Successive laser-induced breakdowns in atmospheric pressure air and premixed ethane–air mixtures

Two successive focused laser pulses are employed to experimentally simulate laser-induced breakdown plasmas at high repetition rates. We find that energy absorption of the second laser pulse by the plasma produced by the first laser pulse is enhanced slightly when the time interval between the pulses is shorter than several tens of nanoseconds but falls to almost zero when the time interval is between a few hundreds of nanoseconds and several tens of microseconds. This behavior is attributed to gas heating by the first breakdown event. In premixed ethane–air mixtures, we identify another strong reduction in the second laser pulse absorption when this pulse coincides with the heat released by combustion, typically milliseconds after the first laser pulse. The fuel–air equivalence ratio (?) and base flow speed are also varied in this study. The results show that the window of reduced absorption coinciding with heat release due to combustion is narrowed when the base flow speed is increased, and also under fuel lean and fuel rich conditions. These results suggest that the use of pulsed high frequency laser breakdowns for premixed combustion stabilization is optimized when laser pulse repetition rates below a certain frequency (e.g., 500 Hz at the conditions that ? is 1 and the base flow speed is 4.9 m/s) to maximize laser energy coupling and for improved anchoring of the flame base.     

Characterisation of low‐digestible starch fractions isolated from amylosucrase‐modified waxy corn starch

Amylosucrase (AS) modification of starch increases the slowly digestible (SDS) and resistant starch (RS) fractions. However, the characteristics and formation mechanism of each fraction of AS‐modified starch have not been determined yet. Therefore, this study isolated SDS and/or RS from AS‐modified waxy corn starches and investigated their structural characteristics. The amount of SDS+RS and RS had a positive correlation with the proportion of the medium length (13–24 of degree of polymerisation) branched chains of amylopectin. The relative crystallinity increased in the order of AS‐modified starch < SDS+RS < RS, while maintaining the B‐type crystalline structure. The thermal transition temperature ranges of the isolated fractions were also higher than those of undigested starches. The medium branched chains of amylopectin were presumably the clincher for the SDS and/or RS formation in AS‐modified starches. The principal causes of SDS and RS formation were the chain length elongation and the subsequent retrogradation‐like process, respectively.     

Effect of moisture content and particle size on grinding kinetics and flowability of balloon flower (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Platycodon grandiflorum</Emphasis>)

In this study, the grinding kinetics and the flowability of balloon flowers (BFs) with various moisture contents (8, 12, and 20%) were determined. Three semi-empirical grinding models (Bond, Kick, and Rittinger) were applied to describe the BFs’ grinding process. A lower moisture content resulted in a decreased grinding constant value (Bond’s index). Based on the kinetics of particles during grinding, a sigmoid model was developed which successfully described changes in the particle sizes of BFs with various moisture contents during the grinding process except for smaller ones (< 0.60 mm) with a high moisture content (20%). The flow function at different particle sizes was not consistently correlated with results regarding the internal friction angle. This might be due to different particle shapes and sizes of BFs. The poorest flowability was observed for BF powder with the smallest particle size.     

Antioxidant activity and phenolic content of brick caps mycelium (Naematoloma sublateritium) extracts

A total of 5 subfractions were obtained from methanol extracts of N. sublateritium mycelia via systemic extraction using n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water. The trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity of the chloroform subfraction was 649.40 μmol/g of sample. The highest ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assay value was found in the chloroform subfraction (299.24 μmol of FeSO₄·7H₂O/g). The chloroform and ethyl acetate subfractions exhibited the highest total phenolic compound contents, with ferulic acid equivalents of 31.66 and 48.57 mg/g, respectively. The phenolic acids in the subfractions were further identified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The 5 phenolic acids of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, α-resorcylic acid, 4-coumaric acid, salicylic acid, and gentisic acid were found to be the major phenolics in the mushroom.     

Furan,phenolic, and heptelidic acid derivatives produced by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus oryzae</Emphasis>

Eleven compounds, including a new sesquiterpene, were isolated from the culture medium of Aspergillus oryzae incubated with capsaicin. The structure of the new compound was determined to be 1,3,5a,6,7,8,9,9a-octahydro-9-hydroxy-9-(hydroxymethyl)-6-isopropyl-1-oxobenzo[c]oxepine-4- carboxylic acid, a heptelidic acid derivative. In addition, 10 known compounds were identified, namely 5-(hydroxymethyl)-3-furancarboxylic acid (flufuran), 3-hydroxypropanoic acid, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2- furancarboxylic acid, 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-ethanol, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 2-furanol, hydroheptelidic acid, and trichoderonic acid A, using spectroscopic data from nuclear magnetic resonance and electrospray ionization–mass spectroscopy.     

Recovery of arbutin in high purity from fruit peels of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai)

β-Arbutin is one of the most abundant compounds in pear fruit and has been widely used as a whitening agent in cosmetic products. In this study, a simple method for the purification and isolation of arbutin in high purity from the fruit peel of a pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai cv. Chuhwangbae) was developed. The high extraction efficiency of arbutin was accomplished with 80% ethanol under acidic conditions (pH 3.0). In the partition between water and ethyl acetate, almost all of the arbutin (78%) was detected in the water layer. Therefore, arbutin was further purified and isolated from the water layer using Diaion HP-20 column chromatography and preparative HPLC. The isolated arbutin represented a 60% recovery with a purity exceeding 99%.     

