Apparent chemical composition of nine commercial or semi-commercial whey protein concentrates, isolates and fractions

Summary Analytical results are given for whey powders prepared on a commercial or semi-commercial scale by three companies. Altogether, five preparations enriched in β-lactoglobulin, four whey protein isolates and a fraction enriched in α-lactalbumin were analyzed for protein composition, including %β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, bovine serum albumin, casein (glyco) macropeptide and the main triglycerides. Protein composition was determined by high pressure gel permeation and reversed phase liquid chromatography and by capillary zone electrophoresis. The extent of modification of the native β-lactoglobulin structure was also measured through the degree of lactosylation and the fraction of accessible free sulphydryl groups. One significant finding was that the calculated recovery of protein following quantitation of the chromatogram or electropherogram was seldom above 90% and occasionally below 60% of that loaded onto the column or capillary, raising doubts as to the reliability of the analytical results. Extrapolation by linear regression to 100% recovery allowed estimates to be made of the true β-lactoglobulin composition of the samples. The nine samples could be placed into three distinct groups with estimated true β-lactoglobulin weight % of 70.9 ± 1.1, 62.0 ± 3.4 and 39.5 ± 4.9. Physico-chemical properties of the group of samples are reported elsewhere (Holt et al ., 1999).     

Estimation of bacterial production through the coupling of (methyl 3H) Thymidine incorporation and several parameters over a Microcystis aeruginosa bloom in a hypereutrophic reservoir

The coupling of the changes in bacterial quantitative and metabolic aspects during Microcystis aeruginosa bloom conditions together with several environmental parameters was studied in the hypereutrophic Villerest reservoir, France. Bacterial abundance varied from 5.20 to 21.28 × 10⁶ bacteria-mL^?1, while bacterial biomass ranged between 75 and 507 μg C mL^?1. These results confirmed the highly eutrophic status of the Villerest reservoir. The relative quantitative importance of attached bacteria increased as Microcystis proliferated. Methyl-³H incorporation and D-(U-¹⁴C) glucose uptake varied from 8.99 to 60.57 × 10⁶ cells-mL^?1, and 0.016 to 1.587 μg CL^?1 h^?1, respectively. Correlations between several abiotic and biotic parameters showed that phytoplankton regulated bacterial growth by releasing organic carbon which is directly uptaken by heterotrophic bacteria. In the hypolimnion, the sedimentation of decaying algae represented a substantial substrate for bacterial growth.     

一种快速分层递阶DSmT近似推理融合方法(A)

 本文提出了一种分层递阶的DSmT快速近似推理融合方法,该方法针对超幂集空间中仅单子焦元具有信度赋值的情况,利用二叉树或三叉树分组技术对其刚性分组,与此同时,对每个信息源对应的各个分组焦元进行信度赋值求和,以便实现细粒度超幂集空间向粗粒度超幂集空间映射.然后运用DSmT组合规则和比例冲突分配规则对粗化超幂集空间的两个信息源进行融合,保存该融合结果作为父子之间节点连接权值,然后对每个分组焦元信度赋值归一化处理,通过设定树的深度,来确定分层递阶的次数.最后通过从多个角度比较新、老方法,从而充分地验证了新方法的优越性.     

RERBEE: robust efficient registration via bifurcations and elongated elements applied to retinal fluorescein angiogram sequences

We present RERBEE (robust efficient registration via bifurcations and elongated elements), a novel feature-based registration algorithm able to correct local deformations in high-resolution ultra-wide field-of-view (UWFV) fluorescein angiogram (FA) sequences of the retina. The algorithm is able to cope with peripheral blurring, severe occlusions, presence of retinal pathologies and the change of image content due to the perfusion of the fluorescein dye in time. We have used the computational power of a graphics processor to increase the performance of the most computationally expensive parts of the algorithm by a factor of over × 1300, enabling the algorithm to register a pair of 3900 × 3072 UWFV FA images in 5-10 min instead of the 5-7 h required using only the CPU. We demonstrate accurate results on real data with 267 image pairs from a total of 277 (96.4%) graded as correctly registered by a clinician and 10 (3.6%) graded as correctly registered with minor errors but usable for clinical purposes. Quantitative comparison with state-of-the-art intensity-based and feature-based registration methods using synthetic data is also reported. We also show some potential usage of a correctly aligned sequence for vein/artery discrimination and automatic lesion detection.     

Digital sound broadcasting: Satellites or Terrestrial Networks?

When European laboratories decided to develop a digital sound broadcasting system (DSB), they specified three main conditions to fulfil:

• quality improvement up to the level of ‘CD’ sound, even in difficult reception conditions (mobile vehicles, etc)
• additional significant digital data transmissions in order to transform sound broadcasting into a really new service
• the possibility of a common system for satellite and terrestrial transmissions.

It is on these bases that the European project ‘Eureka 147’ defined the system called DAB (digital audio broadcasting). In 1992, the ITU Conference WARC 92 allocated 40 MHz to DSB in the L-band in the configuration of complementary terrestrial and satellite networks; nevertheless, the present state of technical possibilities makes such mixed networks almost unfeasible and the lack of available spectrum in VHF bands led a significant number of countries to envisage L-band for T-DAB. The situation could turn to a competition between terrestrial and satellite networks, especially because the bandwidth in L-band is not that large! France belongs to the countries facing this problem. L-band alone is intended to be used by T-DAB, and broadcasters taking part in the work of ‘Club DAB’ estimated that 20 MHz would be a minimum to ensure the success of T-DAB introduction. It is half of the DSB band. Splitting this band into two parts has already been decided by CEPT, but in the proportion of 1/3 for T-DAB. This organization intends to arrange a European planning meeting for T-DAB in July 1995, and, shortly after, several countries are ready to start the implementation of the terrestrial networks. At the same time, international broadcasters wonder whether satellite transmission could present an alternative to HF.     

CMOS inverters based positive type second generation current conveyor

A new versatile class AB low-voltage second generation current conveyor based on CMOS inverters operating in transconductance mode is presented in this letter. Against traditional design based on CCII+, the circuit is able to operate at low supply voltages and offers numerous advantages like class AB operation, large voltage and current swing, synthesis from digital inverters. Simulation results from a typical 0.35 μm CMOS process had demonstrated the circuit capability to operate at high frequency over wide voltage and wide current swings. The proposed circuit operation has been acted from measurements with the HEF4069UBP from Philips semiconductors [1].     

As Doping in (Hg,Cd)Te: An Alternative Point of View

Acceptor doping of many II–VI compound semiconductors has proved problematic and doping of epitaxial mercury cadmium telluride (MCT, Hg_1−x Cd _x Te) with arsenic is no exception. High-temperature (>400°C) anneals followed by a lower temperature mercury-rich vacancy-filling anneal are frequently required to activate the dopant. The model frequently used to explain p-type doping with arsenic invokes an amphoteric nature of group V atoms in the II–VI lattice. This requires that group VI substitution with arsenic only occurs under mercury-rich conditions either during growth or the subsequent annealing and involves site switching of the As. However, there are inconsistencies in the amphoteric model and unexplained experimental observations, including arsenic which is 100% active as grown by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE). A new model, based on hydrogen passivation of the arsenic, is therefore proposed.     

A methodology to benchmark flexible payload architectures in a megaconstellation use case

This paper proposes a methodology to benchmark satellite payload architectures and find the optimal trade‐offs between high flexibility and low complexity. High flexibility would enable the satellite to adapt to various distributions of user terminals on the ground and fulfill the data rate demand of these users. Besides, low complexity is required to keep satellite networks competitive in the context of emerging 5G networks. To estimate the flexibility of a payload, an indicator to characterize the non‐uniformity of user distributions is proposed. Each benchmarked payload may be characterized by a graph relating the throughput to this parameter further denoted . The payload provides the same throughput trends for different scenarios of user distributions with the same parameter. As a consequence, the average capacity of the system may be estimated by (a) calculating the probability distribution of over the orbit and (b) integrating the throughput based on this payload response. It thus results in a straightforward way for benchmarking payloads directly on an estimation of the averaged capacity, accounting for the user distribution over the earth. A simulation platform has been developed to characterize the payload throughput including the implementation of a resource allocation algorithm that accounts for constraints of various payloads. Using this definition and the developed tool, we benchmark a bent‐pipe architecture, a beam hopping architecture and a hybrid beam‐steering architecture for a LEO megaconstellation use case. The methodology showcases the interest for investigating different payload architectures depending on realistic traffic scenario analysis.     

Time-dependent dielectric wearout technique with temperature effect for reliability test of ultrathin (<2.0 nm) single layer and dual layer gate oxides

Ultrathin gate oxide is essential for low supply voltage and high drive current for ULSI devices. The continuous scaling of oxide thickness has been a challenge on reliability characterization with conventional time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) technique. A new technique, the time-dependent dielectric wearout (TDDW), is proposed as a more practical and effective way to measure oxide reliability and breakdown compared to conventional TDDB methodology. The wearout of oxide is defined as the gate current reaches a critical current density with the circuit operating voltage level. It is shown that although a noisy soft breakdown always exists for ultrathin oxide, with constant-voltage stressing, a big runaway can also be observed for oxides down to 1.8 nm by monitoring the I–V characteristics at a reduced voltage. Devices are found still working after soft breakdowns, but no longer functional after the big runaway. However, by applying E-model to project dielectric lifetime, it shows that the dielectric lifetime is almost infinity for the thermal oxide at 1.8 nm range. It is also demonstrated that the dual voltage TDDW technique is also able to monitor the breakdown mechanism for nitride/oxide (N/O) dual layer dielectrics.     

Quantitative luminescence mapping of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin‐film solar cells

We investigate photoluminescence and electroluminescence (PL and EL) emission images from Cu(In,Ga)Se₂‐based solar cells by means of a Hyperspectral Imager. Using the generalized Planck's law, maps of the effective quasi‐Fermi level splitting Δμ_eff in absolute values are obtained. A good agreement is found between the spatially averaged splitting in PL and the global open‐circuit voltage. However, from a local carrier transport discussion, we conclude that the equality does not hold locally. The spatial variations are rather attributed to local depth variations of the quasi‐Fermi level splitting due to material properties spatial fluctuations. By comparing PL and EL emissions, we discuss qualitatively the local effective lifetimes and collection efficiencies. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.