The use of the Continuously Regenerating Trap (CRT^TM) and SCRT^TM Systems to meet future emissions legislation

The progressive tightening of particulate matter (PM) legislation presents challenges to the engine development and aftertreatment communities. The Continuously Regenerating Trap (CRTTM) has been developed to enable diesel engines to meet the proposed future legislation. This passive filter system combines an oxidation catalyst with a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF); the filter traps the PM and the oxidation catalyst generates NO2 which combusts the trapped PM at substantially lower temperatures than is possible using oxygen. This paper outlines the operating principle of the CRTTM, and describes the performance of the system. It has been shown that the very high PM conversions obtained with the CRTTM can enable even Euro 1 engines to meet the PM limits proposed for introduction in Europe in 2005. In addition, the system removes PM across the whole particle size range, including ultrafine particulates. These results will be discussed, as will in-field durability studies which have shown that the system is still capable of converting 90% of PM after very high mileage operation (up to 600,000 km). In addition to requiring very high PM conversion, the proposed future legislation requires substantial reductions in NOx emissions form heavy duty diesel vehicles. To meet these challenges the SCRTTM has been developed. This combines the CRTTM with SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology, and enables very high simultaneous conversions of CO, HC, PM and NOx to be achieved. The SCRTTM system is described, and its operating characteristics are discussed. It has been shown that the SCRTTM can potentially meet the legislative limits proposed for introduction in Europe in 2008

Integrating Exception Handling in Machine Development

In modern batch plants, alarm floods overwhelming the operator is a common problem of ever increasing severity. As plant hardware increase in complexity and performance, measures such as downtime and meantime between failures, increase in importance and the need for a well-functioning exception handling routine therefore grows critical. In order to minimize downtime and hence boost production efficiency, it is important that faulty or unexpected behaviour is noted early and diagnosed accurately. If it is, the machine or its operator can deal with it fast and accurately, perhaps even while production continues. If it is not, however, it basically means two bad things, the first being unnecessary production stops and the second a flooded alarm list. The alarm list is the screen on which all exceptions are listed and which is meant to tell the process operator what is wrong and what he should do about it. If no care is taken about it, the list will be flooded since one key exception will cause several others, leaving the operator with the quite unpleasant task of identifying what went wrong and how he should fix it. This master's thesis, carried out at Tetra Pak in Lund, Sweden, presents a well-structured exception handling method and a way of linking it to a workflow. It uses advantages of reusability, modularisation and linking to almost any structural model such as a Function Means Tree (used in WCE) or a UML-model. The linking has several advantages minimizing the work and improving evolutionary possibilities. Examples are being made for illustrational purposes but no implementational efforts or issues are addressed. A well-defined structure for information flow is also suggested to provide modular thinking that, for example, prepares the possibility to collect data for statistical analysis and such

Med en enad syn på rehabilitering - En studie av samverkan inom arbetslivsinriktad rehabilitering

The following bachelor thesis investigates how successful the cooperation between Försäkringskassan and Arbetsförmedlingen is at a local level. These two authorities have a joint mission since February 2012 to help people, who are about to be unqualified for compensation through their health insurance, to find a job through rehabilitation. Through the theoretical approach joined-up government, I have found that despite some minor issues it is possible to qualify their aim of cooperation as a success. Through their united purpose around rehabilitation they have found a way to work together and to separate their differences. One of the greatest factors that have affected the outcome is a good leadership and also a clearly defined purpose. The fact that they have well adopted an “adopt, adapt, act” has also lead to a well-developed organisation. A few issues could still be spotted, with inadequate evaluation systems and a lack of formal guidelines. The conclusion drawn from this study is that they have managed to develop a stable foundation for a continued joint-approach. To reaffirm that it is sustainable, it is necessary to look upon some issues and to proceed with continuous evaluations in the future

Enhancing the low temperature oxidation performance over a Pt and a Pt–Pd diesel oxidation catalyst

The influence of hydrogen over platinum and combined platinum–palladium diesel oxidation catalysts were investigated on the oxidation kinetics of CO, HC and NO. Although H2 has been reported to have a positive effect on CO and HC oxidation as well as NO2 formation over platinum catalysts, there is still uncertainty whether this is due to the temperature rise caused by H2 oxidation or the result of a change in the reaction kinetics of CO, HC and NO oxidation by the production of intermediate species. The results have showed smaller H2 concentrations are more effective in improving the catalyst light-off temperature as well as promoting NO oxidation over both platinum and platinum–palladium catalysts. It is suggested that these benefits are a result of not only the exothermic reactions which in turn increase the local catalyst temperature but also H2 increasing the rate of reactions and the species accessibility to the catalyst active sites thus further CO, HC and NO oxidation can occur at lower catalyst temperatures

Motivationsfaktorer för användning av wiki som ett Knowledge Management System – En studie på ST-Ericsson

Användandet av wikis inom organisationer är en relativt ny företeelse. Intåget har i stort sett gjorts utan någon bakomliggande kunskap om vad detta system kan tillföra. På senare år har fenomenet dock uppmärksammats inom forskningsvärlden där man nu börjar inse systemets potential som ett knowledge management system. Verktyget ger användarna möjlighet att generera, lagra och sprida kunskap inom organisationen. Wikin är en användardriven och öppen arkitektur vilket ställer stora krav på användarna själva. Det är därför intressant att studera vad som driver användarna till ett aktivt användande. Syftet med denna kandidatuppsats är således att kartlägga och belysa de motivationsfaktorer som gör att de anställda i en organisation använder en intern wiki. En redogörelse av relevanta motivationsfaktorer presenteras och ligger sedan till grund för vår studie. Motivationsfaktorerna kategoriseras och sammanställs i ett översiktligt format, vilket också inkluderar eventuella hinder för användning. För att genomföra studien användes en enkätundersökning tillsammans med två semi-strukturerade intervjuer, för att ge både bredd och djup till studien. Undersökningen genomfördes på ST-Ericsson, som är ett av de världsledande företagen inom mobila plattformar och användare av en intern wiki. Resultatet vilar på en ganska liten studie och bör inte generaliseras allt för mycket. I vår studie har vi dock funnit vissa signifikanta reslutat, som slutsatser dragits utifrån för detta specifika fall. Vårt empiriska material gick, i relativt hög grad, i samklang med tidigare studier. Våra slutsatser blev att den, av användarna, upplevda nyttan med systemet var den största bidragande faktorn till användning hos ST-Ericsson. Vi fann även belägg för att användarvänlighet kan vara sekundärt, givet att motivationen att använda systemet är tillräckligt stor. Dessutom fann vi ytterligare två faktorer som möjligtvis kan påverka användandet, beronde av system och konkurrerande system

Omprioritering av gatuutrymmet : En kunskapsöversikt

Rapporten ger en översyn kring forskning gällande olika sätt att förstå och omprioritera existerande gatuutrymme

Är förskoleklassen för alla barn? - En kvalitativ forskningsstudie av lärares uttryckta uppfattningar om hur förskoleklassens obligatoriska etablering i grundskolan påverkat skolgången för elever som har koncentrationssvårigheter

Förskoleklassen har tidigare setts som en bro mellan förskola och skola och som en övergång för barn in i skolvärlden. Sedan drygt fem år tillbaka är förskoleklassen obligatorisk för alla barn och även förskoleklassens läroplan har ändrats från att tillhöra förskolan till att nu vara en del av grundskolan. Det här har också medfört mer krav för både elever och pedagoger vilket mynnat ut i både positiva och negativa konsekvenser. Den här studien har som syfte att bidra med kunskap om hur lärare i förskoleklass ser på sitt uppdrag och vilka specialpedagogiska anpassningar de gör i sin undervisning för barn som har koncentrationssvårigheter. Mer specifikt syftar studien till att undersöka hur det påverkat dessa elever att läroplanen för förskoleklassen har implementeras i den obligatoriska skolverksamheten. Undersökningen utgår från en kvalitativ studie med intervjuer som redskap. Nio lärare som arbetar i förskoleklass har intervjuats i studien och delgett sina erfarenheter. Tolkningen av intervjuerna har en hermeneutisk ansats. Studien utgår från specialpedagogisk teori och ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, där samspel mellan individ, grupp, organisation och samhälle ligger till fokus. Genom att granska respondenternas intervjusvar framgår det vilka olika anpassningar som görs och hur förskoleklassens obligatoriska införande i grundskolan påverkat barn som har koncentrationssvårigheter. Lärarna i förskoleklass gör flertalet anpassningar för sina elever där varierad undervisning, bildstöd, tydlig struktur och möjlighet till paus visade sig vara av stor vikt. Resultatet visade också att lärarna fortfarande anser att leken är ett av de viktigaste momenten i elevernas undervisning i förskoleklass men att den nu blivit påverkad av ökade krav av kartläggningar och övrig dokumentation. Studien visar också på lärarnas positiva inställning till att ha fått en mer tydlig arbetsbeskrivning och yrkesroll men också en oro för hur det ska utvecklas framå

