Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Milled Grape Canes (Vitis vinifera) Using a Pressurized Low-Polarity Water Extractor

Trans-resveratrol and trans-ε-viniferin were extracted from milled grape canes using pressurized low-polarity water. The effects of temperature were significant for both compounds (p ≤ 0.05): extraction at 160 °C resulted in a 40% loss of trans-resveratrol compared to 95 °C while reduction of trans-ε-viniferin at both temperatures remained at 30%. Increasing ethanol concentration from 0% to 25% increased the extraction of total phenolics and trans-ε-viniferin by 44% and 489%, respectively. Solvent flow rate also influenced trans-ε-viniferin extraction. Antioxidant activity showed a strong correlation with total phenolic content of the extracts, and the two target phenolic compounds. Except for the modifier concentration, the extraction parameters studied were not statistically significant with respect to the antioxidant activity of extracts (p > 0.05). Effective diffusivities of trans-resveratrol multiplied from 3.3 × 10⁻¹¹ to 10.4 × 10⁻¹¹ m²/s by three times with increasing temperature. The modified Gompertz equation satisfactorily explained the extraction of the stilbenes investigated.     

The Impacts of Heat Treatment on Lap Joint Shear Strength of Black Pine Wood

This study was conducted to determine the impacts of heat treatment on lap shear strength, density, and mass loss of black pine wood. In the study, black pine wood boards bonded with polyurethane were subjected to temperatures of 160, 180, and 200°C for durations of 2 and 6 hours. Specimens having two layers were prepared from untreated and treated wood for mechanical testing of bond lines. Data were analyzed using variance analysis and Tukey's test to determine the impacts of changes in density and mass of heat-treated black pine wood on lap shear strength. The results indicated that the lap shear strength of black pine wood decreased as the intensity of heat treatment increased. The results also indicated that the minimum and maximum percentage decreases of lap shear strength were approximately 27% for 160°C and 2 hours and 78% for 200°C and 6 hours.     

Effects of Optimized Operating Parameters on Combustion Characteristics and NO_x Emissions of a Burner based on Orthogonal Analysis

To optimize the structure of the burner,improve the combustion performance,and reduce the emission of NO_x,a self-circulating low NO_x combustion technology was used to design a new type of flue gas self-circulating low NO_x burner.Based on previous research on the numerical model of combustion and the composition of mixed gas on combustion and NO_x emissions,the effect of various factors on the ejection coefficient of the flue gas self-circulating structure was analyzed using the orthogonal test method,and the burner operating parameters,such as preheating temperature and excess air coefficient,were deeply studied through the three-dimensional finite element numerical model in this paper.The results show that the diameter ratio of the nozzle and the length of the cylindrical section of the flue gas self-circulating structure have great influence on its ejection and mixing ability.The optimal ejection coefficient was 0.4829.Overall,the amount of NO_x emissions greatly increased from 6.23×10~(-6) (volume fraction) at the preheating temperature 973 K to 3.5×10~(-3) at preheating temperature 1573 K.When the excess air coefficient decreased from 1.2 to 1,the maximum combustion temperature decreased from 2036.3 K to 1954.22 K,and the NO_x emissions decreased from 352.29×10~(-6) to 159.73×10~(-6).     

Discriminating schizophrenia and schizo-obsessive disorder: a structural MRI study combining VBM and machine learning methods

Schizo-obsessive disorder is characterized by the clinical syndrome in which comorbid obsessive–compulsive disorder accompanies schizophrenia. A substantial number of studies have investigated the neuropsychological and clinical differences between schizophrenia and schizo-obsessive disorder. However, the neurostructural differences between these two groups have not been adequately investigated. The aim of this study was to explore gray matter differences between schizophrenia and schizo-obsessive patients using voxel-based morphometry and support vector machines combined with feature selection algorithm. Twenty-three schizophrenia and 23 schizo-obsessive patients matched by age, gender and handedness were recruited. Clinical assessments were completed in addition to high-resolution structural MRI scanning. Group differences were investigated using contrast maps, and significant regions were subjected to a feature selection and support vector machine hybrid model. In addition, voxel-of-interest values for the commonly shared brain areas between schizophrenia and OCD reported in previous meta-analyses were also used as inputs in this step. The results showed that schizo-obsessive patients had greater gray matter densities in paracentral areas (including supplementary motor area) and middle cingulate gyrus than schizophrenia patients. These brain areas together with the fronto-subcortical areas could successfully discriminate two groups with an accuracy of 78.26 %. Our results provide the first neuroanatomical evidence that schizo-obsessive disorder and schizophrenia may be two distinct clinical entities. Based on these findings, considering schizo-obsessive disorder as a subtype of schizophrenia is discernible.

     

Efficient production of l-lactic acid from chicken feather protein hydrolysate and sugar beet molasses by the newly isolated Rhizopus oryzae TS-61

The aim of this study was to investigate production of l-lactic acid from molasses and chicken feather protein hydrolysate (CFP) by the newly isolated Rhizopus oryzae TS-61. R. oryzae TS-61 was capable of utilizing molasses sucrose and CFP as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. In contrast to yeast extract and ammonium sulfate, CFP had potential not only to prevent excessive pH changes and foaming but also to provide smaller uniform pellet formation in during fermentation. Thanks to these properties, it was concluded that CFP might have resulted in higher l-lactic acid production than the other two nitrogen sources (yeast extract and ammonium sulfate). At the end of 42-h optimal cultivation period, the highest (38.5 g/L) and lowest (28.8 g/L) concentrations of l-lactic acid were obtained with CFP and ammonium sulfate, respectively. This is the first report on use of waste chicken feather as a lactic acid production substrate. In addition, a new R. oryzae strain, being capable of using molasses sucrose as carbon source in order to produce l-lactic acid, was isolated.     

A new active position sensing method for ropeless elevator

Traditional cable driven elevators perform poorly in high-rise buildings because the weight of the cable limits the payload, and its elasticity degrades control performance. Further, it is not mechanically possible to include several elevator cars in the same hoistway because of the cable. However such multi-car elevator systems are desirable since they reduce passenger waiting time and reduce the space requirements of the elevator system. A promising solution is to use long armature linear motors spanning the hoistway to directly drive elevator cages. In such applications, the mover position sensing method must be explicitly addressed since most active position sensing methods require traveling cables, which are also an obstacle for multi-car elevator systems.In this paper, the linear-motor active position sensing method is formally introduced and the principle of operation, design and real-time operation methods are presented. The proposed method is used to measure the position of the mover of a long armature permanent magnet linear synchronous motor requiring no active components on the mover, thus traveling cables are eliminated. The principle of operation is inspired by linear variable differential transformer: A magnetic shunt positioned at a fixed distance ahead of the mover deforms the magnetic field created by one of the armature coils. The deformation can be determined by measuring the induced voltages on the neighboring coils, and the position of the shunt, and thus the mover, can be calculated.A design method for the optimal dimensions of the shunt for a given armature to provide long measurement range and small maximum position error is presented, accompanied by a real-time measurement algorithm that will enable the motor to be driven using the method. Finally the method is verified by simulations and experimental results conducted on a full scale linear-motor elevator prototype that was constructed in the laboratory.     

Investigation of accuracy of aerostatic guideways

Aerostatic guideways are often used in machines requiring very high motion accuracy such as coordinate measuring machines. Currently, positioning error analysis for such machines focuses on the relationship between volumetric errors on one hand and axes’ motion errors and axes’ relative location errors on the other. The internal mechanisms causing motion errors are rarely considered. In order to gain a deeper understanding of aerostatic guideways, this paper investigates the relationship between the motion errors of the axis’ carriage and the guideways’ geometric errors both mathematically and experimentally. The analytical model uses bearings location and stiffness, guideway geometry and static equilibrium to produce a model in matrix form. Validation experiments are conducted on a machine axis moving on aerostatic guideways with and without preload.     

Electrical conductivity imaging via contactless measurements: an experimental study

A data-acquisition system has been developed to image electrical conductivity of biological tissues via contactless measurements. This system uses magnetic excitation to induce currents inside the body and measures the resulting magnetic fields. The data-acquisition system is constructed using a PC-controlled lock-in amplifier instrument. A magnetically coupled differential coil is used to scan conducting phantoms by a computer controlled scanning system. A 10000-turn differential coil system with circular receiver coils of radii 15 mm is used as a magnetic sensor. The transmitter coil is a 100-turn circular coil of radius 15 mm and is driven by a sinusoidal current of 200 mA (peak). The linearity of the system is 7.2% full scale. The sensitivity of the system to conducting tubes when the sensor-body distance is 0.3 cm is 21.47 mV/(S/m). It is observed that it is possible to detect a conducting tube of average conductivity (0.2 S/m) when the body is 6 cm from the sensor. The system has a signal-to-noise ratio of 34 dB and thermal stability of 33.4 mV/degrees C. Conductivity images are reconstructed using the steepest-descent algorithm. Images obtained from isolated conducting tubes show that it is possible to distinguish two tubes separated 17 mm from each other. The images of different phantoms are found to be a good representation of the actual conductivity distribution. The field profiles obtained by scanning a biological tissue show the potential of this methodology for clinical applications.     

Partitioning of rare earths and some major elements in the Kizildere geothermal field, Turkey

Rare earth elements and yttrium (REY), Na⁺, K⁺, Cl⁻, and Ca²⁺ were determined in water, steam, mineral scale and rock samples from the Kizildere geothermal field, Turkey. The CO₂-rich parent fluid originates from a sequence of mica schists with marble intercalations. The chemistry of the parent fluid varies with location and time. The average REY composition of the fluids is derived by extrapolation to the lowest Ca concentrations. The apparent vapor–liquid partitioning factors for REY at 145 °C and 5 bar total absolute pressure are about 0.2, whereas for Ca²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Cl⁻ they are <0.05, about 0.0005, 0.0005 and about 0.02, respectively. Apparent scale-liquid distribution coefficients for REY at 145 and 190 °C are about 0.15 and 0.55, whereas at 100 °C they increase from 0.3 (La) to 1.5 (Lu).