Dominant-non-dominant asymmetry of kicking a stationary and rolling ball in a futsal context

The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of the asymmetries in the dominant and non-dominant limbs when kicking stationary and rolling balls. Ten experienced Brazilian amateur futsal players participated in this study. Each participant performed kicks under two conditions (stationary ball vs. rolling ball) with the dominant and non-dominant limbs (five kicks per condition per limb). We analysed the kicking accuracy, ball and foot velocities, angular joint displacement and velocity. The asymmetry between the dominant and non-dominant limbs was analysed by symmetry index and two-way repeated measures ANOVA. The results did not reveal any interaction between the condition and limb for ball velocity, foot velocity and accuracy. However, kicking with the dominant limb in both kicks showed higher ball velocity (stationary ball: dominant - 24.27 ± 2.21 m · s(-1) and non-dominant - 21.62 ± 2.26 m · s(-1); rolling ball: dominant - 23.88 ± 2.71 m · s(-1) and non-dominant - 21.42 ± 2.25 m · s(-1)), foot velocity (stationary ball: dominant - 17.61 ± 1.87 m · s(-1) and non-dominant - 15.58 ± 2.69 m · s(-1); rolling ball: dominant - 17.25 ± 2.26 m · s(-1) and non-dominant - 14.77 ± 2.35 m · s(-1)) and accuracy (stationary ball: dominant - 1.17 ± 0.84 m and non-dominant - 1.56 ± 1.30 m; rolling ball: dominant - 1.31 ± 0.91 m and non-dominant - 1.97 ± 1.44 m). In addition, the angular joint adjustments were dependent on the limb in both kicks (the kicks with non-dominant limb showed lower hip external rotation than the kicks with the dominant limb), indicating that the hip joint is important in kick performance. In conclusion, the kicks with the non-dominant limb showed different angular adjustments in comparison to kicks with the dominant limb. In addition, kicking a rolling ball with the non-dominant limb showed higher asymmetry for accuracy, indicating that complex kicks are more asymmetric.

Integrated pulp and paper mill planning and scheduling

This article describes a real-world production planning and scheduling problem occurring at an integrated pulp and paper mill (P&P) which manufactures paper for cardboard out of produced pulp. During the cooking of wood chips in the digester, two by-products are produced: the pulp itself (virgin fibers) and the waste stream known as black liquor. The former is then mixed with recycled fibers and processed in a paper machine. Here, due to significant sequence-dependent setups in paper type changeovers, sizing and sequencing of lots have to be made simultaneously in order to efficiently use capacity. The latter is converted into electrical energy using a set of evaporators, recovery boilers and counter-pressure turbines. The planning challenge is then to synchronize the material flow as it moves through the pulp and paper mills, and energy plant, maximizing customer demand (as backlogging is allowed), and minimizing operation costs. Due to the intensive capital feature of P&P, the output of the digester must be maximized. As the production bottleneck is not fixed, to tackle this problem we propose a new model that integrates the critical production units associated to the pulp and paper mills, and energy plant for the first time. Simple stochastic mixed integer programming based local search heuristics are developed to obtain good feasible solutions for the problem. The benefits of integrating the three stages are discussed. The proposed approaches are tested on real-world data. Our work may help P&P companies to increase their competitiveness and reactiveness in dealing with demand pattern oscillations. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced oxidation process H2O2/UV combined with anaerobic digestion to remove chlorinated organics from bleached kraft pulp mill wastewater

This study investigated the application of an advanced oxidation process combining hydrogen peroxide with ultraviolet radiation (H2O2/UV) to remove recalcitrant compounds from Kraft bleaching effluent. Anaerobic pre-treatment was performed to remove easily degraded organics using a horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized biomass (HAIB) reactor. Bleaching plant effluent was treated in the HAIB reactor processed over 19 h of hydraulic retention time (HRT), reaching the expected removal efficiencies for COD (61 +/- 3%), TOC (69 +/- 9%), BOD5 (90 +/- 5%) and AOX (55 +/- 14%). However, the anaerobic treatment did not achieve acceptable removal of UV254 compounds. Furthermore, there was an increase of lignin, measured as total phenols. The H2O2/UV post-treatment provided a wide range of removal efficiencies depending on the dosage of hydrogen peroxide and UV irradiation: COD ranged from 0 to 11%, UV254 from 16 to 35%, lignin from 0 to 29% and AOX from 23 to 54%. All peroxide dosages applied in this work promoted an increase in the BOD5/COD ratio of the wastewater. The experiments demonstrate the technical feasibility of using H2O2/UV for post-treatment of bleaching effluents submitted to anaerobic pre-treatment.

