Rapid continuous chemical analysis of meat chicken shed emissions by SIFT–MS

Assessing and addressing odour impacts from poultry production is extremely difficult and subjective because the odorants involved and their dynamics over time and space are poorly understood. This knowledge gap is due, in part, to the lack of suitable analytical tools for measuring and monitoring odorants in the field. The emergence of Selected Ion Flow Tube – Mass Spectrometry (SIFT–MS) and similar instruments is changing that. These tools can rapidly quantify targeted odorants in ambient air in real time, even at very low concentrations. Such data is essential for developing better odour abatement strategies, assessment methods and odour dispersion models. This project trialled a SIFT–MS to determine its suitability for assessing the odorants in meat chicken shed emissions over time and space. This report details evaluations in New Zealand and Australia to determine the potential of SIFT–MS as a tool for the chicken meat industry, including odour measurement (as a proxy for dynamic olfactometry). The report is specifically targeted at those funding and conducting poultry odour research. It will be of interest to those involved with environmental odour monitoring and assessment in general. The high upfront cost of SIFT–MS will lead to potential users wanting compelling evidence that SIFT–MS will meet their needs before they invest in one

Artificial olfaction system for on-site odour measurement

Odour impacts and concerns are an impediment to the growth of the Australian chicken meat industry. To manage these, the industry has to be able to demonstrate the efficacy of its odour reduction strategies scientifically and defensibly; however, it currently lacks reliable, cost effective and objective tools to do so. This report describes the development of an artificial olfaction system (AOS) to measure meat chicken farm odour. This report describes the market research undertaken to determine the demand for such a tool, the development and evaluation of three AOS prototypes, data analysis and odour prediction modelling, and the development of two complementary odour measurement tools, namely, a volatile organic compound (VOC) pre-concentrator and a field olfactometer. This report is aimed at investors in poultry odour research and those charged with, or interested in, assessment of odour on chicken farms, including farm managers, integrators, their consultants, regulators and researchers. The findings will influence the focus of future environmental odour measurement research

Early warning monitoring of natural and engineered slopes with Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar

The first application of ground-based interferometric synthetic-aperture radar (GBInSAR) for slope monitoring dates back 13 years. Today, GBInSAR is used internationally as a leading-edge tool for near-real-time monitoring of surface slope movements in landslides and open pit mines. The success of the technology relies mainly on its ability to measure slope movements rapidly with sub- millimetric accuracy over wide areas and in almost any weather conditions. In recent years, GBInSAR has experienced significant improvements, due to the development of more advanced radar techniques in terms of both data processing and sensor performance. These improvements have led to widespread diffusion of the technology for early warning monitoring of slopes in both civil and mining applications. The main technical features of modern SAR technology for slope monitoring are discussed in this paper. A comparative analysis with other monitoring technologies is also presented along with some recent examples of successful slope monitorin

Lattice Boltzmann study on Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: the roles of velocity and density gradients

A two-dimensional lattice Boltzmann model with 19 discrete velocities for compressible Euler equations is proposed (D2V19-LBM). The fifth-order Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (5th-WENO) finite difference scheme is employed to calculate the convection term of the lattice Boltzmann equation. The validity of the model is verified by comparing simulation results of the Sod shock tube with its corresponding analytical solutions. The velocity and density gradient effects on the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) are investigated using the proposed model. Sharp density contours are obtained in our simulations. It is found that, the linear growth rate $\gamma$ for the KHI decreases with increasing the width of velocity transition layer ${D_{v}}$ but increases with increasing the width of density transition layer ${D_{\rho}}$. After the initial transient period and before the vortex has been well formed, the linear growth rates, $\gamma_v$ and $\gamma_{\rho}$, vary with ${D_{v}}$ and ${D_{\rho}}$ approximately in the following way, $\ln\gamma_{v}=a-bD_{v}$ and $\gamma_{\rho}=c+e\ln D_{\rho} ({D_{\rho}}<{D_{\rho}^{E}})$, where $a$, $b$, $c$ and $e$ are fitting parameters and ${D_{\rho}^{E}}$ is the effective interaction width of density transition layer. When ${D_{\rho}}>{D_{\rho}^{E}}$ the linear growth rate $\gamma_{\rho}$ does not vary significantly any more. One can use the hybrid effects of velocity and density transition layers to stabilize the KHI. Our numerical simulation results are in general agreement with the analytical results [L. F. Wang, \emph{et al.}, Phys. Plasma \textbf{17}, 042103 (2010)].Comment: Accepted for publication in PR

