Complexing additives to reduce the immiscible phase formed in the hybrid ZnBr2 flow battery

The zinc-bromine redox flow battery (RFB) is one of a very few commercially viable RFB energy storage system capable of integration with intermittent renewable energy sources to deliver improved energy management. However, due to the volatility of the electrogenerated bromine and potential for its crossover from positive to negative electrolytes, this system requires the use of quaternary ammonium complexes (N-methyl-N-ethylpyrrolidinium, (MEP)) to capture this bromine. This produces an immiscible phase with the Br2 which requires a complex network of pipes, pumps and automated controls to ensure access to the electroactive material during discharge. In this work, the use of novel quaternary ammonium complexes to capture the electrogenerated bromine but to keep it in the aqueous phase is examined. Three compounds, 1-(carboxymethyl) pyridine-1-ium, 1-(2-carboxymethyl)-1-methylmorpholin-1-ium and 1-(2-carboxymethyl)-1-methylpyrrolidin-1-ium, were found to successfully reduce the volume of the immiscible phase formed on complexing with the polybromide (Brx-) whilst displaying similar enthalpy of vaporisation values as that of MEP. Electrochemical analysis also revealed that these compounds did not impact on the electrode kinetics of the Br-/Brx- reaction indicating that the resulting surface film formed with these compounds behaved as a chemically modified electrode, in contrast to the surface film formed with MEP

Methods for nanoparticle labeling of ricin and effect on toxicity

The unique optical properties associated with nanostructured materials that support the excitation of surface plasmons offer many new opportunities for the enhanced optical investigation of biological materials that pose a security threat. In particular, ricin is considered a significant bioterrorism risk due to its high toxicity combined with its ready availability as a byproduct in castor oil production. Therefore, the development of optical techniques capable of rapid on-site toxin detection with high molecular specificity and sensitivity continues to be of significant importance. Furthermore, understanding of the ricin cell entry and intracellular pathways remains poor due to a lack of suitable bioanalytical techniques. Initial work aimed at simultaneously tackling both these issues is described where different approaches for the nanoparticle labeling of ricin are investigated along with changes in ricin toxicity associated with the labeling process

A social and cultural history of the federal prohibition of psilocybin

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 17, 2007)Vita.Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.This dissertation focuses on the events leading to the 1968 federal prohibition of psilocybin. The goal is to show how the primary active compound in an ostensibly harmless fungus (the psilocybin mushroom) became controversial in less than a decade. The activities of Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (later Ram Dass) were major factors in this transformation. The dissertation uses previously unpublished materials to analyze Leary and Alpert's lives and careers through the early 1970's. Two major components are their involvement in the "Harvard drug scandal" as well as their transformation from Harvard Professors to countercultural icons. Indeed, psilocybin first gained notoriety during the "Harvard drug scandal" when a small team of researchers, most notably Leary and Alpert, began testing the substance on a variety of human subjects including Harvard graduate students. These activities piqued the interest of Harvard undergraduates who wanted to try psilocybin for themselves. This, among other aspects of the project, drew the condemnation of other faculty and Harvard administrators. This case is theoretically interesting because unlike most illegal drugs, psilocybin was not originally linked to a threatening minority group. Rather, psilocybin's notoriety grew out of the fact that it was being ingested by some of the nation's most privileged young men. By the late 1960s, however, the proselytizing of Leary and Ram Dass combined with the youth and anti-war movement to demonize the drug"s users.Includes bibliographical reference

Ultra- and Hyper-compact HII regions at 20 GHz

We present radio and infrared observations of 4 hyper-compact HII regions and 4 ultra-compact HII regions in the southern Galactic plane. These objects were selected from a blind survey for UCHII regions using data from two new radio surveys of the southern sky; the Australia Telescope 20 GHz survey (AT20G) and the 2nd epoch Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey (MGPS-2) at 843 MHz. To our knowledge, this is the first blind radio survey for hyper- and ultra-compact HII regions. We have followed up these sources with the Australia Telescope Compact Array to obtain H70-alpha recombination line measurements, higher resolution images at 20 GHz and flux density measurements at 30, 40 and 95 GHz. From this we have determined sizes and recombination line temperatures as well as modeling the spectral energy distributions to determine emission measures. We have classified the sources as hyper-compact or ultra-compact on the basis of their physical parameters, in comparison with benchmark parameters from the literature. Several of these bright, compact sources are potential calibrators for the Low Frequency Instrument (30-70 GHz) and the 100-GHz channel of the High Frequency Instrument of the Planck satellite mission. They may also be useful as calibrators for the Australia Telescope Compact Array, which lacks good non-variable primary flux calibrators at higher frequencies and in the Galactic plane region. Our spectral energy distributions allow the flux densities within the Planck bands to be determined, although our high frequency observations show that several sources have excess emission at 95 GHz (3 mm) that can not be explained by current models.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

