Energy Recovery in Pressurized Hydraulic Networks

Water Resources Management - This paper aims to evaluate the possibility of using non-utilized hydraulic energy in urban water distribution systems. For this purpose, the viability and possible...     

Microtubule Destabilizing Sulfonamides as an Alternative to Taxane-Based Chemotherapy

Pan-Gyn cancers entail 1 in 5 cancer cases worldwide, breast cancer being the most commonly diagnosed and responsible for most cancer deaths in women. The high incidence and mortality of these malignancies, together with the handicaps of taxanes—first-line treatments—turn the development of alternative therapeutics into an urgency. Taxanes exhibit low water solubility that require formulations that involve side effects. These drugs are often associated with dose-limiting toxicities and with the appearance of multi-drug resistance (MDR). Here, we propose targeting tubulin with compounds directed to the colchicine site, as their smaller size offer pharmacokinetic advantages and make them less prone to MDR efflux. We have prepared 52 new Microtubule Destabilizing Sulfonamides (MDS) that mostly avoid MDR-mediated resistance and with improved aqueous solubility. The most potent compounds, N-methyl-N-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl-4-methylaminobenzenesulfonamide 38, N-methyl-N-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl-4-methoxy-3-aminobenzenesulfonamide 42, and N-benzyl-N-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl-4-methoxy-3-aminobenzenesulfonamide 45 show nanomolar antiproliferative potencies against ovarian, breast, and cervix carcinoma cells, similar or even better than paclitaxel. Compounds behave as tubulin-binding agents, causing an evident disruption of the microtubule network, in vitro Tubulin Polymerization Inhibition (TPI), and mitotic catastrophe followed by apoptosis. Our results suggest that these novel MDS may be promising alternatives to taxane-based chemotherapy in chemoresistant Pan-Gyn cancers.     

Simultaneous sulfide and acetate oxidation under denitrifying conditions using an inverse fluidized bed reactor

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous removal of sulfur, nitrogen and carbon compounds from wastewaters is a commercially important biological process. The objective was to evaluate the influence of the CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio on the sulfide oxidation process using an inverse fluidized bed reactor (IFBR). RESULTS: Three molar ratios of CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? (0.85, 0.72 and 0.62) with a constant S^2?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.13 were evaluated. At a CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.85, the nitrate, acetate and sulfide removal efficiencies were approximately 100%. The N₂ yield (g N₂ g^?1 NO₃^?‐N consumed) was 0.81. Acetate was mineralized, resulting in a yield of 0.65 g inorganic‐C g^?1 CH₃COO^?‐C consumed. Sulfide was partially oxidized to S⁰, and 71% of the S^2? consumed was recovered as elemental sulfur by a settler installed in the IFBR. At a CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.72, the efficiencies of nitrate, acetate and sulfide consumption were of 100%, with N₂ and inorganic‐C yields of 0.84 and 0.69, respectively. The sulfide was recovered as sulfate instead of S⁰, with a yield of 0.92 g SO₄^2?‐S g^?1 S^2? consumed. CONCLUSIONS: The CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio was shown to be an important parameter that can be used to control the fate of sulfide oxidation to either S⁰ or sulfate. In this study, the potential of denitrification for the simultaneous removal of organic matter, sulfide and nitrate from wastewaters was demonstrated, obtaining CO₂, S⁰ and N₂ as the major end products. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis,characterization and properties of functionalized styrene–maleimide copolymers

New functionalized styrene–maleimide copolymers were prepared by free radical copolymerization of styrene (St) and N‐4‐carboxybutylmaleimide (NBMI) in chloroform, using 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. Monomer and copolymer characterization was carried out by ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR. Copolymer composition was determined by elemental analysis and Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The glass transition temperature (from DSC) and the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the copolymers were consistent with the thermal behavior and stability observed for alternating St–maleimide copolymers. St–NBMI copolymers crosslinked with divinylbenzene (DVB) were also synthesized and their cation exchange properties evaluated in order to assess the capacity of the new copolymers to bind metallic ions. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Syllables as processing units in handwriting production.

