• Energy Research
• Closed Access close
• Restricted close
• Embargo close
• US close
• CA close

This study was a secondary data analysis of factors associated with alcohol-related child removal among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults enrolled in a clinical trial of an alcohol intervention. Among 326 parent participants, 40% reported ever having a child removed from their care in part because of the parent’s alcohol use, defined here as alcohol-related child removal. Seventy-five percent of parents reported at least one separation during their own childhood (M = 1.3, SD = 1.0). In a multivariable analysis, alcohol-related child removal was associated with parental boarding school attendance. No relationship was found between alcohol-related child removal and alcohol intervention outcomes. Results may provide evidence of multigenerational child removal impacts of boarding schools on AI/AN adults receiving an alcohol use disorder intervention. Assessment of parental history of child removal by practitioners, strategies to prevent alcohol-related separation and to support reunification should be integrated into addiction treatment in AI/AN communities.

AbstractDiamant, H. B. Oakley, L. Ström, C. Wells and Y. Zotterman. A comparison of neural and psychophysical responses to taste stimuli in man. Acta physiol. scand. 1965 64. 67–74. – Electrophysiological records of taste activity have been obtained from the chorda tympani nerve of otosclerotic patients. When possible, preoperative psychophysical responses to taste stimuli were also obtained. The summated chorda tympani discharge to 0.2 M NaCl adapts completely and the time required agrees with psychophysical reports. Psychophysical estimates of the sweetness of different sugars correspond closely with nerve response magnitudes. Gymnema extract abolishes both the sweet sensation and the nerve response to sweet tasting chemicals. The total sum of taste activity in the entire chorda tympani nerve appears to be an important determinant of the psychophysical responses. There are large individual differences in the relative size of the neural response to different taste stimuli. Responses to ethyl alcohol are described.

Genome-based Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) and steady-state isotopic-labeling-based Metabolic Flux Analysis (MFA) are complimentary approaches to predicting and measuring the operation and regulation of metabolic networks. Here, genome-derived models of Escherichia coli (E. coli) metabolism were used for FBA and ¹³C-MFA analyses of aerobic and anaerobic growths of wild-type E. coli (K-12 MG1655) cells. Validated MFA flux maps reveal that the fraction of maintenance ATP consumption in total ATP production is about 14% higher under anaerobic (51.1%) than aerobic conditions (37.2%). FBA revealed that an increased ATP utilization is consumed by ATP synthase to secrete protons from fermentation. The TCA cycle is shown to be incomplete in aerobically growing cells and submaximal growth is due to limited oxidative phosphorylation. An FBA was successful in predicting product secretion rates in aerobic culture if both glucose and oxygen uptake measurement were constrained, but the most-frequently predicted values of internal fluxes yielded from sampling the feasible space differ substantially from MFA-derived fluxes.

A new room temperature chemical deposition technique has been developed to deposit semiconducting antimony trisulphide thin films on conducting and ordinary glass substrates. The method is based on aqueous ammonia bath containing potassium antimonyl tartarate (PAT), triethanolamine (TEA) and thioacetamide (TAM). It has been found that the proper control of deposition bath compasitions significantly influences the quality and the thickness of the Sb2S3 films. Moreover, addition of a small amount (10−5 M) of silicotungstic acid (STA) in the deposition bath enhanced the rate of deposition and improves significantly the photoactivity of the films. The deposited films were characterized by X-ray, SEM and neutronic activation analysis. The effect of the annealing and STA on the change of the optical bandgap (Eg) of the films was determined at 300 K. The influence of the STA on the resistivity, carrier concentrations and mobility of the films was determined by the resistivity and Hall effect measurements on the annealed samples. A very small (≈ 5%) change in the electrical resistivity has been observed for the films in which STA is incorporated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) studies were carried out to determine the surface and the bulk compositions of the films. The photoconductivity studies revealed that the deposited films were highly photoconducting in nature.

Frequency dynamics is one of the most important measures of an electrical power system status. To better understand power system dynamics, an accurately measured wide-area frequency is needed. The concept of building an Internet-based real-time GPS-synchronized wide-area frequency monitoring network (FNET) was proposed in 2000 by Qiu et al., and this concept has been realized. The FNET system consists of frequency disturbance recorders and an information management system. The FNET has made the synchronized observations of the entire U.S. power network possible with very little cost for the first time. This paper summarizes the implementation of the FNET system and shows some preliminary observations and analyses of the data that have been collected from the FNET.

