Heterogeneous Batch Distillation Processes: Real System Optimisation

In this paper, optimisation of batch distillation processes is considered. It deals with real systems with rigorous simulation of the processes through the resolution full MESH differential algebraic equations. Specific software architecture is developed, based on the BatchColumn® simulator and on both SQP and GA numerical algorithms, and is able to optimise sequential batch columns as long as the column transitions are set. The efficiency of the proposed optimisation tool is illustrated by two case studies. The first one concerns heterogeneous batch solvent recovery in a single distillation column and shows that significant economical gains are obtained along with improved process conditions. Case two concerns the optimisation of two sequential homogeneous batch distillation columns and demonstrates the capacity to optimize several sequential dynamic different processes. For such multiobjective complex problems, GA is preferred to SQP that is able to improve specific GA solutions

In Vitro Cell Culture Infectivity Assay for Human Noroviruses

A 3-dimensional organoid human small intestinal epithelium model was used

Born to be Happy? The Etiology of Subjective Well-Being

Subjective Wellbeing (SWB) can be assessed with distinct measures that have been hypothesized to represent different domains of SWB. The current study assessed SWB with four different measures in a genetically informative sample of adolescent twins and their siblings aged 13–28 years (N = 5,024 subjects from 2,157 families). Multivariate genetic modeling was applied to the data to explore the etiology of individual differences in SWB measures and the association among them. Developmental trends and sex differences were examined for mean levels and the variance-covariance structure. Mean SWB levels were equal in men and women. A small negative effect of age on mean levels of SWB was found. Individual differences in SWB were accounted for by additive and non-additive genetic influences, and non-shared environment. The broad-sense heritabilities were estimated between 40 and 50%. The clustering of the four different measures (quality of life in general, satisfaction with life, quality of life at present, and subjective happiness) was explained by an underlying additive genetic factor and an underlying non-additive genetic factor. The effect of these latent genetic factors on the phenotypes was not moderated by either age or sex

Permian high-temperature metamorphism in the Western Alps (NW Italy)

During the late Palaeozoic, lithospheric thinning in part of the Alpine realm caused high-temperature low-to-medium pressure metamorphism and partial melting in the lower crust. Permian metamorphism and magmatism has extensively been recorded and dated in the Central, Eastern, and Southern Alps. However, Permian metamorphic ages in the Western Alps so far are constrained by very few and sparsely distributed data. The present study fills this gap. We present U/Pb ages of metamorphic zircon from several Adria-derived continental units now situated in the Western Alps, defining a range between 286 and 266 Ma. Trace element thermometry yields temperatures of 580-890°C from Ti-in-zircon and 630-850°C from Zr-in-rutile for Permian metamorphic rims. These temperature estimates, together with preserved mineral assemblages (garnet-prismatic sillimanite-biotite-plagioclase-quartz-K-feldspar-rutile), define pervasive upper-amphibolite to granulite facies conditions for Permian metamorphism. U/Pb ages from this study are similar to Permian ages reported for the Ivrea Zone in the Southern Alps and Austroalpine units in the Central and Eastern Alps. Regional comparison across the former Adriatic and European margin reveals a complex pattern of ages reported from late Palaeozoic magmatic and metamorphic rocks (and relics thereof): two late Variscan age groups (~330 and ~300 Ma) are followed seamlessly by a broad range of Permian ages (300-250 Ma). The former are associated with late-orogenic collapse; in samples from this study these are weakly represented. Clearly, dominant is the Permian group, which is related to crustal thinning, hinting to a possible initiation of continental rifting along a passive margin

Trends in poverty risks among people with and without limiting-longstanding illness by employment status in Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom during the current economic recession – a comparative study

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have found higher employment rates and lower risk of relative poverty among people with chronic illness in the Nordic countries than in the rest of Europe. However, Nordic countries have not been immune to the general rise in poverty in many welfare states in recent decades. This study analysed the trends in poverty risks among a particularly vulnerable group in the labour market: people with limiting-longstanding illness (LLSI), examining the experience of those with and without employment, and compared to healthy people in employment in Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey data from EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions) on people aged 25–64 years in Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom (UK) were analysed between 2005 and 2010. Age-standardised rates of poverty risks (<60% of national median equalised disposable income) were calculated. Odds ratios (ORs) of poverty risks were estimated using logistic regression. RESULTS: In all three countries, non-employed people with LLSI had considerably higher prevalence of poverty risk than employed people with or without LLSI. Rates of poverty risk in the UK for non-employed people with LLSI were higher than in Sweden and Denmark. Over time, the rates of poverty risk for Swedish non-employed people with LLSI in 2005 (13.8% CI=9.7-17.8) had almost doubled by 2010 (26.5% CI=19.9-33.1). For both sexes, the inequalities in poverty risks between non-employed people with LLSI and healthy employed people were much higher in the UK than in Sweden and Denmark. Over time, however, the odds of poverty risk among British non-employed men and women with LLSI compared with their healthy employed counterparts declined. The opposite trend was seen for Swedish men: the odds of poverty risk for non-employed men with LLSI compared with healthy employed men increased from OR 2.8 (CIs=1.6-4.7) in 2005 to OR 5.3 (CIs=3.2-8.9) in 2010. CONCLUSIONS: The increasing poverty risks among the non-employed people with LLSI in Sweden over time are of concern from a health equity perspective. The role of recent Swedish social policy changes should be further investigated

How Does Heterogeneity Shape the Socioeconomic Gradient in Health Satisfaction?

Individual heterogeneity plays a key role in explaining variation in self-reported well-being and, in particular, health satisfaction. It is hypothesised that the influence of this heterogeneity varies over levels of health and increases over the life-cycle. These hypotheses are tested with data on health satisfaction from 22 waves of the German Socioeconomic Panel (GSOEP).Nonlinear fixed effects methods that allow for unobserved heterogeneity are not readily available for categorical measures of well-being. One common solution is to revert to conditional fixed effects methods, at the price of a high degree of information loss. Another common solution is to ignore the association between unobserved heterogeneity and socio-economic status by using pooled or random effects models, at the price of potential bias.We use a generalization of the conditional fixed effects logit, that allows for individual-specific reporting bias, heterogeneity in health endowments, and heterogeneity in the impact of income on health satisfaction. Adjusting for unobserved heterogeneity accounts for the relationship between income and very good health, but not between income and poorer health states. The income gradient for older age-groups is more strongly affected by controlling for unobserved heterogeneity: revealing an increasing influence of heterogeneity on health satisfaction over the life-span