Accumulation of heavy metals in a lake ecosystem

The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, Cd, Pb and Co have been determined in water, bottom sediments, plankton, zoobenthos and ichthyofauna of mesotropic Lake Piaseczno located in eastern Poland. In water, sediments, plankton and benthos the most abundant heavy metals were Fe, Zn and Mn, whereas in fish Zn, Cu, and Mn were most abundant. The amount of heavy metals in the biotic components was dependent upon their concentration in water and partly upon the concentration in bottom sediments. A considerably less important role in the translocation of heavy metals is probably played by trophic interactions.     

Optimization of Fractional-Order RLC Filters

This paper introduces some generalized fundamentals for fractional-order RL _β C _α circuits as well as a gradient-based optimization technique in the frequency domain. One of the main advantages of the fractional-order design is that it increases the flexibility and degrees of freedom by means of the fractional parameters, which provide new fundamentals and can be used for better interpretation or best fit matching with experimental results. An analysis of the real and imaginary components, the magnitude and phase responses, and the sensitivity must be performed to obtain an optimal design. Also new fundamentals, which do not exist in conventional RLC circuits, are introduced. Using the gradient-based optimization technique with the extra degrees of freedom, several inverse problems in filter design are introduced. The concepts introduced in this paper have been verified by analytical, numerical, and PSpice simulations with different examples, showing a perfect matching.     

Non linear dynamics of memristor based 3rd order oscillatory system

In this paper, we report for the first time the nonlinear dynamics of three memristor based phase shift oscillators, and consider them as a plausible solution for the realization of parametric oscillation as an autonomous linear time variant system. Sustained oscillation is reported through oscillating resistance while time dependent poles are present. The memristor based phase shift oscillator is explored further by varying the parameters so as to present the resistance of the memristor as a time varying parameter, thus potentially eliminating the need of external periodic forces in order for it to oscillate. Multi memristors, used simultaneously with similar and different parameters, are investigated in this paper. Mathematical formulas for analyzing such oscillators are verified with simulation results and are found to be in good agreement.     

Fractional-Order RC and RL Circuits

This paper is a step forward to generalize the fundamentals of the conventional RC and RL circuits in fractional-order sense. The effect of fractional orders is the key factor for extra freedom, more flexibility, and novelty. The conditions for RC and RL circuits to act as pure imaginary impedances are derived, which are unrealizable in the conventional case. In addition, the sensitivity analyses of the magnitude and phase response with respect to all parameters showing the locations of these critical values are discussed. A?qualitative revision for the fractional RC and RL circuits in the frequency domain is provided. Numerical and PSpice simulations are included to validate this study     

Safety evaluation of individual non‐fried and fried sunflower oil,paraffin oil,jojoba oil and their binary mixtures on rat health

Sunflower, jojoba, paraffin oils and binary oil mixtures of sunflower, jojoba and sunflower–paraffin oils were continuously heated at 180 °C for 12 h. Aliquots of potato chips were fried in the aforementioned oil samples. Organoleptic tests were performed on fried chips and safety limits of the oil samples were measured by certain biochemical tests. Histopathological examinations of rat liver and kidney tissues were microscopically done. Organoleptic results for fried potato chips indicate that all types of chips obtained from heated oils were categorised good. Histopathological examinations indicate changes in rat tissues of liver and kidney paralleled the biochemical data. In general, the results suggest that paraffin oil alone and in mixtures with sunflower oil have to ban its use in frying processes.     

Use of some agricultural waste hull ashes for the regeneration of fried sunflower oil

The present study was aimed at improving the quality of fried sunflower oil. Synthetic (Magnesol XL), natural (diatomaceous earth) and hull ashes of rice, wheat and barley (agriculture plant wastes) were used to adsorb the oxidation products of fried sunflower oil. The mineral pattern (Si, Mg, Ca, Fe, Al, Mn and Cu) of the aforementioned substances were determined. The physico-chemical properties [refractive index, viscosity, colour, smoke point, acid value, peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value, conjugated dienes and trienes, polar content, polymer content and oxidised fatty acids] of non-fried, fried and fried-treated sunflower oil were determined. The frying process was carried out at 180 °C ± 5 °C for 20 h, 4 h heating cycle per day for five consecutive days. The fried sunflower oil was treated with synthetic, natural and agricultural hull ashes at 105 °C for 15 min. The results indicate that Magnesol XL, diatomaceous earth, rice hull ash, wheat hull ash and barley hull ash contained Si + Mg + Mn, Si + Mn + Ca, Si + Mn, Si +Mn and Mn + Si as the basic metals, respectively. Frying of sunflower oil led to significant increase in refractive index, viscosity, colour, smoke point, acid value, peroxide value, TBA value, conjugated dienes and trienes, polar content, polymer content, and oxidised fatty acids and decrease in iodine value. Treatments of fried sunflower oil with the aforementioned substances greatly improved the quality of fried oil. Under the present experimental conditions all adsorbing substances performed similarly in removing the fried sunflower oil oxidation products.     

Effect of axial conduction on the ice crystal growth in laminar falling filmsEffet de la conduction axiale sur la vitesse de formation de cristaux de glace à l'intérieur de films tombants laminaires

A finite volume numerical code has been developed to numerically approximate the rate of ice crystal growth in a laminar falling film flowing down a cooled vertical plate. The governing energy equation contains the phase energy as the source term. Enhancement of heat transfer as a result of suspended ice crystals is accounted for in the use of effective values of thermal conductivity, viscosity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat as function of volumetric concentration of ice crystals in the falling film. Nusselt number, overall heat transfer coefficients between the fluid and cooled plate, and ice crystal growth rate were calculated for different film thicknesses with and without axial diffusion. Nusselt number and ice crystal growth rates were found to be dependent on film thickness. Axial diffusion effects were found to be negligible for larger film thickness (large flowrate).     

Computer simulation of electrical conductivity of graphite-based polypropylene composites based on digital image analysis

The electrical conductivity of polypropylene/graphite (PP/G) composites and polypropylene/graphite/carbon black (PP/G/CB) composites was investigated in this article. A simulation procedure, which is not limited to any specific parameters (i.e. graphite size and shape), was used to numerically compute the electrical conductivity of the composites. The simulations were carried out using a 2D finite element program based on the digital image analysis. The simulation results were in good agreement with the experimental conductivity values even though there were several limitations in using digital image analysis such as sampling, sample preparation, the quality of the image and the choice of the threshold. The microstructures of the surfaces of the composites were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).