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Abstract Social acceptance of innovative technologies is a key element of an effective transition towards more sustainable energy economies. However, innovative technologies like genetic modification also tend to spark controversy and backlash. So far, efforts to inform the public about any risks and benefits of novel technologies not only have struggled to foster acceptance but also neglect the interdependent foundations of consumer decision-making. Through a controlled experiment with German consumers (N = 322), we examine whether consumer support and rejection of genetic modification in bioenergy crops is influenced by the statements and actions of actors throughout the supply chain. In specific, we show that the decision of energy companies to sell and support GM bioenergy positively impacts consumer decisions to support. To ensure that decision outcomes were specifically impacted by the expressions of corporate actors, we controlled for the content and valence of information by random assignment to one of three treatments in which participants received positive, negative, or balanced (risks and benefits) information. We find that negative messaging diminished support and increased rejection relative to the other treatments. Lastly, the statements and actions of corporate actors also exerted an indirect influence on consumer decisions through their interactions with social trust and labels, e.g. greater support by farmers had a positive influence only for those who are more generally trustworthy. Given these results, we anticipate more attention to the importance of actors such as farmers and energy companies for the social acceptance of novel technologies in the energy sphere.

AbstractSome cases of occurrence of matrix effects (mostly ion suppression) in protein‐precipitated plasma samples, and their influence on the validity of plasma concentrations and pharmacokinetic parameters, are discussed. The comparison of matrix effects using either electrospray (TurboIonspray, TISP) or atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) indicated that APCI is less prone to matrix effects. Nevertheless, TISP is usually the first choice of ionization technique since unknown thermally labile metabolites might be present in the plasma samples causing erroneous results. A high impact of ion suppression on the plasma concentrations after intravenous (i.v.) administration was found, depending on the drug formulation (vehicle). Since ion suppression caused significantly lower plasma concentrations (by a factor of up to 5.5) after i.v. dosing, the area under the curve (AUC) was underestimated and the plasma clearance was consequently erroneously high, with an impact on drug candidate selection. By simple stepwise dilution (e.g. 10‐fold and 50‐fold) of the supernatant of protein‐precipitated plasma samples, including all calibration and quality control samples, the matrix effects were recognized and eliminated. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Endocrinological research on wild animals inhabiting remote areas has been hampered by the need to store plasma samples at subzero temperatures. In an attempt to remedy this logistical issue, we here investigate the use of ethanol as an alternative to freezing for the preservation of steroid and indoleamine hormones in avian plasma. Known quantities of the steroids 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), testosterone, 17beta-estradiol, corticosterone, and the indoleamine melatonin were added to a stripped pool of chicken plasma. Samples were either immediately frozen at -40 degrees C, or treated with pure ethanol. Ethanol-treated samples were either immediately frozen, or-to simulate storage conditions at various field locations-left sitting at room temperature for one to two months, or incubated at 36 degrees C for one month before all treatment groups were frozen at -40 degrees C. All samples were then analyzed by radioimmunoassay. For DHT and estradiol there were no differences among treatment groups suggesting that ethanol-treatment is as effective as immediate freezing in preserving plasma steroid concentrations. For testosterone, corticosterone and melatonin ethanol-treated samples differed significantly from immediately frozen samples suggesting that caution is needed when comparing absolute concentrations of hormones between samples preserved in different ways. However, differences among ethanol-treated samples in general were small, demonstrating the feasibility of this preservation method in the field at remote locations.

Abstract Gas-insulated systems are now a major component of power transmission and distribution systems all over the world. There has been considerable interest in non-thermal discharges over the past decade due to the increased number of industrial applications. Diverse applications demand a solid physical and chemical understanding of the operational principals of such discharges. This paper focuses on the most important and widely used variety of non-thermal discharges, the corona discharge. Positive corona in SF6 is studied for a point to plane electrode gap using Monte Carlo simulation technique. The initiation and development of successive avalanches are traced as function of time. The simulation provides a detailed structure of avalanches from which essential properties of corona discharge with regard to total field distribution, propagation of successive avalanches and ion distribution can be discerned.

