s-Wave vs.d -Wave Superconductivity in the Two-Dimensional Hubbard Model

The anisotropic superconductivity has been considered in the two-dimensional Hubbard model. We allow for on and off-site intralayer Cooper pairs. Interlayer momentum-conserving Josephson tunneling which couples adjacent layers has been taken into account. The meanfield solution for the superconducting transition temperature demonstrates the competition between local Coulomb repulsion and interlayer tunneling in thes-wave channel. This competition leads to the mixedsd superconducting state at low doping. We also demonstrate thatc-phonon-assisted transitions between intra and interlayer states can effectively give rise to momentum-conserving Josephson tunneling.     

DRYING OF WASTE SLUDGES IN A FLUIDIZED BED DRYER WITH A MIXER

Sludge wastes are a very attractive source of many valuable compounds such as nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter. One of the interesting methods of sludge utilization is dewatering and drying. In this paper some problems of drying of two types of sludge wastes of different form and origin are presented. One of the sludges—a brewery by-product— contains spent grain suspension of brewer's yeast and diatomaceous earth. The second one is a by-product of a biotechnological process which contains mainly lime, protein, many microelements and some microorganisms. Moisture content of both sludges is about 65-70% w/w. The laboratory experiments of sludge drying in the fluidized bed dryer with a mixer, fluidized bed hydrodynamics, and the effects and advantages of sludge drying are shown.     

Support for argument structures review and assessment

Argument structures are commonly used to develop and present cases for safety, security and for other properties of systems. Such structures tend to grow excessively, which causes problems with their review and assessment. Two issues are of particular interest: (1) systematic and explicit assessment of the compelling power of an argument, and (2) communication of the result of such an assessment to relevant recipients. The paper presents a solution to these problems. The method of Visual Assessment of Arguments (VAA), being this solution, is based on the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence applied to the assessment of the strength of arguments, and a visual mechanism of issuing and presenting assessments, supported by the so-called opinion triangle. In the paper we explain theoretical grounding for the method and provide guidance on its application. The results of some validation experiments are also presented.     

Properties,Physiological Functions and Involvement of Basidiomycetous Alcohol Oxidase in Wood Degradation

Extensive research efforts have been devoted to describing yeast alcohol oxidase (AO) and its promoter region, which is vastly applied in studies of heterologous gene expression. However, little is known about basidiomycetous AO and its physiological role in wood degradation. This review describes several alcohol oxidases from both white and brown rot fungi, highlighting their physicochemical and kinetic properties. Moreover, the review presents a detailed analysis of available AO-encoding gene promoter regions in basidiomycetous fungi with a discussion of the manipulations of culture conditions in relation to the modification of alcohol oxidase gene expression and changes in enzyme production. The analysis of reactions catalyzed by lignin-modifying enzymes (LME) and certain lignin auxiliary enzymes (LDA) elucidated the possible involvement of alcohol oxidase in the degradation of derivatives of this polymer. Combined data on lignin degradation pathways suggest that basidiomycetous AO is important in secondary reactions during lignin decomposition by wood degrading fungi. With numerous alcoholic substrates, the enzyme is probably engaged in a variety of catalytic reactions leading to the detoxification of compounds produced in lignin degradation processes and their utilization as a carbon source by fungal mycelium.     

Computational Pipeline for Reference-Free Comparative Analysis of RNA 3D Structures Applied to SARS-CoV-2 UTR Models

RNA is a unique biomolecule that is involved in a variety of fundamental biological functions, all of which depend solely on its structure and dynamics. Since the experimental determination of crystal RNA structures is laborious, computational 3D structure prediction methods are experiencing an ongoing and thriving development. Such methods can lead to many models; thus, it is necessary to build comparisons and extract common structural motifs for further medical or biological studies. Here, we introduce a computational pipeline dedicated to reference-free high-throughput comparative analysis of 3D RNA structures. We show its application in the RNA-Puzzles challenge, in which five participating groups attempted to predict the three-dimensional structures of 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions (UTRs) of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. We report the results of this puzzle and discuss the structural motifs obtained from the analysis. All simulated models and tools incorporated into the pipeline are open to scientific and academic use.     

River, reservoir and lake sediment contamination by heavy metals downstream from urban areas of Switzerland

This paper quantifies sediment contamination by heavy metals in four reservoirs and one lake located downstream from major urban areas in Switzerland. The waterbodies include the Wettingen Reservoir (located on the Limmat River downstream from Zürich), the Klingnau Reservoir (on the lower Aare River), the Wohlen Reservoir (downstream from Berne), the Verbois Reservoir (downstream from Geneva) and Vidy Bay (Lake Geneva, city of Lausanne). For all sediment cores and contaminants, a trend is observed from high contaminant values in the lower part of the cores, decreasing to lower concentrations in the upper part of the cores. However, for each site and each element, specific features are recognized. Applying the criteria of the Swiss ordinance on soil protection, all sediment cores must be classified as contaminated by one or more contaminants and at variable levels. From these data, it is concluded that: reservoirs and lakes located downstream from major urban centres in Switzerland have accumulated significant volumes of contaminated sediments in the past, representing the largest, but not the most intensely, contaminated sites on a national scale; the main environmental risk is remobilization of the contaminants and their return to the food chain, particularly by infiltration into the groundwater; and although the processes of remobilization are identified, the conditions of occurrence and the amplitude of the processes are still poorly known. Different options of reservoir and lake sediment management also are discussed and further research topics defined.     

A new method of determination of the permeability of vapors of volatile liquid substances through polymer membranes

A new apparatus for the determination of vapor permeability of volatile liquid substances through polymer membranes has been described. The permeability of the vapor is calculated from the measurements of the depression rate of the liquid meniscus in a calibrated capillary tube. The conditions of the measurements by means of the described method are very close to those of the average and practical application of foils. The method is characterized by a simple design of the apparatus, easy handling, and simplicity of the determinations, so it may constitute the basis of vapor permeability determination standards. The results obtained by means of the described method were compared with those derived from the partition cell method.     

Dilatometric studies of the phase transitions of sodium potassium tartrate tetrahydrate (RS)

Temperature dependence of the thermal expansion coefficients of Rochelle salt (RS) crystals for the basic crystallographic directions have been measured in the temperature range from 100 K to 308 K by an air-capacitor dilatometer. Anomalies of thermal expansion coefficients at about 210 K and 153 K have been observed, besides these corresponding to known ferroelectric phase transitions at the temperatures of 255 and 297 K.     

Kalman filtering of traffic fluctuations for real-time network management

Discrete- time stochastic models of sequential traffic records in telephone networks are considered. They appear to be well suited for a use of the Kaiman filter. A version of the filtering algorithm is adopted to deal with traffic fluctuations. The overall approach is tested against the real data gathered by the supervisor of the French toll network. The adaptive traffic estimator is inserted into a simulator of a testbed network operated in the urban zone of Paris. The traffic estimations provided by the filter are used to decide an overflow hierarchy.