Determination of renewable energy yield from mixed waste material from the use of novel image analysis methods

Two novel techniques are presented in this study which together aim to provide a system able to determine the renewable energy potential of mixed waste materials. An image analysis tool was applied to two waste samples prepared using known quantities of source-segregated recyclable materials. The technique was used to determine the composition of the wastes, where through the use of waste component properties the biogenic content of the samples was calculated. The percentage renewable energy determined by image analysis for each sample was accurate to within 5% of the actual values calculated. Microwave-based multiple-point imaging (AutoHarvest) was used to demonstrate the ability of such a technique to determine the moisture content of mixed samples. This proof-of-concept experiment was shown to produce moisture measurement accurate to within 10%. Overall, the image analysis tool was able to determine the renewable energy potential of the mixed samples, and the AutoHarvest should enable the net calorific value calculations through the provision of moisture content measurements. The proposed system is suitable for combustion facilities, and enables the operator to understand the renewable energy potential of the waste prior to combustion

Nutritional Status in Northern Nigeria, Prevalence and Determinants: A Review of Evidence Prepared for the ORIE Component of the WINNN Programme

The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence on the state and determinants of child and maternal under nutrition in Northern Nigeria. It reviews the most current evidence and also examines examples of interventions that have addressed (successful or not) under nutrition globally and in Nigeria. A review of findings on the determinants of under nutrition in northern Nigeria provides some evidence of the nature of the complex pathways between various levels of causes (immediate, underlying, basic) and interventions and policies, leading to some observations as to how far the global evidence on interventions to tackle under nutrition might be applied to the situation in northern Nigeria.UK Department for International Developmen

Prediction of plasma properties in mercury ion thrusters

A simplified theoretical model was developed which obtains to first order the plasma properties in the discharge chamber of a mercury ion thruster from basic thruster design and controllable operating parameters. The basic operation and design of ion thrusters is discussed, and the important processes which influence the plasma properties are described in terms of the design and control parameters. The conservation for mass, charge and energy were applied to the ion production region, which was defined as the region of the discharge chamber having as its outer boundary the surface of revolution of the innermost field line to intersect the anode. Mass conservation and the equations describing the various processes involved with mass addition and removal from the ion production region are satisfied by a Maxwellian electron density spatial distribution in that region

Building Evaluability Assessments into Institutional Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Frameworks

This CDI Practice Paper by Richard Longhurst, Peter Wichmand and Burt Perrin discusses how evaluability assessments (EAs) can support the choice of evaluation approaches for determining impact, drawing on recent experiences of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour of the International Labour Office. These experiences focused on developing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation strategy such that some elements of an EA were built into the system and could be deployed at most points in the programming cycle, in particular to address which questions are important for the evaluation. When used in conjunction with other criteria, this allows for a more informed choice of the evaluation method and related impact.UK Department for International Developmen

Do oceanic zooplankton aggregate at, or near, the deep chlorophyll maximum?

Grazing pressure, varying with depth, must play a role in shaping the general form of the chlorophyll profile which often contains a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM). Until we obtain enough coincident high-precision profiles of chlorophyll and grazing plankton (such as the BATFISH profiles, discussed below) it is difficult to be sure that this is so, though the problem is important enough to warrant an attempt, and several have been made...

What Influences the Diffusion of Grassroots Innovations for Sustainability? Investigating Community Currency Niches

Community action for sustainability is a promising site of socio-technical innovation. Here we test the applicability of co-evolutionary niche theories of innovation diffusion (Strategic Niche Management, SNM) to the context of ‘grassroots innovations’. We present new empirical findings from an international study of 12 community currency niches (such as LETS, time banks, local currencies). These are parallel systems of exchange, designed to operate alongside mainstream money, meeting additional sustainability needs. Our findings confirm SNM predictions that niche-level activity correlates with diffusion success, but we highlight additional or confounding factors, and how niche theories might be adapted to better fit civil-society innovations. In so doing, we develop a model of grassroots innovation niche diffusion which builds on existing work and tailors it to this specific context. The paper concludes with a series of theoretically-informed recommendations for practitioners and policymakers to support the development and potential of grassroots innovations

The Status of Beryllium Research for Fusion in the United States

Use of beryllium in fusion reactors has been considered for neutron multiplication in breeding blankets and as an oxygen getter for plasma-facing surfaces. Previous beryllium research for fusion in the United States included issues of interest to fission (swelling and changes in mechanical and thermal properties) as well as interactions with plasmas and hydrogen isotopes and methods of fabrication. When the United States formally withdrew its participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program, much of this effort was terminated. The focus in the U.S. has been mainly on toxic effects of beryllium and on industrial hygiene and health-related issues. Work continued at the INEEL and elsewhere on beryllium-containing molten salts. This activity is part of the JUPITER II Agreement. Plasma spray of ITER first wall samples at Los Alamos National Laboratory has been performed under the European Fusion Development Agreement. Effects of irradiation on beryllium structure are being studied at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Numerical and phenomenological models are being developed and applied to better understand important processes and to assist with design. Presently, studies are underway at the University of California Los Angeles to investigate thermo-mechanical characteristics of beryllium pebble beds, similar to research being carried out at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe and elsewhere. Additional work, not funded by the fusion program, has dealt with issues of disposal, and recycling

5 Published Articles on Studies on the Notostraca

This thesis consists of a series of reprints of publications in which are reported the results of researches on the systematica of the Notostracan Crustacea. Studies were made on the cytology, the biochemistry end the comparative ecology of the group and were utilised in a systematic study of the Notostrace. This research was initiated after the finding by the candidate of living Notostraca in a rain-pool in southern England, which proved to be the only known locality for the group in the British Isles in recent years, having been found there previously by Professors Hobson and Fox. Success in culturing Triops cancriformis from this pool under laboratory conditions stimulated efforts to obtain cultures of other species, and finally cultures of all four species of Triops and of two species of Lepidurus were maintained at Bedford College. These, together with the collections of preserved material in a number of European, American and Australian museums, formed the basis of the study. The cultures were utilised for investigations of the development of exoskeletal characters during growth, for the investigation of the variability of these characters in a single line of individuals under differing environmental conditions, for cytological studies resulting in some knowledge of the chromosome numbers within the group, and for an investigation of the specificity of blood pigments in different species and in different races of a single species. The study was recorded in five publications, which are bound together to form this thesis; a preliminary report of the discovery that the so-called parthenogenetic forms are in fact hermaphroditic is bound in as E in the thesis. The main paper, B, contains a review of Notostracan literature, the analysis of the validity to systeraatics of the exoskeletal characters used in the past, the chromosome counts, the investigation of biochemical specificity, and the basic systematic revision of the group. The conclusion reached in this paper was that the Hotostraca are composed of a small number of very widely dispersed species, all rather close to each other systematically but characterised by considerable individual variation. The number of species previously described was shown to be much too high. A separate account of the details of the cytology and reproductive qycle which were elucidated incidentally in the investigation of chromosome numbers appears as D and describes in considerably more detail than hitherto the cytology of the gonads during reproduction. An attempt was made in a separate publication. A, to explain the widespread nature of the distribution of llotostracan species and to relate it to the extreme longevity of the group in palaeontological terms, and an explanatory hypothesis is developed, derived from the ecology of the group. Finally, under C, there is an account of the existence of what appears to be a most unusually high proportion of abnormal individuals occurring in populations of Notostraca compared with the proportion in other animal groups, and this again is referred to the palaeontological longevity of the Botostraca. For convenience the constituent papers of the thesis are listed below: A: Evolution in the Notostraca. Evolution.; B: A review of the Notostraca. Bull. Brit. Mus. (N.H.); C: Abnormal variation in the Notostraca. Syst. Zool.; D: Reproduction in the Notostraca. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.; E: Reproduction in the Notostraca. Nature, Lond.<p

Better together: Integrating biomedical informatics and healthcare IT operations to create a learning health system during the COVID-19 pandemic

The growing availability of multi-scale biomedical data sources that can be used to enable research and improve healthcare delivery has brought about what can be described as a healthcare data age. This new era is defined by the explosive growth in bio-molecular, clinical, and population-level data that can be readily accessed by researchers, clinicians, and decision-makers, and utilized for systems-level approaches to hypothesis generation and testing as well as operational decision-making. However, taking full advantage of these unprecedented opportunities presents an opportunity to revisit the alignment between traditionally academic biomedical informatics (BMI) and operational healthcare information technology (HIT) personnel and activities in academic health systems. While the history of the academic field of BMI includes active engagement in the delivery of operational HIT platforms, in many contemporary settings these efforts have grown distinct. Recent experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated greater coordination of BMI and HIT activities that have allowed organizations to respond to pandemic-related changes more effectively, with demonstrable and positive impact as a result. In this position paper, we discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with driving alignment between BMI and HIT, as viewed from the perspective of a learning healthcare system. In doing so, we hope to illustrate the benefits of coordination between BMI and HIT in terms of the quality, safety, and outcomes of care provided to patients and populations, demonstrating that these two groups can be better together