot plasma or improve the temporal resolution of the detector. The use of an optical Kerr gate enables a superior dynamic range and temporal resolution compared to electronically gated devices. The application of this method for enhanced imaging of laser produced plasmas with gate time ∼100 fs is demonstrated, and the possibility to produce a sub-10 fs, high dynamic range 'all optical' streak camera is discussed.

  12. Worldwide dispersion and deposition of radionuclides produced in atmospheric tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennett, Burton G

    2002-05-01

    Radionuclides produced in atmospheric nuclear tests were widely dispersed in the global environment. From the many measurements of the concentrations in air and the deposition amounts, much was learned of atmospheric circulation and environmental processes. Based on these results and the reported fission and total yields of individual tests, it has been possible to devise an empirical model of the movement and residence times of particles in the various atmospheric regions. This model, applied to all atmospheric weapons tests, allows extensive calculations of air concentrations and deposition amounts for the entire range of radionuclides produced throughout the testing period. Especially for the shorter-lived fission radionuclides, for which measurement results at the time of the tests are less extensive, a more complete picture of levels and isotope ratios can be obtained, forming a basis for improved dose estimations. The contributions to worldwide fallout can be inferred from individual tests, from tests at specific sites, or by specific countries. Progress was also made in understanding the global hydrological and carbon cycles from the tritium and 14C measurements. A review of the global measurements and modeling results is presented in this paper. In the future, if injections of materials into the atmosphere occur, their anticipated motions and fates can be predicted from the knowledge gained from the fallout experience.

  13. Impacts of large-scale climatic disturbances on the terrestrial carbon cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucht Wolfgang

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere steadily increases as a consequence of anthropogenic emissions but with large interannual variability caused by the terrestrial biosphere. These variations in the CO2 growth rate are caused by large-scale climate anomalies but the relative contributions of vegetation growth and soil decomposition is uncertain. We use a biogeochemical model of the terrestrial biosphere to differentiate the effects of temperature and precipitation on net primary production (NPP and heterotrophic respiration (Rh during the two largest anomalies in atmospheric CO2 increase during the last 25 years. One of these, the smallest atmospheric year-to-year increase (largest land carbon uptake in that period, was caused by global cooling in 1992/93 after the Pinatubo volcanic eruption. The other, the largest atmospheric increase on record (largest land carbon release, was caused by the strong El Niño event of 1997/98. Results We find that the LPJ model correctly simulates the magnitude of terrestrial modulation of atmospheric carbon anomalies for these two extreme disturbances. The response of soil respiration to changes in temperature and precipitation explains most of the modelled anomalous CO2 flux. Conclusion Observed and modelled NEE anomalies are in good agreement, therefore we suggest that the temporal variability of heterotrophic respiration produced by our model is reasonably realistic. We therefore conclude that during the last 25 years the two largest disturbances of the global carbon cycle were strongly controlled by soil processes rather then the response of vegetation to these large-scale climatic events.

  14. Fast Simulation of Large-Scale Floods Based on GPU Parallel Computing

    OpenAIRE

    Qiang Liu; Yi Qin; Guodong Li

    2018-01-01

    Computing speed is a significant issue of large-scale flood simulations for real-time response to disaster prevention and mitigation. Even today, most of the large-scale flood simulations are generally run on supercomputers due to the massive amounts of data and computations necessary. In this work, a two-dimensional shallow water model based on an unstructured Godunov-type finite volume scheme was proposed for flood simulation. To realize a fast simulation of large-scale floods on a personal...

  15. Large-Scale Machine Learning for Classification and Search

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wei

    2012-01-01

    With the rapid development of the Internet, nowadays tremendous amounts of data including images and videos, up to millions or billions, can be collected for training machine learning models. Inspired by this trend, this thesis is dedicated to developing large-scale machine learning techniques for the purpose of making classification and nearest…

  16. Choice of large projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harris, R

    1978-08-01

    Conventional cost/benefit or project analysis has generally not taken into account circumstances in which the project under consideration is large enough that its introduction to the economy would have significant general equilibrium effects. In this paper, rules are examined that would indicate whether such large projects should be accepted or rejected. The rules utilize information yielded by before-project and after-project equilibrium prices and production data. Rules are developed for the undistorted ''first-best'' case, the case in which the fixed costs of the project are covered by distortionary taxation, and for the case of projects producing public goods. 34 references.

  17. Manufacturing Amorphous Solid Dispersions with a Tailored Amount of Crystallized API for Biopharmaceutical Testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theil, Frank; Milsmann, Johanna; Anantharaman, Sankaran; van Lishaut, Holger

    2018-05-07

    The preparation of an amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) by dissolving a poorly water-soluble active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in a polymer matrix can improve the bioavailability by orders of magnitude. Crystallization of the API in the ASD, though, is an inherent threat for bioavailability. Commonly, the impact of crystalline API on the drug release of the dosage form is studied with samples containing spiked crystallinity. These spiked samples possess implicit differences compared to native crystalline samples, regarding size and spatial distribution of the crystals as well as their molecular environment. In this study, we demonstrate that it is possible to grow defined amounts of crystalline API in solid dosage forms, which enables us to study the biopharmaceutical impact of actual crystallization. For this purpose, we studied the crystal growth in fenofibrate tablets over time under an elevated moisture using transmission Raman spectroscopy (TRS). As a nondestructive method to assess API crystallinity in ASD formulations, TRS enables the monitoring of crystal growth in individual dosage forms. Once the kinetic trace of the crystal growth for a certain environmental condition is determined, this method can be used to produce samples with defined amounts of crystallized API. To investigate the biopharmaceutical impact of crystallized API, non-QC dissolution methods were used, designed to identify differences between the various amounts of crystalline materials present. The drug release in the samples manufactured in this fashion was compared to that of samples with spiked crystallinity. In this study, we present for the first time a method for targeted crystallization of amorphous tablets to simulate crystallized ASDs. This methodology is a valuable tool to generate model systems for biopharmaceutical studies on the impact of crystallinity on the bioavailability.

  18. Fast crawling methods of exploring content distributed over large graphs

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Pinghui; Zhao, Junzhou; Lui, John C. S.; Towsley, Don; Guan, Xiaohong

    2018-01-01

    Despite recent effort to estimate topology characteristics of large graphs (e.g., online social networks and peer-to-peer networks), little attention has been given to develop a formal crawling methodology to characterize the vast amount of content

  19. Amount of newspaper coverage of high school athletics for boys and girls on sports page and newspaper circulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedersen, Paul M; Whisenant, Warren A

    2002-02-01

    This study analyzed the amount of coverage for high school athletics in 43 newspapers with small circulation by devoting 40% of their interscholastic athletics coverage to girls in athletics, printed significantly more articles about girls' athletics than did the newspapers with medium (33%) or large (32%) circulation. Therefore, the smaller the newspaper circulation, the more equitable the coverage of athletics for girls and boys. This finding was consistent with some prior work but not all.

  20. Metabolic Syndrome Remodels Electrical Activity of the Sinoatrial Node and Produces Arrhythmias in Rats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albarado-Ibañez, Alondra; Avelino-Cruz, José Everardo; Velasco, Myrian; Torres-Jácome, Julián; Hiriart, Marcia

    2013-01-01

    In the last ten years, the incidences of metabolic syndrome and supraventricular arrhythmias have greatly increased. The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of alterations, which include obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, that increase the risk of developing, among others, atrial and nodal arrhythmias. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that metabolic syndrome induces electrical remodeling of the sinus node and produces arrhythmias. We induced metabolic syndrome in 2-month-old male Wistar rats by administering 20% sucrose in the drinking water. Eight weeks later, the rats were anesthetized and the electrocardiogram was recorded, revealing the presence of arrhythmias only in treated rats. Using conventional microelectrode and voltage clamp techniques, we analyzed the electrical activity of the sinoatrial node. We observed that in the sinoatrial node of “metabolic syndrome rats”, compared to controls, the spontaneous firing of all cells decreased, while the slope of the diastolic depolarization increased only in latent pacemaker cells. Accordingly, the pacemaker currents If and Ist increased. Furthermore, histological analysis showed a large amount of fat surrounding nodal cardiomyocytes and a rise in the sympathetic innervation. Finally, Poincaré plot denoted irregularity in the R-R and P-P ECG intervals, in agreement with the variability of nodal firing potential recorded in metabolic syndrome rats. We conclude that metabolic syndrome produces a dysfunction SA node by disrupting normal architecture and the electrical activity, which could explain the onset of arrhythmias in rats. PMID:24250786

  1. Really big data: Processing and analysis of large datasets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Modern animal breeding datasets are large and getting larger, due in part to the recent availability of DNA data for many animals. Computational methods for efficiently storing and analyzing those data are under development. The amount of storage space required for such datasets is increasing rapidl...

