Effect of Storage Time on the Rheological Behavior of Oil Well Cement Slurries

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of storage time on the rheological behavior of three fresh cements grained at different temperatures. Although rheology was affected, proton pulsed NMR measurements showed that specific surface areas remained unchanged; i.e., there was no additional cross-linking between cement particles due to prehydration or hydration products. The two techniques allowed us to differentiate between properties which account for mutual attraction and repulsion of particles and those which are attributed to hydration and changes in surface area.     

Subsampling in testing autocovariance for periodically correlated time series

Abstract. The main purpose of this article was to describe the asymptotic properties of subsampling procedure applied to nonstationary, periodically correlated time series. We present the conditions under which the subsampling version for the estimator of Fourier coefficient of autocovariance function is consistent. Our result provides new tools in statistical inference methods for nonstationary, periodically correlated time series. For example, it enables to construct consistent subsampling test which successfully distinguishes the period of the series.     

Positive feedback between ethanolamine-specific phospholipid base exchange and cytochrome P450 activities in rat liver microsomes. The effect of clofibric acid

The results of the present investigation relate the effects of the nutritional state and administration of clofibric acid (CLA), a hypolipidaemic drug and peroxisomal proliferator, on phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) synthesis in rat liver and fatty acid metabolism. Fasting and CLA treatment of animals causes an increase in the amount of PE in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes and mitochondria, as well as in the PE/phosphatidylcholine (PC) ratio. Moreover, the activity of the ethanolamine-specific phospholipid base exchange (PLBE) enzyme in liver ER membranes of fasted animals was enhanced by 75% in comparison to that of animals fed ad libitum. The effect of CLA treatment was additive to that of starvation; PE synthesis tested in vitro via the Ca2+-sensitive PLBE reaction increased 3-fold in comparison to rats fed ad libitum. This is confirmed by an increased Vmax for the reaction, but the affinity of the enzyme for ethanolamine was not significantly changed. These effects were accompanied by an enhanced expression of cytochrome P450 CYP4A1 isoform and elevated activity of the enzyme upon CLA administration. The stimulatory effect of CLA administration on the efficiency of the ethanolamine-specific PLBE reaction can be explained by elimination of lauric acid, a known inhibitor of de novo PE synthesis, during the course of omega-hydroxylation catalysed by CYP4A1, and by increased expression of the PLBE enzyme. The products of omega-hydroxylation of lauric acid, which are then converted by dehydrogenase to 1,12-dodecanedioic acid, did not significantly affect the in vitro synthesis of PE.     

THE INFLUENCE OF CONSTANT AND VARIABLE CONDITIONS ON THE DRYING KINETICS OF APPLES

The purpose of this work was to examine the influence of constant and variable temperatures or velocities on apples' drying kinetics. The step changes of temperature influenced forcefully on apples1 temperature in all situations. The drying curves -6f apples showed the influence of air's temperature as well velocity on the water content. The largest difference between the apple drying curves and absolute value of drying rate are obtained after introducing step changes or rectangle impulses of air's temperature or velocity at the beginning of the process.     

DRYING CHARACTERISTICS OF OSMOTICALLY DEHYDRATED FRUITS COATED WITH SEMIPERMEABLE EDIBLE FILMS

This paper deals with key issues of the coating technology applied to plant materials prior to osmotic dehydration and convective drying. Coatings created with solutions of starch products and pectin were examined. It was shown that coating of foods to be dehydrated influences mass transfer in a plant tissue during osmotic pre-treatment as well as during convective drying. Each coating should be individually examined. The properties of coatings depend on their composition and the method used for the fabrication of a coating. Coating of foods with an artificial barrier on the surface may efficiently hinder the penetration of solute inside the food, not affecting much the rate of water removal. The coated plant materials had a greater water loss/solids gain ratio then the uncoated ones. Osmotic dehydration seems to be one of possible pre-treatment methods before drying. The conditions of convective drying are changed upon osmotic dehydration of plant materials. It was shown that changes in drying rate depend on the kind of coating substance. Bigger differences were observed at higher water content and these differences narrowed as water content in dried material decreased. The positive effect of coatings on the physical properties of dried fruits was found.     

A Hardware Acceleration Platform for Digital Holographic Imaging

This paper presents a hardware acceleration platform for image reconstruction in digital holographic imaging. The hardware accelerator executes a computationally demanding reconstruction algorithm which transforms an interference pattern captured on a digital image sensor into visible images. Focus in this work is to maximize computational efficiency, and to minimize the external memory transfer overhead, as well as required internal buffering. The paper presents an efficient processing datapath with a fast transpose unit and an interleaved memory storage scheme. The proposed architecture results in a speedup with a factor 3 compared with the traditional column/row approach for calculating the two-dimensional FFT. Memory sharing between the computational units reduces the on-chip memory requirements with over 50%. The custom hardware accelerator, extended with a microprocessor and a memory controller, has been implemented on a custom designed FPGA platform and integrated in a holographic microscope to reconstruct images. The proposed architecture targeting a 0.13 µm CMOS standard cell library achieves real-time image reconstruction with 20 frames per second.     

Analysis of geomechanical changes in hanging wall caused by longwall multi top caving in coal mining

The method of sublevel coal extraction requires multi caving of the hanging wall layers, which are recompressed, and where each represent a hanging wall in sublevel stoping. Extensive stress and deformation changes in the surrounding area and in the mine represent a safety hazard for employees since the supporting system in the mine roadway could collapse. By accepting geomechanical principals in following caving processes in underground coal mining with the Velenje mining method in above ground acquisition, there are mutual connections made, between the geomechanical parameters of the occurring geological materials in connection with the intensity of coal mining. A numerical model, which allows for in-depth analyses of the geomechanical processes which occur in the hanging wall, the footwall, and in the coal seam during sublevel coal excavation, is broadly applicable and highly relevant for analyzing the intensity and the level of caving processes in sublevel coal mining, and for making realistic plans for coal excavation with worker safety in mind.     

Effect of Agglomeration on Flowability of Baby Food Powders

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the wet agglomeration in a fluidized bed on flowability of agglomerated products, such as baby food powders. The agglomeration process was performed in the fluidized bed. The wetting liquid used to the process was: water, 2% lecithin solution, and 50% sugar solution. Food powders flowability was expressed as: Hausner Ratio, pouring time, angles of sliding and of repose and flow function. The composition of materials, used to prepare mixtures, has a significant influence on tested properties. The higher milk powder of the mixtures caused decreasing of their flowability. Wet agglomeration of baby food powders caused an increase in the mean diameter of particles, which made it possible to receive agglomerates with good flowability and decreased bulk density. The increase of milk powder content from 0 to 73% in the mixture before the agglomeration contributed to improve its flowability. Wet agglomeration with 2% lecithin solution and 50% sugar solution reduced particle size and bulk density, improved flowability of received agglomerates in relation to agglomerates received with water as a wetting liquid. Practical Application: Agglomeration of baby food powders increases particle size of received agglomerates with a tendency to reduce their bulk density. Agglomerates flowability determined by using practical tests (Hausner ratio, pouring time, angles of sliding and of repose) is not sufficient for a comprehensive assessment of powdered deposit. For complex flow behavior, like that of agglomerated baby food powders, the Jenike shear test only remains as an acceptable test of flowability.