Effect of argan kernel storage conditions on argan oil quality

In the present study, we investigated the relationships between storage conditions of argan kernels and argan oil quality over a 1‐year period. Argan kernels were packaged in black or white bags. Kernels in black bags were stored at room temperature (RT) while kernels in white bags were stored either at RT or at 4°C. Quality parameters periodically monitored over the 12 months were peroxide and acid value, oil yield, moisture content, UV absorption, and fatty acid composition. Whereas light had no impact on argan oil quality, only argan kernel storage at 4°C allowed a perfect preservation of argan oil quality after 1 year. Practical applications: In the present study we have established that solar light does not damage argan kernels in such a way that it could alter argan oil quality, and that argan kernels can be stored for up to 1 year at 4°C without alteration of argan oil quality. If stored at RT, argan kernels should be used within 10 months to prepare edible argan oil.     

Thermal properties of proton-conducting radiation-grafted membranes

Proton-exchange membranes are required to exhibit chemical, mechanical, and thermal stability for fuel cell applications. The present investigation has been carried out to explore the thermal behavior of poly(ethylene-alt-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE)-based proton-conducting membranes, both uncrosslinked and crosslinked, prepared by radiation grafting and subsequent sulfonation. The influence of preparation steps (irradiation, grafting, sulfonation, crosslinking) on the thermal degradation, crystallinity, and melting behavior of membranes with varying degree of grafting was examined. ETFE base film and grafted films were studied as the reference materials. Furthermore, poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene)-based grafted films and membranes were investigated as well for comparison. Membrane preparation steps, degree of grafting, crosslinking, type of base polymer have considerable influence on the thermal properties of membranes. The crystallinity of the films decreases slightly by grafting, while a significant decrease was observed after sulfonation. For instance, crystallinity decreased from 37% (pristine ETFE) to 36% (uncrosslinked grafted film) and 23% (uncrosslinked ETFE-based membrane). On the other hand, the melting temperature of the base polymer was almost unaffected by irradiation and grafting. The crosslinked ETFE-based membranes exhibit a slightly higher melting temperature (262.5°C) than their corresponding grafted films (261.3°C) and the base film (260.6°C). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

5G for the Support of Public Safety Services

Wireless Personal Communications - The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most recent Internet evolution that integrates many smart devices, such as constrained devices, smart tablets, smart vehicles,...     

Assay of tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol in olive oil by tandem mass spectrometry and isotope dilution method

Hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol, the strong antioxidant present in large amount in virgin olive oil have been assayed by LC-MS/MS under MRM condition and isotope dilution method, using d(2)-labelled internal standards obtained by simple synthetic procedures. The assay has been performed under MRM condition monitoring two transitions for each analyte to improve the specificity. This paper deals with a modern approach for assaying the content of this polyphenols in virgin olive oil down to a limit of a few hundreds of parts per billion. Tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol ranged from 10 to 47ppm and from 5 to 25ppm in commercial olive oil, respectively. The accuracy (98-107%) and analytical parameters values confirm the reliability of the proposed approach. The method can be extended to any natural matrices, including mill wastes, after a simple step of sample preparation.     

Concurrent 3-D motion segmentation and 3-D interpretation of temporal sequences of monocular images.

The purpose of this study is to investigate a variational method for joint multiregion three-dimensional (3-D) motion segmentation and 3-D interpretation of temporal sequences of monocular images. Interpretation consists of dense recovery of 3-D structure and motion from the image sequence spatiotemporal variations due to short-range image motion. The method is direct insomuch as it does not require prior computation of image motion. It allows movement of both viewing system and multiple independently moving objects. The problem is formulated following a variational statement with a functional containing three terms. One term measures the conformity of the interpretation within each region of 3-D motion segmentation to the image sequence spatiotemporal variations. The second term is of regularization of depth. The assumption that environmental objects are rigid accounts automatically for the regularity of 3-D motion within each region of segmentation. The third and last term is for the regularity of segmentation boundaries. Minimization of the functional follows the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations. This results in iterated concurrent computation of 3-D motion segmentation by curve evolution, depth by gradient descent, and 3-D motion by least squares within each region of segmentation. Curve evolution is implemented via level sets for topology independence and numerical stability. This algorithm and its implementation are verified on synthetic and real image sequences. Viewers presented with anaglyphs of stereoscopic images constructed from the algorithm's output reported a strong perception of depth.     

Circuit models of multiconductor shielded cables: incident plane wave effect

The present study examines the variation effects of incident plane wave on multiconductor shielded cables in frequency domains using Branin's method, which is referred to as the method of characteristics. The model operates in frequency and time domains with linear and nonlinear loads, respectively, which allows it to be easily introduced into circuit simulators, such as SPICE, Sabar, and ESACAP. Two examples are studied: coaxial shielded cables and shielded cables with two parallel wires (i.e., twinax cables), and they are both excited by an incident plane wave. The results obtained by this method are in agreement with those obtained by other methods. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oxidative stability of edible argan oil: A two-year study

The present study investigated the oxidative stability of the threemarketed types of edible argan oil. Edible argan oil is prepared by pressing the slightly roasted kernels of peeled argan fruit. High quality edible argan oil is exclusively prepared using mechanical presses. However, hand-extracted argan oil is still artisanally produced and can be found in local markets. In this latter case, goat-peeled fruit is still sometimes introduced in the oil production chain even though the resulting oil is notoriously of unsatisfactory quality. The oxidative stability of press-extracted, hand-extracted, and goat-peeled fruit derived argan oil was analyzed using as physicochemical metrics: fatty acid composition, β-carotene level, phosphorus level, tocopherol level, iodine index, saponification, peroxide and acid values, specific extinction, and Rancimat induction time. The variations of these parameters were evaluated over a period of 2 years at 5 °C, 25 °C (protected or exposed to sunlight), or 40 °C. After this period of time, mechanically extracted argan oil still presents an excellent physicochemical profile. Domestic and traditionally prepared argan oil presents much less satisfactory properties after the same period.     

Shape, sizing optimization and material selection based on mixed variables and genetic algorithm

In this work, we explore simultaneous designs of materials selection and structural optimization. As the material selection turns out to be a discrete process that finds the optimal distribution of materials over the design domain, it cannot be performed with common gradient-based optimization methods. In this paper, material selection is considered together with the shape and sizing optimization in a framework of multiobjective optimization of tracking the Pareto curve. The idea of mixed variables is often introduced in the case of mono-objective optimization. However, in the case of multi-objective optimization, we still face some hard key points related to the convexity and the continuity of the Pareto domain, which underline the originality of this work. In addition to the above aspect, there is a lack in the literature concerning the industrial applications that consider the mixed parameters. Continuous variables refer to structural parameters such as thickness, diameter and spring elastic constants while material ID is defined as binary design variable for each material. Both mechanical and thermal loads are considered in this work with the aim of minimizing the maximum stress and structural weight simultaneously. The efficiency of the design procedure is demonstrated through various numerical examples.