Fast,clean, low-cost screening of cadmium and lead in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis Lmk. by visible spectroscopy and partial least squares regression

The potential of visible (VIS) spectroscopy for screening cadmium and lead contents in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis Lmk. was assessed. The spectra of the samples were recorded (400–700 nm). The Cd and Pb contents were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy, and were regressed against different spectral transformations by modified partial least square (PLSm) regression. Coefficients of determination in the cross-validation (Cd = 0.95; Pb = 0.77) were indicative of equations with excellent and good quantitative information, respectively. The standard deviation to standard error of cross-validation ratio (Cd = 4.43; Pb = 2.10) showed sufficient predictive accuracy for the equations to be used for screening purposes. PLSm loading plots corresponding to the first terms of the equations showed that chromophores influenced them significantly. This pioneering use of the VIS spectrum to predict Cd and Pb in mussels represents an important saving in time and cost of analysis in comparison to other methods.     

Equilibrated strategy for population variance estimation

Summary Under the hypothesis that a statistical population can be represented by a density function in a similar way to that of the optimum stratification problem dealt with in Dalenius (1957) and Dalenius and Hodges (1959) the estimation of the population variance is analysed by means of the technique of equilibrated stratification. An unbiased estimator is suggested and it is shown that, with optimum allocation, the precision of the estimator for sufficiently large sample size is always at least that of the classical minimum variance unbiased estimator for a distribution-free setting. A numerical study complete the article.     

Influence of traditional smoking on the triglyceride composition during the ripening of Idiazabal cheese

 The influence of traditional smoking on the triglyceride (TG) composition of Idiazabal cheese during ripening was studied using HPLC. The partition numbers (PNs) of the TGs ranged between 22 and 53, the groupings of TG peaks with PN values of 36, 34, and 38 being the main contributors. Statistically significant differences between the smoked and the unsmoked cheeses were recorded during the ripening period. Smoking had a significant effect on certain groups of TGs at different ripening times and no effect on others. The differences in the TG profiles of the cheeses were the result of differing levels of lipolytic activity, which was heightened by smoking. Received: 29 December 1997 / Revised version: 9 March 1998     

Microstructural evolution during upward and downward transient directional solidification of hypomonotectic and monotectic Al–Bi alloys

Upward directional unsteady-state solidification experiments were performed with both a hypomonotectic Al–2.0 wt% Bi alloy and a monotectic Al–3.2 wt% Bi alloy. Besides, the monotectic composition (3.2 wt% Bi) was directionally solidified under downward transient heat flow conditions, which enables the effects of melt convection on the final microstructure to be evaluated since the collective downward movement of Bi-rich particles is favored in such case. This is due to the density differences between the two coexisting liquid phases. The thermal parameters such as cooling rate, growth rate and thermal gradient were experimentally determined by data collected from cooling curves recorded along the casting length. The monotectic features observed in the Al–3.2 wt% Bi alloy castings, i.e. the interphase spacing and Bi-rich particles diameter were correlated with the growth rate and thermal gradient. The cell spacing was experimentally determined for the Al–2.0 wt% Bi alloy as a function of both the cooling rate and tip growth rate. These experimental data were compared with the main predictive cellular growth models from the literature. A comparison between upward and downward unsteady-state solidification results for the interphase spacing and Bi-rich particles diameter has also been conducted.     

Dual-mode design of fully differential circuits using fully balanced operational amplifiers

Fully differential (F-D) analogue circuits are usually designed focusing only on their differential-mode (DM) behaviour, without considering common-mode (CM) responses. A technique is presented for the design of both DM and CM circuit responses, using fully balanced operational amplifiers (FBOAs) as analogue building blocks. FBOAs work with CM and DM voltages as a whole, having an ideally infinite gain for both modes. This allows independent design of CM and DM dynamics. Inverting and non-inverting F-D topologies can be implemented in a simple way, similar to the implementation of their single-ended counterparts. Some typical application circuits are analysed and discussed and, as a design example, a 'double-mode oscillator' (a circuit that has independent CM and DM oscillations) was built and experimentally evaluated.     

Mercury speciation in gypsums produced from flue gas desulfurization by temperature programmed decomposition

Temperature programmed decomposition was used to identify mercury (Hg) species in gypsum samples produced from flue gas desulfurization in two Spanish power stations (A and B). As stricter emission control/reduction policies, particularly those focusing on Hg, are being implemented, wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) technologies used for the removal of SO₂ can result in the co-removal of highly-soluble oxidized Hg. The amount of Hg retained in FGD products may increase in the future if these units are optimized for co-capture. For this reason, it is important to identify the mercury species in FGD products not only to determine the potential risk when the wastes are finally disposed of, but also to understand the behaviour of mercury during combustion and therefore to improve the technologies for mercury removal. Different mercury species were identified in the gypsum samples. In power station A, HgS were the most probable Hg species, whereas in power station B the main compound was Hg halogenated compounds.     

Experimental method for the determination of the energydistribution of stress-induced oxide traps

An experimental procedure for the determination of the energy distribution of oxide neutral traps is presented, showing the evolution of the stress-induced damage as a function of Fowler-Nordheim stress fluence and field. It is shown that the traps are mainly distributed around 2 eV from the oxide conduction band. Results are presented for different oxide technologies, investigating the effect of oxide nitridation and growth conditions on the trap energy distribution     

Effectiveness of antioxidants in preventing oxidation of palm oil enriched with heme iron: A model for iron fortification in baked products

Bakery products such as biscuits, cookies, and pastries represent a good medium for iron fortification in food products, since they are consumed by a large proportion of the population at risk of developing iron deficiency anemia, mainly children. The drawback, however, is that iron fortification can promote oxidation. To assess the extent of this, palm oil added with heme iron and different antioxidants was used as a model for evaluating the oxidative stability of some bakery products, such as baked goods containing chocolate. The palm oil samples were heated at 220°C for 10 min to mimic the conditions found during a typical baking processing. The selected antioxidants were a free radical scavenger (tocopherol extract (TE), 0 and 500 mg/kg), an oxygen scavenger (ascorbyl palmitate (AP), 0 and 500 mg/kg), and a chelating agent (citric acid (CA), 0 and 300 mg/kg). These antioxidants were combined using a factorial design and were compared to a control sample, which was not supplemented with antioxidants. Primary (peroxide value and lipid hydroperoxide content) and secondary oxidation parameters (p‐anisidine value, p‐AnV) were monitored over a period of 200 days in storage at room temperature. The combination of AP and CA was the most effective treatment in delaying the onset of oxidation. TE was not effective in preventing oxidation. The p‐AnV did not increase during the storage period, indicating that this oxidation marker was not suitable for monitoring oxidation in this model.     

Analysis of space and energy distribution of stress-induced oxide traps

A new experimental method for the determination of the energy distribution of neutral traps in oxide is presented, based on an analysis of the transient SILC current. Results show that the stress damage is mostly located from about 2 to 2.7 eV from the oxide conduction band, and that a greater stress is generated at the anode side of the stress. Preliminary results of a detailed numerical model for the trap-assisted tunneling are presented, showing that an exponentially decaying trap profile within the oxide is needed to account for the discharge current transient.