Effect of oxidants on microalgal flocculation

The effects of chlorine, ozone and chlorine dioxide on Scenedesmus sp. cultures were studied. Algal cell viability and chlorophyll concentration decreased, and the concentration of dissolved organic substances increased with increasing applied oxidant concentration. Pretreatment with chlorine dioxide (1, 3 or 5 mg l⁻¹) or ozone (2.6, 4.6 or 8.1 mg l⁻¹) on algal cultures enhanced algal flocculation with alum, while prechlorination with 10 or 20 mg l⁻¹ increased the required dosage of alum by 15%. Scanning electron micrographs of oxidized cells revealed drastically adverse effects upon the cell surface architecture: in addition to the oxidation of noncellular organic materials, the oxidants damaged both cell surface structures and intracellular components. A model explaining the effects of the different oxidants on microalgal flocculation is suggested.     

Water remediation by micelle-clay system: case study for tetracycline and sulfonamide antibiotics

Removal of tetracycline and sulfonamide antibiotics from water by micelles pre-adsorbed on montmorillonite was studied. Micelles of benzyldimethylhexadecylammonium (BDMHDA) were used. Batch experiments demonstrated that the micelle-clay complexes (1% w/w) removed 96-99.9% of antibiotics from their water solutions containing from 5 to 50 mg/L of pharmaceuticals. Column filters (25 cm) made of a mixture of quartz sand and BDMHDA micelle-clay complex at 100:1 w/w ratio removed 94-99.9% of above pharmaceuticals from initial solutions containing 10mg/L and 89% of sulfamethizole from an initial solution containing 10 microg/L of this antibiotic. These filters were also very efficient in the removal of antibiotics in the presence of dissolved soil organic matter removing 89-99% of tetracycline and sulfamethizol from initial solutions containing 10 mg/L of antibiotic in the presence of 8 mg/L of humic acid, or 9 mg/L of fulvic acid. These data indicate that micelle-clay complexes are very efficient for water purification from tetracycline and sulfonamide antibiotics.     

The Explanatory Role of Computation in Cognitive Science

Which notion of computation (if any) is essential for explaining cognition? Five answers to this question are discussed in the paper. (1) The classicist answer: symbolic (digital) computation is required for explaining cognition; (2) The broad digital computationalist answer: digital computation broadly construed is required for explaining cognition; (3) The connectionist answer: sub-symbolic computation is required for explaining cognition; (4) The computational neuroscientist answer: neural computation (that, strictly, is neither digital nor analogue) is required for explaining cognition; (5) The extreme dynamicist answer: computation is not required for explaining cognition. The first four answers are only accurate to a first approximation. But the ??devil?? is in the details. The last answer cashes in on the parenthetical ??if any?? in the question above. The classicist argues that cognition is symbolic computation. But digital computationalism need not be equated with classicism. Indeed, computationalism can, in principle, range from digital (and analogue) computationalism through (the weaker thesis of) generic computationalism to (the even weaker thesis of) digital (or analogue) pancomputationalism. Connectionism, which has traditionally been criticised by classicists for being non-computational, can be plausibly construed as being either analogue or digital computationalism (depending on the type of connectionist networks used). Computational neuroscience invokes the notion of neural computation that may (possibly) be interpreted as a sui generis type of computation. The extreme dynamicist argues that the time has come for a post-computational cognitive science. This paper is an attempt to shed some light on this debate by examining various conceptions and misconceptions of (particularly digital) computation.     

Surface Oxidation as a Cause of High Open‐Circuit Voltage in CdSe ETA Solar Cells

TiO₂/CdSe/CuSCN extremely thin absorber (ETA) solar cells are found to give relatively high values of open‐circuit voltage (>0.8 V) but low currents upon annealing the cadmium selenide (CdSe) in air (500 ºC). Annealing in N₂ produces much lower photovoltages and slightly lower photocurrents. Band structure measurements show differences between the two annealing regimes that, however, appear to favor the N₂‐annealed CdSe. On the other hand, chemically resolved electrical measurements (CREM) of the cells reveal marked differences in photo‐induced charge trapping, in particular at absorber grain boundaries of the air versus N₂‐annealed systems, correlated with the formation of Cd–O species at the CdSe surface. Using transient absorption and photovoltage decay, pronounced lifetime differences are also observed, in agreement with the strong suppression of charge recombination. The results point to a multiple role of grain surface‐oxidation, which both impedes electron injection from the CdSe to the TiO_2, but, much more significantly, enhances hole injection to the CuSCN via passivation of hole traps that act as efficient recombination centers.     

Flexible Blade‐Coated Multicolor Polymer Light‐Emitting Diodes for Optoelectronic Sensors

A method to print two materials of different functionality during the same printing step is presented. In printed electronics, devices are built layer by layer and conventionally only one type of material is deposited in one pass. Here, the challenges involving printing of two emissive materials to form polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) that emit light of different wavelengths without any significant changes in the device characteristics are described. The surface‐energy‐patterning technique is utilized to print materials in regions of interest. This technique proves beneficial in reducing the amount of ink used during blade coating and improving the reproducibility of printed films. A variety of colors (green, red, and near‐infrared) are demonstrated and characterized. This is the first known attempt to print multiple materials by blade coating. These devices are further used in conjunction with a commercially available photodiode to perform blood oxygenation measurements on the wrist, where common accessories are worn. Prior to actual application, the threshold conditions for each color are discussed, in order to acquire a stable and reproducible photoplethysmogram (PPG) signal. Finally, based on the conditions, PPG and oxygenation measurements are successfully performed on the wrist with green and red PLEDs.     

Fast GL(n)-Invariant Framework for Tensors Regularization

We propose a novel framework for regularization of symmetric positive-definite (SPD) tensors (e.g., diffusion tensors). This framework is based on a local differential geometric approach. The manifold of symmetric positive-definite (SPD) matrices, P _n , is parameterized via the Iwasawa coordinate system. In this framework distances on P _n are measured in terms of a natural GL(n)-invariant metric. Via the mathematical concept of fiber bundles, we describe the tensor-valued image as a section where the metric over the section is induced by the metric over P _n . Then, a functional over the sections accompanied by a suitable data fitting term is defined. The variation of this functional with respect to the Iwasawa coordinates leads to a set of \frac12n(n+1)\frac{1}{2}n(n+1) coupled equations of motion. By means of the gradient descent method, these equations of motion define a Beltrami flow over P _n . It turns out that the local coordinate approach via the Iwasawa coordinate system results in very simple numerics that leads to fast convergence of the algorithm. Regularization results as well as results of fibers tractography for DTI are presented.