Amino acid composition of some Amaranthus sp. grain proteins and of its fractions

This study was carried out to determine the protein content of several Amaranthus sp. grains. Findings revealed this has a high lysine (5.3 to 6.3 of the protein) and sulphur amino acids content (3.4-4.0%), while leucine could well be limiting when those seeds are used as a sole protein source in food. Using the correction for in vitro protein digestibility, the chemical score varied from 50 to 67. The calculated protein efficiency ratios and biological values ranged from 1.39 to 1.80 and 53 to 68, respectively. Considering that amaranth grain is a good supplement to cereal grain, the protein of A. hypochondriacus HH5 (yellow seeds) and A. anclancalius (black seeds) was fractionated into albumin, globulin, prolamin and glutelin. The average proportions between those soluble proteins were 65:17:11:7, respectively. Albumin had the highest lysine content (7.3-8.2%), and globulin the highest methionine (4.1-5.3%) and phenylalanine (6.0-6.1%) content. Prolamin had the highest threonine (4.6-5.4%) and leucine (6.8-6.9%) content, while glutelin had a very low methionine content (0.6-1.0%). Based on the above-mentioned findings, the authors conclude the variation in the amino acid composition of the protein fractions can be used for genetic protein improvement.     

Scheduling multiprocessor tasks with genetic algorithms

In the multiprocessor scheduling problem, a given program is to be scheduled in a given multiprocessor system such that the program's execution time is minimized. This problem being very hard to solve exactly, many heuristic methods for finding a suboptimal schedule exist. We propose a new combined approach, where a genetic algorithm is improved with the introduction of some knowledge about the scheduling problem represented by the use of a list heuristic in the crossover and mutation genetic operations. This knowledge-augmented genetic approach is empirically compared with a “pure” genetic algorithm and with a “pure” list heuristic, both from the literature. Results of the experiments carried out with synthetic instances of the scheduling problem show that our knowledge-augmented algorithm produces much better results in terms of quality of solutions, although being slower in terms of execution time     

Lean selective catalytic reduction of NO2 by methane over Co‐zeolites

The reaction of NO₂, CH₄ and O₂ was studied using low levels of methane compared to NO₂ and O₂ over protonic and cobalt‐exchanged ferrierite, ZSM‐5 and mordenite zeolites. Results suggest that two reaction pathways at low and high temperatures may be involved in the lean selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO₂ by methane. At low temperatures, the reduction of NO₂ to NO and N₂ might be the initial reaction step. It is likely that NO₂ or its adsorbed precursors initiate the reaction of methane at low temperatures. At high temperatures, the oxidation of NO and combustion of methane with oxygen might be involved. No appreciable differences were observed in the reduction of NO₂ over Co‐zeolites as compared to known results of NO reduction over these materials. However, enhanced N₂ formation rate was observed on H‐zeolites starting from NO₂ instead of data reported for NO. Furthermore, it appears that the active sites for SCR are both acid and metal sites. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Single photon counting from individual nanocrystals in the infrared

Experimental restrictions imposed on the collection and detection of shortwave-infrared photons (SWIR) have impeded single molecule work on a large class of materials whose optical activity lies in the SWIR. Here we report the successful observation of room-temperature single nanocrystal photoluminescence at SWIR wavelengths using a highly efficient multielement superconducting nanowire single photon detector. We confirm that the photoluminescence from single lead sulfide nanocrystals is strongly antibunched, demonstrating the feasibility of performing sophisticated photon correlation experiments on individual weak SWIR emitters, and, more broadly, paving the way for sensitive measurements of spectral observables on infrared quantum systems that are incompatible with current detection techniques.     

Sensitivity analysis of temperature uncertainty in an aircraft PEM fuel cell

Nowadays, growing interest in the application of renewable energy sources has led to a rapid development of more environmentally sustainable and green thinking applications. The application of fuel cell technology to aircraft propulsion and/or auxiliary energy supply is becoming of great interest for undoubted advantages in terms of pollution emissions, noise reduction and lower dependency on oil price and availability. In 2006 European Commission founded the ENFICA-FC project, coordinated by Politecnico di Torino, whose aim was to develop new all-electric and more-electric aircraft concepts and to directly prove the feasibility of such designs by flying an all-electric general aviation aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Reliability of fuel cell system is a very important aspect for the safety of these aircraft, but experimental data concerning fuel cell systems in aeronautics are still unavailable to scientific community. This paper presents the research activity done by authors to support the design of “fuel cell aircrafts” from the failure analysis point of view; classic approaches to structural reliability are here applied to rank the importance of the failures of sensors used by fuel cell control logic in order to support the definition of accurate Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis (Risk matrix).     

