PREPARATION OF A MODEL PROBATE CODE

At the 1940 meeting of the American Bar Association held in Philadelphia, the Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law included in its program a discussion of the proposal of a Model Probate Code. The section had previously had committees to consider the subjects of uniformity in probate codes and improvement in probate practice, and its programs had included not only reports of these committees but addresses outlining the increasing importance of probate law and the need for statutes which would create adequate standards of practice and administration. During the year 1940 the Journal of the American Judicature Society had carried a series of articles by Professor Thomas E. Atkinson on probate courts and procedure which was concluded in the February issue under the heading Wanted-A Model Probate Code. After pointing out a few of the archaic and inconsistent provisions of the codes of some states, Professor Atkinson called attention to the fact that in recent years several states had enacted new probate codes, all of them undoubted improvements over their previous codes. The drafting was done by committees, councils or commissions and the new acts indicate the borrowing of provisions from other states. However, as pointed out by the author, it is important for such draftsmen to consult and fully consider the statutes of all the other states so as to select the best ideas and the most appropriate phraseology. He raised the question, is the remedy a uniform probate act; and if so, under whose auspices should it be prepared? He concluded that such an act would be an improvement upon the best of existing probate codes and called attention to various organizations which have been interested in the improvement of statutes, The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform Laws, The American Judicature Society, The American Law Institute, The National Conference of Judicial Councils and the Committees on Improvement in Probate Practice and on Uniformity in Probate Codes, of the Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law of the American Bar Association

The analysis and prediction of the quantity and composition of household refuse

This thesis describes the development of a simple and accurate method for estimating the quantity and composition of household waste arisings. The method is based on the fundamental tenet that waste arisings can be predicted from information on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of households, thus reducing the need for the direct measurement of waste arisings to that necessary for the calibration of a prediction model. The aim of the research is twofold: firstly to investigate the generation of waste arisings at the household level, and secondly to devise a method for supplying information on waste arisings to meet the needs of waste collection and disposal authorities, policy makers at both national and European level and the manufacturers of plant and equipment for waste sorting and treatment. The research was carried out in three phases: theoretical, empirical and analytical. In the theoretical phase specific testable hypotheses were formulated concerning the process of waste generation at the household level. The empirical phase of the research involved an initial questionnaire survey of 1277 households to obtain data on their socio-economic characteristics, and the subsequent sorting of waste arisings from each of the households surveyed. The analytical phase was divided between (a) the testing of the research hypotheses by matching each household's waste against its demographic/socioeconomic characteristics (b) the development of statistical models capable of predicting the waste arisings from an individual household and (c) the development of a practical method for obtaining area-based estimates of waste arisings using readily available data from the national census. The latter method was found to represent a substantial improvement over conventional methods of waste estimation in terms of both accuracy and spatial flexibility. The research therefore represents a substantial contribution both to scientific knowledge of the process of household waste generation, and to the practical management of waste arisings

A review of conventional and emerging process technologies for the recovery of helium from natural gas

Helium is a unique gas with a wide range of important medical, scientific and industrial applications based on helium's extremely low boiling temperature, inert and non-flammable nature and small molecular size. The only practical sources of helium are from certain natural gas (NG) fields. As world demand for helium rapidly increases, the value of NG fields that contain it even in very small amounts is likely to rise significantly if the helium can be recovered efficiently. However, recovering the helium from the NG using conventional cryogenic distillation processes is expensive and energy intensive. We review the scope for improving the efficiency of the conventional helium recovery and upgrade processes, and evaluate the potential of emerging technologies based on adsorption or membrane separations for helium upgrade and purification. Helium recovery and purification processes are comparable in many ways with systems designed for hydrogen purification and thus, many of recent technological advances for H-2 separation from CH4, N-2 and CO2 may be applicable to a helium recovery process. Furthermore, some recent patents and pilot plant studies indicate there exist several opportunities for the development of advanced materials, such as helium-selective adsorbents, and optimized process operations for the recovery of helium from NG

Experimental investigation on the impact of coal fines generation and migration on coal permeability

Measurements of the coal fines production and the impact of these fines on the permeability of two coals from the Bowen Basin, Australia, were performed at different flow conditions (single-phase water or gas, two-phase water and gas) and pressure conditions. The fines collected from each coal samples ranged in size from 1 mu m to 14 mu m. For both coal samples, during the first 50 h, the permeability decreases from 0.005 mD and 0.048 mD by 60.9% and 85%, respectively, followed by gradual decline with fluctuations. By the end of water injection, the permeability drops by 88% and 89%, respectively. This phenomenon is attributed to the counteraction between formation damage (cleats plugging and coal fines settlement) and breakthrough of coal fines from the samples (widened cleats). It was found that coal fines volumetric production is proportional to the third power of flow velocity once the flow paths for coal fines are established. The critical flow velocities of coal fines production for both samples were also obtained. For hydrophobic coal, water-drive-gas two-phase flow introduces abrupt permeability loss due to coal fines generation and migration. Furthermore, pauses (well shut-in) in the experiments cause slight permeability drops. A comparison between the two samples indicates that narrower and less connected cleating system results in more frequent coal fines generation and migration, resulting in significant permeability fluctuations with general decreasing trend. Tortuosity of the cleats can enhance the deterioration in permeability by coal fines behaviours. This study delivers fundamental understandings of coal fines generation and migration during the CSG production process, and useful guidelines are suggested to be implemented in the field to minimize production loss induced by coal fines behaviours

Effect of rheological properties of mesophase pitch and coal mixtures on pore development in activated carbon discs with high compressive strength

We measured the rheological properties of mesophase pitch + coal mixtures at temperatures up to 873 K and used quench tests during carbonization to observe the effects of coal particles on foaming and pore development in activated carbon discs (ACD). We observed that high ratios of coal to pitch increased the mixture's viscosity in a low pressure foaming process, which restricted growth of large bubbles during foaming and produced stronger carbon monoliths. The highest strength ACD, with compressive strength of 56 ± 3 MPa, was obtained using a pitch to coal mass ratio of 1:2 (bulk density = 0.91 g·cm and surface area = 579 ± 37 m·g). The adsorption capacities of CO, CH, and N of the ACDs prepared with a mesophase pitch to coal ratio of 1:2, measured on a gravimetric adsorption apparatus, at 298 K and pressures up to 4000 kPa were 3751 mol·m CO, 2107 mol·m CH, and 1691 mol·m N. These adsorption results suggest the activated carbon discs have potential as structured adsorbents for gas separation or storage applications

Estimating the workload associated with symptoms-based ovarian cancer screening in primary care: an audit of electronic medical records

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynaecological malignancy in the United Kingdom (UK). Studies have found that many women with ovarian cancer have symptoms for several months before diagnosis. Using a symptoms-based tool to diagnose ovarian cancer (OC) earlier is appealing, but may increase general practitioner (GP) workload because the symptoms are typically vague and non-specific. This study aimed to provide estimates of the GP workload associated with offering symptoms-based ovarian cancer screening. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis of electronic records from four general practices in England, UK. We downloaded anonymous data on women aged 45–74 who consulted over one week to estimate the proportion who would be offered ‘screening’ according to the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and a symptoms index (Index 2) over one year. We used previous consultations (censoring women with no prior symptom at the date of their last recorded consultation) to estimate the proportion of women presenting with a new (not recorded in previous 12 months) NICE symptom each year. RESULTS: Data were obtained from 19,558 women. The proportion presenting over one week varied between practices (5%-14%), however, the proportion with an OC symptom was similar (17% overall). Over one year, an estimated 51.8% (95% CI 44.0%-59.7%) would present with an OC symptom, 26.6% (95% CI 19.3%-35.1%) with a NICE symptom and 20.3% (95% CI 13.7%-28.5%) with an Index 2 symptom. Each year, an estimated 11.9% (95% CI 5.0%-18.3%) of women would present with a new NICE symptom. CONCLUSION: One in two women aged 45–74 present to primary care at least once a year with an OC symptom, 11.9% with a new NICE symptom. This would be comparable to 2 to 8 yearly screening (depending on what symptoms triggered testing)