Future increase in harmful algal blooms in the North Sea due to climate change.

In temperate seas such as the North Sea harmful (toxic) algal blooms will probably increase as a result of climate change. This conclusion was reached after investigating the projected effect of climate change for the year 2100 in Dutch coastal waters (4 degrees C temperature rise and increased water column stratification) on the growth rates of six harmful and two non-harmful phytoplankton species. Micro algae form the basis of the marine food chain. However, toxin-producing species may seriously disrupt the food web and lead to fish kills and human intoxication. Two species with estimated doubled growth rates in 2100, F. japonica and C. antiqua, entered Europe via ship's ballast water or shellfish imports. This stresses the need to legally regulate such invasion routes in order to prevent the import of novel species. Future toxic phytoplankton blooms may further devaluate ecosystem deliverables such as fish production or recreational use. This devaluation can be estimated by monetary value assessments that are needed in cost-benefit analyses for policy guidance. The lack of understanding of future climate, ecosystem functioning and its response to climate change calls for a scientific effort to improve our knowledge on present day coastal ecosystem functioning and its resilience.     

Low-Power VLSI Implementation of the Inner Receiver for OFDM-Based WLAN Systems

In this paper, we propose low-power designs for the synchronizer and channel estimator units of the Inner Receiver in wireless local area network systems. The objective of the work is the optimization, with respect to power, area, and latency, of both the signal processing algorithms themselves and their implementation. Novel circuit design strategies have been employed to realize optimal hardware and power efficient architectures for the fast Fourier transform, arc tangent computation unit, numerically controlled oscillator, and the decimation filters. The use of multiple clock domains and clock gating reduces the power consumption further. These blocks have been integrated into an experimental digital baseband processor for the IEEE 802.11a standard implemented in the 0.25mum- 5-metal layer BiCMOS technology from Institute for High Performance Microelectronics.     

Diagnosis and Consulting for Control Network Performance Engineering of CSMA-Based Networks

Network performance engineering can verify the design and dimensioning of large-scale control networks like CSMA-based building automation networks. It combines performance analysis with diagnosis methods to evaluate the network utilization and to detect design errors before installation and can therewith save the expenses of overdimensioning and redesign. This paper will develop a diagnosis model based on fault trees that is able to use the huge amount of performance analysis results to identify design errors and analyze their coherences. This enables not only a fast tracing back of fault causes and the derivation of solutions; it can also visualize the fault coherence to the user and help him to understand his design. Additional consulting tools implement best practice strategies, to support the user in parameterization.     

A 0.9 V 92 dB Double-Sampled Switched-RC Delta-Sigma Audio ADC

A 0.9 V third-order double-sampled delta-sigma audio ADC is presented. A new method using a combination of a switched-RC technique and a floating switched-capacitor double-sampling configuration enabled low-voltage operation without clock boosting or bootstrapping. A three-level quantizer with simple dynamic element matching was used to improve linearity. The prototype IC implemented in a 0.13 CMOS process achieves 92 dB DR, 91 dB SNR and 89 dB SNDR in a 24 kHz audio signal bandwidth, while consuming 1.5 mW from a 0.9 V supply. The prototype operates from 0.65 V to 1.5 V supply with minimal performance degradation.     

Influence of inhibitor addition on the corrosion protection performance of sol–gel coatings on AA2024

Sol–gel films are actively investigated during the last decade as possible candidates for environmentally friendly pre-treatments. However, the important drawback in this case is the lack of active corrosion protection and self-healing ability.     

Addition of pectolytic enzymes: an enological practice which improves the chromaticity and stability of red wines

Summary The effect of the addition of four commercial pectolytic preparations on the visual characteristics (colour and turbidity) of red wines has been evaluated. The effect of both clarifying and colour extracting enzymes and the effect of different doses used, were evaluated and compared. All the red wines treated enzymatically, independent of the type of enzyme and dose, present chromatic characteristics which can be considered better than those of the control wines. Also, those wines treated with enzymes had greater stability during 2 years storage in bottles, in particular the turbidity was better than untreated wines.     

An Adaptive Recipe Implementation in Case‐Based Formalism for Abnormal Condition Management

This paper deals with accurate recipe implementation for abnormal condition management in a batch process using a case‐based reasoning (CBR) approach. A set of new problems can be solved by reusing proven process solutions. The proposed system integrates quantitative and qualitative parameters for adaptation of cases. A novel methodology to generate accurate recipes and to adapt to the processes is introduced during normal and abnormal conditions. In particular, the differences between current conditions and the references (recipes) should be managed to prevent any hazardous conditions arising. The processes are evaluated using their similarity to the past cases. This intelligent approach distinguishes plausible cases, generates accurate recipes, and adapts to new situations. The aim is to use the offline historical process data and safety related information in order to propose changes and adjustments in the processes.     

Selective Transport of Bismuth Ions through Supported Liquid Membrane

A new supported liquid membrane (SLM) system was prepared for the selective transport of bismuth ions from the aqueous feed into the aqueous permeate phase. The support of the SLM was a thin porous polypropylene or polyvinylidene fluoride membrane impregnated with diisooctyldithiophosphinic acid (Cyanex 301) as mobile carrier in 4‐chloroacetophenon as organic solvent. Cyanex 301 acts as a highly selective carrier for the uphill transport of bismuth ions through the SLM. In the presence of HNO₃ as a metal ion acceptor in the strip solution, the transport of bismuth ions into the strip side reached 70 % of the initial feed concentration after 3.5 hours. The selectivity and efficiency of bismuth transport from aqueous solutions containing different mixtures of cations were investigated. In the presence of P₂O₇^2– ions as suitable masking agent in the feed solution, the interfering effects of other cations were completely eliminated. The selective transport of bismuth through SLM is superior to liquid‐liquid extraction or through bulk liquid membranes. This is due to the high efficiency. The SLM reduces the solvent requirements, combines extraction and stripping operations in a single process and allows the use of highly selective extractants. The system may be applied to samples containing very low bismuth concentrations.