Single-laboratory validation of a method for ergosterol determination in cereals

Ergosterol (ERG) is a sterol produced by most fungi, but not by most plants. Thus, measurement of ERG in cereals makes it possible to determine the presence of fungi in cereals that can cause quality problems, such as mycotoxin contamination. This study developed and performed a single-laboratory validation for a method to test for ERG in various cereals. ERG was extracted by refluxing samples for 1 h with methanol-sodium hydroxide. ERG was extracted from the extract with hexane and then purified using a silica gel cartridge column. ERG was then separated and detected by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). ‘Within-day’ recoveries of ERG at low levels were 92–99% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 3.2–6.5%. ‘Between-day’ recoveries of ERG at low levels were 97% and RSDs were 4.2–10.2%, respectively. Average recoveries of ERG over the range from 1.0 to 100.0 mg kg^?1 were 81–105% and RSDs were 3.9–16.3%.     

Over 10 Gb/s regenerators using monolithic ICs for lightwavecommunication systems

The design and performance of repeater circuits based on Si and GaAs MESFET process technologies are described. Repeater circuits were designed and fabricated for around 10 Gb/s repeater systems using Si and GaAs IC processes. The Si ICs operated up to 9 Gb/s, and the GaAs ICs exceeded 10 Gb/s. It was verified that regenerative repeater systems using these ICs and optical amplifiers exhibit a stable operation at 10 Gb/s. The performance of the 10 Gb/s repeater using these monolithic ICs and photonic circuits is discussed     

Fatty acid composition of oil in snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

The hepatopancreatic fatty acid extract of the snow crab contains a high percentage (26%) of odd-carbon-numbered fatty acids and a substantial quantity (29%) of methyl-branched fatty acids, as indicated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas liquid chromatography (GLC). A wide distribution in chain length of the fatty acids (C₁₀ to C₂₆) and in positional isomers of the linear monoenes are also indicated by GC/MS.     

Non-adhesive direct bonding of tiny parts by means of ultraprecision trapezoid microgrooves

 The study proposes a new method of bonding two small parts without the use of any adhesive by making use of ultraprecision trapezoid microgrooves on the surfaces of each part. These trapezoid microgrooves allow small parts to be bonded together with high positioning accuracy due to a wedge effect and an adhesion phenomenon between the mating surfaces. Ultraprecision trapezoid microgrooves are created by using an ultraprecision machining center having 1 nm positioning resolution and a diamond milling cutter. From experimental and simulated results, it is found that the bonding strength in general increases with decreasing wedge angle. The effect of the wedge length on bonding strength varies with the wedge angle where the strength increases with increasing length for wedge angles greater than 8° but increases with decreasing length for wedge angles less than 8°. Received: 5 May 2000/Accepted: 30 May 2000     

Comparison of experimental and theoretical transverse elastic modulus of carbon fibers

The transverse elastic modulus of PAN-based carbon fibers as measured by experimental methods, calculated from theoretical equations and analyzed by the finite element method (FEM) is discussed. Raman spectroscopy was the primary method utilized to measure the transverse elastic modulus of carbon fibers in carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). A lead oxide (PbO) thin film was deposited on the surface of a CFRP specimen using physical vapor deposition as the pretreatment in order to measure the strains of the carbon fibers and epoxy matrix phases by Raman spectroscopy. Since the relation between the Raman peak wave number of PbO thin films and tensile strain has already been developed, the transverse strain of the carbon fibers could be measured. The transverse strain of the carbon fibers was analyzed using a 2-D FEM model. The transverse modulus of the carbon fibers was determined by fitting the experimental result from Raman spectroscopy to the FEM model. The determined transverse modulus (10.4 GPa) is compared with those experimentally measured by nanoindentation (13.4 GPa), numerically analyzed using 2-D and 3-D FEM models (5.25 GPa and 28.7 GPa, respectively), and theoretically calculated from the Mori-Tanaka, Halpin-Tsai, and Uemura equations (24.8 GPa, 17.4 GPa, and 28.4 GPa, respectively).     

Thermo-physical and impact properties of epoxy nanocomposites reinforced by single-wall carbon nanotubes

The thermo-physical properties and the impact strength of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol F (DGEBF) epoxy nanocomposites reinforced with fluorinated single-wall carbon nanotubes (FSWCNT) are reported. A sonication technique was used to disperse FSWCNT in the glassy epoxy network resulting in nanocomposites having large improvement in modulus with extremely small amount of FSWCNT. The glass transition temperature decreased approximately 30 °C with an addition of 0.2 wt% (0.14 vol%) FSWCNT, without adjusting the amount of the anhydride curing agent. This was because of non-stoichiometry of the epoxy matrix that was caused by the fluorine on the single-wall carbon nanotubes. The correct amount of the anhydride curing agent needed to achieve stoichiometry was experimentally examined by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The storage modulus of the epoxy at room temperature (which is below the glass transition temperature of the nanocomposites) increased up to 0.63 GPa with the addition of only 0.30 wt% (0.21 vol%) of FSWCNT, representing an up to 20% improvement compared with the neat epoxy. The Izod impact strength slightly decreased when the amount of FSWCNT was increased to 0.3 wt%. The excellent improvement in the storage modulus was achieved without sacrificing impact strength.     

Thermo‐Physical and Impact Properties of Epoxy Containing Epoxidized Linseed Oil, 1

Summary: Biobased neat epoxy materials containing epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) were processed with an anhydride curing agent. A defined amount of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol F (DGEBF) was replaced by ELO. The selection of the DGEBF, ELO, and an anhydride curing agent resulted in an excellent combination, to provide a new biobased epoxy material showing high elastic modulus, high glass transition temperature, and high heat distortion temperature (HDT) with larger amounts of ELO. The Izod impact strength was almost constant while changing the amount of ELO. This is a promising result for future industrial applications in different engineering industries.

The effect of changing ELO concentration of the anhydride‐cured neat epoxy on the storage modulus.     

Effect of the out-of-band stray light on the retrieval of the Umkehr Dobson ozone profiles

The technique of producing a vertical ozone profile using ground-based observations of the Umkehr effect is well established and is widely used for ozone trend analysis. Still, observations of the Umkehr effect by Dobson ozone spectrophotometers have a documented problem: simultaneous measurements from collocated instruments produce noticeably different results, with the difference shown to be dependent on solar zenith angle and total ozone. Ozone profiles are thus difficult to compare from station to station. Current investigations into the level and effects of stray light within the instrument suggest that much of the difference can be attributed to out-of-band stray light characteristics of individual Dobson instruments. Resulting changes in retrieved ozone profiles suggest that adjusting measurements for stray light components removes much of the existing bias between Umkehr profiles and other ozone measuring datasets. This new information has implications for both observational methods and completeness of the existing datasets.     

Characteristics of color memory for natural scenes

To study the characteristics of color memory for natural images, a memory-identification task was performed with differing color contrasts; three of the contrasts were defined by chromatic and luminance components of the image, and the others were defined with respect to the categorical colors. After observing a series of pictures successively, subjects identified the pictures using a confidence rating. Detection of increased contrasts tended to be harder than detection of decreased contrasts, suggesting that the chromaticness of pictures is enhanced in memory. Detecting changes within each color category was more difficult than across the categories. A multiple mechanism that processes color differences and categorical colors is briefly considered.