Withdrawing from Atmosphere: An Ontology of Air partitioning and Affective Engineering

The main objective of this text is to warn against atmospherics. However comfortable it might appear, an atmosphere is politically suspicious because it numbs a body into an affective embrace of stability and permanence. It becomes doubly suspicious because a body desires to be part of the atmosphere. For this reason, I rethink both affect and atmosphere ontologically rather than phenomenologically. I argue that an atmosphere is engineered by subsuming individual affects to what I call, following Sloterdijk, an atmospheric glasshouse. I suggest that this happens in four steps: a distinction between inside and outside through partitioning; inclusion of the outside inside; illusion of synthesis; and dissimulation. In order to do this, I begin with air as the elemental paradox of ontological continuum and rupture. I carry on with the passage from air to atmosphere while retaining the discourse around continuum and rupture. Finally, I indicate a way of rupturing the atmospheric continuum through the ontological movement of withdrawal from the atmosphere. The ultimate goal of the article is to sketch a problematic of atmospherics that puts together without synthesising an elemental ontology of continuum and rupture.

Withdrawing from atmosphere: An ontology of air partitioning and affective engineering

The main objective of this text is to warn against atmospherics. However comfortable it might appear, an atmosphere is politically suspicious because it numbs a body into an affective embrace of stability and permanence. It becomes doubly suspicious because a body desires to be part of the atmosphere. For this reason, I rethink both affect and atmosphere ontologically rather than phenomenologically. I argue that an atmosphere is engineered by subsuming individual affects to what I call, following Sloterdijk, an atmospheric glasshouse. I suggest that this happens in four steps: a distinction between inside and outside through partitioning; inclusion of the outside inside; illusion of synthesis; and dissimulation. In order to do this, I begin with air as the elemental paradox of ontological continuum and rupture. I carry on with the passage from air to atmosphere while retaining the discourse around continuum and rupture. Finally, I indicate a way of rupturing the atmospheric continuum through the ontological movement of withdrawal from the atmosphere. The ultimate goal of the article is to sketch a problematic of atmospherics that puts together without synthesising an elemental ontology of continuum and rupture.

Control and comparison of the antioxidant capacity of beers

The purpose of the present work is to determine the antioxidant capacity (AC) of 27 commercial beers. The AC indicates the degree of protection of a certain organism against oxidative damage provoked by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. Assays were carried out by the following methods: (i) total radical trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP); (ii) trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC); (iii) trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (DPPH); (iv) ferric-ion reducing antioxidant parameter (FRAP); (v) cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC); (vi) oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Ascorbic acid (AA), gallic acid (GA) and trolox (TR) were used as standards. All beers showed antioxidant power, but a wide range of ACs was observed. The effect of several factors upon these differences was studied. Statistical differences were found between ACs of beers of different colours. ORAC method provided always higher experimental ACs, of significant statistical differences to other assays.

Metabolic and morphogenetic engineering of Bacillus subtilis: biotechnology for industry

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D. degree in “Biology” at the Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology of the New University of Lisbon

A Review on the Characterization of Signals and Systems by Power Law Distributions

Power laws, also known as Pareto-like laws or Zipf-like laws, are commonly used to explain a variety of real world distinct phenomena, often described merely by the produced signals. In this paper, we study twelve cases, namely worldwide technological accidents, the annual revenue of America׳s largest private companies, the number of inhabitants in America׳s largest cities, the magnitude of earthquakes with minimum moment magnitude equal to 4, the total burned area in forest fires occurred in Portugal, the net worth of the richer people in America, the frequency of occurrence of words in the novel Ulysses, by James Joyce, the total number of deaths in worldwide terrorist attacks, the number of linking root domains of the top internet domains, the number of linking root domains of the top internet pages, the total number of human victims of tornadoes occurred in the U.S., and the number of inhabitants in the 60 most populated countries. The results demonstrate the emergence of statistical characteristics, very close to a power law behavior. Furthermore, the parametric characterization reveals complex relationships present at higher level of description.

AUV Control and Communication using Underwater Acoustic Networks

Underwater acoustic networks can be quite effective to establish communication links between autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and other vehicles or control units, enabling complex vehicle applications and control scenarios. A communications and control framework to support the use of underwater acoustic networks and sample application scenarios are described for single and multi-AUV operation.

Sustainability Improvement of a composite materials’ industry through recycling and re-engineering process approaches

Recent Advances in Mechanics and Materials in Design

Quality control and conduct of genome-wide association meta-analyses.

Rigorous organization and quality control (QC) are necessary to facilitate successful genome-wide association meta-analyses (GWAMAs) of statistics aggregated across multiple genome-wide association studies. This protocol provides guidelines for (i) organizational aspects of GWAMAs, and for (ii) QC at the study file level, the meta-level across studies and the meta-analysis output level. Real-world examples highlight issues experienced and solutions developed by the GIANT Consortium that has conducted meta-analyses including data from 125 studies comprising more than 330,000 individuals. We provide a general protocol for conducting GWAMAs and carrying out QC to minimize errors and to guarantee maximum use of the data. We also include details for the use of a powerful and flexible software package called EasyQC. Precise timings will be greatly influenced by consortium size. For consortia of comparable size to the GIANT Consortium, this protocol takes a minimum of about 10 months to complete.

Somewhere between illusion of control and powerlessness : trying to situate the pathological gambler's locus of control

It has been suggested that pathological gamblers develop illusory perceptions of control regarding the outcome of the games and should express higher Internal and Chance locus of control. A sample of 48 outpatients diagnosed with pathological gambling disorder who participated in this ex post facto study, completed the Internality, Powerful Others, and Chance scale, the South Oaks Gambling Screen questionnaire, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Results for the locus of control measure were compared with a reference group. Pathological gamblers scored higher than the reference group on the Chance locus of control, which increased with the severity of cases. Moreover, Internal locus of control did show a curvilinear relationship with the severity of cases. Pathological gamblers have specific locus of control scores that vary in function of the severity, in a linear fashion or a non-linear fashion according to the scale. This effect might be caused by competition between "illusion of control" and the tendency to attribute adverse consequence of gambling to external causes.

Co-operative education and the development of self-esteem, an internal locus of control and work habits

This study compared approximately 50 grade 12 students studying In th~ co-operative education mode with approximately 50 grade 12 students studying in a traditional English course. Measures of self-esteem, locus of control and work habits were compared before and at the conclusion of one semester's involvement in the different programs. Using Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory, the students who had chosen to study in the co-operative education mode scored significantly higher than the students in the traditional course. At the end of the semester, the co-operative education students' scores remained significantly higher than the English students'. Although the test showed no sjgnifi~ant changes in self-esteem. anecdotal reports indicated that co-operative education students had increased self-esteem over the semester. No significant differences in locus of control were observed between the two groups at any time. Significant differences in work habits were observed. While both groups had the same number of absences and the same marks before taking these courses, students who were involved in co-operative education had significantly fewer absences and significantly higher marks than the students studying in the traditional course. Anecdotal reports also indicated an improv~ment in work habits for students who had been involved in co-operative education. Recommendations of the study are for further research to determine more exactly how self-esteem and work habits develop in co-operative education students. Also. students. parents, teachers. and administrators need to be made aware of the success of this program.

Improvements in Fermentative Hydrogen Production through Physiological Manipulation and Metabolic Engineering

La production biologique d'hydrogène (H2) représente une technologie possible pour la production à grande échelle durable de H2 nécessaire pour l'économie future de l'hydrogène. Cependant, l'obstacle majeur à l'élaboration d'un processus pratique a été la faiblesse des rendements qui sont obtenus, généralement autour de 25%, bien en sous des rendements pouvant être atteints pour la production de biocarburants à partir d'autres processus. L'objectif de cette thèse était de tenter d'améliorer la production d'H2 par la manipulation physiologique et le génie métabolique. Une hypothèse qui a été étudiée était que la production d'H2 pourrait être améliorée et rendue plus économique en utilisant un procédé de fermentation microaérobie sombre car cela pourrait fournir la puissance supplémentaire nécessaire pour une conversion plus complète du substrat et donc une production plus grande d'H2 sans l'aide de l'énergie lumineuse. Les concentrations optimales d’O2 pour la production de H2 microaérobie ont été examinées ainsi que l'impact des sources de carbone et d'azote sur le processus. La recherche présentée ici a démontré la capacité de Rhodobacter capsulatus JP91 hup- (un mutant déficient d’absorption-hydrogénase) de produire de l'H2 sous condition microaérobie sombre avec une limitation dans des quantités d’O2 et d'azote fixé. D'autres travaux devraient être entrepris pour augmenter les rendements d'H2 en utilisant cette technologie. De plus, un processus de photofermentation a été créé pour améliorer le rendement d’H2 à partir du glucose à l'aide de R. capsulatus JP91 hup- soit en mode non renouvelé (batch) et / ou en conditions de culture en continu. Certains défis techniques ont été surmontés en mettant en place des conditions adéquates de fonctionnement pour un rendement accru d'H2. Un rendement maximal de 3,3 mols de H2/ mol de glucose a été trouvé pour les cultures en batch tandis que pour les cultures en continu, il était de 10,3 mols H2/ mol de glucose, beaucoup plus élevé que celui rapporté antérieurement et proche de la valeur maximale théorique de 12 mols H2/ mol de glucose. Dans les cultures en batch l'efficacité maximale de conversion d’énergie lumineuse était de 0,7% alors qu'elle était de 1,34% dans les cultures en continu avec un rendement de conversion maximum de la valeur de chauffage du glucose de 91,14%. Diverses autres approches pour l'augmentation des rendements des processus de photofermentation sont proposées. Les résultats globaux indiquent qu'un processus photofermentatif efficace de production d'H2 à partir du glucose en une seule étape avec des cultures en continu dans des photobioréacteurs pourrait être développé ce qui serait un processus beaucoup plus prometteur que les processus en deux étapes ou avec les co-cultures étudiés antérieurément. En outre, l'expression hétérologue d’hydrogenase a été utilisée comme une stratégie d'ingénierie métabolique afin d'améliorer la production d'H2 par fermentation. La capacité d'exprimer une hydrogénase d'une espèce avec des gènes de maturation d'une autre espèce a été examinée. Une stratégie a démontré que la protéine HydA orpheline de R. rubrum est fonctionnelle et active lorsque co-exprimée chez Escherichia coli avec HydE, HydF et HydG provenant d'organisme différent. La co-expression des gènes [FeFe]-hydrogénase structurels et de maturation dans des micro-organismes qui n'ont pas une [FeFe]-hydrogénase indigène peut entraîner le succès dans l'assemblage et la biosynthèse d'hydrogénase active. Toutefois, d'autres facteurs peuvent être nécessaires pour obtenir des rendements considérablement augmentés en protéines ainsi que l'activité spécifique des hydrogénases recombinantes. Une autre stratégie a consisté à surexprimer une [FeFe]-hydrogénase très active dans une souche hôte de E. coli. L'expression d'une hydrogénase qui peut interagir directement avec le NADPH est souhaitable car cela, plutôt que de la ferrédoxine réduite, est naturellement produit par le métabolisme. Toutefois, la maturation de ce type d'hydrogénase chez E. coli n'a pas été rapportée auparavant. L'opéron hnd (hndA, B, C, D) de Desulfovibrio fructosovorans code pour une [FeFe]-hydrogénase NADP-dépendante, a été exprimé dans différentes souches d’E. coli avec les gènes de maturation hydE, hydF et hydG de Clostridium acetobutylicum. L'activité de l'hydrogénase a été détectée in vitro, donc une NADP-dépendante [FeFe]-hydrogénase multimérique active a été exprimée avec succès chez E. coli pour la première fois. Les recherches futures pourraient conduire à l'expression de cette enzyme chez les souches de E. coli qui produisent plus de NADPH, ouvrant la voie à une augmentation des rendements d'hydrogène via la voie des pentoses phosphates.