Abstract Risks posed by composting of municipal solid waste (MSW) depend on the assessment approach used. Occupational risks at present are not overtly serious— only nausea, eye irritation, etc. are reported from inhalation, the chief exposure pathway—but details are lacking on outcomes of pathogenic, chemical and physical threats, including potential secondary problems with organisms developed in compost, their endotoxins, and metabolic products such as aflatoxin. Potential risk pathways of public exposure to MSW compost are dominated by children's lead ingestion, but “dioxins” and other persistent organic carcinogens are also of dietary concern. Risks to the “most exposed individual” (MET) may differ substantially from those based on the Alternative Pollutant Limit (APL) approach. Neither deals adequately with uncertainty or multiple pathway/chemical threats to public and environmental health. Additional issues include (a) incremental vs. total risk, (b) required nutrient intake vs. proscribed toxicant exposure (for the same element) and (c) long-term matters of “no net degradation,” and composting in recycling.

Recycling of anaerobically-digested thin stillage within a corn-ethanol plant may result in the accumulation of nutrients of environmental concern in animal feed coproducts and inhibitory organic materials in the fermentation tank. Our focus is on anaerobic digestion of treated (centrifugation and lime addition) thin stillage. Suitability of digestate from anaerobic treatment for reuse as process water was also investigated. Experiments conducted at various inoculum-to-substrate ratios (ISRs) revealed that alkalinity is a critical parameter limiting digestibility of thin stillage. An ISR level of 2 appeared optimal based on high biogas production level (763 mL biogas/g volatile solids added) and organic matter removal (80.6% COD removal). The digester supernatant at this ISR level was found to contain both organic and inorganic constituents at levels that would cause no inhibition to ethanol fermentation. Anaerobic digestion of treated-thin stillage can be expected to improve the water and energy efficiencies of dry grind corn-ethanol plants.

Abstract Encapsulation of thin film Photovoltaic (PV) modules is critical from a long term reliability and durability perspective. Currently, the methods and materials used for encapsulation of thin film PV modules are similar to those applied to crystalline silicon technology. By performing a broad-based material selection methodology to investigate materials and processes suitable for encapsulation of thin film PV modules, there exists opportunities to decrease the cost of the module fabrication and improve reliability simultaneously. In this work, functionality of components and constraints for edge seal and interlayer laminate were evaluated. The property charts were graphically mapped and the materials were screened in CES selector software with the plastic data series package. The fabrication processes for the selected material were also assessed using the software.

Woody plant encroachment has been long observed in the southern Great Plains (SGP) of the United States. However, our understanding of its spatiotemporal variability, which is the basis for informed and targeted management strategy, is still poor. This study investigates the encroachment of evergreen forest, which is the most important encroachment component in the SGP. A validated evergreen forest map of the SGP (30 m resolution, for the time period 2015 to 2017) from our previous study was utilized (referred to as evergreen_base). Sample plots of evergreen forest (as of 2017) were collected across the study area, based on which a threshold of winter season (January and February) mean normalized difference vegetation index (NDVIwinter) was derived for each of the 5 sub-regions, using Landsat 7 surface reflectance data from 2015 to 2017. Then a NDVIwinter layer was created for each year within the four time periods of 1985-1989, 1995-1999, 2005-2009, and 2015-2017, with winter season surface reflectance data from Landsat 4, 5, and 7. By applying the sub-region specific NDVIwinter thresholds to the annual NDVIwinter layers and the evergreen_base, a SGP evergreen forest map was generated for each of those years. The annual evergreen forest maps within each time period were composited into one. According to the resulting four composite evergreen forest maps, mean annual encroachment rate (km2/year) was calculated at sub-region and ecoregion scales, over each of the three temporal stages 1990-1999, 2000-2009, and 2010-2017, respectively. To understand the spatiotemporal variability of the encroachment, the encroachment rate at each temporal stage was related to the corresponding initial evergreen forest area, mean annual precipitation (MAP), and mean annual burned area (MABA) through linear regression and pairwise comparison. Results suggest that most of the ecoregions have seen a slowing trend of evergreen forest encroachment since 1990. The temporal trend of encroachment rate tends to be consistent with that of MAP, but opposite to that of MABA. The spatial variability of the encroachment rate among ecoregions can be largely (>68%) explained by initial evergreen forest area but shows no significant relationship with MAP or MABA. These findings provide pertinent guidance for the combat of woody plant encroachment in the SGP under the context of climate change.