Influence of Edible Films upon the Moisture Loss and Microstructure of Dietetic Sucrose-Free Sponge Cakes during Storage

The kinetics of changes in the bound water content in dietetic sucrose-free sponge cakes (DC) during storage was investigated. The effect of edible films of polymyxan, pectin, xanthan, and carboxymethylcellulose upon this kinetics was also investigated. The quantitative changes in both states of water (slightly bound water and strongly bound water) were registered by combined dynamic analysis (thermogravimetry analysis, TGA, and differential thermal analysis, DTA). The moisture changes in DC crumb were analyzed by drying out to constant mass. The rate constants were determined according the equation q = q_oe^-kt. The values of rate constants 'k', in day^-1, concerning the different edible films were as follows: for crumb moisture is (8.00 ≤ k ≤ 12.47) × 10^-3, for bound water is (3.07 ≤ k_w ≤ 6.26) × 10^-2, for slightly bound water is (4.22 ≤ k₁ ≤ 8.49) × 10^-2 and for strongly bound water is (2.02 ≤ k₂ ≤ 5.62) × 10^-2 as compared to 18.53 × 10^-3, 7.16 × 10^-2, 9.04 × 10^-2, and 5.36 × 10^-2 in the uncovered DC, respectively. The best water-retaining effect in respect to crumb moisture during storage was ascertained in the use of polymyxan and xanthan films. The lowest rate constant values for bound water and its two states were measured for DC covered with pectin. The relation between the kinetics of both bound water states during storage and ageing of the crumb of DC covered with different edible films and the crumb microstructure was represented. By means of scanning electron microscope was read the smallest change in crumb microstructure of pectin-covered DC on the sixth day of storage.     

Structure and composition of guanidine acrylate, guanidine methacrylate, their homopolymers, and copolymers with diallyldimethylammonium chloride

Structures and compositions of the monomers guanidine acrylate and guanidine methacrylate, their homopolymers, and copolymers with diallyldimethylammonium chloride enriched in acrylate comonomer units were determined. It was shown that ampholytic copolymers, owing to their ionic nature, contained comonomeric guanidine acrylate or methacrylate units and diallyldimethylammonium chloride units, as well as the acrylate comonomer with the diallyl counterion and polymeric acrylate and diallyl ion pairs. It follows from IR and ¹H NMR data that guanidine methacrylate has the same structure (with two hydrogen bonds) in the solid state and in solutions. Guanidine acrylate structures in the solid state and in dimethylsulfoxide are identical and analogous to guanidine methacrylate structure in this solvent. In water, the guanidine acrylate structure has another type of hydrogen bonding (with one hydrogen bond, where the proton is shifted toward the guanidine group). These features of hydrogen bonding of guanidine acrylate and guanidine methacrylate are also retained in their homopolymers and copolymers with diallyldimethylammonium chloride. It was shown that the thermal stability of the copolymers was higher than that of their homopolymers, confirming the formation of intramolecular ion pairs of oppositely charged units of ampholytic copolymers. Moreover, the thermal stability of guanidine methacrylate-diallyldimethylammonium chloride copolymers is higher than that of guanidine acrylate-diallyldimethylammonium chloride copolymers.     

Experimental Electronuclear Setup at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics

The purpose and current construction status, at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, of an experimental electronuclear setup, combining a pulsed proton linear accelerator (36 MeV, 0.5 mA) and a subcritical blanket thermal-power assembly 100 kW, are discussed. The main equipment is already available or is being built in industry. The setup can be used to investigate the dynamics of the interaction of a linac–driver and a subcritical reactor and problems concerning the accelerator–driver and the target–blanket assembly. The proton beams and neutron fluxes will be used for applied purposes. In the future it will be possible to increase substantially the current and energy of the proton beam.     

Attention, the intersection of cost and quality in health care

A method for assessing health care technology that models the demand on the clinician's attention exerted by patients' data (diagnostic and therapeutic) can provide a means for simultaneously reducing the cost and improving the quality of health care. The attentional demand exerted by patients' data can be measured by the amount of uncertainty in the data. Uncertainty can be expressed mathematically by the concept of entropy in information theory.     

Surface tension as a controlled variable in mechanical dishwashing

Using a continuous, in-line, nondestructive technique based on the maximum bubble pressure method, the surface tension of the wash water in a mechanical dishwashing machine has been monitored. This technique has enabled surface tension to be used as a controlled variable, providing feedback to regulate the amount of surfactant added. Assuming the mechanical force of the water spray is adequate to remove bound soil from the dish surface, the food soil may be titrated against surfactant, providing an indirect indication as to when the dishes are clean. This technique also could be applied to a recirculated wash solution for in-place cleaning.     