Catalyst design for maximizing C5+ yields during Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process has great potential to accomplish energy security but also for utilizing greenhouse gases to address the energy problem. Different kinds of feedstocks like coal, biomass (via gasification), CO₂, methane (via reforming), and nonconventional energy sources are used to obtain the syn-gas (CO and H₂). The formation of hydrocarbons in the FT process follows ASF distribution over the majority of the catalysts. It can be overcome by the application of a suitable catalyst, controlling the active metal interaction with the support and interaction of formed hydrocarbon with the support. The ratio of syn-gas is important to maintain the desired conversion and to have more selectivity towards C₅+ products. Increase in the H₂: CO ratios in the feed increases C₅+ products and methane decreases. Whereas with the decrease in the ratios increases undesirable reactions and methane formation. In this article, we have discussed the recent literature from the viewpoint of increasing the C₅+ selectivity. Support has a profound influence on product distribution. With the application of suitable support and controlling the interaction of the active sites yields the good CO conversion with fewer lighters and higher C₅+ hydrocarbons.     

Enriching breakfast sausages by feeding pigs with CLA supplemented diets

Approaches for improving the profile of functional unsaturated fatty acids in pork products include dietary supplementation of pigs with functional oils. Little information is available to indicate the benefit of this approach in a processed and cooked pork product such as breakfast sausages. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to examine the fatty acid profile and oxidation level in cooked pork sausages, produced following dietary supplementation with CLA compared to sunflower oil (SFO). Fat and moisture percentages, total fatty acid profiles and TBARS were analysed. Fatty acid profiles were altered in the sausages following all treatments. While a stronger effect was seen for CLA treatments, addition of SFO in the diet also resulted in linear increases of CLA in the sausages. CLA supplementation resulted in increased saturated fatty acid content; however, all treatments were within the recommended polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio of above 0.4. Improved oxidative stability was observed in sausages from CLA supplemented diets.     

Antibiogram and coagulase diversity in staphylococcal enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus from bovine mastitis

We investigated antibiogram and coagulase gene diversity in staphylococcal enterotoxin (StE)-producing Staphylococcus aureus isolated from raw milk samples of cows infected with mastitis from 140 dairy farms in Korea between 1997 and 2004. Of the 696 Staph. aureus isolates collected in this study, 164 isolates (23.6%) produced one or more staphylococcal enterotoxins (A to D), and 19 isolates (2.7%) were methicillin-resistant. The percentage of StE-producing Staph. aureus (SES) isolates resistant to methicillin, kanamycin, neomycin, amikacin, and tetracycline was greater than that of non-SES. Ten coagulase genotype patterns were observed, including 4 main types comprising I (25.4%), II (13.9%), VII (13.2%), and VIII (17.8%). More than 4 Staph. aureus types were isolated from each of 82 dairy farms in different geographic locations, and only 1 coagulase genotype pattern was observed in 39 of the herds (47.6%). There was no significant correlation between coagulase genotypes harbored by Staph. aureus and their specific StE type. The percentage of isolates producing major StE types (A, B, AC, and ABCD) and being resistant to cephalothin and methicillin was greater among the Staph. aureus isolates with the 4 predominant coagulase genotypes (I, II, VII, and VIII) than among the isolates harboring the 6 rare coagulase types (III, IV, V, VI, IX, and X). Based on coagulase gene polymorphisms, our data indicate that a broad distribution of identical or closely related enterotoxin-producing Staph. aureus strains seem to contribute to bovine mastitis in the Republic of Korea.     

Using hydrogen activated by microwave plasma vs. molecular hydrogen for hydrogen storage in tungsten disulfide inorganic nanotubes

In this work we investigate the inorganic nanotubes of layered tungsten disulfide, as material for hydrogen storage. These nanotubes may allow hydrogen to be either chemi- or physisorbed inside their crystalline structure (in between the layers), inside hollow core of nanotubes, on the surface or in the open interstitial pore spaces of nanotubes' powder mesh. While exposure to molecular hydrogen was found to have measurable but limited absorption rate – up to 0.13 wt.%, the exposure to hydrogen activated by microwave (MW) plasma resulted in much higher value of adsorbed hydrogen of ∼1 wt.%. These observations could be attributed to more effective interaction of activated vs. molecular hydrogen with nanotubes surface due to the strong chemisorption of activated hydrogen compared to weaker physisorption of molecular hydrogen. We report here the results of such exposures and analyze the absorption and diffusion of hydrogen by different methods: adsorption–desorption curves obtained by pressure–composition–temperature isotherm measurements, and hydrogen depth profiles measured by Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy. We found that 5 min exposure to MW plasma at 400 W and 60 Torr (causing local heating up to ∼100 °C) results in substantial hydrogen retention, though some etching of the substrate material may occur during such treatment.