Effect of Heating Strategy on Power Consumption and Performance of a Pilot Plant Anaerobic Digester

The effect of heating strategy on power consumption and performance of a pilot plant anaerobic digester treating chicken litter, under thermophilic conditions, has been studied. Heating strategy was evaluated using three different spans (0.2 °C, 0.6 °C, and 1.0 °C) for triggering the temperature control system from target temperature (56.7 °C). The hydraulic retention time in the pilot plant digester was in the range of 32 to 37 days, varying the total solids concentration fed from 5% to 6%. The results showed that under the experimental conditions, heating was the most energy-demanding process with 95.5% of the energy used. Increments up to 7.5% and 3.8%, respectively, on mechanical and heating power consumption, were observed as the span, for triggering the temperature control system from target temperature, was increased. Under the experimental conditions studied here, an increment of 30.6% on the global biodigester performance index was observed when a span of 1.0 °C was compared to the one of 0.2 °C.     

ZnO films grown by laser ablation with and without oxygen CVD

In the present work we have studied the properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films grown by laser ablation of ZnO targets under different substrate temperature and background oxygen conditions. The ZnO layers were deposited with a Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) system on pre-nitrided (0001) sapphire (Al₂O₃), using the base line of a Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm. The films were characterized by different structural and optical methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical transmission spectroscopy, and steady-state photoluminescence (PL). XRD analysis with rocking curves and θ–2θ scans indicates preferential growth along the c-axis direction with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) smaller than 1.5. Low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) showed strong excitonic emission near 3.36 eV between 9 and 65 K.     

An upgraded TOF-SIMS VG Ionex IX23LS: Study on the negative secondary ion emission of III-V compound semiconductors with prior neutral cesium deposition

A TOF-SIMS VG Ionex IX23LS with upgraded data acquisition and control system was used to study the secondary emission of negative atomic and cluster ions of non-metallic elements (P, As and Sb) upon a 19 keV Ga⁺ bombardment of non-degenerated III-V semiconductors (GaP, GaAs, GaSb, InP, InAs and InSb) with prior neutral Cs deposition from a getter dispenser. It was found that surface cesiation enhances the peak intensity of all negative ion species; in the case of atomic ions, the greatest increase (360) was observed for P⁻ emitted from InP. Such an enhancement was larger for In-based than for Ga-based compounds. We explained that in terms of an electronegativity difference between the composing atoms of III-V semiconductors. The greater electronegativity difference (bond ionicity) of In-based compounds resulted in the greater Cs-induced work function decrease leading to a higher increase in the ionization probability of secondary ions.     

Probing the spin-orbit coupling of nuclear protons

The strong absorption in quasi-free scattering opens a possibility of measuring the spin-orbit coupling of nuclear protons. Cross sections for polarized incoming protons are expected to exhibit pronounced asymmetries, with size and sign depending on the selected momentum and the spin-orbit coupling in the nuclear state involved.     

On the evaluation of the geometrical factors utilized in ligand polarization calculations

The utility of the Ligand polarization model in solving many physical problems in quantum mechanics has been appreciated among scientists during the last years. Problems such as electric dipole strength, vibronic electric dipole strength, optical activity calculations have been carried out within the framework of a dynamic coupling mechanism. Taking advantage of the irreducible tensor method put forward by Griffith in the case of molecular symmetry groups, both the molecular states and relevant operators can be classified in terms of irreducible representations of the molecular group in question, and therefore it is most convenient to express the relevant operators involved in any specific calculation in a symmetry adapted form. As a starting point, we may classify our molecular states and operators in the 0-rotation group and lower symmetry groups may also be studied by using simple correlation properties. Here we aim to deal with d-d and f-f type of transitions, and hence the 2² (electric quadrupole), 2⁴ (electric hexadecapole) and the 2⁶-multipoles are considered in some detail. We have adopted, the octahedral set of functions as given by Griffith to define the 2^itl (l = 2, 4, 6) multipoles and obtain the corresponding geometrical factors for the various irreducible representations.     

Effect of Composition of Lung Biomimetic Niche on the Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation toward Alveolar Type II Pneumocytes

Pulmonary niche dynamically orchestrates the signals, such as proliferation or differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which allows inducing tissue repair. Lung niche includes extracellular matrix (ECM), comprising hyaluronic acid (HA) and collagen (COLL), and several types of MSCs. Impaired ECM, in lung pathologies, makes the promising therapies based on MSCs ineffective, as it results in a reduced attachment and homing of MSCs, precluding their differentiation and viability. To overcome this problem, in this study a pulmonary biomimetic niche based on HA and COLL hydrogel is developed, with the specific aim to elucidate the role of COLL and HA/COLL semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (SIPNs) in directing the differentiation of MSCs into Alveolar Type II (ATII) cells. The effect of low (L), medium (M), and high (H) molecular weight (MW) HA is investigated, both like structural component of the SIPNs hydrogel and like trophic factor in cell culture media solution. HA in the culture media significantly improves surfactant protein (SP)-C expression (≈2 ng mL⁻¹), without showing difference in the MW tested, compared to control only (≈1 ng mL⁻¹). Furthermore, LMWHA/COLL hydrogel promotes the SPC expression (approximately two times) compared to COLL, MMWHA/COLL, and HMWHA/COLL hydrogels.     

Identification of human calculi with time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

Time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry was used to study four human calculi and to compare the results with those from twelve commercially available urinary calculi minerals including three organic compounds (L‐cystine, uric acid and sodium urate). Phase identification of calcium phosphate compounds was carried out by considering the relative ion abundances of [Ca₂O]⁺ and [CaPO₂]⁺. Deprotonated [M–H]^? and protonated [M+H]⁺ uric acid were detected and used for component recognition in pure uric acid and in the mixed samples of struvite, calcium oxalate and uric acid. Iodine related to the medical history of a patient was also detected. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improvement on Citric Acid Production in Solid-state Fermentation by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus niger</Emphasis> LPB BC Mutant Using Citric Pulp

Citric acid (CA) production has been conducted through a careful strain selection, physical–chemical optimization and mutation. The aim of this work was to optimize the physical–chemical conditions of CA production by solid-state fermentation (SSF) using the Aspergillus niger LPB BC strain, which was isolated in our laboratory. The parental and mutant strain showed a good production of CA using citric pulp (CP) as a substrate. The physical–chemical parameters were optimized and the best production was reached at 65% moisture, 30 °C and pH 5.5. The influence of the addition of commercial and alternative sugars, nitrogen sources, salts, and alcohols was also studied. The best results (445.4 g of CA/kg of CP) were obtained with sugarcane molasses and 4% methanol (v/w). The mutagenesis induction of LPB BC was performed with UV irradiation. Eleven mutant strains were tested in SSF where two mutants showed a higher CA production when compared to the parental strain. A. niger LPB B3 produced 537.6 g of CA/kg of CP on the sixth day of fermentation, while A. niger LPB B6 produced 616.5 g of CA/kg of CP on the fourth day of fermentation, representing a 19.5% and 37% gain, respectively.     

A QM/MM Investigation of Thymine Dimer Radical Anion Splitting Catalyzed by DNA Photolyase

On the mend : The repair reaction of the thymine dimer by DNA photolyase (see picture) is studied by hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical dynamics simulations based on the X‐ray structure of the enzyme–DNA complex. The dynamics of splitting of the thymine dimer radical anion within the DNA photolyase active site is characterized. The model includes the protein environment.