Improving Steam System Operation and Management

This paper documents the design and construction of a world-class steam system institute. Steam systems provide heat and energy for high performance buildings. However, incoming technicians have little to no technical education for steam systems and no steam institutes exist today. While new technicians are introduced to steam systems for 20 hours of in class sessions, there are little opportunities for hands on experience. Furthermore, steam systems, if not maintained properly, are dangerous and new personnel need hands on experience to ensure safety and adherence to standard protocol. A new world-class steam system institute will provide incoming technicians with knowledge of proper steam distribution, condensation, and return. The system will contain a smaller scale of all necessary components seen in the field. Not only examples of equipment, but also common mistakes made in typical steam systems, such as poorly pitched pipe, will be demonstrated. The design of the steam system includes common valves, heat exchangers, steam traps, flash tanks, regulators, automation, and more. With the knowledge of steam system components and common mistakes, new technicians will be able to provide more satisfactory operations and management reducing maintenance costs. Understanding processes, and incorrect practices, before entering the field, will improve the safety and smoothness of steam system operations in facilities. The state-of-the-art steam system institute will prepare students with a comprehensive understanding of a scaled-down steam system and confidence in the field

Transesophageal echocardiographic evaluation of an intraoperative retrograde acute aortic dissection: case report

BACKGROUND: We report an intraoperative retrograde dissection of the aorta and its subsequent evaluation by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). CASE PRESENTATION: A 78 year old woman with an ascending aortic aneurysm without dissection and coronary artery disease was brought to the operating room for aneurysm repair and coronary artery bypass grafting. After initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass through a femoral artery cannula, aortic dissection was noted and subsequently imaged by TEE. CONCLUSION: Retrograde aortic dissection through the femoral artery is life-threatening. Intraoperative TEE can be used to diagnose this uncommon event, and should be considered after initiation of bypass

Environmental contaminants in excrement of Iowa\u27s nesting and wintering Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) were rare only a few decades ago but have undergone a spectacular recovery range-wide. While their numbers have increased, there is concern about exposure of Bald Eagles to environmental contaminants. We collected excrement from nesting and wintering Bald Eagles in Iowa to examine their exposure to several contaminants and tested for differences as a function of space, time, and breeding status. We detected aluminum, copper, manganese, and zinc at levels above the quantitation limit (QL) in most excrement samples. These elements are all essential micronutrients normally found in living organisms. Arsenic and selenium are essential micronutrients for which fewer samples had levels above the QL. We also detected non-essential elements barium, cadmium, lead, and mercury in excrement samples, although only one sample had a cadmium level above the QL and only 26% of samples had lead levels above the QL. Geometric mean contaminant levels in excrement samples collected from nesting eagles during the spring were higher than for samples collected in the winter for aluminum, barium, copper, manganese, and zinc. The only difference we detected in contaminant levels in excrement samples was in manganese (higher for nest sites along the Mississippi River) and selenium (lower for nest sites along the Mississippi River) versus nest sites not associated with the Mississippi River. We also found that non-breeding eagles had higher levels of barium and manganese than nesting eagles. Our results can serve as a baseline for comparison with future studies investigating exposure of Bald Eagles to environmental contaminants

Creativity in Virtual Teams: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

As communication technology capabilities have improved and the globalization of the workforce has resulted in distributed teams, organizations have been shifting towards virtual teams and virtual meetings over the last decade. This trend has been accelerated with current work-from-home orders due to COVID-19. Even though virtual collaboration has, in the past, been the focus of multiple studies, there are some surprising gaps in our knowledge. For instance, there are few empirical studies examining the impact of virtual devices and tools on creative problem-solving. While there is a substantial body of research on electronic brainstorming and the use of virtual tools for idea generation, less is known about earlier processes such as problem construction or later processes such as idea evaluation and idea selection. Furthermore, as a dynamic process, creativity and innovation is heavily influenced by the people engaged in the process and their collaborative environment, yet there is a gap in the literature regarding the type of virtual tools used in the process (i.e., audio + video vs. audio alone, or the use of file-sharing technologies). In this paper, we will review the current literature on virtual teams, virtual meetings, and creativity. We will then explore theoretical frameworks such as media richness theory that can help us understand how virtuality and virtual tools may influence team creativity across the dynamic range of the creative problem-solving process. Finally, given the limited research in the domain of virtual team creativity we provide questions to help guide future research. Research questions will help identify those areas where virtual teams may be beneficial for creativity and areas where virtual teams may be likely to perform less effectively on creative tasks

Meta-analysis of Human Papillomavirus Infection Concordance

Estimates of human papillomavirus (HPV) concordance among sexual partners are important for various public health activities, from counseling individual patients to predicting the impact of HPV vaccination