Electric discharge for treatment of trace contaminants

A radio frequency glow discharge reactor is described for removing trace oxidizable contaminants from an oxygen bearing atmosphere. The reaction chamber is defined by an inner metal electrode facing a dielectric backed by an outer conductive electrode. In one embodiment, a conductive liquid forms the conductor of an outer electrode and cools the dielectric. A resonator coupled to a variable radio frequency source generates the high voltages for creating a glow discharge in the chamber at a predetermined pressure whereby the trace contaminants are oxidized into a few simple non-toxic products that may be easily recovered. The corresponding process for removal of trace contaminants from an oxygen-bearing atmosphere with high efficiency independent of the concentration level is also disclosed

Now and Never: Banning Hydrocarbon Extraction in Antarctica Forever

The Glasgow Climate Pact called the 2020s a "critical decade" for still meeting the Paris Agreement targets. Initiatives aimed at leaving fossil fuel deposits in the ground have not extended to Antarctica, with massive untapped deposits. There is a compelling case for converting the present general moratorium on Antarctic mineral resource activity, potentially subject to review from 2048, into an explicit prohibition of hydrocarbon extraction now. Resource interests have been at the centre of Antarctic diplomacy for decades, in no small part because of their entanglement with questions around "frozen" sovereignty claims. Global power shifts and increased geopolitical rivalries, especially in the context of the rise of China, regarding Antarctic affairs have given these debates new intensity. To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, current assessments are that some 60 per cent of proven hydrocarbon reserves need to remain in the ground. There is, accordingly, a compelling case for never commencing hydrocarbon-extraction activities in Antarctica, where they are presently covered within the wider minerals prohibition. Rather than waiting for 2048, states should explicitly unilaterally commit now to never commence hydrocarbon extraction in Antarctica. This decision should be taken by individual states and by the decision-making Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties as a community, now. A forever ban on hydrocarbon extraction in Antarctica could also reduce the basis for geopolitical contention around resource access to a continent twice the size of Australia and where territorial sovereignty remains unresolved. As host of the 44th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) from 23 May to 2 June 2022 in Berlin, Germany has a "once in 30 years" opportunity to facilitate a forever ban on hydrocarbon extraction in Antarctica as an important signal for revitalised Antarctic high-level diplomacy as well as for enhanced global cooperation on climate action. This requires high-level international diplomacy by Germany prior to the meeting, and the tabling of a formal proposal by the host country at the meeting itself. Since the proposal may not yet be operationalised at the 2022 meeting, Germany needs to engage with the states hosting the ATCMs coming up in the next few years

Determination of MIC and Disk Diffusion Quality Control Guidelines for Meropenem–Vaborbactam, a Novel Carbapenem/Boronic Acid β-Lactamase Inhibitor Combination

Meropenem–vaborbactam is a carbapenem/cyclic boronic acid β-lactamase inhibitor combination primarily active against Gram-negative bacilli, including those harboring class A serine carbapenemases such as Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC). A Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute M23-A4 (Tier 2) quality control study established broth microdilution and disk diffusion ranges for reference strains. Two KPC-producing K. pneumoniae ATCC strains are recommended for quality control testing

The three-quark static potential in perturbation theory

We study the three-quark static potential in perturbation theory in QCD. A complete next-to-leading order calculation is performed in the singlet, octets and decuplet channels and the potential exponentiation is demonstrated. The mixing of the octet representations is calculated. At next-to-next-to-leading order, the subset of diagrams producing three-body forces is identified in Coulomb gauge and its contribution to the potential calculated. Combining it with the contribution of the two-body forces, which may be extracted from the quark-antiquark static potential, we obtain the complete next-to-next-to-leading order three-quark static potential in the colour-singlet channel.Comment: 36 pages, 11 figures, version published in Phys.Rev.

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Overview of ERA Integrated Technology Demonstration (ITD) 51A Ultra-High Bypass (UHB) Integration for Hybrid Wing Body (HWB)

The NASA Environmentally Responsible Aircraft Project (ERA) was a ve year project broken into two phases. In phase II, high N+2 Technical Readiness Level demonstrations were grouped into Integrated Technology Demonstrations (ITD). This paper describes the work done on ITD-51A: the Vehicle Systems Integration, Engine Airframe Integration Demonstration. Refinement of a Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) aircraft from the possible candidates developed in ERA Phase I was continued. Scaled powered, and unpowered wind- tunnel testing, with and without acoustics, in the NASA LARC 14- by 22-foot Subsonic Tunnel, the NASA ARC Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, and the 40- by 80-foot test section of the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) in conjunction with very closely coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics was used to demonstrate the fuel burn and acoustic milestone targets of the ERA Project