Preliminary Design of Reactive Distillation Columns

A procedure that combines feasibility analysis, synthesis and design of reactive distillation columns is introduced. The main interest of this methodology lies on a progressive introduction of the process complexity. From minimal information concerning the physicochemical properties of the system, three steps lead to the design of the unit and the specification of its operating conditions. Most of the methodology exploits and enriches approaches found in the literature. Each step is described and our contribution is underlined. Its application is currently limited to equilibrium reactive systems where degree of freedom is equal to 2 or less than 2. This methodology which provides a reliable initialization point for the optimization of the process has been applied with success to different synthesis. The production of methyl-tert-butyl-ether (MTBE) and methyl acetate are presented as examples

Participant accuracy and impact of biofeedback on a skilled swallowing task

Biofeedback is as a visual way to self-assess muscle contraction, particularly during rehabilitative exercises. Speech language pathologists and otolaryngologists have investigated the use of visual biofeedback in swallowing therapy, especially for volitional swallowing rehabilitative exercises such as the effortful swallow, which requires the patient to maximally swallow with all their strength. In contrast to the effortful swallow, “effortful skilled swallowing” is the ability to swallow with a specific and precise amount of effort, which is an emerging topic in dysphagia research. Dysphagia, also known as disordered swallowing, can be an organic congenital disorder treated via feeding tubes, or an acquired disorder as a result of a old age, traumatic injury, intubation, neurodegenerative diseases, or a stroke, among other etiologies. In the United States, one quarter of the population will struggle with swallowing at some point. It plagues 13-15% of acute care hospital patients, 30-35% of those in rehabilitation settings, and 40-50% of individuals living in nursing homes. This study examined the use of skilled swallowing targets in healthy, non-dysphagic participants, concentrating on examining the following: 1) the participants’ ability to differentiate and execute different skill level targets, 2) the effectiveness of visual biofeedback at improving participant’s accuracy at skilled swallowing tasks, and 3) participant accuracy over time, over the course of 30 successive swallows. Data was collected from eight participants, seven of which were used in this study. Participants were trained and then randomly instructed to swallow at three different effort levels: 50%, 75%, and 100%. They were then evaluated to see how closely they swallowed compared to the target effort level. This was defined as the level of accuracy. Accuracy was measured by surface electromyography (sEMG) electrodes placed on the anterior submental region of the neck. Visual biofeedback of their EMG signal was provided to the participant for fifteen random swallows of the thirty swallows in each experimental exercise. The results indicate that participants are able to modulate their swallowing effort to approximate three different effort levels, but that biofeedback did not affect participants’ accuracy. Additionally, participants’ accuracy in achieving skilled swallow targets did not change over the course of 30 swallows. These results indicate that swallowing effort can be modulated and used as a skilled task during treatment. Biofeedback, while useful in training a swallowing task, may not be needed during every trial to ensure accuracy. Finally, in these healthy participants, there did not seem to be an effect of boredom or fatigue while successively performing 30 skilled swallow tasks over the course of 22 minutes. It is not known if these results are generalizable to an older, dysphagic population

A statistical model for application of maneuver flight loads data to structural design criteria

Statistical model for application of maneuver flight loads data to structural design dat

The right to know

Among all everyday choices, food consumption has the largest environmental impact on biodiversity and the global warming. Organizations and politicians have long tried to find a communication strategy to change behavior in this area but with no effect. It is a fact that peoples positive attitude in sustainable living do not match with the actual behavior and that this discrepancy is hard to bridge. The researchers at the Interactive institute believes that the theory of visualizing product information through graphical software and technological tools will help consumers put products in relation to each other and reflect over their consumption and decrease this gap between attitude and behavior. The tools future on the market is questioned and has been investigated and discussed with the executives from Sweden's leading retail chains along with the researchers at the Interactive institute through qualitative research methods. Through the research Its learnd that creating a perfect functioning communication strategy for consumer behavior is not just as easy as finding the most effective one, it also has to be made with the consideration of ethtics and other countries situation

Experimental investigation of tire performance on slush

An investigation of tires behaviour on winter roads was always a high importance in the context of road safety. This paper presents the experimental investigation of tire performance on slush that is identified as two mixtures: a mixture of snow and water, and a mixture of crushed ice and water. The measurements of longitudinal and lateral performance including tire traction, braking and cornering were performed. Tire traction tests were performed for both mixtures with different amount of material. A decreasing in the tire friction was observed when amount of the mixture of snow and water was increased twice. For the mixture of crushed ice and water, an opposite trend was observed. The standard deviation values for the peak force coefficient showed a good reproducibility and reliability of performed tire tests

Genetic Structure of Daphnia galeata Populations in Eastern China

This study presents the first examination of the genetic structure of Daphnia longispina complex populations in Eastern China. Only one species, D. galeata, was present across the eight investigated lakes; as identified by taxon assignment using allelic variation at 15 microsatellite loci. Three genetically differentiated D. galeata subgroups emerged independent of the type of statistical analysis applied. Thus, Bayesian clustering, discriminant analysis based on results from factorial correspondence analysis, and UPGMA clustering consistently showed that populations from two neighbouring lakes were genetically separated from a mixture of genotypes found in other lakes, which formed another two subgroups. Clonal diversity was high in all D. galeata populations, and most samples showed no deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, indicating that clonal selection had little effect on the genetic diversity. Overall, populations did not cluster by geographical origin. Further studies will show if the observed pattern can be explained by natural colonization processes or by recent anthropogenic impact on predominantly artificial lakes

Population structure of a microparasite infecting Daphnia: spatio-temporal dynamics

Background: Detailed knowledge of spatial and temporal variation in the genetic population structure of hosts and parasites is required for understanding of host - parasite coevolution. As hot-spots of contemporary coevolution in natural systems are difficult to detect and long-term studies are restricted to few systems, additional population genetic data from various host - parasite systems may provide important insights into the topic. This is particularly true for parasites, as these players have been under-investigated so far due to the lower availability of suitable molecular markers. Here, we traced genetic variation (based on sequence variants in the internal transcribed spacer region, ITS) among seven geographically isolated populations of the ichthyosporean Caullerya mesnili, a common microparasite of the cladoceran Daphnia (here, the D. longispina hybrid complex). At three sites, we also studied parasite genetic variation over time (three to four sampling points) and tested for associations between parasite genotypes and host species. Results: Parasite (and host) populations were significantly structured across space, indicating limited dispersal. Moreover, the frequency of parasite genotypes varied significantly over time, suggesting rapid evolutionary change in Caullerya. However, the distribution of parasite genotypes was similar across different host species, which might in turn have important consequences for parasite epidemiology. Conclusions: The approach proposed here can be applied to track spatial and temporal changes in the population structure of other microparasite species for which sequence variation in the ITS or other highly variable genome regions has been documented but other types of polymorphic markers are lacking. Screening of parasite sequence variants allows for reliable detection of cross-species infections and, using advanced sequencing techniques in the near future, for detailed studies of parasite evolution in natural host - parasite systems

Extreme Environments Facilitate Hybrid Superiority - The Story of a Successful Daphnia galeata x longispina Hybrid Clone

Hybridization within the animal kingdom has long been underestimated. Hybrids have often been considered less fit than their parental species. In the present study, we observed that the Daphnia community of a small lake was dominated by a single D. galeata x D. longispina hybrid clone, during two consecutive years. Notably, in artificial community set-ups consisting of several clones representing parental species and other hybrids, this hybrid clone took over within about ten generations. Neither the fitness assay conducted under different temperatures, or under crowded and non-crowded environments, nor the carrying capacity test revealed any outstanding life history parameters of this hybrid clone. However, under simulated winter conditions (i.e. low temperature, food and light),the hybrid clone eventually showed a higher survival probability and higher fecundity compared to parental species. Hybrid superiority in cold-adapted traits leading to an advantage of overwintering as parthenogenetic lineages might consequently explain the establishment of successful hybrids in natural communities of the D. longispina complex. In extreme cases, like the one reported here, a superior hybrid genotype might be the only clone alive after cold winters. Overall, superiority traits, such as enhanced overwintering here, might explain hybrid dominance in nature, especially in extreme and rapidly changing environments. Although any favoured gene complex in cyclic parthenogens could be frozen in successful clones independent of hybridization, we did not find similarly successful clones among parental species. We conclude that the emergence of the observed trait is linked to the production of novel recombined hybrid genotypes