Consumption of solutions containing sodium chloride is enhanced in female oxytocin-deficient mice.

Intact and ovariectomized oxytocin (OT)-deficient (OT-/-) and wild-type (OT+/+) mice were tested for consumption of 0.5 M NaCl solution or tap water in a 2-bottle choice test. During 3 days of acclimation, voluntary ingestion of NaCl was equal between genotypes. After overnight fluid deprivation, intact OT-/- mice ingested 2 times more NaCl solution than OT+/+ mice in the 6th hr, but not the 1 st hr, after reintroduction of fluid. Ovariectomized mice consumed less than intact mice after overnight fluid deprivation. When a 0.2 M NaCl solution was administered for 6 days in ovariectomized mice, OT-/- mice voluntarily consumed greater amounts than OT+/+ mice. After overnight fluid deprivation, consumption by OT-/- mice was 3 times that of OT+/+ mice at 1 hr and 2-fold greater after 6 hr. Enhanced intake of NaCl-containing solutions in female OT-/- mice suggests that central OT may be an important inhibitor of sodium consumption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Local function approximation in evolutionary algorithms for the optimization of costly functions

We develop an approach for the optimization of continuous costly functions that uses a space-filling experimental design and local function approximation to reduce the number of function evaluations in an evolutionary algorithm. Our approach is to estimate the objective function value of an offspring by fitting a function approximation model over the k nearest previously evaluated points, where k=(d+1)(d+2)/2 and d is the dimension of the problem. The estimated function values are used to screen offspring to identify the most promising ones for function evaluation. To fit function approximation models, a symmetric Latin hypercube design (SLHD) is used to determine initial points for function evaluation. We compared the performance of an evolution strategy (ES) with local quadratic approximation, an ES with local cubic radial basis function (RBF) interpolation, an ES whose initial parent population comes from an SLHD, and a conventional ES. These algorithms were applied to a twelve-dimensional (12-D) groundwater bioremediation problem involving a complex nonlinear finite-element simulation model. The performances of these algorithms were also compared on the Dixon-Szego test functions and on the ten-dimensional (10-D) Rastrigin and Ackley test functions. All comparisons involve analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the computation of simultaneous confidence intervals. The results indicate that ES algorithms with local approximation were significantly better than conventional ES algorithms and ES algorithms initialized by SLHDs on all Dixon-Szego test functions except for Goldstein-Price. However, for the more difficult 10-D and 12-D functions, only the cubic RBF approach was successful in improving the performance of an ES. Moreover, the results also suggest that the cubic RBF approach is superior to the quadratic approximation approach on all test functions and the difference in performance is statistically significant for all test functions with dimension d/spl ges/4.     

Online droplet diameter measurements to improve the crude oil dehydration process

Emulsion droplet size is information of paramount importance in the design and evaluation of oil–water separators. This paper describes the application of a technique for in situ determination of water droplet diameter distribution (DDD) in actual production scenarios. We discuss the DDD and water content measurements in emulsions obtained during normal operation and plant upsets including variations of the demulsifier chemical dosage or tripping of the electrostatic coalescer grids inside a large dehydrator vessel operated on a crude oil production field in Saudi Arabia. It is demonstrated that DDD data can provide a detailed understanding of the oil–water separation phenomena occurring inside the dehydrator vessel, which helped in planning process recovery strategies in the event of a plant upset.     

Absorbing photonic crystals for silicon thin-film solar cells: Design,fabrication and experimental investigation

In this paper, we present the integration of an absorbing photonic crystal within a thin-film photovoltaic solar cell. Optical simulations performed on a complete solar cell revealed that patterning the hydrogenated amorphous silicon active layer as a 2D photonic crystal membrane enabled to increase its integrated absorption by 28 % between 300 and 720 nm, comparing to a similar but unpatterned stack. In order to fabricate such promising cells, we developed a high throughput process based on holographic lithography and reactive ion etching. The influences of the parameters taking part in those processes on the obtained patterns are discussed. Optical measurements performed on the resulting “photonized” solar cell structures underline the regularity of the 2D pattern and a significant absorption increase above 550 nm, similarly to what is observed on the simulated absorption spectra. Moreover, our patterned cells are found to be robust with regards to the angle of incidence of the light.     

Can Brazil replace 5% of the 2025 gasoline world demand with ethanol?

