Process studies of odour emissions from effluent ponds using machine-based odour measurement

Replicable experimental studies using a novel experimental facility and a machine-based odour quantification technique were conducted to demonstrate the relationship between odour emission rates and pond loading rates. The odour quantification technique consisted of an electronic nose, AromaScan A32S, and an artificial neural network. Odour concentrations determined by olfactometry were used along with the AromaScan responses to train the artificial neural network. The trained network was able to predict the odour emission rates for the test data with a correlation coefficient of 0.98. Time averaged odour emission rates predicted by the machine-based odour quantification technique, were strongly correlated with volatile solids loading rate, demonstrating the increased magnitude of emissions from a heavily loaded effluent pond. However, it was not possible to obtain the same relationship between volatile solids loading rates and odour emission rates from the individual data. It is concluded that taking a limited number of odour samples over a short period is unlikely to provide a representative rate of odour emissions from an effluent pond. A continuous odour monitoring instrument will be required for that more demanding task

Structural and dielectric properties of Sr2_{2}TiO4_{4} from first principles

We have investigated the structural and dielectric properties of Sr$_{2}$TiO$_{4}$,the first member of the Sr$_{n+1}$Ti$_{n}$O$_{3n+1}$ Ruddlesden-Popper series, within density functional theory. Motivated by recent work in which thin films of Sr$_{2}$TiO$_{4}$ were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on SrTiO$_{3}$ substrates, the in-plane lattice parameter was fixed to the theoretically optimized lattice constant of cubic SrTiO$_{3}$ (n=$\infty$), while the out-of-plane lattice parameter and the internal structural parameters were relaxed. The fully relaxed structure was also investigated. Density functional perturbation theory was used to calculate the zone-center phonon frequencies, Born effective charges, and the electronic dielectric permittivity tensor. A detailed study of the contribution of individual infrared-active modes to the static dielectric permittivity tensor was performed. The calculated Raman and infrared phonon frequencies were found to be in agreement with experiment where available. Comparisons of the calculated static dielectric permittivity with experiments on both ceramic powders and epitaxial thin films are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, 8 tables, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Bedforms and sedimentary structures related to supercritical flows in glacigenic settings

Upper-flow-regime bedforms, including upper-stage-plane beds, antidunes, chutes-and-pools and cyclic steps, are ubiquitous in glacigenic depositional environments characterized by abundant meltwater discharge and sediment supply. In this study, the depositional record of Froude near-critical and supercritical flows in glacigenic settings is reviewed, and similarities and differences between different depositional environments are discussed. Upper-flow-regime bedforms may occur in subglacial, subaerial and subaqueous environments, recording deposition by free-surface flows and submerged density flows. Although individual bedform types are generally not indicative of any specific depositional environment, some observed trends are similar to those documented in non-glacigenic settings. Important parameters for bedform evolution that differ between depositional environments include flow confinement, bed slope, aggradation rate and grain size. Cyclic-step deposits are more common in confined settings, like channels or incised valleys, or steep slopes of coarse-grained deltas. Antidune deposits prevail in unconfined settings and on more gentle slopes, like glacifluvial fans, sand-rich delta slopes or subaqueous (ice-contact) fans. At low aggradation rates, only the basal portions of bedforms are preserved, such as scour fills related to the hydraulic-jump zone of cyclic steps or antidune-wave breaking, which are common in glacifluvial systems and during glacial lake-outburst floods and (related) lake-level falls. Higher aggradation rates result in increased preservation potential, possibly leading to the preservation of complete bedforms. Such conditions are met in sediment-laden jökulhlaups and subaqueous proglacial environments characterized by expanding density flows. Coarser-grained sediment leads to steeper bedform profiles and highly scoured facies architectures, while finer-grained deposits display less steep bedform architectures. Such differences are in part related to stronger flows, faster settling of coarse clasts, and more rapid breaking of antidune waves or hydraulic-jump formation over hydraulically rough beds. © 2020 The Authors. Sedimentology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association of Sedimentologist

Postoperative complications after procedure for prolapsed hemorrhoids (PPH) and stapled transanal rectal resection (STARR) procedures

