Pre-polishing on a CNC platform with bound abrasive contour tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoeffer, Adrienne E.

2003-05-01

Deterministic micorgrinding (DMG) of optical glasses and ceramics is the commercial manufacturing process of choice to shape glass surfaces prior to final finishing. This process employs rigid bound matrix diamond tooling resulting in surface roughness values of 3-51.tm peak to valley and 100-400nm rms, as well as mid-spatial frequency tool marks that require subsequent removal in secondary finishing steps. The ability to pre-polish optical surfaces within the grinding platform would reduce final finishing process times. Bound abrasive contour wheels containing cerium oxide, alumina or zirconia abrasives were constructed with an epoxy matrix. The effects of abrasive type, composition, and erosion promoters were examined for tool hardness (Shore D), and tested with commercial optical glasses in an OptiproTM CNC grinding platform. Metrology protocols were developed to examine tool wear and subsequent surface roughness. Work is directed to demonstrating effective material removal, improved surface roughness and cutter mark removal.

Prepolishing on a CNC platform with bound abrasive contour tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoeffler, Adrienne E.; Gregg, Leslie L.; Schoen, John M.; Fess, Edward M.; Hakiel, Michael; Jacobs, Stephen D.

2003-05-01

Deterministic microgrinding (DMG) of optical glasses and ceramics is the commercial manufacturing process of choice to shape glass surfaces prior to final finishing. This process employs rigid bound matrix diamond tooling resulting in surface roughness values of 3-5μm peak to valley and 100-400nm rms, as well as mid-spatial frequency tool marks that require subsequent removal in secondary finishing steps. The ability to pre-polish optical surfaces within the grinding platform would reduce final finishing process times. Bound abrasive contour wheels containing cerium oxide, alumina or zirconia abrasives were constructed with an epoxy matrix. The effects of abrasive type, composition, and erosion promoters were examined for tool hardness (Shore D), and tested with commercial optical glasses in an Optipro CNC grinding platform. Metrology protocols were developed to examine tool wear and subsequent surface roughness. Work is directed to demonstrating effective material removal, improved surface roughness and cutter mark removal.

Alaska Native Water Rights as Affected by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoebner, Kerry; And Others

1978-01-01

A strong legal claim exists for retained Native water rights on Alaska Native-selected lands which are paramount to subsequent competing users. Water rights are critical to the maintenance of Native subsistence economies and continued commercial developments. These water rights can and must be asserted and secured now. (Author/JC)

Ecology payoffs from red alder in southeast Alaska.

Treesearch

Sally Duncan

2004-01-01

Clearcutting has been the primary timber management practice in southeast Alaska forests since large-scale commercial forestry began in the 1950s. The dense, even-aged conifer stands that subsequently develop, however, may have undesirable consequences for some nontimber resources, most notably fish and wildlife.Red alder is frequently established in these...

Chick embryogenesis: a unique platform to study the effects of environmental factors on embryo development.

PubMed

Yahav, S; Brake, J

2014-01-01

Bird embryogenesis takes place in a relatively protected environment that can be manipulated especially well in domestic fowl (chickens) where incubation has long been a commercial process. The embryonic developmental process has been shown to begin in the oviduct such that the embryo has attained either the blastodermal and/or gastrulation stage of development at oviposition. Bird embryos can be affected by "maternal effects," and by environmental conditions during the pre-incubation and incubation periods. "Maternal effects" has been described as an evolutionary mechanism that has provided the mother, by hormonal deposition into the yolk, with the potential to proactively influence the development of her progeny by exposing them to her particular hormonal pattern in such a manner as to influence their ability to cope with the expected wide range of environmental conditions that may occur post-hatching. Another important aspect of "maternal effects" is the effect of the maternal nutrient intake on progeny traits. From a commercial broiler chicken production perspective, it has been established that greater cumulative nutrient intake by the hen during her pullet rearing phase prior to photostimulation resulted in faster growing broiler progeny. Generally, maternal effects on progeny, which have both a genetic and an environmental component represented by yolk hormones deposition and embryo nutrient utilization, have an important effect on the development of a wide range of progeny traits. Furthermore, commercial embryo development during pre-incubation storage and incubation, as well as during incubation per se has been shown to largely depend upon temperature, while other environmental factors that include egg position during storage, and the amount of H2O and CO2 lost by the egg and the subsequent effect on albumen pH and height during storage have become important environmental factors to be considered for successful embryogenesis under commercial conditions. Manipulating environmental temperature during the period of egg storage, during the intermediate pre-incubation period, and incubation period per se has been found to significantly affect embryo development, hatching progress, chick quality at hatching, and chick development post-hatching. These temperature manipulations have also been shown to affect the acquisition of thermotolerance to subsequent post-hatching thermal challenge. This chapter will focus on: a. "maternal effects" on embryo and post-hatching development; b. environmental effects during the post-ovipositional period of egg storage, the intermediate pre-incubation period, and incubation period per se on chick embryogenesis and subsequent post-hatching growth and development; and c. effects of temperature manipulations during the pre-incubation and incubation periods on acquisition of thermotolerance and development of secondary sexual characteristics in broiler chickens.

Epileptic Seizure Forewarning by Nonlinear Techniques

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hively, L.M.

2002-04-19

This report describes work that was performed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between UT-Battelle, LLC (Contractor) and a commercial participant, VIASYS Healthcare Inc. (formerly Nicolet Biomedical, Inc.). The Contractor has patented technology that forewarns of impending epileptic events via scalp electroencephalograph (EEG) data and successfully demonstrated this technology on 20 datasets from the Participant under pre-CRADA effort. This CRADA sought to bridge the gap between the Contractor's existing research-class software and a prototype medical device for subsequent commercialization by the Participant. The objectives of this CRADA were (1) development of a combination of existing computer hardware andmore » Contractor-patented software into a clinical process for warning of impending epileptic events in human patients, and (2) validation of the epilepsy warning methodology. This work modified the ORNL research-class FORTRAN for forewarning to run under a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI-FORTRAN software subsequently was installed on desktop computers at five epilepsy monitoring units. The forewarning prototypes have run for more than one year without any hardware or software failures. This work also reported extensive analysis of model and EEG datasets to demonstrate the usefulness of the methodology. However, the Participant recently chose to stop work on the CRADA, due to a change in business priorities. Much work remains to convert the technology into a commercial clinical or ambulatory device for patient use, as discussed in App. H.« less

Commercial renal transplantation: A risky venture? A single Canadian centre experience.

PubMed

Kapoor, Anil; Kwan, Kevin G; Whelan, J Paul

2011-10-01

Canada, akin to other developed nations, faces the growing challenges of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Even with expanded donor criteria for renal transplantation (the treatment of choice for ESRD), the supply of kidneys is outpaced by the escalating demand. Remuneration for kidney donation is proscribed in Canada. Without an option of living-related transplantation (biological or emotional donors), patients often struggle with long waiting lists for deceased donor transplantation. Accordingly, many patients are now opting for more expedient avenues to obtaining a renal transplant. Through commercial organ retrieval programs, from living and deceased donors, patients are travelling outside Canada to have the procedure performed. Between September 2001 and July 2007, 10 patients (7 males, 3 females) underwent commercial renal transplantation outside Canada. We describe the clinical outcomes of these patients managed postoperatively at our single Canadian transplant centre. Six living unrelated and 4 deceased donor renal transplantations were performed on these 10 patients (mean age 49.5 years). All procedures were performed in developing countries and the postoperative complications were subsequently treated at our centre. The mean post-transplant serum creatinine was 142 μmol/L. The average follow-up time was 29.8 months (range: 3 to 73 months). One patient required a transplant nephrectomy secondary to fungemia and subsequently died. One patient had a failed transplant and has currently resumed hemodialysis. Acute rejection was seen in 5 patients with 3 of these patients requiring re-initiation of hemodialysis. Only 1 patient had an uncomplicated course after surgery. Despite the kidney trade being a milieu of corruption and commercialization, and the high risk of unconventional complications, patients returning to Canada after commercial renal transplantation are the new reality. Patients are often arriving without any documentation; therefore, timely, goal-directed therapy for surgical and infectious complications is frequently delayed because of the time taken to establish an accurate diagnosis. Refuting the existence of commercial renal transplantation may not be a practical solution; more consistent communication and documentation with transplant teams may be more pragmatic. In the current climate, patients considering the option of overseas commercial renal transplantation should be advised of the potential increased risks.

Commercial renal transplantation: A risky venture? A single Canadian centre experience

PubMed Central

Kapoor, Anil; Kwan, Kevin G.; Whelan, J. Paul

2011-01-01

Background: Canada, akin to other developed nations, faces the growing challenges of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Even with expanded donor criteria for renal transplantation (the treatment of choice for ESRD), the supply of kidneys is outpaced by the escalating demand. Remuneration for kidney donation is proscribed in Canada. Without an option of living-related transplantation (biological or emotional donors), patients often struggle with long waiting lists for deceased donor transplantation. Accordingly, many patients are now opting for more expedient avenues to obtaining a renal transplant. Through commercial organ retrieval programs, from living and deceased donors, patients are travelling outside Canada to have the procedure performed. Methods: Between September 2001 and July 2007, 10 patients (7 males, 3 females) underwent commercial renal transplantation outside Canada. We describe the clinical outcomes of these patients managed postoperatively at our single Canadian transplant centre. Results: Six living unrelated and 4 deceased donor renal transplantations were performed on these 10 patients (mean age 49.5 years). All procedures were performed in developing countries and the postoperative complications were subsequently treated at our centre. The mean post-transplant serum creatinine was 142 μmol/L. The average follow-up time was 29.8 months (range: 3 to 73 months). One patient required a transplant nephrectomy secondary to fungemia and subsequently died. One patient had a failed transplant and has currently resumed hemodialysis. Acute rejection was seen in 5 patients with 3 of these patients requiring re-initiation of hemodialysis. Only 1 patient had an uncomplicated course after surgery. Discussion: Despite the kidney trade being a milieu of corruption and commercialization, and the high risk of unconventional complications, patients returning to Canada after commercial renal transplantation are the new reality. Patients are often arriving without any documentation; therefore, timely, goal-directed therapy for surgical and infectious complications is frequently delayed because of the time taken to establish an accurate diagnosis. Refuting the existence of commercial renal transplantation may not be a practical solution; more consistent communication and documentation with transplant teams may be more pragmatic. In the current climate, patients considering the option of overseas commercial renal transplantation should be advised of the potential increased risks. PMID:22031615

Weapons team engagement trainer: a transfer of high-tech military training technology to the law enforcement community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franz, Thomas M.; Gonos, Greg; Simek, Lisa

1999-01-01

Six years ago at SPIE, a team of government researchers and engineers unveiled a new, military, weapons team engagement trainer (WTET). At that time, potential applications of this prototype military training device to civilian law enforcement training were realized. Subsequent action was taken under the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986, enabling the transfer of WTET to the private sector, through a cooperative agreement between: the Office of Naval Research (ONR), NAWCTSD, and the commercial weapons training organization Firearms Training Systems, Inc. (FATS). Planning also began for release of a commercial WTET sytem. The government research and development facility and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) formed a cooperative agreement to make the prototype system available to military, federal, and local law enforcement agencies for use in Orlando, Florida - until a commercial version could become available. This cooperative effort has provided evidence of the effectiveness and realism of WTET with law enforcement personnel. This paper offers a technical description of the improvements made to WTET, a brief explanation of the commercialization process, a summary of the evaluations conducted to date, and insight into how that information has been used in the development of the commercial version.

47 CFR 10.10 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL COMMERCIAL MOBILE ALERT SYSTEM General Information § 10... Participating Commercial Mobile Service Provider under this part. (b) Common Alerting Protocol. The Common...), or any subsequent version of CAP adopted by OASIS and implemented by the CMAS. (c) Commercial Mobile...

Exposure to televised alcohol ads and subsequent adolescent alcohol use.

PubMed

Stacy, Alan W; Zogg, Jennifer B; Unger, Jennifer B; Dent, Clyde W

2004-01-01

To assess the impact of televised alcohol commercials on adolescents' alcohol use. Adolescents completed questionnaires about alcohol commercials and alcohol use in a prospective study. A one standard deviation increase in viewing television programs containing alcohol commercials in seventh grade was associated with an excess risk of beer use (44%), wine/liquor use (34%), and 3-drink episodes (26%) in eighth grade. The strength of associations varied across exposure measures and was most consistent for beer. Although replication is warranted, results showed that exposure was associated with an increased risk of subsequent beer consumption and possibly other consumption variables.

Compatible management of red alder-conifer ecosystems in southeastern Alaska.

Treesearch

Mark S. Wipfli; Robert L. Deal; Paul E. Hennon; Adelaide C. Johnson; Richard T. Edwards; Toni L. De Santo; Takashi Gomi; Ewa H. Orlikowska; Mason D. Bryant; Mark E. Schultz; Christian LeSage; Ryan Kimbirauskus; David V. D' Amore

2003-01-01

Forest clearcutting has been the primary timber management practice in forests of southeastern Alaska since commercial timber harvesting began in the 1950s, and the dense, even-aged conifer stands that subsequently developed have broad and undesirable consequences for some nontimber resources-most notably, fish and wildlife. Because a few earlier reports suggested that...

Characterisation of commercial Perna canaliculus samples and development of extemporaneous oral veterinary paste formulations containing Perna.

PubMed

Juliano, Claudia; Manconi, Paola; Cossu, Massimo

2016-09-01

Perna canaliculus is a nutritional supplement recently studied and highly recommended for its anti-inflammatory effects in both animals and humans. In this study, the physicochemical properties, the microbiological quality, the total lipid content and fatty acids composition of three commercial samples of Perna powder were determined. Subsequently, three simple formulations of extemporaneous oral pastes containing Perna were prepared and designed for veterinary use. Their microbiological stability was assessed after 1-month storage at either room temperature or 35 °C. The results demonstrated that commercial Perna samples lack homogeneity, in regard to some technological properties and fatty acid composition; therefore, a preliminary characterisation of commercial Perna samples is recommended to assure the quality of formulations containing this nutritional supplement. Oral paste formulations are easy and simple to prepare and show good physical and microbiological stability, suggesting their large-scale production.

Environmental geology of Bath, England

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kellaway, G. A.

1995-10-01

The hot springs of Bath, England, have been of importance to man for hundreds of years. It was a famous spa in Roman times. Subsequently, the springs were used during the 17th through the 20th centuries and extensive urban and commercial properties were developed at Bath using the water for medical and tourist-oriented activities. With urban and commercial development in the area, man's impact on the environment was substantial and typical environmental problems included pollution, land subsidence, or stability that effected construction, drainage, highways, and canals. During the growth of Bath in the 18th and 19th centuries these environmental problems were described by geologist William Smith and Joseph Townsend. Bath and vicinity provides a unique example of environmental geoscience.

Establishment of a preclinical ovine model for tibial segmental bone defect repair by applying bone tissue engineering strategies.

PubMed

Reichert, Johannes C; Epari, Devakara R; Wullschleger, Martin E; Saifzadeh, Siamak; Steck, Roland; Lienau, Jasmin; Sommerville, Scott; Dickinson, Ian C; Schütz, Michael A; Duda, Georg N; Hutmacher, Dietmar W

2010-02-01

Currently, well-established clinical therapeutic approaches for bone reconstruction are restricted to the transplantation of autografts and allografts, and the implantation of metal devices or ceramic-based implants to assist bone regeneration. Bone grafts possess osteoconductive and osteoinductive properties; however, they are limited in access and availability and associated with donor-site morbidity, hemorrhage, risk of infection, insufficient transplant integration, graft devitalization, and subsequent resorption resulting in decreased mechanical stability. As a result, recent research focuses on the development of alternative therapeutic concepts. The field of tissue engineering has emerged as an important approach to bone regeneration. However, bench-to-bedside translations are still infrequent as the process toward approval by regulatory bodies is protracted and costly, requiring both comprehensive in vitro and in vivo studies. The subsequent gap between research and clinical translation, hence, commercialization, is referred to as the "Valley of Death" and describes a large number of projects and/or ventures that are ceased due to a lack of funding during the transition from product/technology development to regulatory approval and subsequently commercialization. One of the greatest difficulties in bridging the Valley of Death is to develop good manufacturing processes and scalable designs and to apply these in preclinical studies. In this article, we describe part of the rationale and road map of how our multidisciplinary research team has approached the first steps to translate orthopedic bone engineering from bench to bedside by establishing a preclinical ovine critical-sized tibial segmental bone defect model, and we discuss our preliminary data relating to this decisive step.

NASA's approach to commercial cargo and crew transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stone, Dennis; Lindenmoyer, Alan; French, George; Musk, Elon; Gump, David; Kathuria, Chirinjeev; Miller, Charles; Sirangelo, Mark; Pickens, Tom

2008-07-01

To stimulate the commercial space industry and potentially serve the logistics needs of the International Space Station (ISS) in the post-Space Shuttle era, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2006 began the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) initiative. NASA entered into agreements with two U.S. firms, Rocketplane Kistler and Space Exploration Technologies to share up to 485,000,000 USD to demonstrate cargo transportation services to and from Low Earth orbit (LEO), with an option for additional funds to demonstrate human transportation services. Subsequently, NASA also entered into unfunded agreements with five companies to develop innovative space transportation capabilities. This paper reviews this unique initiative, describes the concepts of these seven companies, and discusses the potential of this emerging industry to make LEO more accessible.

Exposure to Televised Alcohol Ads and Subsequent Adolescent Alcohol Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stacy, Alan W.; Zogg, Jennifer B.; Unger, Jennifer B.; Dent, Clyde W.

2004-01-01

Objective : To assess the impact of televised alcohol commercials on adolescents' alcohol use. Methods : Adolescents completed questionnaires about alcohol commercials and alcohol use in a prospective study. Results : A one standard deviation increase in viewing television programs containing alcohol commercials in seventh grade was associated…

Development of a simple, low cost chronoamperometric assay for fructose based on a commercial graphite-nanoparticle modified screen-printed carbon electrode.

PubMed

Nicholas, Phil; Pittson, Robin; Hart, John P

2018-02-15

This paper describes the development of a simple, low cost chronoamperometric assay, for the measurement of fructose, using a graphite-nanoparticle modified screen-printed electrode (SPCE-G-COOH). Cyclic voltammetry showed that the response of the SPCE-G-COOH enhanced the sensitivity and precision, towards the enzymatically generated ferrocyanide species, over a plain SPCE; therefore the former was employed in subsequent studies. Calibration studies were carried out using chronoamperometry with a 40µl mixture containing fructose, mediator and FDH, deposited onto the SPCE-G-COOH. The response was linear from 0.1mM to 1.0mM. A commercial fruit juice sample was analysed using the developed assay and the fructose concentration was calculated to be 477mM with a precision of 3.03% (n=5). Following fortification (477mM fructose) the mean recovery was found to be 97.12% with a coefficient of variation of 6.42% (n=5); consequently, the method holds promise for the analysis of commercial fruit juices. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding the knowledge and attitudes of commercial drivers in Ghana regarding alcohol impaired driving

PubMed Central

Asiamah, G; Mock, C; Blantari, J

2002-01-01

Objectives: The knowledge and attitudes of commercial drivers in Ghana as regards alcohol impaired driving were investigated. This was done in order to provide information that could subsequently be used to develop antidrunk driving social marketing messages built upon the intrinsic values and motivation of these drivers. Methods: Focus group discussions were held with 43 bus and minibus drivers in the capital city, Accra. A structured discussion guide was used to capture information related to values, risk perceptions, leisure time activities, and attitudes on alcohol impaired driving. Results: The majority of drivers expressed an understanding that drunk driving was a significant risk factor for crashes. There was a significant under-appreciation of the extent of the problem, however. Most believed that it was only rare, extremely intoxicated drivers who were the problem. The drivers also had a minimal understanding of the concept of blood alcohol concentration and related legal limits. Despite these factors, there was widespread support for increased enforcement of existing antidrunk driving laws. Conclusions: In Ghana, commercial drivers understand the basic danger of drunk driving and are motivated to assist in antidrunk driving measures. There are misconceptions and deficits in knowledge that need to be addressed in subsequent educational campaigns. PMID:11928975

Experimental examination of the effects of televised motor vehicle commercials on risk-positive attitudes, emotions and risky driving inclinations.

PubMed

Vingilis, Evelyn; Roseborough, James E W; Wiesenthal, David L; Vingilis-Jaremko, Larissa; Nuzzo, Valentina; Fischer, Peter; Mann, Robert E

2015-02-01

This study examined the short-term effects of risky driving motor vehicle television commercials on risk-positive attitudes, emotions and risky driving inclinations in video-simulated critical road traffic situations among males and females, within an experimental design. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three televised commercial advertising conditions embedded in a television show: a risky driving motor vehicle commercial condition, a non-risky driving motor vehicle commercial condition and a control non-motor vehicle commercial condition. Participants subsequently completed the Implicit Attitude Test (IAT) to measure risk-positive attitudes, Driver Thrill Seeking Scale (DTSS) to measure risk-positive emotions and the Vienna Risk-Taking Test - Traffic (WRBTV) to measure risky driving inclinations. ANOVA analyses indicated that type of commercial participants watched did not affect their performance on the IAT, DTSS or WRBTV. However, a main effect of heightened risk-positive emotions and risky driving inclinations was found for males. Despite public and governmental concern that risky driving motor vehicle commercials may increase the likelihood that people exposed to these commercials engage in risky driving, this experimental study found no immediate effect of brief exposure to a risky driving motor vehicle commercial on risk-positive attitudes, emotions or risky driving inclinations. Subsequent research should examine the effects of cumulative exposure to risky driving motor vehicle television commercials and print advertisements. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prevalence and Cost of Subsequent Fractures Among U.S. Patients with an Incident Fracture.

PubMed

Weaver, Jessica; Sajjan, Shiva; Lewiecki, E Michael; Harris, Steven T; Marvos, Panagiotis

2017-04-01

The prevalence and cost of subsequent fractures among patients with an incident fracture are not well defined. To assess the prevalence of, and costs associated with, subsequent fractures in the year after an incident fracture. This was a retrospective claims database analysis using data from Humana Medicare Advantage claims (Medicare group) and Optum Insight Clinformatics Data Mart commercial claims (commercial group). Patients included in the study had a claim for a qualifying fracture occurring between January 2008 and December 2013 (index fracture), were continuously enrolled in the health plan for ≥ 1 year before and after the index fracture, and were aged ≥ 65 years in the Medicare group or ≥ 50 years in the commercial group at the time of the index fracture. Subsequent fractures were identified by ICD-9-CM codes and were defined as the second fracture occurring ≥ 3 to ≤ 12 months after the index fracture (≥ 6 to ≤ 12 months for fractures at the same site as the index fracture). Rates of subsequent fractures were calculated as the number of patients who had a subsequent fracture divided by the total sample size. After propensity matching of demographic and clinical variables, we determined the total medical and pharmacy costs accrued within 1 year of the index fracture by patients with and without a subsequent fracture. Health care costs were compared between patients with and without a subsequent fracture using McNemar's test. A total of 45,603 patients were included in the Medicare group, and 54,145 patients were included in the commercial group. In the Medicare group, 7,604 (16.7%) patients experienced a subsequent fracture. The proportion of patients with a subsequent fracture was highest among patients with multiple index fractures (26.2%, n = 905), followed by those with hip (25.5%, n = 1,280) and vertebral (20.2%, n = 1,908) index fractures. In the commercial group, 6,256 (11.6%) patients experienced a subsequent fracture. The proportion of patients with a subsequent fracture paralleled those observed in the Medicare group: 24.5% (n = 808) in patients with multiple index fractures, 22.0% (n = 525) in those with hip fracture, and 14.5% (n = 841) in those with vertebral fracture. For vertebral, hip, and nonhip nonvertebral fractures, subsequent fractures were most frequently of the same type as the index fracture. The mean total health care cost (sum of medical and pharmacy costs) in the year following the incident fracture for the Medicare group was $27,844 and differed significantly between patients with and without a subsequent fracture ($34,897 vs. $20,790; P < 0.001). The mean total health care cost in the year following the incident fracture for the commercial group was $29,316 and also differed significantly between patients with and without a subsequent fracture ($39,501 vs. $19,131; P < 0.001). Among patients with an incident fracture, those who experienced a subsequent fracture in the following year had significantly higher health care costs than those who did not. A subsequent fracture is most likely to be of the same type as the initial fracture. This study was funded by Merck & Co. Other than through the employer relationships disclosed here, Merck & Co did not have a role in the study design, data collection, interpretation of the data, in writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Weaver and Marvos are employees of Merck & Co. Sajjan was an employee of Merck & Co. and owned stock in the company at the time of the study. Lewiecki has received consulting and/or speaker honoraria from Merck, AbbVie, AgNovos Healthcare, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Eli Lilly and Company, Radius Health, Shire, and TheraNova. Lewiecki has received research grant support from Merck, Amgen, and Eli Lilly and Company and serves as a board member for the National Osteoporosis Foundation, the International Society for Clinical Densitometry, and the Osteoporosis Foundation of New Mexico. Harris has received consulting honoraria from Merck, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Eli Lilly and Company, Gilead Sciences, Primus Pharmaceuticals, and Radius Health. Study concept and design were contributed by Weave and Sajjan. Lewiecki collected the data, and data interpretation was performed by all the authors. The manuscript was written and revised by Weaver, Lewiecki, and Harris.

3-D laser patterning process utilizing horizontal and vertical patterning

DOEpatents

Malba, Vincent; Bernhardt, Anthony F.

2000-01-01

A process which vastly improves the 3-D patterning capability of laser pantography (computer controlled laser direct-write patterning). The process uses commercially available electrodeposited photoresist (EDPR) to pattern 3-D surfaces. The EDPR covers the surface of a metal layer conformally, coating the vertical as well as horizontal surfaces. A laser pantograph then patterns the EDPR, which is subsequently developed in a standard, commercially available developer, leaving patterned trench areas in the EDPR. The metal layer thereunder is now exposed in the trench areas and masked in others, and thereafter can be etched to form the desired pattern (subtractive process), or can be plated with metal (additive process), followed by a resist stripping, and removal of the remaining field metal (additive process). This improved laser pantograph process is simpler, faster, move manufacturable, and requires no micro-machining.

Diverting victims of commercial sexual exploitation from juvenile detention: development of the InterCSECt screening protocol.

PubMed

Salisbury, Emily J; Dabney, Jonathan D; Russell, Kelli

2015-04-01

Identifying victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the juvenile justice system is a challenging complexity requiring concerted organizational commitment. Using a three-tiered, trauma-informed screening process, a 3½-month pilot intervention was implemented in Clark County Juvenile Court (Washington) to identify victims in an effort to connect them to community youth advocates and sexual assault resources. A total of 535 boys and girls ages 9 to 19 were screened during intake; 47 of these youth reported risk factors associated with commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and were subsequently referred to community advocates. Six youth (all girls) were confirmed CSEC victims and were successfully diverted from juvenile detention. Study results suggest that despite the lack of reliable data surrounding the prevalence of CSEC, juvenile justice agencies need to become educated on the risk factors to triage victims to services. © The Author(s) 2014.

Field experiences in pre-commercial thinning, planting and container growing of northern softwoods

Treesearch

L. Oscar Selin

1977-01-01

In preparation for intensive logging mechanization and for the subsequent silvicultural treatments of clearcut areas the Woodland Division of Georgia-Pacific Corporation started a pre-commercial thinning trials in young softwood and mixed wood stands during the spring and early summer of 1970. Pre-commercial thinnings were intended to be a backbone of a large scale...

Effects of sleep schedules on commercial motor vehicle driver performance : part 1

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-09-01

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sponsored a study to gather and analyze data on commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver rest and recovery cycles, effects of partial sleep deprivation, and prediction of subsequent performance. The study ...

Effects of sleep schedules on commercial motor vehicle driver performance : part 2

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-09-01

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sponsored a study to gather and analyze data on commercial motor vehicle driver rest and recovery cycles, effects of partial sleep deprivation, and prediction of subsequent performance. The study began ...

Commercialization of LARC(TradeMark)-SI Polyimide Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryant, Robert G.

2008-01-01

LARC(TradeMark)-SI, Langley Research Center-Soluble Imide, was developed in 1992. This new polyimide won a 1995 Research and Development 100 Award, with the first patent issuing in 1997 and subsequent issued patents in 1998 and 2000. Currently, this polymer has been successfully licensed by NASA, and has generated revenues in excess of 1.4 million dollars. This might seem insignificant in comparison to industrially developed technology, where the customer is understood, technologies that use a novel assembly of commercial off the shelf (COTS) components, or software patents and "method based" innovations that do not require any material beyond labor, as examples. However, consider that LARC(TradeMark)-SI competes in areas currently dominated by traditional materials at a cost disadvantage ($350/lb) and that the physical-mechanical properties of LARC(TradeMark)-SI are similar to other high performance polymers. Indeed the success of this particular polymer was due to many factors and many lessons learned to the point that the invention was the most important, but least significant part in the commercialization of this material. This brief paper outlines the significant factors that occurred to make this technology available for the public access and application development that led to the licensing success of this material.

Diseases in marine invertebrates associated with mariculture and commercial fisheries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sweet, Michael J.; Bateman, Kelly S.

2015-10-01

Diseases in marine invertebrates are increasing in both frequency and intensity around the globe. Diseases in individuals which offer some commercial value are often well documented and subsequently well studied in comparison to those wild groups offering little commercial gain. This is particularly the case with those associated with mariculture or the commercial fisheries. Specifically, these include many Holothuroidea, and numerous crustacea and mollusca species. Pathogens/parasites consisting of both prokaryotes and eukaryotes from all groups have been associated with diseases from such organisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. Viral pathogens in particular, appear to be an increasingly important group and research into this group will likely highlight a larger number of diseases and pathogens being described in the near future. Interestingly, although there are countless examples of the spread of disease usually associated with transportation of specific infected hosts for development of aquaculture practices, this process appears to be continuing with no real sign of effective management and mitigation strategies being implicated. Notably, even in well developed countries such as the UK and the US, even though live animal trade may be well managed, the transport of frozen food appears to be less well so and as evidence suggests, even these to have the potential to transmit pathogens when used as a food source for example.

Reprint of 'Diseases in marine invertebrates associated with mariculture and commercial fisheries'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sweet, Michael J.; Bateman, Kelly S.

2016-07-01

Diseases in marine invertebrates are increasing in both frequency and intensity around the globe. Diseases in individuals which offer some commercial value are often well documented and subsequently well studied in comparison to those wild groups offering little commercial gain. This is particularly the case with those associated with mariculture or the commercial fisheries. Specifically, these include many Holothuroidea, and numerous crustacea and mollusca species. Pathogens/parasites consisting of both prokaryotes and eukaryotes from all groups have been associated with diseases from such organisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. Viral pathogens in particular, appear to be an increasingly important group and research into this group will likely highlight a larger number of diseases and pathogens being described in the near future. Interestingly, although there are countless examples of the spread of disease usually associated with transportation of specific infected hosts for development of aquaculture practices, this process appears to be continuing with no real sign of effective management and mitigation strategies being implicated. Notably, even in well developed countries such as the UK and the US, even though live animal trade may be well managed, the transport of frozen food appears to be less well so and as evidence suggests, even these to have the potential to transmit pathogens when used as a food source for example.

Development and evaluation of a comprehensive clinical decision support taxonomy: comparison of front-end tools in commercial and internally developed electronic health record systems

PubMed Central

Sittig, Dean F; Ash, Joan S; Feblowitz, Joshua; Meltzer, Seth; McMullen, Carmit; Guappone, Ken; Carpenter, Jim; Richardson, Joshua; Simonaitis, Linas; Evans, R Scott; Nichol, W Paul; Middleton, Blackford

2011-01-01

Background Clinical decision support (CDS) is a valuable tool for improving healthcare quality and lowering costs. However, there is no comprehensive taxonomy of types of CDS and there has been limited research on the availability of various CDS tools across current electronic health record (EHR) systems. Objective To develop and validate a taxonomy of front-end CDS tools and to assess support for these tools in major commercial and internally developed EHRs. Study design and methods We used a modified Delphi approach with a panel of 11 decision support experts to develop a taxonomy of 53 front-end CDS tools. Based on this taxonomy, a survey on CDS tools was sent to a purposive sample of commercial EHR vendors (n=9) and leading healthcare institutions with internally developed state-of-the-art EHRs (n=4). Results Responses were received from all healthcare institutions and 7 of 9 EHR vendors (response rate: 85%). All 53 types of CDS tools identified in the taxonomy were found in at least one surveyed EHR system, but only 8 functions were present in all EHRs. Medication dosing support and order facilitators were the most commonly available classes of decision support, while expert systems (eg, diagnostic decision support, ventilator management suggestions) were the least common. Conclusion We developed and validated a comprehensive taxonomy of front-end CDS tools. A subsequent survey of commercial EHR vendors and leading healthcare institutions revealed a small core set of common CDS tools, but identified significant variability in the remainder of clinical decision support content. PMID:21415065

Understanding clinical development of chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies.

PubMed

de Wilde, Sofieke; Guchelaar, Henk-Jan; Zandvliet, Maarten Laurens; Meij, Pauline

2017-06-01

In the past decade, many clinical trials with gene- and cell-based therapies (GCTs) have been performed. Increased interest in the development of these drug products by various stakeholders has become apparent. Despite this growth in clinical studies, the number of therapies receiving marketing authorization approval (MAA) is lagging behind. To enhance the success rate of GCT development, it is essential to better understand the clinical development of these products. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are a GCT product subtype with promising efficacy in cancer treatment which are tested in many clinical trials, but have not yet received MAA. We generated an overview of the characteristics of CAR T-cell clinical development in the United States, Canada and Europe. Subsequently, the characteristics of clinical trials with CAR T-cell products that proceeded to a subsequent clinical trial, used as a proxy for success, were compared with those that did not proceed. From the U.S. and European Union clinical trial databases, 106 CAR T-cell trials were selected, from which 49 were linked to a subsequent trial and 57 were not. The majority of the trials had an academic sponsor from which most did not proceed, whereas most commercially sponsored trials were followed by another clinical trial. Furthermore, trials with a subsequent trial more frequently recruited large patient cohorts and were more often multicenter compared with trials that were not followed up. These characteristics can be used by investigators to better design clinical trials with CAR T cells. We encourage sponsors to plan clinical development ahead for a higher efficiency of product development and thereby achieving a higher success rate of development towards MAA. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors Influencing Epidemiology and Management of Blackberry Rust in Cultivated Rubus laciniatus

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The blackberry rust pathogen, Phragmidium violaceum, was first observed in Oregon in spring 2005 on both commercially cultivated Rubus laciniatus and feral Rubus armeniacus. Several commercial plantings suffered severe economic losses. In three seasons subsequent to 2005, all five spore stages of ...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eshraghi, Ray

In September 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy and Martin County Economic Development Corporation entered into an agreement to further the advancement of a microtubular PEM fuel cell developed by Microcell Corporation. The overall focus of this project was on research and development related to high volume manufacturing of fuel cells and cost reduction in the fuel cell manufacturing process. The extrusion process used for the microfiber fuel cells in this project is inherently a low cost, high volume, high speed manufacturing process. In order to take advantage of the capabilities that the extrusion process provides, all subsequent manufacturing processesmore » must be enhanced to meet the extrusion line’s speed and output. Significant research and development was completed on these subsequent processes to ensure that power output and performance were not negatively impacted by the higher speeds, design changes and process improvements developed in this project. All tasks were successfully completed resulting in cost reductions, performance improvements and process enhancements in the areas of speed and quality. These results support the Department of Energy’s goal of fuel cell commercialization.« less

A Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) Examination of Commercial Vessel Accidents

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

Naval Operations before the Congress on FY2013 Department of Navy posture. Heinrich , H . W. (1941). Industrial accident prevention : A scientific...Theory The core of the Domino Theory, developed by Herbert W. Heinrich who studied industrial safety in the early 1900s, is that accidents are a result...chain of events resulting in an accident . Heinrich likened the dominos to unsafe conditions or unsafe acts, where their subsequent removal prevents a

Research, Development and Testing of a Fault-Tolerant FPGA-Based Sequencer for CubeSat Launching Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

amounts of time and effort to implement. Future testing with commercial, fault-tolerant synthesis software, under a radiation environment, will yield ...initial viewpoint of the author is to take the flash-based FPGA route. This will yield a simple, reconfigurable circuit while providing the added...structure seen in Figure 30. Each of these full adder blocks were replaced in subsequent iterations to yield proper comparison with this baseline

Development of a cushion to prevent ischial pressure sores.

PubMed Central

Bowker, P; Davidson, L M

1979-01-01

A study was carried out jointly by nursing staff and technologists in an attempt to develop a cushion based on scientific principles and measurement that might prevent pressure sores. At each stage in the development clinical trials were carried out, and using the results of these together with the opinions of medical staff and patients who used the cushion the design was suitably modified. Over four years a seat was evolved that was simple to construct and fulfilled the clinical requirements for a wide range of patients while providing maximum relief of high-pressure points. The design was subsequently taken up commercially. Images Fig 3 PMID:509176

Commercial investigation results for the generic bioprocessing apparatus flown on United States Microgravity Laboratory-1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stodieck, Louis S.; Robinson, M. C.; Luttges, M. W.

1994-01-01

The Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (BPA) payload was developed by BioServe to support the commercial flight development needs of our specialized consortia comprised of business, academic, and government entities. The consortia have commitments to explore commercial opportunities in bioprocessing, biomedical models, and closed agricultural systems. In addition, some members of BioServe have interests in the development and/or qualification of enabling flight hardware used in life sciences space flight testing. Some business and academic entities have interests in more than one of these consortia. To aid in payload development, flight, and analysis, each consortium member contributes resources ranging from proprietary expertise and materials, to hardware and cash. Professionals from business, academia, and government often interact with each other via graduate research assistants who do much of the 'hands-on' payload preparation and subsequent data analyses. The GBA supported research, testing, and development activities for each different BioServe consortium. It produced an environment in which professionals from diverse backgrounds came together with a single focus. And, it provided a truly novel learning environment for a youthful new cadre of space professionals committed to the exploration of commercial opportunities presented by space. Since the GBA supported a large number of different experiments, this paper briefly describes the payload characteristics and the essential operations of the payload. A summary of the experiments is presented. Finally, a few of the experiments are described in detail highlighting some novel effects of space flight on life science systems. Portions of the reported work have or will appear in appropriate archival journals as cited in the bibliography. In several instances, data collected from USML-1 have been supplemented with related data collected on more recent STS missions.

Sunlight readable avionics displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Visinski, Joseph R.

1998-09-01

The theme of the Cockpit Displays V Conference of 'Custom versus Consumer -- Grade Displays in Defense Applications' reflects the Raytheon Systems Company field emission display (FED) development effort. Raytheon chose to license commercial FED technology and subsequently participate in a commercial industry 'FED Alliance' to insert this technology into commercial and avionics defense applications. The unaffordability of custom military displays makes them an unfeasible choice to build a business upon. The major differences between consumer FEDs and those adapted for military/avionics installations are: (1) high brightness for sunlight visibility; (2) extended environmental range; (3) high resolution; (4) wider dimming range for sunlight to NVIS operation; (5) extended gray scales; (6) lifetime product support well beyond two year consumer market life. The transition to defense applications is further being accomplished via industry/government partnerships as the DARPA Technology Reinvestment Project (TRP) and BAA 97-31. FEDs combine cathode ray tube (CRT) and matrix addressed flat panel display technology, parts, manufacturing, and test equipment, plus open systems interfaces into a new display.

Trends in unrelated-donor kidney transplantation in the developing world.

PubMed

Barsoum, Rashad S

2008-11-01

Living unrelated donors (LUDs) constitute an incremental source of kidneys for transplantation at a global level. Excellent outcomes are reported, superior to those of deceased-donor transplantation and comparable to related donor transplantation. LUD include six categories: spouses, distant relatives, paired-exchange, living-deceased exchange, and non-directed and directed donors. Although a financial reward may be involved in any of these categories, it is in the declared selling of organs that ethical concerns have intensified. There are three patterns of paid LUDs in the developing world: organized, erratic and commercial. The only model of organized LUDs is in Iran, where a central agency assigns and compensates the donors. Erratic LUD transplantation has been experienced, and subsequently banned, in the development of transplant programmes in most developing countries. However, the tightness and enforcement of the official ban are geographically different, providing variable room for uncontrolled trafficking. Commercial transplantation has, thus, become phenomenal in a few countries, gradually evolving into an organized business that follows market dynamics, including advertisement, brokerage, commissions, auctions and tourism. While most international organizations and activist groups condemn commercial transplantation, it is often perceived, in certain cultures and under particular socioeconomic standards, as a human right that meets the demands of all stakeholders, and should be organized rather than declined just for the purpose of meeting the values of a third party.

16 CFR 801.20 - Acquisitions subsequent to exceeding threshold.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... threshold. 801.20 Section 801.20 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS... § 801.20 Acquisitions subsequent to exceeding threshold. Acquisitions meeting the criteria of section 7A... may have met or exceeded a notification threshold before the effective date of these rules; or (c) The...

16 CFR 801.20 - Acquisitions subsequent to exceeding threshold.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... threshold. 801.20 Section 801.20 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS... § 801.20 Acquisitions subsequent to exceeding threshold. Acquisitions meeting the criteria of section 7A... may have met or exceeded a notification threshold before the effective date of these rules; or (c) The...

16 CFR 801.20 - Acquisitions subsequent to exceeding threshold.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... threshold. 801.20 Section 801.20 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES, REGULATIONS... § 801.20 Acquisitions subsequent to exceeding threshold. Acquisitions meeting the criteria of section 7A... may have met or exceeded a notification threshold before the effective date of these rules; or (c) The...

A fully battery-powered inexpensive spectrophotometric system for high-sensitivity point-of-care analysis on a microfluidic chip

PubMed Central

Dou, Maowei; Lopez, Juan; Rios, Misael; Garcia, Oscar; Xiao, Chuan; Eastman, Michael

2016-01-01

A cost-effective battery-powered spectrophotometric system (BASS) was developed for quantitative point-of-care (POC) analysis on a microfluidic chip. By using methylene blue as a model analyte, we first compared the performance of the BASS with a commercial spectrophotometric system, and further applied the BASS for loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) detection and subsequent quantitative nucleic acid analysis which exhibited a comparable limit of detection to that of Nanodrop. Compared to the commercial spectrophotometric system, our spectrophotometric system is lower-cost, consumes less reagents, and has a higher detection sensitivity. Most importantly, it does not rely on external power supplies. All these features make our spectrophotometric system highly suitable for a variety of POC analyses, such as field detection. PMID:27143408

Programmed temperature gasification study. Final report, October 1, 1979-November 30, 1980

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spoon, M.J.; Gardner, M.P.; Starkovich, J.A.

An experimental, modeling and conceptual engineering analysis study has been performed to assess the feasibility of TRW's Programmed Temperature Gasification (PTG) concept for carbonizing caking coals without severe agglomeration. The concept involves control of carbonizing heating rate to maintain metaplast concentration at a level equal to or slightly below that which causes agglomeration. The experimental studies required the contruction of a novel programmed temperature, elevated pressure, hot stage video microscope for observation of coal particle changes during heating. This system was used to develop a minimum-time heating schedule capable of carbonizing the coal at elevated pressures in the presence ofmore » hydrogen without severe agglomeration. Isothermal fixed heating rate data for a series of coals were subsequently used to calibrate and verify the mathematical model for the PTG process. These results showed good correlation between experimental data and mathematical predictions. Commercial application of the PTG concept to batch, moving bed and fluid bed processing schemes was then evaluated. Based on the calibrated model programmed temperature gasification of the coal without severe agglomeration could be carried out on a commercial batch reaction in 4 to 12 minutes. The next step in development of the PTG concept for commercial application would require testing on a bench scale (3-inch diameter) gasifier coupled with a full commercial assessment to determine size and cost of various gasification units.« less

Advanced Technology Composite Fuselage-Structural Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, T. H.; Minguet, P. J.; Flynn, B. W.; Carbery, D. J.; Swanson, G. D.; Ilcewicz, L. B.

1997-01-01

Boeing is studying the technologies associated with the application of composite materials to commercial transport fuselage structure under the NASA-sponsored contracts for Advanced Technology Composite Aircraft Structures (ATCAS) and Materials Development Omnibus Contract (MDOC). This report addresses the program activities related to structural performance of the selected concepts, including both the design development and subsequent detailed evaluation. Design criteria were developed to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and typical company objectives. Accurate analysis methods were selected and/or developed where practical, and conservative approaches were used where significant approximations were necessary. Design sizing activities supported subsequent development by providing representative design configurations for structural evaluation and by identifying the critical performance issues. Significant program efforts were directed towards assessing structural performance predictive capability. The structural database collected to perform this assessment was intimately linked to the manufacturing scale-up activities to ensure inclusion of manufacturing-induced performance traits. Mechanical tests were conducted to support the development and critical evaluation of analysis methods addressing internal loads, stability, ultimate strength, attachment and splice strength, and damage tolerance. Unresolved aspects of these performance issues were identified as part of the assessments, providing direction for future development.

Hepatic differentiation potential of commercially available human mesenchymal stem cells.

PubMed

Ong, Shin-Yeu; Dai, Hui; Leong, Kam W

2006-12-01

The ready availability and low immunogenicity of commercially available mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) render them a potential cell source for the development of therapeutic products. With cell source a major bottleneck in hepatic tissue engineering, we investigated whether commercially available human MSC (hMSC) can transdifferentiate into the hepatic lineage. Based on previous studies that find rapid gain of hepatic genes in bone marrow-derived stem cells cocultured with liver tissue, we used a similar approach to drive hepatic differentiation by coculturing the hMSC with rat livers treated or untreated with gadolinium chloride (GdCl(3)). After a 24-hour coculture period with liver tissue injured by GdCl(3) in a Transwell configuration, approximately 34% of the cells differentiated into albumin-expressing cells. Cocultured cells were subsequently maintained with growth factors to complete the hepatic differentiation. Cocultured cells expressed more hepatic gene markers, and had higher metabolic functions and P450 activity than cells that were only differentiated with growth factors. In conclusion, commercially available hMSC do show hepatic differentiation potential, and a liver microenvironment in culture can provide potent cues to accelerate and deepen the differentiation. The ability to generate hepatocyte-like cells from a commercially available cell source would find interesting applications in liver tissue engineering.

Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Interface for Detection of Extraterrestrial Organics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Southard, Adrian E.; Getty, Stephanie A.; Balvin, Manuel; Cook, Jamie E.; Espiritu, Ana Mellina; Kotecki, Carl; Towner, Deborah W.; Dworkin, J. P.; Glavin, Daniel P.; Mahaffy, Paul R.;

Organocatalytic C-H bond arylation of aldehydes to bis-heteroaryl ketones.

PubMed

Toh, Qiao Yan; McNally, Andrew; Vera, Silvia; Erdmann, Nico; Gaunt, Matthew J

2013-03-13

An organocatalytic aldehyde C-H bond arylation process for the synthesis of complex heteroaryl ketones has been developed. By exploiting the inherent electrophilicity of diaryliodonium salts, we have found that a commercial N-heterocyclic carbene catalyst promotes the union of heteroaryl aldehydes and these heteroaromatic electrophile equivalents in good yields. This straightforward catalytic protocol offers access to ketones bearing a diverse array of arene and heteroarene substituents that can subsequently be converted into molecules displaying structural motifs commonly found in medicinal agents.

Coal conversion products industrial applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunkin, J. H.; Warren, D.

1980-01-01

Coal-based synthetic fuels complexes under development consideration by NASA/MSFC will produce large quantities of synthetic fuels, primarily medium BTU gas, which could be sold commercially to industries located in South Central Tennessee and Northern Alabama. The complexes would be modular in construction, and subsequent modules may produce liquid fuels or fuels for electric power production. Current and projected industries in the two states which have a propensity for utilizing coal-based synthetic fuels were identified, and a data base was compiled to support MFSC activities.

21 CFR 807.81 - When a premarket notification submission is required.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... equivalent to, (i) a device in commercial distribution before May 28, 1976, or (ii) a device introduced for commercial distribution after May 28, 1976, that has subsequently been reclassified into class I or II. (2..., chemical composition, energy source, or manufacturing process. (ii) A major change or modification in the...

Commercial Space Policy in the 1980s: Proceedings of a Roundtable Discussion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dahlstrom, Neil (Editor)

2000-01-01

The Space Business Archives and the NASA History Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March of 1999. The MOU outlines several opportunities for cooperative endeavors between the two agencies in historical programming. This oral history, and subsequently this publication, are the first products of that cooperation. In accordance with the purpose of the Space Business Archives--to provide an impartial forum for lessons learned in the development of the commercial space industry--the idea for this roundtable discussion seemed appropriate as the Archives first public program. With the combined resources of the Archives and the NASA History Office we were fortunate to assemble a panel of individuals that served in both industry and government during the 1980s, many working in both sectors during that time. When envisioning the focus of this oral history, we decided that it was appropriate to highlight space policy in the 1980s, with an emphasis on the emerging commercial industry. Panelists were sent several documents in preparation, such as the Land Remote Sensing Commercialization Act and the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, President Reagan's 1982 National Space Policy, and other memoranda and letters that outline important policy issues of the decade. This discussion, we think, fills in some of the gaps that would otherwise be left unfilled when simply reading through the documents themselves. Some of these gaps include: how were these policy directives, legislation and decisions introduced and developed, by whom, and at what political and financial cost? This transcript is meant to serve as a reference to some of the issues, organizations and individuals involved in the creation and development of space policy during the 1980s. It is also the result of the first of many future roundtable discussions aimed at providing an open exchange of ideas concerning past success and failure in order to provide a stronger base for future endeavors in governmental, civil and commercial cooperation in space.

Automatic recognition of ship types from infrared images using superstructure moment invariants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Heng; Wang, Xinyu

2007-11-01

Automatic object recognition is an active area of interest for military and commercial applications. In this paper, a system addressing autonomous recognition of ship types in infrared images is proposed. Firstly, an approach of segmentation based on detection of salient features of the target with subsequent shadow removing is proposed, as is the base of the subsequent object recognition. Considering the differences between the shapes of various ships mainly lie in their superstructures, we then use superstructure moment functions invariant to translation, rotation and scale differences in input patterns and develop a robust algorithm of obtaining ship superstructure. Subsequently a back-propagation neural network is used as a classifier in the recognition stage and projection images of simulated three-dimensional ship models are used as the training sets. Our recognition model was implemented and experimentally validated using both simulated three-dimensional ship model images and real images derived from video of an AN/AAS-44V Forward Looking Infrared(FLIR) sensor.

Coalbed methane: from hazard to resource

USGS Publications Warehouse

Flores, R.M.

1998-01-01

Coalbed gas, which mainly consists of methane, has remained a major hazard affecting safety and productivity in underground coal mines for more than 100 yr. Coalbed gas emissions have resulted in outbursts and explosions where ignited by open lights, smoking or improper use of black blasting powder, and machinery operations. Investigations of coal gas outbursts and explosions during the past century were aimed at predicting and preventing this mine hazard. During this time, gas emissions were diluted with ventilation by airways (eg, tunnels, vertical and horizontal drillholes, shsfts) and by drainage boreholes. The 1970s 'energy crisis' led to studies of the feasibility of producing the gas for commercial use. Subsequent research on the origin, accumulation, distribution, availability, and recoverability has been pursued vigorously during the past two decades. Since the 1970s research investigations on the causes and effects of coal mine outbursts and gas emissions have led to major advances towards the recovery and development of coalbed methane for commercial use. Thus, coalbed methane as a mining hazard was harnessed as a conventional gas resource.Coalbed gas, which mainly consists of methane, has remained a major hazard affecting safety and productivity in underground coal mines for more than 100 years. Coalbed gas emissions have resulted in outbursts and explosions where ignited by open lights, smoking or improper use of black blasting powder, and machinery operations. Investigations of coal gas outbursts and explosions during the past century were aimed at predicting and preventing this mine hazard. During this time, gas emissions were diluted with ventilation by airways (e.g., tunnels, vertical and horizontal drillholes, shafts) and by drainage boreholes. The 1970's `energy crisis' led to studies of the feasibility of producing the gas for commercial use. Subsequent research on the origin, accumulation, distribution, availability, and recoverability has been pursued vigorously during the past two decades. Since the 1970's research investigations on the causes and effects of coal mine outbursts and gas emissions have led to major advances towards the recovery and development of coalbed methane for commercial use. Thus, coalbed methane as a mining hazard was harnessed as a conventional gas resource.

Production of cellulose nanofibrils from bleached eucalyptus fibers by hyperthermostable endoglucanase treatment and subsequent microfluidization

Treesearch

Wangxia Wang; Michael D. Mozuch; Ronald C. Sabo; Phil Kersten; J.Y. Zhu; Yongcan Jin

2015-01-01

A GH5 hyperthermostable endoglucanase from the archaeon Pyrococcus honkoshii (ph-GH5) and a commercial endoglucanase FR were used to treat bleached eucalyptus pulp (BEP) fibers to produce cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) through subsequent microfluidization Enzymatic treatments facilitated CNF production due to the reduced degree of polymerization (DP)...

Implementing high-temperature short-time media treatment in commercial-scale cell culture manufacturing processes.

PubMed

Pohlscheidt, Michael; Charaniya, Salim; Kulenovic, Fikret; Corrales, Mahalia; Shiratori, Masaru; Bourret, Justin; Meier, Steven; Fallon, Eric; Kiss, Robert

2014-04-01

The production of therapeutic proteins by mammalian cell culture is complex and sets high requirements for process, facility, and equipment design, as well as rigorous regulatory and quality standards. One particular point of concern and significant risk to supply chain is the susceptibility to contamination such as bacteria, fungi, mycoplasma, and viruses. Several technologies have been developed to create barriers for these agents to enter the process, e.g. filtration, UV inactivation, and temperature inactivation. However, if not implemented during development of the manufacturing process, these types of process changes can have significant impact on process performance if not managed appropriately. This article describes the implementation of the high-temperature short-time (HTST) treatment of cell culture media as an additional safety barrier against adventitious agents during the transfer of a large-scale commercial cell culture manufacturing process. The necessary steps and experiments, as well as subsequent results during qualification runs and routine manufacturing, are shown.

Mars habitat modules: launch, scaling and functional design considerations.

PubMed

Bell, Larry; Hines, Gerald D

2005-07-01

The Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA) is undertaking a multi-year research, planning and design study that is exploring near- and long-term commercial space development opportunities. The central goal of this activity is to conceptualize a scenario of sequential, integrated private enterprise initiatives that can carry humankind forward to Mars. Each development stage is planned as a building block to provide the economic foundation, technology advancements and operational infrastructure to support others that follow. This report presents fundamental issues and requirements associated with planning human Mars initiatives that can transfer crews, habitats and equipment from Earth to Mars orbit, deliver them to the planet's surface, and return people and samples safely back to Earth. The study builds in part upon previous studies which are summarized in SICSA's: Commercial Space Development Plan and the Artificial Gravity Science and Excursion Vehicle reports. Information and conclusions produced in this study provide assumptions and a conceptual foundation for a subsequent report titled The First Mars Outpost: Planning and Concepts. c2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Professionalism and Commercialism on Cosmetic Surgeons' Websites.

PubMed

Park, Sung-Yeon; Park, SangHee

2017-07-01

This study analyzed the homepages of 250 cosmetic surgeons' websites by focusing on the representation of cosmetic surgery providers, cosmetic surgery recipients, and cosmetic surgery practice itself. Based on a literature review, some common elements of the webpages were preidentified as the indicators of professionalism or commercialism. Subsequently, each homepage was scrutinized for their presence and salience. Overall, cosmetic surgeons' websites were high in professionalism and low in commercialism in their representation of the service providers. In depicting the recipients, the websites were moderate in both professionalism and commercialism. The representation of practice was low in professionalism and moderate in commercialism. Implications of these findings for doctors, regulators, and consumer advocates are discussed and directions for future research are proposed.

Coal without carbon: an investment plan for federal action

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pettus, A.; Tatsutani, M.

2009-09-15

This study examines several technologies for CCS that are not currently receiving adequate development support but that could - in the right policy environment - provide the kind of significant cost reductions (and significant improvements in efficiency) that could greatly accelerate broad, economically attractive CCS deployment. Clean Air Task Force selected these technology areas (though not the technologies themselves) and solicited reports from experts in each field to explore how these technologies might fit into a broader CCS deployment strategy. Each expert was asked to develop a research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) 'road map' that could efficiently move each technologymore » from the laboratory into the commercial mainstream. Because the chapter authors are either technical experts or commercial players and are not, for the most part, energy policy experts, subsequent work will translate their RD&D recommendations into actionable policy proposals. The heart of this report consists of four chapters on advanced coal and CCS technologies: underground coal gasification (UCG), written by Julio Friedmann at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Next generation coal gasification (surface-based gasification) led by Eric Redman at Summit Power Group; Advanced technologies for post-combustion capture (PCC) of CO{sub 2}, led by Howard Herzog at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and RD&D to speed commercialization of geological CO{sub 2} sequestration (GCS), led by Julio Friedmann. 12 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.« less

Evaluation of Carbon Composite Overwrap Pressure Vessels Fabricated Using Ionic Liquid Epoxies Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grugel, Richard

2015-01-01

The intent of the work proposed here is to ascertain the viability of ionic liquid (IL) epoxy based carbon fiber composites for use as storage tanks at cryogenic temperatures. This IL epoxy has been specifically developed to address composite cryogenic tank challenges associated with achieving NASA's in-space propulsion and exploration goals. Our initial work showed that an unadulterated ionic liquid (IL) carbon-fiber composite exhibited improved properties over an optimized commercial product at cryogenic temperatures. Subsequent investigative work has significantly improved the IL epoxy and our first carbon-fiber Composite Overwrap Pressure Vessel (COPV) was successfully fabricated. Here additional COPVs, using a further improved IL epoxy, will be fabricated and pressure tested at cryogenic temperatures with the results rigorously analyzed. Investigation of the IL composite for lower pressure liner-less cryogenic tank applications will also be initiated. It is expected that the current Technology Readiness Level (TRL) will be raised from about TRL 3 to TRL 5 where unambiguous predictions for subsequent development/testing can be made.

Development of fire shutters based on numerical optimizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novak, Ondrej; Kulhavy, Petr; Martinec, Tomas; Petru, Michal; Srb, Pavel

2018-06-01

This article deals with a prototype concept, real experiment and numerical simulation of a layered industrial fire shutter, based on some new insulating composite materials. The real fire shutter has been developed and optimized in laboratory and subsequently tested in the certified test room. A simulation of whole concept has been carried out as the non-premixed combustion process in the commercial final volume sw Pyrosim. Model of the combustion based on a stoichiometric defined mixture of gas and the tested layered samples showed good conformity with experimental results - i.e. thermal distribution inside and heat release rate that has gone through the sample.

High Throughput Method of Extracting and Counting Strontium-90 in Urine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shkrob, I.; Kaminski, M.; Mertz, C.

2016-03-01

A method has been developed for the rapid extraction of Sr-90 from the urine of individuals exposed to radiation in a terrorist attack. The method employs two chromatographic ion-exchange materials: Diphonix resin and Sr resin, both of which are commercially available. The Diphonix resin reduces the alkali ion concentrations below 10 mM, and the Sr resin concentrates and decontaminates strontium-90. Experimental and calculational data are given for a variety of test conditions. On the basis of these results, a flowsheet has been developed for the rapid concentration and extraction of Sr-90 from human urine samples for subsequent beta-counting.

Analysis of sounds produced by Rhynchophorus ferrugineus and Oryctes elegans larvae and adults in data palm trees and offshoots in Saudi Arabian commercial orchards

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sounds produced by larval and adult palm tree pests in Saudi Arabian date palm orchards were recorded using commercially available insect acoustic detection instruments. The trees and offshoots were inspected for presence/absence of insects and other visual signs of infestation. Subsequently, the sp...

Aircraft-Induced Hole Punch and Canal Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heymsfield, A. J.; Kennedy, P.; Massie, S. T.; Schmitt, C. G.; Wang, Z.; Haimov, S.; Rangno, A.

2009-12-01

The production of holes and channels in altocumulus clouds by two commercial turboprop aircraft is documented for the first time. An unprecedented data set combining in situ measurements from microphysical probes with remote sensing measurements from cloud radar and lidar, all operating from the NSF/NCAR C130 aircraft, as well as ground-based NOAA and CSU radars, is used to describe the radar/lidar properties of a hole punch cloud and channel and the ensuing ice microphysical properties and structure of the ice column that subsequently developed. Ice particle production by commercial turboprop aircraft climbing through clouds much warmer than the regions where contrails are produced has the potential to modify significantly the cloud microphysical properties and effectively seed them under some conditions. Jet aircraft may also be producing hole punch clouds when flying through altocumulus with supercooled droplets at heights lower than their normal cruise altitudes where contrails can form. Commercial aircraft therefore can generate ice and affect the clouds at temperatures as much as 30°C warmer than the -40°C contrail formation threshold temperature.

Hypercalcemia caused by iatrogenic hypervitaminosis A.

PubMed

Bhalla, Karan; Ennis, David M; Ennis, Elizabeth D

2005-01-01

Vitamin A toxicity produces protean clinical manifestations involving a wide variety of tissues and systems. Hypercalcemia can occasionally be associated with high vitamin A levels, but is rare. In this report we describe a patient who was receiving a commercially prepared enteral feeding formula for 2 years. He developed asymptomatic hypercalcemia and had serum vitamin A levels several fold above normal. Subsequently, a custom-made enteral feed was used which contained negligible amounts of vitamin A. Several months later, vitamin A levels diminished substantially and serum calcium levels returned to normal.

Divergence and convergence of commercial and scientific priorities in drug development: The case of Zelmid, the first SSRI antidepressant.

PubMed

Mulinari, Shai

2015-08-01

Based on a realist conceptualization of interests, this paper explores how commercial and scientific priorities appear to have converged and diverged during the development of the antidepressant Zelmid. The drug represents the first of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to reach the market. Zelmid was synthesized in 1971 and launched by the Swedish firm Astra in 1982, but subsequently withdrawn the next year because of adverse neurological effects. This paper draws on in-depth interviews with scientists representing both industry and academia who had high-level involvement in various phases of the project (experimental, pre-clinical and clinical), as well as on textual sources such as scientific articles and memoirs. Zelmid was a product of mechanism-based or "rational" drug discovery from the early 1960s and the associated intermingling of science and commerce. It is argued that both scientists and the pharmaceutical company shared an interest in embracing mechanism-based drug discovery because it simultaneously promised medico-scientific advances and profits. However, the intermingling of science and commerce also strained the relationship between scientific and commercial priorities further along the trajectory of the drug; for example, concerning issues such as dosage strategy and drug use in primary care, where corporate management allegedly took decisions contrary to the recommendations of both academic and company scientists. On such occasions the asymmetry in power became apparent in scientists' narratives: commercial considerations trumped those of science since, ultimately, decisions rest with management, not with scientists. In addition, temporality appears to be associated with the divergence of commercial and scientific priorities. While rare during experimental and pre-clinical phases, divergence was concentrated downstream to the clinical testing and post-marketing phases. It is hypothesized that a similar pattern of convergence and divergence of commercial and scientific priorities may exist in the trajectory of other drugs. Copyright © 2015 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The ACT transport: Panacea for the 80's or designer's illusion (panel discussion)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

A panel discussion was held which attempted to make an objective and pragmatic assessment of the standing of active control technology. The discussion focused on the standing of active control technology relative to civil air transport applications, the value as opposed to the cost of the projected benefits, the need for research, development, and demonstration, the role of government and industry in developing the technology, the major obstacles to its implementation, and the probable timing of the full utilization of active control technology in commercial transportation. An edited transcription of the prepared statements of the panel members and the subsequent open discussion between the panel and the audience is presented.

