An Engineering, Geological and Hydrological Environmental Assessment of a 250 MMSCFD Dry Ash Lurgi Coal Gasification Facility

A preliminary engineering, geological, and hydrological environmental assessment of a proposed 250 MMSCFD dry ash Lurgi coal gasification facility is discussed. The facility\u27s emission spectrum is examined on the basis of the proposed design and empirical data. This system utilizes approximately 13 million tons of lignite and 17,000 acre feet of water per year and consumes 6500 tons of oxygen per day. The results of the study indicate that the major gaseous effluent is CO2, that the federal limits on SO2 effluent may be met, and that the atmospheric degradation criterion will be the most difficult one to meet. The fate of trace elements during the gasification process is discussed. Available preliminary data indicate that the majority of the trace elements will be concentrated in and leave the system with the ash. The probable hydrological and geological impacts pertinent to ash and sludge disposal and water table depression are discussed. The results of the study indicate that the water table will be depressed during mine operations and that some groundwater pollution will occur due to waste disposal

Review of Engaging Education: Developing Emotional Literacy, Equity and Co-education. Brian Matthews. (Book Review)

The book is only about a fraction of its title Engaging Education. His section on ‘engaging the emotions’ sums this up: whereas the book is largely about engaging the emotions positively, the definition of ‘Engaging’ is more far reaching: “that pupils should be involved in their learning; be active and absorbed and not just passive recipients of a set curriculum. Additionally, they should feel engaged in the processes of education and have some input into creating their own agendas for learning” (p.2). Exploring the full impact of this statement across the curriculum really needs a different book

Estimating local car ownership models

Many studies in the transport demand literature have shown that income is an important factor in determining how many cars a household owns. When the models used to measure the strength of this relationship are estimated on cross-sectional data, they typically yield one overall value as the estimate. Local circumstances will, however, vary. This paper illustrates the use of the Geographically Weighted Regression technique to estimate the individual strength of this relationship for each of the United Kingdom electoral wards. Use of this type of model enables a wards’ income elasticity to be based on both the local estimate of the strength of this relationship and the current local level of car ownership. How the use of this local elasticity changes future forecasts of the size of the vehicle fleet is illustrated

Agouti C57BL/6N embryonic stem cells for mouse genetic resources.

We report the characterization of a highly germline competent C57BL/6N mouse embryonic stem cell line, JM8. To simplify breeding schemes, the dominant agouti coat color gene was restored in JM8 cells by targeted repair of the C57BL/6 nonagouti mutation. These cells provide a robust foundation for large-scale mouse knockout programs that aim to provide a public resource of targeted mutations in the C57BL/6 genetic background

INTEGRAL IGR J18135-1751=HESS J1813-178: A new cosmic high energy accelerator from keV to TeV

We report the discovery of a soft gamma ray source, namely IGR J18135-1751, detected with the IBIS imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite. The source is persistent and has a 20-100 keV luminosity of $\sim$5.7 $\times$ 10$^{34}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (assuming a distance of 4kpc). This source is coincident with one of the eight unidentified objects recently reported by the HESS collaboration as part of the first TeV survey of the inner part of the Galaxy. Two of these new sources found along the Galactic plane, HESS J1813-178 and HESS J1614-518, have no obvious lower energy counterpart, a fact that motivated the suggestion that they might be dark cosmic ray accelerators. HESS J1813-178 has a strongly absorbed X-ray counterpart, the ASCA source AGPS273.4-17.8, showing a power law spectrum with photon index $\sim$ 1.8 and a total (galactic plus intrinsic) absorption corresponding to N$_H$ $\sim$5 $\times$ 10$^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$. We hypothesize that the source is a pulsar wind nebula embedded in its supernova remnant. The lack of X/gamma-ray variability, the radio morphology and the ASCA spectrum are all compatible with this interpretation. In any case we rule out the hypothesis that HESS J1813-178 belongs to a new class of TeV objects or that it is a cosmic "dark particle" accelerator.Comment: Revised version accepted for publication in ApJ Letters; 12 pages, 3 Figures. Figure 1 printed in low resolutio

