Hours In April Research Articles

Assessment of Air Pollutants for Baba Industrial Area at Kirkuk Oil Field, Iraq

Oil fields are considered one of the major sources of air pollutants, such as particulate matter and many pollutant gases, which contribute to long-term health impacts and the phenomena of the greenhouse effect. The present study concentrated on the effect of hourly emissions from gas flares in the North Oil Company Baba industrial area on concentrations of air pollutants PM2.5, SO2, and NO2 monitored in four regions surrounding the oil field ,Gurga Chal, Alaw Mahmood, Tisin, and Yaychi, and neighbors in Kirkuk City, at different seasons during 2022. In the Tisin region, the average concentration of particulate matter affected by the Baba industrial area, and exceeded the permissible limits for pollutants, reaching 25.2 µg/m3 within 24 hours in April, while the rest of the pollutant's highest concentrations were observed in winter within the allowable limits. Spatial distribution of the same pollutants (highest hourly concentration) in Kirkuk Governorate using CAMS hourly data for spatial resolution 10km shows significant variation in pollutant concentrations across all months. Spatial analysis exhibits that Hawija District (southwest of Kirkuk) has the highest pollutant levels. Areas with high industrial activity, like the Fatha area near Salah Al-Din Governorate, showed higher SO2 levels affecting other pollutant levels, especially in Hawiga Discrete. The study concludes that the gas flares from the Baba industrial area contribute to air pollution, particularly increasing PM2.5 levels in the Tisin region near Kirkuk city, southern the North oil company. However, the overall, gas flares impact less significant than other pollution sources from Salah Al-Din Governorate. These regions have industrial activities reflect a greater influence on the air quality.

Enhancing Red Currant Berry Quality through Fertilization Using Compost from Municipal Sludge and from Vegetal Waste

Adding compost to the soil is an ecological and economical approach to providing the nutrients needed to support crops, improve soil characteristics, and increase the orchard’s durability. Over three years, at the Research Institute for Fruit Growing Pitesti, Romania, data regarding the influence of fertilization with municipal sludge and vegetal origin compost (MSVOC, 20 and 40 t ha−1 doses) and vegetal origin compost (VOC, 30 and 40 t ha−1 doses) on berry quality at ‘Jonker Van Tets’ red currant cv. Were recorded. Berry dry matter, soluble solids, sugar, titratable acidity, vitamin C, phenolic, and anthocyanin content are discussed. The correlations between berry quality indicators with climatic factors (temperatures and sunshine hours) and soil chemical characteristics are discussed. Strong correlations have been identified between anthocyanins, vitamin C, and phenolics with average temperature, maximum temperature, and sunshine hours in April. Except for Fe and Mn, berry phenolics were negatively correlated with all other soil quality indicators. In the third after the application, the results indicated that VOC 40 t ha−1 had a beneficial effect, increasing berry weight, and TTA, while VOC 30 t ha−1 significantly increased DW, TTA, and vitamin C content. Therefore, vegetal origin compost can be used as fertilizer in the sustainable growth of red currants.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on commercial airlines in the United States and implications for the kidney transplant community.

Many deceased-donor and living-donor kidney transplants (KTs) rely on commercial airlines for transport. However, the coronavirus-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the commercial airline industry. To understand potential pandemic-related disruptions in the transportation network of kidneys across the United States, we used national flight data to compare scheduled flights during the pandemic vs 1-year earlier, focusing on Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) pairs between which kidneys historically most likely traveled by direct flight (High Volume by direct Air transport OPO Pairs, HVA-OPs). Across the United States, there were 39% fewer flights in April 2020 vs April 2019. Specific to the kidney transportation network, there were 65.1% fewer flights between HVA-OPs, with considerable OPO-level variation (interquartile range [IQR] 54.7%-75.3%; range 0%-100%). This translated to a drop in median number of flights between HVA-OPs from 112 flights/wk in April 2019 to 34 in April 2020 (P<.001), and a rise in wait time between scheduled flights from 1.5hours in April 2019 (IQR 0.76-3.3) to 4.9hours in April 2020 (IQR 2.6-11.2; P<.001). Fewer flights and longer wait times can impact logistics as well as cold ischemia time; our findings motivate an exploration of creative approaches to KT transport as the impact of this pandemic on the airline industry evolves.

Energy Saving in Batteries Using the Photovoltaic System

Photovoltaic panels are used to generate electricity directly or indirectly. in the case of indirect, the energy should be saved in batteries and then it can be used and in this case, the inverter is required to change the direct current of the batteries(DC) to operate alternating current(AC) loads. This paper concentrates on saving energy in batteries and investigating the process of charging and discharging the batteries to operate selective loads in the paper. Using the photovoltaic panels to store energy in batteries, the results reveal that one photovoltaic panel of( 80 W) is placed towards south at a tilt angle of 36o; it could generate (224 W.hr) of energy that was obtained by charging a( 65 A.hr) lead-acid battery for 13 hours in April. Using two solar panels each of( 80 W )is connecting parallel,( 915.6 W.hr) of energy generated in May while using three units in parallel connection the electricity generated was near to that of two panels as the battery reaches nearly the full charge. Ambient temperature rise harms solar panels and leads to a decrease in the efficiency of the solar panel.

Association between Japanese cedar and cypress pollen counts and climate factors over a 10-year period in Tsu city, Japan

Japanese cedar pollen and cypress pollen are the most common causes of seasonal allergic rhinitis in Japan. In the present study, we examined the relationship between climate factors and Japanese cedar and cypress pollen counts in Tsu city, Mie prefecture, Japan. Cedar and cypress pollen measurements were taken between 2009 and 2018 using a gravitational method (Durham’s sampler). Each year, during this 10-year period, measurements were taken daily from the beginning of February until the middle of May. The relationship between cedar and cypress pollen counts and the highest temperature, sunshine duration, and average humidity of a given year and the previous year were analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis. Sunshine duration in April of a given year and November of the previous year and average humidity in August of the previous year were associated with cedar and cypress pollen counts (R2 = 0.980, p < 0.000). Sunshine hours in April of a given year and temperature in August of the previous year were associated with cypress pollen counts; however, the temperature in October of the previous year was not (R2 = 0.872, p < 0.001). In addition, the temperature in January of a given year had an inverse association with cedar pollen counts (R2 = 0.338, p < 0.045). Thus, the evaluation of cedar and cypress pollen counts and weather conditions in Tsu city will provide valuable information to physicians for predicting pollen prevalence and treating patients with allergies effectively.

Environmental modeling of interaction variance for grain yield of medium early maturity maize hybrids

The phenomenon of genotype by environment interaction (GEI) represents permanent interest for breeders, geneticists and biometricians with its practical and theoretical aspects. We investigated GEI for grain yield of medium early maturity maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids from the official variety trial network by the Department of Protection and Recognition of Varieties of the Republic of Serbia that includes experimental maize hybrids on eight sites over two years. Environmental variables explained 77.6% and 60.7% of the GEI variation for two consecutive years, respectively. Factorial regression combined with stepwise procedure revealed the model which includes variables precipitation in July (pr7), minimum temperature in May (mnt5), maximum temperature in May (mxt5) and insolation hours in April (sh4), in 2004, and environmental index (EI) and average temperature in September (mt9) in 2005, to be the most explanatory models in the region of Vojvodina (Serbia) in two consecutive years. These results provide a base for further research in GEI and stability analysis, and are a useful tool in characterizing the sub-regions of maize growing area and extending the existing results to new sites.

Nonseparable covariance models on circles cross time: A study of Mexico City ozone

AbstractWe propose a continuous spatiotemporal model for Mexico City ozone levels that account for distinct daily seasonality, as well as variation across the city and over the peak ozone season (April and May) of 2017. To account for these patterns, we use covariance models over space, circles, and time. We review relevant existing covariance models and develop new classes of nonseparable covariance models appropriate for seasonal data collected at many locations. We compare the predictive performance of a variety of models that utilize various nonseparable covariance functions. We use the best model to predict hourly ozone levels at unmonitored locations in April and May to infer compliance with Mexican air quality standards and to estimate the respiratory health risk associated with ozone exposure. We find that predicted compliance with air quality standards and estimated respiratory health risk vary greatly over space and time. In some regions, we predict exceedance of national standards for more than a third of the hours in April and May, and on many days, we predict that nearly all of Mexico City exceeds nationally legislated ozone thresholds at least once. In southern Mexico City, we estimate the respiratory risk for ozone to be 55% higher, on average, than the annual average risk and as much at 170% higher on some days.

A Year Air Quality Measures, 2016, and Risk Communication in Morelia City, Michoacan, Mexico

Background The World Health Organization mentions that bad air quality causes 7 million premature deaths in the world associated to lung and heart diseases. Air pollution also affects ecosystems. The sources of air pollution is related with local economy, overloaded motor vehicle traffic, bad planning in urban zones and fuel consumption. Local geographic conditions and climate contributes to maintain good air quality breathing and with dispersion and accumulation of air pollutants. This is the first record of air quality in Morelia City, Mexico with local regulations. The study will establish control and risk communication assessment. Citizens do not considerate that bad air pollution is a threat. Methods Air quality measures during 365 days was done in around 2 km with TELEDYNE trade mark sensor tools for several pollutants and meteorological conditions, mainly, O 3, NO 2, SO 2, CO, PM 10, PM 2.5 . The data was revising with national law regulations on air quality. Results Particulate matter 2.5 )were 62.4 µg/m³ and 86.7 µg/m³ in 24 hours in April and May of 2016 (threshold levels is 45 µg/m 3 ); particulate matter 10 µm (PM 10 )was above 75 µg/m³ with highest values 160.7 µg/m³ since March through August, November and December, respectively. Ozone measures were above 0.095 ppm/hour with 0.920 ppm/hour in March, May and December in 2016. NO 2 and SO 2 were below threshold levels. Conclusions The highest air polluted months were March, April and May with particulate matter 10 µm, 2.5 µm and ozone in this zone of Morelia and their sources are by overloaded car traffic and forest fires on the landside mountains near from Morelia. April and May were the hottest months than ever registered before from NASA, NOAA reports and our air quality station. Local authorities must send early warnings on air quality in media access.

(Invited) Hydrogen Fuel Cells for Small Unmanned Air Vehicles

Dr. Russ Kunz was known as an early pioneer of fuel cell research in the corporate research environment, carrying out and publishing basic and applied research toward the improvement of specific corporate applications. This talk will describe how similar research on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), or hydrogen fuel cells, is being developed at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the corporate research laboratory for the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy is interested in unmanned systems for numerous reasons, such as offering reduced manning and creating the ability to carry out missions in environments hostile to humans. However, numerous challenges remain, such as the limited endurance of battery-electric vehicles. At NRL, we targeted the limited endurance of battery-electric unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) proposing hydrogen fuel cells as a path to long-endurance propulsion. NRL developed the Ion Tiger UAV, first using a 1.1-kg 550-Watt fuel cell built by Protonex Technology Corporation in the power train. The Ion Tiger flew for 26 hours on hydrogen fuel cell propulsion in November 2009 using compressed hydrogen gas as the fuel, and 48 hours in April 2013 using liquid hydrogen fuel. More recently, NRL has designed and built in house a flight-weight, modular 1.5 to 5 kW PEMFC using metal bipolar plates as the backbone – first with 3D printed titanium bipolar plates, and more recently using automotive-grade, formed stainless steel bipolar plates. We have also developed the methodology to make catalyst-coated membranes in house to speed development of new designs. The overall success of our hydrogen UAV program is due to advances in materials, electronics, and thermal management, integrated into an aerodynamically efficient package. The resulting fuel cell–powered UAVs are relatively small (35 to 100 lbs) but they are quiet and efficient, allowing them to do “big airplane” missions. The full system approach, with basic and applied research as its foundation, is clearly a tribute to the corporate research approach that Dr. Kunz espoused.

