Fouling propensity of high-phosphorus solid fuels: Predictive criteria and ash deposits characterisation of sunflower hulls with P/Ca-additives in a drop tube furnace

Fouling from the processing of residual biomass fuels in combustion applications is a major concern. This paper discusses the fouling behaviour of sunflower hulls with a high phosphorus (P) content by means of a broad fuel characterisation strategy including advanced predictive indices, the fuel selective leaching, multiple deposition tests in a Drop Tube Furnace (DTF) and deposits analysis with scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-rays spectroscopy (SEM–EDS). First, we summarise the P-role in the ash chemistry, with a focus on the fouling mechanisms. Second, a characterisation strategy of the ash, based on three indices, including some details from the fuel selective leaching, is proposed to describe the P-rich fuels propensity to foul. The developed approach could be used as a complement to chemical equilibrium models. Thirdly, the characterisation strategy is applied to sunflower hulls. Deposition tests in an industrial scale DTF are performed for the raw fuel, and for the fuel with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) water solution and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as additives, to obtain different P/K and P/Ca ratios in the fuel composition. The results show that increasing the fuel P-content allows to capture the alkali metals in alkali–alkaline earths–phosphates and alkali–phosphates phases, reducing the occurrence of deposits of S- and Cl-compounds. Low melting temperature phases can be reduced enhancing the formation of coarser, high melting temperatures ash particles formed by K/Na–Ca/Mg–phosphates, by means of an optimised addition of phosphorus- and active calcium-based additives. The experimental results confirmed the added value of the high-P fuels predictive characterisation strategy

Intrathecal synthesis of anti-mycobacterial antibodies in patients with tuberculous meningitis. An immunoblotting study.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples from eight patients with bacteriologically proven (6) or clinically suspected (2) tuberculous meningitis were tested for the presence of anti-mycobacterial IgG antibodies by an affinity-mediated immunoblot technique. This technique is based on agarose gel isoelectric focusing of paired CSF and serum samples diluted to the same IgG concentration, and transfer of the specific IgG antibodies onto mycobacterial antigen-loaded nitrocellulose sheets. An intrathecal synthesis of anti-mycobacterial oligoclonal IgG antibodies, often superimposed on diffuse polyclonal production was shown in all patients but not in patients with tension headache or other neurological disorders. Similar results were obtained when a purified mycobacterial antigen, A60, was used for coating the nitrocellulose sheets in place of a whole mycobacterial homogenate, indicating that A60 was a major immunogen. The number of anti-mycobacterial oligoclonal IgG bands increased with time, and persisted for years even in clinically cured patients. Some IgG bands had no detectable anti-mycobacterial activity, at least with the antigens preparations used in this study. The demonstration of such anti-mycobacterial IgG bands in the CSF could be a useful adjunct for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis, especially in the case of negative cultures

Creating Robust Evolvable MSaaS Services: An Integrated Model-Driven Engineering Approach

Abstract: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Modelling and Simulation (M&S) Group (MSG) is currently working towards the specification and development of an M&S as a Service (MSaaS) platform for supporting training and experimentation. The United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command - Soldier Center (DEVCOM SC) Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC) and developers of the Normalized Systems eXpanders Factory (NSX bv) have developed a model-driven engineering approach for generating M&S services within the NATO MSaaS environment that is compatible with the High Level Architecture (HLA) distributed simulation standard. The generation of software from conceptual models for simulation logic and data aims to provide consistent model implementations across simulation systems, to improve configuration management, and to reduce the software development cost. In this contribution, we present this integrated model-driven approach that leverages two generative programming tools. At the level of individual simulations, the Generative Programming (GenProg) tool captures models in a Domain Specific Language (DSL), which allows model authors to specify model inputs, outputs, and logic, as well as test and generate the models in various programming languages and simulation architectures. At the federate level of HLA, the Normalized Systems (NS) code generation tool enables the definition of the HLA objects, and interactions of the Federation Object Model, to generate the interoperability classes needed to interact through the Run-Time Infrastructure, and to expose the simulation service. Together, these tools generate full M&S services from model definitions for deployment within a NATO MSaaS environment, remaining agnostic with respect to specific technologies. We furthermore present details of an implementation prototype, featuring the generation of simulation services based on GenProg and NS models, while highlighting the advantages and current limitations of the approach, as we aim to help realize the concept of MSaaS

