A decade of sulphite control in Serbian meat industry and the effect of HACCP

In total 7351 meat preparations and fresh processed meat products were analysed from 555 different Serbian meat producers over a 10-year period, 4.5 years before and 5.5 years after mandatory Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) implementation. From the obtained results, it could be concluded that HACCP has contributed to a better alignment of practices with the legal provisions. The share of non-compliant samples dropped from 18.6% before HACCP to 8.3% after its mandatory implementation. Average sulphite concentrations for all categories of meat preparations and fresh processed meat products decreased by 43%, declining from 33.6 to 19.3 mg kg^?1. Typical misuse and frequent abuse of sulphites was independent of a season. Application of HACCP principles in the Serbian meat industry raised awareness about the misuse of sulphites and contributed to a better control, minimising exposure to sulphites.     

Effects of porosity,dry unit weight,cement content and void/cement ratio on unconfined compressive strength of roof tile waste-silty soil mixtures

One of the conventional ways to improve the mechanical behavior of soils is to mix them with cementing agents such as cement, lime and fly ash. Recently, introduction to alternative materials or sub-products that can be adopted to improve the soil strength is of paramount importance. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effects of porosity (η), dry unit weight (γ_d) of molding, cement content (C) and porosity/volumetric cement content ratio (η/C_iv) or void/cement ratio on the unconfined compressive strength (q_u or UCS) of silty soil–roof tile waste (RT) mixtures. Soil samples are molded into four different dry unit weights (i.e. 13 kN/m³, 13.67 kN/m³, 14.33 kN/m³ and 15 kN/m³) using 3%, 6% and 9% cement and 5%, 15% and 30% RT. The results show that with the addition of cement, the strength of the RT–soil mixtures increases in a linear manner. On the other hand, the addition of RT decreases q_u of the samples at a constant percentage of cement, and the decrease in porosity can increase q_u. A dosage equation is derived from the experimental data using the porosity/volumetric cement content ratio (η/C_iv) where the control variables are the moisture content, crushed tile content, cement content and porosity.     

四种铁基合金的M■ssbauer谱研究

研究了四种铁基合金常温常压及高温高压条件下淬火后的Ｍ　ｓｓｂａｕｅｒ谱，得到了超精细场Ｈ（ｈｆ），磁化强度及相关Ｍ　ｓｓｂａｕｅｒ参数随合金试样平均电子浓度的变化关系，采用Ｓｔｏｎｅｒ刚带模型讨论了合金渗碳后的Ｈ（ｈｆ），磁化强度变化的规律，进而揭示出高温高压条件下渗碳原子的２ｐ电子填充铁基合金中Ｆｅ原子的３ｄ带空穴，存在Ｆｅ－Ｃ键合。     

SESAME-S: Semantic Smart Home System for Energy Efficiency

As the urgent need for efficient and sustainable energy usage becomes ever more apparent, interest in Smart Homes is on the rise. The SESAME-S project (SEmantic SmArt Metering – Services for Energy Efficient Houses) uses semantically linked data to actively assist end-consumers in making well-informed decisions and controlling their energy consumption. By integrating smart metering and home automation functionality, SESAME-S works to effectively address the potential mass market of end-consumers with an easily customizable solution that can be widely implemented in domestic or business environments, with expected savings of over 20?% from the total energy bill. The developed system is a basis for conceptualizing, demonstrating, and evaluating a variety of innovative end-consumer services and their user interface paradigms. In this paper, we present the SESAME-S system as a whole and discuss the semantically enabled services, demonstrating that such systems may have broad acceptance in the future. The data obtained through such systems will be invaluable for future global energy-efficiency strategies and businesses.     

Polyvinyl alcohol associated with carbon nanotube scaffolds for osteogenic differentiation of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVAl) hydrogel, alone and reinforced with two types of carbon nanoparticles, was studied in cultured cells to assess its potential use in treating osteochondral defects. The carbon nanoparticles were produced by hot-filament chemical vapour deposition. The carbon material was characterised with a Renishaw Invia Raman microscope system and the morphological particles were characterised with field emission scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by measuring the Vero fibroblast-type cells’ metabolic activity and studying their morphology. The osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells obtained from rat bone marrow was evaluated by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alizarin red S (ARS) staining. Cell viability and morphology were assessed with thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The materials did not interfere with the viability, metabolic activity, morphology and spreading of either of the cell types analysed. Nodules of mineralised organic matrix were identified with ARS and ALP, confirming osteogenic differentiation. These results indicated higher concentration of ALP and mineralised matrix for PVAl with carbon nanoparticles. The results of this study indicate the potential use of carbon nanoparticles with PVAl hydrogels as orthopaedic biomaterials to treat osteochondral defects, but further in vivo investigations are still necessary.     

Effective section method: A general direct method for the design of steel cold-formed members under local–global buckling interaction

Thin-walled steel cold-formed members usually display local–global buckling interaction which strongly affects the structural strength of columns and beams. The local bucking of slender folded sections develops in analogy with single plate buckling, including the interaction between the plate elements of the cross-section and can be identified with appropriate first-order stability analysis and the consequent results of the critical buckling loads and the associated modes. The effective section method, ESM, as an extension of the original effective area method, EAM, was conceived for the design of cold-formed members on the basis of the actual local buckling results of the section, together with calibrated formulations for column and beam resistance. The strength equations were taken from the direct strength method, DSM, as it is presented in the North American AISI standard. In addition, as a consequence of its proposed formulation the effective section method is able to be applied side-by-side with the traditional effective width method, EWM, allowing its inclusion in the main part of the codes and specifications for the design of cold-formed members and improving its dissemination. The ESM was proposed in combination with equations and tables that enables designers to directly access the critical local buckling compressive force and bending moment of usual sections, resulting in a contribution that improves the attractiveness of the method.     

The derivation of the equations of moderately thick plates by the method of successive approximations

In this article the equations of a moderately thick plate are derived by the method of successive approximations. The derived equations exactly satisfy all the elastostatic equations, the plate equilibrium equations and traction free face boundary conditions.     

Experimental investigation and 3D finite element prediction of the heat affected zone during laser assisted machining of Ti6Al4V alloy

An experimental study was conducted to characterize the heat affected zone produced when laser heating a Ti6Al4V alloy plate workpiece. The emissivity and absorptivity of the Ti6Al4V alloy were determined experimentally. A 3D transient finite element method for a moving Gaussian laser heat source was developed to predict the depth and width of the heat affected zone on the Ti6Al4V alloy workpiece. There was a close correlation between the experimental data and the simulation results. It was found that the depth and width of the heat affected zone were strongly dependent on the laser parameters (laser power, laser scan speed, the angle of incidence and the diameter of the laser spot) and material properties (thermal conductivity, specific heat and density). Parametric studies showed that the depth and width of the heat affected zone increased with an increase in the laser power and decreased with an increase of the laser spot size and the laser scan speed. The thermal model can be used to determine the laser parameters for a given cut geometry that will yield no residual heat affected zone in the material after cutting. This provides the basis to optimize and improve laser assisted machining technique.