2,931 research outputs found
Environmental Site Characterization and Risk-Based Evaluation of a Site Contaminated with Tetrachloroethene (PCE) and Trichloroethene (TCE)
A healthcare company purchased property in eastern Iowa for a facility expansion. Before the purchase, a Phase I environmental site assessment (ESA) revealed that the property was the site of a former dry cleaning business. Phase II sampling and testing indicated that tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) had affected site soil and groundwater. Maximum concentrations of PCE and TCE in groundwater were 538 and 209 ”g/L, respectively, and 105 and 1.51 mg/kg in soil. Additional sampling delineated the vertical and horizontal extent of contamination in the soil. The concentrations of the chlorinated solvents in both the soil and groundwater were below levels of regulatory concern. However, the company was concerned that the Iowa statewide standard for PCE in soil (780 mg/kg) might not provide adequate protection for several exposure pathways and wanted to assess the risk to the public from the contamination at the site. The results of a receptor survey were used to develop site-specific target levels (SSTLs) for contamination, using accepted human health exposure factors, models, and chemical-specific toxicity values. The recommended remedial options allowed the company to minimize the human health risks posed by contamination at the site
Thermoelastic Damping in Micro- and Nano-Mechanical Systems
The importance of thermoelastic damping as a fundamental dissipation
mechanism for small-scale mechanical resonators is evaluated in light of recent
efforts to design high-Q micrometer- and nanometer-scale electro-mechanical
systems (MEMS and NEMS). The equations of linear thermoelasticity are used to
give a simple derivation for thermoelastic damping of small flexural vibrations
in thin beams. It is shown that Zener's well-known approximation by a
Lorentzian with a single thermal relaxation time slightly deviates from the
exact expression.Comment: 10 pages. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Application of robotics In the clinical laboratory
The basic types of robot are explained, and the performances and
costs of some commercial examples are given. The potential
advantages and problems of introducing robots into clinical
laboratories are identified and the specifcation of a suitable robot
is developed. None of the commercially available robots meets all
aspects of the specificalion, and currently the purchase of a robot is
considered premature for most clinical laboratories
Umbilical cord blood-derived aldehyde dehydrogenase-expressing progenitor cells promote recovery from acute ischemic injury
Umbilical cord blood (UCB) represents a readily available source of hematopoietic and endothelial precursors at early ontogeny. Understanding the proangiogenic functions of these somatic progenitor subtypes after transplantation is integral to the development of improved cell-based therapies to treat ischemic diseases. We used fluorescence-activated cell sorting to purify a rare (\u3c0.5%) population of UCB cells with high aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDHhi) activity, a conserved stem/progenitor cell function. ALDHhicells were depleted of mature monocytes and T- and B-lymphocytes and were enriched for early myeloid (CD33) and stem cell-associated (CD34, CD133, and CD117) phenotypes. Although these cells were primarily hematopoietic in origin, UCB ALDHhi cells demonstrated a proangiogenic transcription profile and were highly enriched for both multipotent myeloid and endothelial colony-forming cells in vitro. Coculture of ALDHhi cells in hanging transwells promoted the survival of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) under growth factor-free and serum-free conditions. On growth factor depleted matrigel, ALDHhicells significantly increased tube-like cord formation by HUVEC. After induction of acute unilateral hind limb ischemia by femoral artery ligation, transplantation of ALDHhi cells significantly enhanced the recovery of perfusion in ischemic limbs. Despite transient engraftment in the ischemic hind limb, early recruitment of ALDHhi cells into ischemic muscle tissue correlated with increased murine von Willebrand factor blood vessel and CD31+ capillary densities. Thus, UCB ALDHhi cells represent a readily available population of proangiogenic progenitors that promote vascular regeneration. This work provides preclinical justification for the development of therapeutic strategies to treat ischemic diseases using UCB-derived ALDH hi mixed progenitor cells. © AlphaMed Press
An Empirical Charge Transfer Potential with Correct Dissociation Limits
The empirical valence bond (EVB) method [J. Chem. Phys. 52, 1262 (1970)] has
always embodied charge transfer processes. The mechanism of that behavior is
examined here and recast for use as a new empirical potential energy surface
for large-scale simulations. A two-state model is explored. The main features
of the model are: (1) Explicit decomposition of the total system electron
density is invoked; (2) The charge is defined through the density decomposition
into constituent contributions; (3) The charge transfer behavior is controlled
through the resonance energy matrix elements which cannot be ignored; and (4) A
reference-state approach, similar in spirit to the EVB method, is used to
define the resonance state energy contributions in terms of "knowable"
quantities. With equal validity, the new potential energy can be expressed as a
nonthermal ensemble average with a nonlinear but analytical charge dependence
in the occupation number. Dissociation to neutral species for a gas-phase
process is preserved. A variant of constrained search density functional theory
is advocated as the preferred way to define an energy for a given charge.Comment: Submitted to J. Chem. Phys. 11/12/03. 14 pages, 8 figure
An ABS control logic based on wheel force measurement
The paper presents an anti-lock braking system (ABS) control logic based on the measurement of the longitudinal forces at the hub bearings. The availability of force information allows to design a logic that does not rely on the estimation of the tyre-road friction coefficient, since it continuously tries to exploit the maximum longitudinal tyre force. The logic is designed by means of computer simulation and then tested on a specific hardware in the loop test bench: the experimental results confirm that measured wheel force can lead to a significant improvement of the ABS performances in terms of stopping distance also in the presence of road with variable friction coefficien
Singularities and Topology of Meromorphic Functions
We present several aspects of the "topology of meromorphic functions", which
we conceive as a general theory which includes the topology of holomorphic
functions, the topology of pencils on quasi-projective spaces and the topology
of polynomial functions.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figur
Simulations of Two-Dimensional Melting on the Surface of a Sphere
We have simulated a system of classical particles confined on the surface of
a sphere interacting with a repulsive potential. The same system
simulated on a plane with periodic boundary conditions has van der Waals loops
in pressure-density plots which are usually interpreted as evidence for a first
order melting transition, but on the sphere such loops are absent.
We also investigated the structure factor and from the width of the first
peak as a function of density we can show that the growth of the correlation
length is consistent with KTHNY theory. This suggests that simulations of two
dimensional melting phenomena are best performed on the surface of a sphere.Comment: 4 eps figure
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