Water desalination using a temperature gradient

A new concept for reverse osmosis is identified based on the use of a temperature gradient instead of pressure. When the temperature of the permeate-side of the membrane is higher than the feed-side then a significant driving force exists for water transport, which can overcome the osmotic pressure. The thermodynamics for this approach are developed within the paper, and as a result we have developed a single expression for driving force across a membrane for variable temperature, pressure and concentration. The thermodynamic predictions suggest for seawater a temperature difference of less than 1 o C is needed to overcome the osmotic pressure, and less than 3 o C to sustain a water flux equivalent to current reverse osmosis processes. Experimental investigation confirmed the temperature-dependence of water flux and the ability to carry out reverse osmosis at atmospheric pressure. The effect of temperature gradient and salinity on water flux was tested at ambient pressures and found to be in good agreement with the manufacturer-quoted permeability. The concept identified in this work has the potential to allow reverse osmosis to be carried out without the need for costly high pressure pumps and energy recovery systems, with energy requirements predicted to be lower than 2.0 kWh/m 3

Contriibutors to the March Issue/Notes

Notes by Robert J. Callahan, John Kelly, William A. Meehan, Joseph R. Rudd, Arthur M. Diamond, John J. Doyle, Robert E. Sullivan, Roger Gustafson, William F. Martin, Robert A. Macdonell, Robert E. Million, Arthur A. May, and John F. Power

ACUTE EFFECTS OF STRENGTH TRAINING ON RUNNING ECONOMY

Sequencing strength training before aerobic conditioning is practised without empirical support. This study explored the acute effects of strength training on running economy and 3-D kinematics in five males. Running was performed on a treadmill at 12 and 14 km/h on three separate occasions. Trial 1 and 2 involved no strength training with data used to assess response stability of the variables. Before Trial 3, three sets of three repetitions at 85% of 1 repetition maximum of squat, bench press and deadlift with 3-5 minutes of rest were performed. Compared to Trial 2 no significant differences were observed when strength training was performed. Only a tendency of increased knee flexion (4.5°) at foot strike at the higher running velocity was observed. This suggests that running kinematics were changed exposing participants to long-term chronic injuries

Phylogeography and Ethnogenesis of Aboriginal Southeast Asians

Studying the genetic history of the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia can provide crucial clues to the peopling of Southeast Asia as a whole. We have analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNAs) control-region and coding-region markers in 447 mtDNAs from the region, including 260 Orang Asli, representative of each of the traditional groupings, the Semang, the Senoi, and the Aboriginal Malays, allowing us to test hypotheses about their origins. All of the Orang Asli groups have undergone high levels of genetic drift, but phylogeographic traces nevertheless remain of the ancestry of their maternal lineages. The Semang have a deep ancestry within the Malay Peninsula, dating to the initial settlement from Africa >50,000 years ago. The Senoi appear to be a composite group, with approximately half of the maternal lineages tracing back to the ancestors of the Semang and about half to Indochina. This is in agreement with the suggestion that they represent the descendants of early Austroasiatic speaking agriculturalists, who brought both their language and their technology to the southern part of the peninsula ∼4,000 years ago and coalesced with the indigenous population. The Aboriginal Malays are more diverse, and although they show some connections with island Southeast Asia, as expected, they also harbor haplogroups that are either novel or rare elsewhere. Contrary to expectations, complete mtDNA genome sequences from one of these, R9b, suggest an ancestry in Indochina around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, followed by an early-Holocene dispersal through the Malay Peninsula into island Southeast Asia

Melatonin reduces brain injury following inflammation-amplified hypoxia-ischemia in a translational newborn piglet study of neonatal encephalopathy

There is a need to develop therapies for neonatal encephalopathy (NE) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where the burden of disease is greatest and therapeutic hypothermia (HT) is not effective. We aimed to assess the efficacy of melatonin following inflammation-amplified hypoxia-ischaemia (IA-HI) in the newborn piglet. The IA-HI model accounts for the contribution of infection/inflammation in this setting and HT is not cytoprotective. We hypothesised that intravenous melatonin (5% ethanol, at 20 mg/kg over 2 h at 1 h after HI + 10 mg/kg/12 h between 24 and 60 h) is safe and associated with: (i) reduction in magnetic resonance spectroscopy lactate/N-acetylaspartate (MRS Lac/sNAA); (ii) preservation of phosphorus MRS phosphocreatine/phosphate exchange pool (PCr/Epp); (iii) improved aEEG/EEG recovery and (iv) cytoprotection on immunohistochemistry. Male and female piglets underwent IA-HI by carotid artery occlusion and reduction in FiO 2 to 6% at 4 h into Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide sensitisation (2 μg/kg bolus + 1 μg/kg/h over 12 h). At 1 h after IA-HI, piglets were randomised to HI-saline (n = 12) or melatonin (n = 11). There were no differences in insult severity between groups. Target melatonin levels (15-30 mg/L) were achieved within 3 h and blood ethanol levels were &lt;0.25 g/L. At 60 h, compared to HI-saline, melatonin was associated with a reduction of 0.197 log 10 units (95% CrI [-0.366, -0.028], Pr (sup) 98.8%) in basal-ganglia and thalamic Lac/NAA, and 0.257 (95% CrI [-0.676, 0.164], Pr (sup) 89.3%) in white matter Lac/NAA. PCr/Epp was higher in melatonin versus HI-saline (Pr (sup) 97.6%). Melatonin was associated with earlier aEEG/EEG recovery from 19 to 24 h (Pr (sup) 95.4%). Compared to HI-saline, melatonin was associated with increased NeuN+ cell density (Pr (sup) 99.3%) across five of eight regions and reduction in TUNEL-positive cell death (Pr (sup) 89.7%). This study supports the translation of melatonin to early-phase clinical trials. Melatonin is protective following IA-HI where HT is not effective. These data guide the design of future dose-escalation studies in the next phase of the translational pipeline. </p