This paper studied the influence of transformer inrush current on commutation failure prevention control of Ultra-high voltage DC (UHVDC) transmission system. An actual event occurred on Tianzhong UHVDC transmission project was analyzed with data from fault recorder. UHVDC transmission model with commutation failure prevention control was established in PSCAD/EMTDC, and then it was applied to replay the event. It is found that the frequent maloperation of commutation failure control and the fluctuation of DC power exist when inrush current occurred. An improved commutation failure prevention control strategy was proposed to avoid this phenomenon. Validity of the improved method was proved by the simulation results.

AbstractA novel multifunctional conjugated polymer (RCP‐1) composed of an electron‐donating backbone (carbazole) and an electron‐accepting side chain (cyanoacetic acid) connected through conjugated vinylene and terthiophene has been synthesized and tested as a photosensitizer in two major molecule‐based solar cells, namely dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs). Promising initial results on overall power conversion efficiencies of 4.11% and 1.04% are obtained from the basic structure of DSSCs and OPVs based on RCP‐1, respectively. The well‐defined donor (D)‐acceptor (A) structure of RCP‐1 has made it possible, for the first time, to reach over 4% of power conversion efficiency in DSSCs with an organic polymer sensitizer and good operation stability.

Abstract An international workshop was held in Richland, Washington, United States of America, in October, 1980 to discuss progress on development of the acid digestion process for treating combustible nuclear waste. The workshop was attended by participants from nine member countries of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD/NEA). The status of the acid digestion development programs of various countries is discussed in this paper. The acid digestion process has been developed and demonstrated on an engineering scale in several countries and appears to be especially applicable to treatment of combustible wastes containing high levels of transuranic contamination, where there is potential for recovering the transuranic radionuclides. Because the process takes place at a relatively low temperature, the plutonium contained in the residue is in a form that can be readily recovered using standard leaching techniques. The process is adaptable to a wide variety of combustible wastes, such as cellulosics, plastics, rubber materials, and ion exchange resin. While the process has been developed and demonstrated on an engineering scale primarily for transuranic contaminated wastes, the process is also adaptable to beta-gamma wastes such as reactor ion exchange resins.

In large polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell stacks, monitoring and control of the local changes in membrane humidity inside the cathode channel is critical. In this study, a control-oriented dynamic model capable of describing the spatial distribution of voltage and relative humidity (RH) in a large fuel cell stack is developed and experimentally validated. The model tracks energy and mass flow inside the cathode, anode, and coolant channels, as well as the fuel cell stack body. Validation tests show that the model agrees well with the experimental data. The new modeling framework developed in this study can be used to predict the localized effects of humidity on the performance of a fuel cell stack. Also, given its accurate prediction of RH in the stack, this model can be used as an observer to predict local humidity variations that are, otherwise, not available. This capability would allow PEM fuel cells to avoid membrane damage due to low operating humidities as well as efficiency losses due to catalyst layer flooding.

C57BL/6J mice showed dose dependent devreases in locomotor activity with increasing IP doses of ethanol (0.0, 0.75, 1.50 and 2.25 g/kg), while BALB/cJ mice showed dose dependent increases in activity; both strains were equally active with saline. Whether this finding represents decreased CNS responsivity in C57BL mice to ethanol's excitatory effect or increased response to its depressant action at sub-hypnotic doses is unclear, since anesthetic doses produce anesthesia of far shorter duration in the C57BL strain than in the BALB strain. It is possible that the biphasic action of alcohol is under the control of separate and distinct mechanisms, rather than a common one, and that these two mechanisms are differentially affected by alcohol. Endogenous as well as ethanol-induced neurochemical differences in biogenic amines may also be correlated with the gentic variation in CNS responsivity towards alcohol.