IoT applications utilizing excess heat in electrical lighting fixtures

The development of IoT instrumentation will always be strongly influenced by the properties of the power supply system. A large number of IoT nodes creates a danger of extra expenditures when changing the battery. For this reason, the development of supply nodes tends to prefer systems capable of battery-less operation, obtaining energy from other sources. This article deals with an alternative method of electrical energy acquisition form the excessive heat appearing in LED lighting fixtures utilizing large-area LED chips. A Peltier cell was used for the conversion of heat energy to electrical energy, connected as thermo-electric generator into the thermal chain

Bursaphelenchus pinophilus Brzeski & Baujard, 1997 (Nematoda: Parasitaphelenchinae) associated with nematangia on Pityogenes bidentatus (Herbst, 1783) (Coleoptera: Scolytinae), from the Czech Republic

The occurrence of Bursaphelenchus species in the Czech Republic is poorly known, the first report of the genus being made by Kubátová et al. (2000) who reported the association of B. eremus with the hyphomycetous microfungus, Esteya vermicola, and the bark beetle, Scolytus intricatus, collected from Quercus robur, in central Bohemia. To date, four other species have been reported from the country, namely B. fungivorus (Braasch et al., 2002), B. hofmanni (see Braasch, 2001), B. mucronatus (see Braasch, 2001) and B. vallesianus (Gaar et al., 2006). More recently, a survey for Bursaphelenchus species associated with bark- and wood-boring insects in the Czech Republic identified B. pinophilus Brzeski & Baujard, 1997 from the Moravia region. Although this represents a new country record, it was also associated with nematangia on the hind wings of a new insect vector. A total of 404 bark- and wood-boring insects were collected from declining or symptomatic trees and screened for the presence of Bursaphelenchus. Bark and longhorn beetles were captured manually after debarking parts of the trunk displaying symptoms of insect attacks. Longhorn beetle larvae were also collected together with logs cut from the trunk. Logs were kept at room temperature in the laboratory until insect emergence. Each adult insect was individually dissected in water and examined for nematodes. All nematodes resembling dauer juveniles of Bursaphelenchus were collected and identified by molecular characterisation using a region of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) containing the internal transcribed spacer regions ITS1 and ITS2. ITS-RFLP analyses using five restriction enzymes (AluI, HaeIII, HinfI, MspI, RsaI) were performed to generate the species-specific profile according to Burgermeister et al. (2009). Species identification was also confirmed by morphological data after culture of the dauers on Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex Ft., growing in 5% malt extract agar. During this survey, only species belonging to the Curculionidae, subfamily Scolytinae, revealed the presence of nematodes belonging to Bursaphelenchus. Dauers of this genus were found aggregated under the elytra in nematangia formed at the root of the hind wings (Fig. 1). The dauers were identified from 12 individuals of Pityogenes bidentatus (Herbst, 1783) (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) collected under the bark of Pinus sylvestris trunks. Each insect carried ca 10-100 dauers. The ITS-RFLP patterns of the dauers so obtained confirmed the identification of B. pinophilus associated with this insect species. Bursaphelenchus pinophilus has been found mainly in Europe and has been reported from various countries such as Poland (Brzeski & Baujard, 1997), Germany (Braasch, 2001), and Portugal (Penas et al., 2007). The recent detection of this species associated with dead P. koraiensis in Korea (Han et al., 2009) expands its geographical distribution and potential importance. It has been found associated only with Pinus species, but very little is known about the insect vector. The bark beetle, Hylurgus ligniperda, was initially suggested as the insect vector by Pe-nas et al. (2006), although the nematode associated with this insect was later reclassified as B. sexdentati by morphological and molecular analysis (Penas et al., 2007). According to the literature, P. bidentatus has been cited as a vector of Ektaphelenchus sp. (Kakuliya, 1966) in Georgia, and an unidentified nematode species in Spain (Roberston et al., 2008). Interestingly, B. pinophilus was found in the nematangia formed at the root of the hind wings of P. bidentatus. Although this phenomenon is not so common in other Bursaphelenchus species, B. rufipennis has been found recently in such a structure on the hind wings of the insect Dendroctonus rufipennis (Kanzaki et al., 2008). Although other nematode species (e.g., Ektaphelenchus spp.) are frequently found associated within the same nematangia (see Kanzaki et al., 2008), in this particular case, only dauers of B. pinophilus were identified. The association between B. pinophilus and P. bidentatus represents the first report of this biological association and the association with the Scolytinae strengthens the tight and specific links between this group of Bursaphelenchus species and members of the Scolytinae (Ryss et al., 2005)

Bifocal extra- and intradural melanocytoma of the spine: case report and literature review

Background: Spinal melanocytoma is one of the most infrequent space-occupying lesions of the central nervous system. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of primary bifocal intradural melanocytoma of heterogenous pathological grade to date. Case description: We report the case of a 43-year old patient with primary bifocal melanocytoma, clinically and radiologically resembling benign schwannoma. The patient presented with myeloradiculopathy of the left C3 dermatome. Magnetic resonance imaging of the upper spine revealed two space-occupying lesions with paraspinal extension, initially diagnosed as neurofibroma. Definitive histopathological classification of both lesions was melanocytoma. Both tumours were only partially removed due to adherence to surrounding structures. The patient underwent stereotactic external beam irradiation (EBR). Follow-up at 1year after surgery revealed no recurrence and the patient remained free of symptoms. The clinical, radiological and pathological features of this rare tumour entity are presented and the available literature is reviewed. Conclusions: Intradural melanocytoma, although exceedingly rare, requires a thorough work-up to exclude malignant melanoma. With only two previous reports of multifocal melanocytoma published in the literature, standard therapy has not yet been established and complete surgical removal remains the modality of choice. Patients should be closely monitored to detect local recurrence or malignant degeneration. EBR may be considered in cases where total excision is not achievable and reduces risk of local recurrence

Twisted duality of the CAR-Algebra

We give a complete proof of the twisted duality property M(q)'= Z M(q^\perp) Z* of the (self-dual) CAR-Algebra in any Fock representation. The proof is based on the natural Halmos decomposition of the (reference) Hilbert space when two suitable closed subspaces have been distinguished. We use modular theory and techniques developed by Kato concerning pairs of projections in some essential steps of the proof. As a byproduct of the proof we obtain an explicit and simple formula for the graph of the modular operator. This formula can be also applied to fermionic free nets, hence giving a formula of the modular operator for any double cone.Comment: 32 pages, Latex2e, to appear in Journal of Mathematical Physic

Comparison of single and parallel ejector operation in transcritical R744 cycle.

Ejector systems have been a field of research for many years. One of the latest topics are transcritical cycles with R744 refrigerant. The main reason of installing ejectors in that type of systems is the recovering of the pressure energy, lost in the classic cycles during the throttling processes.The thesis consists basically of two parts, which both of consider the topic of parallel ejector operation. In the third part conclusions are presented.The first part is a simplified feasibility study for a concept R744 cycle with three different ejector geometries working in parallel. MS Excel spreadsheet was created for general parameters calculations and for specific motive nozzles mass flow estimations.The second part contains results of measurement procedures on the SINTEF test facility. First, single ejector operation was examined. Basing on the test results, characteristic of P2GGC ejector geometry has been created. Later on, a new module with two different geometries (P2GGC and A2CDC) working in parallel has been built on the rig. The parallel ejector operation has been examined, as well as single operation of each geometry. The results has been compared, considering the influence of each operation on the system parameters.In the third part final conclusions are presented. Some ideas of further work are mentioned as well

The Tin Man Needs a Heart: A Proposed Framework for the Regulation of Bioprinted Organs

Each day, seventeen people die in the United States while waiting for an organ transplant. At least part of this need could be met by bioprinting, a technology that allows the on-demand production of custom-sized organs from a patient’s own cells. The field of bioprinting is progressing rapidly: the first bioprinted organs have already entered the clinic. Yet, developers of bioprinted organs face significant uncertainty as to how their potentially lifesaving products will be regulated—and by which government agency. Such regulatory uncertainty has the potential to decrease investment and stifle innovation in this promising technological field. This Note examines how the current framework for the regulation of medical products and human organs might be applied to bioprinted organs. This Note concludes that the existing regulatory schemes do not sufficiently address the specific regulatory needs created by bioprinted organs, which are uniquely interdisciplinary materials. Therefore, this Note proposes a new regulatory framework to reduce uncertainty for bioprinted organ developers and to promote patient access to these bioprinted materials that might soon serve as safe and effective replacements for donor organs

Factors affecting the occurrence of bark- and wood-boring beetles on Scots pine logging residues from pre-commercial thinning

A total of480 Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees felled during pre-commercial thinning in a single stand in the Drahanska Highlands in the Czech Republic were examined for the occurrence of bark- and wood-boring beetles. Thinning was performed on different dates during 2006 and 2007 (February, May, August and November). Half of the felled trees were cut into 1 m-long sections, and the rest were left whole. The fauna inhabiting the logging residues were investigated by peeling off the bark ofthe felled trees during the first six months of the vegetative period following felling. The studied logging residues hosted species-rich assemblages of bark- and wood-boring beetles (28 species identified), including numerous populations of several pest species (Pityogenes chalcographus, Tomicus minor and Tomicus piniperda). The occurrence of species was significantly affected mainly by the part of the tree and its diameter and bark thickness and by the felling date and post-felling cutting of the trees