Mechanism of combustion of solid carbon

Measurements of temperature distribution in the reaction zone above the surface of carbon were studied. Using a method of spectral line reversal it was found that the minimum temperature in that zone is several hundred degrees higher than that of the carbon surface

Community Based Treatment of Tuberculosis in Rural Mozambique

Abstract Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease commonly occurring in the lungs and is spread through the air usually by coughing. This infectious disease is particularly dangerous for individuals with compromised immune systems, like those with HIV/AIDS. Treatment for pulmonary TB infections is a regimen of multiple antibiotics lasting for at least six months. Objectives: Despite complete coverage of treatment costs for TB patients by the Ministry of Health in Mozambique, incidence of the disease remains a high 174 cases per 100,000. The objective of this project is to evaluate World Relief’s (WR) community based TB directly observed therapy short-course (DOTS) treatment program. Methods: Sixty-four TB treatment program volunteers within the three highest populated districts of the province of Gaza were interviewed and data were collected to identify accurate numbers of current community based DOTS patients per district. The central hospital in each district was also visited to directly acquire patient data and interview TB nurses. Results: Currently a total of 153 TB patients are receiving community-based treatment in the three districts visited. On average, each village has one community based DOTS volunteer, and each volunteer oversees the treatment of up to three patients at a time. These volunteers reported positive community reception to TB prevention education yet felt inadequate with the community based DOTS system of treatment as a whole. Conclusions: Based on the data collected and interviews completed, the community based DOTS program was effective in raising community awareness of TB prevention, as well as educating about TB as an infectious disease and TB treatment. The evaluation also concluded that the program lacked proper training and education maintenance for the volunteers in rural villages. Implications for global health: Much potential exists for the community based DOTS program to successfully reduce TB incidence in Mozambique, particularly if WR is able to implement the necessary changes and improvements in volunteer training to its program in order to maximize its effectiveness in the community. The health problem of TB is of considerable public health significance because of the highly contagious nature of the bacteria. Without substantial steps taken to decrease the number of cases particularly in populations of greater susceptibility, the disease will only spread and mortality will increase. A successful decrease in incidence of TB infections in Mozambique would lead to a longer average life span and increased health in the population overall

Transcriptomic analysis of field-droughted sorghum from seedling to maturity reveals biotic and metabolic responses.

Drought is the most important environmental stress limiting crop yields. The C4 cereal sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a critical food, forage, and emerging bioenergy crop that is notably drought-tolerant. We conducted a large-scale field experiment, imposing preflowering and postflowering drought stress on 2 genotypes of sorghum across a tightly resolved time series, from plant emergence to postanthesis, resulting in a dataset of nearly 400 transcriptomes. We observed a fast and global transcriptomic response in leaf and root tissues with clear temporal patterns, including modulation of well-known drought pathways. We also identified genotypic differences in core photosynthesis and reactive oxygen species scavenging pathways, highlighting possible mechanisms of drought tolerance and of the delayed senescence, characteristic of the stay-green phenotype. Finally, we discovered a large-scale depletion in the expression of genes critical to arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis, with a corresponding drop in AM fungal mass in the plants' roots

Coulomb Blockade in low mobility nanometer size Si:MOSFETs

We investigate coherent transport in Si:MOSFETs with nominal gate lengths 50 to 100nm and various widths at very low temperature. Independent of the geometry, localized states appear when G=e^{2}/h and transport is dominated by resonant tunnelling through a single quantum dot formed by an impurity potential. We find that the typical size of the relevant impurity quantum dot is comparable to the channel length and that the periodicity of the observed Coulomb blockade oscillations is roughly inversely proportional to the channel length. The spectrum of resonances and the nonlinear I-V curves allow to measure the charging energy and the mean level energy spacing for electrons in the localized state. Furthermore, we find that in the dielectric regime, the variance var(lng) of the logarithmic conductance lng is proportional to its average value consistent with one-electron scaling models.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Low-lying quadrupole collective states of the light and medium Xenon isotopes

Collective low lying levels of light and medium Xenon isotopes are deduced from the Generalized Bohr Hamiltonian (GBH). The microscopic seven functions entering into the GBH are built from a deformed mean field of the Woods-Saxon type. Theoretical spectra are found to be close to the ones of the experimental data taking into account that the calculations are completely microscopic, that is to say, without any fitting of parameters.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Representation Matters: One Approach to Centering Diversity in Science Classes | Speaker Series

While some disciplines lend themselves to a focus on DEI issues via the content of the courses themselves, math and science courses historically do not. As we all work to make our classrooms more inclusive and accessible, we can benefit from observing and discussing approaches others have taken. Please join us for a discussion of one approach to centering DEI efforts in a STEM field and stay for a mini-conference that has emerged from this work

Aspects of the Life History of the Pond Smelt (Hypomesus olidus) in the Yukon and Northwest Territories

The pond smelt (Hypomesus olidus) has a limited North American distribution, being restricted to the west coast of Alaska and the drainage of the lower Mackenzie River, N.W.T. This study examined an isolated population in a small tundra lake on the Yukon coastal plain. Otolith interpretation revealed that most adult fish sampled in Lake 100 were age 4+ and 5+ years, but a few individuals lived to age 8+ and 9+. Full maturity was not reached until age 5+ and repeat spawning was common. The sex ratio was skewed in favour of females. Growth was found to be slower in the Yukon population than in Alaskan and Japanese lakes. Some stunting was evident in Lake 100 pond smelt, but otherwise their meristic and morphometric characteristics corresponded with those from elsewhere. The pond smelt were primarily planktivorous in Lake 100 and there appeared to be no significant predation on them, but in the Mackenzie delta and elsewhere they are utilized as a forage species.Key words: pond smelt, life history, food habits, Hypomesus olidus, YukonMots clés: éperian à petite bouche, biologie, alimentation, Hypomesus olidus, Yukon, cycle vita

Creativity in Teaching - Engaging Students | Brownbag Series

Bring your lunch and learn from your colleagues! Brownbag lunch presentations will be held four times this semester with different faculty members presenting topics that may be helpful to you

Comparison of aerosol optical properties above clouds between POLDER and AeroCom models over the South East Atlantic Ocean during the fire season

Aerosol properties above clouds have been retrieved over the South East Atlantic Ocean during the fire season 2006 using satellite observations from POLDER (Polarization and Directionality of Earth Reflectances). From June to October, POLDER has observed a mean Above-Cloud Aerosol Optical Thickness (ACAOT) of 0.28 and a mean Above-Clouds Single Scattering Albedo (ACSSA) of 0.87 at 550 nm. These results have been used to evaluate the simulation of aerosols above clouds in 5 AeroCom (Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models) models (GOCART, HadGEM3, ECHAM5-HAM2, OsloCTM2 and SPRINTARS). Most models do not reproduce the observed large aerosol load episodes. The comparison highlights the importance of the injection height and the vertical transport parameterizations to simulate the large ACAOT observed by POLDER. Furthermore, POLDER ACSSA is best reproduced by models with a high imaginary part of black carbon refractive index, in accordance with recent recommendations