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For plant construction, installation of complex pipe spools is one of the integral parts of management and operation. Construction errors in such plants have been increasing as they become bigger and more complex. To reduce the number of construction errors, an efficient management mechanism for pipe spool installation with real-time monitoring is desired. A Ubiquitous Sensor Network (USN), which utilizes low-power wireless data communication technologies such as Wireless Local-Area Networking (WLAN) and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is seen as an enabling technology for intelligent management of piping installation. This research aims to develop a real-time pipe tracking system for plant construction, utilizing state-of-the-art technologies such as RFID and 3D digital models on a handheld mobile device, which allows more efficient task management than a conventional computer.

The energy scaling for a diode-side-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser in an ultra-low-magnification unstable convex–concave resonator is investigated. Theoretical analysis and experimental results indicate the fact that the energy scaling is restricted by the increasing of side-pumping sources inside the resonator because of the significant pump-to-mode size mismatching. It is verified that employing the master oscillation power amplifier can effectively enlarge the output pulse energy and improve the beam quality. Up to 60-mJ pulse energy with 17-MW peak power is obtained at a pump energy of 520 mJ. A 1573-nm eye-safe laser emission with pulse energy up to 25 mJ is further attended via the extracavity optical parametric oscillator.

Cyclic AMP controls several signalling cascades within cells, and changes in the amounts of this second messenger have an essential role in many cellular events. Here we describe a new methodology for monitoring the fluctuations of cAMP in living cells. By tagging the cAMP effector protein kinase A with two suitable green fluorescent protein mutants, we have generated a probe in which the fluorescence resonance energy transfer between the two fluorescent moieties is dependent on the levels of cAMP. This new methodology opens the way to the elucidation of the biochemistry of cAMP in vivo.

Microalgae are promising targets for creating therapeutic and preventive drugs and biologically active food additives,for preparing biofuels, and for producing polymers based on renewable plant biomass [1–3]. In the last instance, microalgaein addition to soy, castor, and other plant oils can act as starting material for preparing the polyols that are required to ma nufacturepolyurethanes [3]. However, work in this area is practically in its infancy. An important parameter for assessing thebiotechnological potential of microalgae is the composition of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.We studied several species of green alga (Order Chlorophyta) as renewable starting material for producing biodieselfuel and polyurethane plastics. Herein we present information on the fatty acid composition of four strains of these microalga e.Green algae

Hexachlorobenzene, C/sub 6/Cl/sub 6/, is an industrial chemical that has been used as a fungicide, and more extensively in the manufacture of styrene and rubber products. HCB is persistent and bioaccumulates once it enters the environment. Photodecomposition is minimal and microbial degradation has not been observed. HCB has a solubility of 6 ug/l in water although environmental concentrations in waters such as Lake Ontario are generally in the low ng/l range. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that HCB in water can be bioaccumulated through the food-chain. This study examined the uptake of HCB through food. Subadult rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) were fed prepared diets that contained HCB at concentrations in the low ug/kg range which approximated the levels in biota that occupy the lower trophic levels in waters such as the Lake Ontario environment.