Simultaneous COD Removal and PHA Production in an Activated Sludge System under Different Temperatures

The purpose of this study was to investigate PHA production by activated sludge biomass under different temperatures. The two-step approach, i.e. utilizing a growth phase followed by a nutrient(s) limitation phase, was applied to stimulate PHA accumulation. Each of three intended temperatures, 10oC, 20oC and 30oC, was investigated with combined N&P limitation. Four liter (L) fully aerobic SBRs were used for all experiments, and operated with a 6 h cycle time, a 10 h HRT and a 10 day SRT. The maximum PHA cellular contents and total concentrations achieved during the N&P limitation periods in the 10 and 20oC systems were very similar, i.e. 45 and 43% of the TSS and 2133 and 2239 mg/l, respectively, whereas the 30oC results were lower at 33% of TSS and 1476 mg/l. The biomass temperature clearly had a strong inverse effect upon PHA productivity. It decreased from 427 and 204 to 148 mg/l-day as reactor temperature increased from 10 to 20 and 30oC, respectively. As well, the PHA yields decreased from 0.38 to 0.16 and 0.11 mg PHA/mg CODu, respectively. The results strongly indicate that activated sludge PHA accumulation stimulated by combined N and P limitation is inversely correlated with temperature

Glutathione Redox System in β

β-thalassemia/Hb E is known to cause oxidative stress induced by iron overload. The glutathione system is the major endogenous antioxidant that protects animal cells from oxidative damage. This study aimed to determine the effect of disease state and splenectomy on redox status expressed by whole blood glutathione (GSH)/glutathione disulfide (GSSG) and also to evaluate glutathione-related responses to oxidation in β-thalassemia/Hb E patients. Twenty-seven normal subjects and 25 β-thalassemia/Hb E patients were recruited and blood was collected. The GSH/GSSG ratio, activities of glutathione-related enzymes, hematological parameters, and serum ferritin levels were determined in individuals. Patients had high iron-induced oxidative stress, shown as significantly increased serum ferritin, a decreased GSH/GSSG ratio, and increased activities of glutathione-related enzymes. Splenectomy increased serum ferritin levels and decreased GSH levels concomitant with unchanged glutathione-related enzyme activities. The redox ratio had a positive correlation with hemoglobin levels and negative correlation with levels of serum ferritin. The glutathione system may be the body’s first-line defense used against oxidative stress and to maintain redox homeostasis in thalassemic patients based on the significant correlations between the GSH/GSSH ratio and degree of anemia or body iron stores

The rise of linear borders in world politics

This article argues that the dominance of precise, linear borders as an ideal in the demarcation of territory is an outcome of a relatively recent and ongoing historical process, and that this process has had important effects on international politics since circa 1900. Existing accounts of the origins of territorial sovereignty are in wide disagreement largely because they fail to specify the relationship between territory and borders, often conflating the two concepts. I outline a history of the linearization of borders which is separate from that of territorial sovereignty, having a very different timeline and featuring different actors, and offer an explanation for the dominance of this universalizing system of managing and demarcating space, based on the concept of rationalization. Finally I describe two broad ways in which linearizing borders has affected international politics, by making space divisible in new ways, and underpinning hierarchies by altering the distribution of geographical knowledge resources

Fractional Dynamics of Vector-Borne Infection with Sexual Transmission Rate and Vaccination

New fractional operators have the aim of attracting nonlocal problems that display fractal behaviour; and thus fractional derivatives have applications in long-term relation description along with micro-scaled and macro-scaled phenomena. Formulated by fractional operators, the formulation of a dynamical system is used in applications for the description of systems with long-range interactions. Vector-borne illnesses are one of the world’s most serious public health issues with a large economic impact on the nations that are impacted. Population increase, urbanization, globalization, and a lack of public health infrastructure have all had a role in the introduction and reemergence of vector-borne illnesses during the last four decades. The control of these infections are important to lessen the economic burden of vector-borne diseases in infected regions. In this research work, we formulate the transmission process of Zika virus with the impact of sexual incidence rate and vaccination in terms of mathematics. We presented the fundamental theory of fractional operators Caputo–Fabrizio (CF) and Atangana–Baleanu (AB) for the analysis of the proposed system. We examine our system of Zika infection and determined the endemic indicator through a next-generation matrix technique. The uniqueness and existence of the solution has been investigated through fixed point theory. Accordingly, a numerical method has been introduced to investigate the dynamical nature of the system and make a comparison of the outcomes of the operators. The impact of different input factors has been conceptualized through dynamical behaviour of the system. We observed that lowering the index of memory, the fractional system provides accurate results about the recommended Zika dynamics and dramatically reduces infected people. It has been proved that high efficacy of a vaccine can lower the level of infection. Moreover, the impact of other parameters on the system of Zika virus infection are highlighted through numerical results

Wiener Process Effects on the Solutions of the Fractional (2 + 1)-Dimensional Heisenberg Ferromagnetic Spin Chain Equation

The stochastic fractional (2 + 1)-dimensional Heisenberg ferromagnetic spin chain equation (SFHFSCE), which is driven in the Stratonovich sense by a multiplicative Wiener process, is considered here. The analytical solutions of the SFHFSCE are attained by utilizing the Jacobi elliptic function method. Various kinds of analytical fractional stochastic solutions, for instance, the elliptic functions, are obtained. Physicists can utilize these solutions to understand a variety of important physical phenomena because magnetic solitons have been categorized as one of the interesting groups of non-linear excitations representing spin dynamics in semi-classical continuum Heisenberg systems. To study the impact of the Wiener process on these solutions, the 3D and 2D surfaces of some achieved exact fractional stochastic solutions are plotted