Increasing use of petroleum, coupled with concern for global warming, demands the development and institution of CO₂ reducing, non-fossil fuel-based alternative energy-generating strategies. Ethanol is a potential alternative, particularly when produced in a sustainable way as is envisioned for sugarcane in Brazil. We consider the expansion of sugarcane-derived ethanol to displace 5% of projected gasoline use worldwide in 2025. With existing technology, 21 million hectares of land will be required to produce the necessary ethanol. This is less than 7% of current Brazilian agricultural land and equivalent to current soybean land use. New production lands come from pasture made available through improving pasture management in the cattle industry. With the continued introduction of new cane varieties (annual yield increases of about 1.6%) and new ethanol production technologies, namely the hydrolysis of bagasse to sugars for ethanol production and sugarcane trash collection providing renewable process energy production, this could reduce these modest land requirements by 29–38%.     

Radiochemical and Raman spectroscopy study of the nature of adsorbed layers on a silver electrode

The structure of the layers formed on a silver electrode by the adsorption of pyridine, Cl^?, CN^? and SO₄^2? is discussed. A comparison of the amount of the species adsorbed with their Raman spectra shows that there is no simple relation between the species concentration and the enhancement of the Raman intensity. Furthermore, the inhomogeneity of the layers is shown by Raman microscopy observations. These results lead us to propose the formation of a new species stabilized in the colloidal silver layer. The Raman enhancement could be explained by the existence of a resonance effect.     

Impact of experimental conditions on material response during forming of steel in semi-solid state

Semi-solid forming is an effective near-net-shape forming process to produce components with complex geometry and in fewer forming steps. It benefits from the complex thixotropic behaviour of semi-solids. However, the consequences of such behaviour on the flow during thixoforming, is still neither completely characterized and nor fully understood, especially for high melting point alloys. The study described in this paper investigates thixoextrusion for C38 low carbon steel material using dies at temperatures much lower than the slug temperature. Four different process parameters were studied: the initial slug temperature, the die temperature, the ram speed and the presence of a ceramic layer at the tool/material interface. The extruded parts were found to have an exact shape and a good surface state only if the temperature was below a certain value. This critical temperature is not an intrinsic material property since its value depends on die temperature and the presence of the Ceraspray© layer. Two kinds of flow were highlighted: a homogeneous flow controlled by the behaviour of the solid skeleton characterized by a positive strain rate sensitivity, and a non homogeneous flow (macro liquid/solid phase separation) dominated by the flow of the free liquid. With decreasing ram speed, heat losses increase so that the overall consistency of the material improves, leading to apparent negative strain rate sensitivity. Finally, some ways to optimise thixoforming are proposed.     

Italian developments in the ultrasonic examination of pressure vessels

A review of developments being pursued in Italy in ultrasonics for application to pressure vessels is presented.

Although nuclear construction in Italy has suffered heavy delays, R & D activities promoted by the Italian Electricity Board in the mid 1970s on advanced UT for non-destructive inspection of thick welded sections made it possible to obtain significant results scored by CISE Laboratories, mainly through the design, construction and qualification of the manual UT spectroscopy and signal processing computerized ARICE system and of the mechanized multifrequency acoustic holography HADIS system. Meanwhile theoretical ultrasonic modelling is actively studied in order to implement software applications and the overall reliability of UT inspections with regard to flaw detection, location and sizing.

Selected contributions from manufacturers and service companies with a view to improving UT practice are acknowledged, and still wider technology transfers may be expected in the future, also under ENEA industrial promotion programmes.     

Estimating Glucan,Xylan, and Methylglucuronic Acids in Kraft Pulps of Eucalyptus globulus Using FT-NIR Spectroscopy and Multivariate Analysis

Abstract

Fourier transform near infrared (FT-NIR) associated with multivariate analysis was used to estimate glucan, xylan, 4-O-Methyl-α -D-glucuronic acid (MeGlcA) content, and pulp yield in kraft pulps of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. Several models were applied to correlate chemical composition in samples with the NIR spectral data by means of principal components regression (PCR) or partial least square (PLS) algorithms. Calibration models were built and validated by using all the spectral data and cross-validation methodology. The r_c ² values for the best calibration models for quantification of glucan, xylan, MeGlcA contents and pulp yield were between 0.71–0.92. The model was validated using a set of external samples. The amount of glucan (64–77%), xylan (12–18%), and MeGlcA (204–363 mmol kg pulp^–1) in pulps were predicted with a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.91%, 0.46%, and 15.21% for glucan, xylan, and MeGlcA, respectively. Pulp yield (in the range of 46–70%) was also predicted with good accuracy with a RMSEP of 1.63%. These results suggest that glucan, xylan, MeGlcA composition, and pulp yield in kraft pulps of E. globulus can be adequately estimated by NIR spectroscopy for laboratory or industrial applications. NIR predictions can also provide useful and cost-effective tools for the rapid screening of large numbers of samples.