Rapid Fabrication of Low-Cost Thermal Bubble-Driven Micro-Pumps.

Thermal bubble-driven micro-pumps are an upcoming actuation technology that can be directly integrated into micro/mesofluidic channels to displace fluid without any moving parts. These pumps consist of high power micro-resistors, which we term thermal micro-pump (TMP) resistors, that locally boil fluid at the resistor surface in microseconds creating a vapor bubble to perform mechanical work. Conventional fabrication approaches of thermal bubble-driven micro-pumps and associated microfluidics have utilized semiconductor micro-fabrication techniques requiring expensive tooling with long turn around times on the order of weeks to months.

The physiological demand of a task simulation varies when developed by independent groups of experiential experts.

Objective: To investigate the disparity in the specification and physiological demand of a task simulation when developed by two independent panels of experiential experts.

Design: Independent groups design.

Methods: Two groups of experiential experts from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) worked independently to design, and then complete a simulation of a generic occupational task; the establishment of a security control point.

Comparison of polysaccharide glycoconjugates as candidate vaccines to combat Clostridiodes (Clostridium) difficile.

Two known Clostridiodes (Clostridium) difficile surface antigens, a lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and a polysaccharide (PS-II) were isolated and purified in order to prepare glycoconjugate vaccines to the carrier protein human serum albumin utilising a reductive amination strategy. Mice and rabbits were immunized with a prime and two boost strategy and the resulting sera were examined for their ability to recognise the purified homologous antigens and subsequently killed whole cells of C. difficile strains and other Clostridia species.

Effects of Two Manure Additives on Methane Emissions from Dairy Manure.

Liquid manure is a significant source of methane (CH), a greenhouse gas. Many livestock farms use manure additives for practical and agronomic purposes, but the effect on CH emissions is unknown. To address this gap, two lab studies were conducted, evaluating the CH produced from liquid dairy manure with Penergetic-g (12 mg/L, 42 mg/L, and 420 mg/L) or AgrimestMix (30.

Investigating the candidacy of the serotype specific rhamnan polysaccharide based glycoconjugates to prevent disease caused by the dental pathogen Streptococcus mutans.

Dental caries remains a major health issue and the Gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus mutans is considered as the major pathogen causing caries. More recently, S. mutans has been recognised as a cause of endocarditis, ulcerative colitis and fatty acid liver disease along with the likelihood of increased cerebral hemorrhage following a stroke if S.

Dissecting Reactor Antineutrino Flux Calculations.

Current predictions for the antineutrino yield and spectra from a nuclear reactor rely on the experimental electron spectra from ^{235}U, ^{239}Pu, ^{241}Pu and a numerical method to convert these aggregate electron spectra into their corresponding antineutrino ones. In the present work we investigate quantitatively some of the basic assumptions and approximations used in the conversion method, studying first the compatibility between two recent approaches for calculating electron and antineutrino spectra. We then explore different possibilities for the disagreement between the measured Daya Bay and the Huber-Mueller antineutrino spectra, including the ^{238}U contribution as well as the effective charge and the allowed shape assumption used in the conversion method.

First characterization of immunogenic conjugates of Vi negative Salmonella Typhi O-specific polysaccharides with rEPA protein for vaccine development.

Efficacious typhoid vaccines for young children will significantly reduce the disease burden in developing world. The Vi polysaccharide based conjugate vaccines (Vi-rEPA) against Salmonella Typhi Vi positive strains has shown high efficacy but may be ineffective against Vi negative S. Typhi.

Applications of nuclear physics.

Today the applications of nuclear physics span a very broad range of topics and fields. This review discusses a number of aspects of these applications, including selected topics and concepts in nuclear reactor physics, nuclear fusion, nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear-geophysics, and nuclear medicine. The review begins with a historic summary of the early years in applied nuclear physics, with an emphasis on the huge developments that took place around the time of World War II, and that underlie the physics involved in designs of nuclear explosions, controlled nuclear energy, and nuclear fusion.

Techno-economic evaluation of a tandem dry batch, garage-style digestion-compost process for remote work camp environments.

The extraction of natural resources often involves housing workers in remote work camps far from population centres. These camps are prevalent in northern Alberta where they house approximately 40,000 workers involved in oil sands processing. The central, full-service cafeterias at these camps produce a significant quantity of food and cardboard waste.

Investigating the candidacy of a lipoteichoic acid-based glycoconjugate as a vaccine to combat Clostridium difficile infection.

A lipoteichoic acid has recently been shown to be conserved in the majority of strains from Clostridium difficile and as such is being considered as a possible vaccine antigen. In this study we examine the candidacy of the conserved lipoteichoic acid by demonstrating that it is possible to elicit antibodies against C. difficile strains following immunisation of rabbits and mice with glycoconjugates elaborating the conserved lipoteichoic acid antigen.

Peritoneal dialysis technique success during the initial 90 days of therapy.

Comparisons of technique success by peritoneal dialysis (PD) modality have typically excluded the initial 90 days of therapy. We analyzed a database of 51,469 new PD starts from 2004 to 2008 in the United States. The analysis concentrated on the initial 90 days of therapy to determine technique success and the impact of the continuous ambulatory PD (CAPD) and automated PD (APD) modalities.

Identification of N-acylethanolamines in Dictyostelium discoideum and confirmation of their hydrolysis by fatty acid amide hydrolase.

N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) are endogenous lipid-based signaling molecules best known for their role in the endocannabinoid system in mammals, but they are also known to play roles in signaling pathways in plants. The regulation of NAEs in vivo is partly accomplished by the enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), which hydrolyses NAEs to ethanolamine and their corresponding fatty acid. Inhibition of FAAH has been shown to increase the levels of NAEs in vivo and to produce desirable phenotypes.

Growth kinetics of Hyphomicrobium and Thiobacillus spp. in mixed cultures degrading dimethyl sulfide and methanol.

The growth kinetics of Hyphomicrobium spp. and Thiobacillus spp. on dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and methanol (in the case of Hyphomicrobium spp.

Linking performance to microbiology in biofilters treating dimethyl sulphide in the presence and absence of methanol.

The performance and microbiology of two inorganic biofilters treating dimethyl sulphide (DMS) in the presence and absence of methanol was investigated. Addition of methanol was shown to result in an increase in DMS removal for methanol loadings below 90 g MeOH per cubic metre per hour with the optimal methanol loading around 10-15 g MeOH per cubic metre per hour for a DMS loading of 3.4 g DMS per cubic metre per hour, a fivefold increase in the DMS removal rate compared to the biofilter treating DMS alone.

Neutrino-12C scattering in the Ab initio shell model with a realistic three-body interaction.

We investigate cross sections for neutrino-12C exclusive scattering and for muon capture on 12C using wave functions obtained in the ab initio no-core shell model. In our parameter-free calculations with basis spaces up to the 6 variant Planck's over 2pi Omega we show that realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions, like, e.g.