A Numerical Study Of The Slow Pyrolysis Of Thermally Thick Wood Spheres

Two one-dimensional numerical simulations were developed to model the pyrolysis of wood spheres, based on the proposed model developed by Park et al., 2010. Both of these models include physical processes coupled with a kinetic mechanism that describes the pyrolysis reactions, including heat transfer within the wood particle, chemical decomposition of wood into products, and the pressure-driven flow of gas-phase species through the porous media, described using Darcy's law. The Park model used the kinetic mechanism developed by Park et al., 2010, where wood decomposes through a few parallel reactions and secondary reactions to form gas, tar, and char. The Gauthier model implements a more detailed kinetic mechanism, presented by Gauthier et al., 2013, which describes the decomposition of the main constituents of wood - cellulose, hemicellulose, and three types of lignin - and characterizes gas and tar fractions with a limited number of components. To accurately determine the ability of the model to predict the pyrolysis process, both models were configured to match the experimental conditions presented in this thesis. This included an in depth study into the external heat transfer, material properties, and some kinetic parameters from the Park model used in the simulation. Model outputs were compared to thermogravimetric analysis mass loss profiles and time-resolved temperature and species profiles of permanent gases and several light volatiles from the slow pyrolysis of dry poplar wood spheres. Model predictions from both the Park and Gauthier kinetic mechanisms matched reasonably well with experimental data, although the Gauthier model predicted a very large production of species from the desorption of chemisorbed species at higher temperatures that was not seen experimentally. Additionally, both models were generally able to predict the trends in yields of species with particle size and temperature. From this study, the following were determined: (1) The main release of gaseous products occurred before the exothermic peak seen in the temperature profiles, which supports the view that this peak is caused by the decomposition of an intermediate solid. (2) Both the Park and Gauthier models predicted a higher yield for tar and a lower yield for char than seen experimentally, which could be caused by secondary char being formed from the decomposition of tar as it moves through the biomass particle. (3) Two peaks were observed in the species profiles for CH4 at low temperatures, supporting the notion of the release of chemisorbed species that is implemented in the Gauthier model; however, this release is much smaller than predicted by the model. The development of the Gauthier model contributes considerably to numerical modeling of the pyrolysis process. This model provides detailed information on the composition of volatiles being produced through the slow pyrolysis of thermally thick particles, as well as the timing of the release of specific species. While there are many advantages to using this model to predict pyrolysis on a larger scale, there are also some disadvantages, including the difficulty in defining accurate initial and boundary conditions for the system. However, most of these difficulties are present in any detailed numerical model

HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: FLOODED WITH INJUSTICE?

HB1276 Comprehensive plan; Healthy Communities Strategy authorizes defined localities to incorporate a healthy communities strategy into the next iteration of their local comprehensive plan and to engage the public in the process. In the absence of a predetermined definition, this report adopts the American Planning Association (APA) guidance as a standard, that a healthy community is a place where “all individuals have access to healthy built, social, economic, and natural environments that give them the opportunity to live their fullest potential regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, income, age, abilities, or other socially defined circumstance.”1 This report will discuss how communities across Virginia face disproportionate negative environmental impacts, with a specific focus on marginalized groups, communities of color and the impact of flooding. This research and analysis will center on the intersectionality of flooding and race and the impacts of HB1276 on racial/ethnic groups. In addition, this report will examine critical components of educating and mobilizing community members toward active participation and involvement in strategic community environmental planning initiatives

Integrated and Open Interpreter Education: The Open Educational Resource Reader and Workbook for Interpreters

https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/facbooks/1001/thumbnail.jp

T Cells Specific for a Mycobacterial Glycolipid Expand after Intravenous Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Vaccination

