Survey of nitrate and nitrite contents of vegetables grown in Korea.

A scientific basis for the evaluation of the risk to public health arising from excessive dietary intake of nitrate in Korea is provided. The nitrate () and nitrite () contents of various vegetables (Chinese cabbage, radish, lettuce, spinach, soybean sprouts, onion, pumpkin, green onion, cucumber, potato, carrot, garlic, green pepper, cabbage and Allium tuberosum Roth known as Crown daisy) are reported. Six hundred samples of 15 vegetables cultivated during different seasons were analysed for nitrate and nitrite by ion chromatography and ultraviolet spectrophotometry, respectively. No significant variance in nitrate levels was found for most vegetables cultivated during the summer and winter harvests. The mean nitrates level was higher in A. tuberosum Roth (5150 mg kg(-1)) and spinach (4259 mg kg(-1)), intermediate in radish (1878 mg kg(-1)) and Chinese cabbage (1740 mg kg(-1)), and lower in onion (23 mg kg(-1)), soybean sprouts (56 mg kg(-1)) and green pepper (76 mg kg(-1)) compared with those in other vegetables. The average nitrite contents in various vegetables were about 0.6 mg kg(-1), and the values were not significantly different among most vegetables. It was observed that nitrate contents in vegetables varied depending on the type of vegetables and were similar to those in vegetables grown in other countries. From the results of our studies and other information from foreign sources, it can be concluded that it is not necessary to establish limits of nitrates contents of vegetables cultivated in Korea due to the co-presence of beneficial elements such as ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol which are known to inhibit the formation of nitrosamine.     

Introducing fuzziness in object models and database interfaces through aspects

Imperfection in information can be considered a crosscutting concern that manifests itself in diverse kinds of imprecision, uncertainty, or inconsistency in the data models of a software system. The extension of existing programming and querying interfaces for the different aspects of information imperfection requires a proper modularization of the different concerns of numerical imprecision handling, so that the extensions do not interfere with existing programming practices and do not obscure the original design. Aspect‐oriented design (AOD) enables such a form of nonintrusive extensions to be added to existing software libraries, clearly separating fuzziness or other imperfections in data as a differentiated concern that can be considered from the early phases of development. In this article, a general framework for aspect‐based extension of data models and fuzzy databases is described, and some design and implementation issues of such AOD‐based extensions on OJB database libraries are described as a case study. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 21: 1199–1216, 2006.     

Characterization of Thai limestone for desulphurization in a fluidized bed combustor

The objective of this study is to determine the chemical kinetics of desulphurization of Thai limestone in an atmospheric fluidized bed combustor (AFBC). The experiments, which employed the batch technique using the limestone samples from six major sources in Thailand, were performed in a laboratory‐scale AFBC. The results obtained were analysed and correlated in the form of apparent reaction rate and deactivation rate constants as a function of operating conditions of the furnace and their properties, respectively. The formulae derived from these correlations were kept as general as possible in order that they could be used as input parameters for the selected mathematical model of desulphurization in an AFBC that is suitable for practical use. The predicted results were in good agreement with the experimental data reported in the literature. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Manufacturing and structural safety evaluation of a composite train carbody

This paper explains the manufacturing process of a composite train carbody with a sandwich composite structure for bodyshell and a stainless steel structure for the under frame. In addition, the structural behavior and safety of the composite carbody of the Korean tilting train was investigated by the static load tests. From the test results, the stiffness of the composite carbody met the specified design. In the aspect of strength, the maximum stress of the composite bodyshell was of 12.2% of strength of CF1263 carbon/epoxy.     

Bruchanalyse an Hohlgläsern

Failure analysis of hollow glasses The failure analysis is very important to clarify damages of hollow glasses. Damages of glass bottle through over pressure are very often linked with damages to persons. This is the reason why the causal research is from particular importance. Different surface characteristics of glass fragments as well as the fracture pattern give hints to the direction of the crack, the stress just before breakage and the reason of stress. A reconstruction of the bottle is a further helpful instrument for cause studies. The difference of the various characteristics of the surface will be explained. Further on there will be discussed different reasons and mechanism of fracture.