Improvement in hydrolytic procedure for GLC determination of non-indolyl glucosinolates in rapeseed as isothiocyanates

Some methods determine the non-indolyl glucosinolates content in rapeseed as their hydrolysates: the isothiocyanates and the oxazolidinethiones. These methods in their present form underestimate the amount of the glucosinolates content. In this investigation, a modified method was developed to give a better quantitative estimate, indicating a glucosinolate level five times that obtained by a typical existing method.     

Modeling and assimilation of root zone soil moisture using remote sensing observations in Walnut Gulch Watershed during SMEX04

Soil moisture status in the root zone is an important component of the water cycle at all spatial scales (e.g., point, field, catchment, watershed, and region). In this study, the spatio-temporal evolution of root zone soil moisture of the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW) in Arizona was investigated during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2004 (SMEX04). Root zone soil moisture was estimated via assimilation of aircraft-based remotely sensed surface soil moisture into a distributed Soil-Water-Atmosphere-Plant (SWAP) model. An ensemble square root filter (EnSRF) based on a Kalman filtering scheme was used for assimilating the aircraft-based soil moisture observations at a spatial resolution of 800 m × 800 m. The SWAP model inputs were derived from the SSURGO soil database, LAI (Leaf Area Index) data from SMEX04 database, and data from meteorological stations/rain gauges at the WGEW. Model predictions are presented in terms of temporal evolution of soil moisture probability density function at various depths across the WGEW. The assimilation of the remotely sensed surface soil moisture observations had limited influence on the profile soil moisture. More specifically, root zone soil moisture depended mostly on the soil type. Modeled soil moisture profile estimates were compared to field measurements made periodically during the experiment at the ground based soil moisture stations in the watershed. Comparisons showed that the ground-based soil moisture observations at various depths were within ± 1 standard deviation of the modeled profile soil moisture. Density plots of root zone soil moisture at various depths in the WGEW exhibited multi-modal variations due to the uneven distribution of precipitation and the heterogeneity of soil types and soil layers across the watershed.     

Prony-Based Optimal Bayes Fault Classification of Overcurrent Protection

The development of deregulation and demand for high-quality electrical energy has lead to a new requirement in different fields of power systems. In the protection field, this means that high sensitivity and fast operation during the fault are required while maltripping of relay protection is not acceptable. One case that may lead to a maltrip of the high-sensitive overcurrent relay is the starting current of the induction motor or inrush current of the transformer. This transient current has the potential to affect the correct operation of protection relays close to the component being switched. In the case of switching events, such transients must not lead to overcurrent relay operation; therefore, a reliable and secure relay response becomes a critical matter. Meanwhile, proper techniques must be used to prevent maltripping of such relays, due to transient currents in the network. In this paper, the optimal Bayes classifier is utilized to develop a method for discriminating the fault from nonfault events. The proposed method has been designed based on extracting the modal parameters of the current waveform using the Prony method. By feeding the fundamental frequency damping and ratio of the 2nd harmonic amplitude over the fundamental harmonic amplitude to the classifier, the fault case is discriminated from the switching case. The suitable performance of this algorithm is demonstrated by simulation of different faults and switching conditions on a power system using PSCAD/EMTDC software.     

Selective Transport of Bismuth Ions through Supported Liquid Membrane

A new supported liquid membrane (SLM) system was prepared for the selective transport of bismuth ions from the aqueous feed into the aqueous permeate phase. The support of the SLM was a thin porous polypropylene or polyvinylidene fluoride membrane impregnated with diisooctyldithiophosphinic acid (Cyanex 301) as mobile carrier in 4‐chloroacetophenon as organic solvent. Cyanex 301 acts as a highly selective carrier for the uphill transport of bismuth ions through the SLM. In the presence of HNO₃ as a metal ion acceptor in the strip solution, the transport of bismuth ions into the strip side reached 70 % of the initial feed concentration after 3.5 hours. The selectivity and efficiency of bismuth transport from aqueous solutions containing different mixtures of cations were investigated. In the presence of P₂O₇^2– ions as suitable masking agent in the feed solution, the interfering effects of other cations were completely eliminated. The selective transport of bismuth through SLM is superior to liquid‐liquid extraction or through bulk liquid membranes. This is due to the high efficiency. The SLM reduces the solvent requirements, combines extraction and stripping operations in a single process and allows the use of highly selective extractants. The system may be applied to samples containing very low bismuth concentrations.     

Gasification of Biogenic Solid Fuels

As a result of shrinking fossil fuels, biomass as a regenerative energy source gains importance. To realize biomass projects it is essential to investigate in convenient thermal procedures. On this evidence an analysis and evaluation of diverse gasification technologies with different boundary conditions and diverse biomasses are indispensable. Form and kind of the biomass as well as the type of the gasification plant cause different compositions of the product gas. The gasifiers show advantages and disadvantages concerning the biomass and the produced gas quality, depending on reactor type, kind of heat supply, gasification medium, and the pressure ratio in the reactor. As the ideal gasifier for different biomass is presently not available, it will be shown, which biomass is suitable for fixed bed or fluidized bed gasifiers.