A Review of Harmful Algal Bloom Prediction Models for Lakes and Reservoirs

Anthropogenic activity has led to eutrophication in water bodies across the world. This eutrophication promotes blooms, cyanobacteria being among the most notorious bloom organisms. Cyanobacterial blooms (more commonly referred to as harmful algal blooms (HABs)) can devastate an ecosystem. Cyanobacteria are resilient microorganisms that have adapted to survive under a variety of conditions, often outcompeting other phytoplankton. Some species of cyanobacteria produce toxins that ward off predators. These toxins can negatively affect the health of the aquatic life, but also can impact animals and humans that drink or come in contact with these noxious waters. Although cyanotoxin’s effects on humans are not as well researched as the growth, behavior, and ecological niche of cyanobacteria, their health impacts are of large concern. It is important that research to mitigate and understand cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxin production continues. This project supports continued research by addressing an approach to collect and summarize published articles that focus on techniques and models to predict cyanobacterial blooms with the goal of understanding what research has been done to promote future work. The following report summarizes 34 articles from 2003 to 2020 that each describe a mechanistic or data driven model developed to predict the occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms or the presence of cyanotoxins in lakes or reservoirs with similar climates to Utah. These articles showed a shift from more mechanistic approaches to more data driven approaches with time. This resulted in a more individualistic approach to modeling, meaning that models are often produced for a single lake or reservoir and are not easily comparable to other models for different systems

Process analytical technology in food biotechnology

Biotechnology is an area where precision and reproducibility are vital. This is due to the fact that products are often in form of food, pharmaceutical or cosmetic products and therefore very close to the human being. To avoid human error during the production or the evaluation of the quality of a product and to increase the optimal utilization of raw materials, a very high amount of automation is desired. Tools in the food and chemical industry that aim to reach this degree of higher automation are summarized in an initiative called Process Analytical Technology (PAT). Within the scope of the PAT, is to provide new measurement technologies for the purpose of closed loop control in biotechnological processes. These processes are the most demanding processes in regards of control issues due to their very often biological rate-determining component. Most important for an automation attempt is deep process knowledge, which can only be achieved via appropriate measurements. These measurements can either be carried out directly, measuring a crucial physical value, or if not accessible either due to the lack of technology or a complicated sample state, via a soft-sensor.Even after several years the ideal aim of the PAT initiative is not fully implemented in the industry and in many production processes. On the one hand a lot effort still needs to be put into the development of more general algorithms which are more easy to implement and especially more reliable. On the other hand, not all the available advances in this field are employed yet. The potential users seem to stick to approved methods and show certain reservations towards new technologies.Die Biotechnologie ist ein Wissenschaftsbereich, in dem hohe Genauigkeit und Wiederholbarkeit eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Dies ist der Tatsache geschuldet, dass die hergestellten Produkte sehr oft den Bereichen Nahrungsmitteln, Pharmazeutika oder Kosmetik angehöhren und daher besonders den Menschen beeinflussen. Um den menschlichen Fehler bei der Produktion zu vermeiden, die Qualität eines Produktes zu sichern und die optimale Verwertung der Rohmaterialen zu gewährleisten, wird ein besonders hohes Maß an Automation angestrebt. Die Werkzeuge, die in der Nahrungsmittel- und chemischen Industrie hierfür zum Einsatz kommen, werden in der Process Analytical Technology (PAT) Initiative zusammengefasst. Ziel der PAT ist die Entwicklung zuverlässiger neuer Methoden, um Prozesse zu beschreiben und eine automatische Regelungsstrategie zu realisieren. Biotechnologische Prozesse gehören hierbei zu den aufwändigsten Regelungsaufgaben, da in den meisten Fällen eine biologische Komponente der entscheidende Faktor ist. Entscheidend für eine erfolgreiche Regelungsstrategie ist ein hohes Maß an Prozessverständnis. Dieses kann entweder durch eine direkte Messung der entscheidenden physikalischen, chemischen oder biologischen Größen gewonnen werden oder durch einen SoftSensor. Zusammengefasst zeigt sich, dass das finale Ziel der PAT Initiative auch nach einigen Jahren des Propagierens weder komplett in der Industrie noch bei vielen Produktionsprozessen angekommen ist. Auf der einen Seite liegt dies mit Sicherheit an der Tatsache, dass noch viel Arbeit in die Generalisierung von Algorithmen gesteckt werden muss. Diese müsse einfacher zu implementieren und vor allem noch zuverlässiger in der Funktionsweise sein. Auf der anderen Seite wurden jedoch auch Algorithmen, Regelungsstrategien und eigne Ansätze für einen neuartigen Sensor sowie einen Soft-Sensors vorgestellt, die großes Potential zeigen. Nicht zuletzt müssen die möglichen Anwender neue Strategien einsetzen und Vorbehalte gegenüber unbekannten Technologien ablegen

High cycle fatigue life prediction of laser additive manufactured stainless steel:A machine learning approach

Variations in the high cycle fatigue response of laser powder bed fusion materials can be caused by the choice of processing and post-processing strategies. The numerous influencing factors arising from the process demand an effective and unified approach to fatigue property assessment. This work examines the use of a neuro-fuzzy-based machine learning method for predicting the high cycle fatigue life of laser powder bed fusion stainless steel 316L. A dataset, consisting of fatigue life data for samples subjected to varying processing conditions (laser power, scan speed and layer thickness), post-processing treatments (annealing and hot isostatic pressing) and cyclic stresses, was constructed for simulating a complex nonlinear input-output environment. The associated fracture mechanisms, including the modes of crack initiation and deformation, were characterised. Two models, by employing the processing/post-processing parameters and the static tensile properties respectively as the inputs, were developed from the training data. Despite the diverse fatigue and fracture properties, the models demonstrated good prediction accuracy when checked against the test data, and the computationally-derived fuzzy rules agree well with understanding of the fracture mechanisms. Direct application of the model to literature results, however, yielded a range of prediction accuracies because of the variability in the reported data. Retraining the model by incorporating the literature results into the dataset led to improved modelling performance.Accepted versio

Multi-Parametric Analysis and Modeling of Relationships between Mitochondrial Morphology and Apoptosis

Mitochondria exist as a network of interconnected organelles undergoing constant fission and fusion. Current approaches to study mitochondrial morphology are limited by low data sampling coupled with manual identification and classification of complex morphological phenotypes. Here we propose an integrated mechanistic and data-driven modeling approach to analyze heterogeneous, quantified datasets and infer relations between mitochondrial morphology and apoptotic events. We initially performed high-content, multi-parametric measurements of mitochondrial morphological, apoptotic, and energetic states by high-resolution imaging of human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells. Subsequently, decision tree-based analysis was used to automatically classify networked, fragmented, and swollen mitochondrial subpopulations, at the single-cell level and within cell populations. Our results revealed subtle but significant differences in morphology class distributions in response to various apoptotic stimuli. Furthermore, key mitochondrial functional parameters including mitochondrial membrane potential and Bax activation, were measured under matched conditions. Data-driven fuzzy logic modeling was used to explore the non-linear relationships between mitochondrial morphology and apoptotic signaling, combining morphological and functional data as a single model. Modeling results are in accordance with previous studies, where Bax regulates mitochondrial fragmentation, and mitochondrial morphology influences mitochondrial membrane potential. In summary, we established and validated a platform for mitochondrial morphological and functional analysis that can be readily extended with additional datasets. We further discuss the benefits of a flexible systematic approach for elucidating specific and general relationships between mitochondrial morphology and apoptosis

Model-based performance monitoring of batch processes

The use of batch processes is widespread across the manufacturing industries, dominating sectors such as pharmaceuticals, speciality chemicals and biochemicals. The main goal in batch production is to manufacture consistent, high quality batches with minimum rework or spoilage and also to achieve the optimum energy and feedstock usage. A common approach to monitoring a batch process to achieve this goal is to use a recipe-driven approach coupled with off-line laboratory analysis of the product. However, the large amount of data generated during batch manufacture mean that it is possible to monitor batch processes using a statistical model. Traditional multivariate statistical techniques such as principal component analysis and partial least squares were originally developed for use on continuous processes, which means they are less able to cope with the non-linear and dynamic behaviours inherent within a batch process without being adapted. Several approaches to dealing with batch behaviour in a multivariate framework have been proposed including multi-way principal component analysis. A more advanced approach designed to handle the typical characteristics of batch data is that of model-based principal component. It comprises of a mechanistic model combined with a multivariate statistical technique. More specifically, the technique uses a mechanistic model of the process to generate a set of residuals from the measured process variables. The theory being that the non-linear behaviour and the serial correlation in the process will be captured by the model, leaving a set of unstructured residuals to which principal component analysis (PCA) can be applied. This approach is benchmarked against the more standard approaches including multiway principal components analysis, batch observation level analysis. One limitation identified of the model-based approach is that if the mechanistic model of the process is of reduced complexity then the monitoring and fault detection abilities of the technique will be compromised. To address this issue, the model-based PCA technique has been extended to incorporate an additional error model which captures the differences between the mechanistic model and the process. This approach has been termed super model-based PCA (SMBPCA). A number of different error models are considered including partial least squares (linear, non-linear and dynamic), autoregressive with exogenous (ARX) variables model and dynamic canonical correlation analysis. Through the use of an exothermic batch reactor simulation, the SMBPCA approach has been investigated with respect to fault detection and capturing the non-linear and dynamic behaviour in the batch process. The robustness of the technique for application in an industrial situation is also discussed.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo