Equipment for Spreading Organic Solid Waste on Forest Land

Forest land utilization is becoming an important disposal alternative for paper mill wastes. Interest in this disposal alternative for other organic solid wastes such as poultry litter and compost is likely to grow as well. Three main types of spreader mechanisms that have been tried for forest waste spreading operations are vertical impeller/blower units, horizontal-axis beater-type spreaders, and horizontal spinner-type spreaders. The main considerations in selecting equipment for forest spreading operations are the carrier, the type of spreading mechanism, hopper configuration, and self-loading capabilities (if the carrier is a forwarder). These considerations are discussed in terms of site/stand conditions as they affect manoeuvrability and access, the materials to be spread, costs, and the scale of the spreading operations

Elliptical Combing Motion for Harvesting Bell Peppers

A new concept for mechanically harvesting bell peppers, intended specifically for multiple-pass harvesting, utilized spaced horizontal fingers combing vertically upward through plant foliage in an elliptical path alternating from both sides of the row. An apparatus based on this concept was designed and built, and harvest tests were conducted to determine the effect of two main machine operating parameters, vertical picking speed and disk angle. Harvesting performance was evaluated in terms of harvest efficiency, fruit damage, and plant damage as it related to multiple-pass harvesting. Fruit removal, both harvestable size and immature, increased significantly as vertical picking speed increased. Branch breakage also tended to increase as vertical picking speed increased, partially accounting for the increased fruit removal. Fruit damage increased significantly as the disk angle increased. Overall, the average harvest efficiency for the tests was 81% and the average fruit damage was 5.9%

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Improvement of Quality in Publication of Experimental Thermophysical Property Data: Challenges, Assessment Tools, Global Implementation, and Online Support

Article on the improvement of quality in the publication of experimental thermophysical property data

Viscosity and Density of Water + Ethyl Acetate + Ethanol Mixtures at 298.15 and 318.15 K and Atmospheric Pressure.

The viscosities and densities of the ternary mixtures water + ethyl acetate + ethanol and their constituent binaries have been measured at 298.15 and 318.15 K and atmospheric pressure. The excess molar volumes, , and viscosity deviations, Δη, were calculated from density and viscosity, respectively. A rational function due to Myers and Scott was used to describe the composition dependence of these properties. To describe the ternary system, binary pair additivity and the Pando et al. rational functions for the ternary contributions (ΔηT and ) were considered