Sekretessrelaterade samarbetsproblem : En kvantitativ studie i syfte att kartlägga sekretesslagens roll i samarbetet inom och mellan verksamheter som arbetar för barn och unga

Sekretesslagen är en förutsättning för att socialt arbete ska fungera men många av de som dagligen använder sig av lagen uppfattar den som omfattande och svårtolkad. Uppsatsen syftar till att kartlägga sekretesslagens roll i samarbetet inom och mellan olika verksamheter som arbetar för barn och unga upp till 15 år, hur lagen påverkar det professionella arbetet kring dessa och förutsättningarna att tillgodose den enskilde individens behov. Undersökningen utgår från följande frågeställningar: Vilka brister finns i sekretesslagen, i tolkningen och brukandet av den? Utgör sekretesslagen ett hinder i samarbetet inom och mellan samhällets olika instanser? Kan sekretesslagen vara ett hinder mer än ett skydd för den enskilde individen? Vilka eventuella behov finns av förändringar i lagstiftningen? Utifrån kvantitativ metod utformades en enkät som personal inom förskola och skola, socialtjänst och BUP (barn och ungdomspsykiatrin) besvarade. Datamaterialet matades in i statistikprogrammet SPSS för analys. Resultatet visar på bristande kunskaper och utbildning om sekretesslagen i samtliga yrkeskategorier. Att sekretesslagen upplevs som ett hinder i såväl samarbete inom en verksamhet som mellan verksamheter. Sekretesslagen upplevdes slutligen också kunna vara mer ett hinder än ett skydd för den enskilde individen. Sekretesslagen är omfattande och inte lätt att tolka. Kanske skulle lagen kunna vara tydligare och inte lämna lika stort utrymme för tolkning. Vi tolkar dock resultatet som att det snarare är kompetensen hos de som brukar lagen som borde vara högre. Respondenterna i undersökningen har för lite utbildning om och för dålig kunskap kring sekretesslagen. Okunskapen ger upphov till tankefällor och feltolkningar av lagen.

Phenolic Constituents, Antioxidant and Preliminary Antimycoplasmic Activities of Leaf Skin and Flowers of Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f. (syn. A. barbadensis Mill.) from the Canary Islands (Spain)

[EN]The methanol extracts of leaf skins and flowers of Aloe vera from the Canary Islands were analyzed for their phenolic profiles and screened for their antioxidant and antimycoplasmic activities. The use of reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) allowed the identification of 18 phenolic constituents. Leaf skin extracts were characterized by the abundance of catechin, sinapic acid and quercitrin. Gentisic acid, epicatechin and quercitrin were the most prominent phenolic compounds of the flowers. The in vitro antioxidant activities determined by using the 1,1-diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric antioxidant reducing power (FRAP) assays revealed that both extracts exhibited antioxidant activity, being the leaf skin extract the most active fraction. The leaf skin extract was also found to be active against the microbial strains tested. Therefore, A. vera extracts from leaf skin and flowers can be considered as good natural antioxidant sources.

Analisi dell’influenza dei moti rigidi di una trattrice agricola sulle vibrazioni a corpo intero trasmesse all’operatore

L’esposizione degli operatori in campo agricolo alle vibrazioni trasmesse al corpo intero, produce effetti dannosi alla salute nel breve e nel lungo termine. Le vibrazioni che si generano sulle trattrici agricole hanno una elevata intensità e una bassa frequenza. Le componenti orizzontali, amplificate dalla posizione elevata della postazione di guida dall’asse di rollio, presentano maggiori criticità per quanto riguarda i sistemi di smorzamento rispetto alle componenti verticali. Queste caratteristiche rendono difficoltosa la progettazione dei sistemi dedicati alla riduzione del livello vibrazionale per questa categoria di macchine agricole. Nonostante l’installazione di diversi sistemi di smorzamento, il livello di vibrazioni a cui è sottoposto l’operatore può superare, in diverse condizioni di impiego, i livelli massimi imposti dalla legge per la salvaguardia della salute. L’obiettivo di questo lavoro è quello di valutare l’influenza dei moti rigidi di una trattrice (beccheggio, rollio e saltellamento) dotata di sospensione assale anteriore, sospensione cabina e sospensione sedile, sul livello vibrazionale trasmesso all’operatore.E’ stata pertanto strumenta una trattrice con accelerometri e inclinometri installati su telaio, cabina e sedile e utilizzata in diverse condizioni di lavoro in campo e di trasporto su strada. Dall’analisi delle prove effettuate emerge che durante il trasporto su strada è predominante l’accelerazione longitudinale, a causa dell’elevata influenza del beccheggio. La sospensione riduce notevolmente il moto rigido di beccheggio mentre l’effetto della sospensione della cabina è quello di incrementare, in ogni condizione di lavoro, il livello di accelerazione trasmesso dal telaio della macchina.

