Thermal energy storage material thermophysical property measurement and heat transfer impact

The thermophysical properties of salts having potential for thermal energy storage to provide peaking energy in conventional electric utility power plants were investigated. The power plants studied were the pressurized water reactor, boiling water reactor, supercritical steam reactor, and high temperature gas reactor. The salts considered were LiNO3, 63LiOH/37 LiCl eutectic, LiOH, and Na2B4O7. The thermal conductivity, specific heat (including latent heat of fusion), and density of each salt were measured for a temperature range of at least + or - 100 K of the measured melting point. Measurements were made with both reagent and commercial grades of each salt

Do earplugs stop noise from driving critical care patients into delirium?

Quality sleep is a problem for the critically ill who are cared for in an environment where interventions night and day are common, staff members are constantly present in relatively high numbers, and treatment is accompanied by a range of changing warning tones and alarms and lights. These critical care units are generally designed without a focus on patient comfort, sleep, and rest and often lack access to appropriate natural daylight. To add to this problem, critical illness, particularly sepsis, disrupts circadian rhythms and sleep patterns, and disruption of circadian rhythms, in turn, impairs immunity and contributes to delirium. In a randomized controlled trial in the previous issue of Critical Care, Van Rompaey and colleagues have intervened to reduce noise, which is a key factor in this disruption, by having patients use earplugs at night. Delirium was assessed by using the NEECHAM (Neelon and Champagne) confusion scale, and sleep perception was assessed by patients' responses to a set of five questions. After the first night, patients reported a better sleep perception and the occurrence of delirium was reduced (hazard ratio of 0.47 for the development of delirium) or was delayed. The study did not quantify adequacy of pain control in post-surgical patients and used patient reporting to assess sleep. Whether patients were receiving respiratory or other organ support was not reported. The potential benefit of earplugs is an important practical finding that could be implemented in most intensive care units

Advanced level practice education: UK Critical Care Pharmacists’ opinions in 2015

National UK standards for critical care highlight the need for clinical pharmacists to practice at an advanced level and above. The aim of this research paper was to describe the views of UK critical care pharmacists on the current provision of Advanced Level Practice (ALP) education and accreditation. It sought to identify whether there is a need for a national or regional training programme. A questionnaire was delivered electronically targeting UK critical care pharmacists. Whilst the response rate was low at 40% (166/411); the views expressed were representative of UK practitioners with the majority of responders meeting the national specifications for clinical pharmacist staffing in critical care areas. The responses highlighted work-based learning as the main resource for developing ALP and a lack of suitable training packages. The vast majority of pharmacists identified that a national or regional training programme was required for ALP. The results also identified the main barriers to undertaking ALP accreditation were lack of time, uncertainty regarding the process and its professional benefits and a lack of education and training opportunities. In conclusion, the responses clearly indicated that, for the necessary progression of critical care pharmacists to ALP, a national or regional training programme is required

Anomalous hydrodynamics and "normal" fluids in rapidly rotating BECs

In rapidly rotating bose systems we show that there is a region of anomalous hydrodynamics whilst the system is still condensed, which coincides with the mean field quantum Hall regime. An immediate consequence is the absence of a normal fluid in any conventional sense. However, even the superfluid hydrodynamics is not described by conventional Bernoulli and continuity equations. We show there are kinematic constraints which connect spatial variations of density and phase, that the positions of vortices are not the simplest description of the dynamics of such a fluid (despite their utility in describing the instantaneous state of the condensate) and that the most compact description allows solution of some illuminating examples of motion. We demonstrate, inter alia, a very simple relation between vortices and surface waves. We show the surface waves can form a "normal fluid" which absorbs energy and angular momentum from vortex motion in the trap. The time scale of this process is sensitive to the initial configuration of the vortices, which can lead to long-lived vortex patches - perhaps related to those observed at JILA.Comment: 4 pages; 1 sentence and references modifie

Nutrient availability and metabolism Affect the stability of coral–Symbiodiniaceae symbioses

Coral reefs rely upon the highly optimized coral–Symbiodiniaceae symbiosis, making them sensitive to environmental change and susceptible to anthropogenic stress. Coral bleaching is predominantly attributed to photo-oxidative stress, yet nutrient availability and metabolism underpin the stability of symbioses. Recent studies link symbiont proliferation under nutrient enrichment to bleaching; however, the interactions between nutrients and symbiotic stability are nuanced. Here, we demonstrate how bleaching is regulated by the forms and ratios of available nutrients and their impacts on autotrophic carbon metabolism, rather than algal symbiont growth. By extension, historical nutrient conditions mediate host–symbiont compatibility and bleaching tolerance over proximate and evolutionary timescales. Renewed investigations into the coral nutrient metabolism will be required to truly elucidate the cellular mechanisms leading to coral bleaching

