Vulnerability assessment index at process-level for the identification of adaptive strategies in wastewater treatment plants under climate change

Kim, D.,Jacome, G.,Lee, S.,Moya, W.,Nam, K.,Yoo, C. Springer Science + Business Media 2017 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.34 No.12

<P>Many studies have been conducted on climate change vulnerability assessments to develop adaptive strategies for climate change on a national or global scale. The development of an assessment tool for climate change on a process-level is necessary for evaluating vulnerability and to suggest an effective adaptive strategy in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Therefore, we proposed a vulnerability assessment index at the process-level in a WWTP to evaluate adaptive strategies for climate change in this study. The suggested process-level vulnerability assessment index is based on three performance WWTP indices: the effluent quality index (EQI), global warming potential (GWP), and operational cost index (OCI). Four different advanced WWTP processes were evaluated using the suggested vulnerability assessment index based on the A2 scenario, which is one of the carbon emission scenarios making predictions out to 2100 developed by the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC). The adaptive strategies were evaluated at four conventional treatment processes to see the improvement of vulnerability of their processes, where the changes of their vulnerabilities are compared together. Suggested adaptive strategies in case studies showed that the process-level vulnerabilities were significantly decreased in the anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic (A(2)O) and Virginia initiative project (VIP) processes, especially during the flood and winter seasons. Therefore, it is expected that the proposed vulnerability assessment index can be useful as a decision-supporting tool for selecting the appropriate adaptive strategy for each process.</P>

A systematic approach of bottom-up assessment methodology for an optimal design of hybrid solar/wind energy resources – Case study at middle east region

Ifaei, Pouya,Karbassi, Abdolreza,Jacome, Gabriel,Yoo, ChangKyoo Elsevier 2017 Energy conversion and management Vol.145 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>In the current study, an algorithm-based data processing, sizing, optimization, sensitivity analysis and clustering approach (DaSOSaCa) is proposed as an efficient simultaneous solar/wind assessment methodology. Accordingly, data processing is performed to obtain reliable high quality meteorological data among various datasets, which are used for hybrid photovoltaic/wind turbine/storage/converter system optimal design for consequent sites in a large region. The optimal hybrid systems are consequently simulated to meet hourly power demand in various sites. The solar/wind fraction and net present cost of the systems are then used as the technical and economic clustering variables, respectively. The clustering results are finally used as input to obtain novel hybrid solar/wind GIS maps. Iran is selected as the case study to validate the proposed methodology and detail its applicability. Ten minute annual global horizontal radiation, wind speed, and temperature data are analyzed, and the optimal, robust hybrid systems are simulated for various sites in order to classify the country. The generated GIS maps show that Iran can be efficiently clustered into four technical and five economic clusters under optimal conditions. The clustering results prove that Iran is mainly a solar country with approximately 74% solar power fraction under optimum conditions. A macroeconomic evaluation using DaSOSaCa also reveals that the nominal discount rate is recommended to be greater than 20% considering the current economic situation for the renewable energy sector in Iran. An environmental analysis results show that an average 106.68tonCO<SUB>2</SUB>-eq/year is produced for such hybrid systems application in Iran during a cradle to grave life cycle. Thus, Iran energy sector can be eminently promoted to an environmentally efficient stage with regard to the proposed classification plan and economic considerations.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Proposing DaSOSaCa flowchart as a novel hybrid solar/wind assessment approach. </LI> <LI> Calculating four key parameters to generate synthetic wind hourly data for Iran. </LI> <LI> Proposing technical and economic hybrid solar/wind GIS maps of Iran. </LI> <LI> Revising renewable energies management plans of Iran by macroeconomic evaluation. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Validation and Diagnostic Usefulness of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Questionnaire in a Primary Care Level in Mexico

( Miguel Angel Zavala Gonzales ),( Amyra Ali Azamar Jacome ),( Arturo Meixueiro Daza ),( Antonio Ramos De La Medina ),( Job Reyes Huerta J ),( Federico Roesch Dietlen ),( Jose Maria Remes Troche ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회 2014 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.20 No.4

