Angle detector

An angle detector for determining a transducer's angular disposition to a capacitive pickup element is described. The transducer comprises a pendulum mounted inductive element moving past the capacitive pickup element. The capacitive pickup element divides the inductive element into two parts L sub 1 and L sub 2 which form the arms of one side of an a-c bridge. Two networks R sub 1 and R sub 2 having a plurality of binary weighted resistors and an equal number of digitally controlled switches for removing resistors from the networks form the arms of the other side of the a-c bridge. A binary counter, controlled by a phase detector, balances the bridge by adjusting the resistance of R sub 1 and R sub 2. The binary output of the counter is representative of the angle

Electronic scanning pressure measuring system and transducer package

An electronic scanning pressure system that includes a plurality of pressure transducers is examined. A means obtains an electrical signal indicative of a pressure measurement from each of the plurality of pressure transducers. A multiplexing means is connected for selectivity supplying inputs from the plurality of pressure transducers to the signal obtaining means. A data bus connects the plurality of pressure transducers to the multiplexing means. A latch circuit is connected to supply control inputs to the multiplexing means. An address bus is connected to supply an address signal of a selected one of the plurality of pressure transducers to the latch circuit. In operation, each of the pressure transducers is successively scanned by the multiplexing means in response to address signals supplied on the address bus to the latch circuit

AIROscope stellar acquisition

The acquisition system which operates in conjunction with a balloon-borne TV system, boresighted to a telescope is described. It has two main functions, a star field monitor and an offset star tracker. The design of the system was strongly influenced by the TV camera, which uses the same interlaced scanning system as is employed in commercial television broadcasting. To reduce power and bandwidth requirements, the star field information transmitted in our system consists only of the horizontal and vertical coordinates of each star and its brightness. As a star field monitor the system provides video thresholding, camera blemish suppression, coordinate digitization in 3 axes, circuity to recognize as single star the dispersed video signals resulting from one star overlapping adjacent scanning lines and storage of all signals for readout by the telemetry at appropriate times

Quadratic cavity soliton optical frequency combs

We theoretically investigate the formation of frequency combs in a dispersive second-harmonic generation cavity system, and predict the existence of quadratic cavity solitons in the absence of a temporal walk-off

Repeated batch for dye degradation in an airlift bioreactor by laccase entrapped in copper alginate

A repeated batch of synthetic dye decolorization was efficiently demonstrated in a 5 L airlift bioreactor. A laccase from Ganoderma sp. KU-Alk4, degrading commercial aromatic dyes was selected. The crude enzyme extract expressed laccase activity, and was immobilized under optimal conditions in copper-alginate beads, 3 IU/bead. The immobilized enzyme showed high efficiency in degrading various synthetic dyes under non-buffered conditions, in particular the indigoid dye Indigo Carmine. The immobilized laccase also showed marked increase in stability toward temperature and pH when compared with free enzyme preparation. Immobilization enhanced its temperature stability to maintain initial activity up to 55 °C, ten degrees higher than the free enzyme. The immobilized laccase was stable in the alkaline region up to pH 10.0. The dye decolorization system in 5 L airlift bioreactor was demonstrated with 25 mg/L Indigo Carmine dissolved in tap water and a total immobilized laccase activity of 6 × 104 IU. Airflow rate was the most important factor affecting the number of batch runs and the time for 100% dye degradation. An optimal airflow rate was of 4 L/min. Fourteen batch runs of complete dye degradation were successfully completed with only a single enzyme supplementation, and this could be a feasible system for operation in industry. Total dye degraded by this repeated process at 4 L/min airflow rate was 1.8 g. Isatin sulfonic acid was a metabolic product of Indigo Carmine degradation catalyzed by the immobilized laccase. This development of an effective repeatable bioprocess using enzymes for the treatment of dye-contaminated effluent has potential for implementation on an industrial scale

Use of Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Spanish Adults (SAHLSA-50) to Determine the Health Literacy Rate of the Spanish-speaking Population in an Urban Emergency Department

