Analysis of total polyphenols,bitterness and haze in pale and dark lager beers produced under different mashing and boiling conditions

Malting and brewing processes should be performed under process conditions in a way that minimizes beer bitterness, maximizes polyphenol content and reduces the amount of raw materials ending up in solution in the form of hazes, particles and precipitates. This work examined the influence of different mashing temperature conditions and boiling procedures on the total polyphenol content, bitterness and haze of pale and dark lager beers produced on an industrial scale. Two hop types (hop pellets and/or hop extract) and different hop varieties (Hallertau Magnum, Styrian Goldings, Saaz, Aurora and Sladek) were utilized with varying times of hop addition into the wort. Measurements of total polyphenols, colour, bitterness, alcohol content, CO₂ and pH were carried out on the beer samples. Results showed that pale lager beers had a lower total polyphenol concentration (110–179 mg/L) than dark beers (230–260 mg/L). Using hop extracts instead of hop pellets led to a lower total polyphenol concentration and to less beer foam creation. The change in the proteolytic temperature during mashing only had an influence on the total polyphenol content in the pale lager beer hopped with the pellets. Conducting proteolysis over a 20 min period led to a haze increase in all of the beers produced. In the dark beer, the haze was substantial after just 10 min at 52°C. Copyright © 2015 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Nitric oxide regulates mitochondrial re‐modelling in interscapular brown adipose tissue: ultrastructural and morphometric‐stereologic studies

As a complex, cell‐specific process that includes both division and clear functional differentiation of mitochondria, mitochondriogenesis is regulated by numerous endocrine and autocrine factors. In the present ultrastructural study, in vivo effects of l ‐arginine‐nitric oxide (NO)‐producing pathway on mitochondriogenesis in interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT) were examined. For that purpose, adult Mill Hill hybrid hooded rats were receiving l ‐arginine, a substrate of NO synthases (NOSs), or N^ω‐nitro‐l ‐arginine methyl ester (l ‐NAME), an inhibitor of NOSs, as drinking liquids for 45 days. All experimental groups were divided into two sub‐groups – acclimated to room temperature and cold. IBAT mitochondria were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and stereology. l ‐Arginine treatment acted increasing the number of mitochondrial profiles per cell profile, as well as volume fraction of mitochondria per cell volume in animals maintained at room temperature. Cold‐induced enhancement of number of mitochondrial profiles per cell profile was additionally increased in l ‐arginine‐treated rats. Ultrastructural examinations of l ‐arginine‐treated cold‐acclimated animals clearly demonstrated thermogenically active mitochondria (larger size, lamellar, more numerous and well‐ordered cristae in their profiles), which however were inactive in l ‐arginine‐receiving animals kept at room temperature (small mitochondria, tubular cristae). By contrast, l ‐NAME treatment of rats acclimated to room temperature induced mitochondrial alterations characterized by irregular shape, short disorganized cristae and megamitochondria formation. These results showed that NO is a necessary factor for mitochondrial biogenesis and that it acts intensifying this process, but NO alone is not a sufficient stimulus for in vivo induction of mitochondriogenesis in brown adipocytes.     

Microstructural characterization of mechanicallyactivated ZnO powders

In this paper, changes of microstructural characteristics of disperse systems during mechanical activation of zinc oxide (ZnO) have been investigated. ZnO powder was activated by grinding in a planetary ball mill in a continuous regime in air during 300 min at the basic disc rotation speed of 320 rpm and rotation speed of bowls of 400 rpm but with various balls‐to‐powder mass ratios. During ball milling in a planetary ball mill, initial ZnO powder suffered high‐energy impacts. These impacts are very strong, and large amounts of microstructural and structural defects were introduced in the milled powders. The morphology and dispersivity of particles and agglomerates of all powders were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy. The specific surface area of initial ZnO powder was determined as 3.60 m² g^?1 and it increased to 4.42 m² g^?1 in mechanically activated powders. An increase of the ball‐to‐powder mass ratio led to a decrease of particle dimensions as well as increased the tendency for joining into quite compact agglomerates, that is aggregates, compared with the very loose, soft initial agglomerates. The obtained results pointed out that activation of ZnO powders produces a highly disperse, nano‐scaled mixture of small particles, that is crystallites with sizes in the range of 10–40 nm. Most of these particles are in the form of aggregates with dimensions of 0.3–0.1 μm. The crystallite and aggregate size strongly depend on milling conditions, that is ball‐to‐powder mass ratio, as shown in this investigation.     

1D linear-phase band-pass multiplierless FIR Hilbert transformers and filters

An original analytical method, based on modified Christoffel–Darboux formula, is used in the paper in order to synthesise a linear-phase band-pass finite impulse response (FIR) filter function that can have an effect of Hilbert transformer. New structure of the band-pass FIR filter in recursive realisation, together with the corresponding difference equation, is presented providing the efficient filter solution without multipliers. Several examples of filter types for different parity of two real free integer parameters, including a particular solution of Hilbert transformer, are considered in terms of required number of adders and values of cut-off frequencies of the pass and stop bands. A comparison of the proposed band-pass filter characteristics with those of a classical filter solution is provided in the paper.     

Effect of Two-Phase Natural Circulation Distortion on Tube Failure in Steam Boilers

Two different cases of evaporator tube ruptures in power station boilers due to natural circulation distortion are presented. The first case discussed concerns a 110-MW, unit boiler with bottom evaporation tubing inclined at 15° to the horizontal. At the high heat fluxes present in the furnace, subcooled boiling occurs in inclined tubes. For these inclinations an insufficient flow rate causes local heat transfer deficiencies due to vapor-water separation. The introduction of internally finned tubes eliminates local heat transfer deficiencies and prevents further tube failures. The second case is that of circulation interruption due to blowdown during start-up. The water level in the drum of this second 110-MW, unit boiler was controlled by inlet header blowdown during start-up. Thus, natural circulation was interrupted, causing local overheating of evaporator tubing. The event was identified by an increase of the tube rupture frequency. After changing the blowdown procedure, the interruptions of natural circulation were avoided and the tube failure frequency decreased substantially.     

Structural and magnetic properties of nanocomposites based on nanostructured polyaniline and titania nanotubes

Nanocomposites consisting of self-assembled polyaniline (PANI) nanostructures and titania nanotubes (TiO₂-NT) were synthesized by the oxidative polymerization of aniline with ammonium peroxydisulfate in an aqueous dispersion of TiO₂-NT (outer diameter ~10 nm), without added acid. The influence of initial mole ratio of aniline to TiO₂ (80, 20, and 5) on the morphology, electrical conductivity, molecular structure, crystallinity, and magnetic properties of synthesized PANI/TiO₂ nanocomposites was studied. Transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction proved that the shape and structure of TiO₂-NT in the final nanocomposites were preserved. The shape of PANI nanostructures formed in the nanocomposites was influenced by the initial aniline/TiO₂-NT mole ratio. Nanotubes and nanorods are predominant PANI nanostructures in the nanocomposite prepared with the highest aniline/TiO₂ mol ratio of 80. The decrease of aniline/TiO₂ molar ratio induced more pronounced formation of nanorod network. The electrical conductivity of PANI/TiO₂ nanocomposites was in the range (1.3–2.4) × 10^?3 S cm^?1. The nanocomposites exhibit weak ferromagnetic behavior. Approximately order of magnitude lower values of coercive field and remanent magnetization were obtained for nanocomposite samples in comparison to pure PANI.     

Neural Networks-Based Real-Time Determination of the Laser Beam Spatial Profile and Vibrational-to-Translational Relaxation Time Within Pulsed Photoacoustics

This paper concerns with the possibilities of computational intelligence application for simultaneous determination of the laser beam spatial profile and vibrational-to-translational relaxation time of the polyatomic molecules in gases by pulsed photoacoustics. Results regarding the application of neural computing through the use of feed-forward multilayer perception networks are presented. Feed-forward multilayer perception networks are trained in an offline batch training regime to estimate simultaneously, and in real-time, the laser beam spatial profile (profile shape class) and the vibrational-to-translational relaxation time from given (theoretical) photoacoustic signals. The proposed method significantly shortens the time required for the simultaneous determination of the laser beam spatial profile and relaxation time and has the advantage of accurately calculating the aforementioned quantities.     

Efficient control of servo pneumatic actuator system utilizing by-pass valve and digital sliding mode

The issue of energy saving nowadays is very crucial. Pneumatic systems, constituting an important segment of almost every industry, represent large energy consumers. Also, a significant problem with servo pneumatic actuators is achieving accuracy in positioning. The higher the positioning accuracy, the higher the compressed air consumption is. This paper presents a new solution of the positioning control algorithm which unifies digital control of variable structure and sliding working mode and inter chamber cross-flow. The experiments demonstrated that this control algorithm provides a satisfactory positioning accuracy and robustness of the system, simultaneously reducing compressed air consumption by as much as 29.5%.     

Study of Dependability Evaluation for Multi‐hierarchical Systems Based on Max–Min Composition

This article presents the model for calculating the performance of dependability for complex technical systems. According to ISO‐IEC 300, dependability is an overall indicator for the quality of service and considers simultaneously reliability, maintainability, and maintenance support. For a proper understanding of the quality of service for any technical system, it is important to define dependability performance at the level of single component as well as at the upper levels—levels of subsystems and entire system. As dependability indicators (reliability, maintainability, and maintenance support) have been defined as linguistic variables, the fuzzy max–min composition has been used for the dependability determination and integration of its indicators. A procedure for the synthesis of single components dependability performance to upper levels in complex technical system is proposed. Max–min composition is again used as a tool for fuzzy synthesis because it enables obtaining the comprehensive and synergetic effect in a process of dependability evaluation. A practical engineering example (mechanical systems at bucket wheel excavator) has been used to demonstrate the proposed dependability synthesis model. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.