Severe COVID-19 in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in Sweden: a nationwide retrospective cohort study

Background: Whether infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to excess risk of requiring hospitalization or intensive care in persons with diabetes has not been reported, nor have risk factors in diabetes associated with increased risk for these outcomes. Methods: We included 44,639 and 411,976 adult patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes alive on Jan 1, 2020, and compared them to controls matched for age, sex, and county of residence (n=204,919 and 1,948,900). Age- and sex-standardized rates for COVID-19 related hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care and death, were estimated and hazard ratios were calculated using Cox regression analyses. Findings: There were 10,486 hospitalizations and 1,416 admissions into intensive care. A total of 1,175 patients with diabetes and 1,820 matched controls died from COVID-19, of these 53•2% had been hospitalized and 10•7% had been in intensive care. Patients with type 2 diabetes, compared to controls, displayed an age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 2•22, 95%CI 2•13-2•32) of being hospitalized for COVID-19, which decreased to HR 1•40, 95%CI 1•34-1•47) after further adjustment for sociodemographic factors, pharmacological treatment and comorbidities, had higher risk for admission to ICU due to COVID-19 (age- and sex-adjusted HR 2•49, 95%CI 2•22-2•79, decreasing to 1•42, 95%CI 1•25-1•62 after adjustment, and increased risk for death due to COVID-19 (age- and sex-adjusted HR 2•19, 95%CI 2•03-2•36, complete adjustment 1•50, 95%CI 1•39-1•63). Age- and sex-adjusted HR for COVID-19 hospitalization for type 1 diabetes was 2•10, 95%CI 1•72-2•57), decreasing to 1•25, 95%CI 0•3097-1•62) after adjustment• Patients with diabetes type 1 were twice as likely to require intensive care for COVID-19, however, not after adjustment (HR 1•49, 95%CI 0•75-2•92), and more likely to die (HR 2•90, 95% CI 1•6554-5•47) from COVID-19, but not independently of other factors (HR 1•38, 95% CI 0•64-2•99). Among patients with diabetes, elevated glycated hemoglobin levels were associated with higher risk for most outcomes. Interpretation: In this nationwide study, type 2 diabetes was independently associated with increased risk of hospitalization, admission to intensive care and death for COVID-19. There were few admissions into intensive care and deaths in type 1 diabetes, and although hazards were significantly raised for all three outcomes, there was no independent risk persisting after adjustment for confounding factors

Protein traffic is an intracellular target in alcohol toxicity

Eukaryotic cells comprise a set of organelles, surrounded by membranes with a unique composition, which is maintained by a complex synthesis and transport system. Cells also synthesize the proteins destined for secretion. Together, these processes are known as the secretory pathway or exocytosis. In addition, many molecules can be internalized by cells through a process called endocytosis. Chronic and acute alcohol (ethanol) exposure alters the secretion of different essential products, such as hormones, neurotransmitters and others in a variety of cells, including central nervous system cells. This effect could be due to a range of mechanisms, including alcohol-induced alterations in the different steps involved in intracellular transport, such as glycosylation and vesicular transport along cytoskeleton elements. Moreover, alcohol consumption during pregnancy disrupts developmental processes in the central nervous system. No single mechanism has proved sufficient to account for these effects, and multiple factors are likely involved. One such mechanism indicates that ethanol also perturbs protein trafficking. The purpose of this review is to summarize our understanding of how ethanol exposure alters the trafficking of proteins in different cell systems, especially in central nervous system cells (neurons and astrocytes) in adult and developing brains

Identifying National Level Education Reforms in Developing Settings: An Application to Ethiopia

Increasing enrollment in primary education has been at the center of international education policy for well over a decade. In developing parts of the world, significant increases in primary enrollment are often generated by large national level programs, which can simultaneously promote overcrowding and reductions in education quality. However, to analyze the trade-off between increased enrollment and potential reductions in quality one must first identify and evaluate the impact of the national reform on schooling. This paper provides a method with which these types of reforms can be identified in developing settings using both temporal and geographic variation, and readily available data. The method is applied to an early 1990s reform in Ethiopia based around the release of the Education and Training Policy, which removed schooling fees from grades one to ten. The model estimates that the reform led to an increase in schooling of at least 1.2 years, and provides initial evidence that the increased enrollment in Ethiopia outweighed any cost due to reductions in quality