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This study investigates the synergistic effects of ion exchange and biodegradation methods to remove the Acid Blue 193 also called Gryfalan Navy Blue RL (GNB) dye from wastewater. Ion exchange studies were performed using a strongly basic anion exchange resin Amberlite IRA 400. The equilibrium was characterized by a kinetic and thermodynamic points of view, establishing that the sorption of the GNB dye was subject to the Freundlich isotherm model with R2 = 0.8710. Experimental results showed that the activated resin can removed up to 93.4% when the concentration of dye solution is 5.62�10-2 mM. The biodegradation of the GNB was induced by laccase, an enzyme isolated from white-rot fungus. It was also analyzed the role of pH and dye concentration on GNB biodegradation, so 5�10-2 mM dye had a maximum discoloration efficiency of 82.9% at pH of 4. The laccase showed a very fast and robust activity reaching in a few minutes a Km value of 2.2�10-1mM. In addition, increasing the GNB concentration up to 8�10-1 mM did not triggered a substrat inhibition effect on the laccase activity. Overall, in this study we proposed a mixt physicochemical and biological approach to enhance the GNB removal and biodegradability from the wastewaters and subsequently the environment.

The food safety as providing utility available on an international scale falls within the classical definition of the global public goods. This paper presents a multi-criterial model for assessing the demand side of food safety as a public good in Bulgaria, in a context which can be easily articulated with the broader scope of European Union ’s Common Agriculture Policy. Based on a large pool of experts in agriculture as well as consumers and farmers in the South-Central Region of Bulgaria, a specific survey was tailored and applied following the methodology of Analytic Network Processes and the Benefits-Opportunities-Costs and Risks (BOCR) specific framework. Weights of importance for food safety in the context of other significant public goods were derived to express demand side priorities under general strategic criteria. Contingency valuation (CV) as a method to measure the willingness to pay for the food safety was also included in the survey and was processed in accordance with the previously demand side weights of importance calculations. Sensitivity Analysis completes the paper and constitutes an example about how national agricultural policy influences the enforcement provision of public goods. The analysis performed in this paper can be easily extended to nearby countries in the attempt to improve on the European policy’s coherence regarding food safety.

Although thematic networks served as an instrument for analytical understanding and classification of scientific expositions, this instrument was never used in the context of the literature review. This paper show how an Analytic Network Model can be built on the structure of a thematic network for a meaningful representation of the results published on a certain topicin this case the unconventional monetary measures ascribed during the last global financial crisis. While the first section offers a description of the history, structure and organization of the main monetary authority, the second section reviews the main steps in the creation of the thematic network and the structure and builds an ANP model to quantify the contingency values expressed as priority vectors for the intensity of the connections involved. The assessment of the intensity is completed in the last section by the sensitivity analysis regarding of the type” What if?”, like what would be the embraced unconventional monetary policy measure if Europe, for instance, would have more influence in the financial decisions.

The main topic of this paper is the 3D-FEM global strength analysis of a offshore supply vessel (OSV) under the following loads: still water and equivalent quasi-static head waves pressure, eigen ship and cargo weight. Two loading cases are selected for this analysis: full loading condition and ballast condition. The 3D-FEM (Finite Element Method) model extends over the whole ship length, the floating and trim equilibrium condition, in vertical plane, are obtained using eigen iterative numerical procedures. The buckling and yielding criteria are used to compare the numerical results with the allowable values according to classification societies.

The identification of robust endotypes—disease subgroups of clinical relevance—is fundamental to stratified medicine. We hypothesized that HLA-C∗06:02 status, the major genetic determinant of psoriasis, defines a psoriasis endotype of clinical relevance. Using two United Kingdom–based cross-sectional datasets—an observational severe-psoriasis study (Biomarkers of Systemic Treatment Outcomes in Psoriasis; n = 3,767) and a large population-based bioresource (UK Biobank, including n = 5,519 individuals with psoriasis)—we compared demographic, environmental, and clinical variables of interest in HLA-C∗06:02–positive (one or two copies of the HLA-C∗06:02 allele) with those in HLA-C∗06:02‒negative (no copies) individuals of European ancestry. We used multivariable regression analyses to account for mediation effects established a priori. We confirm previous observations that HLA-C∗06:02–positive status is associated with earlier age of psoriasis onset and extend findings to reveal an association with disease expressivity in females (Biomarkers of Systemic Treatment Outcomes in Psoriasis: P = 2.7 × 10 –14, UK Biobank: P = 1.0 × 10 –8). We also show HLA-C∗06:02–negative status to be associated with characteristic clinical features (large plaque disease, OR for HLA-C∗06:02 = 0.73, P = 7.4 × 10 –4; nail involvement, OR = 0.70, P = 2.4 × 10 –6); higher central adiposity (Biomarkers of Systemic Treatment Outcomes in Psoriasis: waist circumference difference of 2.0 cm, P = 8.4 × 10 –4; UK Biobank: waist circumference difference of 1.4 cm, P = 1.5 × 10 –4), especially in women; and a higher prevalence of other cardiometabolic comorbidities. These findings extend the clinical phenotype delineated by HLA-C∗06:02 and highlight its potential as an important biomarker to consider in future multimarker stratified medicine approaches.