Feasibility of a geothermal direct use enterprise park in Puna, Hawaii

"After a public information process which included surveying community members regarding the acceptability of 21 different geothermal direct use applications, four agriculture-related businesses were selected as candidates for a hypothetical 15-acre (6 ha) geothermal enterprise park in the Kapoho/Pohoki area of the island of Hawaii. The applications included greenhouse bottom heating, pasteurization of potting media, biodiesel production, and lumber drying. There was significant community support for the chosen applications, and minimal opposition expressed. An engineering analysis concluded that a direct use enterprise park is technically feasible. Such a park could require up to 11 million Btu/hr (770 kcal/sec) of heat which might be supplied from a high-temperature resource, such as waste heat from a power plant, causing less than a 10° F (5.6° C) decrease in injectate temperature. The analysis was based on this hypothetical scenario, since waste heat is not currently available for direct use. The direct use enterprise park would cost an estimated $12.5 million to develop and construct, and$738,000 per year to operate and maintain. The hypothetical park would only be marginally economically viable, even with significant financial subsidies. Annual revenues are expected to be $1.21 million, based on a$200/acre annual lease rate and a geothermal heat rate priced at $1.32/therm, or half of the prevailing average cost of diesel and propane. Annual revenues could be as high as$2.42 million if the geothermal heat was priced the same as conventional fuels. The geothermal applications in the park could be expected to replace the use of 6,500-9,700 barrels of crude oil each year. In addition, 130 new jobs could be created.

Variability in the reported management of pulmonary metastases in osteosarcoma.

Nearly 20% of patients with newly diagnosed osteosarcoma have detectable metastases at diagnosis; the majority of which occur in the lungs. There are no established recommendations for the timing and modality of metastasectomy. Members of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) were emailed an anonymous 10-min survey assessing their management practices for pulmonary findings at the time of an osteosarcoma diagnosis. The questionnaire presented three scenarios and discussed the choice to perform surgery, the timing of resection, and the choice of surgical procedure. Analyses were stratified by medical profession. One hundred and eighty-three physicians responded to our questionnaire. Respondents were comprised of orthopedic surgeons (37%), medical oncologists (31%), pediatric oncologists (22%), and other medical subspecialties (10%). There was variability among the respondents in the management of the pulmonary nodules. The majority of physicians chose to resect the pulmonary nodules following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (46-63%). Thoracotomy was the preferred technique for surgical resection. When only unilateral findings were present, the majority of physicians did not explore the contralateral lung. The majority of respondents did not recommend resection if the pulmonary nodule disappeared following chemotherapy. The survey demonstrated heterogeneity in the management of pulmonary metastases in osteosarcoma. Prospective trials need to evaluate whether these differences in management have implications for outcomes for patients with metastatic osteosarcoma

Whole exome HBV DNA integration is independent of the intrahepatic HBV reservoir in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B

The involvement of HBV DNA integration in promoting hepatocarcinogenesis and the extent to which the intrahepatic HBV reservoir modulates liver disease progression remains poorly understood. We examined the intrahepatic HBV reservoir, the occurrence of HBV DNA integration and its impact on the hepatocyte transcriptome in hepatitis B 'e' antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB)

Combining estimates of interest in prognostic modelling studies after multiple imputation: current practice and guidelines

Background: Multiple imputation (MI) provides an effective approach to handle missing covariate data within prognostic modelling studies, as it can properly account for the missing data uncertainty. The multiply imputed datasets are each analysed using standard prognostic modelling techniques to obtain the estimates of interest. The estimates from each imputed dataset are then combined into one overall estimate and variance, incorporating both the within and between imputation variability. Rubin's rules for combining these multiply imputed estimates are based on asymptotic theory. The resulting combined estimates may be more accurate if the posterior distribution of the population parameter of interest is better approximated by the normal distribution. However, the normality assumption may not be appropriate for all the parameters of interest when analysing prognostic modelling studies, such as predicted survival probabilities and model performance measures. Methods: Guidelines for combining the estimates of interest when analysing prognostic modelling studies are provided. A literature review is performed to identify current practice for combining such estimates in prognostic modelling studies. Results: Methods for combining all reported estimates after MI were not well reported in the current literature. Rubin's rules without applying any transformations were the standard approach used, when any method was stated. Conclusion: The proposed simple guidelines for combining estimates after MI may lead to a wider and more appropriate use of MI in future prognostic modelling studies

Assembly of Silver Nanoparticles into Hollow Spheres Using Eu(III) Compound based on Trifluorothenoyl-Acetone

The preparation of luminescent silver hollow spheres using Eu(III) compound based on trifluorothenoyl-acetone is described. The structure and size of silver hollow spheres were determined by TEM images. The result shows the formation of hollow structure and average size of the silver hollow spheres (0.9 μm). The silver hollow spheres were further characterized by UV absorption spectrum, SNOM and SEM images, suggesting them to be formed by self-assemble of some isolated silver nanoparticles. The luminescent properties of them were also investigated and they are shown to be high emission strength; moreover, they offer the distinct advantage of a lower packing density compared with other commercial luminescent products

Search for anomalous t t-bar production in the highly-boosted all-hadronic final state

A search is presented for a massive particle, generically referred to as a Z', decaying into a t t-bar pair. The search focuses on Z' resonances that are sufficiently massive to produce highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks, which yield collimated decay products that are partially or fully merged into single jets. The analysis uses new methods to analyze jet substructure, providing suppression of the non-top multijet backgrounds. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns. Upper limits in the range of 1 pb are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction for a topcolor Z' modeled for several widths, as well as for a Randall--Sundrum Kaluza--Klein gluon. In addition, the results constrain any enhancement in t t-bar production beyond expectations of the standard model for t t-bar invariant masses larger than 1 TeV.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physics; this version includes a minor typo correction that will be submitted as an erratu

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Measurement of the t t-bar production cross section in the dilepton channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The t t-bar production cross section (sigma[t t-bar]) is measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV in data collected by the CMS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns. The measurement is performed in events with two leptons (electrons or muons) in the final state, at least two jets identified as jets originating from b quarks, and the presence of an imbalance in transverse momentum. The measured value of sigma[t t-bar] for a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV is 161.9 +/- 2.5 (stat.) +5.1/-5.0 (syst.) +/- 3.6(lumi.) pb, consistent with the prediction of the standard model.Comment: Replaced with published version. Included journal reference and DO