Optimising powdered activated carbon dosing procedures for removal of natural organic matter

The performance of three different types of PAC was analysed for the efficiency at which they remove natural organic matter (NOM) from untreated (raw) water, with the objective of ultimately reducing disinfection bi-product (DBP) formation. The treatment of raw water by PAC was also examined in conjunction with the addition of iron salts in the form of ferric sulphate, for coagulation and flocculation of NOM. The optimum dosing of PAC was achieved at pH 3 and at a dose of around 20mgl- 1 which gave 32.7% removal. Coagulation could be seen to give 88% removal and when used together PAC and coagulant gave between 93.6% and 97% removal of NOM. The dosing sequence of PAC and coagulant was investigated whereby it was found that optimum removal was achieved by dosing PAC prior to dosing coagulant, although if the delay between dosing PAC and coagulant was more than 30 seconds it was found to impair NOM removal and increase turbidity. Scale up trials of the dosing strategy were implemented at both Ewden water treatment works, in Yorkshire, and at the Pilot Hall in Cranfield University. The greatest reduction in DBP formation could be seen using Norit SA Super and coagulation. Dosing this activated carbon at 20mgl- 1 resulted in a decrease of DBP formation by 86% in raw water and by 78.7% using coagulation alone. Dosing PAC before coagulant produced the lowest levels of DBPs, which were 27.2μgl-1. This is much lower than the 80μgl-1 limit to which water treatment works must adhere

Zinc containing dental fixative causing copper deficiency myelopathy

A 62-year-old male, previously well, was referred to neurology clinic following 6 months history of worsening lower limbs instability, paraesthesia, pain and weakness rendering him housebound. Examination revealed upper motor neuron pattern of weakness of the lower limbs and loss of proprioception. Serum analysis revealed reduced caeruloplasmin and copper levels with raised zinc. Spinal imaging revealed subtle dorsal column intensity changes in C2-C7, confirmed with 3T MRI. A copper deficiency myeloneuropathy was diagnosed secondary to chronic use of a zinc-containing dental fixative paste. The paste was discontinued and a copper supplementation was started. Resolution of symptoms was not achieved with intensive physiotherapy. The patient remains a wheelchair user though progression of symptoms has halted. Prompt recognition and treatment of hyperzincaemia-induced hypocupraemia earlier in the disease course may have prevented any irreversible neurological deficit

'Ceux de Guise': The Guise Family and their Affinity in Normandy, 1550-1600

PhDDespite their importance in. France and Europe in the sixteenth century, the Guise have received little archival study from historians this century. This thesis overturns the myths that have surrounded the family as a result of this neglect, and re-evaluates the political aims of the Guise. They were not confined in their interests to eastern France; they possessed lands in provinces as diverse as Provence and Brittany. Moreover, they were a family with a truly European strategy with concerns in Scotland, Italy and the Empire. The Norman lands of the Guise were the wealthiest possessions of the family and provided an important base for Guise intervention in Scotland. This thesis traces the development and dynamics of the Guise affinity in Normandy, composed of clients, servants and kinsmen. There was a volatile relationship between patron and client, and the Guise regularly sought the advice and opinions of their clients in council when formulating family strategy. This strategy was one primarily concerned with family interest and not blinded by devotion to religious dogma; the Guise protected their Calvinist kinsmen and employed Calvinist servants on their estates. The position of the Guise in the popular imagination and the relationship between elite politics and the masses was highly complex. The Guise manipulated religious passions in factional manoeuvring at court and as early as 1562 established a catholic peasant league in Normandy. However, the Guise could only exploit, not control, popular forces. The research for this thesis was undertaken in Paris and Rouen over fifteen months. It attempts to construct the personnel and relationships that constituted an affinity by harnessing quantitative data drawn from gendarmerie musters, household accounts, legal and financial transactions to the more conventional sources of letters and memoirs. For example, the uncatalogued notarial records of Rouen demonstrate that the correlation between the heavy financial investment made by Guise clients in the city elite and the growth of the ultra-catholic faction in the city. The ambitions of the Guise are still misinterpreted because research has been hindered the by the prejudices of monarchical apologists, liberal nationalist and protestant historians. This thesis uses new archival material to show that the Guise pursued strategies and defended their interests within the context of sixteenth-century noble culture and aspirations, challenging assumptions about the role of monarchical power and the rise of the 'state'

Preliminary and Working Pile Load Tests in Simsima Limestone

A load testing program was undertaken to determine the working capacity of drilled shafts in Simsima Limestone, the predominant founding stratum in Doha, Qatar. The drilled shafts ranged from 500 mm to 1,500 mm in diameter and gained capacity from both side and base resistance within the Simsima Limestone. The weathering profile of the Simsima Limestone is complex with the degree of weathering likely to increase or decrease with depth. For the purposes of design, the limestone was characterized into three grades of weathering (A, B, and C) and the pile load testing program focused on testing each of these zones. The load testing program consisted of a series of instrumented Osterberg-cell tests, conventional jack and reaction-frame tests, highstrain dynamic tests, and tension tests to determine the pile-rock interactions within the various zones of Simsima Limestone. The load test results are presented and the findings summarized. Construction of the working piles raised concerns about the effect of softening with time for the exposed limestone during drilling. Extrapolation of the results of the load testing program and additional high-strain dynamic testing were used to address these issues. The results of the tests are presented and compared to the design assumptions with suggestions made to optimize future designs

Benoît Garnot, Intime conviction et erreur judiciaire, Un magistrat assassin au XVIIe siècle ?

