Predicting pollutant removal in constructed wetlands using artificial neural networks(ANNs)

Growth in urban population,urbanisation,and economic development has increased the demand for water,especially in water-scarce regions.Therefore,sustainable approaches to water management are needed to cope with the effects of the urbanisation on the water environment.This study aimed to design novel configurations of tidal-flow vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands(VFCWs) for treating urban stormwater.A series of laboratory experiments were conducted with semi-synthetic influent stormwater to examine the effects of the design and operation variables on the performance of the VFCWs and to identify optimal design and operational strategies,as well as maintenance requirements.The results show that the VFCWs can significantly reduce pollutants in urban stormwater,and that pollutant removal was related to specific VFCW designs.Models based on the artificial neural network(ANN) method were built using inputs derived from data exploratory techniques,such as analysis of variance(ANOVA) and principal component analysis(PCA).It was found that PCA reduced the dimensionality of input variables obtained from different experimental design conditions.The results show a satisfactory generalisation for predicting nitrogen and phosphorus removal with fewer variable inputs,indicating that monitoring costs and time can be reduced.     

Zur Frage der Erwärmung von Leimfugen im hochfrequenten Wechselfeld

European Journal of Wood and Wood Products -     

Störungstheorie und Stabilität

Zusammenfassung Die Bestimmung der statischen Stabilitätsgrenzen mit Hilfe der Theorie der kleinen Schwingungen und der Hurwitzschen Determinanten war Gegenstand einer früheren Untersuchung [I]. In Anlehnung an diese Untersuchung wurden auch die Bedingungen abgeleitet unter denen das einfache Stabilitätskriterium [Gl. (1) [I]] Gültigkeit besitzt, das vom Verfasser ohne nähere Beweise bekanntgegeben wurde.Da die Ermittlung der Stabilitätsgrenzen nach dem Verfahren der kleinen Schwingungen einen großen Rechenaufwand erfordert, entspricht es einem praktischen Bedürfnis, eine einfache, wenn auch weniger exakte Stabilitätsbedingung für eine beliebige Anzahl von Maschinen im vermaschten Netz zu entwickeln. Im Gegensatz zu den Ableitungen in Gl. (1) [I] wurden Spannungs- und Leistungsänderungen der Maschinen nicht berücksichtigt. Dagegen wurden die Leitwerte des Netzwerkes mit der Pendelfrequenz als variabel angenommen.Nach der Zuhilfenahme einer von Brillouin angegebenen Reihenentwicklung der charakteristischen Determinante des elektro-mechanischen Systems gelang es im Sinne der Störungstheorie Näherungslösungen abzuleiten und eine erste, zweite und letzte Näherungslösung zu finden. Hierbei kann man feststellen, daß die erste Näherung gleich derjenigen ist, welche der Verfasser bereits in einer früheren Untersuchung [Gl. (1) [I] und (29) [3]] bekannt gab.Die Berechnung der aus der Störungstheorie entnommenen Näherungslösung besteht nun darin, daß bei einer bestimmten Annahme der KoeffizientenP _i,k undR _k,i welche die elektrischen Kopplungsglieder des Netzes enthalten, verschiedene Bedingungsgleichungen erfüllt sein müssen. Diese Bedingungsgleichungen stellen nun die eigentlichen Stabilitätskriterien für die statische Stabilität des Systems dar.Zwei Beispiele dienen der Erläuterung wie die einzelnen Faktoren in die Bedingungsgleichung einzusetzen sind.Eine weitere Durchdringung dieses recht komplizierten Problems wird zweifellos noch viele interessante und praktische Ergebnisse zeitigen. Diese Ansicht ist um so mehr gerechtfertigt, als der zur Diskussion stehende Gegenstand eine außerordentliche Mannigfaltigkeit aufweist.Für die wertvollen Hinweise und Mithilfe schulde ich Herrn Dr. J. Patry meinen aufrichtigen Dank.     

Phytochemical Targeting of Mitochondria for Breast Cancer Chemoprevention,Therapy, and Sensitization

Breast cancer is a common and deadly disease that causes tremendous physical, emotional, and financial burden on patients and society. Early-stage breast cancer and less aggressive subtypes have promising prognosis for patients, but in aggressive subtypes, and as cancers progress, treatment options and responses diminish, dramatically decreasing survival. Plants are nutritionally rich and biologically diverse organisms containing thousands of metabolites, some of which have chemopreventive, therapeutic, and sensitizing properties, providing a rich source for drug discovery. In this study we review the current landscape of breast cancer with a central focus on the potential role of phytochemicals for treatment, management, and disease prevention. We discuss the relevance of phytochemical targeting of mitochondria for improved anti-breast cancer efficacy. We highlight current applications of phytochemicals and derivative structures that display anti-cancer properties and modulate cancer mitochondria, while describing future applicability and identifying areas of promise.     

Genetic Variants Associated with Long-Terminal Repeats Can Diagnostically Classify Cannabis Varieties

Cannabis sativa (Cannabis) has recently been legalized in multiple countries globally for either its recreational or medicinal use. This, in turn, has led to a marked increase in the number of Cannabis varieties available for use in either market. However, little information currently exists on the genetic distinction between adopted varieties. Such fundamental knowledge is of considerable value and underpins the accelerated development of both a nascent pharmaceutical industry and the commercial recreational market. Therefore, in this study, we sought to assess genetic diversity across 10 Cannabis varieties by undertaking a reduced representation shotgun sequencing approach on 83 individual plants to identify variations which could be used to resolve the genetic structure of the assessed population. Such an approach also allowed for the identification of the genetic features putatively associated with the production of secondary metabolites in Cannabis. Initial analysis identified 3608 variants across the assessed population with phylogenetic analysis of this data subsequently enabling the confident grouping of each variety into distinct subpopulations. Within our dataset, the most diagnostically informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were determined to be associated with the long-terminal repeat (LTRs) class of retroelements, with 172 such SNPs used to fully resolve the genetic structure of the assessed population. These 172 SNPs could be used to design a targeted resequencing panel, which we propose could be used to rapidly screen different Cannabis plants to determine genetic relationships, as well as to provide a more robust, scientific classification of Cannabis varieties as the field moves into the pharmaceutical sphere.     

Soemmerring’s Rings Developed around IOLs,in Human Donor Eyes,Can Present Internal Transparent Areas

Soemmerring’s rings consist of a ring of lens epithelial derived cells that grow along the periphery of an aphakic lens capsule, or around an intraocular lens. These rings when visualized frontally, appear opaque, however, in some cases the cells that compose these rings are organized in the same fashion as those in normal transparent adult lenses. Thus, our purpose was to test whether any part of the adult Soemmerring’s ring could be transparent and how this related to morphological factors. To study this, 16 Soemmerring’s rings were extracted from donor eye globes. After imaging, they were thickly sectioned sagittally in order to analyze the degrees of transparency of different areas. All samples were also histologically analyzed using alpha smooth muscle actin, Vimentin, wheat germ agglutinin and DAPI. Our results showed that many samples had some transparent areas, mostly towards the center of their cross-section. Of the factors that we analyzed, only lens fiber organization at the bow region and an increased area of mature lens fiber cells had a significant relation to the degree of transparency at the center. Thus, we can conclude that as Soemmerring’s rings mature, they can develop organized and transparent areas of lens cells.