NON-LINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS IN UPFLOW ANAEROBIC SLUDGE BLANKET REACTOR

A dimensionless approach was used to model the granule size variation in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor under different operating condition like organic loading rate, operating time, gas production rate, volatile suspended solids, suspended solids, upflow velocity, polymer loading, sludge volume index and effluent COD concentrations. Present study examines mathematically the effect of introducing polymers to enhance the granule size development in a UASB reactor especially in treatment of low strength wastewater in UASB reactor. The experimental results of investigators on different operating conditions were collected and subjected to dimensionless and non-linear regression analysis to model the enhancement of granule size in UASB reactor. The results using the dimensionless approach and the non linear regression show that better prediction of granule size variations for the data set based on the statistical estimates, errors and a satisfactory coefficient of determination (R2-values). The dimensionless approach of the present study can be successfully used to predict the granule size variations in UASB reactor

Cigarette smoking and adenocarcinomas of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction: a pooled analysis from the International BEACON Consortium

BackgroundPrevious studies that showed an association between smoking and adenocarcinomas of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction were limited in their ability to assess differences by tumor site, sex, dose–response, and duration of cigarette smoking cessation.MethodsWe used primary data from 10 population-based case–control studies and two cohort studies from the Barrett’s Esophagus and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Consortium. Analyses were restricted to white non-Hispanic men and women. Patients were classified as having esophageal adenocarcinoma (n = 1540), esophagogastric junctional adenocarcinoma (n = 1450), or a combination of both (all adenocarcinoma; n = 2990). Control subjects (n = 9453) were population based. Associations between pack-years of cigarette smoking and risks of adenocarcinomas were assessed, as well as their potential modification by sex and duration of smoking cessation. Study-specific odds ratios (ORs) estimated using multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, education, and gastroesophageal reflux, were pooled using a meta-analytic methodology to generate summary odds ratios. All statistical tests were two-sided.ResultsThe summary odds ratios demonstrated strong associations between cigarette smoking and esophageal adenocarcinoma (OR = 1.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.64 to 2.34), esophagogastric junctional adenocarcinoma (OR = 2.18, 95% CI = 1.84 to 2.58), and all adenocarcinoma (OR = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.83 to 2.37). In addition, there was a strong dose–response association between pack-years of cigarette smoking and each outcome ( P &lt; .001). Compared with current smokers, longer smoking cessation was associated with a decreased risk of all adenocarcinoma after adjusting for pack-years (&lt;10 years of smoking cessation: OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.60 to 1.13; and ≥10 years of smoking cessation: OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.56 to 0.89). Sex-specific summary odds ratios were similar.ConclusionsCigarette smoking is associated with increased risks of adenocarcinomas of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction in white men and women; compared with current smoking, smoking cessation was associated with reduced risks.<br/

The InterLACE study: Design, Data Harmonization and Characteristics Across 20 Studies on Women’s Health

Objectives: The International Collaboration for a Life Course Approach to Reproductive Health and Chronic Disease Events (InterLACE) project is a global research collaboration that aims to advance understanding of women’s reproductive health in relation to chronic disease risk by pooling individual participant data from several cohort and cross-sectional studies. The aim of this paper is to describe the characteristics of contributing studies and to present the distribution of demographic and reproductive factors and chronic disease outcomes in InterLACE. Study design: InterLACE is an individual-level pooled study of 20 observational studies (12 of which are longitudinal) from ten countries. Variables were harmonized across studies to create a new and systematic synthesis of life-course data. Main outcome measures: Harmonized data were derived in three domains: 1) socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, 2) female reproductive characteristics, and 3) chronic disease outcomes (cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes). Results: InterLACE pooled data from 229,054 mid-aged women. Overall, 76% of the women were Caucasian and 22% Japanese; other ethnicities (of 300 or more participants) included Hispanic/Latin American (0.2%), Chinese (0.2%), Middle Eastern (0.3%), African/black (0.5%), and Other (1.0%). The median age at baseline was 47 years (Inter-quartile range (IQR): 41–53), and that at the last follow-up was 56 years (IQR: 48–64). Regarding reproductive characteristics, half of the women (49.8%) had their first menstruation (menarche) at 12–13 years of age. The distribution of menopausal status and the prevalence of chronic disease varied considerably among studies. At baseline, most women (57%) were pre- or peri-menopausal, 20% reported a natural menopause (range 0.8–55.6%) and the remainder had surgery or were taking hormones. By the end of follow-up, the prevalence rates of CVD and diabetes were 7.2% (range 0.9–24.6%) and 5.1% (range 1.3–13.2%), respectively. Conclusions: The scale and heterogeneity of InterLACE data provide an opportunity to strengthen evidence concerning the relationships between reproductive health through life and subsequent risks of chronic disease, including cross-cultural comparisons

Josephson diode effect from Cooper pair momentum in a topological semimetal

Cooper pairs in non-centrosymmetric superconductors can acquire finite centre-of-mass momentum in the presence of an external magnetic field. Recent theory predicts that such finite-momentum pairing can lead to an asymmetric critical current, where a dissipationless supercurrent can flow along one direction but not in the opposite one. Here we report the discovery of a giant Josephson diode effect in Josephson junctions formed from a type-II Dirac semimetal, NiTe2. A distinguishing feature is that the asymmetry in the critical current depends sensitively on the magnitude and direction of an applied magnetic field and achieves its maximum value when the magnetic field is perpendicular to the current and is of the order of just 10 mT. Moreover, the asymmetry changes sign several times with an increasing field. These characteristic features are accounted for by a model based on finite-momentum Cooper pairing that largely originates from the Zeeman shift of spin-helical topological surface states. The finite pairing momentum is further established, and its value determined, from the evolution of the interference pattern under an in-plane magnetic field. The observed giant magnitude of the asymmetry in critical current and the clear exposition of its underlying mechanism paves the way to build novel superconducting computing devices using the Josephson diode effect

3-(4-Bromo­phen­yl)quinazolin-4(3H)-one

In the title compound, C14H9BrN2O, the quinazoline unit is essentially planar, with a mean deviation of 0.058 (2) Å from the least-squares plane defined by the ten constituent ring atoms. The dihedral angle between the mean plane of the quinazoline ring system and the 4-bromo­phenyl ring is 47.6 (1)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by inter­molecular C—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming infinite chains of alternating R 2 2(6) dimers and R 2 2(14) ring motifs

3-(4-Chloro­phen­yl)quinazolin-4(3H)-one

In the title compound, C14H9ClN2O, the quinazoline unit is essentially planar, with a mean deviation from the least-squares plane defined by the ten constituent ring atoms of 0.027 (2) Å. The dihedral angle between the mean plane of the quinazoline ring system and the 4-chloro­phenyl ring is 44.63 (5)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by inter­molecular C—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming infinite chains of alternating R22(6) dimers and R22(14) ring motifs