The distribution of neutral atoms and charge-exchange ions downstream of an ion thrustor

Distribution of neutral atoms and charge exchange ions downstream of ion thrusto

The Roman Catholic Church in the history of the Polish exiled community in Britain (1939-1950)

The subject of this thesis is the role of religion in the history of the exiled Polish community, which made its way to Britain in the years 1939 to 1950. The role of religion in the life of man has been stressed by sociologists as well as by theologians and religious leaders. Religion 'is not a sort of luxury which a man could go along without, but a condition of his very existence. He could not be a man, if he had not acquired it.' (E. Durkheim - 'The social foundation of religion', Sociology of Religion, Harmondworth, 1984, p. 53). The thesis will give an account of the role and influence of the Roman Catholic faith in the life of the Polish Exiles and their Communities in the decade following the outbreak of the Second World War. It will trace their lives during the war and immediately after, in various European countries, though mainly in Britain, as also in the Soviet Union and the Middle East. All these countries were, for a certain time, places of short-term residence for the Poles, whose war ally and the last refuge after the war, became Great Britain. A substantial introduction has been added outlining the history of Poles in Britain before 1939, and the general question of their national identity. It would be useful to note that the Exiled Poles, wherever they were, saw themselves as the Polish nation abroad. The reason, perhaps, was that the Communities included persons of all ages, sexes, classes and professions who were thus able to form and develop their own-cultural, religious and political life. Religion helped the Poles to transcend their painful history and see clearly the meaning of human existence and their place in the universe and on earth

Novel silica-based ion exchange resin

Shortcomings of chelating resins have been addressed by a new class of ion exchange resins called dual mechanism bifunctional polymers (DMBPs). DMBPs use hydrophilic cation exchange ligands with rapid uptake kinetics and use chelating ligands for selectivity for one or more metals; result is a resin that quickly recognizes and removes targeted metals from waste, remediation, and process streams. Eichrom`s Diphonix {reg_sign} resin is the first DMBP to be widely released as a commercial product; it is polystyrene based. Objective of this work is to synthesize commercial quantities of a silica-based ion exchange resin with the same or better metal ion selectivity, metal uptake kinetics, and acid stability as Diphonix. Feasibility was determined, however the process needs to be optimized. Studies at Eichrom and ANL of the performance of Diphonix resin over a broad range of HNO3 and HCl conditions and inorganic salt loadings are discussed together with the proposed method of incorporating similar characteristics into a silica-based resin. The new, silica-based resin functionalized with diphosphonic acid ligands can be used in environmental restoration and waste management situations involving processing of low-level, transuranic, and high-level radioactive wastes; it can also be used for processing liquid mixed waste including wastes contaminated with organic compounds

Effect of Left Atrial Wall Thickness on Radiofrequency Ablation Success.

INTRODUCTION: Radiofrequency (RF) ablation in thicker regions of the left atrium (LA) may require increased ablation energy in order to achieve effective transmural lesions. Consequently, many cases of recurrent atrial fibrillation (AF) postablation may be due to thicker-than-normal atrial tissue. The aim of this study was to test the hypotheses that patients with recurrent AF have thicker tissue overall and that electrical reconnection is more likely in regions of thicker tissue. METHODS AND RESULTS: Retrospective analysis was performed on 86 CT images acquired preoperatively from a cohort of 119 patients who had undergone RF ablation for AF. Of these, 33 patients experienced recurrence of AF within 1 year of initial treatment and 29 returned for a repeat ablation. For each patient, LA wall thickness (LAWT) was measured from the images in 12 anatomical regions using custom software. Patients with recurrent AF had larger LAWT compared to successfully treated patients (1.6 ± 0.6 mm vs. 1.5 ± 0.5 mm, P \u3c 0.001) and reconnection was found to be at regions of thicker tissue (1.6 ± 0.6 mm, P = 0.038) compared to nonreconnected regions (1.5 ± 0.5 mm). The superior right posterior wall of the LA was significantly related to both recurrence (P = 0.048) and reconnection (P = 0.014). CONCLUSION: Increased LAWT has a small but significant effect on postablation recurrence and reconnection. Measures of LAWT may facilitate appropriate dosing of RF energy, but other factors will be critical in transmural lesion formation and ablation success

Technical challenges and solutions in representing lakes when using WRF in downscaling applications

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is commonly used to make high-resolution future projections of regional climate by downscaling global climate model (GCM) outputs. Because the GCM fields are typically at a much coarser spatial resolution than the target regional downscaled fields, lakes are often poorly resolved in the driving global fields, if they are resolved at all. In such an application, using WRF's default interpolation methods can result in unrealistic lake temperatures and ice cover at inland water points. Prior studies have shown that lake temperatures and ice cover impact the simulation of other surface variables, such as air temperatures and precipitation, two fields that are often used in regional climate applications to understand the impacts of climate change on human health and the environment. Here, alternative methods for setting lake surface variables in WRF for downscaling simulations are presented and contrasted

How to diagnose the cause of sudden cardiac arrest

Sudden cardiac death or sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is defined as natural death that occurs within an hour of the onset of acute symptoms or during sleep due to a primary cardiac cause. Most cases of SCA are attributable to coronary artery disease, with occult cardiomyopathy or inheritable arrhythmic syndromes accounting for a minority of SCA. Diagnosing the cause of SCA has potential implications for the patient and the family, and demands a comprehensive approach. This review summarizes the potential causes of SCA and outlines a systematic diagnostic approach to the SCA survivor. (Cardiol J 2011; 18, 2: 210-216

Diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the Middle Fly District of Western Province, Papua New Guinea: microbead-based spoligotyping using DNA from Ziehl-Neelsen-stained microscopy preparations

Tuberculosis remains the world’s leading cause of death from an infectious agent, and is a serious health problem in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with an estimated 36,000 new cases each year. This study describes the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis among tuberculosis patients in the Balimo/Bamu region in the Middle Fly District of Western Province in PNG, and investigates rifampicin resistance-associated mutations. Archived Ziehl-Neelsen-stained sputum smears were used to conduct microbead-based spoligotyping and assess genotypic resistance. Among the 162 samples included, 80 (49.4%) generated spoligotyping patterns (n = 23), belonging predominantly to the L2 Lineage (44%) and the L4 Lineage (30%). This is consistent with what has been found in other PNG regions geographically distant from Middle Fly District of Western Province, but is different from neighbouring South-East Asian countries. Rifampicin resistance was identified in 7.8% of the successfully sequenced samples, with all resistant samples belonging to the L2/Beijing Lineage. A high prevalence of mixed L2/L4 profiles was suggestive of polyclonal infection in the region, although this would need to be confirmed. The method described here could be a game-changer in resource-limited countries where large numbers of archived smear slides could be used for retrospective (and prospective) studies of M. tuberculosis genetic epidemiology