Prediction of the bulking phenomenon in wastewater treatment plants

The control and prediction of wastewater treatment plants poses an important goal: to avoid breaking the environmental balance by always keeping the system in stable operating conditions. It is known that qualitative information — coming from microscopic examinations and subjective remarks — has a deep influence on the activated sludge process. In particular, on the total amount of effluent suspended solids, one of the measures of overall plant performance. The search for an input–output model of this variable and the prediction of sudden increases (bulking episodes) is thus a central concern to ensure the fulfillment of current discharge limitations. Unfortunately, the strong interrelationbetween variables, their heterogeneity and the very high amount of missing information makes the use of traditional techniques difficult, or even impossible. Through the combined use of several methods — rough set theory and artificial neural networks, mainly — reasonable prediction models are found, which also serve to show the different importance of variables and provide insight into the process dynamics

Application of a support system to the design of wastewater treatment plants

This paper presents a case study that explores the advantages that can be derived from the use of a design support system during the design of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). With this objective in mind a simplified but plausible WWTP design case study has been generated with KBDS, a computer-based support system that maintains a historical record of the design process. The study shows how, by employing such a historical record, it is possible to: (1) rank different design proposals responding to a design problem; (2) study the influence of changing the weight of the arguments used in the selection of the most adequate proposal; (3) take advantage of keywords to assist the designer in the search of specific items within the historical records; (4) evaluate automatically thecompliance of alternative design proposals with respect to the design objectives; (5) verify the validity of previous decisions after the modification of the current constraints or specifications; (6) re-use the design records when upgrading an existing WWTP or when designing similar facilities; (7) generate documentation of the decision making process; and (8) associate a variety of documents as annotations to any component in the design history. The paper also shows one possible future role of design support systems as they outgrow their current reactive role as repositories of historical information and start to proactively support the generation of new knowledge during the design process

Effects of feed processing on the apparent ileal digestibility of amino acids in pig diets containing wheat bran or wheat middlings

Selostus: Prosessoinnin vaikutus vehnän sivutuotteita sisältävien rehuseosten aminohappojen ohutsuolisulavuuteen sioilla

Accurate memory for object location by individuals with intellectual disability: Absolute spatial tagging instead of configural processing?

Using head-mounted eye tracker material, we assessed spatial recognition abilities (e.g., reaction to object permutation, removal or replacement with a new object) in participants with intellectual disabilities. The "Intellectual Disabilities (ID)" group (n=40) obtained a score totalling a 93.7% success rate, whereas the "Normal Control" group (n=40) scored 55.6% and took longer to fix their attention on the displaced object. The participants with an intellectual disability thus had a more accurate perception of spatial changes than controls. Interestingly, the ID participants were more reactive to object displacement than to removal of the object. In the specific test of novelty detection, however, the scores were similar, the two groups approaching 100% detection. Analysis of the strategies expressed by the ID group revealed that they engaged in more systematic object checking and were more sensitive than the control group to changes in the structure of the environment. Indeed, during the familiarisation phase, the "ID" group explored the collection of objects more slowly, and fixed their gaze for a longer time upon a significantly lower number of fixation points during visual sweeping.

Involvement of Dab1 in APP processing and [beta]-amyloid deposition in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob patients.

Alzheimer"s disease and prion pathologies (e.g., Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) display profound neural lesions associated with aberrant protein processing and extracellular amyloid deposits. For APP processing, emerging data suggest that the adaptor protein Dab1 plays a relevant role in regulating its intracellular trafficking and secretase-mediated proteolysis. Although some data have been presented, a putative relationship between human prion diseases and Dab1/APP interactions is lacking. Therefore, we have studied the putative relation between Dab1, APP processing and Aβ deposition, targets in sCJD cases. Our biochemical results categorized two groups of sCJD cases, which also correlated with PrPsc types 1 and 2 respectively. One group, with PrPsc type 1 showed increased Dab1 phosphorylation, and lower βCTF production with an absence of Aβ deposition. The second sCJD group, which carried PrPsc type 2, showed lower levels of Dab1 phosphorylation and βCTF production, similar to control cases. Relevant Aβ deposition in the second sCJD group was measured. Thus, a direct correlation between Dab1 phosphorylation, Aβ deposition and PrPsc type in human sCJD is presented for the first time.

One minute of grief: Emotional processing in short-term dynamic psychotherapy for adjustment disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Depth of emotional processing has shown to be related to outcome across approaches to psychotherapy. Moreover, a specific emotional sequence has been postulated and tested in several studies on experiential psychotherapy (Pascual-Leone & Greenberg, 2007). This process-outcome study aims at reproducing the sequential model of emotional processing in psychodynamic psychotherapy for adjustment disorder and linking these variables with ultimate therapeutic outcome. METHOD: In this study, 32 patients underwent short-term dynamic psychotherapy. On the basis of reliable clinical change statistics, a subgroup (n = 16) presented with good outcome and another subgroup (n = 16) had a poor outcome in the end of treatment. The strongest alliance session of each case was rated using the observer-rated system Classification of Affective Meaning States. Reliability coefficients for the measure were excellent (κ = .82). RESULTS: Using 1 min as the fine-grained unit of analysis, results showed that the experience of fundamentally adaptive grief was more common in the in-session process of patients with good outcome, compared with those with poor outcomes (χ2 = 6.56, p = .01, d = 1.23). This variable alone predicted 19% of the change in depressive symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory at the end of treatment. Moreover, sequences of the original model were supported and related to outcome. CONCLUSIONS: These results are discussed within the framework of the sequential model of emotional processing and its possible relevance for psychodynamic psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Processing of the circumsporozoite protein in infected hepatocytes is not dependent on aspartic proteases

CD8(+) T cells play a major role in the protective immune response against the liver stage of malaria. It was previously shown that the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) is processed and presented to specific T cells by both traversed and infected hepatocytes, but their respective antigen processing requirements were not completely defined. In the present study, we show that in vitro processing of the Plasmodium berghei CSP by infected mouse primary hepatocytes is exclusively dependent on proteasomes, while aspartic proteases are also needed in the case of traversed hepatocytes

Pore size distribution in soils irrigated with sodic water and wastewater

Soil porosity, especially pore size distribution, is an important controlling factor for soil infiltration, hydraulic conductivity, and water retention. This study aimed to verify the effect of secondary-treated domestic wastewater (STW) on the porosity of a sandy loam Oxisol in the city of Lins, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The two-year experiment was divided into three plots: soil cultivated with corn and sunflower and irrigated with STW, soil cultivated and irrigated with sodic groundwater, and non-irrigated and non-cultivated soil (control). At the end of the experiment, undisturbed core samples were sampled from 0 to 2.0 m (8 depths). The water retention curves were obtained by tension plates and Richard's pressure plate apparatus, and the pore size distribution inferred from the retention curves. It was found that irrigation with treated wastewater and treated groundwater led to a decrease in microporosity (V MI), defined as the pore class ranging from 0.2 to 50 μm diameter. On the other hand, a significant increase in cryptoporosity (V CRI) (< 0.2 μm) was identified throughout the soil profile. The presence of Na+ in both waters confirmed the role of this ion on pore size distribution and soil moisture (higher water retention).

Irrigation with domestic wastewater: a multivariate analysis of main soil changes

Irrigation with treated domestic sewage wastewater (TSE) is an agricultural practice to reduce water requirements of agroecossystems and the nutrient load impact on freshwaters, but adverse effects on soil chemical (salinization, sodification, etc.) and soil physical properties (alteration in soil porosity and hydraulic conductivity, etc.) have been reported. This study aimed to define some relationships among these changes in an Oxisol using multivariate analysis. Corn (Zea mays L.) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were grown for two years, irrigated with TSE. The following soil properties were determined: Ca2+; Mg2+; Na+; K+ and H + Al contents, cationic exchangeable capacity (CEC), sum of bases (SB), base saturation (V), texture (sand, silt and clay), macro-, micro-, and cryptoporosity (V MA, V MI and V CRI), water content at soil saturation (θS) and at field capacity (θFC), residual water content (θR), soil bulk density (d s), water dispersed clay (WDC) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (K SAT). Factor analysis revealed the following six principal factors: Fine Porosity (composed of Na+; K+; WDC, θR, θRFC, and V CRI); Large Porosity (θS, d s, V MA, Vs); Soil CEC (Ca2+; Mg2+; CEC, SB, V); Soil Acidity (H + Al); and Soil Texture (factors 5 and 6). A dual pore structure appears clearly to the factors 1 and 2, with an apparent relationship between fine porosity and the monovalent cations Na+ and K+. The irrigation (with potable sodic tap water or sewage wastewater) only had a significant effect on Fine Porosity and Large Porosity factors, while factors 3 and 4 (Soil CEC and Soil Acidity) were correlated with soil depth. The main conclusion was a shift in pore distribution (large to fine pores) during irrigation with TSE, which induces an increase of water storage and reduces the capacity of drainage of salts.

