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Metaldehyde removal from drinking water by adsorption onto filtration media: mechanisms and optimisation
Trace micropollutants should be removed during drinking water production without increasing the disinfection-by-product formation potential or energy demand of the treatment process. We demonstrate the efficacy of different filtration media to remove metaldehyde through controlled batch experiments on water augmented with metaldehyde. Equilibrium concentrations of metaldehyde and surrogate organics were successfully described by the Freundlich isotherm. Metaldehyde can be attenuated to varying degrees with activated carbon and sand with an active and inactive biofilm with kf values ranging from 0.006–0.3 (mg g−1)(L mg−1)1/n. The presence of the active biofilm improved metaldehyde adsorption by sand media, due to additional biosorption mechanisms, a greater surface area or biodegradation. Baseline levels of competing natural organic matter surrogates (NOM) reduced overall adsorption efficacy but increasing concentrations of NOM did not impact metaldehyde removal efficacy in a significant way. Biological activated carbon was identified as the most suitable adsorbent of metaldehyde (94% removal) but sand with an acclimated biofilm was capable of acting as a bio-adsorbent of metaldehyde even under environmentally relevant concentrations (41% adsorption from 0.002.5 mg L−1). Moreover, we observed that thermal hydrolysis of metaldehyde occurred at 60 °C, suggesting that thermal regeneration of GAC for this pesticide was possible at relatively low temperatures. Biological adsorption and thermal hydrolysis approaches presented herein offered a way forward to increase efficiency and cost effectiveness of existing treatments for metaldehyde
Extraordinary transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect in a superlens
It has been shown that a slab of a negative index material can behave as a
superlens enhancing the imaging resolution beyond the wavelength limit. We show
here that if such a slab possesses in addition some magneto-optical activity,
it could act as an ideal optical filter and exhibit an extraordinary transverse
magneto-optical Kerr effect. Moreover, we show that losses, which spoil the
imaging resolution of these lenses, are a necessary ingredient to observe this
effect.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Pilot study of vegetation in the Alchichica-Perote region by remote sensing
A study of the application of satellite images to the identification of vegetation in a small area corresponding to the arid zone of Veracruz and part of Puebla is presented. This study is accomplished by means of images from the LANDSAT satellite obtained on January 19 and May 23, 1973. The interpretation of the different maps is made on the basis of information from the data bank of the Flora de Veracruz program, and various surveys made by land and air
The Planck Low Frequency Instrument
The Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) of the "Planck Surveyor" ESA mission will
perform high-resolution imaging of the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies
at four frequencies in the 30-100 GHz range. We review the LFI main scientific
objectives, the current status of the instrument design and the on-going effort
to develop software simulations of the LFI observations. In particular we
discuss the design status of the PLANCK telescope, which is critical for
reaching adequate effective angular resolution.Comment: 10 pages, Latex (use epsfig.sty); 4 Postscript figures; Astrophys.
Lett & Comm, in press. Proc. of the Conference: "The Cosmic Microwave
Background and the Planck Mission", Santander, Spain, 22-25 June 199
Analysis and correction of the magnetic field effects in the Hybrid Photo-Detectors of the RICH2 Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector of LHCb
The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors of the LHCb experiment at the Large
Hadron Collider at CERN are equipped with Hybrid Photo-Detectors. These vacuum
photo-detectors are affected by the stray magnetic field of the LHCb magnet,
which degrades their imaging properties. This effect increases the error on the
Cherenkov angle measurement and would reduce the particle identification
capabilities of LHCb. A system has been developed for the RICH2 Ring Imaging
Cherenkov detector to perform a detailed characterisation of the magnetic
distortion effects. It is described, along with the methods implemented to
correct for these effects, restoring the optimal resolution.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figure
The Four-electron Oxidation of meso-Octaethylporphirinogen via a Metal-mediated Dealkylation Process: Formation of [RuL(PhCN)2] [H2L = 5,15-dihydro-5,5,10,15,20-hexaethylporphyrin].
Modeling the emergence of phenotypic heterogeneity in vascularized tumors
We present a mathematical study of the emergence of phenotypic heterogeneity in vascularized tumors. Our study is based on formal asymptotic analysis and numerical simulations of a system of nonlocal parabolic equations that describes the phenotypic evolution of tumor cells and their nonlinear dynamic interactions with the oxygen, which is released from the intratumoral vascular network. Numerical simulations are carried out both in the case of arbitrary distributions of intratumor blood vessels and in the case where the intratumoral vascular network is reconstructed from clinical images obtained using dynamic optical coherence tomography. The results obtained support a more in-depth theoretical understanding of the eco-evolutionary process which underpins the emergence of phenotypic heterogeneity in vascularized tumors. In particular, our results offer a theoretical basis for empirical evidence indicating that the phenotypic properties of cancer cells in vascularized tumors vary with the distance from the blood vessels, and establish a relation between the degree of tumor tissue vascularization and the level of intratumor phenotypic heterogeneity
Evolutionary Dynamics in Vascularised Tumours under Chemotherapy: Mathematical Modelling, Asymptotic Analysis and Numerical Simulations
We consider a mathematical model for the evolutionary dynamics of tumour cells in vascularised tumours under chemotherapy. The model comprises a system of coupled partial integro-differential equations for the phenotypic distribution of tumour cells, the concentration of oxygen and the concentration of a chemotherapeutic agent. In order to disentangle the impact of different evolutionary parameters on the emergence of intra-tumour phenotypic heterogeneity and the development of resistance to chemotherapy, we construct explicit solutions to the equation for the phenotypic distribution of tumour cells and provide a detailed quantitative characterisation of the long-time asymptotic behaviour of such solutions. Analytical results are integrated with numerical simulations of a calibrated version of the model based on biologically consistent parameter values. The results obtained provide a theoretical explanation for the observation that the phenotypic properties of tumour cells in vascularised tumours vary with the distance from the blood vessels. Moreover, we demonstrate that lower oxygen levels may correlate with higher levels of phenotypic variability, which suggests that the presence of hypoxic regions supports intra-tumour phenotypic heterogeneity. Finally, the results of our analysis put on a rigorous mathematical basis the idea, previously suggested by formal asymptotic results and numerical simulations, that hypoxia favours the selection for chemoresistant phenotypic variants prior to treatment. Consequently, this facilitates the development of resistance following chemotherapy
Preliminary report on the amphibians and reptiles from the lower Palaeolithic palaeoanthropological site of Visogliano (NE Italy)
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