Treatment of DomesticWastewaterwith Simultaneous Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cell under Continuous Operation

In order to apply microbial fuel cell (MFC) process more practically in wastewater treatment, both power generation and removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) were examined in an air-cathode MFC fed with domestic wastewater under continuous operation. At a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2.0 h, the air-cathode MFC was able to generate electricity from domestic wastewater with a maximum power density of P = 103 2 mWm–2 (5772 mW m–3) and an average Coulomb efficiency (CE) of 18.4%; meanwhile, to achieve an average COD removal up to 71 %. Increasing HRT from 2h to 10–30 h was found to be more effective for COD removal, however, instability in voltage output was also observed. An increased power generation of 1734mW m–2 (9648 mW m–3) was obtained with the aid of NaCl addition at a mass fraction of w = 2.4 %, because of an elevated conductivity of the solution with accord internal resistance of 227 0

Development of a multiplex event-specific PCR assay for detection of genetically modified rice

Global rice supplies have been found contaminated with unapproved varieties of genetically modified (GM) rice in recent years, which has led to product recalls in several of countries. Faster and more effective detection of GM contamination can prevent adulterated food, feed and seed from being consumed and grown, minimize the potential environmental, health or economic damage. In this study, a simple, reliable and cost-effective multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for identifying genetic modifications of TT51-1, Kemingdao1 (KMD1) and Kefeng6 (KF6) rice was developed by using the event-specific fragment. The limit of detection (LOD) for each event in the multiplex PCR is approximately 0.1%. Developed multiplex PCR assays can provide a rapid and simultaneous detection of GM rice

Bound state solutions of the Dirac-Rosen-Morse potential with spin and pseudospin symmetry

The energy spectra and the corresponding two- component spinor wavefunctions of the Dirac equation for the Rosen-Morse potential with spin and pseudospin symmetry are obtained. The $s-$wave ($\kappa = 0$ state) solutions for this problem are obtained by using the basic concept of the supersymmetric quantum mechanics approach and function analysis (standard approach) in the calculations. Under the spin symmetry and pseudospin symmetry, the energy equation and the corresponding two-component spinor wavefunctions for this potential and other special types of this potential are obtained. Extension of this result to $\kappa \neq 0$ state is suggested.Comment: 18 page

Mean-field analysis of interacting boson models with random interactions

We investigate the origin of the regular features observed in numerical studies of the interacting boson model with random interactions, in particular the dominance of L=0 ground states and the occurrence of vibrational and rotational band structures. It is shown that all of these properties can be interpreted and explained in terms of a Hartree-Bose mean-field analysis, in which different regions of the parameter space are associated with geometric shapes. The same conclusions hold for the vibron model.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Physical Review C, in pres

Fluid effects in model granular flows

Pore fluid plays a crucial role in many granular flows, especially those in geophysical settings. However, the transition in behaviour between dry flows and fully saturated flows and the underlying physics that relate to this are poorly understood. In this paper, we report the results of small-scale flume experiments using monodisperse granular particles with varying water content and volume in which the basal pore pressure, total pressure, flow height and velocity profile were measured at a section. We compare the results with theoretical profiles for granular flow and with flow regimes based on dimensional analysis. The runout and the centre of mass were also calculated from the deposit surface profiles. As the initial water content by mass was increased from zero to around 10%, we first observed a drop in mobility by approximately 50%, as surface tension caused cohesive behaviour due to matric suction. As the water content was further increased up to 45%, the mobility also increased dramatically, with increased flow velocity up to 50%, increased runout distance up to 240% and reduced travel angle by up to 10° compared to the dry case. These effects can be directly related to the basal pore pressure, with both negative pressures and positive pore pressures being measured relative to atmospheric during the unsteady flow. We find that the initial flow volume plays a role in the development of relative pore pressure, such that, at a fixed relative water content, larger flows exhibit greater positive pore pressures, greater velocities and greater relative runout distances. This aligns with many other granular experiments and field observations. Our findings suggest that the fundamental role of the pore fluid is to reduce frictional contact forces between grains thus increasing flow velocity and bulk mobility. While this can occur by the development of excess pore pressure, it can also occur where the positive pore pressure is not in excess of hydrostatic, as shown here, since buoyancy and lubrication alone will reduce frictional forces

Effects of different probiotics on the gut microbiome and metabolites in the serum and caecum of weaning piglets

The objective of the study was to determine the effects of antibiotics, yeast culture (YC), and Lactobacillus culture (LC) on the gut microbiome and metabolites in the serum and caecum of weaning piglets. Twenty-four weaning piglets were divided into four treatment groups: control, antibiotic (1% chlortetracycline), 1.8% yeast culture (YC), and 1.6% Lactobacillus culture groups (LC). Each group had six replicated pens with one pig per pen. Feed and water were available ad libitum. Dietary supplementation with antibiotics, YC and LC increased the abundance of phylum, Firmicutes, and decreased the abundance of phylum, Proteobacteria. Beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Megasphaera in YC and LC groups increased, whereas the proportion of Shigella was decreased. Genera Alloprevotella and Lachnospira were biomarkers in the control and antibiotic groups, respectively. Phylum, Bacteroidetes, and genus, Collinsella, were biomarkers in the YC group, and Mitsuokella, Anaerotruncus, Syntrophococcus and Sharpea were biomarkers in the LC group. Dietary supplementation with different probiotics changed the serum and caecum metabolite profiles too. Antibiotic supplementation increased the levels of D-mannose, D-glucose, and hexadecanoic acid in the serum, and the levels of myo-inositol, D-mannose and benzenepropanoic acid in the caecum. LC increased the concentrations of D-mannose, cis-9-hexadecenoic acid and heptadecanoic acid in caecum compared with the control group. YC and LC supplementation in the weaning diet could improve the abundance of beneficial bacteria by changing the concentrations of some metabolites in the serum and caecum. Therefore, dietary supplementation with YC or LC could be used as additives instead of antibiotics in weaning piglets.Keywords: antibiotic; lactobacillus culture; yeast culture; high-throughput sequencing; gas chromatography mass spectrometr

SO(3) Gauge Symmetry and Neutrino-Lepton Flavor Physics

Based on the SO(3) gauge symmetry for three family leptons and general see-saw mechanism, we present a simple scheme that allows three nearly degenerate Majorana neutrino masses needed for hot dark matter. The vacuum structure of the spontaneous SO(3) symmetry breaking can automatically lead to a maximal CP-violating phase. Thus the current neutrino data on both the atmospheric neutrino anomaly and solar neutrino deficit can be accounted for via maximal mixings without conflict with the current data on the neutrinoless double beta decay. The model also allows rich interesting phenomena on lepton flavor violations.Comment: 10 pages, Revtex, no figures, minor changes and references added, the version to appear in Phys. Rev.

The analysis of facial beauty: an emerging area of research in pattern analysis

Much research presented recently supports the idea that the human perception of attractiveness is data-driven and largely irrespective of the perceiver. This suggests using pattern analysis techniques for beauty analysis. Several scientific papers on this subject are appearing in image processing, computer vision and pattern analysis contexts, or use techniques of these areas. In this paper, we will survey the recent studies on automatic analysis of facial beauty, and discuss research lines and practical application