Water-dispersible clay in soils treated with sewage sludge

A by-product of Wastewater Treatment Stations is sewage sludge. By treatment and processing, the sludge is made suitable for rational and environmentally safe use in agriculture. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of different doses of limed sewage sludge (50 %) on clay dispersion in soil samples with different textures (clayey and medium). The study was conducted with soil samples collected from native forest, on a Red Latosol (Brazilian classification: Latossolo Vermelho distroférrico) loamy soil in Londrina (PR) and a Red-Yellow Latosol (BC: Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo distrófico) medium texture soil in Jaguapitã (PR). Pots were filled with 3 kg of air-dried fine earth and kept in greenhouse. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with six treatments: T1 control, and treatments with limed sewage sludge (50 %) as follows: T2 (3 t ha-1), T3 (6 t ha-1), T4 (12 t ha-1), T5 (24 t ha-1) and T6 (48 t ha-1) and five replications. The incubation time was 180 days. At the end of this period, the pots were opened and two sub-samples per treatment collected to determine pH-H2O, pH KCl (1 mol L-1), organic matter content, water-dispersible clay, ΔpH (pH KCl - pH-H2O) and estimated PZC (point of zero charge): PZC = 2 pH KCl - pH-H2O, as well as the mineralogy of the clay fraction, determined by X ray diffraction. The results showed no significant difference in the average values for water-dispersible clay between the control and the other treatments for the two soil samples studied and ΔpH was the variable that correlated best with water-dispersible clay in both soils.

Respiratory responses associated with affective processing of film stimuli

We investigated respiratory responses during film clip viewing and their relation to the affective dimensions of valence and arousal. Seventy-six subjects participated in a study using a between groups design. To begin with, all participants viewed an emotionally neutral film clip. Then, they were presented with one out of four emotional film clips: a positive high-arousal, a positive low-arousal, a negative high-arousal and a negative low-arousal clip. Respiration, skin conductance level, heart rate, corrugator activity and affective judgments were measured. Expiratory time was shorter and inspiratory duty cycle, mean expiratory flow and minute ventilation were larger during the high-arousal clips compared to the low-arousal clips. The pleasantness of the stimuli had no influence on any respiratory measure. These findings confirm the importance of arousal in respiratory responding but also evidence differences in comparison to previous studies using visual and auditory stimuli. [Authors]

Electrical conductivity of soil irrigated with swine wastewater estimated by time-domain reflectometry¹

Wastewater application to soil is an alternative for fertilization and water reuse. However, particular care must be taken with this practice, since successive wastewater applications can cause soil salinization. Time-domain reflectometry (TDR) allows for the simultaneous and continuous monitoring of both soil water content and apparent electrical conductivity and thus for the indirect measurement of the electrical conductivity of the soil solution. This study aimed to evaluate the suitability of TDR for the indirect determination of the electrical conductivity (ECse) of the saturated soil extract by using an empirical equation for the apparatus TDR Trase 6050X1. Disturbed soil samples saturated with swine wastewater were used, at soil proportions of 0, 0.45, 0.90, 1.80, 2.70, and 3.60 m³ m-3. The probes were equipped with three handmade 0.20 cm long rods. The fit of the empirical model that associated the TDR measured values of electrical conductivity (EC TDR) to ECse was excellent, indicating this approach as suitable for the determination of electrical conductivity of the soil solution.