Self-consistent numerical dispersion relation of the ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability of double ablation fronts in inertial confinement fusion

The linear stability analysis of accelerated double ablation fronts is carried out numerically with a self-consistent approach. Accurate hydrodynamic profiles are taken into account in the theoretical model by means of a fitting parameters method using 1D simulation results. Numerical dispersión relation is compared to an analytical sharp boundary model [Yan˜ez et al., Phys. Plasmas 18, 052701 (2011)] showing an excellent agreement for the radiation dominated regime of very steep ablation fronts, and the stabilization due to smooth profiles. 2D simulations are presented to validate the numerical self-consistent theory

Study of shock waves generation, hot electron production and role of parametric instabilities in an intensity regime relevant for the shock ignition

We present experimental results at intensities relevant to Shock Ignition obtained at the sub-ns Prague Asterix Laser System in 2012 . We studied shock waves produced by laser-matter interaction in presence of a pre-plasma. We used a first beam at 1ω (1315 nm) at 7 × 10 13 W/cm 2 to create a pre-plasma on the front side of the target and a second at 3ω (438 nm) at ∼ 10 16 W/cm 2 to create the shock wave. Multilayer targets composed of 25 (or 40 μm) of plastic (doped with Cl), 5 μm of Cu (for Kα diagnostics) and 20 μm of Al for shock measurement were used. We used X-ray spectroscopy of Cl to evaluate the plasma temperature, Kα imaging and spectroscopy to evaluate spatial and spectral properties of the fast electrons and a streak camera for shock breakout measurements. Parametric instabilities (Stimulated Raman Scattering, Stimulated Brillouin Scattering and Two Plasmon Decay) were studied by collecting the back scattered light and analysing its spectrum. Back scattered energy was measured with calorimeters. To evaluate the maximum pressure reached in our experiment we performed hydro simulations with CHIC and DUED codes. The maximum shock pressure generated in our experiment at the front side of the target during laser-interaction is 90 Mbar. The conversion efficiency into hot electrons was estimated to be of the order of ∼ 0.1% and their mean energy in the order ∼50 keV. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distributio

Effect of adalimumab on neutrophil function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Neutrophils are known to be targets for the biological activity of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)- alpha in the pathogenensis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Therefore, these cells may be among the targets of anti-TNF- alpha therapy. In this study we evaluated the effect of therapy with adalimumab (a fully human anti-TNF- alpha mAb; dosage: 40 mg subcutaneously every other week) on certain phenotypic and functional aspects of neutrophils obtained from 10 selected patients with RA and 20 healthy control individuals. Peripheral blood neutrophils were obtained at baseline and during anti-TNF- alpha therapy (2, 6 and 12 weeks after the first administration of adalimumab). All patients had been receiving a stable regimen of hydroxychloroquine, methotrexate and prednisone for at least 3 months before and during the study. Baseline neutrophil chemotaxis was significantly decreased in RA patients when compared with control individuals (P < 0.001). Two weeks after the first administration of adalimumab, chemotactic activity was completely restored, with no differences noted between patients and control individuals; these normal values were confirmed 6 and 12 weeks after the start of anti-TNF- alpha therapy. Phagocytic activity and CD11b membrane expression on neutrophils were similar between RA patients and control individuals; no modifications were observed during TNF- alpha neutralization. The production of reactive oxygen species, both in resting and PMA (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate)-stimulated cells, was significantly higher in RA patients at baseline (P < 0.05) and was unmodified by anti-TNF- alpha mAb. Finally, we showed that the activation antigen CD69, which was absent on control neutrophils, was significantly expressed on neutrophils from RA patients at baseline (P < 0.001, versus control individuals); however, the molecule was barely detectable on cells obtained from RA patients during adalimumab therapy. Because CD69 potentially plays a role in the pathogenesis of arthritis, our findings suggest that neutrophils are among the targets of anti-TNF- alpha activity in RA and may provide an insight into a new and interesting mechanism of action of anti-TNF- alpha mAbs in the control of inflammatory arthritis

