Pulsed Corona Discharge for Oxidation of Gaseous Elemental Mercury

Positive pulsed corona discharge has been applied for the oxidation of gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0) from a simulated flue gas. The oxidation of Hg0 to HgO and HgCl2 can significantly enhance the mercury removal from flue gas. At a gas condition of O2 (10%), H2O (3%), and N2 (balance), Hg0 oxidation efficiency of 84% was achieved at an input energy density of 45 J/l. The presence of NO, however, hinders Hg0 oxidation due to the preferential reaction of NO with O and O3. On the contrary, SO2 shows little effect on Hg0 oxidation due to its preferential reaction with OH. It has been also observed that the HCl in gas stream can be dissociated to Cl and Cl2 and can induce additional Hg0 oxidation to HgCl2

Bacterial community analysis in upflow multilayer anaerobic reactor (UMAR) treating high-solids organic wastes

A novel anaerobic digestion configuration, the upflow multi-layer anaerobic reactor (UMAR), was developed to treat high-solids organic wastes. The UMAR was hypothesized to form multi-layer along depth due to the upflow plug flow; use of a recirculation system and a rotating distributor and baffles aimed to assist treating high-solids influent. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency and methane (CH4) production rate were 89% and 2.10 L CH4/L/day, respectively, at the peak influent COD concentration (110.4 g/L) and organic loading rate (7.5 g COD/L/day). The 454 pyrosequencing results clearly indicated heterogeneous distribution of bacterial communities at different vertical locations (upper, middle, and bottom) of the UMAR. Firmicutes was the dominant (>70%) phylum at the middle and bottom parts, while Deltaproteobacteria and Chloroflexi were only found in the upper part. Potential functions of the bacteria were discussed to speculate on their roles in the anaerobic performance of the UMAR system

First Confirmed Report of Powdery Mildew Caused by Erysiphe aquilegiae on Casuarina cunninghamiana in Argentina

Casuarina cunninghamiana Miq. (Fam. Casuarinaceae) is native to Australia and was introduced to Argentina and used as a windbreak, shade tree and for ornamental purposes. In autumn 2009, the potted seedlings in the nursery of La Plata University were found to be infected with a powdery mildew. Symptoms first appeared as thin white colonies, which subsequently developed into an abundant growth on the leaves and young stems. The damage caused by the powdery mildew infection has been observed every year after this initial infection and was again confirmed in April, 2011. There have been a few reports on the presence of powdery mildew on Casuarina spp. (Mantz et al., 2008; Farr and Rossman, 2011). In all the reports, the pathogen was cited to be Oidium sp. Thus, the aim of this work was to identify the causal agent of the powdery mildew observed on casuarina in Argentina

Analysis Method for Determining Optimal Synthetic Aperture Time Using Estimated Range and Doppler Cone Angle at the Center of Synthetic Aperture Length

Synthetic aperture time (SAT) is a crucial component for acquiring high-quality synthetic aperture radar images with an excellent target cross-range resolution. SAT is analyzed using the range and Doppler cone angle at the center of the synthetic aperture length (SAL). However, in a real flight mission setting, only the range and Doppler cone angle at the SAL’s starting point are determined. Therefore, we present a method for estimating the range and Doppler cone angle at the center of the SAL to calculate an accurate SAT that is suitable for the spatial resolution of the assigned mission. We performed an iterative analysis of SAT at the range and Doppler cone angle at the starting point of the SAL (original SAT) and at the center of the SAL (proposed SAT). Consequently, the proposed SAT decreased by 0.69%–16.14% compared to the original SAT at a resolution of 0.1–3.0 m

The Expression of AGO2 and DGCR8 in Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

ObjectivesThe microRNAs have been implicated in the development and function of the inner ear, especially in contribution to hearing. However, the impact of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) on expression of miRNA biogenesis-related components has not been established. To investigate the regulations of microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis-related components, argonaute 2 (AGO2) and DiGeorge syndrome critical region gene 8 (DGCR8) mRNA expression in SSNHL and to evaluate the value of clinical parameters on their expression.MethodsThirty-seven patients diagnosed with SSNHL and fifty-one healthy volunteers were included in this study. We measured mRNA expression levels of AGO2 and DGCR8 in whole blood cells but erythrocytes of patients with SSNHL and controls, using reverse transcription and real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis.ResultsThe mRNA expression level of AGO2 is upregulated in SSNHL. The expression level of AGO2 was significantly correlated with that of DGCR8 in both patients with SSNHL and controls. Expression level of AGO2 in SSNHL was correlated with white blood cell counts.ConclusionThis study demonstrated for the first time that the AGO2 mRNA expression level was upregulated in SSNHL, suggesting its important role in pathobiology of SSNHL development

Multivariate Statistical Analysis of Dyeing Wastewater Organic Matter Indicators

Objectives Since 2016, TOC (Total Organic Carbon) has replaced COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) as an organic indicator for effluent wastewater quality standards. However, the distribution of organic substances by process in wastewater treatment facilities is not properly identified, making it difficult to secure stable treated wastewater quality. Therefore, in this study, we identified the correlation between TOC and existing organic matter indicators in raw wastewater, primary treated, secondary treated, and effluent wastewater for dyeing wastewater. Methods Samples for each process were collected twice a week, a total of 24 times, from a dyeing wastewater treatment plant located in Y-city, Gyeonggi-do, and organic pollutant indicators (TOC, CODCr, CODMn, BOD5) were analyzed. TOC was analyzed by the NPOC (non-purgeable organic carbon) method using TOC-VCHP (Shimadzu, Japan). Using the analysis results, the characteristics of organic pollutants in dyeing wastewater were analyzed. In addition, multivariate statistical analysis was performed using SPSS to analyze correlations between organic pollutant indicators and principal component analysis. Results and Discussion As a result of multivariate statistical analysis, TOC was inflowed at an average of 574.9 mg/L and treated at 58.2mg/L. In the case of CODCr, CODMn, and BOD5, the inflow was 1,644, 448.9, and 440.7 mg/L and was treated at 98.2, 39.7, and 10.8mg/L. When evaluated based on effluent water quality standards, all of them satisfied the Region III standards, but were discharged at a relatively high level compared to the TOC concentration of sewage treatment plants effluent. As a result of comparing correlations between organic matter indicators through Pearson correlation analysis, the inflow raw water shows a high positive correlation with TOC:TCODCr (r=0.720), TOC:TCODMn (r=0.636), and TOC:TBOD5 (r=0.302) showed low correlation. This is reason to be due to the fact that most organic substances in dyeing wastewater are non-degradable substances and have low biodegradability. As a result of principal component analysis of influent, primary treated, and final treated, three main components each (two for final treated) were extracted, with cumulative contribution rates of 80.1%, 83.2%, and 95.6%. Conclusion Because the properties of wastewater differ greatly depending on the type of leather and chemicals handled at the dyeing factory, the correlation between influent water was low, but the correlation between treated water and treated water was relatively high. The correlation between processes in wastewater treatment facilities also tended to increase toward later processes. It is believed that the above statistical analysis can be used as basic data for effective organic matter management

Racial differences in long-term social, physical, and psychological health among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors

Background The current guidelines for survivorship in adolescents and young adults (AYA) cancer are based on studies conducted in the United States and European AYA survivors. However, previous studies have shown that the health-related quality of life in cancer survivors can vary depending on race, yet the long-term health differences among AYA survivors by race/ethnicity have not been fully explored. Therefore, our aim is to compare the psychosocial and physical health of AYA survivors and their matched controls across different racial and ethnic groups. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Korea NHANES from 2007 to 2018. We included AYA cancer survivors who were diagnosed with any type of cancer aged between 15 and 39 years, and who were adult with aged over 18 years old at survey year. We then stratified the study population by race/ethnicity with Non-Hispanic White (NHW, n = 310), African American (AA, n = 42), Hispanic (n = 81) from NHANES, and Asian (n = 389) from the Korea NHANES. We also selected 5 times age-, sex-, race-, and survey year-matched general population among participants who had never been diagnosed with cancer (N = 4110). Variables were defined using questionnaire data, physical exams, and laboratory tests. Results Compared to NHW, Hispanics (aOR 1.15, 95% CI 1.00–1.32) had poor or fair general health, lower education (aOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.07–1.40), and lower household income (aOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.01–1.33). AA survivors were more likely to be non-coupled (aOR 1.35, 95% 1.15–1.60) and have hypertension (aOR 1.18, 95% CI 1.03–1.36). Asians were more former/current drinkers (aOR 1.21, 95% CI 1.05–1.40). NHW are more likely to experience psychological limitation. Compared to matched general, NHW and Asian survivors had poor general health and psychological health. Conclusions This study provides evidence for future studies concerning long-term health after AYA cancer survivorship that may vary according to race.This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2022R1A2C1013119

Experimental study on the measurement of effective themal conductivity for VHTR fuel block geometry

Papers presented to the 11th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 20-23 July 2015.Effective thermal conductivity models which can be used to analyze the heat transfer phenomena of a prismatic fuel block were evaluated by the experiments. In the accident condition of VHTR when forced convection is lost, the heat flows in radial direction through the hexagonal fuel blocks that contain the large number of coolant holes and fuel compacts. Due to the complex geometry of fuel block and radiation heat transfer, the detail computation of heat transfer on the fuel block needs excessive computation resources. Therefore, the detail computation isn't appropriate for the lumped parameter code and a system code such as GAMMA+ adopts effective thermal conductivity model. Despite the complexity in heat transfer modes, the accurate analysis on the heat transfer in fuel block is necessary since it is directly relevant to the integrity of nuclear fuel embedded in fuel block. To satisfy the accurate analysis of complex heat transfer modes with limited computing sources, the credible effective thermal conductivity (ETC) models in which the effects of all of heat transfer modes are lumped is necessary. In this study, various ETC models were evaluated with the experiment result. Experiments for measuring the ETC values of the VHTR fuel block geometry were conducted with IG-11 graphite block. And four probable models compared to the experiment result showed good agreement with them, and thus they could be a candidate ETC model for VHTR fuel block.This research was supported by the National Nuclear R&D Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by MSIP; Ministry of Science ICT & Future Planning (No. NRF-2014M2A8A2074314)am201