Novel system configuration with activated sludge like-geometry to develop aerobic granular biomass under continuous flow.

A novel continuous flow system with "flat geometry" composed by two completely mixed aerobic tanks in series and a settler was used to promote the formation of aerobic granular sludge. Making similarities of this system with a typical sequencing batch reactor (SBR), for aerobic granules cultivation, the value of the tank 1/tank 2 vol ratio and the biomass recirculation rate would correspond with the feast/famine length ratio and the length of the operational cycle, respectively, while the settler upflow liquid velocity imposed would be related to the settling time. From the three experiments performed the best results were obtained when the tank 1/tank 2 vol ratio was of 0.28, the sludge recycling ratio of 0.25 and the settler upflow velocity of 2.5 m/h. At these conditions the aggregates had settling velocities between 29 and 113 m/h, sludge volume index at 10 min (SVI10) of 70 mL/g TSS and diameters between 1.0 and 5.0 mm.

[Secondary benefits of cognitive rehabilitation for a chronic ethylic patient: effects on disorder consciousness, motivation, and global therapeutic cooperation]. / Bénéfices secondaires d'une réhabilitation cognitive réalisée chez un patient souffrant d'un éthylisme chronique: effets sur la conscience des troubles, la motivation, et la coopération globale aux soins.

INTRODUCTION: Alcoholism causes psychological, behavioral and cognitive symptoms that need to be addressed together. The neuropsychological alterations among alcohol-dependent people are considered to make the therapeutic work complex and longer. A cognitive rehabilitation program is sometimes difficult to achieve with these patients. Functional results are often difficult to anticipate. However, the consequences of this therapeutic approach are multiple and there are many interactions between psycho-affective, behavioral and cognitive components. A neuropsychological approach can be used like a tool to improve metacognition. A bad contribution to treatment programs is often secondary to the illusion of a satisfying intellectual functioning. Patients' motivation for the therapeutic work is very changeable. A complete consciousness of impairments can help them to stay involved. CASE REPORT: The following case shows the cognitive effects and secondary benefits associated with a neuropsychological work, which was carried out by a chronic ethylic patient with severe physical and cognitive symptoms. The patient aged 50, with a good qualification level (scientific section in the final year of secondary school, with no diploma, then attended a training program to become a croupier) was suffering from chronic alcoholism since his adolescence. He arrived in the closed unit after many hospitalizations in psychiatric and hepato-gastroenterology units. He had been showing mental confusion. He presented a frontal and subcortical profile of alcohol-related dementia according to Oslin's criteria. MRI revealed global cerebral atrophy, more pronounced on the fronto-parietal cortex with cerebellar leukoencephalopathy, but no pontine central myelinolysis. The neurocognitive program had two main lines: reducing attentional, executive and graphical deficits with training exercises (individual and group sessions) and compensating memory, and executive disorders with an external aid. The cognitive program had been assessed by means of repeated psychometric measures, behavior and metacognition estimated by direct clinical observations. The cognitive remediation was carried out during a 10-month hospitalization, and then in an outpatient rehabilitation setting over a 12-month period. The external individual sessions were associated with medical consultations and support for reintegration at home provided by the mobile psychiatric team. RESULTS: The test results showed a significant improvement in attentional processes and executive functions. On graphic level, his writing was recovered after 10 months. Impairment within episodic memory processes-encoding was observed, and prospective memory was reinforced by external aids. At the end of the program, the use of an agenda proved to be effective even if updating was difficult once back home. Although a part of these effects could be expected, their psychological influence on the patient must be underlined: his perception of the alcohol related problem had been modified with more consciousness of the neurobiological consequences and a strong desire of personal implication. He worked a lot on his own (always under supervision) on cognitive exercises and succeeded in remaining abstinent for nearly 2 years. He died of complications of acute hepatitis. DISCUSSION: All the cognitive assessments and rehabilitation results seem to have increased his participation in the global therapeutic care. Therapeutic tools used for cognitive work give a concrete picture of the consequences of alcohol consumption and the necessary time to retrieve brain capacities. Visible improvements in terms of reduction in disability-handicaps encouraged the patient, valued his efforts, and increased his determination to solve his alcohol related problem. Thus, cognitive programs can help to reduce passiveness and develop activeness. This patient regarded therapeutic difficulties as a challenge, not as an obstacle. We can reasonably assume the effect of the cognitive rehabilitation on the Persistence of the Cloninger's biosocial model. This increase in temperament corresponds to a certain form of tenacity, which would facilitate abstinence.

Ionization with low-frequency fields in the tunneling regime.

Strong-field ionisation surprises with richness beyond current understanding despite decade long investigations. Ionisation with mid-IR light has promptly revealed unexpected kinetic energy structures that seem related to unanticipated quantum trajectories of the electrons. We measure first 3D momentum distributions in the deep tunneling regime (γ = 0.3) and observe surprising new electron dynamics of near-zero momentum electrons and extremely low momentum structures, below the eV, despite very high quiver energies of 95 eV. Such level of high-precision measurements at only 1 meV above the threshold, despite 5 orders higher ponderomotive energies, has now become possible with a specifically developed ultrafast mid-IR light source in combination with a reaction microscope, thereby permitting a new level of investigations into mid-IR recollision physics.

Attosecond correlated dynamics of two electrons passing through a transition state.

The strong-field induced decay of a doubly excited, transient Coulomb complex Ar**→Ar(2+)+2e(-) is explored by tracing correlated two-electron emission in nonsequential double ionization of Ar as a function of the carrier-envelope phase. Using <6 fs pulses, electron emission is essentially confined to one optical cycle. Classical model calculations support that the intermediate Coulomb complex has lost memory of its formation dynamics and allows for a consistent, though model-dependent definition of "emission time," empowering us to trace transition-state two-electron decay dynamics with sub-fs resolution. We find a most likely emission time difference of ∼200±100 as.

Dopant-induced ignition of helium nanodroplets in intense few-cycle laser pulses.

We demonstrate ultrafast resonant energy absorption of rare-gas doped He nanodroplets from intense few-cycle (~10 fs) laser pulses. We find that less than 10 dopant atoms "ignite" the droplet to generate a nonspherical electronic nanoplasma resulting ultimately in complete ionization and disintegration of all atoms, although the pristine He droplet is transparent for the laser intensities applied. Our calculations at those intensities reveal that the minimal pulse length required for ignition is about 9 fs.

Minimizing dispersive distortions in carrier-envelope phase sweeping with glass wedges.

A systematic experimental study is performed to examine the f-2f technique for sweeping the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of few-cycle laser pulses by changing the amount of positive dispersion in the extracavity beam path. Slightly changing the dispersion not only changes the CEP but affects the entire spectral-phase function. As a result, large discrepancies are found between the true CEP as independently measured with a stereo-above-threshold-ionization spectrometer and the CEP detected by an f-2f interferometer when sweeping the phase with glass wedges. A new CEP-stabilization scheme is proposed and experimentally shown to significantly improve the performance of CEP sweeping.