761 research outputs found
Reaction extents: A Divide-and-Conquer Approach for Kinetic Model Identification
No full textObtaining reliable wastewater treatment process models is critical for the application of model-based design, operation, and automation. For example, Masic et al. (2014) explored the use of an observer designed for nonlinear processes to estimate nitrite in a biological urine nitrification process. In this process, anthropogenic urine is used as a resource for the production of a fertilizer (Udert & Wächter, 2012). Thanks to the separated collection and treatment of urine via NoMix toilets (Larsen et al., 2001), the majority of the nitrogen and phosphorus released via human excreta is captured. The urine nitrification step has two purposes: to prevent (i) volatilization of ammonia by reducing the pH and (ii) production of malodourous compounds. If successful, one can store nitrified urine for long periods of time. The urine nitrification process operates at fairly high conversion rates and is prone to three important failures. The first failure is caused by inhibition of the ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) at high free ammonia concentrations and can lead to washout of AOB as well as the nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB). The second failure is caused by growth of acid-tolerant AOB and causes the pH to decrease to a level where the NOB are inhibited and undesired chemical reactions occur. The third failure appears when a temporary accumulation of nitrite causes NOB inhibition, thereby reducing their activity. Such a nitrite accumulation can lead to an irrecoverable failure if the nitrite is allowed to accumulate to high levels (above 50 mg N/L). The first and second failures are mitigated easily by maintaining a safe pH via manipulation of the urine feed flow rate. The third failure is more difficult to avoid and requires a timely detection of nitrite. Masic et al. (2014) provided successful preliminary tests with a model-based observer, which highly depends on the availability of a reliable model. It is unlikely that standard parameter values apply due to the high-strength nature of human urine. For this reason, a well-calibrated model is desired. In Masic et al. (2016b) parameters were estimated to global optimality for the nitrite oxidation by NOB. The applied method, however, allows only estimating parameters of a single reaction system. To apply the same optimization method to multivariate processes, an extent-based methodology was tested in silico in Masic et al. (2016a). By means of the computation of reaction extents, one can separate the estimation of the parameters for each individual reaction. This extent-based modelling method however requires as many measured variables as the number of reactions (Rodrigues et al., 2015). For this reason, Masic et al. (2016a) simplified the model identification problem by considering a constant biomass, i.e. a net biomass growth equal to zero for both AOB and NOB. In the present study, the extent-based model identification method is modified to avoid this simplification, while allowing the application of the globally optimal parameter estimation procedure developed in Masic et al. (2016b). At the same time, the resulting model identification method is tested with experimental data for the first time - Larsen T A, Peters I, Alder A, Eggen R, Maurer M, Muncke J (2001). Peer reviewed: re-engineering the toilet for sustainable wastewater management. Env. Sci. Technol., 35, 192A-197A. - Masic A, Villez K (2014). Model-based observers for monitoring of a biological nitrification process for decentralized wastewater treatment – Initial results. 2nd IWA Specialized International Conference Ecotechnologies for Wastewater Treatment (EcoSTP2014), Verona, Italy, June 23–25, 2014, 402–405. - Masic A, Srinivasan S, Billeter J, Bonvin D, Villez K (2016a). Biokinetic model identification via extents of reaction. 5th IWA/WEF Wastewater Treatment Modelling Seminar (WWTmod2016), Annecy, France, April 2-6, 2016, appeared on USB-stick. - Masic A, Udert K, Villez K (2016b). Global parameter optimization for biokinetic modeling of simple batch experiments. Environ. Modell. and Softw., 85, 356-373. - Rodrigues D, Srinivasan S, Billeter J, Bonvin D (2015). Variant and invariant states for chemical reaction systems. Comp. Chem. Eng., 73, 23-33. - Udert K M, Wächter M (2012). Complete nutrient recovery from source-separated urine by nitrification and distillation. Wat. Res., 46, 453-464.LAPresented as a Poster
Managing information in Health Informatics
No full textOnly once we agree upon our understanding of what words really mean can we debate whether a concept,
represented by those words, is or not well represented significantly in specific application. Conceptual clarity
and predicative/ impredicative competence are the fundamental components for managing information
more effectively in Health Informatics, Healthcare and Medicine applications, while promoting innovation
and creativity. Medicine was always the art and science of healing. The science became more and more
a mechanistic technology in Healthcare; the art was dropped altogether. But uncertainty-as-problem
in the past is slowly morphing into the evaluative concept of uncertainty-as-resource. The key change
performance factor is education, distinguishing building on sand from building on rock for Health Informatics!
Conceptual clarity, more than instrumental obsession is necessary. In this paper, we present the
main concepts of fundamental biomedical enhanced knowledge formalization for Health Informatics and
Wellbeing of the future
Il monitoraggio scientifico dei cantieri della Venaria Reale: uno strumento propedeutico al monitoraggio ambientale
No full textProcessi innovativi di ricerca scientifica e information management nei cantieri di restauro della Reggia della Venaria Reale
No full textMulti-quality approach to cultural heritage, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerch
Caratterizzazione dei materiali, problematiche di degrado e conservazione: indagini su alcuni mosaici astigiani dei secoli XIX e XX
No full textData for: In-vitro estrogenic activity of binary and multicomponent mixtures with bisphenol A
No full textBisphenol A and its analogs are well known endocrine disruptors with estrogenic and anti-androgenic activities. In studies of human biomonitoring, simultaneous exposure to multiple bisphenols was shown in different biological samples, at picomolar to low nanomolar concentrations. Evaluation of their combined toxicities will therefore be a more realistic and reliable predictor for estimation of health risks than evaluation of only the single chemicals. In the present study, estrogenic activities of individual bisphenols were evaluated, along with their binary and multicomponent mixtures, using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development validated transactivation assay with the hERα-Hela9903 cell line. Concentration-dependent estrogenic activity was confirmed for all of the tested bisphenols, in the nanomolar to micromolar range. Estrogenic activities of binary and multicomponent mixtures followed a concentration addition model. Although exposure to individual bisphenols remains below their effective doses, we demonstrate that as a mixture, they can contribute additively to toxicity. This study thus emphasizes the importance of mixture toxicity evaluation for risk assessment of compounds that act like the bisphenols
Polarized Raman Spectroscopy Approach for In-situ damage assessment of Collagen within Ancient manuscripts: The Temple Scroll Case
No full textSystem Design for DSP Applications with the MASIC Methodology
No full textThe difficulties of system design are persistentlyincreasing due to the integration of more functionality on asystem, time-to-market pressure, productivity gap, andperformance requirements. To address the system designproblems, design methodologies build system models at higherabstraction level. However, the design task to map an abstractfunctional model on a system architecture is nontrivial becausethe architecture contains a wide variety of system componentsand interconnection topology, and a given functionality can berealized in various ways depending on cost-performancetradeoffs. Therefore, a system design methodology must provideadequate design steps to map the abstract functionality on adetailed architecture. MASIC\u97Maths to ASIC\u97is a system design methodologytargeting DSP applications. In MASIC, we begin with afunctional model of the system. Next, the architecturaldecisions are captured to map the functionality on the systemarchitecture. We present a systematic approach to classify thearchitectural decisions in two categories: system leveldecisions (SLDs) and implementation level decisions (ILDs). Asa result of this categorization, we only need to consider asubset of the decisions at once. To capture these decisions inan abstract way, we present three transaction level models(TLMs) in the context of DSP systems. These TLMs capture thedesign decisions using abstract transactions where timing ismodeled only to describe the major synchronization events. As aresult the functionality can be mapped to the systemarchitecture without meticulous details. Also, the artifacts ofthe design decisions in terms of delay can be simulatedquickly. Thus the MASIC approach saves both modeling andsimulation time. It also facilitates the reuse of predesignedhardware and software components. To capture and inject the architectural decisionsefficiently, we present the grammar based language of MASIC.This language effectively helps us to implement the stepspertaining to the methodology. A Petri net based simulationtechnique is developed, which avoids the need to compile theMASIC description to VHDL for the sake of simulation. We alsopresent a divide and conquer based approach to verify the MASICmodel of a system. Keywords:System design methodology, Signal processingsystems, Design decision, Communication, Computation, Modeldevelopment, Transaction level model, System design language,Grammar, MASIC
Structural and thermal stability of collagen within parchments: a mesoscopic and molecular approach
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