Capture of Organic Vapors Using Adsorption and Electrothermal Regeneration

Activated-carbon-fiber cloth (ACFC) is an alternative adsorbent to granular activated carbon (GAC) for removing and recovering organic vapors from gas streams. Electrothermal desorption (ED) of ACFC provides rapid regeneration while requiring less energy compared to traditional regeneration techniques used with GAC. This paper provides proof-of-concept results from a bench-scale ACFC adsorption system. The automated system captured 1,000 ppmv of hazardous air pollutants/volatile organic compounds (HAPs/VOCs) from air streams and demonstrated the use of ED, using ac voltage, to recover the HAP/VOC as a pure liquid. The desorbed HAP/VOC condensed onto the inner walls of the adsorber and was collected at the bottom of the vessel, without the use of ancillary cooling. Seventy percent of the HAP/VOC was collected per cycle as condensate, with the balance being retained in the regenerated adsorber or recycled to the second adsorber. ED with in-vessel condensation results in minimal N2 consumption and short regeneration cycle times allowing the process to be cost competitive with conventional GAC-based adsorption processes. This technology extends the application of carbon adsorption systems to situations that were previously economically and physically impractical.     

A 16-Mbit/s adapter chip for the IBM token-ring local area network

The authors describe a 9.02×9.02-mm chip built in 1-μm CMOS with two levels of metal and an additional mask level for fabricating capacitors. It contains both analog and digital circuits and has provisions for self-test. The function includes the transmitter, receiver, protocol handler, an microprocessor, as well as interfaces for RAM/ROM storage, IBM PC bus, IBM PS/2 bus, IBM 3174 bus, and Motorola 68000 bus. The physical design terrains are formed by 24K circuits of standard cell gates, a 10K-circuit equivalent hand-honed custom microprocessor, and an analog macro. The chip operates from a single 5-V supply, and the power consumption is 0.8 W nominal at 16 Mb/s. The chip can also be operated at 4 Mb/s     

Analysis of Large Flexible Body Deformation in Multibody Systems Using Absolute Coordinates

To consider large deformation problems in multibody system simulations afinite element approach, called absolute nodal coordinate.formulation,has been proposed. In this formulation absolute nodal coordinates andtheir material derivatives are applied to represent both deformation andrigid body motion. The choice of nodal variables allows a fullynonlinear representation of rigid body motion and can provide the exactrigid body inertia in the case of large rotations. The methodology isespecially suited for but not limited to modeling of beams, cables andshells in multibody dynamics.This paper summarizes the absolute nodal coordinate formulation for a 3D Euler–Bernoulli beam model, in particular the definition of nodal variables, corresponding generalized elastic and inertia forces and equations of motion. The element stiffness matrix is a nonlinear function of the nodal variables even in the case of linearized strain/displacement relations. Nonlinear strain/displacement relations can be calculated from the global displacements using quadrature formulae.Computational examples are given which demonstrate the capabilities of the applied methodology. Consequences of the choice of shape.functions on the representation of internal forces are discussed. Linearized strain/displacement modeling is compared to the nonlinear approach and significant advantages of the latter, when using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, are outlined.     

Surface structure of human mucin using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The stimulating effect of antiparkinsonian drugs, talipexole and bromocriptine, on the striatal postsynaptic dopamine receptors were studied by measuring contralateral rotational behavior in rats. The nigro-striatal dopamine system of rats was degenerated by unilateral injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA, 8 micrograms/rat) into substantia nigra. By subcutaneous administration, talipexole at 0.16 mg/kg and bromocriptine at 10.24 mg/kg induced significantly increased rotational behavior to the contralateral direction to the lesioned side. The onset of the effect was 30 min for talipexole and 90 min for bromocriptine. By intragastric administration, talipexole at 0.4 mg/kg and bromocriptine at 20.48 mg/kg significantly increased the rotational behavior, and the onset of the effect was 60 min for talipexole and 180 min for bromocriptine. Rotational behavior induced by talipexole was suppressed by a D2 antagonist, sulpiride (40 mg/kg, s.c.), but not by a D1 antagonist, SCH23390 (1 mg/kg, s.c.). In contrast, rotational behavior induced by bromocriptine was suppressed by both sulpiride and SCH23390. These results indicated that when the nigrostriatal dopaminergic functions are disrupted, talipexole stimulates the striatal postsynaptic dopamine receptors at much lower doses than bromocriptine. Also it was indicated that the stimulating effect of talipexole is solely mediated by dopamine D2 receptors, whereas the effect of bromocriptine is mediated by both D1 and D2 receptors.     

