Abstract: The application of fixed operational protocols and settings for membrane bioreactors (MBR) often leads to suboptimal filtration conditions due to the dynamic nature of mixed liquor characteristics. With regard to process optimization and energy savings, the potential benefits of a dynamic control system, enabling to adapt fouling control actions (ACS outputs) in an automated way to the actual mixed liquor fouling propensity, are thus obvious. In this paper, the pilot-scale validation of such an advanced control system (ACS) is elaborated. A specific on-line fouling measurement method, the MBR-VFM (VITO Fouling Measurement), was used for the evaluation of the mixed liquors reversible fouling propensity, which was used as a primary ACS input parameter. A first series of tests with a gradual increase in complexity of the selected input and output parameters indicated the functionality of the ACS and demonstrated a substantial reduction of aeration, however sometimes at the expense of a higher fouling rate. The ACS was further fine-tuned and subsequently tested for a longer period under more dynamic operating conditions. A significant correlation was found between the reversible fouling potential measured by the MBR-VFM and the on-line permeability, indicating that the MBR-VFM is a suitable ACS input. Furthermore, an average 22% reduction in aeration flow to the membranes could be achieved without any obvious negative effect on filtration performance. This indicates that this approach is promising to optimize energy consumption in MBRs.

Abstract: This study reports the development and validation of sensitive and selective assay method for the determination of the antidepressant drug in solubilized system and biological fluids. Solubilized system of different surfactants including cationic, anionic and non-ionic influences the electrochemical response of drug. Addition of cationic surfactant cetrimide to the solution containing drug enhances the peak current signal while anionic and non-ionic showed an opposite effect. The current signal due to reduction process was function of concentration of nitroxazepine, pH, type of surfactant and preconcentration time at the electrode surface. The reduction process is irreversible and adsorption controlled at HMDE. Various chemical and instrumental parameters affecting the monitored electroanalytical response were investigated and optimized for niroxazepine hydrochloride determination. The proposed SWCAdSV and DPCAdSV methods are linear over the concentration range 2.0 × 10-7 5.0 × 10-9 mol/L and 6.1 × 10-7 1.0 × 10-8 mol/L with detection limit of 1.62 × 10-10 mo/L and 1.4 × 10-9 mo/L respectively. The method shows good sensitivity, selectivity, accuracy and precision that makes it very suitable for determination of nitroxazepine in pharmaceutical formulation and biological fluids.

Abstract: Analytical chemistry does play a key role in the chemical characterization of the environment and it appears that X-ray spectrometry, in its many forms, is one of the most relevant analytical techniques in preventive conservation, as it is in cultural heritage research in general. X-ray spectrometry has indeed been the method of choice for the characterization of the inorganic composition of atmospheric aerosols, for a long time. We have, over the last decade, intensively used various forms of X-ray spectrometry, viz., mostly energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, e.g. with polarized high-energy beam excitation, and automated electron probe X-ray microanalysis, together with other techniques, to identify particle types and their sources in indoor environments, including museums, while gaseous indoor pollutants were assessed using passive diffusion samplers. In each case, both bulk aerosols and individual aerosol particles were studied. For microanalysis of single particles, we have investigated a dozen techniques, but for wide, real-life applications, automated electron probe X-ray microanalysis is the most rewarding. We have first studied atmospheric aerosols in and around the Correr Museum in Venice, many other museums in Austria, Japan and England, and in the caves with prehistoric rock paintings in Altamira, Spain. Very recently, measurements were done in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and theWawel Castle in Cracow, in Italian and Polish mountain churches, in a number of museums in Belgium and the Netherlands, and in cathedrals with medieval stained glass windows. In the Correr museum, it appeared that the particles most threatening for the Bellini paintings were released by the deteriorating plaster renderings, and this could be avoided by simply improving the rendering on the museum walls. In the Wawel Castle, outdoor pollution particles, like fine soot from diesel traffic, entering via leaks in the windows and doors, and also street-deicing salts and coal burning pollution particles, brought in by visitors, mostly in winter, were found to be most worrisome. Urgent questions that are not solved at this moment pertain to the deposition processes from the atmosphere to the cultural heritage items, the critical surface interactions that take place on these items, and the establishment of suitable particle concentration standards.

Abstract: The influence of an ellipsoid on the angular order of two-dimensional classical clusters is investigated through Brownian dynamics simulations. We found the following: (1) The presence of an ellipsoid does not influence the start of the angular melting, but reduces the rate at which the inner rings can rotate with respect to each other. (2) Even a small eccentricity of the ellipsoid leads to a stabilization of the angular order of the system. (3) Depending on the position of the ellipsoid in the cluster, a reentrant behavior in the angular order is observed before full radial melting of the cluster sets in. (4) The ellipsoid can lead to a two-step angular melting process: First, the rotation of the inner rings with respect to each other is hindered by the ellipsoid, but on further increasing the kinetic energy of the system, the ellipsoid just starts to behave as a spherical particle with different mobility. The effect of an ellipsoid on the molten system does not depend crucially on the interparticle interaction, but a softer parabolic confinement reduces the angular stabilization.

Abstract: We show that a superconducting quantum nanowire undergoes a new type of BCS-BEC crossover each time when an electron subband approaches the Fermi surface. In this case the longitudinal Cooper-pair size drops by two-three orders of magnitude down to a few nanometers. This unconventional BCS-BEC crossover is driven by quantum-size effects rather than by tuning the fermion-fermion interaction.

Abstract: Zirconia has been incorporated into exfoliated graphite (EG) through the anodic polarization in the natural graphite-ZrO(NO3)2-HNO3-H2O system, followed by flash heating. The thermal properties of the oxidized graphites employed as precursors to EG have been studied by thermogravimetry in combination with differential scanning calorimetry, and the distribution of ZrO2 particles in the EG has been assessed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Conditions are described for the preparation of EG with bulk densities in the range 1.34.7 g/l and ZrO2 contents in the range 434 wt %.

Abstract: This paper discusses the electrochemical behaviour of gelatin coated gold electrodes in physiological pH conditions in a potential window −1.5 till 1.0 V vs SCE by performing cyclic voltammetry. A comparison is made between gelatin A and gelatin B, which have respectively a positive and a negative net charge at physiological pH. The deposition of gelatin onto the gold surface is confirmed by means of attenuated total reflection-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopic analyses.

Abstract: A methodology for the quantitative compositional characterization of nickel silicides by high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) imaging is presented. HAADF-STEM images of a set of nickel silicide reference samples Ni3Si, Ni31Si12, Ni2Si, NiSi and NiSi2 are taken at identical experimental conditions. The correlation between sample thickness and HAADF-STEM intensity is discussed. In order to quantify the relationship between the experimental Z-contrast intensities and the composition of the analysed layers, the ratio of the HAADF-STEM intensity to the sample thickness or to the intensity of the silicon substrate is determined for each nickel silicide reference sample. Diffraction contrast is still detected on the HAADF-STEM images, even though the detector is set at the largest possible detection angle. The influence on the quantification results of intensity fluctuations caused by diffraction contrast and channelling is examined. The methodology is applied to FUSI gate devices and to horizontal TFET devices with different nickel silicides formed on source, gate and drain. It is shown that, if the elements which are present are known, this methodology allows a fast quantitative 2-dimensional compositional analysis.

Abstract: This paper presents a cyclic catalyst pretreatment process to improve the CNF yield with narrow size distribution by sequentially feeding the CVD reactor with CH4/CO2 mixtures (carbon deposition) and CO2 (carbon removal) prior to the actual growth process. A mechanism based on a break-up of large Ni particles tentatively explains the beneficial effect of the cyclic carbon deposition/removal CVD procedure.

Abstract: The effect of mold hardness on the microstructure of ductile iron and the contraction porosity was investigated. Molds with different hardnesses (0.41, 0.48, 0.55, 0.62 MPa) and a sand mold prepared by Co2 method were used. The influence of silicon content on the induced expansion pressure owing to the formation of graphite was also investigated. The contraction during solidification can be compensated by an induced expansion owing to the graphite relief when the hardness of mold increases; therefore, the possibility of achieving a sound product without using any riser increases.

Abstract: A first-principles modeling approach is used to investigate the vibrational properties of HfO2. The calculated phonon density of states is compared to experimental results obtained from inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) of various metal-oxide-semiconductor devices with HfO2 gate stacks. This comparison provides deep insights into the nature of the signatures of the complicated IETS spectra and provides valuable structural information about the gate stack, such as the possible presence of oxygen vacancies in jet-vapour deposited HfO2. Important structural differences between the interface of atomic-layer or molecular-beam deposited HfO2 and the Si substrate are also revealed.

Abstract: Magnetically coupled superconductorferromagnet hybrids offer advanced routes for nanoscale control of superconductivity. Magnetotransport characteristics and scanning tunneling microscopy images of vortex structures in superconductorferromagnet hybrids reveal rich superconducting phase diagrams. Focusing on a particular combination of a ferromagnet with a well-ordered periodic magnetic domain structure with alternating out-of-plane component of magnetization, and a small coherence length superconductor, we find directed nucleation of superconductivity above the domain wall boundaries. We show that near the superconductor-normal state phase boundary the superconductivity is localized in narrow mesoscopic channels. In order to explore the Abrikosov flux line ordering in F/S hybrids, we use a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and GinzburgLandau simulations. The magnetic stripe domain structure induces periodic local magnetic induction in the superconductor, creating a series of pinninganti-pinning channels for externally added magnetic flux quanta. Such laterally confined Abrikosov vortices form quasi-1D arrays (chains). The transitions between multichain states occur through propagation of kinks at the intermediate fields. At high fields we show that the system becomes nonlinear due to a change in both the number of vortices and the confining potential. In F/S/F hybrids we demonstrate the evolution of the anisotropic conductivity in the superconductor that is magnetically coupled with two adjacent ferromagnetic layers. Stripe magnetic domain structures in both F-layers are aligned under each other, resulting in a directional superconducting order parameter in the superconducting layer. The conductance anisotropy strongly depends on the period of the magnetic domains and the strength of the local magnetization. The anisotropic conductivity of up to three orders of magnitude can be achieved with a spatial critical temperature modulation of 5% of T c. Induced anisotropic properties in the F/S and F/S/F hybrids have a potential for future application in switching and nonvolatile memory elements operating at low temperatures.