Inferring kinetic dissolution of NaCl in aqueous glycol solution using a low-cost apparatus and population balance model

An experimental methodology for inferring brine dissolution rate in monoethylene glycol (MEG) solutions at different temperatures using a webcam combined with a mathematical model is presented. The measurement system is designed to track the RGB (red, green, and blue) colour variations during the dissolution process. A dynamic model augmented with the population balance equation is applied to describe the dissolution process. Moreover, the dissolution rate is consistently related to the temperature and MEG concentration through the driving force based on the Gibbs energy and chemical affinity. The applied low-cost measurement apparatus proved to be a useful resource for tracking the dissolution dynamics in a wide range of undersaturation.     

A quadruple well, quadruple polysilicon BiCMOS process for fast 16Mb SRAM's

An advanced, high-performance, quadruple well, quadruple polysilicon BiCMOS technology has been developed for fast 16 Mb SRAM's. A split word-line bitcell architecture, using four levels of polysilicon and two self-aligned contacts, achieves a cell area of 8.61 μm² with conventional I-line lithography and 7.32 μm² with I-line plus phase-shift or with deep UV lithography. The process features PELOX isolation to provide a 1.0 μm active pitch, MOSFET transistors designed for a 0.80 μm gate poly pitch, a double polysilicon bipolar transistor with aggressively scaled parasitics, and a thin-film polysilicon transistor to enhance bitcell stability. A quadruple-well structure improves soft error rate (SER) and allows simultaneous optimization of MOSFET and bipolar performance     

Natural and induced tolerance in an immune network model

It has been proposed that the immune system can be partitioned into central and peripheral immune systems. Recently, Carneiro et al. (1996a, b) proposed a network, model incorporating B and T lymphocytes that explicitly accounts for that partition. This model however, had some limitations that are tackled here. Two main changes were introduced: the average idiotypic connectivity is now an explicit function of time based on empirical evidence; and the activation of T lymphocytes by antigen is described by a log-bell shaped dose response curve. The new model, which also accounts for the CIS and PIS distinction, shows more reasonable results since the frequencies of tolerant, immune or autoimmune responses to an antigen are now correct. The model provides a new interpretation for tolerance induction during the neonatal period, and for the adult tolerance by low or high doses of antigen. It predicts that natural tolerance for antigens available during the neonatal period can be kept indefinitely upon their removal, while tolerance induced in the adult stages is rapidly lost upon transient removal of the antigen. A semiquantitative analysis of the model provides a simple explanation for the different results in terms of the frequency at which a limited set of canonical connectivity structures emerge during ontogenesis.     

EFFECT OF THE CONVECTIVE INERTIA TERM ON BENARD CONVECTION IN A POROUS MEDIUM

The thermal impact of the convective inertia term, which resembles the term used in the Navier-Stokes equation for pure fluids, is investigated numerically considering Bénard convection in a fluid-saturated porous medium. There has been some theoretical discussion in the archival literature about the correctness of including an inertia term in the form of a velocity divergent. The present study shows numerically that this convective term (inertia) is negligible for most cases and has a negligible effect on the overall heat transfer. The relative importance of the inertia and Forchheimer terms bated on scale analysis is found to agree with the numerical results. This evidence adds strength to the theoretical assessment found in the literature.     

Endometrial polyps: a comparison study of patients receiving tamoxifen with two control groups

OBJECTIVES: To provide a review of the unique features of both Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in pediatric and geriatric patient populations. Treatment approaches and nursing care interventions at the extremes of age will be discussed. DATA SOURCES: Review articles, research studies, and book chapters. CONCLUSIONS: Lymphoma is a highly heterogeneous malignancy whose classification and management have undergone significant evolution. Of particular concern has been lymphoma's prevalence and treatment at the extremes of age. Appropriate treatment by age and subtype remains controversial. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: The nursing care of pediatric and geriatric patients with lymphoma presents numerous challenges in education, symptom management, and supportive care.     

Comparison of supercritical fluid extraction and conventional liquid-solid extraction for the determination of benzo[a]pyrene in water-soluble smoke

In patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation cryptococcosis is rarely encountered. We report a fatal case of Cryptococcus meningitis in a 12-year-old girl with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in second remission who had a transplant from a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical unrelated bone marrow donor. The conditioning regimen was thiotepa, cyclophosphamide, and total body irradiation (TBI); graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporin A, methotrexate, and antilymphocyte globulin (ALG). The patient experienced stage III GVHD responsive to high-dose corticosteroids. On day +54 a thrombotic microangiopathy occurred. On day +64 neurological status worsened; a brain computed tomographic (CT) scan showed hyperdense lesions suggesting fungal infection. Detection of cryptococcal antigen by latex agglutination was positive but India ink stain and culture were negative. Despite treatment with amphotericin B, 5-flucytosine, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, the patient died 13 days after the diagnosis.     

Investigation of transient fluid flow and heat transfer in a continuous casting tundish by numerical analysis verified with nonisothermal water model experiments

The tundish process is complicated due to the periodic nature of its operation during the changing of ladles, which makes it both a transient and nonisothermal process. A nonisothermal water model, with temperature variations in the inlet stream, is described in this article. A three-dimensional (3-D) transient mathematical model to simulate the fluid flow and heat transfer in this water model is also introduced. From the experimental and numerical results, it is shown that there is a significant thermal buoyancy force contributing to the flow in this nonisothermal water model.     

Accident rates and types among self-employed private forest owners

Half of all Swedish forests are owned by private individuals, and at least 215,000 people work in these privately owned forest holdings. However, only lethal accidents are systematically monitored among self-employed forest workers. Therefore, data from the registries of the Swedish Work Environment Authority, the Labor Insurance Organization and the regional University Hospital in Umeå were gathered to allow us to perform a more in-depth assessment of the rate and types of accidents that occurred among private forest owners.We found large differences between the registries in the type and number of accidents that were reported. We encountered difficulties in defining “self-employed forest worker” and also in determining whether the accidents that did occur happened during work or leisure time. Consequently, the estimates for the accident rate that we obtained varied from 32 to ≥4300 injured persons per year in Sweden, depending on the registry that was consulted, the definition of the sample population that was used, and the accident severity definition that was employed. Nevertheless, the different registries gave a consistent picture of the types of accidents that occur while individuals are participating in self-employed forestry work. Severe accidents were relatively common, as self-employed forestry work fatalities constituted 7% of the total number of fatalities in the work authority registry. Falling trees were associated with many of these fatal accidents as well as with accidents that resulted in severe non-fatal injuries. Thus, unsafe work methods appeared more related to the occurrence of an accident than the equipment that was being used at the time of the accident (e.g., a chainsaw). Improvement of the workers’ skills should therefore be considered to be an important prevention measure that should be undertaken in this field.The challenges in improving the safety in these smallest of companies, which fall somewhere between the purview of occupational and consumer safety, are exemplified and discussed.     

Meshless Helmholtz-Hodge Decomposition

Vector fields analysis traditionally distinguishes conservative (curl-free) from mass preserving (divergence-free) components. The Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition allows separating any vector field into the sum of three uniquely defined components: curl free, divergence free and harmonic. This decomposition is usually achieved by using mesh-based methods such as finite differences or finite elements. This work presents a new meshless approach to the Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition for the analysis of 2D discrete vector fields. It embeds into the SPH particle-based framework. The proposed method is efficient and can be applied to extract features from a 2D discrete vector field and to multiphase fluid flow simulation to ensure incompressibility.