  2. Physician Fee Schedule National Payment Amount File

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The significant size of the Physician Fee Schedule Payment Amount File-National requires that database programs (e.g., Access, dBase, FoxPro, etc.) be used to read...

  3. FTSPlot: fast time series visualization for large datasets.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Riss

    Full Text Available The analysis of electrophysiological recordings often involves visual inspection of time series data to locate specific experiment epochs, mask artifacts, and verify the results of signal processing steps, such as filtering or spike detection. Long-term experiments with continuous data acquisition generate large amounts of data. Rapid browsing through these massive datasets poses a challenge to conventional data plotting software because the plotting time increases proportionately to the increase in the volume of data. This paper presents FTSPlot, which is a visualization concept for large-scale time series datasets using techniques from the field of high performance computer graphics, such as hierarchic level of detail and out-of-core data handling. In a preprocessing step, time series data, event, and interval annotations are converted into an optimized data format, which then permits fast, interactive visualization. The preprocessing step has a computational complexity of O(n x log(N; the visualization itself can be done with a complexity of O(1 and is therefore independent of the amount of data. A demonstration prototype has been implemented and benchmarks show that the technology is capable of displaying large amounts of time series data, event, and interval annotations lag-free with < 20 ms ms. The current 64-bit implementation theoretically supports datasets with up to 2(64 bytes, on the x86_64 architecture currently up to 2(48 bytes are supported, and benchmarks have been conducted with 2(40 bytes/1 TiB or 1.3 x 10(11 double precision samples. The presented software is freely available and can be included as a Qt GUI component in future software projects, providing a standard visualization method for long-term electrophysiological experiments.

  4. A critical review of producers of small lactone mycotoxins: patulin, penicillic acid and moniliformin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frisvad, J.C.

    2018-01-01

    A very large number of filamentous fungi has been reported to produce the small lactone mycotoxins patulin, penicillic acid and moniliformin. Among the 167 reported fungal producers of patulin, only production by 29 species could be confirmed. Patulin is produced by 3 Aspergillus species, 3...

  5. GPU-based large-scale visualization

    KAUST Repository

    Hadwiger, Markus

    2013-11-19

    Recent advances in image and volume acquisition as well as computational advances in simulation have led to an explosion of the amount of data that must be visualized and analyzed. Modern techniques combine the parallel processing power of GPUs with out-of-core methods and data streaming to enable the interactive visualization of giga- and terabytes of image and volume data. A major enabler for interactivity is making both the computational and the visualization effort proportional to the amount of data that is actually visible on screen, decoupling it from the full data size. This leads to powerful display-aware multi-resolution techniques that enable the visualization of data of almost arbitrary size. The course consists of two major parts: An introductory part that progresses from fundamentals to modern techniques, and a more advanced part that discusses details of ray-guided volume rendering, novel data structures for display-aware visualization and processing, and the remote visualization of large online data collections. You will learn how to develop efficient GPU data structures and large-scale visualizations, implement out-of-core strategies and concepts such as virtual texturing that have only been employed recently, as well as how to use modern multi-resolution representations. These approaches reduce the GPU memory requirements of extremely large data to a working set size that fits into current GPUs. You will learn how to perform ray-casting of volume data of almost arbitrary size and how to render and process gigapixel images using scalable, display-aware techniques. We will describe custom virtual texturing architectures as well as recent hardware developments in this area. We will also describe client/server systems for distributed visualization, on-demand data processing and streaming, and remote visualization. We will describe implementations using OpenGL as well as CUDA, exploiting parallelism on GPUs combined with additional asynchronous

  6. Investigation of the toroidal dependence of first wall conditions in the Large Helical Device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hino, T.; Ashikawa, N.; Masuzaki, S.; Sagara, A.; Komori, A.; Yamauchi, Y.; Nobuta, Y.; Matsunaga, Y.

    2010-11-01

    The non-uniform wall conditions such as the fuel hydrogen retention and the erosion/deposition have been investigated in the Large Helical Device (LHD) by using toroidally and poloidally distributed material probes. They were installed in every experimental campaign from 2003 to 2010, and the evolutions of the wall conditions were clearly obtained. The wall conditions significantly depended on the operational procedures and the positions of in-vessel devices such as anodes for glow discharge and the ICRF antennas. The toroidal profiles for the amounts of retained hydrogen and helium, and the depth of wall erosion, were systematically measured. The hydrogen, helium and neon glow discharges have been conducted by using two anodes before and after the hydrogen or helium main discharges. The amount of retained hydrogen was large in the vicinity of the anodes, and drastically decreased as increase of the campaign number. This reduction well corresponds to the time period used for the hydrogen glow discharge conditioning. The erosion depth was large at the walls relatively close to the anodes, which is owing to the sputtering during the helium and neon glow discharges. The depositions of carbon and boron also depended on the positions of NBI and diborane gas inlet used for boronization, respectively. The amount of the retained helium was large at the walls close to the anodes owing to the helium glow discharge. The amount of retained helium became large at the walls close to the ICRF antennas owing to the implantation of high energy helium during the helium main discharge with the ICRF heating. In the present study, the toroidal dependences of the gas retention and the erosion/deposition in LHD were obtained, and the effects of the in-vessel devices on these plasma wall interactions were clarified. (author)

  7. The large-s field-reversed configuration experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoffman, A.L.; Carey, L.N.; Crawford, E.A.; Harding, D.G.; DeHart, T.E.; McDonald, K.F.; McNeil, J.L.; Milroy, R.D.; Slough, J.T.; Maqueda, R.; Wurden, G.A.

    1993-01-01

    The Large-s Experiment (LSX) was built to study the formation and equilibrium properties of field-reversed configurations (FRCs) as the scale size increases. The dynamic, field-reversed theta-pinch method of FRC creation produces axial and azimuthal deformations and makes formation difficult, especially in large devices with large s (number of internal gyroradii) where it is difficult to achieve initial plasma uniformity. However, with the proper technique, these formation distortions can be minimized and are then observed to decay with time. This suggests that the basic stability and robustness of FRCs formed, and in some cases translated, in smaller devices may also characterize larger FRCs. Elaborate formation controls were included on LSX to provide the initial uniformity and symmetry necessary to minimize formation disturbances, and stable FRCs could be formed up to the design goal of s = 8. For x ≤ 4, the formation distortions decayed away completely, resulting in symmetric equilibrium FRCs with record confinement times up to 0.5 ms, agreeing with previous empirical scaling laws (τ∝sR). Above s = 4, reasonably long-lived (up to 0.3 ms) configurations could still be formed, but the initial formation distortions were so large that they never completely decayed away, and the equilibrium confinement was degraded from the empirical expectations. The LSX was only operational for 1 yr, and it is not known whether s = 4 represents a fundamental limit for good confinement in simple (no ion beam stabilization) FRCs or whether it simply reflects a limit of present formation technology. Ideally, s could be increased through flux buildup from neutral beams. Since the addition of kinetic or beam ions will probably be desirable for heating, sustainment, and further stabilization of magnetohydrodynamic modes at reactor-level s values, neutral beam injection is the next logical step in FRC development. 24 refs., 21 figs., 2 tabs

  8. Ingesting a small amount of beer reduces arterial stiffness in healthy humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishiwaki, Masato; Kora, Naoki; Matsumoto, Naoyuki

    2017-08-01

    Epidemiological studies reveal a J-shaped association between alcohol consumption and arterial stiffness, with arterial stiffening lower among mild-to-moderate drinkers than heavy drinkers or nondrinkers. This study aimed to examine the effects of ingesting a small amount of beer, corresponding to the amount consumed per day by a mild drinker, on arterial stiffness. Eleven men (20-22 years) participated, in random order and on different days, in four separate trials. The participants each drank 200 or 350 mL of alcohol-free beer (AFB200 and AFB350) or beer (B200 and B350), and were monitored for 90 min postingestion. There were no significant changes in arterial stiffness among trials that ingested AF200 or AF350. However, among trials ingesting B200 and B350, breath alcohol concentrations increased significantly, while indexes of arterial stiffness decreased significantly for approximately 60 min: carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (B200: -0.6 ± 0.2 m/sec; B350: -0.6 ± 0.2 m/sec); brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (B200: -53 ± 18 cm/sec; B350: -57 ± 19 cm/sec); and cardio-ankle vascular index (B200: -0.4 ± 0.1 unit; B350: -0.3 ± 0.1 unit). Furthermore, AFB showed no effect on arterial stiffness, regardless of whether or not it contained sugar, and no significant difference in antioxidant capacity was found between AFB and B. This is the first study to demonstrate that acute ingestion of relatively small amounts of beer reduces arterial stiffness (for approximately 60 min). Our data also suggest that the reduction in arterial stiffness induced by ingestion of beer is largely attributable to the effects of alcohol. © 2017 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

