Fuzzy Modeling of the Permeate Flux Decline during Microfiltration of Starch Suspensions

Flux declines versus time during cross‐flow microfiltration of wheat starch suspensions were modeled using fuzzy logic systems under different conditions of transmembrane pressure, flow rate, and suspension concentration. Fuzzy modeling is one of the most efficient methods for empirical modeling, especially for non‐linear systems, and does not require any prior knowledge about the process. The influence of the process parameters on the dynamic behavior of the permeate flux was determined by comparing the permeate flux decline versus the volume curves, considering a constant value of the volumetric concentration factor during batch cross‐flow filtration. At the transient stages of the filtration process, the permeate flux was shown to be strongly dependent on all process parameters, within the examined range.     

Influence of inhibitors on the corrosion behavior of the X5CrNi18 10 stainless steel-welded joint

This study considers the corrosion behavior of the X5CrNi18 10 stainless steel-welded joint in NaCl solution, with and without the presence of several corrosion inhibitors (NaNO₃, Ce(NO₃)₃, and CeCl₃). The degree of sensitization of the welded joint to intergranular corrosion is determined using the electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation method with a double-loop method. Pitting corrosion tests are performed by the potentiodynamic method. Resistance to general corrosion and the stability of the passive film is assessed based on the results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements, as well as on the values of the corrosion and passivation current. The main goal of this study is to determine the relation of the welded joint microstructure to general and pitting corrosion in the presence of the corrosion inhibitors. The value of pitting potential for the base metal and weld metal in the presence of the NaNO₃ or Ce(NO₃)₃ inhibitor is shifted to potentials in the transpassive area. The pitting potential for the heat-affected zone also possesses a noticeable higher value. However, nitrate ions do not increase the general corrosion resistance of any part of the welded joint. CeCl₃ does not increase resistance to general or pitting corrosion.     

VEGF Regulation of Angiogenic Factors via Inflammatory Signaling in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Background: Chronic inflammation has been recognized in neoplastic disorders, including myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), as an important regulator of angiogenesis. Aims: We investigated the influence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pro-inflammatory interleukin-6 (IL-6) on the expression of angiogenic factors, as well as inflammation-related signaling in mononuclear cells (MNC) of patients with MPN and JAK2V617F positive human erythroleukemic (HEL) cells. Results: We found that IL-6 did not change the expression of angiogenic factors in the MNC of patients with MPN and HEL cells. However, IL-6 and the JAK1/2 inhibitor Ruxolitinib significantly increased angiogenic factors—endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), VEGF, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α)—in patients with polycythemia vera (PV). Furthermore, VEGF significantly increased the expression of HIF-1α and eNOS genes, the latter inversely regulated by PI3K and mTOR signaling in the MNC of primary myelofibrosis (PMF). VEGF and inhibitors of inflammatory JAK1/2, PI3K, and mTOR signaling reduced the eNOS protein expression in HEL cells. VEGF also decreased the expression of eNOS and HIF-1α proteins in the MNC of PMF. In contrast, VEGF increased eNOS and HIF-1α protein expression in the MNC of patients with PV, which was mediated by the inflammatory signaling. VEGF increased the level of IL-6 immunopositive MNC of MPN. In summary, VEGF conversely regulated gene and protein expression of angiogenic factors in the MNC of PMF, while VEGF increased angiogenic factor expression in PV mediated by the inflammation-related signaling. Conclusion: The angiogenic VEGF induction of IL-6 supports chronic inflammation that, through positive feedback, further promotes angiogenesis with concomitant JAK1/2 inhibition.     

A simulation study of two distributed task allocation procedures

The authors concentrate on the simulation study of two distributed task allocation procedures: the load balancing and the LOCO procedure. The first is widely used in general-purpose processing. The second was recently introduced and analyzed in the processing environment corresponding to the complex multitask jobs typical of some supercomputing and artificial-intelligence-oriented systems. Both procedures are simulated and compared in realistic situations, where both processing resources and interconnection network may represent the system bottleneck. Both were tested using carrier-sense multiple-access communications protocols. The CSMA/CD protocol performed better than TDMA with load balancing, but no difference was found with the LOCO procedure. For a large number of special-purpose processing resources and a large number of jobs in the system, LOCO produced better results than load balancing