Evaluation of rapeseed meals in broiler chicks: Effect of iodine supply and glucosinolate degradation by myrosinase or copper

In rapeseed meals (RSM) of a conventional (c) or a newly bred (n) variety 117 or 44 mmol glucosinolates and glucosinolate degradation products per kg dry matter were detected. Soaking meals in aqueous myrosinase or copper sulphate solution and subsequent drying reduced the content of antinutrients by more than 90%. Broiler chickens were fed (i) a glucosinolate-free diet, or this diet in which half the soybean meal was replaced by RSM of various origins and treatment; (ii) untreated cRSM; (iii) cRSM treated with myrosinase: (iv) cRSM treated with Cu (v) untreated nRSM; or (vi) nRSM treated with myrosinase. These diets were administered with or without supplementary iodine. Chickens receiving the iodine-deficient diets with myrosinase-treated RSM showed growth depression, incomplete feathering, leg injuries and severe goitre. In the serum T⁴ could not be detected. Giving myrosinase-treated RSM plus iodine, or giving other RSM diets irrespective of iodine administration, no growth depression was observed. RSM diets without iodine dosage markedly increased thyroid weight: there were no differences between the RSM variants. In contrast to the treatment with myrosinase, in the sera of the chickens fed on untreated RSM or RSM treated with copper T⁴ could be detected, suggesting that in iodine-deficient conditions differences in serum T⁴ concentration between RSM groups indicate a differing anti-thyroid activity. With iodine supplementation the RSM had a significant effect on thyroid weight. The largest thyroids (five-fold heavier) were in the animals with myrosinase-treated cRSM. The untreated cRSM and the nRSM trebled or doubled the thyroid weight, and the myrosinase-treated nRSM trebled it. The thyroid weight of chicks fed cRSM treated with copper did not differ significantly from the glucosinolate-free control. There was evidence that heating the myrosinase-treated RMS produced anti-thyroid compounds; these should be identified in further investigations.     

Performance evaluation of three optical particle counters with an efficient “multimodal” calibration method

The sizing accuracies of two widely used yet hitherto unevaluated optical particle counters (OPCs—Grimm Model 1.109 and Palas Model WELAS 2100) as well as one high-resolution, non-commercial OPC were evaluated. The measured data were compared to scattering intensity calculations based on Mie theory. Additionally, the counting efficiency for all three counters was measured, as was the influence of coincidence effects for the OPC with the lowest (manufacturer specified) upper concentration limit.Beside the traditional polystyrene latex calibration, a little-known, very fast and precise “multimodal” calibration method was used, which is based on the simultaneous generation of up to eight sharp multiple-charge modes from polydisperse di-ethyl-hexyl-sebacate (DEHS) particles by electrical mobility classification.     

Chirality of synergistic sex pheromone components of the western hemlock looperLambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa (HULST) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

Bakers' yeast reduction of (2E)-3-(2-furanyl)-2-methyl-2-propenal yielded the synthetic intermediate, (2S)-3-(2-furanyl)-2-methylpropanol, of high chiral purity (>97% ee) for the synthesis of the enantiomers of 2,5-dimethylheptadecane and 7-methylheptadecane, two synergistic sex pheromone components of the western hemlock looper (WHL),Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa Hulst. In electrophysiological bioassays, (7S)- but not (7R)-7-methylheptadecane elicited strong antennal responses by male WHL antennae. In field trapping experiments, addition of (7S)- but not (7R)-7-methylheptadecane to (5R,11S)-5,11-dimethylheptadecane, the major sex pheromone component of WHL, increased attraction. Attraction to (5R,11S)-5,11-dimethylheptadecane in combination with (7S)-7-methyiheptadecane was further enhanced by the addition of (5S)- but not (5R)-2,5-dimethylheptadecane. Similarly, attraction to (5R,11S)-5,11-dimethylheptadecane combined with (5S)-2,5-dimethylheptadecane increased when 7S- but not (7R)-7-methylheptadecane was added as a third component. We conclude that (7S)-7-methylheptadecane and (5S)-2,5-dimethylheptadecane are the synergistic sex pheromone components of WHL. The synthetic methodology described is applicable to the synthesis of chiral methyl-branched pheromones in other orders of the Insecta, particularly Coleoptera, Diptera and Orthoptera.     

Improving the thickness accuracy of cold rolled narrow strip by piezoelectric roll gap control at high rolling speed

Particularly in fast rolling mills, conventional actuators reach their dynamic limits, when longitudinal thickness variations of the incoming strip shall be reduced with high accuracy by model-predictive roll gap control. Accordingly, the applicability of highly dynamic piezoelectric actuators in combination with electromechanical spindles and a high frequency precision measurement of the thickness in front of the roll gap was examined. Rolling tests in a cold rolling mill for narrow slit strips show that this novel concept is suitable to provide the required dynamic actuation especially at high rolling speed.     

The collection efficiency of a particle-loaded single filter fiber

The collection efficiency η(M) of single fibers, both isolated and within a parallel array, was determined as a function of accumulated particle mass for Stokes numbers St=0.3–3 and interception parameters In=0.04–0.32. This regime is dominated by inertia, interception and particle bounce. Measurements were made with an optical in-situ particle counting technique. Monodisperse polystyrene aerosols (1.3, 2.6, 3.6 and 5.2 μm) were deposited onto steel wires of 8 and 30 μm, respectively. Particle accumulation reached values on the order of M=0.5–1 μg/mm fiber, corresponding to 10⁴–10⁶ particles per mm, depending on size.η(M) was found to increase for all operating conditions between about 2 and nearly 50 fold, most strongly however for those conditions were the bare fiber is ineffective as a particle collector, i.e. for very low or very high values of St number, corresponding to low collision or low adhesion probabilities, respectively. The absolute efficiency increased to values approaching or exceeding unity, i.e. the effective fiber collision cross-section exceeded the diameter of the bare fiber. For fibers within an array of parallel fibers (equivalent packing density ∼0.004), the initial efficiency η₀ was higher than for an isolated fiber by almost an order of magnitude. However the increase with loading was substantially smaller, typically by an order of magnitude.The efficiency increase can be described by a power law of the type where b and c are empirical fit coefficients. Within an array, the exponent c is on the order of 0.7±0.05, but lower than reported in earlier work on fiber arrays which suggest a value near unity. For isolated fibers, c→1 as interception becomes dominant (at very low flow velocities) while at high impact velocities and significant particle bounce c≈0.5. The coefficient c correlates with fiber Reynolds number, but not with other parameters. The coefficient b is inversely proportional to η₀ (consistent with earlier work, however with significantly lower values than previously published) and a function of (St/R)².The experimental section of the paper is preceded by a literature review on single-fiber efficiency data and models for the inertia-interception regime, including both information on bare fibers and dust loaded fibers. An improved, general fit function with physically meaningful limits for St→0 and St→∞ is proposed for the efficiency of bare fibers.     

Volatile compounds of original African black and white shea butter from Tchad and Cameroon

Shea butter is used as an edible vegetable fat in many African countries. It can be utilized as a substitute or complete replacement for cocoa butter in various applications and plays an important role in traditional African medicinal practice. Although detection of volatile compounds by solid‐phase micro‐extraction gas‐chromatography mass‐spectroscopy (SPME‐GC‐MS) is a very reliable and reproducible technique, which can be used as an important part of authenticity checking, production monitoring and contamination detection, no published data about volatile compounds of shea butter are available so far. In this investigation, the characteristic volatiles in the headspace of original African shea butter samples were identified by using SPME‐capillary‐GC coupled to a mass selective detector. Almost 100 different volatile components were identified, e.g. fatty acids, saturated and unsaturated aldehydes and ketones, terpenes, and typical Maillard reaction products such as methylfuranes and pyrazines. Furthermore, the samples have been olfactorily evaluated by a panel of professional flavorists and trained analytical chemists. It can be stated that variations in processing conditions of shea butter result in considerable differences in the composition of headspace volatiles, detected by SPME‐GC‐MS and human olfaction.     

Mass Transport in Shallow Turbulent Wake Flow by Planar Concentration Analysis Technique

A planar concentration analysis (PCA) system is used for observing the transport and mixing of a tracer mass in a shallow turbulent free-surface wake flow of a large cylindrical obstacle. The nonintrusive, fieldwise PCA measuring technique is applied to evaluate depth-averaged mass concentrations by making use of light attenuation due to absorption and scattering processes related to a dissolved tracer mass. The scalar fields are decomposed into a low-frequency quasiperiodic part, the coherent flow, and a randomly fluctuating part. From accompanying near-surface velocity measurements, large-scale coherent structures are identified and related to the coherent mass fields. This allows one to assess the role of the large-scale vortices for advection and diffusion in shallow wake flows. The time–mean wake flow displays a self-similar spanwise distribution both for mass and velocity. The longitudinal development of shallow wakes initially shows the growth of unbounded wakes; in the wake far field an attenuated behavior applies.     

Spiral-CT-based assessment of tracheal stenoses using 3-D-skeletonization

PURPOSE: Demonstration of a technique for three-dimensional (3-D) assessment of tracheal-stenoses, regarding site, length and degree, based on spiral computed tomography (S-CT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: S-CT scanning and automated segmentation of the laryngo-tracheal tract (LTT) was followed by the extraction of the LTT medial axis using a skeletonization algorithm. Orthogonal to the medial axis the LTT 3-D cross-sectional profile was computed and presented as line charts, where degree and length was obtained. Values for both parameters were compared between 36 patients and 18 normal controls separately. Accuracy and precision was derived from 17 phantom studies. RESULTS: Average degree and length of tracheal stenoses was found to be 60.5% and 4.32 cm in patients compared with minor caliber changes of 8.8% and 2.31 cm in normal controls (p < 0.0001). For the phantoms an excellent correlation between the true and computed 3-D cross-sectional profile was found (p < 0.005) and an accuracy for length and degree measurements of 2.14 mm and 2.53% respectively could be determined. The corresponding figures for the precision were found to be 0.92 mm and 2.56%. CONCLUSION: LTT 3-D cross-sectional profiles permit objective, accurate and precise assessment of LTT caliber changes. Minor LTT caliber changes can be observed even in normals and, in case of an otherwise normal S-CT study, can be regarded as artifacts.     

Elektrische Anlagen in Hochwassergebieten In den vergangenen Tagen erreichten den OVE viele Anfragen zum Betrieb von elektrischen Anlagen und Betriebsmitteln in den vom Hochwasser betroffenen Gebieten

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Elektrische Anlagen in Hochwassergebieten In den vergangenen Tagen erreichten den OVE viele Anfragen zum Betrieb von elektrischen Anlagen und Betriebsmitteln in den vom Hochwasser betroffenen Gebieten