Net energy systems, such as the California Net Energy System (), are useful for prediction of input:output relationships not because of fidelity to the laws of thermodynamics, but because they were designed to predict well. Unless model descriptions of input:output relationships are consistent with the laws of thermodynamics, conclusions regarding those relationships may be incorrect. Heat energy () + recovered energy () = ME intake () is basic to descriptions of energy utilization found in the CNES and is consistent with the laws of thermodynamics; it may be the only relationship described in the CNES consistent with the first law of thermodynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHarnessing the energy of tidal currents has huge potential as a source of clean renewable energy. To do so in a reliable and cost effective way, it is critical to understand the interaction between tidal turbines, waves, and turbulent currents in the ocean. Scaled testing in a tank test provides a controlled, realistic, and highly reproducible down-scaled open ocean environment, and it is a key step in gaining this understanding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRenal replacement therapy is guaranteed for all US citizens with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Undocumented immigrants with ESRD are a particularly vulnerable subset of renal failure patients. There is no federal legislation for these patients except for the requirement to treat them during "emergency medical conditions" and federal legislation excluding them from the guarantee of renal replacement therapy described above.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The management of complex orthopedic infections usually includes a prolonged course of intravenous antibiotic agents. We investigated whether oral antibiotic therapy is noninferior to intravenous antibiotic therapy for this indication.
Methods: We enrolled adults who were being treated for bone or joint infection at 26 U.
Models of energy utilization used in livestock production predict input:output relationships well, for all the wrong reasons. Predictive accuracy in such models is not due to fidelity to biochemistry and laws of thermodynamics, but because they were developed to predict accurately, often with little regard to biochemical consistency. Relatively static linear statistical models limit thermodynamically relevant descriptions of energy utilization, especially maintenance, in growing beef cattle and are inadequate research tools, in either ordinary least squares (OLS) or Bayesian frameworks.
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