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Swedish social assistance is a second example of a “needs-based” system, one that aspires to secure claimants a “reasonable standard of living,” while also assisting them to “live an independent life.” Like its German counterpart, it consists of a two-tiered system of support. A relatively rule-bound standardized grant is intended to cover most typical living expenses a household will incur. A second, more discretionary, area of support is available to cover a variety of exceptional needs, including longer-term and emergency expenses. Assessments are, in principle, individualized, and caseworkers have full authority over the decisions they make.

In the three worlds of welfare capitalism, Germany belongs to the conservative world. This type of welfare state is characterized by labor market structures and social security systems that assume and have created the “standard worker family,” based on a male breadwinner and female partner who takes on most family responsibilities. In neither of the other two welfare state regimes is this form of familialism so deeply ingrained (Esping-Andersen 1996). An institutionalized occupational and apprenticeship system has maintained a protected, high-skilled core of “family wage,” careerist, manufacturing jobs. At the same time, the Catholic principle of “subsidiarity” (promoted by the political hegemony of the Christian Democratic party) has led to comparatively limited funding for social services,2 relying instead on voluntary and private (female) forms of caring. The lack of publicly-funded services, combined with tax disincentives for a second household wage earner, have discouraged married women’s participation in the labor market, with levels of female employment below those found in the United States or Sweden.3

The United States, as the ideal typical liberal welfare state, is distinguished by the limited role the state plays in regulating markets and the outcomes they produce. Insurance against most disruptions to working life is acquired through private provision in the market. Government spending on vocational and training programs, as well as on support resources, like childcare, is comparatively low, with most of these services provided by private for-profit and nonprofit actors. Employment offices and unemployment insurance2 have a correspondingly marginal role. State intervention is generally limited to helping market losers via targeted, means-tested assistance.3 The labor market is only weakly shaped by state regulations and union power, resulting in low fixed labor costs.4 In the 1990s this weak regulation facilitated significant job creation in both well-paid, high-skilled jobs and in the unskilled private service sector. Such labor flexibility has meant that official unemployment levels in America have traditionally been lower than in many European countries, and standards of living generally higher. Yet, the U.S. economy has its unique and troubling side effects. According to Iversen and Wren’s service economy “trilemma” (1998), while maintaining budget constraints and relatively low unemployment levels, the United States fails on the issue of wage equality. The result is a large class of households with full-time employment who live at or below the poverty line—the uninsured, working poor.5

Sweden’s world-renowned social security system—with its redistributive income policies, generous replacement rates, and relative equality among benefit levels (Esping-Andersen 1991)—has been made fiscally possible by the nation’s ability to maintain high levels of work participation and an economy operating at close-to-full employment. This strategy has depended upon coordinated wage agreements, forcing less efficient firms out of business, and exceptionally high levels of spending on “active labor market” policies to retrain unemployed workers for the changing labor market. A second distinctive feature of the Swedish model emerged in the 1970s when, in an effort to combat unemployment and increase female labor force participation, Sweden greatly expanded public services, including public childcare.2 This approach provided the means for women to juggle their responsibilities as mothers and workers, by socializing many of the responsibilities of family care, and by providing comparatively well-paying, protected state jobs. As a result, by the late 1980s, labor participation rates were the highest in the world at 75 percent of the working-age population in 1988 and 80 percent of working-age women (Esping-Andersen 1996).3

Public benefits programs share common features with other large public bureaucracies that carry out many of the regulatory and distributive functions of modern life. Such organizations must balance a variety of policy purposes and values, both substantive and procedural, in a managerially complex structure. At least in principle, program administration is supposed to strive to be efficient, accurate, timely, consistent, and fair in its decision making, giving equal consideration to each claim, treating individuals in a humane and respectful way, and giving claimants as much information and participatory effect in the process as possible. The inscription of these procedural values presumably provides legitimacy to decision making, a fundamental requirement of “administrative justice” (Mashaw 1983). However, these organizing principles are often competitive in nature, so that trade-offs are inherent in organizing how services are provided and claims are processed.

Objective and background Objective monitoring of cough may be preferred to subjective reporting of the symptom in clinical and research settings. Therefore, a self-contained, ambulatory cough monitoring system is needed that is non-invasive, usable for children and adults of all ages, inexpensive, and highly accurate with easy to use analysis software. Methodology After development of a new device, 15 subjects with frequent coughing were recorded with the novel cough monitor and a simultaneous video recording in order to validate the monitor compared with a gold standard. Two investigators independently analyzed the recordings and counted the number of coughs during the study period from both the cough monitor and the video recording. Results When measuring agreement between the two investigators, the sample concordance correlation coefficient for audio counts was 0.998 (p < 0.001). In the comparison of video counts, the sample concordance correlation coefficient was 0.997 (p < 0.001). For the comparison of investigator 1's video counts to the corresponding audio counts, the sample concordance correlation coefficient was 0.968 (p = 0.026). For the comparison of investigator 2's video counts to the corresponding counts, the sample concordance correlation coefficient was 0.973 (p = 0.015). Conclusion We have developed and piloted a new, valid, and reproducible method of objectively recording and analyzing cough. This device appears to be useful for subjects of any age and in clinical and research settings.

Accurately measuring un-ionized ammonia (NH3 (aq)), and understanding the mechanisms controlling ammonia speciation in anaerobic digesters are essential to understanding ammonia toxicity. Previous estimates of NH3 (aq) concentration have relied on a simple speciation approach that is not valid for concentrated mixtures. Mechanisms controlling NH3 (aq) in anaerobic digesters have generally not been studied. This work presents an approach for measuring NH3 (aq) activity using gaseous/aqueous equilibrium across microporous tubing, and a simple method for measuring ammonia associated with particulate matter. We applied these methods to samples from laboratoryscale mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digesters fed cattle manure. We also studied ammonia speciation in simple NH4Cl-NaOH solutions, and compared measurements to predictions from three speciation models. We found that the currently accepted approach for estimating NH3 (aq) concentration can overestimate NH3 (aq) activity (and concentration) by as much as 90% in slurry digesters. Previous work on the toxicity of ammonia to methanogenesis has probably overestimated the tolerance of methanogenic consortia. Ammonia associated with particulate matter made up approximately 10% or less of the total ammonia in digesters; NH4 + adsorption and precipitation played a minor role in these digesters. Simulated NH3 (aq) activity from a model with activity coefficients calculated via the extended Debye-Huckel equation and from the Pitzer approach were similar to each other from pH 7 to 9 for solutions with 3000 mg NH4Cl-N/kg H2O, and close to measured values. The currently accepted approach overestimated NH3 in simple solutions, and should not be applied to anaerobic digesters treating concentrated wastes.

A 120 Gb/s optical link (12 channels at 10 Gb/s/ch) has been demonstrated. The link operated at a BER of less than 10/sup -12/ with all channels operating and with a total fiber length of 316 m, which comprises 300 m of next generation (OM-3) multimode fiber (MMF) plus 16 m of standard grade MMF. This is the first time that a parallel link with this bandwidth at this per-channel rate has ever been demonstrated. For the transmitter, a SiGe laser driver was combined with a GaAs VCSEL array. For the receiver, the signal from a GaAs photodiode array was amplified by a 12 channel SiGe receiver IC. Key to the demonstration is the use of several custom testing tools, most notably a 12-channel pattern generator. The package is very similar to the commercial parallel modules that are available today, but the per-channel bit rate is three times higher than for the commercial modules. The new modules demonstrate the possibility of extending the parallel optical module technology that is available today into a distance/spl times/ bandwidth regime that is unattainable for copper cables.

A 120 Gb/s, 12 channel parallel optical transmitter using 850 nm VCSELs over 300 m of fiber is described. All channels operate simultaneously, driven by a custom-built low cost 120 Gb/s test station. Error free operation with margin is confirmed.

The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA), formerly Veterinary Laboratories Agency, has investigated on-farm potential food safety incidents on behalf of the Foods Standards Agency (FSA) since 2001. Lead intoxication accounts for the majority of on-farm potential food safety incidents and is associated with a variety of different sources of lead, including lead acid batteries, paint, geochemical lead and metallic lead. Several of the metallic lead incidents involve exposure to lead shot from clay pigeon shooting. This paper describes five such cases that have occurred since 2008, three in birds and two in cattle, with the intention of highlighting this hazard. Case 1 : Lead poisoning was confirmed in a flock of 2000 free range laying hens which were 42 weeks into lay. The hens' range was next to an active clay pigeon shoot. The flock had never reached its expected production potential and mortality had slowly increased. Postmortem examinations revealed egg peritonitis and lead shot was consistently present in the gizzards with one bird having 59.0 g (Figs 1 and 2). FIG 1: Lead shot in situ in the gizzard FIG 2: Lead shot removed and washed from gizzard content Subsequent whole egg analyses revealed raised lead concentrations of up to 2550 μg/kg lead. Eggs from hens which have not been exposed to lead should contain very low concentrations of lead. Trampel and others (2003) reported yolk lead concentrations of

Current mental health initiatives are decreasing the number of psychiatric beds and thus increasing the number of clients with serious mental illness who are being served in the community. Such changes have implications for clients' quality of life and health care economics. To implement the changes while addressing the unique needs of psychiatric clients, appropriate models of discharge planning and community integration are critical.

Cholestatic liver disease complicates total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in premature neonates. We investigated TPN-induced liver disease in the newborn piglet, hypothesizing that: (1) TPN impairs bile flow by reducing the bile acid-dependent (BADF) and the bile acid-independent component of bile flow (BAIF); and (2) TPN changes bile composition. For three weeks, eight piglets received TPN and nine piglets were fed milk. Basal bile flow was measured and bile composition analyzed for bile acids, cholesterol (C), phospholipids (PL), and PL fatty acids. Bile flow was also measured after stimulation with 20, 50, and 100 mu/kg taurocholic acid (TCA). Liver histology and bilirubin content were examined. Basal bile flow was reduced from 11.6 +/- 1.2 microliters/g liver/10 min in orally fed animals to 1.6 +/- 0.4 microliters/g liver/10 min in the TPN group. The stimulated bile flow in the TPN group did not respond to TCA and was lower than in the orally fed animals at each TCA dose. Both BADF and BAIF were significantly lower in the TPN group. Bile acid secretion was less than 50% of control values and total C and PL secretions were less than 5% of control. Liver and serum bilirubin were elevated in the TPN group. The newborn piglet is a valid model to study TPN-induced cholestasis, characterized by decreased bile acid secretion, impaired BADF and BAIF, and reduced bile flow stimulation after intravenous TCA.

The purposes of this study were to describe physical therapists' knowledge regarding battered women and to determine whether physical therapists recognize these patients in clinical settings.Two hundred questionnaires were distributed to outpatient physical therapists in northern California. One hundred fifty-one usable questionnaires (76%) were returned.Although 43% of the respondents reported treating a patient they identified or strongly suspected as having been battered, only two respondents (1%) reported they routinely asked patients about physical abuse. Less than 50% of the respondents correctly identified that battering injuries are more likely to occur in a central pattern (ie, head, neck, chest, abdomen).The results of this survey suggest that physical therapists have treated patients who are battered. Many physical therapists, however, may not be fully educated to detect the signs of abuse. This study is the first step in initiating physical therapy research in domestic violence identification and education.Domestic violence from a spouse or an intimate partner has become a public issue as well as criminal justice, since it was known to be a leading cause of death, in the US. Physical therapists (PTs) play a critical role in prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation in health care of a battered patient. This study describes the knowledge of PTs regarding battered women and determines whether PTs recognize these patients in clinical settings. 200 questionnaires were distributed to 25 outpatient PT facilities in northern California. 151 usable questionnaires were returned. Results showed that out of the 151 respondents (121 females, 30 males), 43% dealt with women whom they strongly suspected or identified as being physically battered; however, only 1% of the respondents routinely inquired about physical abuse. Furthermore, 42% correctly identified the neck, head, chest, and abdomen as the most common location of injuries, and having depression as a psychological symptom resulting from the abuse. The results of the survey suggest that the detection of battered patients by a PT was very low. This could be due to the PT's lack of domestic violence education; and reluctance to ask patients whether they were abused; or beliefs that domestic violence was an uncommon occurrence in their patients' lives.

Trichloroethene was degraded in expanded-bed bioreactors operated with mixed-culture methanotrophic attached films. Biomass concentrations of 8 to 75 g volatile solids (VS) per liter static bed (L(sb)) were observed. Batch TCE degradation rates at 35 degrees C followed the Michaelis-Menten model, and a maximum TCE degradation rate (q(max)) of 10.6 mg TCE/gVS . day and a half velocity coefficient (K(S)) of 2.8 mg TCE/L were predicted. Continuous-flow kinetics also followed the Michaelis-Menten model, but other parameters may be limiting, such as dissolved copper and dissolved methane-q(max) and K(S) were 2.9 mg TCE/gVS . day and 1.5 mg TCE/L, respectively, at low copper concentrations (0.003 to 0.006 mg Cu/L). The maximum rates decreased substantially with small increases in dissolved copper. Methane consumption during continuous-flow operation varied from 23 to 1200 g CH(4)/g TCE degraded. Increasing the influent dissolved methane concentration from 0.01 mg/L to 5.4 mg/L reduced the TCE degradation rate by nearly an order of magnitude at 21 degrees C. Exposure of biofilms to 1.4 mg/L tetrachloroethene (PCE) at 35 degrees C resulted in the loss of methane utilization ability. Tests with methanotrophs grown on granular activated carbon indicated that lower effluent TCE concentrations could be obtained. The low efficiencies of TCE removal and low degradation rates obtained at 35 degrees C suggest that additional improvements will be necessary to make methanotrophic TCE treatment attractive.

The paper describes instrumentation which uses machine vision to inspect rolls of web textile fabric in real time. This involves detection of “message” signals arising from defects buried in noise caused by fabric structure. Analogy with the detection of targets in radar and sonar is exploited to provide effective signal processing. The hardware implementation achieves efficiency with economy by using standard devices wherever possible — such as a CCD linescan camera for sensing and a 486 PC as host processor. A special interface card is provided which compensates for deterministic noise and eliminates more than 99% of the redundant data gathered by the camera.

A method of securing a dressing on scalp wounds, using silastic foam, is described. This method has the advantage of leaving the rest of the scalp uncovered and is particularly effective in the unco-operative patient.

Many photosynthetic herbicides inhibit Photosystem II electron transport at the step where electrons are transferred to the secondary plastoquinone acceptor QB. The susceptibility of this site arises from the nature of the QB interaction with the thylakoid membrane. Orientation of QB in its binding niche on the D-l protein [1] is proposed to involve two hydrogen bonds to histidine-215 and to the peptide linkage near serine-264 [2]. Reduction of QB upon two electron transfer reactions breaks the hydrogen bonds, displacing QB from its binding site [1]. As an oxidized plastoquinone molecule from a pool of such molecules diffuses to the QB site, exogenous compounds may compete for a common binding domain and thus act as inhibitors of photosynthetic electron transport.

Objective monitoring of cough may be preferred to subjective reporting of the symptom in clinical and research settings. Therefore, a self-contained, ambulatory cough monitoring system is needed that is non-invasive, usable for children and adults of all ages, inexpensive, and highly accurate with easy to use analysis software. After development of a new device, 15 subjects with frequent coughing were recorded with the novel cough monitor and a simultaneous video recording in order to validate the monitor compared with a gold standard. Two investigators independently analyzed the recordings and counted the number of coughs during the study period from both the cough monitor and the video recording. When measuring agreement between the two investigators, the sample concordance correlation coefficient for audio counts was 0.998 (p < 0.001). In the comparison of video counts, the sample concordance correlation coefficient was 0.997 (p < 0.001). For the comparison of investigator 1's video counts to the corresponding audio counts, the sample concordance correlation coefficient was 0.968 (p = 0.026). For the comparison of investigator 2's video counts to the corresponding counts, the sample concordance correlation coefficient was 0.973 (p = 0.015). We have developed and piloted a new, valid, and reproducible method of objectively recording and analyzing cough. This device appears to be useful for subjects of any age and in clinical and research settings.

Surface carbohydrate, presumably the lipopolysaccharide, of Thermoplasma acidophilum was visualized by means of the concanavalin A, horseradish peroxidase, and diaminobenzidine cytochemical staining procedure.

A 25 kW cogeneration unit was designed and operated for 2500 h on biogas produced from two anaerobic digesters using dairy manure as their feed. Performance studies detailed specifications for the spark system, thermodynamic performance of the unit, and other important operation parameters. Extended operation also provided insights on the effects of hydrogen sulfide within the biogas on the engine and potential procedures for controlling such problems as well as other long term operating considerations.

The effect of autoheated aerobic thermophilic digestion on the pathogen content of sewage sludges was studied and compared to that of conventional mesophilic anaerobic digestion. Both systems were full scale, continuously-fed facilities operated in parallel and utilized a feed sludge of thickened primary and waste-activated sludge. The relative populations of viruses, Salmonella sp., total and fecal coliforms, fecal streptococci and parasites found before and after digestion were compared. The full scale mesophilic anaerobic digesters were operated at relatively constant conditions, i.e. digester temperature constant at 35°C, and loading rates constant, etc., while the full scale autoheated aerobic digester was operated under a wide range of loading conditions. At all of the conditions studied, the autoheated digester temperature exceeded 45 C. Virus and Salmonella sp. concentrations in the effluent from the aerobic unit were below detectable limits in 10 of 11 samples and 6 of 6 samples, respectively, whereas the anaerobic digester effluent contained detectable numbers of viruses and Salmonella sp. Bacterial indicator counts and parasite concentrations were less in the autoheated digester effluent than in the effluent from the anaerobic digester. It was concluded that the simple autoheated aerobic digestion process could be used to produce a virtually pathogen-free sludge at a cost comparable to that of conventional, mesophilic anaerobic digestion.

OBJECTIVE--To assess whether an organised programme of prevention including the use of a health promotion nurse noticeably improved recording and follow up of cardiovascular risk factors and cervical smears in a general practice that had access to computerised cell and recall. DESIGN--Randomised controlled trial. SETTING--General practice in inner London. PATIENTS--All 3206 men and women aged 30-64 registered with the practice. INTERVENTION--The intervention group had their risk factors ascertained and followed up by the health promotion nurse and the general practitioner, whereas those in the control group were managed by the general practitioner alone. END POINT--Recording and follow up of blood pressure and cervical smears after three years. Recording of smoking, family history of ischaemic heart disease, and serum cholesterol concentrations were also examined. MEASUREMENTS and MAIN RESULTS--When the trial was stopped after two years the measurements of blood pressure in the preceding five years were 93% (1511/1620) v 73% (1160/1586) (95% confidence interval for difference 17.5 to 22.7%) for intervention and control groups respectively. For patients with hypertension the figures were 97% (104/107) v 69% (80/116) (18.2 to 38.2%). For women the proportion who had had a cervical smear in the preceding three years were 76% (606/799) v 49% (392/806) (22.5 to 31.9%). Recording of smoking, family history of ischaemic heart disease, and serum cholesterol concentrations was also higher in the intervention group compared with the control group. CONCLUSION--An organised programme, which includes a nurse with specific responsibility for adult prevention, is likely to make an important contribution to recording of risk factors and follow up of those patients with known risks.

The effect of approximation on the postural sway of healthy subjects wearing a weighted belt around their pelvis was measured. Twenty subjects between the ages of 23 and 30 years stood on a polyurethane foam platform that amplified their postural sway and were filmed from a lateral view. All subjects wore markers over their mandibles, hips, and knees and were filmed three times with the weighted belt worn on a randomly selected trial. Frames from a 10-second interval of film from each trial were studied, and the summed displacement at each bony landmark between each frame of film was calculated. A significant decrease in displacement at the mandible (p less than .02) was found when the weighted belt was worn. The decrease in displacement was not significant at the hip or knee. Approximation was shown to decrease the postural sway of healthy subjects. Further study is indicated to investigate the effect of approximation on patient populations.

Sulfide volatilization was found to be sensitive to the pH variations expected during normal anaerobic digester operation. As digester pH levels increased from 6.7 to 8.2, gaseous sulfide concentrations decreased from 2900 to 100 ppm H 2 S(g). Although gaseous sulfide control through pH adjustment was technically feasible, its practical use was limited by the resulting increase in soluble sulfide concentration. pH adjustment for biogas sulfide control was recommended only under conditions in which the influent sulfur level was well below sulfide inhibitory concentrations. Control of gaseous sulfide levels through insoluble iron (3+) phosphate addition was an efficient gaseous sulfide control process with no adverse effects on digester performance. By varying the influent FePO 4 -Fe:SO 4 2− -S input ratio from 0.0 to 3.5, gaseous sulfide levels decreased from 2400 to 100 ppm. The availability of iron under anaerobic conditions from an aerobically insoluble compound has been termed reductive solubilization. Using results from this investigation, a unique anaerobic digestion system is outlined to treat sulfur rich wastes in which sulfide inhibition is minimized while maximizing energy recovery.

Experiments were conducted with Zymomonas mobilis in an attached film expanded bed (AFEB) fermentor at different dilution rates, using a feed glucose concentration of 100 gm/l. Vermiculite was used as the bed material for attachment of the bacterial film. Ethanol volumetric productivities were maximum at a dilution rate of 3.6hr-1. The productivities were 105 gm/l-hr and 210 gm/l-hr based on total fermentor volume and bed volume, respectively.

In this study, we investigated the applicability of thermography as a technique for evaluating the painful postcerebrovascular accident (CVA) shoulder in hemiplegic patients. A thermographic series was taken of the upper extremities and upper trunk of 27 female subjects. The four groups we evaluated were nonhemiplegic subjects (n = 9), post-CVA subjects with recovered function (n = 6), hemiplegic subjects with upper extremity motor impairment (n = 6), and hemiplegic subjects with both motor impairment and ipsilateral shoulder pain (n = 6). The data revealed a normal thermographic series in 8 of the 9 nonhemiplegic subjects, but only in 1 of the 18 post-CVA subjects. The majority of the abnormal thermographic series of post-CVA subjects showed a 1 degree to 5 degree C coolness on the involved side. No consistent thermographic patterns emerged that could be related to the severity or location of pain. Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of thermography as a means of determining the relationship between ipsilateral post-CVA coolness and hemiplegic shoulder pain.

Apple pomace is an excellent example of a wasted food resource which also causes significant disposal problems. Two unique apple pomace processing systems were found capable of converting this wasted residue into a beneficial resource. The first process anaerobically digested the pomace producing energy as biogas. Bench and pilot scale testing indicated that nearly 80% of the pomace organics could be converted into a substitute natural gas with an energy value of 10–30 per wet metric ton. The second process, called “Biodrying,” combined a high rate composting reactor with a low energy consuming dryer. Operation of a full scale biodrying system achieved wet pomace mass and volume reductions greater than 70% and produced a dried, stable, odorless product in less than 5 days.

A denitrification system composed of a completely stirred tank reactor (CSTR) followed in series with a plug flow reactor (PFR) was tested in order to minimize the disadvantages of each process when used separately. High efficiency of NO 3 -N removal and good process control can be achieved with the series treatment system using 25% of the volume required with a single CSTR reactor. Most influent NO 3 -N concentrations were greater than 1000 mg/l, and these usually result in effluent concentrations less than 50 mg/l. The effluent NO 3 -N concentration was reduced to less than 0.5 mg/l with a total hydraulic detention time of 1.7 hr when the influent NO 3 -N concentration was 80 mg/l. Design conditions which would minimize treatment volume requirements would include microbial mass loadings (g NO 3 -N g VSS/ day in the CSTR and PFR of 2.0 day - ¹, and 0.2 day - ¹, respectively, resulting in a 40% removal efficiency in the CSTR reactor and greater than 95% NO 3 -N removal efficiency in the total system. The microbial yield averaged 0.11 g VSS synthesized per g of COD removed.

The purpose of our study was to determine changes in spinal mobility for women aged 20 to 84 years. Anterior flexion, right and left lateral flexion, and extension were measured on 109 healthy women. The modified Schober method was used to measure anterior flexion. Standard goniometry was used to measure lateral flexion and extension. The results of the study indicated that spinal mobility decreases with advancing age. The most significant (p less than .05) differences occurred between the two youngest and the two oldest age categories. Data gathered in this study indicate that physical therapists should consider the effects of age on spinal mobility when assessing spinal range of motion. A simple, objective method for measuring spinal mobility is presented. Suggestions for future research are given.

The major objective was to determine the rate and extent of algal degradation under simulated natural conditions. Decomposition of heterogeneous and unialgal cultures was studied under dark, anaerobic, constant-temperature laboratory conditions. Effects of high sulfate concentration, bacterial seedings, temperature, pH, and cell composition on the rate and extent of degradation were evaluated. After 200 days, decomposition of algal cultures was essentially complete, and the undecomposed particulate organic matter remaining was termed the refractory organic fraction. This fraction ranged from 20 to 60% of the ash-free dry weight for various culture with an average of 40%. The decomposition of the biodegradable organic fraction could be adequately described by first-order decay kinetics with a range for the decay constant k of 0.011-0.032/d with an average 0.022/day. The rate and extent of degradation were similar to those found by other investigators under aerobic decomposition conditions.

The majority of galvanometric on-off furnace controllers can be converted to proportional operation, with a consequent improvement of control characteristic, by injecting a low-frequency modulating signal into the thermocouple circuit. This note describes a simple battery-powered oscillator designed to be added to existing controllers; one lead from the thermocouple is broken and the free ends are connected to the output terminals of the oscillator. An extension to the basic modulator enables the circuit to compensate changes in the voltage of the mains supply to the furnace.

The use of microscopic algae to store solar energy has long been an attractive possibility, both for wastewater purification, food production and fertilizer synthesis. The total potential energy available from these sources would appear to exceed 2 quads of energy annually on a renewable basis.

Earlier studies have shown that although large quantities of agricultural residues are generated on small farms, it was difficult to economically justify use of conventional anaerobic digestion technology, such as used for sewage sludge digestion. A simple, unmixed, earthen-supported structure appeared to be capable of producing significant quantities of biogas at a cost that would make it competitive with many existing fuels. The goal of this study was to define and demonstrate a methane fermentation technology that could be practical and economically feasible on small farms. This study provides the first long term, large scale (reactor volumes of 34 m/sup 3/) parallel testing of the major theory, design, construction, and operation of a low cost approach to animal manure fermentation as compared to the more costly and complex designs. The main objectives were to define the lower limits for successful fermentor operation in terms of mixing, insulation, temperature, feed rate, and management requirements in a cold climate with both pilot scale and full scale fermentors. Over a period of four years, innovative fermentation processes for animal manures were developed from theoretical concept to successful full scale demonstration. Reactors were sized for 50 to 65 dairy animals, or for the one-familymore » dairy size. The results show that a small farm biogas generation system that should be widely applicable and economically feasible was operated successfully for nearly two years. Although this low cost system out-performed the completely mixed unit throughout the study, perhaps the greatest advantage of this approach is its ease of modification, operation, and maintenance.« less