Potential Improvements in

It is likely that future systems will use nanoenabled hardware components to accomplish the 2030 goals and reduce the physical and logistical burden of future detection platforms. Components under development include nanoelectronics or nanophotonics and nanotechnology-based energy devices that convert ambient energy - thermal, vibrational, or ambulatory - into electrical energy. Research in basic and applied nanoscience will be needed to take detection platforms from vehicle mounted to suitcase size to embedded autonomous sensors in vehicles or uniforms. 

Unfortunately, small is not enough, and improvements in detection schemes are also needed. For example, an anthrax-based attack could be released simultaneously with an immunomodulator that responds to antibiotics used to treat the patient. When an individual exposed to this anthrax cocktail is given antibiotics, the immunomodulator may cause overstimulation of the patient s immune system and result in rapid death. A single-aspect detection scheme may only identify the anthrax and ignore the immunomodulator. This is true regardless of whether the system is macro-, nticro-, or nanoscale. 

Nanoenabled technologies offer some inherent advantages for CB agent detection and diagnostics at all levels. Foremost, the innovative properties of 

An ideal countermeasure to a world of asymmetric or unknown bioenabled threats will prevent any impact to individuals. In one scenario, an infection can be detected and the causative agent or agents characterized prior to the onset of symptoms. In a different scenario, a new virus may be synthetically derived and therefore difficult to identify. The host s response to that novel microbe may indicate a course of treatment before the agent can be identified. 

Two potential avenues of research are identified for presymptomatic disease detection and diagnostics. One approach is to increase detection sensitivity and speed for isolating causative agents during the early phases of replication in the host. Another approach is to characterize a host s molecular response to infection through the identification and characterization of early stage molecular signatures. It may be possible to use the host s molecular response to differentiate, for example, a bacterial infection from a viral infection or one viral infection from another. 

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A principal motive for developing consoHdation techniques is to reduce cost by improving yields. For aircraft parts, the so-called buy-to-fly ratio is ca 6 1. Product yields based on sponge are shown in Figure 8. The potential improvements in yield using powder are obvious. However, reHable, low cost powder-production techniques have not yet been fully developed as of this writing. 

The applieation of aetivated earbons in adsorption heat pumps and refrigerators is diseussed in Chapter 10. Sueh arrangements offer the potential for inereased efficiency because they utilize a primary fuel source for heat, rather than use electrieity, which must first be generated and transmitted to a device to provide mechanical energy. The basic adsorption cycle is analyzed and reviewed, and the ehoiee of refrigerant-adsorbent pairs discussed. Potential improvements in eost effeetiveness are detailed, including the use of improved adsorbent carbons, advanced cycles, and improved heat transfer in the granular adsorbent earbon beds. 

The Advanced Seminars have been crucial for evaluating the utility and validity of existing methods and results, discussing potential improvements in methods, and setting priorities for future research. A brief summary of the advances made in previous seminars and future directions of research on chemical and isotopic techniques of diet reconstruction follows. 

Overall, the initial applications of MM-PBSA suggest that the method can effectively calculate the relative binding free energies in a number of protein-ligand complexes. However, there are a number of issues involving limitations or potential improvements in this methodology which we now discuss. 

Pharmacogenetics provides a rational framework to minimize the uncertainty in outcome of drug therapy and clinical trials and thereby should significantly reduce the risk of drug toxicity. The reader is referred to the Internet sources in Table 20.1 for more details on pharmacogenetics and drug development. Potential improvements in patient inclusion criteria will be addressed later in this chapter. 

Miniaturization might also be used in the distributed production of chemicals. Two examples include the safe production of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen and oxygen or the production of chemicals or fuels from synthesis gas. More detailed study into the potential improvements in product yields, waste minimization, and costs are required to fully understand the impact of miniaturization. At this time it offers the potential to produce hazardous materials or conduct potentially dangerous oxidation reactions on a small scale that is inherently safer. 

The least tangible of the economic factors that might be considered in evaluating pollution prevention projects are gronped into the third tier of costs. Consumer responses to improved product quality or improved corporate image, employee responses to improved environmental stewardship, and potential improvements in worker health and safety due to pollution prevention could all be considered. Such factors are even more difficult to quantitatively evalnate than tier 1 and tier 2 costs. 

Although there are broader policy issues related to the acquisition of drugs and biologies for CBW defense than those examined in this report, this report is limited to the important but often overlooked issue of DoD-FDA interactions. RAND undertook this study for the Office of the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense (DATSD[CBD]). Our purposes were (1) to examine the interactions between DoD and FDA as they affect the development and acquisition of drugs and biologies for CBW defense and (2) to identify potential improvements in those interactions as they affect future CBW defense needs. 

To look in detail on the presented cases the typology uses criteria which form a neutral picture of the character of the developed service system. They allow easy comparison between the cases and other existing business models, pointing out differences and looking for further potential improvements in order to develop target-models. 

Crystallization additives are a common method to improve crystal quality in proteins (McPherson and Cudney, 2006). With RNA, it is common to screen a series of different cations, as their role in RNA structure and catalysis is well documented for many RNA and RNA-protein systems (Pyle, 2002). Since various cations will interact with the RNA differently, our lab uses a cation screen comprised simple metal cations and polyamines (Table 6.1). Each solution in this table is a lOx stock that is added to an optimized condition (or one found in a sparse matrix) and the set of 24 conditions assessed for potential improvement in crystal quality. 

Second, methods for the characterization of complex antisera are difficult. Antisera to E. coli protein mixtures have been developed with impressive spectra of reactivity using conventional immunization methods (6,22-23). An exact assessment of the spectrum of antibody reactivity is often limited, however, by the resolution of the analytical methods used. Counter immunoelectrophoresis is limited by the relatively low sensitivity of detection and resolution for complex mixtures of reacting species. One dimensional silver stained SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting provides sensitive detection limits but lacks resolution. Therefore, methods which have a high degree of resolution and sensitivity are required to best compare potential improvements in the production of antibodies to minor components in the mixture. 

Semiquantitative analysis procedures have also been used with laser ablation ICP-MS [71,210-213]. The effect of experimental parameters and potential improvements in accuracy of semiquantitiative analysis using ICP-MS have also been discussed recently [208,214-216], along with the use of semiquantitative analysis with a double-focusing ICP-MS in both low- and high-resolution modes [217]. 

Recent advances in solid-state laser systems offer several potential improvements. In particular, tunable optical parametric amplifiers provide tunable pulses with excellent synchronization and beam quality. However, most reported systems produce pulses of <100 fs. Pulses this short are not needed to measure vibrational dephasing in most systems, and they unnecessarily exacerbate the problems of self-focusing and excitation of overtone transitions. A solid-state system optimized for longer pulses has... 

Other potential improvements in the method could include using a smaller (e.g., 3 mm) i.d. column while using the same length column and particle size of the packing material. A 3.0-mm-i.d. column can be used to reduce solvent waste, since columns with smaller diameters have reduced column volume and require use of lower flow rates, and therefore they can decrease solvent waste by at least 60%. A simple calculation to achieve equivalent retention on a smaUer-i.d. column at the same linear velocity is shown in equation (8-2). 

Most of the ecosystem nutrient losses occurred during the plantation establishment phase because of the removal of forest debris at clearing and soil dismrbance during mechanized operations. Despite the potential improvement in Ca levels and maintenance of Mg levels as mentioned for Gmelina, both the extraction of nutrients during harvesting, and leaching losses prior to canopy closure, lead to a depletion of key nutrients, particularly potassium, that must be replaced by fertilization if yields are to be maintained (Sanchez et al. 1985, Russell 1987). 

Most reports of medicament-borne contamination in the literature tend to be anecdotal in nature, referring to a specific product and isolated incident. Little information is available on the overall risk of products becoming contaminated and causing patient infections when subsequently used. Such information is considered invaluable not only because it may indicate the effectiveness of existing practices and standards, but also because the value of potential improvements in patient quality can be balanced against the inevitable cost of such processes. 

For one catalyst = 16. It is suspected that intrapellet diffusion strongly retards both dehydrogenations. Estimate the potential improvement in selectivity if diffusion resistance could be eliminated. Make the estimate for a concentration ratio (Cg/C ) = 1.0. Neglect differences in between ethane and ethylene. 

The number of people diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in 2002 exceeded 400,000. There were over 100,000 new cases of ESKD in 2002. The primary therapeutic options for these individuals are hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and/or renal transplantation. Renal transplantation is the preferred long-term therapeutic option for most patients with ESKD because it provides patients with the greatest potential improvement in overall quality of life. Dialysis catheter-related infections, update peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis, and scheduled dialysis treatments are avoided, and dietary restrictions are fewer. While the analysis of quality of life is complex, patients generally report improved quality of life following transplantation as compared with patients on maintenance dialysis. ... 

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