5,088 research outputs found
RIC-HSCT for MF/SS
No full textAdvanced-stage mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome (MF/SS) have a poor prognosis. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), particularly using a reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen, is a promising treatment for advanced-stage MF/SS. We performed RIC-HSCT in nine patients with advanced MF/SS. With a median follow-up period of 954days after HSCT, the estimated 3-year overall survival was 85.7% (95% confidence interval, 33.4-97.9%) with no non-relapse mortality. Five patients relapsed after RIC-HSCT; however, in four patients whose relapse was detected only from the skin, persistent complete response was achieved in one patient, and the disease was manageable in other three patients by the tapering of immunosuppressants and donor lymphocyte infusion, suggesting that graft-versus-lymphoma effect and "down-staging" effect from advanced stage to early stage by HSCT improve the prognosis of advanced-stage MF/SS. These results suggest that RIC-HSCT is an effective treatment for advanced MF/SS
Training needs assessment for an operation in a juice processing plant
No full textPlan BTraining is an important function in an organization when the base of the operations is dependent upon certain employees to perform key tasks (Brinkerhoff & Gill, 1994). A training need exists when employees lack the necessary knowledge and skills to perform an assigned task in a simple manner. If an employee lacks knowledge, skills, or abilities to do their job, the proper knowledge and skills must be provided to them. Company X is a 24 hour, seven days a week juice processing facility. They depend on the operators to carry out the specific duties and tasks of the operation to benefit the needs of the company. This study looked at the Microfiltration and Reverse Osmosis process to determine if there is a need to identify a standardized approach to future training. This study focused on the 28 operators of this process and by using a stratified sample, created a DACUM and survey to determine if there was a lack of knowledge, skills, or abilities in the MF and RO operation. The objectives of this study are:
1. Identify the duties and tasks for effective MF and RO operation;
2. Identify the importance of each duty and task for consistent operation;
3. Identify if there is a deficit in knowledge, skills, and abilities in the current associates responsible for this operation;
4. Propose implementations to increase KSAs in the MF and RO operation; and
5. Offer suggestions on how to implement a standardized training program for the MF and RO operation
Optimisation of the removal of oil in water emulsion by using ceramic microfiltration membrane and hybrid coagulation/sand filter-MF
No full textMany industries produce oil-water emulsions as major waste streams, which require specialised treatment, including the petrochemical, oil and gas and some food industries. One method to remove oil droplets from wastewater is using ceramic tubular microfiltration membranes. However, such membranes are vulnerable to fouling, which causes operational impairment. The aim of this work is to reduce ceramic membrane fouling by exploring the combination of ceramic membranes with several pre-treatment options. We have compared direct oil-water emulsion treatment using a ceramic microfiltration (MF) membrane with a hybrid system of coagulation/ sand filtration pre-treatment prior to ceramic membrane MF. Superior permeate flux was obtained using the hybrid coagulation/sand filter –MF process due to a reduction of membrane fouling by reducing the oil concentration in the inlet emulsion to the ceramic membrane. Moreover, the oil removal efficiency for hybrid coagulation/sand filter –MF was higher than when using combined sand filter/MF, direct ceramic membrane MF and sand filtration alone
An Investigation for Strengthening Existing Reinforced Concrete Beams in Shear Using a MF-FRP Retrofit System
No full textThe purpose of this research was to determine if a Mechanically-Fastened Fiber Reinforced Polymer (MF-FRP) Retrofit System is viable for increasing shear strength in existing reinforced concrete beams.
Due to the more rigorous, LRFR ratings standards for structures such as bridges, an increasing portion of in-service reinforced concrete beams are considered under-designed in shear. Consequences of under-designed beams in shear can result in shear cracking and sudden, catastrophic failure. Therefore, a method to increase the shear strength economically, for the short term could have a large impact on the safety on these in-service structures.
A review of previous research indicated success with a MF-FRP system in flexure strengthening of reinforced concrete beams at UW-Madison, in addition to success with an Adhesively-Bonded FRP system in shear strengthening of reinforced concrete T-beams at the University of Alberta. The many benefits of Mechanically-Fastened Systems compared to Adhesively-Bonded Systems, which include ease of installation, installation time, and curing time, make this research a worthwhile process to determine if a MF-FRP system is viable in shear application. Therefore, a MF-FRP system was designed for use in shear application. The pre-emptive failure mode for such a system is FRP bearing, so the selection of fastener type, number of fasteners, and the FRP material properties was chosen to maximize load per FRP sheet at FRP bearing failure.
Eight tests were conducted on large-scale reinforced-concrete beams with dimensions 8? wide by 12? deep by 10? long. Two controls were used to determine the concrete shear strength and steel shear strength, separately. The FRP configuration was varied by changing
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the FRP orientation (vertical/angled), FRP spacing, and FRP location within the critical shear zone. Each test consisted of a point load located at L/3 of the effective span to cause failure in the smaller shear zone.
Test results showed a shear strength increase between 8 and 30%. The upper limit of the shear strength increase range given was controlled by concrete crushing in failure, and no tests had FRP bearing as the failure mode. FRP strains confirmed visual observations as the largest FRP strains measured for any test of 512.7 ?? was much less than the average strain at FRP bearing failure of 956 ??. Since the FRP sheets did not fail in the expected failure mode of FRP bearing, the controlling failure mode of the FRP system was unconclusive. Due to an undesired high concrete strength, the design calculations could not be compared to the test results to validate the design procedure. However, calculations were compared to the test results which provided similar failure modes.
