15 research outputs found
Response to comment on "solid recovered fuel: Materials flow analysis and fuel property development during the mechanical processing of biodried waste"
Laner and Cencic1 comment on Velis et al. (2013)2 clarifying certain points on the use of the material flow analysis (MFA) software STAN3. We welcome the correspondence and the opportunity this exchange provides to discuss optimal approaches to using STAN. In keeping with Velis et al.2 these physically impossible, and otherwise insignificant, negative flows have enabled improvements to STAN. Here, we elaborate on the practicalities of using STAN in our research and on the correctness and validation of our results, notwithstanding the inclusion of negative flows. We explain the contribution of our approach to solid waste management and resource recovery
Lines of flight: the digital fragmenting of educational networks
With the precipitous changes of the platform formerly known as Twitter, brought on by the change of ownership in late 2022, many networked educators sought, and continue to seek, new digital spaces to continue fostering and developing their digital practice. The authors of this article had all been actively networked on Twitter, and wanted to explore these changes in their professional worlds. As we sought out these spaces we critically began to interrogate our own practices on this platform to gain a deeper understanding of our practice going forward. Weāve approached this exploration through three vectors: an examination of the terms we use to describe movement from platform to platform, digital identity formation and disruption, and building human connection in digital spaces. The findings from our exploration yielded the following conclusions: (1) With regard to metaphors of movement (i.e., āmigrationā) we leave space open as to which metaphor to use as no metaphor is a perfect fit to explain the complexity of this phenomenon. (2) Digital identity/ies are multifaceted and sometimes place-specific, but some networked affordances seemed to encourage an ever-evolving digital identity more than other spaces. (3) Finally, digital spaces afford us the ability to carve out our own communities from the wider academic community, in the process developing a more owned and voiced identity. However as social media platforms are fleeting, those connections ā and identities ā are in danger of getting co-opted or deleted as platforms rise and fall
Developing a measure of patient experience of prostate cancer care
Some of the published articles from Appendix 14 have been removed from the electronic copy of this thesis due to copyright restrictions. The unabridged version can be consulted at the David Wilson Library, University of Leicester.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Theorising Cohortness: (Mis)Fitting into Student Geographies
This paper advances a theory of ācohortnessā for understanding the experience and articulation of identities. Using a case study focusing on higher education students, we argue that thinking in terms of cohorts enables an alternative way to examine how people perform, feel, and express their subjectivities collectively, especially within institutional spaces. Our analysis is based on an ongoing researchāeducation project, which ran over five years and involved over 250 undergraduate students at a postā1992 UK university. The project involved large groups of students engaging in an exercise on āmis/fitting,ā which encouraged them to articulate (as individuals and groups) which identities it was āeasyā to perform/hold/display as students, and which it was not. The project also involved a range of subsequent reflective discussions with each group. Our data provide striking insights into how year groups produce ācohortnessā in different ways and across intersecting scales. In this paper, we focus on three key themes, which are underpinned by an often ambivalent articulation of contemporary neoliberal ideals: mixtures of deliberation and chance in the production of ināclass, microāspatial, intertextual dialogues; the intersection of norms and commonalities in the naming of some identity groups (such as sporting interests) and hiding of others (such as fandom); and the significance of personality, performative, and/or bodily traits compared with other aspects of identity
Solid Recovered Fuel: Influence of Waste Stream Composition and Processing on Chlorine Content and Fuel Quality
Solid recovered fuel (SRF) produced by mechanicalābiological
treatment (MBT) of municipal waste can replace fossil fuels, being
a CO<sub>2</sub>-neutral, affordable, and alternative energy source.
SRF application is limited by low confidence in quality. We present
results for key SRF properties centered on the issue of chlorine content.
A detailed investigation involved sampling, statistical analysis,
reconstruction of composition, and modeling of SRF properties. The
total chlorine median for a typical plant during summer operation
was 0.69% w/w<sub>d</sub>, with lower/upper 95% confidence intervals
of 0.60% w/w<sub>d</sub> and 0.74% w/w<sub>d</sub> (class 3 of CEN
Cl indicator). The average total chlorine can be simulated, using
a reconciled SRF composition before shredding to <40 mm. The relative
plastics vs paper mass ratios in particular result in an SRF with
a 95% upper confidence limit for ash content marginally below the
20% w/w<sub>d</sub> deemed suitable for certain power plants; and
a lower 95% confidence limit of net calorific value (NCV) at 14.5
MJ kg<sub>ar</sub><sup>ā1</sup>. The data provide, for the
first time, a high level of confidence on the effects of SRF composition
on its chlorine content, illustrating interrelationships with other
fuel properties. The findings presented here allow rational debate
on achievable vs desirable MBT-derived SRF quality, informing the
development of realistic SRF quality specifications, through modeling
exercises, needed for effective thermal recovery
Solid Recovered Fuel: Materials Flow Analysis and Fuel Property Development during the Mechanical Processing of Biodried Waste
Material
flows and their contributions to fuel properties are balanced
for the mechanical section of a mechanicalābiological treatment
(MBT) plant producing solid recovered fuel (SRF) for the UK market.
Insights for this and similar plants were secured through a program
of sampling, manual sorting, statistics, analytical property determination,
and material flow analysis (MFA) with error propagation and data reconciliation.
Approximately three-quarters of the net calorific value (Q<sub>net,p,ar</sub>) present in the combustible fraction of the biodried flow is incorporated
into the SRF (73.2 Ā± 8.6%), with the important contributors being
plastic film (30.7 MJ kg<sub>ar</sub><sup>ā1</sup>), other
packaging plastic (26.1 MJ kg<sub>ar</sub><sup>ā1</sup>), and
paper/card (13.0 MJ kg<sub>ar</sub><sup>ā1</sup>). Nearly 80%
w/w of the chlorine load in the biodried flow is incorporated into
SRF (78.9 Ā± 26.2%), determined by the operation of the trommel
and air classifier. Through the use of a novel mass balancing procedure,
SRF quality is understood, thus improving on the understanding of
quality assurance in SRF. Quantification of flows, transfer coefficients,
and fuel properties allows recommendations to be made for process
optimization and the production of a reliable and therefore marketable
SRF product
Electrical coupling synchronises spinal motoneuron activity during swimming in hatchling Xenopus tadpoles
The role of electrical coupling between neurons in the swimming rhythm generator of Xenopus embryos has been studied using pharmacological blockade of gap junctions. A conspicuous effect of 18Ī²-glycyrrhetinic acid (18Ī²-GA) and carbenoxolone, which have been shown to block electrical coupling in this preparation, was to increase the duration of ventral root bursts throughout the spinal cord during swimming. The left-right coordination, the swimming frequency and the duration of swimming episodes were not affected by concentrations of 18Ī²-GA which significantly increased burst durations. However, the longitudinal coupling was affected such that 18Ī²-GA led to a significant correlation between rostrocaudal delays and cycle periods, which is usually only present in older larval animals. Patch clamp recordings from spinal motoneurons tested whether gap junction blockers affect the spike timing and/or firing pattern of motoneurons during fictive swimming. In the presence of 18Ī²-GA motoneurons continued to fire a single, but broader action potential in each cycle of swimming, and the timing of their spikes relative to the ventral root burst became more variable. 18Ī²-GA had no detectable effect on the resting membrane potential of motoneurons, but led to a significant increase in input resistance, consistent with the block of gap junctions. This effect did not result in increased firing during swimming, despite the fact that multiple spikes can occur in response to current injection. Applications of 18Ī²-GA at larval stage 42 had no discernible effect on locomotion. The results, which suggest that electrical coupling primarily functions to synchronize activity in synergistic motoneurons during embryo swimming, are discussed in the context of motor system development