Modification of the ECAS reference steam power generating plant to comply with the EPA 1979 new source performance standards

Detailed capital cost estimates for the ECAS and modified reference plants in mid-1978 dollars for both 250 and 175 F (394 and 353 K) stack gas reheat temperatures based on the cost estimates developed for the ECAS study are presented. The scope of the work included technical assessment of sulfur dioxide scrubber system design, on site calcination versus purchased lime, reheat of stack gas, effect of sulfur dioxide scrubber on particulate emission, and control of nitrogen oxides

MHD oxidant intermediate temperature ceramic heater study

The use of three types of directly fired ceramic heaters for preheating oxygen enriched air to an intermediate temperature of 1144K was investigated. The three types of ceramic heaters are: (1) a fixed bed, periodic flow ceramic brick regenerative heater; (2) a ceramic pebble regenerative heater. The heater design, performance and operating characteristics under conditions in which the particulate matter is not solidified are evaluated. A comparison and overall evaluation of the three types of ceramic heaters and temperature range determination at which the particulate matter in the MHD exhaust gas is estimated to be a dry powder are presented

Spatiotemporal microbial evolution on antibiotic landscapes

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Association for the Advancement of Science via the DOI in thisA key aspect of bacterial survival is the ability to evolve while migrating across spatially varying environmental challenges. Laboratory experiments, however, often study evolution in well-mixed systems. Here, we introduce an experimental device, the microbial evolution and growth arena (MEGA)-plate, in which bacteria spread and evolved on a large antibiotic landscape (120 × 60 centimeters) that allowed visual observation of mutation and selection in a migrating bacterial front.While resistance increased consistently, multiple coexisting lineages diversified both phenotypically and genotypically. Analyzing mutants at and behind the propagating front,we found that evolution is not always led by the most resistant mutants; highly resistant mutants may be trapped behindmore sensitive lineages.TheMEGA-plate provides a versatile platformfor studying microbial adaption and directly visualizing evolutionary dynamics.National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellowshipNIHEuropean Union FP

Control of resistance plug welding using quantitative feedback theory

Resistance welding is used extensively throughout the manufacturing industry. Variations in weld quality often result in costly post-weld inspections. Applications of feed-back control to such processes have been limited by the lack of accurate models describing the nonlinear dynamics of this process. A new system based on electrode displacement feedback is developed that greatly improves quality control of the resistance plug welding process. The system is capable of producing repeatable welds of consistent displacement (and thus consistent quality), with wide variations in weld parameters. This paper describes the feedback design of a robust controller using Quantitative Feedback Theory for this highly complex process, and the experimental results of the applied system

Pupil-linked phasic arousal evoked by violation but not emergence of regularity within rapid sound sequences

The ability to track the statistics of our surroundings is a key computational challenge. A prominent theory proposes that the brain monitors for unexpected uncertainty - events which deviate substantially from model predictions, indicating model failure. Norepinephrine is thought to play a key role in this process by serving as an interrupt signal, initiating model-resetting. However, evidence is from paradigms where participants actively monitored stimulus statistics. To determine whether Norepinephrine routinely reports the statistical structure of our surroundings, even when not behaviourally relevant, we used rapid tone-pip sequences that contained salient pattern-changes associated with abrupt structural violations vs. emergence of regular structure. Phasic pupil dilations (PDR) were monitored to assess Norepinephrine. We reveal a remarkable specificity: When not behaviourally relevant, only abrupt structural violations evoke a PDR. The results demonstrate that Norepinephrine tracks unexpected uncertainty on rapid time scales relevant to sensory signals

A Differential Drug Screen for Compounds That Select Against Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics increase the frequency of resistant bacteria by providing them a competitive advantage over sensitive strains. Here, we develop a versatile assay for differential chemical inhibition of competing microbial strains, and use it to identify compounds that preferentially inhibit tetracycline-resistant relative to sensitive bacteria, thus “inverting” selection for resistance. Our assay distinguishes compounds selecting directly against specific resistance mechanisms and compounds whose selection against resistance is based on their physiological interaction with tetracycline and is more general with respect to resistance mechanism. A pilot screen indicates that both types of selection-inverting compounds are secreted by soil microbes, suggesting that nature has evolved a repertoire of chemicals that counteracts antibiotic resistance. Finally, we show that our assay can more generally permit simple, direct screening for drugs based on their differential activity against different strains or targets

Relative Pitch Perception and the Detection of Deviant Tone Patterns.

