Assessment of landfill leachate biodegradability and treatability by means of allochthonous and autochthonous biomasses

The biodegradability and treatability of a young (3 years old) municipal landfill leachate was evaluated by means of chemical oxygen demand (COD) fractionation tests, based on respirometric techniques. The tests were performed using two different biomasses: one cultivated from the raw leachate (autochthonous biomass) and the other collected from a conventional municipal wastewater treatment plant after its acclimation to leachate (allochthonous biomass). The long term performances of the two biomasses were also studied. The results demonstrated that the amount of biodegradable COD in the leachate was strictly dependent on the biomass that was used to perform the fractionation tests. Using the autochthonous biomass, the amount of biodegradable organic substrate resulted in approximately 75% of the total COD, whereas it was close to 40% in the case of the allochthonous biomass, indicating the capacity of the autochthonous biomass to degrade a higher amount of organic compounds present in the leachate. The autochthonous biomass was characterized by higher biological activity and heterotrophic active fraction (14% vs 7%), whereas the activity of the allochthonous biomass was significantly affected by inhibitory compounds in the leachate, resulting in a lower respiration rate (SOUR = 13 mg O2 gVSS-1 h-1 vs 37 mg O2 gVSS-1 h-1). The long-term performance of the autochthonous and allochthonous biomasses indicated that the former was more suitable for the treatment of raw landfill leachate, ensuring higher removal performance towards the organic pollutants

Parameter-Free Calculation of the Solar Proton Fusion Rate in Effective Field Theory

Spurred by the recent complete determination of the weak currents in two-nucleon systems up to ${\cal O}(Q^3)$ in heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory, we carry out a parameter-free calculation of the solar proton fusion rate in an effective field theory that combines the merits of the standard nuclear physics method and systematic chiral expansion. Using the tritium beta-decay rate as an input to fix the only unknown parameter in the effective Lagrangian, we can evaluate with drastically improved precision the ratio of the two-body contribution to the well established one-body contribution; the ratio is determined to be (0.86\pm 0.05) %. This result is essentially independent of the cutoff parameter for a wide range of its variation (500 MeV \le \Lambda \le 800 MeV), a feature that substantiates the consistency of the calculation.Comment: 10 pages. The argument is considerably more sharpened with a reduced error ba

Realistic Calculation of the hep Astrophysical Factor

The astrophysical factor for the proton weak capture on 3He is calculated with correlated-hyperspherical-harmonics bound and continuum wave functions corresponding to a realistic Hamiltonian consisting of the Argonne v18 two-nucleon and Urbana-IX three-nucleon interactions. The nuclear weak charge and current operators have vector and axial-vector components, that include one- and many-body terms. All possible multipole transitions connecting any of the p-3He S- and P-wave channels to the 4He bound state are considered. The S-factor at a p-3He center-of-mass energy of 10 keV, close to the Gamow-peak energy, is predicted to be 10.1 10^{-20} keV b, a factor of five larger than the standard-solar-model value. The P-wave transitions are found to be important, contributing about 40 % of the calculated S-factor.Comment: 8 pages RevTex file, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Haptic guidance improves the visuo-manual tracking of trajectories

BACKGROUND: Learning to perform new movements is usually achieved by following visual demonstrations. Haptic guidance by a force feedback device is a recent and original technology which provides additional proprioceptive cues during visuo-motor learning tasks. The effects of two types of haptic guidances-control in position (HGP) or in force (HGF)-on visuo-manual tracking ("following") of trajectories are still under debate. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPALS FINDINGS: Three training techniques of haptic guidance (HGP, HGF or control condition, NHG, without haptic guidance) were evaluated in two experiments. Movements produced by adults were assessed in terms of shapes (dynamic time warping) and kinematics criteria (number of velocity peaks and mean velocity) before and after the training sessions. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These results show that the addition of haptic information, probably encoded in force coordinates, play a crucial role on the visuo-manual tracking of new trajectories

Polarization observables in p-d scattering below 30 MeV

Differential and total breakup cross sections as well as vector and tensor analyzing powers for p-d scattering are studied for energies above the deuteron breakup threshold up to E(lab)=28 MeV. The p-d scattering wave function is expanded in terms of the correlated hyperspherical harmonic basis and the elastic S-matrix is obtained using the Kohn variational principle in its complex form. The effects of the Coulomb interaction, which are expected to be important in this energy range, have been rigorously taken into account. The Argonne AV18 interaction and the Urbana URIX three-nucleon potential have been used to perform a comparison to the available experimental data.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figure

The Ay Problem for p-3He Elastic Scattering

We present evidence that numerically accurate quantum calculations employing modern internucleon forces do not reproduce the proton analyzing power, A_y, for p-3He elastic scattering at low energies. These calculations underpredict new measured analyzing powers by approximately 30% at E_{c.m.} = 1.20 MeV and by 40% at E_{c.m.} = 1.69 MeV, an effect analogous to a well-known problem in p-d and n-d scattering. The calculations are performed using the complex Kohn variational principle and the (correlated) Hyperspherical Harmonics technique with full treatment of the Coulomb force. The inclusion of the three-nucleon interaction does not improve the agreement with the experimental data.Comment: Latex file, 4 pages, 2 figures, to be published on Phys. Rev. Let

Evidence for Three Nucleon Force Effects in p-d Elastic Scattering

A new measurement of the p-d differential cross section at Ep= 1 MeV has been performed. These new data and older data sets at energies below the deuteron breakup are compared to calculations using the two-nucleon Argonne v18 and the three-nucleon Urbana IX potentials. A quantitative estimate of the capability of these interactions to describe the data is given in terms of a chi^2 analysis. The chi^2 per datum drastically improves when the three-nucleon interaction is included in the Hamiltonian.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Benchmark calculation for proton-deuteron elastic scattering observables including Coulomb

Two independent calculations of proton-deuteron elastic scattering observables including Coulomb repulsion between the two protons are compared in the proton lab energy region between 3 MeV and 65 MeV. The hadron dynamics is based on the purely nucleonic charge-dependent AV18 potential. Calculations are done both in coordinate space and momentum space. The coordinate-space calculations are based on a variational solution of the three-body Schr\"odinger equation using a correlated hyperspherical expansion for the wave function. The momentum-space calculations proceed via the solution of the Alt-Grassberger-Sandhas equation using the screened Coulomb potential and the renormalization approach. Both methods agree within 1% on all observables, showing the reliability of both numerical techniques in that energy domain. At energies below three-body breakup threshold the coordinate-space method remains favored whereas at energies higher than 65 MeV the momentum-space approach seems to be more efficient.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Sequential batch membrane bio-reactor for wastewater treatment: The effect of increased salinity

In this work, a sequential batch membrane bioreactor pilot plant is investigated to analyze the effect of a gradual increase in salinity on carbon and nutrient removal, membrane fouling and biomass kinetic parameters. The salinity was increased by 2 g NaCl L-1 per week up to 10 g NaCl L-1. The total COD removal efficiency was quite high (93%) throughout the experiment. A gradual biomass acclimation to the salinity level was observed during the experiment, highlighting the good recovery capabilities of the system. Nitrification was also influenced by the increase in salinity, with a slight decrease in nitrification efficiency (the lowest value was obtained at 10 g NaCl L-1 due to lower nitrifier activity). Irreversible cake deposition was the predominant fouling mechanism observed during the experiment. Respirometric tests exhibited a stress effect due to salinity, with a reduction in the respiration rates observed (from 8.85 mgO2 L-1 h-1 to 4 mgO2 L-1 h-1)