Estimation and comparison of nitrogen loads and attenuation in agricultural catchments of Japan and Korea.

To help in clarifying the relationship between the time lag and attenuation of nitrogen (N) loads generated in agricultural catchments, long-term trends in activities that generate N loads and in environmental N loads were estimated in catchments in Japan and Korea dominated by non-point-source emissions. Our approach used statistical data and geographical information system software to analyze pollutant loads. The method was successful in both countries because of the availability of well-developed statistics, geographical information, and weather and water quality monitoring systems, and the accumulation of research data concerning the generation of N loads and the fate of N in soils. Comparison of environmental loads with the loads observed in river water at the outlet of each catchment revealed that: (1) the effect of changes in the environmental load in a catchment appeared almost immediately in the river water quality in Korea, but did not appear clearly even 10 years later in Japan; and (2) the strength of the attenuation appeared to be much lower in Korea than in Japan. These findings suggest that regional characteristics play important roles in the sensitivity of water quality to load-generating activities.     

Influence of residual milk-clotting enzyme and proteolysis on melting properties of soft cheese

In this work, we assessed the influence of coagulant residual activity and primary proteolysis on Cremoso Argentino cheese melting properties. For that purpose, we made Cremoso soft cheeses using different amounts of coagulant, and also obtained samples in which milk-clotting enzyme was inactivated. Primary proteolysis correlated with residual activity of coagulant in early stages of cheese ripening; however, it was similar in all cheeses after 30 days. The hydrolysis of caseins did not significantly affect the melting ability of the cheeses, expressed as the area increase after heating samples under standardized conditions. Samples with similar proximate composition showed some changes in meltability; those seemed related to pH evolution during ripening.     

Modeling Power Supply Noise in Delay Testing

Excessive power supply noise during test can cause overkill. This article discusses two models for supply noise in delay testing and their application to test compaction. The proposed noise models avoid complicated power network analysis, making them much faster than existing power noise analysis tools. can cause performance degradation and     

Profile dependence and measurement of absolute Raman scattering cross-section in optical fibres

A simple measurement method for the absolute Raman scattering cross-section of an optical fibre is presented. This method does not require a high power pump laser and it measures the fibre directly. It is also shown that the calculation of the cross-section depends on the fibre structure, such as its refractive index profile and the differential attenuation between the pump wavelength and Raman wavelength.<>     

Preparation and characterization of doped WO3 photocatalyst powders

WO₃ semiconductor particles, useful in solar energy conversion processes, were doped with transition metal ions, Ti(III), V(IV), Cr(III), Mn(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Ru(III) by a high-temperature sintering technique. The method of preparation of these photocatalysts is described in detail. The structural changes effected during sintering were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD analysis indicated that the monoclinic crystal structure of WO₃ was not altered during sintering. SEM studies showed that the sizes of the particles ranged from 1 to 10 μm and the crystallinity was increased due to doping. The dopants were found to be mostly distributed on the surface of WO₃ particles.     

In Vivo and In Vitro Assessment of Antinutritional Factors in Peanut and Soy

Raw and heat processed peanut flours were found to contain higher in vitro trypsin inhibitor activity and lectin content than similarly processed soy flour. When fed to weanling rats at a level of 10% protein, the response pattern in food consumption, growth, liver function, and serum chemistries was not consistent among or between the groups. It is concluded that the levels of antinutritional factors in legumes do not correlate with their overall biological impact in feeding studies with the rat.     

Effect of the Extraction of a Hemagglutinin on the Nutritive Value of Amaranthus leucocarpus Seeds

Hemagglutinins present in Amaranthus leucocarpus seed meal were extracted with saline buffer and nutritive value was estimated by PER, NPR as well as Digestible Energy Consumption Evaluations. Protein digestibility was determined both in vitro and in vivo. Trypsin inhibitor activity was also determined. Saline-extracted Amaranth meal had significantly higher PER and NPR values than whole meal (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in digestible energy (Kcal/day/ animal) and protein consumption (g/day/animal) between diets (p<0.05). A. leucocarpus improves in nutritive value after the saline extraction procedures and has a good potential as a complementary food due to its lysine content. In addition purified agglutinin may be a useful biochemical.     

Phosphine-induced sterility in Ephestia cautella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

The present study was conducted to explore the sterilizing effect of phosphine on Ephestia cautella. Three to four-day old pupae were exposed to 0, 0.007, 0.014, 0.021, 0.028, 0.035, 0.042 and 0.049 mg/l of phosphine for 24 h at room temperature. The normally developed adults of each treatment were pair mated and several physiological and genetical parameters were investigated. The results showed gradual increases with dose in pupal mortality and adult malformation. The crossing results showed no changes in adult longevity and mating frequency. However, consistent reduction was noted in the fecundity and fertility of normally emerged adults. Preliminary data indicated similar levels of inherited sterility in the F₁ adults raised from the above mentioned crosses.