The effect of pH on the competition between polyphosphate-accumulating organisms and glycogen-accumulating organisms

In enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) processes, glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAOs) may compete with polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) for the often-limited carbon substrates, potentially resulting in disturbances to phosphorus removal. A detailed investigation of the effect of pH on the competition between PAOs and GAOs is reported in this study. The results show that a high external pH ( approximately 8) provided PAOs with an advantage over GAOs in EBPR systems. The phosphorus removal performance improved due to a population shift favouring PAOs over GAOs, which was shown through both chemical and microbiological methods. Two lab-scale reactors fed with propionate as the carbon source were subjected to an increase in pH from 7 to 8. The phosphorus removal and PAO population (as measured by quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridisation analysis of "Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis") increased in each system, where the PAOs appeared to out-compete a group of Alphaproteobacteria GAOs. A considerable improvement in the P removal was also observed in an acetate fed reactor, where the GAO population (primarily "Candidatus Competibacter phosphatis") decreased substantially after a similar increase in the pH. The results from this study suggest that pH could be used as a control parameter to reduce the undesirable proliferation of GAOs and improve phosphorus removal in EBPR systems.     

Illicit drug consumption estimations derived from wastewater analysis: A critical review

The consumption of illicit drugs causes indisputable societal and economic damage. Therefore it is necessary to know their usage levels and trends for undertaking targeted actions to reduce their use. Recently, a new approach (namely sewage epidemiology) was developed for the estimation of illicit drug use based on measurements of urinary excreted illicit drugs and their metabolites in untreated wastewater. This review aims at critically evaluating the published literature and identifying research gaps of sewage epidemiology. Firstly, the existing analytical procedures for the determination of the four most used classes of illicit drugs worldwide (cannabis, cocaine, opiates and amphetamine-like stimulants) and their metabolites in wastewater are summarized and discussed. The focus lies on the sample preparation and on the analysis with chromatographic techniques coupled to mass spectrometry. Secondly, back-calculations used to transform measured concentrations in wastewater (in ng/L) into an amount of used illicit drug (in g/day per 1000 inhabitants or doses/day per 1000 inhabitants) are discussed in detail for the four groups of illicit drugs. Sewage epidemiology data from Spain, Belgium, UK, Italy, Switzerland and USA are summarized and compared with data from international organisations, such as the European Monitoring Centre for Drug and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The results derived from wastewater analysis show in general good agreement with existing prevalence data (percentage of a population that uses illicit drugs at a given time) and demonstrate the potential of sewage epidemiology. However, this review confirms that future work should focus on further optimisation and standardisation of various important parameters (e.g. sample collection and back-calculations). In the future, sewage epidemiology could be used in routine drug monitoring campaigns as a valuable tool in addition to the classical socio-epidemiological studies for the determination of local, national and international illicit drug use.     

中国城市无意识下形成的四种空间类型

一种城市主义的批判性实践不应执着于不相干的美学自主性,而应着眼于作为当代城市化主要征象的四种空间类型:位于城市与农村之间界定模糊区域的工厂区;纵横全国的基础设施管线和网络;新型文化聚落、邻里和建筑物;来自农村而在城市工作的新城市主体所形成的心理与社会网络。     

Properties of Light MMCs Modified with Cordierite Synthesized from Fly Ash

This paper presents novel opportunities for management of fly ash by synthesizing the material into cordierite ceramics and using it as a reinforcing phase for light metal alloys. Metal matrix composites (based on magnesium alloy and aluminum alloy) were produced by squeeze casting. The magnesium matrix composites with a suitably selected reinforcing phase content (2 wt.%) exhibited much better strength properties than the unmodified alloy (AM60). It was also demonstrated that the wettability (or the lack thereof) in the metal-ceramic system is critical to successful production of the composites based on the AK7 alloy with cordierite. Light alloy matrix composites reinforced with cordierite ceramics particles are innovative materials that combine high strength with low weight, which may be a key factor of merit for numerous applications of the composite in various branches of industries.     

