Thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1997Petroleum-based contamination of the environment has and will likely continue to be a problem as long as oil and natural gas supply much of the world energy demands. In cold regions, where vast quantities of these fuels are extracted and used, climate and frozen soils limit remedial efforts to a few technologies. Bioventing has shown promise as a viable method for the remediation of spilled petroleum-based fuels in cold regions. An in situ study of bioventing with soil warming was conducted at a Fairbanks, Alaska site. The main purpose of this research effort was to compare the effectiveness of thermal enhancement techniques applied to bioventing. Objectives included (1) developing a suitable thermal insulation system(s) that would provide year-round bioventing of petroleum contaminated soils, (2) modeling of the thermal regime below three treatment areas, (3) relating monitoring and testing data to thermally enhanced biodegradation, and (4) presenting the information in a way that is useful to engineers, biologists and environmental scientists. Active soil warming with electrical heat tape beneath polystyrene insulation and sand and gravel overburden raised subsurface soil temperatures from the ground surface to the water table by as much as 15\sp\circF. The actively warmed test plot was successfully heated year-round, preventing soil freezing and enhancing microbial activity. Soil gas, microbiological, and geochemical sampling data evidenced correlation between increased bioactivity and soil warming. Passively treated soils evidenced some winter increase in temperatures, although some periodic soil freezing did occur. Overall, biodegradation within both passively treated and untreated contaminated test plots was noticeably slower than within the actively warmed plot. Thermally enhanced bioventing successfully remediated hydrocarbon contamination in vadose zone soils at a subarctic site within two years. After oxygen, temperature appears to be the most important factor affecting microbial activity and biodegradation. Variable and low moisture contents did not seem detrimental to bioactivity

A highly compact packaging concept for ultrasound transducer arrays embedded in neurosurgical needles

State-of-the-art neurosurgery intervention relies heavily on information from tissue imaging taken at a pre-operative stage. However, the data retrieved prior to performing an opening in the patient’s skull may present inconsistencies with respect to the tissue position observed by the surgeon during intervention, due to both the pulsing vasculature and possible displacements of the brain. The consequent uncertainty of the actual tissue position during the insertion of surgical tools has resulted in great interest in real-time guidance techniques. Ultrasound guidance during neurosurgery is a promising method for imaging the tissue while inserting surgical tools, as it may provide high resolution images. Microfabrication techniques have enabled the miniaturisation of ultrasound arrays to fit needle gauges below 2 mm inner diameter. However, the integration of array transducers in surgical needles requires the development of advanced interconnection techniques that can provide an interface between the microscale array elements and the macroscale connectors to the driving electronics. This paper presents progress towards a novel packaging scheme that uses a thin flexible printed circuit board (PCB) wound inside a surgical needle. The flexible PCB is connected to a probe at the tip of the needle by means of magnetically aligned anisotropic conductive paste. This bonding technology offers higher compactness compared to conventional wire bonding, as the individual electrical connections are isolated from one another within the volume of the paste line, and applies a reduced thermal load compared to thermo-compression or eutectic packaging techniques. The reduction in the volume required for the interconnection allows for denser wiring of ultrasound probes within interventional tools. This allows the integration of arrays with higher element counts in confined packages, potentially enabling multi-modality imaging with Raman, OCT, and impediography. Promising experimental results and a prototype needle assembly are presented to demonstrate the viability of the proposed packaging scheme. The progress reported in this work are steps towards the production of fully-functional imaging-enabled needles that can be used as surgical guidance tools

NOD2 and toll-like receptors are nonredundant recognition systems of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Contains fulltext : 48910.pdf ( ) (Open Access)Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Recognition of M. tuberculosis by pattern recognition receptors is crucial for activation of both innate and adaptive immune responses. In the present study, we demonstrate that nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 2 (NOD2) and Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are two nonredundant recognition mechanisms of M. tuberculosis. CHO cell lines transfected with human TLR2 or TLR4 were responsive to M. tuberculosis. TLR2 knock-out mice displayed more than 50% defective cytokine production after stimulation with mycobacteria, whereas TLR4-defective mice also released 30% less cytokines compared to controls. Similarly, HEK293T cells transfected with NOD2 responded to stimulation with M. tuberculosis. The important role of NOD2 for the recognition of M. tuberculosis was demonstrated in mononuclear cells of individuals homozygous for the 3020insC NOD2 mutation, who showed an 80% defective cytokine response after stimulation with M. tuberculosis. Finally, the mycobacterial TLR2 ligand 19-kDa lipoprotein and the NOD2 ligand muramyl dipeptide synergized for the induction of cytokines, and this synergism was lost in cells defective in either TLR2 or NOD2. Together, these results demonstrate that NOD2 and TLR pathways are nonredundant recognition mechanisms of M. tuberculosis that synergize for the induction of proinflammatory cytokines