1,721,212 research outputs found
Reconstruction of track candidates at the LHC crossing rate using FPGAs
Full text linkIn 2021 the LHCb experiment will be upgraded, and the DAQ system will be based on full reconstruction of events, at the full LHC crossing rate. This requires an entirely new system, capable of reading out, building and reconstructing events at an average rate of 30 MHz. In facing this challenge, the system could take advantage of a fast pre-processing of data on dedicated FPGAs. The results of an R&D on these technologies, developed in the context of the LHCb Upgrade I, are presented in this document. In particular, the details and potential benefits of an approach based on producing in real-time sorted collections of hits in the VELO detector (pre-tracks) are discussed. These pre-processed data can then be used as seeds by the High Level Trigger (HLT) farm to find tracks for the Level 1 trigger with much lower computational effort than possible by starting from the raw detector data, thus freeing an important fraction of the power of the CPU farm for higher level processing tasks
Tannery sludge valorization through zeolite-assisted anaerobic process for short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production
No full textTannery sludge, a challenging waste, was utilized as a substrate for the production of Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs) through a series of six thermophilic Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor runs. The sludge was subjected to a mild thermal pre-treatment and incorporated zeolites (chabazite in run II, and clinoptilolite in run III) in the acidification process. Results highlighted zeolites' impact on chromium concentration and the SCFAs/CODSOL ratio. Ammonia release remained consistent at around 47 % and 51 % for run I and II, respectively, but surpassed 60% in run III, suggesting limited zeolite effectiveness in NH4 absorption. Chromium release in the liquid fraction, due to thermal pretreatment, reached 335 mg/L. While in tests without zeolite, complete removal proved challenging, in zeolite-amended runs, complete removal was achieved, showcasing the materials' heavy metal absorption capacity. SCFA concentrations reached 20260 mgCOD/L, with acidification efficiency varying; runs I and III had ratios around 0.70 COD/COD, while run II showed substantial improvement (0.92) with chabazite. Anaerobic fermentation-digestion mass balance indicated a 41% reduction in landfill sludge mass, reducing its environmental footprint while yielding valuable byproducts like biogas and SCFAs. These findings underscore zeolites' potential in heavy metal absorption and acidification process enhancement, paving the way for applications with tannery sludge
Anaerobic digestion of tannery sludge and tannery waste: a systematic review
No full textThis review investigated the application of anaerobic digestion (AD) as a sustainable solution for managing waste generated by the leather industry and sludge from the treatment of tannery effluents. The novelty of this review is the classification and discussion of the application of AD for both sludge and solid tannery waste, either as mono- or co-digestion with other substrates. The review underscored the potential of AD as a sustainable management of tannery waste and sludge, highlighting the feasibility of AD application to address the environmental challenges of the tanning industry. The application of AD represents a promising perspective in the leather industry, due to the specific nature and the high production volumes of tannery waste and sludge. The review highlighted the impacts of tannery sludge and waste origin and characteristics on biogas yields and digestion performance. The review also indicated the limited experience on mono-digestion of tannery sludge and tannery waste, and the key challenges as process instability, the seasonal variability of feedstock and the potential inhibition due to the presence of heavy metals. Co-digestion with other substrates was identified as a promising approach to improve efficiency and yields, as well as an opportunity to stimulate the implementation of AD in the tannery sector. The experiences on AD of tannery sludge and waste remain largely at laboratory scale, and this can hinder the scale-up of applications. The review discussed the research which made substantial contributions in this area and examined the treatment opportunities for a better understanding of the topic.This study was funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, in the framework of the iNEST – Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem (iNEST ECS_00000043 – CUP H43C22000540006).Environmental Technology Review
Optimizing SCFAs Production from Tannery Sludge: Insights from Zeolite-Assisted Fermentation with Mild Thermal Pretreatment
No full textThis study explores the potential of utilizing tannery sludge for short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production through fermentation, incorporating zeolites in the process. The study involved a mild thermal pretreatment of the sludge as well, aimed at enhancing the subsequent fermentation process by increasing the solubilization of the organic matter. Six thermophilic continuously stirred tank reactor runs with varying hydraulic retention times (HRT) and zeolite addition are conducted. Zeolites, known for their low cost and absorption properties, significantly impacted chromium concentrations. SCFA production levels remain relatively consistent across tests. However, the acidification efficiency, as reflected in the SCFAs/sCOD ratios, shows improvement in the presence of Chabazite. Specifically, the acidification efficiency is highest in test RB8 (0.92 COD/COD). This suggests that the addition of Chabazite enhances acidification efficiency in tannery sludge applications. The findings highlight zeolites' potential to absorb heavy metals and improve acidification efficiency, indicating promising practical applications for tannery sludge treatment
Short and medium chain organic acids production from hydrolyzed food waste: technical–economic evaluation and insight into the product’s quality
No full textFood waste (FW) was subjected to thermal-alkaline hydrolysis before to be used as source for organic acids (OAs) production under different temperatures and hydraulic regime in long-term acidification process. Mesophilic environment led to the highest acidification yield (0.87 g CODOAs/g VS) with chain-elongation process to caproic acid production (>9.0 g CODcap/L) occurring at lower HRT (2 days). The product's quality, in terms of OAs production and composition, was evaluated through a multivariate approach, which indicated that the mesophilic condition was also appropriate to steadily maintain the requested product's features. The specific gas production (SGP) from the solid-rich acidified residue was 0.47 Nm3/kg VS and, in a full-scale scenario of 150,000 kg FW/d, it can be potentially converted into 24.9 MWh/d as electrical energy. Also, according to the acidification performances, an overall OAs production of 7.2 ton/y has been estimated, generating a yearly economic outcome higher than 4,800,000 €
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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