Intradermal vaccination with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) protects infants from disseminated tuberculosis, and i.v. BCG protects nonhuman primates (NHP) against pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. In humans and NHP, protection is thought to be mediated by T cells, which typically recognize bacterial peptide Ags bound to MHC proteins. However, during vertebrate evolution, T cells acquired the capacity to recognize lipid Ags bound to CD1a, CD1b, and CD1c proteins expressed on APCs. It is unknown whether BCG induces T cell immunity to mycobacterial lipids and whether CD1-restricted T cells are resident in the lung. In this study, we developed and validated Macaca mulatta (Mamu) CD1b and CD1c tetramers to probe ex vivo phenotypes and functions of T cells specific for glucose monomycolate (GMM), an immunodominant mycobacterial lipid Ag. We discovered that CD1b and CD1c present GMM to T cells in both humans and NHP. We show that GMM-specific T cells are expanded in rhesus macaque blood 4 wk after i.v. BCG, which has been shown to protect NHP with near-sterilizing efficacy upon M. tuberculosis challenge. After vaccination, these T cells are detected at high frequency within bronchoalveolar fluid and express CD69 and CD103, markers associated with resident memory T cells. Thus, our data expand the repertoire of T cells known to be induced by whole cell mycobacterial vaccines, such as BCG, and show that lipid Ag-specific T cells are resident in the lungs, where they may contribute to protective immunity

Travel-Time Disparities in Access to Proton Beam Therapy for Cancer Treatment

IMPORTANCE: Proton beam therapy is an emerging radiotherapy treatment for patients with cancer that may produce similar outcomes as traditional photon-based therapy for many cancers while delivering lower amounts of toxic radiation to surrounding tissue. Geographic proximity to a proton facility is a critical component of ensuring equitable access both for indicated diagnoses and ongoing clinical trials. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the distribution of proton facilities in the US, quantify drive-time access for the population, and investigate the likelihood of long commutes for certain population subgroups. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This population-based cross-sectional study analyzed travel times to proton facilities in the US. Census tract variables in the contiguous US were measured between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2021. Statistical analysis was performed from September to November 2023. EXPOSURES: Drive time in minutes to nearest proton facility. Population totals and prevalence of specific factors measured from the American Community Survey: age; race and ethnicity; insurance, disability, and income status; vehicle availability; broadband access; and urbanicity. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Poor access to proton facilities was defined as having a drive-time commute of at least 4 hours to the nearest location. Median drive time and percentage of population with poor access were calculated for the entire population and by population subgroups. Univariable and multivariable odds of poor access were also calculated for certain population subgroups. RESULTS: Geographic access was considered for 327 536 032 residents of the contiguous US (60 594 624 [18.5%] Hispanic, 17 974 186 [5.5%] non-Hispanic Asian, 40 146 994 [12.3%] non-Hispanic Black, and 195 265 639 [59.6%] non-Hispanic White; 282 031 819 [86.1%] resided in urban counties). The median (IQR) drive time to the nearest proton facility was 96.1 (39.6-195.3) minutes; 119.8 million US residents (36.6%) lived within a 1-hour drive of the nearest proton facility, and 53.6 million (16.4%) required a commute of at least 4 hours. Persons identifying as non-Hispanic White had the longest median (IQR) commute time at 109.8 (48.0-197.6) minutes. Multivariable analysis identified rurality (odds ratio [OR], 2.45 [95% CI, 2.27-2.64]), age 65 years or older (OR, 1.09 [95% CI, 1.06-1.11]), and living below the federal poverty line (OR, 1.22 [1.20-1.25]) as factors associated with commute times of at least 4 hours. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This cross-sectional study of drive-time access to proton beam therapy found that disparities in access existed among certain populations in the US. These results suggest that such disparities present a barrier to an emerging technology in cancer treatment and inhibit equitable access to ongoing clinical trials