Background: The Hispanic population presents a great opportunity in terms of potential improvements in clinical outcomes and cost reduction for interventions through assessing and improving health literacy. While there are various tools to assess health literacy, many do not assess comprehensive Spanish health literacy. Objectives: We sought to determine the health literacy rate of our Spanish-speaking population in the ED using the SAHLSA-50 tool. Methods: We surveyed a convenience sample of 300 patients from October to November 2012 that presented to our busy, high volume, urban ED. All subjects completed the SAHLSA-50 tool and demographic form with Spanish-speaking research assistants. Results: 63.3% were women. 8% were age 18-25, 42% were 26-40, 45% were 41-65, and 5% were 65+. 11% had less than 3 years of school, 30% had 4-6 years of school, and 59% had at least 7 years of school. Overall, 83% respondents were health literate. Those with less than 3 years of school were95% in those with 7 or more years of school. The elderly (65+) reported least years of school completed and had the lowest health literacy (56.3%). Conclusions: There was an overall health literacy rate of 83.0%. Importantly, those with lower levels of education and elderly patients were more likely to not be health literate. As a next step, targeting those with less education and the elder within the Hispanic population may yield the most impact for improving health literacy and outcomes

Considering Fluctuation Energy as a Measure of Gyrokinetic Turbulence

In gyrokinetic theory there are two quadratic measures of fluctuation energy, left invariant under nonlinear interactions, that constrain the turbulence. The recent work of Plunk and Tatsuno [Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 165003 (2011)] reported on the novel consequences that this constraint has on the direction and locality of spectral energy transfer. This paper builds on that work. We provide detailed analysis in support of the results of Plunk and Tatsuno but also significantly broaden the scope and use additional methods to address the problem of energy transfer. The perspective taken here is that the fluctuation energies are not merely formal invariants of an idealized model (two-dimensional gyrokinetics) but are general measures of gyrokinetic turbulence, i.e. quantities that can be used to predict the behavior of the turbulence. Though many open questions remain, this paper collects evidence in favor of this perspective by demonstrating in several contexts that constrained spectral energy transfer governs the dynamics.Comment: Final version as published. Some cosmetic changes and update of reference

The speciation of inorganic carbon in estuarine and interstitial waters

A calculation procedure to obtain pH, total alkalinity and concentration of inorganic carbon, based on the application of Gran functions, is described. An iterative program was used to optimise the electrode standard potential (E₀) and inorganic carbon concentration. Alkalinities higher than 15 mM were detected in interstitial waters from sediments collected in Cadiz Bay. A contribution of 20 % was associated with those acid-based species other than inorganic carbon. Speciation of inorganic carbon in estuarine waters was characterised using laboratory simulation techniques. Total carbonate and alkalinity, as well as inorganic carbon concentration, present conservative behaviour in the mixing process of waters having different salinities.En este trabajo se presenta un procedimiento de cálculo para la obtención del pH, alcalinidad total y concentración de carbono inorgánico, basado en la aplicación de funciones de Gran. Para ello, se ha utilizado un programa iterativo que optimiza el potencial estándar del electrodo y la concentración de carbono inorgánico. Mediante la aplicación de este método se muestran algunas características del sistema del carbónico en el agua intersticial y en sistemas estuáricos. En el agua intersticial de los sedimentos de la bahía de Cádiz se han detectado alcalinidades superiores a 15 mM a profundidades mayores de 10 cm, existiendo una contribución de hasta un 20 % de especies con carácter ácido-base diferentes al carbono inorgánico. La especiación del carbono inorgánico en aguas estuáricas se ha caracterizado utilizando técnicas de simulación en el laboratorio. Se ha observado que tanto la alcalinidad total, como la alcalinidad de carbonato y la concentración de carbono inorgánico presentan un comportamiento conservativo en procesos de mezcla de aguas de diferentes salinidades.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Bacterial Cellulose: A sustainable source to develop value-added products - A review

In recent decades, worldwide economic and environmental issues have prompted research scientists to re-direct their interests to bio-based resources, which are sustainable in nature. In this context, microbial polysaccharides, such as bacterial cellulose (BC), also known as microbial cellulose (MC), are some of the upcoming and emergent resources and have potential application in various bio- and non-bio-based sectors of the modern world. Many researchers have already established novel BC/MC production methods, and many new studies have been published on lab-scale and large-scale production aspects of BC/MC to date. To further expand the novel use of this sustainable source, significant progress toward the development of BC/MC has appeared in recent years. Specifically, there have been many publications and/or research reports on the valorization of BC/MC in the food, paper, materials, biomedical, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical industries, among others. This review will address the novel application aspects of BC/MC today, with the aim of demonstrating the importance of this sustainable and novel source in the development of value-added products