Liquid belt radiator design study

The Liquid Belt Radiator (LBR) is an advanced concept developed to meet the needs of anticipated future space missions. A previous study documented the advantages of this concept as a lightweight, easily deployable alternative to present day space heat rejection systems. The technical efforts associated with this study concentrate on refining the concept of the LBR as well as examining the issues of belt dynamics and potential application of the LBR to intermediate and high temperature heat rejection applications. A low temperature point design developed in previous work is updated assuming the use of diffusion pump oil, Santovac-6, as the heat transfer media. Additional analytical and design effort is directed toward determining the impact of interface heat exchanger, fluid bath sealing, and belt drive mechanism designs on system performance and mass. The updated design supports the earlier result by indicating a significant reduction in system specific system mass as compared to heat pipe or pumped fluid radiator concepts currently under consideration (1.3 kg/sq m versus 5 kg/sq m)

Unblocking high-value botanical value chains: Is there a role for blockchain systems?

Blockchain systems are a fast emerging and a currently widely discussed novel strategy for a decentralised cryptographically-enhanced digital ledger recording transactions among stakeholders. This perspective paper looks at its potential uses in the context of high value and mostly low volume botanical material traded globally and used as medicines, health foods, in cosmetics and other applications. We offer a perspective on key areas in the supply of such products globally and how blockchain systems may help in sustainable sourcing, quality assurance, and in tackling supply problems in cases of complex multiherbal preparations. Both open and closed blockchain systems are feasible, and it seems likely that, at least in the initial development, closed ones are the main ones to be utilized. While blockchain’s potential is not yet clear, the examples presented here highlight the opportunities of this new technology

Short Communication: Evidence That Microbial Translocation Occurs in HIV-Infected Children in the United Kingdom

Microbial translocation (MT) from the gut is implicated in driving immune activation, increasing morbidity and mortality in HIV. We used bacterial 16S rDNA PCR, Sanger sequencing, and high-throughput sequencing to identify microbial DNA in the bloodstre

Expanding Rural Elder Care Options: Models That Work

Rural communities and elders need better access to elder care options that enable them to continue to live in the community. Despite a larger proportion of the population over age 65 than urban and suburban America, rural communities lack the services and care coordination systems older adults need to continue living independently in their own communities as they age. In November 2008, the Rural Long Term Care Workgroup convened a national Rural Long Term Care: Access and Options Workshop to identify lessons and strategies for building and sustaining rural community-based elder care services. Finding and building on successful models is an important step towards addressing the challenges faced by rural elders seeking care options in their communities. These options include home, community, and facility-based care supported by care coordination systems that enhance autonomy and quality of life of rural elders. These proceedings of the Workshop are organized around the following topics: The challenges and opportunities for expanding rural elder care options; Five rural elder care models that work; A Rural Elder Care Options Model, a web-based, interactive tool that rural communities can use to customize the options to their specific community; The organizational attributes and strong partnerships needed to build rural community options for elder care; Strategies for increasing access and options for elder care in rural communities; and Steps to move forward in building rural communities that support elder care

Functional Foods in Relation to Health and Disease (New Probiotic Cheddar Cheese).

End of Project ReportGrowing public awareness of diet-related health benefits has fuelled the demand for probiotic foods. These foods contain probiotic bacteria which are described as live microbial supplements that improve the intestinal microbial balance and are intended for maintenance of health and/or the prevention of disease. Probiotic bacteria for human use must be proven to be safe and beneficial, and should preferably be of human origin as evidence suggests that these bacteria are species specific and perform best in the species from which they were isolated. They must also retain both viability and efficacy in a particular food product throughout its shelf-life, and following consumption. Above all however, probiotic food products must be proved effective in controlled validated clinical trials. Dairy foods, including in particular, fermented milks and yogurt are among the best accepted food carriers for probiotic cultures. The aim of this study was to develop new probiotic foods, particularly, the production of high quality Cheddar cheese containing high levels of probiotic bacteria.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

Transient hypertension and sustained tachycardia in mice housed individually in metabolism cages

The novel environment of a metabolic cage can be stressful for rodents, but few studies have attempted to quantify this stress response. Therefore, we determined the effects on mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR), of placing mice of both sexes in metabolism cages for 2 days. After surgical implantation of a carotid artery catheter mice recovered individually in standard cages for 5 days. Mice then spent 2 days in metabolism cages. MAP and HR were monitored in the standard cage on Day 5 and in metabolism cages on Days 6-7. MAP increased by 18±3 and 22±4 %, while HR increased by 27±4 and 27±6 %, in males and females, respectively, during the first hours after cage switch. MAP decreased to baseline in the fourth and eighth h following metabolism cage switch in males and females, respectively. However, HR remained significantly elevated in both sexes during the entire two-day period in metabolism cages. Females had lower MAP than males both pre- and postmetabolism cage switch, but there were no sex differences in HR. These results demonstrate sustained changes in cardiovascular function when mice are housed in metabolism cages, which could potentially affect renal function

Terahertz Security Image Quality Assessment by No-reference Model Observers

To provide the possibility of developing objective image quality assessment (IQA) algorithms for THz security images, we constructed the THz security image database (THSID) including a total of 181 THz security images with the resolution of 127*380. The main distortion types in THz security images were first analyzed for the design of subjective evaluation criteria to acquire the mean opinion scores. Subsequently, the existing no-reference IQA algorithms, which were 5 opinion-aware approaches viz., NFERM, GMLF, DIIVINE, BRISQUE and BLIINDS2, and 8 opinion-unaware approaches viz., QAC, SISBLIM, NIQE, FISBLIM, CPBD, S3 and Fish_bb, were executed for the evaluation of the THz security image quality. The statistical results demonstrated the superiority of Fish_bb over the other testing IQA approaches for assessing the THz image quality with PLCC (SROCC) values of 0.8925 (-0.8706), and with RMSE value of 0.3993. The linear regression analysis and Bland-Altman plot further verified that the Fish__bb could substitute for the subjective IQA. Nonetheless, for the classification of THz security images, we tended to use S3 as a criterion for ranking THz security image grades because of the relatively low false positive rate in classifying bad THz image quality into acceptable category (24.69%). Interestingly, due to the specific property of THz image, the average pixel intensity gave the best performance than the above complicated IQA algorithms, with the PLCC, SROCC and RMSE of 0.9001, -0.8800 and 0.3857, respectively. This study will help the users such as researchers or security staffs to obtain the THz security images of good quality. Currently, our research group is attempting to make this research more comprehensive.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 4 table

Influence of interposed ventilation pressure upon artificial cardiac output during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in dogs

This study was conducted to determine the effects of high pressure interposed ventilations during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Cardiac output was measured by a modified indicator dilution technique in eight anesthetized, intubated mongrel dogs. Positive pressure ventilations (12/min, 80% O2) were interposed after every five chest compressions (performed at 62/min) by a mechanical chest compressor (Thumper®). On repeated trials in the same animal, ventilation pressures from 10-50 cm of H2O were tested in randomized sequence, while the technique of chest compression was held constant. Arterial blood gases immediately after resuscitation were monitored. Increasing ventilation pressure had surprisingly little effect on cardiac output during CPR, although blood gases were profoundly altered. For ventilation pressures of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 cm of H2O, producing mean tidal volumes 23, 38, 61, 83, and 94 ml/kg; cardiac output remained nearly constant, averaging 21, 25, 23, 26, and 24 ml/min/kg. Corresponding mean post-resuscitation pH was 7.24, 7.41, 7.51, 7.56, and 7.53; PCO2 was 41, 26, 18, 16, and 15 torr. The post-resuscitation arterial oxygen tension was greater than 100 torr at all ventilation pressures except 10 cm of H2O. Interposed ventilations of pressure and volume more than adequate to prevent acidosis during CPR did not impair artificial cardiac output. If anything, cardiac output was slightly improved by more forceful ventilation