The activated sludge process can be modelled by ordinary and partial differential equations for the biological reactors and secondary settlers, respectively. Because of the complexity of such a system, simulation models are most often used to investigate them. However, simulation models cannot give general rules on how to control a complex nonlinear process. For a reduced-order model with only two

Blanket peatlands are rain-fed mires that cover the landscape almost regardless of topography. The geographical extent of this type of peatland is highly sensitive to climate. We applied a global process-based bioclimatic envelope model, PeatStash, to predict the distribution of British blanket peatlands. The model captures the present areal extent (Kappa = 0.77) and is highly sensitive to both te

Exposure to extraordinary traumatic experience is one acknowledged risk factor for drug use. We aim to analyse the influence of potentially life-changing childhood stressors, experienced second-hand, on later drug use disorder in a national population of Swedish adolescent and young adults (aged 15-26 years).

Nanocrystalline thin films of PbS are obtained in a straightforward reaction by precipitation at the interface between toluene (containing a Pb precursor) and water (containing Na2S). Lead thiobiuret [Pb(SON(CN(i)Pr-2)(2))(2)] and lead diethyldithiocarbamate [Pb(S2CNEt2)(2)] precursors are used. The films are characterized by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy, revealing typical particle si

Direct measurements of CO2 fluxes by the eddy covariance method have demonstrated that the examined middle-taiga pine forest, raised bog, true steppe, and southern tundra along the Yenisei meridian (similar to 90 degrees E) are carbon sinks of different capacities according to annual output. The tundra acts as a carbon sink starting from June; forest and bog, from May; and steppe, from the end of

pH is an important factor determining bacterial community composition in soil and water. We have directly determined the community tolerance (trait variation) to pH in communities from 22 lakes and streams ranging in pH from 4 to 9 using a growth based method not relying on distinguishing between individual populations. pH in the water samples was altered to up to 16 pH values, covering in situ pH

Pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of the South American straw material Paja Brava were investigated. Suitable process conditions for an SO(2)-catalyzed steam pretreatment of the material were determined and assessed by enzymatic digestibility of obtained fiber slurries for 72h at a water insoluble solids (WIS) content of 2%. The best pretre

Socio-culturally formed collegial contexts in the midlevel of higher education organizations have attracted increased attention from higher education researchers. It is assumed that development, change and stability are dependent on norms, habits and traditions in these contexts. This text introduces a framework useful for identifying and investigating these collegial contexts. The framework is ap

To study the prognosis of patients with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes in primary care in relation to their baseline C-peptide concentration.

Evaluation of subclinical hypercortisolism (SH) in patients with adrenal incidentaloma (AI) including its correlation to size, attenuation at unenhanced computed tomography (CT) and unilateral or bilateral adrenal disease. Nine hospitals in Southern Sweden investigated during 2005-2007 consecutively patients with AI with hormonal and CT examinations according a regional protocol. Two hundred and t

Background There are seasonal variations and gender differences in incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D), metabolic control and responses to immune interventions at onset of the disease. We hypothesized that there are seasonal and gender differences in residual insulin secretion already at diagnosis of T1D. Methods In 2005, a national study, the Better Diabetes Diagnosis, was started to classify all

The generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) represents an exciting advancement with promise for stem cell transplantation therapies as well as for neurological disease modeling. Based on the emerging roles for astrocytes in neurological disorders, we investigated whether hiPSC-derived astrocyte progenitors could be engrafted to the rodent spinal cord and how the characteristics

We study a random graph model which is a superposition of bond percolation on Z(d) with parameter p, and a classical random graph G(n,c/n). We show that this model, being a homogeneous random graph, has a natural relation to the so-called "rank I case" of inhomogeneous random graphs. This allows us to use the newly developed theory of inhomogeneous random graphs to describe the phase diagram on th

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate technical skills in a coronary angiography (CA) simulator to establish the performance level of trainees and experts in virtual CA.The traditional master-apprentice way of learning CA is by practicing on patients despite a known risk for complications during training. Safe CA training is warranted, and simulators might be one possibility. Simulat

Regular Pt cluster arrays grown on the moire template formed by graphene on Ir(111) were tested for their stability with respect to CO gas exposure. Cluster stability and adsorption-Induced processes were analyzed as a function of cluster size, with In situ scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Small clusters containing fewer than 10 atoms were unstable upon CO adsorp

We previously showed that dietary sphingomyelin (SM) inhibited cholesterol absorption in animals. The key enzyme hydrolyzing SM in the gut is alkaline sphingomyelinase (alk-SMase, NPP7). Here using fecal dual-isotope ratio method we compared cholesterol absorption in the wild type (WT) and alk-SMase knockout (KO) mice. The animals were fed an emulsion containing (14)C-cholesterol and (3)H-sitoster

Attempts to optimize the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) obtained from spoiled gradient echo MRI have focused on the properties of the magnetization transfer pulse. In particular, continuous-wave models do not explicitly account for the effects of excitation and relaxation on the MTR. In this work, these were modeled by an approximation of free relaxation between the radiofrequency pulses and o