Advanced Fuel Cycle Technology: Special Session in Honor of Dr. Michael Lineberry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

D.M. Wachs; N. Woolstenhulme

2014-06-01

The US DOE recently initiated an effort to develop accident tolerant fuel designs for potential use in commercial power reactors. Evaluation of various fuel design concepts will require a broad array of testing that will include performance attributes at both steady state and transient irradiation conditions. The first stage of the transient testing program is intended to establish the relative performance limits of each proposed concept and to support development of first-draft fuel performance models. It is anticipated that this data can subsequently be used as the basis for larger scale qualification testing. This initial stage of the testing programmore » is outlined in this paper.« less

Ex vivo rabbit cornea diffusion studies with a soluble insert of moxifloxacin.

PubMed

Sebastián-Morelló, María; Calatayud-Pascual, María Aracely; Rodilla, Vicent; Balaguer-Fernández, Cristina; López-Castellano, Alicia

2018-02-01

The objective of this research was to develop and evaluate an ocular insert for the controlled drug delivery of moxifloxacin which could perhaps be used in the treatment of corneal keratitis or even bacterial endophthalmitis. We have evaluated the ex vivo ocular diffusion of moxifloxacin through rabbit cornea, both fresh and preserved under different conditions. Histological studies were also carried out. Subsequently, drug matrix inserts were prepared using bioadhesive polymers. The inserts were evaluated for their physicochemical parameters. Ophthalmic ex vivo permeation of moxifloxacin was carried out with the most promising insert. The formulate insert was thin and provided higher ocular diffusion than commercial formulations. Ocular diffusion studies revealed significant differences between fresh and frozen corneas. Histological examinations also showed differences in the thickness of stroma between fresh and frozen corneas. The ophthalmic insert we have developed allows a larger quantity of moxifloxacin to permeate through the cornea than existing commercial formulations of the drug. Ocular delivery of moxifloxacin with this insert could be a new approach for the treatment of eye diseases.

The relation between patient discomfort and uncompensated forces of a patient support device for breast and regional lymph node radiotherapy.

PubMed

Boute, Bert; Veldeman, Liv; Speleers, Bruno; Van Greveling, Annick; Van Hoof, Tom; Van de Velde, Joris; Vercauteren, Tom; De Neve, Wilfried; Detand, Jan

2018-10-01

Although many authors stated that a user-centred design approach in medical device development has added values, the most common research approach within healthcare is evidence-based medicine, which tend to focus on functional data rather than patient wellbeing and comfort. End user comfort is well addressed in literature for commercial products such as seats and hand tools but no data was found for medical devices. A commercial patient support device for breast radiotherapy was analysed and a relation was found between discomfort and uncompensated internal body forces. Derived from CT-images, simplified patient free-body diagrams were analysed and pain and comfort evaluated. Subsequently, a new patient position was established and prototypes were developed. Patient comfort- and prototype optimization was done through iterative prototyping. With this approach, we were able to compensate all internal body forces and establish a force neutral patient free-body diagram. This resulted in comfortable patient positioning and favourable medical results. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biomolecular computers with multiple restriction enzymes.

PubMed

Sakowski, Sebastian; Krasinski, Tadeusz; Waldmajer, Jacek; Sarnik, Joanna; Blasiak, Janusz; Poplawski, Tomasz

2017-01-01

The development of conventional, silicon-based computers has several limitations, including some related to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and the von Neumann "bottleneck". Biomolecular computers based on DNA and proteins are largely free of these disadvantages and, along with quantum computers, are reasonable alternatives to their conventional counterparts in some applications. The idea of a DNA computer proposed by Ehud Shapiro's group at the Weizmann Institute of Science was developed using one restriction enzyme as hardware and DNA fragments (the transition molecules) as software and input/output signals. This computer represented a two-state two-symbol finite automaton that was subsequently extended by using two restriction enzymes. In this paper, we propose the idea of a multistate biomolecular computer with multiple commercially available restriction enzymes as hardware. Additionally, an algorithmic method for the construction of transition molecules in the DNA computer based on the use of multiple restriction enzymes is presented. We use this method to construct multistate, biomolecular, nondeterministic finite automata with four commercially available restriction enzymes as hardware. We also describe an experimental applicaton of this theoretical model to a biomolecular finite automaton made of four endonucleases.

Logging damage to residual trees following commercial harvesting to different overstory retention levels in a mature hardwood stand in Tennessee

Treesearch

Wayne K. Clatterbuck

2006-01-01

Partial cutting in mature hardwood stands often causes physical damage to residual stems through felling and skidding resulting in a decline in bole quality and subsequent loss of tree value. This study assessed the logging damage to residual trees following commercial harvesting in a fully stocked, mature oak-hickory stand cut to three overstory basal area retention...

Development of a risk prediction model among professional hockey players with visible signs of concussion.

PubMed

Bruce, Jared M; Echemendia, Ruben J; Meeuwisse, Willem; Hutchison, Michael G; Aubry, Mark; Comper, Paul

2017-04-04

Little research examines how to best identify concussed athletes. The purpose of the present study was to develop a preliminary risk decision model that uses visible signs (VS) and mechanisms of injury (MOI) to predict the likelihood of subsequent concussion diagnosis. Coders viewed and documented VS and associated MOI for all NHL games over the course of the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 regular seasons. After coding was completed, player concussions were identified from the NHL injury surveillance system and it was determined whether players exhibiting VS were subsequently diagnosed with concussions by club medical staff as a result of the coded event. Among athletes exhibiting VS, suspected loss of consciousness, motor incoordination or balance problems, being in a fight, having an initial hit from another player's shoulder and having a secondary hit on the ice were all associated with increased risk of subsequent concussion diagnosis. In contrast, having an initial hit with a stick was associated with decreased risk of subsequent concussion diagnosis. A risk prediction model using a combination of the above VS and MOI was superior to approaches that relied on individual VS and associated MOI (sensitivity=81%, specificity=72%, positive predictive value=26%). Combined use of VS and MOI significantly improves a clinician's ability to identify players who need to be evaluated for possible concussion. A preliminary concussion prediction log has been developed from these data. Pending prospective validation, the use of these methods may improve early concussion detection and evaluation. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Hydrophobic ionic liquids for quantitative bacterial cell lysis with subsequent DNA quantification.

PubMed

Fuchs-Telka, Sabine; Fister, Susanne; Mester, Patrick-Julian; Wagner, Martin; Rossmanith, Peter

2017-02-01

DNA is one of the most frequently analyzed molecules in the life sciences. In this article we describe a simple and fast protocol for quantitative DNA isolation from bacteria based on hydrophobic ionic liquid supported cell lysis at elevated temperatures (120-150 °C) for subsequent PCR-based analysis. From a set of five hydrophobic ionic liquids, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide was identified as the most suitable for quantitative cell lysis and DNA extraction because of limited quantitative PCR inhibition by the aqueous eluate as well as no detectable DNA uptake. The newly developed method was able to efficiently lyse Gram-negative bacterial cells, whereas Gram-positive cells were protected by their thick cell wall. The performance of the final protocol resulted in quantitative DNA extraction efficiencies for Gram-negative bacteria similar to those obtained with a commercial kit, whereas the number of handling steps, and especially the time required, was dramatically reduced. Graphical Abstract After careful evaluation of five hydrophobic ionic liquids, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([BMPyr + ][Ntf 2 - ]) was identified as the most suitable ionic liquid for quantitative cell lysis and DNA extraction. When used for Gram-negative bacteria, the protocol presented is simple and very fast and achieves DNA extraction efficiencies similar to those obtained with a commercial kit. ddH 2 O double-distilled water, qPCR quantitative PCR.

Lexicon Development, Consumer Acceptance, and Drivers of Liking of Quinoa Varieties.

PubMed

Wu, Geyang; Ross, Carolyn F; Morris, Craig F; Murphy, Kevin M

2017-04-01

Quinoa is becoming increasingly popular, with an expanding number of commercially available varieties. To compare the sensory properties of these quinoa varieties, a common sensory lexicon needs to be developed. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop a lexicon of cooked quinoa and examine consumer acceptance of diverse varieties. A trained panel (n = 9) developed aroma, taste/flavor, texture, and color descriptors to describe the sensory properties of 21 quinoa varieties. In addition, texture of the cooked quinoa was determined using a texture analyzer. Results indicated that the developed lexicon could distinguish among these quinoa varieties, showing significant differences in aromas, taste/flavors, and texture attributes. Specifically, quinoa variety effects were observed for the aromas of caramel, nutty, buttery, grassy, earthy, and woody; taste/flavor of sweet, bitter, grain-like, nutty, earthy, and toasty; and firm, cohesive, pasty, adhesive, crunchy, chewy, astringent, and moist textures. Three varieties, "QQ74," "Linares," and "CO407D," exhibited an adhesive texture that has not been described in other commercialized quinoa. Subsequent consumer evaluation (n = 100) on 6 selected samples found that the "Commercial Red" sample was the most accepted overall whereas the least accepted was the field variety "QQ74." For all consumers, overall acceptance of quinoa was driven by higher intensities of grassy aroma, and firm and crunchy texture. Segmentation of the consumers into 4 groups was explored and showed that consumers varied in their acceptance of specific attributes, particularly texture. From the present study, the quinoa lexicon and key drivers of consumer acceptance can be utilized in the industry to evaluate quinoa varieties, product quality and processing procedures. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Risk Predictors for Postcontrast Acute Kidney Injury.

PubMed

Krause, Trudy Millard; Ukhanova, Maria; Lee Revere, Frances; Finkel, Kevin W

2018-05-22

To evaluate risk predictors of acute kidney injury (AKI) after contrast-media procedures in a broader cohort of patients than previously reported. Comprehensive medical and pharmacy commercial claims data from 2012 to 2014. Claims associated with contrast-media procedures for 2,737,020 persons between January 1, 2012 and November 30, 2014, were reviewed. The overall incidence of AKI after a contrast-media procedure was 0.85%. AKI occurred in 26% of cases that had two or more contrast procedures within 30 days, compared with 9% of non-AKI cases. Although the incidence of postcontrast AKI was low, 10% of patients who developed AKI had a recent previous episode of AKI. In cases when AKI had occurred within 180 days of contrast administration, the odds of subsequent kidney injury was 9.39. Overall, there is a low risk (0.85%) of developing an AKI after a procedure with contrast-media consistent with several recent studies. However, in adults with a recent history of AKI, physicians must consider this history as a risk factor for subsequent AKI. Copyright © 2018 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

7 CFR 457.162 - Nursery crop insurance provisions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Nursery and Landscape Association, or a subsequent successor organization, issued in accordance with the..., commercial users, governmental end-users, or other end-users for business purposes (e.g. sales to landscape...

Critical assessment and ramifications of a purported marine trophic cascade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grubbs, R. Dean; Carlson, John K.; Romine, Jason G.; Curtis, Tobey H.; McElroy, W. David; McCandless, Camilla T.; Cotton, Charles F.; Musick, John A.

2016-02-01

When identifying potential trophic cascades, it is important to clearly establish the trophic linkages between predators and prey with respect to temporal abundance, demographics, distribution, and diet. In the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the depletion of large coastal sharks was thought to trigger a trophic cascade whereby predation release resulted in increased cownose ray abundance, which then caused increased predation on and subsequent collapse of commercial bivalve stocks. These claims were used to justify the development of a predator-control fishery for cownose rays, the “Save the Bay, Eat a Ray” fishery, to reduce predation on commercial bivalves. A reexamination of data suggests declines in large coastal sharks did not coincide with purported rapid increases in cownose ray abundance. Likewise, the increase in cownose ray abundance did not coincide with declines in commercial bivalves. The lack of temporal correlations coupled with published diet data suggest the purported trophic cascade is lacking the empirical linkages required of a trophic cascade. Furthermore, the life history parameters of cownose rays suggest they have low reproductive potential and their populations are incapable of rapid increases. Hypothesized trophic cascades should be closely scrutinized as spurious conclusions may negatively influence conservation and management decisions.

Critical assessment and ramifications of a purported marine trophic cascade

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grubbs, R. Dean; Carlson, John K; Romine, Jason G.; Curtis, Tobey H; McElroy, W. David; McCandless, Camilla T; Cotton, Charles F; Musick, John A.

2016-01-01

When identifying potential trophic cascades, it is important to clearly establish the trophic linkages between predators and prey with respect to temporal abundance, demographics, distribution, and diet. In the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the depletion of large coastal sharks was thought to trigger a trophic cascade whereby predation release resulted in increased cownose ray abundance, which then caused increased predation on and subsequent collapse of commercial bivalve stocks. These claims were used to justify the development of a predator-control fishery for cownose rays, the “Save the Bay, Eat a Ray” fishery, to reduce predation on commercial bivalves. A reexamination of data suggests declines in large coastal sharks did not coincide with purported rapid increases in cownose ray abundance. Likewise, the increase in cownose ray abundance did not coincide with declines in commercial bivalves. The lack of temporal correlations coupled with published diet data suggest the purported trophic cascade is lacking the empirical linkages required of a trophic cascade. Furthermore, the life history parameters of cownose rays suggest they have low reproductive potential and their populations are incapable of rapid increases. Hypothesized trophic cascades should be closely scrutinized as spurious conclusions may negatively influence conservation and management decisions.

Critical assessment and ramifications of a purported marine trophic cascade

PubMed Central

Grubbs, R. Dean; Carlson, John K.; Romine, Jason G.; Curtis, Tobey H.; McElroy, W. David; McCandless, Camilla T.; Cotton, Charles F.; Musick, John A.

2016-01-01

When identifying potential trophic cascades, it is important to clearly establish the trophic linkages between predators and prey with respect to temporal abundance, demographics, distribution, and diet. In the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the depletion of large coastal sharks was thought to trigger a trophic cascade whereby predation release resulted in increased cownose ray abundance, which then caused increased predation on and subsequent collapse of commercial bivalve stocks. These claims were used to justify the development of a predator-control fishery for cownose rays, the “Save the Bay, Eat a Ray” fishery, to reduce predation on commercial bivalves. A reexamination of data suggests declines in large coastal sharks did not coincide with purported rapid increases in cownose ray abundance. Likewise, the increase in cownose ray abundance did not coincide with declines in commercial bivalves. The lack of temporal correlations coupled with published diet data suggest the purported trophic cascade is lacking the empirical linkages required of a trophic cascade. Furthermore, the life history parameters of cownose rays suggest they have low reproductive potential and their populations are incapable of rapid increases. Hypothesized trophic cascades should be closely scrutinized as spurious conclusions may negatively influence conservation and management decisions. PMID:26876514

The Influence of Televised Food Commercials on Children's Food Choices: Evidence from Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Activations.

PubMed

Bruce, Amanda S; Pruitt, Stephen W; Ha, Oh-Ryeong; Cherry, J Bradley C; Smith, Timothy R; Bruce, Jared M; Lim, Seung-Lark

2016-10-01

To investigate how food commercials influence children's food choices. Twenty-three children ages 8-14 years provided taste and health ratings for 60 food items. Subsequently, these children were scanned with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging while making food choices (ie, "eat" or "not eat") after watching food and nonfood television commercials. Our results show that watching food commercials changes the way children consider the importance of taste when making food choices. Children did not use health values for their food choices, indicating children's decisions were largely driven by hedonic, immediate rewards (ie, "tastiness"); however, children placed significantly more importance on taste after watching food commercials compared with nonfood commercials. This change was accompanied by faster decision times during food commercial trials. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a reward valuation brain region, showed increased activity during food choices after watching food commercials compared with after watching nonfood commercials. Overall, our results suggest watching food commercials before making food choices may bias children's decisions based solely on taste, and that food marketing may systematically alter the psychological and neurobiologic mechanisms of children's food decisions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Influence of Televised Food Commercials on Children's Food Choices: Evidence from Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Activations

PubMed Central

Bruce, Amanda S.; Pruitt, Stephen W.; Ha, Oh-Ryeong; Cherry, J. Bradley C.; Smith, Timothy R.; Bruce, Jared M.; Lim, Seung-Lark

2016-01-01

Objective To investigate how food commercials influence children's food choices. Study design Twenty-three children ages 8-14 years provided taste and health ratings for 60 food items. Subsequently, these children were scanned with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging while making food choices (ie, “eat” or “not eat”) after watching food and nonfood television commercials. Results Our results show that watching food commercials changes the way children consider the importance of taste when making food choices. Children did not use health values for their food choices, indicating children's decisions were largely driven by hedonic, immediate rewards (ie, “tastiness”); however, children placed significantly more importance on taste after watching food commercials compared with nonfood commercials. This change was accompanied by faster decision times during food commercial trials. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a reward valuation brain region, showed increased activity during food choices after watching food commercials compared with after watching nonfood commercials. Conclusion Overall, our results suggest watching food commercials before making food choices may bias children's decisions based solely on taste, and that food marketing may systematically alter the psychological and neurobiologic mechanisms of children's food decisions. PMID:27526621

Computer modeling the fatigue crack growth rate behavior of metals in corrosive environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richey, Edward, III; Wilson, Allen W.; Pope, Jonathan M.; Gangloff, Richard P.

1994-01-01

The objective of this task was to develop a method to digitize FCP (fatigue crack propagation) kinetics data, generally presented in terms of extensive da/dN-Delta K pairs, to produce a file for subsequent linear superposition or curve-fitting analysis. The method that was developed is specific to the Numonics 2400 Digitablet and is comparable to commercially available software products as Digimatic(sup TM 4). Experiments demonstrated that the errors introduced by the photocopying of literature data, and digitization, are small compared to those inherent in laboratory methods to characterize FCP in benign and aggressive environments. The digitizing procedure was employed to obtain fifteen crack growth rate data sets for several aerospace alloys in aggressive environments.

Environmental exposure effects on composite materials for commercial aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gibbons, M. N.

1982-01-01

The data base for composite materials' properties as they are affected by the environments encountered in operating conditions, both in flight and at ground terminals is expanded. Absorbed moisture degrades the mechanical properties of graphite/epoxy laminates at elevated temperatures. Since airplane components are frequently exposed to atmospheric moisture, rain, and accumulated water, quantitative data are required to evaluate the amount of fluids absorbed under various environmental conditions and the subsequent effects on material properties. In addition, accelerated laboratory test techniques are developed are reliably capable of predicting long term behavior. An accelerated environmental exposure testing procedure is developed, and experimental results are correlated and compared with analytical results to establish the level of confidence for predicting composite material properties.

Development and validation of an open source O2-sensitive gel for physiological profiling of soil microbial communities.

PubMed

McLamore, E S; Garland, J L; Mackowiak, C; Desaunay, A; Garland, N; Chaturvedi, P; Taguchi, M; Dreaden, K; Catechis, John; Ullman, J L

2014-01-01

Community level physiological profiling is a simple, high-throughput technique for assessing microbial community physiology. Initial methods relying on redox-dye based detection of respiration were subject to strong enrichment bias, but subsequent development of a microtiter assay using an oxygen-quenched dye reduced this bias and improved the versatility of the approach. Commercial production of the oxygen microplates recently stopped, which led to the present effort to develop and validate a system using a luminophore dye (platinum tetrakis pentafluorophenyl) immobilized at the bottom of wells within a 96 well microtiter plate. The technique was used to analyze three well-characterized Florida soils: oak saw palmetto scrub, coastal mixed hardwood, and soil from an agricultural field used to grow corn silage. Substrate induced respiration was monitored by measuring respiration rates in soils under basal conditions and comparing to soils supplemented with nitrogen and various carbon sources (mannose, casein, asparagine, coumaric acid). All data was compared to a previously available commercial assay. There were no significant differences in the maximum peak intensity or the time to peak response for all soils tested (p<0.001, α=0.05). The experimental assay plates can be reused on soils up to four times (based on a deviation of less than 5%), where the commercial assay should not be reused. The results indicate that the new oxygen-based bioassay is a cost effective, open source tool for functional profiling of microbial communities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Napping-Ultra Flash Profile as a Tool for Category Identification and Subsequent Model System Formulation of Caramel Corn Products.

PubMed

Mayhew, Emily; Schmidt, Shelly; Lee, Soo-Yeun

2016-07-01

In a novel approach to formulation, the flash descriptive profiling technique Napping-Ultra Flash Profile (Napping-UFP) was used to characterize a wide range of commercial caramel corn products. The objectives were to identify product categories, develop model systems based on product categories, and correlate analytical parameters with sensory terms generated through the Napping-UFP exercise. In one 2 h session, 12 panelists participated in 4 Napping-UFP exercises, describing and grouping, on a 43×56 cm paper sheet, 12 commercial caramel corn samples by degree of similarity, globally and in terms of aroma-by-mouth, texture, and taste. The coordinates of each sample's placement on the paper sheet and descriptive terms generated by the panelists were used to conduct Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA) and hierarchical clustering of the samples. Strong trends in the clustering of samples across the 4 Napping-UFP exercises resulted in the determination of 3 overarching types of commercial caramel corn: "small-scale dark" (typified by burnt, rich caramel corn), "large-scale light" (typified by light and buttery caramel corn), and "large-scale dark" (typified by sweet and molasses-like caramel corn). Representative samples that best exemplified the properties of each category were used as guides in the formulation of 3 model systems that represent the spread of commercial caramel corn products. Analytical testing of the commercial products, including aw measurement, moisture content determination, and thermal characterization via differential scanning calorimetry, were conducted and results related to sensory descriptors using Spearman's correlation. © 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®

Is in vivo analysis of urinary stone composition feasible? Evaluation of an experimental setup of a Raman system coupled to commercial lithotripsy laser fibers.

PubMed

Miernik, Arkadiusz; Eilers, Yvan; Nuese, Christoph; Bolwien, Carsten; Lambrecht, Armin; Hesse, Albrecht; Rassweiler, Jens J; Schlager, Daniel; Wilhelm, Konrad; Wetterauer, Ulrich; Schoenthaler, Martin

2015-10-01

Raman spectroscopy allows immediate analysis of stone composition. In vivo stone analysis during endoscopic treatment may offer advantages concerning surgical strategy and metaphylaxis. Urinary stone components were evaluated utilizing an experimental setup of a Raman system coupled to commercial laser fibers. Samples of paracetamol (acetaminophen) and human urinary stones with known Raman spectra were analyzed using an experimental Raman system coupled to common commercial lithotripsy laser fibers (200 and 940 µm). Two different excitation lasers were used at wavelengths of 532 and 785 nm. Numerical aperture of the fibers, proportion of reflected light reaching the CCD chip, and integration times were calculated. Mathematical signal correction was performed. Both the laser beam profile and the quality of light reflected by the specimens were impaired significantly when used with commercial fibers. Acquired spectra could no longer be assigned to a specific stone composition. Subsequent measurements revealed a strong intrinsic fluorescence of the fibers and poor light acquisition properties leading to a significant decrease in the Raman signal in comparison with a free-beam setup. This was true for both investigated fiber diameters and both wavelengths. Microscopic examination showed highly irregular fiber tip surfaces (both new and used fibers). Our results propose that laser excitation and light acquisition properties of commercial lithotripsy fibers impair detectable Raman signals significantly in a fiber-coupled setting. This study provides essential physical and technological information for the development of an advanced fiber-coupled system able to be used for immediate stone analysis during endoscopic stone therapy.

Process for calcium xylonate production as a concrete admixture derived from in-situ fermentation of wheat straw pre-hydrolysate.

PubMed

Zhou, Xin; Zhou, Xuelian; Tang, Xiusheng; Xu, Yong

2018-08-01

One of the major obstacles in process of lignocellulosic biorefinery is the utilization of pre-hydrolysate from pre-treatment. Although lignocellulosic pre-hydrolysate can serve as an economic starting material for xylonic acid production, the advancement of xylonic acid or xylonate is still limited by further commercial value or applications. In the present study, xylose in the high concentration wheat straw pre-hydrolysate was first in-situ biooxidized to xylonate by Gluconobacter oxydans. To meet the needs of commercialization, crude powdered calcium xylonate was prepared by drying process and calcium xylonate content in the prepared crude product was more than 70%. Then, the calcium xylonate product was evaluated as concrete admixture without any complex purification steps and the results demonstrated that xylonate could improve the performance of concrete. Overall, the crude xylonate product directly produced from low-cost wheat straw pre-hydrolysate can potentially be developed as retarding reducer, which could subsequently benefit lignocellulosic biorefinery. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Large capacity oblique all-wing transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Galloway, Thomas L.; Phillips, James A.; Kennelly, Robert A., Jr.; Waters, Mark H.

1996-01-01

Dr. R. T. Jones first developed the theory for oblique wing aircraft in 1952, and in subsequent years numerous analytical and experimental projects conducted at NASA Ames and elsewhere have established that the Jones' oblique wing theory is correct. Until the late 1980's all proposed oblique wing configurations were wing/body aircraft with the wing mounted on a pivot. With the emerging requirement for commercial transports with very large payloads, 450-800 passengers, Jones proposed a supersonic oblique flying wing in 1988. For such an aircraft all payload, fuel, and systems are carried within the wing, and the wing is designed with a variable sweep to maintain a fixed subsonic normal Mach number. Engines and vertical tails are mounted on pivots supported from the primary structure of the wing. The oblique flying wing transport has come to be known as the Oblique All-Wing (OAW) transport. This presentation gives the highlights of the OAW project that was to study the total concept of the OAW as a commercial transport.

Identification of five highly priced tuna species by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

PubMed

Liu, Shasha; Xu, Kunhua; Wu, Zhigang; Xie, Xiao; Feng, Junli

2016-09-01

Tunas are economically important fishery worldwide, and are often used for commercial processed production. For effective fishery management and protection of consumers' rights, it is important to develop a molecular method to identify species in canned tuna products rapidly and reliably. Here, we have developed a duplex quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) for identification of five highly priced tuna species (Thunnus maccoyii, Thunnus obesus, Thunnus albacares, Thunnus alalunga and Katsuwonus pelamis) from processed as well as fresh fish. After amplification and sequencing of seven genetic markers commonly used for species identification, 16S rDNA and control region (CR) of mitochondrial DNA were selected as the reference gene markers for genus Thunnus and tuna species identification, respectively. Subsequently, a 73 bp fragment of 16S rDNA and 85-99 bp fragment of CR were simultaneously amplified from each target species by qPCR. The qPCR efficiency of each reaction was calculated according to the standard curves, and the method was validated by amplification DNA extracted from single or mixed tuna specimen. The developed duplex qPCR system was applied to authenticate species of 14 commercial tuna products successfully, which demonstrated it was really a useful and academic technique to identify highly priced tuna species.

Keratinocytes propagated in serum-free, feeder-free culture conditions fail to form stratified epidermis in a reconstituted skin model.

PubMed

Lamb, Rebecca; Ambler, Carrie A

2013-01-01

Primary human epidermal stem cells isolated from skin tissues and subsequently expanded in tissue culture are used for human therapeutic use to reconstitute skin on patients and to generate artificial skin in culture for academic and commercial research. Classically, epidermal cells, known as keratinocytes, required fibroblast feeder support and serum-containing media for serial propagation. In alignment with global efforts to remove potential animal contaminants, many serum-free, feeder-free culture methods have been developed that support derivation and growth of these cells in 2-dimensional culture. Here we show that keratinocytes grown continually in serum-free and feeder-free conditions were unable to form into a stratified, mature epidermis in a skin equivalent model. This is not due to loss of cell potential as keratinocytes propagated in serum-free, feeder-free conditions retain their ability to form stratified epidermis when re-introduced to classic serum-containing media. Extracellular calcium supplementation failed to improve epidermis development. In contrast, the addition of serum to commercial, growth media developed for serum-free expansion of keratinocytes facilitated 3-dimensional stratification in our skin equivalent model. Moreover, the addition of heat-inactivated serum improved the epidermis structure and thickness, suggesting that serum contains factors that both aid and inhibit stratification.

Keratinocytes Propagated in Serum-Free, Feeder-Free Culture Conditions Fail to Form Stratified Epidermis in a Reconstituted Skin Model

PubMed Central

Lamb, Rebecca; Ambler, Carrie A.

2013-01-01

Primary human epidermal stem cells isolated from skin tissues and subsequently expanded in tissue culture are used for human therapeutic use to reconstitute skin on patients and to generate artificial skin in culture for academic and commercial research. Classically, epidermal cells, known as keratinocytes, required fibroblast feeder support and serum-containing media for serial propagation. In alignment with global efforts to remove potential animal contaminants, many serum-free, feeder-free culture methods have been developed that support derivation and growth of these cells in 2-dimensional culture. Here we show that keratinocytes grown continually in serum-free and feeder-free conditions were unable to form into a stratified, mature epidermis in a skin equivalent model. This is not due to loss of cell potential as keratinocytes propagated in serum-free, feeder-free conditions retain their ability to form stratified epidermis when re-introduced to classic serum-containing media. Extracellular calcium supplementation failed to improve epidermis development. In contrast, the addition of serum to commercial, growth media developed for serum-free expansion of keratinocytes facilitated 3-dimensional stratification in our skin equivalent model. Moreover, the addition of heat-inactivated serum improved the epidermis structure and thickness, suggesting that serum contains factors that both aid and inhibit stratification. PMID:23326335

Incidence of Escherichia coli in black walnut meats.

PubMed

Meyer, M T; Vaughn, R H

1969-11-01

Examination of commercially shelled black walnut meats showed inconsistent numbers of total aerobic bacteria, coliforms, and Escherichia coli; variation occurred among different meat sizes and within each meat size. The incidence of E. coli on meats of commercially hulled black walnuts depended on the physical condition of the nuts. Apparently tightly sealed ones contained only a few or none, whereas those with visibly separated sutures and spoiled meats yielded the most. This contamination was in part correlated to a hulling operation. Large numbers of E. coli on the husk of the walnuts contaminated the hulling water, subsequently also contaminating the meats by way of separated sutures. Chlorination of the hulling wash water was ineffective. Attempts were made to decontaminate the walnut meats without subsequent deleterious changes in flavor or texture. A treatment in coconut oil at 100 C followed by removal of excess surface oil by centrifugation was best.

Incidence of Escherichia coli in Black Walnut Meats

PubMed Central

Meyer, Melvin T.; Vaughn, Reese H.

1969-01-01

Examination of commercially shelled black walnut meats showed inconsistent numbers of total aerobic bacteria, coliforms, and Escherichia coli; variation occurred among different meat sizes and within each meat size. The incidence of E. coli on meats of commercially hulled black walnuts depended on the physical condition of the nuts. Apparently tightly sealed ones contained only a few or none, whereas those with visibly separated sutures and spoiled meats yielded the most. This contamination was in part correlated to a hulling operation. Large numbers of E. coli on the husk of the walnuts contaminated the hulling water, subsequently also contaminating the meats by way of separated sutures. Chlorination of the hulling wash water was ineffective. Attempts were made to decontaminate the walnut meats without subsequent deleterious changes in flavor or texture. A treatment in coconut oil at 100 C followed by removal of excess surface oil by centrifugation was best. PMID:4905608

Optimizing Transfection of Primary Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells Using Commercially Available Chemical Transfection Reagents

PubMed Central

Hunt, Michelle A.; Currie, Margaret J.; Robinson, Bridget A.; Dachs, Gabi U.

2010-01-01

Primary cells, such as HUVEC, are notoriously difficult to transfect and are susceptible to the toxic effects of transfection reagents. A transfection reagent with a high transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity was sought to retain sufficient viability of transfected HUVEC for subsequent assays. Nine chemical transfection reagents, currently commercially available, were compared for their ability to transfect HUVEC in vitro. A plasmid expressing the enhanced GFP (EGFP) was used for transfection, followed by flow cytometry of transfected HUVEC to determine the proportion of EGFP-expressing cells as a measure of transfection efficiency. Lipofectamine 2000 and Lipofectamine LTX (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA) gave the highest transfection efficiencies of the reagents tested. Lipofectamine LTX was identified as the optimal transfection reagent as a result of its higher transfection efficiency at shorter periods of time following transfection when cytotoxicity was limited, allowing sufficient yield of transfected HUVEC for use in subsequent assays. PMID:20592869

Best management practices for soft engineering of shoreline

USGS Publications Warehouse

Caulk, Andrew D.; Gannon, John E.; Shaw, John R.; Hartig, John H.

2000-01-01

Historically, many river shorelines were stabilized and hardened with concrete and steel to protect developments from flooding and erosion, or to accommodate commercial navigation or industry. Typically shorelines were developed for a single purpose. Today, there is growing interest in developing shorelines for multiple purposes so that additional benefits can be accrued. Soft engineering is the use of ecological principles and practices to reduce erosion and achieve the stabilization and safety of shorelines, while enhancing habitat, improving aesthetics, and saving money. The purpose of this best management practices manual is to provide insights and technical advice to local governments, developers, planners, consultants, and industries on when, where, why, and how to incorporate soft engineering of shorelines into shoreline redevelopment projects and reap subsequent benefits. More specific technical advice and contact information can be found in the soft engineering case studies presented in this manual.

Hyperspectral cytometry.

PubMed

Grégori, Gérald; Rajwa, Bartek; Patsekin, Valery; Jones, James; Furuki, Motohiro; Yamamoto, Masanobu; Paul Robinson, J

2014-01-01

Hyperspectral cytometry is an emerging technology for single-cell analysis that combines ultrafast optical spectroscopy and flow cytometry. Spectral cytometry systems utilize diffraction gratings or prism-based monochromators to disperse fluorescence signals from multiple labels (organic dyes, nanoparticles, or fluorescent proteins) present in each analyzed bioparticle onto linear detector arrays such as multianode photomultipliers or charge-coupled device sensors. The resultant data, consisting of a series of characterizing every analyzed cell, are not compensated by employing the traditional cytometry approach, but rather are spectrally unmixed utilizing algorithms such as constrained Poisson regression or non-negative matrix factorization. Although implementations of spectral cytometry were envisioned as early as the 1980s, only recently has the development of highly sensitive photomultiplier tube arrays led to design and construction of functional prototypes and subsequently to introduction of commercially available systems. This chapter summarizes the historical efforts and work in the field of spectral cytometry performed at Purdue University Cytometry Laboratories and describes the technology developed by Sony Corporation that resulted in release of the first commercial spectral cytometry system-the Sony SP6800. A brief introduction to spectral data analysis is also provided, with emphasis on the differences between traditional polychromatic and spectral cytometry approaches.

Biomolecular computers with multiple restriction enzymes

PubMed Central

Sakowski, Sebastian; Krasinski, Tadeusz; Waldmajer, Jacek; Sarnik, Joanna; Blasiak, Janusz; Poplawski, Tomasz

2017-01-01

Abstract The development of conventional, silicon-based computers has several limitations, including some related to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and the von Neumann “bottleneck”. Biomolecular computers based on DNA and proteins are largely free of these disadvantages and, along with quantum computers, are reasonable alternatives to their conventional counterparts in some applications. The idea of a DNA computer proposed by Ehud Shapiro’s group at the Weizmann Institute of Science was developed using one restriction enzyme as hardware and DNA fragments (the transition molecules) as software and input/output signals. This computer represented a two-state two-symbol finite automaton that was subsequently extended by using two restriction enzymes. In this paper, we propose the idea of a multistate biomolecular computer with multiple commercially available restriction enzymes as hardware. Additionally, an algorithmic method for the construction of transition molecules in the DNA computer based on the use of multiple restriction enzymes is presented. We use this method to construct multistate, biomolecular, nondeterministic finite automata with four commercially available restriction enzymes as hardware. We also describe an experimental applicaton of this theoretical model to a biomolecular finite automaton made of four endonucleases. PMID:29064510

Cluster analysis as a tool for evaluating the exploration potential of Known Geothermal Resource Areas

DOE PAGES

Lindsey, Cary R.; Neupane, Ghanashym; Spycher, Nicolas; ...

2018-01-03

Although many Known Geothermal Resource Areas in Oregon and Idaho were identified during the 1970s and 1980s, few were subsequently developed commercially. Because of advances in power plant design and energy conversion efficiency since the 1980s, some previously identified KGRAs may now be economically viable prospects. Unfortunately, available characterization data vary widely in accuracy, precision, and granularity, making assessments problematic. In this paper, we suggest a procedure for comparing test areas against proven resources using Principal Component Analysis and cluster identification. The result is a low-cost tool for evaluating potential exploration targets using uncertain or incomplete data.

Cluster analysis as a tool for evaluating the exploration potential of Known Geothermal Resource Areas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lindsey, Cary R.; Neupane, Ghanashym; Spycher, Nicolas

Although many Known Geothermal Resource Areas in Oregon and Idaho were identified during the 1970s and 1980s, few were subsequently developed commercially. Because of advances in power plant design and energy conversion efficiency since the 1980s, some previously identified KGRAs may now be economically viable prospects. Unfortunately, available characterization data vary widely in accuracy, precision, and granularity, making assessments problematic. In this paper, we suggest a procedure for comparing test areas against proven resources using Principal Component Analysis and cluster identification. The result is a low-cost tool for evaluating potential exploration targets using uncertain or incomplete data.

Expedient generation of patterned surface aldehydes by microfluidic oxidation for chemoselective immobilization of ligands and cells.

PubMed

Westcott, Nathan P; Pulsipher, Abigail; Lamb, Brian M; Yousaf, Muhammad N

2008-09-02

An expedient and inexpensive method to generate patterned aldehydes on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates on gold with control of density for subsequent chemoselective immobilization from commercially available starting materials has been developed. Utilizing microfluidic cassettes, primary alcohol oxidation of tetra(ethylene glycol) undecane thiol and 11-mercapto-1-undecanol SAMs was performed directly on the surface generating patterned aldehyde groups with pyridinium chlorochromate. The precise density of surface aldehydes generated can be controlled and characterized by electrochemistry. For biological applications, fibroblast cells were seeded on patterned surfaces presenting biospecifc cell adhesive (Arg-Glyc-Asp) RGD peptides.

A Simulation Based Approach for Contingency Planning for Aircraft Turnaround Operation System Activities in Airline Hubs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adeleye, Sanya; Chung, Christopher

2006-01-01

Commercial aircraft undergo a significant number of maintenance and logistical activities during the turnaround operation at the departure gate. By analyzing the sequencing of these activities, more effective turnaround contingency plans may be developed for logistical and maintenance disruptions. Turnaround contingency plans are particularly important as any kind of delay in a hub based system may cascade into further delays with subsequent connections. The contingency sequencing of the maintenance and logistical turnaround activities were analyzed using a combined network and computer simulation modeling approach. Experimental analysis of both current and alternative policies provides a framework to aid in more effective tactical decision making.

Adaptive Tunable Laser Spectrometer for Space Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flesch, Gregory; Keymeulen, Didier

2010-01-01

An architecture and process for the rapid prototyping and subsequent development of an adaptive tunable laser absorption spectrometer (TLS) are described. Our digital hardware/firmware/software platform is both reconfigurable at design time as well as autonomously adaptive in real-time for both post-integration and post-launch situations. The design expands the range of viable target environments and enhances tunable laser spectrometer performance in extreme and even unpredictable environments. Through rapid prototyping with a commercial RTOS/FPGA platform, we have implemented a fully operational tunable laser spectrometer (using a highly sensitive second harmonic technique). With this prototype, we have demonstrated autonomous real-time adaptivity in the lab with simulated extreme environments.

Development and characterization of soy-based epoxy resins and pultruded FRP composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jiang

This dissertation focuses on the development, manufacture and characterization of novel soy-based epoxy FRP composites. Use of alternative epoxy resin systems derived from a renewable resource holds potential for low cost raw materials for the polymer and composite industries. Epoxidized Allyl Soyate (EAS) and Epoxidized Methyl Soyate (EMS) were developed from soybean oil with two chemical modification procedures: transesterification and epoxidation. This research investigates the curing characteristics and thermal and mechanical properties of the neat soyate resin systems. The derived soyate resins have higher reactivity and superior performance compared to commercially available epoxidized soybean oil. An efficient two-step curing method was developed in order to utilize these soyate resins to their full potential. The epoxy co-resin systems with varied soyate resin content were successfully used to fabricate composite material through pultrusion. The pultrusion resin systems with 30 wt% soyate resins yielded improved, or comparable mechanical properties with neat commercial resins. A finite element analysis of the heat transfer and curing process was performed to study the processing characterization on glass/epoxy composite pultrusion. This model can be used to establish baseline process variables and will benefit subsequent optimization. This research demonstrates that soy-based resins, especially EAS, show considerable promise as an epoxy resin supplement for use in polymer and composite structural applications. The new products derived from soybean oil can provide competitive performance, low cost and environmental advantages.

Clearing the air: identity safety moderates the effects of stereotype threat on women's leadership aspirations.

PubMed

Davies, Paul G; Spencer, Steven J; Steele, Claude M

2005-02-01

Exposing participants to gender-stereotypic TV commercials designed to elicit the female stereotype, the present research explored whether vulnerability to stereotype threat could persuade women to avoid leadership roles in favor of nonthreatening subordinate roles. Study 1 confirmed that exposure to the stereotypic commercials undermined women's aspirations on a subsequent leadership task. Study 2 established that varying the identity safety of the leadership task moderated whether activation of the female stereotype mediated the effect of the commercials on women's aspirations. Creating an identity-safe environment eliminated vulnerability to stereotype threat despite exposure to threatening situational cues that primed stigmatized social identities and their corresponding stereotypes.

Commercialization of the Chevron FCC vanadium trap

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kennedy, J.V.; Kuehler, C.W.; Krishna, A.S.

1995-09-01

Vanadium, present to varying degrees in FCC feed, deposits on the catalyst virtually quantitatively in the cracking process. In resid operations, vanadium levels on catalyst can reach 10,000 ppm at typical catalyst make-up rates. Once on the catalyst, vanadium destroys the zeolite and restricts access to active sites. This reduces catalyst activity. A vanadium trap is a material that when introduced into the catalyst inventory selectively reacts with migrating vanadium, thus protecting the zeolite and other active components of the catalyst. The trap may be incorporated into the catalyst, or introduced as a separate particle. Only a limited amount ofmore » trap can be incorporated into the catalyst without limiting the amount of zeolite that can be included. Gulf began development of a vanadium trap during the early 1980`s. The work produced a variety of promising materials whose use as vanadium traps was subsequently patented. The work ultimately led to a formulation with a phase very active for trapping vanadium while still quite sulfur tolerant. Based on these results, an extensive pilot plant evaluation was undertaken by Chevron after the Chevron-Gulf merger to better simulate commercial operation. The paper describes pilot plant tests as well as 3 commercial tests of this vanadium trap.« less

The design of visualization telemetry system based on camera module of the commercial smartphone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chao; Ye, Zhao; Wu, Bin; Yin, Huan; Cao, Qipeng; Zhu, Jun

2017-09-01

Satellite telemetry is the vital indicators to estimate the performance of the satellite. The telemetry data, the threshold range and the variation tendency collected during the whole operational life of the satellite, can guide and evaluate the subsequent design of the satellite in the future. The rotational parts on the satellite (e.g. solar arrays, antennas and oscillating mirrors) affect collecting the solar energy and the other functions of the satellite. Visualization telemetries (pictures, video) are captured to interpret the status of the satellite qualitatively in real time as an important supplement for troubleshooting. The mature technology of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products have obvious advantages in terms of the design of construction, electronics, interfaces and image processing. Also considering the weight, power consumption, and cost, it can be directly used in our application or can be adopted for secondary development. In this paper, characteristic simulations of solar arrays radiation in orbit are presented, and a suitable camera module of certain commercial smartphone is adopted after the precise calculation and the product selection process. Considering the advantages of the COTS devices, which can solve both the fundamental and complicated satellite problems, this technique proposed is innovative to the project implementation in the future.

Characterization and quantification of racemic and meso-ethylenediamine-N,N'-bis(2-hydroxy-5-sulfophenylacetic) acid/iron (III) by ion-pair ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector and electrospray tandem mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Biasone, Alessandro; Cianci, Giusto; Di Tommaso, Donata; Piaggesi, Alberto; Tagliavini, Emilio; Galletti, Paola; Moretti, Fabio

2013-03-22

EDDHSA/Fe is a promising substitute of EDDHA/Fe to fight iron chlorosis. o,o-EDDHSA structure contains two chiral carbons giving the racemic and meso couples of stereoisomers. Ion-pair HPLC and UHPLC-UV/Vis-ESI-MS/MS methods were developed for the determination of racemic and meso-o,o-EDDHSA/Fe in commercial samples of chelates. The lack of a commercial EDDHSA standard was overcome by sulfonation of a commercial available o,o-EDDHA standard and subsequent quantification by (1)H-NMR. Assignment of configurations was carried out starting from racemic and meso-o,o-EDDHA/Fe by direct sulfonation to give the corresponding o,o-EDDHSA/Fe isomers. The performances of these methods were assessed in terms of intra and inter-day precision, linearity and selectivity. The high selectivity and lower detection limit (nanomolar) of the UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS method could allow to deepen the knowledge relative to meso and rac-o,o-EDDHSA/Fe interactions with plants, its fate in different soil conditions, its mobility and other environmental aspects. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of dental restorative materials based on visible light-cured multi-methacrylates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiba, Amer

The studies described in this dissertation focus on new visible light-curing (VLC) oligomers exhibiting low shrinkage, low water sorption, and improved mechanical properties. A family of multi-methacrylates, based on poly(isopropylidenediphenol) resin (BPA), was synthesized, characterized, and evaluated. The commercial BPA resin is prepared from enzymatic polymerization (oligomerization) of bisphenol A. The BPA resin, having an average of eight phenolic hydroxyl groups per molecule, was treated with propylene carbonate, and the resultant product, i.e., propoxylated BPA (PEBPA) oligomer, was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and sp{13}C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The propoxylated BPA was subsequently treated with methacryloyl chloride to produce the multi-methacrylates, identified by FT-IR and NMR. The PEBPA oligomer multimethacrylate: triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) (50:50/wt:wt) blends were combined with 0.5 wt. % camphoroquinone (CQ) and 1.0 wt. % N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA). The control polymers were 2,2-bis(4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloyloxypropoxy)phenyl) propane (BisGMA): TEGDMA(50:50/wt:wt) blends having the same levels of CQ/DMAEMA. Differential photocalorimetry (DPC) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed these multimethacrylate/TEGDMA (neat resin) blends have polymerization characteristics comparable to the BisGMA/TEGDMA controls. These new multifunctional oligomers have lower polymerization shrinkage and lower uptake of water and other liquids, compared to BisGMA based materials. In addition, two experimental oligomers, PEBPA #2 and #3, have higher compressive strength than the BisGMA control. A biocompatibility test of the polymerized multi-methacrylate resins was performed and compared with the conventional BisGMA/TEGDMA resin and blank controls, using cell culture techniques. Human gingival fibroblasts were used for biocompatibility evaluation of these resins. The results revealed that the BPA oligomer (multi-methacrylate) based resin significantly favored the cell growth of the human gingival fibroblasts, compared to the control. An experimental composite was made from EPBPA oligomers (multi-methacrylates). The compressive strength of the experimental EPBPA containing composite was not significantly different than the commercial composite Herculite HXR. SEM photomicrographs revealed more voids in the experimental composites than the commercial composite on both the external surfaces of the prepared specimens and the subsequent fractured surfaces. This is due to the molding technique for specimen preparation and lack of good mechanical mixing for filler incorporation prior to placement of the resin in the mold for subsequent photopolymerization. However, the water sorption for the experimental EPBPA-based composite was significantly lower than the commercial Herculite (HXR) composite. This is most likely related to the hydrophobic nature of the experimental resin. These results suggest that the new type of polyfunctional methacrylate oligomers (PEBPA) have potential application in formulating dental composites as direct esthetic restorative materials with improved properties.

Equipment concept design and development plans for microgravity science and applications research on space station: Combustion tunnel, laser diagnostic system, advanced modular furnace, integrated electronics laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uhran, M. L.; Youngblood, W. W.; Georgekutty, T.; Fiske, M. R.; Wear, W. O.

1986-01-01

Taking advantage of the microgravity environment of space NASA has initiated the preliminary design of a permanently manned space station that will support technological advances in process science and stimulate the development of new and improved materials having applications across the commercial spectrum. Previous studies have been performed to define from the researcher's perspective, the requirements for laboratory equipment to accommodate microgravity experiments on the space station. Functional requirements for the identified experimental apparatus and support equipment were determined. From these hardware requirements, several items were selected for concept designs and subsequent formulation of development plans. This report documents the concept designs and development plans for two items of experiment apparatus - the Combustion Tunnel and the Advanced Modular Furnace, and two items of support equipment the Laser Diagnostic System and the Integrated Electronics Laboratory. For each concept design, key technology developments were identified that are required to enable or enhance the development of the respective hardware.

High-Temperature Adhesive Strain Gage Developed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pereira, J. Michael; Roberts, Gary D.

1997-01-01

Researchers at the NASA Lewis Research Center have developed a unique strain gage and adhesive system for measuring the mechanical properties of polymers and polymer composites at elevated temperatures. This system overcomes some of the problems encountered in using commercial strain gages and adhesives. For example, typical commercial strain gage adhesives require a postcure at temperatures substantially higher than the maximum test temperature. The exposure of the specimen to this temperature may affect subsequent results, and in some cases may be higher than the glass-transition temperature of the polymer. In addition, although typical commercial strain gages can be used for short times at temperatures up to 370 C, their long-term use is limited to 230 C. This precludes their use for testing some high-temperature polyimides near their maximum temperature capability. Lewis' strain gage and adhesive system consists of a nonencapsulated, unbacked gage grid that is bonded directly to the polymer after the specimen has been cured but prior to the normal postcure cycle. The gage is applied with an adhesive specially formulated to cure under the specimen postcure conditions. Special handling, mounting, and electrical connection procedures were developed, and a fixture was designed to calibrate each strain gage after it was applied to a specimen. A variety of tests was conducted to determine the performance characteristics of the gages at elevated temperatures on PMR-15 neat resin and titanium specimens. For these tests, which included static tension, thermal exposure, and creep tests, the gage and adhesive system performed within normal strain gage specifications at 315 C. An example of the performance characteristics of the gage can be seen in the figure, which compares the strain gage measurement on a polyimide specimen at 315 C with an extensometer measurement.

Sociotechnical Challenges of Developing an Interoperable Personal Health Record

PubMed Central

Gaskin, G.L.; Longhurst, C.A.; Slayton, R.; Das, A.K.

2011-01-01

Objectives To analyze sociotechnical issues involved in the process of developing an interoperable commercial Personal Health Record (PHR) in a hospital setting, and to create guidelines for future PHR implementations. Methods This qualitative study utilized observational research and semi-structured interviews with 8 members of the hospital team, as gathered over a 28 week period of developing and adapting a vendor-based PHR at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University. A grounded theory approach was utilized to code and analyze over 100 pages of typewritten field notes and interview transcripts. This grounded analysis allowed themes to surface during the data collection process which were subsequently explored in greater detail in the observations and interviews. Results Four major themes emerged: (1) Multidisciplinary teamwork helped team members identify crucial features of the PHR; (2) Divergent goals for the PHR existed even within the hospital team; (3) Differing organizational conceptions of the end-user between the hospital and software company differentially shaped expectations for the final product; (4) Difficulties with coordination and accountability between the hospital and software company caused major delays and expenses and strained the relationship between hospital and software vendor. Conclusions Though commercial interoperable PHRs have great potential to improve healthcare, the process of designing and developing such systems is an inherently sociotechnical process with many complex issues and barriers. This paper offers recommendations based on the lessons learned to guide future development of such PHRs. PMID:22003373

Qualitative Analysis of Commercial Social Network Profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melendez, Lester; Wolfson, Ouri; Adjouadi, Malek; Rishe, Naphtali

Social-networking sites have become an integral part of many users' daily internet routine. Commercial enterprises have been quick to recognize this and are subsequently creating profiles for many of their products and services. Commercial enterprises use social network profiles to target and interact with potential customers as well as to provide a gateway for users of the product or service to interact with each other. Many commercial enterprises use the statistics from their product or service's social network profile to tout the popularity and success of the product or service being showcased. They will use statistics such as number of friends, number of daily visits, number of interactions, and other similar measurements to quantify their claims. These statistics are often not a clear indication of the true popularity and success of the product. In this chapter the term product is used to refer to any tangible or intangible product, service, celebrity, personality, film, book, or other entity produced by a commercial enterprise.

Hockey-stick steam generator for LMFBR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hallinan, G.J.; Svedlund, P.E.

1981-01-01

This paper presents the criteria and evaluation leading to the selection of the Hockey Stick Steam Generator Concept and subsequent development of that concept for LMFBR application. The selection process and development of the Modular Steam Generator (MSG) is discussed, including the extensive test programs that culminated in the manufacture and test of a 35 MW(t) Steam Generator. The design of the CRBRP Steam Generator is described, emphasizing the current status and a review of the critical structural areas. CRBRP steam generator development tests are evaluated, with a discussion of test objectives and rating of the usefulness of test resultsmore » to the CRBRP prototype design. Manufacturing experience and status of the CRBRP prototype and plant units is covered. The scaleup of the Hockey Stick concept to large commercial plant application is presented, with an evaluation of scaleup limitations, transient effects, and system design implications.« less

Development of a Miniature Low Power Cylindrical Hall Thruster for Microsatellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pigeon, Carl

To enable more advanced commercial microsatellite missions, a low power electric propulsion system was designed by the University of Toronto Space Flight Laboratory. A prototype cylindrical Hall thruster was first developed using electromagnets. The thruster's performance was evaluated over a range of 20-300 W. At the nominal 200 W operation, 6.2 mN of thrust with a specific impulse of 1139 s was measured with xenon propellant. Significant erosion of the thruster's discharge chamber wall was observed which limited its lifetime to 100 hours. Subsequently, a flight representative version of the thruster was developed. Permanent magnets were used to reduce the size, mass, and power consumption. Changes to the design were implemented to improve lifetime. Performance characterization and literature suggest that a reduction in performance is expected with the use of permanent magnets. Lastly, thermal vacuum and vibration tests were performed to bring the thruster to Technology Readiness Level 6.

FSW of Aluminum Tailor Welded Blanks across Machine Platforms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hovanski, Yuri; Upadhyay, Piyush; Carlson, Blair

2015-02-16

Development and characterization of friction stir welded aluminum tailor welded blanks was successfully carried out on three separate machine platforms. Each was a commercially available, gantry style, multi-axis machine designed specifically for friction stir welding. Weld parameters were developed to support high volume production of dissimilar thickness aluminum tailor welded blanks at speeds of 3 m/min and greater. Parameters originally developed on an ultra-high stiffness servo driven machine where first transferred to a high stiffness servo-hydraulic friction stir welding machine, and subsequently transferred to a purpose built machine designed to accommodate thin sheet aluminum welding. The inherent beam stiffness, bearingmore » compliance, and control system for each machine were distinctly unique, which posed specific challenges in transferring welding parameters across machine platforms. This work documents the challenges imposed by successfully transferring weld parameters from machine to machine, produced from different manufacturers and with unique control systems and interfaces.« less

Recovery and reuse of cellulase catalyst in an exzymatic cellulose hydrolysis process

DOEpatents

Woodward, Jonathan

1989-01-01

A process for recovering cellulase from the hydrolysis of cellulose, and reusing it in subsequent hydrolyois procedures. The process utilizes a commercial adsorbent that efficiently removes cellulase from reaction products which can be easily removed by simple decantation.

Implementing a Commercial Rule Base as a Medication Order Safety Net

PubMed Central

Reichley, Richard M.; Seaton, Terry L.; Resetar, Ervina; Micek, Scott T.; Scott, Karen L.; Fraser, Victoria J.; Dunagan, W. Claiborne; Bailey, Thomas C.

2005-01-01

A commercial rule base (Cerner Multum) was used to identify medication orders exceeding recommended dosage limits at five hospitals within BJC HealthCare, an integrated health care system. During initial testing, clinical pharmacists determined that there was an excessive number of nuisance and clinically insignificant alerts, with an overall alert rate of 9.2%. A method for customizing the commercial rule base was implemented to increase rule specificity for problematic rules. The system was subsequently deployed at two facilities and achieved alert rates of less than 1%. Pharmacists screened these alerts and contacted ordering physicians in 21% of cases. Physicians made therapeutic changes in response to 38% of alerts presented to them. By applying simple techniques to customize rules, commercial rule bases can be used to rapidly deploy a safety net to screen drug orders for excessive dosages, while preserving the rule architecture for later implementations of more finely tuned clinical decision support. PMID:15802481

Genomic Target Database (GTD): A database of potential targets in human pathogenic bacteria

PubMed Central

Barh, Debmalya; Kumar, Anil; Misra, Amarendra Narayana

2009-01-01

A Genomic Target Database (GTD) has been developed having putative genomic drug targets for human bacterial pathogens. The selected pathogens are either drug resistant or vaccines are yet to be developed against them. The drug targets have been identified using subtractive genomics approaches and these are subsequently classified into Drug targets in pathogen specific unique metabolic pathways,Drug targets in host-pathogen common metabolic pathways, andMembrane localized drug targets. HTML code is used to link each target to its various properties and other available public resources. Essential resources and tools for subtractive genomic analysis, sub-cellular localization, vaccine and drug designing are also mentioned. To the best of authors knowledge, no such database (DB) is presently available that has listed metabolic pathways and membrane specific genomic drug targets based on subtractive genomics. Listed targets in GTD are readily available resource in developing drug and vaccine against the respective pathogen, its subtypes, and other family members. Currently GTD contains 58 drug targets for four pathogens. Shortly, drug targets for six more pathogens will be listed. Availability GTD is available at IIOAB website http://www.iioab.webs.com/GTD.htm. It can also be accessed at http://www.iioabdgd.webs.com.GTD is free for academic research and non-commercial use only. Commercial use is strictly prohibited without prior permission from IIOAB. PMID:20011153

The transition of ground-based space environmental effects testing to the space environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zaat, Stephen V.; Schaefer, Glen A.; Wallace, John F.

1991-01-01

The goal of the space flight program at the Center for Commercial Development of Space (CCDS)--Materials for Space Structures is to provide environmentally stable structural materials to support the continued humanization and commercialization of the space frontier. Information on environmental stability will be obtained through space exposure, evaluation, documentation, and subsequent return to the supplier of the candidate material for internal investigation. This program provides engineering and scientific service to space systems development firms and also exposes CCDS development candidate materials to space environments representative of in-flight conditions. The maintenance of a technological edge in space for NASA suggests the immediate search for space materials that maintain their structural integrity and remain environmentally stable. The materials being considered for long-lived space structures are complex, high strength/weight ratio composites. In order for these new candidate materials to qualify for use in space structures, they must undergo strenuous testing to determine their reliability and stability when subjected to the space environment. Ultraviolet radiation, atomic oxygen, debris/micrometeoroids, charged particles radiation, and thermal fatigue all influence the design of space structural materials. The investigation of these environmental interactions is the key purpose of this center. Some of the topics discussed with respect to the above information include: the Space Transportation System, mission planning, spaceborne experiments, and space flight payloads.

A meteorologically-driven yield reduction model for spring and winter wheat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ravet, F. W.; Cremins, W. J.; Taylor, T. W.; Ashburn, P.; Smika, D.; Aaronson, A. (Principal Investigator)

1983-01-01

A yield reduction model for spring and winter wheat was developed for large-area crop condition assessment. Reductions are expressed in percentage from a base yield and are calculated on a daily basis. The algorithm contains two integral components: a two-layer soil water budget model and a crop calendar routine. Yield reductions associated with hot, dry winds (Sukhovey) and soil moisture stress are determined. Input variables include evapotranspiration, maximum temperature and precipitation; subsequently crop-stage, available water holding percentage and stress duration are evaluated. No specific base yield is required and may be selected by the user; however, it may be generally characterized as the maximum likely to be produced commercially at a location.

Economically oriented process optimization in waste management.

PubMed

Maroušek, Josef

2014-06-01

A brief report on the development of novel apparatus is presented. It was verified in a commercial scale that a new concept of anaerobic fermentation followed by continuous pyrolysis is technically and economically feasible to manage previously enzymatically hydrolyzed waste haylage in huge volumes. The design of the concept is thoroughly described, documented in figures, and biochemically analyzed in detail. Assessment of the concept shows that subsequent pyrolysis of the anaerobically fermented residue allows among biogas to produce also high-quality biochar. This significantly improves the overall economy. In addition, it may be assumed that this applied research is consistent with previous theoretical assumptions stating that any kind of aerobic or anaerobic fermentation increases the microporosity of the biochar obtained.

7 CFR 1437.7 - Records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... be provided no later than the acreage reporting date for the crop in the subsequent crop year... to calculate an approved yield for the current crop year must be certified by the producer no later...: (1) Commercial receipts, settlement sheets, warehouse ledger sheets, or load summaries if the...

7 CFR 1437.7 - Records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... be provided no later than the acreage reporting date for the crop in the subsequent crop year... to calculate an approved yield for the current crop year must be certified by the producer no later...: (1) Commercial receipts, settlement sheets, warehouse ledger sheets, or load summaries if the...

7 CFR 1437.7 - Records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... be provided no later than the acreage reporting date for the crop in the subsequent crop year... to calculate an approved yield for the current crop year must be certified by the producer no later...: (1) Commercial receipts, settlement sheets, warehouse ledger sheets, or load summaries if the...

7 CFR 1437.7 - Records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... be provided no later than the acreage reporting date for the crop in the subsequent crop year... to calculate an approved yield for the current crop year must be certified by the producer no later...: (1) Commercial receipts, settlement sheets, warehouse ledger sheets, or load summaries if the...

7 CFR 1437.7 - Records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... be provided no later than the acreage reporting date for the crop in the subsequent crop year... to calculate an approved yield for the current crop year must be certified by the producer no later...: (1) Commercial receipts, settlement sheets, warehouse ledger sheets, or load summaries if the...

The early economic evaluation of novel biomarkers to accelerate their translation into clinical applications.

PubMed

de Graaf, Gimon; Postmus, Douwe; Westerink, Jan; Buskens, Erik

2018-01-01

Translating prognostic and diagnostic biomarker candidates into clinical applications takes time, is very costly, and many candidates fail. It is therefore crucial to be able to select those biomarker candidates that have the highest chance of successfully being adopted in the clinic. This requires an early estimate of the potential clinical impact and commercial value. In this paper, we aim to demonstratively evaluate a set of novel biomarkers in terms of clinical impact and commercial value, using occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in type-2 diabetes (DM2) patients as a case study. We defined a clinical application for the novel biomarkers, and subsequently used data from a large cohort study in The Netherlands in a modeling exercise to assess the potential clinical impact and headroom for the biomarkers. The most likely application of the biomarkers would be to identify DM2 patients with a low CVD risk and subsequently withhold statin treatment. As a result, one additional CVD event in every 75 patients may be expected. The expected downstream savings resulted in a headroom for a point-of-care device ranging from €119.09 at a willingness to accept of €0 for one additional CVD event, to €0 at a willingness to accept of €15,614 or more. It is feasible to evaluate novel biomarkers on outcomes directly relevant to technological development and clinical adoption. Importantly, this may be attained at the same point in time and using the same data as used for the evaluation of association with disease and predictive power.

Analysis of thermal radiation in coal-fired furnaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miles, Jonathan J.; Hammaker, Robert G.; Madding, Robert P.; Sunderland, J. E.

1997-04-01

Many utilities throughout the United States have added infrared scanning to their arsenal of techniques for inspection and predictive maintenance programs. Commercial infrared scanners are not designed, however, to withstand the searing interiors of boilers, which can exceed 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. Two high-temperature lenses designed to withstand the hostile environment inside a boiler for extended periods of time were developed by the EPRI M&D Center, thus permitting real-time measurement of steam tube temperatures and subsequent analysis of tube condition, inspection of burners, and identification of hot spots. A study was conducted by Sunderland Engineering, Inc. and EPRI M&D in order to characterize the radiative interactions that affect infrared measurements made inside a commercial, coal- fired, water-tube boiler. A comprehensive literature search exploring the existing record of results pertaining to analytical and experimental determination of radiative properties of coal-combustion byproducts was performed. An experimental component intended to provide data for characterization of the optical properties of hot combustion byproducts inside a coal-fired furnace was carried out. The results of the study indicate that hot gases, carbon particles, and fly ash, which together compose the medium inside a boiler, affect to varying degrees the transport of infrared radiation across a furnace. Techniques for improved infrared measurement across a coal-fired furnace are under development.

Integrated Space Transportation Plan: Defining Technology Requirements and Next Generation Launch Systems to Meet Commercial and Government Needs. Revision 20 Oct. 1999

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davidoff, Larry D.; Reichert, Jack M.

1999-01-01

NASA continues to focus on improving safety and reliability while reducing the annual cost of meeting human space flight and unique ISS and exploration needs. NASA's Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) Phase 2 in early 1998 focused on space transportation options. Subsequently, NASA directed parallel industry and government teams to conduct the Integrated Space Transportation Plan effort (STAS Phase 3). The objective of ISTP was to develop technology requirements, roadmaps, and risk reduction portfolio that considered expanded definition of "clean-sheet" and Shuttle-derived second generation ETO transportation systems in support of a 2005 RLV competition for NASA missions beginning 2010. NASA provided top-level requirements for improvements in safety, reliability, and cost and a set of design reference missions representing NASA ISS, human exploration, commercial, and other civil and government needs. This paper addresses the challenges of meeting NASA's objectives while servicing the varied market segments represented in the ISTP design reference missions and provides a summary of technology development needs and candidate system concepts. A comparison of driving requirements, architectures and technology needs is discussed and descriptions of viable Shuttle-derived and next generation systems to meet the market needs are presented.

Commercial Serological Antibody Detection Tests for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Steingart, Karen R; Henry, Megan; Laal, Suman; Hopewell, Philip C; Ramsay, Andrew; Menzies, Dick; Cunningham, Jane; Weldingh, Karin; Pai, Madhukar

2007-01-01

Background The global tuberculosis epidemic results in nearly 2 million deaths and 9 million new cases of the disease a year. The vast majority of tuberculosis patients live in developing countries, where the diagnosis of tuberculosis relies on the identification of acid-fast bacilli on unprocessed sputum smears using conventional light microscopy. Microscopy has high specificity in tuberculosis-endemic countries, but modest sensitivity which varies among laboratories (range 20% to 80%). Moreover, the sensitivity is poor for paucibacillary disease (e.g., pediatric and HIV-associated tuberculosis). Thus, the development of rapid and accurate new diagnostic tools is imperative. Immune-based tests are potentially suitable for use in low-income countries as some test formats can be performed at the point of care without laboratory equipment. Currently, dozens of distinct commercial antibody detection tests are sold in developing countries. The question is “do they work?” Methods and Findings We conducted a systematic review to assess the accuracy of commercial antibody detection tests for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Studies from all countries using culture and/or microscopy smear for confirmation of pulmonary tuberculosis were eligible. Studies with fewer than 50 participants (25 patients and 25 control participants) were excluded. In a comprehensive search, we identified 68 studies. The results demonstrate that (1) overall, commercial tests vary widely in performance; (2) sensitivity is higher in smear-positive than smear-negative samples; (3) in studies of smear-positive patients, Anda-TB IgG by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay shows limited sensitivity (range 63% to 85%) and inconsistent specificity (range 73% to 100%); (4) specificity is higher in healthy volunteers than in patients in whom tuberculosis disease is initially suspected and subsequently ruled out; and (5) there are insufficient data to determine the accuracy of most commercial tests in smear microscopy–negative patients, as well as their performance in children or persons with HIV infection. Conclusions None of the commercial tests evaluated perform well enough to replace sputum smear microscopy. Thus, these tests have little or no role in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Lack of methodological rigor in these studies was identified as a concern. It will be important to review the basic science literature evaluating serological tests for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis to determine whether useful antigens have been described but their potential has not been fully exploited. Activities leading to the discovery of new antigens with immunodiagnostic potential need to be intensified. PMID:17564490

Repurposing compact discs as master molds to fabricate high-performance organic nanowire field-effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Kyunghun; Cho, Jinhwi; Jhon, Heesauk; Jeon, Jongwook; Kang, Myounggon; Eon Park, Chan; Lee, Jihoon; An, Tae Kyu

2017-05-01

Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have been developed over the past few decades due to their potential applications in future electronics such as wearable and foldable electronics. As the electrical performance of OFETs has improved, patterning organic semiconducting crystals has become a key issue for their commercialization. However, conventional soft lithographic techniques have required the use of expensive processes to fabricate high-resolution master molds. In this study, we demonstrated a cost-effective method to prepare nanopatterned master molds for the fabrication of high-performance nanowire OFETs. We repurposed commercially available compact discs (CDs) as master molds because they already have linear nanopatterns on their surface. Flexible nanopatterned templates were replicated from the CDs using UV-imprint lithography. Subsequently, 6,13-bis-(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene nanowires (NWs) were grown from the templates using a capillary force-assisted lithographic technique. The NW-based OFETs showed a high average field-effect mobility of 2.04 cm2 V-1 s-1. This result was attributed to the high crystallinity of the NWs and to their crystal orientation favorable for charge transport.

Development of a rapid SNP-typing assay to differentiate Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis strains used in probiotic-supplemented dairy products.

PubMed

Lomonaco, Sara; Furumoto, Emily J; Loquasto, Joseph R; Morra, Patrizia; Grassi, Ausilia; Roberts, Robert F

2015-02-01

Identification at the genus, species, and strain levels is desirable when a probiotic microorganism is added to foods. Strains of Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis (BAL) are commonly used worldwide in dairy products supplemented with probiotic strains. However, strain discrimination is difficult because of the high degree of genome identity (99.975%) between different genomes of this subspecies. Typing of monomorphic species can be carried out efficiently by targeting informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). Findings from a previous study analyzing both reference and commercial strains of BAL identified SNP that could be used to discriminate common strains into 8 groups. This paper describes development of a minisequencing assay based on the primer extension reaction (PER) targeting multiple SNP that can allow strain differentiation of BAL. Based on previous data, 6 informative SNP were selected for further testing, and a multiplex preliminary PCR was optimized to amplify the DNA regions containing the selected SNP. Extension primers (EP) annealing immediately adjacent to the selected SNP were developed and tested in simplex and multiplex PER to evaluate their performance. Twenty-five strains belonging to 9 distinct genomic clusters of B. animalis ssp. lactis were selected and analyzed using the developed minisequencing assay, simultaneously targeting the 6 selected SNP. Fragment analysis was subsequently carried out in duplicate and demonstrated that the assay yielded 8 specific profiles separating the most commonly used commercial strains. This novel multiplex PER approach provides a simple, rapid, flexible SNP-based subtyping method for proper characterization and identification of commercial probiotic strains of BAL from fermented dairy products. To assess the usefulness of this method, DNA was extracted from yogurt manufactured with and without the addition of B. animalis ssp. lactis BB-12. Extracted DNA was then subjected to the minisequencing protocol, resulting in a SNP profile matching the profile for the strain BB-12. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recovery and reuse of cellulase catalyst in an enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis process

DOEpatents

Woodward, J.

1987-09-18

A process for recovering cellulase from the hydrolysis of cellulose, and reusing it in subsequent hydrolyois procedures. The process utilizes a commercial adsorbent that efficiently removes cellulase from reaction products which can be easily removed by simple decantation. 1 fig., 4 tabs.

18 CFR 430.13 - Protected area permits for new withdrawals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... space heating or cooling that are subsequently used for commercial or industrial water supply purposes... against significant leaks of refrigerant, all ground water heat pump systems shall be equipped with an... resource requirements; evaluate supply-side and demand-side alternatives to meet water withdrawal needs...

10 CFR 170.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... license application. The standard design would be referenced in subsequent license applications. Research..., medical, or research activity; or (ii) Any material that— (A) Has been made radioactive by use of a... August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; and (3) Any discrete source of...

10 CFR 170.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... license application. The standard design would be referenced in subsequent license applications. Research..., medical, or research activity; or (ii) Any material that— (A) Has been made radioactive by use of a... August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; and (3) Any discrete source of...

10 CFR 170.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... license application. The standard design would be referenced in subsequent license applications. Research..., medical, or research activity; or (ii) Any material that— (A) Has been made radioactive by use of a... August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; and (3) Any discrete source of...

10 CFR 170.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... license application. The standard design would be referenced in subsequent license applications. Research..., medical, or research activity; or (ii) Any material that— (A) Has been made radioactive by use of a... August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; and (3) Any discrete source of...

10 CFR 170.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... license application. The standard design would be referenced in subsequent license applications. Research..., medical, or research activity; or (ii) Any material that— (A) Has been made radioactive by use of a... August 8, 2005, for use for a commercial, medical, or research activity; and (3) Any discrete source of...

In-core flux sensor evaluations at the ATR critical facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Troy Unruh; Benjamin Chase; Joy Rempe

2014-09-01

Flux detector evaluations were completed as part of a joint Idaho State University (ISU) / Idaho National Laboratory (INL) / French Atomic Energy commission (CEA) ATR National Scientific User Facility (ATR NSUF) project to compare the accuracy, response time, and long duration performance of several flux detectors. Special fixturing developed by INL allows real-time flux detectors to be inserted into various ATRC core positions and perform lobe power measurements, axial flux profile measurements, and detector cross-calibrations. Detectors initially evaluated in this program include the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)-developed miniature fission chambers; specialized self-powered neutron detectors (SPNDs) developed by themore » Argentinean National Energy Commission (CNEA); specially developed commercial SPNDs from Argonne National Laboratory. As shown in this article, data obtained from this program provides important insights related to flux detector accuracy and resolution for subsequent ATR and CEA experiments and flux data required for bench-marking models in the ATR V&V Upgrade Initiative.« less

Exploring Demand Charge Savings from Commercial Solar

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Darghouth, Naim; Barbose, Galen; Mills, Andrew

Commercial retail electricity rates commonly include a demand charge component, based on some measure of the customer’s peak demand. Customer-sited solar PV can potentially reduce demand charges, but the magnitude of these savings can be difficult to predict, given variations in demand charge designs, customer loads, and PV generation profiles. Moreover, depending on the circumstances, demand charges from solar may or may not align well with associated utility cost savings. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are collaborating in a series of studies to understand how solar PV can reduce demand charge levelsmore » for a variety of customer types and demand charges designs. Previous work focused on residential customs with solar. This study, instead, focuses on commercial customers and seeks to understand the extent and conditions under which rooftop can solar reduce commercial demand charges. To answer these questions, we simulate demand charge savings for a broad range of commercial customer types, demand charge designs, locations, and PV system characteristics. This particular analysis does not include storage, but a subsequent analysis in this series will evaluate demand charge savings for commercial customers with solar and storage.« less

Application of ribonucleoside vanadyl complex (RVC) for developing a multifunctional tissue preservative solution

PubMed Central

Yu, Cheng-Chia; Chen, Chin-Chuan

2018-01-01

The quality of biological samples greatly affects the accuracy of scientific results. However, RNA in cryopreserved tissues gradually degrades during storage, leading to errors in the results of subsequent experiments. A suitable sample preservative solution can prolong storage and enhance the research value of samples. Here, we developed a sample preservative solution using the properties of the ribonucleoside vanadyl complex (RVC) and compared its effects on RNA and DNA quality, protein activity, and tissue morphology with the commercially available and widely used RNAlater® Stabilization Solution. The results showed that both the RVC-based preservative solution and RNAlater can effectively delay RNA degradation in tissue samples stored at 4°C or −80°C compared with samples stored without any preservative solution. In contrast to RNAlater, the RVC-based preservative solution did not result in damage to the tissue morphology or a loss of protein activity. Additionally, the RVC-based preservative solution did not affect the RNA and genomic DNA contents of the tissue samples or the results of subsequent experimental analyses. An RVC-based reagent can be used as a multifunctional yet relatively inexpensive tissue preservative solution to provide a comprehensive and cost-effective method for preserving samples for tissue banks. PMID:29538436

Spectroscopic detection and analysis of atomic emissions during industrial pulsed laser-drilling of structural aerospace alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bright, Robin Michael

The ability to adequately cool internal gas-turbine engine components in next-generation commercial and military aircraft is of extreme importance to the aerospace industry as the demand for high-efficiency engines continues to push operating temperatures higher. Pulsed laser-drilling is rapidly becoming the preferred method of creating cooling holes in high temperature components due a variety of manufacturing advantages of laser-drilling over conventional hole-drilling techniques. As cooling requirements become more demanding, the impact of drilling conditions on material removal behavior and subsequent effects on hole quality becomes critical. In this work, the development of emission spectroscopy as a method to probe the laser-drilling process is presented and subsequently applied to the study of material behavior of various structural aerospace materials during drilling. Specifically, emitted photons associated with energy level transitions within excited neutral atoms in material ejected during drilling were detected and analyzed. Systematic spectroscopic studies indicated that electron energy level populations and calculated electron temperatures within ejected material are dependent on both laser pulse energy and duration. Local thermal conditions detected by the developed method were related to the characteristics of ejected material during drilling and to final hole quality. Finally, methods of utilizing the observed relationships for spectroscopic process monitoring and control were demonstrated.

A comparison of computer-assisted detection (CAD) programs for the identification of colorectal polyps: performance and sensitivity analysis, current limitations and practical tips for radiologists.

PubMed

Bell, L T O; Gandhi, S

2018-06-01

To directly compare the accuracy and speed of analysis of two commercially available computer-assisted detection (CAD) programs in detecting colorectal polyps. In this retrospective single-centre study, patients who had colorectal polyps identified on computed tomography colonography (CTC) and subsequent lower gastrointestinal endoscopy, were analysed using two commercially available CAD programs (CAD1 and CAD2). Results were compared against endoscopy to ascertain sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) for colorectal polyps. Time taken for CAD analysis was also calculated. CAD1 demonstrated a sensitivity of 89.8%, PPV of 17.6% and mean analysis time of 125.8 seconds. CAD2 demonstrated a sensitivity of 75.5%, PPV of 44.0% and mean analysis time of 84.6 seconds. The sensitivity and PPV for colorectal polyps and CAD analysis times can vary widely between current commercially available CAD programs. There is still room for improvement. Generally, there is a trade-off between sensitivity and PPV, and so further developments should aim to optimise both. Information on these factors should be made routinely available, so that an informed choice on their use can be made. This information could also potentially influence the radiologist's use of CAD results. Copyright © 2018 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comprehensive Serological Analysis of Two Successive Heterologous Vaccines against H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus in Exotic Birds in Zoos▿

PubMed Central

Vergara-Alert, Júlia; Fernández-Bellon, Hugo; Busquets, Núria; Alcántara, Gabriel; Delclaux, María; Pizarro, Bienvenido; Sánchez, Celia; Sánchez, Azucena; Majó, Natàlia; Darji, Ayub

2011-01-01

In 2005, European Commission directive 2005/744/EC allowed controlled vaccination against avian influenza (AI) virus of valuable avian species housed in zoos. In 2006, 15 Spanish zoos and wildlife centers began a vaccination program with a commercial inactivated H5N9 vaccine. Between November 2007 and May 2008, birds from 10 of these centers were vaccinated again with a commercial inactivated H5N3 vaccine. During these campaigns, pre- and postvaccination samples from different bird orders were taken to study the response against AI virus H5 vaccines. Sera prior to vaccinations with both vaccines were examined for the presence of total antibodies against influenza A nucleoprotein (NP) by a commercial competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). Humoral responses to vaccination were evaluated using a hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. In some taxonomic orders, both vaccines elicited comparatively high titers of HI antibodies against H5. Interestingly, some orders, such as Psittaciformes, which did not develop HI antibodies to either vaccine formulation when used alone, triggered notable HI antibody production, albeit in low HI titers, when primed with H5N9 and during subsequent boosting with the H5N3 vaccine. Vaccination with successive heterologous vaccines may represent the best alternative to widely protect valuable and/or endangered bird species against highly pathogenic AI virus infection. PMID:21430124

Comprehensive serological analysis of two successive heterologous vaccines against H5N1 avian influenza virus in exotic birds in zoos.

PubMed

Vergara-Alert, Júlia; Fernández-Bellon, Hugo; Busquets, Núria; Alcántara, Gabriel; Delclaux, María; Pizarro, Bienvenido; Sánchez, Celia; Sánchez, Azucena; Majó, Natàlia; Darji, Ayub

2011-05-01

In 2005, European Commission directive 2005/744/EC allowed controlled vaccination against avian influenza (AI) virus of valuable avian species housed in zoos. In 2006, 15 Spanish zoos and wildlife centers began a vaccination program with a commercial inactivated H5N9 vaccine. Between November 2007 and May 2008, birds from 10 of these centers were vaccinated again with a commercial inactivated H5N3 vaccine. During these campaigns, pre- and postvaccination samples from different bird orders were taken to study the response against AI virus H5 vaccines. Sera prior to vaccinations with both vaccines were examined for the presence of total antibodies against influenza A nucleoprotein (NP) by a commercial competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). Humoral responses to vaccination were evaluated using a hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. In some taxonomic orders, both vaccines elicited comparatively high titers of HI antibodies against H5. Interestingly, some orders, such as Psittaciformes, which did not develop HI antibodies to either vaccine formulation when used alone, triggered notable HI antibody production, albeit in low HI titers, when primed with H5N9 and during subsequent boosting with the H5N3 vaccine. Vaccination with successive heterologous vaccines may represent the best alternative to widely protect valuable and/or endangered bird species against highly pathogenic AI virus infection.

Vapor detection of trafficking of contraband money: A discussion of technical feasibility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dietz, R.N.

1996-02-01

For every two pounds of cocaine smuggled into the US, drug traffikers are being forced to clandestinely ship three pounds of money back out for subsequent laundering. Based on tracer technology developed for validation of long-range atmospheric transport models and other commercial applications, it is shown that US currency can be tagged with a minute amount (about 1 ppm by weight of a bill) of perfluorocharbon tracer (PFT) material that is sufficient to last for about 30 years and yet provide a vapor emission rate suitable for detectability of modest caches of contraband money in vehicles at border crossings, onmore » aircraft at international terminals, and in buildings. The cost of tagging is less than $5 per million bills; the taggant quantity should have no impact on the feel of a bill. The low emission rate would not allow detectability of usual amounts of money in typical scenarios, providing an essential degree of privacy, but extraordinary amounts would be detectable using specialized instrumentation and know-how not easily attainable but commercially in production; an example of sub-part-per-quadrillion detection of a proposed PFT taggant is demonstrated using a prototype commercial unit. An outline of a research and demonstration program to achieve this capability and details of the proposed tagging and detection procedures already indicate that the concept is technically feasible.« less

Assessing the impact of in-utero exposures: potential effects of paracetamol on male reproductive development.

PubMed

Kilcoyne, Karen R; Mitchell, Rod T

2017-12-01

Human male reproductive disorders (cryptorchidism, hypospadias, testicular cancer and low sperm counts) are common and some may be increasing in incidence worldwide. These associated disorders can arise from subnormal testosterone production during fetal life. This has resulted in a focus on in-utero environmental influences that may result in reproductive effects on the offspring in later life. Over recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the scientific literature describing associations between in-utero environmental exposures (eg, industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals) and subsequent reproductive outcomes in male offspring. This includes studies investigating a potential role for in-utero analgesic exposure(s) on the fetal testis; however, providing definitive evidence of such effects presents numerous challenges. In this review, we describe an approach to assessing the potential clinical relevance of in-utero (and postnatal) environmental exposures on subsequent male reproductive function using exposure to the analgesic paracetamol as an example. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Barriers to safe abortion access: uterine rupture as complication of unsafe abortion in a Ugandan girl.

PubMed

Olson, Rose McKeon; Kamurari, Solomon

2017-10-20

A 15-year-old girl at 18 weeks gestation by the last menstrual period presented to a rural Ugandan healthcare facility for termination of her pregnancy as a result of rape by her uncle. Skilled healthcare workers at the facility refused to provide the abortion due to fear of legal repercussions. The patient subsequently obtained an unsafe abortion by vaginal insertion of local herbs and sharp objects. She developed profuse vaginal bleeding and haemorrhagic shock. She was found to have uterine rupture and emergent hysterectomy was performed. Young and poor women are at high risk of unplanned pregnancy and subsequent mortality during pregnancy and childbirth. Unsafe abortion is a leading and entirely preventable cause of maternal mortality worldwide. Multiple barriers restrict access to safe abortions including social and moral stigma, gender-based power imbalances, inadequate contraceptive use and sexual education, high cost and poor availability, and restrictive abortion laws. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Manufacturing challenges in the commercial production of recombinant coagulation factor VIII.

PubMed

Jiang, R; Monroe, T; McRogers, R; Larson, P J

2002-03-01

Advances in gene technology have led to the development of a method to manufacture recombinant coagulation Factor VIII (rFVIII) for haemophilia A. Because rFVIII is a large and complex protein, its commercialization has required that many challenges in manufacturing, purification and processing be overcome. In order to license the first generation of rFVIII (Kogenate) in 1993, Bayer Corporation invested over 10 years in research and manufacturing development. Seven additional years were subsequently devoted to research and manufacturing improvements in order to accomplish the recent licensing of a second rFVIII product (KOGENATE Bayer or Kogenate FS). This product differs from its predecessor, in that human albumin is removed from the purification and the formulation steps. In addition, fewer chromatography steps are involved resulting in greater yields per mL of conditioned medium, and a solvent-detergent viral inactivation step replaces the heat-processing step used for the previous product. Despite these changes in the manufacturing, the protein backbone and carbohydrate structure of the final rFVIII molecule are identical. The complexity of the production processes is reflected by over 100 000 manufacturing data entries and by 600 quality control tests for each batch of rFVIII. Manufacturers are continuing to develop the next generation of rFVIII, which will be produced without the addition of any human or animal proteins or byproducts. Investments in research, development and manufacturing technology are expected to result in the development of new products with enhanced safety profiles, and in an increase in the production capacity for products that are chronically in short supply.

Commercialization of LARC (TradeMark) -SI Polyimide Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryant, Robert G.

2011-01-01

LARC(TradeMark)-SI, Langley Research Center- Soluble Imide, was developed in 1992, with the first patent issuing in 1997, and then subsequent patents issued in 1998 and 2000. Currently, this polymer has been successfully licensed by NASA, and has generated revenues, at the time of this reporting, in excess of $1.4 million. The success of this particular polymer has been due to many factors and many lessons learned to the point that the invention, while important, is the least significant part in the commercialization of this material. Commercial LARC(TradeMark)-SI is a polyimide composed of two molar equivalents of dianhydrides: 4,4 -oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA), and 3,3 ,4,4 -biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and 3,4 -oxydianiline (3,4 -ODA) as the diamine. The unique feature of this aromatic polyimide is that it remains soluble after solution imidization in high-boiling, polar aprotic solvents, even at solids contents of 50-percent by weight. However, once isolated and heated above its T(sub g) of 240 C, it becomes insoluble and exhibits high-temperature thermoplastic melt-flow behavior. With these unique structure property characteristics, it was thought this would be an advantage to have an aromatic polyimide that is both solution and melt processable in the imide form. This could potentially lead to lower cost production as it was not as equipment- or labor-intensive as other high-performance polyimide materials that either precipitate or are intractable. This unique combination of properties allowed patents with broad claim coverage and potential commercialization. After the U.S. Patent applications were filed, a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract was awarded to Imtec, Inc. to develop and supply the polyimide to NASA and the general public. Some examples of demonstration parts made with LARC(TradeMark)-SI ranged from aircraft wire and multilayer printed-circuit boards, to gears, composite panels, supported adhesive tape, composite coatings, cookware, and polyimide foam. Even with its unique processing characteristics, the thermal and mechanical properties were not drastically different from other solution or meltprocessable polyimides developed by NASA. LARC(TradeMark)-SI risked becoming another interesting, but costly, high-performance material.

36 CFR 293.6 - Commercial enterprises, roads, motor vehicles, motorized equipment, motorboats, aircraft...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., structures, and cutting of trees. 293.6 Section 293.6 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE... trees. Except as provided in the Wilderness Act, subsequent legislation establishing a particular... from aircraft; no structures or installations; and no cutting of trees for nonwilderness purposes. (a...

36 CFR 293.6 - Commercial enterprises, roads, motor vehicles, motorized equipment, motorboats, aircraft...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

..., structures, and cutting of trees. 293.6 Section 293.6 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE... trees. Except as provided in the Wilderness Act, subsequent legislation establishing a particular... from aircraft; no structures or installations; and no cutting of trees for nonwilderness purposes. (a...

36 CFR 293.6 - Commercial enterprises, roads, motor vehicles, motorized equipment, motorboats, aircraft...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

..., structures, and cutting of trees. 293.6 Section 293.6 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE... trees. Except as provided in the Wilderness Act, subsequent legislation establishing a particular... from aircraft; no structures or installations; and no cutting of trees for nonwilderness purposes. (a...

36 CFR 293.6 - Commercial enterprises, roads, motor vehicles, motorized equipment, motorboats, aircraft...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

..., structures, and cutting of trees. 293.6 Section 293.6 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE... trees. Except as provided in the Wilderness Act, subsequent legislation establishing a particular... from aircraft; no structures or installations; and no cutting of trees for nonwilderness purposes. (a...

75 FR 50878 - Airworthiness Directives; McDonnell Douglas Corporation Model MD-90-30 Airplanes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-18

... support fitting for the MLG failing during gear extension and subsequently damaging the hydraulic system... retract cylinder support fitting for the MLG, which could adversely affect the airplane's safe landing... service information identified in this AD, contact Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Attention: Data & Services...

78 FR 52915 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-27

... CFPB.\\2\\ On December 16, 2011, the CFPB republished the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (``MARS'') Rule as Regulation O (12 CFR Part 1015).\\3\\ As a result, the Commission subsequently rescinded its MARS... burden. Disclosure Requirements In commercial communications for a general audience, MARS providers are...

50 CFR 216.45 - General Authorization for Level B harassment for scientific research.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... likely qualify for inclusion under the General Authorization: Photo-identification studies, behavioral..., and the date the image was taken. This statement must accompany the image(s) in all subsequent uses or sales. The annual report must note incidental scientific, educational, or commercial uses of the images...

76 FR 21847 - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), Alternative Line-Item Structure (DFARS...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-19

... cause of failures in the electronic processes of the DoD's business enterprise requiring manual... structure that reflects the offeror's business practices for selling and billing commercial items and... sufficient for delivery, payment, and subsequent inventory management of the items delivered. For example...

16 CFR 1500.231 - Guidance for hazardous liquid chemicals in children's products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... children's products. 1500.231 Section 1500.231 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION.... The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issues this guidance to manufacturers, importers... subsequent hand-to-mouth or hand-to-eye activity. The specific type and frequency of behavior that a child...

Shifts in spinach microbial communities after chlorine washing and storage at compliant and abusive temperatures

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Fresh produce, such as spinach, harbors large, diverse bacterial populations, including spoilage and potentially pathogenic bacteria. This study examined the effects of produce washing in chlorinated water and subsequent storage on the microbiota of spinach. Baby spinach leaves from a commercial fre...

Effects of Three Commercially Available Sports Drinks on Substrate Metabolism and Subsequent Endurance Performance in a Postprandial State.

PubMed

Qin, Lu; Wang, Qi-Rong; Fang, Zi-Long; Wang, Ting; Yu, Ai-Qi; Zhou, Yu-Jie; Zheng, Yi; Yi, Mu-Qing

2017-04-12

Purpose: To examine the effects of commercially available sports beverages with various components on substrate metabolism and subsequent performance. Methods: Two studies were conducted in a double-blinded, counterbalanced manner. Study I was designed to determine the glycemic index, while study II determined the utilization of substrates and subsequent exercise performance. Ten healthy male participants (age 21.70 ± 2.41 years, height 176.60 ± 5.23 cm, weight 66.58 ± 5.38 kg, V̇O 2max 48.1 ± 8.4 mL/kg/min) participated in both study I and study II. Three types of commercially available sports beverage powders were used. The powders consisted primarily of oligosaccharides (low molecular weight carbohydrates, L-CHO), hydrolyzed starch (high molecular weight CHO, H-CHO), and whey protein powder with carbohydrate (CHO-PRO). They were dissolved in purified water with identical CHO concentration of 8% ( w / v ). In study I, each participant underwent two oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) and one glycemic response test for each sports drink. In study II, participants cycled for 60 min at 70% V̇O 2max , one hour after consuming a standardized breakfast. One of four prescribed beverages (L-CHO, H-CHO, CHO-PRO, and Placebo control, PLA) was served at 0, 15, 30, 45 min during the exercise. Six hours after the first exercise session, participants came back for a "time to exhaustion test" (TTE). Blood samples were drawn at 0, 30, and 60 min in the first exercise session, while arterial blood gas analysis was conducted at 0, 30, and 60 min in both sessions. Subjective feelings (rating of perceived exertion and abdominal discomfort) were also evaluated every 30 min during exercise. Results: Compared to the reference standardized glucose solution, the glycemic index of the L-CHO beverage was 117.70 ± 14.25, while H-CHO was 105.50 ± 12.82, and CHO-PRO was 67.23 ± 5.88. During the exercise test, the insulin level at 30 and 60 min was significantly lower than baseline following the treatment of L-CHO, H-CHO, and PLA ( p < 0.05). The CHO oxidation rate at 60 min in the first exercise session was significantly higher than that at 60 min in the second exercise session following the L-CHO treatment ( p < 0.05). Time to exhaustion was not significantly different ( p > 0.05). Conclusion: The CHO sports beverage with additional PRO maintains insulin production during endurance cycling at 70% V̇O 2max in the postprandial state. L-CHO sports beverage suppresses fat utilization during the subsequent exercise performance test. The subsequent exercise performance (as evaluated by TTE) was not influenced by the type of CHO or the addition of PRO in the commercially available sports beverages used in the present study.

Cardiac compression due to gastric volvulus: an unusual cause of chest pain.

PubMed

Brown, Alex; Austin, David; Kanakala, Venkatesh

2017-05-22

A 42-year-old man was admitted to coronary care for assessment with severe retrosternal chest pain. Echocardiography showed significant external compression of the left atrium. A subsequent CT scan revealed him to have a large hiatus hernia, with most of his stomach herniating into his thorax causing left atrial compression and gastric volvulus. He subsequently underwent successful emergency decompression of the gastric volvulus and repair of his hiatus hernia. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Simultaneous saccharification of inulin and starch using commercial glucoamylase and the subsequent bioconversion to high titer sorbitol and gluconic acid.

PubMed

An, Kehong; Hu, Fengxian; Bao, Jie

2013-12-01

A new bioprocess for production of sorbitol and gluconic acid from two low-cost feedstocks, inulin and cassava starch, using a commercially available enzyme was proposed in this study. The commercial glucoamylase GA-L NEW from Genencor was found to demonstrate a high inulinase activity for hydrolysis of inulin into fructose and glucose. The glucoamylase was used to replace the expensive and not commercially available inulinase enzyme for simultaneous saccharification of inulin and starch into high titer glucose and fructose hydrolysate. The glucose and fructose in the hydrolysate were converted into sorbitol and gluconic acid using immobilized whole cells of the recombinant Zymomonas mobilis strain. The high gluconic acid concentration of 193 g/L and sorbitol concentration of 180 g/L with the overall yield of 97.3 % were obtained in the batch operations. The present study provided a practical production method of sorbitol and gluconic acid from low cost feedstocks and enzymes.

Lameness Prevalence and Risk Factors in Large Dairy Farms in Upstate New York. Model Development for the Prediction of Claw Horn Disruption Lesions

PubMed Central

Foditsch, Carla; Oikonomou, Georgios; Machado, Vinícius Silva; Bicalho, Marcela Luccas; Ganda, Erika Korzune; Lima, Svetlana Ferreira; Rossi, Rodolfo; Ribeiro, Bruno Leonardo; Kussler, Arieli; Bicalho, Rodrigo Carvalho

2016-01-01

The main objectives of this prospective cohort study were a) to describe lameness prevalence at drying off in large high producing New York State herds based on visual locomotion score (VLS) and identify potential cow and herd level risk factors, and b) to develop a model that will predict the probability of a cow developing claw horn disruption lesions (CHDL) in the subsequent lactation using cow level variables collected at drying off and/or available from farm management software. Data were collected from 23 large commercial dairy farms located in upstate New York. A total of 7,687 dry cows, that were less than 265 days in gestation, were enrolled in the study. Farms were visited between May 2012 and March 2013, and cows were assessed for body condition score (BCS) and VLS. Data on the CHDL events recorded by the farm employees were extracted from the Dairy-Comp 305 database, as well as information regarding the studied cows’ health events, milk production, and reproductive records throughout the previous and subsequent lactation period. Univariable analyses and mixed multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyse the data at the cow level. The overall average prevalence of lameness (VLS > 2) at drying off was 14%. Lactation group, previous CHDL, mature equivalent 305-d milk yield (ME305), season, BCS at drying off and sire PTA for strength were all significantly associated with lameness at the drying off (cow-level). Lameness at drying off was associated with CHDL incidence in the subsequent lactation, as well as lactation group, previous CHDL and ME305. These risk factors for CHDL in the subsequent lactation were included in our predictive model and adjusted predicted probabilities for CHDL were calculated for all studied cows. ROC analysis identified an optimum cut-off point for these probabilities and using this cut-off point we could predict CHDL incidence in the subsequent lactation with an overall specificity of 75% and sensitivity of 59%. Using this approach, we would have detected 33% of the studied population as being at risk, eventually identifying 59% of future CHDL cases. Our predictive model could help dairy producers focusing their efforts on CHDL reduction by implementing aggressive preventive measures for high risk cows. PMID:26795970

Real-time Crystal Growth Visualization and Quantification by Energy-Resolved Neutron Imaging.

PubMed

Tremsin, Anton S; Perrodin, Didier; Losko, Adrian S; Vogel, Sven C; Bourke, Mark A M; Bizarri, Gregory A; Bourret, Edith D

2017-04-20

Energy-resolved neutron imaging is investigated as a real-time diagnostic tool for visualization and in-situ measurements of "blind" processes. This technique is demonstrated for the Bridgman-type crystal growth enabling remote and direct measurements of growth parameters crucial for process optimization. The location and shape of the interface between liquid and solid phases are monitored in real-time, concurrently with the measurement of elemental distribution within the growth volume and with the identification of structural features with a ~100 μm spatial resolution. Such diagnostics can substantially reduce the development time between exploratory small scale growth of new materials and their subsequent commercial production. This technique is widely applicable and is not limited to crystal growth processes.

Real-time Crystal Growth Visualization and Quantification by Energy-Resolved Neutron Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tremsin, Anton S.; Perrodin, Didier; Losko, Adrian S.; Vogel, Sven C.; Bourke, Mark A. M.; Bizarri, Gregory A.; Bourret, Edith D.

2017-04-01

Energy-resolved neutron imaging is investigated as a real-time diagnostic tool for visualization and in-situ measurements of “blind” processes. This technique is demonstrated for the Bridgman-type crystal growth enabling remote and direct measurements of growth parameters crucial for process optimization. The location and shape of the interface between liquid and solid phases are monitored in real-time, concurrently with the measurement of elemental distribution within the growth volume and with the identification of structural features with a ~100 μm spatial resolution. Such diagnostics can substantially reduce the development time between exploratory small scale growth of new materials and their subsequent commercial production. This technique is widely applicable and is not limited to crystal growth processes.

Heat Pipe Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

The heat pipe was developed to alternately cool and heat without using energy or any moving parts. It enables non-rotating spacecraft to maintain a constant temperature when the surface exposed to the Sun is excessively hot and the non Sun-facing side is very cold. Several organizations, such as Tropic-Kool Engineering Corporation, joined NASA in a subsequent program to refine and commercialize the technology. Heat pipes have been installed in fast food restaurants in areas where humid conditions cause materials to deteriorate quickly. Moisture removal was increased by 30 percent in a Clearwater, FL Burger King after heat pipes were installed. Relative humidity and power consumption were also reduced significantly. Similar results were recorded by Taco Bell, which now specifies heat pipe systems in new restaurants in the Southeast.

Maritime Archaeology in Uruguay: Towards a Manifesto

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrera, Jorge Manuel; Buffa, Valerio; Cordero, Alejo; Francia, Gabriel; Adams, Jonathan

2010-10-01

We report a collaborative maritime archaeological project in Uruguay, one of several Latin American countries where the subject is undergoing review in terms of the ways it is practised and managed. Uruguay is typical of many states where there has been a tension between a heritage-based approach in which the results of investigations are viewed as publicly owned, as opposed to the profit motive in which commercial and personal gain is the underlying ethic. This project was conceived both as a way of assisting the Uruguayan Heritage Commission in promoting the former approach as well as advancing a programme of research into the age of global exploration. This paper sets out the rationale of the initial field season and reflects on subsequent developments.

Real-time Crystal Growth Visualization and Quantification by Energy-Resolved Neutron Imaging

PubMed Central

Tremsin, Anton S.; Perrodin, Didier; Losko, Adrian S.; Vogel, Sven C.; Bourke, Mark A.M.; Bizarri, Gregory A.; Bourret, Edith D.

2017-01-01

Energy-resolved neutron imaging is investigated as a real-time diagnostic tool for visualization and in-situ measurements of “blind” processes. This technique is demonstrated for the Bridgman-type crystal growth enabling remote and direct measurements of growth parameters crucial for process optimization. The location and shape of the interface between liquid and solid phases are monitored in real-time, concurrently with the measurement of elemental distribution within the growth volume and with the identification of structural features with a ~100 μm spatial resolution. Such diagnostics can substantially reduce the development time between exploratory small scale growth of new materials and their subsequent commercial production. This technique is widely applicable and is not limited to crystal growth processes. PMID:28425461

Modeling aerosol emissions from the combustion of composite materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roop, J. A.; Caldwell, D. J.; Kuhlmann, K. J.

1994-01-01

The use of advanced composite materials (ACM) in the B-2 bomber, composite armored vehicle, and F-22 advanced tactical fighter has rekindled interest concerning the health risk of burned or burning ACM. The objective of this work was to determine smoke production from burning ACM and its toxicity. A commercial version of the UPITT II combustion toxicity method developed at the University of Pittsburgh, and subsequently refined through a US Army-funded basic research project, was used to established controlled combustion conditions which were selected to evaluate real-world exposure scenarios. Production and yield of toxic species varied with the combustion conditions. Previous work with this method showed that the combustion conditions directly influenced the toxicity of the decomposition products from a variety of materials.

Carbon source in the future chemical industries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hofmann, Peter; Heinrich Krauch, Carl

1982-11-01

Rising crude oil prices favour the exploitation of hitherto unutilised energy carriers and the realisation of new technologies in all sectors where carbon is used. These changed economic constraints necessitate both savings in conventional petrochemistry and a change to oil-independent carbon sources in the chemical industry. While, in coal chemistry, the synthesis and process principles of petrochemistry — fragmentation of the raw material and subsequent buildup of molecular structures — can be maintained, the raw material structure largely remains unchanged in the chemistry of renewable raw materials. This lecture is to demonstrate the structural as well as the technological and energy criteria of the chemistry of alternative carbon sources, to forecast the chances of commercial realization and to discuss some promising fields of research and development.

Admixture enhanced controlled low-strength material for direct underwater injection with minimal cross-contamination

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hepworth, H.K.; Davidson, J.S.; Hooyman, J.L.

1997-03-01

Commercially available admixtures have been developed for placing traditional concrete products under water. This paper evaluates adapting anti-washout admixture (AWA) and high range water reducing admixture (HRWRA) products to enhance controlled low-strength materials (CLSMs) for underwater placement. A simple experimental scale model (based on dynamic and geometric similitude) of typical grout pump emplacement equipment has been developed to determine the percentage of cementing material washed out. The objective of this study was to identify proportions of admixtures and underwater CLSM emplacement procedures which would minimize the cross-contamination of the displaced water while maintaining the advantages of CLSM. Since the displacedmore » water from radioactively contaminated systems must be subsequently treated prior to release to the environment, the amount of cross-contamination is important for cases in which cementing material could form hard sludges in a water treatment facility and contaminate the in-place CLSM stabilization medium.« less

Severe vincristine-induced polyneuropathy in a teenager with anaplastic medulloblastoma and undiagnosed Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

PubMed

Aghajan, Yasmin; Yoon, Janet M; Crawford, John Ross

2017-04-24

Severe neuropathy is a known adverse effect of vincristine in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). We present the case of a 16-year-old girl with anaplastic medulloblastoma treated with gross total resection and high-dose craniospinal radiation with adjuvant vincristine chemotherapy who developed acute-onset severe quadriplegia and vocal cord paralysis. Vincristine and radiation therapy were discontinued. Although her neuropathy slowly improved over several weeks, she developed metastatic extraneural medulloblastoma and died 5 months after diagnosis. Subsequent genetic testing revealed previously asymptomatic and undiagnosed CMT1A. Our case highlights the importance of early recognition of acute vincristine neurotoxicity that should raise suspicion of an underlying hereditary neuropathy. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Adulteration and cultivation region identification of American ginseng using HPLC coupled with multivariate analysis

PubMed Central

Yu, Chunhao; Wang, Chong-Zhi; Zhou, Chun-Jie; Wang, Bin; Han, Lide; Zhang, Chun-Feng; Wu, Xiao-Hui; Yuan, Chun-Su

2014-01-01

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is originally grown in North America. Due to price difference and supply shortage, American ginseng recently has been cultivated in northern China. Further, in the market, some Asian ginsengs are labeled as American ginseng. In this study, forty-three American ginseng samples cultivated in the USA, Canada or China were collected and 14 ginseng saponins were determined using HPLC. HPLC coupled with hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis was developed to identify the species. Subsequently, an HPLC-linear discriminant analysis was established to discriminate cultivation regions of American ginseng. This method was successfully applied to identify the sources of 6 commercial American ginseng samples. Two of them were identified as Asian ginseng, while 4 others were identified as American ginseng, which were cultivated in the USA (3) and China (1). Our newly developed method can be used to identify American ginseng with different cultivation regions. PMID:25044150

Fundamental and practical limits of planar tracking solar concentrators.

PubMed

Grede, Alex J; Price, Jared S; Giebink, Noel C

2016-12-26

Planar microtracking provides an alternate paradigm for solar concentration that offers the possibility of realizing high-efficiency embedded concentrating photovoltaic systems in the form factor of standard photovoltaic panels. Here, we investigate the thermodynamic limit of planar tracking optical concentrators and establish that they can, in principal, achieve the sine limit of their orientationally-tracked counterparts provided that the receiver translates a minimum distance set by the field of view half-angle. We develop a phase space methodology to optimize practical planar tracking concentrators and apply it to the design of a two surface, catadioptric system that operates with > 90% optical efficiency over a 140° field of view at geometric gains exceeding 1000×. These results provide a reference point for subsequent developments in the field and indicate that planar microtracking can achieve the high optical concentration ratio required in commercial concentrating photovoltaic systems.

Transactive Control of Commercial Building HVAC Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Corbin, Charles D.; Makhmalbaf, Atefe; Huang, Sen

This document details the development and testing of market-based transactive controls for building heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. These controls are intended to serve the purposes of reducing electricity use through conservation, reducing peak building electric demand, and providing demand flexibility to assist with power system operations. This report is the summary of the first year of work conducted under Phase 1 of the Clean Energy and Transactive Campus Project. The methods and techniques described here were first investigated in simulation, and then subsequently deployed to a physical testbed on the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) campus formore » validation. In this report, we describe the models and control algorithms we have developed, testing of the control algorithms in simulation, and deployment to a physical testbed. Results from physical experiments support previous simulation findings, and provide insights for further improvement.« less

On-board B-ISDN fast packet switching architectures. Phase 2: Development. Proof-of-concept architecture definition report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shyy, Dong-Jye; Redman, Wayne

1993-01-01

For the next-generation packet switched communications satellite system with onboard processing and spot-beam operation, a reliable onboard fast packet switch is essential to route packets from different uplink beams to different downlink beams. The rapid emergence of point-to-point services such as video distribution, and the large demand for video conference, distributed data processing, and network management makes the multicast function essential to a fast packet switch (FPS). The satellite's inherent broadcast features gives the satellite network an advantage over the terrestrial network in providing multicast services. This report evaluates alternate multicast FPS architectures for onboard baseband switching applications and selects a candidate for subsequent breadboard development. Architecture evaluation and selection will be based on the study performed in phase 1, 'Onboard B-ISDN Fast Packet Switching Architectures', and other switch architectures which have become commercially available as large scale integration (LSI) devices.

Penalty-Based Finite Element Interface Technology for Analysis of Homogeneous and Composite Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Averill, Ronald C.

2002-01-01

An effective and robust interface element technology able to connect independently modeled finite element subdomains has been developed. This method is based on the use of penalty constraints and allows coupling of finite element models whose nodes do not coincide along their common interface. Additionally, the present formulation leads to a computational approach that is very efficient and completely compatible with existing commercial software. A significant effort has been directed toward identifying those model characteristics (element geometric properties, material properties, and loads) that most strongly affect the required penalty parameter, and subsequently to developing simple 'formulae' for automatically calculating the proper penalty parameter for each interface constraint. This task is especially critical in composite materials and structures, where adjacent sub-regions may be composed of significantly different materials or laminates. This approach has been validated by investigating a variety of two-dimensional problems, including composite laminates.

New initiatives in the commercial development of space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rose, James T.; Stone, Barbara A.

1988-01-01

This paper provides a status report on aggressive new initiatives by the NASA Office of Commercial Programs to implement new commercial space policy. The promotion of a strong U.S. commercial presence in space via Spacehab, the Space Shuttle external tanks, privatization of the Space Station, and the development of commercial remote sensing systems is addressed. The privatization of launch services and the development of a talent base for commercial space efforts are considered. Groups, policies, and plans involved in these developments are discussed.

Earth Orbiting Support Systems for commercial low Earth orbit data relay: Assessing architectures through tradespace exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palermo, Gianluca; Golkar, Alessandro; Gaudenzi, Paolo

2015-06-01

As small satellites and Sun Synchronous Earth Observation systems are assuming an increased role in nowadays space activities, including commercial investments, it is of interest to assess how infrastructures could be developed to support the development of such systems and other spacecraft that could benefit from having a data relay service in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), as opposed to traditional Geostationary relays. This paper presents a tradespace exploration study of the architecture of such LEO commercial satellite data relay systems, here defined as Earth Orbiting Support Systems (EOSS). The paper proposes a methodology to formulate architectural decisions for EOSS constellations, and enumerate the corresponding tradespace of feasible architectures. Evaluation metrics are proposed to measure benefits and costs of architectures; lastly, a multicriteria Pareto criterion is used to downselect optimal architectures for subsequent analysis. The methodology is applied to two case studies for a set of 30 and 100 customer-spacecraft respectively, representing potential markets for LEO services in Exploration, Earth Observation, Science, and CubeSats. Pareto analysis shows how increased performance of the constellation is always achieved by an increased node size, as measured by the gain of the communications antenna mounted on EOSS spacecraft. On the other hand, nonlinear trends in optimal orbital altitude, number of satellites per plane, and number of orbital planes, are found in both cases. An upward trend in individual node memory capacity is found, although never exceeding 256 Gbits of onboard memory for both cases that have been considered, assuming the availability of a polar ground station for EOSS data downlink. System architects can use the proposed methodology to identify optimal EOSS constellations for a given service pricing strategy and customer target, thus identifying alternatives for selection by decision makers.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Samsa, M. E.; Baldwin, T. E.; Berry, M. S.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), focused a great deal of interest and concern on how individual and social perceptions of risk change behavior and subsequently affect commercial sector venues. Argonne conducted a review of the literature to identify studies that quantify the direct and indirect economic consequences of avoidance behaviors that result from terrorist attacks. Despite a growing amount of literature addressing terrorism impacts, relatively little is known about the causal relationships between risk perception, human avoidance behaviors, and the economic effects on commercial venues. Nevertheless, the technical and academic literature does provide some evidence, both directlymore » and by inference, of the level and duration of post-event avoidance behaviors on commercial venues. Key findings are summarized in this Executive Summary. Also included as an appendix is a more detailed summary table of literature findings reproduced from the full report.« less

Probability elicitation to inform early health economic evaluations of new medical technologies: a case study in heart failure disease management.

PubMed

Cao, Qi; Postmus, Douwe; Hillege, Hans L; Buskens, Erik

2013-06-01

Early estimates of the commercial headroom available to a new medical device can assist producers of health technology in making appropriate product investment decisions. The purpose of this study was to illustrate how this quantity can be captured probabilistically by combining probability elicitation with early health economic modeling. The technology considered was a novel point-of-care testing device in heart failure disease management. First, we developed a continuous-time Markov model to represent the patients' disease progression under the current care setting. Next, we identified the model parameters that are likely to change after the introduction of the new device and interviewed three cardiologists to capture the probability distributions of these parameters. Finally, we obtained the probability distribution of the commercial headroom available per measurement by propagating the uncertainty in the model inputs to uncertainty in modeled outcomes. For a willingness-to-pay value of €10,000 per life-year, the median headroom available per measurement was €1.64 (interquartile range €0.05-€3.16) when the measurement frequency was assumed to be daily. In the subsequently conducted sensitivity analysis, this median value increased to a maximum of €57.70 for different combinations of the willingness-to-pay threshold and the measurement frequency. Probability elicitation can successfully be combined with early health economic modeling to obtain the probability distribution of the headroom available to a new medical technology. Subsequently feeding this distribution into a product investment evaluation method enables stakeholders to make more informed decisions regarding to which markets a currently available product prototype should be targeted. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Reactivity to television food commercials in overweight and lean adults: Physiological, cognitive and behavioural responses.

PubMed

Boyland, Emma J; Burgon, Rachel H; Hardman, Charlotte A

2017-08-01

Recent evidence indicates that acute exposure to food advertising increases food intake. However, little research to date has explored the potential mechanisms underpinning this, such as the extent to which food commercials elicit conditioned physiological responses (e.g. increased salivation). The aim of the current study was to examine salivary, cognitive and consumptive responses to televised food commercials in overweight (N=26) and lean (N=29) adult females. Participants attended two laboratory sessions in a counterbalanced order; in one session they viewed a television show with embedded commercials for unhealthy foods, and in the other session they viewed the same show with non-food commercials. In both conditions, following viewing participants were exposed to an in vivo food cue (freshly cooked pizza) which they were then invited to eat ad libitum. Salivation was measured at baseline, during commercial exposure, and during in vivo exposure. Participants also self-reported components of appetite on visual analogue scales and completed a word stem task. Results indicated little evidence of increased salivary reactivity to the food commercials. In both conditions, lean participants showed reliable salivary responses to the in vivo food cue. In contrast, overweight participants only showed increased salivation to the in vivo cue in the food commercials condition. Food commercial exposure did not increase the number of food-related cognitions or amount of food consumed, but did drive a greater increase in desire to eat prior to pizza consumption than exposure to the control commercials. Exposure to food advertising primes eating-related motivations, and while it may not be associated with increased intake or salivation per se, non-food commercials may attenuate subsequent physiological responses to actual food cues in overweight individuals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

KEY COMPARISON: CCQM-K27-Subsequent: Key Comparison (subsequent) for the determination of ethanol in aqueous matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schantz, Michele M.; Duewer, David L.; Parris, Reenie M.; May, Willie E.; Archer, Marcellé; Mussell, Chris; Carter, David; Konopelko, Leonid A.; Kustikov, Yury A.; Krylov, Anatoli I.; Fatina, Olga V.

2005-01-01

Ethanol is important both forensically ('drunk driving' or driving while under the influence, 'DWI', regulations) and commercially (alcoholic beverages). Blood- and breath-alcohol testing can be imposed on individuals operating private vehicles such as cars, boats, or snowmobiles, or operators of commercial vehicles like trucks, planes, and ships. The various levels of blood alcohol that determine whether these operators are considered legally impaired vary depending on the circumstances and locality. Accurate calibration and validation of instrumentation is critical in areas of forensic testing where quantitative analysis directly affects the outcome of criminal prosecutions, as is the case with the determination of ethanol in blood and breath. Additionally, the accurate assessment of the alcoholic content of beverages is a commercially important commodity. In 2002, the CCQM conducted a Key Comparison (CCQM-K27) for the determination of ethanol in aqueous matrix with nine participants. A report on this project has been approved by the CCQM and can be found at the BIPM website and in this Technical Supplement. CCQM-K27 comprised three samples, one at low mass fraction of ethanol in water (nominal concentration of 0.8 mg/g), one at high level (nominal concentration of 120 mg/g), and one wine matrix (nominal concentration of 81 mg/g). Overall agreement among eight participants using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID), titrimetry, isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-IDMS), and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (ID-GC-C-IRMS) was good. The ninth participant used a headspace GC-FID method that had not been validated in an earlier pilot study (CCQM-P35). A follow-on Key Comparison, CCQM-K27-Subsequent, was initiated in 2003 to accommodate laboratories that had not been ready to benchmark their methods in the original CCQM-K27 study or that wished to benchmark a different method. Four levels of ethanol in water were used in the subsequent study (nominal concentrations of 0.2 mg/g, 1 mg/g, 3 mg/g, and 60 mg/g). The three participants in the CCQM-K27-Subsequent Key Comparison demonstrated their ability to measure ethanol in aqueous matrix in the concentration range of 0.2 mg/g to 60 mg/g. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).

Open Access Could Transform Drug Discovery: A Case Study of JQ1.

PubMed

Arshad, Zeeshaan; Smith, James; Roberts, Mackenna; Lee, Wen Hwa; Davies, Ben; Bure, Kim; Hollander, Georg A; Dopson, Sue; Bountra, Chas; Brindley, David

2016-01-01

The cost to develop a new drug from target discovery to market is a staggering $1.8 billion, largely due to the very high attrition rate of drug candidates and the lengthy transition times during development. Open access is an emerging model of open innovation that places no restriction on the use of information and has the potential to accelerate the development of new drugs. To date, no quantitative assessment has yet taken place to determine the effects and viability of open access on the process of drug translation. This need is addressed within this study. The literature and intellectual property landscapes of the drug candidate JQ1, which was made available on an open access basis when discovered, and conventionally developed equivalents that were not are compared using the Web of Science and Thomson Innovation software, respectively. Results demonstrate that openly sharing the JQ1 molecule led to a greater uptake by a wider and more multi-disciplinary research community. A comparative analysis of the patent landscapes for each candidate also found that the broader scientific diaspora of the publically released JQ1 data enhanced innovation, evidenced by a greater number of downstream patents filed in relation to JQ1. The authors' findings counter the notion that open access drug discovery would leak commercial intellectual property. On the contrary, JQ1 serves as a test case to evidence that open access drug discovery can be an economic model that potentially improves efficiency and cost of drug discovery and its subsequent commercialization.

Systematic review of serious games for medical education and surgical skills training.

PubMed

Graafland, M; Schraagen, J M; Schijven, M P

2012-10-01

The application of digital games for training medical professionals is on the rise. So-called 'serious' games form training tools that provide a challenging simulated environment, ideal for future surgical training. Ultimately, serious games are directed at reducing medical error and subsequent healthcare costs. The aim was to review current serious games for training medical professionals and to evaluate the validity testing of such games. PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PsychInfo and CINAHL were searched using predefined inclusion criteria for available studies up to April 2012. The primary endpoint was validation according to current criteria. A total of 25 articles were identified, describing a total of 30 serious games. The games were divided into two categories: those developed for specific educational purposes (17) and commercial games also useful for developing skills relevant to medical personnel (13). Pooling of data was not performed owing to the heterogeneity of study designs and serious games. Six serious games were identified that had a process of validation. Of these six, three games were developed for team training in critical care and triage, and three were commercially available games applied to train laparoscopic psychomotor skills. None of the serious games had completed a full validation process for the purpose of use. Blended and interactive learning by means of serious games may be applied to train both technical and non-technical skills relevant to the surgical field. Games developed or used for this purpose need validation before integration into surgical teaching curricula. Copyright © 2012 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aggression in Sexually Abused Trafficked Girls and Efficacy of Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deb, Sibnath; Mukherjee, Aparna; Mathews, Ben

2011-01-01

The broad objective of this study was to understand the incidence and severity of aggression among sexually abused girls who were trafficked and who were then further used for commercial sexual exploitation (referred to subsequently as sexually abused trafficked girls). In addition, the impact of counseling for minimizing aggression in these girls…

Container Size and Fertilization Affect Nursery Cost and Fifth-Year Field Performance of Cherrybark Oak

Treesearch

Kirk D. Howell; Timothy B. Harrington

2002-01-01

Successful regeneration of bottomland hardwoods relies on the production of vigorous, plantable, and affordable stock by commercial nurseries. To quantify nursery cultural influences on subsequent field performance of cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda Raf.), seedlings were grown in a greenhouse in small, medium, or large containers for three months...

Recovery of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.) following experimental harvests

Treesearch

Christine J. Small; James L. Chamberrlain; Derrick S. Mathews

2011-01-01

Since European colonization and subsequent commercialization of Appalachian medicinal and edible plants, millions of kilograms of plant material have been extracted from our forests, with little effort to manage these species as natural resources. Roots and rhizomes of black cohosh, a native Appalachian forest herb, are extensively harvested for treatment of menopausal...

Ecology of southwestern ponderosa pine forests

Treesearch

William H. Moir; Brian W. Geils; Mary Ann Benoit; Dan Scurlock

1997-01-01

Ponderosa pine forests are important because of their wide distribution, commercial value, and because they provide habitat for many plants and animals. Ponderosa pine forests are noted for their variety of passerine birds resulting from variation in forest composition and structure modified by past and present human use. Subsequent chapters discuss how ponderosa pine...

Cankers on Western Quaking Aspen

Treesearch

David W. Johnson; Jerome S. Beatty; Thomas E. Hinds

1995-01-01

Long appreciated for its esthetic and shade tree value and its importance for wildlife, aspen is also capable of excellent growth and high yields and thus is an important commercial timber species. However, aspen has one major drawback-its soft bark is easily wounded by abiotic factors, animals, and insects. Subsequently, these wounds can be invaded by disease...

38 CFR 1.917 - Contracting for collection services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... account for all amounts collected; (4) Upon returning an account to VA for subsequent referral to the... collected under the contract). Payment of the fee under this type of contract must be charged to available... prevailing commercial practice; (3) VA may enter into a contract under paragraph (b)(1) of this section only...

78 FR 40963 - Regulated Navigation Areas; Bars Along the Coasts of Oregon and Washington

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-09

..., uninspected passenger vessels, small passenger vessels, and commercial fishing vessels when operating within... The bars along the coasts of Oregon and Washington are a maritime operating environment unique to the... safety of persons and vessels operating on or in the vicinity of the bars. The Coast Guard subsequently...

Onboard Inert Gas Generation System/Onboard Oxygen Gas Generation System (OBIGGS/OBOGS) Study. Part 1; Aircraft System Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reynolds, Thomas L.; Bailey, Delbert B.; Lewinski, Daniel F.; Roseburg, Conrad M.; Palaszewski, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The purpose of this technology assessment is to define a multiphase research study program investigating Onboard Inert Gas Generation Systems (OBIGGS) and Onboard Oxygen Generation Systems (OBOGS) that would identify current airplane systems design and certification requirements (Subtask 1); explore state-of-the-art technology (Subtask 2); develop systems specifications (Subtask 3); and develop an initial system design (Subtask 4). If feasible, consideration may be given to the development of a prototype laboratory test system that could potentially be used in commercial transport aircraft (Subtask 5). These systems should be capable of providing inert nitrogen gas for improved fire cargo compartment fire suppression and fuel tank inerting and emergency oxygen for crew and passenger use. Subtask I of this research study, presented herein, defines current production aircraft certification requirements and design objectives necessary to meet mandatory FAA certification requirements and Boeing design and performance specifications. These requirements will be utilized for baseline comparisons for subsequent OBIGGS/OBOGS application evaluations and assessments.

Ion irradiation testing and characterization of FeCrAl candidate alloys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderoglu, Osman; Aydogan, Eda; Maloy, Stuart Andrew

2014-10-29

The Fuel Cycle Research and Development program’s Advanced Fuels Campaign has initiated a multifold effort aimed at facilitating development of accident tolerant fuels. This effort involves development of fuel cladding materials that will be resistant to oxidizing environments for extended period of time such as loss of coolant accident. Ferritic FeCrAl alloys are among the promising candidates due to formation of a stable Al₂O₃ oxide scale. In addition to being oxidation resistant, these promising alloys need to be radiation tolerant under LWR conditions (maximum dose of 10-15 dpa at 250 – 350°C). Thus, in addition to a number of commerciallymore » available alloys, nuclear grade FeCrAl alloys developed at ORNL were tested using high energy proton irradiations and subsequent characterization of irradiation hardening and damage microstructure. This report summarizes ion irradiation testing and characterization of three nuclear grade FeCrAl cladding materials developed at ORNL and four commercially available Kanthal series FeCrAl alloys in FY14 toward satisfying FCRD campaign goals.« less

Viability, Acid and Bile Tolerance of Spray Dried Probiotic Bacteria and Some Commercial Probiotic Supplement Products Kept at Room Temperature.