This research focused on the syllable as a processing unit in handwriting. Participants wrote, in uppercase letters, words that had been visually presented. The interletter intervals provide information on the timing of motor production. In Experiment 1, French participants wrote words that shared the initial letters but had different syllable boundaries. In Experiment 2, French- and Spanish-speaking participants wrote cognates and pseudowords with a letter sequence that was always intrasyllabic in French and intersyllabic in Spanish. In Experiment 3, French-Spanish bilinguals wrote the cognates and pseudowords with the same type of sequences. In the 3 experiments, the critical interletter intervals were longer between syllables than within syllables, indicating that word syllable structure constrains motor production both in French and Spanish. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biofiltration of toluene in the absence and the presence of ethyl acetate under continuous and intermittent loading

BACKGROUND: Two peat biofilters were used for the removal of toluene from air for one year. One biofilter was fed with pure toluene and the other received 1:1 (by weight) ethyl acetate:toluene mixture. RESULTS: The biofilters were operated under continuous loading: the toluene inlet load (IL) at which 80% removal occurred was 116 g m^?3 h^?1 at 57 s gas residence time. Maximum elimination capacity of 360 g m^?3 h^?1 was obtained at an IL of 745 g m^?3 h^?1. The elimination of toluene was inhibited by the presence of ethyl acetate. Intermittent loading, with pollutants supplied for 16 h/day, 5 days/week, did not significantly affect the removal efficiency (RE). Biomass was fully activated in 2 h after night closures, but 6 h were required to recover RE after weekend closures. Live cell density remained relatively constant over the operational period, while the dead cell fraction increased. Finally, a 15 day starvation period was applied and operation then re‐started. Performance was restored with similar re‐acclimatization period to that after weekend closures, and a reduction in dead cell fraction was observed. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the capacity of the system to handle intermittent loading conditions that are common in industrial practices, including long‐term starvation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Nonparametric estimation from length-biased data under competing risks

A new model for cross-sectional lifetime data is presented. The model is based on the length-bias assumption, and it is adapted to situations in which several types of censoring may occur. The NPMLE of the survival function is derived. An EM-algorithm to approximate the NPMLE is devised. The performance of the introduced estimator is investigated through simulations. A real set of data collected as part of a study on unemployment duration in Spain is used for illustration purposes.     

Designing collaborative,constructionist and contextual applications for handheld devices

This paper explores current applications for handheld devices and questions which of these make full use of the unique attributes of handheld devices in order to facilitate learning in a pedagogically sensible manner. In order to do so, the paper presents a functional framework which analyses handheld application in relation to their use as well as the pedagogical underpinning, if any, that informs their development. Our framework currently consists of seven distinct categories of application, which we term: administrative, referential, interactive, microworld, data collection, location aware and collaborative. We argue that three categories, namely data collection, location aware and collaborative, are particularly suited to learning with handheld devices when they are informed by collaborative, contextual and constructionist learning theories. Furthermore, we contend that applications of the type just outlined deserve further research since they are not attempting to replicate, or even augment, existing learning scenarios but rather they try to create new learning opportunities which would not be possible without (mobile) technology. Finally, the authors introduce a number of applications and learning scenarios that they have developed for handheld devices and explain their position within the framework.     

Retraction of “Using ergonomic digital human modeling in evaluation of workplace design and prevention of workrelated musculoskeletal disorders onboard small fishing vessel”

The following article from Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries, “Using ergonomic digital human modeling in evaluation of workplace design and prevention of workrelated musculoskeletal disorders onboard small fishing vessel,” by Enrique Álvarez‐Casado, Bing Zhang, Sonia Tello Sandoval and Mondelo Pedro, published online on October 11, 2011 in Wiley Online Library ( www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editors‐in‐Chief, Waldemar Karwowski and Gavriel Salvendy, and Publisher Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed as these articles were mistakenly published after being rejected.