Sunlighting evaluation in buildings

The author is a teacher and researcher at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in the College of Architecture and describes with detailed illustrations a number of case studies on shading efficiency.     

Bi-2223/Ag-sheathed tape processing studies

The production of high critical current density J_c Bi-2223/Ag sheathed conductors is a complex process involving interactions among many different parameters. The effects of three factors: 1) powder production path, 2) the first sinter temperature, and 3) the subsequent sinter temperatures were investigated. Statistical methods were used to design the experiment and interpret the results. Transport J_c was the main response for the analysis, but microstructural results were also used to assess the physical basis for the differences in performance. The powder variable had the largest main effect with only very weak main effects for the other factors.     

Endoscopic management of biliary fistula

A 78-year-old woman complained of ocular pain in the right eye. Thirty-three months before, the patient had a pterygium excised and mitomycin C, 0.04%, was instilled 3 times a day postoperatively for 10 days in the right eye. The same surgery was performed and the same drug was used for a course of 5 days in the left eye. Corneoscleral ulceration and corneal performation occurred in the right eye. The lesions were successfully treated with a lamellar patch graft with reserved corneosclera. We believe that it may not be safe to instill 0.04% mitomycin C 3 times a day postoperatively for 10 days.     

Effects of nicotine dose and administration method on withdrawal symptoms and side effects during short-term smoking abstinence.

The effects of using several different nicotine replacement treatments on self-reported withdrawal symptoms and side effects during 2-day periods of smoking cessation, with 5 days of ad lib smoking between cessation days, were evaluated. Participants (N ?=?18) experienced the following conditions: nicotine gum, 24-hr patch, 16-hr patch, 24-hr patch plus gum, double 24-hr patch, and no nicotine replacement. The present study found morning urge to smoke was greater during the 16-hr than during the 24-hr patch condition. Double-patch use resulted in significantly greater insomnia than the smoking baseline and 16-hr patch conditions. The no medication and gum alone conditions resulted in similar withdrawal symptoms, and both tended to result in greater reported withdrawal symptoms than the smoking baseline condition. There were no significant withdrawal symptom differences between the 24-hr, patch-gum, and double-patch conditions. The 24-hr and double-patch conditions were preferred by two thirds of the participants (6 each). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Viability of a native isolate of Lactobacillus brevis in a fermented milky drink

The objective of this research was to test the viability of a native isolate of Lactobacillus brevis in two fermented milky drinks: a drink without prebiotic ingredient and another drink with oat flour (0.5%, p/v) as prebiotic ingredient. The viability of L. brevis was tested at 7, 14, and 21 after inoculation. Drink pH and lactic acid concentration was measured as a function of time (2, 7, 14, and 21 days after inoculation). The isolate was viable in both drinks because its counting plates was higher than 10(6) CFU/mL until day 21st. Between the 7th and 14th day, the rate of growth was higher in the drink that included oat flour, however, at the day 21st the colony density was similar in both drinks.     

单片IC实现IrDA和RS-232通信

概述 为提高数据的传输速率、方便用户操作,现代电子设备常常采用新型接口电路实现数据通信,IrDA利用无线方式进行数据通信,操作简单,是目前接口设计的优选方案之一.实际应用中,有些设备并不支持新型接口电路,需要设计方案向下兼容、支持传统的RS-232接口,这时仅采用一种接口方案无法满足系统要求,正是考虑到这一需求,现代产品往往同时支持IrDA和RS-232两种接口标准.     

Experimental Study of the Oxidative Degradation of PBX 9501 and its Components

The results of the constituent aging study (CAS) are given, where low‐temperature (T<64 °C) aging experiments were performed on over 1100 closed‐container samples of various combinations of the components of the plastic‐bonded explosive PBX 9501. Experiments were performed on the various combinations both in the absence and presence of free‐radical stabilizers. The product gases were identified and quantified as a function of aging time. The gas data show diverse chemistry between CAS samples and initial linear increases in product gas formation. Temperature analysis of the initial production rates of gas products shows straight Arrhenius plots. The extracted activation energies and frequency factors for the formation of the individual gas products yield a single linear kinetic compensation plot suggesting a common degradation pathway for PBX 9501 and combinations of constituents that contained nitroplasticizer (a eutectic mixture of bis‐2,2‐dintropropyl acetal and bis‐2,2‐dintropropyl formal).