Designing a Low Cost Biogas Pressurizing System in Nicaragua

Plug flow biodigesters are popular in developing countries due to their low cost and ability to adapt to microclimates to produce biogas for cooking. These biodigesters are primarily composed of a polyethylene bag and PVC, and, typically, cattle or hog manure is used as both the organic and microbe source for gas production. The biogas is piped to a gas stove to be used for cooking. The digesters are intended to replace traditional wood burning stoves prevalent in developing countries, which are attributed to over two million deaths per year. However, due to pressure limitations due to the plastic bag, only 30 to 45 minutes of gas is available at a time, so diet staples, such as rice and beans, cannot be cooked. A low cost, effective solution to utilize more of the biogas was developed and tested on an existing plug flow biodigester in Nicaragua using PVC and plastic water bottles, which are widely available in the country. With the new system, beans were successfully cooked in less time using less water than the traditional wood stove. It also allowed for approximately four hours of gas to be used at one time. The system is cost effective because it would only add 8% to the overall price of the biodigester if the system were installed at the same time as the biodigester was installed and 16% if it was sold as an aftermarket add-on. In the long term, this system would save money for the user because they would be able to spend more time working instead of collecting firewood

Immunotherapy-Induced Encephalitis: A Case of a Rare but Serious Complication of Anti-PD-1 Treatment

Son Linda Soy pictured.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/aprn-week-23/1023/thumbnail.jp

Charge-remote fragmentation in a hybrid (BEqQ) mass spectrometer to determine isotopic purity in selectively polydeuterated surfactants

AbstractThe combination of fast atom bombardment with charge-remote fragmentation using a hybrid (BEqQ) mass spectrometer was used successfully to assess and localize the extent of selective deuterium isotope labeling of tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromdes. Spectral details reveal a new reaction that can give rise to ions isobaric with those formed by charge-remote fragmentation

Assessing Impairment in Childhood ADHD: Validation of the Parent and Teacher ADHD-FX Rating Scale in a Dual-Site Clinical Sample

Objective: The current study sought to establish psychometric properties of the ADHD-FX (a culturally sensitive measure designed to assess functional impairment related to ADHD) in a dual-site clinical sample. Method: We analyzed patient charts of 67 children (47 boys and 20 girls, ages 5 to 15 years) receiving comprehensive assessments from two university-based ADHD clinics. Results: The parent and teacher ADHD-FX rating scales demonstrated good psychometric properties via adequate reliability (Cronbach’s α \u3e .70), convergent construct validity (significant correlations with majority of theoretically related measures), and divergent construct validity (insignificant correlations with majority of theoretically unrelated measures). Conclusion: Results extend upon previously published psychometric analyses to suggest that the ADHD-FX is a reliable and valid measure for parents and teachers to assess functional impairment related to ADHD (i.e., difficulties with academic achievement, social competence, and familial relationships) in community and clinical populations. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed

Non-destructive methods to determine microsporidian infection levels in cinnabar moth larva

The Cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae, has been introduced to North America in an effort to control the invasive plant Jacobaea vulgaris. The Cinnabar moth is the main host of Nosema tyriae. When infection levels are high, N. tyriae can shorten the lifespan and affect reproduction of the Cinnabar moths. The goal of this study was to determine if levels of infection are the same for larvae in the same egg mass or if numbers of spores found in frass reflect larval infection levels. These analyses would allow future experiments to overcome the limitations of destructive sampling. The variance of infection levels between sibling larvae was not significantly smaller than the variance between families. Therefore, sibling larvae should not be used as proxies to determine infection levels in larvae of interest. Spore concentration in frass was significant for 4th instars, marginally significant for 5th instar, and non-significant for 3rd instar. Overall, we conclude that frass sampling cannot be an alternative to destructive sampling for N. tyriae detection in Cinnabar moths, based on the results obtained in this study

Hierarchical Star Formation in Nearby LEGUS Galaxies

Hierarchical structure in ultraviolet images of 12 late-type LEGUS galaxies is studied by determining the numbers and fluxes of nested regions as a function of size from ~1 to ~200 pc, and the number as a function of flux. Two starburst dwarfs, NGC 1705 and NGC 5253, have steeper number-size and flux-size distributions than the others, indicating high fractions of the projected areas filled with star formation. Nine subregions in 7 galaxies have similarly steep number-size slopes, even when the whole galaxies have shallower slopes. The results suggest that hierarchically structured star-forming regions several hundred parsecs or larger represent common unit structures. Small galaxies dominated by only a few of these units tend to be starbursts. The self-similarity of young stellar structures down to parsec scales suggests that star clusters form in the densest parts of a turbulent medium that also forms loose stellar groupings on larger scales. The presence of super star clusters in two of our starburst dwarfs would follow from the observed structure if cloud and stellar subregions more readily coalesce when self-gravity in the unit cell contributes more to the total gravitational potential.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for ApJ

Writing Terminology Compared: WRITING Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Oregon Writing Standards

In April 2011, representatives from higher education, districts, and Education Service Districts collaborated to design and draft transition resources for the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS). As context for this work, comparisons between the Common Core (adopted in October 2010) and Oregon’s English language arts standards (adopted in 2003) were reviewed using the ELA Crosswalk