This study aimed to perform a comparative analysis of the performance of five models (Gompertz, logistic, Richards, the first-order, artificial neural networks) in predicting methane production rate from anaerobic digestion of livestock manures. The input variables were fermentation time, digestion temperature, biogas temperature, ambient temperature, pH, and specific biogas production rate. The physicochemical compositions of cow manure and sheep manure showed that volatile solid (VS) contents were close to each other in manure compositions (77.6% and 64.7%, respectively), while the potential of methane production from cow manure (673.44 mL CH4/g VS) was greater than that from sheep manure (320.32 mL CH4/g VS). The determination coefficients (R2) for logistic function, Gompertz, Richards, the first-order, and ANN models were obtained as 0.968, 0.967, 0.975, 0.825, and 0.995 for the cow manure, respectively. In case of the sheep manure, the R2 values obtained from these models were 0.976, 0.979, 0.981, 0.968 and 0.991, respectively. Although the determination coefficients of all models were in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data, the ANN model showed competitive lower RMSE values of 0.111 and 0.164 for cow and sheep manure data sets, respectively, indicating its superior performance than other models.
Summary. The basic chemical structure of the sex
pheromone of the pine sawfly Microdiprion pallipes
(Fallén) has earlier been identified as the propionate
ester of (2S,3S,7R/S,11R/S)/(2R,3R,7R/S,11R/S)-3,7,11-
trimethyl-2-tridecanol. We now report the results from
further investigations on the male response to individual
stereoisomers and to blends of stereoisomers, both in electroantennographic
(EAG) recordings and in field trapping
experiments. We also present our attempts to determine the
stereochemistry of the compounds present in females of
M. pallipes. By comparing gas chromatograms and mass
spectra obtained from natural extracts with those from synthetic
compounds it was found that the females contain one
or more of the four (2S,3S,7R/S,11R/S)-3,7,11-trimethyl-2-
tridecanol isomers (SS++-1). The active pheromone component
is the corresponding propionate ester 2. In EAG
experiments, males responded most strongly to five propionate
ester samples, namely two four-isomer blends: SS++-2
and SR++-2, and three individual stereoisomers: SSSR-,
SRRR- and SRSR-2. In a series of field trapping experiments
it was found that males were attracted to the SR++-2
four-isomer blend and to the individual isomer SSSR-2.
Based on the EAG-recordings and field responses of males
and the stereoisomers found in the females, we suggest that
the propionate ester of (2S,3S,7S,11R)-3,7,11-trimethyl-2-
tridecanol (SSSR-2) is used as a main component of the sex
pheromone in M. pallipes. Apparently the males react to
other stereoisomers in addition to that or those produced by
the females. 相似文献
In many species, population sex ratios have far-reaching consequences for a wide variety of population-level and behavioural processes and can directly influence sexual selection through differential effects on male and female mating behaviour. Although sex ratios are often treated as more or less stable population characteristics, recent theoretical evidence suggests that sex ratios fluctuate under many conditions, and that the amplitude of these fluctuations can be considerable. Few studies have attempted to quantify this variation in systems with prominent, sex ratio-dependent sexual conflict. One of the species with the greatest potential to integrate these factors in the wild is the Trinidadian guppy, Poecilia reticulata. In this study, we quantified natural sex ratio variation both as detailed longitudinal studies of focal guppy populations and as snapshot estimates across a range of freshwater habitats. In line with theoretical predictions, we expected to detect significant sex ratio variation over time. We also investigated the association between juvenile and adult sex ratios to quantify a possible compensatory feedback implied in standard models of sex ratio evolution. Our results confirm that population-level sex ratios in wild guppy populations have a range of dynamic features, with all four focal populations showing significant variation in sex ratio over time. The survey showed that juveniles were generally close to equal (50:50) sex ratios whereas 7 out of 11 adult sex ratios differed significantly from equality. We found no evidence that a surplus of juveniles of the locally rarer sex had been produced. The results indicate that sex ratios and hence the balance between sexual selection and sexual coercion is normally fluctuating in nature, despite juvenile ratios being close to equality.Communicated by J. Krause 相似文献
The leather industry is an industry which generates a large amount of solid and liquid wastes. Most of the solid wastes originate from the pre-tanning processes while half of it comes from the fleshing step. Raw fleshing wastes which mainly consist of protein and fat have almost no recovery option and the disposal is costly. This study outlines the possibility of using the fleshing waste as an oil source for transesterification reaction. The effect of oil/alcohol molar ratio, the amount of catalyst and temperature on ester production was individually investigated and optimum reaction conditions were determined. The fuel properties of the ester product were also studied according to the EN 14214 standard. Cold filter plugging point and oxidation stability have to be improved in order to use the ester product as an alternative fuel candidate. Besides, this product can be used as a feedstock in lubricant production or cosmetic industry. 相似文献
The use of fuzzy multiple criteria analysis (MCA) in solid waste management has the advantage of rendering subjective and implicit decision making more objective and analytical, with its ability to accommodate both quantitative and qualitative data. In this paper a modified fuzzy TOPSIS methodology is proposed for the selection of appropriate disposal method and site for municipal solid waste (MSW). Our method is superior to existing methods since it has capability of representing vague qualitative data and presenting all possible results with different degrees of membership. In the first stage of the proposed methodology, a set of criteria of cost, reliability, feasibility, pollution and emission levels, waste and energy recovery is optimized to determine the best MSW disposal method. Landfilling, composting, conventional incineration, and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) combustion are the alternatives considered. The weights of the selection criteria are determined by fuzzy pairwise comparison matrices of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). It is found that RDF combustion is the best disposal method alternative for Istanbul. In the second stage, the same methodology is used to determine the optimum RDF combustion plant location using adjacent land use, climate, road access and cost as the criteria. The results of this study illustrate the importance of the weights on the various factors in deciding the optimized location, with the best site located in Çatalca. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted to monitor how sensitive our model is to changes in the various criteria weights. 相似文献
