The Effect of Water on the Activity and Selectivity for γ-Alumina Supported Cobalt Fischer–Tropsch Catalysts with Different Pore Sizes

The effect of water on the activity and selectivity for a series of γ-Al₂O₃ supported cobalt Fischer–Tropsch catalysts has been studied in an isothermal fixed-bed reactor at T = 483 K, P = 20 bar, and H₂/CO = 2.1. The catalysts were produced applying incipient wetness impregnation and consisted of 20 wt.% cobalt and 0.5 wt.% rhenium deposited on γ-Al₂O₃ supports with different pore characteristics. For the narrow-pore catalysts, addition of water corresponding to an inlet partial pressure ratio of P_H2O/P_H2 = 0.4 reduced the reaction rates. In contrast, for a catalyst with larger pores the same water pressure increased the reaction rates. For all catalysts, water amounts equal to P_H2O/P_H2 = 0.7 at the reactor inlet suppressed the reaction rates and led to permanent deactivation. The addition of water increased the C₅₊ selectivity and decreased the CH₄ selectivity for all catalysts. The pore characteristics seem to determine the effect of water on the rates.     

Fischer–Tropsch synthesis on monolithic catalysts with oil circulation

Monolithic catalysts made of cordierite and γ-Al₂O₃ have been prepared and tested for the Fischer–Tropsch (FT) synthesis. When operated without oil circulation, washcoated cordierite monoliths have previously been shown to be as active and selective as the corresponding powder catalyst provided that the monoliths have low washcoat loadings. Two-phase operation, i.e. with oil/product circulation during reaction, resulted in improved heat removal and temperature control, in lower apparent activity and faster deactivation, but the C₅₊ selectivity was equal to or even better than without oil circulation. The lower apparent activities obtained with oil circulation seem to be a combination of catalyst deactivation and flow-related problems in the present experimental set-up.     

Two-dimensional “transXend” detector for third-generation energy-resolved computed tomography

The “transXend” detector measures X-rays as electric currents and provides the energy distribution of the measured X-rays after analysis. Capabilities of material distinction, effective atomic number measurement, and low-dose exposure computed tomography (CT) with high K-edge contrast agent from the use of the transXend detector in energy-resolved CT have been demonstrated via the first-generation CT measurements. For application of the principle of the transXend detector to the third-generation CT for human subjects in future work, a method for fabrication of a two-dimensional transXend detector is proposed and demonstrated using a commercial two-dimensional detector and two kinds of strip absorbers. The energy-resolved CT is performed by placing a proposed absorber system in front of a two-dimensional detector, which is used for conventional current measurement CT.     

Isolation of Salmonella Enteritidis phage type 30 from a single almond orchard over a 5-year period

In 2001, Salmonella Enteritidis phage type (PT) 30 was isolated from drag swabs of 17 61-ha almond orchards on three farms linked to an outbreak of salmonellosis associated with consumption of raw almonds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term persistence of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30 in one of the almond orchards associated with the outbreak. Swabs (gauze saturated with full-strength sterile evaporated skim milk and attached to string) were pulled along the orchard floor in a standardized manner for 55 m. At each sample time, two pooled samples (four swabs each) were collected from each orchard quadrant. Swabs were enriched for Salmonella using a delayed secondary enrichment procedure developed for isolation of Salmonella from poultry houses. Suspect Salmonella isolates were selected, confirmed, serotyped, and phage typed, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns were determined after cleavage with XbaI and BlnI. Salmonella was recovered infrequently from pooled samples collected from January through July (3 of 56 samples, 5.3%). In general, Salmonella isolation frequency per sample time increased during and immediately after the harvest, when large amounts of dust were generated in or near the orchard: August, 4 (20%) of 20 samples; September, 13 (20%) of 64 samples; October, 27 (42%) of 64 samples; November, 4 (25%) of 16 samples; and December, 2 (25%) of 8 samples. All 53 Salmonella isolates during the 5 years were identified as Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30, and two PFGE patterns that differed by the presence of an approximately 40-kb fragment were identified. These data demonstrate the potential for long-term environmental persistence of Salmonella in almond orchards.     

Production of extracellular bifidogenic growth stimulator by anaerobic and aerobic cultivations of several propionibacterial strains

Production of a bifidogenic growth stimulator (BGS) by propionic acid bacteria was investigated under anaerobic and aerobic culture conditions. To measure the concentration of extracellular BGS produced by propionic acid bacteria, we evaluated the effects of bioassay conditions using Bifidobacterium longum as a test microorganism on the formation of a growth-stimulation zone. The diameter of the growth-stimulation zone was significantly affected by both the component concentrations and the pH of a bioassay medium. The optimum component concentrations and pH of a bioassay medium were one-half of the normal values and 8.5, respectively. Using the bioassay method, we can measure the concentration of BGS produced by propionic acid bacteria ranging in concentrations from 0.1 microg/l to 1 mg/l using 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (DHNA) and 2-amino-3-carboxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (ACNQ) as standards. Of six dairy propionic acid bacterial strains tested, the four strains (Propionibacterium freudenreichii ET-3, P. shermanii PZ-3, P. acidipropionici JCM 6432, and P. jensenii JCM 6433) produced BGS at a concentration range of 4-23 mg/l under the anaerobic culture conditions. Analysis of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed that more than 70% of total BGS produced in supernatant samples was DHNA and no ACNQ was produced by the strains. The effect of oxygen supply on BGS production was investigated for the four BGS-producing strains. The aerobic conditions exerted in positive effects on BGS production by only P. acidipropionici JCM 6432. The concentration of BGS obtained in the aerobic cultivation of P. acidipropionici JCM 6432 was 1.3-fold than that in anaerobic cultivation. Different properties (BGS production as well as cell growth and glucose metabolism) occurring in response to the aerobic conditions were observed, depending on the propionic acid bacterial strain used. This paper is the first report on BGS production by propionibacterial strains except for P. freudenreichii.     

Evaluation of immunochromatographic test kits for food allergens using processed food models

It has been mandatory to label five allergenic substances (AS; egg, milk, wheat, buckwheat and peanut) in all processed foods, since April 2002 in Japan. Two kinds of ELISA kits have been provided as screening test kits for the Japanese official method. The kits have many advantages but some disadvantages, i.e., the kits are not necessarily suitable for daily monitoring in food manufacturing plants, because they require various analytical equipments and the use of complicated procedures. To overcome these drawbacks, we have developed other diagnostic kits based on immunochromatography that should enable more rapid and simple screening for food allergens. Then we examined the performance of these immunochromatographic test kits (IC kits) in terms of sensitivity, repeatability and cross-reactivity to AS proteins in 11 kinds of food models with various heating conditions and physical properties. We also examined processed food models including AS protein of constant concentration, using the IC kits and ELISA kits, and compared the results. The IC kits detected AS proteins at 5 microg/g in the extracts from processed food models, and provided highly reproducible results. Cross-reactivity among the AS proteins was not observed. The results obtained using the IC kits showed performance equivalent to that of the ELISA kits we examined in unheating processed food models including AS proteins of constant concentration. The IC kits should be more suitable for daily monitoring in food manufacturing plants.     

Wavelet-based feature extraction and selection for classification of power system disturbances using support vector machines

This paper presents a new approach for the classification of the power system disturbances using support vector machines (SVMs). The proposed approach is carried out at three serial stages. Firstly, the features to be form the SVM classifier are obtained by using the wavelet transform and a few different feature extraction techniques. Secondly, the features exposing the best classification accuracy of these features are selected by a feature selection technique called as sequential forward selection. Thirdly, the best appropriate input vector for SVM classifier is rummaged. The input vector is started with the first best feature and incrementally added the chosen features. After the addition of each feature, the performance of the SVM is evaluated. The kernel and penalty parameters of the SVM are determined by cross-validation. The parameter set that gives the smallest misclassification error is retained. Finally, both the noisy and noiseless signals are applied to the classifier given above stages. Experimental results indicate that the proposed classifier is robust and has more high classification accuracy with regard to the other approaches in the literature for this problem.     

Comparisons of Two Models for the Simulation of a DC Arc Plasma Torch

The hypothesis of local thermal equilibrium (LTE) in thermal plasma has been widely accepted. Most of the simulation models for the arc plasma torch are based on the hypothesis of LTE and its results indicate good validity to mimic the pattern of plasma flow inside a plasma torch. However, according to the LTE hypothesis, electrical conductivity near electrodes is significantly lower because of the low gas temperature. Consequently, it is difficult for electrical current flows to pass between the anode and cathode. Therefore, the key subject for a model concentrating on the LTE assumption is to deal with the low electrical conductivity near the electrodes. In this study, two models determining the electrical conductivity at the vicinity of the electrodes with two different assumptions were used to calculate the flow patterns inside a non-transferred DC arc plasma torch. Gas temperature, velocity, voltage drop, and heat energy of the plasma arc were compared between the two models. The results indicated that the plasma arc inside the plasma torch fluctuates, as simulated by both models. It seems that the model can obtain comparable accuracy with the experimental results if the plasma gas electrical conductivity is determined by nominal electron temperature.     

Streptomyces aminopeptidase P: biochemical characterization and insight into the roles of its N-terminal domain

We purified and characterized the aminopeptidase P from Streptomyces costaricanus TH-4 (thAPP). This enzyme has a tetramer structure, a metal-ion preference toward Zn, broad substrate specificity and a narrow pH dependency for activity. The primary structure of thAPP, respectively, exhibits 91% and 65% identity with those of two other APPs-APP I and APP II-from Streptomyces lividans (slAPP I and slAPP II). We next overexpressed the genes encoding thAPP and slAPP II in Escherichia coli and characterized them. Two differences were apparent in their properties: slAPP II formed a dimer, whereas thAPP formed a tetramer; also, the alkaline side pKa for the catalytic action of slAPP II is higher than that of thAPP. Investigation using chimeras of both enzymes revealed that the N-terminal domain is associated with the determination of pKa values for catalytic action and quaternary structure.     

Measurement of tongue–artificial nipple contact pressure during infant sucking

To clarify the motor function of the infant tongue during sucking, we developed an artificial nipple that contained multiple small built‐in force sensors integrated with a PC‐based system which is capable of measuring tongue–artificial nipple contact pressures in real time. The force sensor is a cantilever structure with a small, thin stainless steel beam where an all‐purpose foil strain gauge is attached to the surface of the beam. An artificial nipple made of an elastomer containing these sensors is connected through an amplifier and an A/D converter to a PC via a USB port. Using this system, measurements were taken in three infants whose oral feeding was well established and in one infant of low birth weight. The results from each force sensor showed a pressure waveform of a nearly simple harmonic motion that indicated a peristalsis‐like movement of the tongue; the sucking frequency was found to be about two times per second. In addition, in the low‐birth‐weight infant, the pressure changed as the infant grew. © 2012 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.