AIM： To compare the effects of neurolytic celiac plexus block （NCPB） and videothoracoscopic splanchnicectomy （VSPL） on pain and quality of life of chronic pancreatitis （CP） patients. METHODS： ...Forty-eight small duct CP patients were treated invasively with NCPB （n = 30） or VSPL （n = 18） in two non-randomized, prospective, case-controlled protocols due to chronic pain syndrome, and compared to a control group who were treated conservatively （n = 32）. Visual analog scales were used to assess pain and opioid consumption rate was evaluated. In addition, the quality of life was measured using QLQ C-30 for NCPB and FACIT for VSPL. Although both questionnaires covered similar problems, they could not be compared directly one with another. Therefore, the studies were compared by meta-analysis methodology. RESULTS： Both procedures resulted in a significant positive effect on pain of CP patients. Opioids were withdrawn totally in 47.0% of NCPB and 36.4% of VSPL patients, and reduced in 53.0% and 45.4% of the respective patient groups. No reduction in opioid usage was observed in the control group. In addition, fatigue and emotional well-being showed improvements. Finally, NCPB demonstrated stronger positive effects on social support, which might possibly be attributed to earlier presentation of patients treated with NCPB. CONCLUSION： Both invasive pain treatment methods are effective in CP patients with chronic pain.
This research focuses on anoxic ammonium oxidation (anammox). The anammox process for treating high ammonium and low organic carbon wastewater can reduce operational costs to a greater extent than ...the conventional autotrophic/heterotrophic treatment process can.
The process has been widely researched because of its potential economic benefits. However, during long-term reactor operation, sudden reductions of nitrogen removal rates have been reported; maximum nitrogen removal rates in different reactor configurations could not approach values predicted based on mathematical modeling; and the crucial stability parameter, such as nitrite, did not have defined threshold concentration. It was hypothesised that free ammonia (FA) increase is the precursor of the instability of the anammox reactor. If it is true that nitrite up to about 200 mg N/L should stimulate nitrogen removal rate inside of the anammox reactor, when FA is kept below the inhibition threshold concentration. The research presented in the thesis argues that FA plays a larger role than has been previously considered in the instability of the anammox reactor.
This study found FA inhibited nitrogen removal rates (NRR) at concentrations exceeding 2 mg N/L. In the pH range 7 to 8, the decrease in anammox activity was independent of pH and related only to the concentration of FA. Nitrite concentrations of up to 200 mg N/L did not negatively affect nitrogen removal rate. This study further found that low nitrite provided stable anammox reactor performance, but that high nitrite was not necessarily the cause for reactor destabilization.
During the research high nitrogen removal rate was achieved when low FA was provided. During regular reactor operation at pH 6.5, the NRR at about 6.2 g N/Ld was archived. This value was never achieved before till this study was conducted. Conducted research showed controlling FA at low level is required to approach high rates in anammox reactors. Achieving high rates in anammox reactors allow significant reduction in reactor volume which saves resources.
Further studies will be required to identify the FA effect on different microbial interactions, and that may provide more in-depth understanding of the nitrite and FA effect than observations based on NRR alone.
Provider: - Institution: - Data provided by Europeana Collections- artykuł z.: Annales Universitatis Mariae Curiae-Skłodowska. Sectio I, Philosophia-Sociologia. Vol. 31/32 (2006/2007), s. 71-86 ; ...streszcz. ang.- Tyt. równol.: The Theory of Myth of Ernst Cassirer- All metadata published by Europeana are available free of restriction under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. However, Europeana requests that you actively acknowledge and give attribution to all metadata sources including Europeana
We demonstrate analytically and verify numerically that the out-of-time order correlator is given by the thermal average of Loschmidt echo signals. This provides a direct link between the ...out-of-time-order correlator-a recently suggested measure of information scrambling in quantum chaotic systems-and the Loschmidt echo, a well-appreciated familiar diagnostic that captures the dynamical aspect of chaotic behavior in the time domain, and is accessible to experimental studies.
Energy efficiency is one of the most important topics nowadays. It is strictly related to energy demand, energy policy, environmental pollution, and economic issues. Energy efficiency can be ...increased and operating costs reduced by using waste heat from other processes. One of the possibilities is to use sorption chillers to produce chilled water and desalinated water. Low-temperature waste heat is not easy to utilize because of the low energy potential. Using adsorption chillers in low-temperature conditions allows utilizing waste heat and producing useful products in many regions of the world. The paper presents the results of an experimental study carried out on a three-bed adsorption chiller with desalination function, using silica gel and water as a working pair. The laboratory test stand included one evaporator, one condenser, and three separate tanks for water, desalinated water, and brine, respectively. The test stands scheme and description were presented. All results were obtained during several test hours with stable temperature conditions in the range of 57–85 °C for the heating water. It is found that the Coefficient of Performance (COP) increased from 0.20 to 0.58 when the heating water temperature increased from 57 to 85 °C. A similar finding is reported for Specific Cooling Power (SCP), which increased from 27 to 160 W/kg as the heating water temperature increased from 57 to 85 °C. It can be concluded that the heating water temperature strongly impacts the performance of the adsorption chiller.
Although quantum computers are predicted to have many commercial applications, less attention has been given to their potential for resolving foundational issues in quantum mechanics. Here we focus ...on quantum computers' utility for the Consistent Histories formalism, which has previously been employed to study quantum cosmology, quantum paradoxes, and the quantum-to-classical transition. We present a variational hybrid quantum-classical algorithm for finding consistent histories, which should revitalize interest in this formalism by allowing classically impossible calculations to be performed. In our algorithm, the quantum computer evaluates the decoherence functional (with exponential speedup in both the number of qubits and the number of times in the history) and a classical optimizer adjusts the history parameters to improve consistency. We implement our algorithm on a cloud quantum computer to find consistent histories for a spin in a magnetic field and on a simulator to observe the emergence of classicality for a chiral molecule.
This paper presents the results of numerical tests on the elements of an adsorption chiller that comprises a sorption chamber with a bed, a condenser, and an evaporator. The simulation is based on ...the data and geometry of a prototype refrigeration appliance. The simulation of this problem is unique and has not yet been performed, and so far, no simulation of the phenomena occurring in the systems on a real scale has been carried out. The presented results are part of the research covering the entire spectrum of designing an adsorption chiller. The full process of numerical modeling of thermal and flow phenomena taking place in the abovementioned components is presented. The computational mesh sensitivity analysis combined in the k-ε turbulence model was performed. To verify and validate the numerical results obtained, they were compared with the results of tests carried out on a laboratory stand at the AGH Center of Energy. The results of numerical calculations are in good agreement with the results of the experimental tests. The maximum deviation between the pressure obtained experimentally and by simulations is 1.8%, while for temperatures this deviation is no more than 0.5%. The results allow the identification of problems and their sources, which allows for future structural modifications to optimize the operation of the device.
Adsorption chillers are a promising alternative to traditional compressor-based devices. Adsorption chillers can be supplied with low- or medium-temperature waste heat or heat from renewable energy ...sources. In addition, they can be used for water desalination purposes. Thus, the adsorption chillers are unique devices that meet essential problems of the modern world: a need to limit the negative impact of humankind on the natural environment and growing problems with access to drinking water. However, adsorption chillers also have disadvantages, including ineffective operation and large size. Therefore, in this paper, the influence of steam utilization on the operation of an adsorption chiller with water desalination function was investigated experimentally, which has not been done before. The research was carried out on the adsorption chiller, working on a silica gel–water pair, installed in the AGH UST Center of Energy. The chiller was modified to preheat the sorbent with the use of steam. The results show that the use of steam instead of water for preheating the bed leads to higher temperatures in the heat exchanger and the bed. As a result, heat transfer from the heating medium to the bed is more intense, and a significant shortening of the desorption process is observed. In the case of using steam for preheating, the desorption time was about 30 s, while for water, it was 300 s. Thanks to this solution, it is possible to reduce the size of the device and increase its efficiency. The proposed solution opens a new course of research on adsorption chillers and broadens the horizon of their applications, as steam is a by-product of many industrial processes.
Organic semiconductors encounter limitations in their practical applicability in future electronics due to their low environmental stability and poor charge carrier mobilities. Blending with ...isolation of thermoplastic polymers and elastomers circumvents these restrictions and even induces new material properties, opening the door to novel flexible and stretchable electronics that hold great potential for improving people's life. This review discusses next generation applications of solution processable organic semiconductor/insulator blends in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs). The fundamental basis is a comprehensive understanding of the phase separation mechanism that determines the morphology formation and electronic properties of the thin blend film. Continuous charge carrier pathways in blend OFETs are established by controlled phase separation through the chemical structure of components and the processing conditions. Recent advances in organic semiconductor/insulator blends with enhanced device properties including charge carrier mobility, life‐time, sensing ability, and especially mechanical behavior are reviewed with emphasis on implication in flexible and stretchable electronics. The concept of tuning existing properties and creating new ones of electronically active materials by blending with well‐selected insulators has great potential also for other types of electronic devices and classes of semiconductors.
Blending organic semiconductors with isolating thermoplastic polymers and elastomers improves their environmental stability, device performance, and mechanical properties, opening the door to future flexible and stretchable electronics. This review discusses recent advances in the development of next generation applications of solution processable organic semiconductor/insulator blends in elastic field‐effect transistors and sensors.
We studied long-term (64.5 weeks) biodegradation of diesel fuel, diesel/biodiesel blends (B10-B90) and biodiesel fuels in urban soil microcosms containing indigenous microorganisms, or indigenous ...microorganisms augmented with a hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial community. Mineralization extent (mmol of CO2 per day) of B10-B30 blends was smaller compared with diesel fuel at both short- (28 days) and long-term (109 days), and increased with biodiesel content. Priming with hydrocarbon degraders accelerated mineralization in the short-term (by up to 140%), with highest influence using blends with lower biodiesel content, but did not significantly influence kinetics and mineralization extent in the long-term. Although the biodiesel fraction was degraded completely within 64.5 weeks, 3–12% of the total aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons remained in the microcosms. Barcoded 16S rRNA gene MiSeq sequencing analysis revealed a significant effect of blend type on the community structure, with a marked enrichment of Sphingobacteriia and Actinobacteria classes. However, no significant influence was determined in the long-term, suggesting that the inoculated bacterial community may not have survived. Our findings show that biodiesel is preferentially degraded in urban soil and suggest that the value of bioaugmentation for bioremediating biodiesel fuels with hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria is limited to short-term exposures to lower (B10-B30) blends.
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•Long-term (64.5 weeks) biodegradation of diesel/biodiesel in urban soil was studied.•3–12% of the total aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons remained in the microcosms.•Effect of bioaugmentation was evaluated.•MiSeq sequencing analysis revealed a significant effect of blend type.•No significant influence of bioaugmentation was determined in the long-term.
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