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Copyright of Service Industries Journal is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge (WAS) towards biogas recovery is constrained by the limited hydrolysis and inhibited acetogenesis steps that hinder subsequent energy recovery. This study employed Fe(VI)/S(IV) oxidation to enhance the WAS solubilization and coupled it with the syntrophic interaction of hydrogen-producing acetogen (HPA) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) to stimulate the successive procedure towards methane production. Results showed that the dosage ratio of HPA-SRB to WAS (H-S-W) with 1:1:50 outperformed with the highest methane production potential (11.63 ± 1.87 mL CH4/(g VSS·d). Meanwhile, the efficient and sequential process from acetogenesis to methanogenesis stimulated by HPA-SRB was evidenced by a significant decrease of 30.2% in the acetate concentration. The microbial community structure further manifested the crucial role of HPA-SRB with increased abundance of Desulfobulbus (2.07%), Syntrophomonas (1.24%) and Smithella (1.63%), which stimulated acetophilic methanogen boost with Methanobacterium dominating with 77.51% in H-S-W100. Furthermore, the positive syntrophic relationships among HPA-SRB and acetophilic methanogens towards methane production were confirmed via molecular ecological network and canonical correspondence analysis. This study highlighted the syntrophic cooperation of the mixed consortia of HPA and SRB on methane production based on Fe(VI)/S(IV) pretreatment and provided the theoretical and technical basis for the potential implementation of novel methanogenesis technology for WAS treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method of assessment on how Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and animation influence the psychological process of learning by comparing a traditional web design course and an e-learning web design course, based on the Change of Internal Mental Model of Learners. We constructed the e-learning course based on Gagne's learning theory and theory of instructional design; and designed and analyzed questionnaires on the psychological process of learning in order to measure the change in a learner's mental model and performance. The result shows that HCI and animation features of e-learning have been proved to positively influence learners' cognitive perception and structuring, while the psychological process of learning as a whole is positively influenced by these technological features. In addition, the result indicates that the learning theory can be applied during the process of designing e-learning courses, and the theory of cognitive psychology is successfully used in measuring both a learner's psychological process of learning and changes in the mental model. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

It is widely accepted that employees in small business suffer from a lack of knowledge and skills. This lack of skills means that small companies will miss out on new business opportunities. This is even more evident with respect to the adoption of Internet marketing in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This paper reports a pilot research project TRIMAR, which aims to develop a web-based intelligent training system to aid small business employees in their learning and decision-making regarding the use of the Internet as a new marketing medium. TRIMAR attempts to contribute to the wider debate on the content and style of training most suitable to small businesses. It aims to identify the training needs of small businesses for Internet marketing at a pan-European level and to seek the most effective ways to address training and support needs with web-based systems. Based on training needs analysis carried out within five European countries: UK, Germany, Poland, Slovak Republic and Portugal, a web based system for gaining Internet marketing knowledge and skills was constructed. The system consists of three major subsystems: Self Assessment Tool (SAT), Training Modules (TM), and a Case Retrieval System (CRS). Various users through an online questionnaire tested the system. The initial feedback revealed that the case base training approach delivered on the Internet provided a highly appropriate training medium for SMEs.

Gibbons are a family (Hylobatidae) of ape species endemic to the rainforests of the mainland and islands of Southeast Asia, including four well-recognized genera (Hylobates, Nomascus, Symphalangus, and Hoolock). Most gibbon species are known as considered “endangered” or “critically endangered” (IUCN 2009). This present article gives a review on the research progress of phylogenetic relationships between gibbon species and closely related genera utilizing a range of different traits (e.g., vocalization, morphology, karyotype, mtDNA, Y chromosomes, Autosomes, Alu, and whole genome). Our aim held great potential to clarify more directions in researches on identification of genetic relationship, to provide reference for molecular biology research and useful information for further gibbon research.

Based on the mathematical description and biological parameters of three nonlinear growth models (Logistic, Gompertz, Bertalanffy), the recent advance of growth curve fitting analysis in goose have been reviewed briefly in this paper in order to provide some basic information for future goose research and breeding work.