Designing a micro-hydro powered automatic flush system

With the detrimental effects of global warming becoming increasing visible, the desire to conserve energy has become a primary concern for the public. Companies such as BC Hydro are now marketing the awareness of conserving electricity and promoting sustainable energy practices. The idea for this project was to create a micro-hydro power generator to power an automatic hand-wash unit (AHU). This design would be self sufficient and eliminate the need of external electrical power. To find out the operational requirements of an AHU, voltage and current tests were conducted. Various load tests were performed on a modified water meter generator at different flow rates to measure voltage, current, and power output. Through testing we found that the motor chosen for the design is not suitable for the successful creation of our design concept. The generator chosen for this project was not sufficient to power an automatic flush unit. Efficiency of the generator was found to be too low with not enough current and power output. The design concept is still conceptually feasible; however, future development would require research into designing a suitable micro-hydro turbine and generator for powering an AHU. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Applied Science, Faculty ofElectrical and Computer Engineering, Department ofUnreviewedUndergraduat

Multiple superoxide dismutase 1/splicing factor serine alanine 15 variants are associated with the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy:the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications Genetics study

BACKGROUND: Despite familial clustering of nephropathy and retinopathy severity in type 1 diabetes, few gene variants have been consistently associated with these outcomes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed an individual-based genetic association study with time to renal and retinal outcomes in 1,362 white probands with type 1 diabetes from the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (DCCT/EDIC) study. Specifically, we genotyped 1,411 SNPs that capture common variations in 212 candidate genes for long-term complications and analyzed them for association with the time from DCCT baseline to event for renal and retinal outcomes using multivariate Cox proportion hazards models. To address multiple testing and assist interpretation of the results, false discovery rate q values were calculated separately for each outcome. RESULTS: We observed association between rs17880135 in the 3′ region of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) and the incidence of both severe nephropathy (hazard ratio [HR] 2.62 [95% CI 1.64– 4.18], P = 5.6 × 10(−5), q = 0.06) and persistent microalbuminuria (1.82 [1.29 –2.57], P = 6.4 × 10(−4), q = 0.46). Sequencing and fine-mapping identified additional SOD1 variants, including rs202446, rs9974610, and rs204732, which were also associated (P < 10(−3)) with persistent microalbuminuria, whereas rs17880135 and rs17881180 were similarly associated with the development of severe nephropathy. Attempts to replicate the findings in three cross-sectional case-control studies produced equivocal results. We observed no striking differences between risk genotypes in serum SOD activity, serum SOD1 mass, or SOD1 mRNA expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple variations in SOD1 are significantly associated with persistent microalbuminuria and severe nephropathy in the DCCT/EDIC study