Measurement of the surface-volume mean diameter of sprays

The development of a light absorption technique is described for measuring the surface-volume mean drop size of hollow cone sprays produced by swirl spray pressure nozzles. The results show the method to be applicable to sprays with mean diameters down to at least 25 μm.     

Transient and Energy Transfer Studies of Bianthrone and Related Compounds in Fluid and Rigid Media

The photochromic modification of bianthrone can be produced through a triplet excited state at room temperature in fluid media, as shown by biacetyl photosensitization and phosphorescence quenching. A triplet state of these compounds is observed at 77 K in a methanol ethanol glass, but it is not established if this is the photochromic precursor.     

Perinatal exposure in later psychological and behavioral disabilities.

The purpose of this miniseries is to introduce the field of school psychology to prenatal and perinatal exposures that may result in later psychological and behavioral disability. These outcomes often remain clinically silent until later in development, such as school entry, when the cognitive, behavioral, and language tasks become more complex and demanding. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a codified special issue on this topic has appeared in the school psychology literature. We have endeavored to make this issue multidisciplinary and have been fortunate to attract leading figures from the fields of psychiatry, public health, neuropsychology, and school psychology. Each article in this issue discusses the implications for school psychology prevention, assessment, and intervention. Consistent with any progressive model of physical or psychological health, the general consensus of each article is that prevention is essential, and early assessment is clearly desirable to understand etiology and inform intervention. Thus, this Special Issue represents a beginning step toward more fully exploring and conceptualizing the relationship between prenatal and perinatal exposures and later educational and behavioral disability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coding: why and how

Codes are used in every aspect of our daily lives, and many of the coding schemes in use are inappropriate, poorly implemented, or too fragmented in their coverage. This paper describes various approaches to coding, pointing out their strengths, weaknesses, and most appropriate applications. Those attempting to set up a coding scheme are strongly advised to analyze their needs, select the approach that is best for the application at hand, and carefully monitor the implementation of the coding system they choose. Only by understanding and monitoring our coding schemes can we minimize the amount of inappropriate and exasperating codes in our daily lives.     

Investigation of stress in shallow trench isolation using UV micro-Raman spectroscopy

We present an investigation of local mechanical stress in shallow trench isolation by UV micro-Raman spectroscopy. UV light (364 nm) penetrates only 15 nm into silicon. In contrast to conventional micro-Raman spectroscopy using visible light only the stress very close to the surface is monitored. In this way, local areas of high stress can be detected, that are not seen with longer wavelength light due to averaging. We demonstrate the advantages of the UV method by an investigation of the influence of different trench oxide densification ambients on the amount of mechanical stress in the silicon substrate. We find, that large mechanical stress up to 800 MPa is introduced at the active area edges during densification in steam ambient. This stress is caused by the formation and growth of a bird’s beak, which may lead to defect creation especially in small trenches. This investigation demonstrates the capability to use UV micro-Raman spectroscopy in ULSI technology.     

Involvement of intracellular calcium in morphine tolerance in mice

We attempted to mimic in small upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) bioreactors the metabolic association found in nature between methanogens and methanotrophs. UASB bioreactors were inoculated with pure cultures of methanotrophs, and the bioreactors were operated by using continuous low-level oxygenation in order to favor growth and/or survival of methanotrophs. Unlike the reactors in other similar studies, the hybrid anaerobic-aerobic bioreactors which we used were operated synchronously, not sequentially. Here, emphasis was placed on monitoring various methanotrophic populations by using classical methods and also a PCR amplification assay based on the mmoX gene fragment of the soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO). The following results were obtained: (i) under the conditions used, Methylosinus sporium appeared to survive better than Methylosinus trichosporium; (ii) the PCR method which we used could detect as few as about 2,000 sMMO gene-containing methanotrophs per g (wet weight) of granular sludge; (iii) inoculation of the bioreactors with pure cultures of methanotrophs contributed greatly to increases in the sMMO-containing population (although the sMMO-containing population decreased gradually with time, at the end of an experiment it was always at least 2 logs larger than the initial population before inoculation); (iv) in general, there was a good correlation between populations with the sMMO gene and populations that exhibited sMMO activity; and (v) inoculation with sMMO-positive cultures helped increase significantly the proportion of sMMO-positive methanotrophs in reactors, even after several weeks of operation under various regimes. At some point, anaerobic-aerobic bioreactors like those described here might be used for biodegradation of various chlorinated pollutants.