Whole body and splanchnic amino acid metabolism in sheep during an acute endotoxin challenge

Acknowledgements The expertise of A. Graham Calder and Susan Anderson for the various stable isotope analyses is gratefully recognised. Ngaire Dennison is also thanked for her surgical expertise with the trans-splanchnic tissue catheter preparations. This study was supported by funds provided to the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen and Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland by the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government. S. O. H. was a recipient of a FoRST (NZ) award to study abroad.Peer reviewedPostprin

Energy efficiency parametric design tool in the framework of holistic ship design optimization

Recent International Maritime Organization (IMO) decisions with respect to measures to reduce the emissions from maritime greenhouse gases (GHGs) suggest that the collaboration of all major stakeholders of shipbuilding and ship operations is required to address this complex techno-economical and highly political problem efficiently. This calls eventually for the development of proper design, operational knowledge, and assessment tools for the energy-efficient design and operation of ships, as suggested by the Second IMO GHG Study (2009). This type of coordination of the efforts of many maritime stakeholders, with often conflicting professional interests but ultimately commonly aiming at optimal ship design and operation solutions, has been addressed within a methodology developed in the EU-funded Logistics-Based (LOGBASED) Design Project (2004–2007). Based on the knowledge base developed within this project, a new parametric design software tool (PDT) has been developed by the National Technical University of Athens, Ship Design Laboratory (NTUA-SDL), for implementing an energy efficiency design and management procedure. The PDT is an integral part of an earlier developed holistic ship design optimization approach by NTUA-SDL that addresses the multi-objective ship design optimization problem. It provides Pareto-optimum solutions and a complete mapping of the design space in a comprehensive way for the final assessment and decision by all the involved stakeholders. The application of the tool to the design of a large oil tanker and alternatively to container ships is elaborated in the presented paper

Outgassing tests on materials used in the DIII-D magnetic fusion tokamak

In order to achieve high performance plasma discharges in the DIII-D magnetic fusion tokamak, impurity levels must be carefully controlled. Since first wall materials can desorb volatile impurities during these discharges, it is important to characterize and control the outgassing of these materials. An outgassing chamber was built to measure the outgassing properties of various materials used in the DIII-D vessel. The results of pump-down tests performed on ATJ graphite, thin Grafoil {reg_sign} gaskets, and MgO coaxial cables will be presented. In addition to pumpdown tests it was desired to study the behavior of the materials at temperatures up to 400 C, which is the maximum temperature to which the DIII-D vessel is baked. The station was modified to include independent heating control of the sample and a simple load-lock chamber

Beam spin asymmetries in deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) with CLAS at 4.8 GeV

We report measurements of the beam spin asymmetry in deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) at an electron beam energy of 4.8 GeV using the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The DVCS beam spin asymmetry has been measured in a wide range of kinematics, 1.0 \u3c Q(2) \u3c 2.8 (GeV/c)(2), 0.12 \u3c x(B) \u3c 0.48, and 0.1 \u3c -t \u3c 0.8 (GeV/c)(2), using the reaction (e) over right arrow - \u3e e\u27pX. The number of H(e, e\u27gamma p) and H(e, e\u27pi(0)p) events are separated in each (Q(2), x(B), t) bin by a fit to the line shape of the H(e, e\u27p) X M(x)(2) distribution. The validity of the method was studied in detail using experimental and simulated data. It was shown that with the achieved missing mass squared resolution and the available statistics, the separation of DVCS-Bethe-Heitler and pi(0) events can reliably be done with less than 5% uncertainty. Also, the Q(2) and t dependences of the sin phi moments of the asymmetry are extracted and compared with theoretical calculations

The Heavy Photon Search beamline and its performance

The Heavy Photon Search (HPS) is an experiment to search for a hidden sector photon, aka a heavy photon or dark photon, in fixed target electroproduction at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab). The HPS experiment searches for the e$^+$e$^-$ decay of the heavy photon with bump hunt and detached vertex strategies using a compact, large acceptance forward spectrometer, consisting of a silicon microstrip detector (SVT) for tracking and vertexing, and a PbWO$_4$ electromagnetic calorimeter for energy measurement and fast triggering. To achieve large acceptance and good vertexing resolution, the first layer of silicon detectors is placed just 10 cm downstream of the target with the sensor edges only 500 $\mu$m above and below the beam. Placing the SVT in such close proximity to the beam puts stringent requirements on the beam profile and beam position stability. As part of an approved engineering run, HPS took data in 2015 and 2016 at 1.05 GeV and 2.3 GeV beam energies, respectively. This paper describes the beam line and its performance during that data taking

Glow discharge initiation with electron gun assist

Helium glow discharge conditioning is used before every discharge in the D3-D Tokamak to desorb hydrogen and low Z impurities from the graphite and Inconel plasma facing surfaces. However high gas pressure is required to initiate each glow discharge session and this requires frequent cycling of valves to protect pressure sensitive devices. To alleviate this mechanical fatigue an electron gun assisted glow system (EAG) is being installed on the D3-D vessel to lower the initiation pressure. Through the injection of electrons the initiation pressure of the helium glow discharge has been lowered by a factor of 70, bringing the initiation pressure within a factor of 2 of the minimum sustaining pressure of the glow discharge. This might also make possible pulsed glow conditioning which would allow a lower average pressure during glow conditioning reducing the heat load on proposed cryogenic pumping panels. Experimental results of the electron assist on He glow initiation and a scaling model for the electron gun assisted glow will be presented. The electron gun can also be used as a diagnostic. Without a glow discharge, the electron gun has been pulsed into the wall and desorbed gas measured by a Residual Gas Analyzer. We are attempting to correlate the desorbed gas with recycling or vessel cleanliness

Initial boronization of the DIII-D tokamak

A system has been installed to deposit a thin film of elemental boron to the walls of the D3-D tokamak, in order to reduce the influx of impurities during plasma discharges. Subsequently new regimes of substantially tokamak energy confinement were obtained. The deposition of the boron layer is achieved during a glow-discharge session using a helium-diborane age mixture and a film of {approx}100 nm is deposited. The boronization system includes special storage and handling precautions for the diborane, a delivery and metering system for the glow-discharge, modifications to the tokamak's residual gas analyzer system, and a dedicated system for handling and neutralizing the exhaust gas from the tokamak. Tokamak discharges with similar parameters before and after boronization are used to characterize the effects of the boron film. Nickel has been reduced by a factor of 30, while impurities such as oxygen and carbon are reduced fivefold. A system of pulsing the flow discharge has been developed in order to improve the uniformity of the film applied

Clinician perceptions of factors influencing referrals to a smoking cessation program

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Referral of patients to smoking cessation telephone counseling (i.e., quitline) is an underutilized resource by primary care physicians. Previously, we conducted a randomized trial to determine the effectiveness of benchmarked feedback on clinician referrals to a quitline. Subsequently, we sought to understand the successful practices used by the high-referring clinicians, and the perceptions of the barriers of referring patients to a quitline among both high and non-referring clinicians in the trial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a qualitative sub-study with subjects from the randomized trial, comparing high- and non-referring clinicians. Structured interviews were conducted and two investigators employed a thematic analysis of the transcribed data. Themes and included categories were organized into a thematic framework to represent the main response sets.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As compared to non-referring clinicians, high-referring clinicians more often reported use of the quitline as a primary source of referral, an appreciation of the quitline as an additional resource, reduced barriers to use of the quitline referral process, and a greater personal motivation related to tobacco cessation. Time and competing demands were critical barriers to initiating smoking cessation treatment with patients for all clinicians. Clinicians reported that having one referral source, a referral coordinator, and reimbursement for tobacco counseling (as a billable code) would aid referral.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Further research is needed to test the effectiveness of new approaches in improving the connection of patients with smoking cessation resources.</p> <p>Trial Registration Number</p> <p>Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00529256</p