Twenty-one years after the Chernobyl accident, lichen and moss samples were collected from the Ordu province, which was already chosen for a related study some years ago. It was observed that 137Cs activity concentration ranged from 31 to 469 Bq kg−1 in the moss and from 132 to 1508 Bq kg−1 in the lichen samples. The decrease of the activity concentrations in the present measurements (2007) relative to those in 1997 (over a period of 10 y) indicated ecological half-lives between 1.8 and 10.4 y for the moss and between 2.1 and 13.7 y for the lichen samples. It was observed that 137Cs was still eminent in the area studied. Moreover, 40K activity concentrations and K element concentrations were measured and their relationships were discussed. 相似文献
Background, aim, and scope The pulp and paper industry is the sixth largest polluter discharging a variety of gaseous, liquid, and solid wastes into
the environment. Effluents from bleached Kraft mill effluents (BKME) are polluting waters to a great extent These effluents
cause considerable damage to the receiving waters if discharged untreated since they have high levels of biological oxygen
demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), chlorinated compounds (measured as AOX), suspended solids (mainly fibers), fatty
acids, tannins, resin acids, lignin and its derivatives, sulfur and sulfur compounds, etc. This study aimed to remove adsorbed
organic halogen (AOX), total nitrogen, and lignin-degrading products in the wastewater (4,500 m3/h) from the paper mill in the pulp and paper industry, which is discharged to sea from a plant located in western Turkey.
Materials and methods The photocatalytic degradation of AOX, total nitrogen, and chlorinated lignin in BKME have been investigated in different
parameters, such as time, H2O2 and TiO2 concentration. In addition, for investigating the effect of chlorine on the removal of lignin, pure lignin solution was prepared
in equal amounts to chlorinated lignin degradation products found in BKME. The same experiments were conducted for this solution.
Experiments were carried out in photocatalytic reactor made of Pyrex glass. The mercury lamp was used as a radiation source.
All irradiation was carried out under constant stirring. The existence of dissolved O2 is an important factor which increases the photocatalytic degradation. Hence, we used an air pump for the aeration of the
wastewater solutions. The temperature of the wastewater was controlled and adjusted to 25°C by thermostat pump in conjunction
with a cooler. At the end of all experiments, AOX, total nitrogen and lignin concentrations were analyzed according to standard
methods. All experiments were performed in duplicate and average values were used.
Results and discussion When the effect of H2O2 and time were investigated, it was observed that the AOX concentration increased from 3.0 to 11.0 mg/L by only UV. However,
when H2O2 was added, AOX concentration decreased from approximately 3.0 to 0.0 mg/L. The optimal conditions for the removal of AOX
appear to be an initial H2O2 concentration of 20.0 mL/L and reaction time of 50 min. In addition, at the same experiment conditions, it was seen that
the total nitrogen concentration decreased from 23.0 to 15.0 mg/L by only UV and by increasing H2O2 concentration, the concentration of 20.0 mL/L H2O2 appears to be optimal (9.0 mg/L). The AOX, total nitrogen and lignin degradation products and pure lignin go through a minimum
when the concentration of H2O2 and TiO2 increases at constant pH and UV intensity. The kinetics for the degradation of AOX, total nitrogen and lignin degradation
products followed a pseudo-first order law with respect to the products, and the degradation rates (min−1) for the UV/TiO2/H2O2 system were higher than that of the corresponding values for the UV/H2O2 system.
Conclusions The AOX, total nitrogen and lignin concentration go through a minimum when the concentration of H2O2 and TiO2 increases at constant pH and UV intensity. It was found that the UV/TiO2/H2O2 system has proved capable of the degradation of total nitrogen as well as chlorinated and degraded lignin in BKME.
Recommendations and perspectives The photocatalytic process can be considered a suitable alternative for the remove of some compounds from the BKME. Nevertheless,
further studies should be carried out to confirm the practical feasibility of BKME. Another result obtained from the study
is that pre-purification carried out with UV/TiO2/H2O2 photocatalytic process may constitute an important step for further purification processes such as adsorption, membrane processes,
etc. 相似文献
The main purpose of this research is to manage simultaneous measurement of velocity and concentration in large cross-sections by recording and processing images of cloud structures to provide more detailed information for e.g. validation of CFD simulations. Dispersion from an isolated stack in an Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) was chosen as the test case and investigated both experimentally and numerically in a wind tunnel. Large Scale-Particle Image Velocimetry (LS-PIV), which records cloud structures instead of individual particles, was used to obtain the velocity field in a vertical plane. The concentration field was determined by two methods: Aspiration Probe (AP) measurements and Light Scattering Technique (LST). In the latter approach, the same set of images used in the LS-PIV was employed. The test case was also simulated using the CFD solver FLUENT 6.3. Comparison between AP measurements and CFD revealed that there is good agreement when using a turbulent Schmidt number of 0.4. For the LST measurements, a non-linear relation between concentration and light intensity was observed and a hyperbolic-based function is proposed as correction function. After applying this correction function, a close agreement between CFD and LST measurements is obtained. 相似文献