Sample records for warm dry air

  1. Influence of warm air-drying on enamel bond strength and surface free-energy of self-etch adhesives.

    PubMed

    Shiratsuchi, Koji; Tsujimoto, Akimasa; Takamizawa, Toshiki; Furuichi, Tetsuya; Tsubota, Keishi; Kurokawa, Hiroyasu; Miyazaki, Masashi

    2013-08-01

    We examined the effect of warm air-drying on the enamel bond strengths and the surface free-energy of three single-step self-etch adhesives. Bovine mandibular incisors were mounted in self-curing resin and then wet ground with #600 silicon carbide (SiC) paper. The adhesives were applied according to the instructions of the respective manufacturers and then dried in a stream of normal (23°C) or warm (37°C) air for 5, 10, and 20 s. After visible-light irradiation of the adhesives, resin composites were condensed into a mold and polymerized. Ten samples per test group were stored in distilled water at 37°C for 24 h and then the bond strengths were measured. The surface free-energies were determined by measuring the contact angles of three test liquids placed on the cured adhesives. The enamel bond strengths varied according to the air-drying time and ranged from 15.8 to 19.1 MPa. The trends for the bond strengths were different among the materials. The value of the γS⁺ component increased slightly when drying was performed with a stream of warm air, whereas that of the γS⁻ component decreased significantly. These data suggest that warm air-drying is essential to obtain adequate enamel bond strengths, although increasing the drying time did not significantly influence the bond strength. © 2013 Eur J Oral Sci.

  2. Warm Dry Weather Conditions Cause of 2016 Fort McMurray Wild Forest Fire and Associated Air Quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Azevedo, S. C.; Singh, R. P.; da Silva, E. A., Sr.

    2016-12-01

    The climate change is evident from the increasing temperature around the world, day to day life and increasing frequency of natural hazards. The warm and dry conditions are the cause of frequent forest fires around the globe. Forest fires severely affect the air quality and human health. Multi sensor satellites and dense network of ground stations provide information about vegetation health, meteorological, air quality and atmospheric parameters. We have carried out detailed analysis of satellite and ground data of wild forest fire that occurred in May 2016 in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. This wild forest fire destroyed 10 per cent of Fort McMurray's housing and forced more than 90,000 people to evacuate the surrounding areas. Our results show that the warm and dry conditions with low rainfall were the cause of Fort McMurray wild fire. The air quality parameters (particulate matter, CO, ozone, NO2, methane) and greenhouse gases measured from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) satellite show enhanced levels soon after the forest fire. The emissions from the forest fire affected health of population living in surrounding areas up to 300 km radius.

  3. Dominance of climate warming effects on recent drying trends over wet monsoon regions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Park, Chang-Eui; Jeong, Su-Jong; Ho, Chang-Hoi; Park, Hoonyoung; Piao, Shilong; Kim, Jinwon; Feng, Song

    2017-09-01

    Understanding changes in background dryness over land is key information for adapting to climate change because of its critical socioeconomic consequences. However, causes of continental dryness changes remain uncertain because various climate parameters control dryness. Here, we verify dominant climate variables determining dryness trends over continental eastern Asia, which is characterized by diverse hydroclimate regimes ranging from arid to humid, by quantifying the relative effects of changes in precipitation, solar radiation, wind speed, surface air temperature, and relative humidity on trends in the aridity index based on observed data from 189 weather stations for the period of 1961-2010. Before the early 1980s (1961-1983), change in precipitation is a primary condition for determining aridity trends. In the later period (1984-2010), the dominant climate parameter for aridity trends varies according to the hydroclimate regime. Drying trends in arid regions are mostly explained by reduced precipitation. In contrast, the increase in potential evapotranspiration due to increased atmospheric water-holding capacity, a secondary impact of warming, works to increase aridity over the humid monsoon region despite an enhanced water supply and relatively less warming. Our results show significant drying effects of warming over the humid monsoon region in recent decades; this also supports the drying trends over warm and water-sufficient regions in future climate.

  4. [Effects of climate warming and drying on millet yield in Gansu Province and related countermeasures].

    PubMed

    Cao, Ling; Wang, Qiang; Deng, Zhen-yong; Guo, Xiao-qin; Ma, Xing-xiang; Ning, Hui-fang

    2010-11-01

    Based on the data of air temperature, precipitation, and millet yield from Ganzhou, Anding, and Xifeng, the representative stations in Hexi moderate arid oasis irrigation area, moderate sub-arid dry area in middle Gansu, and moderate sub-humid dry area in eastern Gansu, respectively, this paper calculated the regional active accumulated temperature of > or = 0 degrees C, > or =5 degrees C, > or =10 degrees C, > or =15 degrees C, and > or =20 degrees C in millet growth period, and the average temperature and precipitation in millet key growth stages. The millet climatic yield was isolated by orthogonal polynomial, and the change characteristics of climate and millet climatic yield as well as the effects of climate change on millet yield were analyzed by statistical methods of linear tendency, cumulative anomaly, and Mann-Kendall. The results showed that warming and drying were the main regional features in the modern climatic change of Gansu. The regional temperature had a significant upward trend since the early 1990s, while the precipitation was significantly reduced from the late 1980s. There were significant correlations between millet yield and climatic factors. The millet yield in dry areas increased with the increasing temperature and precipitation in millet key growth stages, and that in Hexi Corridor area increased with increasing temperature. Warming and drying affected millet yield prominently. The weather fluctuation index of regional millet yield in Xifeng, Anding, and Ganzhou accounted for 73%, 72%, and 54% of real output coefficient variation, respectively, and the percentages increased significantly after warming. Warming was conducive to the increase of millet production, and the annual increment of millet climatic yield in Xifeng, Anding, and Ganzhou after warming was 30.6, 43.1, and 121.1 kg x hm(-2), respectively. Aiming at the warming and drying trend in Gansu Province in the future, the millet planting area in the Province should be further

  5. Enhanced summer warming reduces fungal decomposer diversity and litter mass loss more strongly in dry than in wet tundra.

    PubMed

    Christiansen, Casper T; Haugwitz, Merian S; Priemé, Anders; Nielsen, Cecilie S; Elberling, Bo; Michelsen, Anders; Grogan, Paul; Blok, Daan

    2017-01-01

    Many Arctic regions are currently experiencing substantial summer and winter climate changes. Litter decomposition is a fundamental component of ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycles, with fungi being among the primary decomposers. To assess the impacts of seasonal climatic changes on litter fungal communities and their functioning, Betula glandulosa leaf litter was surface-incubated in two adjacent low Arctic sites with contrasting soil moisture regimes: dry shrub heath and wet sedge tundra at Disko Island, Greenland. At both sites, we investigated the impacts of factorial combinations of enhanced summer warming (using open-top chambers; OTCs) and deepened snow (using snow fences) on surface litter mass loss, chemistry and fungal decomposer communities after approximately 1 year. Enhanced summer warming significantly restricted litter mass loss by 32% in the dry and 17% in the wet site. Litter moisture content was significantly reduced by summer warming in the dry, but not in the wet site. Likewise, fungal total abundance and diversity were reduced by OTC warming at the dry site, while comparatively modest warming effects were observed in the wet site. These results suggest that increased evapotranspiration in the OTC plots lowered litter moisture content to the point where fungal decomposition activities became inhibited. In contrast, snow addition enhanced fungal abundance in both sites but did not significantly affect litter mass loss rates. Across sites, control plots only shared 15% of their fungal phylotypes, suggesting strong local controls on fungal decomposer community composition. Nevertheless, fungal community functioning (litter decomposition) was negatively affected by warming in both sites. We conclude that although buried soil organic matter decomposition is widely expected to increase with future summer warming, surface litter decay and nutrient turnover rates in both xeric and relatively moist tundra are likely to be significantly restricted by

  6. Air drying of lumber.

    Treesearch

    1999-01-01

    This report describes how lumber can be air-dried most effectively under outdoor conditions and illustrates the principles and procedures of air-drying lumber that were developed through field investigations and observations of industrial practices. Particular emphasis is placed on the yarding of lumber in unit packages. Included are topics such as why lumber is dried...

  7. Changes in Concurrent Risk of Warm and Dry Years under Impact of Climate Change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sarhadi, A.; Wiper, M.; Touma, D. E.; Ausín, M. C.; Diffenbaugh, N. S.

    2017-12-01

    Anthropogenic global warming has changed the nature and the risk of extreme climate phenomena. The changing concurrence of multiple climatic extremes (warm and dry years) may result in intensification of undesirable consequences for water resources, human and ecosystem health, and environmental equity. The present study assesses how global warming influences the probability that warm and dry years co-occur in a global scale. In the first step of the study a designed multivariate Mann-Kendall trend analysis is used to detect the areas in which the concurrence of warm and dry years has increased in the historical climate records and also climate models in the global scale. The next step investigates the concurrent risk of the extremes under dynamic nonstationary conditions. A fully generalized multivariate risk framework is designed to evolve through time under dynamic nonstationary conditions. In this methodology, Bayesian, dynamic copulas are developed to model the time-varying dependence structure between the two different climate extremes (warm and dry years). The results reveal an increasing trend in the concurrence risk of warm and dry years, which are in agreement with the multivariate trend analysis from historical and climate models. In addition to providing a novel quantification of the changing probability of compound extreme events, the results of this study can help decision makers develop short- and long-term strategies to prepare for climate stresses now and in the future.

  8. Drying and decontamination of raw pistachios with sequential infrared drying, tempering and hot air drying.

    PubMed

    Venkitasamy, Chandrasekar; Brandl, Maria T; Wang, Bini; McHugh, Tara H; Zhang, Ruihong; Pan, Zhongli

    2017-04-04

    Pistachio nuts have been associated with outbreaks of foodborne disease and the industry has been impacted by numerous product recalls due to contamination with Salmonella enterica. The current hot air drying of pistachios has low energy efficiency and drying rates, and also does not guarantee the microbial safety of products. In the study described herein, dehulled and water-sorted pistachios with a moisture content (MC) of 38.14% (wet basis) were dried in a sequential infrared and hot air (SIRHA) drier to <9% MC. The decontamination efficacy was assessed by inoculating pistachios with Enterococcus faecium, a surrogate of Salmonella enterica used for quality control in the almond industry. Drying with IR alone saved 105min (34.4%) of drying time compared with hot air drying. SIRHA drying of pistachios for 2h with infrared (IR) heat followed by tempering at a product temperature of 70°C for 2h and then by hot air drying shortened the drying time by 40min (9.1%) compared with drying by hot air only. This SIRHA method also reduced the E. faecium cell population by 6.1-logCFU/g kernel and 5.41-logCFU/g shell of pistachios. The free fatty acid contents of SIRHA dried pistachios were on par with that of hot air dried samples. Despite significant differences in peroxide values (PV) of pistachio kernels dried with the SIRHA method compared with hot air drying at 70°C, the PV were within the permissible limit of 5Meq/kg for edible oils. Our findings demonstrate the efficacy of SIRHA drying in achieving simultaneous drying and decontamination of pistachios. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  9. Global Warming and 21st Century Drying

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cook, Benjamin I.; Smerdun, Jason E.; Seager, Richard; Coats, Sloan

    2014-01-01

    Global warming is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of droughts in the twenty-first century, but the relative contributions from changes in moisture supply (precipitation) versus evaporative demand (potential evapotranspiration; PET) have not been comprehensively assessed. Using output from a suite of general circulation model (GCM) simulations from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, projected twentyfirst century drying and wetting trends are investigated using two offline indices of surface moisture balance: the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). PDSI and SPEI projections using precipitation and Penman- Monteith based PET changes from the GCMs generally agree, showing robust cross-model drying in western North America, Central America, the Mediterranean, southern Africa, and the Amazon and robust wetting occurring in the Northern Hemisphere high latitudes and east Africa (PDSI only). The SPEI is more sensitive to PET changes than the PDSI, especially in arid regions such as the Sahara and Middle East. Regional drying and wetting patterns largely mirror the spatially heterogeneous response of precipitation in the models, although drying in the PDSI and SPEI calculations extends beyond the regions of reduced precipitation. This expansion of drying areas is attributed to globally widespread increases in PET, caused by increases in surface net radiation and the vapor pressure deficit. Increased PET not only intensifies drying in areas where precipitation is already reduced, it also drives areas into drought that would otherwise experience little drying or even wetting from precipitation trends alone. This PET amplification effect is largest in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, and is especially pronounced in western North America, Europe, and southeast China. Compared to PDSI projections using precipitation changes only, the projections incorporating both

  10. High strength air-dried aerogels

    DOEpatents

    Coronado, Paul R.; Satcher, Jr., Joe H.

    2012-11-06

    A method for the preparation of high strength air-dried organic aerogels. The method involves the sol-gel polymerization of organic gel precursors, such as resorcinol with formaldehyde (RF) in aqueous solvents with R/C ratios greater than about 1000 and R/F ratios less than about 1:2.1. Using a procedure analogous to the preparation of resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) aerogels, this approach generates wet gels that can be air dried at ambient temperatures and pressures. The method significantly reduces the time and/or energy required to produce a dried aerogel compared to conventional methods using either supercritical solvent extraction. The air dried gel exhibits typically less than 5% shrinkage.

  11. Forced-air patient warming blankets disrupt unidirectional airflow.

    PubMed

    Legg, A J; Hamer, A J

    2013-03-01

    We have recently shown that waste heat from forced-air warming blankets can increase the temperature and concentration of airborne particles over the surgical site. The mechanism for the increased concentration of particles and their site of origin remained unclear. We therefore attempted to visualise the airflow in theatre over a simulated total knee replacement using neutral-buoyancy helium bubbles. Particles were created using a Rocket PS23 smoke machine positioned below the operating table, a potential area of contamination. The same theatre set-up, warming devices and controls were used as in our previous study. This demonstrated that waste heat from the poorly insulated forced-air warming blanket increased the air temperature on the surgical side of the drape by > 5°C. This created convection currents that rose against the downward unidirectional airflow, causing turbulence over the patient. The convection currents increased the particle concentration 1000-fold (2 174 000 particles/m(3) for forced-air warming vs 1000 particles/m(3) for radiant warming and 2000 particles/m(3) for the control) by drawing potentially contaminated particles from below the operating table into the surgical site. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2013;95-B:407-10.

  12. Effects of hot-air and hybrid hot air-microwave drying on drying kinetics and textural quality of nectarine slices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miraei Ashtiani, Seyed-Hassan; Sturm, Barbara; Nasirahmadi, Abozar

    2018-04-01

    Drying and physicochemical characteristics of nectarine slices were investigated using hot-air and hybrid hot air-microwave drying methods under fixed air temperature and air speed (50 °C and 0.5 m/s, respectively). Microwave power levels for the combined hot air-microwave method were 80, 160, 240, and 320 W. Drying kinetics were analyzed and compared using six mathematical models. For both drying methods the model with the best fitness in explaining the drying behavior was the Midilli-Kucuk model. The coefficient of determination ( R 2), root mean square error (RMSE) and reduced chi square ( χ 2) for this model have been obtained greater than 0.999 and less than 0.006 and 0.0001 for hybrid hot air-microwave drying while those values for hot-air drying were more than 0.999 and less than 0.003 and 0.0001, respectively. Results showed that the hybrid method reduced the drying time considerably and produced products with higher quality. The range of effective moisture diffusivity ( D eff ) of hybrid and hot-air drying was between 8.15 × 10-8 and 2.83 × 10-7 m2/s and 1.27 × 10-8 m2/s, respectively. The total color difference (ΔE) has also been obtained from 36.68 to 44.27 for hybrid method; however this value for hot-air drying was found 49.64. Although reduced microwave power output led to a lower drying rate, it reduced changes in product parameters i.e. total color change, surface roughness, shrinkage and microstructural change and increased hardness and water uptake.

  13. Effects of Forced Air Warming on Airflow around the Operating Table.

    PubMed

    Shirozu, Kazuhiro; Kai, Tetsuya; Setoguchi, Hidekazu; Ayagaki, Nobuyasu; Hoka, Sumio

    2018-01-01

    Forced air warming systems are used to maintain body temperature during surgery. Benefits of forced air warming have been established, but the possibility that it may disturb the operating room environment and contribute to surgical site contamination is debated. The direction and speed of forced air warming airflow and the influence of laminar airflow in the operating room have not been reported. In one institutional operating room, we examined changes in airflow speed and direction from a lower-body forced air warming device with sterile drapes mimicking abdominal surgery or total knee arthroplasty, and effects of laminar airflow, using a three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer. Airflow from forced air warming and effects of laminar airflow were visualized using special smoke and laser light. Forced air warming caused upward airflow (39 cm/s) in the patient head area and a unidirectional convection flow (9 to 14 cm/s) along the ceiling from head to foot. No convection flows were observed around the sides of the operating table. Downward laminar airflow of approximately 40 cm/s counteracted the upward airflow caused by forced air warming and formed downward airflow at 36 to 45 cm/s. Downward airflows (34 to 56 cm/s) flowing diagonally away from the operating table were detected at operating table height in both sides. Airflow caused by forced air warming is well counteracted by downward laminar airflow from the ceiling. Thus it would be less likely to cause surgical field contamination in the presence of sufficient laminar airflow.

  14. Forced-Air Warming During Pediatric Surgery: A Randomized Comparison of a Compressible with a Noncompressible Warming System.

    PubMed

    Triffterer, Lydia; Marhofer, Peter; Sulyok, Irene; Keplinger, Maya; Mair, Stefan; Steinberger, Markus; Klug, Wolfgang; Kimberger, Oliver

    2016-01-01

    Perioperative hypothermia is a common problem, challenging the anesthesiologist and influencing patient outcome. Efficient and safe perioperative active warming is therefore paramount; yet, it can be particularly challenging in pediatric patients. Forced-air warming technology is the most widespread patient-warming option, with most forced-air warming systems consisting of a forced-air blower connected to a compressible, double layer plastic and/or a paper blanket with air holes on the patient side. We compared an alternative, forced-air, noncompressible, under-body patient-warming mattress (Baby/Kleinkinddecke of MoeckWarmingSystems, Moeck und Moeck GmbH; group MM) with a standard, compressible warming mattress system (Pediatric Underbody, Bair Hugger, 3M; group BH). The study included 80 patients aged <2 years, scheduled for elective surgery. After a preoperative core temperature measurement, the patients were placed on the randomized mattress in the operation theater and 4 temperature probes were applied rectally and to the patients' skin. The warming devices were turned on as soon as possible to the level for pediatric patients as recommended by the manufacturer (MM = 40°C, BH = 43°C). There was a distinct difference of temperature slope between the 2 groups: core temperatures of patients in the group MM remained stable and mean of the core temperature of patients in the group BH increased significantly (difference: +1.48°C/h; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-2.15°C/h; P = 0.0001). The need for temperature downregulation occurred more often in the BH group, with 22 vs 7 incidences (RR, 3.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.52-6.52; P = 0.0006). Skin temperatures were all lower in the MM group. Perioperatively, no side effects related to a warming device were observed in any group. Both devices are feasible choices for active pediatric patient warming, with the compressible mattress system being better suited to increase core temperature. The use of lower pediatric

  15. Water Quality Outlet Works Prototype Tests, Warm Springs Dam Dry Creek, Russian River Basin Sonoma County, California

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-03-01

    34.4* TECHNICAL REPORT HL-89-4 WATER QUALITY OUTLET WORKS PROTOTYPE TESTS, WARM SPRINGS DAM DRY CREEK, RUSSIAN RIVER BASIN AD-A207 058 SONOMA COUNTY , CALIFORNIA...Clawflcation) [7 Water Quality Outlet Works Prototype Tests, Warm Springs Dam, Dry Creek, Russian River Basin, Sonoma County , California 12. PERSONAL...Cointogobvil Be,,pesso Figur 1. iciniyama Pealm WATER QUALITY OUTLET WORKS PROTOTYPE TESTS WARM SPRINGS DAM, DRY CREEK, RUSSIAN RIVER BASIN SONOMA COUNTY , CALIFORNIA

  16. 7 CFR 29.3503 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3503 Section 29.3503 Agriculture... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Dark Air-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 35, 36, 37 and Foreign Type 95) § 29.3503 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage...

  17. 7 CFR 29.3503 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3503 Section 29.3503 Agriculture... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Dark Air-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 35, 36, 37 and Foreign Type 95) § 29.3503 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage...

  18. 7 CFR 29.3503 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3503 Section 29.3503 Agriculture... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Dark Air-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 35, 36, 37 and Foreign Type 95) § 29.3503 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage...

  19. 7 CFR 29.3503 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3503 Section 29.3503 Agriculture... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Dark Air-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 35, 36, 37 and Foreign Type 95) § 29.3503 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage...

  20. 7 CFR 29.3503 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3503 Section 29.3503 Agriculture... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Dark Air-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 35, 36, 37 and Foreign Type 95) § 29.3503 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage...

  1. Microwave and hot air drying of garlic puree: drying kinetics and quality characteristics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    İlter, Işıl; Akyıl, Saniye; Devseren, Esra; Okut, Dilara; Koç, Mehmet; Kaymak Ertekin, Figen

    2018-02-01

    In this study, the effect of hot air and microwave drying on drying kinetics and some quality characteristics such as water activity, color, optic index and volatile oil of garlic puree was investigated. Optic index representing browning of the garlic puree increased excessively with an increase in microwave power and hot air drying temperature. However, volatile oil content of the dried samples was decreased by increasing of temperature and microwave power. By increasing drying temperature (50, 60 and 70 °C) and microwave power (180, 360 and 540 W), the drying time decreased from 8.5 h to 4 min. In order to determine the kinetic parameters, the experimental drying data were fitted to various semi-empirical models beside 2nd Fick's diffusion equation. Among them, the Page model gave a better fit for microwave-drying, while Logarithmic model gave a better fit for hot air drying. By increasing the microwave power and hot air drying temperature, the effective moisture diffusivity, De values ranged from 0.76×10-8 to 2.85×10-8 m2/s and from 2.21×10-10 to 3.07×10-10 m2/s, respectively. The activation energy was calculated as 20.90 kJ/mol for hot air drying and 21.96 W/g for microwave drying using an Arrhenius type equation.

  2. Low-temperature forced-air drying of Appalachian hardwoods

    Treesearch

    Donald G. Cuppett; E. Paul Craft

    1975-01-01

    Low-temperature forced-air drying involves drying green lumber in heated buildings with forced-air circulation and partial control of temperature and humidity conditions. The lumber is dried to about 20 percent moisture content at dry-bulb temperatures of 70º to 110ºF and with air velocities of 300 to 600 feet per minute. Equipment, methods, and...

  3. Forced-Air Warming Discontinued: Periprosthetic Joint Infection Rates Drop.

    PubMed

    Augustine, Scott D

    2017-06-23

    Several studies have shown that the waste heat from forced-air warming (FAW) escapes near the floor and warms the contaminated air resident near the floor. The waste heat then forms into convection currents that rise up and contaminate the sterile field above the surgical table. It has been shown that a single airborne bacterium can cause a periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following joint replacement surgery. We retrospectively compared PJI rates during a period of FAW to a period of air-free conductive fabric electric warming (CFW) at three hospitals. Surgical and antibiotic protocols were held constant. The pooled multicenter data showed a decreased PJI rate of 78% following the discontinuation of FAW and a switch to air-free CFW (n=2034; P=0.002). The 78% reduction in joint implant infections observed when FAW was discontinued suggests that there is a link between the waste FAW heat and PJIs.

  4. 10 CFR 431.72 - Definitions concerning commercial warm air furnaces.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Definitions concerning commercial warm air furnaces. 431.72 Section 431.72 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR... hour or more. Thermal efficiency for a commercial warm air furnace equals 100 percent minus percent...

  5. Forced-air warming and ultra-clean ventilation do not mix: an investigation of theatre ventilation, patient warming and joint replacement infection in orthopaedics.

    PubMed

    McGovern, P D; Albrecht, M; Belani, K G; Nachtsheim, C; Partington, P F; Carluke, I; Reed, M R

    2011-11-01

    We investigated the capacity of patient warming devices to disrupt the ultra-clean airflow system. We compared the effects of two patient warming technologies, forced-air and conductive fabric, on operating theatre ventilation during simulated hip replacement and lumbar spinal procedures using a mannequin as a patient. Infection data were reviewed to determine whether joint infection rates were associated with the type of patient warming device that was used. Neutral-buoyancy detergent bubbles were released adjacent to the mannequin's head and at floor level to assess the movement of non-sterile air into the clean airflow over the surgical site. During simulated hip replacement, bubble counts over the surgical site were greater for forced-air than for conductive fabric warming when the anaesthesia/surgery drape was laid down (p = 0.010) and at half-height (p < 0.001). For lumbar surgery, forced-air warming generated convection currents that mobilised floor air into the surgical site area. Conductive fabric warming had no such effect. A significant increase in deep joint infection, as demonstrated by an elevated infection odds ratio (3.8, p = 0.024), was identified during a period when forced-air warming was used compared to a period when conductive fabric warming was used. Air-free warming is, therefore, recommended over forced-air warming for orthopaedic procedures.

  6. 7 CFR 29.3003 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3003 Section 29.3003 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage under natural...

  7. 7 CFR 29.3003 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3003 Section 29.3003 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage under natural...

  8. 7 CFR 29.3003 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3003 Section 29.3003 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage under natural...

  9. 7 CFR 29.3003 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3003 Section 29.3003 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage under natural...

  10. 7 CFR 29.3003 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.3003 Section 29.3003 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Air-dried. The condition of unfermented tobacco as customarily prepared for storage under natural...

  11. Air drying of softwood lumber, Fairbanks, Alaska.

    Treesearch

    George R Sampson; Forrest A. Ruppert

    1985-01-01

    Air-drying rates for two stacks of 2-inch-thick white spruce were observed in the Fairbanks area during summer 1982. The air-drying rate for the same size lumber was also observed during winter 1982-83. Very little drying occurred during the winter. Drying rates in summer were correlated with average daily temperature and average daily dew point to derive predictive...

  12. Forced-Air Warming Discontinued: Periprosthetic Joint Infection Rates Drop

    PubMed Central

    Augustine, Scott D.

    2017-01-01

    Several studies have shown that the waste heat from forced-air warming (FAW) escapes near the floor and warms the contaminated air resident near the floor. The waste heat then forms into convection currents that rise up and contaminate the sterile field above the surgical table. It has been shown that a single airborne bacterium can cause a periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following joint replacement surgery. We retrospectively compared PJI rates during a period of FAW to a period of air-free conductive fabric electric warming (CFW) at three hospitals. Surgical and antibiotic protocols were held constant. The pooled multicenter data showed a decreased PJI rate of 78% following the discontinuation of FAW and a switch to air-free CFW (n=2034; P=0.002). The 78% reduction in joint implant infections observed when FAW was discontinued suggests that there is a link between the waste FAW heat and PJIs. PMID:28713524

  13. Cost-effectiveness of forced air warming during sedation in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory.

    PubMed

    Conway, Aaron; Duff, Jed; Sutherland, Joanna

    2018-05-13

    To determine the cost-effectiveness of forced air warming during sedation in a cardiac catheterisation laboratory. Forced air warming improves thermal comfort in comparison with standard care. It is not known whether the extra costs required for forced air warming are good value. Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a randomised controlled trial conducted in 2016-2017. A cost-effectiveness analysis was undertaken using Monte Carlo simulations from input distributions to estimate costs and effects associated with using forced air warming to reduce risk of thermal discomfort for patients receiving sedation in a cardiac catheterisation laboratory. A range of willingness to pay threshold values were tested with results plotted on a cost-effectiveness acceptability curve. Costs were calculated in Australian currency ($AUD). Estimated total costs were $5.21 (SD 3.26) higher per patient for forced air warming in comparison to standard care. Estimated probability of success (rating of thermal comfort) was 0.16 (0.06) higher for forced air warming. Forced air warming becomes more likely to result in a net benefit than standard care at a willingness to pay threshold of $34. Forced air warming could be considered cost-effective for procedures performed with sedation in a cardiac catheterisation laboratory if the extra cost of an incremental gain in thermal comfort is less than the decision maker's willingness to pay for it. Therefore, those responsible for decision-making regarding use of forced air warming in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory can use results of our model to decide if it represents good value for their organisation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  14. Causes of model dry and warm bias over central U.S. and impact on climate projections.

    PubMed

    Lin, Yanluan; Dong, Wenhao; Zhang, Minghua; Xie, Yuanyu; Xue, Wei; Huang, Jianbin; Luo, Yong

    2017-10-12

    Climate models show a conspicuous summer warm and dry bias over the central United States. Using results from 19 climate models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), we report a persistent dependence of warm bias on dry bias with the precipitation deficit leading the warm bias over this region. The precipitation deficit is associated with the widespread failure of models in capturing strong rainfall events in summer over the central U.S. A robust linear relationship between the projected warming and the present-day warm bias enables us to empirically correct future temperature projections. By the end of the 21st century under the RCP8.5 scenario, the corrections substantially narrow the intermodel spread of the projections and reduce the projected temperature by 2.5 K, resulting mainly from the removal of the warm bias. Instead of a sharp decrease, after this correction the projected precipitation is nearly neutral for all scenarios.Climate models repeatedly show a warm and dry bias over the central United States, but the origin of this bias remains unclear. Here the authors associate this bias to precipitation deficits in models and after applying a correction, projected precipitation in this region shows no significant changes.

  15. 7 CFR 29.2502 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2502 Section 29.2502 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 22, 23, and Foreign Type 96) § 29.2502 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented...

  16. 7 CFR 29.2502 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2502 Section 29.2502 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 22, 23, and Foreign Type 96) § 29.2502 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented...

  17. 7 CFR 29.2502 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2502 Section 29.2502 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 22, 23, and Foreign Type 96) § 29.2502 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented...

  18. 7 CFR 29.2502 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2502 Section 29.2502 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 22, 23, and Foreign Type 96) § 29.2502 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented...

  19. 7 CFR 29.2502 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2502 Section 29.2502 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Types 22, 23, and Foreign Type 96) § 29.2502 Air-dried. The condition of unfermented...

  20. Drying and decontamination of pistachios with sequential infrared drying, tempering and hot air drying

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The pistachio industry is in need of improved drying technology as the current hot air drying has low energy efficiency and drying rate and high labor cost and also does not produce safe products against microbial contamination. In the current study, dehulled and water- sorted pistachios with a mois...

  1. Value loss of hardwood lumber during air-drying

    Treesearch

    Leland F. Hanks; Margaret K. Peirsol

    1975-01-01

    Dry lumber prices were applied to green and air-dried lumber that was measured with a dry board rule. Values were summed by species, lumber grade, and thickness class. Differences between green and air-dried lumber value have been termed value losses and are given in dollars and in percentages. The percentages have been separated into loss due to shrinkage and loss due...

  2. How Dry is the Tropical Free Troposphere? Implications for Global Warming Theory

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Spencer, Roy W.; Braswell, William D.

    1997-01-01

    The humidity of the free troposphere is being increasingly scrutinized in climate research due to its central role in global warming theory through positive water vapor feedback. This feedback is the primary source of global warming in general circulation models (GCMs). Because the loss of infrared energy to space increases nonlinearly with decreases in relative humidity, the vast dry zones in the Tropics are of particular interest. These dry zones are nearly devoid of radiosonde stations, and most of those stations have, until recently, ignored the low humidity information from the sondes. This results in substantial uncertainty in GCM tuning and validation based on sonde data. While satellite infrared radiometers are now beginning to reveal some information about the aridity of the tropical free troposphere, the authors show that the latest microwave humidity sounder data suggests even drier conditions than have been previously reported. This underscores the importance of understanding how these low humidity levels are controlled in order to tune and validate GCMs, and to predict the magnitude of water vapor feedback and thus the magnitude of global warming.

  3. Accelerating oak air drying by presurfacing

    Treesearch

    W. T. Simpson; R. C. Baltes

    1972-01-01

    A comparison was made between the air-drying rates of rough and presurfaced northern red oak and white oak. In both species, the presurfaced material was about 1/8 inch thinner than the rough material and dried faster than the rough material. The reduction in drying time depends on the method of analyzing the drying curves, but is slightly less than 10 percent.

  4. Effects of humidified and dry air on corneal endothelial cells during vitreal fluid-air exchange.

    PubMed

    Cekiç, Osman; Ohji, Masahito; Hayashi, Atsushi; Fang, Xiao Y; Kusaka, Shunji; Tano, Yasuo

    2002-07-01

    To report the immediate anatomic and functional alterations in corneal endothelial cells following use of humidified air and dry air during vitreal fluid-air exchange in rabbits. Experimental study. Rabbits undergoing pars plana vitrectomy and lensectomy were perfused with either dry or humidified air during fluid-air exchange for designated durations. Three different experiments were performed. First, control and experimental corneas were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Second, corneas were stained with Phalloidin-FITC and examined by fluorescein microscopy. Finally, third, transendothelial permeability for carboxyfluorescein was determined using a diffusion chamber. While different from the corneal endothelial cells, those cells exposed to humidified air were less stressed than cells exposed to dry air by SEM. Actin cytoskeleton was found highly disorganized with dry air exposure. Humidified air maintained the normal actin cytoskeleton throughout the 20 minutes of fluid-air exchange. Paracellular carboxyfluorescein leakage was significantly higher in dry air insufflated eyes compared with that of the humidified air after 5, 10, and 20 minutes of fluid-air exchange (P =.002, P =.004, and P =.002, respectively). Dry air stress during fluid-air exchange causes significant immediate alterations in monolayer appearance, actin cytoskeleton, and barrier function of corneal endothelium in aphakic rabbit eyes. Use of humidified air largely prevents the alterations in monolayer appearance, actin cytoskeleton, and barrier function of corneal endothelial cells.

  5. Tree water dynamics in a drying and warming world

    DOE PAGES

    Grossiord, Charlotte; Sevanto, Sanna Annika; Borrego, Isaac Anthony; ...

    2017-05-26

    Disentangling the relative impacts of precipitation reduction and vapour pressure deficit ( VPD) on plant water dynamics and determining whether acclimation may influence these patterns in the future is an important challenge. Here, we report sap flux density ( FD), stomatal conductance ( Gs), hydraulic conductivity ( KL) and xylem anatomy in piñon pine ( Pinus edulis) and juniper ( Juniperus monosperma) trees subjected to five years of precipitation reduction, atmospheric warming (elevated VPD) and their combined effects. No acclimation occurred under precipitation reduction: lower Gs and FD were found for both species compared to ambient conditions. Warming reduced themore » sensibility of stomata to VPD for both species but resulted in the maintenance of Gs and FD to ambient levels only for piñon. For juniper, reduced soil moisture under warming negated benefits of stomatal adjustments and resulted in reduced FD, Gs and KL. Although reduced stomatal sensitivity to VPD also occurred under combined stresses, reductions in Gs, FD and KL took place to similar levels as under single stresses for both species. Here our results show that stomatal conductance adjustments to high VPD could minimize but not entirely prevent additive effects of warming and drying on water use and carbon acquisition of trees in semi-arid regions.« less

  6. Tree water dynamics in a drying and warming world

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

    Grossiord, Charlotte; Sevanto, Sanna Annika; Borrego, Isaac Anthony

    Disentangling the relative impacts of precipitation reduction and vapour pressure deficit ( VPD) on plant water dynamics and determining whether acclimation may influence these patterns in the future is an important challenge. Here, we report sap flux density ( FD), stomatal conductance ( Gs), hydraulic conductivity ( KL) and xylem anatomy in piñon pine ( Pinus edulis) and juniper ( Juniperus monosperma) trees subjected to five years of precipitation reduction, atmospheric warming (elevated VPD) and their combined effects. No acclimation occurred under precipitation reduction: lower Gs and FD were found for both species compared to ambient conditions. Warming reduced themore » sensibility of stomata to VPD for both species but resulted in the maintenance of Gs and FD to ambient levels only for piñon. For juniper, reduced soil moisture under warming negated benefits of stomatal adjustments and resulted in reduced FD, Gs and KL. Although reduced stomatal sensitivity to VPD also occurred under combined stresses, reductions in Gs, FD and KL took place to similar levels as under single stresses for both species. Here our results show that stomatal conductance adjustments to high VPD could minimize but not entirely prevent additive effects of warming and drying on water use and carbon acquisition of trees in semi-arid regions.« less

  7. Effect of inspired air conditions on exercise-induced bronchoconstriction and urinary CC16 levels in athletes.

    PubMed

    Bolger, C; Tufvesson, E; Anderson, S D; Devereux, G; Ayres, J G; Bjermer, L; Sue-Chu, M; Kippelen, P

    2011-10-01

    Injury to the airway epithelium has been proposed as a key susceptibility factor for exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB). Our goals were to establish whether airway epithelial cell injury occurs during EIB in athletes and whether inhalation of warm humid air inhibits this injury. Twenty-one young male athletes (10 with a history of EIB) performed two 8-min exercise tests near maximal aerobic capacity in cold dry (4°C, 37% relative humidity) and warm humid (25°C, 94% relative humidity) air on separate days. Postexercise changes in urinary CC16 were used as a biomarker of airway epithelial cell perturbation and injury. Bronchoconstriction occurred in eight athletes in the cold dry environment and was completely blocked by inhalation of warm humid air [maximal fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 s = 18.1 ± 2.1% (SD) in cold dry air and 1.7 ± 0.8% in warm humid air, P < 0.01]. Exercise caused an increase in urinary excretion of CC16 in all subjects (P < 0.001), but this rise in CC16 was blunted following inhalation of warm humid air [median CC16 increase pre- to postchallenge = 1.91 and 0.35 ng/μmol in cold dry and warm humid air, respectively, in athletes with EIB (P = 0.017) and 1.68 and 0.48 ng/μmol in cold dry and warm humid air, respectively, in athletes without EIB (P = 0.002)]. The results indicate that exercise hyperpnea transiently disrupts the airway epithelium of all athletes (not only in those with EIB) and that inhalation of warm moist air limits airway epithelial cell perturbation and injury.

  8. A randomized comparison of intraoperative PerfecTemp and forced-air warming during open abdominal surgery.

    PubMed

    Egan, Cameron; Bernstein, Ethan; Reddy, Desigen; Ali, Madi; Paul, James; Yang, Dongsheng; Sessler, Daniel I

    2011-11-01

    The PerfecTemp is an underbody resistive warming system that combines servocontrolled underbody warming with viscoelastic foam pressure relief. Clinical efficacy of the system has yet to be formally evaluated. We therefore tested the hypothesis that intraoperative distal esophageal (core) temperatures with the PerfecTemp (underbody resistive) warming system are noninferior to upper-body forced-air warming in patients undergoing major open abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. Adults scheduled for elective major open abdominal surgery (liver, pancreas, gynecological, and colorectal surgery) under general anesthesia were enrolled at 2 centers. Patients were randomly assigned to underbody resistive or forced-air warming. Resistive heating started when patients were transferred to the operating room table; forced-air warming started after patients were draped. The primary outcome was noninferiority of intraoperative time-weighted average core temperature, adjusted for baseline characteristics and using a buffer of 0.5°C. Thirty-six patients were randomly assigned to underbody resistive heating and 34 to forced-air warming. Baseline and surgical characteristics were generally similar. We had sufficient evidence (P=0.018) to conclude that underbody resistive warming is not worse than (i.e., noninferior to) upper-body forced-air warming in the time-weighted average intraoperative temperature, with a mean difference of -0.12°C [95% confidence interval (CI) -0.37 to 0.14]. Core temperatures at the end of surgery averaged 36.3°C [95% CI 36 to 36.5] in the resistive warming patients and 36.6°C [95% CI 36.4 to 36.8] in those assigned to forced-air warming for a mean difference of -0.34°C [95% CI -0.69 to 0.01]. Mean intraoperative time-weighted average core temperatures were no different, and significantly noninferior, with underbody resistive heating in comparison with upper-body forced-air warming. Underbody resistive heating may be an alternative to forced-air

  9. Forced-air warming design: evaluation of intake filtration, internal microbial buildup, and airborne-contamination emissions.

    PubMed

    Reed, Mike; Kimberger, Oliver; McGovern, Paul D; Albrecht, Mark C

    2013-08-01

    Forced-air warming devices are effective for the prevention of surgical hypothermia. However, these devices intake nonsterile floor-level air, and it is unknown whether they have adequate filtration measures to prevent the internal buildup or emission of microbial contaminants. We rated the intake filtration efficiency of a popular current-generation forced-air warming device (Bair Hugger model 750, Arizant Healthcare) using a monodisperse sodium chloride aerosol in the laboratory. We further sampled 23 forced-air warming devices (same model) in daily hospital use for internal microbial buildup and airborne-contamination emissions via swabbing and particle counting. Laboratory testing found the intake filter to be 63.8% efficient. Swabbing detected microorganisms within 100% of the forced-air warming blowers sampled, with isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci, mold, and micrococci identified. Particle counting showed 96% of forced-air warming blowers to be emitting significant levels of internally generated airborne contaminants out of the hose end. These findings highlight the need for upgraded intake filtration, preferably high-efficiency particulate air filtration (99.97% efficient), on current-generation forced-air warming devices to reduce contamination buildup and emission risks.

  10. Description of saturation curves and boiling process of dry air

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vestfálová, Magda; Petříková, Markéta; Šimko, Martin

    2018-06-01

    Air is a mixture of gases forming the gas wrap of Earth. It is formed by dry air, moisture and other pollutants. Dry air is a substance whose thermodynamic properties in gaseous state, as well as the thermodynamic properties of its main constituents in gaseous state, are generally known and described in detail in the literature. The liquid air is a bluish liquid and is industrially used to produce oxygen, nitrogen, argon and helium by distillation. The transition between the gaseous and liquid state (the condensation process, resp. boiling process), is usually displayed in the basic thermodynamic diagrams using the saturation curves. The saturation curves of all pure substances are of a similar shape. However, since the dry air is a mixture, the shapes of its saturation curves are modified relative to the shapes corresponding to the pure substances. This paper deals with the description of the dry air saturation curves as a mixture, i.e. with a description of the process of phase change of dry air (boiling process). The dry air saturation curves are constructed in the basic thermodynamic charts based on the values obtained from the literature. On the basis of diagrams, data appearing in various publications are interpreted and put into context with boiling process of dry air.

  11. Long-term experimental warming alters community composition of ascomycetes in Alaskan moist and dry arctic tundra.

    PubMed

    Semenova, Tatiana A; Morgado, Luis N; Welker, Jeffrey M; Walker, Marilyn D; Smets, Erik; Geml, József

    2015-01-01

    Arctic tundra regions have been responding to global warming with visible changes in plant community composition, including expansion of shrubs and declines in lichens and bryophytes. Even though it is well known that the majority of arctic plants are associated with their symbiotic fungi, how fungal community composition will be different with climate warming remains largely unknown. In this study, we addressed the effects of long-term (18 years) experimental warming on the community composition and taxonomic richness of soil ascomycetes in dry and moist tundra types. Using deep Ion Torrent sequencing, we quantified how OTU assemblage and richness of different orders of Ascomycota changed in response to summer warming. Experimental warming significantly altered ascomycete communities with stronger responses observed in the moist tundra compared with dry tundra. The proportion of several lichenized and moss-associated fungi decreased with warming, while the proportion of several plant and insect pathogens and saprotrophic species was higher in the warming treatment. The observed alterations in both taxonomic and ecological groups of ascomycetes are discussed in relation to previously reported warming-induced shifts in arctic plant communities, including decline in lichens and bryophytes and increase in coverage and biomass of shrubs. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Wet-to-dry shift over Southwest China in 1994 tied to the warming of tropical warm pool

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Lin; Huang, Gang; Chen, Wen; Zhou, Wen; Wang, Weiqiang

    2018-01-01

    The autumn climate in Southwest China (SWC) experienced a notable wet-to-dry shift in 1994. Associated with this change in precipitation, decadal signatures of large-scale atmospheric circulation and SST identify a likely dynamical origin: the tropical warm pool (TWP) consisting of tropical northwest Pacific (TNWP, 3°S-12°N and 110°E-150°E) sector and tropical east Indian Ocean (TEI, 10°S-3°N and 80°E-110°E) sector. A cold-to-warm phase switch of TWP SST occurred in 1994, coinciding exactly with the timing of the regime transition of SWC precipitation. During post-1994 period, warm states in the TNWP and TEI sectors plays in a synergistic fashion to invoke dry decades in SWC. On the one side, warm SST over the TNWP sector excites an anomalous cyclone centered on the South China Sea directed opposite to the climatological moisture transport and strengthened zonal wind to its west accompanied by a weakening of the poleward flux; on the other side, warm SST over the TEI sector acts to intensify inflow into TEI with less concurrent transfer of moisture to SWC and to steer moisture to the northern Arabic Sea and away from the SWC-oriented track. Meanwhile, the troposphere over SWC is capped by subsidence, which is jointly contributed by TNWP and TEI. It then follows a reduced moisture supply, suppressed convective activity, and anomalous divergence in SWC, bringing a precipitation deficit there. In contrast, cold TWP SST during 1961-1994 favors wet conditions in SWC, given a perfectly symmetrical circulation pattern. Further, the dominant role of TWP is confirmed, because the modeled response to TWP SST forcing alone bears a great resemblance to the observed evidence. Finally, it is also found that the teleconnected influence induced by TWP is stronger in southern SWC than in northern SWC, which explains the south-north gradient of interdecadal signal of SWC precipitation.

  13. Insulation Technology in Dry Air and Vacuum for a 72kV Low Pressured Dry Air Insulated Switchgear

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yoshida, Tadahiro; Koga, Hiromi; Harada, Takakazu; Miki, Shinichi; Arioka, Masahiro; Sato, Shinji; Yoshida, Satoru; Inoue, Naoaki; Maruyama, Akihiko; Takeuchi, Toshie

    A new 72kV rated low pressured dry air insulated switchgear applying electromagnetic actuation and function that supports CBM has been developed. First, dielectric characteristics in dry air under lightning impulse application has been investigated at bare and insulator covered electrodes. Dependence of the breakdown electric field strength on the effective area has been clarified to apply the configuration design of the insulation mold for the vacuum interrupter. In addition, moisture volume dependence on surface resistance has been clarified to decide moisture volume in gas pressure tank. Next, a new vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) has been designed. To keep dimensions from former 72kV SF6 gas insulated switchgear, distance between contacts in vacuum interrupter is needed to be shorter than that of former switchgear. Voltage withstand capability between electrodes practically designed for vacuum interrupter has been investigated under dc voltage application simulated the small capacitive current breaking test. Gap configuration including contacts and slits has been optimized and distance has been shortened 11% from former switchgear. As a result, the new low pressured dry air insulated switchgear has been designed comparably in outer size to former SF6 gas insulated switchgear. Using dry air as an insulation medium with low pressure has been able to reduce the environmental burden.

  14. Effect of forced-air warming on the performance of operating theatre laminar flow ventilation.

    PubMed

    Dasari, K B; Albrecht, M; Harper, M

    2012-03-01

    Forced-air warming exhaust may disrupt operating theatre airflows via formation of convection currents, which depends upon differences in exhaust and operating room air temperatures. We investigated whether the floor-to-ceiling temperatures around a draped manikin in a laminar-flow theatre differed when using three types of warming devices: a forced-air warming blanket (Bair Hugger™); an over-body conductive blanket (Hot Dog™); and an under-body resistive mattress (Inditherm™). With forced-air warming, mean (SD) temperatures were significantly elevated over the surgical site vs those measured with the conductive blanket (+2.73 (0.7) °C; p<0.001) or resistive mattress (+3.63 (0.7) °C; p<0.001). Air temperature differences were insignificant between devices at floor (p=0.339), knee (p=0.799) and head height levels (p=0.573). We conclude that forced-air warming generates convection current activity in the vicinity of the surgical site. The clinical concern is that these currents may disrupt ventilation airflows intended to clear airborne contaminants from the surgical site. Anaesthesia © 2012 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

  15. Cumulative ventilation air drying potential as an indication of dry mass content in wastewater sludge in a thin-layer solar drying facility

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Krawczyk, Piotr

    2013-12-01

    Controlling low-temperature drying facilities which utilise nonprepared air is quite difficult, due to very large variability of ventilation air parameters - both in daily and seasonal cycles. The paper defines the concept of cumulative drying potential of ventilation air and presents experimental evidence that there is a relation between this parameter and condition of the dried matter (sewage sludge). Knowledge on current dry mass content in the dried matter (sewage sludge) provides new possibilities for controlling such systems. Experimental data analysed in the paper was collected in early 2012 during operation of a test solar drying facility in a sewage treatment plant in Błonie near Warsaw, Poland.

  16. Seasonal exposure to drought and air warming affects soil Collembola and mites.

    PubMed

    Xu, Guo-Liang; Kuster, Thomas M; Günthardt-Goerg, Madeleine S; Dobbertin, Matthias; Li, Mai-He

    2012-01-01

    Global environmental changes affect not only the aboveground but also the belowground components of ecosystems. The effects of seasonal drought and air warming on the genus level richness of Collembola, and on the abundance and biomass of the community of Collembola and mites were studied in an acidic and a calcareous forest soil in a model oak-ecosystem experiment (the Querco experiment) at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL in Birmensdorf. The experiment included four climate treatments: control, drought with a 60% reduction in rainfall, air warming with a seasonal temperature increase of 1.4 °C, and air warming + drought. Soil water content was greatly reduced by drought. Soil surface temperature was slightly increased by both the air warming and the drought treatment. Soil mesofauna samples were taken at the end of the first experimental year. Drought was found to increase the abundance of the microarthropod fauna, but reduce the biomass of the community. The percentage of small mites (body length ≤ 0.20 mm) increased, but the percentage of large mites (body length >0.40 mm) decreased under drought. Air warming had only minor effects on the fauna. All climate treatments significantly reduced the richness of Collembola and the biomass of Collembola and mites in acidic soil, but not in calcareous soil. Drought appeared to have a negative impact on soil microarthropod fauna, but the effects of climate change on soil fauna may vary with the soil type.

  17. Seasonal Exposure to Drought and Air Warming Affects Soil Collembola and Mites

    PubMed Central

    Xu, Guo-Liang; Kuster, Thomas M.; Günthardt-Goerg, Madeleine S.; Dobbertin, Matthias; Li, Mai-He

    2012-01-01

    Global environmental changes affect not only the aboveground but also the belowground components of ecosystems. The effects of seasonal drought and air warming on the genus level richness of Collembola, and on the abundance and biomass of the community of Collembola and mites were studied in an acidic and a calcareous forest soil in a model oak-ecosystem experiment (the Querco experiment) at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL in Birmensdorf. The experiment included four climate treatments: control, drought with a 60% reduction in rainfall, air warming with a seasonal temperature increase of 1.4°C, and air warming + drought. Soil water content was greatly reduced by drought. Soil surface temperature was slightly increased by both the air warming and the drought treatment. Soil mesofauna samples were taken at the end of the first experimental year. Drought was found to increase the abundance of the microarthropod fauna, but reduce the biomass of the community. The percentage of small mites (body length 0.20 mm) increased, but the percentage of large mites (body length >0.40 mm) decreased under drought. Air warming had only minor effects on the fauna. All climate treatments significantly reduced the richness of Collembola and the biomass of Collembola and mites in acidic soil, but not in calcareous soil. Drought appeared to have a negative impact on soil microarthropod fauna, but the effects of climate change on soil fauna may vary with the soil type. PMID:22905210

  18. The Effect of Elevation Bias in Interpolated Air Temperature Data Sets on Surface Warming in China During 1951-2015

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Tingting; Sun, Fubao; Ge, Quansheng; Kleidon, Axel; Liu, Wenbin

    2018-02-01

    Although gridded air temperature data sets share much of the same observations, different rates of warming can be detected due to different approaches employed for considering elevation signatures in the interpolation processes. Here we examine the influence of varying spatiotemporal distribution of sites on surface warming in the long-term trend and over the recent warming hiatus period in China during 1951-2015. A suspicious cooling trend in raw interpolated air temperature time series is found in the 1950s, and 91% of which can be explained by the artificial elevation changes introduced by the interpolation process. We define the regression slope relating temperature difference and elevation difference as the bulk lapse rate of -5.6°C/km, which tends to be higher (-8.7°C/km) in dry regions but lower (-2.4°C/km) in wet regions. Compared to independent experimental observations, we find that the estimated monthly bulk lapse rates work well to capture the elevation bias. Significant improvement can be achieved in adjusting the interpolated original temperature time series using the bulk lapse rate. The results highlight that the developed bulk lapse rate is useful to account for the elevation signature in the interpolation of site-based surface air temperature to gridded data sets and is necessary for avoiding elevation bias in climate change studies.

  19. Leukotriene-B4 concentrations in exhaled breath condensate and lung function after thirty minutes of breathing technically dried compressed air.

    PubMed

    Neubauer, Birger; Struck, Niclas; Mutzbauer, Till S; Schotte, Ulrich; Langfeldt, Norbert; Tetzlaff, Kay

    2002-01-01

    In previous studies it had been shown that leukotriene-B4 [LTB4] concentrations in the exhaled breath mirror the inflammatory activity of the airways if the respiratory tract has been exposed to occupational hazards. In diving the respiratory tract is exposed to cold and dry air and the nasopharynx, as the site of breathing-gas warming and humidification, is bypassed. The aim of the present study was to obtain LTB4-concentrations in the exhaled breath and spirometric data of 17 healthy subjects before and after thirty minutes of technically dried air breathing at normobar ambient pressure. The exhaled breath was collected non-invasively, via a permanently cooled expiration tube. The condensate was measured by a standard enzyme immunoassay for LTB4. Lung function values (FVC, FEV1, MEF 25, MEF 50) were simultaneously obtained by spirometry. The measured pre- and post-exposure LTB4- concentrations as well as the lung function values were in the normal range. The present data gave no evidence for any inflammatory activity in the subjects' airways after thirty minutes breathing technically dried air.

  20. Dry coolers and air-condensing units (Review)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Milman, O. O.; Anan'ev, P. A.

    2016-03-01

    The analysis of factors affecting the growth of shortage of freshwater is performed. The state and dynamics of the global market of dry coolers used at electric power plants are investigated. Substantial increase in number and maximum capacity of air-cooled condensers, which have been put into operation in the world in recent years, are noted. The key reasons facilitating the choice of developers of the dry coolers, in particular the independence of the location of thermal power plant from water sources, are enumerated. The main steam turbine heat removal schemes using air cooling are considered, their comparison of thermal efficiency is assessed, and the change of three important parameters, such as surface area of heat transfer, condensate pump flow, and pressure losses in the steam exhaust system, are estimated. It is shown that the most effective is the scheme of direct steam condensation in the heat-exchange tubes, but other schemes also have certain advantages. The air-cooling efficiency may be enhanced much more by using an air-cooling hybrid system: a combination of dry and wet cooling. The basic applied constructive solutions are shown: the arrangement of heat-exchange modules and the types of fans. The optimal mounting design of a fully shopassembled cooling system for heat-exchange modules is represented. Different types of heat-exchange tubes ribbing that take into account the operational features of cooling systems are shown. Heat transfer coefficients of the plants from different manufacturers are compared, and the main reasons for its decline are named. When using evaporative air cooling, it is possible to improve the efficiency of air-cooling units. The factors affecting the faultless performance of dry coolers (DC) and air-condensing units (ACU) and the ways of their elimination are described. A high velocity wind forcing reduces the efficiency of cooling systems and creates preconditions for the development of wind-driven devices. It is noted that

  1. Ultrasound-Assisted Hot Air Drying of Foods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mulet, Antonio; Cárcel, Juan Andrés; García-Pérez, José Vicente; Riera, Enrique

    This chapter deals with the application of power ultrasound, also named high-intensity ultrasound, in the hot air drying of foods. The aim of ultrasound-assisted drying is to overcome some of the limitations of traditional convective drying systems, especially by increasing drying rate without reducing quality attributes. The effects of ultrasound on drying rate are responsible for some of the phenomena produced in the internal and/or external resistance to mass transfer.

  2. Recent Global Warming As Depicted by AIRS, GISSTEMP, and MERRA-2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Susskind, J.; Iredell, L. F.; Lee, J. N.

    2017-12-01

    We observed anomalously warm global mean surface temperatures since 2015. The year 2016 represents the warmest annual mean surface skin and surface air temperatures in the AIRS observational period, September 2002 through August 2017. Additionally, AIRS monthly mean surface skin temperature, from January 2016 through September 2016, and November 2016, were the warmest observed for each month of the year. Continuing this trend, the AIRS global surface temperatures of 2017 February and April show the second greatest positive anomalies from average. This recent warming is particularly significant over the Arctic where the snow and sea ice melt is closely tied to the spring and summer surface temperatures. In this paper, we show the global distribution of surface temperature anomalies as observed by AIRS over the period September 2002 through August 2017 and compare them with those from the GISSTEMP and MERRA-2 surface temperatures. The spatial patterns of warm and cold anomalies for a given month show reasonably good agreement in all three data set. AIRS anomalies, which do not have the benefit of in-situ measurements, are in almost perfect agreement with those of MERRA-2, which does use in-situ surface measurements. GISSTEMP anomaly patterns for the most part look similar to those of AIRS and MERRA-2, but are more spread out spatially, and consequently are also weaker.

  3. Drying kinetics and mathematical modeling of hot air drying of coconut coir pith.

    PubMed

    Fernando, J A K M; Amarasinghe, A D U S

    2016-01-01

    Drying kinetics of coir pith was studied and the properties of compressed coir pith discs were analyzed. Coir pith particles were oven dried in the range of temperatures from 100 to 240 °C and the rehydration ability of compressed coir pith was evaluated by finding the volume expansion. The optimum drying temperature was found to be 140 °C. Hot air drying was carried out to examine the drying kinetics by allowing the coir pith particles to fluidize and circulate inside the drying chamber. Particle motion within the drying chamber closely resembled the particle motion in a flash dryer. The effective moisture diffusivity was found to increase from 1.18 × 10(-8) to 1.37 × 10(-8) m(2)/s with the increase of air velocity from 1.4 to 2.5 m/s respectively. Correlation analysis and residual plots were used to determine the adequacy of existing mathematical models for describing the drying behavior of coir pith. The empirical models, Wang and Singh model and Linear model, were found to be adequate for accurate prediction of drying behavior of coir pith. A new model was proposed by modifying the Wang and Singh model and considering the effect of air velocity. It gave the best correlation between observed and predicted moisture ratio with high value of coefficient of determination (R(2)) and lower values of root mean square error, reduced Chi square (χ(2)) and mean relative deviation (E%).

  4. Air-drying of Robusta eucalyptus lumber

    Treesearch

    Roger G. Skolmen

    1964-01-01

    A study of air-drying 4/4 Eucalyptus robusta lumber in Hilo, Hawaii showed that during typical summer weather it can be dried to below 20 percent moisture content in 2-1/2 months. Grade reduction in 36 percent of the lumber was caused by end splits, insect damage, warp, and surface checking.

  5. Influence of drying time and temperature on bond strength of contemporary adhesives to dentine.

    PubMed

    Garcia, Fernanda C P; Almeida, Júlio C F; Osorio, Raquel; Carvalho, Ricardo M; Toledano, Manuel

    2009-04-01

    To evaluate the bond strength (microTBS) of self-etching adhesives in different solvent evaporation conditions. Flat dentine surfaces from extracted human third molars were bonded with: (1) 2 two-steps self-etching adhesives (Clearfil SE Bond-CSEB); (Protect Bond-PB) and (2) 2 one-step self-etch systems (Adper Prompt L Pop-ADPLP); (Xeno III-XIII). Bonded dentine surfaces were air-dried for 5s, 20s, 30s or 40s at either 21 degrees C or 38 degrees C. Composite build-ups were constructed incrementally. After storage in water for 24h at 37 degrees C, the specimens were prepared for microtensile bond strength testing. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls at alpha=0.05. CSEB and PB performed better at warm temperature with only 20s of air-blowing. The bond strength increased when XIII was performed at warm temperature at 40s air-blowing. Extended air-blowing not affect the performance of ADPLP, except at 30s air-blowing time at warm temperature. The use of a warm air-dry stream seems to be a clinical tool to improve the bond strength to self-etching adhesives.

  6. 7 CFR 29.2252 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2252 Section 29.2252 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Virginia Fire-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Type 21) § 29.2252 Air...

  7. 7 CFR 29.2252 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2252 Section 29.2252 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Virginia Fire-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Type 21) § 29.2252 Air...

  8. 7 CFR 29.2252 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2252 Section 29.2252 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Virginia Fire-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Type 21) § 29.2252 Air...

  9. 7 CFR 29.2252 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2252 Section 29.2252 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Virginia Fire-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Type 21) § 29.2252 Air...

  10. 7 CFR 29.2252 - Air-dried.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Air-dried. 29.2252 Section 29.2252 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Official Standard Grades for Virginia Fire-Cured Tobacco (u.s. Type 21) § 29.2252 Air...

  11. Microclimatic performance of a free-air warming and CO₂ enrichment experiment in windy Wyoming, USA

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

    LeCain, Daniel; Smith, David; Morgan, Jack

    In order to plan for global changing climate experiments are being conducted in many countries, but few have monitored the effects of the climate change treatments (warming, elevated CO₂) on the experimental plot microclimate. During three years of an eight year study with year-round feedback-controlled infra-red heater warming (1.5/3.0°C day/night) and growing season free-air CO₂ enrichment (600 ppm) in the mixed-grass prairie of Wyoming, USA, we monitored soil, leaf, canopy-air, above-canopy-air temperatures and relative humidity of control and treated experimental plots and evaluated ecologically important temperature differentials. Leaves were warmed somewhat less than the target settings (1.1 & 1.5°C day/night)more » but soil was warmed more creating an average that matched the target settings extremely well both during the day and night plus the summer and winter. The site typically has about 50% bare or litter covered soil, therefore soil heat transfer is more critical than in dense canopy ecosystems. The Wyoming site commonly has strong winds (5 ms⁻¹ average) and significant daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations (as much as 30°C daily) but the warming system was nearly always able to maintain the set temperatures regardless of abiotic variation. The within canopy-air was only slightly warmed and above canopy-air was not warmed by the system, therefore convective warming was minor. Elevated CO₂ had no direct effect nor interaction with the warming treatment on microclimate. Relative humidity within the plant canopy was only slightly reduced by warming. Soil water content was reduced by warming but increased by elevated CO₂. This study demonstrates the importance of monitoring the microclimate in manipulative field global change experiments so that critical physiological and ecological conclusions can be determined. Highly variable energy demand fluctuations showed that passive IR heater warming systems will not maintain desired warming

  12. Microclimatic performance of a free-air warming and CO₂ enrichment experiment in windy Wyoming, USA

    DOE PAGES

    LeCain, Daniel; Smith, David; Morgan, Jack; ...

    2015-02-06

    In order to plan for global changing climate experiments are being conducted in many countries, but few have monitored the effects of the climate change treatments (warming, elevated CO₂) on the experimental plot microclimate. During three years of an eight year study with year-round feedback-controlled infra-red heater warming (1.5/3.0°C day/night) and growing season free-air CO₂ enrichment (600 ppm) in the mixed-grass prairie of Wyoming, USA, we monitored soil, leaf, canopy-air, above-canopy-air temperatures and relative humidity of control and treated experimental plots and evaluated ecologically important temperature differentials. Leaves were warmed somewhat less than the target settings (1.1 & 1.5°C day/night)more » but soil was warmed more creating an average that matched the target settings extremely well both during the day and night plus the summer and winter. The site typically has about 50% bare or litter covered soil, therefore soil heat transfer is more critical than in dense canopy ecosystems. The Wyoming site commonly has strong winds (5 ms⁻¹ average) and significant daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations (as much as 30°C daily) but the warming system was nearly always able to maintain the set temperatures regardless of abiotic variation. The within canopy-air was only slightly warmed and above canopy-air was not warmed by the system, therefore convective warming was minor. Elevated CO₂ had no direct effect nor interaction with the warming treatment on microclimate. Relative humidity within the plant canopy was only slightly reduced by warming. Soil water content was reduced by warming but increased by elevated CO₂. This study demonstrates the importance of monitoring the microclimate in manipulative field global change experiments so that critical physiological and ecological conclusions can be determined. Highly variable energy demand fluctuations showed that passive IR heater warming systems will not maintain desired warming

  13. Effects of a warm compress containing menthol on the tear film in healthy subjects and dry eye patients

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arita, Reiko; Morishige, Naoyuki; Sakamoto, Ichiro; Imai, Natsuko; Shimada, Yuko; Igaki, Michihito; Suzuki, Atsushi; Itoh, Kouzo; Tsubota, Kazuo

    2017-04-01

    Menthol is thought to stimulate lacrimation via activation of cold-sensitive primary afferent neurons in the cornea. We evaluated a warm compress containing menthol as a potential treatment for dry eye by examining its effects on the tear film in healthy subjects (n = 20) and dry eye patients (n = 35). Disposable eyelid-warming steamers that either did (MH) or did not (HO) contain menthol were applied to one eye of each subject either once only for 10 min or repeatedly over 2 weeks. Single application of MH significantly increased tear meniscus volume (P = 8.6 × 10-5, P = 1.3 × 10-5) and tear film breakup time (P = 0.006, P = 0.002) as well as improved meibum condition in healthy subjects and dry eye patients, respectively. Repeated application of MH significantly increased tear meniscus volume (P = 0.004, P = 1.7 × 10-4) and tear film breakup time (P = 0.037, P = 0.010) in healthy subjects and dry eye patients, respectively. Repeated application of MH thus induced persistent increases in tear fluid volume and tear film stability in dry eye patients, suggesting that repeated use of a warm compress containing menthol is a potential novel treatment for dry eye disease.

  14. Evaluation of food drying with air dehumidification system: a short review

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Djaeni, M.; Utari, F. D.; Sasongko, S. B.; Kumoro, A. C.

    2018-01-01

    Energy efficient drying for food and agriculture products resulting high quality products has been an important issue. Currently, about 50% of total energy for postharvest treatment was used for drying. This paper presents the evaluation of new approach namely air dehumidification system with zeolite for food drying. Zeolite is a material having affinity to water in which reduced the moisture in air. With low moisture content and relative humidity, the air can improve driving force for drying even at low temperature. Thus, the energy efficiency can be potentially enhanced and the product quality can be well retained. For proving the hypothesis, the paddy and onion have been dried using dehumidified air. As performance indicators, the drying time, product quality, and heat efficiency were evaluated. Results indicated that the drying with zeolite improved the performances significantly. At operating temperature ranging 50 - 60°C, the efficiency of drying system can reach 75% with reasonable product quality.

  15. Method for estimating air-drying times of lumber

    Treesearch

    William T. Simpson; C. Arthur Hart

    2001-01-01

    Published information on estimated air-drying times of lumber is of limited usefulness because it is restricted to a specific location or to the time of year the lumber is stacked for drying. At best, these estimates give a wide range of possible times over a broad range of possible locations and stacking dates. In this paper, we describe a method for estimating air-...

  16. Low clouds suppress Arctic air formation and amplify high-latitude continental winter warming.

    PubMed

    Cronin, Timothy W; Tziperman, Eli

    2015-09-15

    High-latitude continents have warmed much more rapidly in recent decades than the rest of the globe, especially in winter, and the maintenance of warm, frost-free conditions in continental interiors in winter has been a long-standing problem of past equable climates. We use an idealized single-column atmospheric model across a range of conditions to study the polar night process of air mass transformation from high-latitude maritime air, with a prescribed initial temperature profile, to much colder high-latitude continental air. We find that a low-cloud feedback--consisting of a robust increase in the duration of optically thick liquid clouds with warming of the initial state--slows radiative cooling of the surface and amplifies continental warming. This low-cloud feedback increases the continental surface air temperature by roughly two degrees for each degree increase of the initial maritime surface air temperature, effectively suppressing Arctic air formation. The time it takes for the surface air temperature to drop below freezing increases nonlinearly to ∼ 10 d for initial maritime surface air temperatures of 20 °C. These results, supplemented by an analysis of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 climate model runs that shows large increases in cloud water path and surface cloud longwave forcing in warmer climates, suggest that the "lapse rate feedback" in simulations of anthropogenic climate change may be related to the influence of low clouds on the stratification of the lower troposphere. The results also indicate that optically thick stratus cloud decks could help to maintain frost-free winter continental interiors in equable climates.

  17. Estimating air drying times of lumber with multiple regression

    Treesearch

    William T. Simpson

    2004-01-01

    In this study, the applicability of a multiple regression equation for estimating air drying times of red oak, sugar maple, and ponderosa pine lumber was evaluated. The equation allows prediction of estimated air drying times from historic weather records of temperature and relative humidity at any desired location.

  18. Total environmental warming impact (TEWI) calculations for alternative automative air-conditioning systems

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

    Sand, J.R.; Fischer, S.K.

    1997-01-01

    The Montreal Protocol phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has required manufacturers to develop refrigeration and air-conditioning systems that use refrigerants that can not damage stratospheric ozone. Most refrigeration industries have adapted their designs to use hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) or hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants; new automobile air- conditioning systems use HFC-134a. These industries are now being affected by scientific investigations of greenhouse warming and questions about the effects of refrigerants on global warming. Automobile air-conditioning has three separate impacts on global warming; (1) the effects of refrigerant inadvertently released to the atmosphere from accidents, servicing, and leakage; (2) the efficiency of the cooling equipmentmore » (due to the emission of C0{sub 2} from burning fuel to power the system); and (3) the emission of C0{sub 2} from burning fuel to transport the system. The Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) is an index that should be used to compare the global warming effects of alternative air-conditioning systems because it includes these contributions from the refrigerant, cooling efficiency, and weight. This paper compares the TEWI of current air-conditioning systems using HFC-134a with that of transcritical vapor compression system using carbon dioxide and systems using flammable refrigerants with secondary heat transfer loops. Results are found to depend on both climate and projected efficiency of C0{sub 2}systems. Performance data on manufacturing prototype systems are needed to verify the potential reductions in TEWI. Extensive field testing is also required to determine the performance, reliability, and ``serviceability`` of each alternative to HFC-134a to establish whether the potential reduction of TEWI can be achieved in a viable consumer product.« less

  19. Impact of air-drying lens cases in various locations and positions.

    PubMed

    Wu, Yvonne T; Zhu, Hua; Willcox, Mark; Stapleton, Fiona

    2010-07-01

    To determine the rate and type of microbial contamination when contact lens cases are air-dried in two different positions (face up and face down) and in four different locations (toilet, bathroom, office, and bedroom). Unused contact lens cases (n = 97) were rinsed with 2-ml sterile phosphate buffered saline and then placed on facial tissue paper in different locations: humid (toilet and bathroom) and non-humid (office and bedroom) and air-dried at room temperature. After 24 h, the contact lens cases were collected and sampled for microbial numbers and microbial types identified using standard techniques. The microbial profile and the rate of contamination between different locations and positions were compared. Irrespective of the air-drying location, contact lens cases positioned face up had a significantly higher contamination rate (34/48, 71%) compared with contact lens cases air-dried face down (6/49, 12%) (p < 0.001). For those contact lens cases air-dried face up, there was more contamination when placed in humid environments (toilet and bathroom) than in the non-humid environments (office and bedroom) (p = 0.01). However, the contact lens case contamination rate among various locations was similar when contact lens cases were air-dried face down. Total microorganisms recovered from contact lens cases ranged from 0 to 275 colony forming unit per well. The most frequently recovered microorganisms from the contaminated contact lens cases were coagulase-negative Staphylococci, fungi, and Bacillus spp. Thirty-three percent (13/40) of contact lens cases were contaminated with multiple species. Small numbers of microorganisms from the environment may contaminate contact lens cases while cases are air-dried face up. Cases air-dried in humid environments have higher levels of microbial contamination; this is particularly true when contact lens cases are positioned face up. On the basis of this limited study, we would recommend contact lens cases be air-dried face

  20. Low clouds suppress Arctic air formation and amplify high-latitude continental winter warming

    PubMed Central

    Cronin, Timothy W.; Tziperman, Eli

    2015-01-01

    High-latitude continents have warmed much more rapidly in recent decades than the rest of the globe, especially in winter, and the maintenance of warm, frost-free conditions in continental interiors in winter has been a long-standing problem of past equable climates. We use an idealized single-column atmospheric model across a range of conditions to study the polar night process of air mass transformation from high-latitude maritime air, with a prescribed initial temperature profile, to much colder high-latitude continental air. We find that a low-cloud feedback—consisting of a robust increase in the duration of optically thick liquid clouds with warming of the initial state—slows radiative cooling of the surface and amplifies continental warming. This low-cloud feedback increases the continental surface air temperature by roughly two degrees for each degree increase of the initial maritime surface air temperature, effectively suppressing Arctic air formation. The time it takes for the surface air temperature to drop below freezing increases nonlinearly to ∼10 d for initial maritime surface air temperatures of 20 °C. These results, supplemented by an analysis of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 climate model runs that shows large increases in cloud water path and surface cloud longwave forcing in warmer climates, suggest that the “lapse rate feedback” in simulations of anthropogenic climate change may be related to the influence of low clouds on the stratification of the lower troposphere. The results also indicate that optically thick stratus cloud decks could help to maintain frost-free winter continental interiors in equable climates. PMID:26324919

  1. Estimates of air drying times for several hardwoods and softwoods

    Treesearch

    W.T. Simpson; C.A. Hart

    2000-01-01

    Published data on estimated air drying times of lumber are of limited usefulness because they are restricted to a specific location or to the time of year the lumber is stacked for drying. At best, these estimates give a wide range of possible times over a broad range of possible locations and stacking dates. This report describes a method for estimating air drying...

  2. Application of Natural Air Drying on Shelled Corn in Timor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nino, J.; Nelwan, L. O.; Purwanto, Y. A.

    2018-05-01

    A study of the application of natural air drying on shelled corn in Timor using a bed- type dryer has been performed. The study aspects were limited to obtain the suitable air flow rate requirement and duration of the drying operation per day. For each aspect, the treatments were carried out simultaneously. The results showed that at the average ambient air temperature of 30.6°C and relative humidity (RH) of 73.0% the air flow rate of 0.83 L/s-kg provided the highest drying rate. Subsequently, by using the same air flow rate, three scheme of drying operations duration were used, i.e., 8 hours per day (08.00-16.00), 6 hours per day (09.00-15.00) and 4 hours per day (10.00-14.00). The average temperature and RH of ambient air condition at the second experiment were 30.3°C and 73.3% respectively. After 4 days of drying, the 8 hours per day (first scheme) treatment was able to dry the shelled corn from the initial moisture content of 27.24% w.b. to the final moisture content of 14.05% w.b. The specific energy consumption (SEC) of the first scheme was 1.75 MJ/kg. The final moisture content of the second and third schemes were 15.08 % w.b. and 18.45 % w.b. respectively with SEC of 1.41 MJ/kg and 1.21 MJ/kg respectively.

  3. Microclimatic Performance of a Free-Air Warming and CO2 Enrichment Experiment in Windy Wyoming, USA

    PubMed Central

    LeCain, Daniel; Smith, David; Morgan, Jack; Kimball, Bruce A.; Pendall, Elise; Miglietta, Franco

    2015-01-01

    In order to plan for global changing climate experiments are being conducted in many countries, but few have monitored the effects of the climate change treatments (warming, elevated CO2) on the experimental plot microclimate. During three years of an eight year study with year-round feedback-controlled infra-red heater warming (1.5/3.0°C day/night) and growing season free-air CO2 enrichment (600 ppm) in the mixed-grass prairie of Wyoming, USA, we monitored soil, leaf, canopy-air, above-canopy-air temperatures and relative humidity of control and treated experimental plots and evaluated ecologically important temperature differentials. Leaves were warmed somewhat less than the target settings (1.1 & 1.5°C day/night) but soil was warmed more creating an average that matched the target settings extremely well both during the day and night plus the summer and winter. The site typically has about 50% bare or litter covered soil, therefore soil heat transfer is more critical than in dense canopy ecosystems. The Wyoming site commonly has strong winds (5 ms-1 average) and significant daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations (as much as 30°C daily) but the warming system was nearly always able to maintain the set temperatures regardless of abiotic variation. The within canopy-air was only slightly warmed and above canopy-air was not warmed by the system, therefore convective warming was minor. Elevated CO2 had no direct effect nor interaction with the warming treatment on microclimate. Relative humidity within the plant canopy was only slightly reduced by warming. Soil water content was reduced by warming but increased by elevated CO2. This study demonstrates the importance of monitoring the microclimate in manipulative field global change experiments so that critical physiological and ecological conclusions can be determined. Highly variable energy demand fluctuations showed that passive IR heater warming systems will not maintain desired warming for much of the

  4. Drying Characteristics and Water-soluble Polysaccharides Evaluation of Kidney Shape Ganoderma lucidum Drying in Air Circulation System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prasetyo, D. J.; Jatmiko, T. H.; Poeloengasih, C. D.; Kismurtono, M.

    2017-12-01

    In this project, drying kinetic of kidney shape Ganoderma lucidum fruiting body in air circulation system was studied. The drying experiments were conducted at 40, 50 and 60°C with air flow rate of 1.3 ms-1. Samples were weighted periodically until no change in sample weight was recorded, and then the samples were analyzed for its moisture content. Four different thin-layer mathematical models (Newton, Page, Two-term, Midilli) were used and compare to evaluate the drying curves of kidney shape G. lucidum. The water-soluble polysaccharides were evaluated in order to find the best drying temperature condition. The results indicates that Midilli model was the fittest model to describe the characteristic of kidney shape G. lucidum in the air circulation drying system and temperature of 50°C was the best drying condition to get highest value of water-soluble polysaccharides.

  5. Resistive-heating or forced-air warming for the prevention of redistribution hypothermia.

    PubMed

    De Witte, Jan L; Demeyer, Caroline; Vandemaele, Els

    2010-03-01

    We evaluated the efficacy of resistive-heating or forced-air warming versus no prewarming, applied before induction of anesthesia for prevention of hypothermia. Twenty-seven patients scheduled for laparoscopic colorectal surgery were randomized into 1 of 3 groups: no prewarming; 30 minutes of prewarming with a carbon fiber total body cover at 42 degrees C; or 30 minutes of preoperative forced-air warming at 42 degrees C. The forced-air warming cover excluded the shoulders, ankles, and feet. The prewarming period was exactly 30 minutes. At the 31st minute, a total IV anesthesia technique was initiated, and all patients were actively warmed with a lithotomy blanket. Tympanic and distal esophageal temperatures were measured. Categorical data were analyzed using chi(2) test, and continuous data were analyzed with analysis of variance. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The mean esophageal temperatures differed significantly between the control and the carbon fiber group from 40 to 90 minutes of anesthesia. After 50 minutes of anesthesia, the mean esophageal temperatures in the control, carbon fiber, and forced-air groups were 35.9 degrees C +/- 0.3 degrees C, 36.5 degrees C +/- 0.4 degrees C, and 36.2 degrees C +/- 0.3 degrees C, respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between the forced-air and control groups. After 30 minutes of prewarming with resistive heating, patients had an esophageal temperature that was significantly higher than the control group. Prewarming should be considered part of the anesthetic management when patients are at risk for postoperative hypothermia.

  6. Terra Data Confirm Warm, Dry U.S. Winter

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    New maps of land surface temperature and snow cover produced by NASA's Terra satellite show this year's winter was warmer than last year's, and the snow line stayed farther north than normal. The observations confirm earlier National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that the United States was unusually warm and dry this past winter. (Click to read the NASA press release and to access higher-resolution images.) For the last two years, a new sensor aboard Terra has been collecting the most detailed global measurements ever made of our world's land surface temperatures and snow cover. The Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is already giving scientists new insights into our changing planet. Average temperatures during December 2001 through February 2002 for the contiguous United States appear to have been unseasonably warm from the Rockies eastward. In the top image the coldest temperatures appear black, while dark green, blue, red, yellow, and white indicate progressively warmer temperatures. MODIS observes both land surface temperature and emissivity, which indicates how efficiently a surface absorbs and emits thermal radiation. Compared to the winter of 2000-01, temperatures throughout much of the U.S. were warmer in 2001-02. The bottom image depicts the differences on a scale from dark blue (colder this year than last) to red (warmer this year than last). A large region of warm temperatures dominated the northern Great Plains, while the area around the Great Salt Lake was a cold spot. Images courtesy Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC, based upon data courtesy Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Science Team member at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Institute for Computational Earth System Science

  7. Regional warming of hot extremes accelerated by surface energy fluxes consistent with drying soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Donat, M.; Pitman, A.; Seneviratne, S. I.

    2017-12-01

    Strong regional differences exist in how hot temperature extremes increase under global warming. Using an ensemble of coupled climate models, we examine the regional warming rates of hot extremes relative to annual average warming rates in the same regions. We identify hotspots of accelerated warming of model-simulated hot extremes in Europe, North America, South America and Southeast China. These hotspots indicate where the warm tail of a distribution of temperatures increases faster than the average and are robust across most CMIP5 models. Exploring the conditions on the specific day the hot extreme occurs demonstrates the hotspots are explained by changes in the surface energy fluxes consistent with drying soils. Furthermore, in these hotspot regions we find a relationship between the temperature - heat flux correlation under current climate conditions and the magnitude of future projected changes in hot extremes, pointing to a potential emergent constraint for simulations of future hot extremes. However, the model-simulated accelerated warming of hot extremes appears inconsistent with observations of the past 60 years, except over Europe. The simulated acceleration of hot extremes may therefore be unreliable, a result that necessitates a re-evaluation of how climate models resolve the relevant terrestrial processes.

  8. 47. View of "dry air inlets" to waveguides entering scanner ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    47. View of "dry air inlets" to waveguides entering scanner building 105. Dried air is generated under pressure by Ingersoll-Rand dehumidified/dessicator and compressor system. View is at entrance from passageway that links into corner of scanner building. - Clear Air Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Site II, One mile west of mile marker 293.5 on Parks Highway, 5 miles southwest of Anderson, Anderson, Denali Borough, AK

  9. Dry Air Cooler Modeling for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Cycle Analysis

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

    Moisseytsev, A.; Sienicki, J. J.; Lv, Q.

    Modeling for commercially available and cost effective dry air coolers such as those manufactured by Harsco Industries has been implemented in the Argonne National Laboratory Plant Dynamics Code for system level dynamic analysis of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2) Brayton cycles. The modeling can now be utilized to optimize and simulate sCO 2 Brayton cycles with dry air cooling whereby heat is rejected directly to the atmospheric heat sink without the need for cooling towers that require makeup water for evaporative losses. It has sometimes been stated that a benefit of the sCO 2 Brayton cycle is that it enablesmore » dry air cooling implying that the Rankine steam cycle does not. A preliminary and simple examination of a Rankine superheated steam cycle and an air-cooled condenser indicates that dry air cooling can be utilized with both cycles provided that the cycle conditions are selected appropriately« less

  10. Effects of Ambient Temperature and Forced-air Warming on Intraoperative Core Temperature: A Factorial Randomized Trial.

    PubMed

    Pei, Lijian; Huang, Yuguang; Xu, Yiyao; Zheng, Yongchang; Sang, Xinting; Zhou, Xiaoyun; Li, Shanqing; Mao, Guangmei; Mascha, Edward J; Sessler, Daniel I

    2018-05-01

    The effect of ambient temperature, with and without active warming, on intraoperative core temperature remains poorly characterized. The authors determined the effect of ambient temperature on core temperature changes with and without forced-air warming. In this unblinded three-by-two factorial trial, 292 adults were randomized to ambient temperatures 19°, 21°, or 23°C, and to passive insulation or forced-air warming. The primary outcome was core temperature change between 1 and 3 h after induction. Linear mixed-effects models assessed the effects of ambient temperature, warming method, and their interaction. A 1°C increase in ambient temperature attenuated the negative slope of core temperature change 1 to 3 h after anesthesia induction by 0.03 (98.3% CI, 0.01 to 0.06) °Ccore/(h°Cambient) (P < 0.001), for patients who received passive insulation, but not for those warmed with forced-air (-0.01 [98.3% CI, -0.03 to 0.01] °Ccore/[h°Cambient]; P = 0.40). Final core temperature at the end of surgery increased 0.13°C (98.3% CI, 0.07 to 0.20; P < 0.01) per degree increase in ambient temperature with passive insulation, but was unaffected by ambient temperature during forced-air warming (0.02 [98.3% CI, -0.04 to 0.09] °Ccore/°Cambient; P = 0.40). After an average of 3.4 h of surgery, core temperature was 36.3° ± 0.5°C in each of the forced-air groups, and ranged from 35.6° to 36.1°C in passively insulated patients. Ambient intraoperative temperature has a negligible effect on core temperature when patients are warmed with forced air. The effect is larger when patients are passively insulated, but the magnitude remains small. Ambient temperature can thus be set to comfortable levels for staff in patients who are actively warmed.

  11. Development of a distributed air pollutant dry deposition modeling framework

    Treesearch

    Satoshi Hirabayashi; Charles N. Kroll; David J. Nowak

    2012-01-01

    A distributed air pollutant dry deposition modeling systemwas developed with a geographic information system (GIS) to enhance the functionality of i-Tree Eco (i-Tree, 2011). With the developed system, temperature, leaf area index (LAI) and air pollutant concentration in a spatially distributed form can be estimated, and based on these and other input variables, dry...

  12. Effect of air velocity on the drying rate of single eastern white pine boards

    Treesearch

    W. T. Simpson

    1997-01-01

    The qualitative effect of air velocity on drying rate of lumber has long been known. This report provides quantification of the effects of air velocity on drying rate of individual eastern white pine boards. An empirical equation correlating moisture content with time during drying was used to aid in the analysis. The drying rate increased with air velocity for...

  13. Tropical Intraseasonal Air-Sea Exchanges during the 1997 Pacific Warming

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sui, C.-H.; Lau, K.-M.; Chou, S.-H.; Wang, Zihou

    1999-01-01

    The Madden Julian Oscillations (MJO) and associated westerly wind (WW) events account for much of the tropical intraseasonal variability (TISV). The TISV has been suggested as an important stochastic forcing that may be one of the underlying causes for the observed irregularities of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Recent observational studies and theories of interannual to interdecadal-scale variability suggest that ENSO may arise from different mechanisms depending on the basic states. The Pacific warming event of 1997, being associated with a period of strong MJO and WW events, serves as a natural experiment for studying the possible role of TISV in triggering an ENSO event. We have performed a combined statistical and composite analysis of surface WW events based on the assimilated surface wind and sea level pressure for the period of 1980-1993, the SSM/I wind for the period of 1988-1997, and OLR. Results indicates that extratropical forcing contribute significantly to the evolution of MJO and establishment of WW events over the Pacific warm pool. Following the major WW events, there appeared an eastward extension of equatorial warm SST anomalies from the western Pacific warm pool. Such tropical-extratropical interaction is particularly clear in the winter of 96-97 that leads to the recent warming event in 1997/98. From the above discussion, our current study on this subject is based on the hypothesis that 1) there is an enhanced air-sea interaction associated with TISV and the northerly surges from the extratropics in the initial phase of the 97/98 warming event, and 2) the relevant mechanisms are functions of the basic state of the coupled system (in terms of SST distribution and atmospheric mean circulation) that varies at the interannual and interdecadal time scale. We are analyzing the space-time structure of the northerly surges, their association with air-sea fluxes and upper ocean responses during the period of September 1996 to June 1997. The

  14. Effects of a Circulating-water Garment and Forced-air Warming on Body Heat Content and Core Temperature

    PubMed Central

    Taguchi, Akiko; Ratnaraj, Jebadurai; Kabon, Barbara; Sharma, Neeru; Lenhardt, Rainer; Sessler, Daniel I.

    2005-01-01

    Background: Forced-air warming is sometimes unable to maintain perioperative normothermia. We therefore compared heat transfer, regional heat distribution, and core rewarming of forced-air warming with a novel circulating-water garment. Methods: Nine volunteers were each evaluated on two randomly ordered study days. They were anesthetized and cooled to a core temperature near 34°C. The volunteers were subsequently warmed for 2.5 hours with either a circulating-water garment or forced-air cover. Overall, heat balance was determined from the difference between cutaneous heat loss (thermal flux transducers) and metabolic heat production (oxygen consumption). Average arm and leg (peripheral) tissue temperatures were determined from 18 intramuscular needle thermocouples, 15 skin thermal flux transducers, and “deep” arm and foot thermometers. Results: Heat production (≈ 60 kcal/h) and loss (≈45 kcal/h) were similar with each treatment before warming. The increase in heat transfer across anterior portions of the skin surface was similar with each warming system (≈65 kcal/h). Forced-air warming had no effect on posterior heat transfer whereas circulating-water transferred 21 ± 9 kcal/h through the posterior skin surface after a half hour of warming. Over 2.5 h, circulating-water thus increased body heat content 56% more than forced air. Core temperatures thus increased faster than with circulating water than forced air, especially during the first hour, with the result that core temperature was 1.1 ± 0.7°C greater after 2.5 h (P < 0.001). Peripheral tissue heat content increased twice as much as core heat content with each device, but the core-to-peripheral tissue temperature gradient remained positive throughout the study. Conclusions: The circulating-water system transferred more heat than forced air, with the difference resulting largely from posterior heating. Circulating water rewarmed patients 0.4°C/h faster than forced air. A substantial peripheral

  15. 10 CFR 431.72 - Definitions concerning commercial warm air furnaces.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... electrical, physical, and functional (or hydraulic) characteristics that affect energy consumption, energy... 10 Energy 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Definitions concerning commercial warm air furnaces. 431.72 Section 431.72 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR...

  16. Tree water dynamics in a drying and warming world: Future tree water dynamics

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

    Grossiord, Charlotte; Sevanto, Sanna; Borrego, Isaac

    Disentangling the relative impacts of precipitation reduction and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) on plant water dynamics and determining whether acclimation may influence these patterns in the future is an important challenge. Here, we report sap flux density (FD), stomatal conductance (Gs), hydraulic conductivity (KL) and xylem anatomy in piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) trees subjected to five years of precipitation reduction, atmospheric warming (elevated VPD) and their combined effects. No acclimation occurred under precipitation reduction: lower Gs and FD were found for both species compared to ambient conditions. Warming reduced the sensibility of stomata to VPD formore » both species but resulted in the maintenance of Gs and FD to ambient levels only for piñon. For juniper, reduced soil moisture under warming negated benefits of stomatal adjustments and resulted in reduced FD, Gs and KL. Although reduced stomatal sensitivity to VPD also occurred under combined stresses, reductions in Gs, FD and KL took place to similar levels as under single stresses for both species. Our results show that stomatal conductance adjustments to high VPD could minimize but not entirely prevent additive effects of warming and drying on water use and carbon acquisition of trees in semi-arid regions.« less

  17. A westward extension of the warm pool leads to a westward extension of the Walker circulation, drying eastern Africa

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Williams, A. Park; Funk, Christopher C.

    2011-01-01

    Observations and simulations link anthropogenic greenhouse and aerosol emissions with rapidly increasing Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Over the past 60 years, the Indian Ocean warmed two to three times faster than the central tropical Pacific, extending the tropical warm pool to the west by ~40° longitude (>4,000 km). This propensity toward rapid warming in the Indian Ocean has been the dominant mode of interannual variability among SSTs throughout the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans (55°E–140°W) since at least 1948, explaining more variance than anomalies associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In the atmosphere, the primary mode of variability has been a corresponding trend toward greatly increased convection and precipitation over the tropical Indian Ocean. The temperature and rainfall increases in this region have produced a westward extension of the western, ascending branch of the atmospheric Walker circulation. Diabatic heating due to increased mid-tropospheric water vapor condensation elicits a westward atmospheric response that sends an easterly flow of dry air aloft toward eastern Africa. In recent decades (1980–2009), this response has suppressed convection over tropical eastern Africa, decreasing precipitation during the ‘long-rains’ season of March–June. This trend toward drought contrasts with projections of increased rainfall in eastern Africa and more ‘El Niño-like’ conditions globally by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Increased Indian Ocean SSTs appear likely to continue to strongly modulate the Warm Pool circulation, reducing precipitation in eastern Africa, regardless of whether the projected trend in ENSO is realized. These results have important food security implications, informing agricultural development, environmental conservation, and water resource planning.

  18. Drying kinetics of apricot halves in a microwave-hot air hybrid oven

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Horuz, Erhan; Bozkurt, Hüseyin; Karataş, Haluk; Maskan, Medeni

    2017-06-01

    Drying behavior and kinetics of apricot halves were investigated in a microwave-hot air domestic hybrid oven at 120, 150 and 180 W microwave power and 50, 60 and 70 °C air temperature. Drying operation was finished when the moisture content reached to 25% (wet basis) from 77% (w.b). Increase in microwave power and air temperature increased drying rates and reduced drying time. Only falling rate period was observed in drying of apricot halves in hybrid oven. Eleven mathematical models were used for describing the drying kinetics of apricots. Modified logistic model gave the best fitting to the experimental data. The model has never been used to explain drying behavior of any kind of food materials up to now. Fick's second law was used for determination of both effective moisture diffusivity and thermal diffusivity values. Activation energy values of dried apricots were calculated from Arrhenius equation. Those that obtained from effective moisture diffusivity, thermal diffusivity and drying rate constant values ranged from 31.10 to 39.4 kJ/mol, 29.56 to 35.19 kJ/mol, and 26.02 to 32.36 kJ/mol, respectively.

  19. Comparing the VOC emissions between air-dried and heat-treated Scots pine wood

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manninen, Anne-Marja; Pasanen, Pertti; Holopainen, Jarmo K.

    The emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from air-dried Scots pine wood and from heat-treated Scots pine wood were compared with GC-MS analysis. Air-dried wood blocks released about 8 times more total VOCs than heat-treated (24 h at 230°C) ones. Terpenes were clearly the main compound group in the air-dried wood samples, whereas aldehydes and carboxylic acids and their esters dominated in the heat-treated wood samples. Only 14 compounds out of 41 identified individual compounds were found in both wood samples indicating considerable changes in VOC emission profile during heat-treatment process. Of individual compounds α-pinene, 3-carene and hexanal were the most abundant ones in the air-dried wood. By contrast, in the heat-treated wood 2-furancarboxaldehyde, acetic acid and 2-propanone were the major compounds of VOC emission. Current emission results reveal that significant chemical changes have occurred, and volatile monoterpenes and other low-molecular-weight compounds have evaporated from the wood during the heat-treatment process when compared to air-dried wood. Major chemical changes detected in VOC emissions are explained by the thermal degradation and oxidation of main constituents in wood. The results suggest that if heat-treated wood is used in interior carpentry, emissions of monoterpenes are reduced compared to air-dried wood, but some irritating compounds might be released into indoor air.

  20. The effect of air temperature on the sappan wood extract drying

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Djaeni, M.; Triyastuti, M. S.; Asiah, N.; Annisa, A. N.; Novita, D. A.

    2015-12-01

    The sappan wood extract contain natural colour called brazilin that can be used as a food colouring and antioxidant. The product is commonly found as a dry extract powder for consummer convenience. The spray dryer with air dehumidification can be an option to retain the colour and antioxidant agent. This paper discusses the effect of air temperature on sappan wood extract drying that was mixed with maltodextrin. As responses, the particle size, final moisture content, and extract solubility degradation were observed. In all cases, the process conducted in temperature ranging 90 - 110°C can retain the brazilin quality as seen in solubility and particle size. In addition, the sappan wood extract can be fully dried with moisture content below 2%. Moreover, with the increase of air temperature, the particle size of dry extract can be smaller.

  1. 10 CFR 431.72 - Definitions concerning commercial warm air furnaces.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Definitions concerning commercial warm air furnaces. 431.72 Section 431.72 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR... covered product (or class thereof) manufactured by one manufacturer, having the same primary energy source...

  2. 10 CFR 431.72 - Definitions concerning commercial warm air furnaces.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Definitions concerning commercial warm air furnaces. 431.72 Section 431.72 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR... covered product (or class thereof) manufactured by one manufacturer, having the same primary energy source...

  3. Detecting Climate Signals in Precipitation Extremes from TRMM (1998-2013) - Increasing Contrast Between Wet and Dry Extremes During the "Global Warming Hiatus"

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wu, Huey-Tzu Jenny; Lau, William K.-M.

    2016-01-01

    We investigate changes in daily precipitation extremes using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data (1998-2013), which coincides with the "global warming hiatus." Results show a change in probability distribution functions of local precipitation events (LPEs) during this period consistent with previous global warming studies, indicating increasing contrast between wet and dry extremes, with more intense LPE, less moderate LPE, and more dry (no rain) days globally. Analyses for land and ocean separately reveal more complex and nuanced changes over land, characterized by a strong positive trend (+12.0% per decade, 99% confidence level (c.l.)) in frequency of extreme LPEs over the Northern Hemisphere extratropics during the wet season but a negative global trend (-6.6% per decade, 95% c.l.) during the dry season. A significant global drying trend (3.2% per decade, 99% c.l.) over land is also found during the dry season. Regions of pronounced increased dry events include western and central U.S., northeastern Asia, and Southern Europe/Mediterranean.

  4. [CO2-exchange in tundra ecosystems of Vaygach Island during the unusually warm and dry vegetation season].

    PubMed

    Zamolodchikov, D G

    2015-01-01

    In summer of 2013, field studies of CO2-exchange in tundra ecosystems of Vaygach Island have been conducted using the chamber method. The models are developed that establish relationships between CO2 fluxes and key ecological factors such as temperature, photosynthetic active radiation, leaf mass of vascular plants, and depth of thawing. According to the model estimates, in 2013 vegetation season tundra ecosystems of Vaygach Island have been appearing to be a CO2 source to the atmosphere (31.9 ± 17.1 g C m(-2) season(-1)) with gross primary production equal to 136.6 ± 18.9 g C m(-2) season(-1) and ecosystem respiration of 168.5 ± ± 18.4 g C m(-2) season(-1). Emission of CO2 from the soil surface (soil respiration) has been equal, on the average, to 67.3% of the ecosystem respiration. The reason behind carbon losses by tundra ecosystems seems to be unusually warm and dry weather conditions in 2013 summer. The air temperature during summer months has been twice as high as the climatic norm for 1961-1990. Last decades, researches in the circumpolar Arctic revealed a growing trend to the carbon sink from the atmosphere to tundra ecosystems. This trend can be interrupted by unusually warm weather situations becoming more frequent and of larger scale.

  5. Insects Extend the Consequences of a Warm, Dry Summer for Tree Growth in the Subsequent Summer near the Arctic Treeline in Alaska

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sullivan, P.; Sveinbjornsson, B.

    2008-12-01

    Treeline positions have important implications for surface energy budgets and carbon cycling in high latitude environments. Warming temperatures during the 20th century have been associated with both positive and negative growth trends in treeline white spruce. It has been suggested that negative growth trends may reflect the increasing importance of drought stress as a constraint on tree growth, although direct observations of water stress near the treeline are lacking. We set out to develop a more mechanistic understanding of environmental controls on gas exchange physiology and growth of white spruce near the Arctic treeline in Alaska. Our three-year study was carried out on a riverside terrace along the Agashashok River in Noatak National Preserve. The terrace is capped with a layer of sand/silt that grades from 10 cm depth at the upstream end to 45 cm depth at the downstream end. White spruce of similar size occur along the gradient at similar density, providing an opportunity to examine the role of parent material depth as a control on tree physiology and growth. Air temperatures during the 2006 growing season were near normal, there was no evidence of water stress and white spruce branch extension growth was near the long-term average. The 2007 growing season was exceptionally warm and dry. Stomatal closure was observed during mid-July throughout most of the diurnal cycle in trees growing on less than 30 cm of parent material. The warm, dry conditions and water-stress in the trees may have precipitated a major insect outbreak, which affected nearly all mature trees in the landscape. Branch extension growth in 2007 was reduced to 70 percent of that observed during the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons. Air temperatures during the 2008 growing season returned to near normal. There was no evidence of water stress, but the insect outbreak persisted and branch extension growth did not recover, remaining similar to that observed in 2007. Results of our study highlight

  6. Performance of Silica Gel in the Role of Residual Air Drying

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jan, Darrell L.; Hogan, John A.; Koss, Brian; Palmer, Gary H.; Richardson, Justine; Linggi, Paul

    2014-01-01

    Removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) is a necessary step in air revitalization and is often accomplished with sorbent materials. Since moisture competes with CO2 in sorbent materials, it is necessary to remove the water first. This is typically accomplished in two stages: bulk removal and residual drying. Silica gel is used as the bulk drying material in the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) in operation on ISS. There has been some speculation that silica gel may also be capable of serving as the residual drying material. This paper will describe test apparatus and procedures for determining the performance of silica gel in residual air drying.

  7. Rapid Induction of Therapeutic Hypothermia Using Transnasal High Flow Dry Air

    PubMed Central

    Chava, Raghuram; Raghavan, Madhavan Srinivas; Halperin, Henry; Maqbool, Farhan; Geocadin, Romergryko; Quinones-Hinojosa, Alfredo; Kolandaivelu, Aravindan; Rosen, Benjamin A.

    2017-01-01

    Early induction of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is recommended in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (CA); however, currently no reliable methods exist to initiate cooling. We investigated the effect of high flow transnasal dry air on brain and body temperatures in adult porcine animals. Adult porcine animals (n = 23) under general anesthesia were subject to high flow of transnasal dry air. Mouth was kept open to create a unidirectional airflow, in through the nostrils and out through the mouth. Brain, internal jugular, and aortic temperatures were recorded. The effect of varying airflow rate and the air humidity (0% or 100%) on the temperature profiles were recorded. The degree of brain cooling was measured as the differential temperature from baseline. A 10-minute exposure of high flow dry air caused rapid cooling of brain and gradual cooling of the jugular and the aortic temperatures in all animals. The degree of brain cooling was flow dependent and significantly higher at higher airflow rates (0.8°C ± 0.3°C, 1.03°C ± 0.6°C, and 1.3°C ± 0.7°C for 20, 40, and 80 L, respectively, p < 0.05 for all comparisons). Air temperature had minimal effect on the brain cooling over 10 minutes with similar decrease in temperature at 4°C and 30°C. At a constant flow rate (40 LPM) and temperature, the degree of cooling over 10 minutes during dry air exposure was significantly higher compared to humid air (100% saturation) (1.22°C ± 0.35°C vs. 0.21°C ± 0.12°C, p < 0.001). High flow transnasal dry air causes flow dependent cooling of the brain and the core temperatures in intubated porcine animals. The mechanism of cooling appears to be evaporation of nasal mucus as cooling is mitigated by humidifying the air. This mechanism may be exploited to initiate TH in CA. PMID:27635468

  8. Rapid Induction of Therapeutic Hypothermia Using Transnasal High Flow Dry Air.

    PubMed

    Chava, Raghuram; Zviman, Menekhem; Raghavan, Madhavan Srinivas; Halperin, Henry; Maqbool, Farhan; Geocadin, Romergryko; Quinones-Hinojosa, Alfredo; Kolandaivelu, Aravindan; Rosen, Benjamin A; Tandri, Harikrishna

    2017-03-01

    Early induction of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is recommended in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (CA); however, currently no reliable methods exist to initiate cooling. We investigated the effect of high flow transnasal dry air on brain and body temperatures in adult porcine animals. Adult porcine animals (n = 23) under general anesthesia were subject to high flow of transnasal dry air. Mouth was kept open to create a unidirectional airflow, in through the nostrils and out through the mouth. Brain, internal jugular, and aortic temperatures were recorded. The effect of varying airflow rate and the air humidity (0% or 100%) on the temperature profiles were recorded. The degree of brain cooling was measured as the differential temperature from baseline. A 10-minute exposure of high flow dry air caused rapid cooling of brain and gradual cooling of the jugular and the aortic temperatures in all animals. The degree of brain cooling was flow dependent and significantly higher at higher airflow rates (0.8°C ± 0.3°C, 1.03°C ± 0.6°C, and 1.3°C ± 0.7°C for 20, 40, and 80 L, respectively, p < 0.05 for all comparisons). Air temperature had minimal effect on the brain cooling over 10 minutes with similar decrease in temperature at 4°C and 30°C. At a constant flow rate (40 LPM) and temperature, the degree of cooling over 10 minutes during dry air exposure was significantly higher compared to humid air (100% saturation) (1.22°C ± 0.35°C vs. 0.21°C ± 0.12°C, p < 0.001). High flow transnasal dry air causes flow dependent cooling of the brain and the core temperatures in intubated porcine animals. The mechanism of cooling appears to be evaporation of nasal mucus as cooling is mitigated by humidifying the air. This mechanism may be exploited to initiate TH in CA.

  9. A new mechanism for warm-season precipitation response to global warming based on convection-permitting simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dai, Aiguo; Rasmussen, Roy M.; Liu, Changhai; Ikeda, Kyoko; Prein, Andreas F.

    2017-08-01

    Climate models project increasing precipitation intensity but decreasing frequency as greenhouse gases increase. However, the exact mechanism for the frequency decrease remains unclear. Here we investigate this by analyzing hourly data from regional climate change simulations with 4 km grid spacing covering most of North America using the Weather Research and Forecasting model. The model was forced with present and future boundary conditions, with the latter being derived by adding the CMIP5 19-model ensemble mean changes to the ERA-interim reanalysis. The model reproduces well the observed seasonal and spatial variations in precipitation frequency and histograms, and the dry interval between rain events over the contiguous US. Results show that overall precipitation frequency indeed decreases during the warm season mainly due to fewer light-moderate precipitation (0.1 < P ≤ 2.0 mm/h) events, while heavy (2 < P ≤ 10 mm/h) to very heavy precipitation (P > 10 mm/h) events increase. Dry spells become longer and more frequent, together with a reduction in time-mean relative humidity (RH) in the lower troposphere during the warm season. The increased dry hours and decreased RH lead to a reduction in overall precipitation frequency and also for light-moderate precipitation events, while water vapor-induced increases in precipitation intensity and the positive latent heating feedback in intense storms may be responsible for the large increase in intense precipitation. The size of intense storms increases while their number decreases in the future climate, which helps explain the increase in local frequency of heavy precipitation. The results generally support a new hypothesis for future warm-season precipitation: each rainstorm removes ≥7% more moisture from the air per 1 K local warming, and surface evaporation and moisture advection take slightly longer than currently to replenish the depleted moisture before the next storm forms, leading to longer dry spells and

  10. Physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of starch from naturally air-dried chestnut.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Jinkai; Zhang, Yuyang; Wu, Yanwen; Liu, Lingling; Ouyang, Jie

    2018-06-08

    Naturally air-dried chestnut is a type of traditionally processed chestnut in North China which has a pleasant flavor. After air drying at room temperature and low-air humidity for two wk, the moisture, total starch content and starch relative crystallinity decreased, while the content of water-soluble sugar and amylose increased because of the dehydration and the hydrolysis of endogenous amylase. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy ratio of 1047/1022 cm -1 and the relative area of the Raman spectrum peak at 480/865 cm -1 of air-dried chestnut starch decreased in the first two wk and then increased, while the full width at half-maximum height (FWHH) of the Raman spectrum peak at 480 cm -1 showed the opposite tendency. Crystallinity had a positive correlation with the springiness and chewiness, and was negatively correlated with the estimated glycemic index (eGI). The eGI of air-dried starch was lower than those of roasted or boiled starch, which indicated that naturally air-dried chestnut with low digestibility is a good alternative to thermally processed chestnut. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  11. Microbial safety of air-dried and rewetted biosolids.

    PubMed

    Rouch, Duncan A; Mondal, Tania; Pai, Sneha; Glauche, Florian; Fleming, Vennessa A; Thurbon, Nerida; Blackbeard, Judy; Smith, Stephen R; Deighton, Margaret

    2011-06-01

    To assess microbial safety of treated sewage sludge (biosolids), we examined the inactivation of microbial indicators for potential bacterial, viral and protozoan pathogens. The levels of indicators were determined throughout the air-drying and storage phases of anaerobically digested sewage sludge. Samples were collected from two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPS) in Victoria, Australia. Established methods were applied for analysis of bacteria and coliphages, based on membrane filtration and layered plates, respectively. In the pan drying phase, the prevalence of Escherichia coli was reduced by >5 log10 compared with sludge entering the pan. Thus, after pan drying of 8-11 months at WWTP A and 15 months at WWTP B, the numbers of E. coli were reduced to below 10(2) cfu/g dry solids (DS). This level is acceptable for unrestricted use in agriculture in Australia (P1 treatment grade), the UK (enhanced treatment status) and the USA (Class A pathogen reduction). Coliphage numbers also decreased substantially during the air-drying phase, indicating that enteric viruses are also likely to be destroyed during this phase. Clostridium perfringens appeared to be an overly conservative indicator. Survival, but not regrowth, of E. coli or Salmonella was observed in rewetted biosolids (15-20% moisture content), after being seeded with these species, indicating a degree of safety of stored biosolids upon rewetting by rain.

  12. Assessment of long-term monthly and seasonal trends of warm (cold), wet (dry) spells in Kansas, USA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dokoohaki, H.; Anandhi, A.

    2013-12-01

    A few recent studies have focused on trends in rainfall, temperature, and frost indicators at different temporal scales using centennial weather station data in Kansas; our study supplements this work by assessing the changes in spell indicators in Kansas. These indicators provide the duration between temperature-based (warm and cold) and precipitation-based (wet and dry) spells. For wet (dry) spell calculations, a wet day is defined as a day with precipitation ≥1 mm, and a dry day is defined as one with precipitation ≤1 mm. For warm (cold) spell calculations, a warm day is defined as a day with maximum temperature >90th percentile of daily maximum temperature, and a cold day is defined as a day with minimum temperature <10th percentile of daily minimum temperature. The percentiles are calculated for 1971-2000, and four spell indicators are calculated: Average Wet Spell Length (AWSL), Dry Spell Length (ADSL), Average Warm Spell Days (AWSD) and Average Cold Spell Days (ACSD) are calculated. Data were provided from 23 centennial weather stations across Kansas, and all calculations were done for four time periods (through 1919, 1920-1949, 1950-1979, and 1980-2009). The definitions and software provided by Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) were adapted for application to Kansas. The long- and short-term trends in these indices were analyzed at monthly and seasonal timescales. Monthly results indicate that ADSL is decreasing and AWSL is increasing throughout the state. AWSD and ACSD both showed an overall decreasing trend, but AWSD trends were variable during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Results of seasonal analysis revealed that the fall season recorded the greatest increasing trend for ACSD and the greatest decreasing trend for AWSD across the whole state and during all time periods. Similarly, the greatest increasing and decreasing trends occurred in winter for AWSL and ADSL, respectively. These variations can be

  13. Changes in duration of dry and wet spells associated with air temperatures in Russia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ye, Hengchun

    2018-03-01

    This study uses daily precipitation records from 517 Russian stations (1966-2010) to examine the relationships between continuous dry and wet day duration and surface air temperature for all four seasons. The study found that both mean and extreme durations of dry periods increase with air temperature at about 7.0% (0.24 day/°C) and 7.7% (0.86 day/°C) respectively, while those of wet periods decrease at about 1.3% (-0.02 day/°C) and 2.2% (-0.10 day/°C) respectively averaged over the entire study region during summer. An increase in the duration of dry periods with higher air temperature is also found in other seasons at locations with a mean seasonal air temperature of about -5 °C or higher. Opposite relationships of shorter durations of dry periods and longer wet periods associated with higher air temperature are observed over the northern part of the study region in winter. The changes in durations of both dry and wet periods have significant correlations with the changes in total dry and wet days but are about 2.5 times higher for dry periods and 0.5 times lower for wet periods. The study also found that locations with longer durations of dry periods experience faster rates of increase in air temperature, suggesting the likelihood of exacerbating drought severity in drier and/or warmer locations for all seasons.

  14. A westward extension of the warm pool leads to a westward extension of the Walker circulation, drying eastern Africa

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Funk, Christopher C.; Williams, A. Park

    2011-01-01

    Observations and simulations link anthropogenic greenhouse and aerosol emissions with rapidly increasing Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Over the past 60 years, the Indian Ocean warmed two to three times faster than the central tropical Pacific, extending the tropical warm pool to the west by ~40° longitude (>4,000 km). This propensity toward rapid warming in the Indian Ocean has been the dominant mode of interannual variability among SSTs throughout the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans (55°E–140°W) since at least 1948, explaining more variance than anomalies associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In the atmosphere, the primary mode of variability has been a corresponding trend toward greatly increased convection and precipitation over the tropical Indian Ocean. The temperature and rainfall increases in this region have produced a westward extension of the western, ascending branch of the atmospheric Walker circulation. Diabatic heating due to increased mid-tropospheric water vapor condensation elicits a westward atmospheric response that sends an easterly flow of dry air aloft toward eastern Africa. In recent decades (1980–2009), this response has suppressed convection over tropical eastern Africa, decreasing precipitation during the ‘long-rains’ season of March–June. This trend toward drought contrasts with projections of increased rainfall in eastern Africa and more ‘El Niño-like’ conditions globally by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Increased Indian Ocean SSTs appear likely to continue to strongly modulate the Warm Pool circulation, reducing precipitation in eastern Africa, regardless of whether the projected trend in ENSO is realized. These results have important food security implications, informing agricultural development, environmental conservation, and water resource planning.

  15. Comparison of metal lability in air-dried and fresh dewatered drinking water treatment residuals.

    PubMed

    Wang, Changhui; Pei, Yuansheng; Zhao, Yaqian

    2015-01-01

    In this work, the labilities of Al, As, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sr, V and Zn in air-dried (for 60 days) and fresh dewatered WTRs were compared using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), fractionation, in vitro digestion and a plant enrichment test. The results showed that the air-dried and fresh dewatered WTRs had different properties, e.g., organic matter composition and available nutrients. The air-dried and fresh dewatered WTRs were non-haf zardous according to the TCLP assessment method used in the United States; however, the metals in the two types of WTRs had different lability. Compared with the metals in the fresh dewatered WTRs, those in the air-dried WTRs tended to be in more stable fractions and also exhibited lower bioaccessibility and bioavailability. Therefore, air-drying can decrease the metal lability and thereby reduce the potential metal pollution risk of WTRs.

  16. Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Field from Convective Air Warming System on Temperature Selection and Distance.

    PubMed

    Cho, Kwang Rae; Kim, Myoung-Hun; Ko, Myoung Jin; Jung, Jae Wook; Lee, Ki Hwa; Park, Yei-Heum; Kim, Yong Han; Kim, Ki Hoon; Kim, Jin Soo

    2014-12-01

    Hypothermia generates potentially severe complications in operating or recovery room. Forced air warmer is effective to maintain body temperature. Extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) is harmful to human body and mainly produced by electronic equipment including convective air warming system. We investigated ELF-EMF from convective air warming device on various temperature selection and distance for guideline to protect medical personnel and patients. The intensity of ELF-EMF was measured as two-second interval for five minutes on various distance (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 1meter) and temperature selection (high, medium, low and ambient). All of electrical devices were off including lamp, computer and air conditioner. Groups were compared using one-way ANOVA. P<0.05 was considered significant. Mean values of ELF-EMF on the distance of 30 cm were 18.63, 18.44, 18.23 and 17.92 milligauss (mG) respectively (high, medium, low and ambient temperature set). ELF-EMF of high temperature set was higher than data of medium, low and ambient set in all the distances. ELF-EMF from convective air warming system is higher in condition of more close location and higher temperature. ELF-EMF within thirty centimeters exceeds 2mG recommended by Swedish TCO guideline.

  17. Effect of air-drying time of single-application self-etch adhesives on dentin bond strength.

    PubMed

    Chiba, Yasushi; Yamaguchi, Kanako; Miyazaki, Masashi; Tsubota, Keishi; Takamizawa, Toshiki; Moore, B Keith

    2006-01-01

    This study examined the effect of air-drying time of adhesives on the dentin bond strength of several single-application self-etch adhesive systems. The adhesive/resin composite combinations used were: Adper Prompt L-Pop/Filtek Z250 (AP), Clearfil Tri-S Bond/Clearfil AP-X (CT), Fluoro Bond Shake One/Beautifil (FB), G-Bond/Gradia Direct (GB) and One-Up Bond F Plus/Palfique Estelite (OF). Bovine mandibular incisors were mounted in self-curing resin and wet ground with #600 SiC to expose labial dentin. Adhesives were applied according to each manufacturer's instructions followed by air-drying time for 0 (without air-drying), 5 and 10 seconds. After light irradiation of the adhesives, the resin composites were condensed into a mold (phi4x2 mm) and polymerized. Ten samples per test group were stored in 37 degrees C distilled water for 24 hours; they were then shear tested at a crosshead speed of 1.0 mm/minute. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's HSD tests (alpha = 0.05) were done. FE-SEM observations of the resin/dentin interface were also conducted. Dentin bond strength varied with the different air drying times and ranged from 5.8 +/- 2.4 to 13.9 +/- 2.8 MPa for AP, 4.9 +/- 1.5 to 17.1 +/- 2.3 MPa for CT, 7.9 +/- 2.8 to 13.8 +/- 2.4 MPa for FB, 3.7 +/- 1.4 to 13.4 +/- 1.2 MPa for GB and 4.6 +/- 2.1 to 13.7 +/- 2.6 MPa for OF. With longer air drying of adhesives, no significant changes in bond strengths were found for the systems used except for OF. Significantly lower bond strengths were obtained for the 10-second air-drying group for OF. From FE-SEM observations, gaps between the cured adhesive and resin composites were observed for the specimens without the air drying of adhesives except for OF. The data suggests that, with four of the single-application self-etch adhesive systems, air drying is essential to obtain adequate dentin bond strengths, but increased drying time does not significantly influence bond strength. For the other system studied, the bond strength

  18. MEASUREMENT OF INDOOR AIR EMISSIONS FROM DRY-PROCESS PHOTOCOPY MACHINES

    EPA Science Inventory

    The article provides background information on indoor air emissions from office equipment, with emphasis on dry-process photocopy machines. The test method is described in detail along with results of a study to evaluate the test method using four dry-process photocopy machines. ...

  19. Comparison of Distal Limb Warming With Fluidotherapy and Warm Water Immersion for Mild Hypothermia Rewarming.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Parveen; McDonald, Gerren K; Chitkara, Radhika; Steinman, Alan M; Gardiner, Phillip F; Giesbrecht, Gordon G

    2015-09-01

    The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of Fluidotherapy rewarming through the distal extremities for mildly hypothermic, vigorously shivering subjects. Fluidotherapy is a dry heat modality in which cellulose particles are suspended by warm air circulation. Seven subjects (2 female) were cooled on 3 occasions in 8˚C water for 60 minutes, or to a core temperature of 35°C. They were then dried and rewarmed in a seated position by 1) shivering only; 2) Fluidotherapy applied to the distal extremities (46 ± 1°C, mean ± SD); or 3) water immersion of the distal extremities (44 ± 1°C). The order of rewarming followed a balanced design. Esophageal temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, oxygen consumption, and heat flux were measured. The warm water produced the highest rewarming rate, 6.1°C·h(-1), 95% CI: 5.3-6.9, compared with Fluidotherapy, 2.2°C·h(-1), 95% CI: 1.4-3.0, and shivering only, 2.0°C·h(-1), 95% CI: 1.2-2.8. The Fluidotherapy and warm water conditions increased skin temperature and inhibited shivering heat production, thus reducing metabolic heat production (166 ± 42 W and 181 ± 45 W, respectively), compared with shivering only (322 ± 142 W). Warm water provided a significantly higher net heat gain (398.0 ± 52 W) than shivering only (288.4 ± 115 W). Fluidotherapy was not as effective as warm water for rewarming mildly hypothermic subjects. Although Fluidotherapy is more portable and technically simpler, it provides a lower rate of rewarming that is similar to shivering only. It does help decrease shivering heat production, lowering energy expenditure and cardiac work, and could be considered in a hospital setting, if convenient. Copyright © 2015 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Influence of forced air volume on water evaporation during sewage sludge bio-drying.

    PubMed

    Cai, Lu; Chen, Tong-Bin; Gao, Ding; Zheng, Guo-Di; Liu, Hong-Tao; Pan, Tian-Hao

    2013-09-01

    Mechanical aeration is critical to sewage sludge bio-drying, and the actual water loss caused by aeration can be better understood from investigations of the relationship between aeration and water evaporation from the sewage sludge bio-drying pile based on in situ measurements. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of forced air volume on the evaporation of water from a sewage sludge bio-drying pile. Dewatered sewage sludge was bio-dried using control technology for bio-drying, during which time the temperature, superficial air velocity and water evaporation were measured and calculated. The results indicated that the peak air velocity and water evaporation occurred in the thermophilic phase and second temperature-increasing phase, with the highest values of 0.063 ± 0.027 m s(-1) and 28.9 kg ton(-1) matrix d(-1), respectively, being observed on day 4. Air velocity above the pile during aeration was 43-100% higher than when there was no aeration, and there was a significantly positive correlation between air volume and water evaporation from day 1 to 15. The order of daily means of water evaporation was thermophilic phase > second temperature-increasing phase > temperature-increasing phase > cooling phase. Forced aeration controlled the pile temperature and improved evaporation, making it the key factor influencing water loss during the process of sewage sludge bio-drying. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Evaluation on the air-borne ultrasound-assisted hot air convection thin-layer drying performance of municipal sewage sludge.

    PubMed

    Sun, G Y; Chen, M Q; Huang, Y W

    2017-01-01

    The thin-layer drying behavior of the municipal sewage sludge in a laboratory-scale hot air forced convective dryer assisted with air-borne ultrasound was investigated in between 70 and 130°C hot air temperatures. The drying kinetics in the convective process alone were compared to that for ultrasound-assist process at three ultrasound powers (30, 90, 150W). The average drying rates within whole drying temperature range at ultrasound powers of 30, 90 and 150W increased by about 22.6%, 27.8% and 32.2% compared with the convective drying alone (without ultrasound). As the temperature increasing from 70°C to 130°C, there were maximum increasing ratios for the effective moisture diffusivities of the sewage sludge in both falling rate periods at ultrasonic power of 30W in comparison with other two high powers. In between the ultrasound powers of 0 and 30W, the effect of the power on the drying rate was significant, while its effect was not obvious over 30W. Therefore, the low ultrasonic power can be just set in the drying process. The values of the apparent activation energy in the first falling rate period were down from 13.52 to 12.78kJmol -1 , and from 17.21 to 15.10kJmol -1 for the second falling rate period with increasing the ultrasonic power from 30 to 150W. The values of the apparent activation energy in two falling rate periods with the ultrasound-assist were less than that for the hot air convective drying alone. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Assessment of the bacterial contamination of hand air dryer in washrooms.

    PubMed

    Alharbi, Sulaiman Ali; Salmen, Saleh Hussein; Chinnathambi, Arunachalam; Alharbi, Naiyf S; Zayed, M E; Al-Johny, Bassam O; Wainwright, Milton

    2016-03-01

    The present study was carried out, using standard techniques, to identify and count the bacterial contamination of hand air dryers, used in washrooms. Bacteria were isolated from the air flow, outlet nozzle of warm air dryers in fifteen air dryers used in these washrooms. Bacteria were found to be relatively numerous in the air flows. Bacterially contaminated air was found to be emitted whenever a warm air dryer was running, even when not being used for hand drying. Our investigation shows that Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas alcaligenes, Bacillus cereus and Brevundimonad diminuta/vesicularis were emitted from all of the dryers sampled, with 95% showing evidence of the presence of the potential pathogen S. haemolyticus. It is concluded that hot air dryers can deposit pathogenic bacteria onto the hands and body of users. Bacteria are distributed into the general environment whenever dryers are running and could be inhaled by users and none-users alike. The results provide an evidence base for the development and enhancement of hygienic hand drying practices.

  3. Assessment of the bacterial contamination of hand air dryer in washrooms

    PubMed Central

    Alharbi, Sulaiman Ali; Salmen, Saleh Hussein; Chinnathambi, Arunachalam; Alharbi, Naiyf S.; Zayed, M.E.; Al-Johny, Bassam O.; Wainwright, Milton

    2015-01-01

    The present study was carried out, using standard techniques, to identify and count the bacterial contamination of hand air dryers, used in washrooms. Bacteria were isolated from the air flow, outlet nozzle of warm air dryers in fifteen air dryers used in these washrooms. Bacteria were found to be relatively numerous in the air flows. Bacterially contaminated air was found to be emitted whenever a warm air dryer was running, even when not being used for hand drying. Our investigation shows that Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas alcaligenes, Bacillus cereus and Brevundimonad diminuta/vesicularis were emitted from all of the dryers sampled, with 95% showing evidence of the presence of the potential pathogen S. haemolyticus. It is concluded that hot air dryers can deposit pathogenic bacteria onto the hands and body of users. Bacteria are distributed into the general environment whenever dryers are running and could be inhaled by users and none-users alike. The results provide an evidence base for the development and enhancement of hygienic hand drying practices. PMID:26981009

  4. Interim Air Purity Guidelines for Dry Deck Shelter (DDS) Operations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-10-01

    The acceptable limits for gaseous contaminants in submarine compressed air for use as diver’s breathing air are derived from the 8-hour Time Weighted...accompanying documentation. Cylinders must be declared as hazardous cargo (" Air , Compressed Non-Flammable Gas") prior to air transport. Analysis of cylinder...capi NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE Bethesda, MD 20889-5055 NMRI 90-109 October 1990 AD-A231 432 INTERIM AIR PURITY GUIDELINES FOR DRY DECK

  5. Effects of experimental warming of air, soil and permafrost on carbon balance in Alaskan tundra

    Treesearch

    S.M. Natali; E.A.G. Schuur; C. Trucco; C.E. Hicks Pries; K.G. Crummer; A.F. Baron Lopez

    2011-01-01

    The carbon (C) storage capacity of northern latitude ecosystems may diminish as warming air temperatures increase permafrost thaw and stimulate decomposition of previously frozen soil organic C. However, warming may also enhance plant growth so that photosynthetic carbon dioxide (C02) uptake may, in part, offset respiratory losses. To determine...

  6. The Impact of Dry Saharan Air on Tropical Cyclone Intensification

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braun, Scott A.

    2012-01-01

    The controversial role of the dry Saharan Air Layer (SAL) on tropical storm intensification in the Atlantic will be addressed. The SAL has been argued in previous studies to have potential positive influences on storm development, but most recent studies have argued for a strong suppressing influence on storm intensification as a result of dry air, high stability, increased vertical wind shear, and microphysical impacts of dust. Here, we focus on observations of Hurricane Helene (2006), which occurred during the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Activities (NAMMA) experiment. Satellite and airborne observations, combined with global meteorological analyses depict the initial environment of Helene as being dominated by the SAL, although with minimal evidence that the SAL air actually penetrated to the core of the disturbance. Over the next several days, the SAL air quickly moved westward and was gradually replaced by a very dry, dust-free layer associated with subsidence. Despite the wrapping of this very dry air around the storm, Helene intensified steadily to a Category 3 hurricane suggesting that the dry air was unable to significantly slow storm intensification. Several uncertainties remain about the role of the SAL in Helene (and in tropical cyclones in general). To better address these uncertainties, NASA will be conducting a three year airborne campaign called the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3). The HS3 objectives are: To obtain critical measurements in the hurricane environment in order to identify the role of key factors such as large-scale wind systems (troughs, jet streams), Saharan air masses, African Easterly Waves and their embedded critical layers (that help to isolate tropical disturbances from hostile environments). To observe and understand the three-dimensional mesoscale and convective-scale internal structures of tropical disturbances and cyclones and their role in intensity change. The mission objectives will be achieved using

  7. Observed warming over northern South America has an anthropogenic origin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barkhordarian, Armineh; von Storch, Hans; Zorita, Eduardo; Loikith, Paul C.; Mechoso, Carlos R.

    2017-10-01

    We investigate whether the recently observed trends in daily maximum and minimum near-surface air temperature (Tmax and Tmin, respectively) over South America (SA) are consistent with the simulated response of Tmin and Tmax to anthropogenic forcing. Results indicate that the recently observed warming in the dry seasons is well beyond the range of natural (internal) variability. In the wet season the natural modes of variability explain a substantial portion of Tmin and Tmax variability. We demonstrate that the large-scale component of greenhouse gas (GHG) forcing is detectable in dry-seasonal warming. However, none of the global and regional climate change projections reproduce the observed warming of up to 0.6 K/Decade in Tmax in 1983-2012 over northern SA during the austral spring (SON). Thus, besides the global manifestation of GHG forcing, other external drivers have an imprint. Using aerosols-only forcing simulations, our results provide evidence that anthropogenic aerosols also have a detectable influence in SON and that the indirect effect of aerosols on cloud's lifetime is more compatible with the observed record. In addition, there is an increasing trend in the observed incoming solar radiation over northern SA in SON, which is larger than expected from natural (internal) variability alone. We further show that in the dry seasons the spread of projected trends based on the RCP4.5 scenario derived from 30 CMIP5 models encompasses the observed area-averaged trends in Tmin and Tmax. This may imply that the observed excessive warming in the dry seasons serve as an illustration of plausible future expected change in the region.

  8. A warming tropical central Pacific dries the lower stratosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ding, Qinghua; Fu, Qiang

    2018-04-01

    The amount of water vapor in the tropical lower stratosphere (TLS), which has an important influence on the radiative energy budget of the climate system, is modulated by the temperature variability of the tropical tropopause layer (TTL). The TTL temperature variability is caused by a complex combination of the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), tropospheric convective processes in the tropics, and the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC) driven by mid-latitude and subtropical atmospheric waves. In 2000, the TLS water vapor amount exhibited a stepwise transition to a dry phase, apparently caused by a change in the BDC. In this study, we present observational and modeling evidence that the epochal change of water vapor between the periods of 1992-2000 and 2001-2005 was also partly caused by a concurrent sea surface temperature (SST) warming in the tropical central Pacific. This SST warming cools the TTL above by enhancing the equatorial wave-induced upward motion near the tropopause, which consequently reduces the amount of water vapor entering the stratosphere. The QBO affects the TLS water vapor primarily on inter-annual timescales, whereas a classical El Niño southern oscillation (ENSO) event has small effect on tropical mean TLS water vapor because its responses are longitudinally out of phase. This study suggests that the tropical central Pacific SST is another driver of TLS water vapor variability on inter-decadal timescales and the tropical SST changes could contribute to about 30% of the step-wise drop of the lower stratospheric water vapor from 1992-2000 to 2001-2005.

  9. Effect of additives and steaming on quality of air dried noodles.

    PubMed

    Gatade, Abhijeet Arun; Sahoo, Akshaya Kumar

    2015-12-01

    Texture is the most important property for consumer acceptance in cooked noodles. The air dried noodles are known to have higher cooking loss and cooking time, to that of instant fried noodles. But the fat content of instant fried noodles is more. In the present work attempts were made to optimize the moisture content so as to obtain a smooth dough for extruded noodle preparation and develop air dried noodles of low fat content with lesser cooking loss and cooking time. To meet the objectives, the effect of various additives and steaming treatment on cooking quality, sensory attributes, textural properties and microstructure of noodles were studied. Dough prepared by addition of 40 ml water to 100 g flour resulted into formation of a soft dough, leading to production of noodles of improved surface smoothness and maximum yield. The use of additives (5 g oil, 0.2 g guar gum, 2 g gluten and 1 ml of 1 % kansui solution for 100 g of flour) and steaming treatment showed significant effect on noodles quality, with respect to cooking characteristics, sensory attributes and textural properties. The microstructure images justified the positive correlation between the effects of ingredients with steaming and quality parameters of noodles. Air dried noodles with reduced cooking loss (~50 % reduction) with marginal reduction in cooking time was developed, which were having similar characteristics to that of instant fried noodles. Compared to the instant fried noodle, the prepared air dried noodle was having substantially reduced fat content (~70 % reduction). Thus the present study will be useful for guiding extrusion processes for production of air dried noodles having less cooking time and low fat content.

  10. The Impact of Dry Midlevel Air on Hurricane Intensity in Idealized Simulations with No Mean Flow

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braun, Scott A.; Sippel, Jason A.; Nolan, David S.

    2012-01-01

    This study examines the potential negative influences of dry midlevel air on the development of tropical cyclones (specifically, its role in enhancing cold downdraft activity and suppressing storm development). The Weather Research and Forecasting model is used to construct two sets of idealized simulations of hurricane development in environments with different configurations of dry air. The first set of simulations begins with dry air located north of the vortex center by distances ranging from 0 to 270 km, whereas the second set of simulations begins with dry air completely surrounding the vortex, but with moist envelopes in the vortex core ranging in size from 0 to 150 km in radius. No impact of the dry air is seen for dry layers located more than 270 km north of the initial vortex center (approximately 3 times the initial radius of maximum wind). When the dry air is initially closer to the vortex center, it suppresses convective development where it entrains into the storm circulation, leading to increasingly asymmetric convection and slower storm development. The presence of dry air throughout the domain, including the vortex center, substantially slows storm development. However, the presence of a moist envelope around the vortex center eliminates the deleterious impact on storm intensity. Instead, storm size is significantly reduced. The simulations suggest that dry air slows intensification only when it is located very close to the vortex core at early times. When it does slow storm development, it does so primarily by inducing outward- moving convective asymmetries that temporarily shift latent heating radially outward away from the high-vorticity inner core.

  11. Comparison of forced-air warming systems with upper body blankets using a copper manikin of the human body.

    PubMed

    Bräuer, A; English, M J M; Steinmetz, N; Lorenz, N; Perl, T; Braun, U; Weyland, W

    2002-09-01

    Forced-air warming with upper body blankets has gained high acceptance as a measure for the prevention of intraoperative hypothermia. However, data on heat transfer with upper body blankets are not yet available. This study was conducted to determine the heat transfer efficacy of eight complete upper body warming systems and to gain more insight into the principles of forced-air warming. Heat transfer of forced-air warmers can be described as follows: Qdot;=h. DeltaT. A, where Qdot;= heat flux [W], h=heat exchange coefficient [W m-2 degrees C-1], DeltaT=temperature gradient between the blanket and surface [ degrees C], and A=covered area [m2]. We tested eight different forced-air warming systems: (1) Bair Hugger and upper body blanket (Augustine Medical Inc. Eden Prairie, MN); (2) Thermacare and upper body blanket (Gaymar Industries, Orchard Park, NY); (3) Thermacare (Gaymar Industries) with reusable Optisan upper body blanket (Willy Rüsch AG, Kernen, Germany); (4) WarmAir and upper body blanket (Cincinnati Sub-Zero Products, Cincinnati, OH); (5) Warm-Gard and single use upper body blanket (Luis Gibeck AB, Upplands Väsby, Sweden); (6) Warm-Gard and reusable upper body blanket (Luis Gibeck AB); (7) WarmTouch and CareDrape upper body blanket (Mallinckrodt Medical Inc., St. Luis, MO); and (8) WarmTouch and reusable MultiCover trade mark upper body blanket (Mallinckrodt Medical Inc.) on a previously validated copper manikin of the human body. Heat flux and surface temperature were measured with 11 calibrated heat flux transducers. Blanket temperature was measured using 11 thermocouples. The temperature gradient between the blanket and surface (DeltaT) was varied between -8 and +8 degrees C, and h was determined by linear regression analysis as the slope of DeltaT vs. heat flux. Mean DeltaT was determined for surface temperatures between 36 and 38 degrees C, as similar mean skin surface temperatures have been found in volunteers. The covered area was estimated to be 0

  12. [Restoration of microbial ammonia oxidizers in air-dried forest soils upon wetting].

    PubMed

    Zhou, Xue; Huang, Rong; Song, Ge; Pan, Xianzhang; Jia, Zhongjun

    2014-11-04

    This study was aimed to investigate the abundance and community shift of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) in air-dried forest soils in response to water addition, to explore the applicability of air-dried soil for microbial ecology study, and to elucidate whether AOA within the marine group 1. 1a dominate ammonia oxidizers communities in the acidic forest soils in China. Soil samples were collected from 10 forest sites of the China Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) and kept under air-drying conditions in 2010. In 2013 the air-dried soil samples were adjusted to 60% of soil maximum water holding capacity for a 28-day incubation at 28 degrees C in darkness. DGGE fingerprinting, clone library construction, pyrosequencing and quantitative PCR of amoA genes were performed to assess community change of ammonia oxidizers in air-dried and re-wetted soils. After incubation for 28 days, the abundance of bacteria and archaea increased significantly, up to 3,230 and 568 times, respectively. AOA increased significantly in 8 samples, and AOB increased significantly in 5 of 10 samples. However, pyrosequencing of amoA genes reveals insignificant changes in composition of AOA and AOB communities. Phylogenetic analysis of amoA genes indicates that archaeal ammonia oxidizers were predominated by AOA within the soil group 1. 1b lineage, while the Nitrosospira-like AOB dominate bacteria ammonia oxidizer communities. There was a significantly positive correlation between AOA/AOB ratio and total nitrogen (r2 = 0.54, P < 0.05), implying that soil ammonia oxidation might be dominated by AOA in association with ammonium released from soil mineralization. Phylogenetic analysis suggest that AOA members within the soil group 1. 1b lineage were not restricted to non-acidic soils as previously thought. The abundance rather than composition of AOA and AOB changed in response to water addition. This indicates that air-dried soil could be of help for microbial biogeography study.

  13. Thin layer convective air drying of wild edible plant (Allium roseum) leaves: experimental kinetics, modeling and quality.

    PubMed

    Ben Haj Said, Leila; Najjaa, Hanen; Farhat, Abdelhamid; Neffati, Mohamed; Bellagha, Sihem

    2015-06-01

    The present study deals with the valorization of an edible spontaneous plant of the Tunisian arid areas: Allium roseum. This plant is traditionally used for therapeutic and culinary uses. Thin-layer drying behavior of Allium roseum leaves was investigated at 40, 50 and 60 °C drying air temperatures and 1 and l.5 m/s air velocity, in a convective dryer. The increase in air temperature significantly affected the moisture loss and reduced the drying time while air velocity was an insignificant factor during drying of Allium roseum leaves. Five models selected from the literature were found to satisfactorily describe drying kinetics of Allium roseum leaves for all tested drying conditions. Drying data were analyzed to obtain moisture diffusivity values. During the falling rate-drying period, moisture transfer from Allium roseum leaves was described by applying the Fick's diffusion model. Moisture diffusivity varied from 2.55 × 10(-12) to 8.83 × 10(-12) m(2)/s and increased with air temperature. Activation energy during convective drying was calculated using an exponential expression based on Arrhenius equation and ranged between 46.80 and 52.68 kJ/mol. All sulfur compounds detected in the fresh leaves were detected in the dried leaves. Convective air drying preserved the sulfur compounds potential formation.

  14. Development of a distributed air pollutant dry deposition modeling framework.

    PubMed

    Hirabayashi, Satoshi; Kroll, Charles N; Nowak, David J

    2012-12-01

    A distributed air pollutant dry deposition modeling system was developed with a geographic information system (GIS) to enhance the functionality of i-Tree Eco (i-Tree, 2011). With the developed system, temperature, leaf area index (LAI) and air pollutant concentration in a spatially distributed form can be estimated, and based on these and other input variables, dry deposition of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), and particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10) to trees can be spatially quantified. Employing nationally available road network, traffic volume, air pollutant emission/measurement and meteorological data, the developed system provides a framework for the U.S. city managers to identify spatial patterns of urban forest and locate potential areas for future urban forest planting and protection to improve air quality. To exhibit the usability of the framework, a case study was performed for July and August of 2005 in Baltimore, MD. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Effect of dry-cleaned clothes on tetrachloroethylene levels in indoor air, personal air, and breath for residents of several New Jersey homes

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

    Thomas, K.W.; Pellizzari, E.D.; Perritt, R.L.

    1991-10-01

    Several volatile organic compounds, including tetrachloroethylene, have been found to be nearly ubiquitous in residential indoor environments during previous TEAM studies. Eleven homes in New Jersey were monitored over three or five days to examine the effect of bringing freshly dry-cleaned clothes into the home on indoor air levels and personal exposures to tetrachloroethylene. Indoor air, personal air, and breath concentrations were measured over multiple 12-hrs periods before and after dry-cleaned clothes were introduced into nine of the homes. No dry-cleaned clothes were introduced into the two remaining homes. Outdoor air tetrachloroethylene concentrations were measured at six of the elevenmore » homes. Indoor/outdoor concentration ratios and source strengths were calculated at the six homes with outdoor measurements. Elevated indoor air levels and human exposures to tetrachloroethylene were measured at seven of the nine homes with dry-cleaned clothes. Indoor air concentrations reached 300 micrograms/m3 in one home and elevated indoor levels persisted for at least 48 hrs in all seven homes. Indoor/outdoor tetrachloroethylene concentration ratios exceeded 100 for the four homes with both dry-cleaned clothes and outdoor measurements. Maximum source strengths ranged from 16 to 69 mg/hr in these homes and did not directly correspond to the number of dry-cleaned garments brought into the home. Breath levels of tetrachloroethylene increased two to six-fold for participants living in seven homes with increased indoor air levels. Indoor air, personal air, and breath tetrachloroethylene concentrations were significantly related (0.05 level) to the number of garments introduced divided by the home volume.« less

  16. Comparison of forced-air warming systems with lower body blankets using a copper manikin of the human body.

    PubMed

    Bräuer, A; English, M J M; Lorenz, N; Steinmetz, N; Perl, T; Braun, U; Weyland, W

    2003-01-01

    Forced-air warming has gained high acceptance as a measure for the prevention of intraoperative hypothermia. However, data on heat transfer with lower body blankets are not yet available. This study was conducted to determine the heat transfer efficacy of six complete lower body warming systems. Heat transfer of forced-air warmers can be described as follows:[1]Qdot;=h.DeltaT.A where Qdot; = heat transfer [W], h = heat exchange coefficient [W m-2 degrees C-1], DeltaT = temperature gradient between blanket and surface [ degrees C], A = covered area [m2]. We tested the following forced-air warmers in a previously validated copper manikin of the human body: (1) Bair Hugger and lower body blanket (Augustine Medical Inc., Eden Prairie, MN); (2) Thermacare and lower body blanket (Gaymar Industries, Orchard Park, NY); (3) WarmAir and lower body blanket (Cincinnati Sub-Zero Products, Cincinnati, OH); (4) Warm-Gard(R) and lower body blanket (Luis Gibeck AB, Upplands Väsby, Sweden); (5) Warm-Gard and reusable lower body blanket (Luis Gibeck AB); and (6) WarmTouch and lower body blanket (Mallinckrodt Medical Inc., St. Luis, MO). Heat flux and surface temperature were measured with 16 calibrated heat flux transducers. Blanket temperature was measured using 16 thermocouples. DeltaT was varied between -10 and +10 degrees C and h was determined by a linear regression analysis as the slope of DeltaT vs. heat flux. Mean DeltaT was determined for surface temperatures between 36 and 38 degrees C, because similar mean skin temperatures have been found in volunteers. The area covered by the blankets was estimated to be 0.54 m2. Heat transfer from the blanket to the manikin was different for surface temperatures between 36 degrees C and 38 degrees C. At a surface temperature of 36 degrees C the heat transfer was higher (between 13.4 W to 18.3 W) than at surface temperatures of 38 degrees C (8-11.5 W). The highest heat transfer was delivered by the Thermacare system (8.3-18.3 W), the

  17. Final report on CCQM-P151: Halocarbons in dry whole air

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rhoderick, George; Guenther, Franklin; Duewer, David; Lee, Jeongsoon; Seog Kim, Jin; Hall, Bradley; Weiss, Ray; Harth, Christina; Reimann, Stefan; Vollmer, Martin

    2014-01-01

    The growing awareness of climate change/global warming and continuing concerns regarding stratospheric ozone depletion will require future measurements and standards for many compounds, in particular halocarbons that are linked to these issues. In order to track and control the emissions of these species globally in the atmosphere, it is necessary to demonstrate measurement equivalence at the highest levels of accuracy for assigned values of standards. This report describes the results of a pilot study between National Metrology Institutes and atmospheric research laboratories for several of the more important halocarbons at atmospheric concentration levels. The comparison includes the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC 12), trichlorofluoromethane (CFC 11), and 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (CFC 113); the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC 22) and 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane (HCFC 142b); and the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC 134a), all in a dried whole air sample. The objective of this key comparison is to compare the measurement capabilities of the participants for these halocarbons at trace atmospheric levels. 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.

  18. Transition from a warm and dry to a cold and wet climate in NE China across the Holocene

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Yanhong; Pancost, Richard D.; Naafs, B. David A.; Li, Qiyuan; Liu, Zhao; Yang, Huan

    2018-07-01

    Northeast (NE) China lies in the northernmost part of the East Asian Summer monsoon (EASM) region. Although a series of Holocene climatic records have been obtained from lakes and peats in this region, the Holocene hydrological history and its controls remain unclear. More specifically, it is currently debated whether NE China experienced a dry or wet climate during the early Holocene. Here we reconstruct changes in mean annual air temperature and peat soil moisture across the last ∼13,000 year BP using samples from the Gushantun and Hani peat, located in NE China. Our approach is based on the distribution of bacterial branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) and the abundance of the archaeal isoprenoidal (iso)GDGT crenarchaeol. Using the recently developed peat-specific MAATpeat temperature calibration we find that NE China experienced a relatively warm early Holocene (∼5-7 °C warmer than today), followed by a cooling trend towards modern-day values during the mid- and late Holocene. Moreover, crenarchaeol concentrations, brGDGT-based pH values, and the distribution of 6-methyl brGDGTs, all indicate an increase in soil moisture content from the early to late Holocene in both peats, which is largely consistent with other data from NE China. This trend towards increasing soil moisture/wetter conditions across the Holocene in NE China records contrasts with the trends observed in other parts of the EASM region, which exhibit an early and/or mid-Holocene moisture/precipitation maximum. However, the Holocene soil moisture variations and temperature-moisture relationships (warm-dry and cold-wet) observed in NE China are similar to those observed in the core area of arid central Asia which is dominated by the westerlies. We therefore propose that an increase in the intensity of the westerlies across the Holocene, driven by increasing winter insolation, expanding Arctic sea ice extent and the enhanced Okhotsk High, caused an increase in moisture

  19. Simultaneous application of microwave energy and hot air to whole drying process of apple slices: drying kinetics, modeling, temperature profile and energy aspect

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Horuz, Erhan; Bozkurt, Hüseyin; Karataş, Haluk; Maskan, Medeni

    2018-02-01

    Drying kinetics, modeling, temperature profile and energy indices were investigated in apple slices during drying by a specially designed microwave-hot air domestic hybrid oven at the following conditions: 120, 150 and 180 W microwave powers coupled with 50, 60 and 70 °C air temperatures. Both sources of energy were applied simultaneously during the whole drying processes. The drying process continued until the moisture content of apple slices reached to 20% from 86.3% (wet basis, w.b). Drying times ranged from 330 to 800 min and decreased with increasing microwave power and air temperatures. The constant rate period was only observed at low microwave powers and air temperatures. Two falling rate periods were observed. Temperature of apple slices sharply increased within the first 60 min, then reached equilibrium with drying medium and finally increased at the end of the drying process. In order to describe drying behavior of apple slices nine empirical models were applied. The Modified Logistic Model fitted the best our experimental data ( R 2 = 0.9955-0.9998; χ 2 = 3.46 × 10-5-7.85 × 10-4 and RMSE = 0.0052-0.0221). The effective moisture and thermal diffusivities were calculated by Fick's second law and ranged from 1.42 × 10-9 to 3.31 × 10-9 m2/s and 7.70 × 10-9 to 12.54 × 10-9 m2/s, respectively. The activation energy ( Ea) values were calculated from effective moisture diffusivity ( Deff), thermal diffusivity ( α) and the rate constant of the best model ( k). The Ea values found from these three terms were similar and varied from 13.04 to 33.52 kJ/mol. Energy consumption and specific energy requirement of the hybrid drying of apple slices decreased and energy efficiency of the drying system increased with increasing microwave power and air temperature. Apples can be dried rapidly and effectively by use of the hybrid technique.

  20. Mass transfer characteristics of bisporus mushroom ( Agaricus bisporus) slices during convective hot air drying

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghanbarian, Davoud; Baraani Dastjerdi, Mojtaba; Torki-Harchegani, Mehdi

    2016-05-01

    An accurate understanding of moisture transfer parameters, including moisture diffusivity and moisture transfer coefficient, is essential for efficient mass transfer analysis and to design new dryers or improve existing drying equipments. The main objective of the present study was to carry out an experimental and theoretical investigation of mushroom slices drying and determine the mass transfer characteristics of the samples dried under different conditions. The mushroom slices with two thicknesses of 3 and 5 mm were dried at air temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 °C and air flow rates of 1 and 1.5 m s-1. The Dincer and Dost model was used to determine the moisture transfer parameters and predict the drying curves. It was observed that the entire drying process took place in the falling drying rate period. The obtained lag factor and Biot number indicated that the moisture transfer in the samples was controlled by both internal and external resistance. The effective moisture diffusivity and the moisture transfer coefficient increased with increasing air temperature, air flow rate and samples thickness and varied in the ranges of 6.5175 × 10-10 to 1.6726 × 10-9 m2 s-1 and 2.7715 × 10-7 to 3.5512 × 10-7 m s-1, respectively. The validation of the Dincer and Dost model indicated a good capability of the model to describe the drying curves of the mushroom slices.

  1. Regional Contrasts of the Warming Rate over Land Significantly Depend on the Calculation Methods of Mean Air Temperature

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Kaicun; Zhou, Chunlüe

    2016-04-01

    Global analyses of surface mean air temperature (Tm) are key datasets for climate change studies and provide fundamental evidences for global warming. However, the causes of regional contrasts in the warming rate revealed by such datasets, i.e., enhanced warming rates over the northern high latitudes and the "warming hole" over the central U.S., are still under debate. Here we show these regional contrasts depends on the calculation methods of Tm. Existing global analyses calculated Tm from daily minimum and maximum temperatures (T2). We found that T2 has a significant standard deviation error of 0.23 °C/decade in depicting the regional warming rate from 2000 to 2013 but can be reduced by two-thirds using Tm calculated from observations at four specific times (T4), which samples diurnal cycle of land surface air temperature more often. From 1973 to 1997, compared with T4, T2 significantly underestimated the warming rate over the central U.S. and overestimated the warming rate over the northern high latitudes. The ratio of the warming rate over China to that over the U.S. reduces from 2.3 by T2 to 1.4 by T4. This study shows that the studies of regional warming can be substantially improved by T4 instead of T2.

  2. Clinical considerations in the use of forced-air warming blankets during orthognathic surgery to avoid postanesthetic shivering

    PubMed Central

    Park, Fiona Daye; Park, Sookyung; Chi, Seong-In; Kim, Hyun Jeong; Kim, Hye-Jung; Han, Jin-Hee; Han, Hee-Jeong; Lee, Eun-Hee

    2015-01-01

    Background During head and neck surgery including orthognathic surgery, mild intraoperative hypothermia occurs frequently. Hypothermia is associated with postanesthetic shivering, which may increase the risk of other postoperative complications. To improve intraoperative thermoregulation, devices such as forced-air warming blankets can be applied. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of supplemental forced-air warming blankets in preventing postanesthetic shivering. Methods This retrospective study included 113 patients who underwent orthognathic surgery between March and September 2015. According to the active warming method utilized during surgery, patients were divided into two groups: Group W (n = 55), circulating-water mattress; and Group F (n = 58), circulating-water mattress and forced-air warming blanket. Surgical notes and anesthesia and recovery room records were evaluated. Results Initial axillary temperatures did not significantly differ between groups (Group W = 35.9 ± 0.7℃, Group F = 35.8 ± 0.6℃). However, at the end of surgery, the temperatures in Group W were significantly lower than those in Group F (35.2 ± 0.5℃ and 36.2 ± 0.5℃, respectively, P = 0.04). The average body temperatures in Groups W and F were, respectively, 35.9 ± 0.5℃ and 36.2 ± 0.5℃ (P = 0.0001). In Group W, 24 patients (43.6%) experienced postanesthetic shivering, while in Group F, only 12 (20.7%) patients required treatment for postanesthetic shivering (P = 0.009, odds ratio = 0.333, 95% confidence interval: 0.147–0.772). Conclusions Additional use of forced-air warming blankets in orthognathic surgery was superior in maintaining normothermia and reduced the incidence of postanesthetic shivering. PMID:28879279

  3. The effect of warm air-blowing on the microtensile bond strength of one-step self-etch adhesives to root canal dentin.

    PubMed

    Taguchi, Keita; Hosaka, Keiichi; Ikeda, Masaomi; Kishikawa, Ryuzo; Foxton, Richard; Nakajima, Masatoshi; Tagami, Junji

    2018-02-01

    The use of warm air-blowing to evaporate solvents of one-step self-etch adhesive systems (1-SEAs) has been reported to be a useful method. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of warm air-blowing on root canal dentin. Four 1-SEAs (Clearfil Bond SE ONE, Unifil Core EM self-etch bond, Estelink, BeautiDualbond EX) were used. Each 1-SEA was applied to root canal dentin according to the manufacturers' instructions. After the adhesives were applied, solvent was evaporated using either normal air (23±1°C) or warm air (80±1°C) for 20s, and resin composite was placed in the post spaces. The air from the dryer, which could be used in normal- or hot-air-mode, was applied at a distance of 5cm above the root canal cavity in the direction of tooth axis. The temperature of the stream of air from the dryer in the hot-air-mode was 80±1°C, and in the normal mode, 23±1°C. After water storage of the specimens for 24h, the μTBS were evaluated at the coronal and apical regions. The μTBSs were statistically analyzed using three-way ANOVA and Student's t-test with Bonferroni correction (α=0.05). The warm air-blowing significantly increased the μTBS of all 1-SEAs at the apical regions, and also significantly increased the μTBS of two adhesives (Estelink and BeautiDualBond EX) at coronal regions. The μTBS of 1-SEAs to root canal dentin was improved by using warm air-blowing. Copyright © 2017 Japan Prosthodontic Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. A Phenological Timetable of Oak Growth under Experimental Drought and Air Warming

    PubMed Central

    Kuster, Thomas M.; Dobbertin, Matthias; Günthardt-Goerg, Madeleine S.; Schaub, Marcus; Arend, Matthias

    2014-01-01

    Climate change is expected to increase temperature and decrease summer precipitation in Central Europe. Little is known about how warming and drought will affect phenological patterns of oaks, which are considered to possess excellent adaptability to these climatic changes. Here, we investigated bud burst and intra-annual shoot growth of Quercus robur, Q. petraea and Q. pubescens grown on two different forest soils and exposed to air warming and drought. Phenological development was assessed over the course of three growing seasons. Warming advanced bud burst by 1–3 days °C−1 and led to an earlier start of intra-annual shoot growth. Despite this phenological shift, total time span of annual growth and shoot biomass were not affected. Drought changed the frequency and intensity of intra-annual shoot growth and advanced bud burst in the subsequent spring of a severe summer drought by 1–2 days. After re-wetting, shoot growth recovered within a few days, demonstrating the superior drought tolerance of this tree genus. Our findings show that phenological patterns of oaks are modified by warming and drought but also suggest that ontogenetic factors and/or limitations of water and nutrients counteract warming effects on the biomass and the entire span of annual shoot growth. PMID:24586988

  5. Nitrogen mineralization from anaerobically digested centrifuge cake and aged air-dried biosolids.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Kuldip; Hundal, Lakhwinder S; Cox, Albert E; Granato, Thomas

    2014-09-01

    This study was conducted to estimate nitrogen (N) mineralization of anaerobically digested centrifuge cake from the Stickney Water Reclamation Plant (SWRP) and Calumet Water Reclamation Plant (CWRP), lagoon-aged air-dried biosolids from the CWRP, and Milorganite at three rates of application (0, 12.5 and 25 Mg ha(-1)). The N mineralized varied among biosolids as follows: Milorganite (44%) > SWRP centrifuge cake (35%) > CWRP centrifuge cake (31%) > aged air-dried (13%). The N mineralized in the SWRP cake (32%) and CWRP aged air-dried biosolids (12%) determined from the 15N study were in agreement with the first study. The N mineralization value for centrifuge cake biosolids observed in our study is higher than the value given in the Part 503 rule and Illinois Part 391 guidelines. These results will be used to fine-tune biosolids application rate to match crop N demand without compromising yield while minimizing any adverse effect on the environment.

  6. Low temperature air with high IAQ for dry climates

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

    Scofield, C.M.; Des Champs, N.H.

    1995-01-01

    This article describes how low temperature supply air and air-to-air heat exchangers can furnish 100% outdoor air with reduced peak energy demands. The use of low temperature supply air systems in arid climates greatly simplifies the air-conditioning design. Risks associated with moisture migration and sweating of duct and terminal equipment are reduced. Insulation and vapor barrier design requirements are not nearly as critical as they are in the humid, ambient conditions that exist in the eastern United States. The introduction of outdoor air to meet ASHRAE Standard 62-1989 becomes far less taxing on the mechanical cooling equipment because of themore » lower enthalpy levels of the dry western climate. Energy costs to assure indoor air quality (IAQ) are lower than for more tropical climates. In arid regions, maintaining acceptable indoor relative humidity (RH) levels becomes a major IAQ concern. For the western United States, coupling an air-to-air heat exchanger to direct (adiabatic) evaporative coolers can greatly reduce low temperature supply air refrigeration energy requirements and winter humidification costs while ensuring proper ventilation.« less

  7. Synergy of a warm spring and dry summer

    Treesearch

    Yude Pan; David Schimel

    2016-01-01

    An analysis suggests that high carbon uptake by US land ecosystems during the warm spring of 2012 offset the carbon loss that resulted from severe drought over the summer — and hints that the warm spring could have worsened the drought.

  8. Recovery of Waste Heat from Propellant Forced-Air Dry House

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1978-12-01

    function of bulk air side film heat transfer coefficient and diffusivity 66 15. Dry house waste heat recovery system instrumentation 67 16. Sample data...inlet condition by, maintaining the exhaust temperature above the NG dew point. The set point is adjustable to accommodate various propel- lant and...system. In dry cycle operation, an overall energy recovery effectiveness of about 40% was measured for winter operation when the exhaust temperature

  9. Global warming and allergy in Asia Minor.

    PubMed

    Bajin, Munir Demir; Cingi, Cemal; Oghan, Fatih; Gurbuz, Melek Kezban

    2013-01-01

    The earth is warming, and it is warming quickly. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that global warming is correlated with the frequency of pollen-induced respiratory allergy and allergic diseases. There is a body of evidence suggesting that the prevalence of allergic diseases induced by pollens is increasing in developed countries, a trend that is also evident in the Mediterranean area. Because of its mild winters and sunny days with dry summers, the Mediterranean area is different from the areas of central and northern Europe. Classical examples of allergenic pollen-producing plants of the Mediterranean climate include Parietaria, Olea and Cupressaceae. Asia Minor is a Mediterranean region that connects Asia and Europe, and it includes considerable coastal areas. Gramineae pollens are the major cause of seasonal allergic rhinitis in Asia Minor, affecting 1.3-6.4 % of the population, in accordance with other European regions. This article emphasizes the importance of global climate change and anticipated increases in the prevalence and severity of allergic disease in Asia Minor, mediated through worsening air pollution and altered local and regional pollen production, from an otolaryngologic perspective.

  10. Variability and trends in dry day frequency and dry event length in the southwestern United States

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McCabe, Gregory J.; Legates, David R.; Lins, Harry F.

    2010-01-01

    Daily precipitation from 22 National Weather Service first-order weather stations in the southwestern United States for water years 1951 through 2006 are used to examine variability and trends in the frequency of dry days and dry event length. Dry events with minimum thresholds of 10 and 20 consecutive days of precipitation with less than 2.54 mm are analyzed. For water years and cool seasons (October through March), most sites indicate negative trends in dry event length (i.e., dry event durations are becoming shorter). For the warm season (April through September), most sites also indicate negative trends; however, more sites indicate positive trends in dry event length for the warm season than for water years or cool seasons. The larger number of sites indicating positive trends in dry event length during the warm season is due to a series of dry warm seasons near the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Overall, a large portion of the variability in dry event length is attributable to variability of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, especially for water years and cool seasons. Our results are consistent with analyses of trends in discharge for sites in the southwestern United States, an increased frequency in El Niño events, and positive trends in precipitation in the southwestern United States.

  11. "Global warming, continental drying? Interpreting projected aridity changes over land under climate change"

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berg, Alexis

    2017-04-01

    In recent years, a number of studies have suggested that, as climate warms, the land surface will globally become more arid. Such results usually rely on drought or aridity diagnostics, such as the Palmer Drought Severity Index or the Aridity Index (ratio of precipitation over potential evapotranspiration, PET), applied to climate model projections of surface climate. From a global perspective, the projected widespread drying of the land surface is generally interpreted as the result of the dominant, ubiquitous warming-induced PET increase, which overwhelms the slight overall precipitation increase projected over land. However, several lines of evidence, based on (paleo)observations and climate model projections, raise questions regarding this interpretation of terrestrial climate change. In this talk, I will review elements of the literature supporting these different perspectives, and will present recent results based on CMIP5 climate model projections regarding changes in aridity over land that shed some light on this discussion. Central to the interpretation of projected land aridity changes is the understanding of projected PET trends over land and their link with changes in other variables of the terrestrial water cycle (ET, soil moisture) and surface climate in the context of the coupled land-atmosphere system.

  12. Improving our Understanding of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones through Knowledge of the Saharan Air Layer: Hope or Hype?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braun, Scott A.; Shie, Chung-Lin

    2008-01-01

    The existence of the Saharan air layer (SAL), a layer of warm, dry, dusty air that frequently moves westward off of the Saharan desert of Africa and over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, has long been appreciated. As air moves over the desert, it is strongly heated from below, producing a very hot air mass at low levels. Because there is no moisture source over the Sahara, the rise in temperature causes a sharp drop in relative humidity, thus drying the air. In addition, the warm air produces a very strong jet of easterly flow in the middle troposphere called the African easterly jet that is thought to play a critical role in hurricane formation. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the impact that the SAL has on the formation and evolution of hurricanes in the Atlantic. However, the nature of its impact remains unclear, with some researchers arguing that the SAL amplifies hurricane development and with others arguing that it inhibits it. The argument for positively influencing hurricane development is based upon the fact that the African easterly jet produces the waves that eventually form hurricanes and that it leads to rising motion south of the jet that favors the development of deep thunderstorm clouds. The potential negative impacts of the SAL include 1) low-level vertical wind shear associated with the African easterly jet; 2) warm SAL air aloft, which increases thermodynamic stability and suppresses cloud development; and 3) dry air, which produces cold downdrafts in precipitating regions, thereby removing energy needed for storm development. As part of this recent focus on the SAL and hurricanes (which motivated a 2006 NASA field experiment), there has been little emphasis on the SAL s potential positive influences and almost complete emphasis on its possible negative influences, almost to the point of claims that the SAL is the major suppressing influence on hurricanes in the Atlantic. Multiple NASA satellite data sets (TRMM, MODIS, and AIRS

  13. Influence of drying air parameters on mass transfer characteristics of apple slices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beigi, Mohsen

    2016-10-01

    To efficiently design both new drying process and equipment and/or to improve the existing systems, accurate values of mass transfer characteristics are necessary. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of drying air parameters (i.e. temperature, velocity and relative humidity) on effective diffusivity and convective mass transfer coefficient of apple slices. The Dincer and Dost model was used to determine the mass transfer characteristics. The obtained Biot number indicated that the moisture transfer in the apple slices was controlled by both internal and external resistance. The effective diffusivity and mass transfer coefficient values obtained to be in the ranges of 7.13 × 10-11-7.66 × 10-10 and 1.46 × 10-7-3.39 × 10-7 m s-1, respectively and the both of them increased with increasing drying air temperature and velocity, and decreasing relative humidity. The validation of the model showed that the model predicted the experimental drying curves of the samples with a good accuracy.

  14. Research on trend of warm-humid climate in Central Asia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gong, Zhi; Peng, Dailiang; Wen, Jingyi; Cai, Zhanqing; Wang, Tiantian; Hu, Yuekai; Ma, Yaxin; Xu, Junfeng

    2017-07-01

    Central Asia is a typical arid area, which is sensitive and vulnerable part of climate changes, at the same time, Central Asia is the Silk Road Economic Belt of the core district, the warm-humid climate change will affect the production and economic development of neighboring countries. The average annual precipitation, average anneal temperature and evapotranspiration are the important indexes to weigh the climate change. In this paper, the annual precipitation, annual average temperature and evapotranspiration data of every pixel point in Central Asia are analyzed by using long-time series remote sensing data to analyze the trend of warm and humid conditions. Finally, using the model to analyzed the distribution of warm-dry trend, the warm-wet trend, the cold-dry trend and the cold-wet trend in Central Asia and Xinjiang area. The results showed that most of the regions of Central Asia were warm-humid and warm-dry trends, but only a small number of regions showed warm-dry and cold-dry trends. It is of great significance to study the climatic change discipline and guarantee the ecological safety and improve the ability to cope with climate change in the region. It also provide scientific basis for the formulation of regional climate change program. The first section in your paper

  15. Microwave application on air drying of apple (var. Granny Smith). The influence of vacuum impregnation pretreatment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martin Esparza, Maria Eugenia

    Combined hot air-microwave drying has been studied on apple (var. Granny Smith), with and without vacuum impregnation (VI) pretreatment with isotonic solution, respect to kinetics, microstructural and final quality items. In order to reach this objective, a drier has been designed and built, that allows to control and to register all the variables which take place during the drying process. Thermal and dielectric properties, that are very important characteristics when studying heat and mass transfer phenomena that occur during the combined drying process, have been related to temperature and/or moisture content throughout empirical equations. It could be observed that all these properties decreased with product moisture content. Respect to dielectric properties, a relationship among water binding forms to food structure and water molecules relaxation frequency has been found. On the other hand, the effect of drying treatment conditions (air rate, drying temperature, sample thickness and incident microwave power) on the drying rate, from an empirical model based on diffusional mechanisms with two kinetic parameters (k1 and k2), both function of the incident microwave power, has been studied. Microwave application to air drying implied a notable decrease on drying time, the higher the applied power the higher the reduction. Microstructural study by Cryo-Sem revealed fast water vaporization taking place when microwaves are applied. Vacuum impregnation did not implied an additional advantage for combined drying as drying rate was similar to that of NIV samples. Finally, it has been studied the influence of process conditions on the color and mechanical properties of the dried product (IV and NIV). Vacuum impregnation implied an increase on the fracture resistance and less purity and tone angle. Microwave application induced product browning with respect to air drying (tone decreased and purity increased).

  16. Optimization of air-blast drying process for manufacturing Saccharomyces cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces yeast as industrial wine starters.

    PubMed

    Lee, Sae-Byuk; Choi, Won-Seok; Jo, Hyun-Jung; Yeo, Soo-Hwan; Park, Heui-Dong

    2016-12-01

    Wine yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae D8) and non-Saccharomyces wine yeasts (Hanseniaspora uvarum S6 and Issatchenkia orientalis KMBL5774) were studied using air-blast drying instead of the conventional drying methods (such as freeze and spray drying). Skim milk-a widely used protective agent-was used and in all strains, the highest viabilities following air-blast drying were obtained using 10% skim milk. Four excipients (wheat flour, nuruk, artichoke powder, and lactomil) were evaluated as protective agents for yeast strains during air-blast drying. Our results showed that 7 g lactomil was the best excipient in terms of drying time, powder form, and the survival rate of the yeast in the final product. Finally, 7 types of sugars were investigated to improve the survival rate of air-blast dried yeast cells: 10% trehalose, 10% sucrose, and 10% glucose had the highest survival rate of 97.54, 92.59, and 79.49% for S. cerevisiae D8, H. uvarum S6, and I. orientalis KMBL5774, respectively. After 3 months of storage, S. cerevisiae D8 and H. uvarum S6 demonstrated good survival rates (making them suitable for use as starters), whereas the survival rate of I. orientalis KMBL5774 decreased considerably compared to the other strains. Air-blast dried S. cerevisiae D8 and H. uvarum S6 showed metabolic activities similar to those of non-dried yeast cells, regardless of the storage period. Air-blast dried I. orientalis KMBL5774 showed a noticeable decrease in its ability to decompose malic acid after 3 months of storage at 4 °C.

  17. Defining a procedure for predicting the duration of the approximately isothermal segments within the proposed drying regime as a function of the drying air parameters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vasić, M.; Radojević, Z.

    2017-08-01

    One of the main disadvantages of the recently reported method, for setting up the drying regime based on the theory of moisture migration during drying, lies in a fact that it is based on a large number of isothermal experiments. In addition each isothermal experiment requires the use of different drying air parameters. The main goal of this paper was to find a way how to reduce the number of isothermal experiments without affecting the quality of the previously proposed calculation method. The first task was to define the lower and upper inputs as well as the output of the “black box” which will be used in the Box-Wilkinson’s orthogonal multi-factorial experimental design. Three inputs (drying air temperature, humidity and velocity) were used within the experimental design. The output parameter of the model represents the time interval between any two chosen characteristic points presented on the Deff - t. The second task was to calculate the output parameter for each planed experiments. The final output of the model is the equation which can predict the time interval between any two chosen characteristic points as a function of the drying air parameters. This equation is valid for any value of the drying air parameters which are within the defined area designated with lower and upper limiting values.

  18. Optimum dry-cooling sub-systems for a solar air conditioner

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chen, J. L. S.; Namkoong, D.

    1978-01-01

    Dry-cooling sub-systems for residential solar powered Rankine compression air conditioners were economically optimized and compared with the cost of a wet cooling tower. Results in terms of yearly incremental busbar cost due to the use of dry-cooling were presented for Philadelphia and Miami. With input data corresponding to local weather, energy rate and capital costs, condenser surface designs and performance, the computerized optimization program yields design specifications of the sub-system which has the lowest annual incremental cost.

  19. Anthropogenic warming has increased drought risk in California.

    PubMed

    Diffenbaugh, Noah S; Swain, Daniel L; Touma, Danielle

    2015-03-31

    California is currently in the midst of a record-setting drought. The drought began in 2012 and now includes the lowest calendar-year and 12-mo precipitation, the highest annual temperature, and the most extreme drought indicators on record. The extremely warm and dry conditions have led to acute water shortages, groundwater overdraft, critically low streamflow, and enhanced wildfire risk. Analyzing historical climate observations from California, we find that precipitation deficits in California were more than twice as likely to yield drought years if they occurred when conditions were warm. We find that although there has not been a substantial change in the probability of either negative or moderately negative precipitation anomalies in recent decades, the occurrence of drought years has been greater in the past two decades than in the preceding century. In addition, the probability that precipitation deficits co-occur with warm conditions and the probability that precipitation deficits produce drought have both increased. Climate model experiments with and without anthropogenic forcings reveal that human activities have increased the probability that dry precipitation years are also warm. Further, a large ensemble of climate model realizations reveals that additional global warming over the next few decades is very likely to create ∼ 100% probability that any annual-scale dry period is also extremely warm. We therefore conclude that anthropogenic warming is increasing the probability of co-occurring warm-dry conditions like those that have created the acute human and ecosystem impacts associated with the "exceptional" 2012-2014 drought in California.

  20. Robust Vacuum-/Air-Dried Graphene Aerogels and Fast Recoverable Shape-Memory Hybrid Foams.

    PubMed

    Li, Chenwei; Qiu, Ling; Zhang, Baoqing; Li, Dan; Liu, Chen-Yang

    2016-02-17

    New graphene aerogels can be fabricated by vacuum/air drying, and because of the mechanical robustness of the graphene aerogels, shape-memory polymer/graphene hybrid foams can be fabricated by a simple infiltration-air-drying-crosslinking method. Due to the superelasticity, high strength, and good electrical conductivity of the as-prepared graphene aerogels, the shape-memory hybrid foams exhibit excellent thermotropical and electrical shape-memory properties, outperforming previously reported shape-memory polymer foams. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  1. Inactivation of Indigenous Viruses in Raw Sludge by Air Drying

    PubMed Central

    Brashear, David A.; Ward, Richard L.

    1983-01-01

    Air drying of raw sludge caused inactivation of indigenous viruses. A gradual loss of infectivity occurred with the loss of water until the solids content reached about 80%. A more rapid decline of viral infectivity occurred with further dewatering. PMID:6309080

  2. Double-layer Tedlar bags: a means to limit humidity evolution of air samples and to dry humid air samples.

    PubMed

    Cariou, Stephane; Guillot, Jean-Michel

    2006-01-01

    Tedlar bags, which are widely used to collect air samples, especially VOCs and odorous atmospheres, can allow humidity to diffuse when relative humidity levels differ between the inside and outside. Starting with dry air inside the bag and humid air outside, we monitored equilibrium times under several conditions showing the evolution and influence of collected volumes and exposed surfaces. A double-film Tedlar bag was made, to limit the impact of external humidity on a sample at low humidity level. With the addition of a drying agent between both films, the evolution of humidity of a sample can be stopped for several hours. When a VOC mixture was monitored in a humid atmosphere, humidity was decreased but no significant evolution of VOC concentrations was observed.

  3. Estimation of whole lemon mass transfer parameters during hot air drying using different modelling methods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Torki-Harchegani, Mehdi; Ghanbarian, Davoud; Sadeghi, Morteza

    2015-08-01

    To design new dryers or improve existing drying equipments, accurate values of mass transfer parameters is of great importance. In this study, an experimental and theoretical investigation of drying whole lemons was carried out. The whole lemons were dried in a convective hot air dryer at different air temperatures (50, 60 and 75 °C) and a constant air velocity (1 m s-1). In theoretical consideration, three moisture transfer models including Dincer and Dost model, Bi- G correlation approach and conventional solution of Fick's second law of diffusion were used to determine moisture transfer parameters and predict dimensionless moisture content curves. The predicted results were then compared with the experimental data and the higher degree of prediction accuracy was achieved by the Dincer and Dost model.

  4. The Effect of the Saharan Air Layer on the Formation of Hurricane Isabel (2003) Simulated with AIRS Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wu, iguang; Braun, Scott A.; Qu, John J.

    2006-01-01

    The crucial physics of how the atmosphere really accomplishes the tropical cyclogenesis process is still poorly understood. The presence of the Saharan Air Layer (SAL), an elevated mixed layer of warm and dry air that extends from Africa to the tropical Atlantic and contains a substantial amount of mineral dust, adds more complexity to the tropical cyclogenesis process in the Atlantic basin. The impact of the SAL on tropical cyclogenesis is still uncertain. Karyampudi and Carlson (1988) conclude that a strong SAL can potentially aid tropical cyclone development while Dunion and Velden (2004) argue that the SAL generally inhibits tropical cyclogenesis and intensification. Advancing our understanding of the physical mechanisms of tropical cyclogenesis and the associated roles of the SAL strongly depends on the improvement in the observations over the data-sparse ocean areas. After the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), and the microwave Humidity Sounder of Brazil (HSB) were launched with the NASA Aqua satellite in 2002, new data products retrieved from the AIRS suite became available for studying the effect of the warm, dry air mass associated with the SAL (referred to as the thermodynamic effect). The vertical profiles of the AIRS retrieved temperature and humidity provide an unprecedented opportunity to examine the thermodynamic effect of the SAL. The observational data can be analyzed and assimilated into numerical models, in which the model thermodynamic state is allowed to relax to the observed state from AIRS data. The objective of this study is to numerically demonstrate that the thermodynamic effect of the SAL on the formation of Hurricane Isabel (2003) can be largely simulated through nudging of the AIRS data.

  5. A novel method for air drying aloe leaf slices by covering with filter papers as a shrink-proof layer.

    PubMed

    Kim, S A; Baek, J H; Lee, S J; Choi, S Y; Hur, W; Lee, S Y

    2009-01-01

    To prevent the shrinkage of aloe vera slices during air drying, a method utilizing a shrink-proof layer was developed. The sample was configured of whole leaf aloe slices, where 1 side or both sides were covered with filter papers as shrink-proof layers. After air drying by varying the air temperature and the slice thickness, the drying characteristics, as well as several quality factors of the dried aloe vera leaf slices, were analyzed. In the simulation of the drying curves, the modified Page model showed the best fitness, representing a diffusion-controlled drying mechanism. Nonetheless, there was a trace of a constant-rate drying period in the samples dried by the method. Shrinkage was greatly reduced, and the rehydration ratios increased by approximately 50%. Scanning electron microscopic analysis revealed that the surface structure of original fibrous form was well sustained. FT-IR characteristics showed that the dried samples could sustain aloe polysaccharide acetylation. Furthermore, the functional properties of the dried slices including water holding capacity, swelling, and fat absorption capability were improved, and polysaccharide retention levels increased by 20% to 30%. Therefore, we concluded that application of shrink-proof layers on aloe slices provides a novel way to overcome the shrinkage problems commonly found in air drying, thereby improving their functional properties with less cost. Practical Application: This research article demonstrates a novel air drying method using shrink-proof layers to prevent the shrinkage of aloe slices. We analyzed extensively the characteristics of shrinkage mechanism and physical properties of aloe flesh gels in this drying system. We concluded that this method can be a beneficial means to retain the functional properties of dried aloe, and a potential alternative to freeze drying, which is still costly.

  6. Potential causes of differences between ground and surface air temperature warming across different ecozones in Alberta, Canada

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Majorowicz, Jacek A.; Skinner, Walter R.

    1997-10-01

    Analysis and modelling of temperature anomalies from 25 selected deep wells in Alberta show that the differences between GST (ground surface temperature) warming for the northern Boreal Forest ecozone and the combined Prairie Grassland ecozone and Aspen Parkland transition region to the south occur during the latter half of this century. This corresponds with recent changes in surface albedo resulting from permanent land development in the northern areas and also to increases in natural forest fires in the past 20 years. Differences between GST and SAT (surface air temperature) warming are much higher in the Boreal Forest ecozone than in the Prairie Grassland ecozone and Aspen Parkland transition region. Various hypotheses which could account for the existing differences between the GST and SAT warming in the different ecozones of Alberta, and western Canada in general, are tested. Analysis of existing data on soil temperature, hydrological piezometric surfaces, snowfall and moisture patterns, and land clearing and forest fires, indicate that large areas of Alberta, characterised by anomalous GST warming, have experienced widespread changes to the surface landscape in this century. It is postulated that this has resulted in a lower surface albedo with a subsequent increase in the absorption of solar energy. Heat flow modelling shows that, after climatic SAT warming, permanent clearing of the land is the most effective and likely cause of the observed changes in the GST warming. The greater GST warming in the Boreal Forest ecozone in the latter half of this century is related to landscape change due to land development and increasing forest fire activity. It appears to account for a portion of the observed SAT warming in this region through a positive feedback loop with the overlying air. The anthropogenic effect on regional climatic warming through 20th century land clearing and landscape alteration requires further study. In future, more accurate quantification of

  7. Effects of experimental warming on soil temperature, moisture and respiration in northern Mongolia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sharkhuu, A.; Plante, A. F.; Casper, B. B.; Helliker, B. R.; Liancourt, P.; Boldgiv, B.; Petraitis, P.

    2010-12-01

    Mean annual air temperature in the Lake Hövsgöl region of northern Mongolia has increased by 1.8 °C over the last 40 years, greater than global average temperature increases. A decrease of soil moisture due to changes in precipitation regime is also predicted over the northern region of Mongolia. Warmer temperatures generally result in higher soil CO2 efflux, but responses of soil efflux to climate change may differ among ecosystems due to response variations in soil temperature and moisture regime. The objectives of our study were to examine the environmental responses (soil temperature and moisture) to experimental warming, and to test responses of soil CO2 efflux to experimental warming, in three different ecozones. The experimental site is located in Dalbay Valley, on the eastern shore of Lake Hövsgöl in northern Mongolia (51.0234° N 100.7600° E; 1670 m elevation). Replicate plots with ITEX-style open-top passive warming chambers (OTC) and non-warmed control areas were installed in three ecosystems: (1) semi-arid grassland on the south-facing slope not underlain by permafrost, (2) riparian zone, and (3) larch forest on the north-facing slope underlain by permafrost. Aboveground air temperature and belowground soil temperature and moisture (10 and 20 cm) were monitored using sensors and dataloggers. Soil CO2 efflux was measured periodically using a portable infra-red gas analyzer with an attached soil respiration chamber. The warming chambers were installed and data collected during the 2009 and 2010 growing seasons. Passive warming chambers increased nighttime air temperatures; more so in grassland compared to the forest. Increases in daytime air temperatures were observed in the grassland, but were not significant in the riparian and forest areas. Soil temperatures in warmed plots were consistently higher in all three ecozones at 10 cm depth but not at 20 cm depth. Warming chambers had a slight drying effect in the grassland, but no consistent effect in

  8. Recent Global Warming as Observed by AIRS and Depicted in GISSTEMP and MERRA-2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Susskind, Joel; Lee, Jae; Iredell, Lena

    2017-01-01

    AIRS Version-6 monthly mean level-3 surface temperature products confirm the result, depicted in the GISSTEMP dataset, that the earth's surface temperature has been warming since early 2015, though not before that. AIRS is at a higher spatial resolution than GISSTEMP, and produces sharper spatial features which are otherwise in excellent agreement with those of GISSTEMP. Version-6 AO Ts anomalies are consistent with those of Version-6 AIRS/AMSU. Version-7 AO anomalies should be even more accurate, especially at high latitudes. ARCs of MERRA-2 Ts anomalies are spurious as a result of a discontinuity which occurred somewhere between 2007 and 2008. This decreases global mean trends.

  9. Vertical Moist Thermodynamic Structure and Spatial-Temporal Evolution of the MJO in AIRS Observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tian, Baijun; Waliser, Duane E.; Fetzer, Eric J.; Lambrigtsen, Bjorn H.; Yung, Yuk L.; Wang, Bin

    2006-01-01

    The atmospheric moisture and temperature profiles from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS)/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit on the NASA Aqua mission, in combination with the precipitation from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), are employed to study the vertical moist thermodynamic structure and spatial-temporal evolution of the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO). The AIRS data indicate that, in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, the temperature anomaly exhibits a trimodal vertical structure: a warm (cold) anomaly in the free troposphere (800-250 hPa) and a cold (warm) anomaly near the tropopause (above 250 hPa) and in the lower troposphere (below 800 hPa) associated with enhanced (suppressed) convection. The AIRS moisture anomaly also shows markedly different vertical structures as a function of longitude and the strength of convection anomaly. Most significantly, the AIRS data demonstrate that, over the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, the enhanced (suppressed) convection is generally preceded in both time and space by a low-level warm and moist (cold and dry) anomaly and followed by a low-level cold and dry (warm and moist) anomaly. The MJO vertical moist thermodynamic structure from the AIRS data is in general agreement, particularly in the free troposphere, with previous studies based on global reanalysis and limited radiosonde data. However, major differences in the lower-troposphere moisture and temperature structure between the AIRS observations and the NCEP reanalysis are found over the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where there are very few conventional data to constrain the reanalysis. Specifically, the anomalous lower-troposphere temperature structure is much less well defined in NCEP than in AIRS for the western Pacific, and even has the opposite sign anomalies compared to AIRS relative to the wet/dry phase of the MJO in the Indian Ocean. Moreover, there are well-defined eastward-tilting variations of moisture with height in AIRS over the

  10. Daytime warming has stronger negative effects on soil nematodes than night-time warming.

    PubMed

    Yan, Xiumin; Wang, Kehong; Song, Lihong; Wang, Xuefeng; Wu, Donghui

    2017-03-07

    Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, that is, stronger warming during night-time than during daytime. Here we focus on how soil nematodes respond to the current asymmetric warming. A field infrared heating experiment was performed in the western of the Songnen Plain, Northeast China. Three warming modes, i.e. daytime warming, night-time warming and diurnal warming, were taken to perform the asymmetric warming condition. Our results showed that the daytime and diurnal warming treatment significantly decreased soil nematodes density, and night-time warming treatment marginally affected the density. The response of bacterivorous nematode and fungivorous nematode to experimental warming showed the same trend with the total density. Redundancy analysis revealed an opposite effect of soil moisture and soil temperature, and the most important of soil moisture and temperature in night-time among the measured environment factors, affecting soil nematode community. Our findings suggested that daily minimum temperature and warming induced drying are most important factors affecting soil nematode community under the current global asymmetric warming.

  11. Daytime warming has stronger negative effects on soil nematodes than night-time warming.

    PubMed

    Yan, Xiumin; Wang, Kehong; Song, Lihong; Wang, Xuefeng; Wu, Donghui

    2017-03-20

    Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, that is, stronger warming during night-time than during daytime. Here we focus on how soil nematodes respond to the current asymmetric warming. A field infrared heating experiment was performed in the western of the Songnen Plain, Northeast China. Three warming modes, i.e. daytime warming, night-time warming and diurnal warming, were taken to perform the asymmetric warming condition. Our results showed that the daytime and diurnal warming treatment significantly decreased soil nematodes density, and night-time warming treatment marginally affected the density. The response of bacterivorous nematode and fungivorous nematode to experimental warming showed the same trend with the total density. Redundancy analysis revealed an opposite effect of soil moisture and soil temperature, and the most important of soil moisture and temperature in night-time among the measured environment factors, affecting soil nematode community. Our findings suggested that daily minimum temperature and warming induced drying are most important factors affecting soil nematode community under the current global asymmetric warming.

  12. Daytime warming has stronger negative effects on soil nematodes than night-time warming

    PubMed Central

    Yan, Xiumin; Wang, Kehong; Song, Lihong; Wang, Xuefeng; Wu, Donghui

    2017-01-01

    Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, that is, stronger warming during night-time than during daytime. Here we focus on how soil nematodes respond to the current asymmetric warming. A field infrared heating experiment was performed in the western of the Songnen Plain, Northeast China. Three warming modes, i.e. daytime warming, night-time warming and diurnal warming, were taken to perform the asymmetric warming condition. Our results showed that the daytime and diurnal warming treatment significantly decreased soil nematodes density, and night-time warming treatment marginally affected the density. The response of bacterivorous nematode and fungivorous nematode to experimental warming showed the same trend with the total density. Redundancy analysis revealed an opposite effect of soil moisture and soil temperature, and the most important of soil moisture and temperature in night-time among the measured environment factors, affecting soil nematode community. Our findings suggested that daily minimum temperature and warming induced drying are most important factors affecting soil nematode community under the current global asymmetric warming. PMID:28317914

  13. Daytime warming has stronger negative effects on soil nematodes than night-time warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yan, Xiumin; Wang, Kehong; Song, Lihong; Wang, Xuefeng; Wu, Donghui

    2017-03-01

    Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, that is, stronger warming during night-time than during daytime. Here we focus on how soil nematodes respond to the current asymmetric warming. A field infrared heating experiment was performed in the western of the Songnen Plain, Northeast China. Three warming modes, i.e. daytime warming, night-time warming and diurnal warming, were taken to perform the asymmetric warming condition. Our results showed that the daytime and diurnal warming treatment significantly decreased soil nematodes density, and night-time warming treatment marginally affected the density. The response of bacterivorous nematode and fungivorous nematode to experimental warming showed the same trend with the total density. Redundancy analysis revealed an opposite effect of soil moisture and soil temperature, and the most important of soil moisture and temperature in night-time among the measured environment factors, affecting soil nematode community. Our findings suggested that daily minimum temperature and warming induced drying are most important factors affecting soil nematode community under the current global asymmetric warming.

  14. Slow coolant phaseout could worsen warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reese, April

    2018-03-01

    In the summer of 2016, temperatures in Phalodi, an old caravan town on a dry plain in northwestern India, reached a blistering 51°C—a record high during a heat wave that claimed more than 1600 lives across the country. Wider access to air conditioning (AC) could have prevented many deaths—but only 8% of India's 249 million households have AC. As the nation's economy booms, that figure could rise to 50% by 2050. And that presents a dilemma: As India expands access to a life-saving technology, it must comply with international mandates—the most recent imposed just last fall—to eliminate coolants that harm stratospheric ozone or warm the atmosphere.

  15. Anthropogenic warming has increased drought risk in California

    PubMed Central

    Diffenbaugh, Noah S.; Swain, Daniel L.; Touma, Danielle

    2015-01-01

    California is currently in the midst of a record-setting drought. The drought began in 2012 and now includes the lowest calendar-year and 12-mo precipitation, the highest annual temperature, and the most extreme drought indicators on record. The extremely warm and dry conditions have led to acute water shortages, groundwater overdraft, critically low streamflow, and enhanced wildfire risk. Analyzing historical climate observations from California, we find that precipitation deficits in California were more than twice as likely to yield drought years if they occurred when conditions were warm. We find that although there has not been a substantial change in the probability of either negative or moderately negative precipitation anomalies in recent decades, the occurrence of drought years has been greater in the past two decades than in the preceding century. In addition, the probability that precipitation deficits co-occur with warm conditions and the probability that precipitation deficits produce drought have both increased. Climate model experiments with and without anthropogenic forcings reveal that human activities have increased the probability that dry precipitation years are also warm. Further, a large ensemble of climate model realizations reveals that additional global warming over the next few decades is very likely to create ∼100% probability that any annual-scale dry period is also extremely warm. We therefore conclude that anthropogenic warming is increasing the probability of co-occurring warm–dry conditions like those that have created the acute human and ecosystem impacts associated with the “exceptional” 2012–2014 drought in California. PMID:25733875

  16. Improving Malaysian cocoa quality through the use of dehumidified air under mild drying conditions.

    PubMed

    Hii, Ching L; Law, Chung L; Cloke, Michael; Sharif, Suzannah

    2011-01-30

    Various studies have been conducted in the past to improve the quality of Malaysian cocoa beans. However, the processing methods still remain crude and lack technological advancement. In terms of drying, no previous study has attempted to apply advanced drying technology to improve bean quality. This paper presents the first attempt to improve the quality of cocoa beans through heat pump drying using constant air (28.6 and 40.4 °C) and stepwise (step-up 30.7-43.6-56.9 °C and step-down 54.9-43.9 °C) drying profiles. Comparison was made against hot air drying at 55.9 °C. Product quality assessment showed significant improvement in the quality of Malaysian cocoa beans. Quality was found to be better in terms of lower acidity (higher pH) and higher degree of browning (cut test) for cocoa beans dried using the step-up profile. All heat pump-dried samples showed flavour quality comparable to that of Ghanaian and better than that of Malaysian and Indonesian commercial samples. Step-up-dried samples showed the best flavour profile with high level of cocoa flavour, low in sourness and not excessive in bitterness and astringency. Dried cocoa samples from the step-up drying profile showed the best overall quality as compared with commercial samples from Malaysia, Indonesia and Ghana. The improvement of Malaysian cocoa bean quality is thus achievable through heat pump drying. 2010 Society of Chemical Industry.

  17. Possible roles of vacuolar H+-ATPase and mitochondrial function in tolerance to air-drying stress revealed by genome-wide screening of Saccharomyces cerevisiae deletion strains.

    PubMed

    Shima, Jun; Ando, Akira; Takagi, Hiroshi

    2008-03-01

    Yeasts used in bread making are exposed to air-drying stress during dried yeast production processes. To clarify the genes required for air-drying tolerance, we performed genome-wide screening using the complete deletion strain collection of diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The screening identified 278 gene deletions responsible for air-drying sensitivity. These genes were classified based on their cellular function and on the localization of their gene products. The results showed that the genes required for air-drying tolerance were frequently involved in mitochondrial functions and in connection with vacuolar H(+)-ATPase, which plays a role in vacuolar acidification. To determine the role of vacuolar acidification in air-drying stress tolerance, we monitored intracellular pH. The results showed that intracellular acidification was induced during air-drying and that this acidification was amplified in a deletion mutant of the VMA2 gene encoding a component of vacuolar H(+)-ATPase, suggesting that vacuolar H(+)-ATPase helps maintain intracellular pH homeostasis, which is affected by air-drying stress. To determine the effects of air-drying stress on mitochondria, we analysed the mitochondrial membrane potential under air-drying stress conditions using MitoTracker. The results showed that mitochondria were extremely sensitive to air-drying stress, suggesting that a mitochondrial function is required for tolerance to air-drying stress. We also analysed the correlation between oxidative-stress sensitivity and air-drying-stress sensitivity. The results suggested that oxidative stress is a critical determinant of sensitivity to air-drying stress, although ROS-scavenging systems are not necessary for air-drying stress tolerance. (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  18. Sewage sludge open-air drying affects on keratinolytic, keratinophilic and actidione-resistant fungi.

    PubMed

    Ulfig, Krzysztof; Płaza, Grazyna; Terakowskip, Maciej; Janda-Ulfig, Katarzyna

    2006-01-01

    The study was to demonstrate the effect of sewage sludge open-air drying on the quantitative and qualitative composition of keratinolytic/keratinophilic and actidione-resistant fungi. The sludge was being dried for up to thirty days (on average fourteen days) at 25-30'C. The composition of these fungi was determined with the hair baiting method along with the dilution method, using the Wiegand medium supplemented with chloramphenicol (100 mgiL) and actidione (500 mg/L). The open-air drying altered the composition of keratinolytic fungi and considerably increased the population of keratinophilic and actidione-resistant fungi in the sludge. This phenomenon can be explained with that the drying process was associated with slow sludge moisture decrease, sludge laceration due to crumbling and the subsequent improvement of sludge aeration and organic matter biodegradation conditions. A considerable increase of fungal populations can be expected in sludges being dried in drying beds at wastewater treatment plants and in sludge-amended soils. Two sludge opportunistic fungi, i.e. Microsporum gypseum and Pseudallescheria boydii, require special attention from the epidemiological point of view. Sludge land applications may increase the number of these fungi in the environment and the subsequent risk to public health posed by them.

  19. Effects of Air Drying on Soil Available Phosphorus in Two Grassland Soils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schaerer, M.; Frossard, E.; Sinaj, S.

    2003-04-01

    Mobilization of P from the soil to ground and surface water is principally determined by the amount of P in the soil and physico-chemical as well as biological processes determining the available P-pool that is in equilibrium with soil solution. Soil available P is commonly estimated on air dry soil using a variety of methods (extraction with water, dilute acids and bases, anion exchange resin, isotopic exchange or infinite sinks). Recently, attempts have been made to use these measurements to define the potential for transport of P from soil to water by overland flow or subsurface flow. The effect of air drying on soil properties in general, and plant nutrient status in particular, have been subject of a number of studies. The main objective of this paper was to evaluate the effect of air-drying on soil properties and available P. For this experiment, grassland soils were sampled on two study sites located on slopes in the watershed of Lake Greifensee, 25 km south-east of Zurich. Both soils (0-4 cm depth) are rich in P with 1.7 and 1.3 g kg-1 total P at site I and site II, respectively. The concentrations on isotopically exchangeable P within 1 minute (E1min, readily available P) for the same depth were also very high, 58 and 27 mg P kg soil-1 for the site I and II, respectively. In the present study both field moist and air dried soil samples were analyzed for microbial P (Pmic), resin extractable P (P_r), isotopically exchangeable P (E1min) and amorphous Al and Fe (Alox, Feox). Generally, the microbial P in field moist soils reached values up to 120 mg P/kg soil, whereas after drying they decreased by 73% in average for both soils. On the contrary to Pmic, available P estimated by different methods strongly increased after drying of the soil samples. The concentration of phosphate ions in the soil solution c_p, E1min and P_r were 4.2, 2.2 and 2 times higher in dry soils than in field moist soils. The increase in available P shows significant semilogarithmic

  20. Argon used as dry suit insulation gas for cold-water diving.

    PubMed

    Vrijdag, Xavier Ce; van Ooij, Pieter-Jan Am; van Hulst, Robert A

    2013-06-03

    Cold-water diving requires good thermal insulation because hypothermia is a serious risk. Water conducts heat more efficiently compared to air. To stay warm during a dive, the choice of thermal protection should be based on physical activity, the temperature of the water, and the duration of exposure. A dry suit, a diving suit filled with gas, is the most common diving suit in cold water. Air is the traditional dry suit inflation gas, whereas the thermal conductivity of argon is approximately 32% lower compared to that of air. This study evaluates the benefits of argon, compared to air, as a thermal insulation gas for a dry suit during a 1-h cold-water dive by divers of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Seven male Special Forces divers made (in total) 19 dives in a diving basin with water at 13 degrees C at a depth of 3 m for 1 h in upright position. A rubber dry suit and woollen undergarment were used with either argon (n = 13) or air (n = 6) (blinded to the divers) as suit inflation gas. Core temperature was measured with a radio pill during the dive. Before, halfway, and after the dive, subjective thermal comfort was recorded using a thermal comfort score. No diver had to abort the test due to cold. No differences in core temperature and thermal comfort score were found between the two groups. Core temperature remained unchanged during the dives. Thermal comfort score showed a significant decrease in both groups after a 60-min dive compared to baseline. In these tests the combination of the dry suit and undergarment was sufficient to maintain core temperature and thermal comfort for a dive of 1h in water at 13 degrees C. The use of argon as a suit inflation gas had no added value for thermal insulation compared to air for these dives.

  1. Measurement of fatigue following 18 msw dry chamber dives breathing air or enriched air nitrox.

    PubMed

    Harris, R J D; Doolette, D J; Wilkinson, D C; Williams, D J

    2003-01-01

    Many divers report less fatigue following diving breathing oxygen rich N2-O2 mixtures compared with breathing air. In this double blinded, randomized controlled study 11 divers breathed either air or Enriched Air Nitrox 36% (oxygen 36%, nitrogen 64%) during an 18 msw (281 kPa(a)) dry chamber dive for a bottom time of 40 minutes. Two periods of exercise were performed during the dive. Divers were assessed before and after each dive using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20, a visual analogue scale, Digit Span Tests, Stroop Tests, and Divers Health Survey (DHS). Diving to 18m produced no measurable difference in fatigue, attention levels, ability to concentrate or DHS scores, following dives using either breathing gas.

  2. Attaining whole-ecosystem warming using air and deep-soil heating methods with an elevated CO2 atmosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hanson, Paul J.; Riggs, Jeffery S.; Nettles, W. Robert; Phillips, Jana R.; Krassovski, Misha B.; Hook, Leslie A.; Gu, Lianhong; Richardson, Andrew D.; Aubrecht, Donald M.; Ricciuto, Daniel M.; Warren, Jeffrey M.; Barbier, Charlotte

    2017-02-01

    This paper describes the operational methods to achieve and measure both deep-soil heating (0-3 m) and whole-ecosystem warming (WEW) appropriate to the scale of tall-stature, high-carbon, boreal forest peatlands. The methods were developed to allow scientists to provide a plausible set of ecosystem-warming scenarios within which immediate and longer-term (1 decade) responses of organisms (microbes to trees) and ecosystem functions (carbon, water and nutrient cycles) could be measured. Elevated CO2 was also incorporated to test how temperature responses may be modified by atmospheric CO2 effects on carbon cycle processes. The WEW approach was successful in sustaining a wide range of aboveground and belowground temperature treatments (+0, +2.25, +4.5, +6.75 and +9 °C) in large 115 m2 open-topped enclosures with elevated CO2 treatments (+0 to +500 ppm). Air warming across the entire 10 enclosure study required ˜ 90 % of the total energy for WEW ranging from 64 283 mega Joules (MJ) d-1 during the warm season to 80 102 MJ d-1 during cold months. Soil warming across the study required only 1.3 to 1.9 % of the energy used ranging from 954 to 1782 MJ d-1 of energy in the warm and cold seasons, respectively. The residual energy was consumed by measurement and communication systems. Sustained temperature and elevated CO2 treatments were only constrained by occasional high external winds. This paper contrasts the in situ WEW method with closely related field-warming approaches using both aboveground (air or infrared heating) and belowground-warming methods. It also includes a full discussion of confounding factors that need to be considered carefully in the interpretation of experimental results. The WEW method combining aboveground and deep-soil heating approaches enables observations of future temperature conditions not available in the current observational record, and therefore provides a plausible glimpse of future environmental conditions.

  3. Air-drying of cells, the novel conditions for stimulated synthesis of triacylglycerol in a Green Alga, Chlorella kessleri.

    PubMed

    Shiratake, Takuma; Sato, Atsushi; Minoda, Ayumi; Tsuzuki, Mikio; Sato, Norihiro

    2013-01-01

    Triacylglycerol is used for the production of commodities including food oils and biodiesel fuel. Microalgae can accumulate triacylglycerol under adverse environmental conditions such as nitrogen-starvation. This study explored the possibility of air-drying of green algal cells as a novel and simple protocol for enhancement of their triacylglycerol content. Chlorella kessleri cells were fixed on the surface of a glass fibre filter and then subjected to air-drying with light illumination. The dry cell weight, on a filter, increased by 2.7-fold in 96 h, the corresponding chlorophyll content ranging from 1.0 to 1.3-fold the initial one. Concomitantly, the triacylglycerol content remarkably increased to 70.3 mole% of fatty acids and 15.9% (w/w), relative to total fatty acids and dry cell weight, respectively, like in cells starved of nitrogen. Reduction of the stress of air-drying by placing the glass filter on a filter paper soaked in H2O lowered the fatty acid content of triacylglycerol to 26.4 mole% as to total fatty acids. Moreover, replacement of the H2O with culture medium further decreased the fatty acid content of triacylglycerol to 12.2 mole%. It thus seemed that severe dehydration is required for full induction of triacylglycerol synthesis, and that nutritional depletion as well as dehydration are crucial environmental factors. Meanwhile, air-drying of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells increased the triacylglycerol content to only 37.9 mole% of fatty acids and 4.8% (w/w), relative to total fatty acids and dry cell weight, respectively, and a marked decrease in the chlorophyll content, on a filter, of 33%. Air-drying thus has an impact on triacylglycerol synthesis in C. reinhardtii also, however, the effect is considerably limited, owing probably to instability of the photosynthetic machinery. This air-drying protocol could be useful for the development of a system for industrial production of triacylglycerol with appropriate selection of the algal species.

  4. The Frustrating Lives of Climate Scientists - 45 Years of Warm, Cold, Wet and Dry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Toon, O. B.; Hartwick, V.; Urata, R. A.

    2016-12-01

    Mariner 9 arrived at Mars in November 1971, where it revealed giant volcanoes and dry river valleys some of which originated from rainfall or runoff. Some geologists think there were oceans, tidal waves, craters that filled to their rims and then overflowed or didn't overflow, and river deltas reaching into the ancient seas and lakes. Climate scientists have stumbled through a 45 year-long chain of failed explanations for these geologic data. CO2 in greater abundance than now is likely involved, but not sufficient. Adding CH4 , CO2 clouds, or SO2 have faltered on further study. Three ideas are still being kicked around, two of which are able to make Mars warm, but may have geologic issues. First, is the idea of adding H2 to the CO2, which warms sufficiently in climate models. However, the large quantities needed are a challenge to outgassing models. Second, is impacts, the largest of which would mobilize most of the water in the regolith. Geologists object that the water from impacts would not last long enough to carve rivers. However, no one has explored the concurrent generation of the regolith by these impacts, which would create a loose, easily erodible surface. Are the rivers all in ancient regolith? If some rivers are in bedrock it would be harder to explain by impacts. Finally, impacts may triggered water/cloud greenhouses. Such a climate state would be long lasting, requires only a modest background atmosphere of carbon dioxide, and would fade away when the carbon dioxide dropped below a few hundred mbar. However, not all climate models have been able to produce such water driven greenhouse warming. In this talk I will outline the history of these climate models, point to evidence that might discriminate between them, describe how the water greenhouse models work or don't work, and suggest some new projects that might be done to decide just how warm and wet Mars may have been.

  5. Potential impact of 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming on consecutive dry and wet days over West Africa

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ama Browne Klutse, Nana; Ajayi, Vincent O.; Olabode Gbobaniyi, Emiola; Egbebiyi, Temitope S.; Kouadio, Kouakou; Nkrumah, Francis; Akumenyi Quagraine, Kwesi; Olusegun, Christiana; Diasso, Ulrich; Abiodun, Babatunde J.; Lawal, Kamoru; Nikulin, Grigory; Lennard, Christopher; Dosio, Alessandro

    2018-05-01

    We examine the impact of +1.5 °C and +2 °C global warming levels above pre-industrial levels on consecutive dry days (CDD) and consecutive wet days (CWD), two key indicators for extreme precipitation and seasonal drought. This is done using climate projections from a multi-model ensemble of 25 regional climate model (RCM) simulations. The RCMs take boundary conditions from ten global climate models (GCMs) under the RCP8.5 scenario. We define CDD as the maximum number of consecutive days with rainfall amount less than 1 mm and CWD as the maximum number of consecutive days with rainfall amount more than 1 mm. The differences in model representations of the change in CDD and CWD, at 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming, and based on the control period 1971‑2000 are reported. The models agree on a noticeable response to both 1.5 °C and 2 °C warming for each index. Enhanced warming results in a reduction in mean rainfall across the region. More than 80% of ensemble members agree that CDD will increase over the Guinea Coast, in tandem with a projected decrease in CWD at both 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming levels. These projected changes may influence already fragile ecosystems and agriculture in the region, both of which are strongly affected by mean rainfall and the length of wet and dry periods.

  6. Comparison of halocarbon measurements in an atmospheric dry whole air sample.

    PubMed

    Rhoderick, George C; Hall, Bradley D; Harth, Christina M; Kim, Jin Seog; Lee, Jeongsoon; Montzka, Stephen A; Mühle, Jens; Reimann, Stefan; Vollmer, Martin K; Weiss, Ray F

    The growing awareness of climate change/global warming, and continuing concerns regarding stratospheric ozone depletion, will require continued measurements and standards for many compounds, in particular halocarbons that are linked to these issues. In order to track atmospheric mole fractions and assess the impact of policy on emission rates, it is necessary to demonstrate measurement equivalence at the highest levels of accuracy for assigned values of standards. Precise measurements of these species aid in determining small changes in their atmospheric abundance. A common source of standards/scales and/or well-documented agreement of different scales used to calibrate the measurement instrumentation are key to understanding many sets of data reported by researchers. This report describes the results of a comparison study among National Metrology Institutes and atmospheric research laboratories for the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12), trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11), and 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (CFC-113); the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) and 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane (HCFC-142b); and the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a), all in a dried whole air sample. The objective of this study is to compare calibration standards/scales and the measurement capabilities of the participants for these halocarbons at trace atmospheric levels. The results of this study show agreement among four independent calibration scales to better than 2.5% in almost all cases, with many of the reported agreements being better than 1.0%.

  7. Comparison of halocarbon measurements in an atmospheric dry whole air sample

    PubMed Central

    Hall, Bradley D.; Harth, Christina M.; Kim, Jin Seog; Lee, Jeongsoon; Montzka, Stephen A.; Mühle, Jens; Reimann, Stefan; Vollmer, Martin K.; Weiss, Ray F.

    2015-01-01

    The growing awareness of climate change/global warming, and continuing concerns regarding stratospheric ozone depletion, will require continued measurements and standards for many compounds, in particular halocarbons that are linked to these issues. In order to track atmospheric mole fractions and assess the impact of policy on emission rates, it is necessary to demonstrate measurement equivalence at the highest levels of accuracy for assigned values of standards. Precise measurements of these species aid in determining small changes in their atmospheric abundance. A common source of standards/scales and/or well-documented agreement of different scales used to calibrate the measurement instrumentation are key to understanding many sets of data reported by researchers. This report describes the results of a comparison study among National Metrology Institutes and atmospheric research laboratories for the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12), trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11), and 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (CFC-113); the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) and 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane (HCFC-142b); and the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a), all in a dried whole air sample. The objective of this study is to compare calibration standards/scales and the measurement capabilities of the participants for these halocarbons at trace atmospheric levels. The results of this study show agreement among four independent calibration scales to better than 2.5% in almost all cases, with many of the reported agreements being better than 1.0%. PMID:26753167

  8. Influence of power ultrasound application on mass transport and microstructure of orange peel during hot air drying

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ortuño, Carmen; Pérez-Munuera, Isabel; Puig, Ana; Riera, Enrique; Garcia-Perez, J. V.

    2010-01-01

    Power ultrasound application on convective drying of foodstuffs may be considered an emergent technology. This work deals with the influence of power ultrasound on drying of natural materials addressing the kinetic as well as the product's microstructure. Convective drying kinetics of orange peel slabs (thickness 5.95±0.41 mm) were carried out at 40 ∘C and 1 m/s with (US) and without (AIR) power ultrasound application. A diffusion model considering external resistance to mass transfer was considered to describe drying kinetics. Fresh, US and AIR dried samples were analyzed using Cryo-SEM. Results showed that drying kinetics of orange peel were significantly improved by the application of power ultrasound. From modeling, it was observed a significant (p¡0.05) increase in both mass transfer coefficient and effective moisture diffusivity. The effects on mass transfer properties were confirmed from microestructural observations. In the cuticle surface, the pores were obstructed by wax components scattering, which evidence the ultrasonic effects on the interfaces. The cells of the flavedo were compressed and large intercellular air spaces were generated in the albedo facilitating water transfer through it.

  9. An Overt Chemical Protective Garment Reduces Thermal Strain Compared with a Covert Garment in Warm-Wet but Not Hot-Dry Environments

    PubMed Central

    Maley, Matthew J.; Costello, Joseph T.; Borg, David N.; Bach, Aaron J. E.; Hunt, Andrew P.; Stewart, Ian B.

    2017-01-01

    Objectives: A commercial chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) protective covert garment has recently been developed with the aim of reducing thermal strain. A covert CBRN protective layer can be worn under other clothing, with equipment added for full chemical protection when needed. However, it is unknown whether the covert garment offers any alleviation to thermal strain during work compared with a traditional overt ensemble. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare thermal strain and work tolerance times during work in an overt and covert ensemble offering the same level of CBRN protection. Methods: Eleven male participants wore an overt (OVERT) or covert (COVERT) CBRN ensemble and walked (4 km·h−1, 1% grade) for a maximum of 120 min in either a wet bulb globe temperature [WBGT] of 21, 30, or 37°C (Neutral, WarmWet and HotDry, respectively). The trials were ceased if the participants' gastrointestinal temperature reached 39°C, heart rate reached 90% of maximum, walking time reached 120 min or due to self-termination. Results: All participants completed 120 min of walking in Neutral. Work tolerance time was greater in OVERT compared with COVERT in WarmWet (P < 0.001, 116.5[9.9] vs. 88.9[12.2] min, respectively), though this order was reversed in HotDry (P = 0.003, 37.3[5.3] vs. 48.4[4.6] min, respectively). The rate of change in mean body temperature and mean skin temperature was greater in COVERT (0.025[0.004] and 0.045[0.010]°C·min−1, respectively) compared with OVERT (0.014[0.004] and 0.027[0.007]°C·min−1, respectively) in WarmWet (P < 0.001 and P = 0.028, respectively). However, the rate of change in mean body temperature and mean skin temperature was greater in OVERT (0.068[0.010] and 0.170[0.026]°C·min−1, respectively) compared with COVERT (0.059[0.004] and 0.120[0.017]°C·min−1, respectively) in HotDry (P = 0.002 and P < 0.001, respectively). Thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and ratings of perceived exertion

  10. An Overt Chemical Protective Garment Reduces Thermal Strain Compared with a Covert Garment in Warm-Wet but Not Hot-Dry Environments.

    PubMed

    Maley, Matthew J; Costello, Joseph T; Borg, David N; Bach, Aaron J E; Hunt, Andrew P; Stewart, Ian B

    2017-01-01

    Objectives: A commercial chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) protective covert garment has recently been developed with the aim of reducing thermal strain. A covert CBRN protective layer can be worn under other clothing, with equipment added for full chemical protection when needed. However, it is unknown whether the covert garment offers any alleviation to thermal strain during work compared with a traditional overt ensemble. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare thermal strain and work tolerance times during work in an overt and covert ensemble offering the same level of CBRN protection. Methods : Eleven male participants wore an overt (OVERT) or covert (COVERT) CBRN ensemble and walked (4 km·h -1 , 1% grade) for a maximum of 120 min in either a wet bulb globe temperature [WBGT] of 21, 30, or 37°C (Neutral, WarmWet and HotDry, respectively). The trials were ceased if the participants' gastrointestinal temperature reached 39°C, heart rate reached 90% of maximum, walking time reached 120 min or due to self-termination. Results: All participants completed 120 min of walking in Neutral. Work tolerance time was greater in OVERT compared with COVERT in WarmWet ( P < 0.001, 116.5[9.9] vs. 88.9[12.2] min, respectively), though this order was reversed in HotDry ( P = 0.003, 37.3[5.3] vs. 48.4[4.6] min, respectively). The rate of change in mean body temperature and mean skin temperature was greater in COVERT (0.025[0.004] and 0.045[0.010]°C·min -1 , respectively) compared with OVERT (0.014[0.004] and 0.027[0.007]°C·min -1 , respectively) in WarmWet ( P < 0.001 and P = 0.028, respectively). However, the rate of change in mean body temperature and mean skin temperature was greater in OVERT (0.068[0.010] and 0.170[0.026]°C·min -1 , respectively) compared with COVERT (0.059[0.004] and 0.120[0.017]°C·min -1 , respectively) in HotDry ( P = 0.002 and P < 0.001, respectively). Thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and ratings of perceived

  11. Regulating emission of air pollutants for near-term relief from global warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ramanathan, V.; Xu, Y.

    2011-12-01

    The manmade greenhouse gases that are now blanketing the planet is thick enough to warm the system beyond the 20C threshold. Even with a targeted reduction in CO2 emission of 50% by 2050, we will still be adding more than 50 ppm of CO2 and add another 10C to the warming. Fortunately, there are still ways to contain the warming by reducing non-CO2 climate warmers (methane, lower atmosphere ozone, black carbon and HFCs), using available and field tested technologies. The major advantage of going for these 'low-hanging fruits' is that this approach will clean up the air and improve health and food security of south and east Asia, thus engaging developing nations more effectively in climate negotiations. These non-CO2 mitigation actions will have significant (beneficial) impacts on the chemistry, clouds and precipitation of the atmosphere and these have to be quantified adequately. For example, reducing black and organic carbon emissions (through cleaner cooking technologies in developing countries) will also lead to significant reductions in carbon monoxide, which is an ozone precursor. The institutional infrastructure for reducing non-CO2 climate warmers already exist and have a proven track record for successful climate mitigation.

  12. Mathematical modelling of thin layer hot air drying of apricot with combined heat and power dryer.

    PubMed

    Faal, Saeed; Tavakoli, Teymor; Ghobadian, Barat

    2015-05-01

    In this study thermal energy of an engine was used to dry apricot. For this purpose, experiments were conducted on thin layer drying apricot with combined heat and power dryer, in a laboratory dryer. The drying experiments were carried out for four levels of engine output power (25 %, 50 %, 75 % and full load), producing temperatures of 50, 60, 70, and 80 ° C in drying chamber respectively. The air velocity in drying chamber was about 0.5 ± 0.05 m/s. Different mathematical models were evaluated to predict the behavior of apricot drying in a combined heat and power dryer. Conventional statistical equations namely modeling efficiency (EF), Root mean square error (RMSE) and chi-square (χ2) were also used to determine the most suitable model. Assessments indicated that the Logarithmic model considering the values of EF = 0.998746, χ 2 = 0.000120 and RMSE = 0.004772, shows the best treatment of drying apricot with combined heat and power dryer among eleven models were used in this study. The average values of effective diffusivity ranged 1.6260 × 10(-9) to 4.3612 × 10(-9) m2/s for drying apricot at air temperatures between 50 and 80 °C and at the air flow rate of 0.5 ± 0.05 m/s; the values of Deff increased with the increase of drying temperature the effective diffusivities in the second falling rate period were about eight times greater than that in the first falling rate period.

  13. Biocrusts modulate warming and rainfall exclusion effects on soil respiration in a semi-arid grassland

    PubMed Central

    Escolar, Cristina; Maestre, Fernando T.; Rey, Ana

    2015-01-01

    Soil surface communities composed of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, liverworts, fungi, bacteria and lichens (biocrusts) largely affect soil respiration in dryland ecosystems. Climate change is expected to have large effects on biocrusts and associated ecosystem processes. However, few studies so far have experimentally assessed how expected changes in temperature and rainfall will affect soil respiration in biocrust-dominated ecosystems. We evaluated the impacts of biocrust development, increased air temperature and decreased precipitation on soil respiration dynamics during dry (2009) and wet (2010) years, and investigated the relative importance of soil temperature and moisture as environmental drivers of soil respiration, in a semiarid grassland from central Spain. Soil respiration rates were significantly lower in the dry than during the wet year, regardless of biocrust cover. Warming increased soil respiration rates, but this response was only significant in biocrust-dominated areas (> 50% biocrust cover). Warming also increased the temperature sensitivity (Q10 values) of soil respiration in biocrust-dominated areas, particularly during the wet year. The combination of warming and rainfall exclusion had similar effects in low biocrust cover areas. Our results highlight the importance of biocrusts as a modulator of soil respiration responses to both warming and rainfall exclusion, and indicate that they must be explicitly considered when evaluating soil respiration responses to climate change in drylands. PMID:25914428

  14. PRECISION OF ATMOSPHERIC DRY DEPOSITION DATA FROM THE CLEAN AIR STATUS AND TRENDS NETWORK (CASTNET)

    EPA Science Inventory

    A collocated, dry deposition sampling program was begun in January 1987 by the US Environmental Protection Agency to provide ongoing estimates of the overall precision of dry deposition and supporting data entering the Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNet) archives Duplic...

  15. Contribution of air conditioning adoption to future energy use under global warming.

    PubMed

    Davis, Lucas W; Gertler, Paul J

    2015-05-12

    As household incomes rise around the world and global temperatures go up, the use of air conditioning is poised to increase dramatically. Air conditioning growth is expected to be particularly strong in middle-income countries, but direct empirical evidence is scarce. In this paper we use high-quality microdata from Mexico to describe the relationship between temperature, income, and air conditioning. We describe both how electricity consumption increases with temperature given current levels of air conditioning, and how climate and income drive air conditioning adoption decisions. We then combine these estimates with predicted end-of-century temperature changes to forecast future energy consumption. Under conservative assumptions about household income, our model predicts near-universal saturation of air conditioning in all warm areas within just a few decades. Temperature increases contribute to this surge in adoption, but income growth by itself explains most of the increase. What this will mean for electricity consumption and carbon dioxide emissions depends on the pace of technological change. Continued advances in energy efficiency or the development of new cooling technologies could reduce the energy consumption impacts. Similarly, growth in low-carbon electricity generation could mitigate the increases in carbon dioxide emissions. However, the paper illustrates the enormous potential impacts in this sector, highlighting the importance of future research on adaptation and underscoring the urgent need for global action on climate change.

  16. Contribution of air conditioning adoption to future energy use under global warming

    PubMed Central

    Davis, Lucas W.; Gertler, Paul J.

    2015-01-01

    As household incomes rise around the world and global temperatures go up, the use of air conditioning is poised to increase dramatically. Air conditioning growth is expected to be particularly strong in middle-income countries, but direct empirical evidence is scarce. In this paper we use high-quality microdata from Mexico to describe the relationship between temperature, income, and air conditioning. We describe both how electricity consumption increases with temperature given current levels of air conditioning, and how climate and income drive air conditioning adoption decisions. We then combine these estimates with predicted end-of-century temperature changes to forecast future energy consumption. Under conservative assumptions about household income, our model predicts near-universal saturation of air conditioning in all warm areas within just a few decades. Temperature increases contribute to this surge in adoption, but income growth by itself explains most of the increase. What this will mean for electricity consumption and carbon dioxide emissions depends on the pace of technological change. Continued advances in energy efficiency or the development of new cooling technologies could reduce the energy consumption impacts. Similarly, growth in low-carbon electricity generation could mitigate the increases in carbon dioxide emissions. However, the paper illustrates the enormous potential impacts in this sector, highlighting the importance of future research on adaptation and underscoring the urgent need for global action on climate change. PMID:25918391

  17. Transient Load Following and Control Analysis of Advanced S-CO2 Power Conversion with Dry Air Cooling

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

    Moisseytsev, Anton; Sienicki, James J.

    2016-01-01

    Supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) Brayton cycles are under development as advanced energy converters for advanced nuclear reactors, especially the Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (SFR). The use of dry air cooling for direct heat rejection to the atmosphere ultimate heat sink is increasingly becoming a requirement in many regions due to restrictions on water use. The transient load following and control behavior of an SFR with an S-CO2 cycle power converter utilizing dry air cooling have been investigated. With extension and adjustment of the previously existing control strategy for direct water cooling, S-CO2 cycle power converters can also be used for loadmore » following operation in regions where dry air cooling is a requirement« less

  18. The volatile oil composition of fresh and air-dried buds of Cannabis sativa.

    PubMed

    Ross, S A; ElSohly, M A

    1996-01-01

    The composition of the steam-distilled volatile oil of fresh and air-dried, indoor-grown marijuana was studied by GC/FID and GC/MS. In all, 68 components were detected of which 57 were fully identified. Drying of the plant material had no effect on the qualitative composition of the oil and did not affect the ability of individuals familiar with marijuana smell to recognize the odor.

  19. Effects of warming and drying of soils on the ectomycorrhizal community of a mixed Pinus contorta/Picea engelmannii stand in Yellowstone Park

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cullings, Kenneth; Finley, S. K.; Parker, V. T.; Makhija, S.; DeVincenzi, Donald L. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs) analyses were used to determine patterns of change in ectomycorrhizal community structure response to seasonal warming and drying of soils. Soil cores (42 total, 21 from cold and wet soil in early June, and 21 from dry, warm soil in late August) were collected from replicate blocks in a mixed-conifer forest stand in Yellowstone. Results indicated no significant differences in species richness (2.62 species/core, SE 0.2 in June; 3.25, SE 0.2 in August), however there was a significant effect on ectomycorrhizal infection (P<0.05), mean number of EM tips/core was significantly lower in June (185.8, SE 34) than in August (337 SE 78). Data indicated no difference in overall EM fungal species composition, however among system dominants, two species (Cortinarius 9 and Cortinarius 10) were more abundant in August than in June (P<0.02). The remaining dominant fungal species exhibited no differences in relative abundance. Results are discussed in relation to soil fertility and composition.

  20. Warm & wet or warm & dry? - A tree-ring based drought reconstruction from the European lowlands with emphasis on the medieval climate anomaly

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Scharnweber, Tobias; Heinrich, Ingo; van der Maaten, Ernst; Heußner, Karl-Uwe; Wilmking, Martin

    2016-04-01

    Recent advances in reconstructing natural drought variability in Europe, such as the 'Old world drought atlas' (Cook et al., 2015), have sharpened our picture of historical hydroclimatic variability. However, our knowledge lacks high spatial resolution, especially for the northern non-arid regions. For example, it is still under debate if the so called medieval climate anomaly (MCA; ~950-1300 AD), a period of warm temperatures comparable to the contemporary warm phase, was likewise accompanied by increased drought occurrence, or, on the contrary, was rather wet (e.g. Kress et al., 2014). Here, we present a new millennial long drought reconstruction based on a unique dataset of tree rings from historical and modern beech wood from the northeastern European lowlands. Beech has a stable and strong regional summer drought signal over the calibration period of instrumental data (r>0.7 with drought index PDSI over 1900-2010) which, in contrast to other species such as oak, is consistent irrespective of the site/soil conditions the trees grew in. It can be assumed that during medieval times beech wood was available locally and not traded long distances. This strongly reduces the possibility that the new reconstruction mixes different signals of the possibly high spatial variability of precipitation. The extremely high replication of our chronology for the period 1000-1300 AD (peak in town foundations in NE-Germany) with more than 600 series enables a direct comparison with the well replicated recent period 1800-2010. In contrast to the results of Kress et al. (2014) for the Swiss Alps, but in accordance with the 'Old world drought atlas', our first results point at a rather dry and warm MCA in NE-Germany. In addition they support the observation that the hydroclimate of the twentieth century was highly variable compared with the last millennium. References Cook ER, Seager R, Kushnir Y, et al. (2015) Old World megadroughts and pluvials during the Common Era. Science

  1. Air-Lubricated Thermal Processor For Dry Silver Film

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Siryj, B. W.

    1980-09-01

    Since dry silver film is processed by heat, it may be viewed on a light table only seconds after exposure. On the other hand, wet films require both bulky chemicals and substantial time before an image can be analyzed. Processing of dry silver film, although simple in concept, is not so simple when reduced to practice. The main concern is the effect of film temperature gradients on uniformity of optical film density. RCA has developed two thermal processors, different in implementation but based on the same philosophy. Pressurized air is directed to both sides of the film to support the film and to conduct the heat to the film. Porous graphite is used as the medium through which heat and air are introduced. The initial thermal processor was designed to process 9.5-inch-wide film moving at speeds ranging from 0.0034 to 0.008 inch per second. The processor configuration was curved to match the plane generated by the laser recording beam. The second thermal processor was configured to process 5-inch-wide film moving at a continuously variable rate ranging from 0.15 to 3.5 inches per second. Due to field flattening optics used in this laser recorder, the required film processing area was plane. In addition, this processor was sectioned in the direction of film motion, giving the processor the capability of varying both temperature and effective processing area.

  2. Influence of material structure on air-borne ultrasonic application in drying.

    PubMed

    Ozuna, César; Gómez Álvarez-Arenas, Tomás; Riera, Enrique; Cárcel, Juan A; Garcia-Perez, Jose V

    2014-05-01

    This work aims to contribute to the understanding of how the properties of the material being dried affect air-borne ultrasonic application. To this end, the experimental drying kinetics (40°C and 1m/s) of cassava (Manihot esculenta) and apple (Malus domestica var. Granny Smith) were carried out applying different ultrasonic powers (0, 6, 12, 19, 25 and 31 kW/m(3)). Furthermore, the power ultrasound-assisted drying kinetics of different fruits and vegetables (potato, eggplant, carrot, orange and lemon peel) already reported in previous studies were also analyzed. The structural, textural and acoustic properties of all these products were assessed, and the drying kinetics modeled by means of the diffusion theory. A significant linear correlation (r>0.95) was established between the identified effective diffusivity (DW) and the applied ultrasonic power for the different products. The slope of this relationship (SDUP) was used as an index of the effectiveness of the ultrasonic application; thus the higher the SDUP, the more effective the ultrasound application. SDUP was well correlated (r ⩾ 0.95) with the porosity and hardness. In addition, SDUP was largely affected by the acoustic impedance of the material being dried, showing a similar pattern with the impedance than the transmission coefficient of the acoustic energy on the interface. Thus, soft and open-porous product structures exhibited a better transmission of acoustic energy and were more prone to the mechanical effects of ultrasound. However, materials with a hard and closed-compact structure were less affected by acoustic energy due to the fact that the significant impedance differences between the product and the air cause high energy losses on the interface. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Decoupled responses of soil bacteria and their invertebrate consumer to warming, but not freeze-thaw cycles, in the Antarctic Dry Valleys.

    PubMed

    Knox, Matthew A; Andriuzzi, Walter S; Buelow, Heather N; Takacs-Vesbach, Cristina; Adams, Byron J; Wall, Diana H

    2017-10-01

    Altered temperature profiles resulting in increased warming and freeze-thaw cycle (FTC) frequency pose great ecological challenges to organisms in alpine and polar ecosystems. We performed a laboratory microcosm experiment to investigate how temperature variability affects soil bacterial cell numbers, and abundance and traits of soil microfauna (the microbivorous nematode Scottnema lindsayae) from McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. FTCs and constant freezing shifted nematode body size distribution towards large individuals, driven by higher mortality among smaller individuals. FTCs reduced both bacterial and nematode abundance, but bacterial cell numbers also declined under warming, demonstrating decoupled consumer-prey responses. We predict that higher occurrence of FTCs in cold ecosystems will select for large body size within soil microinvertebrates and overall reduce their abundance. In contrast, warm temperatures without FTCs could lead to divergent responses in soil bacteria and their microinvertebrate consumers, potentially affecting energy and nutrient transfer rates in soil food webs of cold ecosystems. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  4. Combustion Gas Properties I-ASTM Jet a Fuel and Dry Air

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jones, R. E.; Trout, A. M.; Wear, J. D.; Mcbride, B. J.

    1984-01-01

    A series of computations was made to produce the equilibrium temperature and gas composition for ASTM jet A fuel and dry air. The computed tables and figures provide combustion gas property data for pressures from 0.5 to 50 atmospheres and equivalence ratios from 0 to 2.0.

  5. Low temperature hot air drying of potato cubes subjected to osmotic dehydration and intermittent microwave: drying kinetics, energy consumption and product quality indexes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dehghannya, Jalal; Bozorghi, Somayyeh; Heshmati, Maryam Khakbaz

    2018-04-01

    Hot-air drying is a slow energy-extensive process. Use of intermittent microwave (IM) in hot-air (HA) drying of food products is characterized with advantages including reduced process time, energy saving, and improved final quality. In this study, the effect of IM-HA drying following an osmotic dehydration (OD) pretreatment was analyzed on qualitative and quantitative properties of the output (i.e. effective moisture diffusion coefficient (Deff), shrinkage, bulk density, rehydration and energy consumption). Temperature and airflow velocity were fixed at 40°C and 1 m/s, respectively. The process variables included sucrose solution concentration at five levels (0 or control, 10, 30, 50 and 70 w/w%), microwave output power at four levels (0 or control, 360, 600 and 900 W), and pulse ratio at four levels (1, 2, 3 and 4). Use of osmotic dehydration in combination with IM-HA drying reduced the drying time by up to about 54%. Increasing the osmotic solution concentration to 30% and using higher pulse ratios increased the Deff. The lowest shrinkage and bulk density as well as the highest rehydration belonged to the 900 W microwave power and pulse ratio of 4. The lowest energy consumption was observed when using the 900 W power level, showing 63.27% less consumption than the HA drying method.

  6. Potential Alternative Lower Global Warming Refrigerants for Air Conditioning in Hot Climates

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

    Abdelaziz, Omar; Shrestha, Som S; Shen, Bo

    The earth continues to see record increase in temperatures and extreme weather conditions that is largely driven by anthropogenic emissions of warming gases such as carbon dioxide and other more potent greenhouse gases such as refrigerants. The cooperation of 188 countries in the Conference of the Parties in Paris 2015 (COP21) resulted in an agreement aimed to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2 C. A global phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) can prevent 0.5 C of warming by 2100. However, most of the countries in hot climates are consideredmore » as developing countries and as such are still using R-22 (a Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)) as the baseline refrigerant and are currently undergoing a phase-out of R-22 which is controlled by current Montreal Protocol to R-410A and other HFC based refrigerants. These HFCs have significantly high Global Warming Potential (GWP) and might not perform as well as R-22 at high ambient temperature conditions. In this paper we present recent results on evaluating the performance of alternative lower GWP refrigerants for R-22 and R-410A for small residential mini-split air conditioners and large commercial packaged units. Results showed that several of the alternatives would provide adequate replacement for R-22 with minor system modification. For the R-410A system, results showed that some of the alternatives were almost drop-in ready with benefit in efficiency and/or capacity. One of the most promising alternatives for R-22 mini-split unit is propane (R-290) as it offers higher efficiency; however it requires compressor and some other minor system modification to maintain capacity and minimize flammability risk. Between the R-410A alternatives, R-32 appears to have a competitive advantage; however at the cost of higher compressor discharge temperature. With respect to the hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) blends, there existed a tradeoff in performance and system

  7. Dry deposition and soil-air gas exchange of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in an industrial area.

    PubMed

    Bozlaker, Ayse; Odabasi, Mustafa; Muezzinoglu, Aysen

    2008-12-01

    Ambient air and dry deposition, and soil samples were collected at the Aliaga industrial site in Izmir, Turkey. Atmospheric total (particle+gas) Sigma(41)-PCB concentrations were higher in summer (3370+/-1617 pg m(-3), average+SD) than in winter (1164+/-618 pg m(-3)), probably due to increased volatilization with temperature. Average particulate Sigma(41)-PCBs dry deposition fluxes were 349+/-183 and 469+/-328 ng m(-2) day(-1) in summer and winter, respectively. Overall average particulate deposition velocity was 5.5+/-3.5 cm s(-1). The spatial distribution of Sigma(41)-PCB soil concentrations (n=48) showed that the iron-steel plants, ship dismantling facilities, refinery and petrochemicals complex are the major sources in the area. Calculated air-soil exchange fluxes indicated that the contaminated soil is a secondary source to the atmosphere for lighter PCBs and as a sink for heavier ones. Comparable magnitude of gas exchange and dry particle deposition fluxes indicated that both mechanisms are equally important for PCB movement between air and soil in Aliaga.

  8. Dry Pressed Holey Graphene Composites for Li-air Battery Cathodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lacey, Steven; Lin, Yi; Hu, Liangbing

    Graphene is considered an ``omnipotent'' material due to its unique structural characteristics and chemical properties. By heating graphene powder in an open-ended tube furnace, a novel compressible carbon material, holey graphene (hG), can be created with controlled porosity and be further decorated with nanosized catalysts to increase electrocatalytic activity. All hG-based materials were characterized using various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques to obtain morphological, topographical, and chemical information as well as to identify any disordered/crystalline phases. In this work, an additive-free dry press method was employed to press the hG composite materials into high mass loading mixed, sandwich, and double-decker Li-air cathode architectures using a hydraulic press. The sandwich and double-decker (i.e. Big Mac) cathode architectures are the first of its kind and can be discharged for more than 200 hours at a current density of 0.2 mA/cm2. The scalable, binderless, and solventless dry press method and unique Li-air cathode architectures presented here greatly advance electrode fabrication possibilities and could promote future energy storage advancements. Support appreciated from the NASA Internships Fellowships Scholarships (NIFS) Program.

  9. Final report on international comparison CCQM-K83: Halocarbons in dry whole air

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rhoderick, George; Guenther, Franklin; Duewer, David; Lee, Jeongsoon; Moon, Dongmin; Lee, Jinbok; Lim, Jeongsik; Seog Kim, Jin

    2014-01-01

    The growing awareness of climate change/global warming and continuing concerns regarding stratospheric ozone depletion will require future measurements and standards for many compounds, in particular halocarbons that are linked to these issues. In order to track and control the emissions of these species globally in the atmosphere, it is necessary to demonstrate measurement equivalence at the highest levels of accuracy for assigned values of standards. This report describes the results of a key comparison for several of the more important halocarbons at atmospheric concentration levels. The comparison includes the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC 12), trichlorofluoromethane (CFC 11), and 1,1,2 trichlorotrifluoroethane (CFC 113); the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC 22) and 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane (HCFC 142b); and the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 1,1,1,2 tetrafluoroethane (HFC 134a), all in a dried whole air sample. The objective of this key comparison is to compare the measurement capabilities of the participants for these halocarbons at trace atmospheric levels. 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).

  10. Drying kinetics and characteristics of dried gambir leaves using solar heating and silica gel dessicant

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hasibuan, R.; Hidayati, J.; Sundari, R.; Wicaksono, A. S.

    2018-02-01

    A drying combination of solar heating and silica gel dessicant has been applied to dry gambir leaves. The solar energy is captured by a collector to heat the air and the hot air is used to dry gambir leaves in a drying chamber. An exhaust fan in drying chamber assists to draw water molecules from gambir leaves accelerated by silica gel dessicant. This study has investigated the drying kinetics and drying characteristics of gambir leaves drying. In drying operation the air velocity is tuned by a PWM (pulse width modulation) controller to adjust minimum and maximum level, which is based on the rotation speed of the exhaust fan. The results show that the air velocity influenced the drying kinetics and drying characteristics of gambir leaves using solar-dessicant drying at 40 cm distance between exhaust fan and silica gel dessicant.

  11. Attaining whole-ecosystem warming using air and deep-soil heating methods with an elevated CO2 atmosphere

    DOE PAGES

    Hanson, Paul J.; Riggs, Jeffery S.; Nettles, IV, W. Robert; ...

    2017-02-24

    This paper describes the operational methods to achieve and measure both deep-soil heating (0–3 m) and whole-ecosystem warming (WEW) appropriate to the scale of tall-stature, high-carbon, boreal forest peatlands. The methods were developed to allow scientists to provide a plausible set of ecosystem-warming scenarios within which immediate and longer-term (1 decade) responses of organisms (microbes to trees) and ecosystem functions (carbon, water and nutrient cycles) could be measured. Elevated CO 2 was also incorporated to test how temperature responses may be modified by atmospheric CO 2 effects on carbon cycle processes. The WEW approach was successful in sustaining a widemore » range of aboveground and belowground temperature treatments (+0, +2.25, +4.5, +6.75 and +9 °C) in large 115 m 2 open-topped enclosures with elevated CO 2 treatments (+0 to +500 ppm). Air warming across the entire 10 enclosure study required ~90 % of the total energy for WEW ranging from 64 283 mega Joules (MJ) d –1 during the warm season to 80 102 MJ d –1 during cold months. Soil warming across the study required only 1.3 to 1.9 % of the energy used ranging from 954 to 1782 MJ d –1 of energy in the warm and cold seasons, respectively. The residual energy was consumed by measurement and communication systems. Sustained temperature and elevated CO 2 treatments were only constrained by occasional high external winds. This paper contrasts the in situ WEW method with closely related field-warming approaches using both aboveground (air or infrared heating) and belowground-warming methods. It also includes a full discussion of confounding factors that need to be considered carefully in the interpretation of experimental results. As a result, the WEW method combining aboveground and deep-soil heating approaches enables observations of future temperature conditions not available in the current observational record, and therefore provides a plausible glimpse of future environmental

  12. Attaining whole-ecosystem warming using air and deep-soil heating methods with an elevated CO2 atmosphere

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

    Hanson, Paul J.; Riggs, Jeffery S.; Nettles, IV, W. Robert

    This paper describes the operational methods to achieve and measure both deep-soil heating (0–3 m) and whole-ecosystem warming (WEW) appropriate to the scale of tall-stature, high-carbon, boreal forest peatlands. The methods were developed to allow scientists to provide a plausible set of ecosystem-warming scenarios within which immediate and longer-term (1 decade) responses of organisms (microbes to trees) and ecosystem functions (carbon, water and nutrient cycles) could be measured. Elevated CO 2 was also incorporated to test how temperature responses may be modified by atmospheric CO 2 effects on carbon cycle processes. The WEW approach was successful in sustaining a widemore » range of aboveground and belowground temperature treatments (+0, +2.25, +4.5, +6.75 and +9 °C) in large 115 m 2 open-topped enclosures with elevated CO 2 treatments (+0 to +500 ppm). Air warming across the entire 10 enclosure study required ~90 % of the total energy for WEW ranging from 64 283 mega Joules (MJ) d –1 during the warm season to 80 102 MJ d –1 during cold months. Soil warming across the study required only 1.3 to 1.9 % of the energy used ranging from 954 to 1782 MJ d –1 of energy in the warm and cold seasons, respectively. The residual energy was consumed by measurement and communication systems. Sustained temperature and elevated CO 2 treatments were only constrained by occasional high external winds. This paper contrasts the in situ WEW method with closely related field-warming approaches using both aboveground (air or infrared heating) and belowground-warming methods. It also includes a full discussion of confounding factors that need to be considered carefully in the interpretation of experimental results. As a result, the WEW method combining aboveground and deep-soil heating approaches enables observations of future temperature conditions not available in the current observational record, and therefore provides a plausible glimpse of future environmental

  13. Mathematical models and qualities of shredded Thai-style instant rice under a combined gas-fired infrared and air convection drying

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nachaisin, Mali; Teeta, Suminya; Deejing, Konlayut; Pharanat, Wanida

    2017-09-01

    Instant food is a product produced for convenience for consumer. Qualities are an important attribute of food materials reflecting consumer acceptance. The most problem of instant rice is casehardening during drying process resulted in the longer rehydration time. The objective of this research was to study the qualities of shredded Thai-style instant rice under a combined gas-fired infrared and air convection drying. Additionally, the mathematical models for gas-fired infrared assisted thin-layer drying of shredded Thai-style rice for traditional was investigated. The thin-layer drying of shredded Thai-style rice was carried out under gas-fired infrared intensities of 1000W/m2, air temperatures of 70°C and air velocities of 1 m/s. The drying occurred in the falling rate of drying period. The Page model was found to satisfactorily describe the drying behavior of shredded Thai-style rice, providing the highest R2 (0.997) and the lowest MBE and RMSE (0.01 and 0.18) respectively. A 9 point hedonic test showed in softness and color, but odor and overall acceptance were very similar.

  14. Quantification of Local Warming Trend: A Remote Sensing-Based Approach

    PubMed Central

    Rahaman, Khan Rubayet; Hassan, Quazi K.

    2017-01-01

    Understanding the warming trends at local level is critical; and, the development of relevant adaptation and mitigation policies at those levels are quite challenging. Here, our overall goal was to generate local warming trend map at 1 km spatial resolution by using: (i) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-based 8-day composite surface temperature data; (ii) weather station-based yearly average air temperature data; and (iii) air temperature normal (i.e., 30 year average) data over the Canadian province of Alberta during the period 1961–2010. Thus, we analysed the station-based air temperature data in generating relationships between air temperature normal and yearly average air temperature in order to facilitate the selection of year-specific MODIS-based surface temperature data. These MODIS data in conjunction with weather station-based air temperature normal data were then used to model local warming trends. We observed that almost 88% areas of the province experienced warming trends (i.e., up to 1.5°C). The study concluded that remote sensing technology could be useful for delineating generic trends associated with local warming. PMID:28072857

  15. Effect of different drying technologies on drying characteristics and quality of red pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.): a comparative study.

    PubMed

    Cao, Zhen-Zhen; Zhou, Lin-Yan; Bi, Jin-Feng; Yi, Jian-Yong; Chen, Qin-Qin; Wu, Xin-Ye; Zheng, Jin-Kai; Li, Shu-Rong

    2016-08-01

    Hot air drying and sun drying are traditional drying technologies widely used in the drying of agricultural products for a long time, but usually recognized as time-consuming or producing lower-quality products. Infrared drying is a rather effective drying technology that has advantages over traditional drying technologies. Thus, in order to investigate the application of infrared drying in the dehydration of red pepper, the drying characteristics and quality of infrared-dried red pepper were compared with those of sun-dried and hot air-dried red pepper. The infrared drying technology significantly enhanced the drying rate when compared with hot air drying and sun drying. Temperature was the most important factor affecting the moisture transfer during the process of infrared drying as well as hot air drying. Effective moisture diffusivity (Deff ) values of infrared drying ranged from 1.58 × 10(-9) to 3.78 × 10(-9) m(2) s(-1) . The Ea values of infrared drying and hot air drying were 42.67 and 44.48 kJ mol(-1) respectively. Infrared drying and hot air drying produced color loss to a similar extent. Relatively higher crispness values were observed for infrared-dried samples. Sun drying produced dried red pepper with the best color when compared with hot air drying and infrared drying. Meanwhile, infrared drying markedly improved the drying rate at the same drying temperature level of hot air drying, and the products obtained had relatively better quality with higher crispness values. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

  16. Sensitivity of the boreal forest-mire ecotone CO2, CH4, and N2O global warming potential to rainy and dry weather

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ťupek, Boris; Minkkinen, Kari; Vesala, Timo; Nikinmaa, Eero

    2015-04-01

    In a mosaic of well drained forests and poorly drained mires of boreal landscape the weather events such as drought and rainy control greenhouse gas dynamics and ecosystem global warming potential (GWP). In forest-mire ecotone especially in ecosystems where CO2 sink is nearly balanced with CO2 source, it's fairly unknown whether the net warming effect of emissions of gases with strong radiative forcing (CH4 and N2O) could offset the net cooling effect of CO2 sequestration. We compared the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) estimated from the carbon sequestrations of forest stands and forest floor CO2 fluxes against CH4 and N2O fluxes of nine forest/mire site types along the soil moisture gradient in Finland. The ground water of nine sites changed between 10 m in upland forests and 0.1 m in mires, and weather during three years ranged between exceptionally wet and dry for the local climate. The NEE of upland forests was typically a sink of CO2, regardless the weather. Though, xeric pine forest was estimated to be a source of CO2 during wet and intermediate year and became a weak sink only in dry year. The NEE of forest-mire transitions ranged between a sink in dry year, while increased stand carbon sequestration could offset the reduced forest floor CO2 emission, and a source in wet year. The NEE of two sparsely forested mires strongly differed. The lawn type mire was balanced around zero and the hummock type mire was relatively strong NEE sink, regardless the weather. Generally, nearly zero N2O emission could not offset the cooling effect of net CH4 sink and net CO2 sink of upland forest and forest-mire transitions. However in sparsely forested mires, with N2O emission also nearly zero, the CH4 emission during wet and intermediate year played important role in turning the net cooling effect of NEE into a net warming. When evaluating GWP of boreal landscapes, undisturbed forest-mire transitions should be regarded as net cooling ecosystems instead of hotspots of net

  17. Influence of air-drying temperature on drying kinetics, colour, firmness and biochemical characteristics of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fillets.

    PubMed

    Ortiz, Jaime; Lemus-Mondaca, Roberto; Vega-Gálvez, Antonio; Ah-Hen, Kong; Puente-Diaz, Luis; Zura-Bravo, Liliana; Aubourg, Santiago

    2013-08-15

    In this work the drying kinetics of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fillets and the influence of air drying temperature on colour, firmness and biochemical characteristics were studied. Experiments were conducted at 40, 50 and 60°C. Effective moisture diffusivity increased with temperature from 1.08×10(-10) to 1.90×10(-10) m(2) s(-1). The colour difference, determined as ΔE values (from 9.3 to 19.3), as well as firmness (from 25 to 75 N mm(-1)) of dried samples increased with dehydration temperature. The lightness value L(∗) and yellowness value b(∗) indicated formation of browning products at higher drying temperatures, while redness value a(∗) showed dependence on astaxanthin value. Compared with fresh fish samples, palmitic acid and tocopherol content decreased in a 20% and 40%, respectively, with temperature. While eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) content remained unchanged and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) content changed slightly. Anisidine and thiobarbituric acid values indicated the formation of secondary lipid oxidation products, which is more relevant for longer drying time than for higher drying temperatures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Visiting a sauna: does inhaling hot dry air reduce common cold symptoms? A randomised controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Pach, Daniel; Knöchel, Bettina; Lüdtke, Rainer; Wruck, Katja; Willich, Stefan N; Witt, Claudia M

    To compare the efficacy of applying hot dry air versus dry air at room temperature to the throat of patients with a newly acquired common cold using a symptom severity score. A randomised single-blind controlled trial with a treatment duration of 3 days and a follow-up period of 4 days was conducted at a sauna in Berlin, Germany. Between November 2007 and March 2008 and between September 2008 and April 2009, 157 patients with symptoms of the common cold were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=80) and a control group (n=77). Participants in the intervention group inhaled hot dry air within a hot sauna, dressed in a winter coat, whereas participants in the control group inhaled dry air at room temperature within a hot sauna, also dressed in a winter coat. Area under the curve (AUC) summarising symptom severity over time (Days 2, 3, 5 and 7), symptom severity scores for individual days, intake of medication for the common cold and general ill feeling. No significant difference between groups was observed for AUC representing symptom severity over time (intervention group mean, 31.2 [SEM, 1.8]; control group mean, 35.1 [SEM, 2.3]; group difference, -3.9 [95% CI, -9.7 to 1.9]; P=0.19). However, significant differences between groups were found for medication use on Day 1 (P=0.01), symptom severity score on Day 2 (P=0.04), and participants' ratings of the effectiveness of the therapy on Day 7 (P=0.03). Inhaling hot air while in a sauna has no significant impact on overall symptom severity of the common cold. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00552981.

  19. Understanding cathode flooding and dry-out for water management in air breathing PEM fuel cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paquin, Mathieu; Fréchette, Luc G.

    An analysis of water management in air breathing small polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is presented. Comprehensive understanding of flooding and dry-out limiting phenomena is presented through a combination of analytical modeling and experimental investigations using a small PEMFC prototype. Configurations of the fuel cell with different heat and mass transfer properties are experimentally evaluated to assess the impact of thermal resistance and mass transport resistance on water balance. Manifestation of dry-out and flooding problems, as limiting phenomena, are explained through a ratio between these two resistances. Main conclusions are that decreasing the ratio between thermal and mass transport resistance under a certain point leads to flooding problems in air breathing PEMFC. Increasing this ratio leads to dry-out of the polymer electrolyte membrane. However, too high thermal resistance or too low mass transport resistance reduces the limiting current by pushing forward the dry-out problem. This work provides a framework to achieve the proper balance between thermal rejection and mass transport to optimize the maximum current density of free convection fuel cells.

  20. Effect of hot air drying on volatile compounds of Flammulina velutipes detected by HS-SPME-GC-MS and electronic nose.

    PubMed

    Yang, Wenjian; Yu, Jie; Pei, Fei; Mariga, Alfred Mugambi; Ma, Ning; Fang, Yong; Hu, Qiuhui

    2016-04-01

    Volatile compounds are important factors that affect the flavor quality of Flammulina velutipes, but the changes occurring during hot air drying is still unclear. To clarify the dynamic changes of flavor components during hot air drying, comprehensive flavor characterization and volatile compounds of F. velutipes were evaluated using electronic nose technology and headspace solid phase micro-extraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS), respectively. Results showed that volatile components in F. velutipes significantly changed during hot air drying according to the principal component analysis and radar fingerprint chart of electronic nose. Volatile compounds of fresh F. velutipes consisted mainly of ketones, aldehydes and alcohols, and 3-octanone was the dominant compound. Drying process could significantly decrease the relative content of ketones and promoted the generation of alcohols, acids, and esters, which became the main volatile compounds of dried F. velutipes. These may provide a theoretical basis for the formation mechanism of flavor substances in dried F. velutipes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Effect of drying on yield and calorific values of extractables from leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)

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

    Wiatr, S.M.

    1984-04-01

    The effect of dehydration on yield and calorific values has been investigated for oils, hydrocarbons, and poly-phenols extracted from leaves of Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge). Methods of dehydration employed were with a warm oven (50 degrees C), a hot oven (105 degrees C), at room temperature (25 degrees C), and with freeze drying. Generally, dehydration resulted in a loss of yield for all extractives. Noteworthy exceptions were oil yields from the warm-oven or air-dried biomass which did not differ significantly from fresh tissue. Significant differences in calorific values (range 4643-5192 cal/g) were observed for each category of whole leafy biomassmore » dehydrated as indicated above. Dehydration reduced the calorific value of oils (range 9483-10,095 cal/g) but tended to increase the calorific values of polyphenols (range 4178-6033 cal/g). NMR spectroscopy of the oil fraction suggested that dehydration did not grossly alter the composition of oils, despite differences in yield and calorific values.« less

  2. Effect of drying on yield and calorific values of extractables from leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)

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

    Wiatr, S.M.

    1984-01-01

    The effect of dehydration on yield and calorific values has been investigated for oils, hydrocarbons, and polyphenols extracted from leaves of Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge). Methods of dehydration employed were with a warm oven (50/sup 0/C), a hot oven (105/sup 0/C), at room temperature (25/sup 0/C), and with freeze drying. Generally, dehydration resulted in a loss of yield for all extractives. Noteworthy exceptions were oil yields from the warm-oven- or air-dried biomass which did not differ significantly from fresh tissue. Significant differences in calorific values (range 4643-5192 cal/g) were observed for each category of whole leafy biomass dehydrated as indicatedmore » above. Dehydration reduced the calorific value of oils (range 9483-10,095 cal/g) but tended to increase the calorific values of polyphenols (range 4178-6033 cal/g). NMR spectroscopy of the oil fraction suggested that dehydration did not grossly alter the composition of oils, despite differences in yield and calorific values.« less

  3. Drying characteristics of whole Musa AA group ‘Kluai Leb Mu Nang’ using hot air and infrared vacuum

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kulketwong, C.; Thungsotanon, D.; Suwanpayak, N.

    2017-06-01

    Dried Musa AA group ‘Kluai Leb Mu Nang’ are the famous processing goods of Chumphon province, the south of Thailand. In this paper, we improved the qualities of whole Musa AA group ‘Kluai leb Mu Nang’ by using the hot air and infrared vacuum (HA and infrared vacuum) drying method which has two stages. The first stage of the method is the hot air (HA) and hot air-infrared (HAI) drying for rapidly reducing the moisture content and the drying times at atmospheric pressure, and the second stage, the moisture content, and color of the samples can be controlled by the HA and infrared vacuum drying. The experiment was evaluated by the terms of firmness, color change, moisture content, vacuum pressure and energy consumption at various temperatures. The results were found that the suitable temperature of the HAI and HA and infrared vacuum drying stages at 70°C and 55°C, respectively, while the suitable vacuum pressure in the second process was -0.4 bar. The samples were dried in a total of 28 hrs using 13.83 MJ/kg of specific energy consumption (stage 1 with 8.8 MJ/kg and stage 2 of 5.03 MJ/kg). The physical characteristics of the 21% (wb) of dried bananas can be measured the color change, L*=38.56, a*=16.47 and b*=16.3, was approximate the goods from the local market, whereas the firmness of them was more tender and shown a value of 849.56 kN/m3.

  4. Combustion gas properties. 2: Natural gas fuel and dry air

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wear, J. D.; Jones, R. E.; Trout, A. M.; Mcbride, B. J.

    1985-01-01

    A series of computations has been made to produce the equilibrium temperature and gas composition for natural gas fuel and dry air. The computed tables and figures provide combustion gas property data for pressures from 0.5 to 50 atmospheres and equivalence ratios from 0 to 2.0. Only samples tables and figures are provided in this report. The complete set of tables and figures is provided on four microfiche films supplied with this report.

  5. Effects of air temperature and velocity on the drying kinetics and product particle size of starch from arrowroot (Maranta arundinacae)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caparanga, Alvin R.; Reyes, Rachael Anne L.; Rivas, Reiner L.; De Vera, Flordeliza C.; Retnasamy, Vithyacharan; Aris, Hasnizah

    2017-11-01

    This study utilized the 3k factorial design with k as the two varying factors namely, temperature and air velocity. The effects of temperature and air velocity on the drying rate curves and on the average particle diameter of the arrowroot starch were investigated. Extracted arrowroot starch samples were dried based on the designed parameters until constant weight was obtained. The resulting initial moisture content of the arrowroot starch was 49.4%. Higher temperatures correspond to higher drying rates and faster drying time while air velocity effects were approximately negligible or had little effect. Drying rate is a function of temperature and time. The constant rate period was not observed for the drying rate of arrowroot starch. The drying curves were fitted against five mathematical models: Lewis, Page, Henderson and Pabis, Logarithmic and Midili. The Midili Model was the best fit for the experimental data since it yielded the highest R2 and the lowest RSME values for all runs. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used for qualitative analysis and for determination of average particle diameter of the starch granules. The starch granules average particle diameter had a range of 12.06 - 24.60 μm. The use of ANOVA proved that particle diameters for each run varied significantly with each other. And, the Taguchi Design proved that high temperatures yield lower average particle diameter, while high air velocities yield higher average particle diameter.

  6. Experimental study on drying kinetic of cassava starch in a pneumatic drying system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Suherman, Kumoro, Andri Cahyo; Kusworo, Tutuk Djoko

    2015-12-01

    The aims of this study are to present the experimental research on the drying of cassava starch in a pneumatic dryer, to describe its drying curves, as well as to calculate its thermal efficiency. The effects of operating conditions, namely the inlet air temperature (60-100 °C) and solid-gas flow rate ratio (Ms/Mg 0.1-0.3) were studied. Heat transfer is accomplished through convection mechanism in a drying chamber based on the principle of direct contact between the heated air and the moist material. During the drying process, intensive heat and mass transfer between the drying air and the cassava starch take place. In order to meet the SNI standards on solid water content, the drying process was done in two cycles. The higher the temperature of the drying air, the lower the water content of the solids exiting the dryer. Thermal efficiency of the 2nd cycle was found to be lower than the 1st cycle.

  7. Antioxidant N-acetyltransferase Mpr1/2 of industrial baker's yeast enhances fermentation ability after air-drying stress in bread dough.

    PubMed

    Sasano, Yu; Takahashi, Shunsuke; Shima, Jun; Takagi, Hiroshi

    2010-03-31

    During bread-making processes, yeast cells are exposed to multiple stresses. Air-drying stress is one of the most harmful stresses by generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Previously, we discovered that the novel N-acetyltransferase Mpr1/2 confers oxidative stress tolerance by reducing intracellular ROS level in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sigma1278b strain. In this study, we revealed that Japanese industrial baker's yeast possesses one MPR gene. The nucleotide sequence of the MPR gene in industrial baker's yeast was identical to the MPR2 gene in Sigma1278b strain. Gene disruption analysis showed that the MPR2 gene in industrial baker's yeast is involved in air-drying stress tolerance by reducing the intracellular oxidation levels. We also found that expression of the Lys63Arg and Phe65Leu variants with enhanced enzymatic activity and stability, respectively, increased the fermentation ability of bread dough after exposure to air-drying stress compared with the wild-type Mpr1. In addition, our recent study showed that industrial baker's yeast cells accumulating proline exhibited enhanced freeze tolerance in bread dough. Proline accumulation also enhanced the fermentation ability after air-drying stress treatment in industrial baker's yeast. Hence, the antioxidant enzyme Mpr1/2 could be promising for breeding novel yeast strains that are tolerant to air-drying stress. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Electro-Hydrodynamics and Kinetic Modeling of Dry and Humid Air Flows Activated by Corona Discharges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    P. Sarrette, J.; Eichwald, O.; Marchal, F.; Ducasse, O.; Yousfi, M.

    2016-05-01

    The present work is devoted to the 2D simulation of a point-to-plane Atmospheric Corona Discharge Reactor (ACDR) powered by a DC high voltage supply. The corona reactor is periodically crossed by thin mono filamentary streamers with a natural repetition frequency of some tens of kHz. The study compares the results obtained in dry air and in air mixed with a small amount of water vapour (humid air). The simulation involves the electro-dynamics, chemical kinetics and neutral gas hydrodynamics phenomena that influence the kinetics of the chemical species transformation. Each discharge lasts about one hundred of a nanosecond while the post-discharge occurring between two successive discharges lasts one hundred of a microsecond. The ACDR is crossed by a lateral dry or humid air flow initially polluted with 400 ppm of NO. After 5 ms, the time corresponding to the occurrence of 50 successive discharge/post-discharge phases, a higher NO removal rate and a lower ozone production rate are found in humid air. This change is due to the presence of the HO2 species formed from the H primary radical in the discharge zone.

  9. Air drying modelling of Mastocarpus stellatus seaweed a source of hybrid carrageenan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arufe, Santiago; Torres, Maria D.; Chenlo, Francisco; Moreira, Ramon

    2018-01-01

    Water sorption isotherms from 5 up to 65 °C and air drying kinetics at 35, 45 and 55 °C of Mastocarpus stellatus seaweed were determined. Experimental sorption data were modelled using BET and Oswin models. A four-parameter model, based on Oswin model, was proposed to estimate equilibrium moisture content as function of water activity and temperature simultaneously. Drying experiments showed that water removal rate increased significantly with temperature from 35 to 45 °C, but at higher temperatures drying rate remained constant. Some chemical modifications of the hybrid carrageenans present in the seaweed can be responsible of this unexpected thermal trend. Experimental drying data were modelled using two-parameter Page model (n, k). Page parameter n was constant (1.31 ± 0.10) at tested temperatures, but k varied significantly with drying temperature (from 18.5 ± 0.2 10-3 min-n at 35 °C up to 28.4 ± 0.8 10-3 min-n at 45 and 55 °C). Drying experiments allowed the determination of the critical moisture content of seaweed (0.87 ± 0.06 kg water (kg d.b.)-1). A diffusional model considering slab geometry was employed to determine the effective diffusion coefficient of water during the falling rate period at different temperatures.

  10. Relative roles of differential SST warming, uniform SST warming and land surface warming in determining the Walker circulation changes under global warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Lei; Li, Tim

    2017-02-01

    Most of CMIP5 models projected a weakened Walker circulation in tropical Pacific, but what causes such change is still an open question. By conducting idealized numerical simulations separating the effects of the spatially uniform sea surface temperature (SST) warming, extra land surface warming and differential SST warming, we demonstrate that the weakening of the Walker circulation is attributed to the western North Pacific (WNP) monsoon and South America land effects. The effect of the uniform SST warming is through so-called "richest-get-richer" mechanism. In response to a uniform surface warming, the WNP monsoon is enhanced by competing moisture with other large-scale convective branches. The strengthened WNP monsoon further induces surface westerlies in the equatorial western-central Pacific, weakening the Walker circulation. The increase of the greenhouse gases leads to a larger land surface warming than ocean surface. As a result, a greater thermal contrast occurs between American Continent and equatorial Pacific. The so-induced zonal pressure gradient anomaly forces low-level westerly anomalies over the equatorial eastern Pacific and weakens the Walker circulation. The differential SST warming also plays a role in driving low-level westerly anomalies over tropical Pacific. But such an effect involves a positive air-sea feedback that amplifies the weakening of both east-west SST gradient and Pacific trade winds.

  11. Reevaluating the Role of Saharan Air Layer in Atlantic Tropical Cyclogenesis and Evolution

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braun, Scott A.

    2010-01-01

    The existence of the Saharan air layer (SAL), a layer of warm, dry, dusty air that frequently moves westward off of the Saharan desert of Africa and over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, has long been appreciated. As air moves over the desert, it is strongly heated from below, producing a very hot air mass at low levels. Because there is no moisture source over the Sahara, the rise in temperature causes a sharp drop in relative humidity, thus drying the air. In addition, the warm air produces a very strong jet of easterly flow in the middle troposphere called the African easterly jet that is thought to play a critical role in hurricane formation. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the impact that the SAL has on the formation and evolution of hurricanes in the Atlantic. However, the nature of its impact remains unclear, with some researchers arguing that the SAL amplifies hurricane development and with others arguing that it inhibits it. The argument for positively influencing hurricane development is based upon the fact that the African easterly jet provides an energy source for the waves that eventually form hurricanes and that it leads to rising motion south of the jet that favors the development of deep thunderstorm clouds. The potential negative impacts of the SAL include 1) low-level vertical wind shear associated with the African easterly jet; 2) warm SAL air aloft, which increases thermodynamic stability and suppresses cloud development; and 3) dry air, which produces cold downdrafts in precipitating regions, thereby removing energy needed for storm development. As part of this recent focus on the SAL and hurricanes (which motivated a 2006 NASA field experiment), there has been little emphasis on the SAL s potential positive influences and almost complete emphasis on its possible negative influences, almost to the point of claims that the SAL is the major suppressing influence on hurricanes in the Atlantic. In this study, multiple NASA

  12. Biomass production in experimental grasslands of different species richness during three years of climate warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Boeck, H. J.; Lemmens, C. M. H. M.; Gielen, B.; Malchair, S.; Carnol, M.; Merckx, R.; van den Berge, J.; Ceulemans, R.; Nijs, I.

    2007-12-01

    Here we report on the single and combined impacts of climate warming and species richness on the biomass production in experimental grassland communities. Projections of a future warmer climate have stimulated studies on the response of terrestrial ecosystems to this global change. Experiments have likewise addressed the importance of species numbers for ecosystem functioning. There is, however, little knowledge on the interplay between warming and species richness. During three years, we grew experimental plant communities containing one, three or nine grassland species in 12 sunlit, climate-controlled chambers in Wilrijk, Belgium. Half of these chambers were exposed to ambient air temperatures (unheated), while the other half were warmed by 3°C (heated). Equal amounts of water were added to heated and unheated communities, so that warming would imply drier soils if evapotranspiration was higher. Biomass production was decreased due to warming, both aboveground (-29%) and belowground (-25%), as negative impacts of increased heat and drought stress in summer prevailed. Increased resource partitioning, likely mostly through spatial complementarity, led to higher shoot and root biomass in multi-species communities, regardless of the induced warming. Surprisingly, warming suppressed productivity the most in 9-species communities, which may be attributed to negative impacts of intense interspecific competition for resources under conditions of high abiotic stress. Our results suggest that warming and the associated soil drying could reduce primary production in many temperate grasslands, and that this will not necessarily be mitigated by efforts to maintain or increase species richness.

  13. Cavity Enhanced Spectrometer performance assessment for greenhouse gas dry mole fraction measurement in humid air.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Laurent, Olivier; Yver Kwok, Camille; Guemri, Ali; Philippon, Carole; Rivier, Leonard; Ramonet, Michel

    2017-04-01

    Due to the high variability of the water vapor content in the atmosphere, the mole fraction of trace gas such as greenhouse gas (GHG) in the atmosphere is usually presented as mole fraction in dry air. In consequence, the first technology used for GHG measurement, gas chromatography or non-dispersive infra-red spectroscopy, required to dry the air sample prior to analysis at a dew point lower than -50°C. The emergence of new GHG analyzers using infrared Enhanced Cavity Spectroscopy which measure the water vapor content in the air sample, allows providing the dry mole fraction of GHG without any drying system upstream by applying appropriate correction of the water vapor effects (dilution, pressure broadening…). In the framework of ICOS, a European research infrastructure aiming to provide harmonized high precision data for advanced research on carbon cycle and GHG budgets over Europe, the Metrology Lab of the Atmosphere Thematic Centre (ATC), located at LSCE in France, is mainly dedicated to elaborating measurement protocols and evaluating performance of GHG analyzers. Among the different tests conducted to characterize the metrological performance, the Metrology Lab focuses on the water vapor correction to apply on the GHG measurement. Most of the analyzers tested at the Metrology Lab are based on Cavity Enhanced Spectroscopy measuring the ICOS mandatory species, CO2, CH4 and CO. This presentation presents the results of the performance assessment of the manufacturer built-in water vapor correction and the possible improvement. Thanks to the large number of instrument tested, the presentation provides a performance overview of the GHG analyzers deployed in the ICOS atmospheric station network. Finally the performance of the water vapor correction will be discussed in regard of the performance obtained by using a drying system.

  14. The effect of active warming in prehospital trauma care during road and air ambulance transportation - a clinical randomized trial.

    PubMed

    Lundgren, Peter; Henriksson, Otto; Naredi, Peter; Björnstig, Ulf

    2011-10-21

    Prevention and treatment of hypothermia by active warming in prehospital trauma care is recommended but scientific evidence of its effectiveness in a clinical setting is scarce. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of additional active warming during road or air ambulance transportation of trauma patients. Patients were assigned to either passive warming with blankets or passive warming with blankets with the addition of an active warming intervention using a large chemical heat pad applied to the upper torso. Ear canal temperature, subjective sensation of cold discomfort and vital signs were monitored. Mean core temperatures increased from 35.1°C (95% CI; 34.7-35.5°C) to 36.0°C (95% CI; 35.7-36.3°C) (p < 0.05) in patients assigned to passive warming only (n = 22) and from 35.6°C (95% CI; 35.2-36.0°C) to 36.4°C (95% CI; 36.1-36.7°C) (p < 0.05) in patients assigned to additional active warming (n = 26) with no significant differences between the groups. Cold discomfort decreased in 2/3 of patients assigned to passive warming only and in all patients assigned to additional active warming, the difference in cold discomfort change being statistically significant (p < 0.05). Patients assigned to additional active warming also presented a statistically significant decrease in heart rate and respiratory frequency (p < 0.05). In mildly hypothermic trauma patients, with preserved shivering capacity, adequate passive warming is an effective treatment to establish a slow rewarming rate and to reduce cold discomfort during prehospital transportation. However, the addition of active warming using a chemical heat pad applied to the torso will significantly improve thermal comfort even further and might also reduce the cold induced stress response. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01400152.

  15. Assessment of the environmental microbiological cross contamination following hand drying with paper hand towels or an air blade dryer.

    PubMed

    Margas, E; Maguire, E; Berland, C R; Welander, F; Holah, J T

    2013-08-01

    This study compared the potential for cross contamination of the surrounding environment resulting from two different hand-drying methods: paper towels and the use of an air blade dryer. One hundred volunteers for each method washed their hands and dried them using one of the two methods. Bacterial contamination of the surrounding environment was measured using settle plates placed on the floor in a grid pattern, air sampling and surface swabs. Both drying methods produced ballistic droplets in the immediate vicinity of the hand-drying process. The air blade dryer produced a larger number of droplets which were dispersed over a larger area. Settle plates showed increased microbial contamination in the grid squares which were affected by ballistic droplets. Using the settle plates counts, it was estimated that approx. 1.7 × 10(5) cfu more micro-organisms were left on the laboratory floor (total area approx. 17.15 m(2)) after 100 volunteers used an air blade dryer compared to when paper towels were used. The two drying methods led to different patterns of ballistic droplets and levels of microbial contamination under heavy use conditions. Whilst the increase in microbial levels in the environment is not significant if only nonpathogenic micro-organisms are spread, it may increase the risk of pathogen contamination of the environment when pathogens are occasionally present on people's hands. The study suggests that the risk of cross contamination from the washroom users to the environment and subsequent users should be considered when choosing a hand-drying method. The data could potentially give guidance following the selection of drying methods on implementing measures to minimise the risk of cross contamination. © 2013 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

  16. Peritoneal Tumorigenesis and Inflammation are Ameliorated by Humidified-Warm Carbon Dioxide Insufflation in the Mouse.

    PubMed

    Carpinteri, Sandra; Sampurno, Shienny; Bernardi, Maria-Pia; Germann, Markus; Malaterre, Jordane; Heriot, Alexander; Chambers, Brenton A; Mutsaers, Steven E; Lynch, Andrew C; Ramsay, Robert G

    2015-12-01

    Conventional laparoscopic surgery uses CO2 that is dry and cold, which can damage peritoneal surfaces. It is speculated that disseminated cancer cells may adhere to such damaged peritoneum and metastasize. We hypothesized that insufflation using humidified-warm CO2, which has been shown to reduce mesothelial damage, will also ameliorate peritoneal inflammation and tumor cell implantation compared to conventional dry-cold CO2. Laparoscopic insufflation was modeled in mice along with anesthesia and ventilation. Entry and exit ports were introduced to maintain insufflation using dry-cold or humidified-warm CO2 with a constant flow and pressure for 1 h; then 1000 or 1 million fluorescent-tagged murine colorectal cancer cells (CT26) were delivered into the peritoneal cavity. The peritoneum was collected at intervals up to 10 days after the procedure to measure inflammation, mesothelial damage, and tumor burden using fluorescent detection, immunohistochemistry, and scanning electron microscopy. Rapid temperature control was achieved only in the humidified-warm group. Port-site tumors were present in all mice. At 10 days, significantly fewer tumors on the peritoneum were counted in mice insufflated with humidified-warm compared to dry-cold CO2 (p < 0.03). The inflammatory marker COX-2 was significantly increased in the dry-cold compared to the humidified-warm cohort (p < 0.01), while VEGFA expression was suppressed only in the humidified-warm cohort. Significantly less mesothelial damage and tumor cell implantation was evident from 2 h after the procedure in the humidified-warm cohort. Mesothelial cell damage and inflammation are reduced by using humidified-warm CO2 for laparoscopic oncologic surgery and may translate to reduce patients' risk of developing peritoneal metastasis.

  17. Improvements In solar dry kiln design

    Treesearch

    E. M. Wengert

    1971-01-01

    Interest in solar drying of lumber has increased in recent years because previous results had indicated that: Drying times are shorter and final moisture contents are lower in solar drying than in air drying; much less lumber degrade occurs in solar drying when compared to air drying; and the cost of energy is less in solar drying than in kiln drying. Work in the field...

  18. Physical Mechanisms of Rapid Lake Warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lenters, J. D.

    2016-12-01

    Recent studies have shown significant warming of inland water bodies around the world. Many lakes are warming more rapidly than the ambient surface air temperature, and this is counter to what is often expected based on the lake surface energy balance. A host of reasons have been proposed to explain these discrepancies, including changes in the onset of summer stratification, significant loss of ice cover, and concomitant changes in winter air temperature and/or summer cloud cover. A review of the literature suggests that no single physical mechanism is primarily responsible for the majority of these changes, but rather that the large heterogeneity in regional climate trends and lake geomorphometry results in a host of potential physical drivers. In this study, we discuss the variety of mechanisms that have been proposed to explain rapid lake warming and offer an assessment of the physical plausibility for each potential contributor. Lake Superior is presented as a case study to illustrate the "perfect storm" of factors that can cause a deep, dimictic lake to warm at rate that exceeds the rate of global air temperature warming by nearly an order of magnitude. In particular, we use a simple mixed-layer model to show that spatially variable trends in Lake Superior surface water temperature are determined, to first order, by variations in bathymetry and winter air temperature. Summer atmospheric conditions are often of less significance, and winter ice cover may simply be a correlate. The results highlight the importance of considering the full range of factors that can lead to trends in lake surface temperature, and that conventional wisdom may often not be the best guide.

  19. Detecting urban warming signals in climate records

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, Yuting; Jia, Gensuo; Hu, Yonghong; Zhou, Zijiang

    2013-07-01

    Determining whether air temperatures recorded at meteorological stations have been contaminated by the urbanization process is still a controversial issue at the global scale. With support of historical remote sensing data, this study examined the impacts of urban expansion on the trends of air temperature at 69 meteorological stations in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province over the last three decades. There were significant positive relations between the two factors at all stations. Stronger warming was detected at the meteorological stations that experienced greater urbanization, i.e., those with a higher urbanization rate. While the total urban area affects the absolute temperature values, the change of the urban area (urbanization rate) likely affects the temperature trend. Increases of approximately 10% in urban area around the meteorological stations likely contributed to the 0.13°C rise in air temperature records in addition to regional climate warming. This study also provides a new approach to selecting reference stations based on remotely sensed urban fractions. Generally, the urbanization-induced warming contributed to approximately 44.1% of the overall warming trends in the plain region of study area during the past 30 years, and the regional climate warming was 0.30°C (10 yr)-1 in the last three decades.

  20. Experimental study of cassava sun drying

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

    Njie, D.N.; Rumsey, T.R.

    1997-03-01

    Sun drying experiments were performed to compare drying of cassava chips in sheet-metal trays with drying on mesh wire trays. In the sheet-metal trays, there was air flow across the top of the bed chips, while the mesh wire trays permitted air to flow through the bed. Drying rate was faster and more uniform in the trays with through-flow air circulation. Higher temperatures were reached by chips in the sheet-metal trays than those in the mesh trays because of contact heating, but the drying rate was lower because of the reduced air flow.

  1. Effect of simulated climate warming on the morphological and physiological traits of Elsholtzia haichowensis in copper contaminated soil.

    PubMed

    Guan, Ming; Jin, Zexin; Li, Junmin; Pan, Xiaocui; Wang, Suizi; Li, Yuelin

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of temperature and Cu on the morphological and physiological traits of Elsholtzia haichowensis grown in soils amended with four Cu concentrations (0, 50, 500, and 1000 mg kg(-1)) under ambient temperature and slight warming. At the same Cu concentration, the height, shoot dry weight, total plant dry weight, and root morphological parameters such as length, surface area and tip number of E. haichowensis increased due to the slight warming. The net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration, light use efficiency were also higher under the slight warming than under ambient temperature. The increased Cu concentrations, total Cu uptake, bioaccumulation factors and tolerance indexes of shoots and roots were also observed at the slight warming. The shoot dry weight, root dry weight, total plant dry weight and the bioaccumulation factors of shoots and roots at 50 mg Cu kg(-1) were significantly higher than those at 500 and 1000 mg Cu kg(-1) under the slight warming. Therefore, the climate warming may improve the ability of E. haichowensis to phytoremediate Cu-contaminated soil, and the ability improvement greatly depended on the Cu concentrations in soils.

  2. Warm Arctic-cold Siberia: comparing the recent and the early 20th-century Arctic warmings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wegmann, Martin; Orsolini, Yvan; Zolina, Olga

    2018-02-01

    The Warm Arctic-cold Siberia surface temperature pattern during recent boreal winter is suggested to be triggered by the ongoing decrease of Arctic autumn sea ice concentration and has been observed together with an increase in mid-latitude extreme events and a meridionalization of tropospheric circulation. However, the exact mechanism behind this dipole temperature pattern is still under debate, since model experiments with reduced sea ice show conflicting results. We use the early twentieth-century Arctic warming (ETCAW) as a case study to investigate the link between September sea ice in the Barents-Kara Sea (BKS) and the Siberian temperature evolution. Analyzing a variety of long-term climate reanalyses, we find that the overall winter temperature and heat flux trend occurs with the reduction of September BKS sea ice. Tropospheric conditions show a strengthened atmospheric blocking over the BKS, strengthening the advection of cold air from the Arctic to central Siberia on its eastern flank, together with a reduction of warm air advection by the westerlies. This setup is valid for both the ETCAW and the current Arctic warming period.

  3. Evaluation of the response of tritium-in-air instrumentation to HT in dry and humid conditions and to HTO vapor

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

    Phillips, H.; Dean, J.; Privas, E.

    2015-03-15

    Nuclear plant operators (power generation, decommissioning and reprocessing operations) are required to monitor releases of tritium species for regulatory compliance and radiation protection purposes. Tritium monitoring is performed using tritium-in-air gas monitoring instrumentation based either on flow-through ion chambers or proportional counting systems. Tritium-in-air monitors are typically calibrated in dry conditions but in service may operate at elevated levels of relative humidity. The NPL (National Physical Laboratory) radioactive gas-in-air calibration system has been used to study the effect of humidity on the response to tritium of two tritium-in-air ion chamber based monitors and one proportional counting system which uses amore » P10/air gas mixture. The response of these instruments to HTO vapour has also been evaluated. In each case, instrument responses were obtained for HT in dry conditions (relative humidity (RH) about 2%), HT in 45% RH, and finally HTO at 45% RH. Instrumentation response to HT in humid conditions has been found to slightly exceed that in dry conditions. (authors)« less

  4. Crystallization of spray-dried lactose/protein mixtures in humid air

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shawqi Barham, A.; Kamrul Haque, Md.; Roos, Yrjö H.; Kieran Hodnett, B.

    2006-10-01

    An in situ crystallization technique with X-ray diffraction analysis complemented by ex situ scanning electron microscopy and chromatographic analysis of the α/( α+ β) solid-state anomeric ratios has been developed to study the crystallization of lactose/protein mixtures in humid air. This technique was used to determine changes in phase composition and morphology during crystallization. Following an induction period during which water is sorbed, crystallization is rapid and the predominant phase observed using the in situ method in spray-dried lactose/sodium-caseinate, albumin and gelatin is α-lactose monohydrate. However, in the case of spray-dried lactose/whey protein isolate (WPI) the predominant phase that appears is the α/ β mixed phase with smaller amounts of α-lactose monohydrate. With pure lactose the α/ β mixed phase appears as a transient shortly after the onset of crystallization and α-lactose monohydrate and β-lactose both appear as stable crystalline phases at longer times. Another transient phase with 2 θ=12.2°, 20.7° and 21.8° was observed in spray-dried lactose/albumin. This phase decomposed as α-lactose monohydrate developed. Three phases seem to persist in the case of spray-dried lactose/gelatin, namely the phase with peaks at 2 θ=12.2°, 20.7° and 21.8°, α-lactose monohydrate and β-lactose for the duration of the in situ experiment.

  5. Effect of drying, storage temperature and air exposure on astaxanthin stability from Haematococcus pluvialis.

    PubMed

    Ahmed, Faruq; Li, Yan; Fanning, Kent; Netzel, Michael; Schenk, Peer M

    2015-08-01

    Astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant with various health benefits such as prevention of age-related macular degeneration and improvement of the immune system, liver and heart function. To improve the post-harvesting stability of astaxanthin used in food, feed and nutraceutical industries, the biomass of the high astaxanthin producing alga Haematococcus pluvialis was dried by spray- or freeze-drying and under vacuum or air at -20°C to 37°C for 20weeks. Freeze-drying led to 41% higher astaxanthin recovery compared to commonly-used spray-drying. Low storage temperature (-20°C, 4°C) and vacuum-packing also showed higher astaxanthin stability with as little as 12.3±3.1% degradation during 20weeks of storage. Cost-benefit analysis showed that freeze-drying followed by vacuum-packed storage at -20°C can generate AUD$600 higher profit compared to spray-drying from 100kgH. pluvialis powder. Therefore, freeze-drying can be suggested as a mild and more profitable method for ensuring longer shelf life of astaxanthin from H. pluvialis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Abrupt warming of the Red Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raitsos, D. E.; Hoteit, I.; Prihartato, P. K.; Chronis, T.; Triantafyllou, G.; Abualnaja, Y.

    2011-07-01

    Coral reef ecosystems, often referred to as “marine rainforests,” concentrate the most diverse life in the oceans. Red Sea reef dwellers are adapted in a very warm environment, fact that makes them vulnerable to further and rapid warming. The detection and understanding of abrupt temperature changes is an important task, as ecosystems have more chances to adapt in a slowly rather than in a rapid changing environment. Using satellite derived sea surface and ground based air temperatures, it is shown that the Red Sea is going through an intense warming initiated in the mid-90s, with evidence for an abrupt increase after 1994 (0.7°C difference pre and post the shift). The air temperature is found to be a key parameter that influences the Red Sea marine temperature. The comparisons with Northern Hemisphere temperatures revealed that the observed warming is part of global climate change trends. The hitherto results also raise additional questions regarding other broader climatic impacts over the area.

  7. Dry hair

    MedlinePlus

    ... harsh soaps or alcohols Excessive blow-drying Dry air due to the climate Menkes kinky hair syndrome Malnutrition Underactive parathyroid ( hypoparathyroidism ) Underactive thyroid ( hypothyroidism ) Other hormone abnormalities

  8. Impact of climate warming-induced increase in drought stress on successional dynamic of a coniferous forest within a dry inner Alpine environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schuster, R.; Zeisler, B.; Oberhuber, W.

    2012-04-01

    Climate sensitivity of tree growth will effect the development of forest ecosystems under a warmer and drier climate by changing species composition and inducing shifts in forest distribution. We applied dendroclimatological techniques to determine impact of climate warming on radial stem growth of three native and widespread coniferous tree species of the central Austrian Alps (Norway spruce, Picea abies; European larch, Larix decidua; Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris), which grow intermixed at dry-mesic sites within a dry inner Alpine environment (750 m a.s.l., Tyrol, Austria). Time series of annual increments were developed from > 250 saplings and mature trees. Radial growth response to recent climate warming was explored by means of moving response functions (MRF) and evaluation of trends in basal area increment (BAI) for the period 1911 - 2009. Climate-growth relationships revealed significant differences among species in response to water availability. While precipitation in May - June favoured radial growth of spruce and larch, Scots pine growth mainly depended on April - May precipitation. Spruce growth was most sensitive to May - June temperature (inverse relationship). Although MRF coefficients indicated increasing drought sensitivity of all species, which is most likely related to intensified belowground competition for scarce water with increasing stand density and higher evapotranspiration rates due to climate warming, recent BAI trends strikingly differed among species. While BAI of larch was distinctly declining, spruce showed steadily increasing BAI and quite constant BAI was maintained in drought adapted Scots pine, although at lowest level of all species. Furthermore, more favourable growing conditions of spruce in recent decades are indicated by scattered natural regeneration and higher growth rates of younger trees during first decades of their lifespan. Because human interference and wildlife stock is negligible within the study area, results

  9. Amazon Basin climate under global warming: the role of the sea surface temperature.

    PubMed

    Harris, Phil P; Huntingford, Chris; Cox, Peter M

    2008-05-27

    The Hadley Centre coupled climate-carbon cycle model (HadCM3LC) predicts loss of the Amazon rainforest in response to future anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, the atmospheric component of HadCM3LC is used to assess the role of simulated changes in mid-twenty-first century sea surface temperature (SST) in Amazon Basin climate change. When the full HadCM3LC SST anomalies (SSTAs) are used, the atmosphere model reproduces the Amazon Basin climate change exhibited by HadCM3LC, including much of the reduction in Amazon Basin rainfall. This rainfall change is shown to be the combined effect of SSTAs in both the tropical Atlantic and the Pacific, with roughly equal contributions from each basin. The greatest rainfall reduction occurs from May to October, outside of the mature South American monsoon (SAM) season. This dry season response is the combined effect of a more rapid warming of the tropical North Atlantic relative to the south, and warm SSTAs in the tropical east Pacific. Conversely, a weak enhancement of mature SAM season rainfall in response to Atlantic SST change is suppressed by the atmospheric response to Pacific SST. This net wet season response is sufficient to prevent dry season soil moisture deficits from being recharged through the SAM season, leading to a perennial soil moisture reduction and an associated 30% reduction in annual Amazon Basin net primary productivity (NPP). A further 23% NPP reduction occurs in response to a 3.5 degrees C warmer air temperature associated with a global mean SST warming.

  10. EVALUATION OF A TEST METHOD FOR MEASURING INDOOR AIR EMISSIONS FROM DRY-PROCESS PHOTOCOPIERS

    EPA Science Inventory

    A large chamber test method for measuring indoor air emissions from office equipment was developed, evaluated, and revised based on the initial testing of four dry-process photocopiers. Because all chambers may not necessarily produce similar results (e.g., due to differences in ...

  11. Three air quality studies: Great Lakes ozone formation and nitrogen dry deposition; and Tucson aerosol chemical characterization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Foley, Theresa

    (arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, manganese, and nickel) in the southern Tucson metropolitan area. A Tucson company that uses beryllium oxide to manufacture thermally conductive ceramics has prompted strong citizen concern. This study found that the study area has good air quality with respect to PM10 and metals, with ambient concentrations meeting US Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization standards. Beryllium was detected only once (during a dust storm) and was ascribed to naturally-occurring beryllium in the suspended soil. The third paper (to be submitted to the Journal of Great Lakes Research) studies nitrogen dry deposition over Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Numerous studies have shown that wet and dry deposition of nitrogen has contributed to the eutrophication of coastal waters and declining productivity of marine fisheries. Nitrogen dry deposition over the Great Lakes themselves, as opposed to the shorelines, has not been documented in the peer-reviewed literature. This paper calculates nitrogen dry deposition over Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, using aircraft measurements from the LADCO Aircraft Study, and finds that over-water, nitrogen dry deposition is a significant source of nitrogen to Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.

  12. Gaseous fuels production from dried sewage sludge via air gasification.

    PubMed

    Werle, Sebastian; Dudziak, Mariusz

    2014-07-01

    Gasification is a perspective alternative method of dried sewage sludge thermal treatment. For the purpose of experimental investigations, a laboratory fixed-bed gasifier installation was designed and built. Two sewage sludge (SS) feedstocks, taken from two typical Polish wastewater treatment systems, were analysed: SS1, from a mechanical-biological wastewater treatment system with anaerobic stabilization (fermentation) and high temperature drying; and (SS2) from a mechanical-biological-chemical wastewater treatment system with fermentation and low temperature drying. The gasification results show that greater oxygen content in sewage sludge has a strong influence on the properties of the produced gas. Increasing the air flow caused a decrease in the heating value of the produced gas. Higher hydrogen content in the sewage sludge (from SS1) affected the produced gas composition, which was characterized by high concentrations of combustible components. In the case of the SS1 gasification, ash, charcoal, and tar were produced as byproducts. In the case of SS2 gasification, only ash and tar were produced. SS1 and solid byproducts from its gasification (ash and charcoal) were characterized by lower toxicity in comparison to SS2. However, in all analysed cases, tar samples were toxic. © The Author(s) 2014.

  13. Turbulent transport across an interface between dry and humid air in a stratified environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gallana, Luca; de Santi, Francesca; di Savino, Silvio; Iovieno, Michele; Ricchiardone, Renzo; Tordella, Daniela

    2014-11-01

    The transport of energy and water vapor across a thin layer which separates two decaying isotropic turbulent flows with different kinetic energy and humidity is considered. The interface is placed in a shearless stratified environment in temporal decay. This system reproduces a few aspects of small scale turbulent transport across a dry air/moist air interface in an atmospheric like context. In our incompressible DNS at Reλ = 250 , Boussinesq's approximation is used for momentum and energy transport while the vapor is modeled as a passive scalar (Kumar, Schumacher & Shaw 2014). We investigated different stratification levels with an initial Fr between 0.8 and 8 in presence of a kinetic energy ratio equal to 7. As the buoyancy term becomes of the same order of the inertial ones, a spatial redistribution of kinetic energy, dissipation and vapor concentration is observed. This eventually leads to the onset of a well of kinetic energy in the low energy side of the mixing layer which blocks the entrainment of dry air. Results are discussed and compared with laboratory and numerical experiments. A posteriori estimates of the eventual compression/expansion of fluid particles inside the interfacial mixing layer are given (Nance & Durran 1994).

  14. Ultrahigh-Capacity Lithium-Oxygen Batteries Enabled by Dry-Pressed Holey Graphene Air Cathodes.

    PubMed

    Lin, Yi; Moitoso, Brandon; Martinez-Martinez, Chalynette; Walsh, Evan D; Lacey, Steven D; Kim, Jae-Woo; Dai, Liming; Hu, Liangbing; Connell, John W

    2017-05-10

    Lithium-oxygen (Li-O 2 ) batteries have the highest theoretical energy density of all the Li-based energy storage systems, but many challenges prevent them from practical use. A major obstacle is the sluggish performance of the air cathode, where both oxygen reduction (discharge) and oxygen evolution (charge) reactions occur. Recently, there have been significant advances in the development of graphene-based air cathode materials with a large surface area and catalytically active for both oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, especially with additional catalysts or dopants. However, most studies reported so far have examined air cathodes with a limited areal mass loading rarely exceeding 1 mg/cm 2 . Despite the high gravimetric capacity values achieved, the actual (areal) capacities of those batteries were far from sufficient for practical applications. Here, we present the fabrication, performance, and mechanistic investigations of high-mass-loading (up to 10 mg/cm 2 ) graphene-based air electrodes for high-performance Li-O 2 batteries. Such air electrodes could be easily prepared within minutes under solvent-free and binder-free conditions by compression-molding holey graphene materials because of their unique dry compressibility associated with in-plane holes on the graphene sheet. Li-O 2 batteries with high air cathode mass loadings thus prepared exhibited excellent gravimetric capacity as well as ultrahigh areal capacity (as high as ∼40 mAh/cm 2 ). The batteries were also cycled at a high curtailing areal capacity (2 mAh/cm 2 ) and showed a better cycling stability for ultrathick cathodes than their thinner counterparts. Detailed post-mortem analyses of the electrodes clearly revealed the battery failure mechanisms under both primary and secondary modes, arising from the oxygen diffusion blockage and the catalytic site deactivation, respectively. These results strongly suggest that the dry-pressed holey graphene electrodes are a highly viable

  15. Biomass production in experimental grasslands of different species richness during three years of climate warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Boeck, H. J.; Lemmens, C. M. H. M.; Zavalloni, C.; Gielen, B.; Malchair, S.; Carnol, M.; Merckx, R.; van den Berge, J.; Ceulemans, R.; Nijs, I.

    2008-04-01

    Here we report on the single and combined impacts of climate warming and species richness on the biomass production in experimental grassland communities. Projections of a future warmer climate have stimulated studies on the response of terrestrial ecosystems to this global change. Experiments have likewise addressed the importance of species numbers for ecosystem functioning. There is, however, little knowledge on the interplay between warming and species richness. During three years, we grew experimental plant communities containing one, three or nine grassland species in 12 sunlit, climate-controlled chambers in Wilrijk, Belgium. Half of these chambers were exposed to ambient air temperatures (unheated), while the other half were warmed by 3°C (heated). Equal amounts of water were added to heated and unheated communities, so that warming would imply drier soils if evapotranspiration was higher. Biomass production was decreased due to warming, both aboveground (-29%) and belowground (-25%), as negative impacts of increased heat and drought stress in summer prevailed. Complementarity effects, likely mostly through both increased aboveground spatial complementarity and facilitative effects of legumes, led to higher shoot and root biomass in multi-species communities, regardless of the induced warming. Surprisingly, warming suppressed productivity the most in 9-species communities, which may be attributed to negative impacts of intense interspecific competition for resources under conditions of high abiotic stress. Our results suggest that warming and the associated soil drying could reduce primary production in many temperate grasslands, and that this will not necessarily be mitigated by efforts to maintain or increase species richness.

  16. Patient warming excess heat: the effects on orthopedic operating room ventilation performance.

    PubMed

    Belani, Kumar G; Albrecht, Mark; McGovern, Paul D; Reed, Mike; Nachtsheim, Christopher

    2013-08-01

    Patient warming has become a standard of care for the prevention of unintentional hypothermia based on benefits established in general surgery. However, these benefits may not fully translate to contamination-sensitive surgery (i.e., implants), because patient warming devices release excess heat that may disrupt the intended ceiling-to-floor ventilation airflows and expose the surgical site to added contamination. Therefore, we studied the effects of 2 popular patient warming technologies, forced air and conductive fabric, versus control conditions on ventilation performance in an orthopedic operating room with a mannequin draped for total knee replacement. Ventilation performance was assessed by releasing neutrally buoyant detergent bubbles ("bubbles") into the nonsterile region under the head-side of the anesthesia drape. We then tracked whether the excess heat from upper body patient warming mobilized the "bubbles" into the surgical site. Formally, a randomized replicated design assessed the effect of device (forced air, conductive fabric, control) and anesthesia drape height (low-drape, high-drape) on the number of bubbles photographed over the surgical site. The direct mass-flow exhaust from forced air warming generated hot air convection currents that mobilized bubbles over the anesthesia drape and into the surgical site, resulting in a significant increase in bubble counts for the factor of patient warming device (P < 0.001). Forced air had an average count of 132.5 versus 0.48 for conductive fabric (P = 0.003) and 0.01 for control conditions (P = 0.008) across both drape heights. Differences in average bubble counts across both drape heights were insignificant between conductive fabric and control conditions (P = 0.87). The factor of drape height had no significant effect (P = 0.94) on bubble counts. Excess heat from forced air warming resulted in the disruption of ventilation airflows over the surgical site, whereas conductive patient warming devices had

  17. Factors affecting decay of Salmonella Birkenhead and coliphage MS2 during mesophilic anaerobic digestion and air drying of sewage sludge.

    PubMed

    Mondal, Tania; Rouch, Duncan A; Thurbon, Nerida; Smith, Stephen R; Deighton, Margaret A

    2015-06-01

    Factors affecting the decay of Salmonella Birkenhead and coliphage, as representatives of bacterial and viral pathogens, respectively, during mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) and air drying treatment of anaerobically digested sewage sludge were investigated. Controlled concentrations of S. Birkenhead were inoculated into non-sterile, autoclaved, γ-irradiated and nutrient-supplemented sludge and cultures were incubated at 37 °C (MAD sludge treatment temperature) or 20 °C (summer air drying sludge treatment temperature). Nutrient limitation caused by microbial competition was the principal mechanism responsible for the decay of S. Birkenhead by MAD and during air drying of digested sludge. The effects of protease activity in sludge on MS2 coliphage decay in digested and air dried sludge were also investigated. MS2 coliphage showed a 3.0-3.5 log10 reduction during incubation with sludge-protease extracts at 37 °C for 25 h. Proteases produced by indigenous microbes in sludge potentially increase coliphage inactivation and may therefore have a significant role in the decay of enteric viruses in sewage sludge. The results help to explain the loss of viability of enteric bacteria and viral pathogens with treatment process time and contribute to fundamental understanding of the various biotic inactivation mechanisms operating in sludge treatment processes at mesophilic and ambient temperatures.

  18. Technical note: Air compared to nitrogen as nebulizing and drying gases for electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Mielczarek, P; Silberring, J; Smoluch, M

    In the present study we tested the application of compressed air instead of pure nitrogen as the nebulizing and drying gas, and its influence on the quality of electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectra. The intensities of the signals corresponding to protonated molecules were significantly (twice) higher when air was used. Inspection of signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios revealed that, in both cases, sensitivity was comparable. A higher ion abundance after the application of compressed air was followed by a higher background. Another potential risk of using air in the ESI source is the possibility for sample oxidation due to the presence of oxygen. To test this, we selected five easily oxidizing compounds to verify their susceptibility to oxidation. In particular, the presence of methionine was of interest. For all the compounds studied, no oxidation was observed. Amodiaquine oxidizes spontaneously in water solutions and its oxidized form can be detected a few hours after preparation. Direct comparison of the spectra where nitrogen was used with the corresponding spectra obtained when air was applied did not show significant differences. The only distinction was slightly different patterns of adducts when air was used. The difference concerns acetonitrile, which forms higher signals when air is the nebulizing gas. It is also important that the replacement of nitrogen with air does not affect quantitative data. The prepared calibration curves also visualize an intensity twice as high (independent of concentration within tested range) of the signal where air was applied. We have used our system continuously for three months with air as the nebulizing and drying gas and have not noticed any unexpected signal deterioration caused by additional source contamination from the air. Moreover, compressed air is much cheaper and easily available using oil-free compressors or pumps.

  19. Changes in the Dynamics of Foliar N Metabolites in Oak Saplings by Drought and Air Warming Depend on Species and Soil Type

    PubMed Central

    Hu, Bin; Simon, Judy; Günthardt-Goerg, Madeleine S.; Arend, Matthias; Kuster, Thomas M.; Rennenberg, Heinz

    2015-01-01

    Climate change poses direct or indirect influences on physiological mechanisms in plants. In particular, long living plants like trees have to cope with the predicted climate changes (i.e. drought and air warming) during their life span. The present study aimed to quantify the consequences of simulated climate change for foliar N metabolites over a drought-rewetting-drought course. Saplings of three Central European oak species (i.e. Quercus robur, Q. petraea, Q. pubescens) were tested on two different soil types (i.e. acidic and calcareous). Consecutive drought periods increased foliar amino acid-N and soluble protein-N concentrations at the expense of structural N in all three oak species. In addition, transient effects on foliar metabolite dynamics were observed over the drought-rewetting-drought course. The lowest levels of foliar soluble protein-N, amino acid-N and potassium cation with a minor response to drought and air warming were found in the oak species originating from the driest/warmest habitat (Q. pubescens) compared to Q. robur and Q. petraea. Higher foliar osmolyte-N and potassium under drought and air warming were observed in all oak species when grown on calcareous versus acidic soil. These results indicate that species-specific differences in physiological mechanisms to compensate drought and elevated temperature are modified by soil acidity. PMID:25961713

  20. Simple Freeze-Drying Procedure for Producing Nanocellulose Aerogel-Containing, High-Performance Air Filters.

    PubMed

    Nemoto, Junji; Saito, Tsuguyuki; Isogai, Akira

    2015-09-09

    Simple freeze-drying of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)-oxidized cellulose nanofibril (TOCN) dispersions in water/tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) mixtures was conducted to prepare TOCN aerogels as high-performance air filter components. The dispersibility of the TOCNs in the water/TBA mixtures, and the specific surface area (SSA) of the resulting TOCN aerogels, was investigated as a function of the TBA concentration in the mixtures. The TOCNs were homogeneously dispersed in the water/TBA mixtures at TBA concentrations up to 40% w/w. The SSAs of the TOCN aerogels exceeded 300 m2/g when the TBA concentration in the aqueous mixtures was in the range from 20% to 50% w/w. When a commercially available, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter was combined with TOCN/water/TBA dispersions prepared using 30% TBA, and the product was freeze-dried, the resulting TOCN aerogel-containing filters showed superior filtration properties. This was because nanoscale, spider-web-like networks of the TOCNs with large SSAs were formed within the filter.

  1. Shrinkage and porosity evolution during air-drying of non-cellular food systems: Experimental data versus mathematical modelling.

    PubMed

    Nguyen, Thanh Khuong; Khalloufi, Seddik; Mondor, Martin; Ratti, Cristina

    2018-01-01

    In the present work, the impact of glass transition on shrinkage of non-cellular food systems (NCFS) during air-drying will be assessed from experimental data and the interpretation of a 'shrinkage' function involved in a mathematical model. Two NCFS made from a mixture of water/maltodextrin/agar (w/w/w: 1/0.15/0.015) were created out of maltodextrins with dextrose equivalent 19 (MD19) or 36 (MD36). The NCFS made with MD19 had 30°C higher Tg than those with MD36. This information indicated that, during drying, the NCFS with MD19 would pass from rubbery to glassy state sooner than NCFS MD36, for which glass transition only happens close to the end of drying. For the two NCFS, porosity and volume reduction as a function of moisture content were captured with high accuracy when represented by the mathematical models previously developed. No significant differences in porosity and in maximum shrinkage between both samples during drying were observed. As well, no change in the slope of the shrinkage curve as a function of moisture content was perceived. These results indicate that glass transition alone is not a determinant factor in changes of porosity or volume during air-drying. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Investigation of drying kinetics of tomato slices dried by using a closed loop heat pump dryer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Coşkun, Salih; Doymaz, İbrahim; Tunçkal, Cüneyt; Erdoğan, Seçil

    2017-06-01

    In this study, tomato slices were dried at three different drying air temperatures (35, 40 and 45 °C) and at 1 m/s air velocities by using a closed loop heat pump dryer (HPD). To explain the drying characteristics of tomato slices, ten thin-layer drying models were applied. The drying of tomato slices at each temperature occurred in falling-rate period; no constant-rate period of drying was observed. The drying rate was significantly influenced by drying temperature. The effective moisture diffusivity varied between 8.28 × 10-11 and 1.41 × 10-10 m2/s, the activation energy was found to be 43.12 kJ/mol. Besides, at the end of drying process, the highest mean specific moisture extraction ratio and coefficient of performance of HPD system were obtained as 0.324 kg/kWh and 2.71, respectively, at the highest drying air temperature (45 °C).

  3. Effect of air flow rate on the polyphenols content and antioxidant capacity of convective dried cactus pear cladodes (Opuntia ficus indica).

    PubMed

    Gallegos-Infante, José-Alberto; Rocha-Guzman, Nuria-Elizabeth; González-Laredo, Ruben-Francisco; Reynoso-Camacho, Rosalia; Medina-Torres, Luis; Cervantes-Cardozo, Veronica

    2009-01-01

    The interest in nopal has encouraged the use of dehydration; there are few studies about the effect of process parameters on the nopal polyphenol content and antioxidant activity. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effect of air-drying flow rates on the amount and antioxidant capacity of extracts of Opuntia ficus indica cladodes. Nopal was dried at 45 degrees C and air flow rates of 3 and 5 m/sec. Samples were analyzed for moisture, total polyphenol, flavonoid, and flavonol contents, chain-breaking activity, inhibition of low-density lipoprotein and deoxyribose oxidation. Nopal drying at an air flow rate of 3 m/sec showed higher values of phenols, flavonoids and flavonols. The best value of low-density lipoprotein inhibition and deoxyribose was found at 1,000 microg/ml. The air flow rate affected the amount of polyphenols and the OH( . ) radical scavenging, but did not modify the chain-breaking activity and the low-density lipoprotein inhibition activity.

  4. The recent warming of permafrost in Alaska

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Osterkamp, T. E.

    2005-12-01

    This paper reports results of an experiment initiated in 1977 to determine the effects of climate on permafrost in Alaska. Permafrost observatories with boreholes were established along a north-south transect of Alaska in undisturbed permafrost terrain. The analysis and interpretation of annual temperature measurements in the boreholes and daily temperature measurements of the air, ground and permafrost surfaces made with automated temperature loggers are reported. Permafrost temperatures warmed along this transect coincident with a statewide warming of air temperatures that began in 1977. At two sites on the Arctic Coastal Plain, the warming was seasonal, greatest during "winter" months (October through May) and least during "summer" months (June through September). Permafrost temperatures peaked in the early 1980s and then decreased in response to slightly cooler air temperatures and thinner snow covers. Arctic sites began warming again typically about 1986 and Interior Alaska sites about 1988. Gulkana, the southernmost site, has been warming slowly since it was drilled in 1983. Air temperatures were relatively warm and snow covers were thicker-than-normal from the late 1980s into the late 1990s allowing permafrost temperatures to continue to warm. Temperatures at some sites leveled off or cooled slightly at the turn of the century. Two sites (Yukon River Bridge and Livengood) cooled during the period of observations. The magnitude of the total warming at the surface of the permafrost (through 2003) was 3 to 4 °C for the Arctic Coastal Plain, 1 to 2 °C for the Brooks Range including its northern and southern foothills, and 0.3 to 1 °C south of the Yukon River. While the data are sparse, permafrost is warming throughout the region north of the Brooks Range, southward along the transect from the Brooks Range to the Chugach Mountains (except for Yukon River and Livengood), in Interior Alaska throughout the Tanana River region, and in the region south of the

  5. Irrigation enhances local warming with greater nocturnal warming effects than daytime cooling effects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Xing; Jeong, Su-Jong

    2018-02-01

    To meet the growing demand for food, land is being managed to be more productive using agricultural intensification practices, such as the use of irrigation. Understanding the specific environmental impacts of irrigation is a critical part of using it as a sustainable way to provide food security. However, our knowledge of irrigation effects on climate is still limited to daytime effects. This is a critical issue to define the effects of irrigation on warming related to greenhouse gases (GHGs). This study shows that irrigation led to an increasing temperature (0.002 °C year-1) by enhancing nighttime warming (0.009 °C year-1) more than daytime cooling (-0.007 °C year-1) during the dry season from 1961-2004 over the North China Plain (NCP), which is one of largest irrigated areas in the world. By implementing irrigation processes in regional climate model simulations, the consistent warming effect of irrigation on nighttime temperatures over the NCP was shown to match observations. The intensive nocturnal warming is attributed to energy storage in the wetter soil during the daytime, which contributed to the nighttime surface warming. Our results suggest that irrigation could locally amplify the warming related to GHGs, and this effect should be taken into account in future climate change projections.

  6. Capability of air filters to retain airborne bacteria and molds in heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.

    PubMed

    Möritz, M; Peters, H; Nipko, B; Rüden, H

    2001-07-01

    The capability of air filters (filterclass: F6, F7) to retain airborne outdoor microorganisms was examined in field experiments in two heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. At the beginning of the 15-month investigation period, the first filter stages of both HVAC systems were equipped with new unused air filters. The number of airborne bacteria and molds before and behind the filters were determined simultaneously in 14 days-intervals using 6-stage Andersen cascade impactors. Under relatively dry (< 80% R. H.) and warm (> 12 degrees C) outdoor air conditions air filters led to a marked reduction of airborne microorganism concentrations (bacteria by approximately 70% and molds by > 80%). However, during long periods of high relative humidity (> 80% R. H.) a proliferation of bacteria on air filters with subsequent release into the filtered air occurred. These microorganisms were mainly smaller than 1.1 microns therefore being part of the respirable fraction. The results showed furthermore that one possibility to avoid microbial proliferation is to limit the relative humidity in the area of the air filters to 80% R. H. (mean of 3 days), e.g. by using preheaters in front of air filters in HVAC-systems.

  7. Major cause of unprecedented Arctic warming in January 2016: Critical role of an Atlantic windstorm

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Baek-Min; Hong, Ja-Young; Jun, Sang-Yoon; Zhang, Xiangdong; Kwon, Hataek; Kim, Seong-Joong; Kim, Joo-Hong; Kim, Sang-Woo; Kim, Hyun-Kyung

    2017-01-01

    In January 2016, the Arctic experienced an extremely anomalous warming event after an extraordinary increase in air temperature at the end of 2015. During this event, a strong intrusion of warm and moist air and an increase in downward longwave radiation, as well as a loss of sea ice in the Barents and Kara seas, were observed. Observational analyses revealed that the abrupt warming was triggered by the entry of a strong Atlantic windstorm into the Arctic in late December 2015, which brought enormous moist and warm air masses to the Arctic. Although the storm terminated at the eastern coast of Greenland in late December, it was followed by a prolonged blocking period in early 2016 that sustained the extreme Arctic warming. Numerical experiments indicate that the warming effect of sea ice loss and associated upward turbulent heat fluxes are relatively minor in this event. This result suggests the importance of the synoptically driven warm and moist air intrusion into the Arctic as a primary contributing factor of this extreme Arctic warming event. PMID:28051170

  8. Drying projection over western maritime continent during Southwest and Northeast monsoon seasons

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kartika Lestari, R.

    2017-04-01

    In the maritime continent, the precipitation variability is large and recently, this region experiences longer dry season and more number of severe drought events that are threatening the human life, such as, water supply for daily life and agriculture, and unhealthy air quality due to the increased number of wildfires. Global warming has been known to contribute to the rainfall anomalies around the world, and present study investigate the extent to which the drying conditions are going to be happened in 21st century over western part of the maritime continent (WMC), where the population is much larger than the eastern part, during both active Southwest (SW) and Northeast (NE) monsoon seasons. A future change in the precipitation over WMC is suggested from our analyses of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models. In addition to CMIP5, we analyse the downscaled data of nine selected CMIP5 models to examine if there is modification in the drying projection when higher resolution data are used. While the north and south of equator show out of phase in the precipitation change, the region around equator shows decreased precipitation during both the SW monsoon in June-July-August-September (JJAS) and the peak of NE monsoon in February (FEB). The drying projection is robustly shown in FEB when Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) shift to the southern hemisphere, but the same robustness is not shown in JJAS when the monsoon over South China Sea is active. The detail results, including the mechanisms and the impacts of tropical climate features (such as, warming Pacific Ocean, monsoon, ITCZ) that drive the drying projection, and the possible reasons causing different degree in the robustness between two seasons, will be shown in the presentation.

  9. Herbal dryer: drying of ginger (zingiber officinale) using tray dryer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haryanto, B.; Hasibuan, R.; Alexander; Ashari, M.; Ridha, M.

    2018-02-01

    Drying is widely used as a method to preserve food because of its convenience and affordability. Drying of ginger using tray dryer were carried out at various drying conditions, such as air-drying flow, air-drying temperature, and sample dimensions, to achieve the highest drying rate. Samples with various dimensions were placed in the tray dryer and dried using various air-drying flow and temperatures. The weights of samples were observed every 3 minutes interval. Drying was stopped after three times of constant weighing. Data of drying was collected to make the drying curves. Drying curves show that the highest drying rate is achieved using highest air flow and temperature.

  10. Drying southern pine at 240°F. -- effects of air velocity and humidity, board thickness and density

    Treesearch

    Peter Koch

    1972-01-01

    Kiln time to each 10 percent moisture content was shortened by circulating air at high velocity, but was little affected by board specific gravity. A wet-bulb depression of 80oF. provided faster drying than depressions of 40 or 115oF. At 80 depression and with air circulated at 930 f.p.m., kiln time was directly...

  11. Design and performance of combined infrared canopy and belowground warming in the B4WarmED (Boreal Forest Warming at an Ecotone in Danger) experiment.

    PubMed

    Rich, Roy L; Stefanski, Artur; Montgomery, Rebecca A; Hobbie, Sarah E; Kimball, Bruce A; Reich, Peter B

    2015-06-01

    Conducting manipulative climate change experiments in complex vegetation is challenging, given considerable temporal and spatial heterogeneity. One specific challenge involves warming of both plants and soils to depth. We describe the design and performance of an open-air warming experiment called Boreal Forest Warming at an Ecotone in Danger (B4WarmED) that addresses the potential for projected climate warming to alter tree function, species composition, and ecosystem processes at the boreal-temperate ecotone. The experiment includes two forested sites in northern Minnesota, USA, with plots in both open (recently clear-cut) and closed canopy habitats, where seedlings of 11 tree species were planted into native ground vegetation. Treatments include three target levels of plant canopy and soil warming (ambient, +1.7°C, +3.4°C). Warming was achieved by independent feedback control of voltage input to aboveground infrared heaters and belowground buried resistance heating cables in each of 72-7.0 m(2) plots. The treatments emulated patterns of observed diurnal, seasonal, and annual temperatures but with superimposed warming. For the 2009 to 2011 field seasons, we achieved temperature elevations near our targets with growing season overall mean differences (∆Tbelow ) of +1.84°C and +3.66°C at 10 cm soil depth and (∆T(above) ) of +1.82°C and +3.45°C for the plant canopies. We also achieved measured soil warming to at least 1 m depth. Aboveground treatment stability and control were better during nighttime than daytime and in closed vs. open canopy sites in part due to calmer conditions. Heating efficacy in open canopy areas was reduced with increasing canopy complexity and size. Results of this study suggest the warming approach is scalable: it should work well in small-statured vegetation such as grasslands, desert, agricultural crops, and tree saplings (<5 m tall). © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Effects of four different drying methods on the carotenoid composition and antioxidant capacity of dried Gac peel.

    PubMed

    Chuyen, Hoang V; Roach, Paul D; Golding, John B; Parks, Sophie E; Nguyen, Minh H

    2017-03-01

    Gac fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng.) is a rich source of carotenoids for the manufacture of powder, oil and capsules for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses. Currently, only the aril of the Gac fruit is processed and the peel, similar to the other components, is discarded, although it contains high level of carotenoids, which could be extracted for commercial use. In the present study, four different drying methods (hot-air, vacuum, heat pump and freeze drying), different temperatures and drying times were investigated for producing dried Gac peel suitable for carotenoid extraction. The drying methods and drying temperatures significantly affected the drying time, carotenoid content and antioxidant capacity of the dried Gac peel. Among the investigated drying methods, hot-air drying at 80  o C and vacuum drying at 50  o C produced dried Gac peel that exhibited the highest retention of carotenoids and the strongest antioxidant capacity. Hot-air drying at 80  o C and vacuum drying at 50  o C are recommended for the drying of Gac peel. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  13. Global lake response to the recent warming hiatus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Winslow, Luke A.; Leach, Taylor H.; Rose, Kevin C.

    2018-05-01

    Understanding temporal variability in lake warming rates over decadal scales is important for understanding observed change in aquatic systems. We analyzed a global dataset of lake surface water temperature observations (1985‑2009) to examine how lake temperatures responded to a recent global air temperature warming hiatus (1998‑2012). Prior to the hiatus (1985‑1998), surface water temperatures significantly increased at an average rate of 0.532 °C decade‑1 (±0.214). In contrast, water temperatures did not change significantly during the hiatus (average rate ‑0.087 °C decade‑1 ±0.223). Overall, 83% of lakes in our dataset (129 of 155) had faster warming rates during the pre-hiatus period than during the hiatus period. These results demonstrate that lakes have exhibited decadal-scale variability in warming rates coherent with global air temperatures and represent an independent line of evidence for the recent warming hiatus. Our analyses provide evidence that lakes are sentinels of broader climatological processes and indicate that warming rates based on datasets where a large proportion of observations were collected during the hiatus period may underestimate longer-term trends.

  14. Applicability Determination Letters for 40 C.F.R. Part 63 Subpart M, National Perchloroethylene Air Emission Standards for Dry Cleaning Facilities

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This pages contains two letters on the applicability of the National Perchloroethylene Air Emission Standards for Dry Cleaning Facilities (40 CFR 63, Subpart M). Both letters clarify what constitutes instillation of a dry cleaning machine.

  15. Numerical modelling of the effect of dry air traces in a helium parallel plate dielectric barrier discharge

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lazarou, C.; Belmonte, T.; Chiper, A. S.; Georghiou, G. E.

    2016-10-01

    A validated numerical model developed for the study of helium barrier discharges in the presence of dry air impurities is presented in this paper. The model was used to numerically investigate the influence of air traces on the evolution of the helium dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). The level of dry air used as impurity was in the range from 0 to 1500 ppm, which corresponds to the most commonly encountered range in atmospheric pressure discharge experiments. The results presented in this study clearly show that the plasma chemistry and consequently the discharge evolution is highly affected by the concentration level of impurities in the mixture. In particular, it was observed that air traces assist the discharge ignition at low concentration levels (~55 ppm), while on the other hand, they increase the burning voltage at higher concentration levels (~1000 ppm). Furthermore, it was found that the discharge symmetry during the voltage cycle highly depends on the concentration of air. For the interpretation of the results, a detailed analysis of the processes that occur in the discharge gap is performed and the main reaction pathways of ion production are described. Thanks to this approach, useful insight into the physics behind the evolution of the discharge is obtained.

  16. Persistent cold air outbreaks over North America in a warming climate

    DOE PAGES

    Gao, Yang; Leung, L. Ruby; Lu, Jian; ...

    2015-03-30

    This study examines future changes of cold air outbreaks (CAO) using a multi-model ensemble of global climate simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 as well as regional high resolution climate simulations. In the future, while robust decrease of CAO duration dominates in most regions, the magnitude of decrease over northwestern U.S. is much smaller than the surrounding regions. We identified statistically significant increases in sea level pressure during CAO events centering over Yukon, Alaska, and Gulf of Alaska that advects continental cold air to northwestern U.S., leading to blocking and CAO events. Changes in large scale circulationmore » contribute to about 50% of the enhanced sea level pressure anomaly conducive to CAO in northwestern U.S. in the future. High resolution regional simulations revealed potential contributions of increased existing snowpack to increased CAO in the near future over the Rocky Mountain, southwestern U.S., and Great Lakes areas through surface albedo effects, despite winter mean snow water equivalent decreases in the future. Overall, the multi-model projections emphasize that cold extremes do not completely disappear in a warming climate. Concomitant with the relatively smaller reduction in CAO events in northwestern U.S., the top 5 most extreme CAO events may still occur in the future, and wind chill warning will continue to have societal impacts in that region.« less

  17. Temperature Data Shows Warming in 2001

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    TThe figure above depicts how much air temperatures near the Earth's surface changed relative to the global mean temperature from 1951 to 1980. NASA researchers used maps of urban areas derived from city lights data to account for the 'heat island' effect of cities. The red and orange colors show that temperatures are warmer in most regions of the world when compared to the 1951 to 1980 'normal' temperatures. Warming around the world has been widespread, but it is not present everywhere. The largest warming is in Northern Canada, Alaska and Siberia, as indicated by the deeper red colors. The lower 48 United States have become warmer recently, but only enough to make the temperatures comparable to what they were in the 1930s. The scale on the bottom of these temperature anomaly images represent degrees in Celsius. The negative numbers represent cooling and the positive numbers depict warming. Overall, the air temperature near the Earth's surface has warmed by 1oF (0.6oC) globally, on average, over the last century. For more information and additional images, read Satellites Shed Light on a Warmer World. Image courtesy Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).

  18. Land surface energy budget during dry spells: global CMIP5 AMIP simulations vs. satellite observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gallego-Elvira, Belen; Taylor, Christopher M.; Harris, Phil P.; Ghent, Darren; Folwell, Sonja S.

    2015-04-01

    During extended periods without rain (dry spells), the soil can dry out due to vegetation transpiration and soil evaporation. At some point in this drying cycle, land surface conditions change from energy-limited to water-limited evapotranspiration, and this is accompanied by an increase of the ground and overlying air temperatures. Regionally, the characteristics of this transition determine the influence of soil moisture on air temperature and rainfall. Global Climate Models (GCMs) disagree on where and how strongly the surface energy budget is limited by soil moisture. Flux tower observations are improving our understanding of these dry down processes, but typical heterogeneous landscapes are too sparsely sampled to ascertain a representative regional response. Alternatively, satellite observations of land surface temperature (LST) provide indirect information about the surface energy partition at 1km resolution globally. In our study, we analyse how well the dry spell dynamics of LST are represented by GCMs across the globe. We use a spatially and temporally aggregated diagnostic to describe the composite response of LST during surface dry down in rain-free periods in distinct climatic regions. The diagnostic is derived from daytime MODIS-Terra LST observations and bias-corrected meteorological re-analyses, and compared against the outputs of historical climate simulations of seven models running the CMIP5 AMIP experiment. Dry spell events are stratified by antecedent precipitation, land cover type and geographic regions to assess the sensitivity of surface warming rates to soil moisture levels at the onset of a dry spell for different surface and climatic zones. In a number of drought-prone hot spot regions, we find important differences in simulated dry spell behaviour, both between models, and compared to observations. These model biases are likely to compromise seasonal forecasts and future climate projections.

  19. Retention of Structure and Function of the Cat Germinal Vesicle after Air-Drying and Storage at Suprazero Temperature1

    PubMed Central

    Graves-Herring, Jennifer E.; Wildt, David E.; Comizzoli, Pierre

    2013-01-01

    ABSTRACT The study explored a novel approach for preserving the maternal genome without the entire oocyte by air-drying the cat germinal vesicle (GV) in the presence of the disaccharide trehalose. Specifically, we examined GV structure and function after desiccation, storage at 4°C (up to 32 wk), and rehydration including the ability to resume meiosis after injection into a fresh, conspecific cytoplast. In experiment 1, DNA integrity was similar to fresh controls after 1 and 4 wk storage in the presence of trehalose, but was more fragmented at later time points (especially after 32 wk). Nuclear envelope integrity was sustained in >90% of oocytes stored for 0, 4, or 16 wk regardless of protective treatment. In experiment 2, compacted, air-dried GVs were stored for 2 or 4 wk, rehydrated, and injected into fresh cytoplasts. After culture for 24 h in vitro, up to 73% of oocytes reconstructed with desiccated GVs preserved in trehalose resumed meiosis compared to 30% of those dried in the absence of the disaccharide. At each storage time point, trehalose presence during air-drying was advantageous for resumption of meiosis, with >20% of oocytes completing nuclear maturation to metaphase II. This demonstrates a potential for preserving the female genome using the GV alone and for multiple weeks after desiccation. Trehalose enhanced the process by retaining the ability of a dried and rehydrated GV to resume communication with the surrounding cytoplasm of the recipient oocyte to permit reaching metaphase II and likely sustain subsequent embryo development. PMID:23575153

  20. Air-drying beds reduce the quantities of antibiotic resistance genes and class 1 integrons in residual municipal wastewater solids.

    PubMed

    Burch, Tucker R; Sadowsky, Michael J; LaPara, Timothy M

    2013-09-03

    This study investigated whether air-drying beds reduce antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) concentrations in residual municipal wastewater solids. Three laboratory-scale drying beds were operated for a period of nearly 100 days. Real-time PCR was used to quantify 16S rRNA genes, 16S rRNA genes specific to fecal bacteria (AllBac) and human fecal bacteria (HF183), the integrase gene of class 1 integrons (intI1), and five ARGs representing a cross-section of antibiotic classes and resistance mechanisms (erm(B), sul1, tet(A), tet(W), and tet(X)). Air-drying beds were capable of reducing all gene target concentrations by 1 to 5 orders of magnitude, and the nature of this reduction was consistent with both a net decrease in the number of bacterial cells and a lack of selection within the microbial community. Half-lives varied between 1.5 d (HF183) and 5.4 d (tet(X)) during the first 20 d of treatment. After the first 20 d of treatment, however, half-lives varied between 8.6 d (tet(X)) and 19.3 d (AllBac), and 16S rRNA gene, intI1, and sul1 concentrations did not change (P > 0.05). These results demonstrate that air-drying beds can reduce ARG and intI1 concentrations in residual municipal wastewater solids within timeframes typical of operating practices.

  1. High Efficiency Liquid-Desiccant Regenerator for Air Conditioning and Industrial Drying

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

    Andrew Lowenstein

    2005-12-19

    Over 2 quads of fossil fuels are used each year for moisture removal. This includes industrial and agricultural processes where feedstocks and final products must be dried, as well as comfort conditioning of indoor spaces where the control of humidity is essential to maintaining healthy, productive and comfortable working conditions. Desiccants, materials that have a high affinity for water vapor, can greatly reduce energy use for both drying and dehumidification. An opportunity exists to greatly improve the competitiveness of advanced liquid-desiccant systems by increasing the efficiency of their regenerators. It is common practice within the chemical process industry to usemore » multiple stage boilers to improve the efficiency of thermal separation processes. The energy needed to regenerate a liquid desiccant, which is a thermal separation process, can also be reduced by using a multiple stage boiler. In this project, a two-stage regenerator was developed in which the first stage is a boiler and the second stage is a scavenging-air regenerator. The only energy input to this regenerator is the natural gas that fires the boiler. The steam produced in the boiler provides the thermal energy to run the second-stage scavenging-air regenerator. This two-stage regenerator is referred to as a 1?-effect regenerator. A model of the high-temperature stage of a 1?-effect regenerator for liquid desiccants was designed, built and successfully tested. At nominal operating conditions (i.e., 2.35 gpm of 36% lithium chloride solution, 307,000 Btu/h firing rate), the boiler removed 153 lb/h of water from the desiccant at a gas-based efficiency of 52.9 % (which corresponds to a COP of 0.95 when a scavenging-air regenerator is added). The steam leaving the boiler, when condensed, had a solids concentration of less than 10 ppm. This low level of solids in the condensate places an upper bound of about 6 lb per year for desiccant loss from the regenerator. This low loss will not

  2. Warmed, humidified CO2 insufflation benefits intraoperative core temperature during laparoscopic surgery: A meta‐analysis

    PubMed Central

    Dean, Meara; Ramsay, Robert; Heriot, Alexander; Mackay, John; Hiscock, Richard

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Background Intraoperative hypothermia is linked to postoperative adverse events. The use of warmed, humidified CO2 to establish pneumoperitoneum during laparoscopy has been associated with reduced incidence of intraoperative hypothermia. However, the small number and variable quality of published studies have caused uncertainty about the potential benefit of this therapy. This meta‐analysis was conducted to specifically evaluate the effects of warmed, humidified CO2 during laparoscopy. Methods An electronic database search identified randomized controlled trials performed on adults who underwent laparoscopic abdominal surgery under general anesthesia with either warmed, humidified CO2 or cold, dry CO2. The main outcome measure of interest was change in intraoperative core body temperature. Results The database search identified 320 studies as potentially relevant, and of these, 13 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. During laparoscopic surgery, use of warmed, humidified CO2 is associated with a significant increase in intraoperative core temperature (mean temperature change, 0.3°C), when compared with cold, dry CO2 insufflation. Conclusion Warmed, humidified CO2 insufflation during laparoscopic abdominal surgery has been demonstrated to improve intraoperative maintenance of normothermia when compared with cold, dry CO2. PMID:27976517

  3. Body heat storage during intermittent work in hot-dry and warm-wet environments.

    PubMed

    Stapleton, Jill M; Wright, Heather E; Hardcastle, Stephen G; Kenny, Glen P

    2012-10-01

    We examined heat balance using an American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists threshold limit value allocated exercise protocol in hot-dry (HD; 46 °C, 10% relative humidity (RH)) and warm-wet (WW; 33 °C, 60% RH) environments of equivalent WBGT (29 °C) for different clothing ensembles. Whole-body heat exchange and changes in body heat content (ΔH(b)) were measured using simultaneous direct whole-body and indirect calorimetry. Eight males performed six 15-min cycling periods at a constant rate of metabolic heat production (360 W) interspersed by 5-min rest periods for six experimental trials: HD and WW environments for a seminude control (CON), modified work uniform (MWU, moisture permeable top and work pants), and standard work uniform (SWU, work coveralls and cotton undergarments). Whole-body evaporative and dry heat exchange, rectal temperature (T(re)), and heart rate were measured continuously. The cumulative ΔH(b) during the 2 h intermittent exercise protocol was similar between HD and WW environments for each of the clothing ensembles (CON, 387 ± 55 vs. 435 ± 49 kJ; MWU, 485 ± 58 vs. 531 ± 61 kJ; SWU, 585 ± 74 vs. 660 ± 54 kJ, respectively). Similarly, no differences in T(re) (CON, 37.67 ± 0.07 vs. 37.48 ± 0.08 °C; MWU, 37.73 ± 0.08 vs. 37.53 ± 0.09 °C; SWU, 38.01 ± 0.09 vs. 37.94 ± 0.05 °C) or heat rate (CON, 93 ± 3 vs. 84 ± 3 beats·min⁻¹; MWU, 102 ± 5 vs. 95 ± 9 beats·min⁻¹; SWU, 119 ± 8 vs. 110 ± 9 beats·min⁻¹) were observed at the end of the 2 h intermittent exercise protocol in HD vs. WW environments, respectively. We showed similar levels of thermal and cardiovascular strain for intermittent work performed in high heat stress conditions of varying environmental conditions but similar WBGT.

  4. Forest response to heat waves at the dry timberline

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yakir, D.; Rotenberg, E.; Tatrinov, F.; Ogee, J.; Maseyk, K.

    2012-04-01

    Predictions of climate change consistently indicate continuous warming and drying for the entire Mediterranean basin and other regions during the next century. Investigating forest functioning at the current dry and hot "timberline" has therefore implications for predicting future forest distribution. In such investigations we should consider the forest adjustments to extreme conditions both at the long-term average climate basis, as at the time-scale of episodic extreme events, such as heat waves and droughts. Investigating both aspects in a 45-yr old semi-arid pine forest at the dry timberline (<300 mm annual rainfall) we observe adjustments that improve carbon-, nitrogen- and water- use efficiencies. An important aspect in the ecosystem sustainability is its ability to rapidly recover from extreme conditions, both at the short-term and the seasonal scale. A remarkable example is provided by the episodes (usually 2-4 days) of Easterly dry and hot air that are common in spring (so-called "Hamsin" events). During these events air temperature increases and relative humidity decreases within hours by 10˚C and 40%, respectively. Net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and photosynthesis (GPP) sharply decline, predominantly in response to the drastic increase in vapor pressure deficit (up to 6kPa), but then show full recovery to the pre-stress values within 24 h past the event. Similarly, following 5-6 months of seasonal drought, the forest resumes high photosynthetic activity within ~5 days following the first rain episode of about 10 mm in the fall. We show that these transient responses are useful in partitioning between the ecosystem responses to short-term atmosphere-driven stress and longer-term soil moisture stress. An ecosystem model (MuSICA) was used to test our understandings of underlying processes, and our ability to account for such differential responses.

  5. A measurement of summertime dry deposition of ambient air particulates and associated metallic pollutants in Central Taiwan.

    PubMed

    Fang, Guor-Cheng; Chiang, Hung-Che; Chen, Yu-Cheng; Xiao, You-Fu; Wu, Chia-Ming; Kuo, Yu-Chen

    2015-04-01

    The purpose of this study is to characterize metallic elements associated with atmospheric particulate matter in the dry deposition plate, total suspended particulate, fine particles, and coarse particles at Taichung Harbor and Gong Ming Junior High School (airport) in central Taiwan at a sampling site from June 2013 to August 2013. The results indicated that: (1) the average concentrations of the metallic elements Cr and Cd were highest at the Gong Ming Junior High School (airport), and the average concentrations of the metallic elements Ni, Cu, and Pb were highest at the Taichung Harbor sampling site. (2) The high smelting industry density and export/import rate of heavily loaded cargos were the main reasons leading to these findings. (3) The average metallic element dry deposition and metallic element PM(2.5-10) all followed the order of Pb > Cr > Cu > Ni > Cd at the two sampling sites. However, the average metallic elements Cu and Pb were found to have the highest dry deposition velocities and concentrations in PM(2.5) for the two sampling sites in this study. (4) The correlation coefficients of ambient air particle dry deposition and concentration with wind speed at the airport were higher than those from the harbor sampling site. The wind and broad open spaces at Taichung Airport were the possible reasons for the increasing correlation coefficients for ambient air particle concentration and dry deposition with wind speed at the Taichung Airport sampling site.

  6. Energy-efficient regenerative liquid desiccant drying process

    DOEpatents

    Ko, Suk M.; Grodzka, Philomena G.; McCormick, Paul O.

    1980-01-01

    This invention relates to the use of desiccants in conjunction with an open oop drying cycle and a closed loop drying cycle to reclaim the energy expended in vaporizing moisture in harvested crops. In the closed loop cycle, the drying air is brought into contact with a desiccant after it exits the crop drying bin. Water vapor in the moist air is absorbed by the desiccant, thus reducing the relative humidity of the air. The air is then heated by the used desiccant and returned to the crop bin. During the open loop drying cycle the used desiccant is heated (either fossil or solar energy heat sources may be used) and regenerated at high temperature, driving water vapor from the desiccant. This water vapor is condensed and used to preheat the dilute (wet) desiccant before heat is added from the external source (fossil or solar). The latent heat of vaporization of the moisture removed from the desiccant is reclaimed in this manner. The sensible heat of the regenerated desiccant is utilized in the open loop drying cycle. Also, closed cycle operation implies that no net energy is expended in heating drying air.

  7. Effect of biomass open burning on particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentration levels and PAH dry deposition in ambient air.

    PubMed

    Chiu, Jui C; Shen, Yun H; Li, Hsing W; Chang, Shun S; Wang, Lin C; Chang-Chien, Guo P

    2011-01-01

    The objectives of the present study were to investigate particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in ambient air during rice straw open burning and non-open burning periods. In the ambient air of a rice field, the mean PM concentration during and after an open burning event were 1828 and 102 μg m⁻³, respectively, which demonstrates that during a rice field open burning event, the PM concentration in the ambient air of rice field is over 17 times higher than that of the non-open burning period. During an open burning event, the mean total PAH and total toxic equivalence (BaP(eq)) concentrations in the ambient air of a rice field were 7206 ng m⁻³ and 10.3 ng m⁻³, respectively, whereas after the open burning event, they were 376 ng m⁻³ and 1.50 ng m⁻³, respectively. Open burning thus increases total PAH and total BaP(eq) concentrations by 19-fold and 6.8-fold, respectively. During a rice straw open burning event, in the ambient air of a rice field, the mean dry deposition fluxes of total PAHs and total BaP(eq) were 1222 μg m⁻² day⁻¹ and 4.80 μg m⁻² day⁻¹, respectively, which are approximately 60- and 3-fold higher than those during the non-open burning period, respectively. During the non-open burning period, particle-bound PAHs contributed 79.2-84.2% of total dry deposition fluxes (gas + particle) of total PAHs. However, an open burning event increases the contribution to total PAH dry deposition by particle-bound PAHs by up to 85.9-95.5%. The results show that due to the increased amount of PM in the ambient air resulting from rice straw open burning, particle-bound PAHs contributed more to dry deposition fluxes of total PAHs than they do during non-open burning periods. The results show that biomass (rice straw) open burning is an important PAH emission source that significantly increases both PM and PAH concentration levels and PAH dry deposition in ambient air.

  8. Startup of air-cooled condensers and dry cooling towers at low temperatures of the cooling air

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Milman, O. O.; Ptakhin, A. V.; Kondratev, A. V.; Shifrin, B. A.; Yankov, G. G.

    2016-05-01

    The problems of startup and performance of air-cooled condensers (ACC) and dry cooling towers (DCT) at low cooling air temperatures are considered. Effects of the startup of the ACC at sub-zero temperatures are described. Different options of the ACC heating up are analyzed, and examples of existing technologies are presented (electric heating, heating up with hot air or steam, and internal and external heating). The use of additional heat exchanging sections, steam tracers, in the DCT design is described. The need for high power in cases of electric heating and heating up with hot air is noted. An experimental stand for research and testing of the ACC startup at low temperatures is described. The design of the three-pass ACC unit is given, and its advantages over classical single-pass design at low temperatures are listed. The formation of ice plugs inside the heat exchanging tubes during the start-up of ACC and DCT at low cooling air temperatures is analyzed. Experimental data on the effect of the steam flow rate, steam nozzle distance from the heat-exchange surface, and their orientation in space on the metal temperature were collected, and test results are analyzed. It is noted that the surface temperature at the end of the heat up is almost independent from its initial temperature. Recommendations for the safe start-up of ACCs and DCTs are given. The heating flow necessary to sufficiently heat up heat-exchange surfaces of ACCs and DCTs for the safe startup is estimated. The technology and the process of the heat up of the ACC with the heating steam external supply are described by the example of the startup of the full-scale section of the ACC at sub-zero temperatures of the cooling air, and the advantages of the proposed start-up technology are confirmed.

  9. Research on the drying kinetics of household food waste for the development and optimization of domestic waste drying technique.

    PubMed

    Sotiropoulos, A; Malamis, D; Michailidis, P; Krokida, M; Loizidou, M

    2016-01-01

    Domestic food waste drying foresees the significant reduction of household food waste mass through the hygienic removal of its moisture content at source. In this manuscript, a new approach for the development and optimization of an innovative household waste dryer for the effective dehydration of food waste at source is presented. Food waste samples were dehydrated with the use of the heated air-drying technique under different air-drying conditions, namely air temperature and air velocity, in order to investigate their drying kinetics. Different thin-layer drying models have been applied, in which the drying constant is a function of the process variables. The Midilli model demonstrated the best performance in fitting the experimental data in all tested samples, whereas it was found that food waste drying is greatly affected by temperature and to a smaller scale by air velocity. Due to the increased moisture content of food waste, an appropriate configuration of the drying process variables can lead to a total reduction of its mass by 87% w/w, thus achieving a sustainable residence time and energy consumption level. Thus, the development of a domestic waste dryer can be proved to be economically and environmentally viable in the future.

  10. Surface ozone seasonality under global change: Influence from dry deposition and isoprene emissions at northern mid-latitudes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clifton, O.; Paulot, F.; Fiore, A. M.; Horowitz, L. W.; Malyshev, S.; Shevliakova, E.; Correa, G. J. P.; Lin, M.

    2017-12-01

    Identifying the contributions of nonlinear chemistry and transport to observed surface ozone seasonal cycles over land using global models relies on an accurate representation of ozone uptake by vegetation (dry deposition). It is well established that in the absence of ozone precursor emission changes, a warming climate will increase surface ozone in polluted regions, and that a rise in temperature-dependent isoprene emissions would exacerbate this "climate penalty". However, the influence of changes in ozone dry deposition, expected to evolve with climate and land use, is often overlooked in air quality projections. With a new scheme that represents dry deposition within the NOAA GFDL dynamic vegetation land model (LM3) coupled to the NOAA GFDL atmospheric chemistry-climate model (AM3), we simulate the impact of 21st century climate and land use on ozone dry deposition and isoprene emissions. This dry deposition parameterization is a version of the Wesely scheme, but uses parameters explicitly calculated by LM3 that respond to climate and land use (e.g., stomatal conductance, canopy interception of water, leaf area index). The parameterization includes a nonstomatal deposition dependence on humidity. We evaluate climatological present-day seasonal cycles of ozone deposition velocities and abundances with those observed at northern mid-latitude sites. With a set of 2010s and 2090s decadal simulations under a high climate warming scenario (RCP8.5) and a sensitivity simulation with well-mixed greenhouse gases following RCP8.5 but air pollutants held at 2010 levels (RCP8.5_WMGG), we examine changes in surface ozone seasonal cycles. We build on our previous findings, which indicate that strong reductions in anthropogenic NOx emissions under RCP8.5 cause the surface ozone seasonal cycle over the NE USA to reverse, shifting from a summer peak at present to a winter peak by 2100. Under RCP8.5_WMGG, we parse the separate effects of climate and land use on ozone dry

  11. Predicted effects of climate warming on the distribution of 50 stream fishes in Wisconsin, USA.

    PubMed

    Lyons, J; Stewart, J S; Mitro, M

    2010-11-01

    Summer air and stream water temperatures are expected to rise in the state of Wisconsin, U.S.A., over the next 50 years. To assess potential climate warming effects on stream fishes, predictive models were developed for 50 common fish species using classification-tree analysis of 69 environmental variables in a geographic information system. Model accuracy was 56·0-93·5% in validation tests. Models were applied to all 86 898 km of stream in the state under four different climate scenarios: current conditions, limited climate warming (summer air temperatures increase 1° C and water 0·8° C), moderate warming (air 3° C and water 2·4° C) and major warming (air 5° C and water 4° C). With climate warming, 23 fishes were predicted to decline in distribution (three to extirpation under the major warming scenario), 23 to increase and four to have no change. Overall, declining species lost substantially more stream length than increasing species gained. All three cold-water and 16 cool-water fishes and four of 31 warm-water fishes were predicted to decline, four warm-water fishes to remain the same and 23 warm-water fishes to increase in distribution. Species changes were predicted to be most dramatic in small streams in northern Wisconsin that currently have cold to cool summer water temperatures and are dominated by cold-water and cool-water fishes, and least in larger and warmer streams and rivers in southern Wisconsin that are currently dominated by warm-water fishes. Results of this study suggest that even small increases in summer air and water temperatures owing to climate warming will have major effects on the distribution of stream fishes in Wisconsin. © 2010 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2010 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  12. Effect of drying methods (microwave vacuum, freeze, hot air and sun drying) on physical, chemical and nutritional attributes of five pepper (Capsicum annuum var. annuum) cultivars.

    PubMed

    Maurya, Vaibhav Kumar; Gothandam, Kodiveri Muthukaliannan; Ranjan, Vijay; Shakya, Amita; Pareek, Sunil

    2018-07-01

    A randomized block design experiment was performed to investigate the influence of drying on the physical, chemical and nutritional quality attributes of five prominent cultivars of India under sun drying (SD) (mean temperature 35.5 °C, average daily radiation 5.26 kW h m -2 and mean relative humidity 73.66% RH), hot air drying (HD) at 65 °C, microwave vacuum drying (MVD) (800 W, 5 kPa) and freeze drying (FD) (-50 °C, 5 kPa). Water activity, pH, total phenolic content (TPC), ascorbic acid (AA), capsaicin, β-carotene, color and Scoville heat unit were studied. TPC, AA, capsaicin content, β-carotene, color and water activity were significantly affected by the drying method. FD was observed to be most efficient in minimizing the loss of color, capsaicin and β-carotene. The hotness of analyzed samples decreased in the order 'Bird's Eye' > 'Sannam S4' > 'CO-4' > 'PLR-1' > 'PKM-1' among the studied cultivars, and FD > MVD > HD > SD among the drying methods. The FD method was observed to be the most efficient drying method for retaining capsaicin content over other drying methods (SD, HD, MVD), whereas MVD was found to be most efficient in minimizing the loss to nutritional attributes for all five pepper cultivars. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

  13. Drying southern pine at 240°F-- effects of air velocity and humidity, board thickness and density

    Treesearch

    P. Koch

    1972-01-01

    Kiln time to reach 10 percent moisture content was shortened by circulating air at high velocity, but was little affected by board specific gravity. A wet-bulb depression of 80°F. provided faster drying than depressions of 40 or 115°F. At 80° depression and with air circulated at 930 f.p.m.. kiln time was directly proportional to board thickness. Under these optimum...

  14. Infrared Drying as a Quick Preparation Method for Dried Tangerine Peel

    PubMed Central

    Xu, Mingyue; Zhao, Chengying; Ahmad, Aftab; Zhang, Huijuan; Xiao, Hang

    2017-01-01

    To establish the most convenient and effective method to dry tangerine peels, different methods (sun drying, hot-air drying, freeze drying, vacuum drying, and medium- and short-wave infrared drying) were exploited. Our results indicated that medium- and short-wave infrared drying was the best method to preserve nutraceutical components; for example, vitamin C was raised to 6.77 mg/g (D.W.) from 3.39 mg/g (sun drying). Moreover, the drying time can be shortened above 96% compared with sun drying. Importantly, the efficiency of DPPH radical scavenging was enhanced from 26.66% to 55.92%. These findings would provide a reliable and time-saving methodology to produce high-quality dried tangerine peels. PMID:29348752

  15. Socioeconomic disparities in indoor air, breath, and blood perchloroethylene level among adult and child residents of buildings with or without a dry cleaner.

    PubMed

    Storm, Jan E; Mazor, Kimberly A; Shost, Stephen J; Serle, Janet; Aldous, Kenneth M; Blount, Benjamin C

    2013-04-01

    In many cities, dry cleaners using perchloroethylene are frequently located in multifamily residential buildings and often cause elevated indoor air levels of perchloroethylene throughout the building. To assess individual perchloroethylene exposures associated with co-located dry cleaners, we measured perchloroethylene in residential indoor air, and in blood and breath of adults and children residing in buildings with a dry cleaner as part of the New York City (NYC) Perc Project. We also measured perchloroethylene in indoor air, and in blood and breath of residents of buildings without a dry cleaner for comparison. Here, we evaluate whether an environmental disparity in perchloroethylene exposures is present. Study participants are stratified by residential building type (dry cleaner or reference) and socioeconomic characteristics (race/ethnicity and income); measures of perchloroethylene exposure are examined; and, the influence of stratified variables and other factors on perchloroethylene exposure is assessed using multivariate regression. All measures of perchloroethylene exposure for residents of buildings with a dry cleaner indicated a socioeconomic disparity. Mean indoor air perchloroethylene levels were about five times higher in minority (82.5 ug/m(3)) than in non-minority (16.5 ug/m(3)) households, and about six times higher in low-income (105.5 ug/m(3)) than in high income (17.8 ug/m(3)) households. Mean blood perchloroethylene levels in minority children (0.27 ng/mL) and adults (0.46 ng/mL) were about two and three times higher than in non-minority children (0.12 ng/mL) and adults (0.15 ng/mL), respectively. Mean blood perchloroethylene levels in low income children (0.34 ng/mL) and adults (0.62 ng/mL) were about three and four times higher than in high income children (0.11 ng/mL) and adults (0.14 ng/mL), respectively. A less marked socioeconomic disparity was observed in perchloroethylene breath levels with minority and low income residents having

  16. Does the climate warming hiatus exist over the Tibetan Plateau?

    PubMed Central

    Duan, Anmin; Xiao, Zhixiang

    2015-01-01

    The surface air temperature change over the Tibetan Plateau is determined based on historical observations from 1980 to 2013. In contrast to the cooling trend in the rest of China, and the global warming hiatus post-1990s, an accelerated warming trend has appeared over the Tibetan Plateau during 1998–2013 (0.25 °C decade−1), compared with that during 1980–1997 (0.21 °C decade−1). Further results indicate that, to some degree, such an accelerated warming trend might be attributable to cloud–radiation feedback. The increased nocturnal cloud over the northern Tibetan Plateau would warm the nighttime temperature via enhanced atmospheric back-radiation, while the decreased daytime cloud over the southern Tibetan Plateau would induce the daytime sunshine duration to increase, resulting in surface air temperature warming. Meanwhile, the in situ surface wind speed has recovered gradually since 1998, and thus the energy concentration cannot explain the accelerated warming trend over the Tibetan Plateau after the 1990s. It is suggested that cloud–radiation feedback may play an important role in modulating the recent accelerated warming trend over the Tibetan Plateau. PMID:26329678

  17. Does the climate warming hiatus exist over the Tibetan Plateau?

    PubMed

    Duan, Anmin; Xiao, Zhixiang

    2015-09-02

    The surface air temperature change over the Tibetan Plateau is determined based on historical observations from 1980 to 2013. In contrast to the cooling trend in the rest of China, and the global warming hiatus post-1990s, an accelerated warming trend has appeared over the Tibetan Plateau during 1998-2013 (0.25 °C decade(-1)), compared with that during 1980-1997 (0.21 °C decade(-1)). Further results indicate that, to some degree, such an accelerated warming trend might be attributable to cloud-radiation feedback. The increased nocturnal cloud over the northern Tibetan Plateau would warm the nighttime temperature via enhanced atmospheric back-radiation, while the decreased daytime cloud over the southern Tibetan Plateau would induce the daytime sunshine duration to increase, resulting in surface air temperature warming. Meanwhile, the in situ surface wind speed has recovered gradually since 1998, and thus the energy concentration cannot explain the accelerated warming trend over the Tibetan Plateau after the 1990s. It is suggested that cloud-radiation feedback may play an important role in modulating the recent accelerated warming trend over the Tibetan Plateau.

  18. NIST gravimetrically prepared atmospheric level methane in dry air standards suite.

    PubMed

    Rhoderick, George C; Carney, Jennifer; Guenther, Franklin R

    2012-04-17

    The Gas Metrology Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology was tasked, by a congressional climate change act, to support the atmospheric measurement community through standards development of key greenhouse gases. This paper discusses the development of a methane (CH(4)) primary standard gas mixture (PSM) suite to support CH(4) measurement needs over a large amount-of-substance fraction range 0.3-20,000 μmol mol(-1), but with emphasis at the atmospheric level 300-4000 nmol mol(-1). Thirty-six CH(4) in dry air PSMs were prepared in 5.9 L high-pressure aluminum cylinders with use of a time-tested gravimetric technique. Ultimately 14 of these 36 PSMs define a CH(4) standard suite covering the nominal ambient atmospheric range of 300-4000 nmol mol(-1). Starting materials of pure CH(4) and cylinders of dry air were exhaustively analyzed to determine the purity and air composition. Gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection (GC-FID) was used to determine a CH(4) response for each of the 14 PSMs where the reproducibility of average measurement ratios as a standard error was typically (0.04-0.26) %. An ISO 6134-compliant generalized least-squares regression (GenLine) program was used to analyze the consistency of the CH(4) suite. All 14 PSMs passed the u-test with residuals between the gravimetric and the GenLine solution values being between -0.74 and 1.31 nmol mol(-1); (0.00-0.16)% relative absolute. One of the 14 PSMs, FF4288 at 1836.16 ± 0.75 nmol mol(-1) (k = 1) amount-of-substance fraction, was sent to the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), the Republic of Korea's National Metrology Institute, for comparison. The same PSM was subsequently sent to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for analysis to their standards. Results show agreement between KRISS-NIST of +0.13% relative (+2.3 nmol mol(-1)) and NOAA-NIST of -0.14% relative (-2.54 nmol mol(-1)).

  19. Convective drying of hawthorn fruit (Crataegus spp.): Effect of experimental parameters on drying kinetics, color, shrinkage, and rehydration capacity.

    PubMed

    Aral, Serdar; Beşe, Ayşe Vildan

    2016-11-01

    Thin layer drying characteristics and physicochemical properties of hawthorn fruit (Crataegus spp.) were investigated using a convective dryer at air temperatures 50, 60 and 70°C and air velocities of 0.5, 0.9 and 1.3m/s. The drying process of hawthorn took place in the falling rate period, and the drying time decreased with increasing air temperature and velocity. The experimental data obtained during the drying process were fitted to eleven different mathematical models. The Midilli et al.'s model was found to be the best appropriate model for explaining the drying behavior of hawthorn fruit. Effective moisture diffusion coefficients (Deff) were calculated by Fick's diffusion model and their values varied from 2.34×10(-10)m(2)/s to 2.09×10(-9)m(2)/s. An Arrhenius-type equation was applied to determine the activation energies. While the shrinkage decreased, the rehydration ratio increased with increasing air temperature and air velocity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Experimental investigation of drying characteristics of cornelian cherry fruits ( Cornus mas L.)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ozgen, Filiz

    2015-03-01

    Major target of present paper is to investigate the drying kinetics of cornelian cherry fruits ( Cornus mas L.) in a convective dryer, by varying the temperature and the velocity of drying air. Freshly harvested fruits are dried at drying air temperature of 35, 45 and 55 °C. The considered drying air velocities are V air = 1 and 1.5 m/s for each temperature. The required drying time is determined by taking into consideration the moisture ratio measurements. When the moisture ratio reaches up to 10 % at the selected drying air temperature, then the time is determined ( t = 40-67 h). The moisture ratio, fruit temperature and energy requirement are presented as the functions of drying time. The lowest drying time (40 h) is obtained when the air temperature is 55 °C and air velocity is 1.5 m/s. The highest drying time (67 h) is found under the conditions of 35 °C temperature and 1 m/s velocity. Both the drying air temperature and the air velocity significantly affect the required energy for drying system. The minimum amount of required energy is found as 51.12 kWh, at 55 °C and 1 m/s, whilst the maximum energy requirement is 106.7 kWh, at 35 °C and 1.5 m/s. It is also found that, air temperature significantly influences the total drying time. Moreover, the energy consumption is decreasing with increasing air temperature. The effects of three parameters (air temperature, air velocity and drying time) on drying characteristics have also been analysed by means of analysis of variance method to show the effecting levels. The experimental results have a good agreement with the predicted ones.

  1. Is the Climate of Bering Sea Warming and Affecting the Ecosystem?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Overland, James E.; Stabeno, Phyllis J.

    2004-08-01

    Observations from the Bering Sea are good indicators of decadal shifts in climate, as the Bering is a transition region between the cold, dry Arctic air mass to the north, and the moist, relatively warm maritime air mass to the south. The Bering Sea is also a transition region between Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems; this boundary can be loosely identified with the extent of winter sea-ice cover. Like a similar transition zone in the eastern North Atlantic, the Bering Sea is experiencing a northward biogeographical shift in response to changing temperature and atmospheric forcing. If this shift continues over the next decade, it will have major impacts on commercial and subsistence harvests as Arctic species are displaced by sub-Arctic species. The stakes are enormous, as this rich and diverse ecosystem currently provides 47% of the U.S. fishery production by weight, and is home to 80% of the U.S. sea bird population, 95% of northern fur seals, and major populations of Steller sea lions, walrus, and whales.

  2. Residual tetrachloroethylene in dry-cleaned clothes

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

    Kawauchi, T.; Nishiyama, K.

    1989-04-01

    A large amount of residual tetrachloroethylene (TCE), up to 13.6 mg/g, was found in dry-cleaned clothes. The amounts varied among dry-cleaning establishments as well as with the type of fiber. The causes of these variations are discussed. Air TCE concentrations in the closed environment of dry-cleaning outlets were elevated: the highest reading was 4.8 mg/m3. The expired air of outlet employees also showed an increased level of TCE (average, 36.9 micrograms/m3). Increased air contamination from TCE released from dry-cleaned clothes was also observed in the home of a consumer. To reduce environmental contamination from TCE released from any of thesemore » sources, the amount of residual TCE in dry-cleaned clothes should be minimized.« less

  3. The McMurdo Dry Valleys: A landscape on the threshold of change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fountain, Andrew G.; Levy, Joseph S.; Gooseff, Michael N.; Van Horn, David

    2014-11-01

    Field observations of coastal and lowland regions in the McMurdo Dry Valleys suggest they are on the threshold of rapid topographic change, in contrast to the high elevation upland landscape that represents some of the lowest rates of surface change on Earth. A number of landscapes have undergone dramatic and unprecedented landscape changes over the past decade including, the Wright Lower Glacier (Wright Valley) - ablated several tens of meters, the Garwood River (Garwood Valley) has incised > 3 m into massive ice permafrost, smaller streams in Taylor Valley (Crescent, Lawson, and Lost Seal Streams) have experienced extensive down-cutting and/or bank undercutting, and Canada Glacier (Taylor Valley) has formed sheer, > 4 meter deep canyons. The commonality between all these landscape changes appears to be sediment on ice acting as a catalyst for melting, including ice-cement permafrost thaw. We attribute these changes to increasing solar radiation over the past decade despite no significant trend in summer air temperature. To infer possible future landscape changes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, due to anticipated climate warming, we map ‘at risk’ landscapes defined as those with buried massive ice in relative warm regions of the valleys. Results show that large regions of the valley bottoms are ‘at risk’. Changes in surface topography will trigger important responses in hydrology, geochemistry, and biological community structure and function.

  4. Global warming without global mean precipitation increase?

    PubMed Central

    Salzmann, Marc

    2016-01-01

    Global climate models simulate a robust increase of global mean precipitation of about 1.5 to 2% per kelvin surface warming in response to greenhouse gas (GHG) forcing. Here, it is shown that the sensitivity to aerosol cooling is robust as well, albeit roughly twice as large. This larger sensitivity is consistent with energy budget arguments. At the same time, it is still considerably lower than the 6.5 to 7% K−1 decrease of the water vapor concentration with cooling from anthropogenic aerosol because the water vapor radiative feedback lowers the hydrological sensitivity to anthropogenic forcings. When GHG and aerosol forcings are combined, the climate models with a realistic 20th century warming indicate that the global mean precipitation increase due to GHG warming has, until recently, been completely masked by aerosol drying. This explains the apparent lack of sensitivity of the global mean precipitation to the net global warming recently found in observations. As the importance of GHG warming increases in the future, a clear signal will emerge. PMID:27386558

  5. Global warming without global mean precipitation increase?

    PubMed

    Salzmann, Marc

    2016-06-01

    Global climate models simulate a robust increase of global mean precipitation of about 1.5 to 2% per kelvin surface warming in response to greenhouse gas (GHG) forcing. Here, it is shown that the sensitivity to aerosol cooling is robust as well, albeit roughly twice as large. This larger sensitivity is consistent with energy budget arguments. At the same time, it is still considerably lower than the 6.5 to 7% K(-1) decrease of the water vapor concentration with cooling from anthropogenic aerosol because the water vapor radiative feedback lowers the hydrological sensitivity to anthropogenic forcings. When GHG and aerosol forcings are combined, the climate models with a realistic 20th century warming indicate that the global mean precipitation increase due to GHG warming has, until recently, been completely masked by aerosol drying. This explains the apparent lack of sensitivity of the global mean precipitation to the net global warming recently found in observations. As the importance of GHG warming increases in the future, a clear signal will emerge.

  6. Next Generation Refrigeration Lubricants for Low Global Warming Potential/Low Ozone Depleting Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Systems

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

    Hessell, Edward Thomas

    The goal of this project is to develop and test new synthetic lubricants that possess high compatibility with new low ozone depleting (LOD) and low global warming potential (LGWP) refrigerants and offer improved lubricity and wear protection over current lubricant technologies. The improved compatibility of the lubricants with the refrigerants, along with improved lubricating properties, will resulted in lower energy consumption and longer service life of the refrigeration systems used in residential, commercial and industrial heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration equipment.

  7. Infrared drying of strawberry.

    PubMed

    Adak, Nafiye; Heybeli, Nursel; Ertekin, Can

    2017-03-15

    The effects of different drying conditions, such as infrared power, drying air temperature and velocity, on quality of strawberry were evaluated. Drying time decreased with increased infrared power, air temperature and velocity. An increase in power from 100W to 300W, temperature from 60 to 80°C and velocity from 1.0m.s -1 to 2.0m.s -1 decreased fruit color quality index. For total phenol and anthocyanin content, 300W, 60°C, and 1.0m.s -1 were superior to the other experimental conditions. The drying processes increased N, P and K and decreased Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu contents. The optimal conditions to preserve nutrients in infrared drying of strawberry were 200W, 100°C and 1.5m.s -1 . Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Leaching heavy metals from the surface soil of reclaimed tidal flat by alternating seawater inundation and air drying.

    PubMed

    Guo, Shi-Hong; Liu, Zhen-Ling; Li, Qu-Sheng; Yang, Ping; Wang, Li-Li; He, Bao-Yan; Xu, Zhi-Min; Ye, Jin-Shao; Zeng, Eddy Y

    2016-08-01

    Leaching experiments were conducted in a greenhouse to simulate seawater leaching combined with alternating seawater inundation and air drying. We investigated the heavy metal release of soils caused by changes associated with seawater inundation/air drying cycles in the reclaimed soils. After the treatment, the contents of all heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, and Cu), except Zn, in surface soil significantly decreased (P < 0.05), with removal rates ranging from 10% to 51%. The amounts of the exchangeable, carbonate, reducible, and oxidizable fractions also significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Moreover, prolonged seawater inundation enhanced the release of heavy metals. Measurement of diffusive gradients in thin films indicated that seawater inundation significantly increased the re-mobility of heavy metals. During seawater inundation, iron oxide reduction induced the release of heavy metals in the reducible fraction. Decomposition of organic matter, and complexation with dissolved organic carbon decreased the amount of heavy metals in the oxidizable fraction. Furthermore, complexation of chloride ions and competition of cations during seawater inundation and/or leaching decreased the levels of heavy metals in the exchangeable fraction. By contrast, air drying significantly enhanced the concentration of heavy metals in the exchangeable fraction. Therefore, the removal of heavy metals in the exchangeable fraction can be enhanced during subsequent leaching with seawater. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Air Drying of Chunkwood and Chips

    Treesearch

    Joseph B. Sturos; Lynne A. Coyer; Rodger A. Arola

    1983-01-01

    A new method of communicating wood has resulted in a new wood particle form called chunkwood, which is much larger than the common pulp-size chip. Chunkwood appears well suited for use as a fuel but nothing is yet known about its storage, drying, or combustion characteristics. This paper reports on two exploratory drying experiments we conducted to see whether chunks...

  10. Development of 72/84kV Dry Air Insulated Dead Tank Type VCB

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saito, Hitoshi; Nagatake, Kazuhiro; Komatsu, Hideki; Takeshita, Yukihiro; Matsui, Yoshihiko; Katsumata, Kiyohito; Sakaki, Masayuki

    As a circuit breaker for over 84kV, SF6 gas circuit breaker (GCB) has been used for a long time, in virtue of its excellent characteristics as arc extinction and insulating medium. Although, SF6 gas has very high global warming potential (GWP) of 23,900, and it was designated to regulation object in COP3 in Kyoto in 1997. A lot of efforts have been done to reduce the amount of SF6 gas usage and emission from conventional equipments. On the other hand, SF6 gas free equipment has been researching and one strong candidate is air-insulated type switchgears with vacuum interrupters. In last few years, air-insulated switchgears, which include GIS, Cubicle type GIS (C-GIS) and dead tank type VCB, have been developed in succession. So far, we have already more than three years operation record for the air-insulated dead tank type VCB, and over 100 units is in-service in power systems. Recently, VCB technology, that is essential for SF6 gas-free equipments, has been advanced in the field of high-voltage, large current interruption and environment-conscious design. In this paper, the advanced dead tank type VCB and its technology is descried.

  11. Global Changes in Drought Conditions Under Different Levels of Warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Naumann, G.; Alfieri, L.; Wyser, K.; Mentaschi, L.; Betts, R. A.; Carrao, H.; Spinoni, J.; Vogt, J.; Feyen, L.

    2018-04-01

    Higher evaporative demands and more frequent and persistent dry spells associated with rising temperatures suggest that drought conditions could worsen in many regions of the world. In this study, we assess how drought conditions may develop across the globe for 1.5, 2, and 3°C warming compared to preindustrial temperatures. Results show that two thirds of global population will experience a progressive increase in drought conditions with warming. For drying areas, drought durations are projected to rise at rapidly increasing rates with warming, averaged globally from 2.0 month/°C below 1.5°C to 4.2 month/°C when approaching 3°C. Drought magnitudes could double for 30% of global landmass under stringent mitigation. If contemporary warming rates continue, water supply-demand deficits could become fivefold in size for most of Africa, Australia, southern Europe, southern and central states of the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, north-west China, and parts of Southern America. In approximately 20% of the global land surface, drought magnitude will halve with warming of 1.5°C and higher levels, mainly most land areas north of latitude 55°N, but also parts of South America and Eastern and South-eastern Asia. A progressive and significant increase in frequency of droughts is projected with warming in the Mediterranean basin, most of Africa, West and Southern Asia, Central America, and Oceania, where droughts are projected to happen 5 to 10 times more frequent even under ambitious mitigation targets and current 100-year events could occur every two to five years under 3°C of warming.

  12. A zero-power warming chamber for investigating plant responses to rising temperature

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

    Lewin, Keith F.; McMahon, Andrew M.; Ely, Kim S.

    Advances in understanding and model representation of plant and ecosystem responses to rising temperature have typically required temperature manipulation of research plots, particularly when considering warming scenarios that exceed current climate envelopes. In remote or logistically challenging locations, passive warming using solar radiation is often the only viable approach for temperature manipulation. But, current passive warming approaches are only able to elevate the mean daily air temperature by ~1.5 °C. Motivated by our need to understand temperature acclimation in the Arctic, where warming has been markedly greater than the global average and where future warming is projected to be ~2–3more » °C by the middle of the century; we have developed an alternative approach to passive warming. Our zero-power warming (ZPW) chamber requires no electrical power for fully autonomous operation. It uses a novel system of internal and external heat exchangers that allow differential actuation of pistons in coupled cylinders to control chamber venting. This enables the ZPW chamber venting to respond to the difference between the external and internal air temperatures, thereby increasing the potential for warming and eliminating the risk of overheating. During the thaw season on the coastal tundra of northern Alaska our ZPW chamber was able to elevate the mean daily air temperature 2.6 °C above ambient, double the warming achieved by an adjacent passively warmed control chamber that lacked our hydraulic system. We describe the construction, evaluation and performance of our ZPW chamber and discuss the impact of potential artefacts associated with the design and its operation on the Arctic tundra. Our approach is highly flexible and tunable, enabling customization for use in many different environments where significantly greater temperature manipulation than that possible with existing passive warming approaches is desired.« less

  13. A zero-power warming chamber for investigating plant responses to rising temperature

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lewin, Keith F.; McMahon, Andrew M.; Ely, Kim S.; Serbin, Shawn P.; Rogers, Alistair

    2017-09-01

    Advances in understanding and model representation of plant and ecosystem responses to rising temperature have typically required temperature manipulation of research plots, particularly when considering warming scenarios that exceed current climate envelopes. In remote or logistically challenging locations, passive warming using solar radiation is often the only viable approach for temperature manipulation. However, current passive warming approaches are only able to elevate the mean daily air temperature by ˜ 1.5 °C. Motivated by our need to understand temperature acclimation in the Arctic, where warming has been markedly greater than the global average and where future warming is projected to be ˜ 2-3 °C by the middle of the century; we have developed an alternative approach to passive warming. Our zero-power warming (ZPW) chamber requires no electrical power for fully autonomous operation. It uses a novel system of internal and external heat exchangers that allow differential actuation of pistons in coupled cylinders to control chamber venting. This enables the ZPW chamber venting to respond to the difference between the external and internal air temperatures, thereby increasing the potential for warming and eliminating the risk of overheating. During the thaw season on the coastal tundra of northern Alaska our ZPW chamber was able to elevate the mean daily air temperature 2.6 °C above ambient, double the warming achieved by an adjacent passively warmed control chamber that lacked our hydraulic system. We describe the construction, evaluation and performance of our ZPW chamber and discuss the impact of potential artefacts associated with the design and its operation on the Arctic tundra. The approach we describe is highly flexible and tunable, enabling customization for use in many different environments where significantly greater temperature manipulation than that possible with existing passive warming approaches is desired.

  14. A zero-power warming chamber for investigating plant responses to rising temperature

    DOE PAGES

    Lewin, Keith F.; McMahon, Andrew M.; Ely, Kim S.; ...

    2017-09-19

    Advances in understanding and model representation of plant and ecosystem responses to rising temperature have typically required temperature manipulation of research plots, particularly when considering warming scenarios that exceed current climate envelopes. In remote or logistically challenging locations, passive warming using solar radiation is often the only viable approach for temperature manipulation. But, current passive warming approaches are only able to elevate the mean daily air temperature by ~1.5 °C. Motivated by our need to understand temperature acclimation in the Arctic, where warming has been markedly greater than the global average and where future warming is projected to be ~2–3more » °C by the middle of the century; we have developed an alternative approach to passive warming. Our zero-power warming (ZPW) chamber requires no electrical power for fully autonomous operation. It uses a novel system of internal and external heat exchangers that allow differential actuation of pistons in coupled cylinders to control chamber venting. This enables the ZPW chamber venting to respond to the difference between the external and internal air temperatures, thereby increasing the potential for warming and eliminating the risk of overheating. During the thaw season on the coastal tundra of northern Alaska our ZPW chamber was able to elevate the mean daily air temperature 2.6 °C above ambient, double the warming achieved by an adjacent passively warmed control chamber that lacked our hydraulic system. We describe the construction, evaluation and performance of our ZPW chamber and discuss the impact of potential artefacts associated with the design and its operation on the Arctic tundra. Our approach is highly flexible and tunable, enabling customization for use in many different environments where significantly greater temperature manipulation than that possible with existing passive warming approaches is desired.« less

  15. Outdoor thermal comfort in public space in warm-humid Guayaquil, Ecuador

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johansson, Erik; Yahia, Moohammed Wasim; Arroyo, Ivette; Bengs, Christer

    2018-03-01

    The thermal environment outdoors affects human comfort and health. Mental and physical performance is reduced at high levels of air temperature being a problem especially in tropical climates. This paper deals with human comfort in the warm-humid city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. The main aim was to examine the influence of urban micrometeorological conditions on people's subjective thermal perception and to compare it with two thermal comfort indices: the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) and the standard effective temperature (SET*). The outdoor thermal comfort was assessed through micrometeorological measurements of air temperature, humidity, mean radiant temperature and wind speed together with a questionnaire survey consisting of 544 interviews conducted in five public places of the city during both the dry and rainy seasons. The neutral and preferred values as well as the upper comfort limits of PET and SET* were determined. For both indices, the neutral values and upper thermal comfort limits were lower during the rainy season, whereas the preferred values were higher during the rainy season. Regardless of season, the neutral values of PET and SET* are above the theoretical neutral value of each index. The results show that local people accept thermal conditions which are above acceptable comfort limits in temperate climates and that the subjective thermal perception varies within a wide range. It is clear, however, that the majority of the people in Guayaquil experience the outdoor thermal environment during daytime as too warm, and therefore, it is important to promote an urban design which creates shade and ventilation.

  16. Outdoor thermal comfort in public space in warm-humid Guayaquil, Ecuador.

    PubMed

    Johansson, Erik; Yahia, Moohammed Wasim; Arroyo, Ivette; Bengs, Christer

    2018-03-01

    The thermal environment outdoors affects human comfort and health. Mental and physical performance is reduced at high levels of air temperature being a problem especially in tropical climates. This paper deals with human comfort in the warm-humid city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. The main aim was to examine the influence of urban micrometeorological conditions on people's subjective thermal perception and to compare it with two thermal comfort indices: the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) and the standard effective temperature (SET*). The outdoor thermal comfort was assessed through micrometeorological measurements of air temperature, humidity, mean radiant temperature and wind speed together with a questionnaire survey consisting of 544 interviews conducted in five public places of the city during both the dry and rainy seasons. The neutral and preferred values as well as the upper comfort limits of PET and SET* were determined. For both indices, the neutral values and upper thermal comfort limits were lower during the rainy season, whereas the preferred values were higher during the rainy season. Regardless of season, the neutral values of PET and SET* are above the theoretical neutral value of each index. The results show that local people accept thermal conditions which are above acceptable comfort limits in temperate climates and that the subjective thermal perception varies within a wide range. It is clear, however, that the majority of the people in Guayaquil experience the outdoor thermal environment during daytime as too warm, and therefore, it is important to promote an urban design which creates shade and ventilation.

  17. Recently amplified arctic warming has contributed to a continual global warming trend

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Jianbin; Zhang, Xiangdong; Zhang, Qiyi; Lin, Yanluan; Hao, Mingju; Luo, Yong; Zhao, Zongci; Yao, Yao; Chen, Xin; Wang, Lei; Nie, Suping; Yin, Yizhou; Xu, Ying; Zhang, Jiansong

    2017-12-01

    The existence and magnitude of the recently suggested global warming hiatus, or slowdown, have been strongly debated1-3. Although various physical processes4-8 have been examined to elucidate this phenomenon, the accuracy and completeness of observational data that comprise global average surface air temperature (SAT) datasets is a concern9,10. In particular, these datasets lack either complete geographic coverage or in situ observations over the Arctic, owing to the sparse observational network in this area9. As a consequence, the contribution of Arctic warming to global SAT changes may have been underestimated, leading to an uncertainty in the hiatus debate. Here, we constructed a new Arctic SAT dataset using the most recently updated global SATs2 and a drifting buoys based Arctic SAT dataset11 through employing the `data interpolating empirical orthogonal functions' method12. Our estimate of global SAT rate of increase is around 0.112 °C per decade, instead of 0.05 °C per decade from IPCC AR51, for 1998-2012. Analysis of this dataset shows that the amplified Arctic warming over the past decade has significantly contributed to a continual global warming trend, rather than a hiatus or slowdown.

  18. Recent Warming of Lake Kivu

    PubMed Central

    Katsev, Sergei; Aaberg, Arthur A.; Crowe, Sean A.; Hecky, Robert E.

    2014-01-01

    Lake Kivu in East Africa has gained notoriety for its prodigious amounts of dissolved methane and dangers of limnic eruption. Being meromictic, it is also expected to accumulate heat due to rising regional air temperatures. To investigate the warming trend and distinguish between atmospheric and geothermal heating sources, we compiled historical temperature data, performed measurements with logging instruments, and simulated heat propagation. We also performed isotopic analyses of water from the lake's main basin and isolated Kabuno Bay. The results reveal that the lake surface is warming at the rate of 0.12°C per decade, which matches the warming rates in other East African lakes. Temperatures increase throughout the entire water column. Though warming is strongest near the surface, warming rates in the deep waters cannot be accounted for solely by propagation of atmospheric heat at presently assumed rates of vertical mixing. Unless the transport rates are significantly higher than presently believed, this indicates significant contributions from subterranean heat sources. Temperature time series in the deep monimolimnion suggest evidence of convection. The progressive deepening of the depth of temperature minimum in the water column is expected to accelerate the warming in deeper waters. The warming trend, however, is unlikely to strongly affect the physical stability of the lake, which depends primarily on salinity gradient. PMID:25295730

  19. Recent warming of lake Kivu.

    PubMed

    Katsev, Sergei; Aaberg, Arthur A; Crowe, Sean A; Hecky, Robert E

    2014-01-01

    Lake Kivu in East Africa has gained notoriety for its prodigious amounts of dissolved methane and dangers of limnic eruption. Being meromictic, it is also expected to accumulate heat due to rising regional air temperatures. To investigate the warming trend and distinguish between atmospheric and geothermal heating sources, we compiled historical temperature data, performed measurements with logging instruments, and simulated heat propagation. We also performed isotopic analyses of water from the lake's main basin and isolated Kabuno Bay. The results reveal that the lake surface is warming at the rate of 0.12°C per decade, which matches the warming rates in other East African lakes. Temperatures increase throughout the entire water column. Though warming is strongest near the surface, warming rates in the deep waters cannot be accounted for solely by propagation of atmospheric heat at presently assumed rates of vertical mixing. Unless the transport rates are significantly higher than presently believed, this indicates significant contributions from subterranean heat sources. Temperature time series in the deep monimolimnion suggest evidence of convection. The progressive deepening of the depth of temperature minimum in the water column is expected to accelerate the warming in deeper waters. The warming trend, however, is unlikely to strongly affect the physical stability of the lake, which depends primarily on salinity gradient.

  20. Evaluation of Proposed Solutions to Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Security

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jacobson, M. Z.

    2008-12-01

    This study reviews and ranks major proposed solutions to global warming, air pollution mortality, and energy security while considering other impacts of the proposed solutions, such as on water supply, land use, wildlife, resource availability, thermal pollution, water chemical pollution, nuclear proliferation, and undernutrition. Nine electric power sources and two liquid fuel options are considered. The electricity sources include solar-photovoltaics (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, wave, tidal, nuclear, and coal with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The liquid fuel options include corn-E85 and cellulosic E85. To place the electric and liquid fuel sources on an equal footing, we examine their comparative abilities to address the problems mentioned by powering new-technology vehicles, including battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs), and flex-fuel vehicles run on E85. Twelve combinations of energy source-vehicle type are considered. Upon ranking and weighting each combination with respect to each of 11 impact categories, four clear divisions of ranking, or tiers, emerge. Tier 1 (highest-ranked) includes wind-BEVs and wind-HFCVs. Tier 2 includes CSP-BEVs, geothermal-BEVs, PV-BEVs, tidal-BEVs, and wave-BEVs. Tier 3 includes hydro-BEVs, nuclear-BEVs, and CCS-BEVs. Tier 4 includes corn- and cellulosic-E85. Wind-BEVs ranked first in six out of 11 categories, including the two most important, mortality and climate damage reduction. Although HFCVs are less efficient than BEVs, wind- HFCVs ranked second among all combinations. Tier 2 options provide significant benefits and are recommended. Tier 3 options are less desirable. However, hydroelectricity, which was ranked ahead of coal- CCS and nuclear with respect to climate and health, is an excellent load balancer, thus strongly recommended. The Tier-4 combinations (cellulosic- and corn-E85) were ranked lowest overall and with respect to

  1. Non-climatic thermal adaptation: implications for species' responses to climate warming.

    PubMed

    Marshall, David J; McQuaid, Christopher D; Williams, Gray A

    2010-10-23

    There is considerable interest in understanding how ectothermic animals may physiologically and behaviourally buffer the effects of climate warming. Much less consideration is being given to how organisms might adapt to non-climatic heat sources in ways that could confound predictions for responses of species and communities to climate warming. Although adaptation to non-climatic heat sources (solar and geothermal) seems likely in some marine species, climate warming predictions for marine ectotherms are largely based on adaptation to climatically relevant heat sources (air or surface sea water temperature). Here, we show that non-climatic solar heating underlies thermal resistance adaptation in a rocky-eulittoral-fringe snail. Comparisons of the maximum temperatures of the air, the snail's body and the rock substratum with solar irradiance and physiological performance show that the highest body temperature is primarily controlled by solar heating and re-radiation, and that the snail's upper lethal temperature exceeds the highest climatically relevant regional air temperature by approximately 22°C. Non-climatic thermal adaptation probably features widely among marine and terrestrial ectotherms and because it could enable species to tolerate climatic rises in air temperature, it deserves more consideration in general and for inclusion into climate warming models.

  2. Air pollution control and decreasing new particle formation lead to strong climate warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Makkonen, R.; Asmi, A.; Kerminen, V.-M.; Boy, M.; Arneth, A.; Hari, P.; Kulmala, M.

    2011-09-01

    The number of cloud droplets determines several climatically relevant cloud properties. A major cause for the high uncertainty in the indirect aerosol forcing is the availability of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), which in turn is highly sensitive to atmospheric new particle formation. Here we present the effect of new particle formation on anthropogenic aerosol forcing in present-day (year 2000) and future (year 2100) conditions. The total aerosol forcing (-1.61 W m-2 in year 2000) is simulated to be greatly reduced in the future, to -0.23 W m-2, mainly due to decrease in SO2 emissions and resulting decrease in new particle formation. With the total aerosol forcing decreasing in response to air pollution control measures taking effect, warming from increased greenhouse gas concentrations can potentially increase at a very rapid rate.

  3. Warm-Core Intensification Through Horizontal Eddy Heat Transports into the Eye

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braun, Scott A.; Montgomery, Michael T.; Fulton, John; Nolan, David S.; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    The mechanism for the formation and intensification of the hurricane warm core is not well understood. The generally accepted explanation is that the warm core forms as a result of gentle subsidence of air within the eye that warms as a result of adiabatic compression. Malkus suggested that this subsidence is part of a deep circulation in which air begins descent at high levels in the eye, acquires cyclonic angular momentum as it descends to lower levels, and then diverges at low levels, where it is entrained back into the eyewall. Inward mixing from the eyewall is hypothesized to force the subsidence and maintain the moisture and momentum budgets of the subsiding air. Willoughby suggested that air within the eye has remained so since it was first enclosed during the formation of the eyewall and that it subsides at most only a few kilometers rather than through the depth of the troposphere. He relates the subsidence to the low-level divergence and entrainment into the eyewall noted by Malkus, but suggests that shrinkage of the eye's volume is more than adequate to account for the air lost to the eyewall or converted to cloudy air by turbulent mixing across the eye boundary. Smith offered an alternative view of the subsidence forcing, suggesting that vertical motion in a mature hurricane eye is generated largely by imbalances between the downward vertical pressure gradient force and the upward buoyancy force. The vertical pressure gradient force is associated with the decay and/or radial spread of the tangential wind field with height at those levels were the winds are in approximate gradient wind balance. The rate of subsidence is just that required to warm the air sufficiently such that the buoyancy remains in close hydrostatic balance with an increasing vertical pressure gradient force. In this study, a very high-resolution simulation of Hurricane Bob using a cloud-resolving grid scale of 1.3 km is used to examine the heat budget within the storm with particular

  4. Predicted effects of climate warming on the distribution of 50 stream fishes in Wisconsin, U.S.A.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lyons, J.; Stewart, J.S.; Mitro, M.

    2010-01-01

    Summer air and stream water temperatures are expected to rise in the state of Wisconsin, U.S.A., over the next 50 years. To assess potential climate warming effects on stream fishes, predictive models were developed for 50 common fish species using classification-tree analysis of 69 environmental variables in a geographic information system. Model accuracy was 56.0-93.5% in validation tests. Models were applied to all 86 898 km of stream in the state under four different climate scenarios: current conditions, limited climate warming (summer air temperatures increase 1?? C and water 0.8?? C), moderate warming (air 3?? C and water 2.4?? C) and major warming (air 5?? C and water 4?? C). With climate warming, 23 fishes were predicted to decline in distribution (three to extirpation under the major warming scenario), 23 to increase and four to have no change. Overall, declining species lost substantially more stream length than increasing species gained. All three cold-water and 16 cool-water fishes and four of 31 warm-water fishes were predicted to decline, four warm-water fishes to remain the same and 23 warm-water fishes to increase in distribution. Species changes were predicted to be most dramatic in small streams in northern Wisconsin that currently have cold to cool summer water temperatures and are dominated by cold-water and cool-water fishes, and least in larger and warmer streams and rivers in southern Wisconsin that are currently dominated by warm-water fishes. Results of this study suggest that even small increases in summer air and water temperatures owing to climate warming will have major effects on the distribution of stream fishes in Wisconsin. ?? 2010 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology ?? 2010 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  5. Predicted effects of climate warming on the distribution of 50 stream fishes in Wisconsin, U.S.A.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stewart, Jana S.; Lyons, John D.; Matt Mitro,

    2010-01-01

    Summer air and stream water temperatures are expected to rise in the state of Wisconsin, U.S.A., over the next 50 years. To assess potential climate warming effects on stream fishes, predictive models were developed for 50 common fish species using classification-tree analysis of 69 environmental variables in a geographic information system. Model accuracy was 56·0–93·5% in validation tests. Models were applied to all 86 898 km of stream in the state under four different climate scenarios: current conditions, limited climate warming (summer air temperatures increase 1° C and water 0·8° C), moderate warming (air 3° C and water 2·4° C) and major warming (air 5° C and water 4° C). With climate warming, 23 fishes were predicted to decline in distribution (three to extirpation under the major warming scenario), 23 to increase and four to have no change. Overall, declining species lost substantially more stream length than increasing species gained. All three cold-water and 16 cool-water fishes and four of 31 warm-water fishes were predicted to decline, four warm-water fishes to remain the same and 23 warm-water fishes to increase in distribution. Species changes were predicted to be most dramatic in small streams in northern Wisconsin that currently have cold to cool summer water temperatures and are dominated by cold-water and cool-water fishes, and least in larger and warmer streams and rivers in southern Wisconsin that are currently dominated by warm-water fishes. Results of this study suggest that even small increases in summer air and water temperatures owing to climate warming will have major effects on the distribution of stream fishes in Wisconsin.

  6. Valley floor climate observations from the McMurdo dry valleys, Antarctica, 1986-2000

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Doran, P.T.; McKay, C.P.; Clow, G.D.; Dana, G.L.; Fountain, A.G.; Nylen, T.; Lyons, W.B.

    2002-01-01

    Climate observations from the McMurdo dry valleys, East Antarctica are presented from a network of seven valley floor automatic meteorological stations during the period 1986 to 2000. Mean annual temperatures ranged from -14.8??C to -30.0??C, depending on the site and period of measurement. Mean annual relative humidity is generally highest near the coast. Mean annual wind speed increases with proximity to the polar plateau. Site-to-site variation in mean annual solar flux and PAR is due to exposure of each station and changes over time are likely related to changes in cloudiness. During the nonsummer months, strong katabatic winds are frequent at some sites and infrequent at others, creating large variation in mean annual temperature owing to the warming effect of the winds. Katabatic wind exposure appears to be controlled to a large degree by the presence of colder air in the region that collects at low points and keeps the warm less dense katabatic flow from the ground. The strong influence of katabatic winds makes prediction of relative mean annual temperature based on geographical position (elevation and distance from the coast) alone, not possible. During the summer months, onshore winds dominate and warm as they progress through the valleys creating a strong linear relationship (r2 = 0.992) of increasing potential temperature with distance from the coast (0.09??C km-1). In contrast to mean annual temperature, summer temperature lends itself quite well to model predictions, and is used to construct a statistical model for predicting summer dry valley temperatures at unmonitored sites. Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union.

  7. Warmed, humidified CO2 insufflation benefits intraoperative core temperature during laparoscopic surgery: A meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Dean, Meara; Ramsay, Robert; Heriot, Alexander; Mackay, John; Hiscock, Richard; Lynch, A Craig

    2017-05-01

    Intraoperative hypothermia is linked to postoperative adverse events. The use of warmed, humidified CO 2 to establish pneumoperitoneum during laparoscopy has been associated with reduced incidence of intraoperative hypothermia. However, the small number and variable quality of published studies have caused uncertainty about the potential benefit of this therapy. This meta-analysis was conducted to specifically evaluate the effects of warmed, humidified CO 2 during laparoscopy. An electronic database search identified randomized controlled trials performed on adults who underwent laparoscopic abdominal surgery under general anesthesia with either warmed, humidified CO 2 or cold, dry CO 2 . The main outcome measure of interest was change in intraoperative core body temperature. The database search identified 320 studies as potentially relevant, and of these, 13 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. During laparoscopic surgery, use of warmed, humidified CO 2 is associated with a significant increase in intraoperative core temperature (mean temperature change, 0.3°C), when compared with cold, dry CO 2 insufflation . CONCLUSION: Warmed, humidified CO 2 insufflation during laparoscopic abdominal surgery has been demonstrated to improve intraoperative maintenance of normothermia when compared with cold, dry CO 2. © 2016 The Authors. Asian Journal of Endoscopic Surgery published by Asia Endosurgery Task Force and Japan Society of Endoscopic Surgery and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  8. Forced-air warming: a source of airborne contamination in the operating room?

    PubMed

    Albrecht, Mark; Gauthier, Robert; Leaper, David

    2009-10-10

    Forced-air-warming (FAW) is an effective and widely used means for maintaining surgical normothermia, but FAW also has the potential to generate and mobilize airborne contamination in the operating room.We measured the emission of viable and non-viable forms of airborne contamination from an arbitrary selection of FAW blowers (n=25) in the operating room. A laser particle counter measured particulate concentrations of the air near the intake filter and in the distal hose airstream. Filtration efficiency was calculated as the reduction in particulate concentration in the distal hose airstream relative to that of the intake. Microbial colonization of the FAW blower's internal hose surfaces was assessed by culturing the microorganisms recovered through swabbing (n=17) and rinsing (n=9) techniques.Particle counting revealed that 24% of FAW blowers were emitting significant levels of internally generated airborne contamination in the 0.5 to 5.0 µm size range, evidenced by a steep decrease in FAW blower filtration efficiency for particles 0.5 to 5.0 µm in size. The particle size-range-specific reduction in efficiency could not be explained by the filtration properties of the intake filter. Instead, the reduction was found to be caused by size-range-specific particle generation within the FAW blowers. Microorganisms were detected on the internal air path surfaces of 94% of FAW blowers.The design of FAW blowers was found to be questionable for preventing the build-up of internal contamination and the emission of airborne contamination into the operating room. Although we did not evaluate the link between FAW and surgical site infection rates, a significant percentage of FAW blowers with positive microbial cultures were emitting internally generated airborne contamination within the size range of free floating bacteria and fungi (<4 µm) that could, conceivably, settle onto the surgical site.

  9. Experimental climate warming decreases photosynthetic efficiency of lichens in an arid South African ecosystem.

    PubMed

    Maphangwa, Khumbudzo Walter; Musil, Charles F; Raitt, Lincoln; Zedda, Luciana

    2012-05-01

    Elevated temperatures and diminished precipitation amounts accompanying climate warming in arid ecosystems are expected to have adverse effects on the photosynthesis of lichen species sensitive to elevated temperature and/or water limitation. This premise was tested by artificially elevating temperatures (increase 2.1-3.8°C) and reducing the amounts of fog and dew precipitation (decrease 30.1-31.9%), in an approximation of future climate warming scenarios, using transparent hexagonal open-top warming chambers placed around natural populations of four lichen species (Xanthoparmelia austroafricana, X. hyporhytida , Xanthoparmelia. sp., Xanthomaculina hottentotta) at a dry inland site and two lichen species (Teloschistes capensis and Ramalina sp.) at a humid coastal site in the arid South African Succulent Karoo Biome. Effective photosynthetic quantum yields ([Formula: see text]) were measured hourly throughout the day at monthly intervals in pre-hydrated lichens present in the open-top warming chambers and in controls which comprised demarcated plots of equivalent open-top warming chamber dimensions constructed from 5-cm-diameter mesh steel fencing. The cumulative effects of the elevated temperatures and diminished precipitation amounts in the open-top warming chambers resulted in significant decreases in lichen [Formula: see text]. The decreases were more pronounced in lichens from the dry inland site (decline 34.1-46.1%) than in those from the humid coastal site (decline 11.3-13.7%), most frequent and prominent in lichens at both sites during the dry summer season, and generally of greatest magnitude at or after the solar noon in all seasons. Based on these results, we conclude that climate warming interacting with reduced precipitation will negatively affect carbon balances in endemic lichens by increasing desiccation damage and reducing photosynthetic activity time, leading to increased incidences of mortality.

  10. Early 20th Century Arctic Warming Intensified by Pacific and Atlantic Multidecadal Variability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tokinaga, H.; Xie, S. P.; Mukougawa, H.

    2017-12-01

    We investigate the influence of Pacific and Atlantic multidecadal variability on the Arctic temperature, with a particular focus on the early 20th century Arctic warming. Arctic surface air temperature increased rapidly over the early 20th century, at rates comparable to those of recent decades despite much weaker greenhouse gas forcing than at present. We find that the concurrent phase shift of Pacific and Atlantic multidecadal variability is the major driver for the early 20th century Arctic warming. Atmospheric model simulations reproduce the early Arctic warming when the interdecadal variability of sea surface temperature (SST) is properly prescribed. The early Arctic warming is associated with the cold-to-warm phase shifts of Atlantic and Pacific multidecadal variability modes, a SST pattern reminiscent of the positive phase of the Pacific decadal and Atlantic multidecadal oscillations. The extratropical North Atlantic and North Pacific SST warming strengthens surface westerly winds over northern Eurasia, intensifying the warming there. The equatorial Pacific warming deepens the Aleutian low, advecting warm air to the North American Arctic. Coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations support the constructive intensification of Arctic warming by a concurrent, cold-to-warm phase shift of the Pacific and Atlantic multidecadal variability. Our results aid attributing the historical Arctic warming and thereby constrain the amplified warming projected for this important region.

  11. Can Geoengineering Effectively Reduce the Land Warming?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, W.; MacMartin, D.; Moore, J. C.; Ji, D.

    2017-12-01

    Permafrost, defined as ground that remains at or below 0 C for two or more consecutive years, underlies 24% of the land in the Northern Hemisphere. Under recent climate warming, permafrost has begun to thaw, causing changes in ecosystems and impacting northern communities. Using the multiple land model output from the Permafrost Carbon Network and applying 5 commonly used permafrost diagnostic methods, we assess the projected Northern Hemisphere permafrost area under RCP 8.5 scenario. Both the air and soil relative warming change is compared to highlight the soil warming pattern and intensity. Using the multiple Earth System Models output under abrupt 4×CO2, G1, PI-control, G3, G4, and RCP4.5 experiments, a preliminary attempt is also performed to examine the effectiveness of geoengineering schemes on reducing the land warming. Although there is uncertainty in the projected results due to model and method difference, the soil temperature based methods derived permafrost all present an intense decrease by 48% - 68% until 2100. The projected soil temperature by the more physically complicated model shows a different warming pattern compared with the air, which indicates that some potential land process intervene with the land response to atmospheric change. The simulated soil temperature can be effectively cooled down by 2 - 9 degree under G1 compared with abrupt 4×CO2, and by less than 4 degree under G3 and G4 compared with RCP4.5.

  12. Contributions of air pollution and climate warming to tufa wetland degradation in Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve, eastern rim of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qiao, X.; Tang, Y.

    2017-12-01

    Massive deposition of calcium carbonate in ambient temperature waters forms magnificent tufa wetlands, many of which are designated as protected areas and are popular tourist destinations. There is a tufa wetland belt along the Eastern Rim of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (ERQTP), and many of them are experiencing degradation, such as nutrient enrichment and tufa degradation. Meanwhile, there is also an air pollution belt in the ERQTP. This study was made to understand the correlation of tufa wetland degradation with climate change and air pollution for Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve (hereafter Jiuzhaigou). Atmospheric changes were first studied. The results show that annual mean air temperature increased by 1.2oC from 1951 to 2014. Anthropogenic emissions contributed to over 90% annual wet deposition fluxes of reactive sulfur and nitrogen and caused acid rain (pH<5.60). Wet deposition fluxes of reactive sulfur and nitrogen (including SO42-, NH4+, and NO3-) were mostly from inter-regional transport of air pollutants. Then, the impacts of air pollution and climate warming on tufa wetlands were further investigated. We found that precipitation was calcite-unsaturated so it could dissolve exposed tufa and considerably reduce tufa deposition rate and even cause tufa dissolution in shallow waters. These effects enhanced as precipitation pH decreased. Annual volume-weighted mean concentration of reactive nitrogen in wet deposition and runoff were 26.1 and 14.8 µmol L-1, respectively, both exceeding China's national standard of total nitrogen in runoff for nature reserves (14.3 µmol L-1) and this suggested a nitrogen fertilization effect of wet deposition on green algae. As water temperature is the limiting factor of algal growth in Jiuzhaigou and temperature in the top layer (0-5 cm) of runoff (with a depth<1 m, no canopy coverage of trees and shrubs) was significantly higher at the sites with increased biomass of green algae (p<0.05), climate warming would favor the

  13. Spray drying of fruit and vegetable juices--a review.

    PubMed

    Verma, Anjali; Singh, Satya Vir

    2015-01-01

    The main cause of spray drying is to increase the shelf life and easy handling of juices. In the present paper, the studies carried out so far on spray drying of various fruits and vegetables are reported. The major fruit juices dried are mango, banana, orange, guava, bayberry, watermelon, pineapple, etc. However, study on vegetable juices is limited. In spray drying, the major optimized parameters are inlet air temperature, relative humidity of air, outlet air temperature, and atomizer speed that are given for a particular study. The juices in spray drying require addition of drying agents that include matlodextrin, liquid glucose, etc. The drying agents are added to increase the glass transition temperature. Different approaches for spray dryer design have also been discussed in the present work.

  14. Carbon accumulation in a permafrost polygon peatland: steady long-term rates in spite of shifts between dry and wet conditions.

    PubMed

    Gao, Yang; Couwenberg, John

    2015-02-01

    Ice-wedge polygon peatlands contain a substantial part of the carbon stored in permafrost soils. However, little is known about their long-term carbon accumulation rates (CAR) in relation to shifts in vegetation and climate. We collected four peat profiles from one single polygon in NE Yakutia and cut them into contiguous 0.5 cm slices. Pollen density interpolation between AMS (14)C dated levels provided the time span contained in each of the sample slices, which--in combination with the volumetric carbon content--allowed for the reconstruction of CAR over decadal and centennial timescales. Vegetation representing dry palaeo-ridges and wet depressions was reconstructed with detailed micro- and macrofossil analysis. We found repeated shifts between wet and dry conditions during the past millennium. Dry ridges with associated permafrost growth originated during phases of (relatively) warm summer temperature and collapsed during relatively cold phases, illustrating the important role of vegetation and peat as intermediaries between ambient air temperature and the permafrost. The average long-term CAR across the four profiles was 10.6 ± 5.5 g C m(-2) yr(-1). Time-weighted mean CAR did not differ significantly between wet depression and dry ridge/hummock phases (10.6 ± 5.2 g C m(-2) yr(-1) and 10.3 ± 5.7 g C m(-2) yr(-1), respectively). Although we observed increased CAR in relation to warm shifts, we also found changes in the opposite direction and the highest CAR actually occurred during the Little Ice Age. In fact, CAR rather seems to be governed by strong internal feedback mechanisms and has roughly remained stable on centennial time scales. The absence of significant differences in CAR between dry ridge and wet depression phases suggests that recent warming and associated expansion of shrubs will not affect long-term rates of carbon burial in ice-wedge polygon peatlands. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Forced-air warming blowers: An evaluation of filtration adequacy and airborne contamination emissions in the operating room.

    PubMed

    Albrecht, Mark; Gauthier, Robert L; Belani, Kumar; Litchy, Mark; Leaper, David

    2011-05-01

    Forced-air warming (FAW) is widely used to prevent hypothermia during surgical procedures. The airflow from these blowers is often vented near the operative site and should be free of contaminants to minimize the risk of surgical site infection. Popular FAW blowers contain a 0.2-μm rated intake filter to reduce these risks. However, there is little evidence that the efficiency of the intake filter is adequate to prevent airborne contamination emissions or protect the internal air path from microbial contamination buildup. Five new intake filters were obtained directly from the manufacturer (Bair Hugger 505, model 200708D; Arizant Healthcare, Eden Prairie, MN), and 5 model 200708C filters currently in hospital use were removed from FAW devices. The retention efficiency of these filters was assessed using a monodisperse sodium chloride aerosol. In the same hospitals, internal air path surface swabs and hose outlet particle counts were performed on 52 forced-air warming devices (all with the model 200708C filter) to assess internal microbial buildup and airborne contamination emissions. Intake filter retention efficiency at 0.2 μm was 93.8% for the 200708C filter and 61.3% at for the 200708D filter. The 200708D filter obtained directly from the manufacturer has a thinner filtration media than the 200708C filter in current hospital use, suggesting that the observed differences in retention efficiency were due to design changes. Fifty-eight percent of the FAW blowers evaluated were internally generating and emitting airborne contaminants, with microorganisms detected on the internal air path surfaces of 92.3% of these blowers. Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, and methicillin-resistant S aureus were detected in 13.5%, 3.9%, and 1.9% of FAW blowers, respectively. The design of popular FAW devices using the 200708C filter was found to be inadequate for preventing the internal buildup and emission of microbial contaminants into the

  16. Midlatitude Summer Drying: An Underestimated Threat in CMIP5 Models?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Douville, H.; Plazzotta, M.

    2017-10-01

    Early assessments of the hydrological impacts of global warming suggested both an intensification of the global water cycle and an expansion of dry areas. Yet these alarming conclusions were challenged by a number of latter studies emphasizing the lack of evidence in observations and historical simulations, as well as the large uncertainties in climate projections from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Here several aridity indices and a two-tier attribution strategy are used to demonstrate that a summer midlatitude drying has recently emerged over the northern continents, which is mainly attributable to anthropogenic climate change. This emerging signal is shown to be the harbinger of a long-term drying in the CMIP5 projections. Linear trends in the observed aridity indices can therefore be used as observational constraints and suggest that the projected midlatitude summer drying was underestimated by most CMIP5 models. Mitigating global warming therefore remains a priority to avoid dangerous impacts on global water and food security.

  17. Ozone generation by negative direct current corona discharges in dry air fed coaxial wire-cylinder reactors

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

    Yehia, Ashraf; Mizuno, Akira

    An analytical study was made in this paper for calculating the ozone generation by negative dc corona discharges. The corona discharges were formed in a coaxial wire-cylinder reactor. The reactor was fed by dry air flowing with constant rates at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, and stressed by a negative dc voltage. The current-voltage characteristics of the negative dc corona discharges formed inside the reactor were measured in parallel with concentration of the generated ozone under different operating conditions. An empirical equation was derived from the experimental results for calculating the ozone concentration generated inside the reactor. The results, thatmore » have been recalculated by using the derived equation, have agreed with the experimental results over the whole range of the investigated parameters, except in the saturation range for the ozone concentration. Therefore, the derived equation represents a suitable criterion for expecting the ozone concentration generated by negative dc corona discharges in dry air fed coaxial wire-cylinder reactors under any operating conditions in range of the investigated parameters.« less

  18. Early 20th-century Arctic warming intensified by Pacific and Atlantic multidecadal variability

    PubMed Central

    Tokinaga, Hiroki; Xie, Shang-Ping; Mukougawa, Hitoshi

    2017-01-01

    With amplified warming and record sea ice loss, the Arctic is the canary of global warming. The historical Arctic warming is poorly understood, limiting our confidence in model projections. Specifically, Arctic surface air temperature increased rapidly over the early 20th century, at rates comparable to those of recent decades despite much weaker greenhouse gas forcing. Here, we show that the concurrent phase shift of Pacific and Atlantic interdecadal variability modes is the major driver for the rapid early 20th-century Arctic warming. Atmospheric model simulations successfully reproduce the early Arctic warming when the interdecadal variability of sea surface temperature (SST) is properly prescribed. The early 20th-century Arctic warming is associated with positive SST anomalies over the tropical and North Atlantic and a Pacific SST pattern reminiscent of the positive phase of the Pacific decadal oscillation. Atmospheric circulation changes are important for the early 20th-century Arctic warming. The equatorial Pacific warming deepens the Aleutian low, advecting warm air into the North American Arctic. The extratropical North Atlantic and North Pacific SST warming strengthens surface westerly winds over northern Eurasia, intensifying the warming there. Coupled ocean–atmosphere simulations support the constructive intensification of Arctic warming by a concurrent, negative-to-positive phase shift of the Pacific and Atlantic interdecadal modes. Our results aid attributing the historical Arctic warming and thereby constrain the amplified warming projected for this important region. PMID:28559341

  19. Early 20th-century Arctic warming intensified by Pacific and Atlantic multidecadal variability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tokinaga, Hiroki; Xie, Shang-Ping; Mukougawa, Hitoshi

    2017-06-01

    With amplified warming and record sea ice loss, the Arctic is the canary of global warming. The historical Arctic warming is poorly understood, limiting our confidence in model projections. Specifically, Arctic surface air temperature increased rapidly over the early 20th century, at rates comparable to those of recent decades despite much weaker greenhouse gas forcing. Here, we show that the concurrent phase shift of Pacific and Atlantic interdecadal variability modes is the major driver for the rapid early 20th-century Arctic warming. Atmospheric model simulations successfully reproduce the early Arctic warming when the interdecadal variability of sea surface temperature (SST) is properly prescribed. The early 20th-century Arctic warming is associated with positive SST anomalies over the tropical and North Atlantic and a Pacific SST pattern reminiscent of the positive phase of the Pacific decadal oscillation. Atmospheric circulation changes are important for the early 20th-century Arctic warming. The equatorial Pacific warming deepens the Aleutian low, advecting warm air into the North American Arctic. The extratropical North Atlantic and North Pacific SST warming strengthens surface westerly winds over northern Eurasia, intensifying the warming there. Coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations support the constructive intensification of Arctic warming by a concurrent, negative-to-positive phase shift of the Pacific and Atlantic interdecadal modes. Our results aid attributing the historical Arctic warming and thereby constrain the amplified warming projected for this important region.

  20. The response of vegetation structure to active warming and precipitation reduction of the Sphagnum peatland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Łuców, Dominika; Basińska, Anna; Chojnicki, Bogdan; Gąbka, Maciej; Józefczyk, Damian; Juszczak, Radosław; Leśny, Jacek; Olejnik, Janusz; Reczuga, Monika; Samson, Mateusz; Silvennoinen, Hanna; Stróżecki, Marcin; Urbaniak, Marek; Zielińska, Małgorzata; Lamentowicz, Mariusz

    2017-04-01

    The recent climate change (e.g. increased temperature and decreased precipitation) is expected to affect biodiversity and vegetation structure of the European peatlands, as well as carbon fluxes. Our experimental study carried out in Western Poland, tests the hypothesis that the increased temperature, in particular in combination with rainfall reduction affects vegetation structure of the Sphagnum peatland, through changes in moss and vascular plants abundance. The innovative climate manipulation system was installed on the Rzecin peatland in 2014. The field site consists of four blocks: "drought" "warming and drought" "warming" and "control". The air and peat temperatures were increased in 2015 and 2016 by about 0.2 oC and 1.0 oC, respectively, using infrared radiators. Precipitation was reduced by automatic curtain operated only during the nights by about 37 % in both years. Data resulting from the analyses of digital pictures as well as Point Intercept method were used to identify changes in vegetation structure as a response to warming and drought. We observed increase in abundance of vascular plant and decrease in abundance of mosses during the very dry 2015 vegetation season. It appeared that Carex spp. (C. limosa and C. rostrata) abundance responded positively to warming, while Sphagnum spp. (S. angustifolium and S. teres) responded negatively. The "warming" block was characterized by an increase in abundance of Carex spp. by 8.3 % to 16.7 % and decreased abundance of Sphagnum spp. from 25 % to 19.4 %, whereas in the block of "warming and drought" 11.4 % to by 18.3 and 38 % to 26.9 %, respectively in the August 2015. However, we observed decrease in Sphagnum spp. abundance in the treatment with rainfall reduction in wetter 2016, and their increase in the control. Our results show how considerable changes in vegetation structure can be expected under the stress of warming and modified rainfall conditions, even after a short-term manipulation. However, it is

  1. Effect of whole-body vibration warm-up on bat speed in women softball players.

    PubMed

    Dabbs, Nicole C; Brown, Lee E; Coburn, Jared W; Lynn, Scott K; Biagini, Matt S; Tran, Tai T

    2010-09-01

    Whole-body vibration (WBV) may enhance human performance via augmented muscular strength and motor function if used before performance. Because warm-up is a crucial aspect of preparation for performance, it remains unknown if WBV may enhance bat speed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of WBV warm-up on bat speed. Eleven National Collegiate Athletic Association division I and 11 recreationally trained female softball players volunteered to participate. Subjects randomly performed 3 different warm-up conditions consisting of WBV alone, dry swings alone (DS), and WBV with dry swings (WBVDS). Whole-body vibration was performed on a pivotal vibration platform at a frequency of 25 Hz and an amplitude of 13 mm for one 30-second bout. Thirty seconds after each warm-up condition, 5 maximal bat swings were recorded. There was no significant (p > 0.05) difference between groups by training status, and there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference between WBV (42.39 +/- 9.83 mph), DS (40.45 +/- 11.00 mph), or WBVDS (37.98 +/- 12.40 mph) conditions. These results indicate that WBV warm-up may be used in place of DS to achieve similar bat speeds. Future research should investigate different combinations of WBV warm-up using various frequencies, durations, amplitudes, and rest times.

  2. Improved shelf life of dried Beauveria bassiana blastospores using convective drying and active packaging processes.

    PubMed

    Mascarin, Gabriel Moura; Jackson, Mark A; Behle, Robert W; Kobori, Nilce N; Júnior, Ítalo Delalibera

    2016-10-01

    The yeast form (blastospore) of the dimorphic insect-pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana can be rapidly produced using liquid fermentation methods but is generally unable to survive rapid dehydration processes or storage under non-refrigerated conditions. In this study, we evaluated the influence of two convective drying methods, various modified atmosphere packaging systems, and storage temperatures on the desiccation tolerance, storage stability, and virulence of blastospores of B. bassiana ESALQ 1432. All blastospore formulations were dried to <5 % water content equivalent to aw < 0.3. The viability of B. bassiana blastospores after air drying and spray drying was greater than 80 %. Vacuum-packaged blastospores remained viable longer when stored at 4 °C compared with 28 °C with virtually no loss in viability over 9 months regardless the drying method. When both oxygen and moisture scavengers were added to sealed packages of dried blastospore formulations stored at 28 °C, viability was significantly prolonged for both air- and spray-dried blastospores. The addition of ascorbic acid during spray drying did not improve desiccation tolerance but enhanced cell stability (∼twofold higher half-life) when stored at 28 °C. After storage for 4 months at 28 °C, air-dried blastospores produced a lower LC80 and resulted in higher mortality to whitefly nymphs (Bemisia tabaci) when compared with spray-dried blastospores. These studies identified key storage conditions (low aw and oxygen availability) that improved blastospore storage stability at 28 °C and will facilitate the commercial development of blastospores-based bioinsecticides.

  3. Desert Amplification in a Warming Climate

    PubMed Central

    Zhou, Liming

    2016-01-01

    Here I analyze the observed and projected surface temperature anomalies over land between 50°S-50°N for the period 1950–2099 by large-scale ecoregion and find strongest warming consistently and persistently seen over driest ecoregions such as the Sahara desert and the Arabian Peninsula during various 30-year periods, pointing to desert amplification in a warming climate. This amplification enhances linearly with the global mean greenhouse gases(GHGs) radiative forcing and is attributable primarily to a stronger GHGs-enhanced downward longwave radiation forcing reaching the surface over drier ecoregions as a consequence of a warmer and thus moister atmosphere in response to increasing GHGs. These results indicate that desert amplification may represent a fundamental pattern of global warming associated with water vapor feedbacks over land in low- and mid- latitudes where surface warming rates depend inversely on ecosystem dryness. It is likely that desert amplification might involve two types of water vapor feedbacks that maximize respectively in the tropical upper troposphere and near the surface over deserts, with both being very dry and thus extremely sensitive to changes of water vapor. PMID:27538725

  4. Investigate the plant biomass response to climate warming in permafrost ecosystem using matrix-based data assimilation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lu, X.; Du, Z.; Schuur, E.; Luo, Y.

    2017-12-01

    Permafrost is one of the most vulnerable regions on the earth with over 40% world soil C represented in this region. Future climate warming potentially has a great impact on this region. On one hand, rising temperature accelerates permafrost soil thaw and release more C from land. On the other hand, warming may also increase the plant growing season length and therefore negatively feedback to climate change by increasing annual land C uptake. However, whether permafrost vegetation biomass change in response to warming can sequester more C has not been well understood. Manipulated air warming experiments reported that air warming has very limited impacts on grass land productivity and biomass growth in permafrost region [Mauritz et al., 2017]. It is hard to reveal the mechanisms behind the limited air warming response directly from experiment data. We employ a vegetation C cycle matrix model based on Community land model 4.5 (CLM4.5) and data assimilation technique to investigate how much do phenology and physiology processes contribute to the response respectively. Our results indicate phenology contributes the most in response to warming. The shift of vegetation parameter distributions after 2012 indicate vegetation acclimation may explain the modest response in plant biomass to air warming. The results suggest future model development need to take vegetation acclimation more seriously. The novel matrix-based model allows data assimilation to be conducted more efficiently. It provides more functional understanding of the models as well as the mechanism behind experiment data.

  5. Carbon dioxide flux and net primary production of a boreal treed bog: responses to warming and water table manipulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Munir, T. M.; Perkins, M.; Kaing, E.; Strack, M.

    2014-09-01

    Mid-latitude treed bogs are significant carbon (C) stocks and are highly sensitive to global climate change. In a dry continental treed bog, we compared three sites; control, recent (1-3 years; experimental) and older drained (10-13 years; drained) with water levels at 38, 74 and 120 cm below the surface, respectively. At each site we measured carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes and tree root respiration (Rr) (across hummock-hollow microtopography of the forest floor) and net primary production (NPP) of trees during the growing seasons (May to October) of 2011-2013. The carbon (C) balance was calculated by adding net CO2 exchange of the forest floor (NEff-Rr) to the NPP of the trees. From cooler and wetter 2011 to driest and warmest 2013, The control site was a~C sink of 92, 70 and 76 g m-2, experimental site was a C source of 14, 57 and 135 g m-2, and drained site was a progressively smaller source of 26, 23 and 13 g m-2, respectively. Although all microforms at the experimental site had large net CO2 emissions, the longer-term drainage and deeper water level at the drained site resulted in the replacement of mosses with vascular plants (shrubs) at the hummocks and lichens at the hollows leading to the highest CO2 uptake at drained hummocks and significant losses at hollows. The tree NPP was highest at the drained site. We also quantified the impact of climatic warming at all water table treatments by equipping additional plots with open-top chambers (OTCs) that caused a passive warming on average of ∼1 °C and differential air warming of ∼6 °C (at mid-day full sun) across the study years. Warming significantly enhanced the shrub growth and CO2 sink function of the drained hummocks (exceeding the cumulative respiration losses at hollows induced by the lowered water level × warming). There was an interaction of water level with warming across hummocks that resulted in largest net CO2 uptake at warmed drained hummocks. Thus in 2013, the warming treatment enhanced

  6. Simultaneous Water Vapor and Dry Air Optical Path Length Measurements and Compensation with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Defrere, D.; Hinz, P.; Downey, E.; Boehm, M.; Danchi, W. C.; Durney, O.; Ertel, S.; Hill, J. M.; Hoffmann, W. F.; Mennesson, B.; hide

    2016-01-01

    The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer uses a near-infrared camera to measure the optical path length variations between the two AO-corrected apertures and provide high-angular resolution observations for all its science channels (1.5-13 microns). There is however a wavelength dependent component to the atmospheric turbulence, which can introduce optical path length errors when observing at a wavelength different from that of the fringe sensing camera. Water vapor in particular is highly dispersive and its effect must be taken into account for high-precision infrared interferometric observations as described previously for VLTI/MIDI or the Keck Interferometer Nuller. In this paper, we describe the new sensing approach that has been developed at the LBT to measure and monitor the optical path length fluctuations due to dry air and water vapor separately. After reviewing the current performance of the system for dry air seeing compensation, we present simultaneous H-, K-, and N-band observations that illustrate the feasibility of our feed forward approach to stabilize the path length fluctuations seen by the LBTI nuller uses a near-infrared camera to measure the optical path length variations between the two AO-corrected apertures and provide high-angular resolution observations for all its science channels (1.5-13 microns). There is however a wavelength dependent component to the atmospheric turbulence, which can introduce optical path length errors when observing at a wavelength different from that of the fringe sensing camera. Water vapor in particular is highly dispersive and its effect must be taken into account for high-precision infrared interferometric observations as described previously for VLTI MIDI or the Keck Interferometer Nuller. In this paper, we describe the new sensing approach that has been developed at the LBT to measure and monitor the optical path length fluctuations due to dry air and water vapor separately. After reviewing the current

  7. Development of automated control system for wood drying

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sereda, T. G.; Kostarev, S. N.

    2018-05-01

    The article considers the parameters of convective wood drying which allows changing the characteristics of the air that performs drying at different stages: humidity, temperature, speed and direction of air movement. Despite the prevalence of this type of drying equipment, the main drawbacks of it are: the high temperature and humidity, negatively affecting the working conditions of maintenance personnel when they enter the drying chambers. It makes the automation of wood drying process necessary. The synthesis of a finite state of a machine control of wood drying process is implemented on a programmable logic device Omron.

  8. Drying hardwoods with impinging jets.

    Treesearch

    Howard N. Rosen

    1980-01-01

    Silver maple, yellow poplar, and black walnut lumber was dried in a prototype jet dryer over a range of temperatures from 120 degrees to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and air velocities from 1,000 to 9,000 fpm. Different drying schedules were developed for each type of wood. The quality of the jet-dried lumber was good and compared favorably with kiln-dried lumber.

  9. Surface atmosphere exchange in dry and a wet regime over the Ganges valley: a comprehensive investigation with direct observations and numerical simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sathyanadh, Anusha; Prabhakaran, Thara; Karipot, Anandakumar

    2017-04-01

    microwave radiometer, radiosonde sounding and SODAR measurements compared well with the model vertical profiles. All the schemes are able to capture the development of a drying phase, its persistence and revival after the drying, similar to observation. The characteristic features of the drying such as decrease in mixing ratio, PBL warming, enhanced PBL growth, variations in wind speed, etc were reproduced by the model simulations. Results indicate that model is simulating a drier and deeper surface and mixed layer, compared to the observations, which is assisted by enhanced mixing through deep updrafts rooted from the surface layer and downdrafts associated with the subsiding air reaching down to the surface. Two issues are identified with model as a) relating to enhanced mixing also assisted by the subsiding air at top of the boundary layer and b) the energy partitioning at the surface with significantly excess energy partitioned in to sensible heat flux, thus warming the model surface layer. A few aircraft observations are used to investigate entrainment issue and results from these analysis and inferences will be presented. The surface layer eddy covariance measurements of sensible and latent heat fluxes and surface layer relationships are used to tune the surface layer exchanges.

  10. Induction of genetic changes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by partial drying in air of constant relative humidity and by UV.

    PubMed

    Hieda, K

    1981-11-01

    It was investigated whether there was a critical degree of dryness for induction of genetic changes by drying. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells were dried in air of 0, 33, 53 and 76% relative humidity (RH). The frequencies of mitotic recombination at ade2, of gene conversion at leu1, and of gene mutation at can1 were measured in X2447, XS1473 and S288C strains, respectively. After the cells had been dried at 0% RH for 4 h the frequencies of the genetic changes at ade2, leu1 and can1 were, respectively, 56, 7 and 3.5 times higher than each spontaneous frequency. Induction rates, defined as the frequencies of the induced genetic changes per unit time (1 h) of drying, were greatly decreased with increase in RH. Partial drying in air of 76% RH up to 4 and 8 h induced no genetic change at ade2 and leu1, respectively. It was concluded, therefore, that drying at a certain RH between 53 and 76% gave the critical degree of dryness of cells for the induction of the genetic changes. The water contents of cells (g water per g dry material) were 12% at 53% RH and 21% at 76% RH, whereas the water content of native cells was 212%. Removal of a large amount of cellular water had no effect on the induction of the genetic changes. UV sensitivity of partially dried cells of X2447 for the induction of the genetic change at ade2 drastically increased with decrease in RH between 76 and 53%. The drastic change in the UV sensitivity suggested that photochemical reactivity of DNA of chromosome XV, in which the ade2 locus is located, changed between 76 and 53% RH. It seems that the genetic changes were induced only in the low RH region where DNA in vivo had a different photochemical reactivity.

  11. Microwave-assisted drying of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) fruits: Drying kinetics, polyphenols, anthocyanins, antioxidant capacity, colour and texture.

    PubMed

    Zielinska, Magdalena; Michalska, Anna

    2016-12-01

    The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of hot air convective drying (HACD), microwave vacuum drying (MWVD) and their combination (HACD+MWVD) on the drying kinetics, colour, total polyphenols, anthocyanins antioxidant capacity and texture of frozen/thawed blueberries. Drying resulted in reduction of total polyphenols content and antioxidant capacity (69 and 77%, respectively). The highest content of total polyphenols was noted after HACD at 90°C. Lower air temperature and prolonged exposure to oxygen resulted in greater degradation of polyphenols and antioxidant capacity. Drying processes caused a significant decrease (from 70 to 95%) in the content of anthocyanins. The highest content of anthocyanins and the strongest antioxidant capacity was found in blueberries dried using HACD at 90°C+MWVD. Among drying methods, HACD at 90°C+MWVD satisfied significant requirements for dried fruits i.e. short drying time and improved product quality. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Real-time monitoring of peanut drying parameters in semitrailers

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Knowledge of peanut drying parameters such as temperature and relative humidity of the ambient air, temperature and relative humidity of the air being blown into the peanuts and kernel moisture content is essential in managing the dryer for optimal drying rate. The optimal drying rate is required to...

  13. Improvement in storage stability of infrared dried rough rice

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The objective of this study was to develop infrared drying (IRD) method to improve the stability of physicochemical properties of rough rice during storage. The effect of IRD on the physicochemical properties of stored rough rice was compared with that of hot air drying (HAD) and ambient air drying ...

  14. Precipitation, not air temperature, drives functional responses of trees in semi-arid ecosystems

    DOE PAGES

    Grossiord, Charlotte; Sevanto, Sanna; Adams, Henry D.; ...

    2016-09-14

    Model scenarios of climate change predict that warming and drought will occur simultaneously in the future in many regions. The capacity of woody species to modify their physiology and morphology in response to environmental conditions is widely recognized, but little is known about the responses of trees to reduced precipitation and increased temperature acting simultaneously. In a semi-arid woodland, we assessed in this paper the responses in physiological (needle emergence, maximum photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, water use efficiency (WUE) and shoot elongation) and morphological (needle length and thickness, and leaf mass per area (LMA)) foliar traits of piñon pine (Pinus edulis)more » in response to three years of a 45% reduction in precipitation, a 4.8 °C increase in air temperature and their simultaneous effects. A strong change in physiological and morphological traits in response to reduced precipitation was observed. Precipitation reduction delayed needle emergence, decreased photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, increased WUE, decreased shoot elongation and induced shorter needles with a higher LMA. Trees subjected to simultaneous reductions in precipitation and warming demonstrated a similar response. However, atmospheric warming did not induce a response in any of the measured traits. Physiological and morphological traits of trees in this semi-arid climate were more responsive to changes in soil moisture than air temperature. Long-term exposure to seasonal drought stress in arid sites may have resulted in strong plastic responses to this first stressor. However, atmospheric warming probably was not experienced as a stress for trees in this warm and dry climate. Finally and overall, our results indicate that in semi-arid ecosystems where tree functioning is already highly limited by soil water availability, atmospheric warming as anticipated with climate change may have less impact on foliar trait responses than previously thought.« less

  15. Precipitation, not air temperature, drives functional responses of trees in semi-arid ecosystems

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

    Grossiord, Charlotte; Sevanto, Sanna; Adams, Henry D.

    Model scenarios of climate change predict that warming and drought will occur simultaneously in the future in many regions. The capacity of woody species to modify their physiology and morphology in response to environmental conditions is widely recognized, but little is known about the responses of trees to reduced precipitation and increased temperature acting simultaneously. In a semi-arid woodland, we assessed in this paper the responses in physiological (needle emergence, maximum photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, water use efficiency (WUE) and shoot elongation) and morphological (needle length and thickness, and leaf mass per area (LMA)) foliar traits of piñon pine (Pinus edulis)more » in response to three years of a 45% reduction in precipitation, a 4.8 °C increase in air temperature and their simultaneous effects. A strong change in physiological and morphological traits in response to reduced precipitation was observed. Precipitation reduction delayed needle emergence, decreased photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, increased WUE, decreased shoot elongation and induced shorter needles with a higher LMA. Trees subjected to simultaneous reductions in precipitation and warming demonstrated a similar response. However, atmospheric warming did not induce a response in any of the measured traits. Physiological and morphological traits of trees in this semi-arid climate were more responsive to changes in soil moisture than air temperature. Long-term exposure to seasonal drought stress in arid sites may have resulted in strong plastic responses to this first stressor. However, atmospheric warming probably was not experienced as a stress for trees in this warm and dry climate. Finally and overall, our results indicate that in semi-arid ecosystems where tree functioning is already highly limited by soil water availability, atmospheric warming as anticipated with climate change may have less impact on foliar trait responses than previously thought.« less

  16. Global Air Quality and Climate

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fiore, Arlene M.; Naik, Vaishali; Steiner, Allison; Unger, Nadine; Bergmann, Dan; Prather, Michael; Righi, Mattia; Rumbold, Steven T.; Shindell, Drew T.; Skeie, Ragnhild B.; hide

    2012-01-01

    Emissions of air pollutants and their precursors determine regional air quality and can alter climate. Climate change can perturb the long-range transport, chemical processing, and local meteorology that influence air pollution. We review the implications of projected changes in methane (CH4), ozone precursors (O3), and aerosols for climate (expressed in terms of the radiative forcing metric or changes in global surface temperature) and hemispheric-to-continental scale air quality. Reducing the O3 precursor CH4 would slow near-term warming by decreasing both CH4 and tropospheric O3. Uncertainty remains as to the net climate forcing from anthropogenic nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, which increase tropospheric O3 (warming) but also increase aerosols and decrease CH4 (both cooling). Anthropogenic emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and non-CH4 volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) warm by increasing both O3 and CH4. Radiative impacts from secondary organic aerosols (SOA) are poorly understood. Black carbon emission controls, by reducing the absorption of sunlight in the atmosphere and on snow and ice, have the potential to slow near-term warming, but uncertainties in coincident emissions of reflective (cooling) aerosols and poorly constrained cloud indirect effects confound robust estimates of net climate impacts. Reducing sulfate and nitrate aerosols would improve air quality and lessen interference with the hydrologic cycle, but lead to warming. A holistic and balanced view is thus needed to assess how air pollution controls influence climate; a first step towards this goal involves estimating net climate impacts from individual emission sectors. Modeling and observational analyses suggest a warming climate degrades air quality (increasing surface O3 and particulate matter) in many populated regions, including during pollution episodes. Prior Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios (SRES) allowed unconstrained growth, whereas the Representative

  17. Global air quality and climate.

    PubMed

    Fiore, Arlene M; Naik, Vaishali; Spracklen, Dominick V; Steiner, Allison; Unger, Nadine; Prather, Michael; Bergmann, Dan; Cameron-Smith, Philip J; Cionni, Irene; Collins, William J; Dalsøren, Stig; Eyring, Veronika; Folberth, Gerd A; Ginoux, Paul; Horowitz, Larry W; Josse, Béatrice; Lamarque, Jean-François; MacKenzie, Ian A; Nagashima, Tatsuya; O'Connor, Fiona M; Righi, Mattia; Rumbold, Steven T; Shindell, Drew T; Skeie, Ragnhild B; Sudo, Kengo; Szopa, Sophie; Takemura, Toshihiko; Zeng, Guang

    2012-10-07

    Emissions of air pollutants and their precursors determine regional air quality and can alter climate. Climate change can perturb the long-range transport, chemical processing, and local meteorology that influence air pollution. We review the implications of projected changes in methane (CH(4)), ozone precursors (O(3)), and aerosols for climate (expressed in terms of the radiative forcing metric or changes in global surface temperature) and hemispheric-to-continental scale air quality. Reducing the O(3) precursor CH(4) would slow near-term warming by decreasing both CH(4) and tropospheric O(3). Uncertainty remains as to the net climate forcing from anthropogenic nitrogen oxide (NO(x)) emissions, which increase tropospheric O(3) (warming) but also increase aerosols and decrease CH(4) (both cooling). Anthropogenic emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and non-CH(4) volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) warm by increasing both O(3) and CH(4). Radiative impacts from secondary organic aerosols (SOA) are poorly understood. Black carbon emission controls, by reducing the absorption of sunlight in the atmosphere and on snow and ice, have the potential to slow near-term warming, but uncertainties in coincident emissions of reflective (cooling) aerosols and poorly constrained cloud indirect effects confound robust estimates of net climate impacts. Reducing sulfate and nitrate aerosols would improve air quality and lessen interference with the hydrologic cycle, but lead to warming. A holistic and balanced view is thus needed to assess how air pollution controls influence climate; a first step towards this goal involves estimating net climate impacts from individual emission sectors. Modeling and observational analyses suggest a warming climate degrades air quality (increasing surface O(3) and particulate matter) in many populated regions, including during pollution episodes. Prior Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios (SRES) allowed unconstrained growth, whereas

  18. Comparison of VOC emissions between air-dried and heat-treated Norway spruce ( Picea abies), Scots pine ( Pinus sylvesteris) and European aspen ( Populus tremula) wood

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hyttinen, Marko; Masalin-Weijo, Marika; Kalliokoski, Pentti; Pasanen, Pertti

    2010-12-01

    Heat-treated wood is an increasingly popular decoration material. Heat-treatment improves dimensional stability of the wood and also prevents rot fungus growth. Although production of heat-treated wood has been rapidly increasing, there is only little information about the VOC emissions of heat-treated wood and its possible influences on indoor air quality. In the present study, VOC emissions from three untreated (air-dried) and heat-treated wood species were compared during a four weeks test period. It appeared that different wood species had clearly different VOC emission profiles. Heat-treatment was found to decrease VOC emissions significantly and change their composition. Especially, emissions of terpenes decreased from softwood samples and aldehydes from European aspen samples. Emissions of total aldehydes and organic acids were at the same level or slightly higher from heat treated than air-dried softwood samples. In agreement with another recent study, the emissions of furfural were found to increase and those of hexanal to decrease from all the wood species investigated. In contrast to air-dried wood samples, emissions of VOCs were almost in steady state from heat treated wood samples even in the beginning of the test.

  19. Model validations for low-global warming potential refrigerants in mini-split air-conditioning units

    DOE PAGES

    Shen, Bo; Shrestha, Som; Abdelaziz, Omar

    2016-09-02

    To identify low GWP (global warming potential) refrigerants to replace R-22 and R-410A, extensive experimental evaluations were conducted for multiple candidates of refrigerant at the standard test conditions and at high-ambient conditions with outdoor temperature varying from 27.8 C to 55.0 C.. In the study, R-22 was compared to propane (R-290), DR-3, ARM-20B, N-20B and R-444B in a mini-split air conditioning unit originally designed for R-22; R-410A was compared to R-32, DR-55, ARM-71A, L41-2 (R-447A) in a mini-split unit designed for R-410A. To reveal physics behind the measured performance results, thermodynamic properties of the alternative refrigerants were analysed. In addition,more » the experimental data was used to calibrate a physics-based equipment model, i.e. ORNL Heat Pump Design Model (HPDM). The calibrated model translated the experimental results to key calculated parameters, i.e. compressor efficiencies, refrigerant side two-phase heat transfer coefficients, corresponding to each refrigerant. As a result, these calculated values provide scientific insights on the performance of the alternative refrigerants and are useful for other applications beyond mini-split air conditioning units.« less

  20. Model validations for low-global warming potential refrigerants in mini-split air-conditioning units

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

    Shen, Bo; Shrestha, Som; Abdelaziz, Omar

    To identify low GWP (global warming potential) refrigerants to replace R-22 and R-410A, extensive experimental evaluations were conducted for multiple candidates of refrigerant at the standard test conditions and at high-ambient conditions with outdoor temperature varying from 27.8 C to 55.0 C.. In the study, R-22 was compared to propane (R-290), DR-3, ARM-20B, N-20B and R-444B in a mini-split air conditioning unit originally designed for R-22; R-410A was compared to R-32, DR-55, ARM-71A, L41-2 (R-447A) in a mini-split unit designed for R-410A. To reveal physics behind the measured performance results, thermodynamic properties of the alternative refrigerants were analysed. In addition,more » the experimental data was used to calibrate a physics-based equipment model, i.e. ORNL Heat Pump Design Model (HPDM). The calibrated model translated the experimental results to key calculated parameters, i.e. compressor efficiencies, refrigerant side two-phase heat transfer coefficients, corresponding to each refrigerant. As a result, these calculated values provide scientific insights on the performance of the alternative refrigerants and are useful for other applications beyond mini-split air conditioning units.« less

  1. Effect of different drying methods on moisture ratio and rehydration of pumpkin slices.

    PubMed

    Seremet Ceclu, Liliana; Botez, Elisabeta; Nistor, Oana-Viorela; Andronoiu, Doina Georgeta; Mocanu, Gabriel-Danut

    2016-03-15

    This study was carried to determine the influence of hot air drying process and combined methods on physicochemical properties of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) samples. The experiments in hot air chamber were lead at 50, 60 and 70 °C. The combined method consists of a triple combination of the main drying techniques. Thus, in first stage the samples were dried in hot air convection at 60 °C followed by hot air ventilation at 40 °C simultaneous with microwave. The time required to reduce the moisture content to any given level was highly dependent on the drying conditions. So, the highest value of drying time in hot air has been 540 min at 50 °C, while the lowest time has been 189 min in hot air combined by microwave at 40 °C and a power of 315 W. The samples dried by hot air shows a higher rehydration capacity than samples dried by combined method. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Effects of warming on uptake and translocation of cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) in a contaminated soil-rice system under Free Air Temperature Increase (FATI).

    PubMed

    Ge, Li-Qiang; Cang, Long; Liu, Hui; Zhou, Dong-Mei

    2016-07-01

    Global warming has received growing attentions about its potential threats to human in recent, however little is known about its effects on transfer of heavy metals in agro-ecosystem, especially for Cd in rice. Pot experiments were conducted to evaluate Cd/Cu translocation in a contaminated soil-rice system under Free Air Temperature Increase (FATI). The results showed that warming gradually decreased soil porewater pH and increased water-soluble Cd/Cu concentration, reduced formation of iron plaque on root surface, and thus significantly increased total uptake of Cd/Cu by rice. Subsequently, warming significantly promoted Cd translocation from root to shoot, and increased Cd distribution percentage in shoot, while Cu was not significantly affected. Enhanced Cd uptake and translocation synergistically resulted in higher rice grain contamination with increasing concentration from 0.27 to 0.65 and 0.14-0.40 mg kg(-1) for Indica and Japonica rice, respectively. However increase of Cu in brown grain was only attributed to its uptake enhancement under warming. Our study provides a new understanding about the food production insecurity of heavy metal contaminated soil under the future global warming. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  3. Increased frequency of ENSO-related hydroclimate extremes in a warming climate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sun, Q.; Miao, C.; AghaKouchak, A.

    2017-12-01

    Global warming will likely alter surface warming in tropical Pacific regions, leading to changes in the characteristics of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) characteristics and an incresed frequency of extreme ENSO events. The ENSO-related climatic variation and associated impacts will likely be modified in a warmer climatic state. However, little is known about the effect of changes in ENSO teleconnections with regard to future dry and wet conditions over land around the globe, especially outside tropical regions. We used the model simulations of the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) for different twenty-first-century emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) to investigate the changes in the ENSO' teleconnection on dry/wet condition over global land. Our results show that 64.64% and 38.12% of 181 river basins studied are expected to experience an increase in the frequency of unusually wet/dry events forced by both ENSO phases under the RCP 4.5 and 8.5, respectively. The anomalous precipitation variability forced by ENSO events will be intensified through a "wet-get-wetter, dry-get-drier" mechanism over west North America, South America, central Asia, and west Asia. More than 850 million people are at risk of exposure to unusually dry/wet events. There is a potential increased risk of high-intensity dry/wet events, with an increase/decrease in the 50-year return level of SPI value for drying/wetting regions. These results have important implications for disaster evaluation and related policies and for appropriate engineering design.

  4. The Development and Practical Use of A New 24kV Dry Air Insulated Switchgear

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yoshida, Tadahiro; Yano, Tomotaka; Tohya, Nobumoto; Inoue, Naoaki; Arioka, Masahiro; Sato, Shinji; Takeuchi, Toshie

    We have developed a new environmentally fitted 24kV cubicle-type gas insulated switchgear (C-GIS) applying our dry air insulation technology and the electromagnetic actuation technology. Firstly, we clarified the relationship between the breakdown field strength at the tip/edge of high-voltage electrode in dry air and the field utilization factor expressing non-uniformity of the insulation gap. Based on the relationship, we designed the most suitable configuration and arrangement of the parts such as high-voltage conductors, disconnecting blades and some mechanical parts in a gas vessel. We succeeded in reducing both the number of insulation barriers and their size, compared with the former product. To reduce them, we produced some sample gaps simulated a practical insulation gap in the C-GIS and investigated its breakdown voltage dependence on the barrier height. Secondly, to apply the electromagnetic actuators for the operation mechanisms of the vacuum circuit breaker, we developed a new coupled analysis method that estimates the movement of a plunger inside the electromagnetic actuator and the electric current flowing through a closing/opening coil. Based on the analysis method, we could reduce both the number of the parts and close/open energy 45% and 80%, respectively, compared with the former spring-charged mechanism.

  5. The Effect of Urban Heat Island on Climate Warming in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration in China.

    PubMed

    Huang, Qunfang; Lu, Yuqi

    2015-07-27

    The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) has experienced rapid urbanization and dramatic economic development since 1978 and the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration (YRDUA) has been one of the three largest urban agglomerations in China. We present evidence of a significant urban heat island (UHI) effect on climate warming based on an analysis of the impacts of the urbanization rate, urban population, and land use changes on the warming rate of the daily average, minimal (nighttime) and maximal (daytime) air temperature in the YRDUA using 41 meteorological stations observation data. The effect of the UHI on climate warming shows a large spatial variability. The average warming rates of average air temperature of huge cities, megalopolises, large cities, medium-sized cities, and small cities are 0.483, 0.314 ± 0.030, 0.282 ± 0.042, 0.225 ± 0.044 and 0.179 ± 0.046 °C/decade during the period of 1957-2013, respectively. The average warming rates of huge cities and megalopolises are significantly higher than those of medium-sized cities and small cities, indicating that the UHI has a significant effect on climate warming (t-test, p < 0.05). Significantly positive correlations are found between the urbanization rate, population, built-up area and warming rate of average air temperature (p < 0.001). The average warming rate of average air temperature attributable to urbanization is 0.124 ± 0.074 °C/decade in the YRDUA. Urbanization has a measurable effect on the observed climate warming in the YRD aggravating the global climate warming.

  6. The Effect of Urban Heat Island on Climate Warming in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration in China

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Qunfang; Lu, Yuqi

    2015-01-01

    The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) has experienced rapid urbanization and dramatic economic development since 1978 and the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration (YRDUA) has been one of the three largest urban agglomerations in China. We present evidence of a significant urban heat island (UHI) effect on climate warming based on an analysis of the impacts of the urbanization rate, urban population, and land use changes on the warming rate of the daily average, minimal (nighttime) and maximal (daytime) air temperature in the YRDUA using 41 meteorological stations observation data. The effect of the UHI on climate warming shows a large spatial variability. The average warming rates of average air temperature of huge cities, megalopolises, large cities, medium-sized cities, and small cities are 0.483, 0.314 ± 0.030, 0.282 ± 0.042, 0.225 ± 0.044 and 0.179 ± 0.046 °C/decade during the period of 1957–2013, respectively. The average warming rates of huge cities and megalopolises are significantly higher than those of medium-sized cities and small cities, indicating that the UHI has a significant effect on climate warming (t-test, p < 0.05). Significantly positive correlations are found between the urbanization rate, population, built-up area and warming rate of average air temperature (p < 0.001). The average warming rate of average air temperature attributable to urbanization is 0.124 ± 0.074 °C/decade in the YRDUA. Urbanization has a measurable effect on the observed climate warming in the YRD aggravating the global climate warming. PMID:26225986

  7. Decadal evolution of the surface energy budget during the fast warming and global warming hiatus periods in the ERA-interim

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, Xiaoming; Sejas, Sergio A.; Cai, Ming; Taylor, Patrick C.; Deng, Yi; Yang, Song

    2018-05-01

    The global-mean surface temperature has experienced a rapid warming from the 1980s to early-2000s but a muted warming since, referred to as the global warming hiatus in the literature. Decadal changes in deep ocean heat uptake are thought to primarily account for the rapid warming and subsequent slowdown. Here, we examine the role of ocean heat uptake in establishing the fast warming and warming hiatus periods in the ERA-Interim through a decomposition of the global-mean surface energy budget. We find the increase of carbon dioxide alone yields a nearly steady increase of the downward longwave radiation at the surface from the 1980s to the present, but neither accounts for the fast warming nor warming hiatus periods. During the global warming hiatus period, the transfer of latent heat energy from the ocean to atmosphere increases and the total downward radiative energy flux to the surface decreases due to a reduction of solar absorption caused primarily by an increase of clouds. The reduction of radiative energy into the ocean and the surface latent heat flux increase cause the ocean heat uptake to decrease and thus contribute to the slowdown of the global-mean surface warming. Our analysis also finds that in addition to a reduction of deep ocean heat uptake, the fast warming period is also driven by enhanced solar absorption due predominantly to a decrease of clouds and by enhanced longwave absorption mainly attributed to the air temperature feedback.

  8. Ambient air particulates and particulate-bound mercury Hg(p) concentrations: dry deposition study over a Traffic, Airport, Park (T.A.P.) areas during years of 2011-2012.

    PubMed

    Fang, Guor-Cheng; Lin, Yen-Heng; Zheng, Yu-Cheng

    2016-02-01

    The main purpose of this study was to monitor ambient air particles and particulate-bound mercury Hg(p) in total suspended particulate (TSP) concentrations and dry deposition at the Hung Kuang (Traffic), Taichung airport and Westing Park sampling sites during the daytime and nighttime, from 2011 to 2012. In addition, the calculated/measured dry deposition flux ratios of ambient air particles and particulate-bound mercury Hg(p) were also studied with Baklanov & Sorensen and the Williams models. For a particle size of 10 μm, the Baklanov & Sorensen model yielded better predictions of dry deposition of ambient air particulates and particulate-bound mercury Hg(p) at the Hung Kuang (Traffic), Taichung airport and Westing Park sampling site during the daytime and nighttime sampling periods. However, for particulates with sizes 20-23 μm, the results obtained in the study reveal that the Williams model provided better prediction results for ambient air particulates and particulate-bound mercury Hg(p) at all sampling sites in this study.

  9. Volatile organic compound emissions from arctic vegetation highly responsive to experimental warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rinnan, Riikka; Kramshøj, Magnus; Lindwall, Frida; Schollert, Michelle; Svendsen, Sarah H.; Valolahti, Hanna

    2017-04-01

    Arctic areas are experiencing amplified climate warming that proceeds twice as fast as the global temperature increase. The increasing temperature is already causing evident alterations, e.g. changes in the vegetation cover as well as thawing of permafrost. Climate warming and the concomitant biotic and abiotic changes are likely to have strong direct and indirect effects on emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from arctic vegetation. We used long-term field manipulation experiments in the Subarctic, Low Arctic and High Arctic to assess effects of climate change on VOC emissions from vegetation communities. In these experiments, we applied passive warming with open-top chambers alone and in combination with other experimental treatments in well-replicated experimental designs. Volatile emissions were sampled in situ by drawing air from plant enclosures and custom-built chambers into adsorbent cartridges, which were analyzed by thermal desorption and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in laboratory. Emission increases by a factor of 2-5 were observed under experimental warming by only a few degrees, and the strong response seems universal for dry, mesic and wet ecosystems. In some cases, these vegetation community level responses were partly due to warming-induced increases in the VOC-emitting plant biomass, changes in species composition and the following increase in the amount of leaf litter (Valolahti et al. 2015). In other cases, the responses appeared before any vegetation changes took place (Lindwall et al. 2016) or even despite a decrease in plant biomass (Kramshøj et al. 2016). VOC emissions from arctic ecosystems seem more responsive to experimental warming than other ecosystem processes. We can thus expect large increases in future VOC emissions from this area due to the direct effects of temperature increase, and due to increasing plant biomass and a longer growing season. References Kramshøj M., Vedel-Petersen I., Schollert M., Rinnan

  10. Increased Air Velocity Reduces Thermal and Cardiovascular Strain in Young and Older Males during Humid Exertional Heat Stress.

    PubMed

    Wright Beatty, Heather E; Hardcastle, Stephen G; Boulay, Pierre; Flouris, Andreas D; Kenny, Glen P

    2015-01-01

    Older adults have been reported to have a lower evaporative heat loss capacity than younger adults during exercise when full sweat evaporation is permitted. However, it is unclear how conditions of restricted evaporative and convective heat loss (i.e., high humidity, clothing insulation) alter heat stress. to the purpose of this study was to examine the heat stress responses of young and older males during and following exercise in a warm/humid environment under two different levels of air velocity. Ten young (YOUNG: 24±2 yr) and 10 older (OLDER: 59±3 yr) males, matched for body surface area performed 4×15-min cycling bouts (15-min rest) at a fixed rate of heat production (400 W) in warm/humid conditions (35°C, 60% relative humidity) under 0.5 (Low) and 3.0 (High) m·s(-1) air velocity while wearing work coveralls. Rectal (Tre) and mean skin (MTsk) temperatures, heart rate (HR), local sweat rate, % max skin blood flow (SkBF) (recovery only), and blood pressure (recovery only) were measured. High air velocity reduced core and skin temperatures (p < 0.05) equally in YOUNG and OLDER males (p > 0.05) but was more effective in reducing cardiovascular strain (absolute and % max HR; p < 0.05) in YOUNG males (p < 0.05). Greater increases in local dry heat loss responses (% max SkBF and cutaneous vascular conductance) were detected across time in OLDER than YOUNG males in both conditions (p < 0.05). Local dry heat loss responses and cardiovascular strain were attenuated during the High condition in YOUNG compared to OLDER (p < 0.05). High air velocity reduced the number of males surpassing the 38.0°C Tre threshold from 90% (Low) to 50% (High). Despite age-related local heat loss differences, YOUNG and OLDER males had similar levels of heat stress during intermittent exercise in warm and humid conditions while wearing work coveralls. Increased air velocity was effective in reducing heat stress equally, and cardiovascular strain to a greater extent, in YOUNG and OLDER

  11. The influence of sorghum grain decortication on bioethanol production and quality of the distillers' dried grains with solubles using cold and conventional warm starch processing.

    PubMed

    Nkomba, Edouard Y; van Rensburg, Eugéne; Chimphango, Annie F A; Görgens, Johann F

    2016-03-01

    Very high gravity hydrolysis-fermentation of whole and decorticated sorghum grains were compared using conventional and cold hydrolysis methods to assess the extent by which decortication could minimize enzymes dosages and affect the quality of the distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS). All processing configurations achieved ethanol concentrations between 126 and 132 g/L (16.0-16.7%v/v), although decortication resulted in a decreased ethanol yield. Decortication resulted in a decreased volumetric productivity during warm processing from 1.55 to 1.25 g L(-1)h(-1), whereas the required enzyme dosage for cold processing was decreased from 250 to 221 μl/100 gstarch. Cold processing decreased the average acid detergent fibre (ADF) from 35.59% to 29.32% and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) from 44.04% to 32.28% in the DDGS compared to the conventional (warm) processing. Due to lower enzyme requirements, the use of decorticated grains combined with cold processing presents a favourable process configuration and source of DDGS for non-ruminants. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Decomposition of recalcitrant carbon under experimental warming in boreal forest

    PubMed Central

    Allison, Steven D.; Treseder, Kathleen K.

    2017-01-01

    Over the long term, soil carbon (C) storage is partly determined by decomposition rate of carbon that is slow to decompose (i.e., recalcitrant C). According to thermodynamic theory, decomposition rates of recalcitrant C might differ from those of non-recalcitrant C in their sensitivities to global warming. We decomposed leaf litter in a warming experiment in Alaskan boreal forest, and measured mass loss of recalcitrant C (lignin) vs. non-recalcitrant C (cellulose, hemicellulose, and sugars) throughout 16 months. We found that these C fractions responded differently to warming. Specifically, after one year of decomposition, the ratio of recalcitrant C to non-recalcitrant C remaining in litter declined in the warmed plots compared to control. Consistent with this pattern, potential activities of enzymes targeting recalcitrant C increased with warming, relative to those targeting non-recalcitrant C. Even so, mass loss of individual C fractions showed that non-recalcitrant C is preferentially decomposed under control conditions whereas recalcitrant C losses remain unchanged between control and warmed plots. Moreover, overall mass loss was greater under control conditions. Our results imply that direct warming effects, as well as indirect warming effects (e.g. drying), may serve to maintain decomposition rates of recalcitrant C compared to non-recalcitrant C despite negative effects on overall decomposition. PMID:28622366

  13. Drying Rate and Product Quality Evaluation of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) Calyces Extract Dried with Foaming Agent under Different Temperatures.

    PubMed

    Djaeni, Mohamad; Kumoro, Andri Cahyo; Sasongko, Setia Budi; Utari, Febiani Dwi

    2018-01-01

    The utilisation of roselle ( Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) calyx as a source of anthocyanins has been explored through intensive investigations. Due to its perishable property, the transformation of roselle calyces into dried extract without reducing their quality is highly challenging. The aim of this work was to study the effect of air temperatures and relative humidity on the kinetics and product quality during drying of roselle extract foamed with ovalbumin and glycerol monostearate (GMS). The results showed that foam mat drying increased the drying rate significantly and retained the antioxidant activity and colour of roselle calyces extract. Shorter drying time was achieved when higher air temperature and/or lower relative humidity was used. Foam mat drying produced dried brilliant red roselle calyces extract with better antioxidant activity and colour qualities when compared with nonfoam mat drying. The results showed the potential for retaining the roselle calyces extract quality under suggested drying conditions.

  14. Image analysis of epicuticular damage to foliage caused by dry deposition of the air pollutant nitric acid

    Treesearch

    Pamela E. Padgett; Sally D. Parry; Andrzej Bytnerowicz; Robert L. Heath

    2009-01-01

    Nitric acid vapor is produced by the same photochemical processes that produce ozone. In the laboratory, concentrated nitric acid is a strong acid and a powerful oxidant. In the environment, where the concentrations are much lower, it is an innocuous source of plant nitrogen. As an air pollutant, which mode of action does dry deposition of nitric...

  15. Cold, dry air is associated with influenza and pneumonia mortality in Auckland, New Zealand.

    PubMed

    Davis, Robert E; Dougherty, Erin; McArthur, Colin; Huang, Qiu Sue; Baker, Michael G

    2016-07-01

    The relationship between weather and influenza and pneumonia mortality was examined retrospectively using daily data from 1980 to 2009 in Auckland, New Zealand, a humid, subtropical location. Mortality events, defined when mortality exceeded 0·95 standard deviation above the mean, followed periods of anomalously cold air (ta.m. = -4·1, P < 0·01; tp.m. = -4·2, P < 0·01) and/or anomalously dry air (ta.m. = -4·1, P < 0·01; tp.m. = -3·8, P < 0·01) by up to 19 days. These results suggest that respiratory infection is enhanced during unusually cold conditions and during conditions with unusually low humidity, even in a subtropical location where humidity is typically high. © 2015 The Authors. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Mechanisms of Robust Future Spring Drying in the Southwest U.S. in CMIP5 Models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ting, M.; Seager, R.; Li, C.; Liu, H.

    2017-12-01

    The net surface water budget, precipitation minus evaporation (P-E), shows a clear seasonal cycle in the American Southwest with net gain of surface water (positive P-E) in the cold half of the year (October to March) and net loss of water (negative P-E) in the warmer half (April - September), with June and July being the driest time of the year. There is a significant shift of the summer drying toward earlier in the year under CO2 warming scenario, resulting in substantial spring drying (MAM) of the American Southwest, from the near-term future (2021 - 2040) to the end of the current Century with gradually increasing magnitude. While the spring drying has been identified in previous studies, its mechanism has not been fully addressed. Using moisture budget analysis, we found that the drying is mainly due to decreased mean moisture convergence, partially compensated by the increase in transient eddy moisture flux convergence. The decreased mean moisture convergence is further separated into those due to changes in circulation (dynamic changes) and changes in atmospheric moisture content (thermodynamic changes). The drying is found to be dominated by the thermodynamic driven changes in column averaged moisture convergence, due mainly to increased dry zonal advection caused by the climatological land-ocean thermal contrast, rather than by the well-known "dry gets drier" mechanism. Furthermore, the enhanced dry advection in the warming climate is dominated by the robust zonal mean atmospheric warming, thus the spring drying in Southwest US is very robust. We also discuss reasons this future drying is particularly strong in the spring as compared to the other seasons.

  17. Elevated CO2 and warming effects on grassland plant mortality are determined by the timing of rainfall

    PubMed Central

    Newton, Paul C. D.; Porter, Meagan

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Background and aims Global warming is expected to increase the mortality rate of established plants in water-limited systems because of its effect on evapotranspiration. The rising CO2 concentration ([CO2]), however, should have the opposite effect because it reduces plant transpiration, delaying the onset of drought. This potential for elevated [CO2] (eCO2) to modify the warming effect on mortality should be related to prevailing moisture conditions. This study aimed to determine the impacts of warming by 2 °C and eCO2 (550 μmol mol−1) on plant mortality in an Australian temperate grassland over a 6-year period and to test how interannual variation in rainfall influenced treatment effects. Methods Analyses were based on results from a field experiment, TasFACE, in which grassland plots were exposed to a combination of eCO2 by free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) and warming by infrared heaters. Using an annual census of established plants and detailed estimates of recruitment, annual mortality of all established plants was calculated. The influence of rainfall amount and timing on the relative impact of treatments on mortality in each year was analysed using multiple regression techniques. Key Results Warming and eCO2 effects had an interactive influence on mortality which varied strongly from year to year and this variation was determined by temporal rainfall patterns. Warming tended to increase density-adjusted mortality and eCO2 moderated that effect, but to a greater extent in years with fewer dry periods. Conclusions These results show that eCO2 reduced the negative effect of warming but this influence varied strongly with rainfall timing. Importantly, indices involving the amount of rainfall were not required to explain interannual variation in mortality or treatment effects on mortality. Therefore, predictions of global warming effects on plant mortality will be reliant not only on other climate change factors, but also on the temporal

  18. Experimental warming differentially affects microbial structure and activity in two contrasted moisture sites in a Sphagnum-dominated peatland.

    PubMed

    Delarue, Frédéric; Buttler, Alexandre; Bragazza, Luca; Grasset, Laurent; Jassey, Vincent E J; Gogo, Sébastien; Laggoun-Défarge, Fatima

    2015-04-01

    Several studies on the impact of climate warming have indicated that peat decomposition/mineralization will be enhanced. Most of these studies deal with the impact of experimental warming during summer when prevalent abiotic conditions are favorable to decomposition. Here, we investigated the effect of experimental air warming by open-top chambers (OTCs) on water-extractable organic matter (WEOM), microbial biomasses and enzymatic activities in two contrasted moisture sites named Bog and Fen sites, the latter considered as the wetter ones. While no or few changes in peat temperature and water content appeared under the overall effect of OTCs, we observed that air warming smoothed water content differences and led to a decrease in mean peat temperature at the warmed Bog sites. This thermal discrepancy between the two sites led to contrasting changes in microbial structure and activities: a rise in hydrolytic activity at the warmed Bog sites and a relative enhancement of bacterial biomass at the warmed Fen sites. These features were not associated with any change in WEOM properties namely carbon and sugar contents and aromaticity, suggesting that air warming did not trigger any shift in OM decomposition. Using various tools, we show that the use of single indicators of OM decomposition can lead to fallacious conclusions. Lastly, these patterns may change seasonally as a consequence of complex interactions between groundwater level and air warming, suggesting the need to improve our knowledge using a high time-resolution approach. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. The CAUSES Model Intercomparison Project: Using hindcast approach to study the U.S. summertime surface warm temperature bias

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, H. Y.; Klein, S. A.; Xie, S.; Zhang, C.; Morcrette, C. J.; Van Weverberg, K.; Petch, J.

