The Use of a Mobile Sludge Dewatering Unit at Small Sewage-Treatment Plants in Japan

The construction of small sewage-treatment works in Japan is increasing. In most municipalities, economical and effective treatment/maintenance systems, which match the local conditions, are needed. As one of its support strategies, the Japan Sewage Works Agency has initiated and implemented 'co-operation' projects. In one of these projects, a mobile sludge dewatering unit has been shown to be the most economical method of treatment. The first unit, which was commissioned in March 1992, is being used in three municipalities, and this paper appraises its use.     

A high-power CH3F laser for plasma diagnostics

A high-power, optically pumped, methyl fluoride laser operating at 496 μm has been developed for plasma diagnostic applications. An output power of 100 mW has been measured directly on a calorimeter. The high-pump power utilized in this experiment has also allowed the first observation of saturation in far-infrared output power resulting from severe vibrational bottlenecking. The effect of buffer gases in relieving this bottlenecking is described and compared to a simple rate-equation model     

Promotion of CO2 mass transfer in carbonate solutions

A general, physico-chemical analysis of mass transfer rate promotion in the system CO₂-potassium carbonate-water-promoter is presented. Different possible mechanisms of promoter action including homogeneous catalysis, “shuttle” mechanism and surface reactions are discussed and classified. A unified picture of promoter chemistry is presented, showing that differences between inorganic and organic promoters are predominently quantitative, not qualitative.The “shuttle” mechanism is analyzed for absorption. The analysis leads to the prediction that the CO₂ mass transfer rate may be influenced by the liquid hold up. This is related to the fact that, although the reaction in the interface region may be fast enough to enhance the mass transfer rate, the different reaction in the bulk may not be fast enough to maintain chemical equlibrium. This complex type of chemical absorption process has not been considered previously in the literature.     

Detecting compromised routers via packet forwarding behavior

While it is widely understood that criminal miscreants are subverting large numbers of Internet-connected computers (e.g., for bots, spyware, SPAM forwarding), it is less well appreciated that Internet routers are also being actively targeted and compromised. Indeed, due to its central role in end-to-end communication, a compromised router can be leveraged to empower a wide range of direct attacks including eavesdropping, man-in-the-middle subterfuge, and denial of service. In response, a range or specialized anomaly detection protocols has been proposed to detect misbehaving packet forwarding between routers. This article provides a general framework for understanding the design space of this work and reviews the capabilities of various detection protocols.     

Development of artificial neural network-based in-process mixed-material-caused flash monitoring (ANN-IPMFM) system in injection molding

This paper describes the development of an artificial neural network-based in-process mixed-material-caused flash monitoring system (ANN-IPMFM) in the injection molding process. This proposed system integrates two sub-systems. One is the vibration monitoring sub-system that utilizes an accelerometer sensor to collect and process vibration signals during the injection molding process. The other, a threshold prediction sub-system, predicts a control threshold based on the process parameter settings, thus allowing the system to adapt to changes in these settings. The integrated system compares the monitored vibration signals with the control threshold to predict whether or not flash will occur. The performance of the ANN-IPMFM system was determined by using varying ratios of polystyrene (PS) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in the injection molding process, and comparing the number of actual occurrences of flash with the number of occurrences predicted by the system. After a 180 trials, results demonstrated that the ANN-IPMFM system could predict flash with 92.7% accuracy.     

Validation of a Combi Oven Cooking Method for Preparation of Chicken Breast Meat for Quality Assessment

ABSTRACT: Quality assessment results of cooked meat can be significantly affected by sample preparation with different cooking techniques. A combi oven is a relatively new cooking technique in the U.S. market. However, there was a lack of published data about its effect on quality measurements of chicken meat. Broiler breast fillets deboned at 24‐h postmortem were cooked with one of the 3 methods to the core temperature of 80 °C. Cooking methods were evaluated based on cooking operation requirements, sensory profiles, Warner–Bratzler (WB) shear and cooking loss. Our results show that the average cooking time for the combi oven was 17 min compared with 31 min for the commercial oven method and 16 min for the hot water method. The combi oven did not result in a significant difference in the WB shear force values, although the cooking loss of the combi oven samples was significantly lower than the commercial oven and hot water samples. Sensory profiles of the combi oven samples did not significantly differ from those of the commercial oven and hot water samples. These results demonstrate that combi oven cooking did not significantly affect sensory profiles and WB shear force measurements of chicken breast muscle compared to the other 2 cooking methods. The combi oven method appears to be an acceptable alternative for preparing chicken breast fillets in a quality assessment.     

Comparison of CHROMagar Salmonella medium and hektoen enteric agar for isolation of salmonellae from stool samples

CHROMagar Salmonella (CAS), a new chromogenic medium, was retrospectively compared to Hektoen enteric agar (HEA) with 501 Salmonella stock isolates and was then prospectively compared to HEA for the detection and presumptive identification of Salmonella spp. with 508 stool samples before and after enrichment. All stock cultures (100%), including cultures of H2S-negative isolates, yielded typical mauve colonies on CAS, while 497 (99%) isolates produced typical lactose-negative, black-centered colonies on HEA. Following overnight incubation at 37 degreesC, a total of 20 Salmonella strains were isolated from the 508 clinical samples. Sensitivities for primary plating and after enrichment were 95% (19 isolates) and 100% (20 isolates), respectively, for CAS and 80% (16 isolates) and 100% (20 isolates), respectively, for HEA. The specificity of CAS (88.9%) was significantly higher than that of HEA (78.5%; P < 0.0001). On the basis of its good sensitivity and specificity, CAS medium can be recommended for use for primary plating when human stool samples are screened for Salmonella spp.     

Mercury-induced autoimmunity in Brown Norway rats: kinetics of changes in RT6+ T lymphocytes correlated with IgG isotypes of circulating autoantibodies to laminin 1

Repeated exposure to mercury causes various autoimmune effects in rats of the Brown Norway (BN) strain. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that on day 15 of HgCl2 treatment BN rats exhibit a relative decrease in RT6.2+ T cells. At the same time, they produce high levels of autoantibodies to renal antigens and experience a membranous glomerulonephropathy. In contrast, Lewis (LEW) rats are resistant to autoimmunity caused by mercury and do not demonstrate a decrease in RT6+ cells after administration of HgCl2. In the present paper we provide novel information on the correlation between changes in RT6.2+ lymph node T cells and the production of autoantibodies to laminin 1, obtained by detailed kinetic studies of HgCl2-treated BN rats. We have confirmed a decrease in the percentage of RT6.2+ lymphocytes on day 15 of mercury treatment, despite a significant increase in the number of peripheral lymphocytes. No such changes were observed in LEW rats. We have determined that on day 15 the percentage decrease in RT6+ cells is evident in both RT6.2+CD4+ and RT6.2+CD8+ T cell subsets. Kinetic studies demonstrated that significant changes in the percentage of RT6.2+ cells are first observed by day 8 and continue through days 11 and 15. We have also observed a significant percent decrease in CD4+ T lymphocytes as well as an increase in CD4-CD8- cells. The dramatic increase in the percentage of these double negative cells at the level of peripheral lymphoid tissues does not appear to be due to higher thymic output, since there was a decrease in the percentage of TCR+Thy1+ cells, a phenotype that is associated with recent thymic emigrants. Finally, we have demonstrated that 100% of HgCl2-treated BN rats had circulating antibodies that reacted with both mouse and rat laminin 1, i.e. are autoantibodies to laminin 1. These autoantibodies were predominantly of the IgG1 and IgG2a isotype, possibly as the result of a polarized autoimmune response driven by Type 2 cytokines. A kinetic investigation showed that significant levels of IgG1 and IgG2a autoantibodies to laminin 1 were first presentin the circulation by day 11. The inverse correlation between levels of RT6.2+ T lymphocytes and autoantibodies to laminin 1 suggests that mercury may induce autoimmune responses in BN rats by its effects on these immunoregulatory cells.