Test results and calculations showed that a MF-FRP Retrofit System is viable for strengthening existing reinforced-concrete beams in shear. Issues that will need to be addressed in the future to accurately and reliably design for a MF-FRP System in shear while maintaining all the benefits over an Adhesively-Bonded FRP System include determination of the actual shear capacity of any MF-FRP system, tolerance requirements, fastener embedment depth requirements for effective bonding, and necessity of gap filler
Preparation of mono-sized epoxy/MF microcapsulesin the appearance of polyvinyl alcohol as co-emulsifier
No full textFor epoxy microcapsules embedded in concrete as mechanic-triggered self-healing adhesive, globular shape with uniform size is the basic requirement to ensure the solid shell broken and the liquid core released at a designed stress. In this paper, monodispersed melamine\u96formaldehyde (MF) resin-walled epoxy E-51 microcapsules were successfully fabricated in an in situ polycondensation process, in which a certain amount of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution was added as coemulsifier to control the microcapsules\u92 shape and size. Detail investigation shows, with the cooperation of PVA, the microcapsule morphologies and size distribution were ease to be adjusted by the parameters such as emulsifying agents, agitation rate, pH value and acidification time
ACT Family Violence Intervention Program review
No full textThis paper reports on a review of the Australian Capital Territory’s Family Violence Intervention Program, which provides an interagency response to family violence matters.
The scope of the review was to analyse the program’s activities and outcomes using 2007–08 data provided by participating agencies, supported by in-depth interviews with key stakeholders including victims whose matters had been finalised in court. After the completion of this report, additional data from 2008–09 and 2009–10 was made available by some Family Violence Intervention Program (FVIP) participating agencies. Although not within the scope of this evaluation, these data pointed to some preliminary improvements in the FVIP
NF membrane fouling by aluminum and iron coagulant residuals after coagulation-MF pretreatment
No full textThe effects of coagulant residuals on fouling of a nanofiltration (NF) membrane were investigated. Experiments were carried out with a laboratory-scale microfiltration (MF)-NF setup and a pilot MF-NF plant. In the laboratory-scale experiments, NF feed water was pretreated with poly-aluminum chloride (PACl) or alum followed by MF. NF membrane permeability declined when the feed water contained residual aluminum at 18 μg/L or more, but not when it was lower than 9 μg/L. When pretreated with ferric chloride, no substantial decline of NF membrane permeability was observed: residual iron did not affect the permeability. When SiO2 was added to the water before the pretreatment with PACl, the NF membrane permeability declined at about double the speed. Thermodynamic calculations and elemental analysis of foulants recovered from the membranes indicated that the majority of inorganic foulants were compounds composed of aluminum, silicate, and possibly potassium. In the pilot plant, NF feed was pretreated by PACl. Transmembrane pressure for NF doubled over 4.5 months of operation. Although the aluminum concentration in the NF feed was not high (30 μg/L), analysis of membrane foulants revealed excessive accumulation of aluminum and silicate, also suggesting that aluminum residuals caused the membrane fouling by alumino-silicates or aluminum hydroxide
Statistical Aspects of Environmental Risk Assessment of GM Plants for effects on Non-Target Organisms
No full textPrevious European guidance for environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants emphasized the
concepts of statistical power but provided no explicit requirements for the provision of statistical power analyses.
Similarly, whilst the need for good experimental designs was stressed, no minimum guidelines were set
for replication or sample sizes. Furthermore, although substantial equivalence was stressed as central to risk
assessment, no means of quantification of this concept was given. This paper suggests several ways in which
existing guidance might be revised to address these problems. One approach explored is the ‘bioequivalence’
test, which has the advantage that the error of most concern to the consumer may be set relatively easily.
Also, since the burden of proof is placed on the experimenter, the test promotes high-quality, well-replicated
experiments with sufficient statistical power. Other recommendations cover the specification of effect sizes,
the choice of appropriate comparators, the use of positive controls, meta-analyses, multivariate analysis and
diversity indices. Specific guidance is suggested for experimental designs of field trials and their statistical
analyses. A checklist for experimental design is proposed to accompany all environmental risk assessments
Global methylation analysis identifies prognostically important epigenetically inactivated tumor suppressor genes in multiple myeloma
No full textOutcome in multiple myeloma is highly variable and a better understanding of the factors that influence disease biology is essential to understand and predict behavior in individual patients. In the present study, we analyzed combined genomewide DNA methylation and gene expression data of patients treated in the Medical Research Council Myeloma IX trial. We used these data to identify epigenetically repressed tumor suppressor genes with prognostic relevance in myeloma. We identified 195 genes with changes in methylation status that were significantly associated with prognosis. Combining DNA methylation and gene expression data led to the identification of the epigenetically regulated tumor modulating genes GPX3, RBP1, SPARC, and TGFBI. Hypermethylation of these genes was associated with significantly shorter overall survival, independent of age, International Staging System score, and adverse cytogenetics. The 4 differentially methylated and expressed genes are known to mediate important tumor suppressive functions including response to chemotherapy (TGFBI), interaction with the microenvironment (SPARC), retinoic acid signaling (RBP1), and the response to oxidative stress (GPX3), which could explain the prognostic impact of their differential methylation. Assessment of the DNA methylation status of the identified genes could contribute to the molecular characterization of myeloma, which is prerequisite for an individualized treatment approac
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