    2016-12-01

    The CAUSES (Clouds Above the United States and Errors at the Surface) is a joint GASS/RGCM/ASR model intercomparison project with an observational focus (data from the U.S. DOE ARM SGP site and other observations). The goal of this project is to evaluate the role of clouds, radiation and precipitation processes in contributing to the surface air temperature bias in the region of the central U.S., which is seen in several weather and climate models. In this project, we use a short-term hindcast approach and examine the error growth due to cloud-associated processes while the large-scale state remains close to observations. The study period is from April 1 to August 31, 2011, which also covers the entire Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) campaign that provides very frequent radiosondes (8 per day) and many extensive cloud and precipitation radar observations. Our preliminary analysis indicates that the warm surface air temperature bias in the mean diurnal cycle of the whole study period is very robust across all the participating models over the ARM SGP site. During the spring season (April-May), the daytime warm bias in most models is mostly due to excessive net surface shortwave flux resulting from insufficient deep convective cloud fraction or too optically thin clouds. The nighttime warm bias is likely due to the excessive downwelling longwave flux warming resulting from the persisting deep clouds. During the summer season (June-August), bias contribution from precipitation bias becomes important. The insufficient seasonal accumulated precipitation from the propagating convective systems originated from the Rockies contributes to lower soil moisture. Such condition drives the land surface to a dry state whereby radiative input can only be balanced by sensible heat loss through an increased surface air temperature. More information about the CAUSES project can be found through the following project webpage (http

  20. Radiation data input for the design of dry or semi-dry U tailings disposal.

    PubMed

    Kvasnicka, J

    1986-09-01

    Before discussion of design criteria for the handling of dry or semi-dry tailings, it is necessary to obtain an insight into the radiation levels associated with the tailings particles and to study the basic physical properties of dry tailings. This article presents the experimental results of assessing Ra and specific alpha-activity distribution with respect to particle size of the Ranger (RUM) and Nabarlek (QML) uranium mines dry tailings samples. The variation of Rn emanation coefficient versus particle size of dry tailings has also been measured. The nuclear-track detection technique, gamma spectrometry and alpha counting were used for the above measurements. Surface Rn flux from the hypothetical Nabarlek semi-infinite dry tailings pile is 32 Bq m-2 s-1 and the Rn flux for Ranger is 10 Bq m-2 s-1. The theoretical exposure rates for 1 m above these hypothetical tailings piles are 0.95 microC kg-1 h-1 and 0.28 microC kg-1 h-1, respectively. The derived air alpha-contamination limits (DAAC) for the tailings dust were calculated to be 1.2 Bq m-3 for workers and 0.034 Bq m-3 for a member of the public. The limit for workers corresponds to the air tailings dust concentration of 0.79 mg m-3 for QML tailings and 2.2 mg m-3 for RUM tailings. The DAAC limit for the public corresponds to the air tailings dust concentration of 0.022 mg m-3 for QML tailings and 0.064 mg m-3 for RUM tailings.

  1. Impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C on precipitation patterns in China by regional climate model (COSMO-CLM)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sun, Hemin; Wang, Anqian; Zhai, Jianqing; Huang, Jinlong; Wang, Yanjun; Wen, Shanshan; Zeng, Xiaofan; Su, Buda

    2018-05-01

    Regional precipitation patterns may change in a warmer climate, thereby increasing flood and drought risks. In this paper, annual, annual maximum, intense, heavy, moderate, light, and trace precipitation are employed as indicators to assess changes in precipitation patterns under two scenarios in which the global mean temperature increases by 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C relative to pre-industrial levels using the regional climate model COSMO-CLM (CCLM). The results show that annual precipitation in China will be approximately 2.5% higher under 1.5 °C warming relative to the present-day baseline (1980-2009), although it will decrease by approximately 4.0% under an additional 0.5 °C increase in global mean temperature. This trend is spatially consistent for regions with annual precipitation of 400-800 mm, which has experienced a drying trend during the past half century; thus, limiting global warming to 1.5 °C may mitigate these drying conditions. The annual maximum precipitation continues to increase from present day levels to the 2.0 °C warming scenario. Relative to the baseline period, the frequency of trace and light precipitation days exhibits a negative trend, while that of moderate, heavy, and intense precipitation days has a positive trend under the 1.5 °C warming scenario. For the 2.0 °C warming world, the frequency of days is projected to decrease for all precipitation categories, although the intensity of intense precipitation increases. Spatially, a decrease in the number of precipitation days is expected to continue in central and northern China, where a drying trend has persisted over the past half century. Southeastern China, which already suffers greatly from flooding, is expected to face more heavy and intense precipitation with an additional 0.5 °C increase in global mean temperature. Meanwhile, the intensity of intense precipitation is expected to increase in northern China, and the contribution of light and moderate precipitation to the annual

  2. Air Force Civil Engineering Center Fiscal Year 1978 Air Force Technical Objectives Document.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1976-12-15

    for the theater airbase, pavement studies, environmental pollution abatement and control, air mobility concepts, energy conservation, fire fighting equipment, air base support, and warm fog dispersal. (Author)

  3. Drying Rate and Product Quality Evaluation of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) Calyces Extract Dried with Foaming Agent under Different Temperatures

    PubMed Central

    Kumoro, Andri Cahyo; Sasongko, Setia Budi; Utari, Febiani Dwi

    2018-01-01

    The utilisation of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) calyx as a source of anthocyanins has been explored through intensive investigations. Due to its perishable property, the transformation of roselle calyces into dried extract without reducing their quality is highly challenging. The aim of this work was to study the effect of air temperatures and relative humidity on the kinetics and product quality during drying of roselle extract foamed with ovalbumin and glycerol monostearate (GMS). The results showed that foam mat drying increased the drying rate significantly and retained the antioxidant activity and colour of roselle calyces extract. Shorter drying time was achieved when higher air temperature and/or lower relative humidity was used. Foam mat drying produced dried brilliant red roselle calyces extract with better antioxidant activity and colour qualities when compared with nonfoam mat drying. The results showed the potential for retaining the roselle calyces extract quality under suggested drying conditions. PMID:29755991

  4. The Role of Atmospheric Heating over the South China Sea and Western Pacific Regions in Modulating Asian Summer Climate under the Global Warming Background

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, B.

    2015-12-01

    Global warming is one of the most significant climate change signals at the earth's surface. However, the responses of monsoon precipitation to global warming show very distinct regional features, especially over the South China Sea (SCS) and surrounding regions during boreal summer. To understand the possible dynamics in these specific regions under the global warming background, the changes in atmospheric latent heating and their possible influences on global climate are investigated by both observational diagnosis and numerical sensitivity simulations. Results indicate that summertime latent heating has intensified in the SCS and western Pacific, accompanied by increased precipitation, cloud cover, lower-tropospheric convergence, and decreased sea level pressure. Sensitivity experiments show that middle and upper tropospheric heating causes an east-west feedback pattern between SCS-western Pacific and South Asia, which strengthens the South Asian High in the upper troposphere and moist convergence in the lower troposphere, consequently forcing a descending motion and adiabatic warming over continental South Asia and leading to a warm and dry climate. When air-sea interaction is considered, the simulation results are overall more similar to observations, and in particular the bias of precipitation over the Indian Ocean simulated by AGCMs has been reduced. The results highlight the important role of latent heating in adjusting the changes in sea surface temperature through atmospheric dynamics.

  5. Evolution of surface sensible heat over the Tibetan Plateau under the recent global warming hiatus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Lihua; Huang, Gang; Fan, Guangzhou; Qu, Xia; Zhao, Guijie; Hua, Wei

    2017-10-01

    Based on regular surface meteorological observations and NCEP/DOE reanalysis data, this study investigates the evolution of surface sensible heat (SH) over the central and eastern Tibetan Plateau (CE-TP) under the recent global warming hiatus. The results reveal that the SH over the CE-TP presents a recovery since the slowdown of the global warming. The restored surface wind speed together with increased difference in ground-air temperature contribute to the recovery in SH. During the global warming hiatus, the persistent weakening wind speed is alleviated due to the variation of the meridional temperature gradient. Meanwhile, the ground surface temperature and the difference in ground-air temperature show a significant increasing trend in that period caused by the increased total cloud amount, especially at night. At nighttime, the increased total cloud cover reduces the surface effective radiation via a strengthening of atmospheric counter radiation and subsequently brings about a clear upward trend in ground surface temperature and the difference in ground-air temperature. Cloud-radiation feedback plays a significant role in the evolution of the surface temperature and even SH during the global warming hiatus. Consequently, besides the surface wind speed, the difference in ground-air temperature becomes another significant factor for the variation in SH since the slowdown of global warming, particularly at night.

  6. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Source Categories: Perchloroethylene Dry Cleaning Facilities - 1993 Final Rule (58 FR 49354)

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This document is a copy of the Federal Register publication of the September 22, 1993 Final Rule for the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Source Categories: Perchloroethylene Dry Cleaning Facilities.

  7. Response to CO2 Transient Increase in the GISS Coupled Model: Regional Coolings in a Warming Climate

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Russell, Gary L.; Rind, David

    1999-01-01

    The (GISS) Goddard Institute for Space Studies coupled atmosphere-ocean model is used to investigate the effect of increased atmospheric CO2 by comparing a compounded 1 percent CO2 increase experiment with a control simulation. After 70 years of integration, the global surface air temperature in the 1 percent CO2 experiment is 1.43 C warmer. In spite of this global warming, there are two distinct regions, the northern Atlantic Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean, where the surface air temperature is up to 4 C cooler. This situation is maintained by two positive feedbacks: a local effect on convection in the South Pacific and a non-local impact on the meridional circulation in the North Atlantic. The poleward transport of latent energy and dry static energy by the atmosphere is greater in the 1 percent CO2 experiment, caused by warming and therefore increased water vapor and greater greenhouse capacity at lower latitudes. The larger atmospheric transports tend to reduce upward vertical fluxes of heat and moisture from the ocean surface at high latitudes, which has the effect of stabilizing the ocean, reducing both convection and the thermohaline circulation. With less convection, less warm water is brought up from below, and with a reduced North Atlantic thermohaline circulation (by 30 percent at time of CO2 doubling), the poleward energy transport by the oceans decreases. The colder water then leads to further reductions in evaporation, decreases of salinity at high latitudes, continued stabilization of the ocean, and maintenance of reduced convection and meridional overturning. Although sea ice decreases globally, it increases in the cooling regions which reduces the overall climate sensitivity; its effect is most pronounced in the Southern Hemisphere. Tropical warming has been observed over the past several decades; if modeling studies such as this and others which have produced similar effects are valid, these processes may already be beginning.

  8. Impingement drying for preparing dried apple pomace flour and its fortification in bakery and meat products.

    PubMed

    Jung, Jooyeoun; Cavender, George; Zhao, Yanyun

    2015-09-01

    This study aimed to evaluate impingement drying (ID) as a rapid drying method to dry wet apple pomace (WAP) and to investigate the fortification of dried apple pomace flour (APF) or WAP in bakery and meat products. ID at ~110 °C reduced the moisture content of apple pomace from 80 % (wet basis) to 4.5 % within 3 h, compared with 24 h to 2.2 % using 40 °C forced-air drying and ~60 h to 2.3 % using freeze drying. Furthermore, ID enhanced the extractable phenolic compounds, allowing for a 58 % increase in total phenolic content (TPC) compared with wet pomace, a 110 % and 83 % higher than TPC in forced-air dried and freeze dried samples, respectively. The 15-20 % APF-fortified cookies were found to be ~44-59 % softer, ~30 % more chewy, and ~14 % moister than those of the control. WAP-fortified meat products had significantly higher dietary fiber content (0.7-1.8 % vs. 0.1-0.2 % in control) and radical scavenging activity than that of the control. These results suggest that impingement drying is a fast and effective method for preparing dried APF with highly retained bioactive compounds, and apple pomace fortified products maintained or even had improved quality.

  9. Effect of salt concentrations and drying methods on the quality and formation of histamine in dried milkfish (Chanos chanos).

    PubMed

    Hwang, Chiu-Chu; Lin, Chia-Min; Kung, Hsien-Feng; Huang, Ya-Ling; Hwang, Deng-Fwu; Su, Yi-Cheng; Tsai, Yung-Hsiang

    2012-11-15

    The effects of salt concentrations (0-15.0%) and drying methods on the quality of dried milkfish were studied. The results showed that the levels of aerobic plate counts, total coliform, water activity, moisture contents, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) of the dried milkfish samples prepared with the same drying method decreased with increased salt concentrations. The samples prepared with the cold-air drying method had better quality in term of lower TVBN and TBA values than those of samples prepared with other drying methods. The histamine contents in all samples, except two, prepared with various salt concentrations by different drying methods were less than 1.9 mg/100 g. Two unsalted samples prepared with hot-air drying at 35 °C and sun drying methods were found to contain histamine at levels of 249.7 and 67.4 mg/100 g, respectively, which were higher than the potential hazard level of 50 mg/100 g. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. High Lapse Rates in AIRS Retrieved Temperatures in Cold Air Outbreaks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fetzer, Eric J.; Kahn, Brian; Olsen, Edward T.; Fishbein, Evan

    2004-01-01

    The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) experiment, on NASA's Aqua spacecraft, uses a combination of infrared and microwave observations to retrieve cloud and surface properties, plus temperature and water vapor profiles comparable to radiosondes throughout the troposphere, for cloud cover up to 70%. The high spectral resolution of AIRS provides sensitivity to important information about the near-surface atmosphere and underlying surface. A preliminary analysis of AIRS temperature retrievals taken during January 2003 reveals extensive areas of superadiabatic lapse rates in the lowest kilometer of the atmosphere. These areas are found predominantly east of North America over the Gulf Stream, and, off East Asia over the Kuroshio Current. Accompanying the high lapse rates are low air temperatures, large sea-air temperature differences, and low relative humidities. Imagery from a Visible / Near Infrared instrument on the AIRS experiment shows accompanying clouds. These lines of evidence all point to shallow convection in the bottom layer of a cold air mass overlying warm water, with overturning driven by heat flow from ocean to atmosphere. An examination of operational radiosondes at six coastal stations in Japan shows AIRS to be oversensitive to lower tropospheric lapse rates due to systematically warm near-surface air temperatures. The bias in near-surface air temperature is seen to be independent of sea surface temperature, however. AIRS is therefore sensitive to air-sea temperature difference, but with a warm atmospheric bias. A regression fit to radiosondes is used to correct AIRS near-surface retrieved temperatures, and thereby obtain an estimate of the true atmosphere-ocean thermal contrast in five subtropical regions across the north Pacific. Moving eastward, we show a systematic shift in this air-sea temperature differences toward more isothermal conditions. These results, while preliminary, have implications for our understanding of heat flow from ocean to

  11. Spray Drying of Mosambi Juice in Lab

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Singh, S. V.; Verma, A.

    2014-01-01

    The studies on spray drying of mosambi juice were carried out with Laboratory spray dryer set-up (LSD-48 MINI SPRAY DRYER-JISL). Inlet and outlet air temperature and maltodextrin (drying agent) concentration was taken as variable parameters. Experiments were conducted by using 110 °C to 140 °C inlet air temperature, 60 °C to 70 °C outlet air temperature and 5-7 % maltodextrin concentration. The free flow powder of mosambi juice was obtained with 7 % maltodextrin at 140 °C inlet air temperature and 60 °C outlet air temperature. Fresh and reconstituted juices were evaluated for vitamin C, titrable acidity and sensory characteristics. The reconstituted juice was found slightly acceptable by taste panel.

  12. [Research about effect of spray drying conditions on hygroscopicity of spray dry powder of gubi compound's water extract and its mechanism].

    PubMed

    Zong, Jie; Shao, Qi; Zhang, Hong-Qing; Pan, Yong-Lan; Zhu, Hua-Xu; Guo, Li-Wei

    2014-02-01

    To investigate moisture content and hygroscopicity of spray dry powder of Gubi compound's water extract obtained at different spray drying conditions and laying a foundation for spray drying process of Chinese herbal compound preparation. In the paper, on the basis of single-factor experiments, the author choose inlet temperature, liquid density, feed rate, air flow rate as investigated factors. The experimental absorption rate-time curve and scanning electron microscopy results showed that under different spray drying conditions the spray-dried powders have different morphology and different adsorption process. At different spray-dried conditions, the morphology and water content of the powder is different, these differences lead to differences in the adsorption process, at the appropriate inlet temperature and feed rate with a higher sample density and lower air flow rate, in the experimental system the optimum conditions is inlet temperature of 150 degrees C, feed density of 1.05 g x mL(-1), feed rate of 20 mL x min(-1) air flow rate of 30 m3 x h(-1).

  13. Effects of pulsed electric fields pretreatment and drying method on drying characteristics and nutritive quality of blueberries

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Fresh blueberries were pretreated with pulsed electric fields (PEF) at 2 kV/cm and then dried at 45, 60 and 75 degrees C by conventional hot air or vacuum drying. Drying characteristics and changes in contents of moisture, anthocyanin, total phenolics, vitamin C, and antioxidant activity in the blu...

  14. Operative air temperature data for different measures applied on a building envelope in warm climate.

    PubMed

    Baglivo, Cristina; Congedo, Paolo Maria

    2018-04-01

    Several technical combinations have been evaluated in order to design high energy performance buildings for the warm climate. The analysis has been developed in several steps, avoiding the use of HVAC systems. The methodological approach of this study is based on a sequential search technique and it is shown on the paper entitled "Envelope Design Optimization by Thermal Modeling of a Building in a Warm Climate" [1]. The Operative Air Temperature trends (TOP), for each combination, have been plotted through a dynamic simulation performed using the software TRNSYS 17 (a transient system simulation program, University of Wisconsin, Solar Energy Laboratory, USA, 2010). Starting from the simplest building configuration consisting of 9 rooms (equal-sized modules of 5 × 5 m 2 ), the different building components are sequentially evaluated until the envelope design is optimized. The aim of this study is to perform a step-by-step simulation, simplifying as much as possible the model without making additional variables that can modify their performances. Walls, slab-on-ground floor, roof, shading and windows are among the simulated building components. The results are shown for each combination and evaluated for Brindisi, a city in southern Italy having 1083 degrees day, belonging to the national climatic zone C. The data show the trends of the TOP for each measure applied in the case study for a total of 17 combinations divided into eight steps.

  15. Effect of Steam Blanching and Drying on Phenolic Compounds of Litchi Pericarp.

    PubMed

    Kessy, Honest N E; Hu, Zhuoyan; Zhao, Lei; Zhou, Molin

    2016-06-03

    The effects of different treatment methods on the stability and antioxidant capacity of the bioactive phenolic compounds of litchi pericarps were investigated. Fresh litchi pericarps were open air-dried, steam-blanched for 3 min in combination with hot air oven drying at 60 and 80 °C, and unblanched pericarps were dried in a hot air oven at 40, 60, 70 and 80 °C until equilibrium weight was reached. The total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins and individual procyanidins, and antioxidant activity were analyzed. The combination of blanching and drying at 60 °C significantly (p < 0.05) improved the release of phenolic compounds, individual procyanidins, and the extracts' antioxidant capacity compared with the unblanched hot air oven-dried and open air-dried pericarps. Drying of fresh unblanched litchi pericarps in either open air or a hot air oven caused significant losses (p < 0.05) in phenolic compounds and individual procyanidins, leading to a reduction in the antioxidant activity. A similar increase, retention or reduction was reflected in flavonoids, proanthocyanidins and anthocyanins because they are sub-groups of phenolic compounds. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryldydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging capacity of the treated pericarps were significantly correlated (r ≥ 0.927, p < 0.01) with the total phenolic compounds. Thus, the combination of steam blanching and drying treatments of fresh litchi pericarps could produce a stable and dry litchi pericarp that maintains phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity as a raw material for further recovery of the phytochemicals.

  16. Postharvest monitoring of organic potato (cv. Anuschka) during hot-air drying using visible-NIR hyperspectral imaging.

    PubMed

    Moscetti, Roberto; Sturm, Barbara; Crichton, Stuart Oj; Amjad, Waseem; Massantini, Riccardo

    2018-05-01

    The potential of hyperspectral imaging (500-1010 nm) was evaluated for monitoring of the quality of potato slices (var. Anuschka) of 5, 7 and 9 mm thickness subjected to air drying at 50 °C. The study investigated three different feature selection methods for the prediction of dry basis moisture content and colour of potato slices using partial least squares regression (PLS). The feature selection strategies tested include interval PLS regression (iPLS), and differences and ratios between raw reflectance values for each possible pair of wavelengths (R[λ 1 ]-R[λ 2 ] and R[λ 1 ]:R[λ 2 ], respectively). Moreover, the combination of spectral and spatial domains was tested. Excellent results were obtained using the iPLS algorithm. However, features from both datasets of raw reflectance differences and ratios represent suitable alternatives for development of low-complex prediction models. Finally, the dry basis moisture content was high accurately predicted by combining spectral data (i.e. R[511 nm]-R[994 nm]) and spatial domain (i.e. relative area shrinkage of slice). Modelling the data acquired during drying through hyperspectral imaging can provide useful information concerning the chemical and physicochemical changes of the product. With all this information, the proposed approach lays the foundations for a more efficient smart dryer that can be designed and its process optimized for drying of potato slices. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  17. Survival differences among freeze-dried genetically engineered and wild-type bacteria.

    PubMed Central

    Israeli, E; Shaffer, B T; Hoyt, J A; Lighthart, B; Ganio, L M

    1993-01-01

    Because the death mechanisms of freeze-dried and air-dried bacteria are thought to be similar, freeze-drying was used to investigate the survival differences between potentially airborne genetically engineered microorganisms and their wild types. To this end, engineered strains of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas syringae were freeze-dried and exposed to air, visible light, or both. The death rates of all engineered strains were significantly higher than those of their parental strains. Light and air exposure were found to increase the death rates of all strains. Application of death rate models to freeze-dried engineered bacteria to be released into the environment is discussed. PMID:8434925

  18. Global warming induced hybrid rainy seasons in the Sahel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salack, Seyni; Klein, Cornelia; Giannini, Alessandra; Sarr, Benoit; Worou, Omonlola N.; Belko, Nouhoun; Bliefernicht, Jan; Kunstman, Harald

    2016-10-01

    The small rainfall recovery observed over the Sahel, concomitant with a regional climate warming, conceals some drought features that exacerbate food security. The new rainfall features include false start and early cessation of rainy seasons, increased frequency of intense daily rainfall, increasing number of hot nights and warm days and a decreasing trend in diurnal temperature range. Here, we explain these mixed dry/wet seasonal rainfall features which are called hybrid rainy seasons by delving into observed data consensus on the reduction in rainfall amount, its spatial coverage, timing and erratic distribution of events, and other atmospheric variables crucial in agro-climatic monitoring and seasonal forecasting. Further composite investigations of seasonal droughts, oceans warming and the regional atmospheric circulation nexus reveal that the low-to-mid-level atmospheric winds pattern, often stationary relative to either strong or neutral El-Niño-Southern-Oscillations drought patterns, associates to basin warmings in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea to trigger hybrid rainy seasons in the Sahel. More challenging to rain-fed farming systems, our results suggest that these new rainfall conditions will most likely be sustained by global warming, reshaping thereby our understanding of food insecurity in this region.

  19. Effects of hot air and freeze drying methods on antioxidant activity, colour and some nutritional characteristics of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L) fruit.

    PubMed

    Orak, H H; Aktas, T; Yagar, H; İsbilir, S Selen; Ekinci, N; Sahin, F Hasturk

    2012-08-01

    Antioxidant activity, colour and some nutritional properties of hot air and freeze-dried strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) fruits were investigated. Additionally, the effects of two pre-treatments, namely ethyl oleate and water blanching, were compared in terms of drying characteristics. For determination of antioxidant activities in ethanol extracts, two different analytical methods were used: 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity and β-carotene bleaching activity. As a result, the ethyl oleate pre-treatment shortened the drying time by hot air method and gave a higher 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity (82.16 ± 0.34%), total phenolic content (7.62 ± 1.09 µg GAE/g extract), ascorbic acid content (236.93 ± 20.14 mg/100 g), besides hydromethylfurfural was not observed. Freeze-dried fruits exhibited higher ascorbic acid content (368.63 ± 17.16 mg/100 g) than those fresh fruits (231.33 ± 19.51 mg/100 g) and nearly 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl activity (93.52 ± 0.41 %) to fresh fruits (94.03 ± 1.18%). Colour characteristics, sugar content and mineral contents of fruits were significantly affected by pre-treatments and drying methods (p < 0.05). It is concluded that the drying of strawberry tree fruits should bring a valuable and attractive foodstuff to food industry due to the rich nutritional components, antioxidant activity and colour. Another conclusion from this study is that the freeze-drying is the best drying method to keep the nutritional value, antioxidant activity and sensory properties of fruits.

  20. Simultaneous water vapor and dry air optical path length measurements and compensation with the large binocular telescope interferometer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Defrère, D.; Hinz, P.; Downey, E.; Böhm, M.; Danchi, W. C.; Durney, O.; Ertel, S.; Hill, J. M.; Hoffmann, W. F.; Mennesson, B.; Millan-Gabet, R.; Montoya, M.; Pott, J.-U.; Skemer, A.; Spalding, E.; Stone, J.; Vaz, A.

    2016-08-01

    The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer uses a near-infrared camera to measure the optical path length variations between the two AO-corrected apertures and provide high-angular resolution observations for all its science channels (1.5-13 microns). There is however a wavelength dependent component to the atmospheric turbulence, which can introduce optical path length errors when observing at a wavelength different from that of the fringe sensing camera. Water vapor in particular is highly dispersive and its effect must be taken into account for high-precision infrared interferometric observations as described previously for VLTI/MIDI or the Keck Interferometer Nuller. In this paper, we describe the new sensing approach that has been developed at the LBT to measure and monitor the optical path length fluctuations due to dry air and water vapor separately. After reviewing the current performance of the system for dry air seeing compensation, we present simultaneous H-, K-, and N-band observations that illustrate the feasibility of our feedforward approach to stabilize the path length fluctuations seen by the LBTI nuller.

  1. Estimation of cauliflower mass transfer parameters during convective drying

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sahin, Medine; Doymaz, İbrahim

    2017-02-01

    The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of pre-treatments such as citric acid and hot water blanching and air temperature on drying and rehydration characteristics of cauliflower slices. Experiments were carried out at four different drying air temperatures of 50, 60, 70 and 80 °C with the air velocity of 2.0 m/s. It was observed that drying and rehydration characteristics of cauliflower slices were greatly influenced by air temperature and pre-treatment. Six commonly used mathematical models were evaluated to predict the drying kinetics of cauliflower slices. The Midilli et al. model described the drying behaviour of cauliflower slices at all temperatures better than other models. The values of effective moisture diffusivities ( D eff ) were determined using Fick's law of diffusion and were between 4.09 × 10-9 and 1.88 × 10-8 m2/s. Activation energy was estimated by an Arrhenius type equation and was 23.40, 29.09 and 26.39 kJ/mol for citric acid, blanch and control samples, respectively.

  2. A Warming Surface but a Cooling Top of Atmosphere Associated with Warm, Moist Air Mass Advection over the Ice and Snow Covered Arctic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sedlar, J.

    2015-12-01

    Atmospheric advection of heat and moisture from lower latitudes to the high-latitude Arctic is a critical component of Earth's energy cycle. Large-scale advective events have been shown to make up a significant portion of the moist static energy budget of the Arctic atmosphere, even though such events are typically infrequent. The transport of heat and moisture over surfaces covered by ice and snow results in dynamic changes to the boundary layer structure, stability and turbulence, as well as to diabatic processes such as cloud distribution, microphysics and subsequent radiative effects. Recent studies have identified advection into the Arctic as a key mechanism for modulating the melt and freeze of snow and sea ice, via modification to all-sky longwave radiation. This paper examines the radiative impact during summer of such Arctic advective events at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), considering also the important role they play for the surface energy budget. Using infrared sounder measurements from the AIRS satellite, the summer frequency of significantly stable and moist advective events from 2003-2014 are characterized; justification of AIRS profiles over the Arctic are made using radiosoundings during a 3-month transect (ACSE) across the Eastern Arctic basin. One such event was observed within the East Siberian Sea in August 2014 during ACSE, providing in situ verification on the robustness and capability of AIRS to monitor advective cases. Results will highlight the important surface warming aspect of stable, moist instrusions. However a paradox emerges as such events also result in a cooling at the TOA evident on monthly mean TOA radiation. Thus such events have a climatic importance over ice and snow covered surfaces across the Arctic. ERA-Interim reanalyses are examined to provide a longer term perspective on the frequency of such events as well as providing capability to estimate meridional fluxes of moist static energy.

  3. Effect of temperature and air velocity on drying kinetics, antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content, colour, texture and microstructure of apple (var. Granny Smith) slices.

    PubMed

    Vega-Gálvez, Antonio; Ah-Hen, Kong; Chacana, Marcelo; Vergara, Judith; Martínez-Monzó, Javier; García-Segovia, Purificación; Lemus-Mondaca, Roberto; Di Scala, Karina

    2012-05-01

    The aim of this work was to study the effect of temperature and air velocity on the drying kinetics and quality attributes of apple (var. Granny Smith) slices during drying. Experiments were conducted at 40, 60 and 80°C, as well as at air velocities of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5ms(-1). Effective moisture diffusivity increased with temperature and air velocity, reaching a value of 15.30×10(-9)m(2)s(-1) at maximum temperature and air velocity under study. The rehydration ratio changed with varying both air velocity and temperature indicating tissue damage due to processing. The colour difference, ΔE, showed the best results at 80°C. The DPPH-radical scavenging activity at 40°C and 0.5ms(-1) showed the highest antioxidant activity, closest to that of the fresh sample. Although ΔE decreased with temperature, antioxidant activity barely varied and even increased at high air velocities, revealing an antioxidant capacity of the browning products. The total phenolics decreased with temperature, but at high air velocity retardation of thermal degradation was observed. Firmness was also determined and explained using glass transition concept and microstructure analysis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Evaluation of the Various Drying Methods on Surface Hardness of Type IV Dental Stone

    PubMed Central

    Sudhakar, A; Srivatsa, G; Shetty, Rohit; Rajeswari, C L; Manvi, Supriya

    2015-01-01

    Background: Studies regarding the effect of various methods to increase the surface hardness of Type IV dental stone are not conclusive. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the effect of air drying, micro oven drying and die hardener on surface hardness of Type IV dental stone. Materials and Methods: A standard metal die was fabricated; polyvinyl siloxane impression material was used to make the molds of metal die. A total of 120 specimens were obtained from two different die stones and were grouped as Group A (kalrock) and Group B (pearl stone), and were subjected to air drying for 24 h, micro oven drying and application of die hardener. These models were then subjected to surface hardness testing using the knoop hardness instrument. The obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The hardness of Group A specimens was 64 ± 0.54 Knoop hardness number (KHN) after application of die hardener, 60.47 ± 0.41 KHN after 24 h air drying, 58.2 ± 0.88 after microwave oven drying and 24.6 ± 0.4 after 1 h air drying. The hardness of Group B specimens was 45.59 ± 0.63 KHN after application of die hardener, 40.2 ± 0.63 KHN after 24 h air drying, 38.28 ± 0.55 KHN after microwave oven drying and 19.91 ± 0.64 KHN after 1 h air drying. Conclusion: Group A showed better results than Group B at all times. Application of the die hardener showed highest hardness values followed in the order by 24 h air drying, microwave oven drying and 1 h air drying in both groups. The study showed that air drying the dies for 24 h followed by application of a single layer of the die hardener produced the best surface hardness and is recommended to be followed in practice. PMID:26124610

  5. Air pollution control and decreasing new particle formation lead to strong climate warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Makkonen, R.; Asmi, A.; Kerminen, V.-M.; Boy, M.; Arneth, A.; Hari, P.; Kulmala, M.

    2012-02-01

    The number concentration of cloud droplets determines several climatically relevant cloud properties. A major cause for the high uncertainty in the indirect aerosol forcing is the availability of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), which in turn is highly sensitive to atmospheric new particle formation. Here we present the effect of new particle formation on anthropogenic aerosol forcing in present-day (year 2000) and future (year 2100) conditions. The present-day total aerosol forcing is increased from -1.0 W m-2 to -1.6 W m-2 when nucleation is introduced into the model. Nucleation doubles the change in aerosol forcing between years 2000 and 2100, from +0.6 W m-2 to +1.4 W m-2. Two climate feedbacks are studied, resulting in additional negative forcings of -0.1 W m-2 (+10% DMS emissions in year 2100) and -0.5 W m-2 (+50% BVOC emissions in year 2100). With the total aerosol forcing diminishing in response to air pollution control measures taking effect, warming from increased greenhouse gas concentrations can potentially increase at a very rapid rate.

  6. Air-water exchange and dry deposition of polybrominated diphenyl ethers at a coastal site in Izmir Bay, Turkey.

    PubMed

    Cetin, Banu; Odabasi, Mustafa

    2007-02-01

    The air-water exchange of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), an emerging class of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), was investigated using paired air-water samples (n = 15) collected in July and December, 2005 from Guzelyali Port in Izmir Bay, Turkey. Total dissolved-phase water concentrations of PBDEs (sigma7PBDEs) were 212 +/- 65 and 87 +/- 57 pg L(-1) (average +/- SD) in summer and winter, respectively. BDE-209 was the most abundant congener in all samples, followed by BDE-99 and -47. Average ambient gas-phase sigma7PBDE concentrations were between 189 +/- 61 (summer) and 76 +/- 65 pg m(-3) (winter). Net air-water exchange fluxes ranged from -0.9 +/- 1.0 (BDE-28) (volatilization) to 11.1 +/- 5.4 (BDE-209) ng m(-2) day(-1) (deposition). The BDE-28 fluxes were mainly volatilization while the other congeners were deposited. Gas- and dissolved-phase concentrations were significantly correlated (P = 0.33-0.55, p < 0.05, except for BDE-209, r = 0.05, p > 0.05) indicating thatthe atmosphere controls the surface water PBDE levels in this coastal environment. Estimated particulate dry deposition fluxes ranged between 2.7 +/- 1.9 (BDE-154) and 116 +/- 84 ng m(-2) day(-1) (BDE-209) indicating that dry deposition is also a significant input to surface waters in the study area.

  7. Exploration of warm-up period in conceptual hydrological modelling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Kue Bum; Kwon, Hyun-Han; Han, Dawei

    2018-01-01

    One of the important issues in hydrological modelling is to specify the initial conditions of the catchment since it has a major impact on the response of the model. Although this issue should be a high priority among modelers, it has remained unaddressed by the community. The typical suggested warm-up period for the hydrological models has ranged from one to several years, which may lead to an underuse of data. The model warm-up is an adjustment process for the model to reach an 'optimal' state, where internal stores (e.g., soil moisture) move from the estimated initial condition to an 'optimal' state. This study explores the warm-up period of two conceptual hydrological models, HYMOD and IHACRES, in a southwestern England catchment. A series of hydrologic simulations were performed for different initial soil moisture conditions and different rainfall amounts to evaluate the sensitivity of the warm-up period. Evaluation of the results indicates that both initial wetness and rainfall amount affect the time required for model warm up, although it depends on the structure of the hydrological model. Approximately one and a half months are required for the model to warm up in HYMOD for our study catchment and climatic conditions. In addition, it requires less time to warm up under wetter initial conditions (i.e., saturated initial conditions). On the other hand, approximately six months is required for warm-up in IHACRES, and the wet or dry initial conditions have little effect on the warm-up period. Instead, the initial values that are close to the optimal value result in less warm-up time. These findings have implications for hydrologic model development, specifically in determining soil moisture initial conditions and warm-up periods to make full use of the available data, which is very important for catchments with short hydrological records.

  8. Design and performance of B4WarmED, an aboveground and belowground free-air warming experiment at the temperate-boreal forest ecotone

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Conducting manipulative climate change experiments in forests is challenging, given their spatial heterogeneity and canopy complexity. One specific challenge involves warming both plants and soils to depth in ecosystems without much bare ground. We describe the design, implementation, and performanc...

  9. Effect of various warm-up devices on bat velocity of intercollegiate softball players.

    PubMed

    Szymanski, David J; Bassett, Kylie E; Beiser, Erik J; Till, Megan E; Medlin, Greg L; Beam, Jason R; Derenne, Coop

    2012-01-01

    Numerous warm-up devices are available for use by softball players while they are in the on-deck circle. It is difficult to know which warm-up device produces the greatest bat velocity (BV) in the batter's box for softball players because on-deck studies with these individuals are sparse. Because the majority of warm-up device research has been conducted with baseball players, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of various warm-up devices on the BV of female intercollegiate softball players and compare the results with those of male baseball players. A secondary purpose was to evaluate 2 new commercially available resistance devices as warm-up aids. Nineteen Division I intercollegiate softball players (age = 19.8 ± 1.2 years, height = 167.0 ± 4.7 cm, body mass = 69.2 ± 8.6 kg, lean body mass = 49.6 ± 3.6 kg, % body fat = 27.9 ± 5.9) participated in a warm-up with 1 of 8 resistance devices on separate days. Each of the 8 testing sessions had players perform a standardized dynamic warm-up, 3 maximal dry swings mimicking their normal game swing with the assigned warm-up device, 2 comfortable dry swings with a standard 83.8-cm, 652-g (33-in., 23-oz) softball bat followed by 3 maximal game swings (20-second rest between swings) while hitting a softball off a batting tee with the same standard softball bat. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in BV after using any of the 8 warm-up devices (510.3-2,721.5 g or 18-96 oz) similar to in previous baseball research. This indicates that the results for both male and female intercollegiate players are similar and that intercollegiate softball players can use any of the 8 warm-up devices in the on-deck circle and have similar BVs. However, similar to in other previous baseball research, it is not recommended that female intercollegiate softball players warm up with the popular commercial donut ring in the on-deck circle because it produced the slowest BV.

  10. Non-linear responses of glaciated prairie wetlands to climate warming

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Johnson, W. Carter; Werner, Brett; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.

    2016-01-01

    The response of ecosystems to climate warming is likely to include threshold events when small changes in key environmental drivers produce large changes in an ecosystem. Wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) are especially sensitive to climate variability, yet the possibility that functional changes may occur more rapidly with warming than expected has not been examined or modeled. The productivity and biodiversity of these wetlands are strongly controlled by the speed and completeness of a vegetation cover cycle driven by the wet and dry extremes of climate. Two thresholds involving duration and depth of standing water must be exceeded every few decades or so to complete the cycle and to produce highly functional wetlands. Model experiments at 19 weather stations employing incremental warming scenarios determined that wetland function across most of the PPR would be diminished beyond a climate warming of about 1.5–2.0 °C, a critical temperature threshold range identified in other climate change studies.

  11. Tropical Warm Semi-Arid Regions Expanding Over Temperate Latitudes In The Projected 21st Century

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rajaud, A.; de Noblet, N. I.

    2015-12-01

    Two billion people today live in drylands, where extreme climatic conditions prevail, and natural resources are limited. Drylands are expected to expand under several scenarios of climatic change. However, relevant adaptation strategies need to account for the aridity level: it conditions the equilibrium tree-cover density, ranging from deserts (hyper-arid) to dense savannas (sub-humid). Here we focus on the evolution of climatically defined warm semi-arid areas, where low-tree density covers can be maintained. We study the global repartition of these regions in the future and the bioclimatic shifts involved. We adopted a bioclimatological approach based on the Köppen climate classification. The warm semi-arid class is characterized by mean annual temperatures over 18°C and a rainfall-limitation criterion. A multi-model ensemble of CMIP5 projections for three representative concentration pathways was selected to analyze future conditions. The classification was first applied to the start, middle and end of the 20th and 21st centuries, in order to localize past and future warm semi-arid regions. Then, time-series for the classification were built to characterize trends and variability in the evolution of those regions. According to the CRU datasets, global expansion of the warm semi-arid area has already started (~+13%), following the global warming trend since the 1900s. This will continue according to all projections, most significantly so outside the tropical belt. Under the "business as usual" scenario, the global warm semi-arid area will increase by 30% and expand 12° poleward in the Northern Hemisphere, according to the multi-model mean. Drying drives the conversion from equatorial sub-humid conditions. Beyond 30° of latitude, cold semi-arid conditions become warm semi-arid through warming, and temperate conditions through combined warming and drying processes. Those various transitions may have drastic but also very distinct ecological and sociological

  12. Using radiative signatures to diagnose the cause of warming during the 2013-2014 Californian drought

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wolf, Sebastian; Yin, Dongqin; Roderick, Michael L.

    2017-10-01

    California recently experienced among the worst droughts of the last century, with exceptional precipitation deficits and co-occurring record high temperatures. The dry conditions caused severe water shortages in one of the economically most important agricultural regions of the US. It has recently been hypothesized that anthropogenic warming is increasing the likelihood of such extreme droughts in California, or more specifically, that warmer temperatures from the enhanced greenhouse effect intensify drought conditions. However, separating the cause and effect is difficult because the dry conditions lead to a reduction in evaporative cooling that contributes to the warming. Here we investigate and compare the forcing of long-term greenhouse-induced warming with the short-term warming during the 2013-2014 Californian drought. We use the concept of radiative signatures to investigate the source of the radiative perturbation during the drought, relate the signatures to expected changes due to anthropogenic warming, and assess the cause of warming based on observed changes in the surface energy balance compared to the period 2001-2012. We found that the recent meteorological drought based on precipitation deficits was characterised by an increase in incoming shortwave radiation coupled with a decline in incoming longwave radiation, which contributed to record warm temperatures. In contrast, climate models project that anthropogenic warming is accompanied by little change in incoming shortwave but a large increase in incoming longwave radiation. The warming during the drought was associated with increased incoming shortwave radiation in combination with reduced evaporative cooling from water deficits, which enhanced surface temperatures and sensible heat transfer to the atmosphere. Our analyses demonstrate that radiative signatures are a powerful tool to differentiate the source of perturbations in the surface energy balance at monthly to seasonal time scales.

  13. Implications of global warming for the climate of African rainforests

    PubMed Central

    James, Rachel; Washington, Richard; Rowell, David P.

    2013-01-01

    African rainforests are likely to be vulnerable to changes in temperature and precipitation, yet there has been relatively little research to suggest how the regional climate might respond to global warming. This study presents projections of temperature and precipitation indices of relevance to African rainforests, using global climate model experiments to identify local change as a function of global temperature increase. A multi-model ensemble and two perturbed physics ensembles are used, one with over 100 members. In the east of the Congo Basin, most models (92%) show a wet signal, whereas in west equatorial Africa, the majority (73%) project an increase in dry season water deficits. This drying is amplified as global temperature increases, and in over half of coupled models by greater than 3% per °C of global warming. Analysis of atmospheric dynamics in a subset of models suggests that this could be partly because of a rearrangement of zonal circulation, with enhanced convection in the Indian Ocean and anomalous subsidence over west equatorial Africa, the Atlantic Ocean and, in some seasons, the Amazon Basin. Further research to assess the plausibility of this and other mechanisms is important, given the potential implications of drying in these rainforest regions. PMID:23878329

  14. Implications of global warming for the climate of African rainforests.

    PubMed

    James, Rachel; Washington, Richard; Rowell, David P

    2013-01-01

    African rainforests are likely to be vulnerable to changes in temperature and precipitation, yet there has been relatively little research to suggest how the regional climate might respond to global warming. This study presents projections of temperature and precipitation indices of relevance to African rainforests, using global climate model experiments to identify local change as a function of global temperature increase. A multi-model ensemble and two perturbed physics ensembles are used, one with over 100 members. In the east of the Congo Basin, most models (92%) show a wet signal, whereas in west equatorial Africa, the majority (73%) project an increase in dry season water deficits. This drying is amplified as global temperature increases, and in over half of coupled models by greater than 3% per °C of global warming. Analysis of atmospheric dynamics in a subset of models suggests that this could be partly because of a rearrangement of zonal circulation, with enhanced convection in the Indian Ocean and anomalous subsidence over west equatorial Africa, the Atlantic Ocean and, in some seasons, the Amazon Basin. Further research to assess the plausibility of this and other mechanisms is important, given the potential implications of drying in these rainforest regions.

  15. Coherent Multidecadal Atmospheric and Oceanic Variability in the North Atlantic: Blocking Corresponds with Warm Subpolar Ocean

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hakkinen, Sirpa M.; Rhines, P. B.; Worthen, D. L.

    2012-01-01

    Winters with frequent atmospheric blocking, in a band of latitudes from Greenland to Western Europe, are found to persist over several decades and correspond to a warm North Atlantic Ocean. This is evident in atmospheric reanalysis data, both modern and for the full 20th century. Blocking is approximately in phase with Atlantic multidecadal ocean variability (AMV). Wintertime atmospheric blocking involves a highly distorted jetstream, isolating large regions of air from the westerly circulation. It influences the ocean through windstress-curl and associated air/sea heat flux. While blocking is a relatively high-frequency phenomenon, it is strongly modulated over decadal timescales. The blocked regime (weaker ocean gyres, weaker air-sea heat flux, paradoxically increased transport of warm subtropical waters poleward) contributes to the warm phase of AMV. Atmospheric blocking better describes the early 20thC warming and 1996-2010 warm period than does the NAO index. It has roots in the hemispheric circulation and jet stream dynamics. Subpolar Atlantic variability covaries with distant AMOC fields: both these connections may express the global influence of the subpolar North Atlantic ocean on the global climate system.

  16. Potential evapotranspiration and continental drying

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Milly, Paul C.D.; Dunne, Krista A.

    2016-01-01

    By various measures (drought area and intensity, climatic aridity index, and climatic water deficits), some observational analyses have suggested that much of the Earth’s land has been drying during recent decades, but such drying seems inconsistent with observations of dryland greening and decreasing pan evaporation. ‘Offline’ analyses of climate-model outputs from anthropogenic climate change (ACC) experiments portend continuation of putative drying through the twenty-first century, despite an expected increase in global land precipitation. A ubiquitous increase in estimates of potential evapotranspiration (PET), driven by atmospheric warming, underlies the drying trends, but may be a methodological artefact. Here we show that the PET estimator commonly used (the Penman–Monteith PET for either an open-water surface or a reference crop) severely overpredicts the changes in non-water-stressed evapotranspiration computed in the climate models themselves in ACC experiments. This overprediction is partially due to neglect of stomatal conductance reductions commonly induced by increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations in climate models. Our findings imply that historical and future tendencies towards continental drying, as characterized by offline-computed runoff, as well as other PET-dependent metrics, may be considerably weaker and less extensive than previously thought.

  17. El Niño suppresses Antarctic warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bertler, Nancy A. N.; Barrett, Peter J.; Mayewski, Paul A.; Fogt, Ryan L.; Kreutz, Karl J.; Shulmeister, James

    2004-08-01

    Here we present new isotope records derived from snow samples from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica and re-analysis data of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA-40) to explain the connection between the warming of the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean [Jacka and Budd, 1998; Jacobs et al., 2002] and the current cooling of the terrestrial Ross Sea region [Doran et al., 2002a]. Our analysis confirms previous findings that the warming is linked to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) [Kwok and Comiso, 2002a, 2002b; Carleton, 2003; Ribera and Mann, 2003; Turner, 2004], and provides new evidence that the terrestrial cooling is caused by a simultaneous ENSO driven change in atmospheric circulation, sourced in the Amundsen Sea and West Antarctica.

  18. Dynamical amplification of Arctic and global warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alekseev, Genrikh; Ivanov, Nikolai; Kharlanenkova, Natalia; Kuzmina, Svetlana; Bobylev, Leonid; Gnatiuk, Natalia; Urazgildeeva, Aleksandra

    2015-04-01

    The Arctic is coupled with global climate system by the atmosphere and ocean circulation that provides a major contribution to the Arctic energy budget. Therefore increase of meridional heat transport under global warming can impact on its Arctic amplification. Contribution of heat transport to the recent warming in the Arctic, Northern Hemisphere and the globe are estimated on base of reanalysis data, global climate model data and proposed special index. It is shown that significant part of linear trend during last four decades in average surface air temperature in these areas can be attributed to dynamical amplification. This attribution keeps until 400 mb height with progressive decreasing. The Arctic warming is amplified also due to an increase of humidity and cloudiness in the Arctic atmosphere that follow meridional transport gain. From October to January the Arctic warming trends are amplified as a result of ice edge retreat from the Siberian and Alaska coast and the heating of expanded volume of sea water. This investigation is supported with RFBR project 15-05-03512.

  19. The recent warming trend in North Greenland

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Orsi, Anais J.; Kawamura, Kenji; Masson-Delmotte, Valerie; Fettweis, Xavier; Box, Jason E.; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe; Clow, Gary D.; Landais, Amaelle; Severinghaus, Jeffrey P.

    2017-01-01

    The Arctic is among the fastest warming regions on Earth, but it is also one with limited spatial coverage of multidecadal instrumental surface air temperature measurements. Consequently, atmospheric reanalyses are relatively unconstrained in this region, resulting in a large spread of estimated 30 year recent warming trends, which limits their use to investigate the mechanisms responsible for this trend. Here we present a surface temperature reconstruction over 1982–2011 at NEEM (North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling Project, 51°W, 77°N), in North Greenland, based on the inversion of borehole temperature and inert gas isotope data. We find that NEEM has warmed by 2.7 ± 0.33°C over the past 30 years, from the long-term 1900–1970 average of −28.55 ± 0.29°C. The warming trend is principally caused by an increase in downward longwave heat flux. Atmospheric reanalyses underestimate this trend by 17%, underlining the need for more in situ observations to validate reanalyses.

  20. An evaluation of fluid bed drying of aqueous granulations.

    PubMed

    Hlinak, A J; Saleki-Gerhardt, A

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of the work described was twofold: (a) to apply heat and mass balance approaches to evaluate the fluid bed drying cycle of an aqueous granulation, and (b) to determine the effect of the temperature and relative humidity of the drying air on the ability to meet a predetermined moisture content specification. Water content determinations were performed using Karl Fischer titration, and Computrac and Mark 1 moisture analyzers. The water vapor sorption isotherms were measured using a gravimetric moisture sorption apparatus with vacuum-drying capability. Temperature, relative humidity, and air flow were measured during the drying cycle of a production-scale fluid bed dryer. Heat and mass balance equations were used to calculate the evaporation rates. Evaporation rates calculated from heat and mass balance equations agreed well with the experimental data, whereas equilibrium moisture content values provided useful information for determination of the upper limit for inlet air humidity. Increasing the air flow rate and inlet temperature reduced the drying time through the effect on the primary driving force. As expected, additional drying of granules during the equilibration period did not show a significant impact on reducing the final moisture content of granules. Reducing the drying temperature resulted in measurement of higher equilibrium moisture content for the granules, which was in good agreement with the water vapor sorption data. Heat and mass balance equations can be used to successfully model the fluid bed drying cycle of aqueous granulations. The water vapor sorption characteristics of granules dictate the final moisture content at a given temperature and relative humidity.

  1. A Worldwide Plan to Eliminate Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Instability With Wind, Water, and Sunlight (WWS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jacobson, M. Z.; Delucchi, M. A.

    2011-12-01

    Global warming, air pollution mortality, and energy insecurity are three of the most significant problems facing the world today. This talk discusses a plan to solve the problems by powering 100% of the world's energy for all purposes, including electricity, transportation, industrial processes, and heating/cooling, with wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) within the next 20-40 years. It reviews and ranks major proposed energy solutions to global warming, air pollution mortality, and energy insecurity while considering other impacts of the proposed solutions, such as on water supply, land use, resource availability, reliability, wildlife, and catastrophic risk. It then evaluates a scenario for powering the world on the energy options determined to be the best while also considering materials, transmission infrastructure, costs, and politics. The study concludes that powering the world with WWS electric power technologies and a conversion from combustion to electricity and electrolytically-produced hydrogen is the cleanest and safest method of solving these problems. Due to the efficiency of electricity, such a conversion reduces world power demand by 30%. Methods of ensuring reliability of WWS electric power are available and will be demonstrated. We also conclude that neither liquid biofuels for transportation (including ethanol or biodiesel from any source), solid biofuels for home heating and cooking, biomass for electricity, conventional or fracked natural gas for electricity or transportation, nuclear power, nor coal with carbon capture (clean coal) are nearly so clean or safe as WWS technologies so are not recommended, either as bridge technologies or in the long term. Our plan calls for all new energy to be supplied by WWS-electricity-hydrogen resources no later than 2030 and all existing non-WWS infrastructure to be eliminated no later than 2050. We find that the plan is technically and economically feasible but politically challenging.

  2. Summer temperature increase has distinct effects on the ectomycorrhizal fungal communities of moist tussock and dry tundra in Arctic Alaska

    PubMed Central

    Morgado, Luis N; Semenova, Tatiana A; Welker, Jeffrey M; Walker, Marilyn D; Smets, Erik; Geml, József

    2015-01-01

    Arctic regions are experiencing the greatest rates of climate warming on the planet and marked changes have already been observed in terrestrial arctic ecosystems. While most studies have focused on the effects of warming on arctic vegetation and nutrient cycling, little is known about how belowground communities, such as fungi root-associated, respond to warming. Here, we investigate how long-term summer warming affects ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities. We used Ion Torrent sequencing of the rDNA internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region to compare ECM fungal communities in plots with and without long-term experimental warming in both dry and moist tussock tundra. Cortinarius was the most OTU-rich genus in the moist tundra, while the most diverse genus in the dry tundra was Tomentella. On the diversity level, in the moist tundra we found significant differences in community composition, and a sharp decrease in the richness of ECM fungi due to warming. On the functional level, our results indicate that warming induces shifts in the extramatrical properties of the communities, where the species with medium-distance exploration type seem to be favored with potential implications for the mobilization of different nutrient pools in the soil. In the dry tundra, neither community richness nor community composition was significantly altered by warming, similar to what had been observed in ECM host plants. There was, however, a marginally significant increase in OTUs identified as ECM fungi with the medium-distance exploration type in the warmed plots. Linking our findings of decreasing richness with previous results of increasing ECM fungal biomass suggests that certain ECM species are favored by warming and may become more abundant, while many other species may go locally extinct due to direct or indirect effects of warming. Such compositional shifts in the community might affect nutrient cycling and soil organic C storage. PMID:25156129

  3. Preparation of High-Grade Powders from Tomato Paste Using a Vacuum Foam Drying Method.

    PubMed

    Sramek, Martin; Schweiggert, Ralf Martin; van Kampen, Andreas; Carle, Reinhold; Kohlus, Reinhard

    2015-08-01

    We present a rapid and gentle drying method for the production of high-grade tomato powders from double concentrated tomato paste, comparing results with powders obtained by foam mat air drying and freeze dried powders. The principle of this method consists of drying tomato paste in foamed state at low temperatures in vacuum. The formulations were dried at temperatures of 50, 60, and 70 °C and vacuum of 200 mbar. Foam stability was affected by low serum viscosity and the presence of solid particles in tomato paste. Consequently, serum viscosity was increased by maltodextrin addition, yielding optimum stability at tomato paste:maltodextrin ratio of 2.4:1 (w/w) in dry matter. Material foamability was improved by addition of 0.5% (w/w, fresh weight) egg white. Because of solid particles in tomato paste, foam air filling had to be limited to critical air volume fraction of Φ = 0.7. The paste was first pre-foamed to Φ = 0.2 and subsequently expanded in vacuo. After drying to a moisture content of 5.6% to 7.5% wet base (w.b.), the materials obtained were in glassy state. Qualities of the resulting powders were compared with those produced by freeze and air drying. Total color changes were the least after vacuum drying, whereas air drying resulted in noticeable color changes. Vacuum foam drying at 50 °C led to insignificant carotenoid losses, being equivalent to the time-consuming freeze drying method. In contrast, air drying caused lycopene and β-carotene losses of 18% to 33% and 14% to 19% respectively. Thus, vacuum foam drying enables production of high-grade tomato powders being qualitatively similar to powders obtained by freeze drying. © 2015 Institute of Food Technologists®

  4. Elevated CO2 and warming effects on grassland plant mortality are determined by the timing of rainfall.

    PubMed

    Hovenden, Mark J; Newton, Paul C D; Porter, Meagan

    2017-05-01

    Global warming is expected to increase the mortality rate of established plants in water-limited systems because of its effect on evapotranspiration. The rising CO 2 concentration ([CO 2 ]), however, should have the opposite effect because it reduces plant transpiration, delaying the onset of drought. This potential for elevated [CO 2 ] (eCO 2 ) to modify the warming effect on mortality should be related to prevailing moisture conditions. This study aimed to determine the impacts of warming by 2 °C and eCO 2 (550 μmol mol -1 ) on plant mortality in an Australian temperate grassland over a 6-year period and to test how interannual variation in rainfall influenced treatment effects. Analyses were based on results from a field experiment, TasFACE, in which grassland plots were exposed to a combination of eCO 2 by free air CO 2 enrichment (FACE) and warming by infrared heaters. Using an annual census of established plants and detailed estimates of recruitment, annual mortality of all established plants was calculated. The influence of rainfall amount and timing on the relative impact of treatments on mortality in each year was analysed using multiple regression techniques. Warming and eCO 2 effects had an interactive influence on mortality which varied strongly from year to year and this variation was determined by temporal rainfall patterns. Warming tended to increase density-adjusted mortality and eCO 2 moderated that effect, but to a greater extent in years with fewer dry periods. These results show that eCO 2 reduced the negative effect of warming but this influence varied strongly with rainfall timing. Importantly, indices involving the amount of rainfall were not required to explain interannual variation in mortality or treatment effects on mortality. Therefore, predictions of global warming effects on plant mortality will be reliant not only on other climate change factors, but also on the temporal distribution of rainfall. © The Author 2017. Published by

  5. Benefits of Leapfrogging to Superefficiency and Low Global Warming Potential Refrigerants in Room Air Conditioning

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

    Shah, Nihar; Wei, Max; Letschert, Virginie

    2015-10-01

    Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) emitted from uses such as refrigerants and thermal insulating foam, are now the fastest growing greenhouse gases (GHGs), with global warming potentials (GWP) thousands of times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). Because of the short lifetime of these molecules in the atmosphere, mitigating the amount of these short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) provides a faster path to climate change mitigation than control of CO2 alone. This has led to proposals from Africa, Europe, India, Island States, and North America to amend the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) to phase-down high-GWP HFCs. Simultaneously, energymore » efficiency market transformation programs such as standards, labeling and incentive programs are endeavoring to improve the energy efficiency for refrigeration and air conditioning equipment to provide life cycle cost, energy, GHG, and peak load savings. In this paper we provide an estimate of the magnitude of such GHG and peak electric load savings potential, for room air conditioning, if the refrigerant transition and energy efficiency improvement policies are implemented either separately or in parallel. We find that implementing HFC refrigerant transition and energy efficiency improvement policies in parallel for room air conditioning, roughly doubles the benefit of either policy implemented separately. We estimate that shifting the 2030 world stock of room air conditioners from the low efficiency technology using high-GWP refrigerants to higher efficiency technology and low-GWP refrigerants in parallel would save between 340-790 gigawatts (GW) of peak load globally, which is roughly equivalent to avoiding 680-1550 peak power plants of 500MW each. This would save 0.85 GT/year annually in China equivalent to over 8 Three Gorges dams and over 0.32 GT/year annually in India equivalent to roughly twice India’s 100GW solar mission target. While there is some uncertainty associated

  6. The impact of different cooling strategies on urban air temperatures: the cases of Campinas, Brazil and Mendoza, Argentina

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alchapar, Noelia Liliana; Pezzuto, Claudia Cotrim; Correa, Erica Norma; Chebel Labaki, Lucila

    2017-10-01

    This paper describes different ways of reducing urban air temperature and their results in two cities: Campinas, Brazil—a warm temperate climate with a dry winter and hot summer (Cwa), and Mendoza, Argentina—a desert climate with cold steppe (BWk). A high-resolution microclimate modeling system—ENVI-met 3.1—was used to evaluate the thermal performance of an urban canyon in each city. A total of 18 scenarios were simulated including changes in the surface albedo, vegetation percentage, and the H/W aspect ratio of the urban canyons. These results revealed the same trend in behavior for each of the combinations of strategies evaluated in both cities. Nevertheless, these strategies produce a greater temperature reduction in the warm temperate climate (Cwa). Increasing the vegetation percentage reduces air temperatures and mean radiant temperatures in all scenarios. In addition, there is a greater decrease of urban temperature with the vegetation increase when the H/W aspect ratio is lower. Also, applying low albedo on vertical surfaces and high albedo on horizontal surfaces is successful in reducing air temperatures without raising the mean radiant temperature. The best combination of strategies—60 % of vegetation, low albedos on walls and high albedos on pavements and roofs, and 1.5 H/W—could reduce air temperatures up to 6.4 °C in Campinas and 3.5 °C in Mendoza.

  7. Mathematical modeling of drying of pretreated and untreated pumpkin.

    PubMed

    Tunde-Akintunde, T Y; Ogunlakin, G O

    2013-08-01

    In this study, drying characteristics of pretreated and untreated pumpkin were examined in a hot-air dryer at air temperatures within a range of 40-80 °C and a constant air velocity of 1.5 m/s. The drying was observed to be in the falling-rate drying period and thus liquid diffusion is the main mechanism of moisture movement from the internal regions to the product surface. The experimental drying data for the pumpkin fruits were used to fit Exponential, General exponential, Logarithmic, Page, Midilli-Kucuk and Parabolic model and the statistical validity of models tested were determined by non-linear regression analysis. The Parabolic model had the highest R(2) and lowest χ(2) and RMSE values. This indicates that the Parabolic model is appropriate to describe the dehydration behavior for the pumpkin.

  8. The Climate Effects of Deforestation the Amazon Rainforest under Global Warming Conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Werth, D.; Avissar, R.

    2006-12-01

    Replacement of tropical rainforests has been observed to have a strong drying effect in Amazon simulations, with effects reaching high into the atmospheric column and into the midlatitudes. The drying effects of deforestation, however, can be moderated by the effects of global warming, which should accelerate the hydrologic cycle of the Amazon. The effects of a prescribed, time-varying Amazon deforestation done in conjunction with a steady, moderate increase in CO2 concentrations are determined using a climate model. The model agrees with previous studies when each forcing is applied individually - compared to a control run, Amazon deforestation decreases the local precipitation and global warming increases it. When both are applied, however, the precipitation and other hydrologic variables decrease, but to a lesser extent than when deforestation alone was applied. In effect, the two effects act opposite to one another and bring the simulated climate closer to that of the control.

  9. Wet/dry cooling tower and method

    DOEpatents

    Glicksman, Leon R.; Rohsenow, Warren R.

    1981-01-01

    A wet/dry cooling tower wherein a liquid to-be-cooled is flowed along channels of a corrugated open surface or the like, which surface is swept by cooling air. The amount of the surface covered by the liquid is kept small compared to the dry part thereof so that said dry part acts as a fin for the wet part for heat dissipation.

  10. Warm layer and cool skin corrections for bulk water temperature measurements for air-sea interaction studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alappattu, Denny P.; Wang, Qing; Yamaguchi, Ryan; Lind, Richard J.; Reynolds, Mike; Christman, Adam J.

    2017-08-01

    The sea surface temperature (SST) relevant to air-sea interaction studies is the temperature immediately adjacent to the air, referred to as skin SST. Generally, SST measurements from ships and buoys are taken at depths varies from several centimeters to 5 m below the surface. These measurements, known as bulk SST, can differ from skin SST up to O(1°C). Shipboard bulk and skin SST measurements were made during the Coupled Air-Sea Processes and Electromagnetic ducting Research east coast field campaign (CASPER-East). An Infrared SST Autonomous Radiometer (ISAR) recorded skin SST, while R/V Sharp's Surface Mapping System (SMS) provided bulk SST from 1 m water depth. Since the ISAR is sensitive to sea spray and rain, missing skin SST data occurred in these conditions. However, SMS measurement is less affected by adverse weather and provided continuous bulk SST measurements. It is desirable to correct the bulk SST to obtain a good representation of the skin SST, which is the objective of this research. Bulk-skin SST difference has been examined with respect to meteorological factors associated with cool skin and diurnal warm layers. Strong influences of wind speed, diurnal effects, and net longwave radiation flux on temperature difference are noticed. A three-step scheme is established to correct for wind effect, diurnal variability, and then for dependency on net longwave radiation flux. Scheme is tested and compared to existing correction schemes. This method is able to effectively compensate for multiple factors acting to modify bulk SST measurements over the range of conditions experienced during CASPER-East.

  11. Variational optimization analysis of temperature and moisture advection in a severe storm environment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mcfarland, M. J.

    1975-01-01

    Horizontal wind components, potential temperature, and mixing ratio fields associated with a severe storm environment in the south central U.S. were analyzed from synoptic upper air observations with a nonhomogeneous, anisotropic weighting function. Each data field was filtered with variational optimization analysis techniques. Variational optimization analysis was also performed on the vertical motion field and was used to produce advective forecasts of the potential temperature and mixing ratio fields. Results show that the dry intrusion is characterized by warm air, the advection of which produces a well-defined upward motion pattern. A corresponding downward motion pattern comprising a deep vertical circulation in the warm air sector of the low pressure system was detected. The axes alignment of maximum dry and warm advection with the axis of the tornado-producing squall line also resulted.

  12. Roadmaps to Transition Countries to 100% Clean, Renewable Energy for All Purposes to Curtail Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Risk

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jacobson, Mark Z.

    2017-10-01

    Solving the problems of global warming, air pollution, and energy security requires a massive effort by individuals, communities, businesses, nonprofits, and policy makers around the world. The first step in that process is to have a plan. To that end, roadmaps to transition 139 countries of the world to 100% clean, renewable wind, water, and solar power for all energy purposes (electricity, transportation, heating, cooling, industry, agriculture, forestry, and fishing) by 2050, with 80% by 2030, have been developed. The evolution, characteristics, and impacts to date of these plans are briefly described.

  13. Air permeability and trapped-air content in two soils

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stonestrom, David A.; Rubin, Jacob

    1989-01-01

    To improve understanding of hysteretic air permeability relations, a need exists for data on the water content dependence of air permeability, matric pressure, and air trapping (especially for wetting-drying cycles). To obtain these data, a special instrument was designed. The instrument is a combination of a gas permeameter (for air permeability determination), a suction plate apparatus (for retentivity curve determination), and an air pycnometer (for trapped-air-volume determination). This design allowed values of air permeability, matric pressure, and air trapping to be codetermined, i.e., determined at the same values of water content using the same sample and the same inflow-outflow boundaries. Such data were obtained for two nonswelling soils. The validity of the air permeability determinations was repeatedly confirmed by rigorous tests of Darcy's law. During initial drying from complete water saturation, supplementary measurements were made to assess the magnitude of gas slip. The extended Darcy equation accurately described the measured flux gradient relations for each condition of absolute gas pressure tested. Air permeability functions exhibited zero-permeability regions at high water contents as well as an abruptly appearing hysteresis at low water contents. Measurements in the zero-permeability regions revealed that the total amount of air in general exceeded the amount of trapped air. This indicates that the medium' s air space is partitioned into three measurable domains: through-flowing air, locally accessible air (i.e., air accessible from only one flow boundary), and trapped air. During repeated wetting and drying, the disappearance and reappearance of air permeability coincided closely with the reappearance and disappearance, respectively, of trapped air. The observed relation between critical features of the air permeability functions and those of the air-trapping functions suggest that water-based blockages play a significant role in the

  14. Terrestrial carbon cycle affected by non-uniform climate warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xia, Jianyang; Chen, Jiquan; Piao, Shilong; Ciais, Philippe; Luo, Yiqi; Wan, Shiqiang

    2014-03-01

    Feedbacks between the terrestrial carbon cycle and climate change could affect many ecosystem functions and services, such as food production, carbon sequestration and climate regulation. The rate of climate warming varies on diurnal and seasonal timescales. A synthesis of global air temperature data reveals a greater rate of warming in winter than in summer in northern mid and high latitudes, and the inverse pattern in some tropical regions. The data also reveal a decline in the diurnal temperature range over 51% of the global land area and an increase over only 13%, because night-time temperatures in most locations have risen faster than daytime temperatures. Analyses of satellite data, model simulations and in situ observations suggest that the impact of seasonal warming varies between regions. For example, spring warming has largely stimulated ecosystem productivity at latitudes between 30° and 90° N, but suppressed productivity in other regions. Contrasting impacts of day- and night-time warming on plant carbon gain and loss are apparent in many regions. We argue that ascertaining the effects of non-uniform climate warming on terrestrial ecosystems is a key challenge in carbon cycle research.

  15. CONCENTRATION OF TETRACHLOROETHYLENE IN INDOOR AIR AT A FORMER DRY CLEANER FACILITY AS A FUNCTION OF SUBSURFACE CONTAMINATION: A CASE STUDY

    EPA Science Inventory

    A field study was performed to evaluate indoor air concentrations and vapor intrusion (VI) of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and other chlorinated solvents at a commercial retail site in Dallas, TX. The building is approximately 40 years old and once housed a dry cleaning operation. R...

  16. Spring-fen habitat islands in a warming climate: Partitioning the effects of mesoclimate air and water temperature on aquatic and terrestrial biota.

    PubMed

    Horsák, Michal; Polášková, Vendula; Zhai, Marie; Bojková, Jindřiška; Syrovátka, Vít; Šorfová, Vanda; Schenková, Jana; Polášek, Marek; Peterka, Tomáš; Hájek, Michal

    2018-09-01

    Climate warming and associated environmental changes lead to compositional shifts and local extinctions in various ecosystems. Species closely associated with rare island-like habitats such as groundwater-dependent spring fens can be severely threatened by these changes due to a limited possibility to disperse. It is, however, largely unknown to what extent mesoclimate affects species composition in spring fens, where microclimate is buffered by groundwater supply. We assembled an original landscape-scale dataset on species composition of the most waterlogged parts of isolated temperate spring fens in the Western Carpathian Mountains along with continuously measured water temperature and hydrological, hydrochemical, and climatic conditions. We explored a set of hypotheses about the effects of mesoclimate air and local spring-water temperature on compositional variation of aquatic (macroinvertebrates), semi-terrestrial (plants) and terrestrial (land snails) components of spring-fen biota, categorized as habitat specialists and other species (i.e. matrix-derived). Water temperature did not show a high level of correlation with mesoclimate. For all components, fractions of compositional variation constrained to temperature were statistically significant and higher for habitat specialists than for other species. The importance of air temperature at the expense of water temperature and its fluctuation clearly increased with terrestriality, i.e. from aquatic macroinvertebrates via vegetation (bryophytes and vascular plants) to land snails, with January air temperature being the most important factor for land snails and plant specialists. Some calcareous-fen specialists with a clear distribution centre in temperate Europe showed a strong affinity to climatically cold sites in our study area and may hence be considered as threatened by climate warming. We conclude that prediction models solely based on air temperature may provide biased estimates of future changes in

  17. Comments on "Atlantic Tropical Cyclogenetic Processes during SOP-3 NAMMA in the GEOS-5 Global Data Assimilation and Forecast System"

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braun, Scott A.

    2010-01-01

    Considerable attention has been given to the potential negative impacts of the Saharan air layer (SAL) in recent years. Researchers recently raised questions about the negative impacts of Dunion and Velden and other studies in terms of storms that reached at least tropical storm strength and suggested that the SAL was an intrinsic part of the tropical cyclone environment for both storms that weaken after formation and those that intensify. Braun also suggested that several incorrect assumptions underlie many of the studies on the negative impacts of the SAL, including assumptions that most low-to-midlevel dry tropical air is SAL air, that the SAL is dry throughout its depth, and that the proximity of the SAL to storms struggling to intensify implies some role in that struggle. The recent paper by Reale et al.(RL1) is an example of the problems inherent in some of these assumptions. In their paper, RL1 analyze a simulation from the Global Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) global model and describe an extensive tongue of warm, dry air that stretches southward from at least 30 deg N (the northern limit of their plots) and wraps into a low pressure system during the period 26-29 August 2006, suppressing convection and possibly development of the African easterly wave associated with that low pressure system. They attributed the warm, dry tongue to the SAL (i.e., heating of the air mass during passage over the Sahara and radiative warming of the dust layer). Whether it was their intention, the implication is that this entire feature is due solely to the SAL and not to other possible sources of dry air or warmth. In addition, they suggested that a cool tongue of air in the boundary layer located directly beneath the elevated warm, dry tongue (forming a thermal dipole) was possibly the result of reduced solar radiation caused by an overlying dust layer. They stated that "the cool anomaly in the lower levels does not have any plausible explanation relying only on transport

  18. Continuously amplified warming in the Alaskan Arctic: Implications for estimating global warming hiatus

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wang, Kang; Zhang, Tingjun; Zhang, Xiangdong; Clow, Gary D.; Jafarov, Elchin E.; Overeem, Irina; Romanovsky, Vladimir; Peng, Xiaoqing; Cao, Bin

    2017-01-01

    Historically, in situ measurements have been notoriously sparse over the Arctic. As a consequence, the existing gridded data of surface air temperature (SAT) may have large biases in estimating the warming trend in this region. Using data from an expanded monitoring network with 31 stations in the Alaskan Arctic, we demonstrate that the SAT has increased by 2.19°C in this region, or at a rate of 0.23°C/decade during 1921–2015. Meanwhile, we found that the SAT warmed at 0.71°C/decade over 1998–2015, which is 2 to 3 times faster than the rate established from the gridded data sets. Focusing on the “hiatus” period 1998–2012 as identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the SAT has increased at 0.45°C/decade, which captures more than 90% of the regional trend for 1951–2012. We suggest that sparse in situ measurements are responsible for underestimation of the SAT change in the gridded data sets. It is likely that enhanced climate warming may also have happened in the other regions of the Arctic since the late 1990s but left undetected because of incomplete observational coverage.

  19. Drying kinetic of industrial cassava flour: Experimental data in view.

    PubMed

    Odetunmibi, Oluwole A; Adejumo, Oluyemisi A; Oguntunde, Pelumi E; Okagbue, Hilary I; Adejumo, Adebowale O; Suleiman, Esivue A

    2017-12-01

    In this data article, laboratory experimental investigation results on drying kinetic properties: the drying temperature ( T ), drying air velocity ( V ) and dewatering time (Te), each of the factors has five levels, and the experiment was replicated three times and the output: drying rate and drying time obtained, were observed. The experiment was conducted at National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM) for a period of eight months, in 2014. Analysis of variance was carried out using randomized complete block design with factorial experiment on each of the outputs: drying rate and drying times of the industrial cassava flour. A clear picture on each of these outputs was provided separately using tables and figures. It was observed that all the main factors as well as two and three ways interactions are significant at 5% level for both drying time and rate. This also implies that the rate of drying grated unfermented cassava mash, to produce industrial cassava flour, depend on the dewatering time (the initial moisture content), temperature of drying, velocity of drying air as well as the combinations of these factors altogether. It was also discovered that all the levels of each of these factors are significantly difference from one another. In summary, the time of drying is a function of the dewatering time which was responsible for the initial moisture content. The higher the initial moisture content the longer the time of drying, and the lower the initial moisture content, the lower the time of drying. Also, the higher the temperature of drying the shorter the time of drying and vice versa. Also, the air velocity effect on the drying process was significant. As velocity increases, rate of drying also increases and vice versa. Finally, it can be deduced that the drying kinetics are influenced by these processing factors.

  20. Using dry spell dynamics of land surface temperature to evaluate large-scale model representation of soil moisture control on evapotranspiration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Taylor, Christopher M.; Harris, Philip P.; Gallego-Elvira, Belen; Folwell, Sonja S.

    2017-04-01

    The soil moisture control on the partition of land surface fluxes between sensible and latent heat is a key aspect of land surface models used within numerical weather prediction and climate models. As soils dry out, evapotranspiration (ET) decreases, and the excess energy is used to warm the atmosphere. Poor simulations of this dynamic process can affect predictions of mean, and in particular, extreme air temperatures, and can introduce substantial biases into projections of climate change at regional scales. The lack of reliable observations of fluxes and root zone soil moisture at spatial scales that atmospheric models use (typically from 1 to several hundred kilometres), coupled with spatial variability in vegetation and soil properties, makes it difficult to evaluate the flux partitioning at the model grid box scale. To overcome this problem, we have developed techniques to use Land Surface Temperature (LST) to evaluate models. As soils dry out, LST rises, so it can be used under certain circumstances as a proxy for the partition between sensible and latent heat. Moreover, long time series of reliable LST observations under clear skies are available globally at resolutions of the order of 1km. Models can exhibit large biases in seasonal mean LST for various reasons, including poor description of aerodynamic coupling, uncertainties in vegetation mapping, and errors in down-welling radiation. Rather than compare long-term average LST values with models, we focus on the dynamics of LST during dry spells, when negligible rain falls, and the soil moisture store is drying out. The rate of warming of the land surface, or, more precisely, its warming rate relative to the atmosphere, emphasises the impact of changes in soil moisture control on the surface energy balance. Here we show the application of this approach to model evaluation, with examples at continental and global scales. We can compare the behaviour of both fully-coupled land-atmosphere models, and land

  1. Numerical characterisation of one-step and three-step solar air heating collectors used for cocoa bean solar drying.

    PubMed

    Orbegoso, Elder Mendoza; Saavedra, Rafael; Marcelo, Daniel; La Madrid, Raúl

    2017-12-01

    In the northern coastal and jungle areas of Peru, cocoa beans are dried using artisan methods, such as direct exposure to sunlight. This traditional process is time intensive, leading to a reduction in productivity and, therefore, delays in delivery times. The present study was intended to numerically characterise the thermal behaviour of three configurations of solar air heating collectors in order to determine which demonstrated the best thermal performance under several controlled operating conditions. For this purpose, a computational fluid dynamics model was developed to describe the simultaneous convective and radiative heat transfer phenomena under several operation conditions. The constructed computational fluid dynamics model was firstly validated through comparison with the data measurements of a one-step solar air heating collector. We then simulated two further three-step solar air heating collectors in order to identify which demonstrated the best thermal performance in terms of outlet air temperature and thermal efficiency. The numerical results show that under the same solar irradiation area of exposition and operating conditions, the three-step solar air heating collector with the collector plate mounted between the second and third channels was 67% more thermally efficient compared to the one-step solar air heating collector. This is because the air exposition with the surface of the collector plate for the three-step solar air heating collector former device was twice than the one-step solar air heating collector. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Weather elements, chemical air pollutants and airborne pollen influencing asthma emergency room visits in Szeged, Hungary: performance of two objective weather classifications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Makra, László; Puskás, János; Matyasovszky, István; Csépe, Zoltán; Lelovics, Enikő; Bálint, Beatrix; Tusnády, Gábor

    2015-09-01

    Weather classification approaches may be useful tools in modelling the occurrence of respiratory diseases. The aim of the study is to compare the performance of an objectively defined weather classification and the Spatial Synoptic Classification (SSC) in classifying emergency department (ED) visits for acute asthma depending from weather, air pollutants, and airborne pollen variables for Szeged, Hungary, for the 9-year period 1999-2007. The research is performed for three different pollen-related periods of the year and the annual data set. According to age and gender, nine patient categories, eight meteorological variables, seven chemical air pollutants, and two pollen categories were used. In general, partly dry and cold air and partly warm and humid air aggravate substantially the symptoms of asthmatics. Our major findings are consistent with this establishment. Namely, for the objectively defined weather types favourable conditions for asthma ER visits occur when an anticyclonic ridge weather situation happens with near extreme temperature and humidity parameters. Accordingly, the SSC weather types facilitate aggravating asthmatic conditions if warm or cool weather occur with high humidity in both cases. Favourable conditions for asthma attacks are confirmed in the extreme seasons when atmospheric stability contributes to enrichment of air pollutants. The total efficiency of the two classification approaches is similar in spite of the fact that the methodology for derivation of the individual types within the two classification approaches is completely different.

  3. Weather elements, chemical air pollutants and airborne pollen influencing asthma emergency room visits in Szeged, Hungary: performance of two objective weather classifications.

    PubMed

    Makra, László; Puskás, János; Matyasovszky, István; Csépe, Zoltán; Lelovics, Enikő; Bálint, Beatrix; Tusnády, Gábor

    2015-09-01

    Weather classification approaches may be useful tools in modelling the occurrence of respiratory diseases. The aim of the study is to compare the performance of an objectively defined weather classification and the Spatial Synoptic Classification (SSC) in classifying emergency department (ED) visits for acute asthma depending from weather, air pollutants, and airborne pollen variables for Szeged, Hungary, for the 9-year period 1999-2007. The research is performed for three different pollen-related periods of the year and the annual data set. According to age and gender, nine patient categories, eight meteorological variables, seven chemical air pollutants, and two pollen categories were used. In general, partly dry and cold air and partly warm and humid air aggravate substantially the symptoms of asthmatics. Our major findings are consistent with this establishment. Namely, for the objectively defined weather types favourable conditions for asthma ER visits occur when an anticyclonic ridge weather situation happens with near extreme temperature and humidity parameters. Accordingly, the SSC weather types facilitate aggravating asthmatic conditions if warm or cool weather occur with high humidity in both cases. Favourable conditions for asthma attacks are confirmed in the extreme seasons when atmospheric stability contributes to enrichment of air pollutants. The total efficiency of the two classification approaches is similar in spite of the fact that the methodology for derivation of the individual types within the two classification approaches is completely different.

  4. Future drying of the southern Amazon and central Brazil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yoon, J.; Zeng, N.; Cook, B.

    2008-12-01

    Recent climate modeling suggests that the Amazon rainforest could exhibit considerable dieback under future climate change, a prediction that has raised considerable interest as well as controversy. To determine the likelihood and causes of such changes, we analyzed the output of 15 models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC/AR4) and a dynamic vegetation model VEGAS driven by these climate output. Our results suggest that the core of the Amazon rainforest should remain largely stable. However, the periphery, notably the southern edge, is in danger of drying out, driven by two main processes. First, a decline in precipitation of 24% in the southern Amazon lengthens the dry season and reduces soil moisture, despite of an increase in precipitation during the wet season, due to the nonlinear response in hydrology and ecosystem dynamics. Two dynamical mechanisms may explain the lower dry season precipitation: (1) a stronger north-south tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature gradient; (2) a general subtropical drying under global warming when the dry season southern Amazon is under the control of the subtropical high pressure. Secondly, evaporation will increase due to the general warming, thus also reducing soil moisture. As a consequence, the median of the models projects a reduction of vegetation by 20%, and enhanced fire carbon flux by 10-15% in the southern Amazon, central Brazil, and parts of the Andean Mountains. Because the southern Amazon is also under intense human influence, the double pressure of deforestation and climate change may subject the region to dramatic changes in the 21st century.

  5. Declining global per capita agricultural production and warming oceans threaten food security

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Funk, Christopher C.; Brown, Molly E.

    2009-01-01

    Despite accelerating globalization, most people still eat food that is grown locally. Developing countries with weak purchasing power tend to import as little food as possible from global markets, suffering consumption deficits during times of high prices or production declines. Local agricultural production, therefore, is critical to both food security and economic development among the rural poor. The level of local agricultural production, in turn, will be determined by the amount and quality of arable land, the amount and quality of agricultural inputs (fertilizer, seeds, pesticides, etc.), as well as farm-related technology, practices and policies. This paper discusses several emerging threats to global and regional food security, including declining yield gains that are failing to keep up with population increases, and warming in the tropical Indian Ocean and its impact on rainfall. If yields continue to grow more slowly than per capita harvested area, parts of Africa, Asia and Central and Southern America will experience substantial declines in per capita cereal production. Global per capita cereal production will potentially decline by 14% between 2008 and 2030. Climate change is likely to further affect food production, particularly in regions that have very low yields due to lack of technology. Drought, caused by anthropogenic warming in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, may also reduce 21st century food availability in some countries by disrupting moisture transports and bringing down dry air over crop growing areas. The impacts of these circulation changes over Asia remain uncertain. For Africa, however, Indian Ocean warming appears to have already reduced rainfall during the main growing season along the eastern edge of tropical Africa, from southern Somalia to northern parts of the Republic of South Africa. Through a combination of quantitative modeling of food balances and an examination of climate change, this study presents an analysis of emerging

  6. Air Conditioner Ready to Change Industry - Continuum Magazine | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    create very dry air, ideal for cooling with evaporative techniques. Desiccants, which can be liquids or into an innovative "cooling core." This would marry the desiccants' capacity to create dry air using heat and evaporative coolers' capability to turn dry air into cold air. If it worked, it

  7. Study on vitamin D₂ stability in dried mushrooms during drying and storage.

    PubMed

    Sławińska, Aneta; Fornal, Emilia; Radzki, Wojciech; Skrzypczak, Katarzyna; Zalewska-Korona, Marta; Michalak-Majewska, Monika; Parfieniuk, Ewa; Stachniuk, Anna

    2016-05-15

    The main objective of this work was to determine the stability of vitamin D2 in dried mushrooms Agaricus bisporus, Pleurotus ostreatus and Lentinula edodes during storage, as well as to examine the possibility of inducing vitamin D2 production in dried mushrooms by UVB irradiation. After 1.5 year storage of dried mushrooms, the level of vitamin D2 in button mushrooms was found to be 6.90 μg/g dw, which is a 48.32% of initial level of vitamin D2. In the case of dried oyster and shiitake mushrooms there was a decrease to the level of 66.90% and 68.40%, respectively. It was determined that dried mushrooms can produce ergocalciferol under UVB irradiation. The highest content of vitamin D2 was observed in A. bisporus. Freeze-dried A. bisporus contained from 42.08 to 119.21 μg/g dw and hot-air dried mushrooms contained from 21.51 to 81.17 μg/g dw vitamin D2. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. EFFECT OF DRY AIR CHILLING ON WARNER-BRATZLER SHEAR FORCE AND WATER-HOLDING CAPACITY OF BROILER MEAT DEBONED FOUR HOURS POSTMORTEM

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    TECHNICAL ABSTRACT Advantages of air chilling (AC) methods over immersion chilling (IC) methods in quality retention and improvement of deboned chicken breast meat depends on experimental conditions, such as deboning time. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a dry-AC method on ...

  9. Detection of Dry Intrusion on Water Vapor Images Over Central Europe - June 2010 TO September 2011

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Novotny, J.; Dejmal, K.; Hudec, F.; Kolar, P.

    2016-06-01

    The knowledge of evaluation of the intensity of cyclogenesis which could be connected with the weather having a significant impact on Earth's surface is quite useful. If, as one of the basic assumptions, the existence of connection between dry intrusions, dry bands, tropopause height and warm dark areas distribution on water vapor images (WV images) is considered, it is possible to set up a method of detecting dry intrusions on searching and tracking areas with higher brightness temperature compared with the surrounding environment. This paper covers the period between June 2010 and September 2011 over Central Europe. The ISIS method (Instrument de Suivi dans I'Imagerie satellitaire), originally developed for detection of cold cloud tops, was used as an initial ideological point. Subsequently, this method was modified by Michel and Bouttier for usage on WV images. Some of the applied criteria and parameters were chosen with reference to the results published by Michel and Bouttier as well as by Novotny. The procedure can be divided into two steps: detection of warm areas and their tracking. Cases of detection of areas not evidently connected with dry intrusions can be solved by filtering off based on the connection between detected warm areas to the cyclonic side of jet streams and significant lowering of the tropopause.

  10. Implications of drying temperature and humidity on the drying kinetics of seaweed

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ali, Majid Khan Majahar; Fudholi, Ahmad; Muthuvalu, M. S.; Sulaiman, Jumat; Yasir, Suhaimi Md

    2017-11-01

    A Low Temperature and Humidity Chamber Test tested in the Solar Energy Laboratory, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. Experiments are attempted to study the effect of drying air temperature and humidity on the drying kinetics of seaweed Kappaphycus species Striatum besides to develop a model to estimate the drying curves. Simple method using a excel software is used in the analysis of raw data obtained from the drying experiment. The values of the parameters a, n and the constant k for the models are determined using a plot of curve drying models. Three different drying models are compared with experiment data seaweed drying at 30, 40, 50 and 60°C and relative humidity 20, 30 and 40% for seaweed. The higher drying temperatures and low relative humidity effects the moisture content that will be rapidly reduced. The most suitable model is selected to best describe the drying behavior of seaweed. The values of the coefficient of determination (R2), mean bias error (MBE) and root mean square error (RMSE) are used to determine the goodness or the quality of the fit. The Page model is showed a better fit to drying seaweed. The results from this study crucial for solar dryer development on pilot scale in Malaysia.

  11. Intercomparison of Air-Sea Fluxes in the Bay of Bengal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buckley, J.; Weller, R. A.; Farrar, J. T.; Tandon, A.

    2016-02-01

    Heat and momentum exchange between the air and sea in the Bay of Bengal is an important driver of atmospheric convection during the Asian Monsoon. Warm sea surface temperatures resulting from salinity stratified shallow mixed layers trigger widespread showers and thunderstorms. In this study, we compare atmospheric reanalysis flux products to air-sea flux values calculated from shipboard observations from four cruises and an air-sea flux mooring in the Bay of Bengal as part of the Air-Sea Interactions in the Northern Indian Ocean (ASIRI) experiment. Comparisons with months of mooring data show that most long timescale reanalysis error arises from the overestimation of longwave and shortwave radiation. Ship observations and select data from the air-sea flux mooring reveals significant errors on shorter timescales (2-4 weeks) which are greatly influenced by errors in shortwave radiation and latent and sensible heat. During these shorter periods, the reanalyses fail to properly show sharp decreases in air temperature, humidity, and shortwave radiation associated with mesoscale convective systems. Simulations with the Price-Weller-Pinkel (PWP) model show upper ocean mixing and deepening mixed layers during these events that effect the long term upper ocean stratification. Mesoscale convective systems associated with cloudy skies and cold and dry air can reduce net heat into the ocean for minutes to a few days, significantly effecting air-sea heat transfer, upper ocean stratification, and ocean surface temperature and salinity.

  12. EMISSIONS OF PERCHLOROETHYLENE FROM DRY CLEANED FABRICS

    EPA Science Inventory

    A study was conducted to evaluate the emissions of perchloroethylene (tetrachloroethylene) from dry cleaned fabrics to determine: (a) how the introduction of fresh dry cleaning into a home affects the indoor concentration of perchloroethylene, and (b) the effectiveness of ‘airing...

  13. [Investigation on Spray Drying Technology of Auricularia auricular Extract].

    PubMed

    Zhou, Rong; Chen, Hui; Xie, Yuan; Chen, Peng; Wang, Luo-lin

    2015-07-01

    To investigate the feasibility of spray drying technology of Auricularia auricular extract and its optimum process. On the basis of single factor test, with the yield of dry extract and the content of polysaccharide as indexes, orthogonal test method was used to optimize the spray drying technology on the inlet air temperature, injection speed and crude drug content. Using ultraviolet spectrophotometry, thin layer chromatography(TLC) and pharmacodynamics as indicators, extracts prepared by traditional alcohol precipitation drying process and spray drying process were compared. Compared with the traditional preparation method, the extract prepared by spray drying had little differences from the polysaccharide content, TLC and the function of reducing TG and TC, and its optimum technology condition were as follows: The inlet air temperature was 180 °C, injection speed was 10 ml/min and crude drugs content was 0. 4 g/mL. Auricularia auricular extract by spray drying technology is stable and feasible with high economic benefit.

  14. Effect of high-humidity hot air impingement blanching (HHAIB) on drying and quality of red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.).

    PubMed

    Wang, Jun; Fang, Xiao-Ming; Mujumdar, A S; Qian, Jing-Ya; Zhang, Qian; Yang, Xu-Hai; Liu, Yan-Hong; Gao, Zhen-Jiang; Xiao, Hong-Wei

    2017-04-01

    Effects of high-humidity hot air impingement blanching (HHAIB) under different times (30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, and 240s) on drying characteristics and quality attributes of red peppers in terms of surface colour, red pigment content, microstructure and texture were investigated. Results showed that polyphenol oxidase (PPO) residual activity of the samples decreased with increasing blanching time; it was decreased to 7% after 120s. A first-order fraction model described PPO inactivation well. Suitable HHAIB time can reduce drying time extensively. Pepper surface colour was influenced by different treatments. In terms of red pigment content, there was no significant difference for blanching time under 120s, whereas over blanching (blanching time ⩾150s) can significantly reduce the red pigment content. Microstructure observations indicate that superficial micro-cracks occur, which explain, why HHAIB enhances drying rate. The firmness, hardness, and gumminess of the samples decreased with increase of HHAIB time. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Warming combined with more extreme precipitation regimes modifies the water sources used by trees.

    PubMed

    Grossiord, Charlotte; Sevanto, Sanna; Dawson, Todd E; Adams, Henry D; Collins, Adam D; Dickman, Lee T; Newman, Brent D; Stockton, Elizabeth A; McDowell, Nate G

    2017-01-01

    The persistence of vegetation under climate change will depend on a plant's capacity to exploit water resources. We analyzed water source dynamics in piñon pine and juniper trees subjected to precipitation reduction, atmospheric warming, and to both simultaneously. Piñon and juniper exhibited different and opposite shifts in water uptake depth in response to experimental stress and background climate over 3 yr. During a dry summer, juniper responded to warming with a shift to shallow water sources, whereas piñon pine responded to precipitation reduction with a shift to deeper sources in autumn. In normal and wet summers, both species responded to precipitation reduction, but juniper increased deep water uptake and piñon increased shallow water uptake. Shifts in the utilization of water sources were associated with reduced stomatal conductance and photosynthesis, suggesting that belowground compensation in response to warming and water reduction did not alleviate stress impacts for gas exchange. We have demonstrated that predicted climate change could modify water sources of trees. Warming impairs juniper uptake of deep sources during extended dry periods. Precipitation reduction alters the uptake of shallow sources following extended droughts for piñon. Shifts in water sources may not compensate for climate change impacts on tree physiology. © 2016 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2016 New Phytologist Trust.

  16. Western US high June 2015 temperatures and their relation to global warming and soil moisture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Philip, Sjoukje Y.; Kew, Sarah F.; Hauser, Mathias; Guillod, Benoit P.; Teuling, Adriaan J.; Whan, Kirien; Uhe, Peter; Oldenborgh, Geert Jan van

    2018-04-01

    The Western US states Washington (WA), Oregon (OR) and California (CA) experienced extremely high temperatures in June 2015. The temperature anomalies were so extreme that they cannot be explained with global warming alone. We investigate the hypothesis that soil moisture played an important role as well. We use a land surface model and a large ensemble from the weather@home modelling effort to investigate the coupling between soil moisture and temperature in a warming world. Both models show that May was anomalously dry, satisfying a prerequisite for the extreme heat wave, and they indicate that WA and OR are in a wet-to-dry transitional soil moisture regime. We use two different land surface-atmosphere coupling metrics to show that there was strong coupling between temperature, latent heat flux and the effect of soil moisture deficits on the energy balance in June 2015 in WA and OR. June temperature anomalies conditioned on wet/dry conditions show that both the mean and extreme temperatures become hotter for dry soils, especially in WA and OR. Fitting a Gaussian model to temperatures using soil moisture as a covariate shows that the June 2015 temperature values fit well in the extrapolated empirical temperature/drought lines. The high temperature anomalies in WA and OR are thus to be expected, given the dry soil moisture conditions and that those regions are in the transition from a wet to a dry regime. CA is already in the dry regime and therefore the necessity of taking soil moisture into account is of lower importance.

  17. Retention of antioxidant capacity of vacuum microwave dried cranberry.

    PubMed

    Leusink, Gwen J; Kitts, David D; Yaghmaee, Parastoo; Durance, Tim

    2010-04-01

    In this study, cranberries were dried by vacuum-microwave drying (VMD), freeze-drying (FD), or hot air-drying (AD), to compare the effects of different drying processes on both physical changes as well as the retention of bioactive components in dried samples. Total porosity (%) and average pore radius of dehydrated cranberries were greater using VMD compared to FD and AD (P < 0.05). Crude methanol cranberry powdered extracts were fractionated by solid phase extraction (SPE) into organic acid-, total phenolics-, anthocyanin-, or proanthocyanidin-enriched extracts, respectively. The chemical composition of the 60% acidified methanol fractions contained cyanidin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-arabinoside, peonidin-3-galactoside, and peonidin-3-arabinoside, as assessed by HPLC. Antioxidant activities of cranberry fractions were measured using chemical ORAC and ABTS methods. The 60% acidified methanol fraction had a significantly higher (P < 0.05) antioxidant potential than the other chemical fractions, which was largely attributed to the relatively higher anthocyanin content. In general, vacuum-microwave drying and freeze-drying resulted in similar retention of anthocyanins and antioxidant activity, which were both relatively higher (P < 0.05) than that recovered from cranberries dried by hot air drying.

  18. Drying process strongly affects probiotics viability and functionalities.

    PubMed

    Iaconelli, Cyril; Lemetais, Guillaume; Kechaou, Noura; Chain, Florian; Bermúdez-Humarán, Luis G; Langella, Philippe; Gervais, Patrick; Beney, Laurent

    2015-11-20

    Probiotic formulations are widely used and are proposed to have a variety of beneficial effects, depending on the probiotic strains present in the product. The impact of drying processes on the viability of probiotics is well documented. However, the impact of these processes on probiotics functionality remains unclear. In this work, we investigated variations in seven different bacterial markers after various desiccation processes. Markers were composed of four different viability evaluation (combining two growth abilities and two cytometric measurements) and in three in vitro functionalities: stimulation of IL-10 and IL-12 production by PBMCs (immunomodulation) and bacterial adhesion to hexadecane. We measured the impact of three drying processes (air-drying, freeze-drying and spray-drying), without the use of protective agents, on three types of probiotic bacteria: Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus zeae. Our results show that the bacteria respond differently to the three different drying processes, in terms of viability and functionality. Drying methods produce important variations in bacterial immunomodulation and hydrophobicity, which are correlated. We also show that adherence can be stimulated (air-drying) or inhibited (spray-drying) by drying processes. Results of a multivariate analysis show no direct correlation between bacterial survival and functionality, but do show a correlation between probiotic responses to desiccation-rewetting and the process used to dry the bacteria. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. The determination of optimum condition in water hyacinth drying process by mixed adsorption drying method and modified fly ash as an adsorbent

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saputra, Asep Handaya; Putri, Rizky Anggreini

    2017-05-01

    Water hyacinth is an aquatic weed that has a very fast growth which makes it becomes a problem to the ecosystem. On the other hand, water hyacinth has a high fiber content (up to 20% by weight) which makes it potential to become raw material for composites and textile industries. As an aquatic plant, water hyacinth has a high initial moisture content that reaches more than 90%. Meanwhile the moisture content of fiber as a raw material for composite and textile industry should not be more than 10% to maintain the good quality of the products. Mixed adsorption drying method is one of the innovative method that can replace conventional drying process. Fluidization method which has been commonly used in agricultural and pharmaceutical products drying, can be enhanced by combining it with the adsorption method as performed in this study. In mixed fluidization-adsorption drying method, fly ash as adsorbent and water hyacinth fiber were put together into the fluidization column where the drying air evaporate the moisture content in water hyacinth fiber. In addition, the adsorbent adsorb the moisture content in the drying air to make the moisture content of the drying air remain low. The drying process is performed in various temperature and composition of water hyacinth and adsorbent in order to obtain the optimum drying condition. In addition, the effect of fly ash pellet and fly ash powder to the drying process was also performed. The result shows that the higher temperature and the more amount of adsorbent results in the faster drying rate. Fly ash pellet shows a better adsorption since it has a smaller pore diameter and wider surface area. The optimum temperature obtained from this study is 60°C and the optimum ratio of water hyacinth and fly ash is 50:50.

  20. Evaluation and intercomparison of five major dry deposition ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Dry deposition of various pollutants needs to be quantified in air quality monitoring networks as well as in chemical transport models. The inferential method is the most commonly used approach in which the dry deposition velocity (Vd) is empirically parameterized as a function of meteorological and biological conditions and pollutant species’ chemical properties. Earlier model intercomparison studies suggested that existing dry deposition algorithms produce quite different Vd values, e.g., up to a factor of 2 for monthly to annual average values for ozone, and sulfur and nitrogen species (Flechard et al., 2011; Schwede et al., 2011; Wu et al., 2011). To further evaluate model discrepancies using available flux data, this study compared the five dry deposition algorithms commonly used in North America and evaluated the models using five-year Vd(O3) and Vd(SO2) data generated from concentration gradient measurements above a temperate mixed forest in Canada. The five algorithms include: (1) the one used in the Canadian Air and Precipitation Monitoring Network (CAPMoN) and several Canadian air quality models based on Zhang et al. (2003), (2) the one used in the US Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) based on Meyers et al. (1998), (3) the one used in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model described in Pleim and Ran (2011), (4) the Noah land surface model coupled with a photosynthesis-based Gas Exchange Model (Noah-GEM) described in Wu et a

  1. Dry cleaning of Turkish coal

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

    Cicek, T.

    2008-07-01

    This study dealt with the upgrading of two different type of Turkish coal by a dry cleaning method using a modified air table. The industrial size air table used in this study is a device for removing stones from agricultural products. This study investigates the technical and economical feasibility of the dry cleaning method which has never been applied before on coals in Turkey. The application of a dry cleaning method on Turkish coals designated for power generation without generating environmental pollution and ensuring a stable coal quality are the main objectives of this study. The size fractions of 5-8,more » 3-5, and 1-3 mm of the investigated coals were used in the upgrading experiments. Satisfactory results were achieved with coal from the Soma region, whereas the upgrading results of Hsamlar coal were objectionable for the coarser size fractions. However, acceptable results were obtained for the size fraction 1-3 mm of Hsamlar coal.« less

  2. Dry Eye Disease: Prevalence, Assessment, and Management.

    PubMed

    Rouen, Patricia A; White, Mary L

    Dry eye disease is a chronic condition of the corneal surface marked by persistent symptoms of irritation or burning that can cause inflammatory damage to the cornea and conjunctiva if untreated. Common risk factors for this syndrome include advancing age, female sex, low humidity environments, systemic medications, and autoimmune disorders. Treatments to relieve symptoms include tear replacement, humidification, improved nutrition, and anti-inflammatory ocular agents. Home healthcare nurses can identify signs and symptoms of dry eye syndrome and initiate strategies that range from warm compresses to physician referrals for more aggressive treatment. Consistent management of this condition improves quality of life and minimizes damage to the ocular surface.

  3. Summer temperature increase has distinct effects on the ectomycorrhizal fungal communities of moist tussock and dry tundra in Arctic Alaska.

    PubMed

    Morgado, Luis N; Semenova, Tatiana A; Welker, Jeffrey M; Walker, Marilyn D; Smets, Erik; Geml, József

    2015-02-01

    Arctic regions are experiencing the greatest rates of climate warming on the planet and marked changes have already been observed in terrestrial arctic ecosystems. While most studies have focused on the effects of warming on arctic vegetation and nutrient cycling, little is known about how belowground communities, such as fungi root-associated, respond to warming. Here, we investigate how long-term summer warming affects ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities. We used Ion Torrent sequencing of the rDNA internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region to compare ECM fungal communities in plots with and without long-term experimental warming in both dry and moist tussock tundra. Cortinarius was the most OTU-rich genus in the moist tundra, while the most diverse genus in the dry tundra was Tomentella. On the diversity level, in the moist tundra we found significant differences in community composition, and a sharp decrease in the richness of ECM fungi due to warming. On the functional level, our results indicate that warming induces shifts in the extramatrical properties of the communities, where the species with medium-distance exploration type seem to be favored with potential implications for the mobilization of different nutrient pools in the soil. In the dry tundra, neither community richness nor community composition was significantly altered by warming, similar to what had been observed in ECM host plants. There was, however, a marginally significant increase in OTUs identified as ECM fungi with the medium-distance exploration type in the warmed plots. Linking our findings of decreasing richness with previous results of increasing ECM fungal biomass suggests that certain ECM species are favored by warming and may become more abundant, while many other species may go locally extinct due to direct or indirect effects of warming. Such compositional shifts in the community might affect nutrient cycling and soil organic C storage. © 2014 The Authors. Global Change

  4. Drying characteristics and quality of bananas under infrared radiation heating

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Hot air (HA) drying of banana has low drying efficiency and results in undesirable product quality. The objectives of this research were to investigate the feasibility of infrared (IR) heating to improve banana drying rate, evaluate quality of the dried product, and establish models for predicting d...

  5. Design of Solar Heat Sheet for Air Heaters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Priya, S. Shanmuga; Premalatha, M.; Thirunavukkarasu, I.

    2011-12-01

    The technique of harnessing solar energy for drying offers significant potential to dry agricultural products such as food grains, fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants, thereby eliminating many of the problems experienced with open-sun drying and industrial drying, besides saving huge quantities of fossil fuels. A great deal of experimental work over the last few decades has already demonstrated that agricultural products can be satisfactorily dehydrated using solar energy. Various designs of small scale solar dryers have been developed in the recent past, mainly for drying agricultural products. Major problems experienced with solar dryers are their non-reliability as their operation largely depends on local weather conditions. While back-up heaters and hybrid dryers partly solved this issue, difficulties in controlling the drying air temperature and flow rate remains a problem, and affects the quality of the dried product. This study is aimed at eliminating the fluctuations in the quality of hot air supplied by simple solar air heaters used for drying fruits, vegetables and other applications. It is an attempt to analyse the applicability of the combination of an glazed transpired solar collector (tank), thermal storage and a intake fan(suction fan) to achieve a steady supply of air at a different atmospheric temperature and flow rate for drying fruits and vegetables. Development of an efficient, low-cost and reliable air heating system for drying applications is done.

  6. Observed large-scale structures and diabatic heating and drying profiles during TWP-ICE

    DOE PAGES

    Xie, Shaocheng; Hume, Timothy; Jakob, Christian; ...

    2010-01-01

    This study documents the characteristics of the large-scale structures and diabatic heating and drying profiles observed during the Tropical Warm Pool–International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE), which was conducted in January–February 2006 in Darwin during the northern Australian monsoon season. The examined profiles exhibit significant variations between four distinct synoptic regimes that were observed during the experiment. The active monsoon period is characterized by strong upward motion and large advective cooling and moistening throughout the entire troposphere, while the suppressed and clear periods are dominated by moderate midlevel subsidence and significant low- to midlevel drying through horizontal advection. The midlevel subsidence andmore » horizontal dry advection are largely responsible for the dry midtroposphere observed during the suppressed period and limit the growth of clouds to low levels. During the break period, upward motion and advective cooling and moistening located primarily at midlevels dominate together with weak advective warming and drying (mainly from horizontal advection) at low levels. The variations of the diabatic heating and drying profiles with the different regimes are closely associated with differences in the large-scale structures, cloud types, and rainfall rates between the regimes. Strong diabatic heating and drying are seen throughout the troposphere during the active monsoon period while they are moderate and only occur above 700 hPa during the break period. The diabatic heating and drying tend to have their maxima at low levels during the suppressed periods. Furthermore, the diurnal variations of these structures between monsoon systems, continental/coastal, and tropical inland-initiated convective systems are also examined.« less

  7. Effects of three drying methods of post space dentin bonding used in a direct resin composite core build-up method.

    PubMed

    Iwashita, Taichi; Mine, Atsushi; Matsumoto, Mariko; Nakatani, Hayaki; Higashi, Mami; Kawaguchi-Uemura, Asuka; Kabetani, Tomoshige; Tajiri, Yuko; Imai, Dai; Hagino, Ryosuke; Miura, Jiro; Minamino, Takuya; Yatani, Hirofumi

    2018-06-14

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate drying methods for post space dentin bonding in a direct resin composite core build-up method. Experiment 1: Four root canal plastic models, having diameters of 1.0 or 1.8mm and parallel or tapered shapes, were prepared. After drying each post space using three drying methods (air drying, paper-point drying, or ethanol drying, which involves filling the space with 99.5 vol% ethanol followed by air drying), the residual liquid in the models was weighed. Experiment 2: Thirty endodontically treated single-root teeth were dried using the above-described drying methods and filled with dual-cure resin composite. The bonded specimens were sectioned into square beams of approximately 1mm 2 for microtensile bond strength (μTBS) testing. Nine teeth were observed through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and micro computed tomography (μCT). The weight of residual liquid and μTBS were analyzed using Scheffé multiple comparison. Experiment 1: The results of air drying were significantly different from those of paper-point drying (p<0.001) and ethanol drying (p<0.001), and no significant difference was observed between paper-point drying and ethanol drying. Experiment 2: The μTBS significantly decreased in the order of ethanol drying, paper-point drying, and air drying (air drying/ethanol drying: p<0.001, air drying/paper-point drying: p=0.048, ethanol drying/paper-point drying: p=0.032). TEM and μCT observation revealed a sufficient dentin/adhesive interface in the ethanol drying group. Ethanol drying was found to be more effective for post space dentin bonding, as compared with air drying and paper-point drying. Copyright © 2018 Japan Prosthodontic Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Influence of pre-drying treatments on physicochemical and organoleptic properties of explosion puff dried jackfruit chips.

    PubMed

    Yi, Jianyong; Zhou, Linyan; Bi, Jinfeng; Chen, Qinqin; Liu, Xuan; Wu, Xinye

    2016-02-01

    The effects of hot air drying (AD), freeze drying (FD), infrared drying (IR), microwave drying (MV), vacuum drying (VD) as pre-drying treatments for explosion puff drying (EPD) on qualities of jackfruit chips were studied. The lowest total color differences (∆E) were found in the FD-, MV- and VD-EPD dried chips. Volume expansion effect (9.2 %) was only observed in the FD-EPD dried chips, which corresponded to its well expanded honeycomb microstructures and high rehydration rate. Compared with AD-, IR-, MV- and VD-EPD, the FD-EPD dried fruit chips exhibited lower hardness and higher crispness, indicative of a crispier texture. FD-EPD dried fruits also obtained high retentions of ascorbic acid, phenolics and carotenoids compared with that of the other puffed products. The results of sensory evaluation suggested that the FD-EPD was a more beneficial combination because it enhanced the overall qualities of jackfruit chips. In conclusion, the FD-EPD could be used as a novel combination drying method for processing valuable and/or high quality fruit chips.

  9. Dry Arthroscopy of the Elbow.

    PubMed

    Phadnis, Joideep; Bain, Gregory

    2015-08-01

    Dry arthroscopy is attractive because it affords an unsurpassed clarity of view and minimizes swelling. The elbow is a challenging joint to assess arthroscopically; however, dry arthroscopy has some particular benefits in the elbow. The primary benefit is the quality of the tissue definition, but dry arthroscopy also increases the working time for surgery by reducing swelling and results in less postoperative discomfort for the patient. With dry arthroscopy, all joint surfaces are covered in synovial fluid, which reflects light, to provide a clearer image of the joint surfaces and depth of field. The air-fluid interface provides an uninterrupted appreciation of the synovial recesses and tissue perfusion. This article describes the technique and indications for dry elbow arthroscopy, which will allow other surgeons to reap the benefits of dry arthroscopy without the need for special equipment or changes in their basic technique.

  10. Does the recent warming hiatus exist over northern Asia for winter wind chill temperature?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Ying

    2017-04-01

    Wind chill temperature (WCT) describes the joint effect of wind velocity and air temperature on exposed body skin and could support policy makers in designing plans to reduce the risks of notably cold and windy weather. This study examined winter WCT over northern Asia during 1973-2013 by analyzing in situ station data. The winter WCT warming rate over the Tibetan Plateau slowed during 1999-2013 (-0.04 °C/decade) compared with that during 1973-1998 (0.67 °C/decade). The winter WCT warming hiatus has also been observed in the remainder of Northern Asia with trends of 1.11 °C/decade during 1973-1998 but -1.02 °C/decade during 1999-2013, except for the Far East of Russia (FE), where the winter WCT has continued to heat up during both the earlier period of 1973-1998 (0.54 °C/decade) and the recent period of 1999-2013 (0.75 °C/decade). The results indicate that the influence of temperature on winter WCT is greater than that of wind speed over northern Asia. Atmospheric circulation changes associated with air temperature and wind speed were analyzed to identify the causes for the warming hiatus of winter WCT over northern Asia. The distributions of sea level pressure and 500 hPa height anomalies during 1999-2013 transported cold air from the high latitudes to middle latitudes, resulting in low air temperature over Northern Asia except for the Far East of Russia. Over the Tibetan Plateau, the increase in wind speed offset the increase in air temperature during 1999-2013. For the Far East, the southerly wind from the Western Pacific drove the temperature up during the 1999-2013 period via warm advection.

  11. Local insufflation of warm humidified CO₂increases open wound and core temperature during open colon surgery: a randomized clinical trial.

    PubMed

    Frey, Joana M; Janson, Martin; Svanfeldt, Monika; Svenarud, Peter K; van der Linden, Jan A

    2012-11-01

    The open surgical wound is exposed to cold and dry ambient air resulting in heat loss through radiation, evaporation, and convection. Also, general and neuraxial anesthesia decrease the patient's core temperature. Despite routine preventive measures mild intraoperative hypothermia is still common and contributes to postoperative morbidity and mortality. We hypothesized that local insufflation of warm fully humidified CO(2) would increase both the open surgical wound and core temperature. Eighty-three patients undergoing open colon surgery were equally and parallelly randomized to either standard warming measures including forced-air warming, warm fluids, and insulation of limbs and head, or to additional local wound insufflation of warm (37°C) humidified (100% relative humidity) CO(2) at a laminar flow (10 L/min) via a gas diffuser. Wound surface and core temperatures were followed with a heat-sensitive infrared camera and a tympanic thermometer. The mean wound area temperature during surgery was 31.3°C in the warm humidified CO(2) group compared with 29.6°C in the control group (P < 0.001, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2°C to 2.3°C). Also, the mean wound edge temperature during surgery was 30.1°C compared with 28.5°C in the control group (P < 0.001, 95% CI, 0.2°C to 0.7°C). Mean core temperature before start of surgery was similar with 36.7°C ± 0.5°C in the warm humidified CO(2) group versus 36.6°C ± 0.5°C in the control group (95% CI, 0.4 to -0.1°C). At end of surgery, the 2 groups differed significantly with 36.9 ± 0.5°C in the warm humidified CO(2) group versus 36.3 ± 0.5°C in the control group (P < 0.001, 95% CI, 0.38°C to 0.82°C). Moreover, only 8 patients of 40 in the warm humidified CO(2) group had a core temperature <36.5°C (20%, 95% CI, 7 to 33%), whereas in the control group this was the case in 24 of 39 (62%, 95% CI, 46% to 78%, P = 0.001) patients (difference of the percentages between the groups 42%, 95% CI, 22% to 61%, P < 0

  12. Photovoltaic dryer with dual packed beds for drying medical herb

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

    Abdel-Rehim, Z.S.; Fahmy, F.H.

    1998-03-01

    This work presents design and optimization of a cylindrical photovoltaic dryer with dual packed beds thermal energy storage for drying medical herb. The dryer is provided with electrical heater where the electrical energy is generated by using photovoltaic system. The electrical heater is designed and sized to realize continuous drying (day and night) to minimize the drying time. Two packed beds are used to fix the drying temperature in dryer during day and night. The main packed bed thermal energy storage is charged during the sunlight hours directly, to realize continued drying after sunset. An efficient PV dryer is devisedmore » to work under forced air created by air blower and heated by the electrical coils.« less

  13. Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome

    PubMed Central

    Walker, Marilyn D.; Wahren, C. Henrik; Hollister, Robert D.; Henry, Greg H. R.; Ahlquist, Lorraine E.; Alatalo, Juha M.; Bret-Harte, M. Syndonia; Calef, Monika P.; Callaghan, Terry V.; Carroll, Amy B.; Epstein, Howard E.; Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg S.; Klein, Julia A.; Magnússon, Borgþór; Molau, Ulf; Oberbauer, Steven F.; Rewa, Steven P.; Robinson, Clare H.; Shaver, Gaius R.; Suding, Katharine N.; Thompson, Catharine C.; Tolvanen, Anne; Totland, Ørjan; Turner, P. Lee; Tweedie, Craig E.; Webber, Patrick J.; Wookey, Philip A.

    2006-01-01

    Recent observations of changes in some tundra ecosystems appear to be responses to a warming climate. Several experimental studies have shown that tundra plants and ecosystems can respond strongly to environmental change, including warming; however, most studies were limited to a single location and were of short duration and based on a variety of experimental designs. In addition, comparisons among studies are difficult because a variety of techniques have been used to achieve experimental warming and different measurements have been used to assess responses. We used metaanalysis on plant community measurements from standardized warming experiments at 11 locations across the tundra biome involved in the International Tundra Experiment. The passive warming treatment increased plant-level air temperature by 1-3°C, which is in the range of predicted and observed warming for tundra regions. Responses were rapid and detected in whole plant communities after only two growing seasons. Overall, warming increased height and cover of deciduous shrubs and graminoids, decreased cover of mosses and lichens, and decreased species diversity and evenness. These results predict that warming will cause a decline in biodiversity across a wide variety of tundra, at least in the short term. They also provide rigorous experimental evidence that recently observed increases in shrub cover in many tundra regions are in response to climate warming. These changes have important implications for processes and interactions within tundra ecosystems and between tundra and the atmosphere. PMID:16428292

  14. Virtual Reality Robotic Surgery Warm-Up Improves Task Performance in a Dry Lab Environment: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study

    PubMed Central

    Lendvay, Thomas S.; Brand, Timothy C.; White, Lee; Kowalewski, Timothy; Jonnadula, Saikiran; Mercer, Laina; Khorsand, Derek; Andros, Justin; Hannaford, Blake; Satava, Richard M.

    2014-01-01

    Background Pre-operative simulation “warm-up” has been shown to improve performance and reduce errors in novice and experienced surgeons, yet existing studies have only investigated conventional laparoscopy. We hypothesized a brief virtual reality (VR) robotic warm-up would enhance robotic task performance and reduce errors. Study Design In a two-center randomized trial, fifty-one residents and experienced minimally invasive surgery faculty in General Surgery, Urology, and Gynecology underwent a validated robotic surgery proficiency curriculum on a VR robotic simulator and on the da Vinci surgical robot. Once successfully achieving performance benchmarks, surgeons were randomized to either receive a 3-5 minute VR simulator warm-up or read a leisure book for 10 minutes prior to performing similar and dissimilar (intracorporeal suturing) robotic surgery tasks. The primary outcomes compared were task time, tool path length, economy of motion, technical and cognitive errors. Results Task time (-29.29sec, p=0.001, 95%CI-47.03,-11.56), path length (-79.87mm, p=0.014, 95%CI -144.48,-15.25), and cognitive errors were reduced in the warm-up group compared to the control group for similar tasks. Global technical errors in intracorporeal suturing (0.32, p=0.020, 95%CI 0.06,0.59) were reduced after the dissimilar VR task. When surgeons were stratified by prior robotic and laparoscopic clinical experience, the more experienced surgeons(n=17) demonstrated significant improvements from warm-up in task time (-53.5sec, p=0.001, 95%CI -83.9,-23.0) and economy of motion (0.63mm/sec, p=0.007, 95%CI 0.18,1.09), whereas improvement in these metrics was not statistically significantly appreciated in the less experienced cohort(n=34). Conclusions We observed a significant performance improvement and error reduction rate among surgeons of varying experience after VR warm-up for basic robotic surgery tasks. In addition, the VR warm-up reduced errors on a more complex task (robotic

  15. PAHs in corn grains submitted to drying with firewood.

    PubMed

    de Lima, Rafael Friedrich; Dionello, Rafael Gomes; Peralba, Maria do Carmo Ruaro; Barrionuevo, Simone; Radunz, Lauri Lourenço; Reichert Júnior, Francisco Wilson

    2017-01-15

    Grain drying using firewood as fuel for air heating, with direct fire, is still widely used in Brazil. The combustion of organic material, such as wood, can generate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are known to have carcinogenic potential. In the present work corn grain drying was carried out at three drying air temperatures: 60°C, 60/80°C and 80°C. Following the drying process, the presence and quantification of PAH in the corn grains was investigated. After extracting the PAHs of the matrix, the material was subjected to analysis by gas chromatography with mass detector. he results showed the presence of seven compounds: fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene and chrysene. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Drying of fiber webs

    DOEpatents

    Warren, D.W.

    1997-04-15

    A process and an apparatus are disclosed for high-intensity drying of fiber webs or sheets, such as newsprint, printing and writing papers, packaging paper, and paperboard or linerboard, as they are formed on a paper machine. The invention uses direct contact between the wet fiber web or sheet and various molten heat transfer fluids, such as liquefied eutectic metal alloys, to impart heat at high rates over prolonged durations, in order to achieve ambient boiling of moisture contained within the web. The molten fluid contact process causes steam vapor to emanate from the web surface, without dilution by ambient air; and it is differentiated from the evaporative drying techniques of the prior industrial art, which depend on the uses of steam-heated cylinders to supply heat to the paper web surface, and ambient air to carry away moisture, which is evaporated from the web surface. Contact between the wet fiber web and the molten fluid can be accomplished either by submersing the web within a molten bath or by coating the surface of the web with the molten media. Because of the high interfacial surface tension between the molten media and the cellulose fiber comprising the paper web, the molten media does not appreciatively stick to the paper after it is dried. Steam generated from the paper web is collected and condensed without dilution by ambient air to allow heat recovery at significantly higher temperature levels than attainable in evaporative dryers. 6 figs.

  17. Drying of fiber webs

    DOEpatents

    Warren, David W.

    1997-01-01

    A process and an apparatus for high-intensity drying of fiber webs or sheets, such as newsprint, printing and writing papers, packaging paper, and paperboard or linerboard, as they are formed on a paper machine. The invention uses direct contact between the wet fiber web or sheet and various molten heat transfer fluids, such as liquified eutectic metal alloys, to impart heat at high rates over prolonged durations, in order to achieve ambient boiling of moisture contained within the web. The molten fluid contact process causes steam vapor to emanate from the web surface, without dilution by ambient air; and it is differentiated from the evaporative drying techniques of the prior industrial art, which depend on the uses of steam-heated cylinders to supply heat to the paper web surface, and ambient air to carry away moisture, which is evaporated from the web surface. Contact between the wet fiber web and the molten fluid can be accomplished either by submersing the web within a molten bath or by coating the surface of the web with the molten media. Because of the high interfacial surface tension between the molten media and the cellulose fiber comprising the paper web, the molten media does not appreciately stick to the paper after it is dried. Steam generated from the paper web is collected and condensed without dilution by ambient air to allow heat recovery at significantly higher temperature levels than attainable in evaporative dryers.

  18. Indoor air humidity, air quality, and health - An overview.

    PubMed

    Wolkoff, Peder

    2018-04-01

    There is a long-standing dispute about indoor air humidity and perceived indoor air quality (IAQ) and associated health effects. Complaints about sensory irritation in eyes and upper airways are generally among top-two symptoms together with the perception "dry air" in office environments. This calls for an integrated analysis of indoor air humidity and eye and airway health effects. This overview has reviewed the literature about the effects of extended exposure to low humidity on perceived IAQ, sensory irritation symptoms in eyes and airways, work performance, sleep quality, virus survival, and voice disruption. Elevation of the indoor air humidity may positively impact perceived IAQ, eye symptomatology, and possibly work performance in the office environment; however, mice inhalation studies do not show exacerbation of sensory irritation in the airways by low humidity. Elevated humidified indoor air appears to reduce nasal symptoms in patients suffering from obstructive apnea syndrome, while no clear improvement on voice production has been identified, except for those with vocal fatigue. Both low and high RH, and perhaps even better absolute humidity (water vapor), favors transmission and survival of influenza virus in many studies, but the relationship between temperature, humidity, and the virus and aerosol dynamics is complex, which in the end depends on the individual virus type and its physical/chemical properties. Dry and humid air perception continues to be reported in offices and in residential areas, despite the IAQ parameter "dry air" (or "wet/humid air") is semantically misleading, because a sensory organ for humidity is non-existing in humans. This IAQ parameter appears to reflect different perceptions among other odor, dustiness, and possibly exacerbated by desiccation effect of low air humidity. It is salient to distinguish between indoor air humidity (relative or absolute) near the breathing and ocular zone and phenomena caused by moisture

  19. The Effect of Postoperative Skin-Surface Warming on Oxygen Consumption and the Shivering Threshold

    PubMed Central

    Alfonsi, P.; Nourredine, K.; Adam, F.; Chauvin, M.; Sessler, D. I.

    2005-01-01

    Summary Cutaneous warming is reportedly an effective treatment for shivering during epidural and after general anaesthesia. We quantified the efficacy of cutaneous warming as a treatment for shivering. Unwarmed surgical patients (final intraoperative core temperatures ≈35°C) were randomly assigned to be covered with a blanket (n=9) or full-body forced-air cover (n=9). Shivering was evaluated clinically and by oxygen consumption. Forced-air heating increased mean-skin temperature (35.7±0.4 °C vs. 33.2±0.8°C, P< 0.0001) and lowered core temperature at the shivering threshold (35.7±0.2 °C vs. 36.4±0.2°C, P< 0.0001). Active warming improved thermal comfort and significantly reduced oxygen consumption from 9.7±4.4 to 5.6±1.9 mL·min−1·kg−1(P=0.038). However, duration of shivering was similar in the two groups (37±11 min [warming] and 36±10 min [control]). Core temperature thus contributed about four times as much as skin temperature to control of shivering. Cutaneous warming improved thermal comfort and reduced metabolic stress in postoperative patients, but did not quickly obliterate shivering. PMID:14705689

  20. [Unintended cooling, active warming, and microcirculation in cardiosurgical patients].

    PubMed

    Aksel'rod, B A; Trekova, N A; Guleshov, V A; Tolstova, I A; Gus'kov, D A; Babaev, M A

    2010-01-01

    The study was undertaken to compare various methods to maintain a patient's body temperature and to evaluate their impact on microcirculation during myocardial revascularization under normothermal extracorporeal circulation (NTEC). The study enrolled 50 patients with NYHA Functional Classes III-IV coronary heart disease, who underwent aortocoronary bypass surgery under NTEC. A HICO-AQUATHERM 660 water-warming unit (Hirtz, Germany) was used in Group 1 patients (n=30). A Bair Hugger air-warming unit (Arizant, U.S.A.) with a mattress located under a patient was employed in Group 2 (n=20). Intraoperative microcirculation monitoring was carried out by a laser analyzer (Lazma, Moscow).

  1. Enhanced greenhouse gas emissions from the Arctic with experimental warming

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Voigt, Carolina; Lamprecht, Richard E.; Marushchak, Maija E.; Lind, Saara E.; Novakovskiy, Alexander; Aurela, Mika; Martikainen, Pertti J.; Biasi, Christina

    2017-04-01

    Temperatures in the Arctic are projected to increase more rapidly than in lower latitudes. With temperature being a key factor for regulating biogeochemical processes in ecosystems, even a subtle temperature increase might promote the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere. Usually, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are the GHGs dominating the climatic impact of tundra. However, bare, patterned ground features in the Arctic have recently been identified as hot spots for nitrous oxide (N2O). N2O is a potent greenhouse gas, which is almost 300 times more effective in its global warming potential than CO2; but studies on arctic N2O fluxes are rare. In this study we examined the impact of temperature increase on the seasonal GHG balance of all three important GHGs (CO2, CH4 and N2O) from three tundra surface types (vegetated peat soils, unvegetated peat soils, upland mineral soils) in the Russian Arctic (67˚ 03' N 62˚ 55' E), during the course of two growing seasons. We deployed open-top chambers (OTCs), inducing air and soil surface warming, thus mimicking predicted warming scenarios. We combined detailed CO2, CH4 and N2O flux studies with concentration measurements of these gases within the soil profile down to the active layer-permafrost interface, and complemented these GHG measurements with detailed soil nutrient (nitrate and ammonium) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) measurements in the soil pore water profile. In our study, gentle air warming (˜1.0 ˚ C) increased the seasonal GHG release of all dominant surface types: the GHG budget of vegetated peat and mineral soils, which together cover more than 80 % of the land area in our study region, shifted from a sink to a source of -300 to 144 g CO2-eq m-2 and from -198 to 105 g CO2-eq m-2, respectively. While the positive warming response was governed by CO2, we provide here the first in situ evidence that warming increases arctic N2O emissions: Warming did not only enhance N2O emissions from

  2. Microwave sounding units and global warming

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gary, Bruce L.; Keihm, Stephen J.

    1991-01-01

    A recent work of Spencer and Christy (1990) on precise monitoring of global temperature trends from satellites is critically examined. It is tentatively concluded in the present comment that remote sensing using satellite microwave radiometers can in fact provide a means for the monitoring of troposphere-averaged air temperature. However, for this to be successful more than one decade of data will be required to overcome the apparent inherent variability of global average air temperature. It is argued that the data set reported by Spencer and Christy should be subjected to careful review before it is interpreted as evidence of the presence or absence of global warming. In a reply, Christy provides specific responses to the commenters' objections.

  3. Contrasting growth responses of dominant peatland plants to warming and vegetation composition.

    PubMed

    Walker, Tom N; Ward, Susan E; Ostle, Nicholas J; Bardgett, Richard D

    2015-05-01

    There is growing recognition that changes in vegetation composition can strongly influence peatland carbon cycling, with potential feedbacks to future climate. Nevertheless, despite accelerated climate and vegetation change in this ecosystem, the growth responses of peatland plant species to combined warming and vegetation change are unknown. Here, we used a field warming and vegetation removal experiment to test the hypothesis that dominant species from the three plant functional types present (dwarf-shrubs: Calluna vulgaris; graminoids: Eriophorum vaginatum; bryophytes: Sphagnum capillifolium) contrast in their growth responses to warming and the presence or absence of other plant functional types. Warming was accomplished using open top chambers, which raised air temperature by approximately 0.35 °C, and we measured air and soil microclimate as potential mechanisms through which both experimental factors could influence growth. We found that only Calluna growth increased with experimental warming (by 20%), whereas the presence of dwarf-shrubs and bryophytes increased growth of Sphagnum (46%) and Eriophorum (20%), respectively. Sphagnum growth was also negatively related to soil temperature, which was lower when dwarf-shrubs were present. Dwarf-shrubs may therefore promote Sphagnum growth by cooling the peat surface. Conversely, the effect of bryophyte presence on Eriophorum growth was not related to any change in microclimate, suggesting other factors play a role. In conclusion, our findings reveal contrasting abiotic and biotic controls over dominant peatland plant growth, suggesting that community composition and carbon cycling could be modified by simultaneous climate and vegetation change.

  4. Desorption isotherms and mathematical modeling of thin layer drying kinetics of tomato

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Belghith, Amira; Azzouz, Soufien; ElCafsi, Afif

    2016-03-01

    In recent years, there is an increased demand on the international market of dried fruits and vegetables with significant added value. Due to its important production, consumption and nutrient intake, drying of tomato has become a subject of extended and varied research works. The present work is focused on the drying behavior of thin-layer tomato and its mathematical modeling in order to optimize the drying processes. The moisture desorption isotherms of raw tomato were determined at four temperature levels namely 45, 50, 60 and 65 °C using the static gravimetric method. The experimental data obtained were modeled by five equations and the (GAB) model was found to be the best-describing these isotherms. The drying kinetics were experimentally investigated at 45, 55 and 65 °C and performed at air velocities of 0.5 and 2 m/s. In order to investigate the effect of the exchange surface on drying time, samples were dried into two different shapes: tomato halves and tomato quarters. The impact of various drying parameters was also studied (temperature, air velocity and air humidity). The drying curves showed only the preheating period and the falling drying rate period. In this study, attention was paid to the modeling of experimental thin-layer drying kinetics. The experimental results were fitted with four different models.

  5. Dry Arthroscopy of the Elbow

    PubMed Central

    Phadnis, Joideep; Bain, Gregory

    2015-01-01

    Dry arthroscopy is attractive because it affords an unsurpassed clarity of view and minimizes swelling. The elbow is a challenging joint to assess arthroscopically; however, dry arthroscopy has some particular benefits in the elbow. The primary benefit is the quality of the tissue definition, but dry arthroscopy also increases the working time for surgery by reducing swelling and results in less postoperative discomfort for the patient. With dry arthroscopy, all joint surfaces are covered in synovial fluid, which reflects light, to provide a clearer image of the joint surfaces and depth of field. The air-fluid interface provides an uninterrupted appreciation of the synovial recesses and tissue perfusion. This article describes the technique and indications for dry elbow arthroscopy, which will allow other surgeons to reap the benefits of dry arthroscopy without the need for special equipment or changes in their basic technique. PMID:26759772

  6. Experimental study of delivery of humidified-warm carbon dioxide during open abdominal surgery.

    PubMed

    Carpinteri, S; Sampurno, S; Malaterre, J; Millen, R; Dean, M; Kong, J; Chittleborough, T; Heriot, A; Lynch, A C; Ramsay, R G

    2018-04-01

    The aim of this study was to monitor the effect of humidified-warm carbon dioxide (HWCO 2 ) delivered into the open abdomen of mice, simulating laparotomy. Mice were anaesthetized, ventilated and subjected to an abdominal incision followed by wound retraction. In the experimental group, a diffuser device was used to deliver HWCO 2 ; the control group was exposed to passive air flow. In each group of mice, surgical damage was produced on one side of the peritoneal wall. Vital signs and core temperature were monitored throughout the 1-h procedure. The peritoneum was closed and mice were allowed to recover for 24 h or 10 days. Tumour cells were delivered into half of the mice in each cohort. Tissue was then examined using scanning electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Passive air flow generated ultrastructural damage including mesothelial cell bulging/retraction and loss of microvilli, as assessed at 24 h. Evidence of surgical damage was still measurable on day 10. HWCO 2 maintained normothermia, whereas open surgery alone led to hypothermia. The degree of tissue damage was significantly reduced by HWCO 2 compared with that in controls. Peritoneal expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1α and vascular endothelial growth factor A was lowered by HWCO 2 . These effects were also evident at the surgical damage sites, where protection from tissue trauma extended to 10 days. HWCO 2 did not reduce tumorigenesis in surgically damaged sites compared with passive air flow. HWCO 2 diffusion into the abdomen in the context of open surgery afforded tissue protection and accelerated tissue repair in mice, while preserving normothermia. Surgical relevance Damage to the peritoneum always occurs during open abdominal surgery, by exposure to desiccating air and by mechanical trauma/damage owing to the surgical intervention. Previous experimental studies showed that humidified-warm carbon dioxide (HWCO 2 ) reduced peritoneal damage during laparoscopic insufflation

  7. Study of microwave drying of wet materials based on one-dimensional two-phase model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salomatov, Vl V.; Karelin, V. A.

    2017-11-01

    Currently, microwave is one of the most interesting ways to conduct drying of dielectric materials, in particular coal. In this paper, two processes were considered - heating and drying. The temperature field of the coal semi-mass in the heating mode is found analytically strictly with the use of integral transformations. The drying process is formulated as a nonlinear Stephen problem with a moving boundary of the liquid-vapor phase transformation. The temperature distribution, speed and drying time in this mode are determined approximately analytically. Parametric analysis of the influence of the material and boundary conditions on the dynamics of warming up and drying is revealed.

  8. The warming effect of the flare of natural gas on soil biological activity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yevdokimov, Ilya; Yusupov, Irek; Shavnin, Sergey

    2017-04-01

    Simulation of global warming is one of the key issues of international efforts to study climatic changes. A number of manipulation experiments with soil warming have been established throughout the world in the last decades. We used warming with natural gas flare near the pine forest as a kind of manipulation experiment to assess the synergistic effect of drying and warming on plant-soil-microbial interactions. The experimental area is situated in a pine forest subzone of the forest zone of the Western Siberia near Pokachi, Yugra (61o73'N, 75o49'E). The experimental plots were established in a young Scotch pine forest on sandy podzolic soil at three distances of 70, 90 and 130 m from the flare of natural gas, with trees exposed to strong (S) moderate (M), and weak (W) impact, respectively. Increase of soil temperature in summer time were moderate: on average 0.7oC and 1.3oC for the plots M and S, respectively, compared to the plot W. The plot S demonstrated increase in CO2 efflux from the soil surface, mainly due to intensifying plant root respiration, by 18% compared to the plot W as well as increase in SOM content by 31%, with intensive accumulation of recalcitrant humus. By contrast, microbial biomass, labile SOM pool and basal respiration were higher in soil with weak flaring impact by 74%, 33% and 24%, respectively. Thus, three trends in plant-soil-microbe system exposed to warming and drying were revealed: i) SOM accumulation, ii) suppression of microbial activity, and iii) stimulation of root respiration. The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation and Russian Foundation for Basic Researches.

  9. Wine tasting based on emotional responses: An expedite approach to distinguish between warm and cool climate dry red wine styles.

    PubMed

    Coste, Amaury; Sousa, Paulo; Malfeito-Ferreira, Manuel

    2018-04-01

    In this study, we improved an empirical tasting sheet including emotional responses and common sensory attributes. An Optimized Descriptive Profile (ODP) was run to characterize different red wines according to sensory descriptors used in the improved sheet. A total of 5 wines were evaluated by a Consumer Panel (CP) of 103 subjects (36 females, 67 males) using the improved sheet and a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) list of 25 emotions. In the ODP, the panel identified the main discriminating sensory attributes as "Complexity", "Astringency" and "Duration of the wine fragrance". However, this analysis did not allow for differentiating very distinct dry red wine styles originating from warmer or cooler regions. On the contrary, Principal Component Analysis of emotional attributes demonstrated that these two wine styles could be easily distinguished. In particular, wine with a red-brick color, complex smell and aggressive mouthfeel consistent with those from cooler regions was less liked by the CP than a warm climate gold-awarded wine. Although receiving lower scores considering its color and smell, the former wine was regarded as the most "surprising" in the CATA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. A Congeneric Comparison Shows That Experimental Warming Enhances the Growth of Invasive Eupatorium adenophorum

    PubMed Central

    He, Wei-Ming; Li, Jing-Ji; Peng, Pei-Hao

    2012-01-01

    Rising air temperatures may change the risks of invasive plants; however, little is known about how different warming timings affect the growth and stress-tolerance of invasive plants. We conducted an experiment with an invasive plant Eupatorium adenophorum and a native congener Eupatorium chinense, and contrasted their mortality, plant height, total biomass, and biomass allocation in ambient, day-, night-, and daily-warming treatments. The mortality of plants was significantly higher in E. chinense than E. adenophorum in four temperature regimes. Eupatorium adenophorum grew larger than E. chinense in the ambient climate, and this difference was amplified with warming. On the basis of the net effects of warming, daily-warming exhibited the strongest influence on E. adenophorum, followed by day-warming and night-warming. There was a positive correlation between total biomass and root weight ratio in E. adenophorum, but not in E. chinense. These findings suggest that climate warming may enhance E. adenophorum invasions through increasing its growth and stress-tolerance, and that day-, night- and daily-warming may play different roles in this facilitation. PMID:22536425

  11. The long-term fate of permafrost peatlands under rapid climate warming

    PubMed Central

    Swindles, Graeme T.; Morris, Paul J.; Mullan, Donal; Watson, Elizabeth J.; Turner, T. Edward; Roland, Thomas P.; Amesbury, Matthew J.; Kokfelt, Ulla; Schoning, Kristian; Pratte, Steve; Gallego-Sala, Angela; Charman, Dan J.; Sanderson, Nicole; Garneau, Michelle; Carrivick, Jonathan L.; Woulds, Clare; Holden, Joseph; Parry, Lauren; Galloway, Jennifer M.

    2015-01-01

    Permafrost peatlands contain globally important amounts of soil organic carbon, owing to cold conditions which suppress anaerobic decomposition. However, climate warming and permafrost thaw threaten the stability of this carbon store. The ultimate fate of permafrost peatlands and their carbon stores is unclear because of complex feedbacks between peat accumulation, hydrology and vegetation. Field monitoring campaigns only span the last few decades and therefore provide an incomplete picture of permafrost peatland response to recent rapid warming. Here we use a high-resolution palaeoecological approach to understand the longer-term response of peatlands in contrasting states of permafrost degradation to recent rapid warming. At all sites we identify a drying trend until the late-twentieth century; however, two sites subsequently experienced a rapid shift to wetter conditions as permafrost thawed in response to climatic warming, culminating in collapse of the peat domes. Commonalities between study sites lead us to propose a five-phase model for permafrost peatland response to climatic warming. This model suggests a shared ecohydrological trajectory towards a common end point: inundated Arctic fen. Although carbon accumulation is rapid in such sites, saturated soil conditions are likely to cause elevated methane emissions that have implications for climate-feedback mechanisms. PMID:26647837

  12. Image analysis of epicuticular damage to foliage caused by dry deposition of the air pollutant nitric acid.

    PubMed

    Padgett, Pamela E; Parry, Sally D; Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Heath, Robert L

    2009-01-01

    Nitric acid vapor is produced by the same photochemical processes that produce ozone. In the laboratory, concentrated nitric acid is a strong acid and a powerful oxidant. In the environment, where the concentrations are much lower, it is an innocuous source of plant nitrogen. As an air pollutant, which mode of action does dry deposition of nitric acid follow? We investigated the effects of dry deposition of nitric acid on the foliage of four tree species native to the western United States. A novel controlled environment, fumigation system enabled a four-week exposure at concentrations consistent with ambient diurnal patterns. Scanning electron microscopy and automated image analysis revealed changes in the epicuticular wax layer during fumigation. Exposure to nitric acid resulted in a reproducible suite of damage symptoms that increased with increasing dose. Each tree species tested exhibited a unique set of damage features, including cracks, lesions, and conformation changes to epicuticular crystallite structures. Dry deposition of atmospheric nitric acid caused substantial perturbation to the epicuticular surface of all four tree species investigated, consistent with the chemical oxidation of epicuticular waxes. Automated image analysis eliminated many biases that can trouble microscopy studies. Trade names and commercial enterprises or products are mentioned solely for information. No endorsements by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are implied.

  13. Hibiscus sabdariffa L extract drying with different carrier agent: Drying rate evaluation and color analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Djaeni, M.; Utari, F. D.; Kumoro, A. C.

    2017-03-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different carrier agents on roselle or Hibiscus sabdariffa L.extract drying. Carrier agent was used for reducing stickiness of material and avoiding agglomeration as well as improving stability. The method consisted of two steps involving roselle extraction and drying process. The liquid roselle extract was mixed with carrier agent (maltodextrin-arabic gum) in various composition. The mixture was then dried at different air temperature ranging 40 - 80°C. As a response, moisture content in the extract was observed by gravimetry every 10 minutes during90 minutes. The procedurewas repeated for the drying without carrieragent. The result showed that constant rate of drying with carrier agent was higher up to l.7 times than that of without carrier agent. Based on the color analysis,roselle extract drying with carrier agent also showed reasonable quality.

  14. Storage Stability of Dried Microsclerotia of the Biological Control Pathogen Mycoleptodiscus Terrestris

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-09-01

    asexual spores (sporogenic germination), or by sexual fruit bodies (carpogenic germination) (Webster and Weber 2007). Plating of dried microsclerotia...While drying the fungus does not appear to impact efficacy, it is unknown how prolonged storage might affect the viability and virulence of the organism...agar (Table 1). Warm water temperatures (25 ºC ± 1 ºC) and the presence of a host plant may have affected both germination and sporulation of the

  15. Peatland Woody Plant Growth Responses to Warming and Elevated CO2 in a Southern-boreal Raised Bog Ecosystem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Phillips, J. R.; Hanson, P. J.; Warren, J.; Ward, E. J.; Brice, D. J.; Graham, J.

    2017-12-01

    Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) is an in situ warming by elevated CO2 manipulation located in a high-carbon, spruce peatland in northern Minnesota. Warming treatments combined a 12-m diameter open topped chamber with internally recirculating warm air and soil deep heating to simulate a broad range of future warming treatments. Deep below ground soil warming rates are 0, +2.25, +4.5, +6.75, and +9 °C. Deep belowground warming was initiated in June 2014 followed by air warming in August 2015. In June 2016, elevated CO2 atmospheres (eCO2 at + 500 ppm) were added to half of the warming treatments in a regression design. Our objective was to track long-term vegetation responses to warming and eCO2. Annual tree growth is based on winter measurement of circumference of all Picea mariana and Larix laricina trees within each 113 m2 plot, automated dendrometers, terrestrial LIDAR scanning of tree heights and canopy volumes, and destructive allometry. Annual shrub growth is measured in late summer by destructive clipping in two 0.25 m2 sub-plots and separation of the current year tissues. During the first year of warming, tree basal area growth was reduced for Picea, but not Larix trees. Growth responses for the woody shrub vegetation remains highly variable with a trend towards increasing growth with warming. Elevated CO2 enhancements of growth are not yet evident in the data. Second-year results will also be reported. Long-term hypotheses for increased woody plant growth under warming include potential enhancements driven by increased nutrient availability from warming induced decomposition of surface peats.

  16. Concentrations of particulates in ambient air, gaseous elementary mercury (GEM), and particulate-bound mercury (Hg(p)) at a traffic sampling site: a study of dry deposition in daytime and nighttime.

    PubMed

    Fang, Guor-Cheng; Lin, Yen-Heng; Chang, Chia-Ying; Zheng, Yu-Cheng

    2014-08-01

    In this investigation, the concentrations of particles in ambient air, gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), and particulate-bound mercury (Hg(p)) in total suspended particulates (TSP) as well as dry deposition at a (Traffic) sampling site at Hung-kuang were studied during the day and night in 2012. The results reveal that the mean concentrations of TSP in ambient air, GEM, and Hg(p) were 69.72 μg/m(3), 3.17, and 0.024 ng/m(3), respectively, at the Hung-kuang (Traffic) sampling site during daytime sampling periods. The results also reveal that the mean rates of dry deposition of particles from ambient air and Hg(p) were 145.20 μg/m(2) min and 0.022 ng/m(2) min, respectively, at the Hung-kuang (Traffic) sampling site during the daytime sampling period. The mean concentrations of TSP in ambient air, GEM, and Hg(p) were 60.56 μg/m(3), 2.74, and 0.018 ng/m(3), respectively, at the Hung-kuang (Traffic) sampling site during the nighttime sampling period. The mean rates of dry deposition of particles and Hg(p) from ambient air were 132.58 μg/m(2) min and 0.016 ng/m(2) min, respectively, at the Hung-kuang (Traffic) sampling site during the nighttime sampling period.

  17. Short-Term Exposure to Warm Microhabitats Could Explain Amphibian Persistence with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

    PubMed Central

    Daskin, Joshua H.; Alford, Ross A.; Puschendorf, Robert

    2011-01-01

    Environmental conditions can alter the outcomes of symbiotic interactions. Many amphibian species have declined due to chytridiomycosis, caused by the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), but many others persist despite high Bd infection prevalence. This indicates that Bd's virulence is lower, or it may even be a commensal, in some hosts. In the Australian Wet Tropics, chytridiomycosis extirpated Litoria nannotis from high-elevation rain forests in the early 1990 s. Although the species is recolonizing many sites, no population has fully recovered. Litoria lorica disappeared from all known sites in the early 1990 s and was thought globally extinct, but a new population was discovered in 2008, in an upland dry forest habitat it shares with L. nannotis. All frogs of both species observed during three population censuses were apparently healthy, but most carried Bd. Frogs perch on sun-warmed rocks in dry forest streams, possibly keeping Bd infections below the lethal threshold attained in cooler rain forests. We tested whether short-term elevated temperatures can hamper Bd growth in vitro over one generation (four days). Simulating the temperatures available to frogs on strongly and moderately warmed rocks in dry forests, by incubating cultures at 33°C for one hour daily, reduced Bd growth below that of Bd held at 15°C constantly (representing rain forest habitats). Even small decreases in the exponential growth rate of Bd on hosts may contribute to the survival of frogs in dry forests. PMID:22028834

  18. Short-term exposure to warm microhabitats could explain amphibian persistence with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

    PubMed

    Daskin, Joshua H; Alford, Ross A; Puschendorf, Robert

    2011-01-01

    Environmental conditions can alter the outcomes of symbiotic interactions. Many amphibian species have declined due to chytridiomycosis, caused by the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), but many others persist despite high Bd infection prevalence. This indicates that Bd's virulence is lower, or it may even be a commensal, in some hosts. In the Australian Wet Tropics, chytridiomycosis extirpated Litoria nannotis from high-elevation rain forests in the early 1990 s. Although the species is recolonizing many sites, no population has fully recovered. Litoria lorica disappeared from all known sites in the early 1990 s and was thought globally extinct, but a new population was discovered in 2008, in an upland dry forest habitat it shares with L. nannotis. All frogs of both species observed during three population censuses were apparently healthy, but most carried Bd. Frogs perch on sun-warmed rocks in dry forest streams, possibly keeping Bd infections below the lethal threshold attained in cooler rain forests. We tested whether short-term elevated temperatures can hamper Bd growth in vitro over one generation (four days). Simulating the temperatures available to frogs on strongly and moderately warmed rocks in dry forests, by incubating cultures at 33°C for one hour daily, reduced Bd growth below that of Bd held at 15°C constantly (representing rain forest habitats). Even small decreases in the exponential growth rate of Bd on hosts may contribute to the survival of frogs in dry forests.

  19. Climate variability and dengue fever in warm and humid Mexico.

    PubMed

    Colón-González, Felipe J; Lake, Iain R; Bentham, Graham

    2011-05-01

    Multiple linear regression models were fitted to look for associations between changes in the incidence rate of dengue fever and climate variability in the warm and humid region of Mexico. Data were collected for 12 Mexican provinces over a 23-year period (January 1985 to December 2007). Our results show that the incidence rate or risk of infection is higher during El Niño events and in the warm and wet season. We provide evidence to show that dengue fever incidence was positively associated with the strength of El Niño and the minimum temperature, especially during the cool and dry season. Our study complements the understanding of dengue fever dynamics in the region and may be useful for the development of early warning systems.

  20. Air-dried cells from the anhydrobiotic insect, Polypedilum vanderplanki, can survive long term preservation at room temperature and retain proliferation potential after rehydration.

    PubMed

    Watanabe, Kazuyo; Imanishi, Shigeo; Akiduki, Gaku; Cornette, Richard; Okuda, Takashi

    2016-08-01

    Pv11, a cell line derived from the anhydrobiotic insect, Polypedilum vanderplanki, was preserved in a dry form (only 6% residual moisture) at room temperature for up to 251 days and restarted proliferating after rehydration. A previous study already reported survival of Pv11 cells after desiccation, but without subsequent proliferation. Here, the protocol was improved to increase survival and achieve proliferation of Pv11 cells after dry storage. The method basically included preincubation, desiccation and rehydration processes and each step was investigated. So far, preincubation in a 600 mM trehalose solution for 48 h before dehydration was the most favourable preconditioning to achieve successful dry preservation of Pv11 cells, allowing about 16% of survival after rehydration and subsequent cell proliferation. Although the simple air-dry method established for Pv11 cells here was not applicable for successful dry-preservation of other insect cell lines, Pv11 is the first dry-preservable animal cell line and will surely contribute not only to basic but also applied sciences. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.