Compromisability of a statistical database

We give several conditions for the compromisability of a statistical database. These conditions made it possible to compromise a database in all cases where the known methods based on trackers and double trackers apply, and also in many additional cases.     

Guided self-assembly of nanostructured titanium oxide

A series of nanostructured titanium oxide particles were synthesized by a simple wet chemical method and characterized by means of small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS)/wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS), atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), thermal analysis, and rheometry. Tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) and ethylene glycol (EG) can be combined to form either TiO(x) nanowires or smooth nanorods, and the molar ratio of TBT:EG determines which of these is obtained. Therefore, TiO(x) nanorods with a highly rough surface can be obtained by hydrolysis of TBT with the addition of cetyl-trimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant in an EG solution. Furthermore, TiO(x) nanorods with two sharp ends can be obtained by hydrolysis of TBT with the addition of salt (LiCl) in an EG solution. The AFM results show that the TiO(x) nanorods with rough surfaces are formed by the self-assembly of TiO(x) nanospheres. The electrorheological (ER) effect was investigated using a suspension of titanium oxide nanowires or nanorods dispersed in silicone oil. Oil suspensions of titanium oxide nanowires or nanorods exhibit a dramatic reorganization when submitted to a strong DC electric field and the particles aggregate to form chain-like structures along the direction of applied electric field. Two-dimensional SAXS images from chains of anisotropically shaped particles exhibit a marked asymmetry in the SAXS patterns, reflecting the preferential self-assembly of the particles in the field. The suspension of rough TiO(x) nanorods shows stronger ER properties than that of the other nanostructured TiO(x) particles. We find that the particle surface roughness plays an important role in modification of the dielectric properties and in the enhancement of the ER effect.     

Transforming sugars into fat – lipid biosynthesis using different sugars in Yarrowia lipolytica

In an era of ever‐increasing energy demands, a promising technology is being developed: the use of oleaginous microorganisms such as Yarrowia lipolytica to convert waste materials into biofuels. Here, we constructed two Y. lipolytica strains that displayed both increased lipid accumulation and more efficient use of biomass‐derived sugars, including glucose, fructose, galactose and inulin. The first strain, Y. lipolytica YLZ150, was derived from the French wild‐type strain W29. It had inhibited triacylglycerol mobilization (?tgl4 ) and β‐oxidation (?pox1–6 ), and it overexpressed GPD1 , DGA2 , HXK1 , the native Leloir pathway, SUC2 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and INU1 from Kluyveromyces marxianus . The second strain, Y. lipolytica Y4779, was derived from the Polish A‐101 strain. It had inhibited β‐oxidation (?mfe2 ) and overexpressed GPD1 , DGA1 , HXK1 , YHT3, SUC2 and INU1 . In the first experiment, strain YLZ150 was batch‐cultured in media containing different hexoses; the highest values for lipid concentration and yield of lipids from the substrate were obtained using fructose (20.3 g dm^?3 and 0.14 g g^?1, respectively). In the second experiment, we grew the two strains in fed‐batch cultures to examine lipid biosynthesis from inulin (a fructose polymer). For Y4779, the lipid concentration was 10.3 g dm^?3 and the yield of lipids from substrate was 0.07 g g^?1; in contrast, for YLZ150, these values were 24 g dm^?3 and 0.16 g g^?1, respectively. The YLZ150 strain is thus able to efficiently exploit glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose and inulin for lipid biosynthesis. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Kinoform apodization

Abstract

A new apodization principle is introduced, according to which the amplitude function is realized as a varying diffraction efficiency of the multistep phase diffractive element. A proper modification of the phase-step heights within the apodization region allows one to redirect light from the main diffraction order into its conjugate, simultaneously avoiding the presence of light in the two nearest neighbouring orders. The analysis is confirmed by the simulation results.     

Influence of Statistical Errors on Size Distributions Obtained from Dynamic Light Scattering Data: Simulation of Experimental Noise in the Intensity Autocorrelation Function

Abstract

In this paper, the statistical error courses in the intensity autocorrelation function are simulated and the influence of these errors on size distribution reproducibility is checked. As a numerical method, the constrained regularization method with the Contin program was used and autocorrelation functions were calculated on the basis of the monomodal Schulz distribution. The influence of the regularization parameter α on the recalculated size distributions has also been checked. It has been found that the reproducibility of original size distributions can be lost because of the existence of slow-frequency components in noisy data.     

2D Model of Guide Vane for Low Head Hydraulic Turbine： Analytical and Numerical Solution of Inverse Problem

Low-head hydraulic turbines are the subjects to individual approach of design. This comes from the fact that hydrological conditions are not of a standard character. Therefore, the design method of the hydraulic turbine stage has a great importance for those who may be interested in such an investment. As a first task in a design procedure the guide vane is considered. The proposed method is based on the solution of the inverse problem within the flame of 2D model. By the inverse problem authors mean a design of the blade shapes for given flow conditions. In the paper analytical solution for the simple cylindrical shape of a guide vane is presented. For the more realistic cases numerical solutions according to the axis-symmetrical model of the flow are also presented. The influence of such parameters as the inclination of trailing edge, the blockage factor due to blade thickness, the influence of loss due to dissipation are shown for the chosen simple geometrical example.     

Evaluation of ethanol fermentation parameters for bioethanol production from sugar beet pulp and juice

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficient utilization of sugar beet pulp, as well as raw, concentrated raw and thick sugar beet juice, for bioethanol production. Different fermentation conditions were examined. The influence of raw material pre‐treatment (pasteurization or sterilization), type of batch culture process (stationary or shaken) as well as the type of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast preparation on the yields of the process were studied. Moreover, the fermentation process effectiveness was examined in connection with the quality of the obtained distillates. Sterilization, stationary batch culture and Safdistil C‐70 yeast preparation were identified as the most profitable factors for sugar beet pulp fermentation, providing a high fermentation efficiency and ethanol yield (87.7% of theoretical ethanol yield). Concentrated raw beet juice resulted in a value of 94.2% of theoretical yield, and thick juice a 92.6% yield. The results suggest that bioethanol production from sugar beet pulp and sugar beet juice has promise as an alternative fuel. The raw spirits obtained from the sugar beet juice were characterized as having the lowest quantity of volatile by‐products. Copyright © 2014 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Current Philosophy of Sustainability in Civil Engineering

This paper describes the current status of sustainable development in civil engineering. The discussion covers economy along with “global village” needs, and is supported by information about technology standards combined with notions of ethics, environment, aesthetics, and heritage—the philosophical understanding of the cultural landscape of the society. It is recognized that “true development” cannot be limited to purely technical problems; “human ecology” should be taken into account. The concepts of sustainable development require input from all mankind, but civil engineering professionals can play a particular role here; their spiritual motivation can often be a decisive argument for their material handling. This means that “true development,” referred to as the dignity of man, must be based on the priority of spirit versus matter, of person versus object, of ethics versus technology.