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).     

Experimental study of crystal anisotropy based on ultra-precision cylindrical turning of single-crystal calcium fluoride

To realize ultimately efficient signal processing, it is necessary to replace electrical signal processing circuits with optical ones. The optical micro-resonator, which localizes light at a certain spot, is an essential component in optical signal processing. Single-crystal calcium fluoride (CaF₂) is the most suitable material for a highly efficient optical micro-resonator. The CaF₂ resonator can only be manufactured by ultra-precision machining processes, because its crystal anisotropy does not allow the application of chemical etching. However, the optical micro-resonator's performance depends definitely on the surface integrity.This study investigated the relationship between surface quality after ultra-precision machining and crystal anisotropy. Firstly, crack initiation was investigated on the (1 0 0), (1 1 0), and (1 1 1) planes using the micro-Vickers hardness test. Secondly, brittle-ductile transition was investigated by orthogonal cutting tests. Finally, cutting performance of cylindrical turning was evaluated, which could be a suitable method for manufacturing the CaF₂ resonator. The most difficult point in cylindrical turning of CaF₂ is that the crystalline plane and cutting direction vary continuously. In order to manufacture the CaF₂ optical micro-resonator more efficiently, analysis was conducted on crack initiation and surface quality of all crystallographic orientations from the perspective of slip system and cleavage.     

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).     

冷轧平整机机前甩尾轧制工艺的开发与应用

本文介绍了柳钢冷轧板带厂1550 mm单机架平整机机前甩尾轧制的工艺。改进前轧制每卷钢卷生产效率低,钢卷成材率低,改进后生产效率、成材率明显提高,部分规格的钢卷能实现带尾剪切长度为零。     

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.     

Influences of chip serration on micro-topography of machined surface in high-speed cutting

Saw-tooth chip changes from macroscopically continuous ribbon to separated segments with the increase of cutting speed. The aim of this study is to find the correlations between chip morphology and machined surface micro-topography at different chip serration stages encountered in high speed cutting. High strength alloy steel AerMet100 was employed in orthogonal cutting experiments to obtain chips at different serration stages and corresponding machined surfaces. The chips and machined surfaces obtained were then examined with optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and white light interferometer (WLI). The result shows that chip serration causes micro-waves on machined surface, which increases machined surface roughness. However, wave amplitudes (surface roughness) at different serration stages are different. The principal factor influencing wave amplitude is the thickness of the sawed segment (tooth) of saw-tooth chip. With cutting parameters in this study, surface roughness contributed by chip serration ranges from 0.39 μm to 1.85 μm. This may bring on serious problems in the case of trying to replace grinding with high-speed cutting in rough machining. Some suggestions have been proposed to control the chip serration-caused surface roughness in high-speed cutting based on the results of the current study.     

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。     

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.