Multiple orifice throttle valve Patent

Throttle valve for regulating fluid flow volum

Multiple-orifice throttle valve

Multiple-orifice throttle valve is not subject to cold welding in a vacuum environment and is compatible with strong oxidizing fluid. The valve is of all metal construction using simple components that do not slide or rotate and excludes static or dynamic seals

The parasitoids of the African white rice borer, Maliarpha separatella Ragonot (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

A key is provided for the recognition of the hymenopterous parasitoids of the African white rice borer, Maliarpha separatella Ragonot, a pest of rice in Africa and Madagascar. Five species are described as new: Braconidae: Chelonus maudae Huddleston, Rhacanotus carinafus Polaszek; Ichneumonidae: Prisfomerus bullis Fitton, Prisfomerus caris Fitton, Venturia jordanae Fitton. The following synonyms are proposed: Goniozus indicus Muesebeck, G. natalensis Gordh and G. procerae Risbec are synonymized with Goniozus indicus Ashmead. Phanerotorna major Brues is synonymized with Phanerotoma saussurei Kohl. Lectotypes are designated for Goniozus procerae Risbec, Rhaconotus scirpophagae Wilkinson and Garouella ovicida Risbec. The known distributions, biologies and alternative hosts of each parasitoid are provided, and their use as biological control agents or components of integrated pest management programmes are discusse

Respiratory admissions linked to air pollution in a medium sized city of the UK:A case-crossover study

This study, from the Tayside Pollution Research Programme (TPRP), aims to investigate the effects of air pollution on respiratory hospital admissions in adults and children &lt; 16 y of age, over a 14-year period, in Dundee, Scotland (population circa 148,270). We conducted a case-crossover study using routinely collected healthcare records from Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Scotland from 2004 to 2017. Respiratory hospitalisation events were linked to daily nitric oxide gases (NOx, NO2, NO) extracted from publicly available data over this period. We used distributed lag models to allow for delayed effects of air pollutants up to 14 days. A total of 34,192 hospital admissions for a respiratory condition were included in this study (children = 9,501; adults = 24,691). Respiratory admissions in children were significantly associated with cumulative 14-day exposure to NOx (RR for a 10 µg m–3 increase in concentration 1.020; 95% confidence interval 1.010–1.031), NO2 (RR 1.086; 95% CI 1.036–1.139) and NO (RR 1.033; 95% CI 1.016–1.052). Similar estimates were observed for acute respiratory infection categories in children. Effects appeared to be somewhat delayed, with the largest estimates mostly observed around lag 6. No significant association was seen for respiratory admissions in adults. This study shows that both NO and NO2 are associated with increased respiratory hospital admissions in children &lt; 16 y of age, and that much more should be done to improve and enforce the established legal NOx pollution limits in cities for the sake of our children’s health.</p

The challenge of modelling nitrogen management at the field scale : simulation and sensitivity analysis of N2O fluxes across nine experimental sites using DailyDayCent

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Graphite-Conjugated Pyrazines as Molecularly Tunable Heterogeneous Electrocatalysts

Condensation of ortho-phenylenediamine derivatives with ortho-quinone moieties at edge planes of graphitic carbon generates graphite-conjugated pyrazines (GCPs) that are active for oxygen reduction electrocatalysis in alkaline aqueous electrolyte. Catalytic rates of oxygen reduction are positively correlated with the electrophilicity of the active site pyrazine unit and can be tuned by over 70-fold by appending electron-withdrawing substituents to the phenylenediamine precursors. Discrete molecular analogs containing pyrazine moieties display no activity above background under identical conditions. This simple bottom up method for constructing molecularly well-defined active sites on ubiquitous graphitic solids enables the rational design of tunable heterogeneous catalysts.Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Postdoctoral Fellowship)United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Sciences (Award number DE-SC0014176)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry (Junior Faculty Funds

Thermal performance of thermal paint and surface coatings in buildings in heating dominated climates

A purported approach to reducing heating energy in solid wall “hard to heat” housing is the simple application of a thin layer (&lt; 1mm) of thermal paint containing insulating additives. The objective of this study was to test the energy saving claims by a systematic study of the material characteristics and thermal performance of internal coatings using accepted international standard test methods. The coatings have been compared with conventional internal coverings such as emulsion paint, wallpapers and expanded polystyrene liner. A dynamic model of the Energy House research facility has been used to evaluate energy savings, costs, and payback times. The thermal resistance of the thermal paint coatings was generally found to be not much better than that of conventional vinyl textured wallpapers with a lining paper. When all building heat losses are considered, modelling predictions for thermal paint coatings indicate an unfavourable payback period of several hundred years, and energy savings of between 0.4% and 2.9% depending on coating thickness and type. The evidence from the results and models, as well as scanning electron microscopy, do not support the claims that the additive powder particles are effectively nano-porous, evacuated, or that the coatings have low emissivity surfaces