The Achilles'' Heel of Potentiometric Measurements, the Liquid Junction Potential

The mechanical design of the liquid junction and materials used for the construction of the potentiometric measuring cell are discussed. Single ion conductances at 37 °C for common ions in calibration solutions are presented and a calibrating solution without residual liquid junction potential when compared with blood plasma is proposed. A new salt bridge solution containing sodium formate, which eliminates the suspension effect during whole blood measurements, is also presented, as are results from a comparison on whole blood between the new salt bridge solution and the traditional KCI salt bridge solution.     

A synchrotron X-ray diffraction study of the local residual strains around a single inclusion in an AI/W metal-matrix composite

An X-ray technique for local measurements of the internal residual stress near inclusions in metalmatrix composites (MMCs) is presented. The technique utilizes medium- to high-energy monochromatic X-rays from a synchrotron source and a combination of slits on the entry and exit sides of the sample in order to determine the strains from small volumes deep within the composite sample. The strains of the individual matrix grains are sampled and averaged, allowing for a much improved spatial resolution. An analyzer is used in order to avoid well-known systematic errors related to geometry and stability of the beam. First results are obtained on a model system consisting of a 500 μm continuous W fiber imbedded in an A1 matrix. Two specimens were investigated with typical Al grain sizes of 1 mm and 30 μm. With a gage volume of 10×10×170 μm³, we obtained count rates on the order of 5000 cps and an accuracy in the strain measurements of Δε≤5×10⁻⁵. For both specimens, we found no variations of the radial and transverse strain components with the distance to the fiber, indicating either a complete debonding of the system, a very weak interface, or interface deterioration due to chemical reaction. Intragranular strain fluctuations on the order of ε=±10⁻⁴ were found to build up close to the grain boundaries. For the specimen with the smaller Al grain size, sampling data from approximately 15 grains at the same distance to the fiber was sufficient for averaging out the intergranular fluctuations. Finally, we observe effects from the conventional metallurgic sample preparation up to 400 μm from the surface, emphasizing the relevance of bulk techniques.     

Chemical shrinkage of portland cement pastes

Chemical shrinkage of normal Portland cement pastes (0.4 ≤ w/c < 0.8) has been measured at 20°C and of pastes with w/c = 0.5 furthermore at 35, and 50°C by means of measuring the volume change of samples of cement paste during the hydration. A small increase in the chemical shrinkage at “infinite time” was found at increasing water-cement ratio. The influence of the temperature was found to be twofold: Increasing temperature caused an increasing rate of the development of chemical shrinkage and a decrease of the chemical shrinkage at “infinite time”.Earlier studies of chemical shrinkage of Portland cement paste are also reported.     

Behavior analysis for validating communication patterns

behaviors ; these can be viewed as a kind of causal constraints or as a kind of process algebra terms. We present a system that infers behaviors from a useful fragment of Concurrent ML programs; it is based on previously developed theoretical results and forms the core of a system available on the Internet. By means of a case study, used as a benchmark in the literature, we shall see that the system facilitates the validation of certain safety conditions for reactive programs.     

Wear rate and concentration of wear particles in lubricating oil

The relationship between wear rate and concentration of wear particles in lubricating oil was analysed. Large and small particles were considered separately. The effects of oil filtration, oil consumption, regular topping-up of oil and variation in wear rate during the running-in were considered. Results are presented in both a mathematical and a graphical form.     

Adaptive Sampling of Dynamic Systems for Generation of Fast and Accurate Surrogate Models

For economic nonlinear model predictive control and dynamic real-time optimization fast and accurate models are necessary. Consequently, the use of dynamic surrogate models to mimic complex rigorous models is increasingly coming into focus. For dynamic systems, the focus so far had been on identifying a system's behavior surrounding a steady-state operation point. In this contribution, we propose a novel methodology to adaptively sample rigorous dynamic process models to generate a dataset for building dynamic surrogate models. The goal of the developed algorithm is to cover an as large as possible area of the feasible region of the original model. To demonstrate the performance of the presented framework it is applied on a dynamic model of a chlor-alkali electrolysis.     

Temporal and spatial trends in soil organic carbon stocks following maize cultivation in semi-arid Tanzania,East Africa

Conversion of native ecosystems to agro-ecosystems influences the amount, quality and turnover of soil organic carbon (SOC). As most agro-ecosystems are not in a steady state in terms of the content of SOC, the time scale and feedback mechanisms of changes in SOC are highly relevant for predicting future soil fertility and potential rates of soil carbon losses or sequestration. This paper focuses on changes in land use linked to measured changes in the distribution of total stocks of SOC and the δ¹³C signature in the upper 0.5 m of cultivated soils in the semi-arid parts of Tanzania. Based on documented land use changes since 1950s using remote sensing data, 12 sampling sites along two transects were selected to represent semi-natural/natural savannah and maize fields cultivated for up to five decades. Comparisons between sites representing a chronosequence of well-drained soils showed that soils cultivated the last 50 years have in average less than 50% SOC compared to soils which have never been cultivated. Variations between sites were significant and a reduction in SOC could not be established at sites near present or former villages which have received substantial manure despite a long cultivation history or along a chronosequence representing wetter and more fine-grained soils. Spatial variations in land use changes were parameterized based on remote sensing data and successfully validated against sampling sites. Site-specific rates of soil element loss following cultivation were extrapolated to the study area and uncertainties related to scaling up were discussed.     

Substitution of trans fatty acids in foods on the Danish market

Three surveys of the content of trans fatty acids (TFA) in foods on the Danish market were carried out before and after the Danish regulation was introduced in January 2004 restricting the use of industrially produced (IP)‐TFA to a maximum of 2 g per 100 g fat in any food product. For this purpose, food samples were collected in 2002–3, 2004–5, and 2006–7. Of these, 60 paired samples (defined as samples included in two of the three investigations and with higher levels of IP‐TFA in the first determination than in the second) were identified. Comparisons of the fatty acid profiles showed that, in 68% of the products (e.g. sweets, cakes and cookies as well as fast food such as pie and tortilla), IP‐TFA were mainly substituted with saturated fatty acids (SFA). In some cases, the SFA source was coconut fat, whereas in other products, palm oil was added instead of partially hydrogenated oils. However, in important cases like frying fats, healthier fat substitutes with monounsaturated fatty acids were used. The surveys showed that the IP‐TFA content has been reduced or removed from most products with originally high IP‐TFA content, like French fries, microwave oven popcorn and various bakery products, so that IP‐TFA are now insignificant for the intake of TFA in Denmark.