Fuzzy Control Strategy for an Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment Process

In this paper, a fuzzy control strategy (FCS) for an anaerobic wastewater treatment process is proposed in order to reject large disturbances on input substrate allowing a high methane production. This strategy is composed of: i) a state observer, which is based on a principal components analysis (PCA) and Takagi-Sugeno (TS) algorithm; it is designed to estimate variables hard to measure: biomass and substrate, ii) proportional-integral (PI) controllers based on a combination of the L/A(logarithm/antilogarithm) and fuzzy approaches; these controllers have variable gains and are designed to regulate bicarbonate in the reactor by two control actions: a base supplying (binc) and dilution rate (D) changes, iii) a TS supervisor which detects the process state, selects and applies the most adequate control action, allowing a smooth switching between open loop and closed loop. Applicability of the proposed structure in a completely stirred tank reactor (CSTR) is illustrated via simulations. The obtained results show that the process works in open loop in presence of small disturbances. For large disturbances, the supervisor allows the control actions to be applied avoiding washout; after that, the process returns to open loop operation. In general, the FCS improves the performances of the anaerobic process and is feasible for application in real processes, since the control scheme shows a good compromise between efficiency and complexity

Thermoelectric Figure of Merit of Strongly Correlated Superlattice Semiconductors

We solved the Anderson Lattice Hamiltonian to get the energy bands of a strongly correlated semiconductor by using slave boson mean field theory. The transport properties were calculated in the relaxation-time approximation,and the thermoelectric figure of merit was obtained for the strongly correlated semiconductor and its superlattice structures. We found that at room temperature $ZT$ can reach nearly 2 for the quantum wire lattice structure.We believe that it is possible to find high values of thermoelectric figure of merit from strongly correlated semiconductor superlattice systems.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Implementacion de un establecimiento de larga estadia para el adulto mayor en la ciudad de Talca.

127 p.En este trabajo se realiza un estudio para la Implementación de un Establecimiento de Larga Estadía para el Adulto Mayor en la Ciudad de Talca, enfocado especialmente a los segmentos socioeconómicos ABC1 C2. Se lleva a cabo este proyecto porque en el actual escenario no existe un establecimiento que proporcione este tipo de servicio con una alta calidad, existen clientes por abastecer los cuales están en aumento por la transición demográfica que vive el país. Para lograr conocer el atractivo del mercado se utilizan dos herramientas en particular, el Análisis Porter de las fuerzas competitivas del que se genera una estrategia a nivel de negocio, y el Análisis Situacional FODA del que se genera una matriz con el fin crear estrategias para aprovechar las fortalezas internas, las oportunidades externas, disminuir las debilidades y enfrentar las amenazas. Una vez definido el atractivo del mercado se procede a realizar un análisis económico-financiero para evaluar si es factible llevar a cabo el proyecto y como reacciona al disminuir las principales variables de las que depende el ingreso del establecimiento. Una vez llevado a cabo el estudio se logra concluir que el proyecto es factible puesto que presenta un VAN positivo y además una TIR muy por sobre el costo de oportunidad utilizado para la evaluación del proyecto

Designed binary mixtures for subcritical organic Rankine cycles based on multiobjective optimization

The use of binary zeotropic mixtures as working fluids applied to Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs) is investigated in this paper. In total, six (6) hydrocarbons and (2) hydrofluorocarbons are considered, leading to twenty-eight (28) possible binary combinations. The mixtures were tested with a basic Rankine cycle while using the heat source temperature as independent variable, which assumed six different values, ranging from 80 °C to 180 °C, in steps of 20 °C. The simulations aimed to identify the ideal mixtures that maximized the net power and exergetic efficiency, and minimized the heat exchanger’s global conductance for a given temperature of the heat source. The optimization process relied on a genetic algorithm and the selection of the best mixtures, on a non-dominated sorting method (NDS), which returned Pareto fronts gathering the best solutions. While no one specific ideal mixture was identified, the results showed that the range of the so-called ideal mixtures narrows as the heat source temperature increases, with mixtures including fluids like R245fa and pentane being good options, whereas at low temperature, a larger number of fluid mixtures perform well. Finally, a scale analysis is proposed and shows that the maximal net power varies linearly with a Number of Transfer Units (NTU) factor while its slope depends on the heat source temperature. The latter analysis is compared with the results obtained with the Pareto front and NDS, showing that both sets of results agree well while correlated by a single constant for the entire temperature range covered in the present study

The impact of perceived CSR on corporate reputation and purchase intention

Fil: Bianchi, Enrique Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Departamento de Administración y Tecnología de la Información; Argentina.Fil: Bianchi, Enrique Carlos. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Unidad Asociada al CONICET; Argentina.Fil: Bruno, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Departamento de Administración y Tecnología de la Información; Argentina.Fil: Sarabia-Sanchez, Francisco J. Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche; España.The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of consumers’ perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR). The aim is to provide insight into the effect of perceived CSR on purchase intention (short-term effect) and corporate reputation (long-term effect), whilst considering the role of brand image, satisfaction (affective and cognitive) and brand loyalty.https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/EJMBE-12-2017-0068info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionFil: Bianchi, Enrique Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Departamento de Administración y Tecnología de la Información; Argentina.Fil: Bianchi, Enrique Carlos. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Unidad Asociada al CONICET; Argentina.Fil: Bruno, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Departamento de Administración y Tecnología de la Información; Argentina.Fil: Sarabia-Sanchez, Francisco J. Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche; España.Negocios y Administració

Security Assessment of the Spanish Contactless Identity Card

The theft of personal information to assume the identity of a person is a common threat. Individual criminals, terrorists, or crime rings normally do it to commit fraud or other felonies. Recently, the Spanish identity card, which provides enough information to hire on-line products such as mortgages or loans, was updated to incorporate a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip as electronic passports do. This contactless interface brings a new attack vector for these criminals, who might take advantage of the RFID communication to secretly steal personal information. In this paper, we assess the security of contactless Spanish identity card against identity theft. In particular, we evaluated the resistance of one of the contactless access protocol against brute-force attacks and found that no defenses were incorporated. We suggest how to avoid brute-force attacks. Furthermore, we also analyzed the pseudo-random number generator within the card, which passed all performed tests with good results.MINECO CyCriSec (TIN2014-58457-R).University of Zaragoza and Centro Universitario de la Defensa UZCUD2016-TEC-06.Project TEC2015-69665-R (MINECO/FEDER, UE)

Biofilm and planktonic pneumococci demonstrate disparate immunoreactivity to human convalescent sera

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Streptococcus pneumoniae </it>(the pneumococcus) is the leading cause of otitis media, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), sepsis, and meningitis. It is now evident that <it>S. pneumoniae </it>forms biofilms during nasopharyngeal colonization; the former which facilitates persistence, the latter, a prerequisite for subsequent development of invasive disease. Proteomic evaluation of <it>S. pneumoniae </it>suggests the antigen profile available for host-recognition is altered as a consequence of biofilm growth. This has potentially meaningful implications in regards to adaptive immunity and protection from disseminated disease. We therefore examined the antigen profile of biofilm and planktonic pneumococcal cell lysates, tested their reactivity with human convalescent sera and that generated against biofilm pneumococci, and examined whether immunization with biofilm pneumococci protected mice against infectious challenge.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Biofilm pneumococci have dramatically altered protein profiles versus their planktonic counterparts. During invasive disease the humoral immune response is skewed towards the planktonic protein profile. Immunization with biofilm bacteria does not elicit a strong-cross-reactive humoral response against planktonic bacteria nor confer resistance against challenge with a virulent isolate from another serotype. We identified numerous proteins, including Pneumococcal serine-rich repeat protein (PsrP), which may serve as a protective antigens against both colonization and invasive disease.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Differential protein production by planktonic and biofilm pneumococci provides a potential explanation for why individuals remain susceptible to invasive disease despite previous colonization events. These findings also strongly suggest that differential protein production during colonization and disease be considered during the selection of antigens for any future protein vaccine.</p