Oxygen-limited autotrophic nitrification/denitrification (OLAND) is a one-stage combination of partial nitritation and anammox, which can have a challenging process start-up. In this study, start-up strategies were tested for sequencing batch reactors (SBR), varying hydraulic parameters, i.e. volumetric exchange ratio (VER) and feeding regime, and salinity. Two sequential tests with two paralle...

Thermally modified timber (TMT) is increasingly offered in Europe as an alternative to preservative treated timber. TMT durability in field tests as well as its moisture sorption behaviour in façade application was determined so as to consider its suitability for outdoor use. Additionally, abrasion and crack-formation of TMT deckings were examined and the optical appearance of a TMT façade was ...

We examined the distribution of uncultured Planctomycetes phylotypes along depth profiles spanning the redox gradient of the Black Sea suboxic zone to gain insight into their respective ecological niches. Planctomycetes phylogeny correlated with depth and chemical profiles, implying similar metabolisms within phylogenetic groups. A suboxic zone sample was split into > 30 and < 30 μm fractions t...

introduction the urban population experienced rapid growth in the recent decades, particularly between 1975 and 2000 when it has reached from 1.5 to more than 2 billion people. by turn of the century; half of the world&apos;s populations are concentrated in cities. this would severely affect the quality of life in urban areas. accordingly, cities will be faced with significant challenges in inf...

Anammox is a cost-effective process to treat nitrogenous wastewater. In this work, excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy was used to characterize the intracellular and extracellular substances of anammox sludge during reactor operation of 276 days. Four main fluorophores were identified from the intracellular substances. Two main protein-like fluorophores were identified fr...

Perfect phylogeny is one of the fundamental models for studying evolution. We investigate the following variant of the problem: The input is an n ×m species-characters matrix. The characters are binary and directed, i.e., a species can only gain characters. The difference from standard perfect phylogeny is that for some species the state of some characters is unknown. The question is whether on...

Introduction In electron beam therapy bolus is often used to conform as closely as possible to the target volume while avoiding critical structures in the depth. In most cases a flexible bolus can cover the skin without air gap. However, under certain conditions it is difficult –or even not possible– to avoid air gaps between bolus and patient without reducing treatment quality. In a special cl...

This paper reports on successful laboratory testing of a new nitrogen removal process called DEAMOX (DEnitrifying AMmonium OXidation) for the treatment of strong nitrogenous wastewater such as baker's yeast effluent. The concept of this process combines the recently discovered ANAMMOX (ANaerobic AMMonium OXidation) reaction with autotrophic denitrifying conditions using sulfide as an electron d...

We report 2 patients who developed sarcoidosis after the implantation of adjustable silicone gastric banding (GB) in Germany. Before implantation, no pulmonary diseases were evident in the medical history of either patient. The 1st patient suffered sarcoidosis 12 months after GB. He has been treated at a hospital specialising in pulmonary diseases. Because of the treatment with corticoids, the ...

L. Vigilant et al. (1) recently presented "the strongest support yet for the placement of [their] common mtDNA [mitochondrial DNA] ancestor in Africa some 200,000 years ago." This support stems from a tree estimated by maximum parsimony from mtDNA sequence data with the use of the computer program PAUP (2). The African origin is inferred from this tree because (i) the most basal splits are amon...