Growth of calcium phosphate on phosphorylated chitin fibres

Calcium phosphate growth on chitin phosphorylated fibres was studied using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM, EDX), micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and solid state magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) techniques. The C6 chemical shift positions of 13C MAS NMR in the chitin fibres phosphorylated using urea and H3PO4 are obvious indicating that phosphorylation takes place not in the C1 but in the C6 region. Micro-FTIR and 31P MAS NMR suggested that ammonium hydrogen phosphate formed during the phosphorylation procedure. Chitin fibres phosphorylated using urea and H3PO4 and then soaked in saturated Ca(OH)2 solution at ambient temperature, which lead to the formation of thin coatings formed by partial hydrolysis of the PO4 functionalities, were found to stimulate the growth of a calcium phosphate coating on their surfaces after soaking in 1.5×SBF solution for as little as one day. The thin layer after Ca(OH)2 treatment functioned as a nucleation layer for further calcium phosphate deposition after soaking in 1.5×SBF solution. EDX-measured Ca : P ratios of the coatings of Ca(OH)2-treated phosphorylated chitin in 1.5×SBF solution suggested that calcium-deficient apatite was formed.     

ℋ∞control in discrete time: state feedback control and norm bounds

?_∞norm bounds are useful in control design for disturbance rejection. For discrete systems, ?_∞norm optimizing controls can be characterized via the solution of the Discrete Algebraic Riccati Equation, (DARE). In addition, the DARE can be used to characterize controls that guarantee a uniform ?_∞norm bound. In this paper we identify an entire class of state feedback controls that guarantee an ?_∞norm bound, and provide new lower bounds for the ?_∞norm of stable systems, as well as for the best achievable ?_∞norm using state feedback controls.     

Compositional Analysis of Oil Samples Implicated in the Spanish Toxic Oil Syndrome

A selected group of 195 oils from the Spanish “Toxic Oil” Syndrome (TOS) epidemic including 29 high-probability “case” and 64 “control” oils were examined to investigate the relationship between oil composition and the risk of TOS. As indicated by fatty acid and sterol patterns, the presence of rapeseed oil was significantly more prevalent in the case than in the control oils, but fatty acid anilides were the most useful markers of case-related samples. Anilides were detected in 62% of case oils and at lower concentrations in 23% of the control samples. The ratios of individual anilides were quite constant in these oils and most consistent with their formation in the original (undiluted) rapeseed oil.     

Enhancement of Fruit Sensory Quality by Post-Harvest Applications of Acetaldehyde and Ethanol

Post-harvest application of acetaldehyde vapors to blueberries, tomatoes, and pears led to the enhancement of the fruit sensory quality including an increase in the sugar content, sugar-acid ratio, and flavor changes judged to be acceptable by test panels. Applied ethanol vapors led to similar but limited enhancement of fruit sensory quality. Comparative applications of ethylene were more effective in stimulating changes in the background color, including an increase in the total carotenoid content in tomato and anthocyanines in blueberry. Ethylene, however, had little or no effect, and occasionally led to deleterious changes in the fruit sensory quality. Acetaldehyde and related volatiles may be important in the development of fruit sensory quality, as occurring normally during ripening, or as a post-harvest application for the improvement of fruit sensory quality.     

Optimization of Fermentation Parameters for the Production of Concentrated Starters from Nonbitter Streptococcus lacti INIA 12

Streptococcus lactis INIA 12, a selected nonbitter strain, reached its maximum counts and its highest lactic acid production in a culture medium containing 125 g/L skim milk powder, fortified with 5 g/L yeast extract and digested with 10 ppm papain for 20 min at 65°C. Lactose added to the medium did not enhance growth rate or biomass production. A growth temperature of 32°C and the maintenance of pH at 6.80, with 10N NaOH as the neutralizer, were the optimum fermentation parameters in batch cultures. In ten 40-L fermentations carried out at 32°C and pH 6.80, with a 5% inoculum, a 0.2 kg/cm² nitrogen head space pressure and a stirring rate of 80 rpm, maximum counts of S. lactis (10¹⁰ CFU/mL) were reached after incubation for 6 hr at 32°C and pH 6.80.     

Similarity in DTOL and related problems†

Deterministic Informationless Lindenmayer Sytems with Tables (DTOL) aro systems introduced for the mathematical modelling of the development of Filainontoita organisms under changing environmental conditions. The sequence equivalence problem for DTOL, i.e. the problem of determining whether the sequences of organisms produced by two given DTOL are equal, is open in the general case. We introduce hero a weaker notion of equivalence between DTOL, to be called similarity, and prove its decidability. We also prove the decidability of the original sequence-equivalence problem for some particular cases.     

ADAPTIVE LOGIC SYNTHESIS BY FERROELECTRIC SPIKING NEURON CIRCUITS

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a complete formalism for adaptive logic synthesis using spiking neurons. The fundamental paradigm of the spiking neuron in discrete time is modified to create a taxonomy of all Boolean functions. The model is based in an extended version of the Integrate-and-Fire model using a Ferroelectric capacitors as basic units in the model. The realization of logic components such as flip flops, counters and shift registers synthesized with the Spiking FeNeuron are demonstrated. The library of logic functions allow for self-adaptive hardware synthesis and can be used for an automatic microcode generation.