Advanced Characterisation of a Coffee Fermenting Tank by Multi-distributed Wireless Sensors: Spatial Interpolation and Phase Space Graphs

The fermentation stage is considered to be one of the critical steps in coffee processing due to its impact on the final quality of the product. The objective of this work is to characterise the temperature gradients in a fermentation tank by multi-distributed, low-cost and autonomous wireless sensors (23 semi-passive TurboTag^® radio-frequency identifier (RFID) temperature loggers). Spatial interpolation in polar coordinates and an innovative methodology based on phase space diagrams are used. A real coffee fermentation process was supervised in the Cauca region (Colombia) with sensors submerged directly in the fermenting mass, leading to a 4.6 °C temperature range within the fermentation process. Spatial interpolation shows a maximum instant radial temperature gradient of 0.1 °C/cm from the centre to the perimeter of the tank and a vertical temperature gradient of 0.25 °C/cm for sensors with equal polar coordinates. The combination of spatial interpolation and phase space graphs consistently enables the identification of five local behaviours during fermentation (hot and cold spots).     

Influence of Testing Temperature on the Corrosion Behavior of API 5L X70 Pipeline Steel

It is known that localized corrosion attack takes a preponderant role in the onset of stress corrosion cracking of pipeline steels in high pH conditions. Carbonate/bicarbonate solutions can be employed to study the localized corrosion behavior of these materials. In addition to the presence of chloride ions in the electrolyte, the solution temperature is also of prime importance to the onset of pitting corrosion. The aim of this work is to evaluate the influence of the testing temperature on the corrosion behavior of the API 5L X70 pipeline steel which is a standard material for gas pipelines in Brazil. Samples were exposed to a solution consisting of Na2CO3, NaHCO3 and NaCl at three different temperatures： RT （room temperature）, 40 ℃ and 60 ℃. The corrosion morphology was observed using SEM （scanning electron microscopy）. The results showed that pitting corrosion became facilitated when the steel was immersed at higher temperatures.     

Stability of Lycopene Emulsions in Food Systems

ABSTRACT The chemical stability of lycopene and the physical stability of lycopene emulsions diluted in 3 different food systems (skimmed milk, orange juice, and water as control) were studied. In these investigations, 3 different emulsifiers were used. It was found that lycopene stability strongly depends on the food system. In orange juice, lycopene is particularly stable. The emulsifiers used have only little influence on the stability of lycopene. Emulsions with α-tocopherol as an additional antioxidant showed a good lycopene stability in all food systems. Coalescence of oil droplets was not observed in any of the food systems investigated. Keywords: lycopene, stability, food systems     

Corrosion behavior study of AZ91 magnesium alloy coated with methyltriethoxysilane doped with cerium ions

The present work aims to investigate the corrosion behavior of AZ91 magnesium alloy treated with a 4% (v/v) methyltriethoxysilane (MTES) alcohol solution, with and without an alkaline pretreatment. The corrosion resistance was assessed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and current densities were monitored by potentiodynamic polarization curves during immersion in a 0.1 M Na₂SO₄ solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to perform a surface analysis. The electrochemical results showed an improvement of anticorrosion properties of AZ91. Furthermore, alkaline pretreatment enhances adhesion between silane film and substrate surface. This can be attributed to a surface enrichment in hydroxyl groups after the alkaline step, which increases formation of Si–O–Mg covalent bonds. The addition of Ce(NO₃)₃ to the MTES bath was evaluated, and it was found that the electrochemical response depends on the cerium ions concentration used. It was shown that the addition of 6.0 × 10⁻⁵ M of Ce(NO₃)₃ to a MTES bath improves corrosion resistance. Higher concentration of cerium ions lead to destabilizing the siloxane network, decreasing the efficiency of the silane coatings.