Modeling of the Rheological Behavior of Wood in Compression Processes

A rheological equation of state for wood which allows for the running values of its porosity and humidity is considered.     

The effects of widowhood on physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes: The Women's Health Initiative.

This study examined whether widowhood was associated with physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes using a cross-sectional (N=72,247) and prospective (N=55,724) design in women aged 50-79 years participating in the Women's Health Initiative observational study (85.4% White). At baseline, married women reported better physical and mental health and generally better health behaviors than widowed women. Whereas women who remained married over the 3-year period showed stability in mental health, recent widows experienced marked impairments and longer term widows showed stability or slight improvements. Both groups of widows reported more unintentional weight loss over the 3-year period. Changes in physical health and health behaviors were inconsistent, with generally small effect sizes. Findings underscore the resilience of older women and their capacity to reestablish connections, but point to the need for services that strengthen social support among women who have difficulty during this transition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anaerobic biodecolorization of textile reactive anthraquinone and phthalocyanine dyebaths under hypersaline conditions.

The biological decolorization of two industrial, spent textile reactive dyebaths was investigated using a suspended-growth, halophilic mixed culture fed with glucose. Dyebath I contained mainly Reactive Blue 19 (RB19), an anthraquinone dye, whereas dyebath II contained mainly Reactive Blue 21 (RB21), a phthalocyanine dye. Batch assays under anaerobic conditions with the two neutralized dyebaths resulted in 87 and 37% extent of decolorization for dyebaths I and II, respectively. The rate of glucose utilization and the extent of acetate production were impacted in the presence of each dyebath as compared to the control culture. However, dyebath decolorization occurred despite moderate culture inhibition. Reuse of a biologically renovated RB19-containing dyebath in the dyeing process resulted in reproducible but not identical cotton fabric shades as compared to a standard dyeing (i.e., control) using fresh water. This difference is attributed to a variable degree of RB19 aggregation during the dyeing process and is not related to the efficiency of the biodecolorization process. Further improvement of the redyeing efficiency will lead to the development of an in-plant, closed-loop decolorization system resulting in significant water conservation and minimization of textile pollutants such as salt and dyes.     

Rat hepatocyte plasma membrane acyl:CoA synthetase activity

The presence of long chain acyl:CoA synthetases in mammalian microsomes and mitochondria has been established previously by Aas (Biochim. Biophys. Acta 231, 32–47 [1971]). The presence of a plasma membrane-associated enzyme was investigated in rat hepatocyte plasma membranes, where an enzyme exhibiting high activity and with a preferred substrate of 18-carbon chain length was discovered. The results are consistent with the presence of a single enzyme. The effect of the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acid substrates was not as pronounced as that arising from the length of the carbon chain. The pattern of substrate preference of the enzyme was ω3 polyenoic fatty acids >ω6 polyenoic acids >ω9 monoenoic acids > saturated acids. This may relate to the similar substrate preference pattern exhibited by the fatty acyl desaturase enzymes. The role played by long chain acyl:CoA synthetase in hepatocyte metabolism is uncertain, but it may relate to the incorporation of polyenoic fatty acids from the circulation into cell membranes and the trapping of other fatty acids within the cell for further metabolism.     

Convective transfer processes in chemically stable and reacting liquids with an internal structure

Dynamic processes are studied in media with softly and hardly internal destroyable configurations. A method is examined for the measurement of properties of media with spatial separation of the chemical transformation stages and thermal hydrodynamic measurements.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 53, No. 5, pp. 781–789, November, 1987.     

Performance of unitary heat pumps: review of ASHRAE Symposium session

1. 1. System design optimization and validation for single-speed heat pump by S.K. Fischer and C.K. Rice, Oak Ridge National Laboratories.

2. 2. Analysis of on/off cycling for an air-to-air heat pump operating in the heating mode by W.A. Miller, Oak Ridge National Laboratories.

3. 3. Field measured cycling, frosting and defrosting losses for a high efficiency air source heat pump by V.D. Baxter and J.C. Moyers, Oak Ridge National Laboratories.

4. 4. Design and available energy analysis of a heating-only residential heat pump for the Western Pacific Northwest by D.E. Elger, C.M. Reistad and S. Lang, Oregon State University.

5. 5. A study of heat pump service life by Nance C. Lovvorn, Alabama Power Company and Carl C. Hiller, Electric Power Research.

10-Gb/s error-free transmission under optical reflection using isolator-free 1.3- /spl mu/m InP-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Error-free transmission through 10-km single-mode fiber at 10 Gb/s under -13-dB optical reflections has been demonstrated for the first time using a directly modulated 1.3-/spl mu/m InP-based VCSEL without any optical isolator. The 13-GHz relaxation oscillation frequency and stable polarization suppresses relative intensity noise degradation under optical reflection. Only 1-dB error-free power penalty has been observed with optical reflection set with the worst polarization direction.