  9. Facile and large-scale synthesis and characterization of carbon nanotube/silver nanocrystal nanohybrids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao Chao; Li Wenwen; Jin Yizheng; Kong Hao

    2006-01-01

    A facile and efficient aqueous phase-based strategy to synthesize carbon nanotube (CNT)/silver nanocrystal nanohybrids at room temperature is reported. In the presence of carboxyl group functionalized or poly(acrylic acid)- (PAA-) grafted CNTs, silver nanoparticles were in situ generated from AgNO 3 aqueous solution, without any additional reducing agent or irradiation treatment, and readily attached to the CNT convex surfaces, leading to the CNT/Ag nanohybrids. The produced silver nanoparticles were determined to be face-centred cubic silver nanocrystals by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), electron diffraction (ED) and x-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analyses. Detailed experiments showed that this strategy can also be applied to different CNTs, including single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), and polymer-functionalized CNTs. The nanoparticle sizes can be controlled from 2 nm to 10-20 nm and the amount of metal deposited on CNT surfaces can be as high as 82 wt%. Furthermore, large-scale (10 g or more) CNT/Ag nanohybrids can be prepared via this approach without the decrease of efficiency and quality. This approach can also be extended to prepare Au single crystals by CNTs. The facile, efficient and large-scale availability of the nanohybrids makes their tremendous potential realizable and developable

  10. LYOPHILIZATION EFFECT ON PRODUCTIVITY OF BUTANOL-PRODUCING STRAINS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. O. Tigunova

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Investigation of lyophilization effect on the productivity of butanol-producing strains was the aim of our research. For this purpose we used butanol-producing strains; technical glycerol; biomass of switchgrass Panicum virgatum L. Lyophilization was performed using a lyophilization-drying. The effect of the protective medium on residual moisture of freezedrying cultures suspensions depending on the concentration of glucose and sucrose was studed. It was shown that the lowest residual moisture was attained by using glucose and sucrose in amount of 10% and if the samples of freeze-drying bacteria had been saved for one month at 4 οC the productivity did not decrease. As temperature preservation was increased the productivity of the cultures was gradually decreased and it was greatly reduced at 30 οC. So the protective medium composition was optimized for lyophilization of butanol-producing strains as follows: sucrose 10.0%; gelatin 10.0%; agar 0.02%. It was shown that the preservation of samples of freeze-drying bacteria for six months at a temperature of 4 οC did not affect the productivity of strains. It was found that cultures could use glycerol as a carbon source for butanol accumulation before lyophilization.

  11. 40 CFR 1065.645 - Amount of water in an ideal gas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Amount of water in an ideal gas. 1065... in an ideal gas. This section describes how to determine the amount of water in an ideal gas, which... of water in an ideal gas, x H20, as follows: ER30AP10.034 Where: x H20 = amount of water in an ideal...

  12. Electromagnetic surface waves for large-area RF plasma productions between large-area planar electrodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nonaka, S.

    1992-01-01

    Recently, large-area plasma production has been tested by means of a 13.56 MHz radio-frequency (RF) discharge between a pair of large-area planar electrodes, approximately 0.5 m x 1.4 m, as one of the semiconductor technologies for fabrication of large-area amorphous silicon solar cells in the ''Sunshine Project'' of the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology in Japan. We also confirmed long plasma production between a pair of long electrodes. In this paper, normal electromagnetic (EM) waves propagating in a region between a planar waveguide with one plasma and two dielectric layers are analyzed in order to study the feasibility of large-area plasma productions by EM wave-discharges between a pair of large-area RF electrodes larger than the half-wavelength of RF wave. In conclusion, plasmas higher than an electron plasma frequency will be produced by an odd TMoo surface mode. (author) 4 refs., 3 figs

  13. Amounts of mercury in soil of some golf course sites

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    MacLean, A J; Stone, B; Cordukes, W E

    1973-01-01

    Mercurial compounds are widely used for controlling diseases of turfgrass of golf courses, but the fungicides are usually confined to the greens. Composite soil samples were obtained from three golf courses in the Ottawa and Ontario region of Canada. Samples from the turf and surface layer of soil were analyzed and high amounts of mercury were found. The soil of No.I course was a sand; No.II was a sandy loam in the surface and a loam below; and No. III was a loam in the surface layer and a clay loam below. The pH of the surface layer was 6.4 in No. I, 7.5 in No. II, and 6.0 in No. III. The amounts of Hg in the turf were high near the green but they decreased with distance. Fairway III contained the highest amounts of Hg and there was evidence of it leaching to a depth of 90 cm at the edge of the green. The particularly high amounts of Hg in no III were in accord with the liberal use of mercurial fungicides on this course in the period 1912-64. The leaching of Hg depends on amounts of organic matter and the clay in the soil.

  14. Glass produced by underground nuclear explosions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schwartz, L.; Piwinskii, A.; Ryerson, F.; Tewes, H.; Beiriger, W.

    1983-01-01

    Detonation of an underground nuclear explosive produces a strong shock wave which propagates spherically outward, vaporizing the explosive and nearby rock and melting, the surrounding rock. The vaporized material expands adiabatically, forming a cavity. As the energy is dissipated during the cavity formation process, the explosive and rock debris condense and mix with the melted rock. The melt flows to the bottom of the cavity where it is quenched by fractured rock fragments falling from above as the cavity collapses. Measurements indicate that about 740 tonnes of rock and/or soil are melted for every kiloton (10 12 calories) of explosive energy, or about 25% of the explosive energy goes to melting rock. The resulting glass composition reflects the composition of the unaltered rock with explosive debris. The appearance ranges from white pumice to dense, dark lava. The bulk composition and color vary with the amount of explosive iron incorporated into the glass. The refractory explosion products are mixed with the solidified melt, although the degree of mixing is variable. Electron microprobe studies of glasses produced by Rainier in welded tuff have produced the following results: glasses are dehydrated relative to the host media, glasses are extremely heterogeneous on a 20 μm scale, a ubiquitous feature is the presence of dark marble-cake regions in the glass, which were locally enriched in iron and may be related to the debris, optically amorphous regions provide evidence of shock melting, only limited major element redistribution and homogenization occur within the cavity

  15. Use of Aerial high resolution visible imagery to produce large river bathymetry: a multi temporal and spatial study over the by-passed Upper Rhine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Béal, D.; Piégay, H.; Arnaud, F.; Rollet, A.; Schmitt, L.

    2011-12-01

    Aerial high resolution visible imagery allows producing large river bathymetry assuming that water depth is related to water colour (Beer-Bouguer-Lambert law). In this paper we aim at monitoring Rhine River geometry changes for a diachronic study as well as sediment transport after an artificial injection (25.000 m3 restoration operation). For that a consequent data base of ground measurements of river depth is used, built on 3 different sources: (i) differential GPS acquisitions, (ii) sounder data and (iii) lateral profiles realized by experts. Water depth is estimated using a multi linear regression over neo channels built on a principal component analysis over red, green and blue bands and previously cited depth data. The study site is a 12 km long reach of the by-passed section of the Rhine River that draws French and German border. This section has been heavily impacted by engineering works during the last two centuries: channelization since 1842 for navigation purposes and the construction of a 45 km long lateral canal and 4 consecutive hydroelectric power plants of since 1932. Several bathymetric models are produced based on 3 different spatial resolutions (6, 13 and 20 cm) and 5 acquisitions (January, March, April, August and October) since 2008. Objectives are to find the optimal spatial resolution and to characterize seasonal effects. Best performances according to the 13 cm resolution show a 18 cm accuracy when suspended matters impacted less water transparency. Discussions are oriented to the monitoring of the artificial reload after 2 flood events during winter 2010-2011. Bathymetric models produced are also useful to build 2D hydraulic model's mesh.

  16. Overexpression of the NADP+-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase gene (icdA) in citric acid-producing Aspergillus niger WU-2223L.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Keiichi; Hattori, Takasumi; Hayashi, Rie; Kirimura, Kohtaro

    2014-01-01

    In the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, NADP(+)-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP(+)-ICDH) catalyzes oxidative decarboxylation of isocitric acid to form α-ketoglutaric acid with NADP(+) as a cofactor. We constructed an NADP(+)-ICDH gene (icdA)-overexpressing strain (OPI-1) using Aspergillus niger WU-2223L as a host and examined the effects of increase in NADP(+)-ICDH activity on citric acid production. Under citric acid-producing conditions with glucose as the carbon source, the amounts of citric acid produced and glucose consumed by OPI-1 for the 12-d cultivation period decreased by 18.7 and 10.5%, respectively, compared with those by WU-2223L. These results indicate that the amount of citric acid produced by A. niger can be altered with the NADP(+)-ICDH activity. Therefore, NADP(+)-ICDH is an important regulator of citric acid production in the TCA cycle of A. niger. Thus, we propose that the icdA gene is a potentially valuable tool for modulating citric acid production by metabolic engineering.

  17. Potentiometric determination of milligram amounts of uranium by semiautomatic titrator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryzhinskij, M.V.; Stepanov, A.V.; Preobrazhenskaya, L.D.; Solntseva, L.F.; Gromova, E.A.

    1978-01-01

    A semiautomatic titrator is described which allows gravimetriotentiometricc-p titrat mg amounts of substances. Milligram amounts of uranium (absolute contents and oxygen/uranium ratio) in U 3 O 8 were determined as an example of the titrator action. The relative standard deviation was less than 0.001

  18. 41 CFR 105-56.019 - Offset amount.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Administration 56-SALARY OFFSET FOR INDEBTEDNESS OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO THE UNITED STATES Centralized Salary... referred for offset under this subpart is $100. (b) The amount offset from a salary payment under this... resolved to the satisfaction of GSA. ...

  19. Reversal of hyperglycemia in mice by using human expandable insulin-producing cells differentiated from fetal liver progenitor cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zalzman, Michal; Gupta, Sanjeev; Giri, Ranjit K.; Berkovich, Irina; Sappal, Baljit S.; Karnieli, Ohad; Zern, Mark A.; Fleischer, Norman; Efrat, Shimon

    2003-06-01

    Beta-cell replacement is considered to be the most promising approach for treatment of type 1 diabetes. Its application on a large scale is hindered by a shortage of cells for transplantation. Activation of insulin expression, storage, and regulated secretion in stem/progenitor cells offers novel ways to overcome this shortage. We explored whether fetal human progenitor liver cells (FH) could be induced to differentiate into insulin-producing cells after expression of the pancreatic duodenal homeobox 1 (Pdx1) gene, which is a key regulator of pancreatic development and insulin expression in beta cells. FH cells possess a considerable replication capacity, and this was further extended by introduction of the gene for the catalytic subunit of human telomerase. Immortalized FH cells expressing Pdx1 activated multiple beta-cell genes, produced and stored considerable amounts of insulin, and released insulin in a regulated manner in response to glucose. When transplanted into hyperglycemic immunodeficient mice, the cells restored and maintained euglycemia for prolonged periods. Quantitation of human C-peptide in the mouse serum confirmed that the glycemia was normalized by the transplanted human cells. This approach offers the potential of a novel source of cells for transplantation into patients with type 1 diabetes.

  20. MARVIN: Distributed reasoning over large-scale Semantic Web data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oren, E.; Kotoulas, S.; Anadiotis, G.; Siebes, R.M.; ten Teije, A.C.M.; van Harmelen, F.A.H.

    2009-01-01

    Many Semantic Web problems are difficult to solve through common divide-and-conquer strategies, since they are hard to partition. We present Marvin, a parallel and distributed platform for processing large amounts of RDF data, on a network of loosely coupled peers. We present our divide-conquer-swap

  1. Sugar amount analysis in food from Lithuanian food market

    OpenAIRE

    Gudauskaitė, Milda

    2015-01-01

    When taking too much simple sugar, especially sucrose, harmful health effects occur: more tooth decay occurs, the excess sugar coverts into fat, digestive system gets irritated, increase of weight, possibility in increasing of developing cancer cells, pancreatic and other misbalances in the endocrine organs. Thesis goal: to perform sugar amount analysis in Lithuanian food market Analysis methodology. Assessing the amount of sugar (g/100g) there was analyzed 147 major food la...

  2. Using Java to visualize and manipulate large arrays of neutron scattering data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikkelson, D.; Worlton, T.; Chatterjee, A.; Hammonds, J.; Chen, D.

    2000-01-01

    The Intense Pulsed Neutron Source at Argonne National Laboratory is a world class pulsed neutron source with thirteen instruments designed to characterize materials using time-of-flight neutron scattering techniques. For each instrument, a collimated pulse of neutrons is directed to a material sample. The neutrons are scattered by the sample and detected by arrays of detectors. The type, number and arrangement of detectors vary widely from instrument to instrument, depending on which properties of materials are being studied. In all cases, the faster, higher energy neutrons reach the detectors sooner than the lower energy neutrons. This produces a time-of-flight spectrum at each detector element. The time-of-flight spectrum produced by each detector element records the scattering intensity at hundreds to thousands of discrete time intervals. Since there are typically between two hundred and ten thousand distinct detector elements, a single set of raw data can include millions of points. Often many such datasets are collected for a single sample to determine the effect of different conditions on the microscopic structure and dynamics of the sample. In this project, Java was used to construct a portable highly interactive system for viewing and operating on large collections of time-of-flight spectra. Java performed surprisingly well in handling large amounts of data quickly was fast enough even with standard PC hardware. Although Java may not be the choice at this time for applications where computational efficiency is the primary refinement, any disadvantages in this case were outweighed by the advantages of a clean object oriented language with a portable set of GUI components. The authors anticipate that Java will prove useful for scientific computing and data visualization in situations where portability, case of use and effective use of software development manpower are critical

  3. A sorites paradox in the conventional definition of amount of substance

    OpenAIRE

    Nigel Wheatley

    2011-01-01

    The conventional definition of amount of substance _n_ is as a quantity proportional to number of entities _N_. This implies that n is discrete for small _N_ while _n_ is considered to be continuous at the macroscopic scale, leading to a sorites paradox. A practical criterion is proposed for distinguishing between amount of substance and number of entities, and the implications for the conventional definition of amount of substance are discussed.

  4. Evaluation of Volatile Organic Compounds and Carbonyl Compounds Present in the Cabins of Newly Produced, Medium- and Large-Size Coaches in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan-Yang Lu

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available An air-conditioned coach is an important form of transportation in modern motorized society; as a result, there is an increasing concern of in-vehicle air pollution. In this study, we aimed to identify and quantify the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs and carbonyl compounds (CCs in air samples collected from the cabins of newly produced, medium- and large-size coaches. Among the identified VOCs and CCs, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein/acetone, and isovaleraldehyde were relatively abundant in the cabins. Time was found to affect the emissions of the contaminants in the coaches. Except for benzaldehyde, valeraldehyde and benzene, the highest in-vehicle concentrations of VOCs and CCs were observed on the 15th day after coming off the assembly line, and the concentrations exhibited an approximately inverted U-shaped pattern as a function of time. Interestingly, this study also showed that the interior temperature of the coaches significantly affected the VOCs emissions from the interior materials, whereas the levels of CCs were mainly influenced by the relative humidity within the coaches. In China, guidelines and regulations for the in-vehicle air quality assessment of the coaches have not yet been issued. The results of this study provide further understanding of the in-vehicle air quality of air-conditioned coaches and can be used in the development of both specific and general rules regarding medium- and large-size coaches.

  5. 42 CFR 405.817 - Principles for determining amount in controversy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Principles for determining amount in controversy... the Medicare Part B Program § 405.817 Principles for determining amount in controversy. (a) Individual... may assert that the aggregation principles contained in this subpart may be applied to determine the...

  6. Study on Ablation Behavior of Phenolic Composites Prepared with Different Amounts of Zirconia and Asbestos Fiber

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mir Asad Mirzapour

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Ablative materials play a strategic role in aerospace industry. These materialsproduce a thermal protection system which protects the structure, theaerodynamic surfaces and the payload of vehicles and probes duringhypersonic flight through a planetary atmosphere. In this work, we investigated the effect of refractory zirconium oxide on mechanical, heat stability and ablation properties of asbestos/phenolic/zirconia composites. The asbestos/phenolic/zirconia composites were produced with different percentages of zirconia filler from 7 to 21% with average size of 7 μm and different number of layers of asbestos, say 3 to 6 layers. These ablative composites were made by an autoclave curing cycle process.The densities of the composites were in the range of 1.68 to 1.88 g/cm3. Ablation properties of composites were determined by oxy-acetylene torch environment and burn-through time, erosion rates and back surface temperature in the first required 20 seconds. Thermal stability of the produced materials was estimated by means of thermal gravimetric analysis, in both air and nitrogen which consisted of dynamic scans at a heating rate of 10°C/min from 30 to 1000°C with bulk samples of about 20±1 mg. The results showed that when the amount of zirconia was raised from 7% to 21%, the erosion rate and the back surface temperature of composites increased byabout 24% and 26% respectively, and the heat capacity of the composites increased by about 85%. Also, the result showed that when the thickness of composites of 4.2 mm was increased to 10.1mm the burn-through time raised by about 226% and erosion rate dropped by about 41%. These composites displayed the maximum flexural strength when the amount of zirconia was about 14%.

  7. Development of Best Practices for Large-scale Data Management Infrastructure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    S. Stadtmüller; H.F. Mühleisen (Hannes); C. Bizer; M.L. Kersten (Martin); J.A. de Rijke (Arjen); F.E. Groffen (Fabian); Y. Zhang (Ying); G. Ladwig; A. Harth; M Trampus

    2012-01-01

    htmlabstractThe amount of available data for processing is constantly increasing and becomes more diverse. We collect our experiences on deploying large-scale data management tools on local-area clusters or cloud infrastructures and provide guidance to use these computing and storage

  8. Local decoherence-resistant quantum states of large systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mishra, Utkarsh; Sen, Aditi; Sen, Ujjwal, E-mail: ujjwal@hri.res.in

    2015-02-06

    We identify an effectively decoherence-free class of quantum states, each of which consists of a “minuscule” and a “large” sector, against local noise. In particular, the content of entanglement and other quantum correlations in the minuscule to large partition is independent of the number of particles in their large sectors, when all the particles suffer passage through local amplitude and phase damping channels. The states of the large sectors are distinct in terms of markedly different amounts of violation of Bell inequality. In case the large sector is macroscopic, such states are akin to the Schrödinger cat. - Highlights: • We identify an effectively decoherence-free class of quantum states of large systems. • We work with local noise models. • Decay of entanglement as well as information-theoretic quantum correlations considered. • The states are of the form of the Schrödinger cats, with minuscule and large sectors. • The states of the large sector are distinguishable by their violation of Bell inequality.

  9. Foam rheology at large deformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Géminard, J.-C.; Pastenes, J. C.; Melo, F.

    2018-04-01

    Large deformations are prone to cause irreversible changes in materials structure, generally leading to either material hardening or softening. Aqueous foam is a metastable disordered structure of densely packed gas bubbles. We report on the mechanical response of a foam layer subjected to quasistatic periodic shear at large amplitude. We observe that, upon increasing shear, the shear stress follows a universal curve that is nearly exponential and tends to an asymptotic stress value interpreted as the critical yield stress at which the foam structure is completely remodeled. Relevant trends of the foam mechanical response to cycling are mathematically reproduced through a simple law accounting for the amount of plastic deformation upon increasing stress. This view provides a natural interpretation to stress hardening in foams, demonstrating that plastic effects are present in this material even for minute deformation.

  10. Synthesis of Mesoporous Carbons from Date Pits for the Adsorption of Large Molecular Weight Micropollutants in Wastewater

    KAUST Repository

    Al Jeffrey, Ahmed

    2013-07-01

    Efficient reuse of waste water requires removal of micro-pollutants from waste water streams by affordable and sustainable methods. Activated carbon is considered a powerful adsorbent due to its high surface area and low cost of treatment, compared to other expensive methods such as membrane filtration. Producing activated carbon with larger mesoporosity (>2nm) is of particular interest in industry in the removal of larger molecular sized pollutants. This study reports the synthesis of mesoporous activated carbons from a nonsoluble biomass precursor (date-pits) along with chemical activation using ZnCl2. Thus, produced activated carbon showed high surface area and large mesopore volume up to 1571 m2/g and 2.00 cm3/g respectively. In addition, the pore size of the product was as high as 9.30 nm. As a method of verification, HRTEM (Highresolution transmission electron microscopy) was used to directly authenticate the pore size of the synthesized activated carbons. Tannic acid and atrazine were used as model waste water pollutants and the adsorption capability of the produced activated carbon for these pollutants were evaluated and compared to a commercial mesoporous carbon: G60 from Norit. The results showed that the sorption capacity of produced activated carbon for tannic acid was 2 times that of G60 while the sorption capacity of produced activated carbon for atrazine was lower than that of G60. The activated carbon was also evaluated for adsorption of real secondary effluent municipal wastewater and the results suggest that the produced activated carbon was able to sorb a greater amount of biopolymers than G60. These results demonstrate that the thus-produced activated carbon may be a promising sorbent for waste water treatment.

  11. Effects of Different Amounts of Nitrogen and Azotobarvar on Growth Characteristics and Yield of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ghobad mohammadpoor

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Introduction One of the most important agricultural efforts is to minimize the use of chemicals nitrogen fertilizers and to replace it with biological nitrogen fertilizers to produce healthy productions. In dry conditions the use of industrial nitrogen fertilizers depends on the amount of rainfall and consumed cautiously. Low consumption of nitrogen sources reduce crop growth and yield and higher than optimum applications of chemical Nitrogen sources can cause many environmental disorders. This is while Azotobacter as a soil bacteria also fixes nitrogen, produce vitamins, growth hormones and antibiotics and also increases the photosynthesis, plant growth and grain yield and reduces the need to application of chemical Nitrogen. Materials and Methods In order to study the effect of biological and industrial nitrogen fertilizers on growth, yield and yield components of chickpea (Bivanij variety, an experiment was conducted with split plot arrangement based on randomized complete block design (RCBD with four replications under rainfed conditions in the Telesm village, Dalahoo, Kermanshah, during 2013 agricultural season. Climate of the region is temperate and semi-arid with 535.6 mm of rainfall. Soil texture is clay - loam with 0.02 percent of nitrogen. Basic amount of Nitrogen fertilizer was considered 30 Kg.ha-1 Urea and four levels of chemical nitrogen fertilizers including: %50 of base fertilizer, %100 of base fertilizer, %150 of base fertilizer and no fertilizer (control were assumed as main plot factors. Similarly, the basic amount of Azotobarvar bio-fertilizer was considered as 100 g.ha-1 and four levels of it including %50 of base fertilizer, %100 of base fertilizer, %150 of base fertilizer and no bio-fertilizer (control were assumed as sub plot factors. Bio-fertilizers are inoculated to seeds and planting was done manually on 19 March 2013. Density was considered 40 plants per square meter with 25 cm intervals between rows and 10 cm on the

  12. Further enhanced production of heterologous proteins by double-gene disruption (ΔAosedD ΔAovps10) in a hyper-producing mutant of Aspergillus oryzae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Lin; Maruyama, Jun-ichi; Kitamoto, Katsuhiko

    2013-07-01

    The filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae is used as one of the most favored hosts for heterologous protein production due to its ability to secrete large amounts of proteins into the culture medium. We previously generated a hyper-producing mutant strain of A. oryzae, AUT1, which produced 3.2- and 2.6-fold higher levels of bovine chymosin (CHY) and human lysozyme (HLY), respectively, compared with the wild-type strain. However, further enhancement of heterologous protein production by multiple gene disruption is difficult because of the low gene-targeting efficiency in strain AUT1. Here, we disrupted the ligD gene, which is involved in nonhomologous recombination, and the pyrG gene to create uridine/uracil auxotrophy in strain AUT1, to generate a hyper-producing mutant applicable to pyrG marker recycling with highly efficient gene targeting. We generated single and double disruptants of the tripeptidyl peptidase gene AosedD and vacuolar sorting receptor gene Aovps10 in the hyper-producing mutant background, and found that all disruptants showed significant increases in heterologous protein production. Particularly, double disruption of the Aovps10 and AosedD genes increased the production levels of CHY and HLY by 1.6- and 2.1-fold, respectively, compared with the parental strain. Thus, we successfully generated a fungal host for further enhancing the heterologous protein production ability by combining mutational and molecular breeding techniques.

  13. Use of alternative waste materials in producing ultra-high performance concrete

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Shamsad

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In a corrosive environment similar to that of the Arabian Gulf, use of high-performance concrete is one of the options to ensure a target service life of concrete structures. However, in absence of good quality coarse aggregates, it is a challenging task to produce high-performance concrete. Recently, the possibility of producing ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC has been widely reported in the literature. UHPC is produced without coarse aggregates at very low water to cementitious materials ratio, high amounts of cement, mineral admixtures, and superplasticizer along with fine quartz sand as aggregate, quartz powder as micro-filler, a nd steel fibres for fracture toughness. In the present work, an effort was made to utilize local waste materials as alternative mineral admixtures and local dune sand as aggregate in producing different UHPC mixtures without addition of quartz powder. The mechanical properties, shrinkage, and durability characteristics of the UHPC mixtures were studied. Test results indicate that it is possible to produce UHPC mixtures using alternative waste materials, which would have targeted flow, strength, toughness, and resistance against reinforcement corrosion. The information presented in the paper would help in optimum selection of a mixture of UHPC considering the availability of local materials, exposure conditions and structural requirements.

  14. The future of UK gas producers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hallas, P.A.

    1991-01-01

    Traditionally, an oil company wishing to develop UK gas reserves almost always faced a protracted gas sales negotiation with British Gas. British Gas then had an effective monopoly in the resale of that gas to final consumers. This traditional pattern is now in a process of fundamental change, as a result of recent UK gas market re-regulation and the emergence of a new large scale opportunity to sell gas for power generation. The impact of these changes is still not very well understood outside a relatively small group of gas specialists but is likely to be significant for British Gas, consumers and UK gas producers. This paper outlines the background to the recent changes, the possible future of UK gas marketing and the likely impact on gas producers in the North Sea

  15. Study of the proper contribution of independent power producing business in the long-range power supply and demand plan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jo, S.B. [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Euiwang (Korea, Republic of)

    1997-12-01

    The independent power producing business has expanded its size and process through the Long-range Power Supply and Demand Plan of 1993, 1995, and it is high time that full-scale competition in the power generation market began to emerge. This report assesses the marginal costs of independent and general power producing businesses on a theoretical basis on the proper size of independent power producing business, and presents the methods to compare these. But, since there follows several problems in applying this theoretical model, a practical standard to decide the proper level of independent power production amount is presented. That is, while not much burdening the existing industrial structure, I search for ways to present the amount of independent power production and the methods of power generation to make sure that the competition effect is maximized when full-scale competition started. However, in the long-term, the allotment of independent power production itself could be a violation to the basic spirit of competition. A more desirable way is to allow independent power producers and the Korea Power Corp. to freely compete on all types of power generation and facilities. The supply plan should be also operated smoothly and flexibly since the types of power generation and the amounts reflect the result of competition not the predetermined ones. Therefore, a long-range power supply and demand plan should be converted from a planning-oriented concept to a market-oriented base with the structural overhaul of the power generation industry for the effective resources distribution of power supply facilities. 18 refs., 2 figs., 7 tabs.

  16. 41 CFR 105-56.029 - Offset amount.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Administration 56-SALARY OFFSET FOR INDEBTEDNESS OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES TO THE UNITED STATES Centralized Salary... salary offset under this subpart is $100. (b) The amount offset from a salary payment under this subpart... otherwise resolved to the satisfaction of the creditor agency. ...

  17. Safe handling of kilogram amounts of fuel-grade plutonium and of gram amounts of plutonium-238, americium-241 and curium-244

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Louwrier, K.P.; Richter, K.

    1976-01-01

    During the past 10 years about 600 glove-boxes have been installed at the Institute for Transuranium Elements at Karlsruhe. About 80% of these glove-boxes have been designed and equipped for handling 100-g to 1-kg amounts of 239 Pu containing 8-12% 240 Pu (low-exposure plutonium). A small proportion of the glove-boxes is equipped with additional shielding in the form of lead sheet or lead glass for work with recycled plutonium. In these glove-boxes gram-amounts of 241 Am have also been handled for preparation of Al-Am targets using tongs and additional shielding inside the glove-boxes themselves. Water- and lead-shielded glove-boxes equipped with telemanipulators have been installed for routine work with gram-amounts of 241 Am, 243 Am and 244 Cm. A prediction of the expected radiation dose for the personnel is difficult and only valid for a preparation procedure with well-defined preparation steps, owing to the fact that gamma dose-rates depend strongly upon proximity and source seize. Gamma radiation dose measurements during non-routine work for 241 Am target preparation showed that handling of gram amounts leads to a rather high irradiation dose for the personnel, despite lead or steel glove-box shielding and shielding within the glove-boxes. A direct glove-hand to americium contact must be avoided. For all glove-handling of materials with gamma radiation an irradiation control of the forearms of the personnel by, for example, thermoluminescence dosimeters is necessary. Routine handling of americium and curium should be executed with master-slave equipment behind neutron and gamma shielding. (author)

  18. 9 CFR 381.412 - Reference amounts customarily consumed per eating occasion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Amount Ready-to-serve Reference Amount Ready-to-cook Egg mixtures, (western style omelet, souffle, egg... cook poultry cuts, including marinated, tenderized, injected cuts of poultry, poultry corn dogs...

  19. THE EFFECT OF AMOUNT OF NATURAL ZEOLIT CATALYST IN PRODUCT OF POLYPROPILENE (PP PLASTIC WASTE PYROLYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    khalimatus sa'diyah

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available To overcome the waste problem, especially plastic waste , environmental concerned scientists from various disciplines have conducted various research and actions. Catalytic pyrolysis processes was chosen as an alternative method to recycle plastic waste. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of natural zeolit catalyst on the pyrolysis process with oxygen-free conditions to obtain maximum hydrocarbon compounds (gasoline fraction in C5-C9. The process of pyrolysis was conducted in 3.5 dm3 unstirred stainless steel semi-batch reactor. This process operated at atmospheric pressure with nitrogen injection. Plastic waste that used in this particular paper was 50 grams of polypropylene (PP. In pyrolysis process, natural zeolite catalysts was added 2,5 gram (5% weight of natural zeolite per weight of plastic waste samples, 5 gram (10% , and 10 gram (20%. Temperature of pyrolysis was 450°C and were maintained until 30 minutes. Steam that produced from pyrolisis was condensed and analysed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS to determine yield of hydrocarbons produced. From the analysis of GC-MS, liquid products of pyrolysis contained lots of aromatic hydrocarbons. The optimal amount of catalyst that produce liquid with hydrocarbon compound that has the quality of gasoline was 10 gram (20% with ≤C9 composition as 29,16% n-paraffin, 9,22% cycloparaffin, and 61,64% aromatics.

  20. Radionuclides in produced water from Norwegian oil and gas installations - concentrations and bioavailability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eriksen, D.Oe.; Sidhu, R.; Stralberg, E.; Iden, K.I.; Hylland, K.; Ruus, A.; Roeyset, O.; Berntssen, M.H.G.; Rye, H.

    2006-01-01

    Substantial amounts of produced water, containing elevated levels of radionuclides (mainly 226 Ra and 228 Ra) are discharged to the sea as a result of oil and gas production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. So far no study has assessed the potential radiological effects on marine biota in connection with radionuclide discharges to the North Sea. The main objective of the project is to establish radiological safe discharge limits for radium, lead and polonium associated with other components in produced water from oil and gas installations on the Norwegian continental shelf. This study reports results indicating that the presence of added chemicals such as scale inhibitors in produced water has a marked influence on the formation of radium and barium sulphates when produced water is mixed with sea water. Thus, the mobility and bioavailability of radium (and barium) will be larger than anticipated. Also, the bioavailability of food-borne radium is shown to increase due to presence of such chemicals. (author)

  1. Yogurt produced with cajuí (Anacardium othonianum Rizz

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camila Martins Fonseca

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Yogurt added with 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of cajuí pulp (Anacardium othonianum Rizz were characterized. Acidity, pH, protein, dry matter, firmness, consistency, cohesiveness and quantification of lactic acid bacteria were conducted at 0, 10, 20 and 30 days. Identification of volatiles compounds and sensory tests of preference, acceptance and consumption intention were performed on the first day of shelf-life. Preferred formulations are those that contain smaller proportions of pulp (5% which coincide with lower acidity. There was no significant effect (P>0.05 of the amount of pulp added and storage time on dry matter, lactic acid bacteria count, firmness, consistency and cohesiveness. Acidity and pH were significantly influenced (P <0.05 by the amount of pulp added and storage time. Protein levels were significantly lower (P <0.05 with the increase in the quantity of pulp added. Volatiles compounds in cajuí yogurt include ethyl butanoate, methyl butanoate, ethanol, hexanal, benzaldehyde and 3-methyl butanoate. There are technological potential in the production of yoghurt with cajuí with addition of 5% in proportion to the total volume of yogurt produced.

  2. Construction of acetoin high-producing Bacillus subtilis strain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanjun Tian

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the construction and selection of a high-producing mutant, Bacillus subtilis HB-32, with enhanced acetoin yield and productivity. The mutant was obtained by the protoplast fusion of a Bacillus subtilis mutant TH-49 (Val− producing acetoin and Bacillus licheniformis AD-30 producing α-acetolactate decarboxylase, with the fusogen polyethylene glycol and after the regeneration and selection, etc. of the fusant. The acetoin production reached 49.64 g/L, which is an increase of 61.8% compared to that of B. subtilis strain TH-49. Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis was performed to determine the mutagenic and protoplast fusion effects and the genomic changes in the acetoin high-producing strain compared to the parent strains at the molecular level. The constructed strain was shown to be promising for large-scale acetoin production. Future studies should focus on the application of the mutant strain in practice.

