Pollution Prevention in the Great Lakes Basin: Working with Pulp & Paper Manufacturers

In response to growing concerns over persistent toxic substances in the Great Lakes, new initiatives are in place to address and mitigate pollutant loadings to these large natural waterbodies. With support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) worked with pulp & paper companies in the Great Lakes Basin in an effort to find solutions to reduce environmental impacts from this industry sector. Based on currently available EPA toolkits, NYSP2I developed and utilized an assessment tool called Lean, Energy, and Environment (LE2). Five different paper manufacturers participated in this project and received technical assistance from NYSP2I to identify and implement process modifications. Significant reduction opportunities in energy, water and chemical use were identified, some of which were implemented. The results of this project serve as a working template to continue pollution prevention work in the Great Lakes Basin

Optical multiple access techniques for on-board routing

The purpose of this research contract was to design and analyze an optical multiple access system, based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) techniques, for on board routing applications on a future communication satellite. The optical multiple access system was to effect the functions of a circuit switch under the control of an autonomous network controller and to serve eight (8) concurrent users at a point to point (port to port) data rate of 180 Mb/s. (At the start of this program, the bit error rate requirement (BER) was undefined, so it was treated as a design variable during the contract effort.) CDMA was selected over other multiple access techniques because it lends itself to bursty, asynchronous, concurrent communication and potentially can be implemented with off the shelf, reliable optical transceivers compatible with long term unattended operations. Temporal, temporal/spatial hybrids and single pulse per row (SPR, sometimes termed 'sonar matrices') matrix types of CDMA designs were considered. The design, analysis, and trade offs required by the statement of work selected a temporal/spatial CDMA scheme which has SPR properties as the preferred solution. This selected design can be implemented for feasibility demonstration with off the shelf components (which are identified in the bill of materials of the contract Final Report). The photonic network architecture of the selected design is based on M(8,4,4) matrix codes. The network requires eight multimode laser transmitters with laser pulses of 0.93 ns operating at 180 Mb/s and 9-13 dBm peak power, and 8 PIN diode receivers with sensitivity of -27 dBm for the 0.93 ns pulses. The wavelength is not critical, but 830 nm technology readily meets the requirements. The passive optical components of the photonic network are all multimode and off the shelf. Bit error rate (BER) computations, based on both electronic noise and intercode crosstalk, predict a raw BER of (10 exp -3) when all eight users are communicating concurrently. If better BER performance is required, then error correction codes (ECC) using near term electronic technology can be used. For example, the M(8,4,4) optical code together with Reed-Solomon (54,38,8) encoding provides a BER of better than (10 exp -11). The optical transceiver must then operate at 256 Mb/s with pulses of 0.65 ns because the 'bits' are now channel symbols

Estimation of Carrying Angle Based on CT Images in Preoperative Surgical Planning for Cubitus Deformities

Conventionally, the carrying angle of the elbow is measured using simple two-dimensional radiography or goniometry, which has questionable reliability. This study proposes a novel method for estimating carrying angles using computed tomography that can enhance the reliability of the angle measurement. Data of CT scans from 25 elbow joints were processed to build segmented three-dimensional models. The cross-sectional centerlines of the ulna and the humerus were traced from the 3D models, and the angle between 2 vectors formed from the centerlines of the humerus and the ulna was defined as the &#34;three-dimensional carrying angle.&#34; These angles were compared with those measured by simple radiograph. Two cases of angular deformity were underwent surgery based on this preoperative surgical planning, and the postoperative 3D carrying angles were evaluated using the proposed method. The mean value of the calculated three-dimensional carrying angle was 20.7 degrees +/-3.61, while it was 16.3 degrees +/-3.21 based on simple radiography without statistical difference. Based on the 3D carrying angle estimations, 2 surgical cases of cubitus deformities were planned by comparison with the normal contra-lateral elbow. Postoperative angle estimations confirmed that the corrected angles were nearly identical to the planned angles for both cases. The results of this study showed that the carrying angle can be accurately estimated using three-dimensional CT and that the proposed method is useful in evaluating deformities of the elbow with high reliability.</p

Adenosine-induced atrial fibrillation during fractional flow reserve measurement

We present the case of a 44 year-old man referred for coronary angiography with a history of coronary artery disease. Following administration of intra-coronary adenosine for fractional flow reserve (FFR) assessment, the patient developed atrial fibrillation (AF). While well described during non-invasive stress testing, this is the first description in the literature of AF following adenosine administration for FFR. The growing usage of FFR during diagnostic coronary angiography makes this an important side effect to consider. Our subsequent management and follow-up is presented

