The use of niobia in oxidation catalysis

This paper summarises the background to work carried out at the University of Twente on the use of niobia as a catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane to propylene and discusses the development of promoted niobia catalysts for this reaction. Results are also presented which illustrate the use of niobia in catalysts for other reactions such as the oxidative coupling of methane, the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane and the oxidative dehydrogenation of methanol. It appears that niobia and niobia-modified catalysts, when used in high-temperature oxidation processes, can exhibit relatively high selectivities compared with more conventional catalysts

Impact of Electronic Auctions on Health Care Markets

Electronic auctions can be applied in certain markets, but the effects on market structure, market behaviour and market performance are unclear. We analyzed the effects of a reverse electronic auction initiative, implemented by a new intermediary (CareAuction.nl), on the market for maternity care in the Netherlands in 2005 and 2006. After an unsuccessful start in 2004 as cybermediary in the care market between patients and care providers, CareAuction successfully moved in March 2005 to the care contracting market between insurance companies and care providers. We found small but significant effects on the price of maternity care (minus 2-4%), and significant effects on market structure (more care providers involved in the bidding processes) and market behavior (bidding behaviors and user preferences). We see good opportunities to improve health care market effectiveness for specific care services (non-emergency, elective, standardized care) and to further adapt the auction mechanism

Management of Bedded-Pack Manure From Swine Hoop Structures: 1998 Results

Hoop structures are an increasingly popular alternative to conventional confinement facilities for swine production. Animals bed and dung on a bedded manure pack, which generates heat and contributes to animal comfort during winter months. As it comes directly out of the hoop structure, the high degree of variability in the bedded pack makes it difficult to predict manure nutrient contributions to crop fertilization needs. Although manure from the dunging area has clear fertilizer value, the high-carbon (C) lownitrogen (N) status of the drier bedding may lead to nitrogen immobilization and crop stress if applied during or immediately prior to the growing season. This study examined the distribution of moisture, N, and temperature of the bedded pack inside a hoop, and evaluated the effect of 4 composting strategies on manure nutrient levels and uniformity, mass, volume, and moisture content. A simple loader built pile with no turning appeared to most effectively reduce nitrogen losses, but building piles with a manure spreader or frequent turning provided benefits in volume, mass, and moisture reduction. Composting did not consistently improve the nutrient variability of the manure, and additional studies are planned to address this concern

Using Electronic Auctions to Improve Market Performance in Health Care

Electronic auctions can be applied in certain health care markets, but the effects on market structure, market behavior and market performance are unclear. We analyzed the effects of a reverse electronic auction initiative that was implemented by a new intermediary (CareAuction.nl) in the market for maternity care in the Netherlands in 2005 and 2006. We found small but significant effects on the price of maternity care (minus 2-4%), and significant effects on market structure (more care providers involved in the bidding processes) and market behavior (bidding behaviors and user preferences). We see good opportunities to improve health care market effectiveness for specific care services (non-emergency, elective, standardized care) and to further adapt the auction mechanism

Do complementary agents lower HbA1c when used with standard type 2 diabetes therapy?

Q. Do complementary agents lower HbA1c when used with standard type 2 diabetes therapy? A. No, there is no high-quality evidence that supports using complementary or alternative agents to lower hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in patients with noninsulin dependent type 2 diabetes. Oral chromium in widely varying doses reduces HbA1c a small amount (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C, meta-analysis of low-quality randomized, controlled trials [RCTs] of disease-oriented outcomes, with inconsistent results). Oral cinnamon 1 to 3 g/d causes a small (<0.1%) drop in HbA1c (SOR: C, meta-analysis of low-quality RCTs of disease-oriented outcomes). Fenugreek, milk thistle, safflower oil, and sweet potato extract may also reduce HbA1c (SOR: C, small, low-quality RCTs of disease-oriented outcomes)

Revisiting the history, concepts and typologies of community management for rural drinking water supply in India

Community management has been widely criticized, yet it continues to play a significant role in rural drinking water supply. In India, as with other ‘emerging’ economies, the management model must now adapt to meet the policy demand for ever-increasing technical sophistication. Given this context, the paper reviews the history and concepts of community management to propose three typologies that better account for the changing role of the community and external support entities found in successful cases. It argues that external support entities must be prepared to take greater responsibility for providing ongoing support to communities for ensuring continuous service delivery

The He abundance in the metal-deficient blue compact dwarf galaxies Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65

We present high-quality Keck telescope spectroscopic observations of the two metal-deficient blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65. These data are used to derive the heavy-element and helium abundances. We find that the oxygen abundances in Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65 are the same, 12+logO/H=7.54+/-0.01, or Zsun/24, despite the different ionization conditions in these galaxies. The nitrogen-to-oxygen abundance ratio in both galaxies is logN/O=-1.64+/-0.02 and lies in the narrow range found for the other most metal-deficient BCDs. We use the five strongest HeI emission lines 3889, 4471, 5876, 6678 and 7065, to correct self-consistently their intensities for collisional and fluorescent enhancement mechanisms and to derive the He abundance. Underlying stellar absorption is found to be important for the HeI 4471 emission line in both galaxies, being larger in Tol 65. The weighted He mass fractions in Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65 are respectively Y=0.2458+/-0.0039 and 0.2410+/-0.0050 when the three HeI emission lines, 4471, 5876 and 6678, are used, and are, respectively, 0.2466+/-0.0043 and 0.2463+/-0.0057 when the HeI 4471 emission line is excluded. These values are in very good agreement with recent measurements of the He mass fraction in others of the most metal-deficient BCDs by Izotov and coworkers. We find that the combined effect of the systematic uncertainties due to the underlying HeI stellar absorption lines, ionization and temperature structure of the HII region and collisional excitation of the hydrogen emission lines is likely small, not exceeding ~2% (the error is 2sigma). Our results support the validity of the standard big bang model of nucleosynthesis.Comment: 22 pages, 3 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Ovarian teratoma in the mare: a review and two cases

A 4-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare suffering from pelvic flexure impaction was diagnosed with a teratoma of the left ovary. The enlarged ovary was identified several days after treatment of the impaction. Surgical removal of the affected ovary was performed and histo pathological examination confirmed the presence of a teratoma. The features of another ovarian teratoma, which was an accidental finding at slaughter, are also described

Community water plus: assessing the plus of successful community-managed rural water supply in India

In the community management model significant support from government and other entities is needed to ensure sustainable rural water services. The Community Water plus project investigates the nature and resource implications of such support in twenty community-managed rural water programmes that have been deemed to be successful in India. This paper presents the research framework and discusses the emerging findings from the first nine case studies. Contrary to the research hypothesis, which is that in these successful cases a significant amount of on-going specialist support will be found, the findings to date are showing a considerable level of support in the project implementation stage but a limited amount of specialist support in the service delivery and capital maintenance phases. However, in many of the cases, the close integration of community management in the prevailing system of local government, particularly the Gram Panchayats, creates an underlying mechanism for support during the service delivery phase. Whilst this arrangement has pragmatic benefits, it also raises questions about the boundaries between what constitutes community management and public service provision, as well as about the lines of accountability between communities, service providers and local governments