Carry-over grain stocks as an emergency fuel

In a typical year, the US has carry-over stocks of grain with a total energy content of 0.5 to 1.0 quad (10/sup 15/ Btu). These stocks could serve as an emergency supply of solid fuel which could provide a partial substitute for coal in coal power plants. This report discusses the technical feasibility of burning grain-coal mixtures, the availability and price of carry-over stocks, and the amount of coal for which the grain could substitute

Manifestly uncertain destiny: the debate over American expansionism, 1803-1848

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of HistoryCharles W. SandersAmericans during the first half of the nineteenth-century were obsessed with expansion. God had bestowed upon them an innate superiority in nearly all things. American settlers were culturally, economically, racially and politically superior to all others. But how accurate are such statements? Did a majority of Americans support such declarations? The purpose of this dissertation is to examine how Americans wrote and read about expansion. Doing so reveals that for every citizen extolling the unique greatness of Americans, one questioned such an assumption. For every American insisting that the nation must expand to the Pacific coast to be successful there was one who disdained expansion and sought to industrialize what territory the nation already possessed. Americans during the first half of the nineteenth century were of many minds about expansion. The destiny of the United States was anything but manifest. Using a wealth of nineteenth century newspapers this dissertation demonstrates that the concept of Manifest Destiny was far less popular than previously imagined. Newspapers were the primary source of information and their contents endlessly debated. Editors from around the country expressed their own views and eagerly published pertinent letters to the editor that further detailed how Americans perceived expansion. While many people have often read John O’Sullivan’s rousing words he was not necessarily indicative of American sentiment. For every article espousing the importance of acquiring Florida to deny it to the British there was one deriding the notion because they felt Florida to be nothing but a worthless swamp filled with hostile Indians. American justification and opposition to territorial expansion followed no grand strategy. Instead, its most fascinating characteristic was its dynamic nature. In the Southwest expansionist proponents argued that annexation would liberate the land from Papist masters, while opponents questioned the morality of such a conquest. Encouraging or discouraging territorial expansion could take on innumerable variations and it is this flexible rhetoric that the dissertation focuses upon. The debate that raged in the public forum over expansion was both heated and fascinating. The voices of both pro and anti-expansionists were crucial to the development of antebellum America

Intérêt de la recherche des papillomavirus oncogènes (HPV) dans la surveillance du col traité

Le cancer du col de l'utérus représente par sa fréquence le troisième cancer gynécologique chez la femme. Il est à l'origine d'environ 1700 décès par an en France. De grands progrès ont été réalisés dans le dépistage, le diagnostic et le traitement des lésions dysplasiques cervicales. Il paraît donc important d'assurer un suivi de qualité afin de dépister les lésions résiduelles et les récidives. Malheureusement, la cytologie et la colposcopie sont parfois en défaut pour permettre le suivi par manque de sensibilité et de spécificité. L'objectif de notre étude prospective sur 185 cas au CHU d'Amiens a été de tester l'intérêt de la recherche de l'HPV dans le cadre du suivi des cols traités. Notre hypothèse de départ est que l'on pourrait par ce moyen définir deux groupes de femmes : · un groupe à bas risque de récidive chez lequel le typage post-traitement est négatif · un groupe à haut risque de récidive chez lequel le typage post-traitement est positif. Chez ces femmes, la surveillance devra rester plus attentive. Cette technique paraît effectivement être plus sensible et spécifique et avoir une bonne valeur prédictive négative par rapport à la cytologie ou la colposcopie. Par contre, la valeur prédictive positive n'est pas parfaite. Ainsi, dans les cas où la cytologie et la colposcopie seront non concordants, le " statut HPV " permettra d'orienter le diagnostic et de programmer un suivi adéquat. La recherche de l'ADN viral post-traitement paraît être un bon outil de surveillance des cols traités pour dysplasie grâce à sa bonne sensibilité, spécificité et VPN et peut permettre de rattraper les écueils de la cytologie et de la colposcopieAMIENS-BU Santé (800212102) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Electric utilities and residential solar systems