Assessment of ion kinetic effects in shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions using fusion burn imaging

The significance and nature of ion kinetic effects in D3He-filled, shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions are assessed through measurements of fusion burn profiles. Over this series of experiments, the ratio of ion-ion mean free path to minimum shell radius (the Knudsen number, NK) was varied from 0.3 to 9 in order to probe hydrodynamic-like to strongly kinetic plasma conditions; as the Knudsen number increased, hydrodynamic models increasingly failed to match measured yields, while an empirically-tuned, first-step model of ion kinetic effects better captured the observed yield trends [Rosenberg et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 185001 (2014)]. Here, spatially resolved measurements of the fusion burn are used to examine kinetic ion transport effects in greater detail, adding an additional dimension of understanding that goes beyond zero-dimensional integrated quantities to one-dimensional profiles. In agreement with the previous findings, a comparison of measured and simulated burn profiles shows that models including ion transport effects are able to better match the experimental results. In implosions characterized by large Knudsen numbers (NK3), the fusion burn profiles predicted by hydrodynamics simulations that exclude ion mean free path effects are peaked far from the origin, in stark disagreement with the experimentally observed profiles, which are centrally peaked. In contrast, a hydrodynamics simulation that includes a model of ion diffusion is able to qualitatively match the measured profile shapes. Therefore, ion diffusion or diffusion-like processes are identified as a plausible explanation of the observed trends, though further refinement of the models is needed for a more complete and quantitative understanding of ion kinetic effects

Time evolution of stimulated Raman scattering and two-plasmon decay at laser intensities relevant for shock ignition in a hot plasma

Laser–plasma interaction (LPI) at intensities 1015–1016 W cm2 is dominated by parametric instabilities which can be responsible for a significant amount of non-collisional absorption and generate large fluxes of high-energy nonthermal electrons. Such a regime is of paramount importance for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and in particular for the shock ignition scheme. In this paper we report on an experiment carried out at the Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) facility to investigate the extent and time history of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and two-plasmon decay (TPD) instabilities, driven by the interaction of an infrared laser pulse at an intensity 1:2 1016 W cm2 with a 100 mm scalelength plasma produced from irradiation of a flat plastic target. The laser pulse duration (300 ps) and the high value of plasma temperature (4 keV) expected from hydrodynamic simulations make these results interesting for a deeper understanding of LPI in shock ignition conditions. Experimental results show that absolute TPD/SRS, driven at a quarter of the critical density, and convective SRS, driven at lower plasma densities, are well separated in time, with absolute instabilities driven at early times of interaction and convective backward SRS emerging at the laser peak and persisting all over the tail of the pulse. Side-scattering SRS, driven at low plasma densities, is also clearly observed. Experimental results are compared to fully kinetic large-scale, two-dimensional simulations. Particle-in-cell results, beyond reproducing the framework delineated by the experimental measurements, reveal the importance of filamentation instability in ruling the onset of SRS and stimulated Brillouin scattering instabilities and confirm the crucial role of collisionless absorption in the LPI energy balance

Review of progress in Fast Ignition

Copyright 2005 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Physics of Plasmas, 12(5), 057305, 2005 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.187124