Procedure for prolapsing hemorrhoids (PPH) and stapled transanal rectal resection for obstructed defecation (STARR) carry low postoperative pain, but may be followed by unusual and severe postoperative complications. This review deals with the pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of adverse events that may occasionally be life threatening. PPH and STARR carry the expected morbidity following anorectal surgery, such as bleeding, strictures and fecal incontinence. Complications that are particular to these stapled procedures are rectovaginal fistula, chronic proctalgia, total rectal obliteration, rectal wall hematoma and perforation with pelvic sepsis often requiring a diverting stoma. A higher complication rate and worse results are expected after PPH for fourth-degree piles. Enterocele and anismus are contraindications to PPH and STARR and both operations should be used with caution in patients with weak sphincters. In conclusion, complications after PPH and STARR are not infrequent and may be difficult to manage. However, if performed in selected cases by skilled specialists aware of the risks and associated diseases, some complications may be prevented

Search for Lepton-Flavor-Violating and Lepton-Number-Violating tau to lhh' Decay Modes

We search for lepton-flavor-violating and lepton-number-violating tau decays into a lepton (l = electron or muon) and two charged mesons (h, h' = pion or Kaon) using 854 fb^{-1} of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^+e^- collider. We obtain 90% confidence level upper limits on the tau to lhh' branching fractions in the range (2.0-8.4)*10^{-8}. These results improve upon our previously published upper limits by factors of about 1.8 on average.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.

Search for Lepton-Flavor-Violating tau Decays into a Lepton and a Vector Meson

We search for lepton-flavor-violating tau-> ell V^0 decays, where ell is an electron or muon and V^0 is one of the vector mesons rho^0, phi, omega, K*0 and K*0-bar. We use 854 fb^{-1} of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^+e^- collider. No evidence for a signal is found in any decay mode, and we obtain 90% confidence level upper limits on the individual branching fractions in the range (1.2-8.4)*10^{-8}.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.

Study of B^{+-} -> K^{+-}(K_S K pi)^0 Decay and Determination of eta_c and eta_c(2S) Parameters

We report the results of a study of $B^{\pm}\to K^{\pm}\eta_c$ and $B^{\pm}\to K^{\pm}\eta_c(2S)$ decays followed by $\eta_c$ and $\eta_c(2S)$ decays to $(K_SK\pi)^0$. The results are obtained from a data sample containing 535 million $B\bar{B}$-meson pairs collected by the Belle experiment at the KEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. We measure the products of the branching fractions ${\mathcal B}(B^{\pm}\to K^{\pm}\eta_c){\mathcal B}(\eta_c\to K_S K^{\pm}\pi^{\mp})=(26.7\pm 1.4(stat)^{+2.9}_{-2.6}(syst)\pm 4.9(model))\times 10^{-6}$ and ${\mathcal B}(B^{\pm}\to K^{\pm}\eta_c(2S)){\mathcal B}(\eta_c(2S)\to K_S K^{\pm}\pi^{\mp})=(3.4^{+2.2}_{-1.5}(stat+model)^{+0.5}_{-0.4} syst))\times 10^{-6}$. Interference with the non-resonant component leads to significant model uncertainty in the measurement of these product branching fractions. Our analysis accounts for this interference and allows the model uncertainty to be reduced. We also obtain the following charmonia masses and widths: $M(\eta_c)=(2985.4\pm 1.5(stat)^{+0.5}_{-2.0}(syst))$ MeV/$c^2$, $\Gamma(\eta_c)=(35.1\pm 3.1(stat)^{+1.0}_{-1.6}(syst))$ MeV/$c^2$, $M(\eta_c(2S))=(3636.1^{+3.9}_{-4.2}(stat+model)^{+0.7}_{-2.0}(syst))$ MeV/$c^2$, $\Gamma(\eta_c(2S))=(6.6^{+8.4}_{-5.1}(stat+model)^{+2.6}_{-0.9}(syst))$ MeV/$c^2$.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PL

Measurement of D0-D0 mixing and search for CP violation in D0→K+K-,π+π- decays with the full Belle data set

We report an improved measurement of D0 – D‾0 mixing and a search for CP violation in D0 decays to CP -even final states K+K− and π+π− . The measurement is based on the final Belle data sample of 976 fb −1 . The results are yCP=(1.11±0.22±0.09)% and AΓ=(−0.03±0.20±0.07)% , where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic