Study of volatile contaminants in reclaimed water

Different methods were evaluated for reducing the volatile contaminants found in water recovered from urine by distillation. The use of activated carbon, addition of potassium permanganate, and the use of oxidation catalyst are described along with laboratory tests. It is concluded that catalytic decomposition appears to be feasible, and further investigation is recommended

Monitoring and evaluating business mentoring: towards a research and evaluation toolkit to measure impact

This paper presents a Research and Evaluation Toolkit (RET) which has applicability to mentoring programmes in all sectors and organizational contexts. The RET offers a practical guide for human resource development practitioners engaged in evaluation of learning and development programmes and more specifically, mentoring. The RET was a key outcome of a global 2.5-year impact evaluation project with Youth Business International and Middlesex University Business School, evaluating the impact of volunteer business mentoring on under-served young entrepreneurs and their business ventures. This paper brings to the forefront the importance of integrating a measurement and evaluation strategy from the initial mentoring programme design phase and ongoing management. Despite the growing number of survey reports and studies that highlight the importance of this aspect of mentoring programme design and management, measurement and evaluation continues to be one of the most challenging areas. As such, this paper contributes to our understanding concerning the role and effectiveness of ongoing monitoring and evaluation in relation to demonstrating the impact of human resource development interventions and provides a practical approach for practitioners to develop and enhance their evaluation strategy and methods. Key words: research and evaluation, business mentoring, impac

Large scale grain mantle disruption in the Galactic Center

We present observations of C2H5OH toward molecular clouds in Sgr A, Sgr B2 and associated with thermal and non-thermal features in the Galactic center. C2H5OH emission in Sgr A and Sgr B2 is widespread, but not uniform. C2H5OH emission is much weaker or it is not detected in some molecular clouds in both complexes, in particular those with radial velocities between 70 and 120 km/s. While most of the clouds associated with the thermal features do not show C2H5OH emission, that associated with the Non-Thermal Radio Arc shows emission. The fractional abundance of C2H5OH in most of the clouds with radial velocities between 0 and 70 km/s in Sgr A and Sgr B2 is relatively high, of few 1e-8. The C2H5OH abundance decreases by more than one order of magnitude (aprox. 1e-9) in the clouds associated with the thermal features. The large abundance of C2H5OH in the gas-phase indicates that C2H5OH has formed in grains and released to gas-phase by shocks in the last aprox. 1e5 years.Comment: In press in Astrophysical Journal Letters 7 pages, 1 table, 1 figur

Radiosurgery for brainstem metastases with and without whole brain radiotherapy: clinical series and literature review

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate outcomes for patients with brainstem metastases treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Methods Patients with brainstem metastases treated with SRS between April 2006 and June 2012 were identified from a prospective database. Patient and treatment-related factors were recorded. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to calculate survival and freedom from local and distant brain progression. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression was used to identify factors important for overall survival. Results In total, 44 patients received SRS for 48 brainstem metastases of whom 33 (75 %) also received whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT): 23 patients (52 %) WBRT prior to SRS, 6 (13.6 %) WBRT concurrently with SRS and 4 (9.0 %) WBRT after SRS. Eight patients received a second course ofWBRTat further progression. Median target volume was 1.33 cc (range 0.04–12.17) and median prescribed marginal dose was 15 Gy (range 10–22). There were four cases of local failure, and 6-month and 1-year freedom from local failure was 84.6 and 76.9 %, respectively. Median overall survival (OS) was 5.4 months. There were four cases of radionecrosis, 2 (4.8 %) of which were symptomatic. The absence of external beam brain radiotherapy (predominantly WBRT) showed a trend towards improved OS on univariate analysis. Neither local nor distant brain failure significantly impacted OS. Conclusion This retrospective series of patients treated with SRS for brainstem metastases, largely in combination with at least one course of WBRT, demonstrates that this approach is safe and results in good local control. In this cohort, no variables significantly impacted OS, including intracranial control

New detections of HC5N towards hot cores associated with 6.7 GHz methanol masers

We present new detections of cyanodiacetylene (HC5N) towards hot molecular cores, observed with the Tidbinbilla 34 m radio telescope (DSS–34). In a sample of 79 hot molecular cores, HC5N was detected towards 35. These results are counter to the expectation that long chain cyanopolyynes, such as HC5N, are not typically found in hot molecular cores, unlike their shorter chain counterpart HC3N. However, it is consistent with recent models which suggest HC5N may exist for a limited period during the evolution of hot molecular cores