865 research outputs found

    Bioaugmentation of Overloaded Anaerobic Digesters Restores Function and Archaeal Community

    Get PDF
    Adding beneficial microorganisms to anaerobic digesters for improved performance (i.e. bioaugmentation) has been shown to decrease recovery time after organic overload or toxicity upset. Compared to strictly anaerobic cultures, adding aerotolerant methanogenic cultures may be more practical since they exhibit higher methanogenic activity and can be easily dried and stored in ambient air for future shipping and use. In this study, anaerobic digesters were bioaugmented with both anaerobic and aerated, methanogenic propionate enrichment cultures after a transient organic overload. Digesters bioaugmented with anaerobic and moderately aerated cultures recovered 25 and 100 days before non-bioaugmented digesters, respectively. Increased methane production due to bioaugmentation continued a long time, with 50–120% increases 6 to 12 SRTs (60–120 days) after overload. In contrast to the anaerobic enrichment, the aerated enrichments were more effective as bioaugmentation cultures, resulting in faster recovery of upset digester methane and COD removal rates. Sixty days after overload, the bioaugmented digester archaeal community was not shifted, but was restored to one similar to the pre-overload community. In contrast, non-bioaugmented digester archaeal communities before and after overload were significantly different. Organisms most similar to Methanospirillum hungatei had higher relative abundance in well-operating, undisturbed and bioaugmented digesters, whereas organisms similar to Methanolinea tarda were more abundant in upset, non-bioaugmented digesters. Bioaugmentation is a beneficial approach to increase digester recovery rate after transient organic overload events. Moderately aerated, methanogenic propionate enrichment cultures were more beneficial augments than a strictly anaerobic enrichment

    El valor de la ley positiva

    Get PDF
    The article is a reassertion of the intrinsical worth of the most of rules of positive law, issued in an environment of generalized transgression and in opposition to the views which on account of emphasize the value of judge sentences or principles as sources of law, depress the civil laws authority. The classical conception of the rule of law, which not only conceives it as a way for refrain the men, but also affirms its pedagogical function in order to the right behavior and conducive to common good actions is remembered. Respective Aquinas, Holmes, Hart, Raz and Finnis theories about the point are compared. The author deals with the reasonableness in the rules of law contents: There are unreasonable and unjust precepts, and there is a wise and fixed courts of justice doctrine that declares them “inconstitutional” and inapplicable, because of the violation of the “reasonableness principle”; however most of the rules of law are reasonable. Then the author points out two doctrinal causes of the theorical unworthness of the rules of law and its nowadays practical contempt: the idea of the separation between morals and law, and the doctrine that assumes the individual freedom as the greatest human good (as W Goldschmidt taught, among others). Finally, the author dissaproves, under the title “Theories that favourish the judicial disobedience of civil laws”: a) an erroneus thought which in the name of natural law an equity exaggerates the scope of the admissible judge discretion; b) the “judicialist” juridical positivism (Holmes, Ross, Kelsen), which has been the prevailing mode of positivism in the 20th century; c) the abuses of “systemical” interpretation and “constitutionalization” of law, which seek to legitimate the disregarding of the law rules, through pseudo-constitutional interpretations of it; d) the application of false principles instead of the legal precepts.El artículo es una reafirmación del valor intrínseco del contenido de las reglas de la ley positiva en general, elaborado en un ambiente de transgresión generalizada, y frente a concepciones que al acentuar la primacía de la jurisprudencia o de los principios jurídicos como fuentes del Derecho, deprimen la autoridad de las leyes civiles. Se recuerda la concepción clásica que no reduce la ley a su papel represor, sino que también reconoce su función pedagógica de la conducta correcta y de lo conducente al bien común. Se comparan las doctrinas de Tomás de Aquino, Holmes, Hart, Raz y Finnis al respecto. El autor trata de la razonabilidad del contenido de las leyes: Existen preceptos irrazonables e injustos, y hay doctrina tribunalicia acertada y arraigada que las declara “inconstitucionales” e inaplicables por violar el “principio de razonabilidad”; pero la mayoría de las leyes son razonables. Señala luego dos causas doctrinarias de la desvalorización de las leyes y su desprecio práctico en nuestro tiempo: la idea de la separación entre lo moral y lo jurídico, y la doctrina que concibe la libertad individual como el bien máximo del hombre (como enseñara, entre otros, W Goldschmidt). Finalmente, bajo el título “Doctrinas favorables a la desobediencia judicial de las leyes civiles”, el autor desaprueba: a) el iusnaturalismo mal entendido que bajo el nombre de equidad exagera el alcance de la discreción del juez; b) el positivismo jurídico “judicialista” (Holmes, Ross, Kelsen), que ha sido la modalidad de positivismo jurídico predominante en el s. XX; c) el abuso de la interpretación “sistémica” y de la “constitucionalización” del derecho, que ocurre cuando mediante falsas interpretaciones “constitucionales” se pretende legitimar la inobservancia de la ley; y d) la aplicación de falsos principios en sustitución de los preceptos legales

    Assessing the Effect of Working Capital Management on the Profitability of Small Business in Chiro Town, West Hararghe Zone, Ormia Region, Ethiopia

    Get PDF
    An optimal working capital management is expected to contribute certainly to the profitability of firms. The main purpose of the study was to assess the effect of working capital management on profitability of small business in Chiro town, West Hararghe, Ethiopia. To collect primary data semi-structured questionnaire survey and key informant interview were employed. By using non-probabilistic purposive sampling technique, cross-sectional data were collected from 15 sampled small businesses. The effect of the inventory conversion period, accounts receivable period, accounts payable period and cash conversion cycle on return on asset was analyzed through descriptive statistics, Pearson’s Correlation and linear regression by using SPSS version 20. The result shows that there is positive relationship between accounts receivable period and accounts payable period with profitability of small business. However, inventory conversion period and cash conversion cycle have a negative significant impact on profitability. Keywords: Working capital Management, Small business, Profitability and Ethiopia. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-15-03 Publication date:August 31st 202

    Sierra-Monte: importation and exportation of marble

    Get PDF
    The objective of this master project is to develop a business plan for a marble trading company in Portugal. Sierra-Monte as a new registered company in Portugal is exporting different types of marbles from Portugal to gulf countries. This study is mainly to evaluate all the aspects of marble industry, and how to operate a business in terms of import and export. Moreover, a step-by-step business plan of how to open a start-up company in the same field. Getting to know the customers, and their behaviour, channels of transport, and the revenue streams are some of the items which need to be considered. We will analyze the supply and demand in the market, as well as observing the main activities and resources of the organization. A strategic point of view on marketing plan followed by an operational plan, team management, and finally, an overview on financial aspects. In this thesis, we will focus on the main reasons that make Portugal one of the main potential suppliers in the marble industry. Overall industrial market analysis on the stone products, from the production to end customer and all the related aspects of how to connect the supply and demand from Europe to the Middle East and vice versa in the marble industry.O objetivo deste projeto mestre é desenvolver um plano de negócios para uma empresa de comercialização de mármore em Portugal. A Sierra-Monte como uma nova empresa registada em Portugal exporta diferentes tipos de mármores de Portugal para os países do Golfo. Este estudo tem como objetivo principal avaliar todos os aspectos da indústria do mármore e como operar um negócio em termos de importação e exportação. Além disso, um plano de negócios passo a passo de como abrir uma empresa start-up na mesma área. Conhecer os clientes e seu comportamento, canais de transporte e as fontes de receita são alguns dos itens que precisam ser considerados. Analisaremos a oferta e demanda do mercado, bem como observaremos as principais atividades e recursos da organização. Uma visão estratégica do plano de marketing seguido de um plano operacional, gestão de equipe e, por fim, uma visão geral dos aspectos financeiros. Nesta dissertação iremos centrar-nos nos principais motivos que fazem de Portugal um dos principais potenciais fornecedores da indústria do mármore. Análise geral do mercado industrial dos produtos de pedra, desde a produção até o cliente final e todos os aspectos relacionados de como conectar a oferta e a demanda da Europa ao Oriente Médio e vice-versa na indústria de mármore. Palavras

    Bioaugmentation For Recovery of Anaerobic Digesters Subjected to Organic Overload

    Get PDF
    Anaerobic digester upset due to organic overload is common and methods to reduce recovery time would be beneficial. One potential method is bioaugmentation, the addition of an external culture for performance improvement. Methanogenic community structure differs from digester to digester and there may exist a relation between specific methanogenic activity (SMA) and microbial community composition. The research presented herein tested whether there is a relationship between SMA and community structure. Also, the effectiveness of bioaugmentation was tested by hypothesizing that bioaugmenting with a methanogenic, propionate-degrading culture acclimated to small oxygen doses will help rapid recovery of organically overloaded digesters. Fourteen different anaerobic cultures were tested for SMA and microbial community using the mcrA gene and DGGE to establish a relationship between SMA and community structure. The culture with the highest SMA was enriched by feeding 0.17g propionate/L-day and different oxygen doses. The enrichment cultures were used to bioaugment organically overloaded anaerobic digesters. Microbial communities present in bioaugmented, non-bioaugmented and undisturbed control digesters as well as the bioaugmentation culture were analyzed using 16S rDNA. A statistically significant relationship between SMA and community structure could not be established, highlighting the difficulty in establishing activity/community structure relationships. However, the results indicated that there was a relation between SMA and methanogenic community compositions studied. Enriching a culture for 25mgO2/L-day increased its SMA by 29.7%, but higher oxygen doses yielded lower SMA values. Bioaugmentation with this enrichment culture reduced the time required for upset digester effluent to decrease below 1000mgSCOD/L by 114 days (11.4 SRTs) and the time required to reach 25mLCH4/day by 37 days (3.7 SRTs) respectively. Bioaugmented digesters consistently produced lower effluent SCOD and more methane than non-bioaugmented digesters. Bioaugmentation is a promising approach for speeding up recovery of organically overloaded digesters. Bacterial and archaeal communities of the bioaugmented and undisturbed control digesters had similar phylogenetic tree structures (p\u3e0.3), whereas the tree structures of non-bioaugmented and undisturbed control digesters differed significantly (pMethanospirillum hungatei may have caused better performance of bioaugmented digesters

    A Social Capital Perspective on the Peace Work of Religious Women

    Get PDF
    acceptedVersio

    Assessing oral English in secondary school: challenges for novice English teachers.

    Get PDF
    Mastergradsoppgave i lektorutdanning, Høgskolen i Innlandet, 2019.English: This study investigates how novice teachers of English, at lower and upper secondary level, work with the assessment of oral English. In addition, the study focuses on how the novice teachers perceive their own competence in assessing speaking skills, and how their teacher education has prepared them for assessing oral English. The research findings show that the teachers find it challenging to assess oral English. According to the teachers, there is a lack of a shared understanding of how to assess language abilities. The participants report that the assessment is largely based on the teachers’ subjective opinions. The participants problematize vague and broad competence aims in the curricula that open up for a range of different interpretations. The participants are concerned that the lack of a shared understanding of assessment in oral English can lead to unfair assessment of the students. The teachers report that the training they received during the teacher education was not sufficient for working with assessing oral English. They express uncertainty regarding interpretations of competence aims and criteria, and are generally uncertain of whether or not their assessments are reliable and valid.Norsk: Denne studien undersøker hvordan nyutdannede engelsklærere i ungdomskolen og videregående skole jobber med muntlig vurdering i engelsk. I tillegg fokuserer studien på hvordan lærerne anser egen vurderingskompetanse, og hvordan utdanningen deres har forberedt dem til å vurdere muntlig engelsk. Forskningsfunnene viser at lærerne finner vurdering av muntlig engelsk utfordrende. Lærerne oppfatter at det ikke er noen felles forståelse av hvordan man skal vurdere muntlig engelsk på tvers av skoler i Norge og at vurdering i stor grad er basert på læreres subjektive meninger. Lærerne trekker frem at kompetansemålene i læreplanen er lite konkrete, og at dette åpner for mange ulike tolkninger av kompetansemålene. Urettferdig vurderingspraksis blir trukket frem som den ytterste konsekvensen av manglende felles forståelse for vurdering av muntlig engelsk. Lærerne rapporterer at utdanningen deres i svært liten grad har forberedt dem til å vurdere muntlig engelsk. De forteller om usikkerhet rundt tolkning av kompetansemål og kriterier for kjennetegn på måloppnåelse, og er generelt usikre på om deres vurderinger pålitelige

    On the Parameterized Complexity of Grid Contraction

    Get PDF
    For a family of graphs ?, the ?-Contraction problem takes as an input a graph G and an integer k, and the goal is to decide if there exists F ? E(G) of size at most k such that G/F belongs to ?. Here, G/F is the graph obtained from G by contracting all the edges in F. In this article, we initiate the study of Grid Contraction from the parameterized complexity point of view. We present a fixed parameter tractable algorithm, running in time c^k ? |V(G)|^{{O}(1)}, for this problem. We complement this result by proving that unless ETH fails, there is no algorithm for Grid Contraction with running time c^{o(k)} ? |V(G)|^{{O}(1)}. We also present a polynomial kernel for this problem

    Kvantitativ genetikk for egenskaper relatert til sykdomsresistens og effekter av vaksinering i Atlantisk laks (Salmo salar)

    Get PDF
    Disease resistance is of major importance to the fish farming industry as disease outbreaks have negative effects on the industry’s economy, its reputation and on fish welfare. Today, almost all fish in the Norwegian salmon industry are vaccinated against a number of diseases, while selection for increased resistance to specific diseases is based on survival of unvaccinated fish in challenge tests. The main aim of this doctorial thesis was to obtain a better understanding of how to select for increased resistance to furunculosis in Atlantic salmon and how this relates to side effects of vaccination, taking into account that most fish in the industry are currently vaccinated. Resistance to furunculosis (survival) was recorded by challenge testing fish from 150 families (unvaccinated and vaccinated fish). Vaccine-induced side effects (adhesions of internal organs and melanin deposits) were recorded on samples of the 150 families at three points in time: after three months in freshwater (high temperature), and six and 12 months after sea transfer. The first objective was to estimate the magnitude of the genetic (co)variation in survival of unvaccinated and vaccinated Atlantic salmon challenged with A. salmonicida, the bacteria causing furunculosis. The results showed a low genetic correlation between resistance to furunculosis in unvaccinated and vaccinated fish. The second objective was to estimate the magnitude of genetic variation of the negative side effects of vaccination. Intermediate heritabilities were obtained for adhesions and melanin deposits. However, the results also showed that an alternative vaccine reduced the side effects compared to the standard vaccine. The third objective was to estimate the magnitude of the genetic correlation between disease resistance, side effects of vaccination, and harvest body weight. These traits were not genetically correlated; though a possible exception is harvest body weight and survival of vaccinated fish, where a weak and unfavorable correlation was reported. Today’s breeding strategy of testing unvaccinated fish is optimal if the long term goal is a reduced need for vaccination. Selection based on vaccinated fish is likely to be the most effective short term strategy, as all fish in the industry today are vaccinated. However, this strategy is not very relevant for furunculosis as the vaccine is highly effective. Vaccine-induced side effects (adhesions and melanin deposits) could be reduced through selective breeding, but it is likely to be more appropriate to focus on other measures such as vaccine development. Selection for increased disease resistance, vaccine-induced side effects, or harvest body weight are not expected to lead to unfavorable correlated responses in any of these traits, with the possible exception of survival of vaccinated fish and harvest body weight.Forbedret sykdomsresistens hos Atlantisk laks er viktig for oppdrettsnæringen ettersom sykdomsutbrudd har negativ påvirking på næringens økonomi og omdømme, og på fiskens velferd. I dag vaksineres det aller meste av fisken mot en rekke sykdommer. Samtidig pågår det et avlsarbeid for økt sykdomsresistens basert på resultater fra smittetester med uvaksinert fisk. Hovedmålet med dette doktorgradsarbeidet var å få bedre forståelse for hvordan man bør selektere for økt resistens mot bakteriesykdommen furunkulose (forårsaket av bakterien A. salmonicida), og hvordan dette er relatert til bivirkninger av vaksinering. Resistens ble målt som overleving i smittetester hos fisk fra 150 familier. Vaksinebivirkninger, sammenvoksinger av organ i bukhulen og melaninflekker på organ og bukvegg, ble målt på et tilfeldig utvalg av fisk fra de 150 familiene på tre ulike tidspunkt: Etter tre måneder i ferskvann (høy temperatur) og seks og tolv måneder etter sjøutsett. I smittetest med furunkulose ble det funne høyere genetisk variasjon for uvaksinert enn vaksinert fisk og en relativ lav genetisk korrelasjon mellom furunkuloseresistens i uvaksinert og vaksinert fisk. For sammenvoksinger og melaninflekker ble det funnet middels store arvegrader. En alternativ vaksine gav reduserte vaksinebivirkninger sammenlignet med standardvaksinen. Egenskapene sykdomsresistens, vaksinebivirkninger og slaktevekt ble funnet å ikke være genetisk korrelert, med et mulig unntak mellom slaktevekt og overlevelse av vaksinert fisk i smittetest hvor det ble funnet en svak, ugunstig korrelasjon. Dagens avlsstrategi basert på smittetester med uvaksinert fisk er optimal hvis det langsiktige avlsmålet er å redusere bruken av vaksinering. Seleksjon basert på vaksinert fisk er likevel den optimale strategien på kort sikt ettersom all fisk i næringen vaksineres, men en liten aktuell strategi for furunkulose ettersom dagens vaksine mot furunkulose er svært effektiv. Vaksinebivirkninger (sammenvoksninger og melaninflekker) kan reduseres gjennom alvsarbeid, men det er mest sannsynlig mer hensiktsmessig å fokusere på andre tiltak som for eksempel vaksineutvikling. Seleksjon for økt sykdomsresistens og slaktevekt og reduserte vaksinebivirkninger forventes ikke å gi ugunstige korrelerte responser i noen av de andre egenskapene, men overlevelse av vaksinert fisk og slaktevekt kan være et unntak.PHARMAQ AS ; The Fishery and Aquaculture Industry Research Fun
    corecore