A Solid Biomass Fuel Ranking Tool

Current methods of ranking and selecting biomass fuels are based on short lists of factors. The objective of this thesis is to develop and demonstrate a fuel ranking tool. Existing fuel decision methods and bioenergy technology are reviewed. A fuel ranking tool is then developed and demonstrated. Finally, a procedure for evaluating the thermal efficiency of a pellet stove bioenergy system is developed and implemented. The tool is designed to be applied by an engineer working in cooperation with the actual fuel user. The user identifies a list of all available fuels which are compatible with their specific energy system. The ranking tool is suitable for users of any sized bioenergy system used for space heating, processing heating, or electricity generation. Through effective communication the engineer lists the user’s performance requirements. Requirements considered in this thesis are economic cost of fuels, required storage space, combustion equipment cleaning, and air pollutants emitted during biofuel combustion. Performance indicators corresponding to the user’s requirements are then selected or developed by the engineer. Data is then collected by the engineer to be used for the evaluation of these indicators. The indicators are then combined using weighting factors by the engineer to assign a single numerical score to each fuel. These scores allow the fuels to quickly and easily be ranked by the user according to how well they satisfy the user’s requirements. The ranking tool is demonstrated by applying it to a situation of a pellet stove user with 3 available fuel types. The three fuels are ranked in terms of their ability to satisfy the user’s requirements with respect to economic cost, storage space, equipment cleaning, certain air pollutant emissions, and supporting the local economy. A pellet stove thermal efficiency evaluation method is used to determine the percentage of fuel heating value delivered as space heat to the room housing the stove. Natural and forced convection as well as radiation heat transfers are modeled. The procedure results in a thermal efficiency measurement of 62% +/- 1% and 58% +/- 1% for premium wood and wheat straw pellets, respectively

Visceral adiposity and left ventricular mass and function in patients with aortic stenosis : the PROGRESSA study

Background : Recent studies have reported that obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes are associated with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) and dysfunction in patients with aortic stenosis (AS). The purpose of this study was to examine the association between amount and distribution of body fat and LVH and systolic dysfunction in AS patients. Methods : One hundred twenty-four patients with AS were prospectively recruited in the PROGRESSA (Metabolic Determinants of the Progression of Aortic Stenosis) study and underwent Doppler echocardiography and computed tomography scan. Presence and severity of LVH was assessed according to LV mass indexed for height2.7 and LV dysfunction according to global longitudinal strain (GLS). Computed tomography was used to quantify abdominal visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissue, and total adipose tissue (TAT). Results : Body mass index (BMI) correlated strongly with TAT (r = 0.85), moderately with VAT (r = 0.70), and SAT (r = 0.69), and weakly with the proportion of VAT (VAT/TAT ratio: r = 0.19). In univariate analysis, greater BMI, TAT, VAT, SAT, and VAT/TAT were associated with increased LV mass index and greater VAT and VAT/TAT ratio were associated with reduced GLS. Multivariate analysis revealed that larger BMI (P < 0.0001) and greater VAT/TAT ratio (P = 0.01) were independently associated with higher prevalence of LVH, and only the VAT/TAT ratio (P = 0.03) was independently associated with reduced GLS. Conclusions : The results of this study suggest that total and visceral adiposity are independently associated with LVH in patients with AS. Furthermore, impairment of LV systolic function does not appear to be influenced by total obesity but is rather related to excess visceral adiposity. These findings provide impetus for elaboration of interventional studies aiming at visceral adiposity in the AS population.De récentes études ont rapporté que l’obésité, le syndrome métabolique et le diabète étaient associés à l’hypertrophie (HVG) et à la dysfonction ventriculaire gauche des patients souffrant d’une sténose aortique (SA). Le but de cette étude était d’examiner le lien entre la quantité et la répartition de la graisse corporelle, l’HVG et la dysfonction systolique chez les patients souffrant d’une SA. Méthodes : Cent vingt-quatre patients souffrant d’une SA ont été recrutés de manière prospective dans l’étude PROGRESSA (Metabolic Determinants of the Progression of Aortic Stenosis), et ont subi une échocardiographie Doppler et une tomodensitométrie. La présence et la sévérité de l’HVG ont été évaluées au moyen de la masse VG indexée par la taille2.7 et la dysfonction systolique du VG par la déformation longitudinale globale du VG (DLG). La tomodensitométrie a été utilisée pour quantifier le tissu adipeux abdominal viscéral (TAV) et sous-cutané (TAS), et le tissu adipeux total (TAT). Résultats : L’indice de masse corporelle (IMC) corrélait fortement avec le TAT (r = 0,85), modérément avec le TAV (r = 0,70) et le TAS (r = 0,69), et faiblement avec la proportion de TAV (rapport TAV/TAT : r = 0,19). En analyse multivariée, des IMC, TAT, TAV, TAS et VAT/TAT plus élevés étaient associés à une augmentation de la masse VG indexée et un TAV et un rapport TAV/TAT plus élevés étaient associés à la réduction de la DLG. L’analyse multivariée a révélé qu’un IMC plus élevé (P < 0,0001) et un rapport TAV/TAT plus élevé (P = 0,01) étaient indépendamment associés à une HVG plus importante, et seul un rapport TAV/TAT était indépendamment associé à une réduction de la DLG. Conclusions : Les résultats de cette étude montrent que l’adiposité totale et l'adiposité viscérale sont indépendamment associées à une HVG chez les patients souffrant d’une SA. De plus, la détérioration de la fonction systolique VG ne semble pas être influencée par l’obésité totale, mais est plutôt liée à une adiposité viscérale excessive. Ces résultats incitent à l’élaboration d’études interventionnelles visant l’adiposité viscérale dans la population souffrant de SA

Variation in DNA Methylation Is Not Consistently Reflected by Sociality in Hymenoptera

Changes in gene regulation that underlie phenotypic evolution can be encoded directly in the DNA sequence or mediated by chromatin modifications such as DNA methylation. It has been hypothesized that the evolution of eusocial division of labor is associated with enhanced gene regulatory potential, which may include expansions in DNA methylation in the genomes of Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps, and sawflies). Recently, this hypothesis garnered support from analyses of a commonly used metric to estimate DNA methylation in silico, CpG content. Here, we test this hypothesis using direct, nucleotide-level measures of DNA methylation across nine species of Hymenoptera. In doing so, we generated new DNA methylomes for three species of interest, including one solitary and one facultatively eusocial halictid bee and a sawfly. We demonstrate that the strength of correlation between CpG content and DNA methylation varies widely among hymenopteran taxa, highlighting shortcomings in the utility of CpG content as a proxy for DNA methylation in comparative studies of taxa with sparse DNA methylomes. We observed strikingly high levels of DNA methylation in the sawfly relative to other investigated hymenopterans. Analyses of molecular evolution suggest the relatively distinct sawfly DNA methylome may be associated with positive selection on functional DNMT3 domains. Sawflies are an outgroup to all ants, bees, and wasps, and no sawfly species are eusocial. We find no evidence that either global expansions or variation within individual ortholog groups in DNA methylation are consistently associated with the evolution of social behavior

The SPARC Toroidal Field Model Coil Program

The SPARC Toroidal Field Model Coil (TFMC) Program was a three-year effort between 2018 and 2021 that developed novel Rare Earth Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide (REBCO) superconductor technologies and then successfully utilized these technologies to design, build, and test a first-in-class, high-field (~20 T), representative-scale (~3 m) superconducting toroidal field coil. With the principal objective of demonstrating mature, large-scale, REBCO magnets, the project was executed jointly by the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). The TFMC achieved its programmatic goal of experimentally demonstrating a large-scale high-field REBCO magnet, achieving 20.1 T peak field-on-conductor with 40.5 kA of terminal current, 815 kN/m of Lorentz loading on the REBCO stacks, and almost 1 GPa of mechanical stress accommodated by the structural case. Fifteen internal demountable pancake-to-pancake joints operated in the 0.5 to 2.0 nOhm range at 20 K and in magnetic fields up to 12 T. The DC and AC electromagnetic performance of the magnet, predicted by new advances in high-fidelity computational models, was confirmed in two test campaigns while the massively parallel, single-pass, pressure-vessel style coolant scheme capable of large heat removal was validated. The REBCO current lead and feeder system was experimentally qualified up to 50 kA, and the crycooler based cryogenic system provided 600 W of cooling power at 20 K with mass flow rates up to 70 g/s at a maximum design pressure of 20 bar-a for the test campaigns. Finally, the feasibility of using passive, self-protection against a quench in a fusion-scale NI TF coil was experimentally assessed with an intentional open-circuit quench at 31.5 kA terminal current.Comment: 17 pages 9 figures, overview paper and the first of a six-part series of papers covering the TFMC Progra

Children’s and adolescents’ rising animal-source food intakes in 1990–2018 were impacted by age, region, parental education and urbanicity

Animal-source foods (ASF) provide nutrition for children and adolescents’ physical and cognitive development. Here, we use data from the Global Dietary Database and Bayesian hierarchical models to quantify global, regional and national ASF intakes between 1990 and 2018 by age group across 185 countries, representing 93% of the world’s child population. Mean ASF intake was 1.9 servings per day, representing 16% of children consuming at least three daily servings. Intake was similar between boys and girls, but higher among urban children with educated parents. Consumption varied by age from 0.6 at <1 year to 2.5 servings per day at 15–19 years. Between 1990 and 2018, mean ASF intake increased by 0.5 servings per week, with increases in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, total ASF consumption was highest in Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey, and lowest in Uganda, India, Kenya and Bangladesh. These findings can inform policy to address malnutrition through targeted ASF consumption programmes.publishedVersio

Incident type 2 diabetes attributable to suboptimal diet in 184 countries

The global burden of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not well established. This risk assessment model estimated T2D incidence among adults attributable to direct and body weight-mediated effects of 11 dietary factors in 184 countries in 1990 and 2018. In 2018, suboptimal intake of these dietary factors was estimated to be attributable to 14.1 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 13.8–14.4 million) incident T2D cases, representing 70.3% (68.8–71.8%) of new cases globally. Largest T2D burdens were attributable to insufficient whole-grain intake (26.1% (25.0–27.1%)), excess refined rice and wheat intake (24.6% (22.3–27.2%)) and excess processed meat intake (20.3% (18.3–23.5%)). Across regions, highest proportional burdens were in central and eastern Europe and central Asia (85.6% (83.4–87.7%)) and Latin America and the Caribbean (81.8% (80.1–83.4%)); and lowest proportional burdens were in South Asia (55.4% (52.1–60.7%)). Proportions of diet-attributable T2D were generally larger in men than in women and were inversely correlated with age. Diet-attributable T2D was generally larger among urban versus rural residents and higher versus lower educated individuals, except in high-income countries, central and eastern Europe and central Asia, where burdens were larger in rural residents and in lower educated individuals. Compared with 1990, global diet-attributable T2D increased by 2.6 absolute percentage points (8.6 million more cases) in 2018, with variation in these trends by world region and dietary factor. These findings inform nutritional priorities and clinical and public health planning to improve dietary quality and reduce T2D globally.publishedVersio

Moncton, étude de géographie urbaine d'une ville moyenne des provinces maritimes du Canada

Moncton is a town born by for the railways (Canadian National) ; its functions have always been closely tied to trade-connections, but it is also the biggest Acadian city in the Maritimes. Its main problems are the obsolescence of the old center challenged by périphérie shopping-centers and the embarrassment generated by railways. The coexistence of two human groups : French speaking acadians and English speaking communities does not influence urban aspects but sets problems of social geography. These problems are fortunately in way of resolution.Moncton, ville née des fonctions de relation et surtout du chemin de fer, est aussi la plus grande ville acadienne. Les aspects et les problèmes de la cité dérivent du dépérissement du centre ancien concurrencé par les centres d'achat périphériques, de la gêne de la circulation engendrée par les installations ferroviaires. La coexistence de deux groupes humains : Acadiens francophones et anglophones influence peu les aspects urbains mais pose des problèmes de géographie sociale en voie de règlement.Pelletier Jean, Arsenault Samuel. Moncton, étude de géographie urbaine d'une ville moyenne des provinces maritimes du Canada. In: Revue de géographie de Lyon, vol. 52, n°3, 1977. pp. 231-258