Modeling and Optimization of Quality Variability for Decision Support Systems in Biofuel Production

Biofuels are a promising alternative to fossil fuel depletion, due to their sustainable production from living or recently living organic matter (i.e., biomass). Biofuel production offers benefits that are not present in non-sustainable resources, like the reduction of air pollution. According to government agencies, biofuel production is expected to increase in the U.S. within the next few years because of government initiatives. In order to become a feasible alternative to satisfy market demand, biofuels require strategic improvements in areas such as supply chain management to deal with the variability within the biomass. Advanced analysis tools might be utilized to integrate biomass physical and chemical properties into the decision processes. This chapter introduces a principal component analysis (PCA) to determine significant factors that affect the operations within the supply chain and, later on, incorporates those factors in an optimization model for the decision analysis. The results show that incorporating quality-related properties has a significant impact in the solution of the optimization program

Analysis of Time-Dependent Adaptations of Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Morphology during Standing-Induced Symptoms of Low Back Pain

Low back pain (LBP) is a traumatic impairment for individuals with staggering socioeconomic burden. The etiology of LBP is exceedingly complex and confounded by comorbidities. The source of pain is difficult to pin-point because the offending stimuli are not always known. One promising avenue is to investigate the progression of LBP symptoms in young and otherwise healthy individuals. The population that exhibits preclinical LBP in prolonged standing may be particularly suitable for understanding the anatomical changes that occur during the progression of the symptoms. Since the pain symptoms subside upon exiting the standing position, they are an ideal demographic to investigate the initiating pathoanatomical mechanisms of LBP. As the intervertebral discs are thought to give rise to a great proportion of LBP cases, the objective of this thesis is to explore the relationships between standing LBP and the three-dimensional morphology of the lumbar intervertebral discs over time. These relationships were explored in three different stages by comparing those with and without standing LBP in supine, at the time of assuming the standing position, and longitudinally in the standing position for 105 minutes. A 40-participant cohort was recruited and imaged with T2 positional MRI in each stage. Linear mixed models with a time-dependent autoregressive covariance structure were used to evaluate the differences in intervertebral disc morphology between pain developers (PDs) and non-pain developers (NPDs). While the imaging in supine and the initial standing positions alone were not sufficient to detect differences between PDs and NPDs in males or females, inclusion of images over a prolonged standing regimen revealed differences in disc height and the relative signal intensities of the nuclei pulposi in female PDs. There was also a significant correlation between the magnitude of pain and characteristics at certain lumbar levels in both female and male PDs. Future work will focus on identifying specific imaging biomarkers implicated in the initiation of chronic LBP. This study seeks to advance the understanding of the role of the lumbar intervertebral discs in standing LBP to inform future clinical decisions

BACTERIAL AMYLOID CURLI INFLUENCES AGGREGATION OF AMYLOID BETA PEPTIDES ASSOCIATED WITH ALZHEIMER ́S DISEASE

Amyloid proteins are associated with various disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, prion diseases, and type 2 diabetes. Each of these illnesses involves a specific amyloid protein or peptide that misfolds and forms fibrils. Apart from pathological amyloids, there are amyloids that are considered functional amyloids. Functional amyloids are produced by different organisms, and in contrast to pathological amyloids, they serve various biological functions. For my MSc. project I focus on the pathological amyloid-β (Aβ) associated with Alzheimer's disease and the functional amyloid curli. Curli is produced by the foodborne pathogen Salmonella and the commensal bacteria Escherichia coli. Curli is classified as a functional amyloid because it provides a structural role in the biofilm extracellular matrix. CsgA and CsgB are the curli structural components. When CsgA and CsgB reach the cell surface, they change from an unstructured state as secreted proteins to -rich structures that assemble into amyloid fibrils at the cell surface. Despite being encoded by distinct protein sequences, curli fibrils share a common 3D structure with Aβ. The mechanism of how Aβ peptides convert from soluble functional proteins into insoluble amyloid fibrils is not fully understood. Given that both proteins are naturally amyloidogenic and share a similar structural fold, the subject of my M.Sc. research is to investigate if Salmonella curli can cross-react with A peptides. The effects of curli on aggregation and aggregate cytotoxicity of Aβ(1-42) and A(1-40) peptides were investigated by a combination of biophysical (Western blot analysis and kinetic studies with thioflavin T fluorescence) and cellular assays (cell viability in male and female human fibroblasts). I demonstrate that curli can physically interact with both A peptides in vitro. The biophysical data shows that curli promotes Aβ(1-42) fibrillization and accelerate the overall aggregation of Aβ(1-40) (i.e., oligomers + fibrils). The data with cultured cells shows that Aβ(1- 42)/curli aggregates are less cytotoxic that Aβ(1-42) aggregates. Our results support mounting evidence that oligomers—as opposed to mature fibrils— are probably the more toxic species of the peptides. Although we cannot correlate our results to the complex pathology of AD yet, our findings contribute to evidence that exogenous (sometimes bacterial) amyloids may influence and cross-react with host amyloids. Moreover, the interactions shown in my work may provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of interactions between bacterial amyloids and human amyloids

Multi-method approach to study the influence of additives in ternary systems: gypsum, water and impurities

The production of gypsum wallboard starts with high-quality materials that are obtained from natural and/or industrial sources. The optimization of the manufacture of wallboard is a major target for the building materials industry. Admixtures, such as PCEs, are widely used as additives to decrease the water demand without affecting the workability of the cementitious and gypsum systems. The limiting factors for the use of PCEs in the production of gypsum-based products are impurities of the raw materials. The presence of certain impurities, such as swelling clays, could result on an incompatibility with the admixtures that would affect directly the workability. The main goal of this thesis was to find a polycarboxylate-type admixture that will avoid the loss of its robustness while in contact with the impurities of natural hemihydrate, specially swelling clays. The fundamental mechanisms in the interaction of methoxypoly(ethylene-glycol)methacrylate type comb polycarboxylate based superplasticizers were investigated by: (1) the influence of the raw material, (2) the influence of the PCE structure and (3) the influence of the bentonite as an impurity. Two model systems were considered: natural beta-hemihydrate and, natural beta-hemihydrate with bentonite, as a contaminant. The experimental data was obtained performing slump tests, setting times, adsorption calculations, calorimetry, as well as rheological studies and zeta potential analysis. The raw material was studied to understand the compatibility of the PCEs with the different types of gypsum: hemihydrate and dihydrate, synthetic and natural, and alpha and beta hemihydrates. Moreover, the decrease of the PCE performance as an effect of impurities in natural hemihydrate was determined by the decrease of the workability of the slurry and the adsorption of the PCE in raw materials. To understand the influence of the PCE structure, three main areas were analyzed as follow: − Effect of the side chain lengths of the polycarboxylates on the workability of the slurry. − Influence of the backbone type of these copolymers on workability and hydration of the hemihydrate slurry. − Effect of the side chain density of the polycarboxylate copolymers on their adsorptionworkability behavior. In the pure hemihydrate system, a polycarboxylate possessing long side chains (2000 g/mol) with a methacrylic acid backbone and lower side chain density (C:E 9) is the ideal comb-polymer for the flowability required in the wallboard production. In the hemihydrate-bentonite model system, experimental data was obtained for the decrease of the PCE performance due to adsorption and intercalation of the PCE into the bentonite-layered structure. The study showed the effect of the side chain lengths and backbone type of the copolymers on their undesired consumption by bentonite contaminants. The investigation revealed that the polymer consumption is dependent on the side chain length and backbone type. Therefore, a polymer with short side chains (59 g/mol) and a MAS backbone was found to be an ideal structure: it would increase the compatibility with the bentonite contaminants in the natural hemihydrate.Die Produktion von Gipskartonplatte beginnt mit hochwertigen Materialien, die aus natürlichen und/oder industriellen Quellen erhalten werden. Die Optimierung der Herstellung von Gipskartonplatten ist ein Hauptziel für die Baustoffindustrie. Zusatzmittel, wie PCE, sind weit verbreitet als Additive verwendet werden, um den Wasserbedarf, ohne die Verarbeitbarkeit der Gips- und zementhaltigen Systemen zu verringern. Die begrenzenden Faktoren für die Verwendung von PCE in der Herstellung von Gipserzeugnissensind Verunreinigungen der Rohstoffe . Das Vorhandensein bestimmter Verunreinigungen, wie quellende Tone, könnte auf eine Unverträglichkeit mit den Beimengungen, die unmittelbar auf die Verarbeitbarkeit führen würde. Das Hauptziel dieser Arbeit war es, eine Polycarboxylattyps Beimischung, die vermeiden den Verlust seiner Robustheit während sie in Kontakt mit den Verunreinigungen der natürlichen Hemihydrat , speziell quellende Tone zu finden. (1) dem Einfluss der Rohstoffe, (2) den Einfluss des PCE -Struktur und (3) den Einfluss der: Die grundlegenden Mechanismen der Interaktion von Methoxypoly ( Ethylen -Glykol ) Methacrylat Kamm Polycarboxylats basierten Fließmitteln wurden von sucht Bentonit als Verunreinigung. Zwei Modellsysteme wurden betrachtet: natürliche Beta- Halbhydrat und natürliche Beta- Halbhydrat mit Bentonit, als Verunreinigung. Die experimentellen Daten wurden erhalten Durchführung Einbruch -Tests, Rüstzeiten, Adsorption Berechnungen, Kalorimetrie sowie rheologische Untersuchungen und Zeta-Potential -Analyse. Der Rohstoff wurde untersucht, um die Kompatibilität der PCE mit den verschiedenen Arten von Gips verstehen: Halbhydrat und Dihydrat , synthetische und natürliche und Alpha -und Beta- Halbhydrate . Darüber hinaus wurde die Abnahme der PCE Leistung als eine Wirkung von Verunreinigungen in natürlichen Hemihydrat durch die Abnahme der Bearbeitbarkeit der Aufschlämmung und die Adsorption des PCE in Rohstoffe bestimmt. Um den Einfluss des PCE -Struktur zu verstehen, wurden drei Hauptbereiche wie folgt analysiert: - Wirkung der Seitenkettenlängen der Polycarboxylate auf die Verarbeitbarkeit der Aufschlämmung. - Einfluss der Art Rückgrat dieser Copolymere auf die Verarbeitbarkeit und die Hydratation der Hemihydrataufschlämmung . - Wirkung der Seitenkettendichteder Polycarboxylat- Copolymere auf ihre Verarbeitbarkeit Adsorptions - Verhalten . In der reinen Halbhydrat -System, ein Polycarboxylats besitzen langen Seitenketten (2000 g / mol) mit einem Methacrylsäure Rückgrat und unteren Seitenkettendichte(C: E 9) ist die ideale Kamm - Polymer für die Wandplatten in der Produktion benötigt Fließfähigkeit. In der Hemihydrat -Bentonit- Modellsystem wurde experimentelle Daten für die Verringerung des PCE Leistung durch Adsorption und Einlagerung von PCE in der Bentonit - Schicht-Struktur erhalten. Die Studie zeigte die Wirkung der Seitenkettenlänge und Art der Hauptkette der Copolymeren auf ihre unerwünschten Verbrauch von Bentonit Verunreinigungen. Die Untersuchung ergab, daß das Polymerverbrauch hängt von der Seitenkettenlänge und Backbone - Typ. Daher wird ein Polymer mit kurzen Seitenketten ( 59 g / mol ) und eine MAS -Backbone erwies sich als ideale Struktur sein: es würde die Kompatibilität mit den Verunreinigungen in dem Bentonit natürlichen Hemihydrat erhöhen

Prevalence of anti-sperm antibodies, risk factors associated and their impact on spermatobioscopy in infertile men

Background: The first immunological correlation with male infertility was reported in 1954 by Wilson and Rumke with the identification of anti-sperm antibodies. The prevalence of anti-sperm antibodies in infertile men varies from 9%-36%, the main cause being the loss of the blood-testicular barrier and otherwise the association with chronic inflammation. It has been shown that immune infertility is found in 15% of patients with varicocele.Methods: A transversal comparative study was carried out with 360 infertile men who were tested for anti-sperm antibodies between January 2011 and July 2018. Two groups were integrated; Group 1, infertile men with positive anti-sperm antibodies >50%, group 2, infertile men with negative anti-sperm <50%. Seminogram parameters were evaluated according to the WHO 5th edition and associated risk factors with anti-sperm antibodies.Results: 360 infertile men were evaluated during the study, 42 were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria, the prevalence of anti-sperm antibodies was 14.5%. Group 1; n=46 (14.5%) and group 2, n=272 (85.5%), the clinical characteristics and the hormonal profile were compared at study admission without significant difference. There was a significant decrease in progressive motility in group 1 (38.7±23.8) vs group 2 (50.1±18.9) p=0.03. Analyzing the risk factors, varicocele was found to be significant 23.7%, OR 2.14 (1.27-3.61) p=0.004 as well as retractable testicle 26.4%, OR 2.13 (1.23-3.70) p= 0.008.Conclusions: The affectation of motility was confirmed, which leads to the suspect varicocele and retractable testicle as risk factors

Establecimiento en México del cultivo

Los parásitos sanguíneos pertenecientes al género Babesia que afectan al ganado bovino seleccionan como células hospedadoras a los eritrocitos en apariencia maduros y originan cuadros clínicos de anemia severa, (Smith,1980). La distribución de estos pará

An evaluation of three DoE-guided meta-heuristic-based solution methods for a three-echelon sustainable distribution network

This article evaluates the efficiency of three meta-heuristic optimiser (viz. MOGA-II, MOPSO and NSGA-II)-based solution methods for designing a sustainable three-echelon distribution network. The distribution network employs a bi-objective location-routing model. Due to the mathematically NP-hard nature of the model a multi-disciplinary optimisation commercial platform, modeFRONTIER®, is adopted to utilise the solution methods. The proposed Design of Experiment (DoE)-guided solution methods are of two phased that solve the NP-hard model to attain minimal total costs and total CO2 emission from transportation. Convergence of the optimisers are tested and compared. Ranking of the realistic results are examined using Pareto frontiers and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution approach, followed by determination of the optimal transportation routes. A case of an Irish dairy processing industry’s three-echelon logistics network is considered to validate the solution methods. The results obtained through the proposed methods provide information on open/closed distribution centres (DCs), vehicle routing patterns connecting plants to DCs, open DCs to retailers and retailers to retailers, and number of trucks required in each route to transport the products. It is found that the DoE-guided NSGA-II optimiser based solution is more efficient when compared with the DoE-guided MOGA-II and MOPSO optimiser based solution methods in solving the bi-objective NP-hard three-echelon sustainable model. This efficient solution method enable managers to structure the physical distribution network on the demand side of a logistics network, minimising total cost and total CO2 emission from transportation while satisfying all operational constraints

Optimization methods for electric power systems: An overview

Power systems optimization problems are very difficult to solve because power systems are very large, complex, geographically widely distributed and are influenced by many unexpected events. It is therefore necessary to employ most efficient optimization methods to take full advantages in simplifying the formulation and implementation of the problem. This article presents an overview of important mathematical optimization and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques used in power optimization problems. Applications of hybrid AI techniques have also been discussed in this article