Cannabidiol Downregulates Myocardial de Novo Ceramide Synthesis Pathway in a Rat Model of High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity

It is known that metabolic disturbances, including obesity, predispose to an increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Elevated consumption of dietary fat results in intramyocardial accumulation of lipids and their biologically active derivatives, which can disrupt the contractile function of the heart, its metabolism, and intracellular signaling pathways. Therefore, alternative methods, such as phytocannabinoids, are being sought for the treatment of obesity-related effects. In a model of rodent obesity (seven weeks of high-fat-diet (HFD) regime), we used cannabidiol—CBD therapy (intraperitoneal injections for 14 days; 10 mg/kg). High-performance and gas-liquid chromatographies were applied in order to determine sphingolipids in the heart and plasma as well as Western blotting for protein expression. Two-week CBD administration significantly inhibited the de novo ceramide synthesis pathway in the heart of HFD fed rats by lowering sphinganine and sphinganine-1-phosphate contents. The above reductions were accompanied by markedly diminished expressions of myocardial serine palmitoyltransferase 1 and 2 as well as ceramide synthase 5 and 6 in the HFD group with 2-week CBD treatment. To our knowledge, this research is the first that reveals unknown effects of CBD treatment on the heart, i.e., amelioration of de novo ceramide synthesis pathway in obese rats.     

La CLAve to increase psychosis literacy of Spanish-speaking community residents and family caregivers.

The authors developed and tested a 35-min psychoeducational program with the goal of increasing Spanish-speaking persons’ literacy of psychosis. The program uses popular cultural icons derived from music, art, and videos, as well as a mnemonic device—La CLAve (The Clue)—to increase (a) knowledge of psychosis, (b) efficacy beliefs that one can identify psychosis in others, (c) attributions to mental illness, and (d) professional help-seeking. Assessments were conducted before and after administering the program to both community residents (n = 57) and family caregivers of persons with schizophrenia (n = 38). For community residents, the authors observed increases across the 4 domains of symptom knowledge, efficacy beliefs, illness attributions, and recommended help-seeking. For caregivers, increases were observed in symptom knowledge and efficacy beliefs. La CLAve is a conceptually informed psychoeducational tool with a developing empirical base aimed at helping Spanish-speaking Latinos with serious mental illness obtain care in a timely manner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Study of cold start air–fuel mixture parameters for spark ignition engines fueled with gasoline–isobutanol blends

Biofuels are set to play an important role in the future strategy of automotive fuel suppliers, and therefore the study of using alcohols in spark ignition engines has become a necessity. A simple thermodynamic model was developed for calculating air–fuel mixture parameters for port injection engines fueled with gasoline–isobutanol blends, and theoretical results were compared to experimental values. For simulating the evaporation process, gasoline was considered a mixture of four components, with isobutanol added in different proportions. As all engine components are at ambient temperature during cold starts, mixture formation was considered an adiabatic process, with the fuel breaking up into droplets and evaporating, thus resulting in a temperature drop. A port injection engine fitted to a passenger car was used to validate the model for calculating air–fuel mixture parameters.     

Still no phonological typicality effect on word reading time (and no good explanation of one, either): A rejoinder to Farmer, Monaghan, Misyak, and Christiansen.

In this brief rejoinder, we respond to Farmer, Monaghan, Misyak, and Christiansen (2011). We argue that the data still do not support the claim that reading time is affected by the phonological typicality of a word for its part of speech. We also question Farmer et al.'s claim that interleaving syntactic structures in an experiment modifies grammatically based syntactic expectations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of aviation checkpoint queues on optimizing security screening effectiveness

Passenger screening at aviation security checkpoints is a critical component in protecting airports and aircraft from terrorist threats. Recent developments in screening device technology have increased the ability to detect these threats; however, the average amount of time it takes to screen a passenger still remains a concern. This paper models the queueing process for a multi-level airport checkpoint security system, where multiple security classes are formed through subsets of specialized screening devices. An optimal static assignment policy is obtained which minimizes the steady-state expected amount of time a passenger spends in the security system. Then, an optimal dynamic assignment policy is obtained through a transient analysis that balances the expected number of true alarms with the expected amount of time a passenger spends in the security system. Performance of a two-class system is compared to that of a selective security system containing primary and secondary levels of screening. The key contribution is that the resulting optimal assignment policies increase security and passenger throughput by efficiently and effectively utilizing available screening resources.     

Situvis: A sensor data analysis and abstraction tool for pervasive computing systems

Pervasive systems are large-scale systems consisting of many sensors capturing numerous types of information. As this data is highly voluminous and dimensional, data analysis tasks can be extremely cumbersome and time-consuming. Enabling computers to recognise real-world situations is an even more difficult problem, involving not only data analysis, but also consistency checking. Here we present Situvis, an interactive visualisation tool for representing sensor data and creating higher-level abstractions from the data. This paper builds on previous work, Clear et al. (2009) [8] through evolved tool functionality and an evaluation of Situvis. A user-trial consisting of 10 participants shows that Situvis can be used to complete the key tasks in the development process of situation specifications in over 50% less time than an improvised alternative toolset.