Fostering global primary care research: a capacity-building approach

The Alma Ata and Astana Declarations reaffirm the importance of high-quality primary healthcare (PHC), yet the capacity to undertake PHC research - a core element of high-quality PHC - in low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC) is limited. Our aim is to explore the current risks or barriers to primary care research capacity building, identify the ongoing tensions that need to be resolved and offer some solutions, focusing on emerging contexts. This paper arose from a workshop held at the 2019 North American Primary Care Research Group Annual Meeting addressing research capacity building in LMICs. Five case studies (three from Africa, one from South-East Asia and one from South America) illustrate tensions and solutions to strengthening PHC research around the world. Research must be conducted in local contexts and be responsive to the needs of patients, populations and practitioners in the community. The case studies exemplify that research capacity can be strengthened at the micro (practice), meso (institutional) and macro (national policy and international collaboration) levels. Clinicians may lack coverage to enable research time; however, practice-based research is precisely the most relevant for PHC. Increasing research capacity requires local skills, training, investment in infrastructure, and support of local academics and PHC service providers to select, host and manage locally needed research, as well as to disseminate findings to impact local practice and policy. Reliance on funding from high-income countries may limit projects of higher priority in LMIC, and € brain drain' may reduce available research support; however, we provide recommendations on how to deal with these tensions

Post-acute COVID-19 outcomes including participant-reported long COVID: amubarvimab/romlusevimab versus placebo in the ACTIV-2 trial

BackgroundIt is unknown if early COVID-19 monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy can reduce risk of Long COVID. The mAbs amubarvimab/romlusevimab were previously demonstrated to reduce risk of hospitalization/death by 79%. This study assessed the impact of amubarvimab/romlusevimab on late outcomes, including Long COVID.MethodsNon-hospitalized high-risk adults within 10 days of COVID-19 symptom onset enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2/3 trial of amubarvimab/romlusevimab for COVID-19 treatment. Late symptoms, assessed using a participant-completed symptom diary, were a pre-specified exploratory endpoint. The primary outcome for this analysis was the composite of Long COVID by participant self-report (presence of COVID-19 symptoms as recorded in the diary at week 36) or hospitalization or death by week 36. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) was used to address incomplete outcome ascertainment, giving weighted risk ratios (wRR) comparing amubarvimab/romlusevimab to placebo.FindingsParticipants received amubarvimab/romlusevimab (n = 390) or placebo (n = 390) between January and July 2021. Median age was 49 years, 52% were female, 18% Black/African American, 49% Hispanic/Latino, and 9% COVID-19-vaccinated at entry. At week 36, 103 (13%) had incomplete outcome ascertainment, and 66 (17%) on amubarvimab/romlusevimab and 92 (24%) on placebo met the primary outcome (wRR = 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53-0.93). The difference was driven by fewer hospitalizations/deaths with amubarvimab/romlusevimab (4%) than placebo (13%). Among 652 participants with available diary responses, 53 (16%) on amubarvimab/romlusevimab and 44 (14%) on placebo reported presence of Long COVID.InterpretationAmubarvimab/romlusevimab treatment, while highly effective in preventing hospitalizations/deaths, did not reduce risk of Long COVID. Additional interventions are needed to prevent Long COVID.FundingNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. Amubarvimab and romlusevimab supplied by Brii Biosciences

Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 333 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

