When the biofilm was inoculated with nitrifying bacteria comprised of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), which were screened from a cattle

manure solution, the average removal efficiencies became 59.9% and 15.0% higher than those of the non-biofilm and biofilm culture experiments, respectively. AOB and NOB could still oxidize ammonia and nitrite, respectively, even when the free nitrous acid concentration was as high as 37.6 mg/L. With an empty bed retention time of 96.0 s and a removal efficiency of 99%, NH3 elimination capacities were attained at 57.1, 28.6, and 23.7 g-N/(m(3) h) for the first segment, the first and second segment, and the whole BTF, respectively. These results demonstrate that the BTF under study is a viable alternative for the treatment of NH3 during composting. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. Bromosporine research buy All rights reserved.”
“Polyetherimide (PEI)/organoclay (Cloisite 30B) nanocomposite and PEI/pristine

nanoclay (K10) nanocomposite were made by solution casting process. Nanoclay content of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0% (by weight) Rabusertib molecular weight was reinforced in PEI. The dielectric properties (dielectric constant, loss tangent, and electromagnetic transmission/reflection losses) of PEI/Cloisite 30B were observed lower than PEI/K10 in X band frequency (8 to 12 GHz). Mixed morphology in terms of intercalation and exfoliation was evident in wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) analysis and transmission electron micrographs (TEM) of PEI/Cloisite 30B. Whereas, in PEI/K10, immiscibility,

segregation, and phase separation of K10 were observed in WAXD analysis and scanning electron micrographs (SEM). Tensile properties (tensile strength, modulus, and elongation at break) of PEI/Cloisite 30B were superior to PEI/K10. Reinforcement with 1%, by weight, of Cloisite 30B in PEI resulted in the optimum properties, among all the compositions. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 122: 1040-1046, 2011″
“The asymmetrical magnetoimpedance (MI) response has been analyzed in thin multilayer strips of exchange-coupled [NiFe (t nm)/IrMn (35 nm)] x Selleck MI-503 n(t), where t and n take values of 20, 30, 40, and 60 nm and n 15, 10, 8, and 5, respectively. The antiferromagnetic layer creates an exchange bias that shifts both the hysteresis loop and the MI response, and the magnitude of this shift depends on the ferromagnetic (FM) layer thickness. The MI peak positions are also shifted to a higher magnetic field as the probe frequency increases, and the MI ratio increases with increasing thickness of the FM layer. The impedance of a sandwich-like layered system was modeled based on an exchange coupled Stoner-Wohlfarth energy density. The model reproduces the principal features of the experimental results, describing the effect of the strength of the exchange bias on the MI ratio. (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.