Calcium bioavailability of vegetarian diets in rats: potential application in a bioregenerative life-support system

Calcium bioavailability of vegetarian diets containing various proportions of candidate crops for a controlled ecological life-support system (CELSS) was determined by femur 45Ca uptake. Three vegetarian diets and a control diet were labeled extrinsically with 45Ca and fed to 5-wk old male rats. A fifth group of rats fed an unlabeled control diet received an intraperitoneal (IP) injection of 45Ca. There was no significant difference in mean calcium absorption of vegetarian diets (90.80 +/- 5.23%) and control diet (87.85 +/- 5.25%) when calculated as the percent of an IP dose. The amounts of phytate, oxalate, and dietary fiber in the diets did not affect calcium absorption.     

Efficacy of a peroxyacetic acid formulation as an antimicrobial intervention to reduce levels of inoculated Escherichia coli O157:H7 on external carcass surfaces of hot-boned beef and veal

The efficacy of a peroxyacetic acid formulation (POAA) at reducing Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination on external carcass surfaces of hot-boned beef and veal with a commercial spray apparatus was determined. Hot-boned external carcass surfaces were inoculated with either a high dose (10(6) CFU/cm2) in fresh bovine feces or with a low dose (10(3) CFU/cm2) in diluent of laboratory-cultured E. coli O157:H7. Treatments included a water wash, a POAA (180 ppm) wash, or a water plus POAA wash. Samples were extracted from the external carcass surface with a cork borer to determine the numbers of viable E. coli O157:H7 remaining on the carcass surface after treatment. Although a water wash alone resulted in a 1.25 (94.4%) and a 1.31 (95.1%) mean log reduction on veal and beef inoculated with a high dose of E. coli O157:H7, the POAA treatment resulted in a substantially greater mean log reduction of 3.56 and 3.59 (>99.9%). The water wash only resulted in a 33.9% reduction on veal and 62.8% on beef inoculated with a low dose of E. coli O157:H7, whereas POAA treatment greatly improved pathogen reduction to 98.9 and 97.4% on veal and beef, respectively. The combination of a water wash followed by a POAA treatment resulted in a similar E. coli O157:H7 reduction to that achieved by POAA treatment alone. In conclusion, POAA treatment significantly reduced viable E. coli O157:H7 numbers on experimentally contaminated beef and veal carcasses, which justifies its use as a chemical intervention for the removal of this human pathogen.     

Rehydration of Active Dry Brewing Yeast and its Effect on Cell Viability

The use of active dry yeast (ADY) in the brewing industry is becoming increasingly attractive due to several key features, including its capacity to be stored conveniently and to be prepared rapidly for use. However, some studies have reported that undesirable effects may occur when employing lager strains in the ADY form, such as abnormal flocculation, haze formation and a less stable foam structure. These effects have been linked to reduced viability, caused by cell death during the drying and rehydration processes. It is known that the means by which yeast is rehydrated is important to maintain membrane integrity and to prevent potentially lethal damage from occurring. In order to determine the impact of rehydration conditions on yeast viability, three industrially manufactured ADY strains were examined. Each strain was rehydrated using a variety of parameters and monitored for cell viability using slide culture and a variety of brightfield and fluorescent stains.     

Toward rational design of amine solutions for PCC applications: the kinetics of the reaction of CO2(aq) with cyclic and secondary amines in aqueous solution

The kinetics of the fast reversible carbamate formation reaction of CO(2)(aq) with a series of substituted cyclic secondary amines as well as the noncyclic secondary amine diethanolamine (DEA) has been investigated using the stopped-flow spectrophotometric technique at 25.0 °C. The kinetics of the slow parallel reversible reaction between HCO(3)(-) and amine has also been determined for a number of the amines by (1)H NMR spectroscopy at 25.0 °C. The rate of the reversible reactions and the equilibrium constants for the formation of carbamic acid/carbamate from the reactions of CO(2) and HCO(3)(-) with the amines are reported. In terms of the forward reaction of CO(2)(aq) with amine, the order with increasing rate constants is as follows: diethanolamine (DEA) < morpholine (MORP) ~ thiomorpholine (TMORP) < N-methylpiperazine (N-MPIPZ) < 4-piperidinemethanol (4-PIPDM) ~ piperidine (PIPD) < pyrrolidine (PYR). Both 2-piperidinemethanol (2-PIPDM) and 2-piperidineethanol (2-PIPDE) do not form carbamates. For the carbamate forming amines a Br?nsted correlation relating the protonation constant of the amine to the carbamic acid formation rate and equilibrium constants at 25.0 °C has been established. The overall suitability of an amine for PCC in terms of kinetics and energy is discussed.     