Atypical chemokine receptor 4 shapes activated B cell fate

Activated B cells can initially differentiate into three functionally distinct fates-early plasmablasts (PBs), germinal center (GC) B cells, or early memory B cells-by mechanisms that remain poorly understood. Here, we identify atypical chemokine receptor 4 (ACKR4), a decoy receptor that binds and degrades CCR7 ligands CCL19/CCL21, as a regulator of early activated B cell differentiation. By restricting initial access to splenic interfollicular zones (IFZs), ACKR4 limits the early proliferation of activated B cells, reducing the numbers available for subsequent differentiation. Consequently, ACKR4 deficiency enhanced early PB and GC B cell responses in a CCL19/CCL21-dependent and B cell-intrinsic manner. Conversely, aberrant localization of ACKR4-deficient activated B cells to the IFZ was associated with their preferential commitment to the early PB linage. Our results reveal a regulatory mechanism of B cell trafficking via an atypical chemokine receptor that shapes activated B cell fate

Differential specificity between closely related corals and abundant Endozoicomonas endosymbionts across global scales

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 11 (2017): 186–200, doi:10.1038/ismej.2016.95.Reef-building corals are well regarded not only for their obligate association with endosymbiotic algae, but also with prokaryotic symbionts, the specificity of which remains elusive. To identify the central microbial symbionts of corals, their specificity across species and conservation over geographic regions, we sequenced partial SSU ribosomal RNA genes of Bacteria and Archaea from the common corals Stylophora pistillata and Pocillopora verrucosa across 28 reefs within seven major geographical regions. We demonstrate that both corals harbor Endozoicomonas bacteria as their prevalent symbiont. Importantly, catalyzed reporter deposition–fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD–FISH) with Endozoicomonas-specific probes confirmed their residence as large aggregations deep within coral tissues. Using fine-scale genotyping techniques and single-cell genomics, we demonstrate that P. verrucosa harbors the same Endozoicomonas, whereas S. pistillata associates with geographically distinct genotypes. This specificity may be shaped by the different reproductive strategies of the hosts, potentially uncovering a pattern of symbiont selection that is linked to life history. Spawning corals such as P. verrucosa acquire prokaryotes from the environment. In contrast, brooding corals such as S. pistillata release symbiont-packed planula larvae, which may explain a strong regional signature in their microbiome. Our work contributes to the factors underlying microbiome specificity and adds detail to coral holobiont functioning.This research was supported by a KAUST-WHOI Post-doctoral Partnership Award to MN and a KAUST-WHOI Special Academic Partnership Funding Reserve Award to CRV and AA. Research in this study was further supported by baseline research funds to CRV by KAUST and NSF award OCE-1233612 to AA. RR was supported by the ct-PIRE Project, Robert Lemelson Fellowship, Graduate Research Award (UCLA), Women Divers Hall of Fame—Sister Fund Conservation Award and a Betty and E. P. Franklin Grant in Tropical Biology and Conservation

Isotope effect in impure high T_c superconductors

The influence of various kinds of impurities on the isotope shift exponent \alpha of high temperature superconductors has been studied. In these materials the dopant impurities, like Sr in La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4, play different role and usually occupy different sites than impurities like Zn, Fe, Ni {\it etc} intentionally introduced into the system to study its superconducting properties. In the paper the in-plane and out-of-plane impurities present in layered superconductors have been considered. They differently affect the superconducting transition temperature T_c. The relative change of isotope shift coefficient, however, is an universal function of T_c/T_{c0} (T_{c0} reffers to impurity free system) {\it i.e.} for angle independent scattering rate and density of states function it does not depend whether the change of T_c is due to in- or out-of-plane impurities. The role of the anisotropic impurity scattering in changing oxygen isotope coefficient of superconductors with various symmetries of the order parameter is elucidated. The comparison of the calculated and experimental dependence of \alpha/\alpha_0, where \alpha_0 is the clean system isotope shift coefficient, on T_c/T_{c0} is presented for a number of cases studied. The changes of \alpha calculated within stripe model of superconductivity in copper oxides resonably well describe the data on La_{1.8}Sr_{0.2}Cu_{1-x}(Fe,Ni)_xO_4, without any fitting parameters.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Phys. Rev. B67 (2003) accepte

Far-infrared spectroscopy of a lensed starburst: a blind redshift from Herschel

We report the redshift of HATLAS J132427.0+284452 (hereafter HATLAS J132427), a gravitationally lensed starburst galaxy, the first determined 'blind' by the Herschel Space Observatory. This is achieved via the detection of [C II] consistent with z = 1.68 in a far-infrared spectrum taken with the SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer. We demonstrate that the [C II] redshift is secure via detections of CO J = 2 - 1 and 3 - 2 using the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy and the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique's Plateau de Bure Interferometer. The intrinsic properties appear typical of high-redshift starbursts despite the high lensing-amplified fluxes, proving the ability of the FTS to probe this population with the aid of lensing. The blind detection of [C II] demonstrates the potential of the SAFARI imaging spectrometer, proposed for the much more sensitive SPICA mission, to determine redshifts of multiple dusty galaxies simultaneously without the benefit of lensing.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS as a Lette