The long-run incremental cost (LRIC) of providing electricity for solar heating and hot water systems is estimated for three utilities using a utility capacity expansion model and compared to the cost of providing electricity to electric-only systems. All investment, fuel and operating costs are accounted for. Hot water systems and combined heating and hot water systems are analyzed separately. It is found that the LRIC for solar backup is no more than the LRIC of electricity used for purely electric heating and hot water devices and also no more than the incremental cost of normal load growth. For the three utilities studied, there appears to be little basis for rate distinctions between solar devices using electric backup and electric-only heating and hot water devices. Off-peak storage heating and hot water devices have a much lower LRIC than the standard systems; again, there appears to be no basis for distinguishing between solar and electric off-peak devices. Compared to average cost pricing, incremental cost pricing offers considerable benefits to customers using solar and electric heat and hot water, especially if a separate lower rate is adopted for off-peak storage devices; these benefits can amount to several hundred dollars per year. Substantial savings in the use of oil and gas fuels can be achieved if residences using these fuels convert to solar systems, savings not necessarily achievable by a shift, instead, to electric systems

Do film soundtracks contain nonlinear analogues to influence emotion?

A variety of vertebrates produce nonlinear vocalizations when they are under duress. By their very nature, vocalizations containing nonlinearities may sound harsh and are somewhat unpredictable; observations that are consistent with them being particularly evocative to those hearing them. We tested the hypothesis that humans capitalize on this seemingly widespread vertebrate response by creating nonlinear analogues in film soundtracks to evoke particular emotions. We used lists of highly regarded films to generate a set of highly ranked action/adventure, dramatic, horror and war films. We then scored the presence of a variety of nonlinear analogues in these film soundtracks. Dramatic films suppressed noise of all types, contained more abrupt frequency transitions and musical sidebands, and fewer noisy screams than expected. Horror films suppressed abrupt frequency transitions and musical sidebands, but had more non-musical sidebands, and noisy screams than expected. Adventure films had more male screams than expected. Together, our results suggest that film-makers manipulate sounds to create nonlinear analogues in order to manipulate our emotional responses

Crop residues as a fuel for power generation

Crop residues could serve as an alternative energy source for producing electric power and heat in agricultural regions of the United States. Nearly 2 quads of residues are estimated to be available as a sustainable annual yield. These can substitute for up to one quad of conventional fuels used to generate electricity and up to an additional quad of petroleum and natural gas currently used for producing heat. The most promising routes to residue conversion appear to be regional generators sized in the megawatt range, and the mixing of residues with coal for burning in coal power plants. Costing farmers from $0.70 to$1.25 per million Btu, to harvest and prepare for use as a fuel, residues can be a competitive renewable energy supply

Strategic cost-benefit analysis of energy policies: detailed projections

Current US energy policy includes many programs directed toward restructuring the energy system in order to decrease US dependence on foreign supplies and to increase our reliance on plentiful and environmentally benign energy forms. However, recent events have led to renewed concern over the direction of current energy policy. This study describes three possible energy strategies and analyzes each in terms of its economic, environmental, and national security benefits and costs. Each strategy is represented by a specific policy. In the first, no additional programs or policies are initiated beyond those currently in effect or announced. The second is directed toward reducing the growth in energy demand, i.e., energy conservation. The third promotes increased domestic supply through accelerated development of synthetic and unconventional fuels. The analysis focuses on the evaluation and comparison of these strategy alternatives with respect to their energy, economic, and environmental consequences. Results indicate that conservation can substantially reduce import dependence and slow the growth of energy demand, with only a small macroeconomic cost and with substantial environmental benefits; the synfuels policy reduces imports by a smaller amount, does not reduce the growth in energy demand, involves substantial environmental costs and slows the rate of economic growth. These relationships could be different if the energy savings per unit cost for conservation are less than anticipated, or if the costs of synthetic fuels can be significantly lowered. Given these uncertainties, both conservation and RD and D support for synfuels should be included in future energy policy. However, between these policy alternatives, conservation appears to be the preferred strategy. The results of this study are presented in three reports (see also BNL--51105 and BNL--51128). 11 references, 3 figures, 61 tables