Nitrogen removal and ammonia-oxidising bacteria in a vertical flow constructed wetland treating inorganic wastewater

Nitrogen removal performance and the ammonia-oxidising bacterial (AOB) community were assessed in the batch loaded 1.3ha saturated surface vertical flow wetland at CSBP Ltd, a fertiliser and chemical manufacturer located in Kwinana, Western Australia. From September 2008 to October 2009 water quality was monitored and sediment samples collected for bacterial analyses. During the period of study the wetland received an average inflow of 1109m3/day with NH3-N = 40mg/L and NO3-N=23mg/L. Effluent NH3-N and NO3-N were on average 31mg/L and 25mg/L respectively. The overall NH3-N removal rate for the period was 1.2g/m2/d indicating the nitrifying capacity of the wetland. The structure of the AOB community was analysed using group specific primers for the ammonia monooxygenase gene (amoA) by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and by clone libraries to identify key members. The majority of sequences obtained were most similar to Nitrosomonas sp. while Nitrosospira sp. was less frequent. Another two vertical flow wetlands, 0.8ha each, were commissioned at CSBP in July 2009, since then the wetland in this study has received nitrified effluent from these two new cells

Contact process under renewals I

Motivated by questions regarding long range percolation, we investigate a non-Markovian analogue of the Harris contact process in $\mathbb{Z}^d$: an individual is attached to each site $x \in \mathbb{Z}^d$, and it can be infected or healthy; the infection propagates to healthy neighbors just as in the usual contact process, according to independent exponential times with a fixed rate $\lambda$; nevertheless, the possible recovery times for an individual are given by the points of a renewal process with heavy tail; the renewal processes are assumed to be independent for different sites. We show that the resulting processes have a critical value equal to zero.Comment: 13 page

The Effects of Olympic Weightlifting Derivatives on Muay Thai Roundhouse Kicking Performance

The purpose of this study was to identify performance measures in roundhouse striking, by the implementation of Olympic Weightlifting Derivatives (OWLD) with Muay Thai fighters. Forty male subjects were recruited, with twenty male subjects placed in the experimental group (EG)and twenty male subjects in the control group (CG) and were randomly assigned to their groups. Mean 26 years 3 (± 3.2), weight and height 82.4 kg (± 12.2), and 180.7cm (± 3). Pre- and post-intervention and control group testing included roundhouse strike impact power, measured using the PowerKubeTM, a dynamometer that identifies the impact power used to produce striking potential. Countermovement jumps were recorded using a single PASCO force platform one axis PS2141. The EG subjects were prescribed an eight-week training programme that was carried out prior to their sparring with twenty minutes rest to recover. The control group were instructed to carry out traditional training that involved the same volume of sparring, cardiovascular fitness, and circuit training as the EG. Within-group post test results showed the EG and CG group demonstrated significantly different results in RHK performance (p ≤ 0.01); however, no significant differences were observed between groups. Results in the countermovement jump were, however, highly significant (p ≤ 0.01) in the EG (within group), but not significant in the CG (p ≥ 0.05); again, no significant differences were observed between groups. Meaningful differences were seen in the EG with a 7.41% increase in roundhouse kicking performance and 7.54% in countermovement jump height, compared to the CG that elicited negligible differences of only 1.56% in the roundhouse kicking performance and 0.33% in countermovement jumper, demonstrating OWLD would improve the performance of the Muay Thai fighter

On the origin of the extremely different solubilities of polyethers in water

The solubilities of polyethers are surprisingly counter-intuitive. The best-known example is the difference between polyethylene glycol ([–CH2–CH2–O–]n) which is infinitely soluble, and polyoxymethylene ([–CH2–O–]n) which is completely insoluble in water, exactly the opposite of what one expects from the C/O ratios of these molecules. Similar anomalies exist for oligomeric and cyclic polyethers. To solve this apparent mystery, we use femtosecond vibrational and GHz dielectric spectroscopy with complementary ab initio calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the dynamics of water molecules solvating polyethers is fundamentally different depending on their C/O composition. The ab initio calculations and simulations show that this is not because of steric effects (as is commonly believed), but because the partial charge on the O atoms depends on the number of C atoms by which they are separated. Our results thus show that inductive effects can have a major impact on aqueous solubilities

Neuromesodermal progenitors and the making of the spinal cord

Neuromesodermal progenitors (NMps) contribute to both the elongating spinal cord and the adjacent paraxial mesoderm. It has been assumed that these cells arise as a result of patterning of the anterior neural plate. However, as the molecular mechanisms that specify NMps in vivo are uncovered, and as protocols for generating these bipotent cells from mouse and human pluripotent stem cells in vitro are established, the emerging data suggest that this view needs to be revised. Here, we review the characteristics, regulation, in vitro derivation and in vivo induction of NMps. We propose that these cells arise within primitive streak-associated epiblast via a mechanism that is separable from that which establishes neural fate in the anterior epiblast. We thus argue for the existence of two distinct routes for making central nervous system progenitors

An overview

Human diseases caused by protozoan parasites are renowned for their high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Some examples include African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness, American trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease, leishmaniases, malaria and babesiosis. These infections tend to follow a chronic rather than an acute course with lifelong persistence of parasites. Regulatory T cells (Treg), in particular the CD4+CD25+ cell subset, appear to control the immune competence of host response triggered by the presence of parasites, promoting homeostasis and protecting the host from collateral tissue damage whilst allowing parasite persistence. To date, there is still considerable controversy on the characteristics and function of these cells when induced during diferente protozoan infections, evidencing the need of further research. Therefore, this review aims to provide a comprehensive overview about Treg cells development, phenotype determination and general functions. The above pathologies were used as selected examples to discuss the role of Treg cells during protozoan infections. Understanding of the mechanisms that contribute towards homeostasis and the survival of the host, and simultaneously allow the persistence of the pathogen, may yield important insights for new strategies of prophylaxis and therapy .publishersversionpublishe

Field results on developed three-phase four-wire shunt active power filters

Abstract-This paper presents three-phase four-wire Shunt Active Power Filters with ability to compensate current harmonics, power factor, and current unbalance. The power stage of the Active Power Filters is based on a two-level four-leg inverter. The switching technique is based on an optimized periodic sampling strategy, and the digital controller uses the Theory of Instantaneous Reactive Power (p-q Theory) expanded for three- phase four-wire systems. The presented Active Power Filters were successfully demonstrated in four different facilities. The presented experimental results show the performance of the Active Power Filters in operation with very different load profiles

Levantamentos altimétrico e florístico na Fazenda Nhumirim, Pantanal da Nhecolândia-MS.

No Brasil, o Pantanal está dividido em 11 sub-regiões, sendo a Nhecolândia a segunda maior em extensão de área. A imensa maioria de seu território está situada dentro do município de Corumbá. De acordo com dados da literatura, nesta sub-região observa-se uma sucessiva freqüência de contrastes altimétricos de dois a cinco metros. Esses contrastes estão entre o topo das parte altas denominadas regionalmente de cordilheiras, que podem ser formadas por cerradão, cerrado, vindo a seguir as áreas de campo limpo, os campos alagáveis (baixadas) e os corpos d'água (baías e salinas). Com o objetivo de verificar essas diferenças altimétricas e o comportamento da vegetação foi feito um experimento na fazenda Nhumirim, no ano de 2002

A SLR on Customer Dropout Prediction

Dropout prediction is a problem that is being addressed with machine learning algorithms; thus, appropriate approaches to address the dropout rate are needed. The selection of an algorithm to predict the dropout rate is only one problem to be addressed. Other aspects should also be considered, such as which features should be selected and how to measure accuracy while considering whether the features are appropriate according to the business context in which they are employed. To solve these questions, the goal of this paper is to develop a systematic literature review to evaluate the development of existing studies and to predict the dropout rate in contractual settings using machine learning to identify current trends and research opportunities. The results of this study identify trends in the use of machine learning algorithms in different business areas and in the adoption of machine learning algorithms, including which metrics are being adopted and what features are being applied. Finally, some research opportunities and gaps that could be explored in future research are presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio