Field performance of erosion resistant materials on boiler induced draft fan blades

The TVA Kingston Fossil Power Plant has nine units and is located near Kingston, Tennessee. Units 1 through 4 have a rating of 148 MW and units 5 through 9 have a rating of 197 MW. Each unit has two induced draft fans manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Corp., Sturtevant Division. A table showing design data for the induced draft fans is located on page 16 of this report. The fan blade design details for units 5 through 9 are shown on pages 11 through 14. There is a mechanical fly ash collector and a small electrostatic precipitator preceding the induced draft fans in the boiler flue gas stream and a large, efficient electrostatic precipitator downstream of these fans. The steam generators and pulverizers were supplied by Combustion Engineering. The average temperature of the flue gas is about 340 degrees Fahrenheit for units 5 through 9. All induced draft fans in the boiler flue gas stream experience erosion from fly ash. When the precipitators and fly ash collectors were new the fan blades would last about three years before they were eroded severely and had to be replaced. Kingston Plant personnel say the fly ash collectors are presently in need of major repairs; therefore, the fan blades are not expected to last as long as they did when the plant was new

Rumen and Serum Metabolomes in Response to Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Seed and Isoflavone Supplementation in Beef Steers

Fescue toxicosis impacts beef cattle production via reductions in weight gain and muscle development. Isoflavone supplementation has displayed potential for mitigating these effects. The objective of the current study was to evaluate isoflavone supplementation with fescue seed consumption on rumen and serum metabolomes. Angus steers (n = 36) were allocated randomly in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments including endophyte-infected (E+) or endophyte-free (E−) tall fescue seed, with (P+) or without (P−) isoflavones. Steers were provided a basal diet with fescue seed for 21 days, while isoflavones were orally administered daily. Following the trial, blood and rumen fluid were collected for metabolite analysis. Metabolites were extracted and then analyzed by UPLC-MS. The MAVEN program was implemented to identify metabolites for MetaboAnalyst 4.0 and SAS 9.4 statistical analysis. Seven differentially abundant metabolites were identified in serum by isoflavone treatment, and eleven metabolites in the rumen due to seed type (p \u3c 0.05). Pathways affected by treatments were related to amino acid and nucleic acid metabolism in both rumen fluid and serum (p \u3c 0.05). Therefore, metabolism was altered by fescue seed in the rumen; however, isoflavones altered metabolism systemically to potentially mitigate detrimental effects of seed and improve animal performance

Historical Analysis: Tracking, Problematizing, and Reterritorializing Achievement and the Achievement Gap

For more than a century, state and federal governments and organizations have used different measures to determine if students and groups of students have achieved in a particular subject or grade level. While the construct of achievement is applied irrespective of student differences, this equal application turns out to be anything but equitable. In this chapter, we work to understand the way achievement plays out for Black students by deconstructing how the word achievement works. In doing so, we track the history of education, testing, and curriculum as it has been applied to Black youth and youth of color

ISG15 Is Critical in the Control of Chikungunya Virus Infection Independent of UbE1L Mediated Conjugation

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging alphavirus that has caused significant disease in the Indian Ocean region since 2005. During this outbreak, in addition to fever, rash and arthritis, severe cases of CHIKV infection have been observed in infants. Challenging the notion that the innate immune response in infants is immature or defective, we demonstrate that both human infants and neonatal mice generate a robust type I interferon (IFN) response during CHIKV infection that contributes to, but is insufficient for, the complete control of infection. To characterize the mechanism by which type I IFNs control CHIKV infection, we evaluated the role of ISG15 and defined it as a central player in the host response, as neonatal mice lacking ISG15 were profoundly susceptible to CHIKV infection. Surprisingly, UbE1L−/− mice, which lack the ISG15 E1 enzyme and therefore are unable to form ISG15 conjugates, displayed no increase in lethality following CHIKV infection, thus pointing to a non-classical role for ISG15. No differences in viral loads were observed between wild-type (WT) and ISG15−/− mice, however, a dramatic increase in proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines was observed in ISG15−/− mice, suggesting that the innate immune response to CHIKV contributes to their lethality. This study provides new insight into the control of CHIKV infection, and establishes a new model for how ISG15 functions as an immunomodulatory molecule in the blunting of potentially pathologic levels of innate effector molecules during the host response to viral infection

A Defined, Feeder-Free, Serum-Free System to Generate In Vitro Hematopoietic Progenitors and Differentiated Blood Cells from hESCs and hiPSCs

Human ESC and iPSC are an attractive source of cells of high quantity and purity to be used to elucidate early human development processes, for drug discovery, and in clinical cell therapy applications. To efficiently differentiate pluripotent cells into a pure population of hematopoietic progenitors we have developed a new 2-dimentional, defined and highly efficient protocol that avoids the use of feeder cells, serum or embryoid body formation. Here we showed that a single matrix protein in combination with growth factors and a hypoxic environment is sufficient to generate from pluripotent cells hematopoietic progenitors capable of differentiating further in mature cell types of different lineages of the blood system. We tested the differentiation method using hESCs and 9 iPSC lines generated from different tissues. These data indicate the robustness of the protocol providing a valuable tool for the generation of clinical-grade hematopoietic cells from pluripotent cells

Strong Interaction Physics at the Luminosity Frontier with 22 GeV Electrons at Jefferson Lab

This document presents the initial scientific case for upgrading the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Lab (JLab) to 22 GeV. It is the result of a community effort, incorporating insights from a series of workshops conducted between March 2022 and April 2023. With a track record of over 25 years in delivering the world's most intense and precise multi-GeV electron beams, CEBAF's potential for a higher energy upgrade presents a unique opportunity for an innovative nuclear physics program, which seamlessly integrates a rich historical background with a promising future. The proposed physics program encompass a diverse range of investigations centered around the nonperturbative dynamics inherent in hadron structure and the exploration of strongly interacting systems. It builds upon the exceptional capabilities of CEBAF in high-luminosity operations, the availability of existing or planned Hall equipment, and recent advancements in accelerator technology. The proposed program cover various scientific topics, including Hadron Spectroscopy, Partonic Structure and Spin, Hadronization and Transverse Momentum, Spatial Structure, Mechanical Properties, Form Factors and Emergent Hadron Mass, Hadron-Quark Transition, and Nuclear Dynamics at Extreme Conditions, as well as QCD Confinement and Fundamental Symmetries. Each topic highlights the key measurements achievable at a 22 GeV CEBAF accelerator. Furthermore, this document outlines the significant physics outcomes and unique aspects of these programs that distinguish them from other existing or planned facilities. In summary, this document provides an exciting rationale for the energy upgrade of CEBAF to 22 GeV, outlining the transformative scientific potential that lies within reach, and the remarkable opportunities it offers for advancing our understanding of hadron physics and related fundamental phenomena.Comment: Updates to the list of authors; Preprint number changed from theory to experiment; Updates to sections 4 and 6, including additional figure