Search results for " Enhanced"
showing 10 items of 66 documents
Bacterial community structure and removal performances in IFAS-MBRs: A pilot plant case study
2017
Abstract The paper reports the results of an experimental campaign carried out on a University of Cape Town (UCT) integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant. The pilot plant was analysed in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nutrients removal, kinetic/stoichiometric parameters, membrane fouling and sludge dewaterability. Moreover, the cultivable bacterial community structure was also analysed. The pilot plant showed excellent COD removal efficiency throughout experiments, with average value higher than 98%, despite the slight variations of the influent wastewater. The achieved nitrification efficiency was close to 98% for most of the experimen…
Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields emitted from base stations of DECT cordless phones and the risk of glioma and meningioma (Interphone Study Grou…
2006
The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that exposure to continuous low-level radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMFs) increases the risk of glioma and meningioma. Participants in a population-based case-control study in Germany on the risk of brain tumors in relation to cellular phone use were 747 incident brain tumor cases between the ages of 30 and 69 years and 1494 matched controls. The exposure measure of this analysis was the location of a base station of a DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) cordless phone close to the bed, which was used as a proxy for continuous low-level exposure to RF EMFs during the night. Estimated odds ratios were 0.82 (95…
Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome: case report of fetal unilateral ventriculomegaly and hypoplastic left middle cerebral artery
2013
Prenatal ultrasonographic detection of unilateral cerebral ventriculomegaly arises suspicion of pathological condition related to cerebrospinal fluid flow obstruction or cerebral parenchimal pathology. Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome is a rare condition characterized by cerebral hemiatrophy, calvarial thickening, skull and facial asymmetry, contralateral hemiparesis, cognitive impairment and seizures. Congenital and acquired types are recognized and have been described, mainly in late childhood, adolescence and adult ages. We describe a female infant with prenatal diagnosis of unilateral left ventriculomegaly in which early brain MRI and contrast enhanced-MRI angiography, showed cerebral left…
Outcome Analysis and Rational Management of Enhancing Lesions Incidentally Detected on Contrast-Enhanced MRI of the Breast
2003
The purpose of our study was to assess the prevalence, characteristics, and clinical consequence of incidentally detected enhancing lesions on MRI of the breast. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. MRI of the breast (1.0-T scanner, dynamic gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted three-dimensional gradient-echo sequence, double breast coil) was performed on 1273 women for different indications. Enhancing incidental lesions were defined as enhancing lesions on MRIs that were not expected from findings on the previous conventional imaging. They were classified in five assessment categories using a scoring system based on morphologic and kinetic enhancement characteristics. Detection of enhancing incidental lesions …
Bacterial Community Structure of an IFAS-MBRs Wastewater Treatment Plant
2017
TIn this work, the bacterial community putatively involved in BNR events of a UCT-MBMBR pilot plant was elucidated by both culture-dependent and metagenomics DNA analyses. The presence of bacterial isolates belonging to Bacillus (in the anoxic compartment) and to Acinetobacter, Stenotrophomonas, Rhodococcus, Escherichia and Aeromonas (in the aerobic compartment) is in agreement with the nitrification/denitrification processes observed in the plant. Moreover, the study of bacterial community structure by NGS revealed a microbial diversity suggesting a biochemical complexity which can be further explored and exploited to improve UCT-MBMBR plant performance.
The role of hydrology on enhanced weathering for carbon sequestration I. Modeling rock-dissolution reactions coupled to plant, soil moisture, and car…
2021
Abstract Enhanced Weathering (EW) resulting from soil amendment with highly reactive silicate minerals is regarded as one of the most effective techniques for carbon sequestration. While in laboratory conditions silicate minerals dissolution rates are well characterized, in field conditions the rate of the dissolution reaction is more difficult to predict, not least because it interacts with soil, plant, and hydrologic processes. Here we present a dynamic mass balance model connecting biogeochemical and ecohydrological dynamics to shed light on these intertwined processes involved in EW. We focus on the silicate mineral olivine, for its faster laboratory dissolution rate, and pay particular…
Temperature and time dependent electron trapping in Al2O3 thin films onto AlGaN/GaN heterostructures
2022
In this article, the charge trapping phenomena in Al2O3 thin films grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures have been studied by time-dependent capacitance–voltage (C-V) measurements as a function of temperature. In particular, monitoring the transient of the capacitance enabled us to estimate the maximum depth of the insulating layer interested by the negative charge trapping effect under our bias stress conditions and to determine a charge traps density in the bulk Al2O3 in the order of 3 × 1019 cm−3. A temperature dependent C-V analysis up to 150 °C demonstrated the presence of two competitive mechanisms that rule the electron capture and emission in the Al2O3…
Modified electrocardiograph-triggered black-blood turbo spin-echo technique to improve T1-weighting in contrast-enhanced MRI of atherosclerotic carot…
2008
Purpose To assess the efficacy of a modified electrocardiograph (EKG)-triggered black-blood T1W (T1W) spin-echo sequence in improving contrast on post-gadolinium high-resolution carotid plaque imaging by implementing heart-rate–independent contrast preparation. Materials and Methods We used a standard EKG-triggered double inversion-recovery (DIR) turbo spin-echo (TSE) sequence modified with the addition of an extra saturation (90°) radio frequency (RF) pulse placed immediately after the DIR module, shortening the repetition time to a fixed value of 400 msec. A total of 10 patients with atherosclerotic disease were included in the study. Postinjection intraplaque contrast measurements were p…
Computed tomography detects changes in contrast agent diffusion after collagen cross-linking typical to natural aging of articular cartilage
2011
SummaryObjectiveThe effect of threose-induced collagen cross-linking on the mechanical and diffusive properties of cartilage was investigated in vitro. In particular, we investigated the potential of Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) to detect changes in articular cartilage after increased collagen cross-linking, which is an age-related phenomenon.MethodsOsteochondral plugs (Ø=6.0mm, n=28) were prepared from intact bovine patellae (n=7). Two of the four adjacent samples, prepared from each patella, were treated with threose to increase the collagen cross-linking, while the other two specimen served as paired controls. One sample pair was mechanically tested and then mechanically …
Association between radiography-based subchondral bone structure and MRI-based cartilage composition in postmenopausal women with mild osteoarthritis
2016
Summary Objective Our aim was to investigate the relation between radiograph-based subchondral bone structure and cartilage composition assessed with delayed gadolinium enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC) and T 2 relaxation time. Design Ninety-three postmenopausal women (Kellgren–Lawrence grade 0: n = 13, 1: n = 26, 2: n = 54) were included. Radiograph-based bone structure was assessed using entropy of the Laplacian-based image ( E Lap ) and local binary patterns ( E LBP ), homogeneity indices of the local angles (HI Angles,mean , HI Angles,Perp , HI Angles,Paral ), and horizontal (FD Hor ) and vertical fractal dimensions (FD Ver ). Mean dGEMRIC index and T 2 relax…