Background/Aims Different non-invasive diagnostics strategies have been used to assess patients with gastroesophageal reflux. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) questionnaire (GerdQ) is a 6-item, easy to use questionnaire that was developed primarily as a diagnostic tool for GERD in primary care. Our aim was to validate and assess diagnostic utility of GerdQ questionnaire in Mexican patients in the primary care setting. Methods The study was performed in 3 phases: (1) a questionnaire translation and comprehension study (n = 20), (2) are a reproducibility and validation study (50 patients and 50 controls) and (3) a study to assess the clinical utility in 252 subjects with GERD symptoms. Diagnostic accuracy was calculated using endoscopy and/or pH-metry as the gold standard. Results Internal consistency measured by the Cronbach``s a coefficient was 0.81 for patients and 0.90 for healthy controls, with a mixed coefficient of 0.93. Reproducibility for GerdQ was very good and its discriminating validity was 88%. Most of the patients with erosive reflux and non-erosive reflux with abnormal pH-metry had scores > 8, meanwhile most of the patients with functional heartburn and hypersensitive esophagus had < 8. Sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value of GerdQ compared to the gold standard were 72%, 72% and 87%, respectively.Conclusions In Mexico, the GerdQ questionnaire Spanish validated version is useful for GERD diagnosis in the primary care setting. (J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2014;20:475-482)

Quality Control Usage in High-Density Microarrays Reveals Differential Gene Expression Profiles in Ovarian Cancer

Villegas-Ruiz, Vanessa,Moreno, Jose,Jacome-Lopez, Karina,Zentella-Dehesa, Alejandro,Juarez-Mendez, Sergio Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.5

There are several existing reports of microarray chip use for assessment of altered gene expression in different diseases. In fact, there have been over 1.5 million assays of this kind performed over the last twenty years, which have influenced clinical and translational research studies. The most commonly used DNA microarray platforms are Affymetrix GeneChip and Quality Control Software along with their GeneChip Probe Arrays. These chips are created using several quality controls to confirm the success of each assay, but their actual impact on gene expression profiles had not been previously analyzed until the appearance of several bioinformatics tools for this purpose. We here performed a data mining analysis, in this case specifically focused on ovarian cancer, as well as healthy ovarian tissue and ovarian cell lines, in order to confirm quality control results and associated variation in gene expression profiles. The microarray data used in our research were downloaded from ArrayExpress and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and analyzed with Expression Console Software using RMA, MAS5 and Plier algorithms. The gene expression profiles were obtained using Partek Genomics Suite v6.6 and data were visualized using principal component analysis, heat map, and Venn diagrams. Microarray quality control analysis showed that roughly 40% of the microarray files were false negative, demonstrating over- and under-estimation of expressed genes. Additionally, we confirmed the results performing second analysis using independent samples. About 70% of the significant expressed genes were correlated in both analyses. These results demonstrate the importance of appropriate microarray processing to obtain a reliable gene expression profile.

A New Salt-Tolerant Thermostable Cellulase from a Marine Bacillus sp. Strain

( Yago Queiroz Dos Santos ),( Bruno Oliveira De Veras ),( Anderson Felipe Jacome De Franca ),( Krystyna Gorlach-lira ),( Jannaina Velasques ),( Ludovico Migliolo ),( Elizeu Antunes Dos Santos ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2018 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.28 No.7

A salt-tolerant cellulase secreted by a marine Bacillus sp. SR22 strain with wide resistance to temperature and pH was purified and characterized. Its approximate mass was 37 kDa. The endoglucanase, named as Bc22Cel, was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration chromatography, and extraction from the gel after non-reducing sodium dodecyl sufate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The optimal pH value and temperature of Bc22Cel were 6.5 and 60°C, respectively. The purified Bc22Cel showed a considerable halophilic property, being able to maintain more than 70% of residual activity even when pre-incubated with 1.5 M NaCl for 1 h. Kinetic analysis of the purified enzyme showed the K m and Vmax to be 0.704 mg/ml and 29.85 μmol·ml-1·min-1, respectively. Taken together, the present data indicate Bc22Cel as a potential and useful candidate for industrial applications, such as the bioconversion of sugarcane bagasse to its derivatives.