Development of lithium bromide-water absorption heat pump system for simultaneous production of heated-up air and steam from waste heat

Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.Absorption heat pumps (AHPs) operate by refrigeration techniques that use heat without requiring a compressor. In this study, an innovative AHP system is proposed that uses waste heat at 80 °C to produce hot air (at least 120 °C), which can be used for applications such as drying, and to simultaneously generate steam of 100–115 °C. Air is heated directly by heat exchange in the absorber working in the heating mode of a LiBr/H2O AHP system. Steam is then produced by heat exchange with the absorption solution, which is still at high temperature. The performance of a bench-scale AHP was evaluated by examination of running in a continuous mode. The tested AHP achieved a hot air temperature of more than 120 °C at the outlet of the absorber, and steam up to 115 °C was simultaneously generated by recovering heat from 80 °C hot water. The coefficient of performance, which is defined as the ratio of heat generated to the power consumed for pumping fluid, exceeded 20. The heat transfer rate in the absorber was dominated by an air stream through a bundle of tubes, but temperature in the evaporator was a significantly sensitive factor for the increasing temperature in this proposed AHP system.cf201

Serum trace element concentrations in children with chronic renal failure

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Treatment with eldecalcitol positively affects mineralization, microdamage, and collagen crosslinks in primate bone

Eldecalcitol (ELD), an active form of vitamin D analog approved for the treatment of osteoporosis in Japan, increases lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD), suppresses bone turnover markers, and reduces fracture risk in patients with osteoporosis. We have previously reported that treatment with ELD for 6months improved the mechanical properties of the lumbar spine in ovariectomized (OVX) cynomolgus monkeys. ELD treatment increased lumbar BMD, suppressed bone turnover markers, and reduced histomorphometric parameters of both bone formation and resorption in vertebral trabecular bone. In this study, we elucidated the effects of ELD on bone quality (namely, mineralization, microarchitecture, microdamage, and bone collagen crosslinks) in OVX cynomolgus monkeys in comparison with OVX-vehicle control monkeys. Density fractionation of bone powder prepared from lumbar vertebrae revealed that ELD treatment shifted the distribution profile of bone mineralization to a higher density, and backscattered electron microscopic imaging showed improved trabecular bone connectivity in the ELD-treated groups. Higher doses of ELD more significantly reduced the amount of microdamage compared to OVX-vehicle controls. The fractionated bone powder samples were divided according to their density, and analyzed for collagen crosslinks. Enzymatic crosslinks were higher in both the high-density (≥2.0mg/mL) and low-density (<2.0mg/mL) fractions from the ELD-treated groups than in the corresponding fractions in the OVX-vehicle control groups. On the other hand, non-enzymatic crosslinks were lower in both the high- and low-density fractions. These observations indicated that ELD treatment stimulated the enzymatic reaction of collagen crosslinks and bone mineralization, but prevented non-enzymatic reaction of collagen crosslinks and accumulation of bone microdamage. Bone anti-resorptive agents such as bisphosphonates slow down bone remodeling so that bone mineralization, bone microdamage, and non-enzymatic collagen crosslinks all increase. Bone anabolic agents such as parathyroid hormone decrease bone mineralization and bone microdamage by stimulating bone remodeling. ELD did not fit into either category. Histological analysis indicated that the ELD treatment strongly suppressed bone resorption by reducing the number of osteoclasts, while also stimulating focal bone formation without prior bone resorption (bone minimodeling). These bidirectional activities of ELD may account for its unique effects on bone quality.Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd

Phase III Trial of Everolimus in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Subgroup Analysis of Japanese Patients from RECORD-1

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of everolimus in Japanese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Methods: A subgroup analysis of the pivotal Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled trial of everolimus 10 mg/day in patients with disease progression after treatment with sorafenib, sunitinib or both assessed outcomes in Japanese participants. Results were compared with those for the overall study population. Results: The final trial analysis included 24 Japanese patients (everolimus, n 15; placebo, n 9). Median progression-free survival in the Japanese subpopulation was 5.75 months (95% confidence interval, 4.90 months to not reached) with everolimus and 3.61 months (95 % confidence interval, 1.91–9.03 months) with placebo (hazard ratio, 0.19; 95 % confidence interval, 0.05–0.83). Median overall survival was not reached with everolimus and was 14.9 month

Nucleation of Al3Zr and Al3Sc in aluminum alloys: from kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to classical theory

Zr and Sc precipitate in aluminum alloys to form the compounds Al3Zr and Al3Sc which for low supersaturations of the solid solution have the L12 structure. The aim of the present study is to model at an atomic scale this kinetics of precipitation and to build a mesoscopic model based on classical nucleation theory so as to extend the field of supersaturations and annealing times that can be simulated. We use some ab-initio calculations and experimental data to fit an Ising model describing thermodynamics of the Al-Zr and Al-Sc systems. Kinetic behavior is described by means of an atom-vacancy exchange mechanism. This allows us to simulate with a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm kinetics of precipitation of Al3Zr and Al3Sc. These kinetics are then used to test the classical nucleation theory. In this purpose, we deduce from our atomic model an isotropic interface free energy which is consistent with the one deduced from experimental kinetics and a nucleation free energy. We test di erent mean-field approximations (Bragg-Williams approximation as well as Cluster Variation Method) for these parameters. The classical nucleation theory is coherent with the kinetic Monte Carlo simulations only when CVM is used: it manages to reproduce the cluster size distribution in the metastable solid solution and its evolution as well as the steady-state nucleation rate. We also find that the capillary approximation used in the classical nucleation theory works surprisingly well when compared to a direct calculation of the free energy of formation for small L12 clusters.Comment: submitted to Physical Review B (2004

South African buffalo-derived Theileria parva is distinct from other buffalo and cattle-derived T. parva

Theileria parva is a protozoan parasite transmitted by the brown-eared ticks, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Rhipicephalus zambeziensis. Buffaloes are the parasite’s ancestral host, with cattle being the most recent host. The parasite has two transmission modes namely, cattle–cattle and buffalo–cattle transmission. Cattle–cattle T. parva transmission causes East Coast fever (ECF) and January disease syndromes. Buffalo to cattle transmission causes Corridor disease. Knowledge on the genetic diversity of South African T. parva populations will assist in determining its origin, evolution and identify any cattle–cattle transmitted strains. To achieve this, genomic DNA of blood and in vitro culture material infected with South African isolates (8160, 8301, 8200, 9620, 9656, 9679, Johnston, KNP2, HL3, KNP102, 9574, and 9581) were extracted and paired-end whole genome sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 2500 was performed. East and southern African sample data (Chitongo Z2, Katete B2, Kiambu Z464/C12, Mandali Z22H10, Entebbe, Nyakizu, Katumba, Buffalo LAWR, and Buffalo Z5E5) was also added for comparative purposes. Data was analyzed using BWA and SAMtools variant calling with the T. parva Muguga genome sequence used as a reference. Buffalo-derived strains had higher genetic diversity, with twice the number of variants compared to cattle-derived strains, confirming that buffaloes are ancestral reservoir hosts of T. parva. Host specific SNPs, however, could not be identified among the selected 74 gene sequences. Phylogenetically, strains tended to cluster by host with South African buffalo-derived strains clustering with buffalo-derived strains. Among the buffalo-derived strains, South African strains were genetically divergent from other buffalo-derived strains indicating possible geographic sub-structuring. Geographic substructuring was also observed within South Africa strains. The knowledge generated from this study indicates that to date, ECF is not circulating in buffalo from South Africa. It also shows that T. parva has historically been present in buffalo from South Africa before the introduction of ECF and was not introduced into buffalo during the ECF epidemic.The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Developmenthttp://www.frontiersin.org/Geneticsam2022Veterinary Tropical Disease