Convective drying of osmotically dehydrated apples described by three-dimensional numerical solution of the diffusion equation with analysis of water effective diffusivity spatial distribution

Abstract

This study presents two liquid diffusion models to represent the convective drying of apple, osmotically dehydrated in sucrose solution, cut into parallelepiped-shaped pieces. Model 1 considered water diffusivity and the volume of the slices with constant values. Model 2 considered water effective diffusivity and the dimensions of the slices as variable. The numerical solution of the three-dimensional diffusion equation in Cartesian coordinates was obtained through the finite volume method, with a fully implicit formulation and boundary condition of the third kind. Process parameters were estimated by an optimizer using experimental data. A spatial distribution analysis was carried out for water effective diffusivity and moisture content in the apple slices. The results showed that the concentration of the osmotic solution used in the pretreatment influenced the drying process and that the mathematical model that considered a variable diffusivity and shrinkage was more suitable to describe the experimental data.     

Aggregation profile characterisation in dielectrophoretic structures using bacteria and submicron latex particles

A novel quantitative characterisation method for the measurement of anomalous low frequency aggregation processes on dielectrophoresis electrodes has been developed. Experimental evidence is provided for the relationship between the aggregation effect and AC electro-osmotical fluid motion theory. The aggregation profile dependence for E.coli bacteria, as a function of frequency and applied field, has been quantitatively examined. Additional experimental observations of the aggregation profiles of latex particles with dimensions of hundreds of nanometres, also confirm the relationship between this aggregation effect and the mentioned fluid motion theory.     

Transformation of a sensor or actuator system into a unitary gain element

The main objective here is to eliminate harmonic generation from sensor or actuator systems and to compensate the system losses. If a good model of the system in the time domain is available and the system is time-invariant and continuous, a Volterra series can be constructed by using Associated Linear Equations (ALEs) for both the direct and inverse series. Sensors and actuators such as those designed from the smart technology point of view possess limitations because of non-linear behaviour. A proper Volterra inverse not only eliminates the non-linear behaviour but also compensates the system losses and under appropriate conditions, eliminates transient perturbations of the system allowing more accurate devices with more widespread usage.This work takes advantage of the ALEs to analyse the composition of the pre-inverse and post-inverse Volterra series. The signal is analysed step by step as it passes through the inverse array. Among other characteristics it is found that for certain systems the Volterra inverse can be finite. The effect of the noise on the inverse array performance is also investigated.     

Experimental Study of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow in Glass Micromodels

To estimate the most important flow variables in reservoir engineering, such as the relative permeability, it is required to know with high precision, other variables such as saturation, pressure drop of each phase, and porous media data such as porosity and absolute permeability. In this study, experimental tests were performed inside a glass micromodel using gas–liquid two-phase flow in steady-state conditions. The liquid-phase flow and the pressure drop of the porous media were determined. Additionally, the flow development inside the porous media was visualized using a high-speed video camera system. These pictures were recorded at 500 fps, and they were used to compute the phase saturation and the gas velocity in the glass micromodel. The visualization was performed in three regions of the glass micromodel demonstrating that saturation gradients were not present. The effect of the capillary number was studied over the gas–liquid relative permeability curves and on the flow mechanisms. It was concluded that high flow rates minimize edge effects, that the capillary number modifies the relative permeability values and the flow patterns inside the micromodel, and that the high-speed visualization is an efficient and accurate technique to determine saturation values and to study the flow patterns in transparent porous media such as glass micromodels.     

An extracellular protease of Streptococcus gordonii hydrolyzes type IV collagen and collagen analogues

Streptococcus gordonii is a frequent cause of infective bacterial endocarditis, but its mechanisms of virulence are not well defined. In this study, streptococcal proteases were recovered from spent chemically defined medium (CDM) and fractionated by ammonium sulfate precipitation and by ion-exchange and gel filtration column chromatography. Three proteases were distinguished by their different solubilities in ammonium sulfate and their specificities for synthetic peptides. One of the enzymes cleaved collagen analogs Gly-Pro 4-methoxy-beta-naphthylamide, 2-furanacryloyl-Leu-Gly-Pro-Ala (FALGPA), and p-phenylazobenzyloxycarbonyl-Pro-Leu-Gly-Pro-Arg (pZ-peptide) and was released from the streptococci while complexed to peptidoglycan fragments. Treatment of this protease with mutanolysin reduced its 180- to 200-kDa mass to 98 kDa without loss of enzymatic activity. The purified protease cleaved bovine gelatin, human placental type IV collagen, and the Aalpha chain of fibrinogen but not albumin, fibronectin, laminin, or myosin. Enzyme activity was inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, indicating that it is a serine-type protease. Maximum production of the 98-kDa protease occurred during growth of S. gordonii CH1 in CDM containing 0.075% total amino acids at pH 7.0 with minimal aeration. Higher initial concentrations of amino acids prevented the release of the protease without reducing cell-associated enzyme levels, and the addition of an amino acid mixture to an actively secreting culture stopped further enzyme release. The purified protease was stored frozen at -20 degreesC for several months or heated at 50 degreesC for 10 min without loss of activity. These data indicate that S. gordonii produces an extracellular gelatinase/type IV collagenase during growth in medium containing minimal concentrations of free amino acids. Thus, the extracellular enzyme is a potential virulence factor in the amino acid-stringent, thrombotic, valvular lesions of bacterial endocarditis.     

Evaluation of the tear properties of polyethylene blown films using the essential work of fracture concept

In the case of very thin materials such as blown films, the applied stress state in front of the crack tip is normally a plane stress condition, and the deformation around the crack tip due to the remote stress is very large. However, current standard test methods for quantifying the fracture toughness of thin films, such as the Elmendorf tear test, cannot explain or represent the tear characteristics accurately. The common way of interpreting the test results from the Elmendorf tear test is to develop an empirical correlation and then compare the average values. In this paper, essential work of fracture (EWF) tests for five commercial polyethylene (PE) blown films have been conducted, and the fundamentals of their tear properties based on fracture mechanics have been studied. The results from the EWF test are interpreted based on two important parameters, i.e., the essential work of fracture (W_e) and the non-essential work of fracture (W_p). Further, the relationship between these parameters and the current standard Elmendorf tear test is shown.