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Recovering nutrients from urine as solid minerals such as struvite can eliminate many hurdles related to the use of liquid urine as fertilizer in the current urine separation systems. The focus of this study has been to increase nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies by developing a struvite formation and recycling process. Struvite crystallization was carried out in urine samples by additio

In this work, we report for the first time the rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) spectrum of water vapor, recorded through experiments at 400K and 670K for Raman shifts up to 600cm(-1). Using the standard dual-broadband pure rotational CARS approach, the resonant structure was overwhelmed by a strong non-resonant background. By employing a polarization technique, this backg

AIM: The etiology of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) includes inflammation, coagulation, and endothelial dysfunction. We have prospectively evaluated relations between these mechanisms and AAA growth. Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, endothelin (ET)-1, CD40 ligand and the complex formed between activated protein C (APC) and protein C inhibitor (PCI) were measured annually and re

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) develops due to insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretion, predominantly in genetically predisposed subjects exposed to nongenetic risk factors like obesity, physical inactivity and ageing. Emerging data suggest that epigenetics also play a key role in the pathogenesis of T2D. Genome-wide studies have identified altered DNA methylation patterns in pancreatic islets, s

The asymptotic limit of a bicontraction T (that is, a pair of commuting contractions) on a Hilbert space H is used to describe a Nagy–Foiaş–Langer type decomposition of T. This decomposition is refined in the case when the asymptotic limit of T is an orthogonal projection. The case of a bicontraction T consisting of hyponormal (even quasinormal) contractions is also considered, where we have ST∗=S

In this discussion, Steve Fuller's book Dissent over Descent is criticized mainly because he draws conclusions from wishful thinking and uses ancient and medieval scientists as well as theologians in his efforts to invalidate the theory of evolution. He is also criticized for drawing universal conclusions from a Eurocentric version of history. If science and technology studies is to regain its rep

Ostreopsis ovata is a benthic dinoflagellate that produces palytoxin and ovatoxins. Blooms of O. ovate causing human health problems and mortality of benthic fauna have been reported from many tropical and temperate marine waters. In the present study we examined the combined effects of temperature and different nutrient conditions on the biochemical composition, growth, toxicity and carbohydrate

The aim of this implementation study is to describe nurses' experiences of supporting patient learning using the model called 'The challenge to take charge of life with long-term illness'.

In Kenya the government is promoting diversification of crops to embrace high value crops and drought resistant crop varieties in efforts to reduce poverty in rural areas. Sugar beet is one of the crops considered as an option in this context and it is therefore important to increase knowledge about the potentials in the country for cultivating this crop. Sugar beet trials conducted in Nyandarua a

The problem of optimum load control of steam power plants has been dealt within many technical papers during the last decades. Deregulation of the power markets and close to the (bio-) fuel source thinking has lead to a trend of small scale combined heat and power plants. These plants are usually operated according to the heat demand and therefore they spend a significant time on partial load. The

A vibrational spectroscopy study (infrared and Raman) is reported for the biogenic polyamine analogues norspermidine (NSpd), N(1),N(11)-bis(ethyl)norspermine (BENSpm) and N(1)-cyclo-propylmethyl-N(11)-ethylnorspermine (CPENSpm), as well as for their newly synthesised Pt(II) and Pd(II) complexes. Attending to the potential antineoplastic properties of this kind of systems, their full conformational

Severe knee trauma, such as an ACL disruption, produces aggrecan degradation as evidenced by elevated synovial fluid (SF) N-terminal (393) Alanine-Arginine-Glycine-Serine (ARGS) neoepitope (or ARGS-aggrecan) and is associated with inflammatory activity soon after injury. However, it is not known if this process persists for a substantial time interval following the initial trauma. The purpose of t

This paper presents an algorithm for better phasor estimation at off-nominal frequencies. The sampling rate remains unchanged, but instead the amplitude of the sample values within a buffer is altered in order to give a signal of the same amplitude but different frequency. The re-calculation of the samples is done by second order spline interpolation. The effect is that the signal frequency appear

In this paper, we report experimentally and theoretically a surface photocatalysis reaction of 4-aminothiophenol (PATP) to p,p'-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) on Au, Ag, and Cu colloids. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SEAS) spectra of PATP on Au and Cu colloids are significantly different from the normal Raman spectrum of PATP powder. Quantum chemical calculations reveal that PATP on Au and Cu co

Pharmacologically mediated bronchodilation is important in the management of asthma, and is primarily achieved with β2-agonists. Novel compounds should preferably have a longer duration of action and a better systemic side effect profile than established alternatives at comparable peak bronchodilation. This single-dose crossover study was conducted to investigate and compare with formoterol the br

Woody biomass production is a critical indicator in evaluation of land use management and the dynamics of the global carbon cycle (sequestration/emission) in terrestrial ecosystems. The objective of the present study was to develop, through a case study in Sudan, an operational multiscale remote-sensing-based methodology for large-scale estimation of woody biomass in tropical savannahs. Woody biom

This study investigated the impact of building orientations, typical layouts and positions at facades on daylight and sunlight availability in high-density residential areas in North-east China. Vertical daylight factor (including sky component and reflected component) and sunlight hours along the centre building facades in three typical models were calculated using Radiance and Autodesk Ecotect A

Common diseases such as type 2 diabetes are phenotypically heterogeneous. Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, but patients vary appreciably in body mass index. We hypothesized that the genetic predisposition to the disease may be different in lean (BMI<25 Kg/m(2)) compared to obese cases (BMI >= 30 Kg/m(2)). We performed two case-control genome-wide studies using two accepted cut-o