Axial Concentration Profiles and NO Flue Gas in a Pilot-Scale Bubbling Fluidized Bed Coal Combustor

Atmospheric bubbling fluidized bed coal combustion of a bituminous coal and anthracite with particle diameters in the range 500-4000 ím was investigated in a pilot-plant facility. The experiments were conducted at steady-state conditions using three excess air levels (10, 25, and 50%) and bed temperatures in the 750-900 °C range. Combustion air was staged, with primary air accounting for 100, 80, and 60% of total combustion air. For both types of coal, high NO concentrations were found inside the bed. In general, the NO concentration decreased monotonically along the freeboard and toward the exit flue; however, during combustion with high air staging and low to moderate excess air, a significant additional NO formation occurred near the secondary air injection point. The results show that the bed temperature increase does not affect the NO flue gas concentration significantly. There is a positive correlation between excess air and the NO flue gas concentration. The air staging operation is very effective in lowering the NO flue gas, but there is a limit for the first stage stoichiometry below which the NO flue gas starts rising again. This effect could be related with the coal rank

Management-employee relations during re-structuring – a shop steward perspective – the effects and implications of the 2007 Structural reform

Artiklen belyser, i hvilken udstrækning og på hvilke måder Kommunalreformen har påvirket samarbejdsklimaet inden for den kommunale sektor med afsæt i en spørgeskemaundersøgelse med deltagelse af knap tusinde kommunale tillidsrepræsentanter (TR). Undersøgelsen viser, at nok er mange steder ramt af diverse besparelser, afskedigelsesrunder, omstruktureringer og institutions-nedlukninger efter Kommunalreformen, men det er langt fra ensbetydende med, at samarbejdsklimaet på arbejdspladsen er blevet forringet. Faktisk påpeger hver tredje TR, at samarbejdsklimaet på arbejdspladsen er blevet bedre, og hver anden TR oplever at have fået større indflydelse. Afgørende i den sammenhæng er både TR’s og ledelsens tilgang til samarbejdet; jo mere samarbejdsorienteret og højere tillid mellem parterne, jo bedre glider samarbejdet. Hvorvidt kommunerne er sammenlagte eller ej, har ikke betydning for samarbejdet. Til gengæld angiver tre ud af fire kommunale TR, at deres arbejde er blevet mere udfordrende og for knap hver anden også mere interessant efter Kommunalreformen.This article examines how the 2007 Structural reform of the Danish local government sector has impacted the management-employee relations across merged and non-merged municipalities. It draws on a large-scale survey with nearly 1000 union affiliated workplace representatives in the Danish local government sector. We find that many workplaces have been affected by mass redundancies, restructuring, and financial cutbacks, but this have not necessarily affected the management-employee relations negatively. In fact, one in three shop stewards report that their collaboration with management has improved since the 2007 Structural reform, and one in two shop stewards experience that their level of influence has increased after the Structural reform. In this context, the shop stewards’ and management’s approach towards employee involvement appears pivotal. Trust based management-employee relations together with a social partnership approach seem to positively affect the collaboration between shop stewards and management. In fact, local government mergers appear less important when it comes to the management-employee relations. Instead, nearly three in four shop stewards report that their tasks are more challenging and nearly one in two state that their job as a shop steward is more interesting and often associated with higher levels of influence after the implementation of the Structural reform that changed the landscape of Danish local government sector considerably

Autologous antibody response against the principal neutralizing domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 isolated from infected humans.

High titers of neutralizing antibodies in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection are directed primarily against the third hypervariable domain (V3) of the virion envelope glycoprotein gp120. This region has been designated the principal neutralizing domain of HIV-1. Because the frequency and significance of autologous V3 antibodies in natural infection are not fully clarified, we have cloned, sequenced, and expressed the V3 domain from virus of HIV-1-infected patients to test the autologous and heterologous V3 antibody response. The resulting recombinant Escherichia coli V3 fusion proteins reacted strongly with both autologous and heterologous patient antibodies in Western blots. Thirty-one different V3 fragments were cloned from 24 hemophiliac patients with different immunological and clinical statuses. Antibody reactivity against the autologous V3 fusion proteins was detected in all serum samples except one; moreover, all serum samples contained antibody reactivity against a vast majority of heterologous fusion proteins despite significant amino acid variability in V3. The results suggest that V3 antibodies are highly prevalent; further, we find no association between the stage of the HIV-1 infection and the presence of V3 antibodies