Preparation of Protein-Stabilized β-Carotene Nanodispersions by Emulsification–Evaporation Method

This work was initiated to prepare protein-stabilized β-carotene nanodispersions using emulsification–evaporation. A pre-mix of the aqueous phase composed of a protein and hexane containing β-carotene was subjected to high-pressure homogenization using a microfluidizer. Hexane in the resulting emulsion was evaporated under reduced pressures, causing crystallization and precipitation of β-carotene inside the droplets and formation of β-carotene nanoparticles. Sodium caseinate (SC) was the most effective emulsifier among selected proteins in preparing the nanodispersion, with a monomodal β-carotene particle-size distribution and a 17-nm mean particle size. The results were confirmed by transmission-electron microscopy analysis. SC-stabilized nanodispersion also had considerably high ζ-potential (−27 mV at pH 7), suggesting that the nanodispersion was stable against particle aggregation. Increasing the SC concentration decreased the mean particle size and improved the polydispersity of the nanodispersions. Nanodispersions prepared with higher β-carotene concentrations and higher organic-phase ratios resulted in larger β-carotene particles. Although increased microfluidization pressure did not decrease particle size, it did improve the polydispersity of the nanodispersions. Repeating the microfluidization process at 140 MPa caused the nanodispersions to become polydisperse, indicating the loss of emulsifying capacity of SC due to protein denaturation.     

Effect of additives on formation of natural gas hydrate

The formation of natural gas hydrate (NGH) is studied in this work. Kinetics data of hydrate formation with no agitation were collected at various concentrations of the aqueous solutions with different additives such as alkylpolyglucside, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate and potassium oxalate monohydrate. Various kinds of additive increased the formation rates of NGH and its storage capacity and reduced the induction time of NGH formation. Moreover, the storage capacity, the induction time and the hydrate formation rate were influenced by the concentration of the aqueous solution.     

Informational Entropy: a Failure Tolerance and Reliability Surrogate for Water Distribution Networks

Evolutionary algorithms are used widely in optimization studies on water distribution networks. The optimization algorithms use simulation models that analyse the networks under various operating conditions. The solution process typically involves cost minimization along with reliability constraints that ensure reasonably satisfactory performance under abnormal operating conditions also. Flow entropy has been employed previously as a surrogate reliability measure. While a body of work exists for a single operating condition under steady state conditions, the effectiveness of flow entropy for systems with multiple operating conditions has received very little attention. This paper describes a multi-objective genetic algorithm that maximizes the flow entropy under multiple operating conditions for any given network. The new methodology proposed is consistent with the maximum entropy formalism that requires active consideration of all the relevant information. Furthermore, an alternative but equivalent flow entropy model that emphasizes the relative uniformity of the nodal demands is described. The flow entropy of water distribution networks under multiple operating conditions is discussed with reference to the joint entropy of multiple probability spaces, which provides the theoretical foundation for the optimization methodology proposed. Besides the rationale, results are included that show that the most robust or failure-tolerant solutions are achieved by maximizing the sum of the entropies.     

Improvement of Microwave Loss Tangent and Tunability of Ba0.55Sr0.45TiO3/MgO Composites Using the Heterogeneous Precipitation Method

Ba_0.55Sr_0.45TiO₃/MgO composites were successfully prepared by the heterogeneous precipitation method and their structural, surface morphological, tunable properties, and dielectric properties at microwave frequency were systemically investigated. Compared with the sample prepared by the traditional solid-state method, the sample prepared by the heterogeneous precipitation method exhibits a smaller grain size, more uniform microstructure, higher tunability, and lower microwave loss, and these properties are very beneficial to the development of the microwave tunable devices application. Moreover, the effects of La₂O₃ doping on the dielectric and tunable properties of BST/MgO composites are investigated. The result shows that the La³⁺-doped sample has higher tunability and lower microwave loss than the undoped one.     

Parametrized Maximum Principle Preserving Flux Limiters for High Order Schemes Solving Multi-Dimensional Scalar Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

In this paper, we will extend the strict maximum principle preserving flux limiting technique developed for one dimensional scalar hyperbolic conservation laws to the two-dimensional scalar problems. The parametrized flux limiters and their determination from decoupling maximum principle preserving constraint is presented in a compact way for two-dimensional problems. With the compact fashion that the decoupling is carried out, the technique can be easily applied to high order finite difference and finite volume schemes for multi-dimensional scalar hyperbolic problems. For the two-dimensional problem, the successively defined flux limiters are developed for the multi-stage total-variation-diminishing Runge–Kutta time-discretization to improve the efficiency of computation. The high order schemes with successive flux limiters provide high order approximation and maintain strict maximum principle with mild Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy constraint. Two dimensional numerical evidence is given to demonstrate the capability of the proposed approach.     

Use of cascade reduction potential for selective precipitation of Au,Cu, and Pb in hydrochloric acid solution

Optimization of reduction potential for electroseparation was studied for the recovery of gold, copper, and lead from acidic solution. A linear sweep voltammetric method enabled us to determine characteristic reduction potentials for each metal and the kinetics of the metal deposition indicated by current-voltage curves. In order to precipitate the metal species sequentially, reduction potentials were examined for the individual and mixed solutions of Au(III), Cu(II), and Pb(II). The three metals were reasonably well isolated from the mixed solutions such as Cu(II)/ Pb(II) and Au(III)/Cu(II)/Pb(II) in the order of the corresponding reduction potentials, in particular, the mass transfer controlled reduction potentials, obtained from linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) measurement.     

PPS的共混改性

简要介绍了聚苯硫醚(PPS)与其他聚合物进行共混改性的研究进展。着重讨论了PPS PA66、PPS PC、PPS PPO等的共混及其性能。此外,展望了PPS合金的发展前景。     

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a FCC regenerator

The hydrodynamic and gas mixing characteristics have been determined in a FCC regenerator (0.48 m I.D.x3.4 m high) with FCC particles. Solids holdup in the dense bed decreases with increasing gas velocity, but it increases in the freeboard region. The bubble/void fraction increases with an increase along the bed height at a given gas velocity and increases with increasing gas velocity at a constant bed height. Backmixed tracer gas at the wall region is higher than that at the center region of the bed. The gas backmixing coefficient decreases with increasing gas velocity.     

应用WCA微扰理论推算非极性液体比热容的新方法

本文首次将统计热力学的Ｗｅｅｋｓ－Ｃｈａｎｄｌｅｒ－Ａｎｄｅｒｓｏｎ（简称ＷＣＡ）微扰理论应用于非极性液体定容比热容和定压比热容的推算，用一些液体的ｐ－ｖ－Ｔ实验数据拟合了理论中所用ＬＪ势能函数的势能参数，并提出一个通用关联式。本文方法具有通用性，在编制的计算程序中只需输入物质的临界温度、临界比容、偏心因子等就能算出相应的比热容，工程应用十分方便。     

Fabrication and amplification of Rhodamine B‐doped step‐index polymer optical fiber

A step‐index polymer optical fiber (SI POF) containing Rhodamine B in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has been fabricated by a preform technique. Fluorescence of different fiber lengths were observed and discussed. A high gain (23 dB) for a SI POF with 60‐cm length, 400‐μm diameter was obtained. The Rhodamine B content of the doped SI POF is 5 ppm‐wt. The signal wavelength providing the highest gain for a 60 cm SI POF is around 630 nm, and the optimum fiber length is about 60 cm at 10 kW launched pump power. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 681–685, 2004