Content of trichodiene and analysis of fungal volatiles (electronic nose) in wheat and triticale grain naturally infected and inoculated with Fusarium culmorum

Four groups of cereal kernels were analyzed in terms of their volatile metabolite contents using GC/MS and the electronic nose. Analyses were conducted on 36 triticale breeding lines and 22 wheat breeding lines. Grain came from field samples inoculated with Fusarium culmorum and simultaneous non-inoculated samples-controls. All sample groups contained significantly varied levels of trichodiene (TRICH), a precursor for the formation of fusarium metabolites, with approx. two times higher concentration recorded in triticale. In inoculated samples TRICH concentration for wheat was on average six times higher and for triticale eight times higher than in non-inoculated samples. In the course of analysis using the electronic nose in tested groups of grain differences were observed in the profiles of detected volatile compounds. This resulted in a statistically significant distribution of investigated samples into four objects.     

Thermal inactivation of avian influenza virus and Newcastle disease virus in a fat-free egg product

High-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) virus, low-pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) virus, virulent Newcastle disease virus (vNDV) and low-virulent Newcastle disease virus (lNDV) can be present on the eggshell surface, and HPAI viruses and vNDV can be present in the internal contents of chicken eggs laid by infected hens. With the increase in global trade, egg products could present potential biosecurity problems and affect international trade in liquid and dried egg products. Therefore, the generation of survival curves to determine decimal reduction times (D(T)-values) and change in heat resistance of the viruses (z(D)-value) within fat-free egg product could provide valuable information for development of risk reduction strategies. Thermal inactivation studies using A/chicken/Pennsylvania/1370/83 (H5N2) HPAI virus resulted in D(55)-, D(56)-, D(56.7)-, D(57)-, D(58)-, and D(59)-values of 18.6, 8.5, 3.6, 2.5, 0.4, and 0.4 min, respectively. The z(D)-value was 4.4 °C. LPAI virus A/chicken/New York/13142/94 (H7N2) had D(55)-, D(56.7)-, D(57)-, D(58)-, D(59)-, and D(60)-values of 2.9, 1.4, 0.8, 0.7, 0.7, and 0.5 min, respectively, and a z-value of 0.4 °C. vNDV avian paramyxoviruses of serotype 1 (AMPV-1)/chicken/California/212676/2002 had D(55)-, D(56)-, D(56.7)-, D(57)-, D(58)-, and D(59)-values of 12.4, 9.3, 6.2, 5, 3.7, and 1.7 min, respectively. The z(D)-value was 4.7 °C. lNDV AMPV-1/chicken/United States/B1/1948 had D(55)-, D(57)-, D(58)-, D(59)-, D(61)-, and D(63)-values of 5.3, 2.2, 1.1, 0.55, 0.19, and 0.17 min, respectively, and a z(D)-value of 1.0 °C. Use of these data in developing egg pasteurization standards for AI and NDV-infected countries should allow safer trade in liquid egg products.     

Finite-difference solution of an elliptic partial differential equation with discontinuous coefficients

An algoritm is presented for point relaxation of an elliptic partial diferential equation at a grid station where its coefficient are discontinuous. Such equations can arise from the use of skewed co-ordinate system based on discotinuous reference functions (lengths) to map a complicated physical geometry onto a simple computational domain. Efficary of the scheme is illustrated by examples involving potential flow in a sharply bent channel and in a conical diffuser.     

Development and validation of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS).

The authors describe a new self-report instrument, the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS), which was designed to assess specific symptom dimensions of major depression and related anxiety disorders. They created the IDAS by conducting principal factor analyses in 3 large samples (college students, psychiatric patients, community adults); the authors also examined the robustness of its psychometric properties in 5 additional samples (high school students, college students, young adults, postpartum women, psychiatric patients) who were not involved in the scale development process. The IDAS contains 10 specific symptom scales: Suicidality, Lassitude, Insomnia, Appetite Loss, Appetite Gain, Ill Temper, Well-Being, Panic, Social Anxiety, and Traumatic Intrusions. It also includes 2 broader scales: General Depression (which contains items overlapping with several other IDAS scales) and Dysphoria (which does not). The scales (a) are internally consistent, (b) capture the target dimensions well, and (c) define a single underlying factor. They show strong short-term stability and display excellent convergent validity and good discriminant validity in relation to other self-report and interview-based measures of depression and anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The oxidation of Fe(II) in aqueous sulphuric acid under oxygen pressure

An experimental investigation is presented on the oxidation of Fe(II) in aqueous sulphuric acid under oxygen pressure. The effects of partial oxygen pressure, p_O2, temperature and initial concentrations of H₂SO₄ and Cu(II) on the oxidation process rate have been determined within the ranges applied in a new hydrometallurgical process for copper recovery from its sulphide concentrates [13–16]. The Fe(II) oxidation reaction rate was found to be described by a second-order kinetic equation at a ferrous iron concentration exceeding 3–8 g/l:

     

An iris biometric system for public and personal use

Much work in the emerging field of biometrics has focused on identification applications. Biometrics offers the means to identify individuals without requiring that they carry ID cards and badges or memorize passwords. A leading concern in the development of such applications, however, is how to avoid rejecting valid users or approving imposters. The iris of the eye may provide a solution by offering a much more discriminating biometric than fingerprint or face recognition. The authors have designed and implemented an iris biometric system for personal electronic identification. Further, their system solves problems associated with public use devices such as automated teller machines, where habituated use is not the norm. The system also addresses personal-use arenas, such as home banking, and other Internet and network applications, such as secure business logons. The article describes the public- and personal-use systems, as well as relating statistical analysis and field trials to gauge the effectiveness of their system     

The Dominant Influence of Plastic Deformation Induced Residual Stress on the Barkhausen Effect Signal in Martensitic Steels

The paper presents the results of investigation of the influence of plastic deformation on the magnetic properties of martensitic steel (P91 grade). The properties of the hysteresis loops as well as of the Barkhausen effect (BE) signal are analysed for both tensile and compressive loading up to \(\varepsilon = 10\)% of plastic deformation. The choice of the steel and of the deformation range is unique, since for such combination one can expect high residual stresses (both compressive and tensile) in the material that does not exhibit saturation of the BE intensity as a function of elastic stress. The obtained relationships show that for the low level of deformation the dislocation density changes may play a dominant role, yet for higher deformation level the residual stress becomes a dominant factor. It leads to the strong decrease of the BE signal for tensile deformation and an increase for the case of compression. It agrees well with the assumption that the tensile plastic deformation results in the compressive stresses appearance in the soft (magnetically active) sub-regions of the material whereas for the compression one can expect a residual stress of a tensile nature in those areas. Both deformation modes result in the increase of coercivity of the samples, yet the increase observed for the tensile deformation is significantly higher since both the residual compressive stress and increase of dislocation density have a strong effect on the material coercivity. The change of the hysteresis loops steepness agrees well with the notion of the dominant role of residual stresses too.     

Excimer laser surface alloying of titanium with nickel and palladium for increased corrosion resistance

In the electron beam treatment of flue gases, titanium foil is employed as an electron-transparent window. Due to its degradation in the flue gas environment and eventual failure, extension of the life of the window is being sought. Previous studies have indicated significant improvements of corrosion resistance from surface alloying with nickel or palladium, using high intensity pulsed plasma beams, but restricted size of vacuum systems prevents treatment of large surfaces. In the present work, an excimer laser was employed to surface alloy titanium foil with nickel or palladium, using fluences in the range 0.4-1.1 J cm⁻² and either nitrogen or argon as the cover gas. The resultant surfaces provided high resistance to corrosion in 0.1 M H₂SO₄ solution at 80 °C that simulates, under accelerated conditions, the degradation of titanium by the flue gas. The improved behaviour is associated with the corrosion potential being shifted to the region of passivity. Treatments at increased fluences reduced losses of nickel and increased alloying of palladium during processing of the foils. Palladium was largely retained during the subsequent immersion tests, contrasting with the depletion of nickel by corrosion that limits the durability of the treated foils. The corrosion rates of the optimum palladium-alloyed surfaces were about two orders of magnitude lower than that of untreated titanium.     

Productivity assessment of the low-energy SpeedRoot welding process in PG position

The article presents the results of experimental studies aimed at comparing the welding conditions and technological properties of butt joint welding in the PG position using the innovative low-energy variant of the MAG method – SpeedRoot, with conventional TIG welding in the PF position. The productivity of both welding processes has been evaluated, as well as the dynamic characteristics of power sources and the macrostructure of obtained joints.     

Adsorbent coatings for heat pumping applications: Verification of hydrothermal and mechanical stabilities

This paper presents novel experimental methods for verification of both hydrothermal and mechanical stabilities of adsorbent coatings. Experiments have been carried out on zeolite-based coatings over aluminum substrates, prepared by a dip-coating technique developed at CNR-ITAE. Hydrothermal aging of several adsorbent coatings is ongoing. Adsorption and structural stability of some samples under test was successfully verified after 35000 aging cycles by isobars measurement and XRD analysis. Mechanical properties of coatings have been evaluated by applying different typologies of static and dynamic mechanical stresses. Results obtained have been compared with those achieved by subjecting adsorbent coatings prepared by Mitsubishi Plastic Incorporation (MPI) to the same characterization protocol. The comparison between the two types of coating returned that MPI coatings posses similar thermal stability and better mechanical strength than CNR-ITAE coatings.