Use of Electrically Heated Metal Catalytic Converter in Cold Starting To Reduce Automotive Emissions

The environmental degradation all over the world has led the researchers to work towards the development of Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) and Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV). Automobile vehicles emit substantial quantities of hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter. These pollutants have significant adverse health effects and deteriorate environmental quality. To address the serious pollution  problems posed by vehicles, growing number of countries worldwide? Catalytic converters have implemented that in motor vehicle pollution control programs aimed substantially reducing harmful emissions from spark ignited vehicles. Catalytic exhaust controls have been developed as a result of these regulations and are generally recognized to be the most cost—effective way to meet stringent emission standards. The catalytic converter does a great job at reducing the pollution, but it can still be improved substantially. One of its biggest shortcomings is that it only works at a fairly high temperature. When car start at cold, the catalytic converter does almost nothing to reduce the pollution from exhaust. Preheating the catalytic converter is a good way to reduce emissions. The easiest way to preheat the converter is to use electric resistance heaters. The electrical systems on most cars provide enough energy or power to heat the catalytic converter fast enough. So, in this research the main converter remains its usual position, whereas the heated catalyst is placed close to the exhaust manifold. The EHMC quickly reaches high temperature levels due to the heat supply from external source, sensible heat of the exhaust and the heat generated by the exothermic oxidation. This in turn helps the faster light off of the main converter

Flavor Physics in an SO(10) Grand Unified Model

In supersymmetric grand-unified models, the lepton mixing matrix can possibly affect flavor-changing transitions in the quark sector. We present a detailed analysis of a model proposed by Chang, Masiero and Murayama, in which the near-maximal atmospheric neutrino mixing angle governs large new b -> s transitions. Relating the supersymmetric low-energy parameters to seven new parameters of this SO(10) GUT model, we perform a correlated study of several flavor-changing neutral current (FCNC) processes. We find the current bound on B(tau -> mu gamma) more constraining than B(B -> X_s gamma). The LEP limit on the lightest Higgs boson mass implies an important lower bound on tan beta, which in turn limits the size of the new FCNC transitions. Remarkably, the combined analysis does not rule out large effects in B_s-B_s-bar mixing and we can easily accomodate the large CP phase in the B_s-B_s-bar system which has recently been inferred from a global analysis of CDF and DO data. The model predicts a particle spectrum which is different from the popular Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM). B(tau -> mu gamma) enforces heavy masses, typically above 1 TeV, for the sfermions of the degenerate first two generations. However, the ratio of the third-generation and first-generation sfermion masses is smaller than in the CMSSM and a (dominantly right-handed) stop with mass below 500 GeV is possible.Comment: 44 pages, 5 figures. Footnote and references added, minor changes, Fig. 2 corrected; journal versio

Western Indian Ocean marine and terrestrial records of climate variability: a review and new concepts on land-ocean interactions since AD 1660

We examine the relationship between three tropical and two subtropical western Indian Ocean coral oxygen isotope time series to surface air temperatures (SAT) and rainfall over India, tropical East Africa and southeast Africa. We review established relationships, provide new concepts with regard to distinct rainfall seasons, and mean annual temperatures. Tropical corals are coherent with SAT over western India and East Africa at interannual and multidecadal periodicities. The subtropical corals correlate with Southeast African SAT at periodicities of 16–30 years. The relationship between the coral records and land rainfall is more complex. Running correlations suggest varying strength of interannual teleconnections between the tropical coral oxygen isotope records and rainfall over equatorial East Africa. The relationship with rainfall over India changed in the 1970s. The subtropical oxygen isotope records are coherent with South African rainfall at interdecadal periodicities. Paleoclimatological reconstructions of land rainfall and SAT reveal that the inferred relationships generally hold during the last 350 years. Thus, the Indian Ocean corals prove invaluable for investigating land–ocean interactions during past centuries

Consultancy-Based Projects

This chapter will:; ; ; Show how consultancy work can inform business discourse teaching;; ; ; Discuss how needs analysis and communication audits can be used to generate recommendations for teaching and training;; ; ; Profile a number of consultancy-based business discourse projects and show how they have informed training and course development;; ; ; Provide a case study, together with a set of tasks appropriate for the business discourse classroom, and a set of further readings

Measuring V_ub and probing SUSY with double ratios of purely leptonic decays of B and D mesons

The experimental prospects for precise measurements of the leptonic decays B_u -> tau nu / mu nu, B_s -> mu+ mu-, D -> mu nu and D_s -> mu nu / tau nu are very promising. Double ratios involving four of these decays can be defined in which the dependence on the values of the decay constants is essentially eliminated, thus enabling complementary measurements of the CKM matrix element V_ub with a small theoretical error. We quantify the experimental error in a possible future measurement of |V_ub| using this approach, and show that it is competitive with the anticipated precision from the conventional approaches. Moreover, it is shown that such double ratios can be more effective than the individual leptonic decays as a probe of the parameter space of supersymmetric models. We emphasize that the double ratios have the advantage of using |V_ub| as an input parameter (for which there is experimental information), while the individual decays have an uncertainty from the decay constants (e.g. f_B_s), and hence a reliance on theoretical techniques such as lattice QCD.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

Bayesian Fit of Exclusive b→sℓˉℓb \to s \bar\ell\ell Decays: The Standard Model Operator Basis

We perform a model-independent fit of the short-distance couplings $C_{7,9,10}$ within the Standard Model set of $b\to s\gamma$ and $b\to s\bar\ell\ell$ operators. Our analysis of $B \to K^* \gamma$, $B \to K^{(*)} \bar\ell\ell$ and $B_s \to \bar\mu\mu$ decays is the first to harness the full power of the Bayesian approach: all major sources of theory uncertainty explicitly enter as nuisance parameters. Exploiting the latest measurements, the fit reveals a flipped-sign solution in addition to a Standard-Model-like solution for the couplings $C_i$. Each solution contains about half of the posterior probability, and both have nearly equal goodness of fit. The Standard Model prediction is close to the best-fit point. No New Physics contributions are necessary to describe the current data. Benefitting from the improved posterior knowledge of the nuisance parameters, we predict ranges for currently unmeasured, optimized observables in the angular distributions of $B\to K^*(\to K\pi)\,\bar\ell\ell$.Comment: 42 pages, 8 figures; v2: Using new lattice input for f_Bs, considering Bs-mixing effects in BR[B_s->ll]. Main results and conclusion unchanged, matches journal versio

Evaluation of the health-related quality of life of children in Schistosoma haematobium-endemic communities in Kenya: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis remains a global public health challenge, with 93% of the ~237 million infections occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Though rarely fatal, its recurring nature makes it a lifetime disorder with significant chronic health burdens. Much of its negative health impact is due to non-specific conditions such as anemia, undernutrition, pain, exercise intolerance, poor school performance, and decreased work capacity. This makes it difficult to estimate the disease burden specific to schistosomiasis using the standard DALY metric. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In our study, we used Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), a modular instrument available for ages 2-18 years, to assess health-related quality of life (HrQoL) among children living in a Schistosoma haematobium-endemic area in coastal Kenya. The PedsQL questionnaires were administered by interview to children aged 5-18 years (and their parents) in five villages spread across three districts. HrQoL (total score) was significantly lower in villages with high prevalence of S. haematobium (-4.0%, p<0.001) and among the lower socioeconomic quartiles (-2.0%, p<0.05). A greater effect was seen in the psychosocial scales as compared to the physical function scale. In moderate prevalence villages, detection of any parasite eggs in the urine was associated with a significant 2.1% (p<0.05) reduction in total score. The PedsQL reliabilities were generally high (Cronbach alphas ≥0.70), floor effects were acceptable, and identification of children from low socioeconomic standing was valid. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We conclude that exposure to urogenital schistosomiasis is associated with a 2-4% reduction in HrQoL. Further research is warranted to determine the reproducibility and responsiveness properties of QoL testing in relation to schistosomiasis. We anticipate that a case definition based on more sensitive parasitological diagnosis among younger children will better define the immediate and long-term HrQoL impact of Schistosoma infection

New Physics in b -> s mu+ mu-: CP-Conserving Observables

We perform a comprehensive study of the impact of new-physics operators with different Lorentz structures on decays involving the b -> s mu+ mu- transition. We examine the effects of new vector-axial vector (VA), scalar-pseudoscalar (SP) and tensor (T) interactions on the differential branching ratios and forward-backward asymmetries (A_{FB}'s) of Bsbar -> mu+ mu-, Bdbar -> Xs mu+ mu-, Bsbar -> mu+ mu- gamma, Bdbar -> Kbar mu+ mu-, and Bdbar -> K* mu+ mu-, taking the new-physics couplings to be real. In Bdbar -> K* mu+ mu-, we further explore the polarization fraction f_L, the angular asymmetry A_T^{(2)}, and the longitudinal-transverse asymmetry A_{LT}. We identify the Lorentz structures that would significantly impact these observables, providing analytical arguments in terms of the contributions from the individual operators and their interference terms. In particular, we show that while the new VA operators can significantly enhance most of the asymmetries beyond the Standard Model predictions, the SP and T operators can do this only for A_{FB} in Bdbar -> Kbar mu+ mu-.Comment: 54 pages, JHEP format, 45 figures (included). 5/6/2013: typos in K* mu mu angular coefficients corrected, typos in Eq. (D.12) corrected, added a missing term in I3LT in Eq. (D.16). Numerical analysis unchange

Assessing the determinants of stillbirths and early neonatal deaths using routinely collected data in an inner city area

BACKGROUND: Within the UK there is considerable variation in the perinatal mortality rate. The objective of this study was to assess the factors associated with stillbirths and early neonatal deaths (ENND) and the suitability of the available databases in a health authority with one of the highest rates in the country. METHODS: Two case-control studies were carried out in three hospital trusts in the Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Health Authority, London, using routinely collected information. In one study, 342 stillbirths and 1,368 controls were included, and in the other study, 205 ENND and 820 controls were included. In the two studies cases and controls were matched for hospital trust. RESULTS: A birthweight below 1.5 kg was found in 54% and 48% of the stillbirths and ENND, respectively. More than 50% of the cases, stillbirths and ENND, had a length of gestation below 32 weeks. Length of gestation, birthweight, emergency caesarean section and age of the mother were associated with stillbirths. Birthweight and Apgar score at 1 minute as a categorical variable were associated with ENND. There was no direct evidence of an effect of social deprivation on the outcomes of interest. CONCLUSION: Birthweight and length of gestation are the most influential factors on an unfavourable outcome. Conception at an older age has a serious impact on stillbirth rates. In our health authority social disadvantage did not have a direct impact on stillbirth and ENND. Maternity information systems should collect routine data on fewer variables, but their quality in terms of value, standardization and completion rates must improve