A frameshift mutation in NOD2 associated with susceptibility to Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, which is thought to result from the effect of environmental factors in a genetically predisposed host. A gene location in the pericentromeric region of chromosome 16, IBD1, that contributes to susceptibility to Crohn's disease has been established through multiple linkage studies(1-6), but the specific gene(s) has not been identified. NOD2, a gene that encodes a protein with homology to plant disease resistance gene products is located in the peak region of linkage on chromosome 16 (ref. 7). Here we show, by using the transmission disequilibium test and case-control analysis, that a frameshift mutation caused by a cytosine insertion, 3020insC, which is expected to encode a truncated NOD2 protein, is associated with Crohn's disease. Wild-type NOD2 activates nuclear factor NF-kappaB, making it responsive to bacterial lipopolysaccharides; however, this induction was deficient in mutant NOD2. These results implicate NOD2 in susceptibility to Crohn's disease, and suggest a link between an innate immune response to bacterial components and development of disease.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62856/1/411603a0.pd

A pathway to a stronger research culture in health policy

There are currently limited pathways into a career in health policy research in Australia, due in part to a serious absence of health policy research capability in Australian universities. The authors define what they consider health policy research and education should comprise, then examine what is currently on offer and propose ways to strengthen health policy research in Australia. This paper, which is part analysis and part commentary, is offered to provoke wider debate about how health policy research can be nurtured in Australia

Rates of self-reported delinquency among Western Australian male and female high school students: the malefemale gender gap

The Adapted Self-Report Delinquency Scale (ASDS) was administered to 328 adolescents (174 males and 154 females) from eight high schools in Perth, Western Australia. The ages of the sample ranged from 13 to 17 years. Males reported a greater percentage level of involvement than females in 36 of 40 individual delinquent behaviours comprising the ASDS. A between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance using a Bonferroni adjusted alpha revealed a significant multivariate main effect of gender, F(6, 318) = 3.98, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.08. No significant main effect of age was evident. Univariate F-tests revealed that males scored significantly higher than females on only one of seven delinquent factors (physical aggression). These data are discussed in light of established evidence showing male predominance in delinquency, recent reports suggesting a male-female gender gap, and theories that have attempted to explain this disparity in offending among males and females

X-ray Spectral Survey with XMM--Newton of a Complete Sample of Nearby Seyfert Galaxies

Results obtained from an X-ray spectral survey of nearby Seyfert galaxies using XMM--Newton are reported. The sample was optically selected, well defined, complete in B mag, and distance limited: it consists of the nearest (D<22 Mpc) 27 Seyfert galaxies (9 of type 1, 18 of type 2) taken from the Ho et al. (1997) sample. This is one of the largest atlases of hard X-ray spectra of low-L active galaxies ever assembled. All nuclear sources except two Sey 2s are detected between 2-10 keV, half for the first time ever, and average spectra are obtained for all of them. Nuclear luminosities reach values down to 10**38 erg/s. The shape of the distribution of X-ray parameters is affected by the presence of Compton-thick objects (> 30% among type 2s). The latter have been identified either directly from their intense FeK line and flat X-ray spectra, or indirectly with flux diagnostic diagrams which use isotropic indicators. After taking into account these highly absorbed sources, we find that (i) the intrinsic X-ray spectral properties (i.e., spectral shapes and luminosities above 2 keV) are consistent between type 1 and type 2 Sey, as expected from ``unified models'', (ii) Sey galaxies as a whole are distributed fairly continuously over the entire range of Nh, between 10**20 and 10**25 cm**-2, and (iii) while Sey 1s tend to have lower Nh and Sey 2s tend to have the highest, we find 30% and 10% exceptions, respectively. Overall the sample well represents the average intrinsic X-ray spectral properties of nearby AGN, including a proper estimate of the distribution of their absorbing columns. Finally, we conclude that, with the exception of a few cases, the present study agrees with predictions of unified models of Sey galaxies, and extends their validity down to very low luminosities.Comment: 23 pages, 4 tables, 4 figures, 2 Appendices with 27 source spectra and notes, to be published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics Journa