Methoxyphenols and levoglucosan ratios in PM2.5 from wheat and Kentucky bluegrass stubble burning in eastern Washington and northern Idaho

Eastern Washington is compromised by various pollution sources, of which agricultural burning is a particular burden. Smoke from field burning is a nuisance to nearby communities and is a concern for health. This study evaluates levoglucosan (LG) and methoxyphenols (MPs) as potential tracers for apportioning field burning smoke. PM2.5 (particulate matter < 2.5 microM m in aerodynamic diameter) samples from wheat and Kentucky bluegrass (KBG) stubble smoke were collected from chamber and field burns. The samples were analyzed for inorganic and organic tracers, including LG and 19 MPs. For the chamber experiments, the amount of LG, approximately 23 microg mg(-1) PM2.5, found in wheat and KBG stubble smoke was similar, while the total MPs was higher in wheat. Trace elements associated with soil were found in smoke samples in the field. Syringaldehyde, acetosyringone, and coniferylaldehyde were found to be the most prominent particle-phase MPs in wheat smoke, and these compounds were not always present in detectable amounts in KBG smoke. The ratio of LG/ syringaldehyde found in wheat (78 +/- 27) was higher than the same ratio reported for softwoods (22 +/- 3) and hardwoods (approximately 5). Similarly, the ratio of LG/coniferylaidehyde was higher in wheat stubble smoke (180 +/- 39) compared to that in softwoods (approximately 7) and hardwoods (approximately 8).     

Reliability impact due to high current,lattice and hot carriers temperatures on β(2×2) matrix ESD power devices for advanced CMOS technologies

The main purpose of this paper is to present the behavior of a β^(2×2) matrix ESD power device with the effects of high ESD current, lattice and hot carriers temperatures. The beta matrix is a candidate for ESD device network for advanced CMOS technologies. This demonstrator is done in C45 & C32 nm CMOS technologies. The high ESD current, lattice temperature and hot carriers temperature are study thanks to 3D TCAD simulations in ACS stimulus. Thus, it is possible to identify the potential weakness point and optimize the topology of this kind of power device. Moreover, the IV curves are measured in TLP condition to determine the ESD response.     

Effect of Agronomical Practices on the Nutritional Quality of Virgin Olive Oil at Different Ripening Stages

There is a need to verify the quality of organically produced olive oils and to compare them to conventional ones. The objective of this study was to assess possible differences in nutritional quality between agronomic practices in Picual and Hojiblanca olive oil varieties at different stages of olive ripeness. The results showed that organic versus conventional cultivation did not consistently affect acidity, peroxide index or spectrophotometric constants of the virgin olive oils considered in this study. On the contrary, phenol content, oxidative stability, tocopherol content and fatty acid composition were affected by the agronomical practices. Principal component analysis indicated that linolenic acid and β‐tocopherol were mainly responsible for discriminating Hojiblanca organic oils, whereas total phenols, palmitoleic acid and α‐tocopherol were the major contributors to differentiating Picual conventional oils. Lignoceric and stearic acids were related to oils from unripe and ripe olive fruits, respectively. Long‐term experiments are required to confirm these results.     

The bilinear transformation in microwaves: a unified approach

Probably the first encounter of a student of microwave circuits with a bilinear transformation takes place when he studies impedance transformation and matching. Later, when he advances in the study of high frequencies, he will find this kind of transformation in issues like synthesis of signal separation structures and n-port reflectometer calibration and measurement. However, for each appearing transformation, there is generally an individual treatment with no connection to the others, and with a minimum interpretation of its geometrical significance, which impedes a thorough appraisal of generalized transformation attributes. In order to give a global perspective of bilinear transformation uses in microwaves, this paper presents a unified notion and includes geometrical exegesis for some particular applications. In this way, the bilinear transformations between parameters, parameter matrices, and matrix eigenvalues related to microwaves are presented in a congruous and connected form. These transformations are single-valued functional relations of a complex variable between immittance (impedance and admittance) and reflection coefficient parameters, reflection coefficient and power parameters, and immittance and scattering parameters     

Preliminary Mechanical Characterization of Thermal Filters for the X-IFU Instrument on Athena

The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) is one of the two instruments of the Athena astrophysics space mission approved by ESA in the Cosmic Vision Science Program. The X-IFU consists of a large array of TES microcalorimeters that will operate at?~?50 mK inside a sophisticated cryostat. A set of thin filters, highly transparent to X-rays, will be mounted on the cryostat thermal shields in order to attenuate the IR radiative load, to attenuate RF electromagnetic interferences, and to protect the detector from contamination. In this paper, we present the current thermal filters design, describe the filter samples developed/procured so far, and present preliminary results from the ongoing characterization tests.     

Evaluating short-term rock burst damage in underground mines using a systems approach

ABSTRACT

A new rock burst damage scale index (RDSI) based on the Rock Engineering Systems paradigm and on a BP-ANN is proposed. Seven parameters that are likely to affect rock burst damage are considered to construct the ANN and to objectively code the interaction matrix. A probabilistic analysis is employed to associate damage categories to RDSI values. The methodology is validated using 24 case histories that had not been employed during the training of network. Results suggest that the RDSI can probabilistically predict the damage scale with an accuracy that could be acceptable in engineering, hence simplifying the prediction for real applications.     

Efficacy of zidovudine and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) hyperimmune immunoglobulin for reducing perinatal HIV transmission from HIV-infected women with advanced disease: results of Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group protocol 185

Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group protocol 185 evaluated whether zidovudine combined with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) hyperimmune immunoglobulin (HIVIG) infusions administered monthly during pregnancy and to the neonate at birth would significantly lower perinatal HIV transmission compared with treatment with zidovudine and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) without HIV antibody. Subjects had baseline CD4 cell counts /=200/microL) but not with time of zidovudine initiation (5.6% vs. 4.8% if started before vs. during pregnancy; P=. 75). The Kaplan-Meier transmission rate for HIVIG recipients was 4. 1% (95% confidence interval, 1.5%-6.7%) and for IVIG recipients was 6.0% (2.8%-9.1%) (P=.36). The unexpectedly low transmission confirmed that zidovudine prophylaxis is highly effective, even for women with advanced HIV disease and prior zidovudine therapy, although it limited the study's ability to address whether passive immunization diminishes perinatal transmission.     

On optimal call admission control in resource-sharing system

In this paper, we consider call admission control of multiple classes without waiting room. We use event-based dynamic programming for our model. We show that sometimes the customer classes can be ordered: if it is optimal to accept a class, then to accept a more profitable class is optimal too. We demonstrate submodularity of the minimum cost for the 2-classes problem and establish some properties of optimal policies. Then we formulate a fluid model that allows us to study the optimal control for the large-capacity case. We show that in the case of same service time distributions, the control problem can be reduced to a model with a one-dimensional (1-D) state space, and a trunk reservation policy is optimal. We present numerical examples that validate our results