PubMed

Dianawati, Dianawati; Mishra, Vijay; Shah, Nagendra P

2016-06-01

Production of probiotic food supplements that are shelf-stable at room temperature has been developed for consumer's convenience, but information on the stability in acid and bile environment is still scarce. Viability and acid and bile tolerance of microencapsulated Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus acidophilus and 4 commercial probiotic supplements were evaluated. Bifidobacterium and L. acidophilus were encapsulated with casein-based emulsion using spray drying. Water activity (aw ) of the microspheres containing Bifidobacterium or L. acidophilus (SD GM product) was adjusted to 0.07 followed by storage at 25 °C for 10 wk. Encapsulated Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus acidophilus and 4 commercial probiotic supplement products (AL, GH, RE, and BM) were tested. Since commercial probiotic products contained mixed bacteria, selective media MRS-LP (containing L-cysteine and Na-propionate) and MRS-clindamycin agar were used to grow Bifidobacterium spp. or L. acidophilus, respectively, and to inhibit the growth of other strains. The results showed that aw had a strong negative correlation with the viability of dehydrated probiotics of the 6 products. Viable counts of Bifidobacterium spp. and L. acidophilus of SD GM, AL, and GH were between 8.3 and 9.2 log CFU/g, whereas that of BM and RE were between 6.7 and 7.3 log CFU/g. Bifidobacterium in SD GM, in AL, and in GH products and L. acidophilus in SD GM, in AL, and in BM products demonstrated high tolerance to acid. Most of dehydrated probiotic bacteria were able to survive in bile environment except L. acidophilus in RE product. Exposure to gastric juice influenced bacterial survivability in subsequent bile environment. © 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®

Membrane-based technologies for biogas separations.

PubMed

Basu, Subhankar; Khan, Asim L; Cano-Odena, Angels; Liu, Chunqing; Vankelecom, Ivo F J

2010-02-01

Over the past two decades, membrane processes have gained a lot of attention for the separation of gases. They have been found to be very suitable for wide scale applications owing to their reasonable cost, good selectivity and easily engineered modules. This critical review primarily focuses on the various aspects of membrane processes related to the separation of biogas, more in specific CO(2) and H(2)S removal from CH(4) and H(2) streams. Considering the limitations of inorganic materials for membranes, the present review will only focus on work done with polymeric materials. An overview on the performance of commercial membranes and lab-made membranes highlighting the problems associated with their applications will be given first. The development studies carried out to enhance the performance of membranes for gas separation will be discussed in the subsequent section. This review has been broadly divided into three sections (i) performance of commercial polymeric membranes (ii) performance of lab-made polymeric membranes and (iii) performance of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for gas separations. It will include structural modifications at polymer level, polymer blending, as well as synthesis of mixed matrix membranes, for which addition of silane-coupling agents and selection of suitable fillers will receive special attention. Apart from an overview of the different membrane materials, the study will also highlight the effects of different operating conditions that eventually decide the performance and longevity of membrane applications in gas separations. The discussion will be largely restricted to the studies carried out on polyimide (PI), cellulose acetate (CA), polysulfone (PSf) and polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) membranes, as these membrane materials have been most widely used for commercial applications. Finally, the most important strategies that would ensure new commercial applications will be discussed (156 references).

Commercial Scale Cucumber Fermentations Brined with Calcium Chloride Instead of Sodium Chloride.

PubMed

Pérez-Díaz, I M; McFeeters, R F; Moeller, L; Johanningsmeier, S D; Hayes, J; Fornea, D S; Rosenberg, L; Gilbert, C; Custis, N; Beene, K; Bass, D

2015-12-01

Development of low salt cucumber fermentation processes present opportunities to reduce the amount of sodium chloride (NaCl) that reaches fresh water streams from industrial activities. The objective of this research was to translate cucumber fermentation brined with calcium chloride (CaCl2 ) instead of NaCl to commercial scale production. Although CaCl2 brined cucumber fermentations were stable in laboratory experiments, commercial scale trials using 6440 L open-top tanks rapidly underwent secondary cucumber fermentation. It was understood that a limited air purging routine, use of a starter culture and addition of preservatives to the cover brine aids in achieving the desired complete cucumber fermentation. The modified process was used for subsequent commercial trials using 12490 and 28400 L open-top tanks packed with variable size cucumbers and from multiple lots, and cover brines containing CaCl2 and potassium sorbate to equilibrated concentrations of 100 and 6 mM, respectively. Lactobacillus plantarum LA0045 was inoculated to 10(6) CFU/mL, and air purging was applied for two 2-3 h periods per day for the first 10 d of fermentation and one 2-3 h period per day between days 11 and 14. All fermentations were completed, as evidenced by the full conversion of sugars to lactic acid, decrease in pH to 3.0, and presented microbiological stability for a minimum of 21 d. This CaCl2 process may be used to produce fermented cucumbers intended to be stored short term in a manner that reduces pollution and waste removal costs. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

The genetic and phenotypic variability of interspecific hybrid bermudagrasses (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy) used on golf course putting greens.

PubMed

Reasor, Eric H; Brosnan, James T; Trigiano, Robert N; Elsner, J Earl; Henry, Gerald M; Schwartz, Brian M

2016-10-01

Some interspecific hybrid bermudagrass cultivars used on golf course putting greens are genetically unstable, which has caused phenotypically different off-type grasses to occur in production nurseries and putting surfaces. Management practices to reduce the occurrence of off-type grasses in putting green surfaces and the effect they can have on putting quality and performance need to be researched until genetically stable cultivars are developed. Golf course putting green surfaces in subtropical and tropical climates are typically planted with an interspecific hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy), because of the superior putting quality and performance of these cultivars. 'Tifgreen' was one of the first interspecific hybrids developed for putting green use in lieu of common bermudagrass. However, off-type grasses began appearing in established Tifgreen stands soon after commercial release. Off-type grasses are those with different morphology and performance when compared to the surrounding, desirable cultivar. Off-types have the potential to decrease surface uniformity, which negatively affects putting surface quality. However, several unique off-types from Tifgreen have been selected as commercial cultivars, the first being 'Tifdwarf'; then 'Floradwarf', 'MS-Supreme', 'Pee Dee-102', and 'TL-2', identified later. The cultivars 'Champion Dwarf', 'P-18', 'RJT', and 'Emerald Dwarf' were subsequently selected as off-types in Tifdwarf. The naturally occurring off-types and cultivars that have been identified within the Tifgreen family have widely differing phenotypes; however, they are reported to be genetically similar, supporting the hypothesis that their occurrence is a result of somatic mutations. Genetic instability in currently available commercial cultivars is likely to lead to the continued presence of off-types in production nurseries and putting greens. Additional research is needed to understand the nature of genetic instability in Tifgreen-derived cultivars and how to manage its consequences to develop new cultivars, but also strategies for eradication of off-types in pedigree nursery production and end-site putting greens.

DNA banking and DNA databanking by academic and commercial laboratories

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McEwen, J.E.; Reilly, P.R.

The advent of DNA-based testing is giving rise to DNA banking (the long-term storage of cells, transformed cell lines, or extracted DNA for subsequent retrieval and analysis) and DNA data banking (the indefinite storage of information derived from DNA analysis). Large scale acquisition and storage of DNA and DNA data has important implications for the privacy rights of individuals. A survey of 148 academically based and commercial DNA diagnostic laboratories was conducted to determine: (1) the extent of their DNA banking activities; (2) their policies and experiences regarding access to DNA samples and data; (3) the quality assurance measures theymore » employ; and (4) whether they have written policies and/or depositor`s agreements addressing specific issues. These issues include: (1) who may have access to DNA samples and data; (2) whether scientists may have access to anonymous samples or data for research use; (3) whether they have plans to contact depositors or retest samples if improved tests for a disorder become available; (4) disposition of samples at the end of the contract period if the laboratory ceases operations, if storage fees are unpaid, or after a death or divorce; (5) the consequence of unauthorized release, loss, or accidental destruction of samples; and (6) whether depositors may share in profits from the commercialization of tests or treatments developed in part from studies of stored DNA. The results suggest that many laboratories are banking DNA, that many have already amassed a large number of samples, and that a significant number plan to further develop DNA banking as a laboratory service over the next two years. Few laboratories have developed written policies governing DNA banking, and fewer still have drafted documents that define the rights and obligations of the parties. There may be a need for increased regulation of DNA banking and DNA data banking and for better defined policies with respect to protecting individual privacy.« less

Heavy vehicle propulsion system materials program: Semiannual progress report, April 1996--September 1996

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, D.R.

1997-04-01

The purpose of the Heavy Vehicle Propulsion System Materials Program is the development of materials: ceramics, intermetallics, metal alloys, and metal and ceramic coatings, to support the dieselization of class 1-3 trucks to realize a 35% fuel-economy improvement over current gasoline-fueled trucks and to support commercialization of fuel-flexible LE-55 low-emissions, high-efficiency diesel engines for class 7-8 trucks. The Office of Transportation Technologies, Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies (OTT OHVT) has an active program to develop the technology for advanced LE-55 diesel engines with 55% efficiency and low emissions levels of 2.0 g/bhp-h NO{sub x} and 0.05 g/bhp-h particulates. The goalmore » is also for the LE-55 engine to run on natural gas with efficiency approaching that of diesel fuel. The LE-55 program is being completed in FY 1997 and, after approximately 10 years of effort, has largely met the program goals of 55% efficiency and low emissions. However, the commercialization of the LE-55 technology requires more durable materials than those that have been used to demonstrate the goals. Heavy Vehicle Propulsion System Materials will, in concert with the heavy duty diesel engine companies, develop the durable materials required to commercialize the LE-55 technologies. OTT OHVT also recognizes a significant opportunity for reduction in petroleum consumption by dieselization of pickup trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles. Application of the diesel engine to class 1, 2, and 3 trucks is expected to yield a 35% increase in fuel economy per vehicle. The foremost barrier to diesel use in this market is emission control. Once an engine is made certifiable, subsequent challenges will be in cost; noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH); and performance. Separate abstracts have been submitted to the database for contributions to this report.« less

Long-Wave Infrared Thermophotonic Imaging of Demineralization in Dental Hard Tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ojaghi, A.; Parkhimchyk, A.; Tabatabaei, N.

2016-08-01

Dental caries remains the most prevalent chronic disease in both children and adults worldwide. To address this prevalence through disease prevention and management, dentists need tools capable of detecting caries at early stages of formation. Looking into the physics of light propagation in teeth, this study presents a clinically and commercially viable platform technology for thermophotonic detection of early dental caries using an inexpensive long-wavelength infrared (LWIR; 8 μm to 14 μm) camera. The developed system incorporates intensity-modulated light to generate a thermal-wave field inside enamel and uses the subsequent infrared emission of the thermal-wave field to detect early caries. It was found that the greater light absorption at caries sites shifts the thermal-wave field centroid, providing contrast between early caries and intact enamel. Use of LWIR detection band in dental samples is novel and beneficial over the conventional mid-wavelength infrared band (3 μm to 5 μm) as it suppresses the masking effect of the instantaneous radiative emission from subsurface features due to the minimal transmittance of enamel in the LWIR band. The efficacy of the LWIR system is verified though experiments carried out on nonbiological test samples as well as on teeth with natural and artificially induced caries. The results suggest that the developed LWIR technology is an affordable early dental caries detection system suitable for commercialization/translation to Dentistry.

Overview of medical operations for a manned stratospheric balloon flight.

PubMed

Blue, Rebecca S; Law, Jennifer; Norton, Sean C; Garbino, Alejandro; Pattarini, James M; Turney, Matthew W; Clark, Jonathan B

2013-03-01

Red Bull Stratos was a commercial program designed to bring a test parachutist protected by a full-pressure suit via a stratospheric balloon with a pressurized capsule to 120,000 ft (36,576 m), from which he would freefall and subsequently parachute to the ground. On March 15, 2012, the Red Bull Stratos program successfully conducted a preliminary manned balloon test flight and parachute jump, reaching a final altitude of 71,581 ft (21,818 m). In light of the uniqueness of the operation and medical threats faced, a comprehensive medical plan was needed to ensure prompt and efficient response to any medical contingencies. This report will serve to discuss the medical plans put into place before the first manned balloon flight and the actions of the medical team during that flight. The medical operations developed for this program will be systematically evaluated, particularly, specific recommendations for improvement in future high-altitude and commercial space activities. A multipronged approach to medical support was developed, consisting of event planning, medical personnel, equipment, contingency-specific considerations, and communications. Medical operations were found to be highly successful when field-tested during this stratospheric flight, and the experience allowed for refinement of medical operations for future flights. The lessons learned and practices established for this program can easily be used to tailor a plan specific to other aviation or spaceflight events.

Development of flocculent Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain GYK-10 for the selective fermentation of glucose/fructose in sugar mills.

PubMed

Kato, Taku; Ohara, Satoshi; Fukushima, Yasuhiro; Sugimoto, Akira; Masuda, Takayuki; Yasuhara, Takaomi; Yamagishi, Hiromi

2016-07-01

Advances in glucose/fructose-selective ethanol production have successfully enhanced raw sugar extraction from sugarcane juice by converting inhibitory substances (i.e., glucose/fructose) into ethanol, which is removed by subsequent operations in cane sugar mills. However, the commercial implementation of this breakthrough process in existing cane sugar mills requires a yeast strain that (i) can be used in food production processes, (ii) exhibits stable saccharometabolic selectivity, and (iii) can be easily separated from the saccharide solution. In this study, we developed a suitable saccharometabolism-selective and flocculent strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae GYK-10. We obtained a suitable yeast strain for selective fermentation in cane sugar mills using a yeast mating system. First, we crossed a haploid strain defective in sucrose utilization with a flocculent haploid strain. Next, we performed tetrad dissection of the resultant hybrid diploid strain and selected GYK-10 from various segregants by investigating the sucrose assimilation and flocculation capacity phenotypes. Ten consecutive fermentation tests of the GYK-10 strain using a bench-scale fermentor confirmed its suitability for the implementation of practical selective fermentation in a commercial sugar mill. The strain exhibited complete saccharometabolic selectivity and sustained flocculation, where it maintained a high ethanol yield and conversion rate throughout the test. Copyright © 2016 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Metrics for the technical performance evaluation of light water reactor accident-tolerant fuel

DOE PAGES

Bragg-Sitton, Shannon M.; Todosow, Michael; Montgomery, Robert; ...

2017-03-26

The safe, reliable, and economic operation of the nation’s nuclear power reactor fleet has always been a top priority for the nuclear industry. Continual improvement of technology, including advanced materials and nuclear fuels, remains central to the industry’s success. Enhancing the accident tolerance of light water reactors (LWRs) became a topic of serious discussion following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, resulting tsunami, and subsequent damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex. The overall goal for the development of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) for LWRs is to identify alternative fuel system technologies to further enhance the safety, competitiveness, andmore » economics of commercial nuclear power. Designed for use in the current fleet of commercial LWRs or in reactor concepts with design certifications (GEN-III+), fuels with enhanced accident tolerance would endure loss of active cooling in the reactor core for a considerably longer period of time than the current fuel system while maintaining or improving performance during normal operations. The complex multiphysics behavior of LWR nuclear fuel in the integrated reactor system makes defining specific material or design improvements difficult; as such, establishing desirable performance attributes is critical in guiding the design and development of fuels and cladding with enhanced accident tolerance. Research and development of ATF in the United States is conducted under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cycle Research and Development Advanced Fuels Campaign. The DOE is sponsoring multiple teams to develop ATF concepts within multiple national laboratories, universities, and the nuclear industry. Concepts under investigation offer both evolutionary and revolutionary changes to the current nuclear fuel system. This study summarizes the technical evaluation methodology proposed in the United States to aid in the optimization and prioritization of candidate ATF designs.« less

Advance market commitments for vaccines against neglected diseases: estimating costs and effectiveness.

PubMed

Berndt, Ernst R; Glennerster, Rachel; Kremer, Michael R; Lee, Jean; Levine, Ruth; Weizsäcker, Georg; Williams, Heidi

2007-05-01

The G8 is considering committing to purchase vaccines against diseases concentrated in low-income countries (if and when desirable vaccines are developed) as a way to spur research and development on vaccines for these diseases. Under such an 'advance market commitment,' one or more sponsors would commit to a minimum price to be paid per person immunized for an eligible product, up to a certain number of individuals immunized. For additional purchases, the price would eventually drop to close to marginal cost. If no suitable product were developed, no payments would be made. We estimate the offer size which would make revenues similar to the revenues realized from investments in typical existing commercial pharmaceutical products, as well as the degree to which various model contracts and assumptions would affect the cost-effectiveness of such a commitment. We make adjustments for lower marketing costs under an advance market commitment and the risk that a developer may have to share the market with subsequent developers. We also show how this second risk could be reduced, and money saved, by introducing a superiority clause to a commitment. Under conservative assumptions, we document that a commitment comparable in value to sales earned by the average of a sample of recently launched commercial products (adjusted for lower marketing costs) would be a highly cost-effective way to address HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Sensitivity analyses suggest most characteristics of a hypothetical vaccine would have little effect on the cost-effectiveness, but that the duration of protection conferred by a vaccine strongly affects potential cost-effectiveness. Readers can conduct their own sensitivity analyses employing a web-based spreadsheet tool. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Enabling Sustainable Exploration through the Commercial Development of Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nall, Mark; Casas, Joseph

2003-01-01

The commercial development of space offers enabling benefits to space exploration. This paper examines how those benefits can be realized, and how the Space Product Development Office of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is taking the first steps towards opening the space frontier through vital and sustainable industrial development. The Space Product Development Office manages 15 Commercial Space Centers that partner with US industry to develop opportunities for commerce in space. This partnership directly benefits NASA exploration in four primary ways. First, by actively involving traditional and non-traditional companies in commercial space activities, it seeks and encourages to the maximum extent possible the fullest commercial use of space, as directed by NASA's charter. Second, the commercial research and technologies pursued and developed in the program often have direct applicability to NASA priority mission areas. This dual use strategy for research and technology has the potential to greatly expand what the NASA scientific community can do. Third, the commercial experiment hardware developed by the Commercial Space Centers and their industrial partners is available for use by NASA researchers in support of priority NASA research. By utilizing low cost and existing commercial hardware, essential NASA research can be more readily accomplished. Fourth, by assisting industry in understanding the use of the environment of space and in helping industry enhance the tools and technologies for NASA and commercial space systems, the market for commercial space utilization and the capability for meeting the future growing market needs is being developed. These two activities taken together form the beginning of a new space economy that will enable sustainable NASA exploration of the universe.

Facile Fabrication of Platinum-Cobalt Alloy Nanoparticles with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity for a Methanol Oxidation Reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Huihong; Hu, Xiulan; Zhang, Jianbo; Su, Nan; Cheng, Jiexu

2017-03-01

Decreasing the cost associated with platinum-based catalysts along with improving their catalytic properties is a major challenge for commercial direct methanol fuel cells. In this work, a simple and facile strategy was developed for the more efficient preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) -supported Pt/CoPt composite nanoparticles (NPs) via solution plasma sputtering with subsequent thermal annealing. Quite different from general wet synthesis methods, Pt/CoPt composite NPs were directly derived from metal wire electrodes without any additions. The obtained Pt/CoPt/MWCNTs composite catalysts exhibited tremendous improvement in the electro-oxidation of methanol in acidic media with mass activities of 1719 mA mg-1Pt. This value is much higher than that of previous reports of Pt-Co alloy and commercial Pt/C (3.16 times) because of the many active sites and clean surface of the catalysts. The catalysts showed good stability due to the special synergistic effects of the CoPt alloy. Pt/CoPt/MWCNTs can be used as a promising catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells. In addition, this solution plasma sputtering-assisted synthesis method introduces a general and feasible route for the synthesis of binary alloys.

Facile Fabrication of Platinum-Cobalt Alloy Nanoparticles with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity for a Methanol Oxidation Reaction.

PubMed

Huang, Huihong; Hu, Xiulan; Zhang, Jianbo; Su, Nan; Cheng, JieXu

2017-03-30

Decreasing the cost associated with platinum-based catalysts along with improving their catalytic properties is a major challenge for commercial direct methanol fuel cells. In this work, a simple and facile strategy was developed for the more efficient preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) -supported Pt/CoPt composite nanoparticles (NPs) via solution plasma sputtering with subsequent thermal annealing. Quite different from general wet synthesis methods, Pt/CoPt composite NPs were directly derived from metal wire electrodes without any additions. The obtained Pt/CoPt/MWCNTs composite catalysts exhibited tremendous improvement in the electro-oxidation of methanol in acidic media with mass activities of 1719 mA mg -1 Pt . This value is much higher than that of previous reports of Pt-Co alloy and commercial Pt/C (3.16 times) because of the many active sites and clean surface of the catalysts. The catalysts showed good stability due to the special synergistic effects of the CoPt alloy. Pt/CoPt/MWCNTs can be used as a promising catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells. In addition, this solution plasma sputtering-assisted synthesis method introduces a general and feasible route for the synthesis of binary alloys.

Real-time PCR method applied to seafood products for authentication of European sole (Solea solea) and differentiation of common substitute species.

PubMed

Herrero, Beatriz; Lago, Fátima C; Vieites, Juan M; Espiñeira, Montserrat

2012-01-01

Judged by quality and taste, the European sole (Solea solea) is considered one of the finest flatfish and is, thus, of considerable commercial value. In the present work, a specific fast real-time PCR was developed for the authentication of S. solea, i.e. to distinguish it from other related species and avoid substitution of this species, either deliberately or unintentionally. The method is based on a species-specific set of primers and MGB Taqman probe which amplifies a 116-bp fragment of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS 1) ribosomal DNA region. This assay combines the high specificity and sensitivity of real-time PCR with the rapidity of the fast mode, allowing the detection of S. solea in a short period of time. The present methodology was validated for application to all types of manufactured products for the presence of S. solea, with successful results. Subsequently, the method was applied to 40 commercial samples to determine whether correct labeling had been employed in the market. It was demonstrated that the assay is a useful tool in monitoring and verifying food labeling regulations.

BioPad: Leveraging off-the-Shelf Video Games for Stress Self-Regulation.

PubMed

Wang, Zelun; Parnandi, Avinash; Gutierrez-Osuna, Ricardo

2018-01-01

This paper presents an approach to use commercial videogames for biofeedback training. It consists of intercepting signals from the game controller and adapting them in real-time based on physiological measurements from the player. We present three sample implementations and a case study for teaching stress self-regulation via an immersive car racing game. We use a crossover gaming device to manipulate controller signals, and a respiratory sensor to monitor the players' breathing rate. We then alter the speed of the car to encourage slow deep breathing, in this way, allowing players to reduce their arousal while playing the game. We evaluate the approach against an alternative form of biofeedback that uses a graphic overlay to convey physiological information, and a control condition (playing the game without biofeedback). Experimental results show that our approach can promote deep breathing during gameplay, and also during a subsequent task, once biofeedback is removed. Our results also indicate that delivering biofeedback through subtle changes in gameplay can be as effective as delivering them directly through a visual display. These results open the possibility to develop low-cost and engaging biofeedback interventions using a variety of commercial videogames to promote adherence.

A step-by-step approach to improve data quality when using commercial business lists to characterize retail food environments.

PubMed

Jones, Kelly K; Zenk, Shannon N; Tarlov, Elizabeth; Powell, Lisa M; Matthews, Stephen A; Horoi, Irina

2017-01-07

Food environment characterization in health studies often requires data on the location of food stores and restaurants. While commercial business lists are commonly used as data sources for such studies, current literature provides little guidance on how to use validation study results to make decisions on which commercial business list to use and how to maximize the accuracy of those lists. Using data from a retrospective cohort study [Weight And Veterans' Environments Study (WAVES)], we (a) explain how validity and bias information from existing validation studies (count accuracy, classification accuracy, locational accuracy, as well as potential bias by neighborhood racial/ethnic composition, economic characteristics, and urbanicity) were used to determine which commercial business listing to purchase for retail food outlet data and (b) describe the methods used to maximize the quality of the data and results of this approach. We developed data improvement methods based on existing validation studies. These methods included purchasing records from commercial business lists (InfoUSA and Dun and Bradstreet) based on store/restaurant names as well as standard industrial classification (SIC) codes, reclassifying records by store type, improving geographic accuracy of records, and deduplicating records. We examined the impact of these procedures on food outlet counts in US census tracts. After cleaning and deduplicating, our strategy resulted in a 17.5% reduction in the count of food stores that were valid from those purchased from InfoUSA and 5.6% reduction in valid counts of restaurants purchased from Dun and Bradstreet. Locational accuracy was improved for 7.5% of records by applying street addresses of subsequent years to records with post-office (PO) box addresses. In total, up to 83% of US census tracts annually experienced a change (either positive or negative) in the count of retail food outlets between the initial purchase and the final dataset. Our study provides a step-by-step approach to purchase and process business list data obtained from commercial vendors. The approach can be followed by studies of any size, including those with datasets too large to process each record by hand and will promote consistency in characterization of the retail food environment across studies.

Selective enumeration of propionibacteria in Emmental-type cheese using Petrifilm™ aerobic count plates added to lithium glycerol broth.

PubMed

de Freitas, Rosângela; Luiz, Lívia M Pinheiro; Alves, Maura Pinheiro; Valence-Bertel, Florence; Nero, Luís Augusto; de Carvalho, Antônio Fernandes

2013-08-01

Propionibacteria derived from dairy products are relevant starter cultures for the production of Swiss and Emmental-type cheeses, and the monitoring of which is mandatory for proper quality control. This study aimed to evaluate an alternative procedure to enumerate propionibacteria, in order to develop a reliable and practical methodology to be employed by dairy industries. 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) inhibitory activity was tested against five reference strains (CIRM 09, 38, 39, 40 and 116); TTC at 0·0025% (w/v) was not inhibitory, with the exception of one strain (CIRM 116). Subsequently, the four TTC-resistant strains, three commercial starter cultures (PS-1, PB-I, and CHOO) and twelve Emmental-type cheese samples were subjected to propionibacteria enumeration using Lithium Glycerol (LG) agar, and Petrifilm™ Aerobic Count (AC) plates added to LG broth (anaerobic incubation at 30 °C for 7 d). Petrifilm™ AC added to LG broth presented high counts than LG agar (P<0·05) for only two reference strains (CIRM 39, and 40) and for all commercial starter cultures. Cheese sample counts obtained by both procedures did not show significant differences (P<0·05). Significant correlation indexes were observed between the counts recorded by both methods (P<0·05). These results demonstrate the reliability of Petrifilm™ AC plates added to LG broth in enumerating select Propionibacterium spp., despite some limitations observed for specific commercial starter cultures.

NASA's commercial research plans and opportunities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arnold, Ray J.

1992-01-01

One of the primary goals of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) commercial space development plan is to encourage the development of space-based products and markets, along with the infrastructure and transportation that will support those products and markets. A three phased program has been instituted to carry out this program. The first phase utilizes government grants through the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) for space-related, industry driven research; the development of a technology data base; and the development of commercial space transportation and infrastructure. The second phase includes the development of these technologies by industry for new commercial markets, and features unique industry/government collaborations such as Joint Endeavor Agreements. The final phase will feature technical applications actually brought to the marketplace. The government's role will be to support industry required infrastructure to encourage start-up markets and industries through follow-on development agreements such as the Space Systems Development Agreement. The Office of Commercial Programs has an aggressive flight program underway on the Space Shuttle, suborbital rockets, orbital expendable launch vehicles, and the Commercial Middeck Accommodation Module with SPACEHAB Inc. The Office of Commercial Program's has been allocated 35 percent of the U.S. share of the Space Station Freedom resources for 1997 utilization. A utilization plan has been developed with the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space and has identified eleven materials processing and biotechnology payloads occupying 5 double racks in the pressurized module as well as two payloads external to the module in materials exposure and environment monitoring. The Office of Commercial Programs will rely on the Space Station Freedom to provide the long duration laboratory component for space-based commercial research.

NASA's commercial research plans and opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnold, Ray J.

One of the primary goals of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) commercial space development plan is to encourage the development of space-based products and markets, along with the infrastructure and transportation that will support those products and markets. A three phased program has been instituted to carry out this program. The first phase utilizes government grants through the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) for space-related, industry driven research; the development of a technology data base; and the development of commercial space transportation and infrastructure. The second phase includes the development of these technologies by industry for new commercial markets, and features unique industry/government collaborations such as Joint Endeavor Agreements. The final phase will feature technical applications actually brought to the marketplace. The government's role will be to support industry required infrastructure to encourage start-up markets and industries through follow-on development agreements such as the Space Systems Development Agreement. The Office of Commercial Programs has an aggressive flight program underway on the Space Shuttle, suborbital rockets, orbital expendable launch vehicles, and the Commercial Middeck Accommodation Module with SPACEHAB Inc. The Office of Commercial Program's has been allocated 35 percent of the U.S. share of the Space Station Freedom resources for 1997 utilization. A utilization plan has been developed with the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space and has identified eleven materials processing and biotechnology payloads occupying 5 double racks in the pressurized module as well as two payloads external to the module in materials exposure and environment monitoring. The Office of Commercial Programs will rely on the Space Station Freedom to provide the long duration laboratory component for space-based commercial research.

Characterization of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins in wild and domesticated Mexican blackberries (Rubus spp.).

PubMed

Cuevas-Rodríguez, Edith O; Yousef, Gad G; García-Saucedo, Pedro A; López-Medina, José; Paredes-López, Octavio; Lila, Mary Ann

2010-06-23

This study was designed to characterize and compare wild, commercial, and noncommercial cultivated blackberry genotypes grown in Michoacan, Mexico. Six genotypes, including WB-3, WB-7, WB-10, and WB-11 (all wild blackberry types), Tupy (a commercial cultivar), and UM-601 (a cultivated breeding line), were selected and profiled for anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins by separating extracts over Amberlite XAD-7 resin and Sephadex LH-20 columns. Subsequent high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) analyses revealed that the major anthocyanin for all genotypes was cyanidin 3-O-glucoside. The proanthocyanidins (condensed tannins) were present in mono- to hexamer forms. Also, hydrolyzable tannins, ellagitannins, were characterized in the blackberry fruits. The average anthocyanin concentration in Sephadex LH-20 fractions was 49.2 mg/g in the commercial cultivar Tupy, while in the wild genotypes and the breeding line, the range was 361.3-494.9 mg/g (cyanidin 3-O-glucoside equivalent). The proanthocyanidin concentration varied widely among wild genotypes (417.5-1343.6 mg/g, catechin equivalent). This study demonstrated that the use of Amberlite XAD-7 followed by Sephadex LH-20 chromatography, with subsequent HPLC and LC-ESI-MS analyses, was able to effectively separate and characterize the diverse polyphenolics in blackberry genotypes. These results suggest that recommendations for dietary intake of blackberries for human health benefits need to take into account the source, because of the wide inherent variation in bioactive polyphenolic content in different blackberry genotypes.

U.S. commercial space activities - Returning the U.S. to preeminence in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Barbara A.

1987-01-01

The current status of NASA's activities related to the commercial development of space is reviewed with particular reference to the emerging new commercial space activities and the post-Challenger policy developments affecting space commerce. The discussion covers the development of U.S. private sector launching capabilities, cooperative agreements with the private sector, the NASA technology utilization program, the technology applications activities of the Office of Commercial Programs, and the activities of the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space program.

Development of nano/sub-micron grain structures in metastable austenitic stainless steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajasekhara, Shreyas

2007-12-01

This dissertation is a part of a collaborative work between the University of Texas, Austin-Texas, the University of Oulu, Oulu-Finland, and Outokumpu Stainless Oy, Tornio-Finland, to develop commercial austenitic stainless steels with high strength and ductility. The idea behind this work involves cold-rolling a commercial metastable austenitic stainless steel - AISI 301LN stainless steel to produce strain-induced martensite, followed by an annealing treatment to generate nano/sub-micron grained austenite. AISI 301LN stainless steel sheets are cold-rolled to 63% reduction and subsequently annealed at 600°C, 700°C, 800°C, 900°C and 1000°C for 1, 10 and 100 seconds. The samples are analyzed by X-Ray diffraction, SQUID, transmission electron microscopy, and tensile testing to fundamentally understand the microstructural evolution, the mechanism for the martensite → austenite reversion, the formation of nano/sub-micron austenite grains, and the relationship between the microstructure and the strength obtained in this stainless steel. The results show that cold-rolled AISI 301LN stainless steel consist of dislocation-cell martensite, heavily deformed lath-martensite and austenite shear bands. Subsequent annealing at 600°C for short durations of 1 and 10 seconds leads to negligible martensite to austenite reversion. These 600°C samples exhibit a similar microstructure to the cold-rolled sample. However, for samples annealed at 600°C for 100 seconds and those annealed at higher temperatures (700°C, 800°C, 900°C and 1000°C) exhibit equiaxed austenitic grains of sizes 0.2mum-10mum and secondary phase precipitates. The microstructural analysis also reveals that the martensite → austenite reversion occurs via a diffusion-type reversion mechanism. In this regard, a generalized form of Avrami's equation is used to model the kinetics of martensite → austenite phase reversion. The results from the model agree reasonably well with the experiments. Furthermore, the activation energy for grain growth in nano/sub-micron grained AISI 301LN stainless steel is found to be ˜ 205kJ/mol, which is comparable to values observed in coarse grained commercial stainless steels (AISI 304, 316). However, the driving force for grain growth in nano/sub-micron grained AISI 301LN stainless steel is considerably higher when compared to other stainless steels. Finally, the average grain sizes in AISI 301LN stainless steels are related to the mechanical properties obtained, through the Hall-Petch relationship.

A sunblock based on bioadhesive nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Yang; Ediriwickrema, Asiri; Yang, Fan; Lewis, Julia; Girardi, Michael; Saltzman, W. Mark

2015-12-01

The majority of commercial sunblock preparations use organic or inorganic ultraviolet (UV) filters. Despite protecting against cutaneous phototoxicity, direct cellular exposure to UV filters has raised a variety of health concerns. Here, we show that the encapsulation of padimate O (PO)--a model UV filter--in bioadhesive nanoparticles (BNPs) prevents epidermal cellular exposure to UV filters while enhancing UV protection. BNPs are readily suspended in water, facilitate adherence to the stratum corneum without subsequent intra-epidermal or follicular penetration, and their interaction with skin is water resistant yet the particles can be removed via active towel drying. Although the sunblock based on BNPs contained less than 5 wt% of the UV-filter concentration found in commercial standards, the anti-UV effect was comparable when tested in two murine models. Moreover, the BNP-based sunblock significantly reduced double-stranded DNA breaks when compared with a commercial sunscreen formulation.

Incidence of bacterial enteropathogens in foods from Mexico.

PubMed Central

Wood, L V; Ferguson, L E; Hogan, P; Thurman, D; Morgan, D R; DuPont, H L; Ericsson, C D

1983-01-01

We examined food consumption patterns of U.S. students temporarily living in Guadalajara, Mexico. Consumption of foods prepared in Mexican homes was associated with an increased risk of acquisition of diarrhea. Foods from commercial sources and private Mexican homes in Guadalajara were subsequently examined for contamination with coliforms, fecal coliforms, and bacterial enteropathogens. For comparison, selected restaurant foods were obtained in Houston, Tex. Food obtained from Mexican homes showed generally higher counts of coliforms and fecal coliforms than those obtained from commercial sources in Mexico and Houston. The foods in Mexico, both from homes and commercial sources, commonly contained Escherichia coli and occasionally enterotoxigenic E. coli. Foods in Houston were not contaminated with E. coli or enterotoxigenic E. coli. Salmonella (17 isolates), Shigella (4 isolates), and Aeromonas hydrophila (1 isolate) were found only in the foods obtained from Mexican homes. Enterotoxigenic non-E. coli Enterobacteriaceae was recovered with approximately equal frequency from all food sources. PMID:6354085

Growth of Douglas-fir near equipment trails used for commercial thinning in the Oregon Coast Range.

Treesearch

Richard E. Miller; Jim Smith; Paul W. Adams; Harry W. Anderson

2007-01-01

Soil disturbance is a visually apparent result of using heavy equipment to harvest trees. Subsequent consequences for growth of remaining trees, however, are variable and seldom quantified. We measured tree growth 7 and 11 years after thinning of trees in four stands of coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii(...

49 CFR Appendix F to Subchapter B... - Commercial Zones

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., N. Mex. 18 Ravenswood, W. Va. 19 Lake Charles, La. 20 Syracuse, N.Y. 21 Baltimore, Md. 22 Cleveland... in respect of a shipment which has had a prior, or will have a subsequent movement by water carrier... Boulevard to its junction with St. Charles Rock Road, thence westerly along St. Charles Rock Road to its...

Synthesis of fisetin and 2',4',6'-trihydroxydihyrochalcone 4'-O-β-neohesperidoside based on site-selective deacetylation and deoxygenation.

PubMed

Tsunekawa, Ryuji; Hanaya, Kengo; Higashibayashi, Shuhei; Sugai, Takeshi

2018-04-26

Fisetin and 2',4',6'-trihydroxydihyrochalcone 4'-O-β-neohesperidoside were synthesized from commercially available quercetin and naringin in five steps. The key steps are site-selective deacetylation and subsequent deoxygenation. The target molecules were obtained in 37% and 23% yields from the starting materials, respectively.

The Use of Experiments and Modeling to Evaluate ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Symposium Paper This paper reports on a study to examine the thermal decomposition of surrogate CWAs (in this case, Malathion) in a laboratory reactor, analysis of the results using reactor design theory, and subsequent scale-up of the results to a computersimulation of a full-scale commercial hazardous waste incinerator processing ceiling tile contaminated with residual Malathion.

Frequency of Verticillium species in commercial spinach fields and transmission of V. dahliae from spinach to subsequent lettuce crops

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Verticillium wilt, caused by Verticillium dahlia,e is a devastating disease of lettuce in California. The disease on lettuce is currently restricted to a small geographic area in the central coastal California, even though cropping patterns in other coastal lettuce production regions in the state ar...

50 CFR 622.49 - Annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... limit (ACL), the AA will file a notification with the Office of the Federal Register, at or near the...-year ACL was exceeded. The commercial ACL for 2010 and subsequent fishing years is 138,000 lb (62,596 kg). (ii) Recreational sector. If recreational landings, as estimated by the SRD, exceed the ACL, the...

Technologies for Extracting Valuable Metals and Compounds from Geothermal Fluids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harrison, Stephen

2014-04-30

Executive Summary Simbol Materials studied various methods of extracting valuable minerals from geothermal brines in the Imperial Valley of California, focusing on the extraction of lithium, manganese, zinc and potassium. New methods were explored for managing the potential impact of silica fouling on mineral extraction equipment, and for converting silica management by-products into commercial products.` Studies at the laboratory and bench scale focused on manganese, zinc and potassium extraction and the conversion of silica management by-products into valuable commercial products. The processes for extracting lithium and producing lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide products were developed at the laboratory scale andmore » scaled up to pilot-scale. Several sorbents designed to extract lithium as lithium chloride from geothermal brine were developed at the laboratory scale and subsequently scaled-up for testing in the lithium extraction pilot plant. Lithium The results of the lithium studies generated the confidence for Simbol to scale its process to commercial operation. The key steps of the process were demonstrated during its development at pilot scale: 1. Silica management. 2. Lithium extraction. 3. Purification. 4. Concentration. 5. Conversion into lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate products. Results show that greater than 95% of the lithium can be extracted from geothermal brine as lithium chloride, and that the chemical yield in converting lithium chloride to lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate products is greater than 90%. The product purity produced from the process is consistent with battery grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. Manganese and zinc Processes for the extraction of zinc and manganese from geothermal brine were developed. It was shown that they could be converted into zinc metal and electrolytic manganese dioxide after purification. These processes were evaluated for their economic potential, and at the present time Simbol Materials is evaluating other products with greater commercial value. Potassium Silicotitanates, zeolites and other sorbents were evaluated as potential reagents for the extraction of potassium from geothermal brines and production of potassium chloride (potash). It was found that zeolites were effective at removing potassium but the capacity of the zeolites and the form that the potassium is in does not have economic potential. Iron-silica by-product The conversion of iron-silica by-product produced during silica management operations into more valuable materials was studied at the laboratory scale. Results indicate that it is technically feasible to convert the iron-silica by-product into ferric chloride and ferric sulfate solutions which are precursors to a ferric phosphate product. However, additional work to purify the solutions is required to determine the commercial viability of this process. Conclusion Simbol Materials is in the process of designing its first commercial plant based on the technology developed to the pilot scale during this project. The investment in the commercial plant is hundreds of millions of dollars, and construction of the commercial plant will generate hundreds of jobs. Plant construction will be completed in 2016 and the first lithium products will be shipped in 2017. The plant will have a lithium carbonate equivalent production capacity of 15,000 tonnes per year. The gross revenues from the project are expected to be approximately $ 80 to 100 million annually. During this development program Simbol grew from a company of about 10 people to over 60 people today. Simbol is expected to employ more than 100 people once the plant is constructed. Simbol Materials’ business is scalable in the Imperial Valley region because there are eleven geothermal power plants already in operation, which allows Simbol to expand its business from one plant to multiple plants. Additionally, the scope of the resource is vast in terms of potential products such as lithium, manganese and zinc and potentially potassium.« less

NASA's approach to the commercial use of space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gillam, I. T., IV

1984-01-01

NASA planning activities in the area of commercial development of space resources are reviewed. Examples of specific types of commercial space ventures are given, according to three different categories: new commercial high-technology ventures; new commercial application of existing space technology, and commercial ventures resulting from the transfer of existing space programs to the private sector. Basic objectives for reducing technical, financial and institutional risks for commercial space operations are considered. Attention is given to the cooperative working environment encouraged by Joint Endeavor Agreements (JEAs) and Technical Exchange Agreements (TEAs) between industrial organizations in the development of space systems. Benefits of the commercial development of space resources include the production of purer pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancers, kidney diseases, and diabetes; and the development of ultra-pure semiconductor crystals for use in next generation electronic equipment.

Nano-composites for water remediation: a review.

PubMed

Tesh, Sarah J; Scott, Thomas B

2014-09-17

As global populations continue to increase, the pressure on water supplies will inevitably intensify. Consequently the international need for more efficient and cost effective water remediation technologies will also rise. The introduction of nano-technology into the industry may represent a significant advancement and zero-valent iron nano-particles (INPs) have been thoroughly studied for potential remediation applications. However, the application of water dispersed INP suspensions is limited and somewhat contentious on the grounds of safety, whilst INP reaction mechanisms, transport properties and ecotoxicity are areas still under investigation. Theoretically, the development of nano-composites containing INPs to overcome these issues provides the logical next step for developing nano-materials that are better suited to wide application across the water industry. This review provides an overview of the range of static, bulk nano-composites containing INPs being developed, whilst highlighting the limitations of individual solutions, overall classes of technology, and lack of comparative testing for nano-composites. The review discusses what further developments are needed to optimize nano-composite water remediation systems to subsequently achieve commercial maturity. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Development and inter-laboratory transfer of a decaplex polymerase chain reaction assay combined with capillary electrophoresis for the simultaneous detection of ten food allergens.

PubMed

Cheng, Fang; Wu, Jiajie; Zhang, Jin; Pan, Aihu; Quan, Sheng; Zhang, Dabing; Kim, HaeYeong; Li, Xiang; Zhou, Shan; Yang, Litao

2016-05-15

Food allergies cause health risks to susceptible consumers and regulations on labeling of food allergen contents have been implemented in many countries and regions. To achieve timely and accurate food allergen labeling, the development of fast and effective allergen detection methods is very important. Herein, a decaplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay combined with capillary electrophoresis was developed to detect simultaneously 10 common food allergens from hazelnut, pistachio, oat, sesame, peanut, cashew, barley, wheat, soybean and pecan. The absolute limit of detection (LODa) of this system is between 2 and 20 copies of haploid genome, and the relative LOD (LODr) is as low as 0.005% (w/w) in simulated food mixtures. The developed assay was subsequently applied to 20 commercial food products and verified the allergen ingredients stated on the labels. Furthermore, results using this decaplex PCR assay was successfully replicated in three other laboratories, demonstrating the repeatability and applicability of this assay in routine analysis of the 10 food allergens. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NET-ZERO ENERGY BUILDING OPERATOR TRAINING PROGRAM (NZEBOT)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brizendine, Anthony; Byars, Nan; Sleiti, Ahmad

2012-12-31

The primary objective of the Net-Zero Energy Building Operator Training Program (NZEBOT) was to develop certificate level training programs for commercial building owners, managers and operators, principally in the areas of energy / sustainability management. The expected outcome of the project was a multi-faceted mechanism for developing the skill-based competency of building operators, owners, architects/engineers, construction professionals, tenants, brokers and other interested groups in energy efficient building technologies and best practices. The training program draws heavily on DOE supported and developed materials available in the existing literature, as well as existing, modified, and newly developed curricula from the Department ofmore » Engineering Technology & Construction Management (ETCM) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte). The project goal is to develop a certificate level training curriculum for commercial energy and sustainability managers and building operators that: 1) Increases the skill-based competency of building professionals in energy efficient building technologies and best practices, and 2) Increases the workforce pool of expertise in energy management and conservation techniques. The curriculum developed in this project can subsequently be used to establish a sustainable energy training program that can contribute to the creation of new “green” job opportunities in North Carolina and throughout the Southeast region, and workforce training that leads to overall reductions in commercial building energy consumption. Three energy training / education programs were developed to achieve the stated goal, namely: 1. Building Energy/Sustainability Management (BESM) Certificate Program for Building Managers and Operators (40 hours); 2. Energy Efficient Building Technologies (EEBT) Certificate Program (16 hours); and 3. Energy Efficent Buildings (EEB) Seminar (4 hours). Training Program 1 incorporates the following topics in the primary five-day Building Energy/Sustainability Management Certificate program in five training modules, namely: 1) Strategic Planning, 2) Sustainability Audits, 3) Information Analysis, 4) Energy Efficiency, and 5) Communication. Training Program 2 addresses the following technical topics in the two-day Building Technologies workshop: 1) Energy Efficient Building Materials, 2) Green Roofing Systems, 3) Energy Efficient Lighting Systems, 4) Alternative Power Systems for Buildings, 5) Innovative Building Systems, and 6) Application of Building Performance Simulation Software. Program 3 is a seminar which provides an overview of elements of programs 1 and 2 in a seminar style presentation designed for the general public to raise overall public awareness of energy and sustainability topics.« less

Commercial Contributions to the Success of the HEDS Enterprise: A Working Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nall, Mark; Askew, Ray

2000-01-01

The future of NASA involves the exploration of space beyond the confines of orbit about the Earth. This includes robotic investigations and Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS). The HEDS Strategic Plan states: "HEDS will join with the private sector to stimulate opportunities for commercial development in space as a key to future settlement. Near-term efforts will emphasize joint pilot projects that provide clear benefit to Earth from the development of near-Earth space." In support of this endeavor, NASA has established the Commercial Development of Space as a prime goal and is exploring all the ways in which NASA might make contributions to this development. NASA has long supported the development of space for commercial use. In 1985 it formally established and provided funds to support a program which created a number of joint ventures between universities and industry for this purpose. These were known as Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS). In 1999 NASA established a broader policy on commercialization with the aim of encouraging near-term commercial investment in conjunction with the International Space Station. Joint pilot projects will be initiated to stimulate this near-term investment. The long-term development of commercial concepts utilizing space access continues through the activities of the Commercial Space Centers (CSC), a sub-set of the original CCDS group. These Centers primarily require access to space for the conduct of their work. The remainder of the initial Centers focus on the development of tools and infrastructure to support users of the space environment. It is in this arena that long term development for commercial use and infrastructure development will occur. This paper will provide a retrospective examination of the Commercial Centers, the variety of models employed, the lessons learned, and the progress to date. This review will provide the bases for how successful models can be employed to accelerate private investment in the development of the infrastructure necessary for the success of the HEDS enterprise.

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite - Performance, Reliability and Lessons Learned

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krawczyk, Richard J.; Ignaczak, Louis R.

2000-01-01

The Advanced Communications Satellite (ACTS) was conceived and developed in the mid- 1980s as an experimental satellite to demonstrate unproven Ka-band technology, and potential new commercial applications and services. Since launch into geostationary orbit in September 1993. ACTS has accumulated almost seven years of essentially trouble-free operation and met all program objectives. The unique technology, service experiments. and system level demonstrations accomplished by ACTS have been reported in many forums over the past several years. As ACTS completes its final experiments activity, this paper will relate the top-level program goals that have been achieved in the design, operation, and performance of the particular satellite subsystems. Pre-launch decisions to ensure satellite reliability and the subsequent operational experiences contribute to lessons learned that may be applicable to other comsat programs.

Microbial synthesis of chalcogenide semiconductor nanoparticles: a review.

PubMed

Jacob, Jaya Mary; Lens, Piet N L; Balakrishnan, Raj Mohan

2016-01-01

Chalcogenide semiconductor quantum dots are emerging as promising nanomaterials due to their size tunable optoelectronic properties. The commercial synthesis and their subsequent integration for practical uses have, however, been contorted largely due to the toxicity and cost issues associated with the present chemical synthesis protocols. Accordingly, there is an immediate need to develop alternative environment-friendly synthesis procedures. Microbial factories hold immense potential to achieve this objective. Over the past few years, bacteria, fungi and yeasts have been experimented with as eco-friendly and cost-effective tools for the biosynthesis of semiconductor quantum dots. This review provides a detailed overview about the production of chalcogen-based semiconductor quantum particles using the inherent microbial machinery. © 2015 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

A compact OPO/SFG laser for ultraviolet biological sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiihonen, Mikael; Pasiskevicius, Valdas; Laurell, Fredrik; Jonsson, Per; Lindgren, Mikael

2004-07-01

A compact parametric oscillator (OPO) with intracavity sum-frequency generation (SFG) to generate 293 nm UV laser irradiation, was developed. The OPO/SFG device was pumped by a 100 Hz Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) of own design, including subsequent second harmonic generation (SHG) in an external periodically poled KTiOPO4 (KTP) crystal. The whole system could be used to deliver more than 30 μJ laser irradiation per pulse (100 Hz) at 293 nm. The UV laser light was introduced in an optical fiber attached to a sample compartment allowing detection of fluorescence emission using a commercial spectrometer. Aqueous samples containing biomolecules (ovalbumin) or bacteria spores (Bacillus subtilis) were excited by the UV-light at 293 nm resulting in strong fluorescence emission in the range 325 - 600 nm.

Thermoelectric fabrics: toward power generating clothing.

PubMed

Du, Yong; Cai, Kefeng; Chen, Song; Wang, Hongxia; Shen, Shirley Z; Donelson, Richard; Lin, Tong

2015-03-23

Herein, we demonstrate that a flexible, air-permeable, thermoelectric (TE) power generator can be prepared by applying a TE polymer (e.g. poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate)) coated commercial fabric and subsequently by linking the coated strips with a conductive connection (e.g. using fine metal wires). The poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) coated fabric shows very stable TE properties from 300 K to 390 K. The fabric device can generate a TE voltage output (V) of 4.3 mV at a temperature difference (ΔT) of 75.2 K. The potential for using fabric TE devices to harvest body temperature energy has been discussed. Fabric-based TE devices may be useful for the development of new power generating clothing and self-powered wearable electronics.

A scalable correlator for multichannel diffuse correlation spectroscopy.

PubMed

Stapels, Christopher J; Kolodziejski, Noah J; McAdams, Daniel; Podolsky, Matthew J; Fernandez, Daniel E; Farkas, Dana; Christian, James F

2016-02-01

Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) is a technique which enables powerful and robust non-invasive optical studies of tissue micro-circulation and vascular blood flow. The technique amounts to autocorrelation analysis of coherent photons after their migration through moving scatterers and subsequent collection by single-mode optical fibers. A primary cost driver of DCS instruments are the commercial hardware-based correlators, limiting the proliferation of multi-channel instruments for validation of perfusion analysis as a clinical diagnostic metric. We present the development of a low-cost scalable correlator enabled by microchip-based time-tagging, and a software-based multi-tau data analysis method. We will discuss the capabilities of the instrument as well as the implementation and validation of 2- and 8-channel systems built for live animal and pre-clinical settings.

Real-time Crystal Growth Visualization and Quantification by Energy-Resolved Neutron Imaging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tremsin, Anton S.; Perrodin, Didier; Losko, Adrian S.

Energy-resolved neutron imaging is investigated as a real-time diagnostic tool for visualization and in-situ measurements of "blind" processes. This technique is demonstrated for the Bridgman-type crystal growth enabling remote and direct measurements of growth parameters crucial for process optimization. The location and shape of the interface between liquid and solid phases are monitored in real-time, concurrently with the measurement of elemental distribution within the growth volume and with the identification of structural features with a ~100 μm spatial resolution. Such diagnostics can substantially reduce the development time between exploratory small scale growth of new materials and their subsequent commercial production.more » This technique is widely applicable and is not limited to crystal growth processes.« less

Process for production of solution-derived (Pb,La)(Nb,Sn,Zr,Ti)O{sub 3} thin films and powders

DOEpatents

Boyle, T.J.

1999-01-12

A simple and rapid process for synthesizing (Pb,La)(Nb,Sn,Zr,Ti)O{sub 3} precursor solutions and subsequent ferroelectric thin films and powders of the perovskite phase of these materials has been developed. This process offers advantages over standard methods, including: rapid solution synthesis (<10 minutes), use of commercially available materials, film production under ambient conditions, ease of lanthanum dissolution at high concentrations, and no heating requirements during solution synthesis. For lanthanum-doped ferroelectric materials, the lanthanum source can be added with total synthesis time less than 10 minutes. Films and powders are crystallized at approximately 650 C and exhibit ferroelectric properties comparable to films and powders produced by other techniques which require higher crystallization temperatures. 2 figs.

Real-time Crystal Growth Visualization and Quantification by Energy-Resolved Neutron Imaging

DOE PAGES

Tremsin, Anton S.; Perrodin, Didier; Losko, Adrian S.; ...

2017-04-20

Energy-resolved neutron imaging is investigated as a real-time diagnostic tool for visualization and in-situ measurements of "blind" processes. This technique is demonstrated for the Bridgman-type crystal growth enabling remote and direct measurements of growth parameters crucial for process optimization. The location and shape of the interface between liquid and solid phases are monitored in real-time, concurrently with the measurement of elemental distribution within the growth volume and with the identification of structural features with a ~100 μm spatial resolution. Such diagnostics can substantially reduce the development time between exploratory small scale growth of new materials and their subsequent commercial production.more » This technique is widely applicable and is not limited to crystal growth processes.« less

Foam formation in low gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wessling, Francis C.; Mcmanus, Samuel P.; Matthews, John; Patel, Darayas

1990-01-01

An apparatus that produced the first polyurethane foam in low gravity has been described. The chemicals were mixed together in an apparatus designed for operation in low gravity. Mixing was by means of stirring the chemicals with an electric motor and propeller in a mixing chamber. The apparatus was flown on Consort 1, the first low-gravity materials payload launched by a commercial rocket launch team. The sounding rocket flight produced over 7 min of low gravity during which a polyurethane spheroidal foam of approximately 2300 cu cm was formed. Photographs of the formation of the foam during the flight show the development of the spheroidal form. This begins as a small sphere and grows to approximately a 17-cm-diam spheroid. The apparatus will be flown again on subsequent low-gravity flights.

Process for production of solution-derived (Pb,La)(Nb,Sn,Zr,Ti)O.sub.3 thin films and powders

DOEpatents

Boyle, Timothy J.

1999-01-01

A simple and rapid process for synthesizing (Pb,La)(Nb,Sn,Zr,Ti)O.sub.3 precursor solutions and subsequent ferroelectric thin films and powders of the perovskite phase of these materials has been developed. This process offers advantages over standard methods, including: rapid solution synthesis (<10 minutes), use of commercially available materials, film production under ambient conditions, ease of lanthanum dissolution at high concentrations, and no heating requirements during solution synthesis. For lanthanum-doped ferroelectric materials, the lanthanum source can be added with total synthesis time less than 10 minutes. Films and powders are crystallized at approximately 650.degree. C. and exhibit ferroelectric properties comparable to films and powders produced by other techniques which require higher crystallization temperatures.

Effect of Post-deformation Annealing Treatment on the Microstructural Evolution of a Cold-Worked Corrosion-Resistant Superalloy (CRSA) Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirzaei, A.; Zarei-Hanzaki, A.; Mohamadizadeh, A.; Lin, Y. C.

2018-03-01

The post-deformation annealing treatments of a commercial cold-worked corrosion-resistant superalloy steel (Sanicro 28 steel) were carried out at different temperatures in the range of 900-1100 °C for different holding durations of 5, 10, and 15 min. The effects of post-deformation annealing time and temperature on the microstructural evolution and subsequent mechanical properties of the processed Sanicro 28 steel were investigated. The observations indicated that twin-twin hardening in cold deformation condition mainly correlates with abundant nucleation of mechanical twins in multiple directions resulting in considerable strain hardening behavior. Microstructural investigations showed that the static recrystallization takes place after isothermal holding at 900 °C for 5 min. Increasing the annealing temperature from 900 to 1050 °C leads to recrystallization development and grain refinement in the as-recrystallized state. In addition, an increase in annealing duration from 5 to 15 min leads to subgrain coarsening and subsequently larger recrystallized grains size. The occurrence of large proportion of the grain refinement, which is achieved in the first annealing stage at 1050 °C after 5 min, is considered as the main factor for the maximum elongation at this stage.

A plasma modified cellulose-chitosan porous membrane allows efficient DNA binding and provides antibacterial properties: A step towards developing a new DNA collecting card.

PubMed

Chumwangwapee, Sasiwimon; Chingsungnoen, Artit; Siri, Sineenat

2016-11-01

In forensic DNA analyses, biological specimens are collected and stored for subsequent recovery and analysis of DNA. A cost-effective and efficient DNA recovery approach is therefore a need. This study aims to produce a plasma modified cellulose-chitosan membrane (pCE-CS) that efficiently binds and retains DNA as a potential DNA collecting card. The pCE-CS membrane was produced by a phase separation of ionic liquid dissolving CE and CS in water with subsequent surface-modification by a two-step exposure of argon plasma and nitrogen gas. Through plasma modification, the pCE-CS membrane demonstrated better DNA retention after a washing process and higher rate of DNA recovery as compared with the original CE-CS membrane and the commercial FTA card. In addition, the pCE-CS membrane exhibited anti-bacterial properties against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The results of this work suggest a potential function of the pCE-CS membrane as a DNA collecting card with a high recovery rate of captured DNA. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection and characterization of infectious Hepatitis E virus from commercial pig livers sold in local grocery stores in the USA.

PubMed

Feagins, A R; Opriessnig, T; Guenette, D K; Halbur, P G; Meng, X-J

2007-03-01

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic pathogen of which pigs are reservoirs. To determine the presence of HEV RNA in commercial pig livers sold in local grocery stores in the USA, 127 packages of commercial pig liver were purchased and tested by a universal RT-PCR assay capable of detecting all four known HEV genotypes. Among the 127 livers tested, 14 were positive for HEV RNA. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the 14 isolates all belonged to genotype 3. An animal study was subsequently conducted in pigs to determine whether the PCR-positive pig livers still contained infectious virus. The results showed that pigs inoculated with two of the three PCR-positive pig-liver homogenates became infected, as evidenced by the detection of faecal virus shedding, viraemia and seroconversion. The data demonstrated that commercial pig livers sold in grocery stores are contaminated by HEV and that the contaminating virus remains infectious, thus raising a public-health concern for food-borne HEV infection.

An integrated approach utilising chemometrics and GC/MS for classification of chamomile flowers, essential oils and commercial products.

PubMed

Wang, Mei; Avula, Bharathi; Wang, Yan-Hong; Zhao, Jianping; Avonto, Cristina; Parcher, Jon F; Raman, Vijayasankar; Zweigenbaum, Jerry A; Wylie, Philip L; Khan, Ikhlas A

2014-01-01

As part of an ongoing research program on authentication, safety and biological evaluation of phytochemicals and dietary supplements, an in-depth chemical investigation of different types of chamomile was performed. A collection of chamomile samples including authenticated plants, commercial products and essential oils was analysed by GC/MS. Twenty-seven authenticated plant samples representing three types of chamomile, viz. German chamomile, Roman chamomile and Juhua were analysed. This set of data was employed to construct a sample class prediction (SCP) model based on stepwise reduction of data dimensionality followed by principle component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The model was cross-validated with samples including authenticated plants and commercial products. The model demonstrated 100.0% accuracy for both recognition and prediction abilities. In addition, 35 commercial products and 11 essential oils purported to contain chamomile were subsequently predicted by the validated PLS-DA model. Furthermore, tentative identification of the marker compounds correlated with different types of chamomile was explored. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We're not in it for the money-lay people's moral intuitions on commercial use of 'their' biobank.

PubMed

Steinsbekk, Kristin Solum; Ursin, Lars Oystein; Skolbekken, John-Arne; Solberg, Berge

2013-05-01

Great hope has been placed on biobank research as a strategy to improve diagnostics, therapeutics and prevention. It seems to be a common opinion that these goals cannot be reached without the participation of commercial actors. However, commercial use of biobanks is considered morally problematic and the commercialisation of human biological materials is regulated internationally by policy documents, conventions and laws. For instance, the Council of Europe recommends that: "Biological materials should not, as such, give rise to financial gain". Similarly, Norwegian legislation reads: "Commercial exploitation of research participants, human biological material and personal health data in general is prohibited". Both articles represent kinds of common moral intuitions. A problem, however, is that legislative documents are too vague and provide room for ample speculation. Through the use of focus group interviews with Norwegian biobank donors, we have tried to identify lay intuitions and morals regarding the commercial use of biobanks. Our findings indicate that the act of donation and the subsequent uses of the samples belong to two different spheres. While concerns around dignity and commodification were present in the first, injustice and unfairness were our informants' major moral concerns in the latter. Although some opposition towards commercial actors was voiced, these intuitions show that it is possible to render commercial use of biobanks ethically acceptable based on frameworks and regulations which hinder commodification of the human body and promote communal benefit sharing.

Achieving Innovation and Affordability Through Standardization of Materials Development and Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bray, M. H.; Zook, L. M.; Raley, R. E.; Chapman, C.

2011-01-01

The successful expansion of development, innovation, and production within the aeronautics industry during the 20th century was facilitated by collaboration of government agencies with the commercial aviation companies. One of the initial products conceived from the collaboration was the ANC-5 Bulletin, first published in 1937. The ANC-5 Bulletin had intended to standardize the requirements of various government agencies in the design of aircraft structure. The national space policy shift in priority for NASA with an emphasis on transferring the travel to low earth orbit to commercial space providers highlights an opportunity and a need for the national and global space industries. The same collaboration and standardization that is documented and maintained by the industry within MIL-HDBK-5 (MMPDS-01) and MIL-HBDK-17 (nonmetallic mechanical properties) can also be exploited to standardize the thermal performance properties, processing methods, test methods, and analytical methods for use in aircraft and spacecraft design and associated propulsion systems. In addition to the definition of thermal performance description and standardization, the standardization for test methods and analysis for extreme environments (high temperature, cryogenics, deep space radiation, etc) would also be highly valuable to the industry. Its subsequent revisions and conversion to MIL-HDBK-5 and then MMPDS-01 established and then expanded to contain standardized mechanical property design values and other related design information for metallic materials used in aircraft, missiles, and space vehicles. It also includes guidance on standardization of composition, processing, and analytical methods for presentation and inclusion into the handbook. This standardization enabled an expansion of the technologies to provide efficiency and reliability to the consumers. It can be established that many individual programs within the government agencies have been overcome with development costs generated from these nonstandard requirements. Without industry standardization and acceptance, the programs are driven to shoulder the costs of determining design requirements, performance criteria, and then material qualification and certification. A significant investment that the industry could make to both reduce individual program development costs and schedules while expanding commercial space flight capabilities would be to invest in standardizing material performance properties for high temperature, cryogenic, and deep space environments for both metallic and nonmetallic materials.

