Search results for " processing"
showing 10 items of 7549 documents
BIOALGA reactor: preliminary studies for heavy metals removal
2002
Abstract Microalgae have a high affinity for polyvalent metals, for that reason they could be used to reduce the concentration of heavy metals present in water and wastewater. In the present work an evaluation of a rotary biofilm reactor for algae immobilization (BIOALGA) with the subject of heavy metal removal was investigated. The BIOALGA reactor consisted of a pilot scale model that was operated with synthetic wastewater with an initial concentration of 3000 μg/l of cobalt ion. Scenedesmus obliquus was immobilized in the reactor, which was operated in batch mode for a period of 20 days. The rotary velocity used, 2 rpm, was constant during the experiment. A maximum removal of cobalt ion o…
Processing and Properties of Biopolymer/Polyhydroxyalkanoates Blends
2011
In this paper, the processability and the performance of a biodegradable polymer, Mater-Bi, and of its blends with either a sample of poly (hydroxy alkanoates) (PHA) or with bacterial biomass containing PHAs were compared. Adding PHA or directly the biomass containing it allows improving the processability of the matrix. Moreover, the mechanical behaviour of the systems was compared considering two different preparation methods, namely compression and injection moulding. The injection moulded samples show poorer mechanical performances than those of the compression moulded systems. The impact strength significantly improves when PHA is added while it reduces when bacterial biomass is used i…
Exposure to bioaerosols and noise at a Finnish dry waste treatment plant
2004
Repeated measurements were carried out during two different campaigns between 1998 and 2001 to assess the occupational hygiene at a Finnish dry waste treatment plant. The analytical determinations were done in four different places within the processing hall of the plant: near a conveyor belt, near a jigger screen, near an after-crusher and near a bailer. Measurements were also carried out in a coffee room for employees. Concentrations of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes were determined by two methods (six-stage impactor and Camnea method) and levels of endotoxins, dust and noise were also investigated. High concentrations of microbes and endotoxins and the noise level were found to be a …
Application of the IO Methodology to the Energy and Environmental Analysis of a Regional Context
2009
Performing an energy and environmental analysis, researchers have to face many problems regarding the data quality and availability. Data are often out-of-date, not representative and consistent or, frequently, referred to faraway geographic and productive contexts. The Input-Output (IO) model, due to its simplicity, allows to acquire information regarding the energy and environmental performances of productive sectors.
Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationships of Amino Acid Conjugates of Cholanic Acid as Antagonists of the EphA2 Receptor
2013
The Eph–ephrin system plays a critical role in tumor growth and vascular functions during carcinogenesis. We had previously identified cholanic acid as a competitive and reversible EphA2 antagonist able to disrupt EphA2-ephrinA1 interaction and to inhibit EphA2 activation in prostate cancer cells. Herein, we report the synthesis and biological evaluation of a set of cholanic acid derivatives obtained by conjugation of its carboxyl group with a panel of naturally occurring amino acids with the aim to improve EphA2 receptor inhibition. Structure-activity relationships indicate that conjugation of cholanic acid with linear amino acids of small size leads to effective EphA2 antagonists whereas …
Detecting RNA modifications in the epitranscriptome: predict and validate
2017
RNA modifications are emerging players in the field of post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression, and are attracting a comparable degree of research interest to DNA and histone modifications in the field of epigenetics. We now know of more than 150 RNA modifications and the true potential of a few of these is currently emerging as the consequence of a leap in detection technology, principally associated with high-throughput sequencing. This Review outlines the major developments in this field through a structured discussion of detection principles, lays out advantages and drawbacks of new high-throughput methods and presents conventional biophysical identification of modifications …
Epigenetic biomarkers: A new perspective in laboratory diagnostics.
2012
Epigenetics comprises the study of chemical modifications in the DNA and histones that regulates the gene expression or cellular phenotype. However, during the last decade this term has evolved after the elucidation of different mechanisms (microRNAs and nuclear organization of the chromosomes) involved in regulating gene expression. Epigenetics and the new designed technologies capable to analyze epigenetic changes (e.g., methylated DNA, miRNAs expression, post-translational modifications on histones among others) have disclosed an appealing scenario that will offer for the biomedical sciences new biomarkers for the study of neurodegenerative diseases, multifactorial complex diseases, rare…
Handling the epistemic uncertainty in the selective maintenance problem
2020
Abstract Nowadays, both continuous and discontinuous operating systems require higher and higher reliability levels in order to avoid the occurrence of dangerous or even disastrous consequences. Accordingly, the definition of appropriate maintenance policies and the identification of components to be maintained during the planned system’s downtimes are fundamental to ensure the reliability maximization. Therefore, the present paper proposes a mathematical programming formulation of the selective maintenance problem with the aim to maximize the system’s reliability under an uncertain environment. Specifically, the aleatory model related to the components’ failure process is well known, where…
Towards ductilization of high strength 7XXX aluminium alloys via microstructural modifications obtained by friction stir processing and heat treatmen…
2021
Abstract High strength 7XXX aluminium series reach exceptional strength, higher than all other industrial aluminium alloys. However, they suffer from a lack of ductility compared to softer series. This work presents a procedure to improve the ductility of 7475 Al alloy in high strength condition, reaching a true fracture strain of 70% at full 500 MPa T6 yield strength. Using friction stir processing (FSP) and post-FSP heat treatments, 100% of industrial rolled material T6 yield stress is maintained but a 180% increase in fracture strain is measured for the processed material. This ductility improvement is studied by in-situ synchrotron X-ray tomography and is explained by the reduction of i…
Evolutionary Game Dynamics for Collective Decision Making in Structured and Unstructured Environments
2017
Abstract For a large population of players we consider a collective decision making process with three possible choices: option A or B or no option. The more popular option is more likely to be chosen by uncommitted players and cross-inhibitory signals can be sent to attract players committed to a different option. This model originates in the context of honeybees swarms, and we generalise it to accommodate other applications such as duopolistic competition and opinion dynamics. The first contribution is an evolutionary game model and a corresponding new game dynamics called expected gain pairwise comparison dynamics explaining how the strategic behaviour of the players may lead to deadlock…