31,068 research outputs found
Vapor condensation process produces slurry of magnesium particles in liquid hydrocarbons
Vapor condensation apparatus produces a physically stable, homogeneous slurry of finely divided magnesium and liquid hydrocarbons. The magnesium is vaporized and the resultant vapor is cooled rapidly with a liquid hydrocarbon spray, which also serves as the dispersing medium for the condensed magnesium particles
Apparatus for making a metal slurry product Patent
Apparatus for producing hydrocarbon slurry containing small particles of magnesium for use as jet aircraft fue
Using HINODE/Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer to confirm a seismologically inferred coronal temperature
The Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer on board the HINODE satellite is used to examine the loop system described in Marsh et al. (2009) by applying spectroscopic diagnostic methods. A simple isothermal mapping algorithm is applied to determine where the assumption of isothermal plasma may be valid, and the emission measure locii technique is used to determine the temperature profile along the base of the loop system. It is found that, along the base, the loop has a uniform temperature profile with a mean temperature of 0.89 +- 0.09 MK which is in agreement with the temperature determined seismologically in Marsh et al. (2009), using observations interpreted as the slow magnetoacoustic mode. The results further strengthen the slow mode interpretation, propagation at a uniform sound speed, and the analysis method applied in Marsh et al. (2009). It is found that it is not possible to discriminate between the slow mode phase speed and the sound speed within the precision of the present observations
Teaching Casual Random Blood Glucose Screening to Second-Year Dental Students
In our project, archived casual random blood glucose levels of second-year dental students who were taught the mechanics of self-testing were retrieved. Material data were analyzed by calculating means, medians, standard deviations, and ranges for 161 dental students screened by this casual and random self-monitoring of blood glucose levels as described by the American Diabetes Association’s 2008 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes. Three types of data were assessed in this study. The first was the casual blood glucose levels of second-year dental students. The second was the data retrieved from student questionnaires regarding the value of teaching casual random blood glucose screening. The third was the U.S. dental schools’ responses regarding inclusion of casual blood glucose screening in their current curricula. Second-year dental students self-reported hypoglycemia in three instances and hyperglycemia in eight, based on current American Diabetes Association standards. Students agreed or strongly agreed that the value of teaching was informative (92.3 percent), beneficial (95 percent), and something that might be included in their practices (78.2 percent), with 19.2 percent being neutral on the inclusion. Only six U.S. dental schools reported teaching casual random glucose screening
Beneficial modulation of the gut microbiota
peer-reviewedThe human gut microbiota comprises approximately 100 trillion microbial cells and has a significant effect on many aspects of human physiology including metabolism, nutrient absorption and immune function. Disruption of this population has been implicated in many conditions and diseases, including examples such as obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer that are highlighted in this review. A logical extension of these observations suggests that the manipulation of the gut microbiota can be employed to prevent or treat these conditions. Thus, here we highlight a variety of options, including the use of changes in diet (including the use of prebiotics), antimicrobial-based intervention, probiotics and faecal microbiota transplantation, and discuss their relative merits with respect to modulating the intestinal community in a beneficial way.C.J.W, C.M.G. and P.D.C are supported by a SFI PI award “Obesibiotics” (11/PI/1137
Evaluation of Stress Corrosion Cracking Susceptibility Using Fracture Mechanics Techniques, Part 1
Stress corrosion cracking (SSC) tests were performed on 13 aluminum alloys, 13 precipitation hardening stainless steels, and two titanium 6Al-4V alloy forgings to compare fracture mechanics techniques with the conventional smooth specimen procedures. Commercially fabricated plate and rolled or forged bars 2 to 2.5-in. thick were tested. Exposures were conducted outdoors in a seacoast atmosphere and in an inland industrial atmosphere to relate the accelerated tests with service type environments. With the fracture mechanics technique tests were made chiefly on bolt loaded fatigue precracked compact tension specimens of the type used for plane-strain fracture toughness tests. Additional tests of the aluminum alloy were performed on ring loaded compact tension specimens and on bolt loaded double cantilever beams. For the smooth specimen procedure 0.125-in. dia. tensile specimens were loaded axially in constant deformation type frames. For both aluminum and steel alloys comparative SCC growth rates obtained from tests of precracked specimens provide an additional useful characterization of the SCC behavior of an alloy
Relationship of phenotypic variation and genetic admixture in the Saltmarsh–Nelson\u27s sparrow hybrid zone
Hybridization is influential in shaping species\u27 dynamics and has many evolutionary and conservation implications. Identification of hybrid individuals typically relies on morphological data, but the assumption that hybrids express intermediate traits is not always valid, because of complex patterns of introgression and selection. We characterized phenotypic and genotypic variation across a hybrid zone between 2 tidal-marsh birds, the Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Nelson\u27s Sparrow (A. nelsoni) (n = 290), and we sought to identify morphological traits that could be used to classify admixed individuals. Sparrows were sampled from a total of 34 marshes, including 23 sympatric and 11 putatively allopatric marshes. Each individual was scored at 13 plumage traits, and standard morphometric data were collected. We used genotyping analysis at 24 microsatellite loci to categorize individuals into genotypic classes of pure, F1–F2, or backcrossed. Genetic data revealed that 52% of individuals sampled along the geographic transect were of mixed ancestry, and the majority of these were backcrossed. Traits related to the definition of plumage features (streaking, crown, and face) showed less overlap between genotypic classes than traits related to the amount or color of plumage features. Although morphological data performed well in distinguishing between the 2 taxa, pure and backcrossed individuals of each parental type could not be distinguished because of substantial overlap in plumage and morphology. We conclude that the discrimination of pure and hybrid individuals is not possible in the absence of genetic data. Our results have implications for conservation of pure populations, as extensive backcrossing throughout the hybrid zone may present challenges for monitoring pure species identified by morphology alone
Biennial report of the superintendent and board of managers of the Texas Confederate home for the two years ending August 31, 1910
Account of military actions during the American Civil War
Decentralized Supply Chain Formation: A Market Protocol and Competitive Equilibrium Analysis
Supply chain formation is the process of determining the structure and terms
of exchange relationships to enable a multilevel, multiagent production
activity. We present a simple model of supply chains, highlighting two
characteristic features: hierarchical subtask decomposition, and resource
contention. To decentralize the formation process, we introduce a market price
system over the resources produced along the chain. In a competitive
equilibrium for this system, agents choose locally optimal allocations with
respect to prices, and outcomes are optimal overall. To determine prices, we
define a market protocol based on distributed, progressive auctions, and
myopic, non-strategic agent bidding policies. In the presence of resource
contention, this protocol produces better solutions than the greedy protocols
common in the artificial intelligence and multiagent systems literature. The
protocol often converges to high-value supply chains, and when competitive
equilibria exist, typically to approximate competitive equilibria. However,
complementarities in agent production technologies can cause the protocol to
wastefully allocate inputs to agents that do not produce their outputs. A
subsequent decommitment phase recovers a significant fraction of the lost
surplus
No stratification without representation
Sortition is an alternative approach to democracy, in which representatives are not elected but randomly selected from the population. Most electoral democracies fail to accurately represent even a handful of protected groups. By contrast, sortition guarantees that every subset of the population will in expectation fill their fair share of the available positions. This fairness property remains satisfied when the sample is stratified based on known features. Moreover, stratification can greatly reduce the variance in the number of positions filled by any unknown group, as long as this group correlates with the strata. Our main result is that stratification cannot increase this variance by more than a negligible factor, even in the presence of indivisibilities and rounding. When the unknown group is unevenly spread across strata, we give a guarantee on the reduction in variance with respect to uniform sampling. We also contextualize stratification and uniform sampling in the space of fair sampling algorithms. Finally, we apply our insights to an empirical case study.Accepted manuscrip
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