Effects of Toxoplasma gondii Infection on NK Cells and ILC1s

Natural killer cells and Type I innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are subsets of ILCs. In C57BL/6 mice, they share expression of the surface markers NK1. 1 and NKp46, and can produce the cytokine interferon-gamma. These similarities led to the initial classification of natural killer cells and Type I ILCs together under the category of Group 1 ILCs. However, more recent studies found that natural killer cells and ILC1s develop from distinct progenitor cells and utilize transcription factor in distinct manners. Whereas ILC1s require Tbet for their development and are Eomes-independent, natural killer cells require Tbet only for terminal maturation and are Eomes-dependent. As such, these populations were reclassified as separate ILC subsets. In the context of Toxoplasma gondii infection, we identified a new population that blurs these strict delineations. Our data suggest that T. gondii induces the development of ILC1-like cells that primarily result from the downregulation of Eomes and the upregulation of Tbet. We further validated these findings with epigenomic profiling and single-cell RNA sequencing

Material information in Managers’ Private Disclosures: Evidence from Professional Investors’ Perceptions

Using both survey and experimental methods, we provide evidence on the materiality and the nature of information communicated in private meetings from the perspective of 308 professional investors. While benefits of private meetings for investors are well documented, the source of such benefits remains unclear due to unobservability of such events, challenging the enforcement of Regulation Fair Disclosure. We find that a significant portion of information in managers’ private disclosures can only be obtained through private interactions with senior management, and that the information is likely material, influencing investor judgments. In contrast to assumptions made by prior academics and regulators, we document that nonverbal and qualitative information are important sources of private meeting usefulness. Further, nonverbal information in private meetings is salient enough to affect the informativeness of meeting in different formats (i.e. in-person vs. virtual). Overall, our study documents whether and how material information is communicated through managers’ private disclosures

Plasmonic gain in current biased tilted Dirac nodes

Surface plasmons, which allow extreme confinement of light, suffer from high intrinsic electronic losses. It has been shown that stimulated emission of electrons can transfer energy to plasmons and compensate for the high intrinsic losses. To-date, these realizations have relied on introducing an external gain media coupled to the surface plasmon. Here, we propose that plasmons in two-dimensional materials with closely located electron and hole Fermi pockets can experience gain, when an electrical current bias is applied along the displaced electron-hole pockets, without the need for an external gain media. As a prototypical example, we consider WTe$_2$ from the family of 1T$'$-MX$_2$ materials, whose electronic structure can be described within a type-II tilted massive Dirac model. We find that the nonlocal plasmonic response experiences prominent gain for experimentally accessible currents on the order of mA$\mu$m$^{-1}$. Furthermore, the group velocity of the plasmon found from the isofrequency curves imply that the amplified plasmons are highly collimated along a direction perpendicular to the Dirac node tilt when the electrical current is applied along it.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Pollution prevention via recovery of cerium (IV) oxide in optics company

Pollution prevention methods were applied at an optics manufacturer in an effort to improve recovery of a valuable polishing component, cerium oxide (ceria), 77% of which was lost to dragout and sewer discharge. Centrifugation and microfiltratiion were evaluated to develop a process that would increase recovery of used ceria, which would then be sent back to the ceria supplier for reclamation and reuse. Full-scale implementation included a high-speed centrifuge that operates continuously with a microfiltration system through recirculation in a single process tank. Sydor Optics has improved ceria recovery from 23% to 48%, saving thousands of dollars annually

Toxoplasma gondii infection drives conversion of NK cells into ILC1-like cells

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) were originally classified based on their cytokine profiles, placing natural killer (NK) cells and ILC1s together, but recent studies support their separation into different lineages at steady-state. However, tumors may induce NK cell conversion into ILC1-like cells that are limited to the tumor microenvironment and whether this conversion occurs beyond this environment remains unknown. Here, we describ

Optimizing Outcomes in Cleft Surgery

Children born with cleft lip and palate in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have limited access to surgical care and suffer substantial morbidity as a result of delayed treatment. Charitable organizations have sought to tackle this problem through high-volume surgical missions, but these efforts have been fraught with high rates of complications and variable esthetic results. Over the past decade, Operation Smile (OS) has placed considerable emphasis on improving the quality of care delivered to patients in LMICs. By establishing an outcome evaluation program among other interventions, OS has achieved measurable improvements in complication rates and post-operative follow-up. The founding of the Guwahati Comprehensive Cleft Care Center in India has been pivotal to the success of OS’s work in this field and is the evidence of the impact that an optimized model of care delivery can make. Here we describe OS’s efforts to improve the quality of care delivered to patients in LMICs with a focus on the organization’s work in India