An apparatus for manufacturing an absorbent body includes: a suction member for moving a suction section along a predetermined travel path; a cover member surrounding a predetermined range of the travel path; and a supply opening through which liquid absorbent particles fall. The method entails melting a nickel-aluminum composition having an aluminum content below that required for stoichiometric beta-phase NiAl intermetallic so as to form a melt that includes nickel and Ni3Al. The temperature-adjusted correlation between analyte concentrations and output signals at a reference temperature may be used to determine analyte concentrations from output signals at a sample temperature. Also provided is a system and methods for treating an exhaust gas stream. Imaginary vertices can be generated if not enough vertices are present for a face in the subdivision surface to create a corresponding NURBS patch for that face.