Identification and modelling of aerobic hydrolysis – application of optimal experimental design

Hydrolysis mechanism plays a dominant role in the delicate balance of electron donor/electron acceptor ratios in BNR and EBPR systems as an important carbon source. In this study, the surface‐saturation‐type hydrolysis kinetics was investigated based on respirometric measurements, within the context of the theoretical and the practical identifiability of mathematical models. The identifiable parameters of a selected model were derived from respirograms. In addition, the information from the experiments was evaluated on the basis of Optimal Experimental Design (OED) methodology for different initial conditions of the batch respirometric experiment. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Free energy and confinement force of macromolecules in a slit at full equilibrium with a bulk solution

Nondilute athermal and theta solutions of nonadsorbing flexible macromolecules in equilibrium with repulsive slit-like pores were examined by the lattice Monte Carlo simulations. The free energy of confinement ΔA/kT and the force f/kT exerted by polymers on the slit were computed as a function of the slit width D in a wide range of bulk concentrations φ. The free energy and force profiles in nondilute solutions were found to deviate considerably from the ideal chain theory; the perturbation of chains by a presence of the slit walls were substantially reduced in nondilute solutions. The free energy and force functions appropriate for nondilute solutions were derived by fitting the simulation data. Further, the relative pressure p_I/p_E exerted by the nonadsorbing confined molecules on the slit walls was calculated. The depletion effect relevant to colloid stabilization was found in dilute solutions to be slightly weaker for excluded-volume chains than for ideal chains. The relative pressure equation was modified to cover semidilute solutions, by using the mean-field and scaling expressions of the osmotic pressure. Both the relative pressure p_I/p_E and the intra-slit concentration profiles φ_I(x) in tandem display a suppression of the depletion effect with increasing φ in simidilute solutions.     

The effects of glycol methacrylate as a dehydrating agent on the dimensional changes of liver tissue

The dimensional changes of liver sections during the course of processing with glycol methacrylate (GMA) or with ethanol are described. Tissue processing with ethanol served as a control. During prolonged processing steps (24 h each), linear shrinkage of tissue specimens dehydrated with GMA at room temperature was 13.2%. Subsequent infiltration with GMA resulted in trivial swelling, and polymerization in slight shrinkage (2.3%). In comparison, processing with cold GMA resulted in shrinkage during dehydration (about 10.8%), a slight swelling in pure GMA, followed by shrinkage during polymerization (2.2%). Short routine processing schedules resulted in similar shrinkage/swelling patterns, although precise values differed slightly. In all experiments, ethanolic dehydration resulted in smaller dimensional tissue changes than did GMA dehydration. The dimensional changes of tissue sections during stretching on water, mounting and drying compensated for the major part of the shrinkage manifested during processing.     

New Tractable Classes From Old

The constraint satisfaction problem is known to be NP-hard in general, but a number of restrictions of the problem have been identified over the years which ensure tractability. This paper introduces two simple methods of combining two or more tractable classes over disjoint domains, in order to synthesise larger, more expressive tractable classes. We demonstrate that the classes so obtained are genuinely novel, and have not been previously identified. In addition, we use algebraic techniques to extend the tractable classes which we identify, and to show that the algorithms for solving these extended classes can be less than obvious.     

The warehouse scheduling problem: formulation and algorithms

The Warehouse Scheduling Problem is a deterministic multi-item inventory problem with a restriction on warehouse floor space available. We formulate a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem for the objective of minimizing long run inventory holding and order costs per unit of time. We integrate algorithms for staggering orders, described in companion papers, with a heuristic to choose the order sequences. The result is called Sequenced Staggering. We describe a new algorithm to generate order frequencies, called the powers-of-two-factor-of-three technique, as a generalization of Roundy's roundoff technique for powers-of-two policies. We report on a computational study of four hybrid algorithms for solving the warehouse scheduling problem, including the competing algorithm of Gallego, Queyranne, and Simchi-Levi. Based on these results, we recommend the combination of powers-of-two frequencies with Sequenced Staggering.     

Categorical scaling of time: Implications for clock-counter models.

Pigeons partitioned time into three intervals. Responses to one key could be reinforced after a short time, to a second key after an intermediate time, and to a third key after a long time. The values of the short, intermediate, and long times and the proportion of trials ending with reinforcement were varied. Absolute and relative response rates on each key were an orderly function of time and showed approximately proportional changes with changes in the interval values, consistent with Weber's law, Gibbon's (1977) scalar expectancy theory, and Killeen and Fetterman's (1988) behavioral theory of timing (BeT). Standard deviations of the times at which subjects switched between successive keys increased more slowly within a condition than across conditions, as predicted by BeT. Increases and decreases in reinforcement probability produced both transient and longer lasting changes in timing behavior, once again, in accord with predictions of BeT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)