Evolution von Miniaturisierung in arktisch-alpinen Lebensräumen in Petasites Mill., Endocellion Turcz. ex Herder, Homogyne Cass. und Tussilago L. (Asteraceae) sowie Soldanella L. (Primulaceae)

Hintergrund: Miniaturisierung ist ein häufig beobachtetes Phänomen bei Pflanzen in arktisch-alpinen Lebensräumen und wird als Anpassung an niedrige Jahresmitteltemperaturen und eine kurze Vegetationsperiode interpretiert. Ziele: In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird im Petasites-Clade (Petasites Mill., Endocellion Turcz. ex Herder, Homogyne Cass., Tussilago L.; Asteraceae) und in Soldanella (Primulaceae) die Evolution der Miniaturisierung arktisch-alpiner Arten untersucht. Zudem wird innerhalb von Homogyne untersucht, ob unterschiedliche edaphische Präferenz von H. alpina (variabel) und H. discolor (kalkliebend) genetisch fixiert ist. rnMethoden: Molekulare Phylogenien des Petasites-Clades und von Soldanella wurden mit nukleären und plastidären Markern erstellt, und mit den in den Alpen vorkommenden Soldanella-Arten wurde zudem eine Fingerprint-Studie (AFLPs) gemacht. Zur Datierung der Diversifizierungsereignisse im Petasites-Clade diente eine molekulare Uhr, und die Evolution von Miniaturisierung wurde rekonstruiert. Mit H. alpina und H. discolor wurde ein vergleichendes Kulturexperiment durchgeführt.rnErgebnisse: Miniaturisierung entstand mehrere Male unabhängig voneinander in den arktisch-alpinen Vertretern des Petasites-Clade, aber nicht alle arktisch-alpinen Arten sind klein. Das Alter der arktisch-alpinen Arten deutet darauf hin, dass diese Taxa ihren Ursprung in der arkto-tertiären Flora haben. In Soldanella sind reduzierte Blütenmorphologie sowie Kleinwüchsigkeit der beiden alpinen Arten zweimal parallel entstanden. Homogyne alpina und H. discolor zeigen keine edaphischen Unterschiede hinsichtlich des Keimverhaltens, aber in Kultur zeigt sich, dass die Präferenz von H. discolor für Kalk wahrscheinlich genetisch fixiert ist.rnSchlussfolgerungen: Miniaturisierung von Pflanzen in größerer Höhe und höherer geographischer Breite kann in der Regel beobachtet werden. Allerdings kann die Evolution arktisch-alpiner Arten auch durch Faktoren wie Nährstoffverfügbarkeit, Konkurrenz und Störung beeinflusst werden, die dem Effekt der Temperatur entgegenwirken, so dass nicht alle Pflanzen in arktisch-alpinen Habitaten klein sind. Blütenmorphologische Reduktion in Soldanella kann als Anpassung an einen höheren Grad an Selbstbestäubung interpretiert werden, um eine geringere Bestäuberaktivität im alpinen Lebensraum zu kompensieren.

String inflationary models with non-monotonic slow-roll and detectable tensor modes

The first chapter of this work has the aim to provide a brief overview of the history of our Universe, in the context of string theory and considering inflation as its possible application to cosmological problems. We then discuss type IIB string compactifications, introducing the study of the inflaton, a scalar field candidated to describe the inflation theory. The Large Volume Scenario (LVS) is studied in the second chapter paying particular attention to the stabilisation of the Kähler moduli which are four-dimensional gravitationally coupled scalar fields which parameterise the size of the extra dimensions. Moduli stabilisation is the process through which these particles acquire a mass and can become promising inflaton candidates. The third chapter is devoted to the study of Fibre Inflation which is an interesting inflationary model derived within the context of LVS compactifications. The fourth chapter tries to extend the zone of slow-roll of the scalar potential by taking larger values of the field φ. Everything is done with the purpose of studying in detail deviations of the cosmological observables, which can better reproduce current experimental data. Finally, we present a slight modification of Fibre Inflation based on a different compactification manifold. This new model produces larger tensor modes with a spectral index in good agreement with the date released in February 2015 by the Planck satellite.

Development of a biorefinery scheme for the valorization of olive mill wastewaters and grape pomaces

In the Mediterranean area, olive mill wastewater (OMW) and grape pomace (GP) are among the major agro-industrial wastes produced. These two wastes have a high organic load and high phytotoxicity. Thus, their disposal in the environment can lead to negative effects. Second-generation biorefineries are dedicated to the valorization of biowaste by the production of goods from such residual biomasses. This approach can combine bioremediation approaches to the generation of noble molecules, biomaterials and energy. The main aim of this thesis work was to study the anaerobic digestion of OMW and GP under different operational conditions to produce volatile fatti acids (VFAs) (first stage aim) and CH4 (second stage aim). To this end, a packed-bed biofilm reactor (PBBR) was set up to perform the anaerobic acidogenic digestion of the liquid dephenolized stream of OMW (OMWdeph). In parallel, the solid stream of OMW (OMWsolid), previously separated in order to allow the solid phase extraction of polyphenols, was addressed to anaerobic methanogenic digestion to obtain CH4. The latter experiment was performed in 100ml Pyrex bottles which were maintained at different temperatures (55-45-37°C). Together with previous experiments, the anaerobic acidogenic digestion of fermented GP (GPfreshacid) and dephenolized and fermented GP (GPdephacid) was performed in 100ml Pyrex bottles to estimate the concentration of VFAs achievable from each aforementioned GPs. Finally, the same matrices of GP and not pre-treated GP (GPfresh) were digested under anaerobic methanogenic condition to produce CH4. Anaerobic acidogenic and methanogenic digestion processes of GPs lasted about 33 days. Instead, the anaerobic acidogenic and methanogenic digestion process of OMWs lasted about 121 and 60 days, respectively. Each experiment was periodically monitored by analysing volume and composition of produced biogas and VFA concentration. Results showed that VFAs were produced in higher concentrations in GP compared to OMWdeph. The overall concentration of VFAs from GPfreshacid was approximately 39.5 gCOD L-1, 29 gCOD L-1 from GPdephacid, and 8.7 gCOD L-1 from OMWdeph. Concerning the CH4 production, the OMWsolid reached a high biochemical methane potential (BMP) at a thermophilic temperature (55°) than at mesophlic ones (37-45°C). The value reached was about 358.7 mlCH4 gSVsub-1. In contrast, GPfresh got a high BMP but at a mesophilic temperature. The BMP was about 207.3 mlCH4 gSVsub-1, followed by GPfreshacid with about 192.6 mlCH4 gSVsub-1 and lastly GPdephacid with about 102.2 mlCH4 gSVsub-1. In summary, based on the gathered results, GP seems to be a better carbon source for acidogenic and methanogenic microrganism compared to OMW, because higher amount of VFAs and CH4 were produced in AD of GP than OMW. In addition to these products, polyphenols were extracted by means of a solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure by another research group, and VFAs were utilised for biopolymers production, in particular polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), by the same research group in which I was involved.

Bioremediation with White-Rot Fungi at Fisherville Mill: Analyses of Gene Expression and Number 6 Fuel Oil Degradation

Extracellular enzymes that white-rot fungi secrete during lignin decay have been proposed as promising agents for oxidizing pollutants. We investigated the abilities of the white-rot fungi Punctularia strigosozonata, Irpex lacteus, Trichaptum biforme, Phlebia radiata, Trametes versicolor, and Pleurotus ostreatus to degrade Number 6 fuel oil in wood sawdust cultures. Our goals are to advise bioremediation efforts at a brownfield redevelopment site on the Blackstone River in Grafton, Massachusetts and to contribute to the understanding of decay mechanisms in white-rot fungi. All species tested degraded a C10 alkane. When cultivated for 6 months, Irpex lacteus, T. biforme, P. radiata, T. versicolor and P. ostreatus also degraded a C14 alkane and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon phenanthrene. Gene expression analyses of P. strigosozonata indicate differential gene expression in the presence of Number 6 oil and on pine and aspen sawdust.