A Systematic Review of Commercial Cognitive Training Devices: Implications for Use in Sport

PubMed Central

Harris, David J.; Wilson, Mark R.; Vine, Samuel J.

2018-01-01

Background: Cognitive training (CT) aims to develop a range of skills, like attention and decision-making, through targeted training of core cognitive functions. While CT can target context specific skills, like movement anticipation, much CT is domain general, focusing on core abilities (e.g., selective attention) for transfer to a range of real-world tasks, such as spotting opponents. Commercial CT (CCT) devices are highly appealing for athletes and coaches due to their ease of use and eye-catching marketing claims. The extent to which this training transfers to performance in the sporting arena is, however, unclear. Therefore, this paper sought to provide a systematic review of evidence for beneficial training effects of CCT devices and evaluate their application to sport. Methods: An extensive search of electronic databases (PubMed, PsychInfo, GoogleScholar, and SportDiscus) was conducted to identify peer-reviewed evidence of training interventions with commercially available CT devices. Forty-three studies met the inclusion criteria and were retained for quality assessment and synthesis of results. Seventeen studies assessed transfer effects beyond laboratory cognitive tests, but only 1 directly assessed transfer to a sporting task. Results: The review of evidence showed limited support for far transfer benefits from CCT devices to sporting tasks, mainly because studies did not target the sporting environment. Additionally, a number of methodological issues with the CCT literature were identified, including small sample sizes, lack of retention tests, and limited replication of findings by researchers independent of the commercial product. Therefore, evidence for sporting benefits is currently limited by the paucity of representative transfer tests and a focus on populations with health conditions. Conclusions: Currently there is little direct evidence that the use of CCT devices can transfer to benefits for sporting performance. This conclusion, however, stems more from a lack of experimental studies in the sporting field and a lack of experimental rigor, rather than convincing null effects. Subsequently, there is an opportunity for researchers to develop more reliable findings in this area through systematic assessment in athletic populations and major methodological improvements.

Development of a Common Research Model for Applied CFD Validation Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vassberg, John C.; Dehaan, Mark A.; Rivers, S. Melissa; Wahls, Richard A.

2008-01-01

The development of a wing/body/nacelle/pylon/horizontal-tail configuration for a common research model is presented, with focus on the aerodynamic design of the wing. Here, a contemporary transonic supercritical wing design is developed with aerodynamic characteristics that are well behaved and of high performance for configurations with and without the nacelle/pylon group. The horizontal tail is robustly designed for dive Mach number conditions and is suitably sized for typical stability and control requirements. The fuselage is representative of a wide/body commercial transport aircraft; it includes a wing-body fairing, as well as a scrubbing seal for the horizontal tail. The nacelle is a single-cowl, high by-pass-ratio, flow-through design with an exit area sized to achieve a natural unforced mass-flow-ratio typical of commercial aircraft engines at cruise. The simplicity of this un-bifurcated nacelle geometry will facilitate grid generation efforts of subsequent CFD validation exercises. Detailed aerodynamic performance data has been generated for this model; however, this information is presented in such a manner as to not bias CFD predictions planned for the fourth AIAA CFD Drag Prediction Workshop, which incorporates this common research model into its blind test cases. The CFD results presented include wing pressure distributions with and without the nacelle/pylon, ML/D trend lines, and drag-divergence curves; the design point for the wing/body configuration is within 1% of its max-ML/D. Plans to test the common research model in the National Transonic Facility and the Ames 11-ft wind tunnels are also discussed.

Economic consequences of commercial space operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Barbara A.; Wood, Peter W.

1990-01-01

The potential economic benefits generated from increased industry involvement and investment in space activities and the subsequent cost implications are discussed. A historical overview of commercial industry involvement in space is given and sources of new economic growth in space are discussed. These include communications satellites, small satellites, positioning and navigation services, space transportation and infrastructure, remote sensing, and materials processing in space such as the manufacturing of protein crystals and zeolites. Macroeconomic trends and principles such as limits on technology trade, eased restrictions on international joint ventures, foreign investments in U.S. firms, and increased foreign competition are discussed. Earth observations and mapping are considered. Opportunities for private sector involvement in building space infrastructure and space transportation are highlighted.

Annealing study of poly(etheretherketone)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cebe, Peggy

1988-01-01

Annealing of PEEK has been studied for two materials cold-crystallized from the rubbery amorphous state. The first material is a low molecular weight PEEK; the second is commercially available neat resin. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to monitor the melting behavior of annealed samples. The effect of thermal history on melting behavior is very complex and depends upon annealing temperature, residence time at the annealing temperature, and subsequent scanning rate. Thermal stability of both materials is improved by annealing, and for an annealing temperature near the melting point, the polymer can be stabilized against reorganization during the scan. Variations of density, degree of crystallinity, and X-ray long period were studied as a function of annealing temperature for the commercial material.

Imaging powders with the atomic force microscope: from biominerals to commercial materials.

PubMed

Friedbacher, G; Hansma, P K; Ramli, E; Stucky, G D

1991-09-13

Atomically resolved images of pressed powder samples have been obtained with the atomic force microscope (AFM). The technique was successful in resolving the particle, domain, and atomic structure of pismo clam (Tivela stultorum) and sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) shells and of commercially available calcium carbonate (CaCO(3)) and strontium carbonate (SrCO(3)) powders. Grinding and subsequent pressing of the shells did not destroy the microstructure of these materials. The atomic-resolution imaging capabilities of AFM can be applied to polycrystalline samples by means of pressing powders with a grain size as small as 50 micrometers. These results illustrate that the AFM is a promising tool for material science and the study of biomineralization.

Advanced satellite communication system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Staples, Edward J.; Lie, Sen

1992-01-01

The objective of this research program was to develop an innovative advanced satellite receiver/demodulator utilizing surface acoustic wave (SAW) chirp transform processor and coherent BPSK demodulation. The algorithm of this SAW chirp Fourier transformer is of the Convolve - Multiply - Convolve (CMC) type, utilizing off-the-shelf reflective array compressor (RAC) chirp filters. This satellite receiver, if fully developed, was intended to be used as an on-board multichannel communications repeater. The Advanced Communications Receiver consists of four units: (1) CMC processor, (2) single sideband modulator, (3) demodulator, and (4) chirp waveform generator and individual channel processors. The input signal is composed of multiple user transmission frequencies operating independently from remotely located ground terminals. This signal is Fourier transformed by the CMC Processor into a unique time slot for each user frequency. The CMC processor is driven by a waveform generator through a single sideband (SSB) modulator. The output of the coherent demodulator is composed of positive and negative pulses, which are the envelopes of the chirp transform processor output. These pulses correspond to the data symbols. Following the demodulator, a logic circuit reconstructs the pulses into data, which are subsequently differentially decoded to form the transmitted data. The coherent demodulation and detection of BPSK signals derived from a CMC chirp transform processor were experimentally demonstrated and bit error rate (BER) testing was performed. To assess the feasibility of such advanced receiver, the results were compared with the theoretical analysis and plotted for an average BER as a function of signal-to-noise ratio. Another goal of this SBIR program was the development of a commercial product. The commercial product developed was an arbitrary waveform generator. The successful sales have begun with the delivery of the first arbitrary waveform generator.

History of the First-Generation Marek's Disease Vaccines: The Science and Little-Known Facts.

PubMed

Schat, Karel A

2016-12-01

Shortly after the isolation of Marek's disease (MD) herpesvirus (MDV) in the late 1960s vaccines were developed in England, the United States, and The Netherlands. Biggs and associates at the Houghton Poultry Research Station (HPRS) in England attenuated HPRS-16, the first cell-culture-isolated MDV strain, by passaging HPRS-16 in chick kidney cells. Although HPRS-16/Att was the first commercially available vaccine, it never became widely used and was soon replaced by the FC126 strain of herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) vaccine developed by Witter and associates at the Regional Poultry Research Laboratory (now Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory [ADOL]) in East Lansing, MI. Ironically, Kawamura et al. isolated a herpesvirus from kidney cell cultures from turkeys in 1969 but never realized its potential as a vaccine against MD. Rispens of the Central Veterinary Institute (CVI) developed the third vaccine. His associate, Maas, had found commercial flocks of chickens with MDV antibodies but without MD. Subsequently, Rispens isolated a very low pathogenic strain from hen number 988 from his MD antibody-positive flock, which was free of avian leukosis virus and clinical MD. This isolate became the CVI-988 vaccine used mostly in The Netherlands. During the late 1970s, HVT was no longer fully protective against some new emerging field strains. The addition of SB-1, isolated by Schat and Calnek, to HVT improved protection against the emerging very virulent strains. In the 1990s CVI-988 became the worldwide vaccine gold standard. This review will present data from published papers and personal communications providing additional information about the exciting 15-yr period after the isolation of MDV to the development of the different vaccines.

Commercialization and the Commercial Internet Exchange: How the CIX Can Help Further the Commercialization of the Internet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estrada, Susan

1992-01-01

To promote successful commercialization of the Internet, the Commercial Internet Exchange Association (CIX) acts on behalf of its members to increase cooperation and an open exchange of ideas regarding networking issues. Of concern are federal regulation, development of standards and pricing agreements, and the development of user friendly…

Space Resources Development: The Link Between Human Exploration and the Long-Term Commercialization of Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Gerald B.

2000-01-01

In a letter to the NASA Administrator, Dan Goldin, in January of 1999, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stated the following . OMB recommends that NASA consider commercialization in a broader context than the more focused efforts to date on space station and space shuttle commercialization. We suggest that NASA examine architectures that take advantage of a potentially robust future commercial infrastructure that could dramatically lower the cost of future human exploration." In response to this letter, the NASA Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) Enterprise launched the BEDS Technology & Commercialization Initiative (HTCI) to link technology and system development for human exploration with the commercial development of space to emphasize the "D" (Development) in BEDS. The development of technologies and capabilities to utilize space resources is the first of six primary focus areas in this program. It is clear that Space Resources Development (SRD) is key for both long-term human exploration of our solar system and to the long-term commercialization of space since: a) it provides the technologies, products, and raw materials to support efficient space transportation and in-space construction and manufacturing, and b) it provides the capabilities and infrastructure to allow outpost growth, self-sufficiency, and commercial space service and utility industry activities.

Commercial Non-Dispersive Infrared Spectroscopy Sensors for Sub-Ambient Carbon Dioxide Detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swickrath, Michael J.; Anderson, Molly S.; McMillin, Summer; Broerman, Craig

2013-01-01

Carbon dioxide produced through respiration can accumulate rapidly within closed spaces. If not managed, a crew's respiratory rate increases, headaches and hyperventilation occur, vision and hearing are affected, and cognitive abilities decrease. Consequently, development continues on a number of CO2 removal technologies for human spacecraft and spacesuits. Terrestrially, technology development requires precise performance characterization to qualify promising air revitalization equipment. On-orbit, instrumentation is required to identify and eliminate unsafe conditions. This necessitates accurate in situ CO2 detection. Recursive compensation algorithms were developed for sub-ambient detection of CO2 with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensors. In addition, the source of the exponential loss in accuracy is developed theoretically. The basis of the loss can be explained through thermal, Doppler, and Lorentz broadening effects that arise as a result of the temperature, pressure, and composition of the gas mixture under analysis. The objective was to develop a mathematical routine to compensate COTS CO2 sensors relying on NDIR over pressures, temperatures, and compositions far from calibration conditions. The routine relies on a power-law relationship for the pressure dependency of the sensors along with an equivalent pressure to account for the composition dependency. A Newton-Raphson iterative technique solves for actual carbon dioxide concentration based on the reported concentration. Moreover, first principles routines were established to predict mixed-gas spectra based on sensor specifications (e.g., optical path length). The first principles model can be used to parametrically optimize sensors or sensor arrays across a wide variety of pressures/temperatures/ compositions. In this work, heuristic scaling arguments were utilized to develop reasonable compensation techniques. Experimental results confirmed this approach and provided evidence that composition broadening significantly alters spectra when pressure is reduced. Consequently, a recursive compensation technique was developed with the Newton-Raphson method, which was subsequently verified through experimentation.

A strategic approach for direct recovery and stabilization of Fusarium sp. ICT SAC1 cutinase from solid state fermented broth by carrier free cross-linked enzyme aggregates.

PubMed

Chaudhari, Sandeep A; Singhal, Rekha S

2017-05-01

The major hurdles in commercial exploitation of cutinase (having both esterolytic and lipolytic activities) with potent industrial applications are its high production cost, operational instability and reusability. Although commercially available in immobilized form, its immobilization process (synthesis of support/carrier) makes it expensive. Herein we tried to address multiple issues of production cost, stability, and reusability, associated with cutinase. Waste watermelon rinds, an agroindustrial waste was considered as a cheap support for solid state fermentation (SSF) for cutinase production by newly isolated Fusarium sp. ICT SAC1. Subsequently, carrier free cross-linked enzyme aggregates of cutinase (cut-CLEA) directly from the SSF crude broth were developed. All the process variables affecting CLEA formation along with the different additives were evaluated. It was found that 50% (w/v) of ammonium sulphate, 125μmol of glutaraldehyde, cross-linking for 1h at 30°C and broth pH of 7.0, yielded 58.12% activity recovery. All other additives (hexane, butyric acid, sodium dodecyl sulphate, Trition-X 100, Tween-20, BSA) evaluated presented negative results to our hypothesis. Kinetics and morphology studies confirmed the diffusive nature of cut-CLEA and BSA cut-CLEA. Developed CLEA showed better thermal, solvent, detergent and storage stability, making it more elegant and efficient for industrial biocatalytic process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Alicyclobacillus spp. in the fruit juice industry: history, characteristics, and current isolation/detection procedures.

PubMed

Chang, Su-Sen; Kang, Dong-Hyun

2004-01-01

The first Alicyclobacillus spp. was isolated in 1982, and was originally thought to be strictly limited to thermophilic and acidic environments. Two years later, another Alicyclobacillus sp., A. acidoterrestris, was identified as the causative agent in spoilage of commercially pasteurized apple juice. Subsequent studies soon found that Alicyclobacillus spp. are soilborne bacteria, and do not strictly require thermophilic and acidic environments. Alicyclobacillus spp. posess several distinct characteristics; the major one is their ability to survive commercial pasteurization processes and produce off-flavors in fruit juices. The fruit juice industry has acknowledged Alicyclobacillus spp. as a major quality control target microorganism. Guaiacol and halophenols were identified as the offensive smelling agent in many Alicyclobacillus spp. related spoilage. Though the exact formation pathway of these off-flavors by Alicyclobacillus spp. are not yet identified, studies report that the presence of Alicyclobacillus spp. in the medium may be a major contributor to the formation of these off-flavors. Many identification methods and isolation media were developed in the last two decades. However, most of these methods were developed specifically for A. acidoterrestris, which was the first identified off-flavor producing Alicyclobacillus. However, recent studies indicate that other species of Alicyclobacillus may also produce guaiacol or the halophenols. In this respect, all Alicyclobacillus spp. should be monitored as potential spoilage bacteria in fruit juices. This article includes an overall review of the history of Alicyclobacillus spp., characteristics, suggested off-flavor production pathways, and commonly used identification methods for the currently identified Alicyclobacillus spp.

Process, policy, and implementation of pool-wide drawdowns on the Upper Mississippi River: a promising approach for ecological restoration of large impounded rivers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kenow, Kevin P.; Gretchen Benjamin,; Tim Schlagenhaft,; Ruth Nissen,; Mary Stefanski,; Gary Wege,; Scott A. Jutila,; Newton, Teresa J.

2016-01-01

The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) has been developed and subsequently managed for commercial navigation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The navigation pools created by a series of lock and dams initially provided a complex of aquatic habitats that supported a variety of fish and wildlife. However, biological productivity declined as the pools aged. The River Resources Forum, an advisory body to the St. Paul District of the USACE, established a multiagency Water Level Management Task Force (WLMTF) to evaluate the potential of water level management to improve ecological function and restore the distribution and abundance of fish and wildlife habitat. The WLMTF identified several water level management options and concluded that summer growing season drawdowns at the pool scale offered the greatest potential to provide habitat benefits over a large area. Here we summarize the process followed to plan and implement pool-wide drawdowns on the UMR, including involvement of stakeholders in decision making, addressing requirements to modify reservoir operating plans, development and evaluation of drawdown alternatives, pool selection, establishment of a monitoring plan, interagency coordination, and a public information campaign. Three pool-wide drawdowns were implemented within the St. Paul District and deemed successful in providing ecological benefits without adversely affecting commercial navigation and recreational use of the pools. Insights are provided based on more than 17 years of experience in planning and implementing drawdowns on the UMR. 

Commercial potential of remote sensing data from the Earth observing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Merry, Carolyn J.; Tomlin, Sandra M.

1992-01-01

The purpose was to assess the market potential of remote sensing value-added products from the Earth Observing System (EOS) platform. Sensors on the EOS platform were evaluated to determine which qualities and capabilities could be useful to the commercial user. The approach was to investigate past and future satellite data distribution programs. A questionnaire was developed for use in a telephone survey. Based on the results of the survey of companies that add value to remotely sensed data, conversations with the principal investigators in charge of each EOS sensor, a study of past commercial satellite data ventures, and reading from the commercial remote sensing industry literature, three recommendations were developed: develop a strategic plan for commercialization of EOS data, define a procedure for commercial users within the EOS data stream, and develop an Earth Observations Commercial Applications Program-like demonstration program within NASA using EOS simulated data.

Summary of Research Report Cooperative Agreement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

Several areas of work related to commercialization of technology developed at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) are discussed in this report. The areas are: (1) perform a feasibility study to develop a software commercialization center is at ARC; (2) perform preliminary work for formation of joint development of sensor technology for telemedicine applications; (3) development of a discovery interview process and staff training to assist the commercialization of technology developed at Ames, specifically aimed at working with researchers; (4) develop partners to further develop and commercialize image compression technology developed at AMES; (5) assist efforts to commercialize a software technology which imparts the ability to establish relevance-based retrieval in the handling of large repositories of information; (6) explore the development of cryocooler technology using pulse tube refrigeration; (7) assess interest in commercialization of a new method of measuring skin friction drag on wind tunnel models using liquid crystal material; (8) attempt to incorporate emerging technologies in the infrastructure of natural hazards mitigation; and (9) forming a nonprofit organization, "The Bootstrap Alliance", whose mission is to promote the use of digital technologies for collaborative problem solving. The results of these initiatives are discussed.

Parthenogenesis in birds: a review.

PubMed

Ramachandran, R; McDaniel, C D

2018-06-01

Parthenogenesis or 'virgin birth' is embryonic development in unfertilized eggs. It is a routine means of reproduction in many invertebrates. However, even though parthenogenesis occurs naturally in even more advanced vertebrates, like birds, it is mostly abortive in nature. In fact, multiple limiting factors, such as delayed and unorganized development as well as unfavorable conditions developing within the unfertilized egg upon incubation, are associated with termination of progressive development of parthenogenetic embryos. In birds, diploid parthenogenesis is automictic and facultative producing only males. However, the mechanisms controlling parthenogenesis in birds are not clearly elucidated. Additionally, it appears from even very recent research that these mechanisms may hinder the normal fertilization process and subsequent embryonic development. For instance, virgin quail and turkey hens exhibiting parthenogenesis have reduced reproductive performance following mating. Also, genetic selection and environmental factors, such as live virus vaccinations, are known to trigger the process of parthenogenesis in birds. Therefore, parthenogenesis has a plausible negative impact on the poultry industry. Hence, a better understanding of parthenogenesis and the mechanisms that control it could benefit commercial poultry production. In this context, the aim of this review is to provide a complete overview of the process of parthenogenesis in birds. © 2018 Society for Reproduction and Fertility.

Genomic selection in a commercial winter wheat population.

PubMed

He, Sang; Schulthess, Albert Wilhelm; Mirdita, Vilson; Zhao, Yusheng; Korzun, Viktor; Bothe, Reiner; Ebmeyer, Erhard; Reif, Jochen C; Jiang, Yong

2016-03-01

Genomic selection models can be trained using historical data and filtering genotypes based on phenotyping intensity and reliability criterion are able to increase the prediction ability. We implemented genomic selection based on a large commercial population incorporating 2325 European winter wheat lines. Our objectives were (1) to study whether modeling epistasis besides additive genetic effects results in enhancement on prediction ability of genomic selection, (2) to assess prediction ability when training population comprised historical or less-intensively phenotyped lines, and (3) to explore the prediction ability in subpopulations selected based on the reliability criterion. We found a 5 % increase in prediction ability when shifting from additive to additive plus epistatic effects models. In addition, only a marginal loss from 0.65 to 0.50 in accuracy was observed using the data collected from 1 year to predict genotypes of the following year, revealing that stable genomic selection models can be accurately calibrated to predict subsequent breeding stages. Moreover, prediction ability was maximized when the genotypes evaluated in a single location were excluded from the training set but subsequently decreased again when the phenotyping intensity was increased above two locations, suggesting that the update of the training population should be performed considering all the selected genotypes but excluding those evaluated in a single location. The genomic prediction ability was substantially higher in subpopulations selected based on the reliability criterion, indicating that phenotypic selection for highly reliable individuals could be directly replaced by applying genomic selection to them. We empirically conclude that there is a high potential to assist commercial wheat breeding programs employing genomic selection approaches.

RLV/X-33 operations overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Black, Stephen T.; Eshleman, Wally

1997-01-01

This paper describes the VentureStar™ SSTO RLV and X-33 operations concepts. Applications of advanced technologies, automated ground support systems, advanced aircraft and launch vehicle lessons learned have been integrated to develop a streamlined vehicle and mission processing concept necessary to meet the goals of a commercial SSTO RLV. These concepts will be validated by the X-33 flight test program where financial and technical risk mitigation are required. The X-33 flight test program totally demonstrates the vehicle performance, technology, and efficient ground operations at the lowest possible cost. The Skunk Work's test program approach and test site proximity to the production plant are keys. The X-33 integrated flight and ground test program incrementally expands the knowledge base of the overall system allowing minimum risk progression to the next flight test program milestone. Subsequent X-33 turnaround processing flows will be performed with an aircraft operations philosophy. The differences will be based on research and development, component reliability and flight test requirements.

Future manned systems advanced avionics study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sawamura, Bob; Radke, Kathie

1992-01-01

COTS+ was defined in this study as commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products, ruggedized and militarized components, and COTS technology. This study cites the benefits of integrating COTS+ in space, postulates a COTS+ integration methodology, and develops requirements and an architecture to achieve integration. Developmental needs and concerns were identified throughout the study; these needs, concerns, and recommendations relative to their abatement are subsequently presented for further action and study. The COTS+ concept appears workable in part or in totality. No COTS+ technology gaps were identified; however, radiation tolerance was cited as a concern, and the deferred maintenance issue resurfaced. Further study is recommended to explore COTS+ cost-effectiveness, maintenance philosophy, needs, concerns, and utility metrics. The generation of a development plan to further investigate and integrate COTS+ technology is recommended. A COTS+ transitional integration program is recommended. Sponsoring and establishing technology maturation programs and COTS+ engineering and standards committees are deemed necessary and are recommended for furthering COTS+ integration in space.

Terrain interaction with the quarter scale beam walker

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chun, Wendell H.; Price, S.; Spiessbach, A.

1990-01-01

Frame walkers are a class of mobile robots that are robust and capable mobility platforms. Variations of the frame walker robot are in commercial use today. Komatsu Ltd. of Japan developed the Remotely Controlled Underwater Surveyor (ReCUS) and Normed Shipyards of France developed the Marine Robot (RM3). Both applications of the frame walker concept satisfied robotic mobility requirements that could not be met by a wheeled or tracked design. One vehicle design concept that falls within this class of mobile robots is the walking beam. A one-quarter scale prototype of the walking beam was built by Martin Marietta to evaluate the potential merits of utilizing the vehicle as a planetary rover. The initial phase of prototype rover testing was structured to evaluate the mobility performance aspects of the vehicle. Performance parameters such as vehicle power, speed, and attitude control were evaluated as a function of the environment in which the prototype vehicle was tested. Subsequent testing phases will address the integrated performance of the vehicle and a local navigation system.

Terrain Interaction With The Quarter Scale Beam Walker

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chun, Wendell H.; Price, R. S.; Spiessbach, Andrew J.

1990-03-01

Frame walkers are a class of mobile robots that are robust and capable mobility platforms. Variations of the frame walker robot are in commercial use today. Komatsu Ltd. of Japan developed the Remotely Controlled Underwater Surveyor (ReCUS) and Normed Shipyards of France developed the Marine Robot (RM3). Both applications of the frame walker concept satisfied robotic mobility requirements that could not be met by a wheeled or tracked design. One vehicle design concept that falls within this class of mobile robots is the walking beam. A one-quarter scale prototype of the walking beam was built by Martin Marietta to evaluate the potential merits of utilizing the vehicle as a planetary rover. The initial phase of prototype rover testing was structured to evaluate the mobility performance aspects of the vehicle. Performance parameters such as vehicle power, speed, and attitude control were evaluated as a function of the environment in which the prototype vehicle was tested. Subsequent testing phases will address the integrated performance of the vehicle and a local navigation system.

Manufacture and evaluation of Nb/sub 3/Sn conductors fabricated by the MJR method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McDonald, W.K.; Curtis, C.W.; Scanlan, R.M.

1982-11-23

The bronze matrix/niobium filament process has become established as a commercially viable method for producing multifilamentary Nb/sub 3/Sn superconductors. This paper describes a new method, the Modified Jelly-Roll (MJR) approach, which can produce a structure similar to that in a conventionally fabricated multifilamentary Nb/sub 3/Sn conductor. This approach utilizes alternate sheets of niobium expanded metal and bronze, which are rolled into a jelly-roll configuration and then extruded. During extrusion and subsequent drawing, the junctures in the niobium are elongated and the material develops a filamentary structure. This method may offer significant advantages in terms of reduced fabrication time and costmore » over the conventional approach. Results of a manufacturing development program will be presented in which two lengths of conductor were made to High-Field Test Facility conductor specifications. In addition, critical current and transition temperature measurements of the sub-elements used to construct the HFTF-type lengths will be reported.« less

Appreciation of the work of the UK Optical Sensors Collaborative Association (OSCA) in the context of the contemporary FOS scene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGeehin, Peter

2000-08-01

The contribution of the UK Optical Sensors Collaborative Association to the first wave of R&D on the application of fiber optics in sensing application is summarized. Safety related R&D has continued and the most recent results are presented. OSCA identified that a suitable component infrastructure for sensing had not yet been realized, and this is probably a significant part of the explanation for the relatively modest commercial impact of this technology at the present time. OSCA also identified the significance of white light interferometry, and realized the potential of silicon as a substrate for integrated optics. Alas, OSCA acted primarily as an onlooker to the important discovery of fiber Bragg gratings. Subsequent global efforts at commercialization have been admirable, but are not yet major in business terms. Distributed sensing has rather plodded along, through some progress is being made. It is argued that we are now on the leading edge of a second wave of development in fiber optic sensing. The emphasis in this wave is not sensing principles but the adaptation and employment of the components and signal processing methods being facilitated by the huge wave of commercialization in optoelectronics which is currently occurring, primarily stimulated by the internet explosion. For sensing systems it is judged that silicon ridge waveguide technology has the potential to create a standardized approach to optical sensing, in concept not dissimilar from the familiar standardized analogue electronic signal and transmission means (e.g. 4 - 20 mA).

A Preliminary Evaluation of Supersonic Transport Category Vehicle Operations in the National Airspace System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Underwood, Matthew C.; Guminsky, Michael D.

2015-01-01

Several public sector businesses and government agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are currently working on solving key technological barriers that must be overcome in order to realize the vision of low-boom supersonic flights conducted over land. However, once these challenges are met, the manner in which this class of aircraft is integrated in the National Airspace System may become a potential constraint due to the significant environmental, efficiency, and economic repercussions that their integration may cause. Background research was performed on historic supersonic operations in the National Airspace System, including both flight deck procedures and air traffic controller procedures. Using this information, an experiment was created to test some of these historic procedures in a current-day, emerging Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) environment and observe the interactions between commercial supersonic transport aircraft and modern-day air traffic. Data was gathered through batch simulations of supersonic commercial transport category aircraft operating in present-day traffic scenarios as a base-lining study to identify the magnitude of the integration problems and begin the exploration of new air traffic management technologies and architectures which will be needed to seamlessly integrate subsonic and supersonic transport aircraft operations. The data gathered include information about encounters between subsonic and supersonic aircraft that may occur when supersonic commercial transport aircraft are integrated into the National Airspace System, as well as flight time data. This initial investigation is being used to inform the creation and refinement of a preliminary Concept of Operations and for the subsequent development of technologies that will enable overland supersonic flight.

Final report on CCQM-K27.2: Second Subsequent study: determination of ethanol in aqueous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schantz, Michele M.; Parris, Reenie M.; May, Willie E.; Rosso, Adriana; Puglisi, Celia; Marques Rodrigues Caixeiro, Janaína; Massiff, Gabriela; Camacho Frías, Evangelina; Pérez Urquiza, Melina; Archer, Marcellé; Visser, M. S.; deVos, Betty-Jayne

2013-01-01

Ethanol is important both forensically ('drunk driving' or driving while under the influence, 'DWI', regulations) and commercially (alcoholic beverages). Blood- and breath-alcohol testing can be imposed on individuals operating private vehicles such as cars, boats or snowmobiles, or operators of commercial vehicles like trucks, planes and ships. The various levels of blood alcohol that determine whether these operators are considered legally impaired vary depending on the circumstances and locality. Accurate calibration and validation of instrumentation is critical in areas of forensic testing where quantitative analysis directly affects the outcome of criminal prosecutions, as is the case with the determination of ethanol in blood and breath. Additionally, the accurate assessment of the alcoholic content of beverages is a commercially important commodity. In 2002, the CCQM conducted a key comparison (CCQM-K27) for the determination of ethanol in aqueous matrix with nine participants. A report on this project has been approved by the CCQM and can be found at the BIPM website. CCQM-K27 comprised three samples, one at low mass fraction of ethanol in water (nominal concentration of 0.8 mg/g), one at high level (nominal concentration of 120 mg/g) and one wine matrix (nominal concentration of 81 mg/g). Overall agreement among eight participants using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID), titrimetry, isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-IDMS) and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (ID-GC-C-IRMS) was good. The ninth participant used a headspace GC-FID method that had not been validated in an earlier pilot study (CCQM-P35). A follow-on key comparison, CCQM-K27-Subsequent, was initiated in 2003 to accommodate laboratories that had not been ready to benchmark their methods in the original CCQM-K27 study or that wished to benchmark a different method. Four levels of ethanol in water were used in the subsequent study (nominal concentrations of 0.2 mg/g, 1 mg/g, 3 mg/g and 60 mg/g). The three participants in the CCQM-K27-Subsequent key comparison demonstrated their ability to measure ethanol in aqueous matrix in the concentration range of 0.2 mg/g to 60 mg/g. A report on this project has been approved by the CCQM and can be found at the BIPM website. A second follow-on key comparison, CCQM-K27.2 Second Subsequent, was initiated in 2006 to accommodate laboratories that had not been ready to benchmark their methods in the previous two CCQM-K27 studies. Two levels of ethanol in water were used in the second subsequent study ranging in concentration between 0.5 mg/g and 4 mg/g. Four of the five participants in the CCQM-K27.2 Second Subsequent key comparison demonstrated their ability to measure ethanol in aqueous matrix in that concentration range. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

Electron linear accelerator production and purification of scandium-47 from titanium dioxide targets.

PubMed

Rotsch, David A; Brown, M Alex; Nolen, Jerry A; Brossard, Thomas; Henning, Walter F; Chemerisov, Sergey D; Gromov, Roman G; Greene, John

2018-01-01

The photonuclear production of no-carrier-added (NCA) 47 Sc from solid Nat TiO 2 and the subsequent chemical processing and purification have been developed. Scandium-47 was produced by the 48 Ti(γ,p) 47 Sc reaction with Bremsstrahlung photons produced from the braking of electrons in a high-Z (W or Ta) convertor. Production yields were simulated with the PHITS code (Particle and Heavy Ion Transport-code System) and compared to experimental results. Irradiated TiO 2 targets were dissolved in fuming H 2 SO 4 in the presence of Na 2 SO 4 and 47 Sc was purified using the commercially available Eichrom DGA resin. Typical 47 Sc recovery yields were >90% with excellent specific activity for small batches (<185 MBq batches). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electron linear accelerator production and purification of scandium-47 from titanium dioxide targets

DOE PAGES

Rotsch, David A.; Brown, M. Alex; Nolen, Jerry A.; ...

2017-11-06

Here, the photonuclear production of no-carrier-added (NCA) 47Sc from solid NatTiO 2 and the subsequent chemical processing and purification have been developed. Scandium-47 was produced by the 48Ti(γ,p) 47Sc reaction with Bremsstrahlung photons produced from the braking of electrons in a high-Z (W or Ta) convertor. Production yields were simulated with the PHITS code (Particle and Heavy Ion Transport-code System) and compared to experimental results. Irradiated TiO 2 targets were dissolved in fuming H 2SO 4 in the presence of Na 2SO 4 and 47Sc was purified using the commercially available Eichrom DGA resin. Typical 47Sc recovery yields were >90%more » with excellent specific activity for small batches (<185 MBq batches).« less

Electron linear accelerator production and purification of scandium-47 from titanium dioxide targets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rotsch, David A.; Brown, M. Alex; Nolen, Jerry A.

Here, the photonuclear production of no-carrier-added (NCA) 47Sc from solid NatTiO 2 and the subsequent chemical processing and purification have been developed. Scandium-47 was produced by the 48Ti(γ,p) 47Sc reaction with Bremsstrahlung photons produced from the braking of electrons in a high-Z (W or Ta) convertor. Production yields were simulated with the PHITS code (Particle and Heavy Ion Transport-code System) and compared to experimental results. Irradiated TiO 2 targets were dissolved in fuming H 2SO 4 in the presence of Na 2SO 4 and 47Sc was purified using the commercially available Eichrom DGA resin. Typical 47Sc recovery yields were >90%more » with excellent specific activity for small batches (<185 MBq batches).« less

Review: Genetically modified plants for the promotion of human health.

PubMed

Yonekura-Sakakibara, Keiko; Saito, Kazuki

2006-12-01

Plants are attractive biological resources because of their ability to produce a huge variety of chemical compounds, and the familiarity of production in even the most rural settings. Genetic engineering gives plants additional characteristics and value for cultivation and post-harvest. Genetically modified (GM) plants of the "first generation" were conferred with traits beneficial to producers, whereas GM plants in subsequent "generations" are intended to provide beneficial traits for consumers. Golden Rice is a promising example of a GM plant in the second generation, and has overcome a number of obstacles for practical use. Furthermore, consumer-acceptable plants with health-promoting properties that are genetically modified using native genes are being developed. The emerging technology of metabolomics will also support the commercial realization of GM plants by providing comprehensive analyzes of plant biochemical components.

Space Commercial Opportunities for Fluid Physics and Transport Phenomena Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gavert, R.

2000-01-01

Microgravity research at NASA has been an undertaking that has included both science and commercial approaches since the late 80s and early 90s. The Fluid Physics and Transport Phenomena community has been developed, through NASA's science grants, into a valuable base of expertise in microgravity science. This was achieved through both ground and flight scientific research. Commercial microgravity research has been primarily promoted thorough NASA sponsored Centers for Space Commercialization which develop cost sharing partnerships with industry. As an example, the Center for Advanced Microgravity Materials Processing (CAMMP)at Northeastern University has been working with cost sharing industry partners in developing Zeolites and zeo-type materials as an efficient storage medium for hydrogen fuel. Greater commercial interest is emerging. The U.S. Congress has passed the Commercial Space Act of 1998 to encourage the development of a commercial space industry in the United States. The Act has provisions for the commercialization of the International Space Station (ISS). Increased efforts have been made by NASA to enable industrial ventures on-board the ISS. A Web site has been established at http://commercial/nasa/gov which includes two important special announcements. One is an open request for entrepreneurial offers related to the commercial development and use of the ISS. The second is a price structure and schedule for U.S. resources and accommodations. The purpose of the presentation is to make the Fluid Physics and Transport Phenomena community, which understands the importance of microgravity experimentation, aware of important aspects of ISS commercial development. It is a desire that this awareness will be translated into a recognition of Fluid Physics and Transport Phenomena application opportunities coordinated through the broad contacts of this community with industry.

Novel Eurasian highly pathogenic influenza A H5 viruses in wild birds, Washington, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ip, Hon S.; Kim Torchetti, Mia; Crespo, Rocio; Kohrs, Paul; DeBruyn, Paul; Mansfield, Kristin G.; Baszler, Timothy; Badcoe, Lyndon; Bodenstein, Barbara L.; Shearn-Bochsler, Valerie I.; Killian, Mary Lea; Pederson, Janice C.; Hines, Nichole; Gidlewski, Thomas; DeLiberto, Thomas; Sleeman, Jonathan M.

2015-01-01

Novel Eurasian lineage avian influenza A(H5N8) virus has spread rapidly and globally since January 2014. In December 2014, H5N8 and reassortant H5N2 viruses were detected in wild birds in Washington, USA, and subsequently in backyard birds. When they infect commercial poultry, these highly pathogenic viruses pose substantial trade issues.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhu, Chengzhou; Fu, Shaofang; Song, Junhua

In this study, self-assembled M–N-doped carbon nanotube aerogels with single-atom catalyst feature are for the first time reported through one-step hydrothermal route and subsequent facile annealing treatment. By taking advantage of the porous nanostructures, 1D nanotubes as well as single-atom catalyst feature, the resultant Fe–N-doped carbon nanotube aerogels exhibit excellent oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalytic performance even better than commercial Pt/C in alkaline solution.

77 FR 6988 - Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-10

...; adjust the commercial ACL for SWG; establish a formula-based method for setting gag and red grouper multi... (FMP) for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendment 32) prepared by the Gulf of Mexico... catch target (ACT) for 2012 through 2015 and subsequent fishing years, consistent with the gag...

Physical and Mechanical Properties of Cellulose Nanofibril Films from Bleached Eucalyptus Pulp by Endoglucanase Treatment and Microfluidization

Treesearch

Wangxia Wang; Ronald C. Sabo; Michael D. Mozuch; Phil Kersten; J. Y. Zhu; Yongcan Jin

2015-01-01

A GH5 hyperthermostable endoglucanase (Ph-GH5) from the archaeon Pyrococcus horikoshii and a commercial endoglucanase (FR) were used to treat bleached eucalyptus pulp (BEP) fibers to produce cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and subsequently to CNF films. TEM imaging indicated that Ph-GH5 produced longer and more entangled CNF than FR with the same number...

Novel Eurasian highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5 viruses in wild birds, Washington, USA, 2014.

PubMed

Ip, Hon S; Torchetti, Mia Kim; Crespo, Rocio; Kohrs, Paul; DeBruyn, Paul; Mansfield, Kristin G; Baszler, Timothy; Badcoe, Lyndon; Bodenstein, Barbara; Shearn-Bochsler, Valerie; Killian, Mary Lea; Pedersen, Janice C; Hines, Nichole; Gidlewski, Thomas; DeLiberto, Thomas; Sleeman, Jonathan M

2015-05-01

Novel Eurasian lineage avian influenza A(H5N8) virus has spread rapidly and globally since January 2014. In December 2014, H5N8 and reassortant H5N2 viruses were detected in wild birds in Washington, USA, and subsequently in backyard birds. When they infect commercial poultry, these highly pathogenic viruses pose substantial trade issues.

Discovering latent commercial networks from online financial news articles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Yunqing; Su, Weifeng; Lau, Raymond Y. K.; Liu, Yi

2013-08-01

Unlike most online social networks where explicit links among individual users are defined, the relations among commercial entities (e.g. firms) may not be explicitly declared in commercial Web sites. One main contribution of this article is the development of a novel computational model for the discovery of the latent relations among commercial entities from online financial news. More specifically, a CRF model which can exploit both structural and contextual features is applied to commercial entity recognition. In addition, a point-wise mutual information (PMI)-based unsupervised learning method is developed for commercial relation identification. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed computational methods, a prototype system called CoNet has been developed. Based on the financial news articles crawled from Google finance, the CoNet system achieves average F-scores of 0.681 and 0.754 in commercial entity recognition and commercial relation identification, respectively. Our experimental results confirm that the proposed shallow natural language processing methods are effective for the discovery of latent commercial networks from online financial news.

Implications of previous space commercialization experiences for the reusable launch vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obermann, Richard M.; Williamson, Ray A.

2003-07-01

The United States' 1994 National Space Transportation Policy directed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to work with industry on the development of technologies required for a reusable launch vehicle (RLV). In the partnership that has evolved from that directive, NASA envisions its role as providing support for technological risk reduction and for developing space transportation to serve government needs. NASA officials assume that the development of an operational, commercial RLV will be carried out by the private sector without use of government funds. Under that scenario, the Federal government will simply become a customer for commercial RLV services. In evaluating the prospects for the development of a commercially viable RLV, it may be useful to examine "lessons learned" from previous space commercialization efforts—both those that succeeded and those that did not. It can be argued that several distinct streams of market and technological development may have to converge for successful commercialization of space systems to occur. Potential factors influencing the prospects for commercialization include the size and growth rate of the potential customer base, the extent to which a governmental customer exists to underpin the market, the development of associated "value-added" markets, the stability of governmental policies, the levels of technological and business risk, and the degree to which competitive markets exist. This paper examines two previous space commercialization experiences, evaluates the relative importance of the various factors that influence the prospects for success of commercialization efforts, and assesses the implications of those factors for the commercial viability of the proposed RLV.

“Terms and conditions of use” for journal articles and scholarly journals : A survey on the licensing processes associated with electronic scholarly materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidaka, Masako

Copyright policies and terms directly affect the approach taken by journal editors, authors and readers regarding dealing with of articles and/or copyrighted materials. However Japanese academic society publishers have some trouble in licensing processes for copyrighted materials as previous studies pointed out. In 2011 we conducted a survey on “terms and conditions of use” of electronic journal and the licensing practices associated with electronic scholarly materials. The survey showed commercial publishers have enough announcements on reuse of copyrighted materials for readers. On the other hand Japanese academic societies' cares for readers tend to not enough. They publish journals both in Japanese and in English. Subsequently, English and Japanese templates of “terms and conditions of use” for Japanese academic society publishers were proposed. The templates were developed based on an understanding of the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers' “STM Permissions Guidelines,” which were designed to establish a standard and reasonable approach to granting permission for republication to all signatory publishers.The survey showed that Japanese academic society publishers and commercial publishers are facing the same issues regarding acceptable use of electronic supplemental materials for journal articles. This issue remains to be solved.

Crustal layering, simplicity, and the oil industry: The alteration of an epistemic paradigm by a commercial environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anduaga, Aitor

This paper proposes that the gradual alteration of the predominant epistemic paradigm in crustal seismology in the interwar period-namely, simplicity-came about because of the strong influence of a particular commercial environment, i.e. the oil industry. I begin by demonstrating the interwar predominance of Jeffreys' 'simplicity postulate' and his probabilistic epistemology, highlighting the espousal by several seismologists (Bullen, Stoneley, Byerly), whose crustal models drew on mathematical idealisations. Next, I demonstrate that the renunciation of simplicity in the 1930s came about too quickly, and, above all, too heterodoxically to have been the result of new geological evidence. Rather, I argue, the paradigm shift among seismologists was a result of the significant rise in seismic exploration generated by the oil industry. Driven by market demands, American petroleum companies pioneered new technologies, organised research initiatives, and trained young geophysicists who, through the fusion of experimentalism and field experience, brought about fundamental progress in earthquake seismology. Remarkably, historians of science have almost entirely failed to recognise the interwar primacy of the simplicity paradigm as well as its subsequent renunciation. More importantly, they have failed to acknowledge the role the oil industry played in contributing to this renunciation and to the development of new paradigms in seismology.

Philippine Islands: a tectonic railroad siding

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gallagher, J.J. Jr.

1984-09-01

In 1976, significant quantities of oil were discovered offshore northwest of Palawan Island by a Philippine-American consortium led by Philippines-Cities Service Inc. This was the first commercial oil found in the Philippine Islands. Other exploration companies had decided that there was no commercial oil in the Philippines. They fell prey to a situation Wallace E. Pratt, who began his career in 1909 in the Philippines, later described: There are many instances where our knowledge, supported in some cases by elaborate and detailed studies has convinced us that no petroleum resources were present in areas which subsequently became sites of importantmore » oil fields. Some explorers are blinded by the negative implications of the same knowledge that successful explorers use to find important oil fields. The Palawan discoveries are examples of successful use of knowledge. Recognition that the Philippine Islands are a tectonic railroad siding may be the key to future exploration success. These islands are continental fragments, each with its own individual geologic characteristics, that have moved from elsewhere to their present positions along a major strike-slip zone. Play concepts can be developed in the Philippines for continental fragments in each of the three major present-day tectono-stratigraphic systems that are dominated by strike-slip, but include subduction and extension tectonics, with both carbonate and clastic sediments.« less

A compilation of technology spinoffs from the US Space Shuttle Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, David Jeff

1993-01-01

As the successful transfer of NASA-developed technology is a stated mission of NASA, the documentation of such transfer is vital in support of the program. The purpose of this report is to document technology transfer, i.e. 'spinoffs', from the U.S. Space Shuttle Program to the commercial sector. These spinoffs have their origin in the many scientific and engineering fields associated with the shuttle program and, as such, span many diverse commercial applications. These applications include, but are not limited to, consumer products, medicine, industrial productivity, manufacturing technology, public safety, resources management, materials processing, transportation, energy, computer technology, construction, and environmental applications. To aide to the generation of this technology spinoff list, significant effort was made to establish numerous and complementary sources of information. The primary sources of information used in compiling this list include: the NASA 'Spinoff' publication, NASA Tech Briefs, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Technology Utilization (TU) Office, the NASA Center for Aerospace Information (CASI), the NASA COSMIC Software Center, and MSFC laboratory and contractor personnel. A complete listing of resources may be found in the bibliography of this report. Additionally, effort was made to insure that the obtained information was placed in electronic database form to insure that the subsequent updating would be feasible with minimal effort.

Synthesis of rare earth doped TiO2 nanorods as photocatalysts for lignin degradation.

PubMed

Song, Liang; Zhao, Xueyuan; Cao, Lixin; Moon, Ji-Won; Gu, Baohua; Wang, Wei

2015-10-28

A two-step process is developed to synthesize rare earth doped titania nanorods (RE-TiO2 NRs) as photocatalysts for efficient degradation of lignin under simulated sunlight irradiation. In this approach, protonated titanate nanotubes with layered structures were first prepared by a hydrothermal approach, and rare earth metal ions were subsequently bound to the negatively charged surface of the synthesized titanate via electrostatic incorporation. The as-synthesized RE-TiO2 NRs after calcination generally showed much higher photocatalytic efficiencies than those of undoped TiO2 NRs or the commercial P25 TiO2 photocatalyst. Using methyl orange (MO) as a probing molecule, we demonstrate that Eu-TiO2 NRs are among the best for degrading MO, with an observed rate constant of 4.2 × 10(-3) s(-1). The La(3+), Sm(3+), Eu(3+) and Er(3+) doped TiO2 NRs also showed higher photocatalytic efficiencies in degrading MO than the commercial P25 TiO2. We further demonstrate that lignin can be photodegraded effectively and rapidly at room temperature under simulated sunlight through two reaction routes, which could be important in controlling ways of lignin depolymerization or the formation of reaction products.

Synthesis of rare earth doped TiO 2 nanorods as photocatalysts for lignin degradation

DOE PAGES

Song, Liang; Zhao, Xueyuan; Cao, Lixin; ...

2015-09-10

In this paper, a two-step process is developed to synthesize rare earth doped titania nanorods (RE–TiO 2 NRs) as photocatalysts for efficient degradation of lignin under simulated sunlight irradiation. In this approach, protonated titanate nanotubes with layered structures were first prepared by a hydrothermal approach, and rare earth metal ions were subsequently bound to the negatively charged surface of the synthesized titanate via electrostatic incorporation. The as-synthesized RE–TiO 2 NRs after calcination generally showed much higher photocatalytic efficiencies than those of undoped TiO 2 NRs or the commercial P25 TiO 2 photocatalyst. Using methyl orange (MO) as a probing molecule,more » we demonstrate that Eu–TiO 2 NRs are among the best for degrading MO, with an observed rate constant of 4.2 × 10 -3 s -1. The La 3+, Sm 3+, Eu 3+ and Er 3+ doped TiO 2 NRs also showed higher photocatalytic efficiencies in degrading MO than the commercial P25 TiO 2. Finally, we further demonstrate that lignin can be photodegraded effectively and rapidly at room temperature under simulated sunlight through two reaction routes, which could be important in controlling ways of lignin depolymerization or the formation of reaction products.« less

Automatic mouse ultrasound detector (A-MUD): A new tool for processing rodent vocalizations.

PubMed

Zala, Sarah M; Reitschmidt, Doris; Noll, Anton; Balazs, Peter; Penn, Dustin J

2017-01-01

House mice (Mus musculus) emit complex ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during social and sexual interactions, which have features similar to bird song (i.e., they are composed of several different types of syllables, uttered in succession over time to form a pattern of sequences). Manually processing complex vocalization data is time-consuming and potentially subjective, and therefore, we developed an algorithm that automatically detects mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (Automatic Mouse Ultrasound Detector or A-MUD). A-MUD is a script that runs on STx acoustic software (S_TOOLS-STx version 4.2.2), which is free for scientific use. This algorithm improved the efficiency of processing USV files, as it was 4-12 times faster than manual segmentation, depending upon the size of the file. We evaluated A-MUD error rates using manually segmented sound files as a 'gold standard' reference, and compared them to a commercially available program. A-MUD had lower error rates than the commercial software, as it detected significantly more correct positives, and fewer false positives and false negatives. The errors generated by A-MUD were mainly false negatives, rather than false positives. This study is the first to systematically compare error rates for automatic ultrasonic vocalization detection methods, and A-MUD and subsequent versions will be made available for the scientific community.

Utilization of concentrated cheese whey for the production of protein concentrate fuel alcohol and alcoholic beverages

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Krishnamurti, R.

The objective of this investigation was to recover the major components of whey and to develop food applications for their incorporation/conversion into acceptable products of commercial value. Reconstituted dried sweet whey with 36% solids was ultrafiltered to yield a protein concentrate (WPC) and a permeate containing 24% lactose and 3.7% ash. Orange juice fortified up to 2.07% and chocolate milks fortified up to 5.88% total protein levels with WPC containing 45% total protein were acceptable to about 90% of a panel of 24 individuals. Fermentation of demineralized permeate at 30/sup 0/C with Kluyveromyces fragilis NRRL Y 2415 adapted to 24%more » lactose levels, led to 13.7% (v/v) ethanol in the medium at the end of 34 hours. Batch productivity was 3.2 gms. ethanol per liter per hour and conversion efficiency was 84.26% of the theoretical maximum. Alcoholic fermentation of permeate and subsequent distillation produced compounds with desirable aroma characters in such products. This study suggests that there is potential for the production of protein fortified non-alcoholic products and alcoholic beverages of commercial value from whey, thus providing a cost effective solution to the whey utilization problem.« less

Enhancement of keratinocyte performance in the production of tissue-engineered skin using a low-calcium medium.

PubMed

Hernon, Catherine A; Harrison, Caroline A; Thornton, Daniel J A; MacNeil, Sheila

2007-01-01

The success of laboratory-expanded autologous keratinocytes for the treatment of severe burn injuries is often compromised by their lack of dermal remnants and failure to establish a secure dermo-epidermal junction on the wound bed. We have developed a tissue-engineered skin substitute for in vivo use, based on a sterilized donor human dermis seeded with autologous keratinocytes and fibroblasts. However, culture rates are currently too slow for clinical use in acute burns. Our aim in this study was to increase the rate of production of tissue-engineered skin. Two approaches were explored: one using a commercial low-calcium media and the other supplementing well-established media for keratinocyte culture with the calcium-chelating agent ethylene glutamine tetra-acetic acid (EGTA). Using commercial low-calcium media for both the initial cell culture and subsequent culture of tissue-engineered skin did not produce tissue suitable for clinical use. However, it was possible to enhance the initial proliferation of keratinocytes and to increase their horizontal migration in tissue-engineered skin by supplementing established culture medium with 0.04 mM EGTA without sacrificing epidermal attachment and differentiation. Enhancement of keratinocyte migration with EGTA was also maximal in the absence of fibroblasts or basement membrane.

An application in cheddar cheese manufacture for a strain of Lactococcus lactis producing a novel broad-spectrum bacteriocin, lacticin 3147.

PubMed Central

Ryan, M P; Rea, M C; Hill, C; Ross, R P

1996-01-01

Lactococcus lactis DPC3147, a strain isolated from an Irish kefir grain, produces a bacteriocin with a broad spectrum of inhibition. The bacteriocin produced is heat stable, particularly at a low pH, and inhibits nisin-producing (Nip+) lactococci. On the basis of the observation that the nisin structural gene (nisA) does not hybridize to DPC3147 genomic DNA, the bacteriocin produced was considered novel and designated lacticin 3147. The genetic determinants which encode lacticin 3147 are contained on a 63-kb plasmid, which was conjugally mobilized to a commercial cheese starter, L. lactis subsp. cremoris DPC4268. The resultant transconjugant, DPC4275, both produces and is immune to lacticin 3147. The ability of lacticin 3147-producing lactococci to perform as cheddar cheese starters was subsequently investigated in cheesemaking trials. Bacteriocin-producing starters (which included the transconjugant strain DPC4275) produced acid at rates similar to those of commercial strains. The level of lacticin 3147 produced in cheese remained constant over 6 months of ripening and correlated with a significant reduction in the levels of nonstarter lactic acid bacteria. Such results suggest that these starters provide a means of controlling developing microflora in ripened fermented products. PMID:8593062

Diminish electrostatic in piezoresponse force microscopy through longer or ultra-stiff tips

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomez, A.; Puig, T.; Obradors, X.

2018-05-01

Piezoresponse Force Microscopy is a powerful but delicate nanoscale technique that measures the electromechanical response resulting from the application of a highly localized electric field. Though mechanical response is normally due to piezoelectricity, other physical phenomena, especially electrostatic interaction, can contribute to the signal read. We address this problematic through the use of longer ultra-stiff probes providing state of the art sensitivity, with the lowest electrostatic interaction and avoiding working in high frequency regime. In order to find this solution we develop a theoretical description addressing the effects of electrostatic contributions in the total cantilever vibration and its quantification for different setups. The theory is subsequently tested in a Periodically Poled Lithium Niobate (PPLN) crystal, a sample with well-defined 0° and 180° domains, using different commercial available conductive tips. We employ the theoretical description to compare the electrostatic contribution effects into the total phase recorded. Through experimental data our description is corroborated for each of the tested commercially available probes. We propose that a larger probe length can be a solution to avoid electrostatic forces, so the cantilever-sample electrostatic interaction is reduced. Our proposed solution has great implications into avoiding artifacts while studying soft biological samples, multiferroic oxides, and thin film ferroelectric materials.

Development of a Method for Detection of Giardia duodenalis Cysts on Lettuce and for Simultaneous Analysis of Salad Products for the Presence of Giardia Cysts and Cryptosporidium Oocysts▿

PubMed Central

Cook, N.; Nichols, R. A. B.; Wilkinson, N.; Paton, C. A.; Barker, K.; Smith, H. V.

2007-01-01

We report a method for detecting Giardia duodenalis cysts on lettuce, which we subsequently use to examine salad products for the presence of Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts. The method is based on four basic steps: extraction of cysts from the foodstuffs, concentration of the extract and separation of the cysts from food materials, staining of the cysts to allow their visualization, and identification of cysts by microscopy. The concentration and separation steps are performed by centrifugation, followed by immunomagnetic separation using proprietary kits. Cyst staining is also performed using proprietary reagents. The method recovered 46.0% ± 19.0% (n = 30) of artificially contaminating cysts in 30 g of lettuce. We tested the method on a variety of commercially available natural foods, which we also seeded with a commercially available internal control, immediately prior to concentration of the extract. Recoveries of the Texas Red-stained Giardia cyst and Cryptosporidium oocyst internal controls were 36.5% ± 14.3% and 36.2% ± 19.7% (n = 20), respectively. One natural food sample of organic watercress, spinach, and rocket salad contained one Giardia cyst 50 g−1 of sample as an indigenous surface contaminant. PMID:17890337

Facile Fabrication of Platinum-Cobalt Alloy Nanoparticles with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity for a Methanol Oxidation Reaction

PubMed Central

Huang, Huihong; Hu, Xiulan; Zhang, Jianbo; Su, Nan; Cheng, JieXu

2017-01-01

Decreasing the cost associated with platinum-based catalysts along with improving their catalytic properties is a major challenge for commercial direct methanol fuel cells. In this work, a simple and facile strategy was developed for the more efficient preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) -supported Pt/CoPt composite nanoparticles (NPs) via solution plasma sputtering with subsequent thermal annealing. Quite different from general wet synthesis methods, Pt/CoPt composite NPs were directly derived from metal wire electrodes without any additions. The obtained Pt/CoPt/MWCNTs composite catalysts exhibited tremendous improvement in the electro-oxidation of methanol in acidic media with mass activities of 1719 mA mg−1Pt. This value is much higher than that of previous reports of Pt-Co alloy and commercial Pt/C (3.16 times) because of the many active sites and clean surface of the catalysts. The catalysts showed good stability due to the special synergistic effects of the CoPt alloy. Pt/CoPt/MWCNTs can be used as a promising catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells. In addition, this solution plasma sputtering-assisted synthesis method introduces a general and feasible route for the synthesis of binary alloys. PMID:28358143

Advanced Research Deposition System (ARDS) for processing CdTe solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barricklow, Keegan Corey

CdTe solar cells have been commercialized at the Gigawatt/year level. The development of volume manufacturing processes for next generation CdTe photovoltaics (PV) with higher efficiencies requires research systems with flexibility, scalability, repeatability and automation. The Advanced Research Deposition Systems (ARDS) developed by the Materials Engineering Laboratory (MEL) provides such a platform for the investigation of materials and manufacturing processes necessary to produce the next generation of CdTe PV. Limited by previous research systems, the ARDS was developed to provide process and hardware flexibility, accommodating advanced processing techniques, and capable of producing device quality films. The ARDS is a unique, in-line process tool with nine processing stations. The system was designed, built and assembled at the Materials Engineering Laboratory. Final assembly, startup, characterization and process development are the focus of this research. Many technical challenges encountered during the startup of the ARDS were addressed in this research. In this study, several hardware modifications needed for the reliable operation of the ARDS were designed, constructed and successfully incorporated into the ARDS. The effect of process condition on film properties for each process step was quantified. Process development to achieve 12% efficient baseline solar cell required investigation of discrete processing steps, troubleshooting process variation, and developing performance correlations. Subsequent to this research, many advances have been demonstrated with the ARDS. The ARDS consistently produces devices of 12% +/-.5% by the process of record (POR). The champion cell produced to date utilizing the ARDS has an efficiency of 16.2% on low cost commercial sodalime glass and utilizes advanced films. The ARDS has enabled investigation of advanced concepts for processing CdTe devices including, Plasma Cleaning, Plasma Enhanced Closed Space Sublimation (PECSS), Electron Reflector (ER) using Cd1-xMgxTe (CMT) structure and alternative device structures. The ARDS has been instrumental in the collaborative research with many institutions.

Implementing an open-access CASA software for the assessment of stallion sperm motility: Relationship with other sperm quality parameters.

PubMed

Giaretta, Elisa; Munerato, Mauro; Yeste, Marc; Galeati, Giovanna; Spinaci, Marcella; Tamanini, Carlo; Mari, Gaetano; Bucci, Diego

2017-01-01

Setting an open-access computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) may benefit the evaluation of motility in mammalian sperm, especially when economic constraints do not allow the use of a commercial system. There have been successful attempts to develop such a device in Zebra fish sperm and the system has been used in very few studies on mammalian spermatozoa. Against this background, the present study aimed at developing an open-access CASA system for mammalian sperm using the horse as a model and based upon the Image J software previously established for Zebra fish sperm. Along with determining the sperm progressive motility and other kinetic parameters (such as amplitude of lateral head displacement), the "results" window was adjusted to simplify subsequent statistical analyses. The path window was enriched with colored sperm trajectories on the basis of the subpopulation they belong to and a number that allowed the sperm track to be associated to the sperm motility data shown in the "results" window. Data obtained from the novel plugin (named as CASA_bgm) were compared with those of the commercial CASA Hamilton-Thorn IVOS Vers.12, through Bland Altman's plots. While the percentage of total and progressive motile sperm, VCL, VAP, VSL, LIN and STR and ALH were in agreement with those obtained with the commercial system, BCF significantly differed between the two systems probably due to their settings. Interestingly, a positive and significant correlation between the percentages of total motile sperm evaluated through CASA_bgm and those showing high mitochondrial membrane potential evaluated by JC-1 staining was found. In conclusion, CASA_bgm ImageJ plugin could be useful and reliable for stallion sperm motility analysis and it is our aim to apply this system to other mammalian species. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Utilization of feline ELISPOT for mapping vaccine epitopes.

PubMed

Abbott, Jeffrey R; Pu, Ruiyu; Coleman, James K; Yamamoto, Janet K

2012-01-01

A commercial feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) vaccine consisting of inactivated dual-subtype viruses was released in the USA in 2002 and released subsequently over the next 6 years in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Based on the genetic, morphologic, and biochemical similarities between FIV and human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), FIV infection of domestic cats is being used as a small animal model of HIV/AIDS vaccine. Studies on prototype and commercial FIV vaccines provide new insights to the types of immunity and the vaccine epitopes required for an effective human HIV-1 vaccine. ELISPOT assays to detect cytokines, chemokines, and cytolytic mediators are widely used to measure the magnitude and the types of cellular immunity produced by vaccination. Moreover, such approach has identified regions on both HIV-1 and FIV proteins that induce robust antiviral cellular immunity in infected hosts. Using the same strategy, cats immunized with prototype and commercial FIV vaccines are being analyzed by feline interferon-γ and IL-2 ELISPOT systems to identify the vaccine epitope repertoire for prophylaxis.

Effect of different shipping temperatures (∼22 °C vs. ∼7 °C) and holding media on blastocyst development after overnight holding of immature equine cumulus-oocyte complexes.

