Coal desulfurization by low temperature chlorinolysis, phase 1

The reported activity covers laboratory scale experiments on twelve bituminous, sub-bituminous and lignite coals, and preliminary design and specifications for bench-scale and mini-pilot plant equipment

New broad 8Be nuclear resonances

Energies, total and partial widths, and reduced width amplitudes of 8Be resonances up to an excitation energy of 26 MeV are extracted from a coupled channel analysis of experimental data. The presence of an extremely broad J^pi = 2^+ ``intruder'' resonance is confirmed, while a new 1^+ and very broad 4^+ resonance are discovered. A previously known 22 MeV 2^+ resonance is likely resolved into two resonances. The experimental J^pi T = 3^(+)? resonance at 22 MeV is determined to be 3^-0, and the experimental 1^-? (at 19 MeV) and 4^-? resonances to be isospin 0.Comment: 16 pages, LaTe

Analytical study of thermal barrier coated first-stage blades in an F100 engine

Heat transfer and stress analyses were performed on two sections of a thermal barrier coated (TBC) F100 1st-stage turbine blade. Results of the analyses indicate that the TBC on the leading edges of both sections experience the highest elastic strain ranges and these occur during transient engine operation. Further study is recommended to determine the effects of plastic deformation (creep) and creep-fatigue interaction on coating life

Building model trains and planes : an autoethnographic investigation of a human occupation.

This research paper utilises an autoethnographic method, termed collective autobiography, to explore the nature and meaning of the amateur hobby of building models from childhood to adulthood. Hobbies and leisure activities are areas of human occupation of increasing interest to a variety of disciplines e.g. healthcare. Although model making may concern the miniature representation of any subject, this paper focuses on the construction of model aircraft kits, trains and their layouts. As a complex specific human occupation modelling is revealed as significant to personal wellbeing, and while the activity may start in childhood its associated motivations and required skills develop over a life time. The findings reveal aspects of the nature of the relationship between the modeller, the process of modelling and the final product. In addition they also reveal some elements of the gendered nature of modelling, its role within father-son relationships, and the accommodation of modelling activities within shared domestic spaces. The specific modelling activities described are recognised as having their origins within the culture of post-war baby boomer Britain, and the socioeconomic and technological environment of that period. This recognition necessitates discussion of the modeller as a skilled consumer as well as a creative individual

Problematika Tergeneralisirnya Saniri Negeri Menjadi Badan Permusyawaratan Desa

Regulasi Desa di Indonesia telah menggeneralisir saniri negeri menjadi sama dengan badan Permusyawaratan Desa (BPD), padahal konstruksi Saniri Negeri berbeda dengan konstruksi BPD. Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis masalah dalam regulasi desa di Indonesia khususnya yang mengatur tentang saniri negeri dan menganalisis konsekuensi yuridis tergeneralisirnya saniri negeri menjadi BPD, metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah yuridis normatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa berdasarkan rumusan norma Badan Permusyawaratan Desa (BPD) atau yang disebut dengan nama lain yang memiliki wewenang untuk membuat peraturan desa, dan mengawasi penyelenggaraan pemerintahan desa. Saniri Negeri merupakan suatu sistem kekuasaan dan terlembaga dalam 2 (dua) lembaga yaitu saniri rajapatti yang melaksanakan pemerintahan dan saniri lengkap yang merumuskan kebijakan, serta 1 (satu) forum yaitu saniri besar sebagai forum pertanggungjawaban pemerintah negeri. Saniri Negeri bukanlah lembaga sehingga berbeda dengan BPD. Perlu dilakukan sinkronisasi keberadaan BPD dengan Saniri Negeri, agar konstruksi saniri negeri tidak digeneralisasi menjadi sama dengan konstruksi BPD.

Penyelenggaraan Urusan Pemerintahan Daerah Berciri Kepulauan (Kajian Terhadap Pelayanan Administrasi Kependudukan di Kabupaten Maluku Tengah)

Masalah pelayanan administrasi kependudukan di wilayah bercirikan kepulauan seperti di Kabupaten Maluku tengah, menjadikan masyarakat kesulitan untuk mendapatkan layanan pengurusan administrasi kependudukan seperti pengurusan KTP dan administrasi kependudukan lainnya. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk melakukan analisis terhadap penyelenggaraan pemerintahan dalam pelayanan administrasi kependudukan di daerah yang berciri kepulauan. Metode penelitian adalah penelitian hukum normative. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penyelenggaraan pemerintahan di kabupaten Maluku Tengah terkait pelayanan administrasi kependudukan masih terkendala karena pengurusan data kependudukan Masyarakat harus ke ibu kota kabupaten, karena wewenang kecamatan hanya sebatas perekaman data kependudukan. Pengurusan pencetakannya harus ke ibu kota kabupaten di kota masohi, yang jarak menuju ibu kota kabupaten sangat jauh sehingga untuk mendapatkan data administrasi kependudukan membutuhkan pembiayaan yang sangat besar. Perlu desain alternatif kebijakan yang dapat mendukung kelancaran penyelenggaraan pemerintahan di bidang pelayanan data administrasi kependudukan dengan cara melimpahkan kewenangan bagi kecamatan, pembentukan UPTD Disdukcapil di kecamatan, demi terwujudnya keserasian dan keseimbangan hubungan negara dan warga masyarakat

Aufbau des bundesdeutschen Zentralregisters für Patienten mit Alpha-1-Antitrypsin-Mangel - Untersuchung der aktuellen Versorgungssituation und Versorgungsqualität in Deutschland

AATD (Alpha-1-Antitrypsin-Mangel)ist eine Erkrankung, die weltweit vorkommt aber dennoch im Bewusstsein der Bevölkerung noch nicht ausreichend verankert ist. Wir konnten zeigen, dass es möglich ist, anhand eines kostenlosen Diagnostik-Programms in Verbindung mit Informations- und Aufklärungskampagnen eine Vielzahl von Personen mit AATD zu identifizieren. Gleichzeitig war es gelungen ein nationales Register für betroffene Patienten aufzubauen um deren Versorgungssituation und Versorgungsqualität zu erfassen

Paricalcitol reduces oxidative stress and inflammation in hemodialysis patients

Background: Treatment with selective vitamin D receptor activators such as paricalcitol have been shown to exert an anti-inflammatory effect in patients on hemodialysis, in addition to their action on mineral metabolism and independently of parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. The objective of this study was to evaluate the additional antioxidant capacity of paricalcitol in a clinical setting. Methods: The study included 19 patients with renal disease on hemodialysis, of whom peripheral blood was obtained for analysis at baseline and three months after starting intravenous paricalcitol treatment. The following oxidizing and inflammatory markers were quantified: malondialdehyde (MDA), nitrites and carbonyl groups, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), tumor necrosis factor alfa (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-18 (IL-18) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Of the antioxidants and anti-inflammatory markers, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, reduced glutathione (GSH), thioredoxin, and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels were obtained. Results: Baseline levels of oxidation markers MDA, nitric oxide and protein carbonyl groups significantly decreased after three months on paricalcitol treatment, while levels of GSH, thioredoxin, catalase and SOD activity significantly increased. After paricalcitol treatment, levels of the inflammatory markers CRP, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-18 were significantly reduced in serum and the level of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was increased. Conclusions: In renal patients undergoing hemodialysis, paricalcitol treatment significantly reduces oxidative stress and inflammation, two well known factors leading to cardiovascular damageBackground: Treatment with selective vitamin D receptor activators such as paricalcitol have been shown to exert an anti-inflammatory effect in patients on hemodialysis, in addition to their action on mineral metabolism and independently of parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. The objective of this study was to evaluate the additional antioxidant capacity of paricalcitol in a clinical setting. Methods: The study included 19 patients with renal disease on hemodialysis, of whom peripheral blood was obtained for analysis at baseline and three months after starting intravenous paricalcitol treatment. The following oxidizing and inflammatory markers were quantified: malondialdehyde (MDA), nitrites and carbonyl groups, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), tumor necrosis factor alfa (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-18 (IL-18) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Of the antioxidants and anti-inflammatory markers, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, reduced glutathione (GSH), thioredoxin, and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels were obtained. Results: Baseline levels of oxidation markers MDA, nitric oxide and protein carbonyl groups significantly decreased after three months on paricalcitol treatment, while levels of GSH, thioredoxin, catalase and SOD activity significantly increased. After paricalcitol treatment, levels of the inflammatory markers CRP, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-18 were significantly reduced in serum and the level of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was increased. Conclusions: In renal patients undergoing hemodialysis, paricalcitol treatment significantly reduces oxidative stress and inflammation, two well known factors leading to cardiovascular damage

Ergocalciferol and Microcirculatory Function in Chronic Kidney Disease and Concomitant Vitamin D Deficiency: An Exploratory, Double Blind, Randomised Controlled Trial

Vitamin D deficiency and endothelial dysfunction are non-traditional risk factors for cardiovascular events in chronic kidney disease. Previous studies in chronic kidney disease have failed to demonstrate a beneficial effect of vitamin D on arterial stiffness, left ventricular mass and inflammation but none have assessed the effect of vitamin D on microcirculatory endothelial function.We conducted a randomised controlled trial of 38 patients with non diabetic chronic kidney disease stage 3-4 and concomitant vitamin D deficiency (<16 ng/dl) who received oral ergocalciferol (50,000 IU weekly for one month followed by 50,000 IU monthly) or placebo over 6 months. The primary outcome was change in microcirculatory function measured by laser Doppler flowmetry after iontophoresis of acetylcholine. Secondary endpoints were tissue advanced glycation end products, sublingual functional capillary density and flow index as well as macrovascular parameters. Parallel in vitro experiments were conducted to determine the effect of ergocalciferol on cultured human endothelial cells.Twenty patients received ergocalciferol and 18 patients received placebo. After 6 months, there was a significant improvement in the ergocalciferol group in both endothelium dependent microcirculatory vasodilatation after iontophoresis of acetylcholine (p = 0.03) and a reduction in tissue advanced glycation end products (p = 0.03). There were no changes in sublingual microcirculatory parameters. Pulse pressure (p = 0.01) but not aortic pulse wave velocity was reduced. There were no significant changes in bone mineral parameters, blood pressure or left ventricular mass index suggesting that ergocalciferol improved endothelial function independently of these parameters. In parallel experiments, expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and activity were increased in human endothelial cells in a dose dependent manner.Ergocalciferol improved microcirculatory endothelial function in patients with chronic kidney disease and concomitant vitamin D deficiency. This process may be mediated through enhanced expression and activity of endothelial nitric oxide synthase.Clinical trials.gov NCT00882401