Investigation of sterilization of secondary batteries Final report, Oct. 26, 1965 - Jun. 26, 1966

Thermally sterilized nickel cadmium battery developmen

Investigation of sterilization of secondary batteries Quarterly progress report no. 1, Oct. 26, 1965 - Jan. 26, 1966

Asbestos and polypropylene separators for nickel-cadmium cells which are sterilize

Homology-Based Functional Proteomics By Mass Spectrometry and Advanced Informatic Methods

Functional characterization of biochemically-isolated proteins is a central task in the biochemical and genetic description of the biology of cells and tissues. Protein identification by mass spectrometry consists of associating an isolated protein with a specific gene or protein sequence in silico, thus inferring its specific biochemical function based upon previous characterizations of that protein or a similar protein having that sequence identity. By performing this analysis on a large scale in conjunction with biochemical experiments, novel biological knowledge can be developed. The study presented here focuses on mass spectrometry-based proteomics of organisms with unsequenced genomes and corresponding developments in biological sequence database searching with mass spectrometry data. Conventional methods to identify proteins by mass spectrometry analysis have employed proteolytic digestion, fragmentation of resultant peptides, and the correlation of acquired tandem mass spectra with database sequences, relying upon exact matching algorithms; i.e. the analyzed peptide had to previously exist in a database in silico to be identified. One existing sequence-similarity protein identification method was applied (MS BLAST, Shevchenko 2001) and one alternative novel method was developed (MultiTag), for searching protein and EST databases, to enable the recognition of proteins that are generally unrecognizable by conventional softwares but share significant sequence similarity with database entries (~60-90%). These techniques and available database sequences enabled the characterization of the Xenopus laevis microtubule-associated proteome and the Dunaliella salina soluble salt-induced proteome, both organisms with unsequenced genomes and minimal database sequence resources. These sequence-similarity methods extended protein identification capabilities by more than two-fold compared to conventional methods, making existing methods virtually superfluous. The proteomics of Dunaliella salina demonstrated the utility of MS BLAST as an indispensable method for characterization of proteins in organisms with unsequenced genomes, and produced insight into Dunaliella?s inherent resilience to high salinity. The Xenopus study was the first proteomics project to simultaneously use all three central methods of representation for peptide tandem mass spectra for protein identification: sequence tags, amino acids sequences, and mass lists; and it is the largest proteomics study in Xenopus laevis yet completed, which indicated a potential relationship between the mitotic spindle of dividing cells and the protein synthesis machinery. At the beginning of these experiments, the identification of proteins was conceptualized as using ?conventional? versus ?sequence-similarity? techniques, but through the course of experiments, a conceptual shift in understanding occurred along with the techniques developed and employed to encompass variations in mass spectrometry instrumentation, alternative mass spectrum representation forms, and the complexities of database resources, producing a more systematic description and utilization of available resources for the characterization of proteomes by mass spectrometry and advanced informatic approaches. The experiments demonstrated that proteomics technologies are only as powerful in the field of biology as the biochemical experiments are precise and meaningful

Apsidal motion and light a curve solution for eighteen SMC eccentric eclipsing binaries

Aims: The Danish 1.54-meter telescope at the La Silla observatory was used for photometric monitoring of selected eccentric eclipsing binaries located in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The new times of minima were derived for these systems, which are needed for accurate determination of the apsidal motion. Moreover, many new times of minima were derived from the photometric databases OGLE and MACHO. Eighteen early-type eccentric-orbit eclipsing binaries were studied. Methods: Their (O-C) diagrams of minima timings were analysed and the parameters of the apsidal motion were obtained. The light curves of these eighteen binaries were analysed using the program PHOEBE, giving the light curve parameters. For several systems the additional third light also was detected. Results: We derived for the first time and significantly improved the relatively short periods of apsidal motion from 19 to 142 years for these systems. The relativistic effects are weak, up to 10% of the total apsidal motion rate. For one system (OGLE-SMC-ECL-0888), the third-body hypothesis was also presented, which agrees with high value of the third light for this system detected during the light curve solution.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, plus the appendix data tables with times of minima. Published in 2014A&A...572A..71

Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ethanol and Biopolymers

Conclusions • Regulatory LCA is not likely to be used for non‐fuel chemicals alone in the near future • Significant GHG emission credits for corn‐ethanol can be obtained by using only roughly 6‐9% of initial starch for production of biopolymers based on previous LCA theory • Pay close attention to values in calculating credits per kg—these have to stand up in litigation to ensure the credit • Credits are proportional to the mass of polymer produced • Many theoretical issues are uncertain and credits will only be determined in conjunction with EPA • Indirect emissions are uncertain and are a dominant factor in determining total life cycle GHG emissions and the importance of potential co‐product credits from biopolymer

Securing Foreign Oil: A Case for Including Military Operations in the Climate Change Impact of Fuels

Military operations are major industrial activities that use massive amounts of fuel and materials that significantly contribute to climate change. In this article, we assert that military activity to protect international oil trade is a direct production component for importing foreign oil— as necessary for imports as are pipelines and supertankers—and therefore the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from that military activity are relevant to U.S. fuel policies related to climate change. Military security for protection of global maritime petroleum distribution is part of the acquisition process, but in addition, recent Middle Eastern wars may also be related to securing petroleum reserves. A component of U.S. motor fuel policy has been to encourage the development of biofuels as substitutes for petroleum, both to reduce dependence on foreign oil and to reduce GHG emissions. To qualify for this substitution under the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), specific biofuel types must reduce GHG emissions by set amounts from 20 to 60 percent compared with gasoline. The EISA legislation demands evaluation of not only direct life cycle emissions from biofuels, but also all potentially significant indirect emissions. Yet the gasoline emissions against which this is compared consist only of direct life cycle emissions, which to this point have not included emissions due to the military component of transporting foreign oil to the United States. These military emissions are analyzed here to determine their contribution to the life cycle GHG emissions from gasoline production. This analysis builds on a recent estimate that emissions from military security raised the GHG intensity of U.S. gasoline derived from Middle Eastern imports by twofold compared with direct emissions

Indirect Land Use Emissions in the Life Cycle of Biofuels: Regulations vs. Science

Recent legislative mandates have been enacted at state and federal levels with the purpose of reducing life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels. This legislation encourages the substitution of fossil fuels with “low-carbon” fuels. The burden is put on regulatory agencies to determine the GHG-intensity of various fuels, and those agencies naturally look to science for guidance. Even though much progress has been made in determining the direct life cycle emissions from the production of biofuels, the science underpinning the estimation of potentially significant emissions from indirect land use change (ILUC) is in its infancy. As legislation requires inclusion of ILUC emissions in the biofuel life cycle, regulators are in a quandary over accurate implementation. In this article, we review these circumstances and offer some suggestions for how to proceed with the science of indirect effects and regulation in the face of uncertain science. Besides investigating indirect deforestation and grassland conversion alone, a more comprehensive assessment of the total GHG emissions implications of substituting biofuels for petroleum needs to be completed before indirect effects can be accurately determined. This review finds that indirect emissions from livestock and military security are particularly important, and deserve further research

Securing Foreign Oil: A Case for Including Military Operations in the Climate Change Impact of Fuels

Military operations are major industrial activities that use massive amounts of fuel and materials that significantly contribute to climate change. In this article, we assert that military activity to protect international oil trade is a direct production component for importing foreign oil— as necessary for imports as are pipelines and supertankers—and therefore the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from that military activity are relevant to U.S. fuel policies related to climate change. Military security for protection of global maritime petroleum distribution is part of the acquisition process, but in addition, recent Middle Eastern wars may also be related to securing petroleum reserves. A component of U.S. motor fuel policy has been to encourage the development of biofuels as substitutes for petroleum, both to reduce dependence on foreign oil and to reduce GHG emissions. To qualify for this substitution under the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), specific biofuel types must reduce GHG emissions by set amounts from 20 to 60 percent compared with gasoline. The EISA legislation demands evaluation of not only direct life cycle emissions from biofuels, but also all potentially significant indirect emissions. Yet the gasoline emissions against which this is compared consist only of direct life cycle emissions, which to this point have not included emissions due to the military component of transporting foreign oil to the United States. These military emissions are analyzed here to determine their contribution to the life cycle GHG emissions from gasoline production. This analysis builds on a recent estimate that emissions from military security raised the GHG intensity of U.S. gasoline derived from Middle Eastern imports by twofold compared with direct emissions