NCN detection in atmospheric flames

no abstract

Chasing the dragon - characterizing cases of leukoencephalopathy associated with heroin inhalation in British Columbia

An association between leukoencephalopathy, a disease of the white matter of the brain, and smoking heroin is well recognized. This paper describes 27 cases of leukoencephalopathy identified in two cities in British Columbia, Canada 2001-2006; the largest number of geographically and temporally defined reported cases in North America. Twenty cases of leukoencephalopathy were identified in and around Vancouver with onset dates December 2001 to July 2003; seven further cases were identified in Victoria September 2005-August 2006. Twenty (74%) of all cases were male, two couples were reported and eleven cases (55%) had Asian ethnicity. One case reported smoking heroin on a single occasion and developed mild symptoms; all other cases were hospitalized. Thirteen (48%) cases died; all had smoked heroin for a minimum of 3 years. Testing of one available heroin sample identified no substance other than common cutting agents. Although a specific etiology was not identified our study supports the theory of an intermittent exposure to a toxic agent added to the heroin or a combustion by-product. It also suggests a dose response effect rather than genetic predisposition. Collaboration with public health, health professionals, law enforcement and persons who use illegal drugs, will facilitate the early identification of cases to enable timely and complete follow-up including obtaining samples. Testing of implicated heroin samples may allow identification of the contaminant and therefore prevent further cases. It is therefore important to ensure key stakeholders are aware of our findings.Medicine, Department ofNeurology, Division ofPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofNon UBCMedicine, Faculty ofReviewedFacult

Heat transfer distribution for an impinging flame jet to a flat plate

Impinging flame jets are widely used in applications where high heat-transfer rates are needed, for instance in the glass industry. During the heating process of glass products, internal thermal stresses develop in the material due to temperature gradients. In order to avoid excessive thermal gradients as well as overheating of the hot spots, it is important to know and control the temperature distribution inside a heated glass product. Therefore, it is advantageous to know the relation describing the convective heat–flux distribution at the heated side of a glass product. In a previous work, we presented a heat–flux relation applicable for the hot spot of the target [M.J. Remie, G. Särner, M.F.G. Cremers, A. Omrane, K.R.A.M. Schreel, M. Aldén, L.P.H. de Goey, Extended heat-transfer relation for an impinging laminar flame jet to a flat plate, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, in press]. In this paper, we present an extension of this relation, which is applicable for larger radial distances from the hot spot

Projected local rain events due to climate change and the impacts on waterborne diseases in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Background: Climate change is increasing the number and intensity of extreme weather events in many parts of the world. Precipitation extremes have been linked to both outbreaks and sporadic cases of waterborne illness. We have previously shown a link between heavy rain and turbidity to population-level risk of sporadic cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in a major Canadian urban population. The risk increased with 30 or more dry days in the 60 days preceding the week of extreme rain. The goal of this study was to investigate the change in cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis risk due to climate change, primarily change in extreme precipitation. Methods: Cases of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis were extracted from a reportable disease system (1997–2009). We used distributed lag non-linear Poisson regression models and projections of the exposure-outcome relationship to estimate future illness (2020–2099). The climate projections are derived from twelve statistically downscaled regional climate models. Relative Concentration Pathway 8.5 was used to project precipitation derived from daily gridded weather observation data (~ 6 × 10 km resolution) covering the central of three adjacent watersheds serving metropolitan Vancouver for the 2020s, 2040s, 2060s and 2080s. Results: Precipitation is predicted to steadily increase in these watersheds during the wet season (Oct. -Mar.) and decrease in other parts of the year up through the 2080s. More weeks with extreme rain (>90th percentile) are expected. These weeks are predicted to increase the annual rates of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis by approximately 16% by the 2080s corresponding to an increase of 55–136 additional cases per year depending upon the climate model used. The predicted increase in the number of waterborne illness cases are during the wet months. The range in future projections compared to historical monthly case counts typically differed by 10–20% across climate models but the direction of change was consistent for all models. Discussion: If new water filtration measures had not been implemented in our study area in 2010–2015, the risk of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis would have been expected to increase with climate change, particularly precipitation changes. In addition to the predicted increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events, the frequency and length of wet and dry spells could also affect the risk of waterborne diseases as we observed in the historical period. These findings add to the growing evidence regarding the need to prepare water systems to manage and become resilient to climate change-related health risks.Medicine, Faculty ofNon UBCPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofReviewedFacult