Enhancement of Membrane Fouling Control in Hybrid Aerobic Membrane Bioreactor System for Domestic Waste Water Application: Effect of Alum Concentration

AbstractAdditional of alum into the membrane bioreactor was found to be able to enhance the performance for the separation process. In this study, the influence of different alum concentrations on membrane fouling control and characteristics of activated sludge of membrane bioreactors were evaluated. Membrane bioreactor with low alum concentration of 1.0g/L was found able to provide better filterability performance compared to MBRs without and with excessive alum addition (3.0g/L and 5.0g/L). This study indicates that agglomeration of flocs and biodegradation mechanisms which took place simultaneously in the MBR with 1.0g/L of alum is able to reduce the total EPS concentration in the MBRs and subsequently contributing to better membrane fouling control

Decision support for integrated refinery supply chains. Part 2. Design and operation

10.1016/j.compchemeng.2007.11.007Computers and Chemical Engineering32112787-2800CCEN

Evaluating refinery supply chain policies and investment decisions through simulation-optimization

10.1109/WSC.2006.323244Proceedings - Winter Simulation Conference1431-1437WSCP

Supplementary Material for: Gene Expression Profiling and Functional Characterization of Macrophages in Response to Circulatory Microparticles Produced during Trypanosoma cruzi Infection and Chagas Disease

<p><b><i>Background:</i></b> Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress are hallmarks of chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCM). In this study, we determined if microparticles (MPs) generated during <i>Trypanosoma cruzi </i>(<i>Tc</i>) infection carry the host's signature of the inflammatory/oxidative state and provide information regarding the progression of clinical disease. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> MPs were harvested from supernatants of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro incubated with <i>Tc </i>(control: LPS treated), plasma of seropositive humans with a clinically asymptomatic (CA) or symptomatic (CS) disease state (vs. normal/healthy [NH] controls), and plasma of mice immunized with a protective vaccine before challenge infection (control: unvaccinated/infected). Macrophages (mφs) were incubated with MPs, and we probed the gene expression profile using the inflammatory signaling cascade and cytokine/chemokine arrays, phenotypic markers of mφ activation by flow cytometry, cytokine profile by means of an ELISA and Bioplex assay, and oxidative/nitrosative stress and mitotoxicity by means of colorimetric and fluorometric assays. <b><i>Results:</i></b><i>Tc</i>- and LPS-induced MPs stimulated proliferation, inflammatory gene expression profile, and nitric oxide (<b>∙</b>NO) release in human THP-1 mφs. LPS-MPs were more immunostimulatory than <i>Tc</i>-MPs. Endothelial cells, T lymphocytes, and mφs were the major source of MPs shed in the plasma of chagasic humans and experimentally infected mice. The CS and CA (vs. NH) MPs elicited >2-fold increase in NO and mitochondrial oxidative stress in THP-1 mφs; however, CS (vs. CA) MPs elicited a more pronounced and disease-state-specific inflammatory gene expression profile (IKBKB, NR3C1, and TIRAP vs. CCR4, EGR2, and CCL3), cytokine release (IL-2 + IFN-γ > GCSF), and surface markers of mφ activation (CD14 and CD16). The circulatory MPs of nonvaccinated/infected mice induced 7.5-fold and 40% increases in <b>∙</b>NO and IFN-γ production, respectively, while these responses were abolished when RAW264.7 mφs were incubated with circulatory MPs of vaccinated/infected mice. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Circulating MPs reflect in vivo levels of an oxidative, nitrosative, and inflammatory state, and have potential utility in evaluating disease severity and the efficacy of vaccines and drug therapies against CCM.</p