  3. QUALITY ASPECTS OF AERIAL DIGITAL ORTHOPHOTOS, THE PRODUCERS POINT OF VIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Wiedemann

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper gives an overview on the problems occurring during commercial digital orthophoto (DOP production. There is a wide variety in requirements on orthophotos. It is no problem to produce good orthophotos in small areas, whereas production of good and homogeneous orthophotos in large areas remains a challenge. Therefore, we discuss large area orthophotos based on regular areal flight with regular flight parameters and nadir images, not on large numbers of images creating orthophotos based on various oblique images. The focus of the paper is to optimize the process of line production of orthophotos to achieve the best results under minimum usage of resources. Beside improvements in commercial software, the improvement in process design can help to achieve this objectives. It is necessary the attach importance to the different quality aspects to invest the limited resources at the most profitable process step. The requirements on orthophotos can be grouped into three categories: geometric, radiometric and aesthetic requirements. The main intention is to generate correct and well interpretable orthoimages, putting attention to geometry and radiometry. Many requirements cause enormous expenditures in flight time, number of images and amount of interactive editing work. Among the geometric aspects, the accuracy is the prominent factor. The geometric quality of the underlying digital terrain model (DTM is of outstanding importance. Depending on the used focal length during acquisition and overlap, geometric errors in the DTM are directly represented in the orthophoto. Particularly at manmade surface break lines, even horizontal DTM errors occur striking in the orthophotos. A special consideration is to put on objects outside the DTM surface. While buildings may be represented in a good manner in a digital surface models (DSM to generate so called “true orthophotos”, there is no way to represent vegetation, cables, poles etc. in an appropriate

  4. Feasibility of Technologies to Produce Coal-Based Fuels with Equal or Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions than Petroleum Fuels

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-12-22

    in operating pipeline compressors), and a negligible amount from coal; just under five percent was produced from biomass—mostly in the form of corn ...as is commonly reported for soy- and corn -based biofuels), and/or if biofuel production results in land use change causing deforestation (as has...produced via F-T synthesis are already approved for incorporation into commercial and military fuels, but other pathways (e.g., pyrolysis ) would

  5. Availability, quality and price of produce in low-income neighbourhood food stores in California raise equity issues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gosliner, Wendi; Brown, Daniel M; Sun, Betty C; Woodward-Lopez, Gail; Crawford, Patricia B

    2018-06-01

    To assess produce availability, quality and price in a large sample of food stores in low-income neighbourhoods in California. Cross-sectional statewide survey. Between 2011 and 2015, local health departments assessed store type, WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children)/SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) participation, produce availability, quality and price of selected items in stores in low-income neighbourhoods. Secondary data provided reference chain supermarket produce prices matched by county and month. t Tests and ANOVA examined differences by store type; regression models examined factors associated with price. Large grocery stores (n 231), small markets (n 621) and convenience stores (n 622) in 225 neighbourhoods. Produce in most large groceries was rated high quality (97 % of fruits, 98 % of vegetables), but not in convenience stores (25 % fruits, 14 % vegetables). Small markets and convenience stores participating in WIC and/or SNAP had better produce availability, variety and quality than non-participating stores. Produce prices across store types were, on average, higher than reference prices from matched chain supermarkets (27 % higher in large groceries, 37 % higher in small markets, 102 % higher in convenience stores). Price was significantly inversely associated with produce variety, adjusting for quality, store type, and SNAP and WIC participation. The study finds that fresh produce is more expensive in low-income neighbourhoods and that convenience stores offer more expensive, poorer-quality produce than other stores. Variety is associated with price and most limited in convenience stores, suggesting more work is needed to determine how convenience stores can provide low-income consumers with access to affordable, high-quality produce. WIC and SNAP can contribute to the solution.

  6. 46 CFR 308.300 - Insured amount-application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS WAR RISK INSURANCE Second Seamen's War Risk Insurance § 308.300 Insured amount—application. An applicant for Second Seamen's war risk insurance shall not state the amount of insurance desired, which shall be as provided in...

  7. Technological Aspects of Creating Large-size Optical Telescopes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. V. Sychev

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A concept of the telescope creation, first of all, depends both on a choice of the optical scheme to form optical radiation and images with minimum losses of energy and information and on a choice of design to meet requirements for strength, stiffness, and stabilization characteristics in real telescope operation conditions. Thus, the concept of creating large-size telescopes, certainly, involves the use of adaptive optics methods and means.The level of technological capabilities to realize scientific and engineering ideas define a successful development of large-size optical telescopes in many respects. All developers pursue the same aim that is to raise an amount of information by increasing a main mirror diameter of the telescope.The article analyses the adaptive telescope designs developed in our country. Using a domestic ACT-25 telescope as an example, it considers creation of large-size optical telescopes in terms of technological aspects. It also describes the telescope creation concept features, which allow reaching marginally possible characteristics to ensure maximum amount of information.The article compares a wide range of large-size telescopes projects. It shows that a domestic project to create the adaptive ACT-25 super-telescope surpasses its foreign counterparts, and there is no sense to implement Euro50 (50m and OWL (100m projects.The considered material gives clear understanding on a role of technological aspects in development of such complicated optic-electronic complexes as a large-size optical telescope. The technological criteria of an assessment offered in the article, namely specific informational content of the telescope, its specific mass, and specific cost allow us to reveal weaknesses in the project development and define a reserve regarding further improvement of the telescope.The analysis of results and their judgment have shown that improvement of optical largesize telescopes in terms of their maximum

  8. The In Vitro Mass-Produced Model Mycorrhizal Fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis, Significantly Increases Yields of the Globally Important Food Security Crop Cassava

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ceballos, Isabel; Ruiz, Michael; Fernández, Cristhian; Peña, Ricardo

    2013-01-01

    The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is formed between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant roots. The fungi provide the plant with inorganic phosphate (P). The symbiosis can result in increased plant growth. Although most global food crops naturally form this symbiosis, very few studies have shown that their practical application can lead to large-scale increases in food production. Application of AMF to crops in the tropics is potentially effective for improving yields. However, a main problem of using AMF on a large-scale is producing cheap inoculum in a clean sterile carrier and sufficiently concentrated to cheaply transport. Recently, mass-produced in vitro inoculum of the model mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis became available, potentially making its use viable in tropical agriculture. One of the most globally important food plants in the tropics is cassava. We evaluated the effect of in vitro mass-produced R. irregularis inoculum on the yield of cassava crops at two locations in Colombia. A significant effect of R. irregularis inoculation on yield occurred at both sites. At one site, yield increases were observed irrespective of P fertilization. At the other site, inoculation with AMF and 50% of the normally applied P gave the highest yield. Despite that AMF inoculation resulted in greater food production, economic analyses revealed that AMF inoculation did not give greater return on investment than with conventional cultivation. However, the amount of AMF inoculum used was double the recommended dose and was calculated with European, not Colombian, inoculum prices. R. irregularis can also be manipulated genetically in vitro, leading to improved plant growth. We conclude that application of in vitro R. irregularis is currently a way of increasing cassava yields, that there is a strong potential for it to be economically profitable and that there is enormous potential to improve this efficiency further in the future. PMID:23950975

  9. The in vitro mass-produced model mycorrhizal fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis, significantly increases yields of the globally important food security crop cassava.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel Ceballos

    Full Text Available The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is formed between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF and plant roots. The fungi provide the plant with inorganic phosphate (P. The symbiosis can result in increased plant growth. Although most global food crops naturally form this symbiosis, very few studies have shown that their practical application can lead to large-scale increases in food production. Application of AMF to crops in the tropics is potentially effective for improving yields. However, a main problem of using AMF on a large-scale is producing cheap inoculum in a clean sterile carrier and sufficiently concentrated to cheaply transport. Recently, mass-produced in vitro inoculum of the model mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis became available, potentially making its use viable in tropical agriculture. One of the most globally important food plants in the tropics is cassava. We evaluated the effect of in vitro mass-produced R. irregularis inoculum on the yield of cassava crops at two locations in Colombia. A significant effect of R. irregularis inoculation on yield occurred at both sites. At one site, yield increases were observed irrespective of P fertilization. At the other site, inoculation with AMF and 50% of the normally applied P gave the highest yield. Despite that AMF inoculation resulted in greater food production, economic analyses revealed that AMF inoculation did not give greater return on investment than with conventional cultivation. However, the amount of AMF inoculum used was double the recommended dose and was calculated with European, not Colombian, inoculum prices. R. irregularis can also be manipulated genetically in vitro, leading to improved plant growth. We conclude that application of in vitro R. irregularis is currently a way of increasing cassava yields, that there is a strong potential for it to be economically profitable and that there is enormous potential to improve this efficiency further in the future.

  10. Health risk assessment for radium discharged in produced waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamilton, L.D.; Meinhold, A.F.; Nagy, J.