Current Status of 5A Lab6 Hollow Cathode Life Tests in Lanzhou Institute of Physics, China

The current statuses of lifetime test of LaB6 hollow cathode at the Lanzhou Institute of Physics (LIP), China, was described. 5A LaB6 hollow cathode was design for LIPS-200 40mN Xenon ion thruster, and it could be used for LHT-100 80 mN Hall thruster, too. Life test of the discharge and neutralizer modes of LHC-5 hollow cathode were stared in October 2011, and cumulative operation time reached 17,300 and 16,100 hours in April 2015, respectively. The life of cathode was designed more than 11,000 hours. Parameters of discharge and key structure dimensions were monitored in different stage of life test indicated that cathodes were health enough. The test will continue until the cathode cannot work or operation parameter is not in normally. The result of the endurance test of cathode demonstrated that the LaB6 hollow cathode is satisfied for the required of thruster in life and performance. Keywords—LaB6, hollow cathode, thruster, lifetime test, electric propulsion.

30: Applying the Theory of Constraints to Emergency Department Workflow: Reducing Ambulance Diversion Through Basic Business Practice

Despite an increasing body of literature that attempts to explain emergency department (ED) crowding and ambulance diversion, there has been only minimal emphasis on applying fundamental operational management strategies to address the root cause. Not surprisingly, there are exceedingly few published reports of significant and lasting success in decreasing diversion times. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a cornerstone of operational management. It seeks to identify a constraining or bottleneck resource in a production or supply chain (ie, workflow). Once identified, the constraint is exploited by redesigning workflow, and all other activities are subordinated to this task. Simultaneously, the constraint is elevated to improve capacity of that resource. We hypothesized that diversion times can be dramatically reduced and that these reductions can be sustained by applying TOC to patient care workflow. After an initial two-month preparatory phase, we tracked monthly ambulance diversion times over a twelve-month implementation period (April 2009 - March 2010) in an adult ED. Our hospital is an urban level 1 trauma center and tertiary care referral center. The study included all patients presenting to the main, adult-only area of the ED. The ED patients in our study excluded pediatric, fast track, and trauma-designated patients. Inpatients included all adult inpatients. During the preparatory phase we applied TOC to identify constraining resources in ED workflow. Multidisciplinary teams then met to redesign workflow at these bottleneck steps (exploiting the constraint). Implementation of the redesign (subordination to and elevation of the constraint) occurred within the ED, but the most significant change occurred on the inpatient units. We defined primary success as a 90% reduction in ambulance diversion time for the study period, compared to the previous twelve months. Secondary success was measured by a reduction in inpatient LOS. We also tracked ED and ambulance volumes, ED admissions, left without being seen (LWBS) rates, and ED boarding times. We achieved significant reductions in diversion times almost immediately during our preparatory phase. By the first month of implementation (April 2009) diversion was reduced to 3.3 hours (compared to 114 hours in April 2008), and we remained completely off of ambulance diversion for the remaining 11 months. Moreover, our ED volume, ambulance traffic, and ED admissions increased (see Table); our LWBS and ED inpatient boarding times decreased by 38% and 60 minutes respectively.Tabled 1 By applying the basic principles of TOC we reduced ambulance diversion by 99.6%. These reductions were realized almost immediately and were sustained over the entire year. Application of fundamental business operational management strategies can be extremely successful in improving ED and inpatient unit performance.

'Stocks Demand Curves and TARP Returns'

This study uses a unique natural experiment to contribute to the long-running debate as to whether the demand curves for stocks slope downward. The U.S. Treasury sold 5.27 billion shares of Citigroup’s common stock during trading hours in April 26, 2010, to December 6, 2010. Using a geometric Brownian motion model of the stock price, there is some evidence that the demand curve for Citigroup’s stock has a negative slope. There was a weakly significant drop in the stock price at the announcement of the sale and a weakly significant rise in the stock price just after it ended. This indicates that potential “dribble-out” privatizations of AIG, General Motors, Chrysler Motors, and Ally Financial may depress those firms’ stock prices temporarily, eating into taxpayers’ returns from those bailout investments.

Annual recruitment of three species of tide‐pool fishes is driven by variation in springtime coastal hydrodynamics

Using an 18‐yr time series of annual recruitment of three tide‐pool fishes, Clinocottus globiceps, Clinocottus embryum, and Oligocottus maculosus, we investigated the relationship between recruitment and upwelling and downwelling, date of the spring transition, and spring wave climate. There were no significant regressions between springtime upwelling and recruitment in any species. The timing of the spring transition, however, was related to the recruitment of C. globiceps and C. embryum: the later the spring transition the larger their annual recruitment. We found a negative exponential relationship between timing of the spring transition and O. maculosus recruitment, though only after removing one outlying data point (the strong 1997 El Nino year). Significant negative exponential regressions were also found between O. maculosus recruitment and hours in April and May when waves were ≪2 and ≪3 m in amplitude. In these regressions, 1997 was no longer an outlier. O. maculosus recruitment also varied positively with seawater temperature on the shore. The different hydrodynamic correlates of recruitment in this assemblage of species, as well as published observations, suggest that the larvae of these species are occupying different nearshore areas. Clinocottus species likely develop in coastal waters, while O. maculosus develops very close to shore, essentially in the surf zone, where its larvae may be swept offshore by currents generated during large wave events. Abiotic factors driving larval success can explain persistent differences in recruitment among these species over 18 yr.

Hollow Cathode Studies for the Next Generation Ion Engines in JAXA

The current status of experimental studies of hollow cathodes for the next-generation ion engines in the Aerospace Research and Development Directorate, JAXA is described. One of the topics on the hollow cathode studies is a life test of a discharge cathode. The keeper disk, orifice plate, and cathode tube of this discharge cathode are made of high density graphite, which possesses much higher tolerance to ion impingement compared with conventional metal materials. The life test had started in March 2006 and the cumulative operation time reached 15,600 hours in April 2008. No severe degradation has been found both in the operation voltages and electrodes so far, and the test is favorably in progress. In addition to the life test of the discharge cathode, some experiments for design optimization of neutralizer cathodes have been performed. A life test of the neutralizer cathode is being started in June 2008.

The dust trail complex of comet 79P/du Toit-Hartley and meteor outbursts at Mars

Aims. Meteoroid trails ejected during past perihelion passages of the Mars-orbit-intersecting comet 79P/du Toit-Hartley have the potential of generating meteor outbursts in the Martian atmosphere. Depending on timing and intensity, the effects of these outbursts may be detectable by instrumentation operating in the vicinity of Mars. We aim to generate predictions for meteor activity in the martian atmosphere related to that comet; to search for evidence, in planetary mission data, that such activity took place; and to make predictions for potentially detectable future activity. Methods. We have modelled the stream by integrating numerically the states of particle ensembles, each ensemble representing a trail of meteoroids ejected from the comet during 39 perihelion passages from 1803, and propagated them forward in time, concentrating on those particles that physically approach Mars in the recent past and near future. Results. We find several instances where meteor outbursts of low to moderate intensity may have taken place at Mars since 1997. A search through Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) radio science data during two periods in 2003 and 2005 when data coverage was available showed that a plasma layer did indeed form in the martian ionosphere for a period of a few hours in April 2003 as a direct consequence of the predicted outburst. The apparent failure to identify such an event in 2005 could be due to those meteoroids ablating lower in the atmosphere or that the cometary dust follows a different particle size distribution than what was assumed. Our study highlights the need for further theoretical modelling of the response of the martian ionosphere to a time-variable meteoroid flux, observations of the comet itself and, most importantly, regular monitoring of the martian ionosphere during future outbursts predicted by our model.

Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women: Quality Lifelines for a Lifetime

At Baptist Women's, a not-for-profit, 140-bed free-standing hospital, the Institute of Medicine's six quality dimensions are embedded into the quality blueprint and strategic plan. Quality initiatives and dashboards are shared through an established shared drive, which is accessible for all employees, to track performance on identified dashboards. IMPROVING MAMMOGRAPHY CYCLE TIME AT THE WOMEN'S HEALTH CENTER: Cycle time (arrival to departure) for mammography was identified as the top improvement priority. Increasing the percentage of patients who had preregistered reduced admission time, and process changes were made to move the patient through the center more efficiently. For example, patients with orders for additional films were flagged to ensure that these exams were completed before a new patient's exam. The ultrasound schedule was blocked during peak times to ensure that add-on exams could be performed in a timely manner. The cycle time was reduced for screening mammography (from 2 hours in 2003 to 30 minutes in April 2006) and diagnostic screenings, including review of films and reports with radiologist at departure, decreased from > 3 hours in 2003 to 2.5 hours in April 2006. Expectations of teamwork, proactive problem resolution, communication on all levels, and customer service are the cornerstone of Baptist Women's culture of quality.

The Apollo SWC Experiment: Results, Conclusions, Consequences

The Apollo Solar Wind Composition (SWC) experiment was designed to measure elemental and isotopic abundances of the light noble gases in the solar wind, and to investigate time variations in the solar-wind composition. The experiment was deployed on the first five Apollo lunar landing missions. The crews exposed a foil at each of the five landing sites, and solar wind particles were collected for time periods ranging from 77 minutes in July 1969 (Apollo 11) to 45:05 hours in April 1972 (Apollo 16). The foils were returned to Earth, where the collected noble gas particles were analysed in ultra-high vacuum mass spectrometer systems. We briefly describe here the flight hardware, and the technical tests and calibrations. The experimental results were published in various scientific journals, PhD theses and NASA science reports, some of them not readily accessible after three decades. In this paper, therefore, the results obtained by the five experiments on the fluxes of the isotopes of He, Ne and Ar are summarized and discussed, so that averages and variations in solar wind composition can be more easily compared with more recent data, particularly those to be obtained by the Genesis mission. The helium flux determined for the five exposure periods varied by a factor of four, with a time-weighted average of 1.2 × 107 cm−2 s−1. Although the composition varied much less than the He-flux, definite variations were found for the 4He/3He and He/Ne ratios. The weighted average solar wind abundance ratios obtained were 4He/3He = 2350 ± 120, 4He/20Ne = 570 ± 70, 20Ne/22Ne = 13.7 ± 0.3, 22Ne/21Ne = 30 ± 3, 20Ne/36Ar = 49 ± 7 and 36Ar/38Ar =5.4 ± 0.3 (errors correspond to the 2σ level). We also measured the flow directions of individual isotopic species. We found that the lunar environment did not significantly affect the solar wind composition measured at the lunar surface, and we conclude that the SWC results are representative of the solar wind prevailing in interplanetary space at the time of the five foil exposures. Finally, we discuss, from today's perspective, some of the implications and conclusions that can be drawn from the SWC results, concerning the Sun and its history, the solar system, the galaxy and the universe.

On the Variation of the Orbital Period and the 67-Min Oscillations in EX Hydrae

We report the first results of an observational campaign consisting of coordinated photoelectric photometry of Ex Hya from four observatories at different geographical longitudes for a total of 146 hours in April 1979.Ex Hya was monitored differentially for a total of 109 hours, partly simultaneously at different telescopes. The largest time-interval of uninterrupted observation is of nearly 18 hours. 68 times of eclipse, and 89 times of maxima in the 67-minute cycle have been obtained. Figure 1 is an 0-C diagram representing all residuals listed by Vogt et al. (1980), and those as obtained during this run.

A WEATHER INDEX TO FORECAST POTENTIAL INCIDENCE OF APHID-TRANSMITTED VIRUS DISEASES OF PEPPERS IN THE NIAGARA PENINSULA

The incidence of non-persistent aphid-transmitted viruses of peppers in the Niagara Peninsula at the end of August was closely correlated with accumulated degree-days plus total bright sunshine hours in April. Virus disease incidence agreed closely with predictions from a simple regression equation based on these weather factors for the period 1970–1977. Risk years for these diseases can be accurately forecast for this region in advance of spring planting. This model may prove generally applicable in other pepper growing areas by calculating regression of local virus incidence on regional meteorological records.