Influence of static mixer on the cross-flow microfiltration of yeast suspensions

This work studies the influence of operating factors on the microfiltration of baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) in presence of static mixer as turbulence promoter. Microfiltration is typically used to remove particles in range 0.1-10 pm from a suspension. It is a pressure-driven process widely used in concentrating, purifying or separating suspended particles and macromolecules from solution. During cross-flow microfiltration process permeate flux decreases with time as the retained particles are accumulated on and within membrane surface area where they create additional resistance to permeate flow. External fouling of the membrane is the result of cell, cell fragments and rejected particles accumulation on the top of the membrane surface in the course of cake formation, while deposition of the macromolecules and small particles inside of the internal porous membrane structure results in internal fouling, which is often irreversible contrary to usually reversible external fouling. Experimental work was done with three membranes (A, B and C) with pore size 200, 450 and 800 nm. The results of microfiltration experiments for each membrane were estimated by analyzing the permeate flux without static mixer; permeate flux with static mixer; permeate flux improvement; reduction of specific energy consumption. Experimental results suggest that even though membrane A has smallest pore size of 200 nm it has the best performance considering steady state flux and reduction of specific energy consumption

What\u27s a Just War Theorist?

The article provides an account of the unlikely revival of the medieval Just War Theory, due in large part to the efforts of Michael Walzer. Its purpose is to address the question: What is a just war theorist? By exploring contrasts between scholarly activity and forms of international activism, the paper argues that just war theorists appear to be just war criminals, both on the count of aiding and abetting aggression and on the count of inciting troops to commit war crimes

Leo Strauss on Machiavelli: Athens Vs. Jerusalem or Ontological Assumptions About Human Nature and Power

In this article we focus on the true nature of a disparity asserted in Leo Strauss\u27s discussion of Machiavelli to amount to a virtue battle of sorts between Athens and Jerusalem. To convey this conflict Strauss is drawing both on his once Talmudic scholarship and his expertise in the history of political philosophy. We explore the stunning distortions, both theological and philosophical, in Strauss\u27s discussion that appears aimed to support a conservative position on leadership, which calls for the magnanimous few to exercise power over the many (the lowborn, the poor and the vulgar). Not only does Strauss distort the interpretation of the Torah with respect to Isaiah, but he also does the same for the whole sequence of important figures in the history of philosophy: Kant, Marx, Spinoza, the Sophists, and Socrates. In the end we put in question whether there really is a meaningful contrast to be drawn between Athens and Jerusalem, and we suggest that the entire exercise by Strauss in his essay on Machiavelli is mostly an opportunity to espouse some extremist, or hard line Nietzschean views

Artemisinin Story from the Balkans

The isolation is reported of artemisinin (qinghaosu), a drug remarkably effective against malaria, from the aerial parts of Artemisia annua L. (sweet wormwood) at the Department of Chemistry, University of Belgrade (now Faculty of Chemistry), Serbia by the end of 1970, almost two years before the isolation of the same compound in China

Globalization and genocidalism: Fictional discourse without borders, for fun and profit

In this essay we explore the relationship between globalization and genocidalism. “Globalization” is understood as “freedom and ability of individuals and firms to initiate voluntary economic transactions with residents of other countries,” while “genocidalism” is defined as “(i) the purposeful neglect to attribute responsibility for genocide in cases when overwhelming evidence exists, and as (ii) the energetic attributions of “genocide” in less then clear cases without considering available and convincing opposing evidence and argumentation.” The hypothesis that we defend here as explanatory of globalization’s “surprising” failure to live up to its often repeated theoretical promise that it is not a “zero-sum game,” is that this apparent failure is a result of the impact of the sole super-power’s global politics. These policies are manifested through an open onslaught on the notion of state sovereignty (impacting the sovereignty of virtually all countries except that of the U.S.), and an aggressive promotion of all kinds of interventionism, in particular armed (“humanitarian”) intervention. The nexus between the two is to a significant degree provided by the social phenomenon (characteristic only of the West, since, for example, Mozambique does not go on talking about alleged genocide in, say, Northern Ireland) we call “genocidalism”. Genocidalism manifests itself as a tool of globalization that is ever more morphing into a sort of imperialism and neo-colonialism, and is indeed becoming something of a remarkably effective judicial Trojan horse. It looks to us that globalization is the globalization of US sovereignty, i.e., its extension over as much foreign territory as possible. Interestingly, genocidalism is a means to that end, and one that is more effective than, say, weapons of mass destruction, or even “terrorism” as a tool. Genocidalism is so effective that it bars the inherent right to selfdefense against aggression, and obviates the sovereignty of the targeted state. Genocidalism can even be employed to actually make states vanish, in what can only be called republicide. Such was the fate of Yugoslavia. The other historical example we use to illustrate our points consist of the events in Rwanda of 1994

Application of metaheuristic optimization algorithms for image registration in mobile robot visual control

Visual Servoing (VS) of a mobile robot requires advanced digital image processing, and one of the techniques especially fitting for this complex task is Image Registration (IR). In general, IR involves the geometrical alignment of images, and it can be viewed as an optimization problem. Therefore, we propose Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithms (MOA) for IR in VS of a mobile robot. The comprehensive comparison study of three state-of-the-art MOA, namely the Slime Mould Algorithm (SMA), Harris Hawks Optimizer (HHO), and Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) is presented. The previously mentioned MOA used for IR are evaluated on 12 pairs of stereo images obtained by a mobile robot stereo vision system in a laboratory model of a manufacturing environment. The MATLAB software package is used for the implementation of the considered optimization algorithms. Acquired experimental results show that SMA outperforms HHO and WOA, while all three algorithms perform satisfactory alignment of images captured from various mobile robot poses

Application of metaheuristic optimization algorithms for image registration in mobile robot visual control

Visual Servoing (VS) of a mobile robot requires advanced digital image processing, and one of the techniques especially fitting for this complex task is Image Registration (IR). In general, IR involves the geometrical alignment of images, and it can be viewed as an optimization problem. Therefore, we propose Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithms (MOA) for IR in VS of a mobile robot. The comprehensive comparison study of three state-of-the-art MOA, namely the Slime Mould Algorithm (SMA), Harris Hawks Optimizer (HHO), and Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) is presented. The previously mentioned MOA used for IR are evaluated on 12 pairs of stereo images obtained by a mobile robot stereo vision system in a laboratory model of a manufacturing environment. The MATLAB software package is used for the implementation of the considered optimization algorithms. Acquired experimental results show that SMA outperforms HHO and WOA, while all three algorithms perform satisfactory alignment of images captured from various mobile robot poses