Failure Analysis Study and Long-Term Reliability of Optical Assemblies with End-Face Damage

In June 2005, the NESC received a multi-faceted request to determine the long term reliability of fiber optic termini on the ISS that exhibited flaws not manufactured to best workmanship practices. There was a lack of data related to fiber optic workmanship as it affects the long term reliability of optical fiber assemblies in a harsh environment. A fiber optic defect analysis was requested which would find and/or create various types of chips, spalls, scratches, etc., that were identified by the ISS personnel. Once the defects and causes were identified the next step would be to perform long term reliability testing of similar assemblies with similar defects. The goal of the defect analysis would be for the defects to be observed and documented for deterioration of fiber optic performance. Though this report mostly discusses what has been determined as evidence of poor manufacturing processes, it also concludes the majority of the damage could have been avoided with a rigorous process in place

Facile route to conformal hydrotalcite coatings over complex architectures:a hierarchically ordered nanoporous base catalyst for FAME production

An alkali- and nitrate-free hydrotalcite coating has been grafted onto the surface of a hierarchically ordered macroporous-mesoporous SBA-15 template via stepwise growth of conformal alumina adlayers and their subsequent reaction with magnesium methoxide. The resulting low dimensional hydrotalcite crystallites exhibit excellent per site activity for the base catalysed transesterification of glyceryl triolein with methanol for FAME production

Measuring the health-related Sustainable Development Goals in 188 countries : a baseline analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background In September, 2015, the UN General Assembly established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs specify 17 universal goals, 169 targets, and 230 indicators leading up to 2030. We provide an analysis of 33 health-related SDG indicators based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015). Methods We applied statistical methods to systematically compiled data to estimate the performance of 33 health-related SDG indicators for 188 countries from 1990 to 2015. We rescaled each indicator on a scale from 0 (worst observed value between 1990 and 2015) to 100 (best observed). Indices representing all 33 health-related SDG indicators (health-related SDG index), health-related SDG indicators included in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG index), and health-related indicators not included in the MDGs (non-MDG index) were computed as the geometric mean of the rescaled indicators by SDG target. We used spline regressions to examine the relations between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI, a summary measure based on average income per person, educational attainment, and total fertility rate) and each of the health-related SDG indicators and indices. Findings In 2015, the median health-related SDG index was 59.3 (95% uncertainty interval 56.8-61.8) and varied widely by country, ranging from 85.5 (84.2-86.5) in Iceland to 20.4 (15.4-24.9) in Central African Republic. SDI was a good predictor of the health-related SDG index (r(2) = 0.88) and the MDG index (r(2) = 0.2), whereas the non-MDG index had a weaker relation with SDI (r(2) = 0.79). Between 2000 and 2015, the health-related SDG index improved by a median of 7.9 (IQR 5.0-10.4), and gains on the MDG index (a median change of 10.0 [6.7-13.1]) exceeded that of the non-MDG index (a median change of 5.5 [2.1-8.9]). Since 2000, pronounced progress occurred for indicators such as met need with modern contraception, under-5 mortality, and neonatal mortality, as well as the indicator for universal health coverage tracer interventions. Moderate improvements were found for indicators such as HIV and tuberculosis incidence, minimal changes for hepatitis B incidence took place, and childhood overweight considerably worsened. Interpretation GBD provides an independent, comparable avenue for monitoring progress towards the health-related SDGs. Our analysis not only highlights the importance of income, education, and fertility as drivers of health improvement but also emphasises that investments in these areas alone will not be sufficient. Although considerable progress on the health-related MDG indicators has been made, these gains will need to be sustained and, in many cases, accelerated to achieve the ambitious SDG targets. The minimal improvement in or worsening of health-related indicators beyond the MDGs highlight the need for additional resources to effectively address the expanded scope of the health-related SDGs.Peer reviewe

Adsorption of phosphate by halloysite (7 angstrom) nanotubes (HNTs)

The adsorption and retention of phosphates in soil systems is of wide environmental importance, and understanding the surface chemistry of halloysite (a common soil clay mineral) is also of prime importance in many emerging technological applications of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs). The adsorption of phosphate anions on tubular halloysite (7 angstrom) has been studied to gain a greater understanding of the mechanism and kinetics of adsorption on the surface of HNTs. Two well-characterized tubular halloysites with differing morphologies have been studied: one polygonal prismatic and one cylindrical, where the cylindrical form has a greater surface area and shorter tube length. Greater phosphate adsorption of up to 42 mu mol g(-1) is observed on the cylindrical halloysite when compared to the polygonal prismatic sample, where adsorption reached a maximum of just 15 mu mol g(-1) compared to a value for platy kaolinite (KGa-2) of 8 mu mol g(-1). Phosphate adsorption shows strong pH dependence, and the differences in phosphate sorption between the prismatic and cylindrical morphologies suggest that phosphate absorption does not occur at the same pH-dependent alumina edge sites and that the lumen may have a greater influence on uptake for the cylindrical form

Changes in higher heating value and ash content of seaweed during ensiling

A problem in the use of macroalgae for biofuel is that harvesting of seaweed is generally seasonal, and there is a need to preserve and store seaweed to supply year-round production processes. Ensiling is a widely used preservation method in agriculture, but there is little research on ensiling seaweed. The changes in ash content, higher heating value (HHV) and dry matter (DM%) of algal biomass together with mass loss (ML) during ensilage for a year was studied for two species of seaweed, Laminaria digitata (LD) and Palmaria palmata (PP), with and without the addition of Lactobacillus plantarum. The mean ash content of the two species was significantly different (LD 24.3 % and PP 18.0 %) and remained constant after 90 days ensiling. The mean HHV before ensiling for PP was higher, 14.2 kJ g−1, compared to LD, 11.9 kJ g−1. Both the species (P < 0.05) and ensilage period (P < 0.05) had a significant effect on HHV. The overall DM% of the ensiled LD (22.4 %) and PP (22.0 %) were similar with a gradual increase in the DM% after 90 days ensiled. There was no effect of the ensiling with or without L. plantarum on DM%. There was a continuous wet matter loss during ensilage, and although the HHV of the ensiled wet biomass increased as the macroalgae became drier over time, the energy available from each kilogramme of wet macroalgae ensiled declined over the year to 78 % in LD and 59 % in PP

Effect of Structural Fe Reduction on Water Sorption by Swelling and Non-Swelling Clay Minerals

Ferruginous clay minerals in saturated soils and within hydrocarbon deposits often exist in a reduced state. Upon introduction of dissolved oxygen, or other oxidants, the clay minerals oxidise and changes in mineral surface charge and sorption capacity occur, resulting in changes in hydration as well as flux of intercalated species. Here we examine the sorption of water to the Fe-containing clay minerals nontronite NAu-2 (23 wt% Fe) and illite IMt-2 (7 wt% Fe) as a function of Fe oxidation state and exchangeable cations by means of water vapour volumetry and N-2 surface area analysis. The clay minerals were chemically reduced using sodium dithionite. Sorption isotherms of water vapour and nitrogen, controlled relative humidity diffractograms, and chemical analyses were recorded. The results show that, after reduction using sodium dithionite, increased amounts of water vapour and nitrogen were adsorbed to the high Fe content nontronite, despite decreased interlayer separation. Little change was observed for the non-swelling and low Fe content illite. Sodium from the reducing agent was found to exchange with calcium present in the starting clay minerals, and sodium balanced the additional mineral charge generated during reduction. The findings presented in this study deliver improved understanding of sorption at the surface of the reduced clay minerals, which aid constrain the role of clay mineral interfaces in subsurface environments

Insights into the Behaviour of Biomolecules on the Early Earth: The Concentration of Aspartate by Layered Double Hydroxide Minerals

The role of mineral surfaces in concentrating and facilitating the polymerisation of simple protobiomolecules during the Hadean and Archean has been the subject of much research in order to constrain the conditions that may have led to the origin of life on early Earth. Here we examine the adsorption of the amino acid aspartate on layered double hydroxide minerals, and use a combined computer simulation – experimental spectroscopy approach to gain insight into the resulting structures of the host-aspartate material. We show that the uptake of aspartate occurs in alkaline solution by anion exchange of the dianion form of aspartate, rather than by surface adsorption. Anion exchange only occurs at values of pH where a significant population of aspartate has the amino group deprotonated, and is then highly efficient up to the mineral anion exchange capacity