DRYING OF WOOD CHIPS WITH AMBIENT AIR

This paper discusses the slow drying of wood chips stacked in deep beds by a flow of ambient air throughout the major part of the year. This kind of drying operation introduces some simplifications to the equation system. The celerity of the drying front is described by an analytical term, then the shape of the front is obtained by an ordinary differential equation. The meteorological data which has been put into the computer determines the progress of the drying front. The flow rate of the blower is determined from the operation characteristics (time allowed, height of the pile, moisture of the product, regulation function) and from the data of the local climate. An additional rudimentary solar collector can improve the efficiency of the system. A period of ten days will be sufficient to calculate the mean data in order to ascertain the progress of the front.     

Geographical variation and the determinants of domestic endotoxin levels in mattress dust in Europe

Endotoxin exposures have manifold effects on human health. The geographical variation and determinants of domestic endotoxin levels in Europe have not yet been extensively described. To investigate the geographical variation and determinants of domestic endotoxin concentrations in mattress dust in Europe using data collected in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey follow-up (ECRHS II). Endotoxin levels were measured in mattress dust from 974 ECRHS II participants from 22 study centers using an immunoassay. Information on demographic, lifestyle, and housing characteristics of the participants was obtained in face-to-face interviews. The median endotoxin concentration in mattress dust ranged from 772 endotoxin units per gram (EU/g) dust in Reykjavik, Iceland, to 4806 EU/g in Turin, Italy. High average outdoor summer temperature of study center, cat or dog keeping, a high household crowding index, and visible damp patches in the bedroom were significantly associated with a higher endotoxin concentrations in mattress dust. There is a large variability in domestic endotoxin levels across Europe. Average outdoor summer temperature of study center, which explains only 10% of the variation in domestic endotoxin level by center, is the strongest meteorological determinant. The observed variation needs to be taken into account when evaluating the health effects of endotoxin exposures in international contexts. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The incoherent observations of the health effects of endotoxin may be partly owing to the geographical heterogeneity of endotoxin exposure. Therefore, the observed variation should be considered in further studies. Measurements of indoor endotoxin are recommended as an indicator for the level of exposures of individual domestic environments.     

Kelvin force microscopy at the second cantilever resonance: an out-of-vacuum crosstalk compensation setup

We investigate the gap-voltage control loop in a Kelvin force microscopy setup with simultaneous non-contact topography imaging. The Kelvin controller electrostatically excites the second resonance of the cantilever at about 6.3 times the first resonance frequency and adjusts the DC component of the gap voltage to cancel the oscillation amplitude at this frequency, while the non-contact topography imaging is based on a frequency control loop that maintains a constant frequency of the mechanically excited first resonance of the cantilever by adjusting the tip-sample separation. Due to the self-excitation of the first resonance in our setup, it has to be considered that the electrostatic excitation at the second resonance frequency is applied to a closed feedback loop and cannot be considered as a simple superposition to the oscillation at the first resonance frequency. In particular, special care has to be taken about internal capacitive crosstalk between the tip bias and the cantilever deflection output signal. It is shown that such a coupling cannot be corrected by subtraction of a constant offset at the demodulator output since the crosstalk is sent into the self-excitation loop and is multiplied by the closed loop transfer function. We present a circuit that actively compensates, outside the vacuum environment, the internal crosstalk by adding to the deflection output a dephased fraction of the electrostatic excitation signal.     

Computer generation of binary Fresnel holography

Binarization of Fresnel holograms by direct thresholding based on the polarity of the fringe pattern is studied. It is found that if the hologram is binarized (i.e., for black and white hologram pixels) in this manner, only the edges of the object are preserved in the reconstructed image. To alleviate the errors caused by binarization, the use of error diffusion has been routinely employed. However, the reconstructed image using such standard technique is heavily contaminated with random noise. In this paper, we propose a novel noniterative method for generating Fresnel holograms that are suitable for binarization. Our method is capable of preserving good visual quality on the reconstructed images.     

Carbon nanotube superconducting quantum interference device

A superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) with single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) Josephson junctions is presented. Quantum confinement in each junction induces a discrete quantum dot (QD) energy level structure, which can be controlled with two lateral electrostatic gates. In addition, a backgate electrode can vary the transparency of the QD barriers, thus permitting change in the hybridization of the QD states with the superconducting contacts. The gates are also used to directly tune the quantum phase interference of the Cooper pairs circulating in the SQUID ring. Optimal modulation of the switching current with magnetic flux is achieved when both QD junctions are in the 'on' or 'off' state. In particular, the SQUID design establishes that these CNT Josephson junctions can be used as gate-controlled pi-junctions; that is, the sign of the current-phase relation across the CNT junctions can be tuned with a gate voltage. The CNT-SQUIDs are sensitive local magnetometers, which are very promising for the study of magnetization reversal of an individual magnetic particle or molecule placed on one of the two CNT Josephson junctions.     

Localization and quantification of carbon-centered radicals on any amino acid of a protein

A general strategy to localize and quantify carbon-centered radicals within proteins is described. The methodology was first exemplified on amino acids and then on a peptide. This method is applicable to any protein system regardless of size, and the site of hydrogen abstraction by *OH on all residues within proteins is easily and accurately detected.     

Isolation and chemical evaluation of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) seed germ

The present investigation was undertaken in order to study the influence of the dehusking procedure on the germ meal composition of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) seeds and also to investigate its detailed composition and nutritive value. Meals of carob seed germ were obtained by acid treatment or boiling water treatment of the whole seeds. These procedures allowed to separation of the tight-fitting brown coat of the seed and the removal of the endosperm. Results indicated that the carob germ meal composition could be affected by the isolation procedures. Small reductions were observed in protein and lipid contents in germ meals from acid extraction. The analysis of the carob germ meal (containing fine fragments of husk and endosperm), which could be really obtained industrially, showed the following composition: moisture 8.3%, ash 6.5%, lipids (neutral and polar) 6.6% containing ∼21% of polar lipids, crude proteins 54.7% and energy value 17.5 kJ/g.     

Application of the flexible fiber filter module (3FM) filter to sea water filtration.

The new 3FM filter (Flexible Fiber Filter Module), implementing very fine nylon fibers as filtration media was tested at pilot scale for the first time on sea water. The objective was to improve the quality of raw sea water to produce water for injection into offshore wells for extraction purposes on oil-bearing fields. Particles larger than 5 microm must be removed from the water of injection to avoid clogging at the point of injection into the porous rock. The purpose of the tests carried out over several months at Palavas Les Flots (France) was to specify the optimal operating conditions of the 3FM filter. Various coagulants and combinations of reagents were tested at velocities ranging between 50 and 200 m(3)/m(2)/h (ground filtration velocity). On raw sea water of about 1 NTU turbidity and at velocities of 100 m(3)/m(2)/h, the filtered water contained about 300 particles per mL larger than 1 microm, and less than 15 particles larger than 5 microm per mL. The filter runs range from one hour to few hours, variable according to the raw water turbidity, the reagent dosing rate and the filtration velocity. Backwashes, a succession of air scours at high air flow rates combined with water phases, the total duration of which did not exceed 1 minute, were shown to be efficient during the three months testing period. 3FM filter performance was promising for many other possible applications.     

FORCED-AIR COOLING AFTER AIR-SHIPMENT DELAYS ASPARAGUS DETERIORATION

Asparagus (cv. Locullus) was stored at 20C for 20 h to simulate time delays and temperature typically encountered during air‐shipment operations. After that period, asparagus were immediately forced‐air cooled at 1C, or room cooled at 1C or 10C, or stored at 20C to simulate different facility conditions usually available at the airports. The objective of this work was to determine which cooling method should be applied to limit the degradation of asparagus after a temperature abuse during ground and in‐flight operations. Forced‐air cooled asparagus gained in average one to three days of shelf‐life when compared to room cooled asparagus at 1C and 10C, and five to seven days when compared with asparagus stored at 20C. Results from this study illustrate that whenever a load of warm asparagus arrives to the airport facilities a forced‐air cooling treatment at 1C may be applied to delay product deterioration without causing chilling injury symptoms.