    1991-01-01

    Produced water generated during the production of oil and gas can contain enhanced levels of radium. This naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) is discharged into freshwater streams, estuarine, coastal and outer continental shelf waters. Large volumes of produced waters are discharged to coastal waters along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. The Gulf of Mexico is an important producer of fish and shellfish, and there is concern that radium discharged to coastal Louisiana could contaminate fish and shellfish used by people for food, and present a significant increase in cancer risk. This paper describes a screening-level assessment of the potential cancer risks posed by radium discharged to coastal Louisiana in oil-field produced waters. This screening analysis was performed to determine if a more comprehensive and realistic assessment is necessary, and because of the conservative assumptions embedded in the analysis overestimates the risk associated with the discharge of radium in produced waters. Two isotopes of radium (Ra-226 and Ra-228) are the radionuclides of most concern in produced water in terms of potential human health effects

  11. Material-Point Analysis of Large-Strain Problems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Søren

    The aim of this thesis is to apply and improve the material-point method for modelling of geotechnical problems. One of the geotechnical phenomena that is a subject of active research is the study of landslides. A large amount of research is focused on determining when slopes become unstable. Hence......, it is possible to predict if a certain slope is stable using commercial finite element or finite difference software such as PLAXIS, ABAQUS or FLAC. However, the dynamics during a landslide are less explored. The material-point method (MPM) is a novel numerical method aimed at analysing problems involving...... materials subjected to large strains in a dynamical time–space domain. This thesis explores the material-point method with the specific aim of improving the performance for geotechnical problems. Large-strain geotechnical problems such as landslides pose a major challenge to model numerically. Employing...

  12. Phenomenology of a pseudo-scalar inflaton: naturally large nongaussianity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barnaby, Neil; Namba, Ryo; Peloso, Marco

    2011-01-01

    Many controlled realizations of chaotic inflation employ pseudo-scalar axions. Pseudo-scalars φ are naturally coupled to gauge fields through cφF F-tilde . In the presence of this coupling, gauge field quanta are copiously produced by the rolling inflaton. The produced gauge quanta, in turn, source inflaton fluctuations via inverse decay. These new cosmological perturbations add incoherently with the ''vacuum'' perturbations, and are highly nongaussian. This provides a natural mechanism to generate large nongaussianity in single or multi field slow-roll inflation. The resulting phenomenological signatures are highly distinctive: large nongaussianity of (nearly) equilateral shape, in addition to detectably large values of both the scalar spectral tilt and tensor-to-scalar ratio (both being typical of large field inflation). The WMAP bound on nongaussianity implies that the coupling c of the pseudo-scalar inflaton to any gauge field must be smaller than about 10 2 M p −1

  13. A Pipeline for Large Data Processing Using Regular Sampling for Unstructured Grids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berres, Anne Sabine [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Adhinarayanan, Vignesh [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Turton, Terece [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Feng, Wu [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Rogers, David Honegger [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-05-12

    Large simulation data requires a lot of time and computational resources to compute, store, analyze, visualize, and run user studies. Today, the largest cost of a supercomputer is not hardware but maintenance, in particular energy consumption. Our goal is to balance energy consumption and cognitive value of visualizations of resulting data. This requires us to go through the entire processing pipeline, from simulation to user studies. To reduce the amount of resources, data can be sampled or compressed. While this adds more computation time, the computational overhead is negligible compared to the simulation time. We built a processing pipeline at the example of regular sampling. The reasons for this choice are two-fold: using a simple example reduces unnecessary complexity as we know what to expect from the results. Furthermore, it provides a good baseline for future, more elaborate sampling methods. We measured time and energy for each test we did, and we conducted user studies in Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) for a range of different results we produced through sampling.

  14. The spatial thickness distribution of metal films produced by large area pulsed laser deposition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pryds, Nini; Schou, Jørgen; Linderoth, Søren

    2007-01-01

    Thin films of metals have been deposited in the large-area Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) Facility at Riso National Laboratory. Thin films of Ag and Ni were deposited with laser pulses from an excimer laser at 248 nm with a rectangular beam spot at a fluence of 10 J/cm(2) on glass substrates of 127...

  15. Irradiation studies of local Streptomyces strains for higher antibiotic producing capacity. Part of a coordinated programme on radiation microbiology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kintanar, Q.L.

    1978-06-01

    The 14 mutants produced by sequential exposure to gamma and ultraviolet irradiation were found to belong to different fundamental types of variants differing in morphology, stability, and metabolite spectra from the parent strain. The first hour mutants, M-1 to M-4 could be considered as belonging to the first category of mutants. Metabolites produced were the same as the parent but differ only in quantity. One was a morphological mutant, M-4 which differed from the parent strain in the production of a brown pigment and conidia, and lack of aerial mycelium. It was found to be most stable and capable of producing high antibiotic yield. The rest of the mutants, M-5 to M-14 could be grouped in the second category. The synthesis of one or more metabolites of the parent strain has been lost by mutation. Unexpectedly, a mutant, M-9 instead of synthesizing either oxytetracycline or tetracycline produced chlortetracycline. Coconut water was found inhibitory to the production of antibiotics by the parent strain and the high and low producing mutants. Modifying the medium by incorporating phosphate and adjusting the initial pH to 4.75 raised the antibiotic yield of the 10% coconut water supplemented medium of M-4 more than the control. Higher pH than the optimum shortened the lag phase but reduced the antibiotic yield while a lower initial pH prevented the growth of the organism giving negligible yield. A reduction of pH to pH 4.5 for the initial 48 hours lengthened the lag phase with almost no adverse effect on the yield. The incorporation of large amounts of coconut water aggravated the amino acid imbalance of the medium

  16. 42 CFR 3.404 - Amount of a civil money penalty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Amount of a civil money penalty. 3.404 Section 3... money penalty. (a) The amount of a civil money penalty will be determined in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section and § 3.408 of this subpart. (b) The Secretary may impose a civil money penalty...

  17. 47 CFR 54.403 - Lifeline support amount.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... local exchange carrier serving the area in which the qualifying low-income consumer receives service, as... a qualifying low-income consumer's intrastate rate, if the carrier has received the non-federal... SERVICE Universal Service Support for Low-Income Consumers § 54.403 Lifeline support amount. (a) The...

  18. Characteristics of aggregation of daily rainfall in a middle-latitudes region during a climate variability in annual rainfall amount

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucero, Omar A.; Rozas, Daniel

    Climate variability in annual rainfall occurs because the aggregation of daily rainfall changes. A topic open to debate is whether that change takes place because rainfall becomes more intense, or because it rains more often, or a combination of both. The answer to this question is of interest for water resources planning, hydrometeorological design, and agricultural management. Change in the number of rainy days can cause major disruptions in hydrological and ecological systems, with important economic and social effects. Furthermore, the characteristics of daily rainfall aggregation in ongoing climate variability provide a reference to evaluate the capability of GCM to simulate changes in the hydrologic cycle. In this research, we analyze changes in the aggregation of daily rainfall producing a climate positive trend in annual rainfall in central Argentina, in the southern middle-latitudes. This state-of-the-art agricultural region has a semiarid climate with dry and wet seasons. Weather effects in the region influence world-market prices of several crops. Results indicate that the strong positive trend in seasonal and annual rainfall amount is produced by an increase in number of rainy days. This increase takes place in the 3-month periods January-March (summer) and April-June (autumn). These are also the 3-month periods showing a positive trend in the mean of annual rainfall. The mean of the distribution of annual number of rainy day (ANRD) increased in 50% in a 36-year span (starting at 44 days/year). No statistically significant indications on time changes in the probability distribution of daily rainfall amount were found. Non-periodic fluctuations in the time series of annual rainfall were analyzed using an integral wavelet transform. Fluctuations with a time scale of about 10 and 20 years construct the trend in annual rainfall amount. These types of non-periodic fluctuations have been observed in other regions of the world. This suggests that results of

  19. A simple and fast determination of microgram thorium in organic solution containing several hundreds times amount of uranium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yin Duanzhi; Cao Benhong; Yang Jinfeng

    1991-01-01

    Using spectrophotometric method, microgram thorium in 30% TBP-kerosene system containing large amount of uranium was successfully determined after one-step back-extraction with hydrochloric acid. The recovery of thorium is more than 98%, and the separation factor α U/Th is over 1 x 10 3 . Being reliable, simple and fast, the recommended method has been used in the research on spent fuel reprocessing and is expected applicable to other neutral phosphate extraction systems such as TOPO and DMHMP

  20. Cosmic-ray-produced stable nuclides: various production rates and their implications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reedy, R.C.

    1981-01-01

    The rates for a number of reactions producing certain stable nuclides, such as 3 He and 4 He, and fission in the moon are calculated for galactic-cosmic-ray particles and for solar protons. Solar-proton-induced reactions with bromine usually are not an important source of cosmogenic Kr isotopes. The 130 Ba(n,p) reaction cannot account for the undercalculation of 130 Xe production rates. Calculated production rates of 15 N, 13 C, and 2 H agree fairly well with rates inferred from measured excesses of these isotopes in samples with long exposure ages. Cosmic-ray-induced fission of U and Th can produce significant amounts of fission tracks and of 86 Kr, 134 Xe, and 136 Xe, especially in samples with long exposures to cosmic-ray particles