PubMed

Diaw, Mouhamadou; Salgado, Renato M; Canesin, Heloísa S; Gridley, Nell; Hinrichs, Katrin

2018-04-15

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is an important tool for equine embryo production in both clinical and research settings. In clinical ICSI programs, immature equine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) are often collected at the mare's location and shipped to the ICSI laboratory. To simplify shipment and aid scheduling of subsequent procedures, COCs can be held overnight at room temperature (∼22 °C) before placement into maturation culture, with no detrimental effect on meiotic or developmental competence. A recent study indicated that it might be possible to hold COCs overnight at cold (∼4 °C) temperatures. If so, this might allow longer holding periods that would ease shipping requirements. In this study, we compared oocyte maturation rates, as well as cleavage and blastocyst rates after ICSI, for COCs held at either room or cold temperatures overnight before the onset of in vitro maturation. In Exp. 1, COCs were shipped overnight in a commercial embryo holding medium, ViGRO (Vg), in insulated containers designed to hold at either room temperature (RT, ∼22 °C) or cold temperatures (Cold, ∼7 °C). Subsequent rates of in vitro maturation, cleavage and blastocyst formation were significantly higher in the RT treatment (39%, 90% and 41%, respectively) than in the Cold treatment (23%, 60% and 17%, respectively, P < .05). In Exp. 2, we compared Vg medium with a second commercial embryo holding medium, SYNGRO (Sy). There was no significant difference between Vg and Sy groups in any evaluated parameter within either RT or Cold treatments. Within each medium group and for both media combined, the rates of in vitro maturation, cleavage and blastocyst formation were significantly higher in the RT treatment (42%, 81% and 42%, respectively for the combined media) than in the Cold treatment (29%, 54% and 10%, respectively for the combined media, P < .05). We conclude that shipment of immature equine COCs at cold temperatures (∼7 °C) is detrimental to subsequent in vitro maturation and embryo production. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Report on the completion of the procurement of the first heat of Alloy 709

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Natesan, K.; Zhang, X.; Sham, T. -L.

2017-01-01

This report provides details on the completion of the procurement of the first commercial-sized heat of Alloy 709. The report is a Level 3 deliverable in FY17 (M3AT- 17OR1602053), under the Work Package AT-17OR160205, “Advanced Alloy Development” performed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as part of Advanced Structural Materials Program for the Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART). This work project supports the fabrication scale up effort for Alloy 709 that was started in FY16. The effort culminated in the placement of a Purchase Order in August 2016 with a commercial vendor to melt an Alloy 709 heat using industrial melt practice.more » Four ingots, totaling about 45,000 lb, had been bottom-poured from the melt in September 2016. Two of the ingots were hot rolled into 1.2”x60”x155” and 1.1”x60”x100” plates using standard hot rolling process in FY17. Some small test pieces were cut from the asrolled plates and sent to Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) for archival. The plates were then heat treated and surface pickled by the vendor. The plates were subsequently delivered to ANL and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Properties and microstructure screening were performed on these plates upon delivery in February 2017 at ANL. Several samples were cut from the as-rolled and heattreated plates and were analyzed for their microstructures, hardness values, grain sizes, and room temperature tensile properties. The results indicate that the scaled-up heat of Alloy 709 fabricated using commercial practice exhibit tensile properties that exceed the minimum values specified in the ASME Code Case for commercial heat of NF709. These plates will be used to support base metal testing for the 650°C, 100,000-h Alloy 709 Code Case development, for fabrication of weldments, and for the NEUP projects.« less

Extraction of total nucleic acid based on silica-coated magnetic particles for RT-qPCR detection of plant RNA virus/viroid.

PubMed

Sun, Ning; Deng, Congliang; Zhao, Xiaoli; Zhou, Qi; Ge, Guanglu; Liu, Yi; Yan, Wenlong; Xia, Qiang

2014-02-01

In this study, a nucleic acid extraction method based on silica-coated magnetic particles (SMPs) and RT-qPCR assay was developed to detect Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV), Lily symptomless virus (LSV), Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) and grape yellow speckle viroid 1 (GYSVd-1). The amplification sequences of RT-qPCR were reversely transcribed in vitro as RNA standard templates. The standard curves covered six or seven orders of magnitude with a detection limit of 100 copies per each assay. Extraction efficiency of the SMPs method was evaluated by recovering spiked ssRNAs from plant samples and compared to two commercial kits (TRIzol and RNeasy Plant mini kit). Results showed that the recovery rate of SMPs method was comparable to the commercial kits when spiked ssRNAs were extracted from lily leaves, whereas it was two or three times higher than commercial kits when spiked ssRNAs were extracted from grapevine leaves. SMPs method was also used to extract viral nucleic acid from15 ArMV-positive lily leaf samples and 15 LSV-positive lily leaf samples. SMPs method did not show statistically significant difference from other methods on detecting ArMV, but LSV. The SMPs method has the same level of virus load as the TRIzol, and its mean virus load of was 0.5log10 lower than the RNeasy Plant mini kit. Nucleic acid was extracted from 19 grapevine-leaf samples with SMPs and the two commercial kits and subsequently screened for HSVd and GYSVd-1 by RT-qPCR. Regardless of HSVd or GYSVd-1, SMPs method outperforms other methods on both positive rate and the viroid load. In conclusion, SMPs method was able to efficiently extract the nucleic acid of RNA viruses or viroids, especially grapevine viroids, from lily-leaf or grapevine-leaf samples for RT-qPCR detection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preventing Commercial Colonialism and Retaining Sovereignty Over National Policy and Military Strategy in Space

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-04-09

29 National Interests in Space – Commercial or State-Driven Celestial Expansion? ....... 31 Celestial Market Opportunities – When Will Commercial...Space Markets Open? ...... 38 Implications of Commercial Space Operations ............................................................ 45 Chapter 5...Successful development of competitiveness involves seeking to dominate or control an existing or emergent market . The development of market domination into

KSC-2011-7000

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-09-16

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Press Site auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Phil McAlister (left), director, Commercial Spaceflight Development in NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and Brent Jeff, deputy director, Commercial Crew Program, brief representatives from aerospace industry partners and the media during a strategy forum on the next steps for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The goal of the Commercial Crew Program is to have a commercially developed, human-capable, certified spacecraft safely flying astronauts into orbit and to the International Space Station by the middle of the decade. For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

An approach to industrial water conservation--a case study involving two large manufacturing companies based in Australia.

PubMed

Agana, Bernard A; Reeve, Darrell; Orbell, John D

2013-01-15

This study presents the application of an integrated water management strategy at two large Australian manufacturing companies that are contrasting in terms of their respective products. The integrated strategy, consisting of water audit, pinch analysis and membrane process application, was deployed in series to systematically identify water conservation opportunities. Initially, a water audit was deployed to completely characterize all water streams found at each production site. This led to the development of a water balance diagram which, together with water test results, served as a basis for subsequent enquiry. After the water audit, commercially available water pinch software was utilized to identify possible water reuse opportunities, some of which were subsequently implemented on site. Finally, utilizing a laboratory-scale test rig, membrane processes such as UF, NF and RO were evaluated for their suitability to treat the various wastewater streams. The membranes tested generally showed good contaminant rejection rates, slow flux decline rates, low energy usage and were well suited for treatment of specific wastewater streams. The synergy between the various components of this strategy has the potential to reduce substantial amounts of Citywater consumption and wastewater discharge across a diverse range of large manufacturing companies. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High throughput atmospheric pressure plasma-induced graft polymerization for identifying protein-resistant surfaces.

PubMed

Gu, Minghao; Kilduff, James E; Belfort, Georges

2012-02-01

Three critical aspects of searching for and understanding how to find highly resistant surfaces to protein adhesion are addressed here with specific application to synthetic membrane filtration. They include the (i) discovery of a series of previously unreported monomers from a large library of monomers with high protein resistance and subsequent low fouling characteristics for membrane ultrafiltration of protein-containing fluids, (ii) development of a new approach to investigate protein-resistant mechanisms from structure-property relationships, and (iii) adaptation of a new surface modification method, called atmospheric pressure plasma-induced graft polymerization (APP), together with a high throughput platform (HTP), for low cost vacuum-free synthesis of anti-fouling membranes. Several new high-performing chemistries comprising two polyethylene glycol (PEG), two amines and one zwitterionic monomers were identified from a library (44 commercial monomers) of five different classes of monomers as strong protein-resistant monomers. Combining our analysis here, using the Hansen solubility parameters (HSP) approach, and data from the literature, we conclude that strong interactions with water (hydrogen bonding) and surface flexibility are necessary for producing the highest protein resistance. Superior protein-resistant surfaces and subsequent anti-fouling performance was obtained with the HTP-APP as compared with our earlier HTP-photo graft-induced polymerization (PGP). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prediction of Preeclampsia in Early Pregnancy by Estimating the Spot Urinary Albumin/Creatinine Ratio.

PubMed

Gupta, Nupur; Gupta, Taru; Asthana, Deepti

2017-08-01

To assess whether a spot urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR) measured before 20 weeks of gestation can predict subsequent development of preeclampsia. The ACR was determined from midstream urine sample taken between 17 and 20 weeks of gestation. Urine albumin was measured by immunoturbidimetric method using commercially available kit (Beckman Coulter) through Beckman AU 480 fully automated biochemistry analyzer. Urine creatinine was measured by modified kinetic Jaffe reaction without deproteinization.[Formula: see text]Participants were then followed until delivery. Primary outcome measure was preeclampsia, secondary outcome measures were gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes mellitus, IUGR, and normal range estimate of urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio was established. The median spot urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio measured between 17 and 20 weeks of gestation was 5.2 mg/g of creatinine (2.5-9.6). Women who subsequently developed preeclampsia had higher spot urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (median 30.795 [9.7-92.8]) in comparison with women who developed gestational hypertension (median 5.2 [0.7-7.2]) and unaffected women (median 5.2 [2.5-9.6]). The urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio of the mother who developed IUGR was significantly higher. By ROC analysis, the optimum ACR to predict preeclampsia was 9.85 mg/g of creatinine. The relative risk of developing preeclampsia in women with urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio more than 9.85 mg/g of creatinine was higher than in the women who had urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio less than 9.85 mg/g of creatinine. A spot urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio of more than 9.8 mg/g of creatinine can predict the development of preeclampsia in later pregnancy with the sensitivity and specificity of 67 and 76%, respectively. However, additional studies and cost-benefit analysis are required to confirm these finding before recommending this test for screening purposes.

Thermophysics modeling of an infrared detector cryochamber for transient operational scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singhal, Mayank; Singhal, Gaurav; Verma, Avinash C.; Kumar, Sushil; Singh, Manmohan

2016-05-01

An infrared detector (IR) is essentially a transducer capable of converting radiant energy in the infrared regime into a measurable form. The benefit of infrared radiation is that it facilitates viewing objects in dark or through obscured conditions by detecting the infrared energy emitted by them. One of the most significant applications of IR detector systems is for target acquisition and tracking of projectile systems. IR detectors also find widespread applications in the industry and commercial market. The performance of infrared detector is sensitive to temperatures and performs best when cooled to cryogenic temperatures in the range of nearly 120 K. However, the necessity to operate in such cryogenic regimes increases the complexity in the application of IR detectors. This entails a need for detailed thermophysics analysis to be able to determine the actual cooling load specific to the application and also due to its interaction with the environment. This will enable design of most appropriate cooling methodologies suitable for specific scenarios. The focus of the present work is to develop a robust thermo-physical numerical methodology for predicting IR cryochamber behavior under transient conditions, which is the most critical scenario, taking into account all relevant heat loads including radiation in its original form. The advantage of the developed code against existing commercial software (COMSOL, ANSYS, etc.), is that it is capable of handling gas conduction together with radiation terms effectively, employing a ubiquitous software such as MATLAB. Also, it requires much smaller computational resources and is significantly less time intensive. It provides physically correct results enabling thermal characterization of cryochamber geometry in conjunction with appropriate cooling methodology. The code has been subsequently validated experimentally as the observed cooling characteristics are found to be in close agreement with the results predicted using the developed model thereby proving its efficacy.

Intratracheal administration of bacterial lipopolysaccharide elicits pulmonary hypertension in broilers with primed airways.

PubMed

Lorenzoni, A G; Wideman, R F

2008-04-01

Broilers reared under commercial conditions inhale irritant gases and aerosolized particulates contaminated with gram-negative bacteria and bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Previous studies demonstrated that i.v. injections of LPS can trigger an increase in the pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP); however, the pulmonary hemodynamic response to aerosolized LPS entering via the most common route, the respiratory tract, had not been evaluated in broilers. In experiment 1, broilers reared on new wood shavings litter in clean environmental chambers either were not pretreated (control group) or were pretreated via aerosol inhalation of substances (food color dyes and propylene glycol) known to sensitize the airways. One day later, the broilers were anesthetized, catheterized to record the PAP, and an intratracheal aerosol spray of LPS (1 mL of 2 mg/mL of LPS) was administered. Broilers in the control group as well as broilers pretreated with aerosolized distilled water or yellow and blue food color dyes did not develop pulmonary hypertension (PH; an increase in PAP) after the intratracheal spray of LPS, whereas broilers that had been pretreated with red food color did develop PH in response to intratracheal LPS. In experiment 2, birds raised under commercial conditions on used wood shavings litter developed PH in response to intratracheal LPS regardless of whether they had been pretreated with aerosolized red food color dye. In experiment 3, broilers reared in clean environmental chambers on new wood shavings litter were used to demonstrate that Red Dye #3 and propylene glycol are capable of priming the responsiveness of the airways to a subsequent intratracheal LPS challenge. Common air contaminants such as LPS can result in PH leading to pulmonary hypertension syndrome (ascites) in broilers with appropriately primed airways.

Formulation and experimental evaluation of closed-form control laws for the rapid maneuvering of reactor neutronic power

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bernard, J.A.

1989-09-01

This report describes both the theoretical development and the experimental evaluation of a novel, robust methodology for the time-optimal adjustment of a reactor's neutronic power under conditions of closed-loop digital control. Central to the approach are the MIT-SNL Period-Generated Minimum Time Control Laws' which determine the rate at which reactivity should be changed in order to cause a reactor's neutronic power to conform to a specified trajectory. Using these laws, reactor power can be safely raised by five to seven orders of magnitude in a few seconds. The MIT-SNL laws were developed to facilitate rapid increases of neutronic power onmore » spacecraft reactors operating in an SDI environment. However, these laws are generic and have other applications including the rapid recovery of research and test reactors subsequent to an unanticipated shutdown, power increases following the achievement of criticality on commercial reactors, power adjustments on commercial reactors so as to minimize thermal stress, and automated startups. The work reported here was performed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under contract to the Sandia National Laboratories. Support was also provided by the US Department of Energy's Division of University and Industry Programs. The work described in this report is significant in that a novel solution to the problem of time-optimal control of neutronic power was identified, in that a rigorous description of a reactor's dynamics was derived in that the rate of change of reactivity was recognized as the proper control signal, and in that extensive experimental trials were conducted of these newly developed concepts on actual nuclear reactors. 43 refs., 118 figs., 11 tabs.« less

Strategies For Human Exploration Leading To Human Colonization of Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smitherman, David; Everett, Harmon

2009-01-01

Enabling the commercial development of space is key to the future colonization of space and key to a viable space exploration program. Without commercial development following in the footsteps of exploration it is difficult to justify and maintain public interest in the efforts. NASA's exploration program has suffered from the lack of a good commercial economic strategy for decades. Only small advances in commercial space have moved forward, and only up to Earth orbit with the commercial satellite industry. A way to move beyond this phase is to begin the establishment of human commercial activities in space in partnership with the human exploration program. In 2007 and 2008, the authors researched scenarios to make space exploration and commercial space development more feasible as part of their graduate work in the Space Architecture Program at the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture at the University of Houston, Houston, Texas. Through this research it became apparent that the problems facing future colonization are much larger than the technology being developed or the international missions that our space agencies are pursuing. These issues are addressed in this paper with recommendations for space exploration, commercial development, and space policy that are needed to form a strategic plan for human expansion into space. In conclusion, the authors found that the current direction in space as carried out by our space agencies around the world is definitely needed, but is inadequate and incapable of resolving all of the issues that inhibit commercial space development. A bolder vision with strategic planning designed to grow infrastructures and set up a legal framework for commercial markets will go a long way toward enabling the future colonization of space.

Forestry timber typing. Tanana demonstration project, Alaska ASVT. [Alaska

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrissey, L. A.; Ambrosia, V. G.

1982-01-01

The feasibility of using LANDSAT digital data in conjunction with topographic data to delineate commercial forests by stand size and crown closure in the Tanana River basin of Alaska was tested. A modified clustering approach using two LANDSAT dates to generate an initial forest type classification was then refined with topographic data. To further demonstrate the ability of remotely sensed data in a fire protection planning framework, the timber type data were subsequently integrated with terrain information to generate a fire hazard map of the study area. This map provides valuable assistance in initial attack planning, determining equipment accessibility, and fire growth modeling. The resulting data sets were incorporated into the Alaska Department of Natural Resources geographic information system for subsequent utilization.

The challenges encountered in the integration of an early test wafer surface scanning inspection system into a 450mm manufacturing line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jeffrey; McGarvey, Steve

2013-04-01

The introduction of early test wafer (ETW) 450mm Surface Scanning Inspection Systems (SSIS) into Si manufacturing has brought with it numerous technical, commercial, and logistical challenges on the path to rapid recipe development and subsequent qualification of other 450mm wafer processing equipment. This paper will explore the feasibility of eliminating the Polystyrene Latex Sphere deposition process step and the subsequent creation of SSIS recipes based upon the theoretical optical properties of both the SSIS and the process film stack(s). The process of Polystyrene Latex Sphere deposition for SSIS recipe generation and development is generally accepted on the previous technology nodes for 150/200/300mm wafers. PSL is deposited with a commercially available deposition system onto a non-patterned bare Si or non-patterned filmed Si wafer. After deposition of multiple PSL spots, located in different positions on a wafer, the wafer is inspected on a SSIS and a response curve is generated. The response curve is based on the the light scattering intensity of the NIST certified PSL that was deposited on the wafer. As the initial 450mm Si wafer manufacturing began, there were no inspection systems with sub-90nm sensitivities available for defect and haze level verification. The introduction of a 450mm sub-30nm inspection system into the manufacturing line generated instant challenges. Whereas the 450mm wafers were relatively defect free at 90nm, at 40nm the wafers contained several hundred thousand defects. When PSL was deposited onto wafers with these kinds of defect levels, PSL with signals less than the sub-90nm defects were difficult to extract. As the defectivity level of the wafers from the Si suppliers rapidly improves the challenges of SSIS recipe creation with high defectivity decreases while at the same time the cost of PSL deposition increases. The current cost per wafer is fifteen thousand dollars for a 450mm PSL deposition service. When viewed from the standpoint of the generations of hundreds of SSIS recipes for the global member companies of ISMI, it is simply not economically viable to create all recipes based on PSL based light scattering response curves. This paper will explore the challenges/end results encountered with the PSL based SSIS recipe generation and compare those against the challenges/end results of SSIS recipes generated based strictly upon theoretical Bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) light scattering modeling. The BRDF modeling will allow for the creation of SSIS recipes without PSL deposition, which is greatly appealing for a multitude of both technical and commercial considerations. This paper will also explore the technical challenges of SSIS recipe generation based strictly upon BRDF modeling.

Diagnostic testing of dogs for food hypersensitivity.

PubMed

Jeffers, J G; Shanley, K J; Meyer, E K

1991-01-15

Thirteen food-allergic dogs were studied to evaluate the efficacy of feeding a commercially available egg and rice diet, intradermal skin testing, and serologic testing by ELISA for diagnosing and/or characterizing food hypersensitivity. Feeding of a home-cooked whole lamb meat and rice diet for 3 weeks, followed by challenge with each dog's regular diet, served as the standard for diagnosing food hypersensitivity. Each dog underwent provocative testing with 6 individual ingredients to determine as many of its dietary allergens as possible. Prior to skin testing and serologic testing by ELISA, most dogs had been recently exposed to the offending diet and subsequently manifested clinical signs of allergy. All dogs that tolerated the aforementioned commercial diet were exposed to it for at least 7 weeks; 84.6% of food-hypersensitive dogs ate the commercial diet with impunity. Of the 2 reactors to the commercial diet, only 1 became pruritic in response to provocation testing with chicken eggs. Low sensitivity and high specificity were found for skin testing and the ELISA, indicating a lack of true- and false-positive reactions. Neither the positive nor negative predictive values adequately predicted positive and negative reactions, respectively, for either test. On the basis of these results, the commercial diet, skin testing, and anti-IgE ELISA cannot replace an owner-prepared food elimination diet for food hypersensitivity testing in dogs.

NASA's Earth Observations Commercialization Applications Program: A model for government promotion of commercial space opportunities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Macauley, Molly K.

1995-01-01

The role of government in promoting space commerce is a topic of discussion in every spacefaring nation. This article describes a new approach to government intervention which, based on its five-year track record, appears to have met with success. The approach, developed in NASA's Earth Observations Commercialization Application Program (EOCAP), offer several lessons for effective government sponsorship of commercial space development in general and of commercial remote sensing in particular.

Status of commercial fuel cell powerplant system development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warshay, Marvin

1987-01-01

The primary focus is on the development of commercial Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) powerplant systems because the PAFC, which has undergone extensive development, is currently the closest fuel cell system to commercialization. Shorter discussions are included on the high temperature fuel cell systems which are not as mature in their development, such as the Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) and the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). The alkaline and the Solid Polymer Electrolyte (SPE) fuel cell systems, are also included, but their discussions are limited to their prospects for commercial development. Currently, although the alkaline fuel cell continues to be used for important space applications there are no commercial development programs of significant size in the USA and only small efforts outside. The market place for fuel cells and the status of fuel cell programs in the USA receive extensive treatment. The fuel cell efforts outside the USA, especially the large Japanese programs, are also discussed.

Status of Commercial Programs at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Groen, Frank

2011-01-01

NASA's strategy is two-fold: (1) Use Space Act Agreements to support the development of commercial crew transportation capabilities. (2) Use FAR-based contracts for the certification of commercially developed capabilities and for the procurement of crew transportation services to and from the ISS to meet NASA requirements. Focus is on reducing the risk and uncertainties of the development environment and on the incentives provided through competition by separating the design and early development content from the longer-term CTS Certification activities. CCP expects to develop, demonstrate, and certify U.S. commercial crew space transportation capabilities that meet ISS crew transportation needs by the end of FY 2017.

Space station needs, attributes, and architectural options: Commercial opportunities in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolbers, H. L., Jr.

1983-01-01

The roles of government and industry in the commercialization of space are examined and an approach for stimulating the interests of potential users is described. Several illustrative examples of potential commercial developments are presented. The role of manned space systems in space commercialization is discussed as well as some of the issues and opportunities that are likely to be encountered in the commercial exploitation of the unique characteristics of space. Results suggest that interest in space facilities can be found among a number of commercially oriented users. In order to develop and maintain the involvement of these potential users, however, space demonstrations are required, and commercial growth or evolution depends on the results of the initial in situ experience. Manned facilities are required for the conceptual research and development phases and for maintenance and servicing operations during production or operational missions. Space facilities must be easily accessible by dependable and regularly scheduled means.

A user-friendly model for spray drying to aid pharmaceutical product development.

PubMed

Grasmeijer, Niels; de Waard, Hans; Hinrichs, Wouter L J; Frijlink, Henderik W

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop a user-friendly model for spray drying that can aid in the development of a pharmaceutical product, by shifting from a trial-and-error towards a quality-by-design approach. To achieve this, a spray dryer model was developed in commercial and open source spreadsheet software. The output of the model was first fitted to the experimental output of a Büchi B-290 spray dryer and subsequently validated. The predicted outlet temperatures of the spray dryer model matched the experimental values very well over the entire range of spray dryer settings that were tested. Finally, the model was applied to produce glassy sugars by spray drying, an often used excipient in formulations of biopharmaceuticals. For the production of glassy sugars, the model was extended to predict the relative humidity at the outlet, which is not measured in the spray dryer by default. This extended model was then successfully used to predict whether specific settings were suitable for producing glassy trehalose and inulin by spray drying. In conclusion, a spray dryer model was developed that is able to predict the output parameters of the spray drying process. The model can aid the development of spray dried pharmaceutical products by shifting from a trial-and-error towards a quality-by-design approach.

Bulk density and soil resistance to penetration as affected by commercial thinning in northeastern Washington.

Treesearch

Johanna D. Landsberg; Richard E. Miller; Harry W. Anderson; Jeffrey S. Tepp

2003-01-01

Bulk density and soil resistance to penetration were measured in ten, 3- to 11-ha operational units in overstocked, mixed-conifer stands in northeast Washington. Resistance was measured with a recording penetrometer to the 33-cm depth (13 in) at 10 stations on each of 8 to 17, 30.5-m-long, randomly located transects in each unit. Subsequently, different combinations of...

Novel Eurasian Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A H5 Viruses in Wild Birds, Washington, USA, 2014

PubMed Central

Ip, Hon S.; Crespo, Rocio; Kohrs, Paul; DeBruyn, Paul; Mansfield, Kristin G.; Baszler, Timothy; Badcoe, Lyndon; Bodenstein, Barbara; Shearn-Bochsler, Valerie; Killian, Mary Lea; Pedersen, Janice C.; Hines, Nichole; Gidlewski, Thomas; DeLiberto, Thomas; Sleeman, Jonathan M.

2015-01-01

Novel Eurasian lineage avian influenza A(H5N8) virus has spread rapidly and globally since January 2014. In December 2014, H5N8 and reassortant H5N2 viruses were detected in wild birds in Washington, USA, and subsequently in backyard birds. When they infect commercial poultry, these highly pathogenic viruses pose substantial trade issues. PMID:25898265

Parallel Hybrid Vehicle Optimal Storage System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bloomfield, Aaron P.

2009-01-01

A paper reports the results of a Hybrid Diesel Vehicle Project focused on a parallel hybrid configuration suitable for diesel-powered, medium-sized, commercial vehicles commonly used for parcel delivery and shuttle buses, as the missions of these types of vehicles require frequent stops. During these stops, electric hybridization can effectively recover the vehicle's kinetic energy during the deceleration, store it onboard, and then use that energy to assist in the subsequent acceleration.

Safety Training Evaluation: The Case of Construction Induction Training and the Impact on Work-Related Injuries in the Western Australian Construction Sector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bahn, Susanne; Barratt-Pugh, Llandis

2014-01-01

This paper presents the findings of an evaluation of the mandatory Construction Induction Training initiative (CIT). The paper details a pilot study conducted in 2010 with the commercial construction sector and a subsequent study in 2011 of the housing and civil sectors conducting business in the metropolitan area of Perth and in regional Western…

New Tool Released for Engine-Airframe Blade-Out Structural Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawrence, Charles

2004-01-01

Researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center have enhanced a general-purpose finite element code, NASTRAN, for engine-airframe structural simulations during steady-state and transient operating conditions. For steady-state simulations, the code can predict critical operating speeds, natural modes of vibration, and forced response (e.g., cabin noise and component fatigue). The code can be used to perform static analysis to predict engine-airframe response and component stresses due to maneuver loads. For transient response, the simulation code can be used to predict response due to bladeoff events and subsequent engine shutdown and windmilling conditions. In addition, the code can be used as a pretest analysis tool to predict the results of the bladeout test required for FAA certification of new and derivative aircraft engines. Before the present analysis code was developed, all the major aircraft engine and airframe manufacturers in the United States and overseas were performing similar types of analyses to ensure the structural integrity of engine-airframe systems. Although there were many similarities among the analysis procedures, each manufacturer was developing and maintaining its own structural analysis capabilities independently. This situation led to high software development and maintenance costs, complications with manufacturers exchanging models and results, and limitations in predicting the structural response to the desired degree of accuracy. An industry-NASA team was formed to overcome these problems by developing a common analysis tool that would satisfy all the structural analysis needs of the industry and that would be available and supported by a commercial software vendor so that the team members would be relieved of maintenance and development responsibilities. Input from all the team members was used to ensure that everyone's requirements were satisfied and that the best technology was incorporated into the code. Furthermore, because the code would be distributed by a commercial software vendor, it would be more readily available to engine and airframe manufacturers, as well as to nonaircraft companies that did not previously have access to this capability.

Modeling the impacts of bottom trawling and the subsequent recovery rates of sponges and corals in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rooper, Christopher N.; Wilkins, Mark E.; Rose, Craig S.; Coon, Catherine

2011-11-01

The abundance of some marine fish species are correlated to the abundance of habitat-forming benthic organisms such as sponges and corals. A concern for fisheries management agencies is the recovery of these benthic invertebrates from removal or mortality from bottom trawling and other commercial fisheries activities. Using a logistic model, observations of available substrate and data from bottom trawl surveys of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, we estimated recovery rates of sponges and corals following removal. The model predicted the observed sponge and coral catch in bottom trawl surveys relatively accurately ( R2=0.38 and 0.46). For sponges, the results show that intrinsic growth rates were slow ( r=0.107 yr -1). Results show that intrinsic growth rates of corals were also slow ( r=0.062 yr -1). The best models for corals and sponges were models that did not include the impacts of commercial fishing removals. Subsequent recovery times for both taxa were also predicted to be slow. Mortality of 67% of the initial sponge biomass would recover to 80% of the original biomass after 20 years, while mortality of 67% of the coral biomass would recover to 80% of the original biomass after 34 years. The modeled recovery times were consistent with previous studies in estimating that recovery times were of the order of decades, however improved data from directed studies would no doubt improve parameter estimates and reduce the uncertainty in the model results. Given their role as a major ecosystem component and potential habitat for marine fish, damage and removal of sponges and corals must be considered when estimating the impacts of commercial bottom trawling on the seafloor.

Commercial integration and partnering at Savannah River Site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steele, J.R.; Babione, R.A.; Shikashio, L.A.

1994-06-01

Savannah River Site (SRS), particularly the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) with the experience from the first successful Integrated Technology Demonstration, can provide an excellent foundation for meeting DOE-EM`s objectives with the new DOE-EM five focus area approach. With this in mind, SRTC established an activity to pursue full commercialization of environmental technologies. This report is an assessment of the status of commercialization at SRS and provides recommendations for enhancement as well as some tools critical to implementation. A review was made of the current situation at SRS with regards to taking technology development to commercial fruition. This was donemore » from the perspective of comparing it to known commercialization models and processes. It was found that SRTC already works through many of the steps in these processes. With integration and action-oriented efforts of the inclusion of business and market factors, SRTC could become an aggressive, successful developer of commercialized technologies. Commercial success criteria tools were developed with regards to integrating them with SRTC selection criteria to ensure that all critical factors are covered in technology commercialization project evaluations. Private investors are very clear that their interest lies in funding commercial enterprises, not merely technologies. Mobilizing private capital is critical to real job growth and long-term economic development. Also, potential industry partners were identified that are willing to be involved with SRS` technology applications and regional development efforts. As another important component to success, regional support organizations were reviewed and evaluated.« less

NASA's commercial space program - Initiatives for the future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rose, James T.; Stone, Barbara A.

1990-01-01

NASA's commercial development of the space program aimed at the stimulation and assistance of expanded private sector involvement and investment in civil space activities is discussed, focusing on major new program initiatives and their implementation. NASA's Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) program, composed of competitively selected consortia of universities, industries, and government involved in early research and testing phases of potentially commercially viable technologies is described. The 16 centers concentrate on seven different technical areas such as automation and robotics; remote sensing; life sciences; and space power, propulsion, and structures. Private sector participation, CCDS technology development, government and commercially supplied access to space in support of CCDS programs, CCDS hardware development, and CCDS spinoffs are discussed together with various cooperative and reimbursable agreements between NASA and the private sector.

Distributed feedback lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ladany, I.; Andrews, J. T.; Evans, G. A.

1988-01-01

A ridge waveguide distributed feedback laser was developed in InGaAsP. These devices have demonstrated CW output powers over 7 mW with threshold currents as low as 60 mA at 25 C. Measurements of the frequency response of these devices show a 3 dB bandwidth of about 2 GHz, which may be limited by the mount. The best devices have a single mode spectra over the entire temperature range tested with a side mode suppression of about 20 dB in both CW and pulsed modes. The design of this device, including detailed modeling of the ridge guide structure, effective index calculations, and a discussion of the grating configuration are presented. Also, the fabrication of the devices is presented in some detail, especially the fabrication of and subsequent growth over the grating. In addition, a high frequency fiber pigtailed package was designed and tested, which is a suitable prototype for a commercial package.

Wernicke’s encephalopathy associated with liver abscess.

PubMed

Verma, Rajesh; Garg, Vipul

2017-07-31

Wernicke's encephalopathy is a rare neurological disorder caused by thiamine deficiency, characterised by ocular motor dysfunction, ataxia and impairment in consciousness. It predominantly affects brain regions with a high metabolic rate such as mammillary bodies, medial thalamic nuclei, the tectal region and the cerebellum. Although chronic alcoholism is the most common cause of Wernicke's encephalopathy, various other conditions not related to alcohol consumption such as bariatric surgery, acute pancreatitis, hyperemesis gravidarum, prolonged fasting and gastrointestinal surgery have been implicated in its aetiology. We report the case of a patient who underwent surgery for liver abscess and subsequently developed Wernicke's encephalopathy; he showed a positive response to thiamine supplementation. This is the first report describing liver abscess as the cause of Wernicke's encephalopathy. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

The political and social barriers for contraception in pest birds: a case study of Ovocontrol (nicarbazin).

PubMed

MacDonald, Alexander; Wolf, Erick

2013-12-01

In a joint program, Innolytics and the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service National Wildlife Research Center collaborated in the development of nicarbazin as an avian contraceptive, initially for resident Canada geese and subsequently for feral pigeons. Unfortunately, the introduction of the original goose product in 2005 was a commercial failure. Political and social barriers effectively thwarted attempts to establish the new technology with any meaningful market success. Although the market adoption of the pigeon contraceptive has been less difficult, the product still encounters significant social and political obstacles and opposition. Given the focus on instant results and gratification, the introduction of contraceptive technology for birds has been challenging and broad market acceptance remains elusive. Nevertheless, especially for short-lived and rapidly reproducing species, customers continue to replace outdated or ineffective techniques with the safer and more effective contraceptive tool.

Hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene on a CoMo/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalyst: Reaction network and kinetics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vanrysselberghe, V.; Froment, G.F.

1996-10-01

The hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene on a commercial CoMo/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalyst was studied in a multiphase reactor. The operating conditions were varied over the following range: temperatures, 513--573 K; total pressures, 50--80 bar; molar hydrogen to hydrocarbon ratios, 1.1--4.1. Hougen-Watson rate equations for the hydrogenolysis of dibenzothiophene into biphenyl and H{sub 2}S, for the hydrogenation of dibenzothiophene into tetra- and hexahydrodibenzothiophene, for the hydrogenation of biphenyl into cyclohexylbenzene, and for the subsequent hydrogenation of cyclohexylbenzene into bicyclohexyl were developed. Two different types of active sites were considered: {sigma} sites for hydrogenolysis and {tau} sites for hydrogenation. The surface reaction betweenmore » adsorbed reactants and two competitively adsorbed hydrogen atoms was found to be the rate-determining step for both types of reaction.« less

Solar energy program evaluation: an introduction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

deLeon, P.

The Program Evaluation Methodology provides an overview of the practice and methodology of program evaluation and defines more precisely the evaluation techniques and methodologies that would be most appropriate to government organizations which are actively involved in the research, development, and commercialization of solar energy systems. Formal evaluation cannot be treated as a single methodological approach for assessing a program. There are four basic types of evaluation designs - the pre-experimental design; the quasi-experimental design based on time series; the quasi-experimental design based on comparison groups; and the true experimental design. This report is organized to first introduce the rolemore » and issues of evaluation. This is to provide a set of issues to organize the subsequent sections detailing the national solar energy programs. Then, these two themes are integrated by examining the evaluation strategies and methodologies tailored to fit the particular needs of the various individual solar energy programs. (MCW)« less

Evaluating two process scale chromatography column header designs using CFD.

PubMed

Johnson, Chris; Natarajan, Venkatesh; Antoniou, Chris

2014-01-01

Chromatography is an indispensable unit operation in the downstream processing of biomolecules. Scaling of chromatographic operations typically involves a significant increase in the column diameter. At this scale, the flow distribution within a packed bed could be severely affected by the distributor design in process scale columns. Different vendors offer process scale columns with varying design features. The effect of these design features on the flow distribution in packed beds and the resultant effect on column efficiency and cleanability needs to be properly understood in order to prevent unpleasant surprises on scale-up. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) provides a cost-effective means to explore the effect of various distributor designs on process scale performance. In this work, we present a CFD tool that was developed and validated against experimental dye traces and tracer injections. Subsequently, the tool was employed to compare and contrast two commercially available header designs. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Regenerated collagen fibers with grooved surface texture: Physicochemical characterization and cytocompatibility.

PubMed

Wang, Xiang; Wu, Tong; Wang, Wei; Huang, Chen; Jin, Xiangyu

2016-01-01

A novel type of protein fibers, regenerated collagen fibers (RC) from cattle skin, was prepared through wet-spinning. Due to the combined effect of solvent exchange and subsequent drawing process, the fibers were found to have a grooved surface texture. The grooves provided not only ordered topographical cues, but also increased surface area. Protein content of the RC fibers was confirmed by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ninhydrin color reaction. The fibers could be readily fabricated into nonwovens or other textiles, owning to their comparable physical properties to other commercialized fibers. Cell growth behavior on RC nonwovens suggested both early adhesion and prompt proliferation. The high moisture regain, good processability, along with the excellent cytocompatibility indicated that the RC fibers and nonwovens developed in this study might offer a good candidate for biomedical and healthcare applications. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reconfigurable phased antenna array for extending cubesat operations to Ka-band: Design and feasibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buttazzoni, G.; Comisso, M.; Cuttin, A.; Fragiacomo, M.; Vescovo, R.; Vincenti Gatti, R.

2017-08-01

Started as educational tools, CubeSats have immediately encountered the favor of the scientific community, subsequently becoming viable platforms for research and commercial applications. To ensure competitive data rates, some pioneers have started to explore the usage of the Ka-band beside the conventional amateur radio frequencies. In this context, this study proposes a phased antenna array design for Ka-band downlink operations consisting of 8×8 circularly polarized subarrays of microstrip patches filling one face of a single CubeSat unit. The conceived structure is developed to support 1.5 GHz bandwidth and dual-task missions, whose feasibility is verified by proper link budgets. The dual-task operations are enabled by a low-complexity phase-only control algorithm that provides pattern reconfigurability in order to satisfy both orbiting and intersatellite missions, while remaining adherent to the cost-effective CubeSat paradigm.

Regulating the advertising of genetic tests in Europe: a balancing act.

PubMed

Kalokairinou, Louiza; Borry, Pascal; Howard, Heidi Carmen

2017-10-01

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests (GT) have provoked criticism over their potential adverse impact on public health. The European Parliament called for a ban on DTC advertising of GT during the debate for the adoption of a European Regulation on in vitro diagnostic medical devices. This proposal, however, was not ultimately retained in the final text. Instead, the regulation includes an article prohibiting misleading claims for this kind of advertising. These two different approaches raise questions about the optimal degree of regulation. Herein, we provide an overview of the ways GT have been advertised and related ethical issues. Subsequently, the laws regulating the advertising of GT at the European Union and national level are examined. Finally, recent regulatory developments are discussed. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Failure Analysis of Batteries Using Synchrotron-based Hard X-ray Microtomography

PubMed Central

Harry, Katherine J.; Parkinson, Dilworth Y.; Balsara, Nitash P.

2015-01-01

Imaging morphological changes that occur during the lifetime of rechargeable batteries is necessary to understand how these devices fail. Since the advent of lithium-ion batteries, researchers have known that the lithium metal anode has the highest theoretical energy density of any anode material. However, rechargeable batteries containing a lithium metal anode are not widely used in consumer products because the growth of lithium dendrites from the anode upon charging of the battery causes premature cell failure by short circuit. Lithium dendrites can also form in commercial lithium-ion batteries with graphite anodes if they are improperly charged. We demonstrate that lithium dendrite growth can be studied using synchrotron-based hard X-ray microtomography. This non-destructive imaging technique allows researchers to study the growth of lithium dendrites, in addition to other morphological changes inside batteries, and subsequently develop methods to extend battery life. PMID:26382323

Prediction of beef carcass salable yield and trimmable fat using bioelectrical impedance analysis.

PubMed

Zollinger, B L; Farrow, R L; Lawrence, T E; Latman, N S

2010-03-01

Bioelectrical impedance technology (BIA) is capable of providing an objective method of beef carcass yield estimation with the rapidity of yield grading. Electrical resistance (Rs), reactance (Xc), impedance (I), hot carcass weight (HCW), fat thickness between the 12th and 13th ribs (FT), estimated percentage kidney, pelvic, and heart fat (KPH%), longissimus muscle area (LMA), length between electrodes (LGE) as well as three derived carcass values that included electrical volume (EVOL), reactive density (XcD), and resistive density (RsD) were determined for the carcasses of 41 commercially fed cattle. Carcasses were subsequently fabricated into salable beef products reflective of industry standards. Equations were developed to predict percentage salable carcass yield (SY%) and percentage trimmable fat (FT%). Resulting equations accounted for 81% and 84% of variation in SY% and FT%, respectively. These results indicate that BIA technology is an accurate predictor of beef carcass composition. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Video Golf

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

George Nauck of ENCORE!!! invented and markets the Advanced Range Performance (ARPM) Video Golf System for measuring the result of a golf swing. After Nauck requested their assistance, Marshall Space Flight Center scientists suggested video and image processing/computing technology, and provided leads on commercial companies that dealt with the pertinent technologies. Nauck contracted with Applied Research Inc. to develop a prototype. The system employs an elevated camera, which sits behind the tee and follows the flight of the ball down range, catching the point of impact and subsequent roll. Instant replay of the video on a PC monitor at the tee allows measurement of the carry and roll. The unit measures distance and deviation from the target line, as well as distance from the target when one is selected. The information serves as an immediate basis for making adjustments or as a record of skill level progress for golfers.

A microflow cytometer on a chip

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golden, Joel P.; Kim, Jason; Anderson, George P.; Hashemi, Nastaran; Howell, Peter J.; Ligler, Frances S.

2010-02-01

A rapid, automated, multi-analyte Microflow Cytometer is being developed as a portable, field-deployable sensor for onsite diagnosis of biothreat agent exposure and environmental monitoring. The technology relies on a unique method for ensheathing a sample stream in continuous flow past an interrogation region where optical fibers provide excitation and collect emission. This approach efficiently focuses particles in the interrogation region of the fluidic channel, avoids clogging and provides for subsequent separation of the core and sheath fluids in order to capture the target for confirmatory assays and recycling of the sheath fluid. Fluorescently coded microspheres provide the capability for highly multiplexed assays. Optical analysis at four different wavelengths identified six sets of the coded microspheres recognizing Escherichia coli, Listeria, and Salmonella as well as cholera toxin, staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), and ricin, and assay results were compared with those of a commercial Luminex analysis system.

Fingerprinting postblast explosive residues by portable capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection.

PubMed

Kobrin, Eeva-Gerda; Lees, Heidi; Fomitšenko, Maria; Kubáň, Petr; Kaljurand, Mihkel

2014-04-01

A portable capillary electrophoretic system with contactless conductivity detection was used for fingerprint analysis of postblast explosive residues from commercial organic and improvised inorganic explosives on various surfaces (sand, concrete, metal witness plates). Simple extraction methods were developed for each of the surfaces for subsequent simultaneous capillary electrophoretic analysis of anions and cations. Dual-opposite end injection principle was used for fast (<4 min) separation of 10 common anions and cations from postblast residues using an optimized separation electrolyte composed of 20 mM MES, 20 mM l-histidine, 30 μM CTAB and 2 mM 18-crown-6. The concentrations of all ions obtained from the electropherograms were subjected to principal component analysis to classify the tested explosives on all tested surfaces, resulting in distinct cluster formations that could be used to verify (each) type of the explosive. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A coupled thermo-mechanical pseudo inverse approach for preform design in forging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Anoop Ebey; Abbes, Boussad; Li, Yu Ming; Abbes, Fazilay; Guo, Ying-Qiao; Duval, Jean-Louis

2017-10-01

Hot forging is a process used to form difficult to form materials as well as to achieve complex geometries. This is possible due to the reduction of yield stress at high temperatures and a subsequent increase in formability. Numerical methods have been used to predict the material yield and the stress/strain states of the final product. Pseudo Inverse Approach (PIA) developed in the context of cold forming provides a quick estimate of the stress and strain fields in the final product for a given initial shape. In this paper, PIA is extended to include the thermal effects on the forging process. A Johnson-Cook thermo-viscoplastic material law is considered and a staggered scheme is employed for the coupling between the mechanical and thermal problems. The results are compared with available commercial codes to show the efficiency and the limitations of PIA.

Determination of the Actual Land Use Pattern Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Multispectral Camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dindaroğlu, T.; Gündoğan, R.; Gülci, S.

2017-11-01

The international initiatives developed in the context of combating global warming are based on the monitoring of Land Use, Land Use Changes, and Forests (LULUCEF). Determination of changes in land use patterns is used to determine the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce adverse effects in subsequent processes. This process, which requires the investigation and control of quite large areas, has undoubtedly increased the importance of technological tools and equipment. The use of carrier platforms and commercially cheaper various sensors have become widespread. In this study, multispectral camera was used to determine the land use pattern with high sensitivity. Unmanned aerial flights were carried out in the research fields of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University campus area. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (multi-propeller hexacopter) was used as a carrier platform for aerial photographs. Within the scope of this study, multispectral cameras were used to determine the land use pattern with high sensitivity.

Applicability of Zeolite Based Systems for Ammonia Removal and Recovery From Wastewater.

PubMed

Das, Pallabi; Prasad, Bably; Singh, Krishna Kant Kumar

2017-09-01

  Ammonia discharged in industrial effluents bears deleterious effects and necessitates remediation. Integrated systems devoted to recovery of ammonia in a useful form and remediation of the same addresses the challenges of waste management and its utilization. A comparative performance evaluation study was undertaken to access the suitability of different zeolite based systems (commercial zeolites and zeolites synthesized from fly ash) for removal of ammonia followed by its subsequent release. Four main parameters which were studied to evaluate the applicability of such systems for large scale usage are cost-effectiveness, ammonia removal efficiency, performance on regeneration, and ammonia release percentage. The results indicated that synthetic zeolites outperformed zeolites synthesized from fly ash, although the later proved to be more efficient in terms of total cost incurred. Process technology development in this direction will be a trade-of between cost and ammonia removal and release efficiencies.

Freedom-to-operate analysis of a transgenic multivitamin corn variety.

PubMed

Zanga, Daniela; Capell, Teresa; Zhu, Changfu; Christou, Paul; Thangaraj, Harry

2016-05-01

In this article, we explore the intellectual property (IP) landscape relevant to the production and commercialization of Carolight(™) , a transgenic multivitamin corn variety created on humanitarian grounds to address micronutrient deficiencies in low-and-middle-income countries. The successful production of this variety requires IP rights risk management because there is a strong protection on inventions and processes via patent portfolios in both developing and industrialized countries. The IP framework is complex, and specialist patent lawyers are usually employed to perform such analysis, but the costs cannot always be met by small, publicly funded projects. We report an alternative strategy, a do-it-yourself patent analysis, to produce a review with limited legal value that can nevertheless lay the foundations for a subsequent more in-depth professional freedom-to-operate opinion. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Asteroid Redirect Mission - Next Major stepping-stone to Human Exploration of NEOs and beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanchez, Natalia

2016-07-01

In response to NASA's Asteroid Initiative, an Asteroid Redirect and Robotic Mission (ARRM) is being studied by a NASA cohort, led by JPL, to enable the capture a multi-ton boulder from the surface of a Near-Earth Asteroid and return it to cislunar space for subsequent human and robotic exploration. The mission would boost our understanding of NEOs and develop technological capabilities for Planetary Defense, shall a NEO come up on a collision course. The benefits of this mission can extend our capabilities to explore farther into space, as well as create a new commercial sector in Space Mining, which would make materials in Space available for our use. ARRM would leverage and advance current knowledge of higher-efficiency propulsion systems with a new Solar Electric Propulsion demonstration (similar to that on the Dawn spacecraft) to be incorporated into future Mars Missions.

Coordinating Council. First Meeting: NASA/RECON database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

A Council of NASA Headquarters, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and the NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Facility management met (1) to review and discuss issues of NASA concern, and (2) to promote new and better ways to collect and disseminate scientific and technical information. Topics mentioned for study and discussion at subsequent meetings included the pros and cons of transferring the NASA/RECON database to the commercial sector, the quality of the database, and developing ways to increase foreign acquisitions. The input systems at AIAA and the STI Facility were described. Also discussed were the proposed RECON II retrieval system, the transmittal of document orders received by the Facility and sent to AIAA, and the handling of multimedia input by the Departments of Defense and Commerce. A second meeting was scheduled for six weeks later to discuss database quality and international foreign input.

Sonochemically Fabricated Microelectrode Arrays for Use as Sensing Platforms

PubMed Central

Collyer, Stuart D.; Davis, Frank; Higson, Séamus P.J.

2010-01-01

The development, manufacture, modification and subsequent utilisation of sonochemically-formed microelectrode arrays is described for a range of applications. Initial fabrication of the sensing platform utilises ultrasonic ablation of electrochemically insulating polymers deposited upon conductive carbon substrates, forming an array of up to 70,000 microelectrode pores cm−2. Electrochemical and optical analyses using these arrays, their enhanced signal response and stir-independence area are all discussed. The growth of conducting polymeric “mushroom” protrusion arrays with entrapped biological entities, thereby forming biosensors is detailed. The simplicity and inexpensiveness of this approach, lending itself ideally to mass fabrication coupled with unrivalled sensitivity and stir independence makes commercial viability of this process a reality. Application of microelectrode arrays as functional components within sensors include devices for detection of chlorine, glucose, ethanol and pesticides. Immunosensors based on microelectrode arrays are described within this monograph for antigens associated with prostate cancer and transient ischemic attacks (strokes). PMID:22399926

Point-to-point people with purpose—Exploring the possibility of a commercial traveler market for point-to-point suborbital space transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webber, Derek

2013-12-01

An argument was made at the First Arcachon Conference on Private Human Access to Space in 2008 [1] that some systematic market research should be conducted into potential market segments for point-to-point suborbital space transportation (PtP), in order to understand whether a commercial market exists which might augment possible government use for such a vehicle. The cargo market potential was subsequently addressed via desk research, and the results, which resulted in a pessimistic business case outlook, were presented in [2]. The same desk research approach is now used in this paper to address the potential business and wealthy individual passenger traveler market segment ("point-to-point people with purpose"). The results, with the assumed ticket pricing, are not encouraging.

Atomic force microscopic investigation of commercial pressure sensitive adhesives for forensic analysis.

PubMed

Canetta, Elisabetta; Adya, Ashok K

2011-07-15

Pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA), such as those used in packaging and adhesive tapes, are very often encountered in forensic investigations. In criminal activities, packaging tapes may be used for sealing packets containing drugs, explosive devices, or questioned documents, while adhesive and electrical tapes are used occasionally in kidnapping cases. In this work, the potential of using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in both imaging and force mapping (FM) modes to derive additional analytical information from PSAs is demonstrated. AFM has been used to illustrate differences in the ultrastructural and nanomechanical properties of three visually distinguishable commercial PSAs to first test the feasibility of using this technique. Subsequently, AFM was used to detect nanoscopic differences between three visually indistinguishable PSAs. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Labeling of food containing genetically modified organisms: international policies and Brazilian legislation].

PubMed

Costa, Thadeu Estevam Moreira Maramaldo; Marin, Victor Augustus

2011-08-01

The increase in surface area planted with genetically modified crops, with the subsequent transfer of such crops into the general environment for commercial trade, has raised questions about the safety of these products. The introduction of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety has led to the need to produce information and ensure training in this area for the implementation of policies on biosafety and for decision-making on the part of governments at the national, regional and international level. This article presents two main standpoints regarding the labeling of GM products (one adopted by the United States and the other by the European Union), as well as the position adopted by Brazil and its current legislation on labeling and commercial release of genetically modified (GM) products.

77 FR 74204 - Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore North Carolina-Call for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-13

...BOEM invites the submission of nominations for commercial wind leases that would allow a lessee to propose the construction of a wind energy project on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore North Carolina, and to develop the project if approved after further environmental review. Although this announcement is not itself a leasing announcement, the Call Areas described herein, or portions thereof, may be available for future leasing. BOEM will use responses to this Call to gauge specific interest in acquiring commercial wind leases in some or all of the Call Areas, as required by 43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3). Parties wishing to submit a nomination in response to this Call should submit detailed and specific information in response to the requirements described in the section entitled, ``Required Nomination Information.'' This announcement also requests comments and information from interested and affected parties about site conditions, resources, and multiple uses in close proximity to, or within, the Call Areas that would be relevant to BOEM's review of any nominations submitted and/or to BOEM's subsequent decision to offer all or part of the Call Areas for commercial wind leasing. The information that BOEM is requesting is described in the section of this Call entitled, ``Requested Information from Interested or Affected Parties.'' This Call is published pursuant to subsection 8(p)(3) of the OCS Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3), which was added by section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), as well as the implementing regulations at 30 CFR part 585. The Call Areas described in this notice are located on the OCS offshore North Carolina and are delineated as Wilmington-West, Wilmington-East and Kitty Hawk (formerly referred to as North Carolina Planning Areas 1, 2, and 5, respectively, during BOEM's North Carolina offshore wind planning efforts). The three Call Areas include 195 whole OCS blocks and 60 partial blocks in total and comprise approximately 1,441 square nautical miles (494,016 hectares). These Call Areas were established in consultation with the BOEM North Carolina Renewable Energy Intergovernmental Task Force (Task Force). A detailed description of the areas and how they were developed is described in the section of this Call entitled, ``Description of the Area.''

BioServe space technologies: A NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

BioServe Space Technologies, a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS), was established in 1987. As is characteristic of each CCDS designated by NASA, the goals of this commercial center are aimed at stimulating high technology research that takes advantage of the space environment and at leading in the development of new products and services which have commercial potential or that contribute to possible new commercial ventures. BioServe's efforts in these areas focus upon space life science studies and the development of enabling devices that will facilitate ground-based experiments as well as the conversion of such to the microgravity environment. A direct result of BioServe's hardware development and life sciences studies is the training of the next generation of bioengineers who will be knowledgeable and comfortable working with the challenges of the space frontier.

Commercial Skills Test Information Management System final report and self-sustainability plan : [technology brief].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-04-01

The Commercial Skills Test Information Management System (CSTIMS) was developed to address the fraudulent issuance of commercial drivers licenses (CDLs) across the United States. CSTIMS was developed as a Web-based, software-as-a-service system to...

Alteration of Porcine Serum Albumin Levels in Pork Meat by Marination in Kiwi or Pineapple Juice and Subsequent Pan Broiling

PubMed Central

Moon, Sung-Sil; Kim, Il-Suk; Ham, Jun-Sang; Park, Beom-Young

2014-01-01

This study was conducted to evaluate the changes in porcine serum albumin (PSA), a major allergen, which occur when raw pork ham is marinated with kiwi or pineapple juice, and/or when the ham is pan broiled at 300℃ for 4 min after marination. In this study, raw pork ham was soaked for 4 h or 8 h in marinades containing commercial marinating sauce only, commercial marinating sauce and 7% kiwi juice, or commercial marinating sauce and 7% pineapple juice. When the meat was marinated and then pan-broiled, pork ham meat protein was significantly denatured and hydrolyzed, and the level of PSA in the meat was significantly reduced. The PSA contents of pork broiled without marination, pork that had been marinated in commercial marinating sauce alone, pork that had been marinated in commercial marinating sauce with kiwi juice, and pork that had been marinated in commercial marinating sauce with pineapple juice, were 95.4, 43.3, 14.3, and 5.4 ng/mL, respectively (p<0.05). Marinating with pineapple juice was more effective than marinating with kiwi juice; and marination for 8 h was more effective than marinating for 4 h. These results indicate that the level of PSA in pork ham is effectively reduced, when the meat is first marinated in sauces that contain kiwi or pineapple extracts for 8 h, rather than 4 h, and then cooked. Further study is needed to determine whether marinated pork meat reduces allergenicity in vivo, as well. PMID:26761177

Design and development of an active Gurney flap for rotorcraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freire Gómez, Jon; Booker, Julian D.; Mellor, Phil H.

2013-03-01

The EU's Green Rotorcraft programme will develop an Active Gurney Flap (AGF) for a full-scale helicopter main rotor blade as part of its `smart adaptive rotor blade' technology demonstrators. AGFs can be utilized to provide a localized and variable lift enhancement on the rotor, enabling a redistribution of loading on the rotor blade around the rotor azimuth. Further advantages include the possibility of using AGFs to allow a rotor speed reduction, which subsequently provides acoustic benefits. Designed to be integrable into a commercial helicopter blade, and thereby capable of withstanding real in-flight centrifugal loading, blade vibrations and aerodynamic loads, the demonstrator is expected to achieve a high technology readiness level (TRL). The AGF will be validated initially by a constant blade section 2D wind tunnel test and latterly by full blade 3D whirl tower testing. This paper presents the methodology adopted for the AGF concept topology selection, based on a series of both qualitative and quantitative performance criteria. Two different AGF candidate mechanisms are compared, both powered by a small commercial electromagnetic actuator. In both topologies, the link between the actuator and the control surface consists of two rotating torque bars, pivoting on flexure bearings. This provides the required reliability and precision, while making the design virtually frictionless. The engineering analysis presented suggests that both candidates would perform satisfactorily in a 2D wind tunnel test, but that equally, both have design constraints which limit their potential to be further taken into a whirl tower test under full scale centrifugal and inertial loads.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roach, Dennis Patrick; Rackow, Kirk A.

The FAA's Airworthiness Assurance NDI Validation Center, in conjunction with the Commercial Aircraft Composite Repair Committee, developed a set of composite reference standards to be used in NDT equipment calibration for accomplishment of damage assessment and post-repair inspection of all commercial aircraft composites. In this program, a series of NDI tests on a matrix of composite aircraft structures and prototype reference standards were completed in order to minimize the number of standards needed to carry out composite inspections on aircraft. Two tasks, related to composite laminates and non-metallic composite honeycomb configurations, were addressed. A suite of 64 honeycomb panels, representingmore » the bounding conditions of honeycomb construction on aircraft, was inspected using a wide array of NDI techniques. An analysis of the resulting data determined the variables that play a key role in setting up NDT equipment. This has resulted in a set of minimum honeycomb NDI reference standards that include these key variables. A sequence of subsequent tests determined that this minimum honeycomb reference standard set is able to fully support inspections over the full range of honeycomb construction scenarios found on commercial aircraft. In the solid composite laminate arena, G11 Phenolic was identified as a good generic solid laminate reference standard material. Testing determined matches in key velocity and acoustic impedance properties, as well as, low attenuation relative to carbon laminates. Furthermore, comparisons of resonance testing response curves from the G11 Phenolic NDI reference standard was very similar to the resonance response curves measured on the existing carbon and fiberglass laminates. NDI data shows that this material should work for both pulse-echo (velocity-based) and resonance (acoustic impedance-based) inspections.« less

Early detection of health and welfare compromises through automated detection of behavioural changes in pigs.

PubMed

Matthews, Stephen G; Miller, Amy L; Clapp, James; Plötz, Thomas; Kyriazakis, Ilias

2016-11-01

Early detection of health and welfare compromises in commercial piggeries is essential for timely intervention to enhance treatment success, reduce impact on welfare, and promote sustainable pig production. Behavioural changes that precede or accompany subclinical and clinical signs may have diagnostic value. Often referred to as sickness behaviour, this encompasses changes in feeding, drinking, and elimination behaviours, social behaviours, and locomotion and posture. Such subtle changes in behaviour are not easy to quantify and require lengthy observation input by staff, which is impractical on a commercial scale. Automated early-warning systems may provide an alternative by objectively measuring behaviour with sensors to automatically monitor and detect behavioural changes. This paper aims to: (1) review the quantifiable changes in behaviours with potential diagnostic value; (2) subsequently identify available sensors for measuring behaviours; and (3) describe the progress towards automating monitoring and detection, which may allow such behavioural changes to be captured, measured, and interpreted and thus lead to automation in commercial, housed piggeries. Multiple sensor modalities are available for automatic measurement and monitoring of behaviour, which require humans to actively identify behavioural changes. This has been demonstrated for the detection of small deviations in diurnal drinking, deviations in feeding behaviour, monitoring coughs and vocalisation, and monitoring thermal comfort, but not social behaviour. However, current progress is in the early stages of developing fully automated detection systems that do not require humans to identify behavioural changes; e.g., through automated alerts sent to mobile phones. Challenges for achieving automation are multifaceted and trade-offs are considered between health, welfare, and costs, between analysis of individuals and groups, and between generic and compromise-specific behaviours. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Concept design theory and model for multi-use space facilities: Analysis of key system design parameters through variance of mission requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynerson, Charles Martin

This research has been performed to create concept design and economic feasibility data for space business parks. A space business park is a commercially run multi-use space station facility designed for use by a wide variety of customers. Both space hardware and crew are considered as revenue producing payloads. Examples of commercial markets may include biological and materials research, processing, and production, space tourism habitats, and satellite maintenance and resupply depots. This research develops a design methodology and an analytical tool to create feasible preliminary design information for space business parks. The design tool is validated against a number of real facility designs. Appropriate model variables are adjusted to ensure that statistical approximations are valid for subsequent analyses. The tool is used to analyze the effect of various payload requirements on the size, weight and power of the facility. The approach for the analytical tool was to input potential payloads as simple requirements, such as volume, weight, power, crew size, and endurance. In creating the theory, basic principles are used and combined with parametric estimation of data when necessary. Key system parameters are identified for overall system design. Typical ranges for these key parameters are identified based on real human spaceflight systems. To connect the economics to design, a life-cycle cost model is created based upon facility mass. This rough cost model estimates potential return on investments, initial investment requirements and number of years to return on the initial investment. Example cases are analyzed for both performance and cost driven requirements for space hotels, microgravity processing facilities, and multi-use facilities. In combining both engineering and economic models, a design-to-cost methodology is created for more accurately estimating the commercial viability for multiple space business park markets.

Passive Leak Detection Using Commercial Hydrogen Colorimetric Indicator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hartmann, Kevin; Buttner, William; Burgess, Robert

Element One, Inc. (www.elem.com), a small business with in Boulder, CO, has been developing hydrogen detection technology based upon a highly selective colorimetric indicator. In its native state, the indicator pigment is a pale gray color, but becomes black upon exposure to hydrogen. The colorimetric change can be readily observed by the naked eye without the need for supplemental electronics or other hardware. Recently, the colorimetric indicator was integrated into a pliable, self-adhesive tape that can readily wrap around pneumatic fittings to serve as a hydrogen leak detector. A prototype version of the Element One indicator tape was tested withinmore » an NREL hydrogen system and successfully identified the unexpected presence of a small leak; a summary document for this case study is presented in Appendix 1. The tape was subsequently configured into 10-foot rolls as a product prototype that has just recently been commercialized and marketed under the tradename DetecTape(R). Figure 1 shows the commercial version of DetecTape along with an indicator sample in its native state and one that had been exposed to hydrogen. DetecTape is a self-adhesive silicone-based tape impregnated with a proprietary hydrogen-sensitive indicator based on transition metal oxides. A length of the tape can be cut from the roll and stretched by a factor of two or three times around a fitting. Due to the self-adhesive property of the tape, this provides a tight seal around the fitting. The seal is not hermetic, and is not intended to prevent the release of a leaking gas. However, a portion of the hydrogen leaking from a wrapped fitting will pass through the tape and react with the active indicator impregnated within the tape, thereby inducing blackening.« less

Test chamber investigation of the volatilization from source materials of brominated flame retardants and their subsequent deposition to indoor dust.

PubMed

Rauert, C; Harrad, S; Stranger, M; Lazarov, B

2015-08-01

Numerous studies have reported elevated concentrations of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in dust from indoor micro-environments. Limited information is available, however, on the pathways via which BFRs in source materials transfer to indoor dust. The most likely hypothesized pathways are (a) volatilization from the source with subsequent partitioning to dust, (b) abrasion of the treated product, transferring microscopic fibers or particles to the dust (c) direct uptake to dust via contact between source and dust. This study reports the development and application of an in-house test chamber for investigating BFR volatilization from source materials and subsequent partitioning to dust. The performance of the chamber was evaluated against that of a commercially available chamber, and inherent issues with such chambers were investigated, such as loss due to sorption of BFRs to chamber surfaces (so-called sink effects). The partitioning of polybrominated diphenyl ethers to dust, post-volatilization from an artificial source was demonstrated, while analysis in the test chamber of a fabric curtain treated with the hexabromocyclododecane formulation, resulted in dust concentrations exceeding substantially those detected in the dust pre-experiment. These results provide the first experimental evidence of BFR volatilization followed by deposition to dust. Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are ubiquitous in indoor air and dust, leading to human exposure and resultant concerns about their adverse impact on health. Indoor dust has been demonstrated to constitute an important vector of human exposure to BFRs, especially for toddlers. Despite the greater importance of dust contamination in the context of human exposure to BFRs, the mechanisms via which BFRs transfer from source materials to dust have hitherto been subject to only limited research. In this study, a test chamber is utilized to simulate the migration of BFRs to dust via volatilization from source materials and subsequent deposition to dust. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development of a shuttle recovery Commercial Materials Processing in Space (CMPS) program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

The work performed has covered the following tasks: update commercial users requirements; assess availability of carriers and facilities; shuttle availability assessment; development of optimum accommodations plan; and payload documentation requirements assessment. The results from the first four tasks are presented. To update commercial user requirements, contacts were made with the JEA and CCDS partners to obtain copies of their most recent official flight requests. From these requests the commercial partners' short and long range plans for flight dates, flight frequency, experiment hardware and carriers was determined. A 34 by 44 inch chart was completed to give a snapshot view of the progress of commercialization in space. Further, an assessment was made of the availability of carriers and facilities. Both existing carriers and those under development were identified for use by the commercial partners. A data base was compiled to show the capabilities of the carriers. A shuttle availability assessment was performed using the primary and secondary shuttle manifests released by NASA. Analysis of the manifest produced a flight-by-flight list of flight opportunities available to commercial users. Using inputs from the first three tasks, an Optimum Accommodations Plan was developed. The Accommodation Plan shows the commercial users manifested by flight, the experiment flown, the carrier used and complete list of commercial users that could not be manifested in each calendar year.

KSC-2011-6999

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-09-16

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Representatives from aerospace industry partners and the media are given an overview on NASA's Commercial Crew Program's next steps during a strategy forum held in the Press Site auditorium at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On the dais, from left, are Candrea Thomas, NASA Public Affairs; Phil McAlister, director, Commercial Spaceflight Development in NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and Brent Jeff, deputy director, Commercial Crew Program. The goal of the Commercial Crew Program is to have a commercially developed, human-capable, certified spacecraft safely flying astronauts into orbit and to the International Space Station by the middle of the decade. For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

The Commercial Course: Defense et Illustration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scavillo, Anthony

The development of commercial foreign language courses by colleges and universities would help to satisfy the need for language enrollments and the expressed need of the international business community for foreign language skills in American business employees. Three major problems inhibit commercial language course development: limited…

Low-cost Solar Array Project. Feasibility of the Silane Process for Producing Semiconductor-grade Silicon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

The feasibility of Union Carbide's silane process for commercial application was established. An integrated process design for an experimental process system development unit and a commercial facility were developed. The corresponding commercial plant economic performance was then estimated.

NewSpace: The Emerging Commercial Space Industry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, Gary

2017-01-01

We are at a turning point in the history of space exploration and development, where new industries are being born to use space in non-traditional ways. Established state-run industrial space sector is no longer the only game in town; commercial space is becoming competitive. Many new entrepreneurial companies, such as SpaceX, Deep Space Industries, etc. are developing new markets, such as Orbital, Suborbital, and Deep Space. Together, government and private industry can facilitate the birth of this new industry. The U.S. national policy on commercial space is to develop a robust and competitive U.S. commercial space sector and to energize competitive domestic industries to participate in global markets. NASA can do this by purchasing and using commercial space capabilities and services; exploring the use of nontraditional arrangements for acquiring space capabilities and services; refraining from activities that preclude, discourage, or compete with commercial space activities; and pursuing opportunities to transfer some functions to the commercial space sector, where beneficial. Commercial space must be competitive, while the government has other priorities such as safety, jobs, etc.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gorlov, A.M.

This report contains conclusive results of the research project entitled ``Further Development of the Pneumatic Method to Harness Hydropower and its Experimental Implementation in the State of Maine`` sponsored by the US Department of Energy (Contract DE-FG02-91ER12113). The results obtained by this research are considerably beyond the original goals anticipated by the contract which were a theoretical study of the method only and its possible applications. In fact, the success of the analytical research program has allowed us to move on to development, construction and testing of a physical model of the hydro-air power converter and, subsequently, to development ofmore » a well equipped hydro-pneumatic power laboratory at Northeastern University. Photographs la and 2a show both the laboratory and the model. Good performance of the model proves that the hydro-pneumatic concept holds much promise for development of an ecologically safe and commercially attractive novel approach to harnessing ultra low-head hydropower. As a result, private companies have started to support this new technology, and to invest money in its further development and construction of demonstration power plants (Appendix 1). Visitors at the Northeastern University laboratory often praise this new technique, as is attested by the articles in the Wall Street Journal (Appendix 2) and the Technology Review (Appendix 3).« less

Medical Care Expenditures for Individuals with Prediabetes: The Potential Cost Savings in Reducing the Risk of Developing Diabetes.

PubMed

Khan, Tamkeen; Tsipas, Stavros; Wozniak, Gregory

2017-10-01

The United States has 86 million adults with prediabetes. Individuals with prediabetes can prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes through lifestyle modifications such as participation in the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), thereby mitigating the medical and economic burdens associated with diabetes. A cohort analysis of a commercially insured population was conducted using individual-level claims data from Truven Health MarketScan ® Lab Database to identify adults with prediabetes, track whether they develop diabetes, and compare medical expenditures for those who are newly diagnosed with diabetes to those who are not. This study then illustrates how reducing the risk of developing diabetes by participation in an evidence-based lifestyle change program could yield both positive net savings on medical care expenditures and return on investment (ROI). Annual expenditures are found to be nearly one third higher for those who develop diabetes in subsequent years relative to those who do not transition from prediabetes to diabetes, with an average difference of $2671 per year. At that cost differential, the 3-year ROI for a National DPP is estimated to be as high as 42%. The results show the importance and economic benefits of participation in lifestyle intervention programs to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Commercial space opportunities - Advanced concepts and technology overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reck, Gregory M.

1993-01-01

The paper discusses the status of current and future commercial space opportunities. The goal is to pioneer innovative, customer-focused space concepts and technologies, leveraged through industrial, academic, and government alliance, to ensure U.S. commercial competitiveness and preeminence in space. The strategy is to develop technologies which enable new products and processes, deploy existing technology into commercial and military products and processes, and integrate military and commercial research and production activities. Technology development areas include information infrastructure, electronics design and manufacture, health care technology, environment technology, and aeronautical technologies.

Participating in commercial space ventures: Introduction to NASA Centers for the Commercial Development of Space and the Cooperative Agreements Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

In response to a Presidential directive, NASA has implemented a space policy which actively supports and encourages U.S. industry investment and participation in commercial space ventures. NASA's Office of Commercial Programs (OCP) has played a significant role in stimulating the growth of commercial space activity. Through a variety of programs, OCP encourages commercial interest and involvement in space endeavors by providing access to NASA resources and opportunities for the emerging space industry to reduce the technical, financial, and business risks associated with space-related activities. This manual describes NASA's Commercial Uses of Space Program and introduces participants to four major OCP Commercial programs: Technology Utilization (TU), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Centers for the Commercial Development of Space Flight Agreement (CCDSFA), and Cooperative Agreements Programs. The objective of this manual is to assist U.S. industry identify and pursue the appropriate agreement for participation in a commercial space venture.

The GETE approach to facilitating the commercialization and use of DOE-developed environmental technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harvey, T.N.

The Global Environmental Technology Enterprise (GETE) was conceived to develop and implement strategies to facilitate the commercialization of innovative, cost-effective Department of Energy (DOE)-developed environmental technologies. These strategies are needed to aid DOE`s clean-up mission; to break down barriers to commercialization; and to build partnerships between the federal government and private industry in order to facilitate the development and use of innovative environmental technologies.

Co₃O₄ nanocrystal ink printed on carbon fiber paper as a large-area electrode for electrochemical water splitting.

PubMed

Du, Shichao; Ren, Zhiyu; Zhang, Jun; Wu, Jun; Xi, Wang; Zhu, Jiaqing; Fu, Honggang

2015-05-11

A large-area, self-supported Co3O4 nanocrystal/carbon fiber electrode for oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction was fabricated via thermal decomposition of the [Co(NH3)n](2+)-oleic acid complex and subsequent spray deposition. Due to the exposed active sites and good electrical conductivity, its operate voltage for overall water splitting is nearly the same as commercial Pt/C.

More than meets the eye: infant presenting with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy.

PubMed

Sen, Kuntal; Agarwal, Rajkumar

2018-04-05

We report a newborn infant who presented with poor Apgar scores and umbilical artery acidosis leading to the diagnosis of hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy. During the course of the infant's hospitalisation, subsequent workup revealed an underlying genetic cause that masqueraded as hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

End-use energy consumption estimates for US commercial buildings, 1989

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Belzer, D.B.; Wrench, L.E.; Marsh, T.L.

An accurate picture of how energy is used in the nation`s stock of commercial buildings can serve a variety of program planning and policy needs within the Department of Energy, by utilities, and other groups seeking to improve the efficiency of energy use in the building sector. This report describes an estimation of energy consumption by end use based upon data from the 1989 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS). The methodology used in the study combines elements of engineering simulations and statistical analysis to estimate end-use intensities for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, refrigeration, hot water, cooking, and miscellaneous equipment.more » Billing data for electricity and natural gas were first decomposed into weather and nonweather dependent loads. Subsequently, Statistical Adjusted Engineering (SAE) models were estimated by building type with annual data. The SAE models used variables such as building size, vintage, climate region, weekly operating hours, and employee density to adjust the engineering model predicted loads to the observed consumption. End-use consumption by fuel was estimated for each of the 5,876 buildings in the 1989 CBECS. The report displays the summary results for eleven separate building types as well as for the total US commercial building stock.« less

TRICARE Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Benefit

PubMed Central

Maglione, Margaret; Kadiyala, Srikanth; Kress, Amii; Hastings, Jaime L.; O'Hanlon, Claire E.

2017-01-01

Abstract This study compared the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) benefit provided by TRICARE as an early intervention for autism spectrum disorder with similar benefits in Medicaid and commercial health insurance plans. The sponsor, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was particularly interested in how a proposed TRICARE reimbursement rate decrease from $125 per hour to $68 per hour for ABA services performed by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst compared with reimbursement rates (defined as third-party payment to the service provider) in Medicaid and commercial health insurance plans. Information on ABA coverage in state Medicaid programs was collected from Medicaid state waiver databases; subsequently, Medicaid provider reimbursement data were collected from state Medicaid fee schedules. Applied Behavior Analysis provider reimbursement in the commercial health insurance system was estimated using Truven Health MarketScan® data. A weighted mean U.S. reimbursement rate was calculated for several services using cross-state information on the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Locations of potential provider shortages were also identified. Medicaid and commercial insurance reimbursement rates varied considerably across the United States. This project concluded that the proposed $68-per-hour reimbursement rate for services provided by a board certified analyst was more than 25 percent below the U.S. mean. PMID:28845348

Clearing the airways: advocacy and regulation for smoke-free airlines.

PubMed

Holm, A L; Davis, R M

2004-03-01

To examine the advocacy and regulatory history surrounding bans on smoking in commercial airliners. Review of historical documents, popular press articles, and other sources to trace the timeline of events leading up to the US ban on smoking in airliners and subsequent efforts by airlines and other nations. In early years, efforts by flight attendants and health advocates to make commercial airliners smoke-free were not productive. Advocacy efforts between 1969 and 1984 resulted in maintenance of the status quo, with modest exceptions (creation of smoking and non-smoking sections of aircraft, and a ban on cigar and pipe smoking). Several breakthrough events in the mid 1980s, however, led to an abrupt turnaround in regulatory efforts. The first watershed event was the publication in 1986 of the National Academy of Science's report on the airliner cabin environment, which recommended banning smoking on all commercial flights. Subsequently, following concerted lobbying efforts by health advocates, Congress passed legislation banning smoking on US domestic flights of less than two hours, which became effective in 1988. The law was made permanent and extended to flights of less than six hours in 1990. This landmark legislation propelled the adoption of similar rules internationally, both by airlines and their industry's governing bodies. Though the tobacco industry succeeded in stalling efforts to create smoke-free airways, it was ultimately unable to muster sufficient grassroots support or scientific evidence to convince the general public or policymakers that smoking should continue to be allowed on airlines. The movement to ban smoking in aircraft represents a case study in effective advocacy for smoke-free workplaces. Health advocates, with crucial assistance from flight attendants, used an incremental advocacy process to push for smoking and non-smoking sections on US commercial flights, then for smoking bans on short domestic flights, and finally for completely smoke-free domestic and international flights. Through the course of the battle, advocates from all quarters of tobacco control presented a unified message, exhibited remarkable focus on an attainable goal, and effectively leveraged their relationships with champions in both government and the private sector.

Clearing the airways: advocacy and regulation for smoke-free airlines

PubMed Central

Holm, A; Davis, R

2004-01-01

Objective: To examine the advocacy and regulatory history surrounding bans on smoking in commercial airliners. Methods: Review of historical documents, popular press articles, and other sources to trace the timeline of events leading up to the US ban on smoking in airliners and subsequent efforts by airlines and other nations. Results: In early years, efforts by flight attendants and health advocates to make commercial airliners smoke-free were not productive. Advocacy efforts between 1969 and 1984 resulted in maintenance of the status quo, with modest exceptions (creation of smoking and non-smoking sections of aircraft, and a ban on cigar and pipe smoking). Several breakthrough events in the mid 1980s, however, led to an abrupt turnaround in regulatory efforts. The first watershed event was the publication in 1986 of the National Academy of Science's report on the airliner cabin environment, which recommended banning smoking on all commercial flights. Subsequently, following concerted lobbying efforts by health advocates, Congress passed legislation banning smoking on US domestic flights of less than two hours, which became effective in 1988. The law was made permanent and extended to flights of less than six hours in 1990. This landmark legislation propelled the adoption of similar rules internationally, both by airlines and their industry's governing bodies. Though the tobacco industry succeeded in stalling efforts to create smoke-free airways, it was ultimately unable to muster sufficient grassroots support or scientific evidence to convince the general public or policymakers that smoking should continue to be allowed on airlines. Conclusions: The movement to ban smoking in aircraft represents a case study in effective advocacy for smoke-free workplaces. Health advocates, with crucial assistance from flight attendants, used an incremental advocacy process to push for smoking and non-smoking sections on US commercial flights, then for smoking bans on short domestic flights, and finally for completely smoke-free domestic and international flights. Through the course of the battle, advocates from all quarters of tobacco control presented a unified message, exhibited remarkable focus on an attainable goal, and effectively leveraged their relationships with champions in both government and the private sector. PMID:14985614

The Problem Behaviour Checklist: short scale to assess challenging behaviours

PubMed Central

Nagar, Jessica; Evans, Rosie; Oliver, Patricia; Bassett, Paul; Liedtka, Natalie; Tarabi, Aris

2016-01-01

Background Challenging behaviour, especially in intellectual disability, covers a wide range that is in need of further evaluation. Aims To develop a short but comprehensive instrument for all aspects of challenging behaviour. Method In the first part of a two-stage enquiry, a 28-item scale was constructed to examine the components of challenging behaviour. Following a simple factor analysis this was developed further to create a new short scale, the Problem Behaviour Checklist (PBCL). The scale was subsequently used in a randomised controlled trial and tested for interrater reliability. Scores were also compared with a standard scale, the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS). Results Seven identified factors – personal violence, violence against property, self-harm, sexually inappropriate, contrary, demanding and disappearing behaviour – were scored on a 5-point scale. A subsequent factor analysis with the second population showed demanding, violent and contrary behaviour to account for most of the variance. Interrater reliability using weighted kappa showed good agreement (0.91; 95% CI 0.83–0.99). Good agreement was also shown with scores on the MOAS and a score of 1 on the PBCL showed high sensitivity (97%) and specificity (85%) for a threshold MOASscore of 4. Conclusions The PBCL appears to be a suitable and practical scale for assessing all aspects of challenging behaviour. Declaration of interest None. Copyright and usage © 2016 The Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence. PMID:27703753

Recovery Act: Training Program Development for Commercial Building Equipment Technicians

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leah Glameyer

The overall goal of this project has been to develop curricula, certification requirements, and accreditation standards for training on energy efficient practices and technologies for commercial building technicians. These training products will advance industry expertise towards net-zero energy commercial building goals and will result in a substantial reduction in energy use. The ultimate objective is to develop a workforce that can bring existing commercial buildings up to their energy performance potential and ensure that new commercial buildings do not fall below their expected optimal level of performance. Commercial building equipment technicians participating in this training program will learn how tomore » best operate commercial buildings to ensure they reach their expected energy performance level. The training is a combination of classroom, online and on-site lessons. The Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) developed curricula using subject matter and adult learning experts to ensure the training meets certification requirements and accreditation standards for training these technicians. The training targets a specific climate zone to meets the needs, specialized expertise, and perspectives of the commercial building equipment technicians in that zone. The combination of efficient operations and advanced design will improve the internal built environment of a commercial building by increasing comfort and safety, while reducing energy use and environmental impact. Properly trained technicians will ensure equipment operates at design specifications. A second impact is a more highly trained workforce that is better equipped to obtain employment. Organizations that contributed to the development of the training program include TEEX and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) (both members of The Texas A&M University System). TEES is also a member of the Building Commissioning Association. This report includes a description of the project accomplishments, including the course development phases, tasks associated with each phase, and detailed list of the course materials developed. A summary of each year's activities is also included.« less

Commercial Cargo Derivative Study of the Advanced Hybrid Wing Body Configuration with Over-Wing Engine Nacelles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hooker, John R.; Wick, Andrew T.; Hardin, Christopher J.

2017-01-01

LM has leveraged our partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and NASA on the advanced hybrid wing body (HWB) concept to develop a commercial freighter which addresses the NASA Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT) Project goals for improved efficiency beyond 2025. The current Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Revolutionary Configurations for Energy Efficiency (RCEE) program established the HWB configuration and technologies needed for military transports to achieve aerodynamic and fuel efficiencies well beyond the commercial industry's most modern designs. This study builds upon that effort to develop a baseline commercial cargo aircraft and two HWB derivative commercial cargo aircraft to quanitify the benefit of the HWB and establish a technology roadmap for further development.

University of Utah, Energy Commercialization Center

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thompson, James

During the Energy Commercialization Center’s (ECC) three years in operation, the only thing constant was change. The world of commercialization and cleantech evolved significantly during the time the ECC was formed and operating, including: the availability of cleantech funding lessoned, the growth of incubators and accelerators skyrocketed, the State of Utah created an office dedicated to energy development, the University of Utah was both praised and criticized for its success in commercialization, and the Federal government temporarily shut down. During the three-year grant there were three principle investigators on the grant, as well as three directors for the University’s Commercializationmore » Office. Change can be hard for an organization,but as we instruct the companies we support, “Fail fast and fail often, because it is the fastest path to success.” Although there were some unanticipated challenges along the way, the local ecosystem is stronger because of the ECC’s efforts. Perhaps the greatest lesson learned was the importance of aligned incentives between key stakeholders in the commercialization process and the need for resources at the company and individual entrepreneur levels. The universities have systems and incentives to commercialize technologies, but creating value and companies generally rest with the individuals and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately the ECC was unable to create a viable mechanism to transfer the commercialization process that successfully aligned incentives and achieve a more effective ecosystem within the Rocky Mountain West. However, the ECC was successful in adding value to the individual ecosystems, and connecting national resources to regional and local needs. Regarding the ECC’s effectiveness in developing a cleantech commercialization ecosystem, initial inroads and relationships were established with key stakeholders. However, incentives, perceived or real competition, differences in commercialization processes, and culture all played a role in inhibiting the development and distribution of a regional ecosystem and commercialization process. Had the University and the ECC been able to develop a software platform, some of these challenges may have been overcome, but without the final development and release of the Western Innovation Network, the ECC realistically could not scale and distribute a commercialization platform. Further, cleantech startups need to engage in a more intensive customer validation process, and establish strong community connections if they are to succeed in commercializing their products. The university system incentivizes research and access to research funding and risk capital is competitive, so by nature collaboration on commercialization was difficult. Each of the local ecosystems within the Rocky Mountain West was unique. Utah did not, and does not, have a system outside of the universities to support entrepreneurs and cleantech commercialization. Through the ECC’s efforts developing a regional ecosystem, it became clear that successful ecosystems had a community and associated mechanisms that supported local entrepreneurs and startups. Most importantly the ECC aided in the creation of Utah’s cleantech ecosystem, one that supports entrepreneurs and startup companies that need help and support in their efforts to commercialize clean technologies. The absence of support for clean tech from state government and local organizations was a significant impediment to cleantech commercialization. To overcome this challenge, the ECC has formed Sustainable Startups. Sustainable Startups is a new non-profit organization designed to build a culture and community in Utah that supports and understands the importance of cleantech and sustainable development. While the ECC generated mixed success in building a regional commercialization ecosystem for cleantech, the organization did provide tremendous benefit to startups and the broader public. Over 60 companies were given direct business development support by the ECC, many of whom then generated direct economic development impacts. In addition, the ECC served an important role as community convener, educator and relationship builder through hosting numerous public and private events including: Energize 2013; Millennial Train whistle stop; business plan competition supporter; Clean Tech Open Accelerator organizer; Sustainable Startups Series developer, and much more. While the ECC did not fully apply, develop, and transmit the University of Utah’s TCO commercialization model to cleantech, it nevertheless assisted numerous inventors, entrepreneurs and institutions in furthering the growth of clean energy and energy efficiency technologies. The TCO’s commercialization model was not applied to regional clean tech initiatives for several main reasons. First, flaws with the commercialization model were realized after the ECC’s formation. Second, leadership changes within the TCO and ECC hampered early organizational development and implementation initiatives. Third, misaligned incentives between the ECC, regional universities, institutions, and the State of Utah resulted in a lack of collaboration and knowledge transfer regarding commercialization. In principle, everyone was aligned and willing to collaborate, but reality was much different and challenging.« less

Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) for the Shipboard Nontactical ADP Program (SNAP). Interim report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duncan, L.D.; Hammons, C.E.; Hume, R.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is developing a prototype computer aided instruction package for the Navy Management Systems Support Office. This report discusses the background of the project and the progress to date including a description of the software design, problems encountered, solutions found, and recommendations. The objective of this project is to provide a prototype that will enhance training and can be used as a shipboard refresher and retraining tool. The prototype system will be installed onboard ships where Navy personnel will have ready access to the training. The subsequent testing and evaluation of the prototype could provide the basismore » for a Navy-wide effort to implement computer aided instruction. The work to date has followed a rigorous structured analysis methodology based on the Yourdon/DeMarco techniques. A set of data flow diagrams and a data dictionary are included in the appendices. The problems encountered revolve around requirements to use existing hardware, software, and programmer capabilities for development, implementation, and maintenance of the instructional software. Solutions have been developed which will allow the software to exist in the given environment and still provide advanced features not available in commercial courses.« less

Ovine toxoplasmosis.

PubMed

Innes, Elisabeth A; Bartley, Paul M; Buxton, David; Katzer, Frank

2009-12-01

Congenital infection with Toxoplasma gondii is an important cause of abortion in sheep worldwide. The cat is the definitive host of the parasite, and infected cats may shed millions of oocysts in their faeces resulting in extensive environmental contamination and an important source of infection for grazing herbivorous animals. Studies looking at development of specific antibodies in sheep, as an indicator of exposure to T. gondii, have shown that there is an increase in seroprevalence associated with age indicating that most infections in sheep occur following birth. The stage of gestation when transplacental transmission of T. gondii to the developing foetus occurs is critical in determining the clinical outcome. The importance of endogenous transplacental transmission in persistently infected ewes and its clinical importance is a subject of current debate. Ewes infected prior to mating develop immune responses that help protect against disease in a subsequent pregnancy and also against experimental challenge administered during pregnancy. Both innate and adaptive immune responses are activated following T. gondii infection and experiments involving the chronic cannulation of peripheral lymph nodes in sheep have allowed the dynamics of the immune responses to be analysed in real time. A live vaccine, Toxovax is the only commercially available vaccine worldwide to protect against congenital toxoplasmosis.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America Lyme guidelines: a cautionary tale about the development of clinical practice guidelines

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Flawed clinical practice guidelines may compromise patient care. Commercial conflicts of interest on panels that write treatment guidelines are particularly problematic, because panelists may have conflicting agendas that influence guideline recommendations. Historically, there has been no legal remedy for conflicts of interest on guidelines panels. However, in May 2008, the Attorney General of Connecticut concluded a ground-breaking antitrust investigation into the development of Lyme disease treatment guidelines by one of the largest medical societies in the United States, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Although the investigation found significant flaws in the IDSA guidelines development process, the subsequent review of the guidelines mandated by the settlement was compromised by a lack of impartiality at various stages of the IDSA review process. This article will examine the interplay between the recent calls for guidelines reform, the ethical canons of medicine, and due process considerations under antitrust laws as they apply to the formulation of the IDSA Lyme disease treatment guidelines. The article will also discuss pitfalls in the implementation of the IDSA antitrust settlement that should be avoided in the future. PMID:20529367

Sarilumab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

Cooper, Simon

2016-01-01

Simon Cooper has >18 years of global experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He joined Sanofi in July 2014 as the Vice President, Global Project Head. In his current position at Sanofi, Dr Cooper is responsible for the clinical development of sarilumab and the worldwide submission in rheumatoid arthritis. He joined Sanofi after serving as the Global Program Medical Director at Novartis since 2012. In this role, Dr Cooper acted as the clinical lead for secukinumab psoriasis submission. Prior to Novartis, Dr Cooper held various posts at Human Genome Sciences, USA, including Executive Director of Clinical Research, Senior Director of Clinical Research and Director of Clinical Research. During his tenure at Human Genome Sciences, USA, Dr Cooper was involved in the submission of belimumab leading to its approval for SLE, and was responsible for its subsequent clinical development program. Dr Cooper has also previously held positions at MedImmune Ltd, UK, Roche, Napp Pharmaceutical Research Ltd, Wyeth Research and Medeval Ltd. In these roles, his responsibilities ranged from medical oversight of clinical trials to medical support for commercial, medical affairs and business development. He received a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from University of Newcastle upon Tyne Medical School.

GTX Reference Vehicle Structural Verification Methods and Weight Summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, J. E.; McCurdy, D. R.; Dunn, P. W.

2002-01-01

The design of a single-stage-to-orbit air breathing propulsion system requires the simultaneous development of a reference launch vehicle in order to achieve the optimal mission performance. Accordingly, for the GTX study a 300-lb payload reference vehicle was preliminary sized to a gross liftoff weight (GLOW) of 238,000 lb. A finite element model of the integrated vehicle/propulsion system was subjected to the trajectory environment and subsequently optimized for structural efficiency. This study involved the development of aerodynamic loads mapped to finite element models of the integrated system in order to assess vehicle margins of safety. Commercially available analysis codes were used in the process along with some internally developed spread-sheets and FORTRAN codes specific to the GTX geometry for mapping of thermal and pressure loads. A mass fraction of 0.20 for the integrated system dry weight has been the driver for a vehicle design consisting of state-of-the-art composite materials in order to meet the rigid weight requirements. This paper summarizes the methodology used for preliminary analyses and presents the current status of the weight optimization for the structural components of the integrated system.

GTX Reference Vehicle Structural Verification Methods and Weight Summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, J. E.; McCurdy, D. R.; Dunn, P. W.

2002-01-01

The design of a single-stage-to-orbit air breathing propulsion system requires the simultaneous development of a reference launch vehicle in order to achieve the optimal mission performance. Accordingly, for the GTX study a 300-lb payload reference vehicle was preliminarily sized to a gross liftoff weight (GLOW) of 238,000 lb. A finite element model of the integrated vehicle/propulsion system was subjected to the trajectory environment and subsequently optimized for structural efficiency. This study involved the development of aerodynamic loads mapped to finite element models of the integrated system in order to assess vehicle margins of safety. Commercially available analysis codes were used in the process along with some internally developed spreadsheets and FORTRAN codes specific to the GTX geometry for mapping of thermal and pressure loads. A mass fraction of 0.20 for the integrated system dry weight has been the driver for a vehicle design consisting of state-of-the-art composite materials in order to meet the rigid weight requirements. This paper summarizes the methodology used for preliminary analyses and presents the current status of the weight optimization for the structural components of the integrated system.

Towards the development of active compression bandages using dielectric elastomer actuators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pourazadi, S.; Ahmadi, S.; Menon, C.

2014-06-01

Disorders associated with the lower extremity venous system are common and significantly affect the quality of life of a large number of individuals. These disorders include orthostatic hypotension, oedema, deep vein thrombosis and a number of other conditions related to insufficient venous blood return. The common recommended treatment for these disorders is the use of hosiery compression stockings. In this research, an active compression bandage (ACB) based on the technology of dielectric elastomeric actuators (DEA) was designed, prototyped and tested. A customized calf prototype (CP) was developed to measure the pressure applied by the ACB. Experimental results performed with the CP showed that the pressure applied by the ACB could be electrically controlled to be either below or above the pressure exerted by commercially available compression stockings. An analytical model was used to provide the design criteria. A finite element model (FEM) was also developed to simulate the electromechanical behaviour of the DEA. Comparison of the experimental results with the FEM and analytical models showed that the modelling could accurately predict the behaviour of the ACB. The FEM was subsequently used to study how to improve the ACB performance by varying geometrical parameters such as the ACB thickness.

R&D to Market Success: BTO-Supported Technologies Commercialized from 2010-2015

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None, None

2017-04-01

Technology commercialization plays an essential role in almost every facet of the U.S. economy. It spurs private sector funding that supports innovative breakthroughs, drives growth through increased productivity and product development, increases American competitiveness, and creates domestic jobs. The BTO Technology Commercialization report is an annual publication offering the latest information on successfully commercialized technologies resulting in part from BTO’s research partnerships. This report defines a “commercialized technology” as a process, technique, design, machine, tool, material, or software that was developed with funds provided at least in part by BTO, and that has resulted in domestic sales or is inmore » use in the U.S. This definition also applies to open-source software products developed with support from BTO, all of which are currently distributed freely but are actively used for commercial purposes.« less

Auto-Thermal Reforming of Jet-A Fuel over Commercial Monolith Catalysts: MicroReactor Evaluation and Screening Test Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yen, Judy C. H.; Tomsik, Thomas M.

2004-01-01

This paper describes the results of a series of catalyst screening tests conducted with Jet-A fuel under auto-thermal reforming (ATR) process conditions at the research laboratories of SOFCo-EFS Holdings LLC under Glenn Research Center Contract. The primary objective is to identify best available catalysts for future testing at the NASA GRC 10-kW(sub e) reformer test facility. The new GRC reformer-injector test rig construction is due to complete by March 2004. Six commercially available monolithic catalyst materials were initially selected by the NASA/SOFCo team for evaluation and bench scale screening in an existing 0.05 kW(sub e) microreactor test apparatus. The catalyst screening tests performed lasted 70 to 100 hours in duration in order to allow comparison between the different samples over a defined range of ATR process conditions. Aging tests were subsequently performed with the top two ranked catalysts as a more representative evaluation of performance in a commercial aerospace application. The two catalyst aging tests conducted lasting for approximately 600 hours and 1000 hours, respectively.

Associations of Television Content Type and Obesity in Children

PubMed Central

Bell, Janice F.

2010-01-01

Objectives. We tested the associations of content types of children's television viewing with subsequent body mass index (BMI) to assess the plausibility of different causal pathways. Methods. We used time-use diary data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics to measure television viewing categorized by format and educational and commercial content. Analyses were stratified by age because children younger than 7 years are less able to understand the persuasive intent of advertising. BMI z scores in 2002 were regressed on television viewing, sociodemographic variables, mother's BMI, and BMI in 1997 (for older children only). Results. Among children aged 0 to 6 years in 1997, commercial viewing in 1997 was significantly associated with BMI z scores in 2002 in fully adjusted regressions. Among children older than 6 years, commercial viewing in 2002 was associated with 2002 BMI. These results were robust after adjustment for exercise and eating while watching television. Conclusions. The evidence does not support the contention that television viewing contributes to obesity because it is a sedentary activity. Television advertising, rather than viewing per se, is associated with obesity. PMID:20019313

Correlation of single mode fiber fabrication factors and radiation response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friebele, E. J.

1992-02-01

Fiber optic transmission systems, because of their extraordinary channel capacity and decreasing cost, are the preferred terrestrial transmission media of the nation's long distance, inter-city telecommunications infrastructure. Since the commercial telephone network forms the foundation for emergency communication in the event of a national crisis or emergency, additional requirements are placed on the fibers and components of this system. The network must remain operational in the face of such threats as loss of commercial power, disruption by natural causes, violation of physical security, and exposure to the effects of nuclear weapons, including electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and ionizing radiation from the delayed gamma component and fallout. The most stressing environment for the fiber consists of fallout subsequent to a nuclear attack since the long lengths of fiber can be potentially exposed to high total doses. The susceptibility of some types of commercially available fiber optic cable to optical darkening (and hence increased signal loss and bit error rate) from exposure to ionizing radiation raises serious questions about the survivability of such systems in the reconstitution phase of a nuclear conflict.

A scale‐down mimic for mapping the process performance of centrifugation, depth and sterile filtration

PubMed Central

Joseph, Adrian; Kenty, Brian; Mollet, Michael; Hwang, Kenneth; Rose, Steven; Goldrick, Stephen; Bender, Jean; Farid, Suzanne S.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT In the production of biopharmaceuticals disk‐stack centrifugation is widely used as a harvest step for the removal of cells and cellular debris. Depth filters followed by sterile filters are often then employed to remove residual solids remaining in the centrate. Process development of centrifugation is usually conducted at pilot‐scale so as to mimic the commercial scale equipment but this method requires large quantities of cell culture and significant levels of effort for successful characterization. A scale‐down approach based upon the use of a shear device and a bench‐top centrifuge has been extended in this work towards a preparative methodology that successfully predicts the performance of the continuous centrifuge and polishing filters. The use of this methodology allows the effects of cell culture conditions and large‐scale centrifugal process parameters on subsequent filtration performance to be assessed at an early stage of process development where material availability is limited. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 1934–1941. © 2016 The Authors. Biotechnology and Bioengineering Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:26927621

SMA Foils for MEMS: From Material Properties to the Engineering of Microdevices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohl, Manfred; Ossmer, Hinnerk; Gueltig, Marcel; Megnin, Christof

2018-03-01

In the early nineties, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology has been still in its infancy. As silicon (Si) is not a transducer material, it was clear at the very beginning that mechanically active materials had to be introduced to MEMS in order to enable functional microdevices with actuation capability beyond electrostatics. At that time, shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been available in bulk form, mainly as SMA wires and SMA plates. On the macro scale, these materials show highest work densities compared to other actuation principles in the order of 107 J/m3, which stimulated research on the integration of SMA to MEMS. Subsequently, two approaches for producing planar materials have been initiated (1) magnetron sputtering of SMA thin films and (2) the integration of rolled SMA foils, which both turned out to be very successful creating a paradigm change in microactuation technology. The following review covers important milestones of the research and development of SMA foil-based microactuators including materials characterization, design engineering, technology, and demonstrator development as well as first commercial products.

Field testing of a convergent array of acoustic Doppler profilers for high-resolution velocimetry in energetic tidal currents

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harding, Samuel F.; Sellar, Brian; Richmond, Marshall C.

An array of single-beam acoustic Doppler profilers has been developed for the high resolution measurement of three-dimensional tidal flow velocities and subsequently tested in an energetic tidal site. This configuration has been developed to increase spatial resolution of velocity measurements in comparison to conventional acoustic Doppler profilers (ADPs) which characteristically use divergent acoustic beams emanating from a single instrument. This is achieved using geometrically convergent acoustic beams creating a sample volume at the focal point of 0.03 m3. Away from the focal point, the array is also able to simultaneously reconstruct three-dimensional velocity components in a profile throughout the watermore » column, and is referred to herein as a convergent-beam acoustic Doppler profiler (C-ADP). Mid-depth profiling is achieved through integration of the sensor platform with the operational commercial-scale Alstom 1MW DeepGen-IV Tidal Turbine deployed at the European Marine Energy Center, Orkney Isles, UK. This proof-of-concept paper outlines the C-ADP system configuration and comparison to measurements provided by co-installed reference instrumentation.« less

Comparison of enrofloxacin and ceftiofur sodium for the treatment of relapse of undifferentiated fever/bovine respiratory disease in feedlot cattle.

PubMed

Abutarbush, Sameeh M; Schunicht, Oliver C; Wildman, Brian K; Hannon, Sherry J; Jim, G Kee; Ward, Tracy I; Booker, Calvin W

2012-01-01

This commercial field trial compared the efficacy of enrofloxacin and ceftiofur sodium in beef cattle at high risk of developing undifferentiated fever (UF), also known as bovine respiratory disease (BRD) that received tilmicosin at feedlot arrival, were diagnosed and initially treated for UF with tilmicosin, and subsequently required a second UF treatment (first relapse). Feedlot cattle (n = 463) were randomly assigned to 2 experimental groups: ENRO or CEF. Second UF relapse, 3rd UF relapse, overall case fatality and BRD case fatality rates were lower in the ENRO group than in the CEF group (P < 0.05). There were no differences in average daily gain (allocation to re-implant date), chronicity, histophilosis case fatality or miscellaneous case fatality rates between the groups (P ≥ 0.05). A per-animal economic advantage of Can$57.08 was calculated for the ENRO group versus the CEF group. In feedlot cattle in western Canada at high risk of developing UF, it was more cost effective to administer enrofloxacin than ceftiofur sodium for treatment of UF relapse.

SMA Foils for MEMS: From Material Properties to the Engineering of Microdevices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohl, Manfred; Ossmer, Hinnerk; Gueltig, Marcel; Megnin, Christof

2017-12-01

In the early nineties, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology has been still in its infancy. As silicon (Si) is not a transducer material, it was clear at the very beginning that mechanically active materials had to be introduced to MEMS in order to enable functional microdevices with actuation capability beyond electrostatics. At that time, shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been available in bulk form, mainly as SMA wires and SMA plates. On the macro scale, these materials show highest work densities compared to other actuation principles in the order of 107 J/m3, which stimulated research on the integration of SMA to MEMS. Subsequently, two approaches for producing planar materials have been initiated (1) magnetron sputtering of SMA thin films and (2) the integration of rolled SMA foils, which both turned out to be very successful creating a paradigm change in microactuation technology. The following review covers important milestones of the research and development of SMA foil-based microactuators including materials characterization, design engineering, technology, and demonstrator development as well as first commercial products.

Comparison of enrofloxacin and ceftiofur sodium for the treatment of relapse of undifferentiated fever/bovine respiratory disease in feedlot cattle

PubMed Central

Abutarbush, Sameeh M.; Schunicht, Oliver C.; Wildman, Brian K.; Hannon, Sherry J.; Jim, G. Kee; Ward, Tracy I.; Booker, Calvin W.

2012-01-01

This commercial field trial compared the efficacy of enrofloxacin and ceftiofur sodium in beef cattle at high risk of developing undifferentiated fever (UF), also known as bovine respiratory disease (BRD) that received tilmicosin at feedlot arrival, were diagnosed and initially treated for UF with tilmicosin, and subsequently required a second UF treatment (first relapse). Feedlot cattle (n = 463) were randomly assigned to 2 experimental groups: ENRO or CEF. Second UF relapse, 3rd UF relapse, overall case fatality and BRD case fatality rates were lower in the ENRO group than in the CEF group (P < 0.05). There were no differences in average daily gain (allocation to re-implant date), chronicity, histophilosis case fatality or miscellaneous case fatality rates between the groups (P ≥ 0.05). A per-animal economic advantage of Can$57.08 was calculated for the ENRO group versus the CEF group. In feedlot cattle in western Canada at high risk of developing UF, it was more cost effective to administer enrofloxacin than ceftiofur sodium for treatment of UF relapse. PMID:22753964

Critical Review of Commercial Secondary Lithium-Ion Battery Safety Standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Harry P.; Chapin, Thomas, J.; Tabaddor, Mahmod

2010-09-01

The development of Li-ion cells with greater energy density has lead to safety concerns that must be carefully assessed as Li-ion cells power a wide range of products from consumer electronics to electric vehicles to space applications. Documented field failures and product recalls for Li-ion cells, mostly for consumer electronic products, highlight the risk of fire, smoke, and even explosion. These failures have been attributed to the occurrence of internal short circuits and the subsequent thermal runaway that can lead to fire and explosion. As packaging for some applications include a large number of cells, the risk of failure is likely to be magnified. To address concerns about the safety of battery powered products, safety standards have been developed. This paper provides a review of various international safety standards specific to lithium-ion cells. This paper shows that though the standards are harmonized on a host of abuse conditions, most lack a test simulating internal short circuits. This paper describes some efforts to introduce internal short circuit tests into safety standards.

Impacts of wave energy conversion devices on local wave climate: observations and modelling from the Perth Wave Energy Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoeke, Ron; Hemer, Mark; Contardo, Stephanie; Symonds, Graham; Mcinnes, Kathy

2016-04-01

As demonstrated by the Australian Wave Energy Atlas (AWavEA), the southern and western margins of the country possess considerable wave energy resources. The Australia Government has made notable investments in pre-commercial wave energy developments in these areas, however little is known about how this technology may impact local wave climate and subsequently affect neighbouring coastal environments, e.g. altering sediment transport, causing shoreline erosion or accretion. In this study, a network of in-situ wave measurement devices have been deployed surrounding the 3 wave energy converters of the Carnegie Wave Energy Limited's Perth Wave Energy Project. This data is being used to develop, calibrate and validate numerical simulations of the project site. Early stage results will be presented and potential simulation strategies for scaling-up the findings to larger arrays of wave energy converters will be discussed. The intended project outcomes are to establish zones of impact defined in terms of changes in local wave energy spectra and to initiate best practice guidelines for the establishment of wave energy conversion sites.

Fluid mechanics and heat transfer spirally fluted tubing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larue, J. C.; Libby, P. A.; Yampolsky, J. S.

1981-08-01

The objective of this program is to develop both a qualitative and a quantitative understanding of the fluid mechanics and heat transfer mechanisms that underlie the measured performance of the spirally fluted tubes under development at General Atomic. The reason for the interest in the spirally fluted tubes is that results to date have indicated three advantages to this tubing concept: The fabrication technique of rolling flutes on strip and subsequently spiralling and simultaneously welding the strip to form tubing results in low fabrication costs, approximately equal to those of commercially welded tubing. The heat transfer coefficient is increased without a concomitant increase of the friction coefficient on the inside of the tube. In single-phase axial flow of water, the helical flutes continuously induce rotation of the flow both within and without the tube as a result of the effect of curvature. An increase in condensation heat transfer on the outside of the tube is achieved. In a vertical orientation with fluid condensing on the outside of the helically fluted tube, the flutes provide a channel for draining the condensed fluid.

Smart garments for emergency operators: the ProeTEX project.

PubMed

Curone, Davide; Secco, Emanuele Lindo; Tognetti, Alessandro; Loriga, Giannicola; Dudnik, Gabriela; Risatti, Michele; Whyte, Rhys; Bonfiglio, Annalisa; Magenes, Giovanni

2010-05-01

Financed by the European Commission, a consortium of 23 European partners, consisting of universities, research institutions, industries, and organizations operating in the field of emergency management, is developing a new generation of "smart" garments for emergency-disaster personnel. Garments integrate newly developed wearable and textile solutions, such as commercial portable sensors and devices, in order to continuously monitor risks endangering rescuers' lives. The system enables detection of health-state parameters of the users (heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature, blood oxygen saturation, position, activity, and posture) and environmental variables (external temperature, presence of toxic gases, and heat flux passing through the garments), to process data and remotely transmit useful information to the operation manager. The European-integrated project, called ProeTEX (Protection e-Textiles: Micro-Nano-Structured fiber systems for Emergency-Disaster Wear) started on February, 2006 and will end on July, 2010. During this 4.5 years period, three subsequent generations of sensorized garments are being released. This paper proposes an overview of the project and gives a description of the second-generation prototypes, delivered at the end of 2008.

Introduction to current and future protein therapeutics: a protein engineering perspective.

PubMed

Carter, Paul J

2011-05-15

Protein therapeutics and its enabling sister discipline, protein engineering, have emerged since the early 1980s. The first protein therapeutics were recombinant versions of natural proteins. Proteins purposefully modified to increase their clinical potential soon followed with enhancements derived from protein or glycoengineering, Fc fusion or conjugation to polyethylene glycol. Antibody-based drugs subsequently arose as the largest and fastest growing class of protein therapeutics. The rationale for developing better protein therapeutics with enhanced efficacy, greater safety, reduced immunogenicity or improved delivery comes from the convergence of clinical, scientific, technological and commercial drivers that have identified unmet needs and provided strategies to address them. Future protein drugs seem likely to be more extensively engineered to improve their performance, e.g., antibodies and Fc fusion proteins with enhanced effector functions or extended half-life. Two old concepts for improving antibodies, namely antibody-drug conjugates and bispecific antibodies, have advanced to the cusp of clinical success. As for newer protein therapeutic platform technologies, several engineered protein scaffolds are in early clinical development and offer differences and some potential advantages over antibodies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction to current and future protein therapeutics: A protein engineering perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carter, Paul J., E-mail: pjc@gene.com

2011-05-15

Protein therapeutics and its enabling sister discipline, protein engineering, have emerged since the early 1980s. The first protein therapeutics were recombinant versions of natural proteins. Proteins purposefully modified to increase their clinical potential soon followed with enhancements derived from protein or glycoengineering, Fc fusion or conjugation to polyethylene glycol. Antibody-based drugs subsequently arose as the largest and fastest growing class of protein therapeutics. The rationale for developing better protein therapeutics with enhanced efficacy, greater safety, reduced immunogenicity or improved delivery comes from the convergence of clinical, scientific, technological and commercial drivers that have identified unmet needs and provided strategies tomore » address them. Future protein drugs seem likely to be more extensively engineered to improve their performance, e.g., antibodies and Fc fusion proteins with enhanced effector functions or extended half-life. Two old concepts for improving antibodies, namely antibody-drug conjugates and bispecific antibodies, have advanced to the cusp of clinical success. As for newer protein therapeutic platform technologies, several engineered protein scaffolds are in early clinical development and offer differences and some potential advantages over antibodies.« less

Silk Fibroin Biomaterial Shows Safe and Effective Wound Healing in Animal Models and a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Chen, Longkun; Chen, Jialin; Wang, Lingshuang; Gui, Xuexian; Ran, Jisheng; Xu, Guowei; Zhao, Hongshi; Zeng, Mengfeng; Ji, Junfeng; Qian, Li; Zhou, Jianda; Ouyang, Hongwei; Zou, Xiaohui

2017-05-01

Due to its excellent biological and mechanical properties, silk fibroin has been intensively explored for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. However, lack of translational evidence has hampered its clinical application for tissue repair. Here a silk fibroin film is developed and its translational potential is investigated for skin repair by performing comprehensive preclinical and clinical studies to fully evaluate its safety and effectiveness. The silk fibroin film fabricated using all green chemistry approaches demonstrates remarkable characteristics, including transmittance, fluid handling capacity, moisture vapor permeability, waterproofness, bacterial barrier properties, and biocompatibility. In vivo rabbit full-thickness skin defect study shows that the silk fibroin film effectively reduces the average wound healing time with better skin regeneration compared with the commercial wound dressings. Subsequent assessment in porcine model confirms its long-term safety and effectiveness for full-thickness skin defects. Finally, a randomized single-blind parallel controlled clinical trial with 71 patients shows that the silk fibroin film significantly reduces the time to wound healing and incidence of adverse events compared to commercial dressing. Therefore, the study provides systematic preclinical and clinical evidence that the silk fibroin film promotes wound healing thereby establishing a foundation towards its application for skin repair and regeneration in the clinic. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Preschool Multiple-Breath Washout Testing. An Official American Thoracic Society Technical Statement.

PubMed

Robinson, Paul D; Latzin, Philipp; Ramsey, Kathryn A; Stanojevic, Sanja; Aurora, Paul; Davis, Stephanie D; Gappa, Monika; Hall, Graham L; Horsley, Alex; Jensen, Renee; Lum, Sooky; Milla, Carlos; Nielsen, Kim G; Pittman, Jessica E; Rosenfeld, Margaret; Singer, Florian; Subbarao, Padmaja; Gustafsson, Per M; Ratjen, Felix

2018-03-01

Obstructive airway disease is nonuniformly distributed throughout the bronchial tree, although the extent to which this occurs can vary among conditions. The multiple-breath washout (MBW) test offers important insights into pediatric lung disease, not available through spirometry or resistance measurements. The European Respiratory Society/American Thoracic Society inert gas washout consensus statement led to the emergence of validated commercial equipment for the age group 6 years and above; specific recommendations for preschool children were beyond the scope of the document. Subsequently, the focus has shifted to MBW applications within preschool subjects (aged 2-6 yr), where a "window of opportunity" exists for early diagnosis of obstructive lung disease and intervention. This preschool-specific technical standards document was developed by an international group of experts, with expertise in both custom-built and commercial MBW equipment. A comprehensive review of published evidence was performed. Recommendations were devised across areas that place specific age-related demands on MBW systems. Citing evidence where available in the literature, recommendations are made regarding procedures that should be used to achieve robust MBW results in the preschool age range. The present work also highlights the important unanswered questions that need to be addressed in future work. Consensus recommendations are outlined to direct interested groups of manufacturers, researchers, and clinicians in preschool device design, test performance, and data analysis for the MBW technique.

Automatic mouse ultrasound detector (A-MUD): A new tool for processing rodent vocalizations

PubMed Central

Reitschmidt, Doris; Noll, Anton; Balazs, Peter; Penn, Dustin J.

2017-01-01

House mice (Mus musculus) emit complex ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during social and sexual interactions, which have features similar to bird song (i.e., they are composed of several different types of syllables, uttered in succession over time to form a pattern of sequences). Manually processing complex vocalization data is time-consuming and potentially subjective, and therefore, we developed an algorithm that automatically detects mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (Automatic Mouse Ultrasound Detector or A-MUD). A-MUD is a script that runs on STx acoustic software (S_TOOLS-STx version 4.2.2), which is free for scientific use. This algorithm improved the efficiency of processing USV files, as it was 4–12 times faster than manual segmentation, depending upon the size of the file. We evaluated A-MUD error rates using manually segmented sound files as a ‘gold standard’ reference, and compared them to a commercially available program. A-MUD had lower error rates than the commercial software, as it detected significantly more correct positives, and fewer false positives and false negatives. The errors generated by A-MUD were mainly false negatives, rather than false positives. This study is the first to systematically compare error rates for automatic ultrasonic vocalization detection methods, and A-MUD and subsequent versions will be made available for the scientific community. PMID:28727808

A time-based potential step analysis of electrochemical impedance incorporating a constant phase element: a study of commercially pure titanium in phosphate buffered saline.

PubMed

Ehrensberger, Mark T; Gilbert, Jeremy L

2010-05-01

The measurement of electrochemical impedance is a valuable tool to assess the electrochemical environment that exists at the surface of metallic biomaterials. This article describes the development and validation of a new technique, potential step impedance analysis (PSIA), to assess the electrochemical impedance of materials whose interface with solution can be modeled as a simplified Randles circuit that is modified with a constant phase element. PSIA is based upon applying a step change in voltage to a working electrode and analyzing the subsequent current transient response in a combined time and frequency domain technique. The solution resistance, polarization resistance, and interfacial capacitance are found directly in the time domain. The experimental current transient is numerically transformed to the frequency domain to determine the constant phase exponent, alpha. This combined time and frequency approach was tested using current transients generated from computer simulations, from resistor-capacitor breadboard circuits, and from commercially pure titanium samples immersed in phosphate buffered saline and polarized at -800 mV or +1000 mV versus Ag/AgCl. It was shown that PSIA calculates equivalent admittance and impedance behavior over this range of potentials when compared to standard electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This current transient approach characterizes the frequency response of the system without the need for expensive frequency response analyzers or software. Copyright 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

CASH 2021: commercial access and space habitation.

PubMed

Aldrin, Andrew; Amara, Adam; Aris, Lodewijk; Baierl, Nida; Beatty, Patrick; Beaulieu, Catherine; Behnke, Torsten; Castegini, Roberta; Chauhan, Amitabh; Cojanis, Philip; Dayawansa, Pelawa; Diop, Marie; Eito, Kinya; Engle, Steve; Feretti, Stefano; Gassama, Hamet; Genova, Bojana; Goulding, Colin; Janjua, Jameel; Jansaeng, Thidarat; Jousset, Frederic; Kopik, Anatoly; Laurin, Catherine; Leggatt, Jason; Li, Hengnian; Mezzadri, Monica; Miura, Amane; Nolet, Simon; Ogami, Satoshi; Patry, Johanne; Patten, Laryssa; Payerne, Cyril; Peer, Guy; Prampolini, Marco; Rheaume, Caroline; Saary, Joan; Spehar, Daniela; Sufi, Atiya; Sun, Baosheng; Thompson, J Barry; Thomson, Ward; Trautner, Roland; Tursunmuratov, Murat; Venet, Vrata; Wilems, Elizabeth; Wilson, Helen; Wittwer, Karl; Wokke, Frank; Wu, Yansheng; Zhou, Shaobin; Zilioli, Ilaria

2002-01-01

Issues about commercialization of space have been a growing concern in the past decade for the space community. This paper focuses on the work from a team of 51 students attending the Summer Session Program of the International Space University in Bremen, Germany. CASH 2021 (Commercial Access and Space Habitation) documents a plan that identifies commercial opportunities for space utilization that will extend human presence in space, and will chart the way forward for the next 20 years. The group selected four commercial sectors that show the most promise for the future: tourism, entertainment, space system service, assembly and debris removal, and research and development/production. The content of this document presents the results of their research. Historical activities in each of the commercial sectors are reviewed along with the current market situation. To provide a coherent background for future commercialization possibilities a scenario has been developed. This scenario includes a postulated upon ideal future and includes social, political and economic factors that may affect the space industry over the timeline of the study. The study also presents a roadmap, within the limited optimistic scenario developed, for the successful commercialization of space leading to future human presence in space. A broad range of commercially viable opportunities, not only within the current limits of the International Space Station, but also among the many new developments that are expected by 2021 are discussed. c2002 International Astronautical Federation. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

CarbonSAFE Rocky Mountain Phase I : Seismic Characterization of the Navajo Reservoir, Buzzard Bench, Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haar, K. K.; Balch, R. S.; Lee, S. Y.

2017-12-01

The CarbonSAFE Rocky Mountain project team is in the initial phase of investigating the regulatory, financial and technical feasibility of commercial-scale CO2 capture and storage from two coal-fired power plants in the northwest region of the San Rafael Swell, Utah. The reservoir interval is the Jurassic Navajo Sandstone, an eolian dune deposit that at present serves as the salt water disposal reservoir for Ferron Sandstone coal-bed methane production in the Drunkards Wash field and Buzzard Bench area of central Utah. In the study area the Navajo sandstone is approximately 525 feet thick and is at an average depth of about 7000 feet below the surface. If sufficient porosity and permeability exist, reservoir depth and thickness would provide storage for up to 100,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per square mile, based on preliminary estimates. This reservoir has the potential to meet the DOE's requirement of having the ability to store at least 50 million metric tons of CO2 and fulfills the DOE's initiative to develop protocols for commercially sequestering carbon sourced from coal-fired power plants. A successful carbon storage project requires thorough structural and stratigraphic characterization of the reservoir, seal and faults, thereby allowing the creation of a comprehensive geologic model with subsequent simulations to evaluate CO2/brine migration and long-term effects. Target formation lithofacies and subfacies data gathered from outcrop mapping and laboratory analysis of core samples were developed into a geologic model. Synthetic seismic was modeled from this, allowing us to seismically characterize the lithofacies of the target formation. This seismic characterization data was then employed in the interpretation of 2D legacy lines which provided stratigraphic and structural control for more accurate model development of the northwest region of the San Rafael Swell. Developing baseline interpretations such as this are crucial toward long-term carbon storage monitoring.

United States Nuclear Rocket Company (USNRC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hardin, L. A.

2014-01-01

Historically, the development of advanced space technology has been accomplished by the federal government providing funding to commercial companies through the standard contracting process. Although recently, commercial space ventures, such as Space X, have begun to develop enhanced commercial space launch capabilities, and many companies provide space related services - including satellite development and operations, advanced technology development still requires (and should require) participation by the federal agency assigned this role - the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). However, this standard funding model may not be the most efficient and stable means of developing the advanced technology systems. And while the federal government does not need to be involved in areas where private industry can reasonably operate, it should remain the leader in supporting the development of new and advanced space technologies to further increase our national capability. And as these technologies mature, then private industry can begin the commercialization process, freeing up resources and funds for NASA to develop the next generations of advanced space technology. In fact, simply examining the last decades of space technology development shows that there is room for improvement. Part of the problem is that there are realistically two space frontiers. There is the commercialization frontier (the realm of Space X and others) and the exploratory frontier (the realm of NASA.). Often technologies that can support the exploratory frontier can also immediately support the commercialization frontier. Yet, these technologies are still developed under the standard model of federal funding and contracting. Is that really the best way to proceed? In this paper, the argument is put forward that a new process is required, a new paradigm. A consortium of federal agencies as well as commercial companies is needed - in a collaborative rather than a contractual relationship.

76 FR 15039 - Commercial Space Transportation Grants Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-18

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration Commercial Space Transportation... proposals for the Commercial Space Transportation Grant Program. SUMMARY: This notice solicits Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 grant proposals to continue the development of a Commercial Space Transportation...

The commercial development of space: is an international regulatory framework needed?

PubMed

Contant, Corinne M; Logsdon, John M

2004-04-01

The commercial space sector to date has failed to develop comprehensive regulations--"rules of the road"--for its international activities. Within the next 5 years, conflicts with respect to international trade in satellite sales and launch services could emerge, highlighting the need for such a regulatory framework. If the commercial space sector is to continue to develop, it is important to begin discussions now, before these conflicts become significant, on the elements of an appropriate international regulatory framework. The existing framework for space activities was developed when government, not commercial, space activities were dominant, or was adapted from regulations in other sectors such as terrestrial telecommunications. c2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recommendations for adaptation and validation of commercial kits for biomarker quantification in drug development.

PubMed

Khan, Masood U; Bowsher, Ronald R; Cameron, Mark; Devanarayan, Viswanath; Keller, Steve; King, Lindsay; Lee, Jean; Morimoto, Alyssa; Rhyne, Paul; Stephen, Laurie; Wu, Yuling; Wyant, Timothy; Lachno, D Richard

2015-01-01

Increasingly, commercial immunoassay kits are used to support drug discovery and development. Longitudinally consistent kit performance is crucial, but the degree to which kits and reagents are characterized by manufacturers is not standardized, nor are the approaches by users to adapt them and evaluate their performance through validation prior to use. These factors can negatively impact data quality. This paper offers a systematic approach to assessment, method adaptation and validation of commercial immunoassay kits for quantification of biomarkers in drug development, expanding upon previous publications and guidance. These recommendations aim to standardize and harmonize user practices, contributing to reliable biomarker data from commercial immunoassays, thus, enabling properly informed decisions during drug development.

The Influence of Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticle Morphology on Embryonic Development in a Zebrafish Exposure Model

PubMed Central

Pujari-Palmer, Shiuli; Lu, Xi; Karlsson Ott, Marjam

2017-01-01

Nanomaterials are used in many different industries such as cosmetics, food, clothing, and electronics. There is increasing concern that exposure to nanoparticles (NPs) during pregnancy can adversely affect fetal development. It is well known that the size, charge, and chemistry of a nanoparticle can modulate embryological development. The role that particle morphology plays on early development, however, is still widely unknown. The present study aims to investigate the effect of hydroxyapatite nanoparticle (HANP) morphology on embryological development in a zebrafish exposure model. Four distinct HANP morphologies (dots, long rods, sheets, and fibers) were fabricated and characterized. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to HANPs (0–100 mg/L), and viability and developmental deformities were evaluated for up to 5 days post-fertilization (dpf). Malformations such as pericardial edema and axial curvature were apparent in embryos as early as 1 dpf, following exposure to the dot and fiber particles, and developed in embryos by 3 dpf in the sheet and long rod particle groups. Minimal death was observed in response to dot, long rod, and sheet particles (≤25%), while fiber particles induced overwhelming toxicity (≤60%) after 1 dpf, and complete toxicity during all subsequent time points. Collectively, these results suggest that nanoparticle morphology can significantly impact embryological development and should be a required consideration when designing nanomaterials for commercial use. PMID:28441729

An Initial Strategy for Commercial Industry Awareness of the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jorgensen, Catherine A.

1999-01-01

While plans are being developed to utilize the ISS for scientific research, and human and microgravity experiments, it is time to consider the future of the ISS as a world-wide commercial marketplace developed from a government owned, operated and controlled facility. Commercial industry will be able to seize this opportunity to utilize the ISS as a unique manufacturing platform and engineering testbed for advanced technology. NASA has begun the strategic planning of the evolution and commercialization of the ISS. The Pre-Planned Program Improvement (P3I) Working Group at NASA is assessing the future ISS needs and technology plans to enhance ISS performance. Some of these enhancements will allow the accommodation of commercial applications and the Human Exploration and Development of Space mission support. As this information develops, it is essential to disseminate this information to commercial industry, targeting not only the private and public space sector but also the non-aerospace commercial industries. An approach is presented for early distribution of this information via the ISS Evolution Data book that includes ISS baseline system information, baseline utilization and operations plans, advanced technologies, future utilization opportunities, ISS evolution and Design Reference Missions (DRM). This information source and tool can be used as catalyst in the commercial world for the generation of ideas and options to enhance the current capabilities of the ISS.

Viability of Commercially Available Bleach for Water Treatment in Developing Countries

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Treating household water with low-cost, widely available commercial bleach is recommended by some organizations to improve water quality and reduce disease in developing countries. I analyzed the chlorine concentration of 32 bleaches from 12 developing countries; the average error between advertised and measured concentration was 35% (range = –45%–100%; standard deviation = 40%). Because of disparities between advertised and actual concentration, the use of commercial bleach for water treatment in developing countries is not recommended without ongoing quality control testing. PMID:19762657

Viability of commercially available bleach for water treatment in developing countries.

PubMed

Lantagne, Daniele S

2009-11-01

Treating household water with low-cost, widely available commercial bleach is recommended by some organizations to improve water quality and reduce disease in developing countries. I analyzed the chlorine concentration of 32 bleaches from 12 developing countries; the average error between advertised and measured concentration was 35% (range = -45%-100%; standard deviation = 40%). Because of disparities between advertised and actual concentration, the use of commercial bleach for water treatment in developing countries is not recommended without ongoing quality control testing.

Sponsored Schools and Commercialized Classrooms: Schoolhouse Commercializing Trends in the 1990's.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Molnar, Alex

This report analyzes commercializing trends in America's schools and classrooms, using data from database searches in seven categories of schoolhouse commercialism in the period 1990-97. The number of citations relating to commercializing activities can provide only a rough approximation of the scope and development of the phenomenon. The number…

Alaska OCS socioeconomic studies program. Technical report number 30. Northern and western Gulf of Alaska petroleum development scenarios: commercial fishing industry analysis. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Terry, J.M.; Gorham, A.H.; Larson, D.M.

1980-02-01

The objective of the report is to increase our understanding of the potential relationships between the commercial fishing and Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) petroleum industries and to project the potential impacts on the commercial fishing industry of the Gulf of Alaska that may occur as a result of the proposed OCS lease sales No. 46 and No. 55. To meet this objective, the report consists of: (1) the documentation and examination of the history and current trends of the Gulf of Alaska commercial fishing industry as necessary to develop a basis for projecting fishery development and potential interactions with themore » OCS petroleum industry, (2) the development of models used to forecast the level of commercial fishing industry activity through the year 2000 in the absence of OCS development pursuant to lease sales No. 46 and No. 55, and (3) an analysis of the potential impacts of lease sales No. 46 and No. 55 based on the hypothesized nature and magnitude of the activities of the commercial fishing and OCS petroleum industries. The study concentrates on the commercial fishing industry activities centered in Kodiak, Seward, Cordova, and Yakutat. Both the harvesting and processing sectors of the fishing industry are considered. The sources of impacts considered are the competition for labor, ocean space use, and the infrastructure.« less

Intelligent Transportation Systems/Commercial Vehicle Operations Project Plan For Commercial Vehicle Information Systems And Networks Electronic Data Interchange Standards Development And Deployment

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-12-02

THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE PLANNING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF EDI STANDARDS FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS (CVISN). THE STATUS, PRIORITIES, AND SCHEDULES FOR THIS EFFORT ARE CONT...

Grant Wheeler | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Grant.Wheeler@nrel.gov | 303-275-4577 In November 2016, Grant joined NREL and works in the Commercial Buildings Research Group. His expertise is in commercial product development, as well as the vapor-compression cycle focused on developing residential HVAC systems for commercial sale. While at Texas A&M for his

qFeature

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

2015-09-14

This package contains statistical routines for extracting features from multivariate time-series data which can then be used for subsequent multivariate statistical analysis to identify patterns and anomalous behavior. It calculates local linear or quadratic regression model fits to moving windows for each series and then summarizes the model coefficients across user-defined time intervals for each series. These methods are domain agnostic-but they have been successfully applied to a variety of domains, including commercial aviation and electric power grid data.

Computerised Axial Tomography (CAT)

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

commercial market. EMI, which had originally counted on being the only firm selling CT units , subsequently increased its production in order to overtake...to a rough estimate’"’ the number of CT scanners at present working in Italy is about 18 units installed. apart from those in the large cities such as...hGdcl scanners and 198 total body scanners): among othar things, they emphasise that a CT unit , works, on an average, for 5.4 days in the week and

Disseminated cryptococcosis in an immunocompetent patient.

PubMed

Mada, Pradeep; Nowack, Brad; Cady, Beth; Joel Chandranesan, Andrew Stevenson

2017-07-18

Cryptococcosis is a fungal infection which is commonly associated with immune-compromised state. Disseminated infection in immunocompetent individuals is extremely rare. We present a case of a 56-year-old African American patient who presented with unilateral knee pain and swelling and was subsequently diagnosed with cryptococcal bone mass with dissemination of infection. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Adaptive Immunity Restricts Replication of Novel Murine Astroviruses

PubMed Central

Yokoyama, Christine C.; Loh, Joy; Zhao, Guoyan; Stappenbeck, Thaddeus S.; Wang, David; Huang, Henry V.

2012-01-01

The mechanisms of astrovirus pathogenesis are largely unknown, in part due to a lack of a small-animal model of disease. Using shotgun sequencing and a custom analysis pipeline, we identified two novel astroviruses capable of infecting research mice, murine astrovirus (MuAstV) STL1 and STL2. Subsequent analysis revealed the presence of at least two additional viruses (MuAstV STL3 and STL4), suggestive of a diverse population of murine astroviruses in research mice. Complete genomic characterization and subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed that MuAstV STL1 to STL4 are members of the mamastrovirus genus and are likely members of a new mamastrovirus genogroup. Using Rag1−/− mice deficient in B and T cells, we demonstrate that adaptive immunity is required to control MuAstV infection. Furthermore, using Stat1−/− mice deficient in innate signaling, we demonstrate a role for the innate immune response in the control of MuAstV replication. Our results demonstrate that MuAstV STL permits the study of the mechanisms of astrovirus infection and host-pathogen interactions in a genetically manipulable small-animal model. Finally, we detected MuAstV in commercially available mice, suggesting that these viruses may be present in academic and commercial research mouse facilities, with possible implications for interpretation of data generated in current mouse models of disease. PMID:22951832

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and forging of commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krystian, Maciej; Huber, Daniel; Horky, Jelena

2017-10-01

Pure titanium with ultra-fine grained (UFG) microstructure is an exceptionally interesting material for biomedical and dental applications due to its very good biocompatibility and high strength. Such bulk, high-strength UFG materials are commonly produced by different Severe Plastic Deformation (SPD) techniques, whereof Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) is the most commonly used one. In this investigation commercially pure (CP) titanium (grade 2) was processed by ECAP using a die with a channel diameter of 20mm and an intersection angle of 105°. Six passes using route B120 (in which the billet is rotated between subsequent passes by 120°) at a temperature of 400°C were performed leading to a substantial grain refinement and an increase of strength and hardness. Subsequently, a thermal treatment study on ECAP-processed samples at different temperatures and for different time periods was carried out revealing the stability limit for ECAP CP-Ti as well as the best conditions leading to an improvement in both, strength and ductility. Furthermore, room temperature forging of the as-received (AR; hot-rolled and annealed) as well as ECAP-processed material was conducted. Tensile tests and hardness mappings revealed that forging is capable to further increase the strength of ECAP CP-Ti by more than 20%. Moreover, the mechanical properties are significantly more homogenous than after forging only.

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1994, a status report. Volume 22: Appendix I

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.

Nine operational events that affected eleven commercial light-water reactors (LWRs) during 1994 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 {times} 10{sup {minus}6}. These events were identified by computer-screening the 1994 licensee event reports from commercial LWRs to identify those that could be potential precursors. Candidate precursors were then selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designatedmore » by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure that the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1981 and 1984--1993 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for events. This document is bound in two volumes: Vol. 21 contains the main report and Appendices A--H; Vol. 22 contains Appendix 1.« less

A generalised background correction algorithm for a Halo Doppler lidar and its application to data from Finland

DOE PAGES

Manninen, Antti J.; O'Connor, Ewan J.; Vakkari, Ville; ...

2016-03-03

Current commercially available Doppler lidars provide an economical and robust solution for measuring vertical and horizontal wind velocities, together with the ability to provide co- and cross-polarised backscatter profiles. The high temporal resolution of these instruments allows turbulent properties to be obtained from studying the variation in radial velocities. However, the instrument specifications mean that certain characteristics, especially the background noise behaviour, become a limiting factor for the instrument sensitivity in regions where the aerosol load is low. Turbulent calculations require an accurate estimate of the contribution from velocity uncertainty estimates, which are directly related to the signal-to-noise ratio. Anymore » bias in the signal-to-noise ratio will propagate through as a bias in turbulent properties. In this paper we present a method to correct for artefacts in the background noise behaviour of commercially available Doppler lidars and reduce the signal-to-noise ratio threshold used to discriminate between noise, and cloud or aerosol signals. We show that, for Doppler lidars operating continuously at a number of locations in Finland, the data availability can be increased by as much as 50 % after performing this background correction and subsequent reduction in the threshold. Furthermore the reduction in bias also greatly improves subsequent calculations of turbulent properties in weak signal regimes.« less

A generalised background correction algorithm for a Halo Doppler lidar and its application to data from Finland

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Manninen, Antti J.; O'Connor, Ewan J.; Vakkari, Ville

Current commercially available Doppler lidars provide an economical and robust solution for measuring vertical and horizontal wind velocities, together with the ability to provide co- and cross-polarised backscatter profiles. The high temporal resolution of these instruments allows turbulent properties to be obtained from studying the variation in radial velocities. However, the instrument specifications mean that certain characteristics, especially the background noise behaviour, become a limiting factor for the instrument sensitivity in regions where the aerosol load is low. Turbulent calculations require an accurate estimate of the contribution from velocity uncertainty estimates, which are directly related to the signal-to-noise ratio. Anymore » bias in the signal-to-noise ratio will propagate through as a bias in turbulent properties. In this paper we present a method to correct for artefacts in the background noise behaviour of commercially available Doppler lidars and reduce the signal-to-noise ratio threshold used to discriminate between noise, and cloud or aerosol signals. We show that, for Doppler lidars operating continuously at a number of locations in Finland, the data availability can be increased by as much as 50 % after performing this background correction and subsequent reduction in the threshold. Furthermore the reduction in bias also greatly improves subsequent calculations of turbulent properties in weak signal regimes.« less

KSC-2013-1046

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-01-09

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At a news conference NASA officials and industry partners discuss progress of the agency's Commercial Crew Program CCP. Participating in the briefing, from the left are, Mike Curie, NASA Public Affairs, Ed Mango, NASA Commercial Crew Program manager, Phil McAlister, NASA Commercial Spaceflight Development director, Rob Meyerson, Blue Origin president and program manager, John Mulholland, The Boeing Company Commercial Programs Space Exploration vice president and program manager, Mark Sirangelo, Sierra Nevada Corp. vice president and SNC Space Systems chairman and Garrett Reisman, Space Exploration Technologies SpaceX Commercial Crew project manager. Through CCP, NASA is facilitating the development of U.S. commercial crew space transportation capabilities to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from low-Earth orbit for potential future government and commercial customers. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Effect of different dry period lengths on milk production and somatic cell count in subsequent lactations in commercial Dutch dairy herds.

PubMed

Steeneveld, W; Schukken, Y H; van Knegsel, A T M; Hogeveen, H

2013-05-01

Shortening the dry period (DP) has been proposed as a management strategy to improve energy balance in early lactation. It is well known that both shortening and complete omission of the DP reduces milk production in the subsequent lactations. In most of these studies milk production data were obtained from planned animal experiments where cows were randomly assigned to DP length treatments, and cow management and diet composition did not differ among treatments. It may therefore be hypothesized that cows on commercial herds which apply a no-DP or short-DP-strategy, and support this by management adjustments, will have a less dramatic reduction in milk production. In this study, milk production and somatic cell count (SCC) following different DP lengths was investigated under commercial circumstances. Milk production of 342 cows (2,077 test-day records) was available from 5 Dutch commercial dairy herds which started a no DP-strategy for all cows. Test days of the year before applying the no-DP strategy are used as control (323 cows, 1,717 test-day records). Six other herds applied an individual cow approach and have different preplanned DP lengths within one herd. From these herds, information on 81 cows (482 test-day records) with a DP length between 0 and 20 d, 127 cows (925 test-day records) with a DP length between 21 and 35 d, and 143 cows (1,075 test-day records) with a DP length of more than 35 d was available. A generalized linear model incorporating an autoregressive covariance structure accounting for repeated test-day yields within cow was developed to estimate the daily yield (milk, fat and protein) and SCC of all cows. Applying no DP for all cows in the herd resulted in a reduction in postpartum milk production compared with within-herd control lactations (until 305 DIM) between 3.2 and 9.1 kg/d, which was a reduction of 12 and 32%, respectively. For the 6 herds that applied an individual cow approach with different preplanned DP lengths, the cow-specific DP strategy was based on milk production and SCC approximately 2 mo before calving. Cows with a preplanned DP length ranging between 0 and 20 d had a reduction in postpartum milk production between 5.7 and 13 kg/d compared with cows with a DP length of >35 d. Cows with a preplanned DP length ranging from 21 to 35 d had a numerically lower milk production (between 0.6 and 5.3 kg/d) than cows with a preplanned DP length of >35 d, but this difference was significant in only one herd. When corrected for milk yield, no difference in postpartum SCC for cows with different DP lengths was found. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Anti-digoxin Fab variants generated by phage display.

PubMed

Murata, Viviane Midori; Schmidt, Mariana Costa Braga; Kalil, Jorge; Tsuruta, Lilian Rumi; Moro, Ana Maria

2013-06-01

Digoxin is a pharmaceutical used in the control of cardiac dysfunction. Its therapeutic window is narrow, with effect dosage very close to the toxic dosage. To counteract the toxic effect, polyclonal Fab fragments are commercially available. Our study is based on a monoclonal anti-digoxin antibody, which would provide a product with a specific potency and more precise dosage for the detoxification of patients under digoxin treatment. Phage display technology was used to select variants with high affinity. From an anti-digoxin hybridoma, RNA was extracted for subsequent cDNA synthesis. Specific primers were used for the LC and Fd amplifications, then cloned sequentially in a phagemid vector (pComb3X) for the combinatorial Fab library construction. Clones were selected for their ability to bind to digoxin-BSA. The presence of light and heavy chains was checked, randomly selected clones then sequenced and induced to produce soluble Fabs, and subsequently analyzed for anti-digoxin expression. Out of ten clones randomly chosen, six resulted positive expression of the product. The sequencing of these revealed two identical clones and one presenting a pseudogene in the LC. Four clones presenting variations in the framework1 showed binding to digoxin-BSA by ELISA and western blotting. The specific binding was further confirmed by Biacore(®), which allowed ranking of the clones. The development of these clones allowed the selection of variants with higher affinity than the original version.

Development and process evaluation of a Web-based responsible beverage service training program.

PubMed

Danaher, Brian G; Dresser, Jack; Shaw, Tracy; Severson, Herbert H; Tyler, Milagra S; Maxwell, Elisabeth D; Christiansen, Steve M

2012-09-22

Responsible beverage service (RBS) training designed to improve the appropriate service of alcohol in commercial establishments is typically delivered in workshops. Recently, Web-based RBS training programs have emerged. This report describes the formative development and subsequent design of an innovative Web-delivered RBS program, and evaluation of the impact of the program on servers' knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. Formative procedures using focus groups and usability testing were used to develop a Web-based RBS training program. Professional alcohol servers (N = 112) who worked as servers and/or mangers in alcohol service settings were recruited to participate. A pre-post assessment design was used to assess changes associated with using the program. Participants who used the program showed significant improvements in their RBS knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. Although the current study did not directly observe and determine impact of the intervention on server behaviors, it demonstrated that the development process incorporating input from a multidisciplinary team in conjunction with feedback from end-users resulted in creation of a Web-based RBS program that was well-received by servers and that changed relevant knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. The results also help to establish a needed evidence base in support of the use of online RBS training, which has been afforded little research attention.

Alcohol consumption, smoking and development of visible age-related signs: a prospective cohort study.

PubMed

Schou, Anne L; Mølbak, Marie-Louise; Schnor, Peter; Grønbæk, Morten; Tolstrup, Janne S

2017-12-01

Visible age-related signs indicate biological age, as individuals that appear old for their age are more likely to be at poor health, compared with people that appear their actual age. The aim of this study was to investigate whether alcohol and smoking are associated with four visible age-related signs (arcus corneae, xanthelasmata, earlobe crease and male pattern baldness). We used information from 11 613 individuals in the Copenhagen City Heart Study (1976-2003). Alcohol intake, smoking habits and other lifestyle factors were assessed prospectively and visible age-related signs were inspected during subsequent examinations. The risk of developing arcus corneae, earlobe crease and xanthelasmata increased stepwise with increased smoking as measured by pack-years. For alcohol consumption, a high intake was associated with the risk of developing arcus corneae and earlobe crease, but not xanthelasmata. High alcohol consumption and smoking predict development of visible age-related signs. This is the first prospective study to show that heavy alcohol use and smoking are associated with generally looking older than one's actual age. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Manufacturing Road Map for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Technologies

PubMed Central

Hunsberger, Joshua; Harrysson, Ola; Shirwaiker, Rohan; Starly, Binil; Wysk, Richard; Cohen, Paul; Allickson, Julie; Yoo, James

2015-01-01

Summary The Regenerative Medicine Foundation Annual Conference held on May 6 and 7, 2014, had a vision of assisting with translating tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM)-based technologies closer to the clinic. This vision was achieved by assembling leaders in the field to cover critical areas. Some of these critical areas included regulatory pathways for regenerative medicine therapies, strategic partnerships, coordination of resources, developing standards for the field, government support, priorities for industry, biobanking, and new technologies. The final day of this conference featured focused sessions on manufacturing, during which expert speakers were invited from industry, government, and academia. The speakers identified and accessed roadblocks plaguing the field where improvements in advanced manufacturing offered many solutions. The manufacturing sessions included (a) product development toward commercialization in regenerative medicine, (b) process challenges to scale up manufacturing in regenerative medicine, and (c) infrastructure needs for manufacturing in regenerative medicine. Subsequent to this, industry was invited to participate in a survey to further elucidate the challenges to translation and scale-up. This perspective article will cover the lessons learned from these manufacturing sessions and early results from the survey. We also outline a road map for developing the manufacturing infrastructure, resources, standards, capabilities, education, training, and workforce development to realize the promise of TERM. PMID:25575525

SPINOFF 2000

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

For the past 42 years, NASA has made special efforts to ensure the widest possible dissemination of its research and technology developments. We share the wealth of technology developed for our missions with the nation's industries to contribute to US economic strength and quality of life. For the past 27 years, this publication has provided you with over 1,200 examples of products and services developed as a direct result of commercial partnerships between NASA and the business community. Examples have covered products from fire retardant materials and air pollution monitors to non-invasive cardiac monitors and sensors for environmental control. In the Technology Transfer and Outreach section of Spinoff 2000, we highlight the activities of our Ames Research Center's Commercial Technology Office (CTO). Their efforts to facilitate and support technology commercialization are representative of the CTO at each field center. Increased activities to accelerate the dissemination of technologies, speed up the process of patent licensing, quicken the release of software for beta testing, support and manage incubators, and hasten the collaboration with commercial and academic organizations will continue to maximize the earliest potential commercial utilization of NASA's new inventions and technologies. Spinoff 2000 is organized into three sections: (1) Aerospace and Development highlights major research and development efforts currently carried out at the 10 NASA field centers; (2) Commercial Benefits-Spinoffs describes commercially available products and services resulting from the transfer of NASA technology; and (3) Technology Transfer and Outreach features this year's center spotlight, NASA's Ames Research Center, and its commercialization efforts, as well as the mechanisms in place nationwide to assist US industry in obtaining, transferring, and applying NASA technology, expertise, and assistance.

Development and Testing of a Friction-Based Post-Installable Fiber-Optic Monitoring System for Subsea Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bentley, Nicole L.; Brower, David V.; Le, Suy Q.; Seaman, Calvin H.; Tang, Henry H.

2017-01-01

This paper presents the design and development of a friction-based coupling device for a fiber-optic monitoring system capable of measuring pressure, strain, and temperature that can be deployed on existing subsea structures. A summary is provided of the design concept, prototype development, prototype performance testing, and subsequent design refinements of the device. The results of laboratory testing of the first prototype performed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) are also included. Limitations of the initial concept were identified during testing and future design improvements were proposed and later implemented. These new features enhance the coupling of the sensor device and improve the monitoring system measurement capabilities. A major challenge of a post-installed instrumentation monitoring system is to ensure adequate coupling between the instruments and the structure of interest for reliable measurements. Friction-based devices have the potential to overcome coupling limitations caused by marine growth and soil contamination on flowlines, risers, and other subsea structures. The work described in this paper investigates the design and test of a friction-based coupling device (herein referred to as a friction clamp) which is suitable for pipelines and structures that are suspended in the water column as well as for those that are resting on the seabed. The monitoring elements consist of fiberoptic sensors that are bonded to a stainless steel clamshell assembly with a high-friction surface coating. The friction clamp incorporates a single hinge design to facilitate installation of the clamp and dual rows of opposing fasteners to distribute the clamping force along the structure. The friction clamp can be modified to be installed by commercial divers in shallow depths or by remotely operated vehicles in deep-water applications. NASA-JSC was involved in the selection and testing of the friction coating, and in the design and testing of the prototype clamp device. Four-inch diameter and eight-inch diameter sub-scale friction clamp prototypes were built and tested to evaluate the strain measuring capabilities of the design under different loading scenarios. The testing revealed some limitations of the initial design concept, and subsequent refinements were explored to improve the measurement performance of the system. This study was part of a collaboration between NASA-JSC and Astro Technology Inc. within a study called Clear Gulf. The primary objective of the Clear Gulf study is to develop advanced instrumentation technologies that will improve operational safety and reduce the risk of hydrocarbon spillage. NASA provided unique insights, expansive test facilities, and technical expertise to advance technologies that will benefit the environment, the public, and commercial industries.

Synergistic control center development utilizing commercial technology and industry standards. [NASA space programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, Brian L.

1993-01-01

The development of the Control Center Complex (CCC), a synergistic control center supporting both the Space Station Freedom and the Space Shuttle Program, is described. To provide maximum growth and flexibility, the CCC uses commercial off-the-shelf technology and industry standards. The discussion covers the development philosophy, CCC architecture, data distribution, the software platform concept, workstation platform, commercial tools for the CCC, and benefits of synergy.

Bismuth-based oxide semiconductors: Mild synthesis and practical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timmaji, Hari Krishna

In this dissertation study, bismuth based oxide semiconductors were prepared using 'mild' synthesis techniques---electrodeposition and solution combustion synthesis. Potential environmental remediation and solar energy applications of the prepared oxides were evaluated. Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) was prepared by electrodeposition and solution combustion synthesis. A two step electrosynthesis strategy was developed and demonstrated for the first time. In the first step, a Bi film was first electrodeposited on a Pt substrate from an acidic BiCl3 medium. Then, this film was anodically stripped in a medium containing hydrolyzed vanadium precursor, to generate Bi3+, and subsequent BiVO4 formation by in situ precipitation. The photoelectrochemical data were consistent with the in situ formation of n-type semiconductor films. In the solution combustion synthesis procedure, BiVO4 powders were prepared using bismuth nitrate pentahydrate as the bismuth precursor and either vanadium chloride or vanadium oxysulfate as the vanadium precursor. Urea, glycine, or citric acid was used as the fuel. The effect of the vanadium precursor on the photocatalytic activity of combustion synthesized BiVO 4 was evaluated in this study. Methyl orange was used as a probe to test the photocatalytic attributes of the combustion synthesized (CS) samples, and benchmarked against a commercial bismuth vanadate sample. The CS samples showed superior activity to the commercial benchmark sample, and samples derived from vanadium chloride were superior to vanadium oxysulfate counterparts. The photoelectrochemical properties of the various CS samples were also studied and these samples were shown to be useful both for environmental photocatalytic remediation and water photooxidation applications. Silver bismuth tungstate (AgBiW2O8) nanoparticles were prepared for the first time by solution combustion synthesis by using silver nitrate, bismuth nitrate, sodium tungstate as precursors for Ag, Bi, and W respectively and urea as the fuel. The photocatalytic activity of these nanoparticles was superior to a sample prepared by solid-state synthesis. The combustion-synthesized particles were subsequently modified with Pt catalyst islands using a photodeposition technique and then used for the photo-generation of syngas (CO + H2). Formic acid was used in these experiments for in situ generation of CO2 and its subsequent reduction to CO. In the absence of Pt modification, H2 was not obtained. These results were compared with those obtained with acetic acid in place of formic acid, and finally the mechanistic pathways for syngas and methane photogeneration are presented.

Commercial application of rainfall simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loch, Rob J.

2010-05-01

Landloch Pty Ltd is a commercial consulting firm, providing advice on a range of land management issues to the mining and construction industries in Australia. As part of the company's day-to-day operations, rainfall simulation is used to assess material erodibility and to investigate a range of site attributes. (Landloch does carry out research projects, though such are not its core business.) When treated as an everyday working tool, several aspects of rainfall simulation practice are distinctively modified. Firstly, the equipment used is regularly maintained, and regularly upgraded with a primary focus on ease, safety, and efficiency of use and on reliability of function. As well, trained and experienced technical support is considered essential. Landloch's chief technician has over 10 years experience in running rainfall simulators at locations across Australia and in Africa and the Pacific. Secondly, the specific experimental conditions established for each set of rainfall simulator runs are carefully considered to ensure that they accurately represent the field conditions to which the data will be subsequently applied. Considerations here include: • wetting and drying cycles to ensure material consolidation and/or cementation if appropriate; • careful attention to water quality if dealing with clay soils or with amendments such as gypsum; • strong focus on ensuring that the erosion processes considered are those of greatest importance to the field situation of concern; and • detailed description of both material and plot properties, to increase the potential for data to be applicable to a wider range of projects and investigations. Other important company procedures include: • For each project, the scientist or engineer responsible for analysing and reporting rainfall simulator data is present during the running of all field plots, as it is essential that they be aware of any specific conditions that may have developed when the plots were subjected to rain; and • Regular calibration of all equipment. In general, typical errors when rainfall simulation is carried out by inexperienced researchers include: • Failure to accurately measure rainfall rates (the most common error); • Inappropriate initial conditions, including wetting treatments; • Use of inappropriately small plots - relating to our concern at the erosion processes considered be those of genuine field relevance; • Inappropriate rainfall kinetic energies; and • Failure to observe critical processes operating on the study plots, such as saturation excess or the presence of impeding layers at shallow depths. Landloch regularly uses erodibility data to design stable batter profiles for minesite waste dumps. Subsequent monitoring of designed dumps has confirmed that modelled erosion rates are consistent with those subsequently measured under field conditions.

Commercial development of space - A national commitment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rose, James T.; Stone, Barbara A.

1989-01-01

The United States is currently in a unique position. It has all the assets required to lead the world in commercial space development. It has the transportation: the Shuttle and a family of expendable launch vehicles. Space Station Freedom is forthcoming. It has the extrepreneurial spirit, coupled with a strong university system and lending institutions with financial capacity necessary for entrepreneurial activities. But, there are a number of actions that the government should take to improve the climate and prospects for greater commercial development of space. This paper outlines some of the steps that NASA is taking to incentivize the private sector to apply its resources and talents to commercial space endeavors.

A User-Friendly Model for Spray Drying to Aid Pharmaceutical Product Development

PubMed Central

Grasmeijer, Niels; de Waard, Hans; Hinrichs, Wouter L. J.; Frijlink, Henderik W.

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop a user-friendly model for spray drying that can aid in the development of a pharmaceutical product, by shifting from a trial-and-error towards a quality-by-design approach. To achieve this, a spray dryer model was developed in commercial and open source spreadsheet software. The output of the model was first fitted to the experimental output of a Büchi B-290 spray dryer and subsequently validated. The predicted outlet temperatures of the spray dryer model matched the experimental values very well over the entire range of spray dryer settings that were tested. Finally, the model was applied to produce glassy sugars by spray drying, an often used excipient in formulations of biopharmaceuticals. For the production of glassy sugars, the model was extended to predict the relative humidity at the outlet, which is not measured in the spray dryer by default. This extended model was then successfully used to predict whether specific settings were suitable for producing glassy trehalose and inulin by spray drying. In conclusion, a spray dryer model was developed that is able to predict the output parameters of the spray drying process. The model can aid the development of spray dried pharmaceutical products by shifting from a trial-and-error towards a quality-by-design approach. PMID:24040240

Aqueous Plasma Pharmacy: Preparation Methods, Chemistry, and Therapeutic Applications

PubMed Central

Joslin, Jessica M.; McCall, James R.; Bzdek, Justin P.; Johnson, Derek C.; Hybertson, Brooks M.

2017-01-01

Plasma pharmacy is a subset of the broader field of plasma medicine. Although not strictly defined, the term aqueous plasma pharmacy (APP) is used to refer to the generation and distribution of reactive plasma-generated species in an aqueous solution followed by subsequent administration for therapeutic benefits. APP attempts to harness the therapeutic effects of plasma-generated oxidant species within aqueous solution in various applications, such as disinfectant solutions, cell proliferation related to wound healing, and cancer treatment. The subsequent use of plasma-generated solutions in the APP approach facilitates the delivery of reactive plasma species to internal locations within the body. Although significant efforts in the field of plasma medicine have concentrated on employing direct plasma plume exposure to cells or tissues, here we focus specifically on plasma discharge in aqueous solution to render the solution biologically active for subsequent application. Methods of plasma discharge in solution are reviewed, along with aqueous plasma chemistry and the applications for APP. The future of the field also is discussed regarding necessary research efforts that will enable commercialization for clinical deployment. PMID:28428835

Hot Roll Bonding of Aluminum to Twin-Roll Cast (TRC) Magnesium and Its Subsequent Deformation Behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saleh, H.; Schmidtchen, M.; Kawalla, R.

2018-02-01

In an experiment in which twin-roll cast AZ31 magnesium alloy and commercial purity aluminum (AA 1050) sheets were bonded by hot rolling as Al/Mg/Al laminate composites, it was found that increasing the preheating temperatures up to 400 °C enhances the bonding strength of composites. Further increases in the preheating temperatures accelerate the magnesium oxide growth and thus reduce the bonding strength. The influence of the reduction ratio on the bonding properties was also studied, whereby it was observed that increasing the rolling reduction led to an increase in the bonding strength. The experimental results show that the optimum bonding strength can be obtained at rolling temperatures of 375-400 °C with a 50-60% reduction in thickness. On the other hand, the subsequent deformation behavior of composite was assessed using plane strain compression and deep drawing tests. We demonstrate that the composites produced using the optimum roll bonding conditions exhibited sufficient bonding during subsequent deformation and did not reveal any debonding at the bonding interface.

76 FR 60474 - Commercial Item Handbook

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-29

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Defense Acquisition Regulations System Commercial Item Handbook AGENCY.... SUMMARY: DoD has updated its Commercial Item Handbook. The purpose of the Handbook is to help acquisition personnel develop sound business strategies for procuring commercial items. DoD is seeking industry input on...

Information Privacy in the Marketspace: Implications for the Commercial Uses of Anonymity on the Web.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Donna L.; Novak, Thomas P.; Peralta, Marcos A.

1999-01-01

Suggests that the primary barrier to successful commercial development of the Web is lack of consumer trust in the medium. Examines how customer concerns are affecting growth and development of consumeroriented commercial activity on the Web and investigates the implications of these concerns for potential industry response. Suggests that radical…

Evaluation of TV commercials using neurophysiological responses.

PubMed

Yang, Taeyang; Lee, Do-Young; Kwak, Youngshin; Choi, Jinsook; Kim, Chajoong; Kim, Sung-Phil

2015-04-24

In recent years, neuroscientific knowledge has been applied to marketing as a novel and efficient means to comprehend the cognitive and behavioral aspects of consumers. A number of studies have attempted to evaluate media contents, especially TV commercials using various neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG). Yet neurophysiological examination of detailed cognitive and affective responses in viewers is still required to provide practical information to marketers. Here, this study develops a method to analyze temporal patterns of EEG data and extract affective and cognitive indices such as happiness, surprise, and attention for TV commercial evaluation. Twenty participants participated in the study. We developed the neurophysiological indices for TV commercial evaluation using classification model. Specifically, these model-based indices were customized using individual EEG features. We used a video game for developing the index of attention and four video clips for developing indices of happiness and surprise. Statistical processes including one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) and the cross validation scheme were used to select EEG features for each index. The EEG features were composed of the combinations of spectral power at selected channels from the cross validation for each individual. The Fisher's linear discriminant classifier (FLDA) was used to estimate each neurophysiological index during viewing four different TV commercials. Post hoc behavioral responses of preference, short-term memory, and recall were measured. Behavioral results showed significant differences for all preference, short-term memory rates, and recall rates between commercials, leading to a 'high-ranked' commercial group and a 'low-ranked' group (P < 0.05). Neural estimation of happiness results revealed a significant difference between the high-ranked and the low-ranked commercials in happiness index (P < 0.01). The order of rankings based on happiness and attention matched well with the order of behavioral response rankings. In the elapsed-time analysis of the highest-ranked commercial, we could point to visual and auditory semantic structures of the commercial that induced increases in the happiness index. Our results demonstrated that the neurophysiological indices developed in this study may provide a useful tool for evaluating TV commercials.

The development and application of new crystallization method for tobacco mosaic virus coat protein.

PubMed

Li, Xiangyang; Song, Baoan; Hu, Deyu; Wang, Zhenchao; Zeng, Mengjiao; Yu, Dandan; Chen, Zhuo; Jin, Linhong; Yang, Song

2012-11-21

Although tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) coat protein (CP) has been isolated from virus particles and its crystals have grown in ammonium sulfate buffers for many years, to date, no one has reported on the crystallization of recombinant TMV-CP connecting peptides expressed in E. coli. In the present papers genetically engineered TMV-CP was expressed, into which hexahistidine (His) tags or glutathione-S-transferase (GST) tags were incorporated. Considering that GST-tags are long peptides and His-tags are short peptides, an attempt was made to grow crystals of TMV-CP cleaved GST-tags (WT-TMV-CP32) and TMV-CP incorporated His-tags (WT-His-TMV-CP12) simultaneously in ammonium sulfate buffers and commercial crystallization reagents. It was found that the 20S disk form of WT-TMV-CP32 and WT-His-TMV-CP12 did not form high resolution crystals by using various crystallization buffers and commercial crystallization reagents. Subsequently, a new experimental method was adopted in which a range of truncated TMV-CP was constructed by removing several amino acids from the N- or the C-terminal, and high resolution crystals were grown in ammonium sulfate buffers and commercial crystallization reagents. The new crystallization method was developed and 3.0 Å resolution macromolecular crystal was thereby obtained by removing four amino acids at the C-terminal of His-TMV-CP and connecting six His-tags at the N-terminal of His-TMV-CP (TR-His-TMV-CP19). The Four-layer aggregate disk structure of TR-His-TMV-CP19 was solved. This phenomenon showed that peptides at the C-terminus hindered the growth of high resolution crystals and the peptides interactions at the N-terminus were attributed to the quality of TMV-CP crystals. A 3.0 Å resolution macromolecular crystal of TR-His-TMV-CP19 was obtained and the corresponding structure was solved by removing four amino acids at the C-terminus of TMV-CP and connecting His-tags at the N-terminus of TMV-CP. It indicated that short peptides influenced the resolution of TMV-CP crystals.

Modification of in-pack conditions to extend the storage life of vacuum packaged lamb.

PubMed

Gill, C O; Penney, N

1985-01-01

High pH (>5·9) lamb loins from a research abattoir were subjected to differing packaging treatments to determine whether package modification could reliably extend the storage life of chilled lamb cuts beyond that attained by cuts vacuum-packaged in film of low gas permeability, as in current commercial practice. Treatments applied were carbon dioxide flushing or addition of a citrate buffer (pH 4·8), a 5% lactic acid solution or a Lactobacillus inoculum (plastic packs only) and packaging in a plastic film of moderately low oxygen permeability (140 cc/m(2)/24 h at 25°C and 90% relative humidity) or in a foil laminate of immeasurably low oxygen permeability. After 12 weeks' storage at -0.5°C, the cuts packaged in the plastic film were spoiled by off-odours produced by enterobacteria, except for inoculated cuts, which, instead, had developed unacceptable dairy flavours. In contrast, cuts packaged in foil laminate developed floras of lactobacilli that had not caused spoilage after 12 weeks, and meat colour was much improved by the exclusion of oxygen. Loin cuts from a commercial packaging operation were packaged in a shrinkable plastic film of low oxygen permeability (30 to 40 cc/m(2)/24 h at 25°C and 90% relative humidity), in foil laminate, or in foil laminate after the addition of 5% lactic acid solution. For the first 6 weeks, cuts were stored in a commercial chiller nominally operating at 0°C; subsequently, they were held in a laboratory chiller at -0.5°C. Some cuts packaged in the shrinkable plastic were spoiled after 9 weeks' storage and all were spoiled at 12 weeks, because of off-flavours produced by enterobacteria. All cuts packaged in the foil laminate were very acceptable at 9 weeks but most were spoiled by off-flavours at 12 weeks. Most cuts treated with lactic acid and packaged in foil laminate were unspoiled after 12 weeks. The packaging requirements indicated to be necessary for reliable extension of the storage life of vacuum packaged lamb are discussed. Copyright © 1985. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Rethinking antibiotic research and development: World War II and the penicillin collaborative.

PubMed

Quinn, Roswell

2013-03-01

Policy leaders and public health experts may be overlooking effective ways to stimulate innovative antibiotic research and development. I analyzed archival resources concerning the US government's efforts to produce penicillin during World War II, which demonstrate how much science policy can differ from present approaches. By contrast to current attempts to invigorate commercial participation in antibiotic development, the effort to develop the first commercially produced antibiotic did not rely on economic enticements or the further privatization of scientific resources. Rather, this extremely successful scientific and, ultimately, commercial endeavor was rooted in government stewardship, intraindustry cooperation, and the open exchange of scientific information. For policymakers facing the problem of stimulating antibiotic research and development, the origins of the antibiotic era offer a template for effective policy solutions that concentrate primarily on scientific rather than commercial goals.

Commercial Crew Development Program Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Richard W.

2011-01-01

NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program is designed to stimulate efforts within the private sector that will aid in the development and demonstration of safe, reliable, and cost-effective space transportation capabilities. With the goal of delivery cargo and eventually crew to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the International Space Station (ISS) the program is designed to foster the development of new spacecraft and launch vehicles in the commercial sector. Through Space Act Agreements (SAAs) in 2011 NASA provided $50M of funding to four partners; Blue Origin, The Boeing Company, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and SpaceX. Additional, NASA has signed two unfunded SAAs with ATK and United Space Alliance. This paper will give a brief summary of these SAAs. Additionally, a brief overview will be provided of the released version of the Commercial Crew Development Program plans and requirements documents.

Rethinking Antibiotic Research and Development: World War II and the Penicillin Collaborative

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Policy leaders and public health experts may be overlooking effective ways to stimulate innovative antibiotic research and development. I analyzed archival resources concerning the US government’s efforts to produce penicillin during World War II, which demonstrate how much science policy can differ from present approaches. By contrast to current attempts to invigorate commercial participation in antibiotic development, the effort to develop the first commercially produced antibiotic did not rely on economic enticements or the further privatization of scientific resources. Rather, this extremely successful scientific and, ultimately, commercial endeavor was rooted in government stewardship, intraindustry cooperation, and the open exchange of scientific information. For policymakers facing the problem of stimulating antibiotic research and development, the origins of the antibiotic era offer a template for effective policy solutions that concentrate primarily on scientific rather than commercial goals. PMID:22698031

The commercial feasibility of underground coal gasification in southern Thailand

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Solc, J.; Young, B.C.; Harju, J.A.

Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is a clean coal technology with the commercial potential to provide low- or medium-Btu gas for the generation of electric power. While the abundance of economic coal and natural gas reserves in the United States of America (USA) has delayed the commercial development of this technology in the USA, potential for commercial development of UCG-fueled electric power generation currently exists in many other nations. Thailand has been experiencing sustained economic growth throughout the past decade. The use of UCG to provide electric power to meet the growing power demand appears to have commercial potential. A projectmore » to determine the commercial feasibility of UCG-fueled electric power generation at a site in southern Thailand is in progress. The objective of the project is to determine the commercial feasibility of using UCG for power generation in the Krabi coal mining area located approximately 1,000 kilometers south of Bangkok, Thailand. The project team has developed a detailed methodology to determine the technical feasibility, environmental acceptability, and commercial economic potential of UCG at a selected site. In the methodology, hydrogeologic conditions of the coal seam and surrounding strata are determined first. These results and information describing the local economic conditions are then used to assess the commercial potential of the UCG application. The methodology for evaluating the Krabi UCG site and current project status are discussed in this paper.« less

Commercial Implementation of Ultrasonic Velocity Imaging Methods via Cooperative Agreement Between NASA Lewis Research Center and Sonix, Inc.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roth, Don J.; Hendricks, J. Lynne; Whalen, Mike F.; Bodis, James R.; Martin, Katherine

1996-01-01

This article describes the commercial implementation of ultrasonic velocity imaging methods developed and refined at NASA Lewis Research Center on the Sonix c-scan inspection system. Two velocity imaging methods were implemented: thickness-based and non-thickness-based reflector plate methods. The article demonstrates capabilities of the commercial implementation and gives the detailed operating procedures required for Sonix customers to achieve optimum velocity imaging results. This commercial implementation of velocity imaging provides a 100x speed increase in scanning and processing over the lab-based methods developed at LeRC. The significance of this cooperative effort is that the aerospace and other materials development-intensive industries which use extensive ultrasonic inspection for process control and failure analysis will now have an alternative, highly accurate imaging method commercially available.

Heavy Vehicle Propulsion System Materials Program Semiannual Progress Report for April 2000 Through September 2000

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, DR

2000-12-11

The purpose of the Heavy Vehicle Propulsion System Materials Program is the development of materials: ceramics, intermetallics, metal alloys, and metal and ceramic coatings, to support the dieselization of class 1-3 trucks to realize a 35% fuel-economy improvement over current gasoline-fueled trucks and to support commercialization of fuel-flexible LE-55 low-emissions, high-efficiency diesel engines for class 7-8 trucks. The Office of Transportation Technologies, Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies (OTT OHVT) has an active program to develop the technology for advantages LE-55 diesel engines with 55% efficiency and low emissions levels of 2.0 g/bhp-h NOx and 0.05 g/bhp-h particulates. The goal ismore » also for the LE-55 engine to run on natural gas with efficiency approaching that of diesel fuel. The LE-55 program is being completed in FY 1997 and, after approximately 10 years of effort, has largely met the program goals of 55% efficiency and low emissions. However, the commercialization of the LE-55 technology requires more durable materials than those that have been used to demonstrate the goals. Heavy Vehicle Propulsion System Materials will, in concert with the heavy duty diesel engine companies, develop the durable materials required to commercialize the LE-55 technologies. OTT OHVT also recognizes a significant opportunity for reduction in petroleum consumption by dieselization of pickup trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles. Application of the diesel engine to class 1, 2, and 3 trucks is expected to yield a 35% increase in fuel economy per vehicle. The foremost barrier to diesel use in this market is emission control. Once an engine is made certifiable, subsequent challenges will be in cost; noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH); and performance. The design of advanced components for high-efficiency diesel engines has, in some cases, pushed the performance envelope for materials of construction past the point of reliable operation. Higher mechanical and tribological stresses and higher temperatures of advanced designs limit the engine designer; advanced materials allow the design of components that may operate reliably at higher stresses and temperatures, thus enabling more efficient engine designs. Advanced materials also offer the opportunity to improve the emissions, NVH, and performance of diesel engines for pickup trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles.« less

Commercial Aircraft Development and the Export Market

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snodgrass, J.

1972-01-01

The various factors which endanger the future of commercial aircraft development are defined. The factors discussed are: (1) a decline in federally funded research and development programs, (2) a general decline in the economic health of the domestic airlines, (3) the increased cost of development which may be several times the net worth of the company, (4) the development overseas of common market and manufacturing consortia, and (5) foreign manufacturers receiving significant financial support from their national governments. It is stated that unless immediate and innovative solutions to combat these factors are found, the commercial aviation industry will be in serious difficulty.

NASA's Commercial Space Centers: Bringing Together Government and Industry for "Out of this World" Benefits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, R. Keith; Henderson, Robin N. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is making significant effort to accommodate commercial research in the utilization plans of the International Space Station (ISS)[1]. NASA is providing 30% of the research accommodations in the ISS laboratory modules to support commercial endeavors. However, the availability of resources alone does not necessarily translate into significant private sector participation in NASA's ISS utilization plans. Due to the efforts of NASA's Commercial Space Centers (CSC's), NASA has developed a very robust plan for involving the private sector in ISS utilization activities. Obtaining participation from the private sector requires a demonstrated capability for obtaining commercially significant research results. Since 1985, NASA CSC's have conducted over 200 commercial research activities aboard parabolic aircraft, sounding rockets, the Space Shuttle, and the ISS. The success of these activities has developed substantial investment from private sector companies in commercial space research.

Alaska OCS socioeconomic studies program. Technical report number 44. Lower Cook Inlet petroleum development scenarios: commercial fishing industry analysis. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Terry, J.M.; Scoles, R.G.; Larson, D.M.

1980-07-01

The objectives of the report are to increase the understanding of the potential relationships between the commercial fishing and Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) petroleum industries and to project the potential impacts on the commercial fishing industry of Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait that may occur as a result of the proposed OCS Lease Sale Number 60. To meet this objective, the report consists of: (1) the documentation and examination of the history and current trends of the Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait commercial fishing industry as necessary to develop a basis for projecting fishery development and potential interactions with themore » OCS petroleum industry, (2) the development of models used to forecast the level of commercial fishing industry activity through the year 2000 in the absence of OCS development pursuant to Lease Sale Number 60, and (3) an analysis of the potential impacts of Lease Sale Number 60 based on the hypothesized nature and magnitude of the activities of the commercial fishing and OCS petroleum industries. Both the harvesting and processing sectors of the fishing industry are considered. The sources of impacts considered are the competition for labor, ocean space use, and the infrastructure. Potential impacts due to environmental or biological changes resulting from OCS petroleum development are not considered.« less

Development of theophylline sustained release dosage form based on Kollidon SR.

PubMed

Reza, Md Selim; Quadir, Mohiuddin Abdul; Haider, Syed Shabbir

2002-01-01

Sustained release theophylline matrix tablets constituting Kollidon SR (Polyvinyl acetate and povidone based matrix retarding polymer) were developed in this study in an attempt to design a dosage form that manifests desirable release profile and thorough adherence to official monographs. Four matrix tablet formulations were prepared by dry blending and direct compression of Kollidon SR and HPMC-15cps (hydroxypropylmethylcellulose) in varying proportion with fixed percentage of theophylline. Tablets containing only Kollidon SR with the active ingredient demonstrated a rapid rate of drug release with an initial burst effect. Incorporation of HPMC-15cps in the matrix tablet prolonged the release of drug with subsequent minimization of burst effect as confirmed by mean dissolution time, T50 and Higuchi release rate data. Among the batches containing HPMC-15 cps, a direct relationship was obtained between release rate and the percentage of HPMC used. A suitable controlled release profile was obtained with the matrix tablets containing 20% Kollidon SR and 30% HPMC-15cps. The formulation showed close resemblance to commercial products and compliance with USP specification. The results were explored and explained by the difference of physico-chemical property and hydration characteristics of the polymers. In addition to this result, the exponential model was applied to characterize the drug release behaviour from polymeric systems. It was found that, Fickian release is predominant in tablets containing Kollidon SR alone and non-Fickian mechanism plays an important role in the release of drug from HPMC containing tablets with a trend towards zero-order or case II release. In vitro release profile of two commercial brands were also undertaken for comparison and modulation of the experimental batches.

Direct Air Capture of CO2 - an Overview of Carbon Engineering's Technology and Pilot Plant Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holmes, G.; Corless, A.

2014-12-01

At Carbon Engineering, we are developing and commercializing technology to scrub CO2 directly from atmospheric air at industrial scale. By providing atmospheric CO2 for use in fuel production, we can enable production of transportation fuels with ultra-low carbon intensities, which command price premiums in the growing set of constrained fuels markets such as California's LCFS. We are a Calgary based startup founded in 2009 with 10 employees, and we are considered a global leader in the direct air capture (DAC) field. We will review CE's DAC technology, based on a wet-scrubbing "air contactor" which absorbs CO2 into aqueous solution, and a chemical looping "regeneration" component, which liberates pure CO2 from this aqueous solution while re-making the original absorption chemical. CE's DAC tecnology exports purified atmospheric CO2, combined with the combustion CO2 from plant energy usage, as the end product. We will also discuss CE's 2014-2015 end-to-end Pilot Demonstration Unit. This is a $7M technology demonstration plant that CE is building with the help of key industrial partners and equipment vendors. Vendor design and engineering requirements have been used to specify the pilot air contactor, pellet reactor, calciner, and slaker modules, as well as auxiliary systems. These modules will be run for several months to obtain the engineering and performance data needed for subsequent commercial plant design, as well as to test the residual integration risks associated with CE's process. By the time of the AGU conference, the pilot is expected to be in late stages of fabrication or early stages of site installation.

Dynamics of the recovery of the western Lake Erie walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) stock

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hatch, Richard W.; Nepszy, Stephen J.; Muth, Kenneth M.; Baker, Carl T.

1987-01-01

After its 1957 collapse under intensive fishing and environmental stresses, the walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) stock of western Lake Erie remained low throughout the 1960s. A moratorium on both sport and commercial fishing, resulting from the 1970 discovery of mercury concentrations in walleye flesh, provided an opportunity for the development of an international interagency management plan. The quota management plan developed depended on sequential projection of the fishable stock on the basis of estimated annual recruitment and reports of total withdrawals from the stock. The fishery reopened gradually and quota management (including allocation among jurisdictions) was implemented in 1976. The stock, which had been gradually increasing as a result of relatively strong year-classes produced in 1970, 1972, and 1974, responded well to limited exploitation and produced a record year-class in 1977. Quotas were exceeded in 1978-80, but the stock continued to improve to the extent that the recommended rate of exploitation was increased in 1980 and again in 1981. As the population expanded, growth began to decline; the decline became apparent in young-of-the-year in the early 1970s and in older walleyes in the late 1970s. This trend toward progressively slower growth, which continued in the 1977 and subsequent year-classes, was accompanied by an increase in length at sexual maturity and a decrease in the percentage of female walleyes reaching sexual maturity at age III. As a net result of these changes, the proportion of mature females in the stock (an index of stock fecundity) decreased slightly during the interval 1975-84, while the estimated biomass of the standing stock rose from 9 000 to nearly 26 000 t. Both sport and commercial catches increased markedly after 1980 in Lake Erie's central basin.

The genome sequence of the commercially cultivated mushroom Agrocybe aegerita reveals a conserved repertoire of fruiting-related genes and a versatile suite of biopolymer-degrading enzymes.

PubMed

Gupta, Deepak K; Rühl, Martin; Mishra, Bagdevi; Kleofas, Vanessa; Hofrichter, Martin; Herzog, Robert; Pecyna, Marek J; Sharma, Rahul; Kellner, Harald; Hennicke, Florian; Thines, Marco

2018-01-15

Agrocybe aegerita is an agaricomycete fungus with typical mushroom features, which is commercially cultivated for its culinary use. In nature, it is a saprotrophic or facultative pathogenic fungus causing a white-rot of hardwood in forests of warm and mild climate. The ease of cultivation and fructification on solidified media as well as its archetypal mushroom fruit body morphology render A. aegerita a well-suited model for investigating mushroom developmental biology. Here, the genome of the species is reported and analysed with respect to carbohydrate active genes and genes known to play a role during fruit body formation. In terms of fruit body development, our analyses revealed a conserved repertoire of fruiting-related genes, which corresponds well to the archetypal fruit body morphology of this mushroom. For some genes involved in fruit body formation, paralogisation was observed, but not all fruit body maturation-associated genes known from other agaricomycetes seem to be conserved in the genome sequence of A. aegerita. In terms of lytic enzymes, our analyses suggest a versatile arsenal of biopolymer-degrading enzymes that likely account for the flexible life style of this species. Regarding the amount of genes encoding CAZymes relevant for lignin degradation, A. aegerita shows more similarity to white-rot fungi than to litter decomposers, including 18 genes coding for unspecific peroxygenases and three dye-decolourising peroxidase genes expanding its lignocellulolytic machinery. The genome resource will be useful for developing strategies towards genetic manipulation of A. aegerita, which will subsequently allow functional genetics approaches to elucidate fundamentals of fruiting and vegetative growth including lignocellulolysis.

Space transfer services as a precursor to space business parks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smitherman, David V.

1998-01-01

Boeing Defense and Space Group and NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center conducted a study in 1996-1997 on the topic of commercial space business parks under the sponsorship of the former Office of Advanced Concepts at NASA Headquarters (Marshall 1997). The findings of this 7-month study are used to present possible strategies for near-term commercial developments in space. Related data from NASA studies on public space travel, and commercial space transportation are included along with the author's observations. It is hoped that this analysis will assist future entrepreneurs in the development of commercial space business parks. In conclusion, it appears that a market could soon become viable for commercial space transfer services, and that this market could form the infrastructure to grow the first commercial space business park.

Situation Awareness Information Requirements for Commercial Airline Pilots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Endsley, Mica R.; Farley, Todd C.; Jones, William M.; Midkiff, Alan H.; Hansman, R. John

1998-01-01

Situation awareness is presented as a fundamental requirement for good airmanship, forming the basis for pilot decision making and performance. To develop a better understanding of the role of situation awareness in flying, an analysis was performed to determine the specific situation awareness information requirements for commercial aircraft pilots. This was conducted as a goal-directed task analysis in which pilots' major goals, subgoals, decisions, and associated situation awareness information requirements were delineated based on elicitation from experienced commercial airline pilots. A determination of the major situation awareness information requirements for visual and instrument flight was developed from this analysis, providing a foundation for future system development which seeks to enhance pilot situation awareness and provide a basis for the development of situation awareness measures for commercial flight.

Collaborative Approaches in Developing Environmental and Safety Management Systems for Commercial Space Transportation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zee, Stacey; Murray, D.

2009-01-01

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) licenses and permits U.S. commercial space launch and reentry activities, and licenses the operation of non-federal launch and reentry sites. ASTs mission is to ensure the protection of the public, property, and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States during commercial space transportation activities and to encourage, facilitate, and promote U.S. commercial space transportation. AST faces unique challenges of ensuring the protection of public health and safety while facilitating and promoting U.S. commercial space transportation. AST has developed an Environmental Management System (EMS) and a Safety Management System (SMS) to help meet its mission. Although the EMS and SMS were developed independently, the systems share similar elements. Both systems follow a Plan-Do-Act-Check model in identifying potential environmental aspects or public safety hazards, assessing significance in terms of severity and likelihood of occurrence, developing approaches to reduce risk, and verifying that the risk is reduced. This paper will describe the similarities between ASTs EMS and SMS elements and how AST is building a collaborative approach in environmental and safety management to reduce impacts to the environment and risks to the public.

Experiences of a commercial weight-loss programme after primary care referral: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Allen, Jodie T; Cohn, Simon R; Ahern, Amy L

2015-04-01

Referral to a commercial weight-loss programme is a cost-effective intervention that is already used within the NHS. Qualitative research suggests this community-based, non-medical intervention accords with participants' view of weight management as a lifestyle issue. To examine the ways in which participants' attitudes and beliefs about accessing a commercial weight management programme via their doctor relate to their weight-loss experience, and to understand how these contextual factors influence motivation and adherence to the intervention. A qualitative study embedded in a randomised controlled trial evaluating primary care referral to a commercial weight-loss programme in adults who are overweight or obese in England. The study took place from June-September 2013. Twenty-nine participants (body mass index [BMI] ≥28 kg/m(2); age ≥18 years), who took part in the WRAP (Weight Loss Referrals for Adults in Primary Care) trial, were recruited at their 3-month assessment appointment to participate in a semi-structured interview about their experience of the intervention and weight management more generally. Interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed inductively using a narrative approach. Although participants view the lifestyle-based, non-medical commercial programme as an appropriate intervention for weight management, the referral from the GP and subsequent clinical assessments frame their experience of the intervention as medically pertinent with clear health benefits. Referral by the GP and follow-up assessment appointments were integral to participant experiences of the intervention, and could be adapted for use in general practice potentially to augment treatment effects. © British Journal of General Practice 2015.

Determining the von Mises stress power spectral density for frequency domain fatigue analysis including out-of-phase stress components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonte, M. H. A.; de Boer, A.; Liebregts, R.

2007-04-01

This paper provides a new formula to take into account phase differences in the determination of an equivalent von Mises stress power spectral density (PSD) from multiple random inputs. The obtained von Mises PSD can subsequently be used for fatigue analysis. The formula was derived for use in the commercial vehicle business and was implemented in combination with Finite Element software to predict and analyse fatigue failure in the frequency domain.

Artillery ammunition marking tests

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weil, B.S.; Lewis, J.C.

1995-04-01

This report describes the testing results of two approaches being considered for marking ink artillery ammunition with machine-readable data symbols. The first approach used ink-jet printing directly onto projectiles, and the second approach employed thermal-transfer printing onto self-adhesive labels that are subsequently applied automatically to projectiles. The objectives of this evaluation for each marking technology were to (1) determine typical system performance characteristics using the best commercially available equipment and (2) identify any special requirements necessary for handling ammunition when these technologies are employed.

Pup production, abundance, and breeding distribution of northern elephant seals at San Nicolas Island, winter 1981

USGS Publications Warehouse

1985-01-01

A major breeding colony of northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, occurs on San Nicolas Island, California. Due to commercial hunting, elephant seals were extinct on San Nicolas Island by the end of the 19th century. Subsequent recovery of the population has been well documented (Table 1). Census data collected since 1949 indicate that the colony has been growing rapidly in numbers after breeding began again in the late 1940s.

Self-Assembled Fe-N-Doped Carbon Nanotube Aerogels with Single-Atom Catalyst Feature as High-Efficiency Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysts

DOE PAGES

Zhu, Chengzhou; Fu, Shaofang; Song, Junhua; ...

2017-02-06

In this study, self-assembled M–N-doped carbon nanotube aerogels with single-atom catalyst feature are for the first time reported through one-step hydrothermal route and subsequent facile annealing treatment. By taking advantage of the porous nanostructures, 1D nanotubes as well as single-atom catalyst feature, the resultant Fe–N-doped carbon nanotube aerogels exhibit excellent oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalytic performance even better than commercial Pt/C in alkaline solution.

Notes from the field: national shortage of isoniazid 300 mg tablets.

PubMed

2012-12-21

On November 16, 2012, the Illinois State tuberculosis (TB) program notified CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination of a national shortage of 300 mg tablets of the antituberculosis medication isoniazid (INH). Subsequently, other state TB programs (e.g., California, Indiana, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Wisconsin) reported difficulty obtaining INH 300 mg tablets. Other programs (e.g., San Diego) have experienced difficulties obtaining at least one of the commercially available anti-TB preparations containing the combination of rifampin and INH (IsonaRif [VersaPharm]).

Development of an agricultural biotechnology crop product: testing from discovery to commercialization.

PubMed

Privalle, Laura S; Chen, Jingwen; Clapper, Gina; Hunst, Penny; Spiegelhalter, Frank; Zhong, Cathy X

2012-10-17

"Genetically modified" (GM) or "biotech" crops have been the most rapidly adopted agricultural technology in recent years. The development of a GM crop encompasses trait identification, gene isolation, plant cell transformation, plant regeneration, efficacy evaluation, commercial event identification, safety evaluation, and finally commercial authorization. This is a lengthy, complex, and resource-intensive process. Crops produced through biotechnology are the most highly studied food or food component consumed. Before commercialization, these products are shown to be as safe as conventional crops with respect to feed, food, and the environment. This paper describes this global process and the various analytical tests that must accompany the product during the course of development, throughout its market life, and beyond.

How to measure experiences of healthcare quality in Denmark among patients with heart disease? The development and psychometric evaluation of a patient-reported instrument.

PubMed

Zinckernagel, Line; Schneekloth, Nanna; Zwisler, Ann-Dorthe Olsen; Ersbøll, Annette Kjær; Rod, Morten Hulvej; Jensen, Poul Dengsøe; Timm, Helle; Holmberg, Teresa

2017-10-30

Measuring the quality of care as experienced by patients is increasingly recognised as a way of improving healthcare services. However, disease-specific measures that take the patient journey into account are needed. This paper presents the development of such a measure for patients with heart disease and details the psychometric evaluation. The questionnaire was developed based on a literature review, qualitative interviews and a pilot-test. The psychometric evaluation of the measure was assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Cronbach's alpha coefficient and differential item functioning analysis with data from a population-based survey. Denmark in 2013-2014. Nineteen heart patients, four relatives and eight health professionals participated in qualitative interviews in the development phase, and 15 patients participated in the pilot-test. The questionnaire was subsequently sent to a random sample of 5000 heart patients who were diagnosed in 2013. The comprehensive development phase and pilot-testing contributed to high content validity of the questionnaire. Eligible questionnaire responses were received from 2496 patients. EFA indicated a nine-factor model: communication at the hospital, communication with the general practitioner, information on disease and treatment, information on psychosocial aspects, rehabilitation/support, organisation, medication, involvement of relatives and consideration of comorbidity. CFA confirmed the proposed factor structure (eg, goodness-of-fit index=0.88, adjusted goodness-of-fit index=0.86, root mean square error of approximation=0.05), and Cronbach's alpha coefficient revealed good internal consistency of the factors (range: 0.69-0.93). The results suggest that this disease-specific patient-reported experience measure is of good quality when measuring the quality of care among heart patients. The inclusion of patients in the development phase contributed to high content validity, and subsequent psychometric evaluation found high construct validity and internal consistency. This measure may be especially relevant when seeking information about which aspects of care require improvement and the impact on health outcomes. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

NASA support for commerce in space - Broadening opportunities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Barbara A.; Livingston, Candace D.

1989-01-01

The status of the NASA Office of Commercial Program's initiatives to implement the 1988 commercial space policy and expand industrial interest in the commercial development of space in the post-Challenger era is presented. Specific objectives have been developed to capture the drive and creativity of the private sector, for increasing NASA's effectiveness in conducting business with industrial firms, and impacting the commercial space market. An aggressive, comprehensive, and forward-looking program has been defined which provides the type of infrastructure and organization required to bring industry into the mainstream of space activities.

NREL, International Colleagues Propose Strategy for Stable, Commercial

Science.gov Websites

, Commercial Perovskite Solar Cells News Release: NREL, International Colleagues Propose Strategy for Stable , Commercial Perovskite Solar Cells October 17, 2016 Photo of two men in a lab. NREL Scientists Keith Emery and stable commercial PSCs-that includes the following: Developing a reproducible manufacturing method that

40 CFR 725.205 - Persons who may report under this subpart.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... which a commercial entity contracts directly with a university or researcher; or (ii) Situations in... commercial funding for the purpose of developing a commercial application; or (iii) The researcher or university has sought or is seeking a patent to protect a commercial application which the research is...