Stepwise Analysis Of Gasification Reactions With Aspen Plus And CPFD

The energy from biomass can be utilized through the thermochemical conversion processes of pyrolysis and gasification. Biomass such as wood chips is heated in a gasification reactor to produce a synthesis gas containing CO, H2 and CH4. The gas can be further processed to bioproducts or fuels. The thermochemical process involves devolatilization of wood followed by steam gasification, CO2 gasification, methanation, water gas shift reactions and methane reforming. To optimize the performance of the reactor, it is important to study each of the reactions separately. The reactions are simulated individually using the chemical process optimization software Aspen Plus. The results are compared with simulations performed with the Computational Particle Fluid Dynamic (CPFD) software Barracuda VR 15. The CPFD methodology solves the fluid and particle equations in three dimensions with the transient flow and is time-consuming. Aspen Plus is one dimensional and solves the included reactions fast. The results of the Aspen Plus and CPFD simulations, given as product gas compositions (CO, CO2, CH4 and H2), show that each reaction contributes to the product gas composition differently. Comparison between Aspen Plus and CPFD simulations of individual gasification reactions show good agreement. However, when all reactions are included in the simulations, there is a deviation in the volume fraction of product gas composition

Antibiotic therapy of neuroborreliosis:A survey among infectious disease specialists and neurologists in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark

Introduction: Neuroborreliosis (NB) is a prevalent tick-borne neuroinfection in Europe. To delineate current practice in antimicrobial management of adults with NB and to prioritize future trials needed to optimize treatment recommendations, a questionnaire-based survey was performed. Methods: A self-administered Internet-based survey of NB treatment practices among specialists in infectious diseases and neurology based in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark was carried out between October 2021 and February 2022. The participants were also asked to prioritize four pre-defined research questions for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on therapy for NB. Results: In total, 290 physicians (45% female) from Norway (30%), Sweden (40%), and Denmark (30%) participated in the survey. Of the responders, 230 (79%) were infectious disease specialists and 56 (19%) were neurologists. The preferred antibiotic treatment for patients with early NB was oral doxycycline (n = 225, 78%). Intravenous (IV) penicillin, ceftriaxone, or cefotaxime for the full treatment course was favored by 12%. A preferred treat- ment duration of 10–14 days for patients with NB was reported by 245 respondents (85%), most common among participants from Sweden (97%). A total of 170 (59%) responders reported having local hospital guidelines on the treatment of NB, most often with recommendation of oral doxycycline (92%) for 10–14 days (90%) as first line treatment. The prioritization score for future RCTs was highest for adjunctive prednisone therapy in NB patients with facial palsy (median 5; IQR 4–6) and for placebo versus repeated antibiotics in patients with persistent symptoms after completed antibiotic therapy for NB (median 5, IQR 3–6). Conclusion: In Sweden, all respondents preferred treating NB with oral doxycycline for 10–14 days, whereas 5% in Norway and 19% in Denmark still treat NB with IV antibiotics for the entire treatment course. RCTs to define the role of adjunctive prednisolone in NB patients with facial palsy and repeated antibiotics in patients with persistent symptoms are prioritized for future research.publishedVersio

Enhancement of cranial nerves in Lyme neuroborreliosis: incidence and correlation with clinical symptoms and prognosis

Purpose Symptoms of cranial neuritis are a common presentation of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). Imaging studies are scarce and report contradictory low prevalence of enhancement compared to clinical studies of cranial neuropathy. We hypothesized that MRI enhancement of cranial nerves in LNB is underreported, and aimed to assess the prevalence and clinical impact of cranial nerve enhancement in early LNB. Methods In this prospective, longitudinal cohort study, 69 patients with acute LNB were examined with MRI of the brain. Enhancement of cranial nerves III–XII was rated. MRI enhancement was correlated to clinical fndings of neuropathy in the acute phase and after 6 months. Results Thirty-nine of 69 patients (57%) had pathological cranial nerve enhancement. Facial and oculomotor nerves were most frequently afected. There was a strong correlation between enhancement in the distal internal auditory canal and parotid segments of the facial nerve and degree of facial palsy (gamma=0.95, p<.01, and gamma=0.93, p<.01), despite that 19/37 nerves with mild-moderate enhancement in the distal internal auditory canal segment showed no clinically evident palsy. Oculomotor and abducens nerve enhancement did not correlate with eye movement palsy (gamma=1.00 and 0.97, p=.31 for both). Sixteen of 17 patients with oculomotor and/or abducens nerve enhancement had no evident eye movement palsy. Conclusions MRI cranial nerve enhancement is common in LNB patients, but it can be clinically occult. Facial and oculomotor nerves are most often afected. Enhancement of the facial nerve distal internal auditory canal and parotid segments correlate with degree of facial palsy.publishedVersio

Performance of the Electromagnetic Pixel Calorimeter Prototype EPICAL-2

The first evaluation of an ultra-high granularity digital electromagnetic calorimeter prototype using 1.0-5.8 GeV/c electrons is presented. The $25\times10^6$ pixel detector consists of 24 layers of ALPIDE CMOS MAPS sensors, with a pitch of around 30~$\mu$m, and has a depth of almost 20 radiation lengths of tungsten absorber. Ultra-thin cables allow for a very compact design. The properties that are critical for physics studies are measured: electromagnetic shower response, energy resolution and linearity. The stochastic energy resolution is comparable with the state-of-the art resolution for a Si-W calorimeter, with data described well by a simulation model using GEANT and Allpix$^2$. The performance achieved makes this technology a good candidate for use in the ALICE FoCal upgrade, and in general demonstrates the strong potential for future applications in high-energy physics.Comment: 30 pages, 19 figures, submitted to JINS

A study to explore specific stressors and coping strategies in primary dental care practice

Background and Aims: It is widely acknowledged that dentists experience occupational stress. This qualitative study aimed to explore previously identified specific stressors in more detail in order to inform the development of a future stress management programme. Method: Two focus groups of dentists (N: 7 & 6) were conducted to explore, in more detail, nine specific stressors and concepts; being out of one’s comfort zone, zoning out from the patient, celebrating the positive aspects of work, thinking aloud, the effect of hurting patients, the impact of perfectionism, responsibility for patient’s self-care, the emotional impact of difficult situations as a foundation dentist. Participants were also asked for their views on the structure and contents of the proposed stress management package. Verbatim transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis. Results and Discussion: Dentists described the impact of these stressors and their current coping methods; thematic analysis revealed 9 themes which covered the above concepts and a further overall theme of need for control. The findings are elaborated in connection to their relevant stress, coping and emotion psychological theory. Their implications for personal well-being and clinical outcomes are discussed. Conclusion: Dentists’ stressful and coping experiences are complex and it is essential that any stress management programme reflects this and that the skills are easily accessible and sustainable within the context of a busy dental practice

Public Sector Reform and Governance for Adaptation: Implications of New Public Management for Adaptive Capacity in Mexico and Norway

Although many governments are assuming the responsibility of initiating adaptation policy in relation to climate change, the compatibility of “governance-for-adaptation” with the current paradigms of public administration has generally been overlooked. Over the last several decades, countries around the globe have embraced variants of the philosophy of administration broadly called “New Public Management” (NPM) in an effort to improve administrative efficiencies and the provision of public services. Using evidence from a case study of reforms in the building sector in Norway, and a case study of water and flood risk management in central Mexico, we analyze the implications of the adoption of the tenets of NPM for adaptive capacity. Our cases illustrate that some of the key attributes associated with governance for adaptation—namely, technical and financial capacities; institutional memory, learning and knowledge; and participation and accountability—have been eroded by NPM reforms. Despite improvements in specific operational tasks of the public sector in each case, we show that the success of NPM reforms presumes the existence of core elements of governance that have often been found lacking, including solid institutional frameworks and accountability. Our analysis illustrates the importance of considering both longer-term adaptive capacities and short-term efficiency goals in public sector administration reform

