Pilot Injection of Microscale Zerovalent Iron for Aquifer Remediation

Background/Objectives. Concentrated suspensions of microscale and nanoscale zerovalent iron particles (MZVI and NZVI) have been studied in recent years for the remediation of contaminated aquifers. In the framework of the research project AQUAREHAB (FP7 - G. A. Nr. 226565), a pilot injection test of guar gum stabilized microsized zerovalent iron has been designed and performed under low pressure in a CAHs contaminated site in Belgium and the resulting radius of influence was determined. Approach/Activities. A shear thinning guar gum solution (2 g/l) was selected as an environmentally friendly stabilizer of the iron particles. The relevant properties of the iron slurry (iron particles size and concentration, polymeric stabilizer type and concentration, slurry viscosity) were designed in the laboratory based on several tests (namely iron reactivity tests towards contaminants, sedimentation tests and rheological measurements). Since the injection regime of iron slurries depends on subsurface geotechnical parameters, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, and fluid properties, a specific injection well and monitoring strategy have been developed in order to achieve high discharge rates and radii of influence, and a more homogeneous distribution of the iron particles through low pressure injection. The injection well has been designed and sealed in order to sustain average to high discharge rates, preventing the daylighting of the product. Moreover the well has been hydraulically tested by means of innovative water and guar gum step rate tests in order to determine the most suitable injection rate for the iron slurry. The injection of 50 kg of microsized iron particles (BASF, Germany), dispersed in 5 m3 of a 2 g/l guar gum suspension, was performed at a discharge rate of 1.5 m3/h. The monitoring of the process has been conducted measuring injection rate and pressure as well as iron concentration by means of a magnetic susceptometer. After the injection, the iron distribution in the subsurface was determined through liners extraction and the iron concentration measured both via non-invasive magnetic susceptibility measurements and chemical analysis. Results/Lessons Learned. Even if the field test was specifically designed to inject in a permeation regime, or on the threshold between permeation and fracturing, the results of monitoring injection pressure and iron distribution proved that particles migration in the porous medium occurred via preferential flow. Nevertheless significant radius of influence was achieved during the pilot test

Assessment of socio-clinical profile of neonates admitted in sick neonatal care unit of tertiary care hospital: Odisha

Background: Neonatal mortality rate of 29 and early neonatal mortality rate is 20 which contributes 53% of IMR. India targets to achieve single digit under 5 and neonatal death by 2030. Early identification and management of common morbidities among neonates is desirable for improving the survival. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of assessing socio-clinical profile of neonates admitted to SNCU and its impact on morbidities of newborn from different strata.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in SNCU of MKCG medical college from January 2016 to December 2016. Convenient sampling was done. Data was collected using pre-designed semi structured questionnaire.Results: Total 752 study subjects were taken. Most common cause of admission was sepsis (47.4%) followed by prematurity (27.8%), birth asphyxia (13.9%) and IUGR (7.5%). Majority of out born neonates were admitted for sepsis (87.9%) while in born neonates for birth asphyxia (81.9%). All the morbidities were significantly higher among early neonates, babies born to illiterate mother and those with inadequate antenatal check-up.Conclusions: Majority of babies were out born, may be due to delay and lack of quality new born care in the referring facilities. Sepsis was most common preventable morbidity by simple intervention of clean delivery practices which should be promoted. Birth asphyxia can be reduced by adequate skill development training of the staffs and minimising the 3 delays maternal care

SIMULATION OF FLOW AND PARTICLE TRANSPORT AND DEPOSITION IN POROUS MEDIA WITH COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

The simulation of transport and deposition of colloidal particles in porous media finds important applications in many engineering and environmental problems, such as particle filtration, catalytic processes carried out in filter beds, chromatographic separation and aquifer remediation. This study focuses in particular on remediation of contaminated groundwater via direct injection of nano-sized zerovalent iron particles, which have been shown to be able to efficiently degrade a large variety of contaminants. Application of this technology on full scale applications poses a number of challenges, the most important of which regards the mobility of the particles and their delivery to the contaminated site in the soil. Particles migration is usually quantitatively expressed by a single parameter: the deposition efficiency in the porous bed, whose theoretical reference lies in the classical colloid filtration theory, which moreover further subdivides the process of deposition in the three mechanisms by which particles can reach the solid grain: Brownian diffusion, steric interception, and gravitational sedimentation. This theory, however, has been developed only for very simple geometrical representations of the porous media and a narrow range of fluid conditions. The difficulties in investigating this kind of systems from the experimental point of view have prevented the development of accurate models able to account for the high degree of complexity which characterizes a porous medium, both in the grain arrangement and in their shape. The aim of this study is therefore to simulate the transport of the nanoparticles and their interaction with the porous media (at the microscopic scale), in order to improve the current understanding of these phenomena and obtain predictive models for the deposition efficiency of the colloids on the surface of the grains constituting the porous medium; moreover, eventually, to evaluate the effectiveness of the zerovalent iron technology. Several two and three dimensional microscale (the order of millimiters) representations of grain packings with different degrees of complexity were analyzed. First, two dimensional random arrangements of spheres were considered. Then, the analysis was extended to domains reconstructed from SEM images of a real porous medium. The work was then expanded in three dimensions, first considering simplified domains constituted by irregular packings of spheres, and finally geometries constituted by grains of realistic shapes. These last geometries were created using an algorithm simulating the grain sedimentation process in porous media (Settledyn). Flow field and particle transport was then investigated using finite volume CFD codes (Fluent and OpenFoam), solving the Navier-Stokes equations for the flow and using an Eulerian approach for the colloid transport, eventually obtaining, for each case, an estimate of the colloidal transport efficiency. After having validated the methodology used in this work by comparing our results with proved analytical results available for simplified cases, new predictive equations for each of the individual contributions of the three deposition mechanisms were derived, highlighting the differences from the theoretical model due to the wider range of operating conditions investigated and/or the different geometrical characteristics of the porous media

Prosthetic Rehabilitation of a patient with partially amputated index finger

Hands are capable of a wide variety of functions like touching, grasping, feeling, holding, manipulating, caressing, and more. It is a vital and important part of a person\u27s identity and well being. Loss of part of the hands can affect esthetics; functions are undermined depending upon the severity of loss and it causes a great psychological disturbance. The prosthetic rehabilitation of a partially amputated finger presents a challenge to the Prosthodontist. This case report illustrates the procedure of fabrication of finger prosthesis using room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone and intrinsic staining with modern prosthetic design to improve the esthetics of a patient with partially amputated left index finger. &nbsp

Primordial magnetic fields and the HI signal from the epoch of reionization

The implication of primordial magnetic-field-induced structure formation for the HI signal from the epoch of reionization is studied. Using semi-analytic models, we compute both the density and ionization inhomogeneities in this scenario. We show that: (a) The global HI signal can only be seen in emission, unlike in the standard $\Lambda$CDM models, (b) the density perturbations induced by primordial fields, leave distinctive signatures of the magnetic field Jeans' length on the HI two-point correlation function, (c) the length scale of ionization inhomogeneities is \la 1 \rm Mpc. We find that the peak expected signal (two-point correlation function) is $\simeq 10^{-4} \rm K^2$ in the range of scales $0.5\hbox{-}3 \rm Mpc$ for magnetic field strength in the range $5 \times 10^{-10} \hbox{-}3 \times 10^{-9} \rm G$. We also discuss the detectability of the HI signal. The angular resolution of the on-going and planned radio interferometers allows one to probe only the largest magnetic field strengths that we consider. They have the sensitivity to detect the magnetic field-induced features. We show that thefuture SKA has both the angular resolution and the sensitivity to detect the magnetic field-induced signal in the entire range of magnetic field values we consider, in an integration time of one week.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, to appear in JCA

CMB Polarization Data and Galactic Foregrounds: Estimation of Cosmological Parameters

We estimate the accuracy with which various cosmological parameters can be determined from the CMB temperature and polarization data when various galactic unpolarized and polarized foregrounds are included and marginalized using the multi-frequency Wiener filtering technique. We use the specifications of the future CMB missions MAP and PLANCK for our study. Our results are in qualitative agreement with earlier results obtained without foregrounds, though the errors in most parameters are higher because of degradation of the extraction of polarization signal in the presence of foregrounds.Comment: 6 pages, submitted to MNRA

A Chiral N=1 Type I Vacuum in Four Dimensions and Its Heterotic Dual

In this paper we consider Type I string theory compactified on a Z_7 orbifold. The model has N=1 supersymmetry, a U(4) \otimes U(4) \otimes U(4) \otimes SO(8) gauge group, and chiral matter. There are only D9-branes (for which we discuss tadpole cancellation conditions) in this model corresponding to a perturbative heterotic description in a certain region of the moduli space. We construct the heterotic dual, match the perturbative type I and heterotic tree-level massless spectra via giving certain scalars appropriate vevs, and point out the crucial role of the perturbative superpotential (on the heterotic side) for this matching. The relevant couplings in this superpotential turn out to be non-renormalizable (unlike the Z-orbifold case discussed in Ref [1], where Yukawa couplings sufficed for duality matching). We also discuss the role of the anomalous U(1) gauge symmetry present in both type I and heterotic models. In the perturbative regime we match the (tree-level) moduli spaces of these models. We point out possible generalizations of the Z_3 and Z_7 cases to include D5-branes which would help in understanding non-perturbative five-brane dynamics on the heterotic side.Comment: Revtex 3.0, 23 pages, 1 eps figure (to appear in Phys. Rev. D

Vive la difference! the effects of natural and conventional wines on blood alcohol concentrations: A randomized, triple-blind, controlled study

Different alcoholic beverages can have different effects on blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and neurotoxicity, even when equalized for alcohol content by volume. Anecdotal evidence suggested that natural wine is metabolized differently from conventional wines. This triple-blind study compared the BAC of 55 healthy male subjects after consuming the equivalent of 2 units of alcohol of a natural or conventional wine over 3 min in two separate sessions, one week apart. BAC was measured using a professional breathalyzer every 20 min after consumption for 2 h. The BAC curves in response to the two wines diverged significantly at twenty minutes (interval T20) and forty minutes (interval T40), and also at their maximum concentrations (peaks), with the natural wine inducing a lower BAC than the conventional wine [T20 = 0.40 versus 0.46 (p < 0.0002); T40 = 0.49 versus 0.53 (p < 0.0015); peak = 0.52 versus 0.56 (p < 0.0002)]. These differences are likely related to the development of different amino acids and antioxidants in the two wines during their production. This may in turn affect the kinetics of alcohol absorption and metabolism. Other contributing factors could include pesticide residues, differences in dry extract content, and the use of indigenous or selected yeasts. The study shows that with the same quantity and conditions of intake, natural wine has lower pharmacokinetic and metabolic effects than conventional wine, which can be assumed due to the different agronomic and oenological practices with which they are produced. It can therefore be hypothesized that the consumption of natural wine may have a different impact on human health from that of conventional wine