Precision measurements on oxygen formation in stellar helium burning with gamma-ray beams and a Time Projection Chamber.

The carbon/oxygen (C/O) ratio at the end of stellar helium burning is the single most important nuclear input to stellar evolution theory. However, it is not known with sufficient accuracy, due to large uncertainties in the cross-section for the fusion of helium with 12C to form 16O, denoted as 12C(α, γ)16O. Here we present results based on a method that is significantly different from the experimental efforts of the past four decades. With data measured inside one detector and with vanishingly small background, angular distributions of the 12C(α, γ)16O reaction were obtained by measuring the inverse 16O(γ, α)12C reaction with gamma-beams and a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) detector. We agree with current world data for the total reaction cross-section and further evidence the strength of our method with accurate angular distributions measured over the 1- resonance at Ecm ~ 2.4 MeV. Our technique promises to yield results that will surpass the quality of the currently available data.

Anaerobic treatment of textile dyeing wastewater.

Aerobic treatment commonly applied to textile wastewater results in good or even excellent removal of organic load. This is not, however, accompanied by an equally good removal of colour. Traditional or advanced chemical methods of decolourisation are costly and not always reliable in justifying an interest in microbial decolourisation. Among several processes anaerobic methods seem most promising. In this paper, the results of a study conducted in two pilot-scale plants comprising anaerobic fixed bed biofilters of 15 L and 5 m3 operating as continuous reactors are presented, along with evaluation of the microbial kinetics. As is shown the process proved efficient in a long-term study with no stability problems of the biofilters. The six-month performance of the pilot plant confirmed also that the pre-treated wastewater could be applied in the operation of dyeing. For the majority of the colours applied in the factory no problems were encountered when the dyeing baths were prepared by substituting 90% of fresh water to the effluent treated by a sequence of activated sludge processes: anaerobic-aerobic.

Hypertrichosis due to primary hypothyroidism.

A 10 year old girl with hypertrichosis associated with primary hypothyroidism that resolved after 6 months' replacement treatment with thyroxine is reported. It is important to consider the diagnosis of hypothyroidism in children with abnormal hairiness or distribution of body hair.