PATENTS, R&D AND LAG EFFECTS: EVIDENCE FROM FLEXIBLE METHODS FOR COUNT PANEL DATA ON MANUFACTURING FIRMS

Hausman, Hall and Griliches (1984) and Hall, Griliches and Hausman (1986) investigated whether there was a lag in the patent-R&D relationship for the U.S. manufacturing sector using 1970¿s data. They found that there was little evidence of anything but contemporaneous movement of patents and R&D. We reexamine this important issue employing new longitudinal patent data at the firm level for the U.S. manufacturing sector from 1982 to 1992. To address unique features of the data, we estimate various distributed lag and dynamic multiplicative panel count data models. The paper also develops a new class of count panel data models based on series expansion of the distribution of individual effects. The empirical analyses show that, although results are somewhat sensitive to different estimation methods, the contemporaneous relationship between patenting and R&D expenditures continues to be rather strong, accounting for over 60% of the total R&D elasticity. Regarding the lag structure of the patents-R&D relationship, we do find a significant lag in all empirical specifications. Moreover, the estimated lag effects are higher than have previously been found, suggesting that the contribution of R&D history to current patenting has increased from the 1970¿s to the 1980¿s.Innovative activity, Patents and R&D, Individual effects, count panel data methods.

VIRUS-INDUCED DIABETES MELLITUS : I. HYPERGLYCEMIA AND HYPOINSULINEMIA IN MICE INFECTED WITH ENCEPHALOMYOCARDITIS VIRUS

Infection of DBA/2N male mice with encephalomyocarditis virus resulted in a diabeteslike syndrome characterized by hyperglycemia, glycosuria, hypoinsulinemia, polydipsia, and polyphagia. Blood glucose levels were elevated within 4 days after infection and reached a maximum mean level of 320 mg/100 ml within 12 days. Approximately 60–80% of the animals developed a transient hyperglycemia while 10–15% of the animals remained hyperglycemic for well over 6 mo. The remaining animals failed to become hyperglycemic but many had abnormal glucose tolerance curves. Hyperglycemia was most pronounced when animals were allowed free access to food, and the incidence of byperglycemia was related both to the strain and sex of the animals, with few females developing hyperglycemia. The amount of immunoreactive insulin in the plasma of infected hyperglycemic mice was significantly lower than in appropriate controls, and injection of exogenous insulin resulted in a rapid drop in the blood glucose levels. Despite the fact that certain animals were hyperglycemic for many months, virus could not be recovered from the pancreas after the first 10 days of the infection

Measurement of nuclear effects in neutrino interactions with minimal dependence on neutrino energy

We present a phenomenological study of nuclear effects in neutrino charged-current interactions, using transverse kinematic imbalances in exclusive measurements. Novel observables with minimal dependence on neutrino energy are proposed to study quasielastic scattering, and especially resonance production. They should be able to provide direct constraints on nuclear effects in neutrino- and antineutrino-nucleus interactions.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, accepted version by PR

Depth-averaged simulation of flows in asymmetric compound channels with smooth and rough narrow floodplains

Depth-averaged hydrodynamic models are predominantly used in numerical simulations of compound channel flows. One of the most popular methods for the depth-averaged simulation is Shiono and Knight method (SKM). This method accounts for the effects of bed friction, lateral turbulence and secondary flows, via three key parameters f, λ and Γ, respectively. The conventional expressions that are developed to calibrate these parameters are generally based on experiments in compound channels with wide floodplains. In this study, the application of SKM to an asymmetric compound channel with a narrow floodplain is examined in terms of the calibration requirements. Two sets of experiments that have smooth and rough floodplains are conducted and then simulated by SKM. In smooth floodplain cases, the results reveal that SKM model with the conventional calibration expressions of f, λ and Г is reasonably capable of predicting the distributions of depth-averaged velocity and boundary shear stress in the main channel. However, in the floodplain region, the expressions recommended for calibrating Г need to be modified to improve the predicted results in that region. In cases of the rough floodplain, the results indicate that only the values of λ in the main channel need to be changed from its conventional values to improve the predictions

A cloud physics investigation utilizing Skylab data

There are no author-identified significant results in this report