Thermal shielding by water spray curtain

The mitigation of the consequences of storage-tank fire is a great safety concern in petro-chemical and gas industries. A technique to protect the integrity of neighbouring structures is the water spray curtain. It can be operating downward in front of or oriented to the surface to be shielded. Simple modelling, laboratory experiments and field tests for these two types of thermal shielding are presented.

Attenuation factor of 50–75% can be expected with the vertical curtain while 90% can be reached with the impinging curtain if spray overlapping is achieved.     

The evaluation of an analytical protocol for the determination of substances in waste for hazard classification

The classification of waste as hazardous could soon be assessed in Europe using largely the hazard properties of its constituents, according to the the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulation. Comprehensive knowledge of the component constituents of a given waste will therefore be necessary. An analytical protocol for determining waste composition is proposed, which includes using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) screening methods to identify major elements and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS) screening techniques to measure organic compounds. The method includes a gross or indicator measure of ‘pools’ of higher molecular weight organic substances that are taken to be less bioactive and less hazardous, and of unresolved ‘mass’ during the chromatography of volatile and semi-volatile compounds. The concentration of some elements and specific compounds that are linked to specific hazard properties and are subject to specific regulation (examples include: heavy metals, chromium(VI), cyanides, organo-halogens, and PCBs) are determined by classical quantitative analysis. To check the consistency of the analysis, the sum of the concentrations (including unresolved ‘pools’) should give a mass balance between 90% and 110%. Thirty-two laboratory samples comprising different industrial wastes (liquids and solids) were tested by two routine service laboratories, to give circa 7000 parameter results. Despite discrepancies in some parameters, a satisfactory sum of estimated or measured concentrations (analytical balance) of 90% was reached for 20 samples (63% of the overall total) during this first test exercise, with identified reasons for most of the unsatisfactory results. Regular use of this protocol (which is now included in the French legislation) has enabled service laboratories to reach a 90% mass balance for nearly all the solid samples tested, and most of liquid samples (difficulties were caused in some samples from polymers in solution and vegetable oil). The protocol is submitted to French and European normalization bodies (AFNOR and CEN) and further improvements are awaited.     

Quantitative evaluation of collagen type VI and SOD gene expression in the nuchal skin of human fetuses with trisomy 21

Objective To investigate the involvement of the genes encoding for COL6A1, COLA2 and super-oxide dismutase (SOD) in the mechanism for the retention of subcutaneous fluid in fetuses with trisomy 21. Methods During a 7-month period (November 2004–May 2005), human fetal skin from the nuchal region was obtained from euploid fetuses and from fetuses with trisomy 21 following abortions and terminations of pregnancy. Cell cultures were performed from nuchal skin. Quantification of COL6A1, COL6A2, COL6A3 and SOD mRNAs were performed using real-time quantitative RT-PCR. Results Twelve fetuses were studied between 13–15 and 19–20 weeks of gestation including 7 cases of trisomy 21. A significant overexpression of genes of interest was demonstrated in trisomy 21 fetuses when compared with euploid fetuses, in the first and in the second trimester of pregnancy (p < 0.0001). Conclusion This study demonstrates a homogeneous overexpression of the genes encoding for α1 and α2 chains of Collagen type VI, and SOD in nuchal skin of human trisomy 21 fetuses. Persistence of this overexpression in the second trimester of pregnancy, despite the absence of an enlarged nuchal translucency (NT), may characterize some compensatory mechanisms. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From the erosion of crude oil prices to reorganization of the oil industry

Comparison of data on world energy consumption for 1986, 1987 and 1988 indicates that the consumption of all forms of energy increased during the period, but the demand for oil increased at a lesser rate than that of other energy sources. Although the pattern varies between countries, the overall picture is one of increased use of natural gas, coal, nuclear and hydropower as an energy source. Part of the reason for the low growth in oil demand is the oil conservation measures put in place when oil was much more expensive, but may partly be due to the scepticism of many people about the future movement of oil prices. The likely continuation of a low growth market for oil has led some oil exporting countries to move downstream in an effort to secure a dependable market for their oil and oil products.     

The Residence Time of Settling Particles in the Surface Mixed Layer

The transport from the upper mixed layer into the pycnocline of particles with negative buoyancy is considered. Assuming the hydrodynamic parameters to be time- independent, an adjoint model is resorted to that provides a general expression of the residence time in the mixed layer of the constituent under study. It is seen that the residence time decreases as the settling velocity increases or the diffusivity decreases. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the residence time must be larger than z/w and smaller than h/w, where z, h and w denote the distance to the pycnocline, the thickness of the mixed layer and the sinking velocity. In the vicinity of the pycnocline, the residence time is not necessarily zero; its behaviour critically depends on the eddy diffusivity profile in this region. Closed-form solutions are obtained for constant and quadratic diffusivity profiles, which allows for an analysis of the sensitivity of the residence time to the Peclet number. Finally, an approximate value is suggested of the depth-averaged value of the residence time.     

Levels of polyandry and intracolonial genetic relationships in Apis florea

DNA was extracted from worker and drone pupae of each of five colonies of the dwarf honey bee Apis florea. Polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were conducted on DNA extracts using five sets of primers known to amplify microsatellite loci in A. mellifera. Based on microsatellite allele distributions, queens of the five colonies mated with at least 5–14 drones. This is up to 3 times previous maximum estimates obtained from sperm counts. The discrepancy between sperm count and microsatellite estimates of the number of matings in A. florea suggests that despite direct injection of semen into the spermatheacal duct, either A. florea drones inject only a small proportion of their semen, or queens are able to rapidly expel excess semen after mating. A model of sexual selection (first proposed by Koeniger and Koeniger) is discussed in which males attempt to gain reproductive dominance by increasing ejaculate volume and direct injection of spermatozoa into the spermatheca, while queens attempt to maintain polyandry by retaining only a small fraction of each male's ejaculate. It is shown, at least in this limited sample, that the effective number of matings is lower in A. florea than in A. mellifera.