East of sunrise

An anthology of short fiction by Curtis Scott Shumaker

The Economic Feasibility of Using Georgia Biomass for Electrical Energy Production

This study investigates the potential for using biomass for the production of electricity in Georgia. The volume, important characteristics, and delivered costs per unit of energy are estimated for various locally produced biomass. Production of synthetic fuels using both pyrolysis and gasification technologies is investigated as potential means for converting biomass into electricity. Capital and operating costs for each of these two technologies are projected across three different scales of production. Estimated costs per unit of electricity generated are determined. It appears, under the conditions modeled, these technologies are not cost competitive with currently used technologies. Significant subsidies would be needed to induce the adoption of these technologies under current economic conditions.bio-electricity, bio-feedstocks, biomass, cost, electricity, Agribusiness, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Economic Impacts of Ethanol Production in Georgia

Capital costs to construct a conventional ethanol plant producing 100 million gallons per year are $170.593 million. Average annual net returns average$59.216 million with a 1% chance of annual net returns less than $0. Ethanol production stimulates total economic output of$314.221 million in the Georgia economy. Wages and benefits total $20.181 million for 408 jobs in Georgia. State and local governments derive a total of$4.572 million in tax revenues from ethanol production.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Characterization of the chemical signatures of air masses observed during the PEM experiments over the western Pacific

Extensive observations of tropospheric trace species during the second NASA Global Tropospheric Experiment Western Pacific Exploratory Mission (PEM-West B) in February-March 1994 showed significant seasonal variability in comparison with the first mission (PEM-West A), conducted in September-October 1991. In this study we adopt a previously established analytical method, i.e., the ratio C2H2/CO as a measure of the relative degree of atmospheric processing, to elucidate the key similarities and variations between the two missions. In addition, the C2H2/CO ratio scheme is combined with the back-trajectory-based and the LIDAR-based air mass classification schemes, respectively, to make in-depth analysis of the seasonal variation between PEM-West A and PEM-West B (hereinafter referred to as PEM-WA and PEM-WB). A large number of compounds, including long-lived NMHCs, CH4, and CO2, are, as expected, well correlated with the ratio C2H2/CO. In comparison with PEM-WA, a significantly larger range of observed C2H2/CO values at the high end for the PEM-WB period indicates that the western Pacific was more impacted by "fresher" source emissions, i.e., faster or more efficient continental outflow. As in the case of PEM-WA, the C2H2/CO scheme complements the back-trajectory air mass classification scheme very well. By combining the two schemes, we found that the atmospheric processing in the region is dominated by atmospheric mixing for the trace species analyzed. This PEM-WB wintertime result is similar to that found in PEM-WA for the autumn. In both cases, photochemical reactions are found to play a significant role in determining the background mixing ratios of trace gases, and in this way the two processes are directly related and dependent upon each other. This analysis also indicates that many of the upper tropospheric air masses encountered over the western Pacific during PEM-WB may have had little impact from eastern Asia's continental surface sources. NOx mixing ratios were significantly enhanced during PEM-WB when compared with PEM-WA, in the upper troposphere's more atmospherically processed air masses. These high levels of NOx resulted in a substantial amount of photochemical production of O3. A lack of corresponding enhancements in surface emission tracers strongly implies that in situ atmospheric sources such as lightning are responsible for the enhanced upper tropospheric NOx. The similarity in NOx values between the northern (higher air traffic) and southern continental air masses together with the indications of a large seasonal shift suggests that aircraft emissions are not the dominant source. However, photochemical recycling cannot be ruled out as this in situ source of NOx. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union

Interfacial Effect-Based Quantification of Droplet Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification for Bacterial Infection

Bacterial infection is a widespread problem in humans that can potentially lead to hospitalization and morbidity. The largest obstacle for physicians/clinicians is the time delay in accurately identifying infectious bacteria, especially their sub-species, in order to adequately treat and diagnose such infected patients. Loop-mediated amplification (LAMP) is a nucleic acid amplification method that has been widely used in diagnostic applications due to its simplicity of constant temperature, use of up to 4 to 6 primers (rendering it highly specific), and capability of amplifying low copies of target sequences. Use of interfacial effect-based monitoring is expected to dramatically shorten the time-to-results of nucleic acid amplification techniques. In this work, we developed a LAMP-based point-of-care platform for detection of bacterial infection, utilizing smartphone measurement of contact angle from oil-immersed droplet LAMP reactions. Whole bacteria (Escherichia coli O157:H7) were assayed in buffer as well as 5% diluted human whole blood. Monitoring of droplet LAMP reactions was demonstrated in a three-compartment, isothermal proportional-integrated-derived (PID)-controlled chip. Smartphone-captured images of droplet LAMP reactions, and their contact angles, were evaluated. Contact angle decreased substantially upon target amplification in both buffer and whole blood samples. In comparison, notarget control (NTC) droplets remained stable throughout the 30 min isothermal reactions. These results were explained by the pre-adsorption of plasma proteins to an oil-water interface (lowering contact angle), followed by time-dependent amplicon formation and their preferential adsorption to the plasma protein-occupied oil-water interface. Time-to-results was as fast as 5 min, allowing physicians to quickly make their decision for infected patients. The developed assay demonstrated quantification of bacteria concentration, with a limit-of-detection at 10(2) CFU/mu L for buffer samples, and binary target or no-target identification with a limit-of-detection at 10 CFU/mu L for 5% diluted whole blood samples.Cardiovascular Biomedical Engineering Training Grant from U.S. National Institutes of Health [T32HL007955]; W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Quantum Mechanics and Linearized Gravitational Waves

The interaction of classical gravitational waves (GW) with matter is studied within a quantum mechanical framework. The classical equations of motion in the long wave-length limit is quantized and a Schroedinger equation for the interaction of GW with matter is proposed. Due to its quadrapole nature, the GW interacts with matter by producing squeezed quantum states. The resultant hamiltonian is quite different from one would expect from general principles, however. The interaction of GW with the free particle, the harmonic oscillator and the hydrogen atom is then studied using this hamiltonian.Comment: 24 pages, written in REVTE

Place attachment in deprived neighbourhoods: The impacts of population turnover and social mix

This paper examines the determinants of individual place attachment, focussing in particular on differences between deprived and others neighbourhoods, and on the impacts of population turnover and social mix. It uses a multi-level modelling approach to take account of both individual- and neighbourhood-level determinants. Data are drawn from a large sample government survey, the Citizenship Survey 2005, to which a variety of neighbourhood-level data have been attached. The paper argues that attachment is significantly lower in more deprived neighbourhoods primarily because these areas have weaker social cohesion but that, in other respects, the drivers of attachment are the same. Turnover has modest direct impacts on attachment through its effect on social cohesion. Social mix has very limited impacts on attachment and the effects vary between social groups. In general, higher status or more dominant groups appear less tolerant of social mix

The consequences of perceived age discrimination amongst older police officers : is social support a buffer ?

This paper considers the possible psychological consequences of perceived agediscrimination, and the possible buffering effect of social support. Findings, based on a studyof perceived age discrimination amongst police officers in the North of England, suggest thatage discrimination acts as a stressor, with officers experiencing negative effects of perceivedage discrimination on job and life satisfaction, perceived power and prestige of the job, andaffective and normative commitment, along with positive effects on withdrawal cognitionsand continuance commitment. For work-based social support, there were positive maineffects on job and satisfaction, power and prestige of the job, and affective and normativecommitment, and a negative main effect on withdrawal cognitions. However, there were nosignificant moderating effects for work-based social support, and we found the anticipatedbuffering effect for non-work-based social support only for life satisfaction, with reversebuffering for job satisfaction and normative commitment. The limitations and implications ofthe study are discussed

Factors associated with compliance and non-compliance by physicians in a large-scale randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND: In order to minimize the amount of incomplete follow-up data, reducing the non-compliance of participating physicians is one of the key issues for the data coordinating center in a multi-center trial. Identifying the physicians' non-compliance in advance is considered to be an important strategy for more efficient conduct of trials. In this study, we identified physicians' characteristics and factors associated with the need for individual visits to institutions to collect data or to complete information during two years of follow-up in a large Japanese investigator-initiated trial related to cardiovascular disease. METHODS: We categorized the physicians into two groups, "complier" and "non-complier". Odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated for 11 factors related to the characteristics of and compliance by physicians. Multiple logistic regression analysis was also performed. In addition, we evaluated the incremental cost for obtaining additional information of the non-compliant physicians. RESULTS: Three factors were identified in multiple logistic regression analysis as being significantly associated with compliance status: 1) prior participation in clinical trials (OR = 0.40 95%CI = 0.21–0.74); 2) physician opinion that the support system for case registration and follow-up was well organized (OR = 0.41 95%CI = 0.22–0.75); and 3) number of patients recruited (OR = 2.25 95%CI = 1.01–5.02). The actual incremental cost was about US $112,000 (14.4$570 per patient. CONCLUSION: Investigator-initiated clinical trials have recently attracted great interest, but they often suffer from insufficient funding. If trial networks are to be well organized, it is important that trials are conducted more efficiently. We believe that our findings will be useful for reducing the additional burden associated with incomplete follow-up data and data lost to follow-up when planning future trials