Continuous catalytic decomposition of methane

Water is conserved by employing sequence of reactions whereby 75 percent of methane from Sabatier reaction is decomposed to solid carbon and hydrogen; hydrogen is then separated from residual methane and utilized in usual Sabatier reaction to reduce remaining metabolic carbon dioxide

Continuous catalytic decomposition of methane

Continuous catalytic decomposition of methane and application to space life support syste

Pflanzenvergiftungen — psychiatrische Aspekte

Zusammenfassung: Seit der Antike sind Pflanzenvergiftungen dokumentiert, trotzdem werden Intoxikationen mit pflanzlichen Giften im psychiatrischen Schrifttum wenig beachtet, und die Gefahr durch Giftpflanzen wird gemeinhin verkannt. In diesem Artikel wird diese Problematik erörtert. Es werden weiterhin entsprechende Empfehlungen zur Vermeidung von Pflanzenvergiftungen und zum allgemeinen Umgang mit deren Folgen gegebe

Polymorphic members of the lag gene family mediate kin discrimination in Dictyostelium

Self and kin discrimination are observed in most kingdoms of life and are mediated by highly polymorphic plasma membrane proteins. Sequence polymorphism, which is essential for effective recognition, is maintained by balancing selection. Dictyostelium discoideum are social amoebas that propagate as unicellular organisms but aggregate upon starvation and form fruiting bodies with viable spores and dead stalk cells. Aggregative development exposes Dictyostelium to the perils of chimerism, including cheating, which raises questions about how the victims survive in nature and how social cooperation persists. Dictyostelids can minimize the cost of chimerism by preferential cooperation with kin, but the mechanisms of kin discrimination are largely unknown. Dictyostelium lag genes encode transmembrane proteins with multiple immunoglobulin (Ig) repeats that participate in cell adhesion and signaling. Here, we describe their role in kin discrimination. We show that lagB1 and lagC1 are highly polymorphic in natural populations and that their sequence dissimilarity correlates well with wild-strain segregation. Deleting lagB1 and lagC1 results in strain segregation in chimeras with wild-type cells, whereas elimination of the nearly invariant homolog lagD1 has no such consequences. These findings reveal an early evolutionary origin of kin discrimination and provide insight into the mechanism of social recognition and immunity

B --> pi and B --> K transitions in partially quenched chiral perturbation theory

We study the properties of the B-->pi and B-->K transition form factors in partially quenched QCD by using the approach of partially quenched chiral perturbation theory combined with the static heavy quark limit. We show that the form factors change almost linearly when varying the value of the sea quark mass, whereas the dependence on the valence quark mass contains both the standard and chirally divergent (quenched) logarithms. A simple strategy for the chiral extrapolations in the lattice studies with Nsea=2 is suggested. It consists of the linear extrapolations from the realistically accessible quark masses, first in the sea and then in the valence quark mass. From the present approach, we estimate the uncertainty induced by such extrapolations to be within 5%.Comment: Published versio

Cohesive energies of cubic III-V semiconductors

Cohesive energies for twelve cubic III-V semiconductors with zincblende structure have been determined using an ab-initio scheme. Correlation contributions, in particular, have been evaluated using the coupled-cluster approach with single and double excitations (CCSD). This was done by means of increments obtained for localized bond orbitals and for pairs and triples of such bonds. Combining these results with corresponding Hartree-Fock data, we recover about 92 \% of the experimental cohesive energies.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, late

B-->pi and B-->K transitions in standard and quenched chiral perturbation theory

We study the effects of chiral logs on the heavy-->light pseudoscalar meson transition form factors by using standard and quenched chiral perturbation theory combined with the static heavy quark limit. The resulting expressions are used to indicate the size of uncertainties due to the use of the quenched approximation in the current lattice studies. They may also be used to assess the size of systematic uncertainties induced by missing chiral log terms in extrapolating toward the physical pion mass. We also provide the coefficient multiplying the quenched chiral log, which may be useful if the quenched lattice studies are performed with very light mesons.Comment: 33 pages, 8 PostScript figures, version to appear in PR

Wine glass size and wine sales: A replication study in two bars

Objective. Wine glass size may influence perceived volume and subsequently purchasing and consumption. Using a larger glass to serve the same portions of wine was found to increase wine sales by 9.4% (95% CI: 1.9, 17.5) in a recent study conducted in one bar. The current study aimed to replicate this previous work in two other bars using a wider range of glass sizes. To match the previous study, a repeated multiple treatment reversal design, during which wine was served in glasses of the same design but different sizes, was used. The study was conducted in two bars in Cambridge, England, using glass sizes of 300ml, 370ml, 510ml (Bar 1) and 300ml and 510ml (Bar 2). Customers purchased their choice of a 750ml bottle, or standard UK measures of 125ml, 175ml or 250ml of wine, each of which was served with the same glass. Results. Bar 1: Daily wine volume purchased was 10.5% (95% CI: 1.0, 20.9) higher when sold in 510ml compared to 370ml glasses; but sales were not significantly higher with 370ml vs. 300ml glasses (6.5%, 95% CI: -5.2, 19.6). Bar 2: findings were inconclusive as to whether daily wine purchased differed when using 510ml vs. 300ml glasses (-1.1%, 95% CI: -12.6, 11.9). These results provide a partial replication of previous work showing that introducing larger glasses (without manipulating portion size) increases purchasing. Understanding the mechanisms by which wine glass size influences consumption may elucidate when the effect can be expected and when not.The research reported in this publication was funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Programme (http://prp.dh.gov.uk/) (Policy Research Unit in Behaviour and Health [PR-UN-0409-10109])