The early Cycladic settlement at Dhaskalio, Keros: preliminary report of the 2008 excavation season

The 2008 excavations on the small island of Dhaskalio opposite Dhaskalio Kavos on the Cycladic island of Keros are reviewed. An account is given of the survey, recording many walls of the early Bronze Age, and of the excavations, continued from the 2007 season. Excavations at the summit of Dhaskalio revealed a substantial building 16 m long and 4 m wide, within which was discovered the ‘Dhaskalio hoard’ comprising a chisel, an axe-adze, and a shaft-hole axe of copper or bronze. Study of the pottery reveals continuity, within which a sequence of three phases within the Early Cycladic II and III periods can be established. Excavations were continued and concluded within the Special Deposit at Kavos South with the recovery of many more special but fragmentary materials including marble vessels and figurines. Specialist studies for the geomorphology, geology, petrology, ceramic petrology, metallurgy and environmental aspects (botanical and faunal remains, phytoliths) are in progress. No more fieldwork is planned prior to final publication of the 2006 to 2008 seasons

Coal desulfurization process

A method for chlorinolysis of coal is an organic solvent at a moderate temperautre and atmospheric pressure has been proven to be effective in removing sulfur, particularly the organic sulfur, from coal. Chlorine gas is bubbled through a slurry of moist coal in chlorinated solvent. The chlorinated coal is separated, hydrolyzed and the dechlorinated. Preliminary results of treating a high sulfutr (4.77%S) bituminous coal show that up to 70% organic sulfur, 90% hyritic sulfur and 76% total sulfur can be removed. The treated coal is dechlorinated by heating at 500 C. The presence of moisture helps to remove organic sulfur

Time-dependent, diffusion-controlled reactions: The influence of boundaries

A configurational averaging procedure is presented for the analysis of diffusion-controlled reactions in a medium containing a hard-sphere distribution of spherical sinks. The hierarchy of equations produced from the averaging procedure is truncated assuming low concentration of sinks. The method is shown to reproduce previous results for the decay of an initially uniform distribution of reactant in an unbounded medium and is subsequently applied to determine the reactant flux on the boundary of a semiinfinite domain. In the latter problem, the boundary has a significant effect which cannot be accounted for by the usual rate coefficient

Joint Attention and Occupations for Children and Families Living with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review

Background: Research reports that children living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may demonstrate deficits in social, emotional, behavioral, and communication skills, which adversely affect social participation and occupational engagement. Joint attention skills constitute any nonverbal communication that captures the attention of another to create a shared interactional experience. The components of joint attention can be targeted through intervention to promote occupational engagement in childhood co-occupations. Methods: A scoping review process was applied in the current study. Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria to be analyzed through critical appraisal of topics and use of a matrix. Results: Evidence indicates that joint attention skills can be developed in children living with ASD through targeted teaching interventions. Analysis of the data elucidated emergent themes in the form of commonly used strategies to develop joint attention skills in children living with ASD. Conclusion: Joint attention teaching strategies can be implemented to develop social interaction performance skills in children living with ASD. The benefits of developing joint attention skills in this population directly relate to improved occupational and co-occupational engagement. Joint attention teaching strategies naturally align with occupational therapy techniques and approaches and should be considered as an enhancement to occupational therapy intervention

Thermally induced structural changes in coal combustion. Final report

The effects of the temperature-time history during coal devolitization and oxidation on the physical properties and the reactivity of resulting char were studied experimentally for temperatures and residence times typical of pulverized combustion. Experiments were also carried out at somewhat lower temperatures and correspondingly longer residence times. An electrically heated laminar flow reactor was used to generate char and measure the rates of oxidation at gas temperatures about 1600K. Partially oxidized chars were extracted and characterized by gas adsorption and mercury porosimetry, optical and scanning electron microscopy, and oxidation in a thermogravimetric analysis system (TGA). A different series of experiments was conducted using a quadrople electrodynamic balance. Single particles were suspended electrodynamically and heated by an infrared laser in an inert or oxygen-containing atmosphere. During the laser heating, measurements were taken of particle mass, size/shape, and temperature

Silica membranes for hydrogen separation in coal gas processing. Final report, January 1993

The general objective of this project was to synthesize permselective membranes suitable for hydrogen separation from coal gas. The specific objectives were: (i) to synthesize membranes by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of SiO(sub 2) or other oxides on porous support tubes, (ii) characterize the membranes by permeation measurements of various gases and by electron microscopy, and (iii) obtain information about the mechanism and kinetics Of SiO(sub 2) deposition, and model the process of membrane formation. Silica glass and certain other glasses, in dense (nonporous) form, are highly selective to hydrogen permeation. Since this high selectivity is accompanied by low permeability, however, a practical membrane must have a composite structure consisting of a thin layer of the active oxide supported on a porous tube or plate providing mechanical support. In this project the membranes were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of SiO(sub 2), TiO(sub 2), Al(sub 2)O(sub 3) and B(sub 2)O(sub 3) layers inside the walls of porous Vycor tubes (5 mm ID, 7 mm OD, 40 (Angstrom) mean pore diameter). Deposition of the oxide layer was carried out using the reaction of SiCl(sub 4) (or TiCl(sub 4), AlCl(sub 3), BCl(sub 3)) and water vapor at elevated temperatures. The porous support tube was inserted concentrically into a larger quartz tube and fitted with flow lines and pressure gauges. The flow of the two reactant streams was regulated by mass flow controllers, while the temperature was controlled by placing the reactor into a split-tube electric furnace

Immune Response in Ovarian Cancer: How Is the Immune System Involved in Prognosis and Therapy: Potential for Treatment Utilization

Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among women. Resistance to the disease occurs in more than 70% of the cases even after treated with chemotherapy agents such as paclitaxel- and platinum-based agents. The immune system is increasingly becoming a target for intense research in order to study the host's immune response against ovarian cancer. T cell populations, including NK T cells and Tregs, and cytokines have been associated with disease outcome, indicating their increasing clinical significance, having been associated with prognosis and as markers of disease progress, respectively. Harnessing the immune system capacity in order to induce antitumor response remains a major challenge. This paper examines the recent developments in our understanding of the mechanisms of development of the immune response in ovarian cancer as well as its prognostic significance and the existing experience in clinical studies

Theory of the Positive Column Including Electron-Ion Recombination

A theoretical study of the effect of electron‐ion recombination on the voltage‐current characteristic of the positive column of a glow discharge is presented. In the absence of recombination, as the current increases the voltage decreases and reaches a constant value. In the presence of recombination and at sufficiently high currents, the voltage increases with increasing current

Expressive Art to Facilitate the Development of the Occupational Profile: A Scoping Review

Background. The American Occupational Therapy Association and the American Medical Association have changed CPT codes to require a completed occupational profile at every evaluation and re-evaluation session for reimbursement as of January 1, 2017. A revitalization of art in occupational therapy has led to a recent increase in the evidence supporting the use of expressive art in practice. The benefits of expressive art can directly enhance the occupational profile required by these changing reimbursement requirements. Methods. A scoping review method was applied in the current study. Out of 347 initial articles, 12 met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed through critical appraisal of topics and use of a matrix. Results. Analysis of the data elucidated emergent themes of expressive art’s positive effects on verbal communication, the client’s therapeutic reflection, the accuracy of information, the clinician’s use of prompting, the therapeutic relationship, and client engagement. Conclusion. Expressive art can strengthen the occupational profile and information-gathering process. The benefits related to using art in occupational therapy may enhance the complexity of the overall evaluation process, as described by newly changing CPT codes. Expressive art techniques can facilitate the development of client-centered goals and individualized intervention planning, creating an overall positive service delivery process

Combustion of calcium-exchanged coal. First quarterly report

The work performed during this first period includes equipment modification, development of analytical methods, oxidative pretreatment runs and combustion runs. The coal feeding section of an existing furnace was modified for uninterrupted feeding and better control of residence time. Analytical methods for sulfur and calcium in the coal and ash and for gaseous SO/sub 2/ were standardized. Oxidative pretreatment experiments were conducted in a fluidized bed at temperatures about 200/sup 0/C to evaluate the potential of this method for increasing the ion exchange capacity of coals and determine the accompanying loss of heating value. Combustion experiments were carried out at very high particle temperatures (2000/sup 0/K) at which a large fraction of the calcium additive was vaporized while 50 to 80% of the sulfur evolved as sulfur oxide. Continuing combustion experiments will be conducted at lower particle temperatures