Use of weibull statistics to quantify property variability in TiAl alloys

Tensile experiments have been performed on specimens of four different investment-cast TiAl-based alloys with variations in casting conditions. The average ductilities obtained in these experiments vary between approximately 0.8 to 2.0 pct plastic strain to failure in tension. By using the three-parameter form of the Weibull relation, with the 0.2 pct offset yield strength as the minimum failure strength, the resulting variability in the data can be quantified and is found to be similar for those alloys with similar microstructural scale (grain size). Large variations in lamellar volume fraction, segregation, and phase distribution have a minor influence on property variability, compared to changes in the scale of the grain structure caused by either variations in cooling rate during casting or the addition of grain refiners.     

Atmospheric dry deposition of persistent organic pollutants to the Atlantic and inferences for the global oceans

Atmospheric deposition to the oceans is a key process affecting the global dynamics and sinks of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). A new methodology that combines aerosol remote sensing measurements with measured POP aerosol-phase concentrations is presented to derive dry particulate depositional fluxes of POPs to the oceans. These fluxes are compared with those due to diffusive air-water exchange. For all polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and lower chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), air-water exchange dominates the dry deposition mechanism. However, this tendency reverses in some areas, such as in marine aerosol influenced areas and dust outflow regions, consistent with the important variability encountered for the depositional fluxes. Seasonal variability is mainly found in mid-high latitudes, due to the important influence of wind speed enhancing dry deposition fluxes and temperature as a driver of the gas-particle partitioning of POPs. The average dry aerosol deposition flux of sigmaPCBs and sigmaPCDD/Fs to the Atlantic Ocean is calculated to be in the order of 66 ng m(-2) yr(-1) and 9 ng m(-2)yr(-1) respectively. The total dry aerosol deposition of sigmaPCBs and sigmaPCDD/Fs to the Atlantic Ocean is estimated to be 2200 kg yr(-1) and 500 kg yr(-1), respectively, while the net air-water exchange is higher, 22000 kg sigmaPCBs yr(-1) for PCBs and 1300 kg sigmaPCDD/Fs yr(-1). Furthermore, it is suggested that marine aerosol plays an important role in scavenging atmospheric contaminants.     

Designing long reach optical access networks

The long reach optical access concept promises to reduce the cost of a future BT network through simplification. This is achieved by extending the reach and split of today’s passive optical network systems (PONs) to 100 km and 1024 respectively, thus eliminating the need for separate backhaul equipment. Compact, low-power optical amplifiers are used at exchange locations requiring very low electrical power consumption. Ultimately this could effectively eliminate local exchange buildings and consolidate BT’s network to around a hundred metro nodes, drastically reducing operational costs. In this paper we describe research to date on the techniques to overcome physical layer impairments at costs appropriate for residential access. We also highlight from an operator’s point of view the protocol requirements of the LR-PON concept, point out the necessary changes to the GPON protocol, and describe an experiment to show its suitability to work over 100 km distances at 10 Gbit/s.     

Estimating intramuscular fat content and fatty acid composition in live and post-mortem samples in pigs

Repeated muscle sampling (n = 732) on 216 pigs was performed to evaluate the effect of live sampling and sample size on intramuscular fat (IMF) content and fatty acid (FA) composition. The sampling scheme consisted of 1–3 biopsies of longissimus dorsi (LM), a small and a big post-mortem sample of LM, and a big post-mortem sample of gluteus medius (GM). IMF was determined by quantitative gas chromatography after direct transesterification. Data on LM were jointly analyzed using a mixed model on age with heterogeneous residual variances across sampling methods. Biopsies overestimated IMF and polyunsaturated FA content and underestimated monounsaturated FA content with decreasing sample size. Potential for bias and not sampling variance is the major limitation of using live samples for assessing changes in IMF with age. Small post-mortem samples of LM were as informative as big samples of GM for inferring IMF content but not IMF composition.     

Near‐infrared spectroscopy for analysis of oil content and fatty acid profile in almond flour

Almond kernels show large variability for oil content and fatty acid profile. The objective of this research was to evaluate the potential of near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) for the analysis of these traits in almond flour. Ground kernels of 181 accessions collected in 2009 were used for developing calibration equations for oil content and concentrations of individual fatty acids. Calibration equations were developed using second derivative transformation and modified partial least squares regression. They were validated with samples from 179 accessions collected in 2010. The accuracy of calibration equations was measured through the coefficient of determination (r²) in external validation and the ratio of the SD in the validation set to the standard error of prediction (RPD). Both r² and RPD were high for oil content (r² = 0.99; RPD = 9.24) and concentrations of oleic (r² = 0.97; RPD = 5.37) and linoleic acids (r² = 0.98; RPD = 7.35), revealing that calibration equations for these traits are highly accurate. Conversely, the accuracy of the calibration equations for palmitic (r² = 0.54; RPD = 1.41) and stearic acids (r² = 0.52; RPD = 1.44) was too low for allowing their application in practice. NIRS discrimination of oil content and concentrations of oleic and linoleic acids was mainly based on the spectral region from 2240 to 2380 nm. Practical applications : NIRS is a high‐throughput analytical technique that allows fast measurement of several traits in a single analysis without using chemical reagents. We evaluated the feasibility of analyzing oil content and concentrations of palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids in almond flour using fruits collected during 2 years from a world germplasm collection. The fruits collected in 2009 were used for NIRS calibration, whereas the fruits collected in 2010 were used for validation. NIRS equations were highly accurate for measuring oil content and concentrations of oleic and linoleic acids, which are important traits defining the quality of almond flour for specific uses in the food industry. These results have applications both in the research laboratory and the food industry, where NIRS is becoming a widely used technique for quality control.     

Protein Content and Oil Composition of Almond from Moroccan Seedlings: Genetic Diversity, Oil Quality and Geographical Origin

The protein and oil content and the fatty acid profile of the kernels of selected almond genotypes from four different Moroccan regions were determined in order to evaluate the kernel quality of the plant material of these different regions. The ranges of oil content (48.7–64.5 % of kernel DW), oleic (61.8–80.2 % of total oil), linoleic (11.4–27.0 %), palmitic (5.6–7.7 %), stearic (1.3–3.1 %), and palmitoleic (0.4–0.9 %) acid percentages agreed with previous results of other almond genotypes, but the protein content (14.1–35.1 % of kernel DW) showed that some genotypes had higher values than any previously recorded in almond. Some genotypes from mountainous regions showed kernels with very high oil content as well as high and consistent oleic and linoleic ratio, establishing a possible differentiation according to the geographical origin. These differences may allow establishing a geographical denomination for almond products. In terms of genetic diversity, oleic and linoleic acids were confirmed to be the most variable components of almond oil chemical composition among genotypes. Additionally, the genotypes with extreme favorable values, such as high protein content, could be incorporated into an almond breeding program aiming at an increase in kernel quality.     

Standardization of UV–visible data in a food adulteration classification problem

This study evaluates the performance of multivariate calibration transfer methods in a classification context. The spectral variation caused by some experimental conditions can worsen the performance of the initial multivariate classification model but this situation can be solved by implementing standardization methods such as Piecewise Direct Standardization (PDS). This study looks at the adulteration of culinary spices with banned dyes such as Sudan I, II, III and IV. The samples are characterised by their UV–visible spectra and Partial Least Squares–Discriminant Analysis (PLS–DA) is used to discriminate between unadulterated samples and samples adulterated with any of the four Sudan dyes. Two different datasets that need to be standardised are presented. The standardization process yields positive classification results comparable to those obtained from the initial PLS–DA model, in which high classification performance was achieved.     

Microbial lipid production as biodiesel feedstock from N‐acetylglucosamine by oleaginous microorganisms

BACKGROUND: The byproducts from shrimp processing are heads and shells which contain a wealth of carbon and could be converted into oils via oleaginous microorganisms. The objective of this investigation was to determine the feasibility of using oleaginous microorganisms to convert N‐acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), the major carbohydrate of the hydrolysate of shrimp processing waste, to triacylglycerols as a biodiesel feedstock. RESULTS: Screening experiments were conducted among Rhodotorula glutinis, Rhodococcus opacus and Cryptococcus curvatus using GlcNAc as sole carbon and energy source at 30 °C. All three microorganisms were found to grow well on GlcNAc, but the lipid contents in the cells were consistently low (lower than 5%) in the growth phase. However, lipid accumulation by C. curvatus was greatly enhanced upon entering the death phase in the absence of GlcNAc and the lipid content increased to 28.4% at 167.7 h. This indicated that C. curvatus was the optimal tested microorganism for the production of microbial oils from GlcNAc. Phosphate was further evaluated on the growth and lipid production by C. curvatus from GlcNAc. Results indicated that the yields of both biomass during growth phase and lipids at death phase increased with the increase of the ratio of C to P. But the fatty acid profiles of the accumulated lipids did not change significantly. CONCLUSION: Results indicated that shrimp processing waste could be utilized to produce oils as a biodiesel feedstock. The results could be applied to maximize production of oils from shrimp processing waste. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Transient pancytopenia after non-A non-B non-C acute hepatitis preceding acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Transient pancytopenia preceding childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an unfrequent but well-known event. The association of this preleukemic syndrome with hepatitis is extremely rare, with only two such cases having been published in the literature. We report the case of a 16-year-old boy who was diagnosed with B-cell type ALL that was preceded by transient pancytopenia with absent hemopoietic cells in the bone marrow following a seronegative hepatitis episode. The clinical, morphologic and immunophenotypic features of this patient are described and the literature on this preleukemic syndrome reviewed, with special emphasis being made on its differential diagnosis with hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia.