MiniAnDE: a reduced AnDE ensemble to deal with microarray data

This article focuses on the supervised classification of datasets with a large number of variables and a small number of instances. This is the case, for example, for microarray data sets commonly used in bioinformatics. Complex classifiers that require estimating statistics over many variables are not suitable for this type of data. Probabilistic classifiers with low-order probability tables, e.g. NB and AODE, are good alternatives for dealing with this type of data. AODE usually improves NB in accuracy, but suffers from high spatial complexity since $k$ models, each with $n+1$ variables, are included in the AODE ensemble. In this paper, we propose MiniAnDE, an algorithm that includes only a small number of heterogeneous base classifiers in the ensemble, i.e., each model only includes a different subset of the $k$ predictive variables. Experimental evaluation shows that using MiniAnDE classifiers on microarray data is feasible and outperforms NB and other ensembles such as bagging and random forest

Matrix solid-phase dispersion followed by liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry for the determination of selectiveciclooxygenase-2 inhibitors in sewage sludge samples

A straightforward single-step extraction method based on matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD), followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with hybrid quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (LC–QTOF-MS), was developed and optimized to determine five non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Valdecoxib, Etoricoxib, Parecoxib, Celecoxib and 2,5-Dimethylcelecoxib) in sewage sludge samples. The influence of different operational parameters on the extraction efficiency a well as in the matrix effects of the produced extracts was evaluated in detail. Under final working conditions, freeze dried samples (0.2 g) were first soaked with 100 μL of aqueous potassium hydroxide solution (60%, w/v), mixed with 1 g of anhydrous sodium sulfate and dispersed with 1 g of Florisil. This blend was transferred to the top of a polypropylene column cartridge containing 3 g of silica. Analytes were recovered using 15 mL of hexane/acetone (1:2, v/v) mixture. The extracts were concentrated by evaporation and reconstituted with 1 mL of methanol/water (1:1, v/v), filtered and injected in the LC system. Quantification limits from 0.005 and 0.05 ng g−1 and absolute recoveries between 86 and 105% were achieved. Results indicated the presence of two of the targeted COXIBs in real samples of sewage sludge, the highest average concentration (22 ng g−1) corresponding to celecoxib. Moreover, the screening capabilities of the LC–QTOF-MS system demonstrated that the developed MSPD extraction procedure might be useful for the selective extraction of some other pharmaceuticals (e.g. amiodarone and their metabolite N-desethylamiodarone, miconazole, clotrimazole and ketoprofen) from sludge samplesThis study has been supported by the Spanish Government and E.U. FEDER funds (project CTQ2015-68660-P) and Xunta de Galicia (GRC2013/020)S

Flow and heat transfer analysis of a gas-particle fluidized dense suspension in a tube for CSP applications

This work presents a numerical study of the flow of particles in a gas–particle fluidized dense suspension for CSP applications using the Multi-Phase Particle in Cell (MP-PIC) method, implemented in CPFD-Barracuda software. The study covers two different numerical simulations. The first is a cold and isothermal model in which the fluctuations and control of the mass flow of particles ascending along the vertical tube was studied. In the second, a high-temperature boundary condition was imposed on the external surface of the tube and the energy equation was solved. In this second case, the heat transfer coefficient between the inner surface of the tube and the particles was numerically computed. The numerical results in the cold model are highly consistent with experimental data available in the literature (with values up to 150 kg/h and differences of approximately ±10 kg/h) and underline the significant impact of the pressure at the bottom of the bed and of the aeration flow rate on the mass flow of particles. The results of the non-isothermal case present heat transfer coefficients in the range of 300–400 W∕(m2 K) with transient fluctuations during the fluidization process. These fluctuations may be an influence on the mechanical damage of the tube, which is exposed to high levels of concentrated irradiation.This work was partially funded by the project PID2021-127322OB-I00, funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MICIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa; Project SBPLY/21/180501/000017, funded by the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha and by FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa; Project RED2018-102431-T, funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades - Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and Project 2020-GRIN-28725, funded by Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha

Sustainable Agro-Food Industrial Wastewater Treatment Using High Rate Anaerobic Process

This review article compiles the various advances made since 2008 in sustainable high-rate anaerobic technologies with emphasis on their performance enhancement when treating agro-food industrial wastewater. The review explores the generation and characteristics of different agro-food industrial wastewaters; the need for and the performance of high rate anaerobic reactors, such as an upflow anaerobic fixed bed reactor, an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, hybrid systems etc.; operational challenges, mass transfer considerations, energy production estimation, toxicity, modeling, technology assessment and recommendations for successful operation

Sustainable Agro-Food Industrial Wastewater Treatment Using High Rate Anaerobic Process

This review article compiles the various advances made since 2008 in sustainable high-rate anaerobic technologies with emphasis on their performance enhancement when treating agro-food industrial wastewater. The review explores the generation and characteristics of different agro-food industrial wastewaters; the need for and the performance of high rate anaerobic reactors, such as an upflow anaerobic fixed bed reactor, an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, hybrid systems etc.; operational challenges, mass transfer considerations, energy production estimation, toxicity, modeling, technology assessment and recommendations for successful operation

Sustainable Agro-Food Industrial Wastewater Treatment Using High Rate Anaerobic Process

This review article compiles the various advances made since 2008 in sustainable high-rate anaerobic technologies with emphasis on their performance enhancement when treating agro-food industrial wastewater. The review explores the generation and characteristics of different agro-food industrial wastewaters; the need for and the performance of high rate anaerobic reactors, such as an upflow anaerobic fixed bed reactor, an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, hybrid systems etc.; operational challenges, mass transfer considerations, energy production estimation, toxicity, modeling, technology assessment and recommendations for successful operation

Institutional Backing and PSI Reuse: is the EU Going Too Far or Just Going in the Wrong Way?

Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 November 2003 (PSI re-use Directive) has not achieved a minimum harmonisation of national legislations in this area given the lack of strict standard policy. All things considered, it imposes few demands on the side of Member States (MS). Nevertheless, it has been pointed out the convenience of imposing the creation of new institutions —independent authorities— at the national level in order to supply the lack of clear legal provisions, control contraventions of the legal framework regarding access/reuse and provide with rapid and inexpensive mechanisms of resolution of disputes. This option may seem paradoxical in a certain way since it intends an institutional harmonization solution before achieving legal harmonization. Legislation on PSI re-use is somewhat unsatisfactory, so we could consider that the problem we face is not the lack of institutional support, but the inadequacy and vagueness of the legal standard to apply in many cases. This paper suggests that, in favour of legal certainty, transparency and better functioning of the market, the PSI re-use Directive should force MS to specify which types/categories of PSI are reusable and which ones are not, so that legal operators may know what to expect. To address some criticisms of the current situation and solve problems mentioned, the PSI re-use Directive may impose on MS the requirement that a) national regulations concrete the organ/body responsible in each case to resolve requests on PSI re-use and b) establish easier and faster administrative procedures and proceedings before the Courts

A review of solar thermal energy storage in beds of particles: Packed and fluidized beds

This review summarizes different solar thermal energy storage techniques from a particle technology perspective, including sensible, latent and thermochemical techniques for low- and high-temperature applications that use particles as the storage medium in the thermal energy storage system. The focus is on applications, experimental results, modeling and future trends. This review describes two different particle technologies used to store thermal energy: packed and fluidized beds. The advantages and disadvantages of both technologies are reviewed throughout different studies found in the literature for various thermal energy storage systems. Packed beds have the main advantage of thermal stratification, which increases the efficiency of solar collectors in low-temperature sensible energy storage systems and augments the exergy content in the bed. Moreover, they have been proven to be suitable as dual-media thermocline storage systems for CSP plants. In contrast, the high mixing rates of fluidized beds makes them suitable for the rapid distribution of concentrated solar energy in particle receiver CSP systems. In addition, their high heat and mass transfer rates, compared with those of packed beds, make them the preferred particle technology for thermochemical energy storage applications. This review also notes that it is important to find new materials with an appropriate size and density that can be properly used in a fluidized bed. Additionally, more specific research efforts are necessary to improve the understanding of the behavior of these materials during the fluidization process and over a high number of charging/discharging cycles

Determination of the cardiac drug amiodarone and its N-desethyl metabolite in sludge samples

This is the postprint (accepted manuscript) version of the article published in Journal of Chromatography A http://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2015.03.024 This manuscript version is made available under de CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseFor the first time, a procedure for the simultaneous determination of the iodinated drug amiodarone and its major metabolite, N-desethylamiodarone, in sludge from urban sewage treatment plants (STPs) is proposed. Matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) followed by on-line cationic exchange clean-up, in mod- ular configuration, was used as sample preparation technique. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), based on a hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) system, was employed for the selective determination of target compounds. The optimized procedure provided exhaustive recov- eries with little effect of the sample matrix in the efficiency of electrospray ionization (ESI). The overall recoveries of the method ranged between 95 and 111%, for samples spiked at different concentration levels. The achieved limits of quantification (LOQs) remained below 10 ng g−1 for both compounds, and the linear response range extended up to 2500 ng g−1. Amiodarone and N-desethylamiodarone were ubiquitous in sludge samples, from different STPs located in the Northwest of Spain, with maximum concentrations above 300 ng g−1 referred to the freeze-dried matrix. They were also present in stabilized sludge (mixed with lime and thermally dehydrated), which is mostly disposed in agriculture fields as fertilizer. Furthermore, mono-iodinated analogues of amiodarone and N-desethylamiodarone were also tentatively identified in some samples from their accurate MS and MS/MS spectraThis study has been supported by the Spanish Government and E.U. FEDER funds (project CTQ2012-33080) and the Xunta de Galicia (Excellence Research Groups Programme). R.M. acknowledges a post-doctoral “Juan de la Cierva” contract from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.S

Types and Distribution of Bioactive Polyunsaturated Aldehydes in a Gradient from Mesotrophic to OligotrophicWaters in the Alborán Sea (Western Mediterranean)

Polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) are bioactive molecules suggested as chemical defenses and infochemicals. In marine coastal habitats, diatoms reach high PUA production levels during bloom episodes. Two fractions of PUA can usually be analyzed: pPUA obtained via artificial breakage of collected phytoplankton cells and dissolved PUA already released to the environment (dPUA). In nature, resource supply arises as a main environmental controlling factor of PUA production. In this work, we monitored the vertical distribution and daily variation of pPUA associated with large-size phytoplankton and dPUA, at three sites located in the Alboran Sea from mesotrophic to oligotrophic waters. The results corroborate the presence of large-size PUA producers in oligotrophic and mesotrophic waters with a significant (58%-85%) diatom biomass. In addition to diatoms, significant correlations between pPUA production and dinoflagellate and silicoflagellate abundance were observed. 2E,4E/Z-Heptadienal was the most abundant aldehyde at the three sites with higher values (17.1 fg center dot cell(-1)) at the most oligotrophic site. 2E,4E/Z-Decadienal was the least abundant aldehyde, decreasing toward the oligotrophic site. For the first time, we describe the daily fluctuation of pPUA attributable to cellular physiological state and not exclusively to taxonomical composition. Our results demonstrate the persistence of threshold levels of dPUA deep in the water column, as well as the different chromatographic profiles of dPUA compared with pPUA. We propose different isomerization processes that alter the chemical structure of the released PUAs with unknown effects on their stability, biological function, and potential bioactivity