Development of low-alcohol isotonic beer by interrupted fermentation

Alcohol-free beer with isotonic properties is getting more popular and its production can be carried out by different production strategies; however, interrupted fermentation is still a challenge. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a low-alcohol isotonic beer (<0.5% v/v) by interrupted fermentation. Moreover, the major objective is to compare the developed product to commercial beverages (sports drinks, ‘Pilsen' regular beer, alcohol-free beers and low-alcohol isotonic beer). The beverages were evaluated based on pH, alcohol content (% v/v), total titratable acidity (mEq L⁻¹), osmolality (mOsmol kg⁻¹), bitterness International Bitterness Units, colour European Brewery Convention, total phenolic compounds (mg L⁻¹ gallic acid), reducing and total sugars (%) and Na and K contents (mg L⁻¹). The developed low-alcohol isotonic beer presented characteristics similar to sports drinks, with the advantage of being richer in phenolic compounds and suitable osmolality. Despite salts were added in its formulation, the grades attributed to all beers employed in the sensory evaluation, as well as the purchase intention did not present significant differences.     

Ternary Blends of Renewable Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil,Advanced Bioethanol,and Marine Gasoil as Potential Marine Biofuel

An alternative for reducing emissions from marine fuel is to blend bio-oil from lignocellulose non-edible feedstocks to diesel fossil fuels. Phase diagrams of the ternary systems were built to represent the transition from heterogeneous regions to homogeneous regions. Four homogeneous blends of bio-oil of eucalyptus-bioethanol-marine gasoil were experimentally characterized with respect to the most important fuel parameters for marine engines: water content, flash point, low heating value, viscosity, and acidity. Blends with closer properties to marine gasoil replacement, lower costs, and environmental impacts should be tested for large engines.     

Dispersion-relation-preserving FDTD algorithms for large-scale three-dimensional problems

We introduce dispersion-relation-preserving (DRP) algorithms to minimize the numerical dispersion error in large-scale three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. The dispersion error is first expanded in spherical harmonics in terms of the propagation angle and the leading order terms of the series are made equal to zero. Frequency-dependent FDTD coefficients are then obtained and subsequently expanded in a polynomial (Taylor) series in the frequency variable. An inverse Fourier transformation is used to allow for the incorporation of the new coefficients into the FDTD updates. Butterworth or Chebyshev filters are subsequently employed to fine-tune the FDTD coefficients for a given narrowband or broadband range of frequencies of interest. Numerical results are used to compare the proposed 3D DRP-FDTD schemes against traditional high-order FDTD schemes.     

Fetal alcohol syndrome in twins of alcoholic mothers: concordance of diagnosis and IQ

The effects of teratogens can be modified by genetic differences in fetal susceptibility and resistance. Twins of alcoholic mothers provide a unique opportunity to study this phenomenon with respect to alcohol teratogenesis. Sixteen pairs of twins, 5 MZ and 11 DZ, all heavily exposed to alcohol prenatally, were evaluated. They represented all available twins of alcohol-abusing mothers who were on the patient rolls of the authors. The rate of concordance for diagnosis was 5/5 for MZ and 7/11 for DZ twins. In two DZ pairs, one twin had fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), while the other had fetal alcohol effects (FAE). In 2 other DZ pairs, one twin had no diagnosis while one had FAE. IQ scores were most similar within pairs of MZ twins and least similar within pairs of DZ twins discordant for diagnosis. Despite equivalent alcohol exposure within twin pairs, alcohol teratogenesis appears to be more uniformly expressed in MZ than in DZ twins. These data are interpreted as reflecting the modulating influence of genes in the expression of the teratogenic effects of alcohol.     

Partial congenital defect of the left pericardium: angiographic diagnosis and treatment by thoracoscopic pericardiectomy: case report

Twenty-six patients with an intracardiac myxoma underwent surgical resection at our institution from 1977 through 1992. Left atrial myxoma was diagnosed in 22 patients, left ventricular in 1, right atrial in 2, and right ventricular in 1. Six patients were asymptomatic; preoperative symptoms included dyspnea, arrhythmias, embolic episodes, and syncope. The diagnosis was established with transthoracic echocardiography in all cases but one. Surgery was performed in all cases with the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass with moderate hypothermia and cold crystalloid cardioplegia. One patient with a left ventricular myxoma died in a comatose state during the immediate postoperative period. Long-term clinical and echocardiographic evaluation was performed in 19 patients; results were excellent (all the patients were in New York Heart Association functional class I or II), and no recurrences were documented. The clinical characteristics, diagnostic methods, and surgical approach are presented and discussed.     

Finite-difference time-domain simulation of scattering from objectsin continuous random media

A three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) scheme is introduced to model the scattering from objects in continuous random media. FDTD techniques have been previously applied to scattering from random rough surfaces and randomly placed objects in a homogeneous background, but little has been done to simulate continuous random media with embedded objects where volumetric scattering effects are important. In this work, Monte Carlo analysis is used in conjunction with FDTD to study the scattering from perfectly electrically conducting (PEC) objects embedded in continuous random media. The random medium models under consideration are chosen to be inhomogeneous soils with a spatially fluctuating random permittivities and prescribed correlation functions. The ability of frequency averaging techniques to discriminate objects in this scenarion is also briefly investigated. The simulation scheme described in this work can be adapted and used to help in interpreting the scattered field data from targets in random environments such as geophysical media, biological media, or atmospheric turbulence     

An iterative ADI-FDTD with reduced splitting error

We present a new iterative alternating-direction-implicit finite-difference time-domain (ADI-FDTD) method. By recognizing the ADI-FDTD method as a special case of a more general iterative approach to solve the Crank-Nicolson (CN) FDTD scheme, the splitting error in ADI-FDTD can be reduced systematically. Numerical examples are used to illustrate the improved accuracy of this method.