The brutal murder of Jean-Baptiste Brunet, an official of the chancery of the bailliage of Beaune, and his servant Élisabeth Pelisson, on 22 March 1649, has left an unusually rich paper trail which enables Benoît Garnot not only to reconstruct the details of the crime, its investigation and conclusion in August 1650, but to use the huge corpus of surviving witness statements as a window onto seventeenth-century French provincial life. This is history in the best of the Annales tradition: ther..

Benoît Garnot, Justice et Société en France aux XVIe, XVIIe, XVIIIe siècles / Jacques Berthold, Les prisons du roman (XVIIe-XVIIIe). Lectures plurielles et intertextuelles de Guzman d’Alfarache à Jacques le fataliste

Benoît Garnot’s synthesis offers much more than a history of crime in early modern France. It skillfully condenses a great deal of scholarship and thinking over many years and will be invaluable to the specialist. Its clarity of expression will ensure its popularity with students and surely make it the standard work of synthesis for year’s to come. His range is impressive: there are sections on the hierarchy of crimes, criminals and their motives, judicial personnel, procedure, punishment and..

Elevating the Voices for All Learners through Shared Stories of Science Learning

This study examines the science learning experiences across the lifespan of two groups of college students: adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in a post-secondary inclusive program, and adults in a preservice secondary education teacher candidate program. Data, in the form of personal narrative science stories were collected using a paired-interview approach in which students from each group interviewed one another about their science learning across their lifespans, and recorded responses using an online form. Across the stories, several clear themes emerged. Similarities and differences were found across and within the groups and are shared in a narrative format. Trends that emerged both across and within groups are shared, and recommendations are made for current and future teachers for best practices in teaching science to all students, including those with a variety of disabilities

Search for a schizophrenia susceptibility locus on chromosome 17

The search for genetic variants that alter the risk of developing schizophrenia has met with little success (Owen et al., 2005a) with the best example coming from a large multiply affected pedigree (Blackwood et al., 2001, Millar et al., 2000, St Clair et al., 1990). In this study a genome-wide significant schizophrenia linkage region in a single pedigree (Williams et al., 2003a) has been refined to an 11.7Mb region at 17q23-q24 where all 6 affected males share 21 consecutive microsatellite marker genotypes. Analysis of this region by oligonucleotide-array comparative genome hybridisation shows that no large deletions explain the linkage signal. High-density genotyping identified a region of homozygosity present in C702 affecteds that was not identified in 2709 individuals from the UK. This rare diplotype encompasses the 3' of the gene encoding Protein Kinase C Alpha (PRKCA), implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and related disorders (Mimics et al., 2001, Hahn and Friedman, 1999, Birnbaum et al., 2004). Mutation screening of PRKCA in the linked pedigree C702 identified an exonic haplotype with a minor allele frequency of 0.003, which is homozygous in affected individuals. The haplotype is associated in a UK case-control sample with major mental illness (p=0.05. OR=l .8) due to risk in males (p=0.005. OR=3.9). Also, the pedigree C702 genotype was not observed in -9000 Europeans. Association mapping of PRKCA using schizophrenia and psychosis case-control samples from Europe identified a common associated allele (rs3803821, meta analysis p=0.02, OR=l.l) that shows significant overtransmission in a trios sample (p=0.03). Therefore, PRKCA may represent the locus causing the pedigree C702 linkage signal and contains genetic variation associated with schizophrenia and related disorders

Prevalence of human papillomavirus in head and neck cancers in European populations: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is necessary for the development of cervical carcinoma. By contrast, the role of HPV in the pathogenesis of other malignancies, such as head and neck cancers, is less well characterised. This study aimed to address key information gaps by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of HPV infection in head and neck cancers, focusing on data for European populations. METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase and grey literature sources were systematically searched for primary studies that were published in English between July 2002 and July 2012, and which reported on the prevalence of HPV infection in head and neck cancers in European populations. Studies on non-European populations, those not published in English, and those assessing patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus were excluded. Eligible studies were combined in a meta-analysis. In addition, the potential statistical association between the head and neck cancers and certain HPV types was investigated. RESULTS: Thirty-nine publications met the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of HPV of any type in 3,649 patients with head and neck cancers was 40.0% (95% confidence interval, 34.6% to 45.5%), and was highest in tonsillar cancer (66.4%) and lowest in pharyngeal (15.3%) and tongue (25.7%) cancers. There were no statistically significant associations between the HPV types analysed and the geographical setting, type of sample analysed or type of primer used to analyse samples in head and neck cancers. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of HPV infection in European patients with head and neck cancers is high but varies between the different anatomical sites of these malignancies. There appears to be no association between HPV type and geographical setting, type of samples analysed or type of primer used to analyse samples in such cancers