Thermal, optical, electrochemical properties and conductivity of trans- and cis-poly(1-ethynylpyrene): a comparative investigation

The thermal, optical and electrochemical properties of trans-poly(1-ethynylpyrene) (trans-PEP) and cis-poly(1-ethynylpyrene) (cis-PEP) have been studied as a function of polymer backbone configuration and internal stacking. Absorption spectra of the polymers showed that trans-PEP possesses a higher degree of conjugation than its homologue, cis-PEP. Intramolecular interactions occur between adjacent pendant pyrene units (associated pyrenes) present in each polymer, giving rise to static excimer emissions, strongest in cis-PEP because of the shorter distances between aromatic rings. Data resulting from excitation spectra and fluorescence decay profiles proved that such interactions take place in the ground state. Cyclic voltammetry of trans- and cis-PEP exhibited irreversible behaviors with different oxidation potentials as a result of their dissimilar geometry.     

Studies on non-enzymic browning in orange juice using a model system based on freshly squeezed orange juice

An orange juice based model system was set up wherein variables such as the addition of glucose, lysine, sorbitol and L -ascorbic acid and changes in pH and storage temperature were introduced to study their effects on L -ascorbic acid degradation and on browning. The addition of glucose, lysine and sorbitol did not have a significant effect on L -ascorbic acid degradation, whereas added L -ascorbic acid acted solely as a reserve material. In terms of browning, a change in pH and storage at elevated temperature produced a synergistic effect in the development of brown colour which was enhanced by the introduction of additives. Based on the results obtained, L -ascorbic acid appears to be the precursor in the non-enzymic browning occurring in this type of sample due to the formation of reactive carbonyl compounds produced upon its degradation which tend to polymerise, or to react with nitrogenous compounds, to give brown pigments.     

Preservation of protein fluorescence in embedded human dendritic cells for targeted 3D light and electron microscopy

In this study, we present a correlative microscopy workflow to combine detailed 3D fluorescence light microscopy data with ultrastructural information gained by 3D focused ion beam assisted scanning electron microscopy. The workflow is based on an optimized high pressure freezing/freeze substitution protocol that preserves good ultrastructural detail along with retaining the fluorescence signal in the resin embedded specimens. Consequently, cellular structures of interest can readily be identified and imaged by state of the art 3D confocal fluorescence microscopy and are precisely referenced with respect to an imprinted coordinate system on the surface of the resin block. This allows precise guidance of the focused ion beam assisted scanning electron microscopy and limits the volume to be imaged to the structure of interest. This, in turn, minimizes the total acquisition time necessary to conduct the time consuming ultrastructural scanning electron microscope imaging while eliminating the risk to miss parts of the target structure. We illustrate the value of this workflow for targeting virus compartments, which are formed in HIV‐pulsed mature human dendritic cells.     

Exergy analysis of a heat transformer for water purification increasing heat source temperature

In the present study, the first and second laws of thermodynamic have been used to analyse in detail the performance of a heat transformer used for water purification. The heat delivered in the auxiliary condenser is recycled into the system increasing the heat source temperatures and therefore the coefficient of performance (COP) and the exergy coefficient of performance (ECOP). Plots of COP, ECOP, the improvement potential (IP) and the cycle irreversibility (I_CYCLE) are shown against the main operating temperatures of the system, the gross temperature lift (GTL), the flow ratio (FR) and the effectiveness of the economiser (EF_EC). In order to found the components of the system with the highest irreversibilities, plots of the irreversibilities for each one of the main components of the system are reported against the main temperatures and operating parameters of the heat transformer. The results showed that the highest irreversibilities occurred in the absorber contributing with more than the 30% of the irreversibilities of the entire system, followed by the auxiliary condenser with about the 25%. The lowest irreversibilities were found in the pumps which are almost negligible and in the economiser which were in general lower than 5%.     

Short term wind speed forecasting in La Venta,Oaxaca, México,using artificial neural networks

In this paper the short term wind speed forecasting in the region of La Venta, Oaxaca, Mexico, applying the technique of artificial neural network (ANN) to the hourly time series representative of the site is presented. The data were collected by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) during 7 years through a network of measurement stations located in the place of interest. Diverse configurations of ANN were generated and compared through error measures, guaranteeing the performance and accuracy of the chosen models. First a model with three layers and seven neurons was chosen, according to the recommendations of diverse authors, nevertheless, the results were not sufficiently satisfactory so other three models were developed, consisting of three layers and six neurons, two layers and four neurons and two layers and three neurons. The simplest model of two layers, with two input neurons and one output neuron, was the best for the short term wind speed forecasting, with mean squared error and mean absolute error values of 0.0016 and 0.0399, respectively. The developed model for short term wind speed forecasting showed a very good accuracy to be used by the Electric Utility Control Centre in Oaxaca for the energy supply.     

Prior detection of genetic algorithm significant parameters: Coupling factorial design technique to genetic algorithm

This work presents an extension of a previous proposed procedure [Costa, C.B.B., Wolf Maciel, M.R., Maciel Filho, R., 2005. Factorial design technique applied to genetic algorithm parameters in a batch cooling crystallization optimization. Computers and Chemical Engineering 29, 2229-2241] to be adopted as a prior analysis in optimization problems to be solved using genetic algorithm (GA). Chemical engineering problems are commonly highly non-linear and possess a large number of variables, sometimes with significant interactions among them. Such characteristics make the optimization problems really difficult to be solved by deterministic methods. GA is an increasing tool for solving this sort of problems. However, no systematic approach to establish the best set of GA parameters for any problem was found in the literature and a relatively easy to use and meaningful approach is proposed and proved to be of general application. The proposed approach consists of applying factorial design, a well-established statistical technique to identify the most meaningful information about the influences of factors on a specific problem, as a support tool to identify the GA parameters with significant effect on the optimization problem. This approach is very useful in conducting further optimization works, since it discharges GA parameters that are not statistically significant for the evolutionary search for the optimum, saving time and computation burden in evolutionary optimization studies.