Submerged Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors: Fouling, Phage Removal and Flowsheet Models

This thesis focuses on the Submerged Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (SAMBR). The aim of this work was threefold; firstly, to investigate the effect of certain system parameters on membrane fouling in the SAMBR; secondly, to monitor phage removal in the SAMBR; and, finally to assess the viability of anaerobic wastewater treatment processes (including the SAMBR) to treat domestic sewage (rather than sludge) for full scale operations in the UK. Using a Kubota flat sheet membrane with 0.4μm pores, the critical flux was found to be 11.8 lm-2h-1 (litres per meter squared per hour or LMH), similar to those found by other researchers. The existence of a critical gassing rate was investigated (‘there exists a critical gassing rate which when reached causes a steep rise in transmembrane pressure (TMP)’), and was determined to be 4 litres per minute (LPM) or 2.4 m3m-2h-1; more interestingly, this appeared to happen at the changeover between a slug flow regime and bubble flow. The viscosity of the biomass in the SAMBR was found to be 2.5 times greater than water with the colloid fraction having the largest impact on the overall viscosity. The build-up of foulants on the membrane was thought to be the cause of a 10 fold increase in molecular weight cut off that was observed after operation beyond the critical flux and gassing rate. In addition, after extensive fouling some removal of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) was observed from 3.35% acetate removal to 5.9% removal of isovalerate, and this was not likely to be due to degradation across the membrane, but was thought to be due to electrostatic repulsion by the biofilm. The removal of bacteriophages by the SAMBR was used as a model for the removal of pathogenic viruses. Before critical operation (and the resulting jump in TMP), the smallest phage (MS-2) showed removals of between 1.8 - 2.1 log removal value (LRV), while the larger T4 phage showed removals from 5.1 - 5.3 log. Once critical operation had occurred, and the TMP increased, the T4 phage had a log removal greater than 7. The MS-2 phage, after operation beyond the critical parameters, showed a log removal dependence on the gas scouring rate. The LRV varied from 3.0 at a low gassing rate up to 5.5 at the highest gas scour, and this was thought to be due to concentration polarisation effects. The effect of activated carbon on phage removal was also investigated; while PAC had little effect, the addition of GAC to the SAMBR actually caused an increase in phage throughput. Finally, a range of potential flowsheets for anaerobic wastewater treatment were modelled. It can be concluded from this work that anaerobic treatment is a practical and promising alternative to conventional activated sludge plants. In addition, the SAMBR was found to be the most favourable anaerobic unit. However, it was noted that there is still a lack of full scale data for this unit, thus further emphasising the importance of research into this technology

Identifying the Formula 1 fan : a netnographic exploration of their communication, interests and brand sentiments

textThe following study examines the characteristics and attitudes of those likely to be fans of Formula 1 racing as the sport takes a renewed position within the United States. Formula 1 racing is a global past-time of many, but here in the U.S., the sport's footprint is not as prominent as it is abroad. However, since F1 racing will soon (Fall, 2012) be in Austin, Texas, it is of special interest to the City, to The University of Texas at Austin and to the fans of the sport. Thus, this author believes that the work described here is timely and may serve to increase our understanding of the impact of the Formula 1 event and of its fans -- as well as its detractors; what are their attitudes and behaviors of Formula 1 fans with regard to lifestyle preference and social interests? This study provides a somewhat deeper look at these issues and serves as well to suggest some future research areas.Advertisin

Inclusion or outcomes?: tensions in the involvement of people with learning disabilities in strategic planning

Social inclusion is a key principle which underpins the provision of services for people with learning disabilities in England. Learning Disability Partnership Boards, which are responsible for local strategic planning of learning disability services, hold a particular role in promoting inclusion since they are required both to operate inclusively and to achieve inclusive outcomes. This study sought to explore the extent to which these ambitions for inclusion were being achieved. It consisted of three phases: a scoping exercise to elicit the views of key stakeholders; a postal survey of Partnership Boards (response rate 51%); and semi-structured interviews with Partnership Boards members in six local authorities. Findings suggest that Partnership Boards are struggling to fulfil their dual role, with tensions emerging between the desire to operate in fully inclusive ways and the ability to affect strategic change within local services

Unscripted Possibilities

Abstract “Unscripted Possibilities” examines the potential for change that emerges in rural environments that are affected by poverty and educational reforms that ignore the specific contexts of rural schools. Using a National Writing Project program, the College, Career, and Community Writers Program as case, we argue that professional learning relationships that are characterized by mutuality and indeterminacy create changes in teacher practice and school culture. Our analysis adapts concepts from Anna Tsing’s (2015)The Mushroom at the End of the World to uncover hopeful possibilities in damaged school environments

Knotworking the College, Career, and Community Writers Program

Knotworking the College, Career, and Community Writers Program examines its history and success through four knots. Using Engeström\u27s concept of knotworking, the article explores the relationship of the program to national standards, mandated curricula, hyperpartisan public discourse, and student achievement

A Comparison of Experience-Dependent Plasticity in the Visual and Somatosensory Systems

SummaryIn the visual and somatosensory systems, maturation of neuronal circuits continues for days to weeks after sensory stimulation occurs. Deprivation of sensory input at various stages of development can induce physiological, and often structural, changes that modify the circuitry of these sensory systems. Recent studies also reveal a surprising degree of plasticity in the mature visual and somatosensory pathways. Here, we compare and contrast the effects of sensory experience on the connectivity and function of these pathways and discuss what is known to date concerning the structural, physiological, and molecular mechanisms underlying their plasticity

Facilitating Discovery of Historic Sound Recordings: Classroom and Research Strategies

The Belfer Audio Archive at Syracuse University Libraries holds one of the largest collections of sound recordings in the USA, specializing in formats dating from the 1890s to the 1970s. The co-presenters encourage student interaction with these collections, guiding their research and understanding of the recordings’ cultural significance and relevance. Experience shows that immediate engagement with music on pre-LP recordings is often lacking, especially given sonic imperfections that characterize playback from original media. Therefore, we create opportunities for students to discover and engage with historic recordings – to hear them, research them, and ultimately reference or repurpose them in their own creative thinking.The Belfer Director presents as a case study her “Music and Audio Cultures” class, aimed at teaching communications and audio arts students about music’s dissemination through radio and sound recordings. They are generally unfamiliar with terminology for articulating ideas about music or basic resources for researching it. In one assignment, each student produces a 2–3 minute digital audio piece, using two Edison cylinder recordings (selected and downloaded from the Belfer digital collection) to illustrate some aspect of music/sound in the world today. The student’s voice-over narrative includes both researched information and original thoughts about the music/sounds that move from foreground to background in the digital soundscape.The first challenge is engaging students’ interest in the cylinders, because they have little connection with recorded content issued a century ago. On the current website, students make discoveries using a browseable genre list, generated for the digital view. In a parallel paper, our catalogers discuss how they plan to give patrons meaningful access to Belfer recordings using new kinds of subject access points, both in the general catalog and in our future digital platform.For the music librarian, a second challenge is connecting students with library resources to research these historic recordings. The library’s current music resources guide uses a musicological approach that assumes music-specific knowledge and is incomplete for other aspects of these students’ needs. The music librarian instead presents the research guide developed for this class. It introduces non-musicians to music-specific sources such as discographies and basic music reference, and provides a pathfinder to resources in areas outside of musicology. This presentation describes the information approaches explored in developing the course research guide and identifies additional types of resources and collections needed to support this class, including historical news sources, radio and media catalogs, recorded sound and music industry histories, and materials to help non-musicians engage with music

Capturing Iraq:Optical Focalization in Contemporary War Cinematography

This essay investigates different registers of embedded and fragmentary focalizations in war cinematography on the Iraq War (2003–11), focusing primarily on The Hurt Locker (2008) and the HBO mini-series Generation Kill (2008), but also addressing American Sniper (2014) and the Abu Ghraib scandal. I argue the “extreme close-up” that focuses almost unilaterally on the men on the ground during the Iraq War implicates a “bigger picture”: a larger frame of discourse put forward by the corporate media and the government. This is primarily achieved through recursive narrative structures and through the use of diegetic ocular apparatuses, which are embedded on screen. These renditions of mise en abyme implicate, renegotiate, and even argue with the wide-angle perspective which frames the Iraq War

Frames and cuts:post-millennial representations of West Asian female identities

This thesis investigates visual and written representations of West Asian female identities, and intersects with the fields of postcolonial feminist literary studies, cultural visual studies, and studies in affect theory. More specifically, I examine representations of Afghan and Iranian women in the post-millennial period, against a background of a continually shifting geo-political climate, especially following the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001. Given the ever-changing topography of media and information dissemination in the post-millennial period, this project is interdisciplinary and considers visual, written, and hybrid media. My distinctive contribution to the aforementioned fields of study is the introduction of the conceptual model of remediated witnessing, which focuses both on the witnessed individual and on the acts of witnessing and recording as reiterative processes. This thesis uses the model of remediated witnessing in an examination of the various media that frames West Asian female identities. I critically examine how women are ascribed to the following categories: Subaltern, Spokesperson, Mother, and Martyr. In my examination of these categories, I explore the ways that West Asian women are represented: in the face of global marketing and publishing trends, especially following 11 September 2001 and US military intervention in Afghanistan (Chapters Two and Three); and in consideration of familial and societal structures and acts of protest in Iran and Afghanistan (Chapters Four and Five). Using the model of remediated witnessing as a deconstructive tool, I negotiate the relationship between subject(ed) and agential positions as it applies to represented West Asian female identities. I suggest that the combined acts of performance, witnessing, and recording are layered, framed, and reframed from different angles. I argue that by cutting through or intersecting with these frames, a space can be created from which represented female identities can occupy both subject(ed) and agential positions

Can Your Students Get Jobs? Library Help for Music Students\u27 Career Preparation

Your campus career center may not have the insider knowledge to help music students with their job hunts. Enhance and update your knowledge of industry information, techniques, and resources that support performers, music business professionals, and students pursuing other types of music careers as they enter the job market. Topics covered will include self-promotion for musicians, form contracts, resources for understanding standard contract terms, and locating company profile and industry trend research to identify potential employers and prepare for interviews