Multiscale mathematical models for simulation and scale-up of green processes in the perspective of industrial sustainability

The present work presents research studies aimed at developing tools useful to design engineering solutions moving in the direction of industrial sustainability. The investigations hereinafter discussed regard an extraction process of active compounds \u2013 polyphenols \u2013 from agro-food industry wastes (olive and grape pomaces) and a biorefinery exploiting waste frying oil, solid organic wastes and algal biomass to produce biofuels. In particular, for the former topic, a procedure aimed at the evaluation of the technological feasibility at pilot scale of said process is discussed. The proposed approach takes into consideration the extended kinetic route coupled with mathematical simulation. Detailed physically-based dynamic mathematical models, taking into account mass and energy balance equations, are adopted to describe both the lab-scale and the pilot-scale reactors. Chemical physical parameters appearing in the models are estimated from the experimental data at lab-scale or are partially taken from literature. Different heating systems are designed for the pilot scale reactor and their performance is tested by simulation. Characteristic times are evaluated also during start-ups and different control loops are analyzed in order to set-up the best process and operating variables. Average yields in polyphenols are finally evaluated for both the batch and the continuous operated pilot reactor, by considering feed variability and fluctuations of process parameters. For what concerns the biorefinery, special attention was devoted to the modeling of the airlift reactor, its most delicate and complex component. In fact, to optimize this interesting microalgae cultivation system, a precise description of the moving interfaces formed by the liquid and gas phase is critical. In this study, coupled front capturing methods (standard and conservative level set methods) and finite difference method are used to simulate gas bubbles dynamics in a pilot-scale external loop air-lift photobioreactor in which microalgae are used to capture CO2 from flue gas and to treat wastewater. Numerical simulations are carried out on rectangular domains representing different sections of the vertical axis of the riser. The data employed was either acquired from previous experimental campaigns carried out in the airlift reactor or found in the literature. The rise, shape dynamics and coalescence process of the bubbles of flue gas are studied. Moreover, for each analyzed applications, a procedure based on Buckingham \u3c0-theorem to perform a rigorous scale-up is proposed. In this way, scale-invariant dimensionless groups describing and summarizing the considered processes could be identified. For the research focused on the scale-up of photobioreactors used to cultivate Chlorella Vulgaris, an experimental campaign at three levels was designed and carried out to evaluate the characteristic dimensionless numbers individuated by the theoretical formulation. Since scale-up regards both geometrical dimensions and type of reactor, passing from lab-scale stirred tanks to pilot scale tubular and airlift, particular attention was devoted to define characteristic lengths inside the dimensionless numbers

Elucidating the role of the tumor suppressor Protein Phoshatase 2A in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.

Protein phosphatase-2A (PP2A) is one of the major cellular serine-threonine phosphatases and is involved in the regulation of cell homeostasis through the negative regulation of signaling pathways initiated by protein kinases. As several cancers are characterized by the aberrant activity of oncogenic kinases, it was not surprising that a phosphatase like PP2A has progressively been considered as a potential tumor suppressor. Indeed, multiple solid tumors (e.g. melanomas, colorectal carcinomas, lung and breast cancers) present with genetic and/ or functional inactivation of different PP2A subunits and, therefore, loss of PP2A phosphatase activity towards certain substrates. Likewise, impaired PP2A phosphatase activity has been linked to B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia and blast crisis chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). In CML the deregulated tyrosine kinase activity of p210-BCR/ABL oncoproteins is sufficient to induce and sustain the leukemic phenotype, and contributes to disease progression. Imatinib mesylate, a BCR/ABL kinase inhibitor, is effective in most of chronic phase CML patients. However, a significant percentage of CML patients develop resistance to imatinib and/or still progresses to blast crisis, a disease stage that is often refractory to imatinib therapy. Furthermore, there is compelling evidence indicating that the CML leukemia stem cell is also resistant to imatinib. We have recently reported that the phosphatase activity of PP2A is markedly inhibited in blast crisis and, to a lesser extent, chronic phase CML patient cells and that pharmacologic re-activation of PP2A phosphatase activity by activating drugs such as Forskolin and FTY720 led to growth suppression, enhanced apoptosis impaired clonogenic potential and decreased in vivo leukemogenesis of imatinib-sensitive and -resistant CML-BC and CML-CP patient. Furthermore we have evidence that PP2A inactivation is an event that occurs also at the level of the leukemic stem cell and that PP2A re-activation hampers the survival and self-renewal of CML stem cells and possibly overcome the resistance of CML quiescent stem cells to tyrosine kinase inhibitor monotherapy. Thus, inducing PP2A phosphatase activity has the potential to eradicate CML by efficiently targeting both leukemic stem and progenitor cells regardless of their degree of sensitivity to kinase. Therefore, the combination of PP2A phosphatase-activating and BCR/ABL kinase-inhibiting drugs may represent a powerful therapeutic strategy for CML patients

Assembling defenses against therapy-resistant leukemic stem cells: Bcl6 joins the ranks

The resistance of leukemic stem cells in response to targeted therapies such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) relies on the cooperative activity of multiple signaling pathways and molecules, including TGFβ, AKT, and FOXO transcription factors (TFs). B cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) is a transcriptional repressor whose translocation or mutation is associated with diffuse large BCL. New data now show that BCL6 is critical for the maintenance of leukemias driven by the BCR-ABL translocation (Philadelphia chromosome), suggesting that BCL6 is a novel, targetable member of the complex signaling pathways critical for leukemic stem cell survival

A level set approach for computation of bubble dynamics in airlift reactors.