Most people are able to recognise familiar tunes even when played in a different key. It is assumed that this depends on a general capacity for relative pitch perception; the ability to recognise the pattern of inter-note intervals that characterises the tune. However, when healthy adults are required to detect rare deviant melodic patterns in a sequence of randomly transposed standard patterns they perform close to chance. Musically experienced participants perform better than naïve participants, but even they find the task difficult, despite the fact that musical education includes training in interval recognition.To understand the source of this difficulty we designed an experiment to explore the relative influence of the size of within-pattern intervals and between-pattern transpositions on detecting deviant melodic patterns. We found that task difficulty increases when patterns contain large intervals (5-7 semitones) rather than small intervals (1-3 semitones). While task difficulty increases substantially when transpositions are introduced, the effect of transposition size (large vs small) is weaker. Increasing the range of permissible intervals to be used also makes the task more difficult. Furthermore, providing an initial exact repetition followed by subsequent transpositions does not improve performance. Although musical training correlates with task performance, we find no evidence that violations to musical intervals important in Western music (i.e. the perfect fifth or fourth) are more easily detected. In summary, relative pitch perception does not appear to be conducive to simple explanations based exclusively on invariant physical ratios

Management of Hypertriglyceridemia in the Diabetic Patient

The hypertriglyceridemia of diabetes can be classified into mild to moderate (triglycerides between 150–499 mg/dL) and severe hypertriglyceridemia (triglycerides ≥500 mg/dL). As in any other individuals with hypertriglyceridemia, secondary causes need to be excluded. The management of severe hypertriglyceridemia (chylomicronemia syndrome) includes aggressive reduction of triglycerides with intravenous insulin, fibrates, omega-3 fatty acids, and/or niacin therapy to avert the risk of pancreatitis. In patients with mild to moderate hypertriglyceridemia, the treatment of choice is statin therapy to achieve the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) target goals. The evidence base would favor niacin therapy in combination with statin therapy to achieve the goals pertaining to LDL cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol. The data about the combination of fibrate therapy with statin therapy are disappointing

Neuromagnetic Evidence for Early Auditory Restoration of Fundamental Pitch

Background: Understanding the time course of how listeners reconstruct a missing fundamental component in an auditory stimulus remains elusive. We report MEG evidence that the missing fundamental component of a complex auditory stimulus is recovered in auditory cortex within 100 ms post stimulus onset. Methodology: Two outside tones of four-tone complex stimuli were held constant (1200 Hz and 2400 Hz), while two inside tones were systematically modulated (between 1300 Hz and 2300 Hz), such that the restored fundamental (also knows as ‘‘virtual pitch’’) changed from 100 Hz to 600 Hz. Constructing the auditory stimuli in this manner controls for a number of spectral properties known to modulate the neuromagnetic signal. The tone complex stimuli only diverged on the value of the missing fundamental component. Principal Findings: We compared the M100 latencies of these tone complexes to the M100 latencies elicited by their respective pure tone (spectral pitch) counterparts. The M100 latencies for the tone complexes matched their pure sinusoid counterparts, while also replicating the M100 temporal latency response curve found in previous studies. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that listeners are reconstructing the inferred pitch by roughly 100 ms after stimulus onset and are consistent with previous electrophysiological research suggesting that the inferential pitch is perceived i

Excess of health care use in general practice and of comorbid chronic conditions in cancer patients compared to controls

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The number of cancer patients and the number of patients surviving initial treatments is expected to rise. Traditionally, follow-up monitoring takes place in secondary care. The contribution of general practice is less visible and not clearly defined.</p> <p>This study aimed to compare healthcare use in general practice of patients with cancer during the follow-up phase compared with patients without cancer. We also examined the influence of comorbid conditions on healthcare utilisation by these patients in general practice.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared health care use of N=8,703 cancer patients with an age and gender-matched control group of patients without cancer from the same practice. Data originate from the Netherlands Information Network of General Practice (LINH), a representative network consisting of 92 general practices with 350,000 enlisted patients. Health care utilisation was assessed using data on contacts with general practice, prescription and referral rates recorded between 1/1/2001 and 31/12/2007. The existence of additional comorbid chronic conditions (ICPC coded) was taken into account.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to matched controls, cancer patients had more contacts with their GP-practice (19.5 vs. 11.9, p<.01), more consultations with the GP (3.5 vs. 2.7, p<.01), more home visits (1.6 vs. 0.4, p<.01) and they got more medicines prescribed (18.7 vs. 11.6, p<.01) during the follow-up phase. Cancer patients more often had a chronic condition than their matched controls (52% vs. 44%, p<.01). Having a chronic condition increased health care use for both patients with and without cancer. Cancer patients with a comorbid condition had the highest health care use.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found that cancer patients in the follow-up phase consulted general practice more often and suffered more often from comorbid chronic conditions, compared to patients without cancer. It is expected that the number of cancer patients will rise in the years to come and that primary health care professionals will be more involved in follow-up care. Care for comorbid chronic conditions, communication between specialists and GPs, and coordination of tasks then need special attention.</p