Monthly Streamflow Modeling Based on Self-Organizing Maps and Satellite-Estimated Rainfall Data

Hydrological data provide valuable information for the decision-making process in water resources management, where long and complete time series are always desired. However, it is common to deal with missing data when working on streamflow time series. Rainfall-streamflow modeling is an alternative to overcome such a difficulty. In this paper, self-organizing maps (SOM) were developed to simulate monthly inflows to a reservoir based on satellite-estimated gridded precipitation time series. Three different calibration datasets from Três Marias Reservoir, composed of inflows (targets) and 91 TRMM-estimated rainfall data (inputs), from 1998 to 2019, were used. The results showed that the inflow data homogeneity pattern influenced the rainfall-streamflow modeling. The models generally showed superior performance during the calibration phase, whereas the outcomes varied depending on the data homogeneity pattern and the chosen SOM structure in the testing phase. Regardless of the input data homogeneity, the SOM networks showed excellent results for the rainfall-runoff modeling, presenting Nash–Sutcliffe coefficients greater than 0.90.

Graphical Abstract

     

Analysis of the HVAC system’s sound quality using the design of experiments

Human hearing is very sensitive to sound, so a subjective index of sound quality is required. Each situation of sound evaluation is composed of Sound Quality (SQ) metrics. When substituting the level of one frequency band, we could not see the tendency of substitution at the whole frequency band during SQ evaluation. In this study, the Design of Experiments (DOE) is used to analyze noise from an automotive Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. The frequency domain is divided into 12 equal parts, and each level of the domain is given an increase or decrease due to the change in frequency band based on the “loud” and “sharp” sound of the SQ analyzed. By using DOE, the number of tests is effectively reduced by the number of experiments, and the main result is a solution at each band. SQ in terms of the “loud” and “sharp” sound at each band, the change in band (increase or decrease in sound pressure) or no change in band will have the most effect on the identifiable characteristics of SQ. This will enable us to select the objective frequency band. Through the results obtained, the physical level changes in arbitrary frequency domain sensitivity can be determined.     

厌氧胶：可靠且节约成本紧固件的锁紧和密封

当机械设备发生故障时,厌氧螺纹锁固剂便可发挥作用。正如赛车的特滑层有助于确保车辆在赛道的抓地力,螺纹锁固剂有助于保证紧固件螺纹的夹持力。根据厌氧技术,这些金属胶粘剂可以实现机械辅助措施无法实现的功能：它们可完全填满连接螺纹之间的微小间隙。使用螺纹锁固剂固定的螺栓可以提供比机械装置更好的夹紧力。专用螺母或垫圈的价格是液体螺纹锁固剂的5倍以上。采用液体螺纹锁固剂可降低库存成本。在选择螺纹锁固复合物时,有一些关键因素需要考虑：抗剪强度、固化速度、间隙填充能力和工作环境。     

Principle and application of ball SAW devices

A thin beam of waves usually diverges due to diffraction, which is a limitation of any device using such waves. However, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) on a sphere with an appropriate aperture does not diverge but is collimated, realizing ultra‐multiple roundtrips along an equator of the sphere. This effect is caused by the balance between diffraction and focusing on a spherical surface, and it enables realization of high‐performance ball SAW sensors. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 168(1): 41–51, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20817     

A bioreactor with an internal contactor for primary recovery of bovine serum albumin from yeast suspension

In this paper the internal contactor is a newly developed device for the primary recovery of protein from crude feedstock. Ion exchanges (DEAE-Streamline) are confined inside the internal contactor in a stirred tank. Interactions between the ion exchange in the internal contactor and protein (BSA) in yeast suspension have been studied. For better performance, two strategies are considered: to determine the ion conductivity of a simulated yeast suspension, and to select the optimum process time for adsorption. In this system, advantages of both batch adsorption and expanded bed adsorption were obtained. Furthermore, in denser cell concentration (50 g/L) where EBA cannot be operated, the primary recovery was carried out in 1–2 hr. The efficiency of yield is higher than 80% in this condition.     

Fatty acid composition of eggs produced by the Slovenian autochthonous Styrian hen

The fatty acid composition of eggs produced by the autochthonous Styrian hen reared in two rearing systems was determined. Eggs were collected four times during the year. The fatty acid composition was determined by the in situ transesterification method and gas chromatography–flame ionisation detection (GC–FID). Eggs of the Styrian hen from free range contained significantly more α-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic (EPA), docosapentaenoic (DPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), as well as more total n−3 fatty acids. On the other hand, eggs from caged hens contained significantly more linoleic, arachidonic, as well as total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and n−6 PUFA. The n−6/n−3 ratio was better from the nutritional point of view in eggs from free range. The fatty acid content is expressed in wt.%, as well as mg/100 g of yolk and mg/100 g of fresh egg, to better understand how much each of fatty acid is consumed with an edible portion.     

Analysis of ethanol in soy sauce using electronic nose for halal food certification

The purpose of this study was to analyze ethanol content in soy sauce using mass spectrometry (MS) with electronic nose (e-nose) to determine if MS e-nose can replace gas chromatographic analysis for halal certification. Gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC-FID), the standard method of ethanol content, was used to analyze 24 different kinds of soy sauce. Ethanol was detected from 13 soy sauce samples in the concentration range of 0.0004–1.7wt%. The MS e-nose data were analyzed by discriminant function analysis (DFA). Based on an addition method, the results were more than 96.6% accurate when the ethanol concentrations were greater than 0.5%. A high correlation between the first score of the DFA plot and the ethanol concentration was observed. Thus, mass spectrometry based on e-nose is an efficient method for determining ethanol as a primary screening tool for halal certification.     

Evidences and perspectives in the utilization of CLNA isomers as bioactive compounds in foods

Conjugated alpha linolenic acid (CLNA) isomers are promising lipids owing to their similarities with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) but exerting their bioactivity at lower doses; some isomers also belong to omega 3 family. This review aims to summarize the state of the art about the utilization of CLNA as a functional ingredient. Indeed, in vitro and in vivo studies reported that CLNA exerted anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-obese, and antioxidant activities. However, CLNA has not been tested in humans. These compounds are naturally present in meat and milk fat from ruminants but the highest concentrations are found in vegetable oils. Their incorporation in foodstuffs is one of the most effective strategies to elaborate CLNA-enriched products together with the microbiological production. Lactobacilli, propionibacteria, and bifidobacteria strains have been assayed to produce CLNA isomers but at the current moment there are not high CLNA concentration products elaborated using these strains. Furthermore, it is known that CLNA isomers are highly prone to oxidation when compared with linoleic acid and CLA, but the possible effects of elaboration and storage on high CLNA productsare unknown.The utilization of CLNA as a functional compound still remains a challenge and requires more research to address all of its technological and bioactivity aspects.