Sirtuins as Important Factors in Pathological States and the Role of Their Molecular Activity Modulators

Sirtuins (SIRTs), enzymes from the family of NAD⁺-dependent histone deacetylases, play an important role in the functioning of the body at the cellular level and participate in many biochemical processes. The multi-directionality of SIRTs encourages scientists to undertake research aimed at understanding the mechanisms of their action and the influence that SIRTs have on the organism. At the same time, new substances are constantly being sought that can modulate the action of SIRTs. Extensive research on the expression of SIRTs in various pathological conditions suggests that regulation of their activity may have positive results in supporting the treatment of certain metabolic, neurodegenerative or cancer diseases or this connected with oxidative stress. Due to such a wide spectrum of activity, SIRTs may also be a prognostic markers of selected pathological conditions and prove helpful in assessing their progression, especially by modulating their activity. The article presents and discusses the activating or inhibiting impact of individual SIRTs modulators. The review also gathered selected currently available information on the expression of SIRTs in individual disease cases as well as the biological role that SIRTs play in the human organism, also in connection with oxidative stress condition, taking into account the progress of knowledge about SIRTs over the years, with particular reference to the latest research results.     

Psychrophilic hydrogen production from petrochemical wastewater via anaerobic sequencing batch reactor: techno-economic assessment and kinetic modelling

Independent hydrogen production from petrochemical wastewater containing mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) via anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) was extensively assessed under psychrophilic conditions (15–25 °C). A lab-scale ASBR was operated at pH of 5.50, and different organic loading rates (OLR) of 1.00, 1.67, 2.67, and 4.00 gCOD/L/d. The hydrogen yield (HY) progressed from 134.32 ± 10.79 to 189.09 ± 22.35 mL/gMEG_initial at increasing OLR from 1.00 to 4.00 gCOD/L/d. The maximum hydrogen content of 47.44 ± 3.60% was achieved at OLR of 4.0 gCOD/L/d, while methane content remained low (17.76 ± 1.27% at OLR of 1.0 gCOD/L/d). Kinetic studies using four different mathematical models were conducted to describe the ASBR performance. Furthermore, two batch-mode experiments were performed to optimize the nitrogen supplementation as a nutrient (C/N ratio), and assess the impact of salinity (as gNaCl/L) on hydrogen production. HY substantially dropped from 62.77 ± 4.09 to 6.02 ± 0.39 mL/gMEG_initial when C/N ratio was increased from 28.5 to 114.0. Besides, the results revealed that salinity up to 10.0 gNaCl/L has a relatively low inhibitory impact on hydrogen production. Eventually, the cost/benefit analysis showed that environmental and energy recovery revenues from ASBR were optimized at OLR of 4.0 gCOD/L/d (payback period of 7.13 yrs).     

Simplified anode architecture for PEMFC systems based on alternative fuel feeding: Experimental characterization and optimization for automotive applications

The need to reduce PEMFC systems cost as well as to increase their durability is crucial for their integration in various applications and especially for transport applications. A new simplified architecture of the anode circuit called Alternating Fuel Feeding (AFF) offers to reduce the development costs. Requiring a new stack concept, it combines the simplicity of Dead-End Anode (DEA) with the operation advantages of the hydrogen recirculation. The three architectures (DEA, recirculation and AFF) are compared in terms of performance on a 5-kW test bench in automotive conditions, through a sensitivity analysis. A gain of 17% on the system efficiency is observed when switching from DEA to AFF. Moreover, similar performances are obtained both for AFF and for recirculation after an accurate optimization of the AFF tuning parameters. Based on DoE data, a gain of 25% on the weight of the anodic line has been identified compared to pulsed ejector architecture and 43% with the classic recirculation architecture with blower only (Miraï).     

Parameter estimation for a morphochemical reaction-diffusion model of electrochemical pattern formation

The process of electrodeposition can be described in terms of a reaction-diffusion partial differential equation (PDE) system that models the dynamics of the morphology profile and the chemical composition. Here we fit such a model to the different patterns present in a range of electrodeposited and electrochemically modified alloys using PDE constrained optimization. Experiments with simulated data show how the parameter space of the model can be divided into zones corresponding to the different physical patterns by examining the structure of an appropriate cost function. We then use real data to demonstrate how numerical optimization of the cost function can allow the model to fit the rich variety of patterns arising in experiments. The computational technique developed provides a potential tool for tuning experimental parameters to produce desired patterns.     

Microstructure,tribological behavior and magnetic properties of Fe−Ni−TiO2 composite coatings synthesized via pulse frequency variation

The Fe−Ni−TiO₂ nanocomposite coatings were electrodeposited by pulse frequency variation. The results showed that the nanocomposite with a very dense coating surface and a nanocrystalline structure was produced at higher frequencies. By increasing the pulse frequency from 10 to 500 Hz, the iron and TiO₂ nanoparticles contentswere increased in expense of nickel content. XRD patterns showed that by increasing the frequency to 500 Hz, an enhancement ofBCC phase was observed and the grain size of deposits was reduced to 35 nm. The microhardness and the surface roughness were increased to 647 HV and 125 nm at 500 Hz due to the grain size reduction and higher incorporation of TiO₂ nanoparticles into the Fe−Ni matrix (5.13 wt.%). Moreover, the friction coefficient and wear rate values were decreased by increasing the pulse frequency;while the saturation magnetization and coercivity values of the composite deposits were increased.     

Semirigid inclusions in elastic bodies: Mechanical interplay and optimal control

The paper concerns an analysis of an equilibrium problem for 2D elastic body with two semirigid inclusions. It is assumed that inclusions have a joint point, and we investigate a junction problem for these inclusions. The existence of solutions is proved, and different equivalent formulations of the problem are proposed. We investigate a convergence to infinity of a rigidity parameter of the semirigid inclusion. It is proved that in the limit, we obtain an equilibrium problem for the elastic body with a rigid inclusion and a semirigid one. A parameter identification problem is investigated. In particular, the existence of a solution to a suitable optimal control problem is proved.     

On one boundary problem for nonlinear stationary controlled system

The object of study is nonlinear stationary controlled system of ordinary differential equations with constant disturbance in the right part. The problem of constructing the synthesising control function providing the transfer of this system from the initial state to the origin is considered. The sufficiently simple for numerical implementation algorithm of solution of the above-mentioned problem is obtained. It is shown that for local null controllability of the considered system, it is sufficient that the conditions of the Kalman's type were satisfied. In addition, the estimates restricting the choice of initial conditions and external disturbances under which the transfer is guaranteed are obtained. The main idea of the method of construction of the desired control function consists in reducing the original problem to stabilisation of a special kind linear non-stationary system and solving the Cauchy problem for an auxiliary system of ordinary differential equations closed by stabilising control. The simplicity of the realisation of this algorithm is determined by the construction of the auxiliary system and its stabilisation that could be obtained by analytical methods. The effectiveness of the method is illustrated by solving the problem of crane control and its numerical simulation.     

豫西雷门沟钼矿水文地质条件分析及涌水量预测

豫西熊耳山雷门沟钼矿床位于东秦岭多金属成矿带东段,是已探明的超大型斑岩型钼矿,前人研究程度高、地质成果丰硕,但对矿床开采技术条件方面研究较少。本次通过地质调查工程、水文地质试验等方法,从水文地质角度,对雷门沟钼矿床水文地质条件进行研究,填补了该方面的空白,丰富了研究成果；采用水文地质比拟法预测未来矿坑最大排水量2613 m³/d,经实践检验结果较为可靠；总结的采坑排水量预测方法、含水层特点、矿床充水因素以及防治水措施,以期对该区域水文地质工作具有参考价值。     

Formation and wear mechanism of nickel titanium intermetallics during heat treatment of nickel coating on Ti-6Al-4V substrate

In the present work, inter-diffusion of nickel and titanium and formation of Ni-Ti intermetallic compounds on Ti-6Al-4V substrate have been studied. Initially, nickel was electrodeposited on the alloy using a modified Watts bath solution at a current density of 2 A dm^?2 for 1?h. The coated specimens were then heat treated for different durations at 750, 800 and 850 °C under argon atmosphere. The effects of temperature and time on the characteristics, hardness and wear resistance of intermetallic phases were investigated. The results showed that a multilayer structure was formed after heat treatment, an outer layer of residual nickel, an area of intermetallic layers with different compositions followed by a solid solution of Ni-Ti. It was also observed that an increase in time or temperature at first led to the formation of thicker intermetallic layers; however, after passing a critical point, the intermetallic layers seem to dissolve into the substrate. Furthermore, the wear rates of the diffusion treated samples were four times lower compared to Ti-6Al-4V alloy when sliding against AISI 52100 hardened steel.     

Artificial bee colony based algorithm for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for PV systems operating under partial shaded conditions

Artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm has several characteristics that make it more attractive than other bio-inspired methods. Particularly, it is simple, it uses fewer control parameters and its convergence is independent of the initial conditions. In this paper, a novel artificial bee colony based maximum power point tracking algorithm (MPPT) is proposed. The developed algorithm, does not allow only overcoming the common drawback of the conventional MPPT methods, but it gives a simple and a robust MPPT scheme. A co-simulation methodology, combining Matlab/Simulink™ and Cadence/Pspice™, is used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method and compare its performance, under dynamic weather conditions, with that of the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based MPPT algorithm. Moreover, a laboratory setup has been realized and used to experimentally validate the proposed ABC-based MPPT algorithm. Simulation and experimental results have shown the satisfactory performance of the proposed approach.