High-rate continuous biodegradation of concentrated chlorinated aliphatics by a durable enrichment of methanogenic origin under carrier-dependent conditions.

The simultaneous biodegradation of toxic compounds in mixtures is a major current concern. To bioremediate a toxic mixture, we designed a strategy combining an ad-sorbent carrier with an ecological and nutritional system which allowed work close to heavily polluted conditions in nature. Starting from a methanogenic community, we developed a microbial consortium acclimated to a mixture of about 30 chlorinated aliphatics in a fixed-film stationary-bed bioreactor. Prior to the establishment of a durable period of dechlorination, an interval of progressive dechlorination of the toxic mixture was observed during which the excess of the toxic compounds was stored on the carrier. The latter, consisting of activated carbon in a polyurethane foam, allowed us to work at concentrations far above the solubility of the toxic compounds (apparent concentrations of about 10 g/L). The complete disappearance of hexachloroethane as well as its lower homologues, penta-, tetra-, and trichloroethane, present in the toxic mixture, was observed. Additionally, octachlorocyclopentene, carbon tetrachloride, trichloro-ethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and hexachloro-1,3-butadiene also completely disappeared. For the four latter compounds, from mass balances in the bioreactor, degradation rates around 10 mumol/L per day were determined with total dechlorination. The enrichment culture thus developed exhibited high degradation performances similar to those reported in the literature for pure or enriched anaerobic microbial cultures in contact with a single toxic compound. The results demonstrate the possibility of concurrent high-rate degradation of several highly chlorinated toxic compounds, under conditions approximating field situations.(c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

A Probabilistic Model for Precedence rules and Reactionary Delay in air traffic management

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Role of caveolin-1 in thyroid phenotype, cell homeostasis, and hormone synthesis: in vivo study of caveolin-1 knockout mice.

In human thyroid, caveolin-1 is localized at the apex of thyrocytes, but its role there remains unknown. Using immunohistochemistry, (127)I imaging, transmission electron microscopy, immunogold electron microscopy, and quantification of H(2)O(2), we found that in caveolin-1 knockout mice thyroid cell homeostasis was disrupted, with evidence of oxidative stress, cell damage, and apoptosis. An even more striking phenotype was the absence of thyroglobulin and iodine in one-half of the follicular lumina and their presence in the cytosol, suggesting that the iodide organification and binding to thyroglobulin were intracellular rather than at the apical membrane/extracellular colloid interface. The latter abnormality may be secondary to the observed mislocalization of the thyroid hormone synthesis machinery (dual oxidases, thyroperoxidase) in the cytosol. Nevertheless, the overall uptake of radioiodide, its organification, and secretion as thyroid hormones were comparable to those of wild-type mice, suggesting adequate compensation by the normal TSH retrocontrol. Accordingly, the levels of free thyroxine and TSH were normal. Only the levels of free triiodothyronine showed a slight decrease in caveolin-1 knockout mice. However, when TSH levels were increased through low-iodine chow and sodium perchlorate, the induced goiter was more prominent in caveolin-1 knockout mice. We conclude that caveolin-1 plays a role in proper thyroid hormone synthesis as well as in cell number homeostasis. Our study demonstrates for the first time a physiological function of caveolin-1 in the thyroid gland. Because the expression and subcellular localization of caveolin-1 were similar between normal human and murine thyroids, our findings in caveolin-1 knockout mice may have direct relevance to the human counterpart.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tValidation Studiesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe