Kinetic study of an anaerobic fluidized bed system used for the purification of fermented olive mill wastewater

The anaerobic digestion of olive mill wastewater (OMW) in a fluidized bed, pretreated with Geotrichum candidum, has been studied. The bioreactor used (volume = 3.5 dm³; biomass concentration = 11.5 g VSS dm^?3) maintained satisfactory operation for 4 to 35 days, in terms of hydraulic retention time, and removed 92% of the initial COD. The system was used to develop and test a kinetic model which was subsequently employed to determine growth yield and maintenance coefficient. From the results obtained, the Michaelis-Menten equation accurately described the substrate uptake (i.e. COD removal) in the anaerobic fluidized bed system. Pretreatment of the OMW was found to increase the rate of substrate uptake by a factor of 3.2 when compared to untreated OMW.     

Discrete micromechanics of elastoplastic crystals

The theoretical prediction of elastoplastic behaviour of single crystals is a basic problem which is central to the prediction of the overall behaviour of the crystal aggregate. It is generally well known that quasi-static and isothermal plastic deformation in single crystals arises almost solely from slip on specific crystallographic planes, and that this process occurs when the resolved shear stress on a critical slip system reaches a certain maximum value. What is not obvious is how one can identify the specific slip systems activated by a given load increment, since the process usually involves selection from a pool of linearly dependent slip systems. In this paper we use small-deformation multisurface plasticity theory to phrase properly the problem of crystal slips at infinitesimal increments. We then describe an ‘ultimate’ algorithm for systematically identifying the active slip systems at finite increments. We arrive at the following major conclusions when the ultimate algorithm is applied to f.c.c. crystals: For perfectly plastic crystals the combination of active slip systems may or may not be unique; however, the imposition of the discrete Kuhn-Tucker conditions is sufficient to determine the (unique) final crystal stresses. For Taylor hardening crystals in which active and latent slip systems harden by the same amount, the discrete Kuhn-Tucker conditions are also sufficient to make the mathematical problem of crystal stress integration well posed, i.e. the final stresses can be determined uniquely albeit the combination of active slip systems may not be unique. To illustrate the latter point, an accurate return-mapping algorithm for perfectly plastic and Taylor hardening crystals is described and tested against the ultimate algorithm to demoustrate numerically that it is possible to generate different combinations of active slip systems and yet produce identical final stresses.     

Reflector Antenna Analysis Using the Complex Equivalent Length Concept: Reciprocity and Coupling Between Feeds

This work presents a procedure for analyzing multiply fed reflector antennas in both transmission and reception modes, by using the Reflector Antenna Complex Equivalent Length (RA-CEL) concept. The RA-CEL is derived by combining the Feed Element Complex Equivalent Length (FE-CEL) Method with an Equivalent Current (EC) model on the reflector surface. This formulation, in terms of both electric and magnetic equivalent currents, is consistent with the reciprocity theorem. Its application to reflector antenna far-field pattern analysis, in both the transmission and reception modes, is presented. The proposed method accurately considers the mutual coupling among feeding array elements through the reflector surface, and its computational cost is substantially lower than required by a full-wave analysis. Some applications investigating the mutual coupling among feeding elements of reflector antennas are presented, and are compared with a reference solution given by the Method of Moments - Physical Optics hybrid method, and a numerical evaluation of the integral equation.     

Physicochemical and physiological changes during the ripening of Banana (Musaceae) fruit grown in Colombia

The physicochemical and physiological attributes of three contrasting commercial varieties of Musaceae, Dominico Harton (plantain), Guineo (cooking banana) and Gros Michel (dessert banana), were evaluated and statistically analysed during post-harvest ripening. Quality attributes differed markedly among varieties, both in fresh fruits and during ripening. Variety (V) had a significant effect (P < 0.001) on all attributes except total soluble solids (TSS), carotenes and total chlorophyll. Storage time (ST) had a significant effect on all attributes except colour parameter b* and total carotenes. Starch levels decreased significantly (P < 0.001) during ripening, with nearly complete hydrolysis in Gros Michel, followed by Guineo and Dominico Harton. Discriminant analysis showed that central diameter, TSS of the pulp, colour parameter a* and total starch had the highest weight in the differentiation among varieties. These results point out which parameters may help improve current methods for monitoring ripening of bananas, in particular the commercially important varieties in this study.     