BACKGROUND: Measurement of changes in health across locations is useful to compare and contrast changing epidemiological patterns against health system performance and identify specific needs for resource allocation in research, policy development, and programme decision making. Using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016, we drew from two widely used summary measures to monitor such changes in population health: disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and healthy life expectancy (HALE). We used these measures to track trends and benchmark progress compared with expected trends on the basis of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI). METHODS: We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 for all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, and non-fatal disease burden to derive HALE and DALYs by sex for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2016. We calculated DALYs by summing years of life lost and years of life lived with disability for each location, age group, sex, and year. We estimated HALE using age-specific death rates and years of life lived with disability per capita. We explored how DALYs and HALE differed from expected trends when compared with the SDI: the geometric mean of income per person, educational attainment in the population older than age 15 years, and total fertility rate. FINDINGS: The highest globally observed HALE at birth for both women and men was in Singapore, at 75·2 years (95% uncertainty interval 71·9-78·6) for females and 72·0 years (68·8-75·1) for males. The lowest for females was in the Central African Republic (45·6 years [42·0-49·5]) and for males was in Lesotho (41·5 years [39·0-44·0]). From 1990 to 2016, global HALE increased by an average of 6·24 years (5·97-6·48) for both sexes combined. Global HALE increased by 6·04 years (5·74-6·27) for males and 6·49 years (6·08-6·77) for females, whereas HALE at age 65 years increased by 1·78 years (1·61-1·93) for males and 1·96 years (1·69-2·13) for females. Total global DALYs remained largely unchanged from 1990 to 2016 (-2·3% [-5·9 to 0·9]), with decreases in communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) disease DALYs offset by increased DALYs due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The exemplars, calculated as the five lowest ratios of observed to expected age-standardised DALY rates in 2016, were Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Maldives, Peru, and Israel. The leading three causes of DALYs globally were ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and lower respiratory infections, comprising 16·1% of all DALYs. Total DALYs and age-standardised DALY rates due to most CMNN causes decreased from 1990 to 2016. Conversely, the total DALY burden rose for most NCDs; however, age-standardised DALY rates due to NCDs declined globally. INTERPRETATION: At a global level, DALYs and HALE continue to show improvements. At the same time, we observe that many populations are facing growing functional health loss. Rising SDI was associated with increases in cumulative years of life lived with disability and decreases in CMNN DALYs offset by increased NCD DALYs. Relative compression of morbidity highlights the importance of continued health interventions, which has changed in most locations in pace with the gross domestic product per person, education, and family planning. The analysis of DALYs and HALE and their relationship to SDI represents a robust framework with which to benchmark location-specific health performance. Country-specific drivers of disease burden, particularly for causes with higher-than-expected DALYs, should inform health policies, health system improvement initiatives, targeted prevention efforts, and development assistance for health, including financial and research investments for all countries, regardless of their level of sociodemographic development. The presence of countries that substantially outperform others suggests the need for increased scrutiny for proven examples of best practices, which can help to extend gains, whereas the presence of underperforming countries suggests the need for devotion of extra attention to health systems that need more robust support. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Final Reports - 2023. Oral History, Food Justice, and Music Making

“Food is a language we all speak, but not everyone has access to clean, affordable food. We are here to change that”. This statement by research participant Noel Livingston, sums up the goal of this research. We aim to share practices, knowledges and insights that can amplify challenges to urban food injustice in the Black, Caribbean and African communities at Jane and Finch. The research takes the form of a study of the ongoing work of the Toronto Black Farmers and Food Growers Collective, supplemented by oral histories collected from participants in Jane and Finch. Key findings have been channelled into the making of a website that comprises stories, activities, musical and other creative resources intended to facilitate intergenerational learning, dialogue, and action on food justice.The Helen Carswell Chair in Community-Engaged Research in the Arts is a partnership between York University’s School of Arts, Media, Performance and Design and Community Music Schools of Toronto. This partnership is dedicated to community cultural development in the underserved neighbourhoods of Toronto. We facilitate and conduct rigorous academic research which explores the benefits of community music programs and the links between music and learning. The goal of our work is to significantly benefit children from high-risk neighbourhoods and to fortify community music programs globally through publications and knowledge mobilization. We especially seek to engage and help drive new knowledge and practice to community-based groups serving children in the Jane and Finch community

Low-Temperature Pyrolysis of Woody Biomass in the Thermally Thick Regime

Pyrolysis of biomass is a thermal degradation process in the absence of oxygen, producing gas, tar, and char. The product distribution depends on pyrolysis conditions (heating rate, peak temperature, particle size). In this work, the decomposition of dried poplar wood cylinders of 1.9 cm diameter is investigated under conditions favoring production of “biochar” for soil amendment, that is, in the thermally thick regime with maximum temperature <450 °C. The intraparticle temperature history was measured using a thin sheathed thermocouple. Time-resolved mole fractions of light pyrolysis species, CO, CO₂, CH₄, HCHO, CH₃OH, HCOOH, and CH₃COOH, were measured by FTIR analyzer. Tar was collected and identified by GC/MS, and yields of gas, tar, and char are reported. The experiments were compared to the predictions of a one-dimensional model proposed by Park, W. C.; Atreya, A.; and Baum, H. R. (2010) and implemented in Comsol Multiphysics commercial software. Sensitivity to model parameters was determined. The timing of gas production relative to temperature changes supports the view that exothermic processes are caused by decomposition of an intermediate solid, after the main volatiles release