Rapid Synthesis and Simulation of Computational Circuits in an MPPA

A computational circuit is custom-designed hardware which promises to offer maximum speedup of computationally intensive software algorithms. However, the practical needs to manage development cost and many low-level physical design details erodes much of the potential speedup by distracting attention away from high-level architectural design. Instead, designers need an inexpensive, processor-like platform where computational circuits can be rapidly synthesized and simulated. This enables rapid architectural evolution and mitigates the risk of producing custom hardware. In this paper we present a tool flow (RVETool) for compiling computational circuits into a massively parallel processor array (MPPA). We demonstrate the CAD runtime is on average 70× faster than FPGA tools, with a circuit speed 5.8× slower than FPGA devices. Unlike the fixed logic capacity of FPGAs, RVETool can trade area for simulation performance by targeting a wide range in the number of processor cores. We also demonstrate tool scalability to very large circuits, synthesizing, placing, and routing a ≈1.6 million gate random circuit in 54 min.     

The impact of driver education on self-reported collisions among young drivers with a graduated license

In this study, we assess the impact of driver education on the risk of collisions in a Graduated Licensing System (GLS). Ontario's GLS requires all new drivers to successfully pass through two stages of graduated license (referred to as G1 and G2, respectively) before full licensure is granted. Surveys of driving behaviour and related factors were administered to Grades 11 and 12 students with a graduated license in seven Ontario schools in 1996 and 1998. A total of 1533 students completed the survey in 2 years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a significantly lower odds of self-reported collision involvement among G1 license holders with driver education (OR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.12-0.83). No significant effects were observed for G2 license holders. Other significant predictors of collisions include sex of driver, months of licensure and kilometers driven for G2 license holders. These results suggest that the impact of driver education may be dependent on the stage of driver learning in which it occurs.     

Gradient-driven fluctuations experiment: fluid fluctuations in microgravity

We describe an experimental breadboard developed for the investigation of nonequilibrium fluctuations induced by macroscopic temperature and concentration gradients under microgravity conditions. Under these conditions the amplitude of the fluctuations diverges strongly for long wavelengths. The setup was developed at the University of Milan and at the University of California at Santa Barbara within the gradient-driven fluctuations experiment (GRADFLEX) project of the European Space Agency, in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The apparatus uses a quantitative shadowgraph technique for characterization of the static power spectrum of the fluctuations S(q) and the measurement of their dynamics. We present preliminary experimental results for S(q) obtained in the presence of gravity for gradient-driven fluctuations for two cases, those induced in a liquid mixture with a concentration gradient produced by the Soret effect and those induced in a single-component fluid by a temperature gradient.     

Optimising chlorine compression design with vapour phase nitrogen trichloride destruction

Nitrogen trichloride (NCl₃) is a by‐product of electrolytic chlorine manufacture, produced when the brine is contaminated with ammonia. A common treatment method is a thermal destruction process in which the NCl₃ is absorbed in a solvent (CHCl₃) using a distillation column with no liquid bottoms product. The chlorine gas is cooled through direct contact with liquid chlorine, which flashes and condenses the solvent and NCl₃ vapours. The condensate drains through trays to a reboiler in which the NCl₃ decomposes while the chlorine, solvent, NCl₃ solution boils. This process is well‐known and widely practiced but is known to experience catastrophic detonations. A vapour phase thermal decomposition of NCl₃ does occur, particularly when the heat added through compression is considered. The known data on this decomposition reaction have been collected and converted in a rate expression that allows for integration within an ASPENPLUS process model. Different options for the compressor, precooler, intercooler and liquefier operations are considered, and their impact on the compressor and liquefier duties is reported. A different approach to the design and operation for a chlorine compression/liquefaction train is presented and discussed. © 2013 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering     

Improved chloride binding stability for hydration products of calcium aluminates by phosphorus modification

Improved chloride binding stability for calcium aluminate cements is proposed by the doping of phosphorus. Phosphorus-modified aluminates clinker has an improved chloride binding stability compared to pristine aluminates, ordinary Portland cement and sulfur-modified calcium aluminates, as verified by experimental observation. The existence of the newly found phosphorus-modified Friedel's salt (PFS) accounts for the excellent chloride binding stability, which was understood by density functional theory calculations. Local density of states of the valence band minimum is predominantly localized around P atoms in the PFS, but evenly distributed in the Friedel's salt (FS). The frontier band energy of the partial density of states on Cl and O elements in the PFS is lower than that in the FS by 0.21 and 0.05 eV, respectively. This makes the PFS more stable than the FS salt to ionic attack.