Micro-coagulation effects on direct ultrafiltration of challenging raw river water

Background The feasibility and competitiveness of substituting the conventional pre-treatment of drinking water treatment plants (dioxichlorination, coagulation/flocculation, settling, sand filtration) by raw river water direct ultrafiltration (UF) was addressed. Results A full scale UF module was operated continuously for 2 years, treating highly variable surface water. The sustainable hydraulic conditions leading to a greater water yield from the direct UF treatment scheme under different scenarios were defined. Summer periods enabled the attainment of higher filtration fluxes, although raw river water showed greater turbidity and total suspended solids content. Winter periods presented higher dissolved organic carbon concentration, with greater biopolymers content, which have been claimed as main membrane foulants. A preliminary micro-coagulation of FeCl3 (<1.5 mg Fe(III) L-1) enabled supporting harsher hydraulic conditions and thus, implementing similar conditions throughout the year. Impacts of micro-coagulation were more pronounced on filtration, particularly in winter, but a positive effect was also noticed in hydraulic and chemical cleaning stages, increasing the efficiency of the former and decreasing by half the frequency of the latter. Conclusion Direct UF proved to be competitive with the current conventional pre-treatment, leading to a significant reduction in reagents needs and sludge production and an increased and more stable product water quality. © 2016 Society of Chemical IndustryPeer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Nitrogen and sulphur management: challenges for organic sources in temperate agricultural systems

A current global trend towards intensification or specialization of agricultural enterprises has been accompanied by increasing public awareness of associated environmental consequences. Air and water pollution from losses of nutrients, such as nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S), are a major concern. Governments have initiated extensive regulatory frameworks, including various land use policies, in an attempt to control or reduce the losses. This paper presents an overview of critical input and loss processes affecting N and S for temperate climates, and provides some background to the discussion in subsequent papers evaluating specific farming systems. Management effects on potential gaseous and leaching losses, the lack of synchrony between supply of nutrients and plant demand, and options for optimizing the efficiency of N and S use are reviewed. Integration of inorganic and organic fertilizer inputs and the equitable re-distribution of nutrients from manure are discussed. The paper concludes by highlighting a need for innovative research that is also targeted to practical approaches for reducing N and S losses, and improving the overall synchrony between supply and demand

Learning while evaluating: the use of an electronic evaluation portfolio in a geriatric medicine clerkship

BACKGROUND: Electronic evaluation portfolios may play a role in learning and evaluation in clinical settings and may complement other traditional evaluation methods (bedside evaluations, written exams and tutor-led evaluations). METHODS: 133 third-year medical students used the McGill Electronic Evaluation Portfolio (MEEP) during their one-month clerkship rotation in Geriatric Medicine between September 2002 and September 2003. Students were divided into two groups, one who received an introductory hands-on session about the electronic evaluation portfolio and one who did not. Students' marks in their portfolios were compared between both groups. Additionally, students self-evaluated their performance and received feedback using the electronic portfolio during their mandatory clerkship rotation. Students were surveyed immediately after the rotation and at the end of the clerkship year. Tutors' opinions about this method were surveyed once. Finally, the number of evaluations/month was quantified. In all surveys, Likert scales were used and were analyzed using Chi-square tests and t-tests to assess significant differences in the responses from surveyed subjects. RESULTS: The introductory session had a significant effect on students' portfolio marks as well as on their comfort using the system. Both tutors and students reported positive notions about the method. Remarkably, an average (± SD) of 520 (± 70) evaluations/month was recorded with 30 (± 5) evaluations per student/month. CONCLUSION: The MEEP showed a significant and positive effect on both students' self-evaluations and tutors' evaluations involving an important amount of self-reflection and feedback which may complement the more traditional evaluation methods

Interfaz visual para un Autocolimador Nikon 6D mediante procesamiento de imágenes con precisión sub-píxel : un caso de estudio

Este documento tiene el objetivo de describir el potencial de una interfaz visual básica en un Autocolimador del tipo Nikon 6B/6D, para reemplazar al operario en una medición de calidad metrológica. La interfaz visual implementada consta de una cámara con sensor CMOS adosada al ocular del autocolimador, partes posicionales, y un sistema de procesamiento digital de imágenes propio, escrito en lenguaje Matlab R , que analiza la imagen de la retícula para detectar la escala y la cruz de medición a nivel sub-píxel. Mediante un experimento controlado, realizado con un nivel electrónico trazable internacionalmente, se obtuvieron, con este sistema, ángulos de cabeceo (αy) con una resolución tres veces mejor que la del instrumento sin interfaz. Este ejemplo sugiere que el valor de 0.06 píxeles para la incertidumbre asociada con la posición sub-píxel de las diferentes líneas que conforman la retícula de medición es realista, y permite seguir trabajando en una interfaz robusta para todos los parámetros angulares posibles de ser medidos por el autocolimador.publishedVersionFil: Schürrer, Clemar Aldino. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Córdoba. Centro de Investigación y Transferencia en Metrología; Argentina.Fil: Schürrer, Clemar Aldino. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Flesia, Ana Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigación y Estudios de Matemática; Argentina.Fil: Flesia, Ana Georgina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Bergues, Guillermo Juan. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Córdoba. Centro de Investigación en Informática para la Ingeniería; Argentina.Fil: Ames, Lucas Guillermo. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Córdoba. Centro de Investigación en Informática para la Ingeniería; Argentina.Fil: Canali, Luis Rafael. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Córdoba. Centro de Investigación en Informática para la Ingeniería; Argentina.Otras Ciencias de la Computación e Informació

Phosphate solubilizers enhance NPK fertilizer use efficiency in rice and legume cultivation

It has been reported that phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) are the most promising bacteria among the plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR); which may be used as biofertilizers for plant growth and nutrient use efficiency. Moreover, these soil micro-organisms play a significant role in regulating the dynamics of organic matter decomposition and the availability of plant nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and other nutrients. Through this study, the management of nutrient use efficiency by the application of PSB was targeted in order to make the applied nutrients more available to the plants in the rice (Oryza sativa) and yardlong bean (Vigna unguiculata) cultivation. Results have shown that the treatments with PSB alone or in the form of consortia of compatible strains with or without the external application of chemical NPK gave more germination index (G. I.) from 2.5 to 5 in rice and 2.7 to 4.8 in bean seeds. They also showed a higher growth in both shoot and root length and a higher biomass as compared to the control. This gives us an idea about the potentiality of these PSB strains and their application in rice and yardlong bean cultivation to get a better harvest index. Their use will also possibly reduce the nutrient runoff or leaching and increase in the use efficiency of the applied fertilizers. Thus, we can conclude that the NPK uptake and management can be improved by the use of PSB in rice and yardlong bean cultivation, and their application may be much more beneficial in the agricultural field

In-situ crystal morphology identification using imaging analysis with application to the L-glutamic acid crystallization

A synthetic image analysis strategy is proposed for in-situ crystal size measurement and shape identification for monitoring crystallization processes, based on using a real-time imaging system. The proposed method consists of image processing, feature analysis, particle sieving, crystal size measurement, and crystal shape identification. Fundamental image features of crystals are selected for efficient classification. In particular, a novel shape feature, referred to as inner distance descriptor, is introduced to quantitatively describe different crystal shapes, which is relatively independent of the crystal size and its geometric direction in an image captured for analysis. Moreover, a pixel equivalent calibration method based on subpixel edge detection and circle fitting is proposed to measure crystal sizes from the captured images. In addition, a kernel function based method is given to deal with nonlinear correlations between multiple features of crystals, facilitating computation efficiency for real-time shape identification. Case study and experimental results from the cooling crystallization of l-glutamic acid demonstrate that the proposed image analysis method can be effectively used for in-situ crystal size measurement and shape identification with good accuracy

Relationship between total sulphur and sulphur amino acids in chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.)and pigeonpea (Ca]anus cajan [L.]Millsp.)

Total sulphur was determined in seed meal of 30 chickpea and 24 pigeonpea cultivars by the wet digestion procedure and by using the Leco sulphur analyser. Methionine and cystine were determined after performic acid oxidation in an amino acid analyser. The two methods used for total sulphur determinations were highly correlated (r=0.943). Percent meal protein was significantly correlated (r=0.476) with total sulphur in chickpea but not in the case of pigeonpea. Total sulphur content exhibited a significant positive correlation (r=0.651) with sulphur amino acids of pigeonpea when expressed as percent of protein but not in the case of chickpea. Correlation coefficients between total sulphur and sulphur amino acids when the results were expressed as percent of sample were positive for both chickpea (r=0.494) and pigeonpea (r=0.534). The amount of sulphur in methionine and cystine accounted for 54.8% of the total sulphur in chickpea and for 75.5% in pigeonpea. In both chickpea and pigeonpea, methionine was positively and significantly correlated with cystine when they were expressed either as percent of sample or as percent of protein

Enzastaurin inhibits tumours sensitive and resistant to anti-EGFR drugs

We investigated the antitumour effect and ability to overcome the resistance to anti-EGFR drugs of enzastaurin, an inhibitor of VEGFR-dependent PKCβ signalling. Enzastaurin was evaluated alone and in combination with the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib, on growth and signalling protein expression in human cancer cells sensitive and resistant to anti-EGFR drugs, both in vitro and in nude mice. We demonstrated the marked inhibitory activity of enzastaurin against GEO colon and PC3 prostate cancer cells and their gefitinib-resistant counterparts GEO-GR and PC3-GR, accompanied by inhibition of pAkt and its effector pp70S6K, pGSK3β and VEGF expression and secretion. Moreover, enzastaurin showed a cooperative effect with gefitinib in parental and in gefitinib-resistant cells. Remarkably, these results were confirmed in vivo, where enzastaurin showed antitumour activity and cooperativity with gefitinib in mice grafted with GEO and GEO-GR tumours, incrementing their median survival and inhibiting the aforesaid protein expression and secretion in tumour specimens. In conclusion, enzastaurin by interfering with signalling proteins implicated in EGFR drug resistance markedly cooperates with gefitinib in sensitive and gefitinib-resistant tumours, thus overcoming and reverting such resistance and providing a rational basis for its development in patients resistant to anti-EGFR drugs