The effects of the COD:P ratio on laboratory activated sludge systems

Laboratory activated sludge systems were operated at various COD:P ratios to study the effects of the influent phosphorus concentration on COD removal efficiency, cellular phosphorus, carbohydrate and protein contents, and alkaline phosphatase activity. In varying the COD:P ratio, the COD was held constant at 1000 mg l⁻¹ and phosphorus concentrations of 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 20, 35 and 50 mg l⁻¹ were used. The optimum COD:P ratio for this study was found to be 100:1. Increasing the phosphorus concentration in the influent above one percent of the influent COD did not provide for an increase in the COD removal nor for significant changes in the cellular protein and carbohydrate content or the alkaline phosphatase activity.     

Weld line transverse energy density distribution measurement in laser transmission welding of thermoplastics

While laser beam profiling techniques are available for the measurement of a laser beam power profile, such techniques are difficult or impossible to use in order to characterize the power profile of the beam which has passed through the light-scattering semi-crystalline polymer (such as nylon). This paper presents a technique for measuring the scattering of the laser beam caused by the laser-transparent part in laser transmission welding. The technique is easy to implement and does not require specialized or expensive equipment. It relies on measurements of line widths for a sequence of lines left on the polymer surface by a rapidly moving laser beam at progressively increasing powers. The line width and power information is then used to obtain the distribution of the laser energy across the weld line. An application for a case of a high-power diode laser and (glass-reinforced and natural) polyamide 6 is presented.     

The construction and performance of a multiviewer 3‐D television display

Abstract— The De Montfort University (DMU) autostereoscopic 3‐D display, intended for television applications, is described. It provides freedom of viewer movement over a typical “living room” sized area, with no restrictions on viewer's head positions. The display is capable of supplying 3‐D images to multiple viewers who do not need to wear special glasses. It operates by producing regions (exit pupils) in the viewing field where either a left or a right image is perceived. The positions of the exit pupils are steered to the viewers' eyes by the use of head tracking. Design issues that became apparent during the construction of a first prototype, and the findings from tests on it, are described. In addition, the current status of a more advanced prototype is reported.     

Brain potentials implicate temporal lobe abnormalities in criminal psychopaths.

Psychopathy is associated with abnormalities in attention and orienting. However, few studies have examined the neural systems underlying these processes. To address this issue, the authors recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) while 80 incarcerated men, classified as psychopathic or nonpsychopathic via the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (R. D. Hare, 1991, 2003), completed an auditory oddball task. Consistent with hypotheses, processing of targets elicited larger frontocentral negativities (N550) in psychopaths than in nonpsychopaths. Psychopaths also showed an enlarged N2 and reduced P3 during target detection. Similar ERP modulations have been reported in patients with amygdala and temporal lobe damage. The data are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that psychopathy may be related to dysfunction of the paralimbic system--a system that includes parts of the temporal and frontal lobes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The removal of heavy metals from aqueous solution using a recoverable poly [N-(dithiocarboxylate)-iminioethene] column

Poly [N-(dithiocarboxylate)-iminioethene] dispersed on kieselguhr provides a highly effective column packing for the removal of toxic heavy metals from aqueous solution. Metal ions removed include iron(II), cobalt(II), rhodium(III), nickel(II), palladium(II), platinum(II), copper(II), silver(I), zinc(II), cadmium(II) and mercury(II). The high metal ion uptakes previously observed in batch operation are maintained in column operation. Feed solutions with temperatures between ambient and 45°C are tolerated. pH values as low as 0.5 are not harmful to the column so long as the acid is hydrochloric acid. Nitric and sulphuric acids can be used down to pH 3.5 without harming the polymer. The column can be regenerated using cyanide solution for all metal ions except iron(II), cobalt(II) and zinc(II); disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate can be used for these three metal ions.     

Partial molar volumes and size factor data for alloy constituents of stainless steel

Partial molar volumes and size factors were determined via density measurements for all of the major components in Type 316 stainless steel. All of the substitutional components were found to exhibit ideal behavior with respect to volume change upon mixing to better than 10 pct with the exception of silicon (which had a deviation of - 43.4 pct). Of the substitutional solutes only molybdenum was found to have a significant misfit or size parameter. Both carbon and nitrogen exhibit large positive size factors. This report is based on work performed by Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory, Richland, Washington, operated by Westinghouse Hanford Company, a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, under United States Atomic Energy Commission Contract AT(15-l)-2170.     

Patient safety and computerized medication ordering at Brigham and Women's Hospital

BACKGROUND: Medications are important therapeutic tools in health care, yet creating safe medication processes is challenging for many reasons. Computerized physician order entry (CPOE), one important way that technology can be used to improve the medication process, has been in place at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH; Boston) since 1993. CPOE AT BWH: The CPOE application, designed and developed internally by the BWH information systems team, allows physicians and other clinicians to enter all patient orders into the computer. Physicians enter 85% of orders, with the remainder entered electronically by other clinicians. CPOE AND SAFE MEDICATION USE: The CPOE application at BWH includes several features designed to improve medication safety--structural features (for example, required fields, use of pick lists), enhanced workflow features (order sets, standard scales for insulin and potassium), alerts and reminders (drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checking), and adjunct features (the pharmacy system, access to online reference information). RESULTS AT BWH: Studies of the impact of CPOE on physician decision making and patient safety at BWH include assessment of CPOE's impact on the serious medication error and the preventable adverse drug event rate, the impact of computer guidelines on the use of vancomycin, the impact of guidelines on the use of heparin in patients at bed rest, and the impact of dosing suggestions on excessive dosing. CONCLUSION: CPOE and several forms of clinical decision support targeted at increasing patient safety have substantially decreased the frequency of serious medication errors and have had an even bigger impact on the overall medication error rate.     

Electrolytic Co-deposition of Ni-CrAlY Composite Coatings Using Different Deposition Configurations

With the aim of seeking an alternative low-cost process for the fabrication of MCrAlY coatings, an electrolytic co-deposition process was employed to form a composite coating consisting of a Ni matrix and CrAlY particles. Three configurations were investigated in the co-deposition process, including a vertical setup, a horizontal arrangement, and a rotating barrel. The CrAlY volume fractions in the resultant composite coatings were compared. The advantages and disadvantages of each configuration were discussed. Among the three configurations studied in this paper, the rotating barrel demonstrated the best overall performance, with the capability of producing coatings with more uniform CrAlY particle incorporation of up to 40 vol.%.