Uncertainty-aware spot rejection rate as quality metric for proton therapy using a digital tracking calorimeter

Objective. Proton therapy is highly sensitive to range uncertainties due to the nature of the dose deposition of charged particles. To ensure treatment quality, range verification methods can be used to verify that the individual spots in a pencil beam scanning treatment fraction match the treatment plan. This study introduces a novel metric for proton therapy quality control based on uncertainties in range verification of individual spots. Approach. We employ uncertainty-aware deep neural networks to predict the Bragg peak depth in an anthropomorphic phantom based on secondary charged particle detection in a silicon pixel telescope designed for proton computed tomography. The subsequently predicted Bragg peak positions, along with their uncertainties, are compared to the treatment plan, rejecting spots which are predicted to be outside the 95% confidence interval. The such-produced spot rejection rate presents a metric for the quality of the treatment fraction. Main results. The introduced spot rejection rate metric is shown to be well-defined for range predictors with well-calibrated uncertainties. Using this method, treatment errors in the form of lateral shifts can be detected down to 1 mm after around 1400 treated spots with spot intensities of 1 × 107 protons. The range verification model used in this metric predicts the Bragg peak depth to a mean absolute error of 1.107 ± 0.015 mm. Significance. Uncertainty-aware machine learning has potential applications in proton therapy quality control. This work presents the foundation for future developments in this area.publishedVersio

Performance of the electromagnetic and hadronic prototype segments of the ALICE Forward Calorimeter

We present the performance of a full-length prototype of the ALICE Forward Calorimeter (FoCal). The detector is composed of a silicon-tungsten electromagnetic sampling calorimeter with longitudinal and transverse segmentation (FoCal-E) of about 20$X_0$ and a hadronic copper-scintillating-fiber calorimeter (FoCal-H) of about 5$\lambda_{\rm int}$. The data were taken between 2021 and 2023 at the CERN PS and SPS beam lines with hadron (electron) beams up to energies of 350 (300) GeV. Regarding FoCal-E, we report a comprehensive analysis of its response to minimum ionizing particles across all pad layers. The longitudinal shower profile of electromagnetic showers is measured with a layer-wise segmentation of 1$X_0$. As a projection to the performance of the final detector in electromagnetic showers, we demonstrate linearity in the full energy range, and show that the energy resolution fulfills the requirements for the physics needs. Additionally, the performance to separate two-showers events was studied by quantifying the transverse shower width. Regarding FoCal-H, we report a detailed analysis of the response to hadron beams between 60 and 350 GeV. The results are compared to simulations obtained with a Geant4 model of the test beam setup, which in particular for FoCal-E are in good agreement with the data. The energy resolution of FoCal-E was found to be lower than 3% at energies larger than 100 GeV. The response of FoCal-H to hadron beams was found to be linear, albeit with a significant intercept that is about factor 2 larger than in simulations. Its resolution, which is non-Gaussian and generally larger than in simulations, was quantified using the FWHM, and decreases from about 16% at 100 GeV to about 11% at 350 GeV. The discrepancy to simulations, which is particularly evident at low hadron energies, needs to be further investigated.Comment: 55 pages (without acronyms), 45 captioned figure

Search for a common baryon source in high-multiplicity pp collisions at the LHC

We report on the measurement of the size of the particle-emitting source from two-baryon correlations with ALICE in high-multiplicity pp collisions at s=13 TeV. The source radius is studied with low relative momentum p–p, p‾–p‾, p–Λ, and p‾–Λ‾ pairs as a function of the pair transverse mass mT considering for the first time in a quantitative way the effect of strong resonance decays. After correcting for this effect, the radii extracted for pairs of different particle species agree. This indicates that protons, antiprotons, Λ s, and Λ‾ s originate from the same source. Within the measured mT range (1.1–2.2) GeV/c2the invariant radius of this common source varies between 1.3 and 0.85 fm. These results provide a precise reference for studies of the strong hadron–hadron interactions and for the investigation of collective properties in small colliding systems. © 2020 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE CollaborationPeer reviewe