In this work, we employ the so-called level set approach to simulate the rising of gas bubbles in a pilot-scale external loop airlift photobioreactor in which microalgae are used to capture CO2from flue gas and to treat wastewater. A coupled level set and finite difference method is adopted in this work to track the moving gas-liquid interfaces in the ALR riser. Level set methods implicitly represent dynamic fronts by solving an Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equation such as the normal flow equation, in turn dependent on a flow function that can be regarded as a speed vector field. This latter, for the case at hand, is obtained by solving the non-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations through a Chorin type projection technique on a staggered gri

A Low-Cost Monitoring System and Operating Database for Quality Control in Small Food Processing Industry

The use of completely automated systems for collecting sensor data with the aim of monitoring and controlling the quality of small-scale food processes is not widespread. Small and micro-enterprises usually do not carry out their own precompetitive research or prototype development as regards to automation technologies. This study proposes a web-based, low-cost monitoring and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system whose kernel is available for free, as a possible solution that could be adopted by these food producers. It is mainly based on open SW/HW so as its configuration is adaptable to the application and type of plant. It presents a modular architecture and its main functionalities encompass the acquisition, management, aggregation and visualization of process data, providing an operating database. It also provides food tracking and process quality control: The time series are browsable due to QR-Code generation and different early warning detection strategies are implemented. A tool for solving migration problems based on Fick\u2019s equation is offered as a packaging decision support system

Novel insights on pink discoloration in cheese: The case of Pecorino Toscano

Pink discoloration in cheese has been the subject of wide research, but the basis for this phenomenon remains elusive. This defect impacts a wide range of ripened cheeses, resulting in the rejection of cheese and a consequent economic loss for dairy industries. As multiple causes for pink discoloration have been reported for different cheeses in the literature, the aim of this research was to investigate the cause of a pink discoloration found on Pecorino Toscano cheese rind. The results of microbiological analysis revealed the presence of high microbial counts associated to the rind and the nearest inner part. Strains isolated from the coloured part were mainly identified as Serratia liquefaciens, suggesting that an environmental contamination of the cheese rind by this species could be the cause of the observed defect and expanding the knowledge related to pink discoloration in cheeses

Arthrospira platensis Extract: A Non-Invasive Strategy to Obtain Adjunct Attenuated Cultures

This study aims at proposing the use of Arthrospira platensis, commonly known as Spirulina, extract as a non-invasive method to attenuate the growth rate of non-starter adjunct cultures, thus preventing the over-acidification that may occur during cheese manufacturing. A preliminary screening using four different concentrations (0.20%, 0.30%, 0.50%, and 0.70%) of A. platensis extract and four starter and three non-starter lactic acid bacteria strains was performed by impedometric analysis. This allowed us to select one starter and one non-starter strain to be used in the in vitro simulation of a co-culture in milk with the best antimicrobial concentration (0.3%). The growth dynamics of the two selected strains, starter Lactococcus lactis 1426 and non-sarter Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus 1473, co-cultured for 120 h was monitored by three different approaches: (i) plate counting on M17, for the enumeration of lactococci, and MRS for lactobacilli; (ii) fluorescence microscopic counting of viable and non-viable coccoid Lactococcus lactis 1426 and rod-shaped Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus 1473 cells; (iii) the overall estimation of co-culture growth behavior by impedometric parameters Lag, Rate, and yEnd. All the data obtained from the in vitro simulation were in agreement, revealing that a slowdown of non-starter growth occurred, while the starter strain was not affected, or slightly stimulated, from the antimicrobial presence. In particular, the growth of Lb. rhamnosus 1473 was delayed without adversely compromise the cells’ integrity, connected with metabolic functions, showing a great potential for use in cheese production

Adhesion of sea-urchin living cells on nano-patterned anodic porous alumina

In this work we investigated the possibility of using living cells as stress sensing material in biosensors, in the light of the three Rs principle \u2013 Replacement, Reduction and Refinement . This approach requires the necessity to cultivate them on biocompatible electrical conducting substrate and to insert the circuit into a culture chamber that must assure both the transport of oxygen and the diffusion of the medium containing the potential stressor to the cells, without modifying their response and the structure of the culture. To this aim we fabricated nano-patterned substrates of anodic porous alumina to be used for enhancing cell adhesion, and culture chambers made in polylactic acid. Sea-urchin cells (coelomocytes) were cultured on these substrates at different times of 1, 3 and 5 days in vitro. Since these cells are progenitors of immune cells in vertebrate systems (blood cells), they carry out similar functions. For this reason, although they can differ considerably from vertebrates, they have been proved to be very promising sentinels of environmental water qualit

KONTRIBUSI HASIL BELAJAR ADIBUSANA TERHADAP KESIAPAN MEMBUKA USAHA BUTIK

Rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini yaitu bagaimana kontribusi dan seberapa besar hasil belajar Adibusana terhadap kesiapan membuka usaha butik. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode deskriptif analitik dengan sampel total sebanyak 36 mahasiswa Program Studi Pendidikan Tata Busana angkatan 2004 Jurusan PKK FPTK UPI. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa hasil belajar Adibusana berkaitan dengan kemampuan kognitif, afektif dan psikomotor memberikan kontribusi positif yang signifikan terhadap kesiapan membuka usaha butik, hal tersebut mengimplikasi bahwa mahasiswa telah memiliki kesiapan dan mampu membuka usaha butik. Rekomendasi ini diajukan kepada mahasiswa untuk lebih meningkatkan wawasan, sikap, dan kemampuan dalam mempelajari Adibusana sebagai kesiapan membuka usaha butik