A novel mathematical teletraffic method to evaluate the interoperation of different standards with NOMA systems using order statistics

Basically, nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) allows controllable interferences by nonorthogonal resource allocation with a tolerable increase in receiver complexity, using successive interference cancellation (SIC). In this paper, authors show a novel mathematical model of teletraffic for users accessing, simultaneously, to Wi‐Fi and LTE services by using NOMA, calculating the birth–death process by order statistics. This methodology has not been previously used. The mathematical model is represented by a two‐dimensional Markovian process where the users can born or die in one system or another, independently, and results are validated through simulations. The outcomes demonstrate an increment of the sum‐rate gain for a system where users are ordered in the power domain using order statistics, according to the signal interference plus noise ratio (SINR), compared to a system where these statistics are not employed. By using the proposed mathematical model, the sum‐rate gain increases around 15%, and it is also demonstrated that this algorithm foresees a steady behavior of the sum rate, even when the number of channels is augmented, contrary when no order statistics are employed, in which the sum rate decreases considerably. On the other hand, the blocking probability is also demonstrated based on the chance of moving from one technology to another.     

Self‐Assembly of Mechanoplasmonic Bacterial Cellulose–Metal Nanoparticle Composites

Nanocomposites of metal nanoparticles (NPs) and bacterial nanocellulose (BC) enable fabrication of soft and biocompatible materials for optical, catalytic, electronic, and biomedical applications. Current BC–NP nanocomposites are typically prepared by in situ synthesis of the NPs or electrostatic adsorption of surface functionalized NPs, which limits possibilities to control and tune NP size, shape, concentration, and surface chemistry and influences the properties and performance of the materials. Here a self‐assembly strategy is described for fabrication of complex and well‐defined BC–NP composites using colloidal gold and silver NPs of different sizes, shapes, and concentrations. The self‐assembly process results in nanocomposites with distinct biophysical and optical properties. In addition to antibacterial materials and materials with excellent senor performance, materials with unique mechanoplasmonic properties are developed. The homogenous incorporation of plasmonic gold NPs in the BC enables extensive modulation of the optical properties by mechanical stimuli. Compression gives rise to near‐field coupling between adsorbed NPs, resulting in tunable spectral variations and enhanced broadband absorption that amplify both nonlinear optical and thermoplasmonic effects and enables novel biosensing strategies.     

Parallel variable neighborhood search for the min–max order batching problem

Warehousing is a key part of supply chain management. It primarily focuses on controlling the movement and storage of materials within a warehouse and processing the associated transactions, including shipping, receiving, and picking. From the tactical point of view, the main decision is the storage policy, that is, to decide where each product should be located. Every day a warehouse receives several orders from its customers. Each order consists of a list of one or more items that have to be retrieved from the warehouse and shipped to a specific customer. Thus, items must be collected by a warehouse operator. We focus on situations in which several orders are put together into batches, satisfying a fixed capacity constraint. Then, each batch is assigned to an operator, who retrieves all the items included in those orders grouped into the corresponding batch in a single tour. The objective is then to minimize the maximum retrieving time for any batch. In this paper, we propose a parallel variable neighborhood search algorithm to tackle the so‐called min–max order batching problem. We additionally compare this parallel procedure with the best previous approach. Computational results show the superiority of our proposal, confirmed with statistical tests.     

Heavy metal removal by microalgae

The liver is one of the principal sites of iron overload in diseases such as hemochromatosis and beta thalassemia. Hence, much effort has been invested in examining the mechanisms of Fe uptake by hepatocytes. In the present study we have examined the effect of small molecular weight (M(r)) Fe complexes on Fe uptake from iron 59-labeled transferrin (Tf) and 59Fe-labeled citrate by primary cultures of hepatocytes. This was important to assess because Fe-citrate and saturated diferric Tf coexist in the serum of patients with untreated Fe overload. Preincubation of hepatocytes with the low-M(r) Fe complex ferric ammonium citrate (FAC; 25 microg/mL; (Fe) = 4.4 microg/mL) followed by incubation with 59Fe-Tf or 59Fe-citrate ((Fe) = 0.25 to 25 micromol/L) resulted in the marked stimulation of 59Fe uptake. For example, at a physiologically relevant Tf-Fe concentration of 25 micromol/L, there was an 8-fold increase in 59Fe uptake by cells incubated with FAC compared to control cells. In contrast, at Tf-Fe concentrations of 0.25 to 2.5 micromol/L, 59Fe uptake in FAC-treated cells was only 1-fold to 3-fold greater than that in the corresponding controls. These data suggest that the FAC-activated Fe uptake process predominates at physiologically relevant Tf concentrations above the saturation of the Tf receptor (TfR). This is the first study to demonstrate that preincubation of hepatocytes with Iow-M(r)Fe complexes can markedly increase Fe uptake from diferric Tf. In conclusion, these results may help to explain the loading of hepatocytes with Fe that occurs in Fe-overload disease despite marked down-regulation of the TfR.