Abstract: Consumers are demanding novel beverages that are
healthier, convenient and have appealing consumer acceptance. The
objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of adding grape
polyphenols and the influence of presenting health claims on the
sensory acceptability of wines. Fresh red sorrel calyces were
fermented into wines. The total soluble solids of the pectinase-treated
sorrel puree were from 4°Brix to 23.8°Brix. Polyphenol in the form
of grape pomace extract was added to sorrel wines (w/v) in specified
levels to give 0. 25. 50 and 75 ppm. A focus group comprising of 12
panelists was use to select the level of polyphenol to be added to
sorrel wines for sensory preference The sensory attributed of the
wines which were evaluated were colour, clarity, aroma, flavor,
mouth-feel, sweetness, astringency and overall preference. The sorrel
wine which was most preferred from focus group evaluation was
presented for hedonic rating. In the first stage of hedonic testing, the
sorrel wine was served chilled at 7°C for 24 h prior to sensory
evaluation. Each panelist was provided with a questionnaire and was
asked to rate the wines on colour, aroma, flavor, mouth-feel,
sweetness, astringency and overall acceptability using a 9-point
hedonic scale. In the second stage of hedonic testing, the panelist
were instructed to read a health abstract on the health benefits of
polyphenolic compounds and again to rate sorrel wine with added 25
ppm polyphenol. Paired t-test was used for the analysis of the
influence of presenting health information on polyphenols on hedonic
scoring of sorrel wines. Focus groups found that the addition of
polyphenol addition had no significant effect on sensory color and
aroma but affected clarity and flavor. A 25 ppm wine was liked
moderately in overall acceptability. The presentation of information
on the health benefit of polyphenols in sorrel wines to panelists had
no significant influence on the sensory acceptance of wine. More
than half of panelists would drink this wine now and then. This wine
had color L 19.86±0.68, chroma 2.10±0.12, hue° 16.90 ±3.10 and
alcohol content of 13.0%. The sorrel wine was liked moderately in
overall acceptability with the added polyphenols.
Abstract: This paper presents a fully Lagrangian coupled
Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) solver for simulations of
fluid-structure interactions, which is based on the Moving Particle
Semi-implicit (MPS) method to solve the governing equations
corresponding to incompressible flows as well as elastic structures.
The developed solver is verified by reproducing the high velocity
impact loads of deformable thin wedges with three different materials
such as mild steel, aluminium and tin during water entry. The present
simulation results for aluminium are compared with analytical solution
derived from the hydrodynamic Wagner model and linear Wan’s
theory. And also, the impact pressure and strain on the water entry
wedge with three different materials, such as mild steel, aluminium
and tin, are simulated and the effects of hydro-elasticity are discussed.
Abstract: The nickel-manganese (Ni-Mn) alloy coating prepared
from DC electrodeposition process in sulphamate bath was studied.
The effects of process parameters, such as current density and
electrolyte composition, on the cathodic current efficiency,
microstructure, internal stress and mechanical properties were
investigated. Because of its crucial effect on the application to the
electroforming of microelectronic components, the development of
low internal stress coating with high leveling power was emphasized.
It was found that both the coating’s manganese content and the
cathodic current efficiency increased with the raise in current density.
In addition, the internal stress of the deposited coating showed
compressive nature at low current densities while changed to tensile
one at higher current densities. Moreover, the metallographic
observation, X-ray diffraction measurement, and polarization curve
measurement were conducted. It was found that the Ni-Mn coating
consisted of nano-sized columnar grains and the maximum hardness of
the coating was associated with (111) preferred orientation in the
microstructure. The grain size was refined along with the increase in
the manganese content of the coating, which accordingly, raised its
hardness and resistance to annealing softening. In summary, the
Ni-Mn coating prepared at lower current density of 1-2 A/dm2 had low
internal stress, high leveling power, and better corrosion resistance.
Abstract: This study aims to investigate the mixing behaviors of
deionized (DI) water and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) solutions in
C-shaped serpentine micromixers over a wide range of flow
conditions. The flow of CMC solutions exhibits shear-thinning
behaviors. Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the
effects of the mean flow speed, fluid properties and geometry
parameters on flow and mixing in the micromixers with the serpentine
channel of the same overall channel length. From the results, we can
find the following trends. When convection dominates fluid mixing,
the curvature-induced vortices enhance fluid mixing effectively. The
mixing efficiency of a micromixer consisting of semicircular C-shaped
repeating units with a smaller centerline radius is better than that of a
micromixer consisting of major segment repeating units with a larger
centerline radius. The viscosity of DI water is less than the overall
average apparent viscosity of CMC solutions, and so the effect of
curvature-induced vortices on fluid mixing in DI water is larger than
that in CMC solutions for the cases with the same mean flow speed.
Abstract: This study integrates a larger research empirical
project that examines second language (SL) learners’ profiles and
valid procedures to perform complete and diagnostic assessment in
schools. 102 learners of Portuguese as a SL aged 7 and 17 years
speakers of distinct home languages were assessed in several
linguistic tasks. In this article, we focused on writing performance in
the specific task of narrative essay composition. The written outputs
were measured using the score in six components adapted from an
English SL assessment context (Alberta Education): linguistic
vocabulary, grammar, syntax, strategy, socio-linguistic, and
discourse. The writing processes and strategies in Portuguese
language used by different immigrant students were analysed to
determine features and diversity of deficits on authentic texts
performed by SL writers. Differentiated performance was based on
the diversity of the following variables: grades, previous schooling,
home language, instruction in first language, and exposure to
Portuguese as Second Language. Indo-Aryan languages speakers
showed low writing scores compared to their peers and the type of
language and respective cognitive mapping (such as Mandarin and
Arabic) was the predictor, not linguistic distance. Home language
instruction should also be prominently considered in further research
to understand specificities of cognitive academic profile in a
Romance languages learning context. Additionally, this study also
examined the teachers’ representations that will be here addressed to
understand educational implications of second language teaching in
psychological distress of different minorities in schools of specific
host countries.
Abstract: Conductivity properties of DNA molecule is
investigated in a simple, but chemically specific approach that is
intimately related to the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model. This
model is a tight-binding linear nanoscale chain. We have tried to
study the electrical current flowing in DNA and investigated the
characteristic I-V diagram. As a result, It is shown that there are the
(quasi-) ohmic areas in I-V diagram. On the other hand, the regions
with a negative differential resistance (NDR) are detectable in
diagram.
Abstract: Standard Gibbs energy of formation ΔGfor(298.15) of
lanthanide-iron double oxides of garnet-type crystal structure
R3Fe5O12 - RIG (R – are rare earth ions) from initial oxides are
evaluated. The calculation is based on the data of standard entropies
S298.15 and standard enthalpies ΔH298.15 of formation of compounds
which are involved in the process of garnets synthesis. Gibbs energy
of formation is presented as temperature function ΔGfor(T) for the
range 300-1600K. The necessary starting thermodynamic data were
obtained from calorimetric study of heat capacity – temperature
functions and by using the semi-empirical method for calculation of
ΔH298.15 of formation. Thermodynamic functions for standard
temperature – enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs energy - are
recommended as reference data for technological evaluations.
Through the structural series of rare earth-iron garnets the correlation
between thermodynamic properties and characteristics of lanthanide
ions are elucidated.
Abstract: New environmental regulations and the increasing
market preference for companies that respect the ecosystem had
encouraged the industry to look after new treatments for its effluents.
The sugar industry, one of the largest emitter of environmental
pollutants, follows this tendency. Membrane technology is
convenient for separation of suspended solids, colloids and high
molecular weight materials that are present in a wastewater from
sugar industry. The idea is to microfilter the wastewater, where the
permeate passes through the membrane and becomes available for
recycle and re-use in the sugar manufacturing process. For
microfiltration of this effluent a tubular ceramic membrane was used
with a pore size of 200 nm at transmembrane pressure in range of 1–3
bars and in range of flow rate of 50–150 l/h. Kenics static mixer was
used for permeate flux enhancement. Turbidity and suspended solids
were removed and the permeate flux was continuously monitored
during the microfiltration process. The flux achieved after 90 minutes
of microfiltration was in a range of 50–70 l/m2h. The obtained
turbidity decrease was in the range of 50-99 % and total amount of
suspended solids was removed.
Abstract: Industries produce millions of cubic meters of effluent
every year and the wastewater produced may be released into the
surrounding water bodies, treated on-site or at municipal treatment
plants. The determination of organic matter in the wastewater
generated is very important to avoid any negative effect on the
aquatic ecosystem. The scope of the present work is to assess the
physicochemical composition of the wastewater produced from one
of the brewery industry in South Africa. This is to estimate the
environmental impact of its discharge into the receiving water bodies
or the municipal treatment plant. The parameters monitored for the
quantitative analysis of brewery wastewater include biological
oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total
suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, ammonia, total oxidized
nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, phosphorus and alkalinity content. In
average, the COD concentration of the brewery effluent was 5340.97
mg/l with average pH values of 4.0 to 6.7. The BOD5 and the solids
content of the wastewater from the brewery industry were high. This
means that the effluent is very rich in organic content and its
discharge into the water bodies or the municipal treatment plant could
cause environmental pollution or damage the treatment plant. In
addition, there were variations in the wastewater composition
throughout the monitoring period. This might be as a result of
different activities that take place during the production process, as
well as the effects of peak period of beer production on the water
usage.
Abstract: The influence of physicochemical water quality
parameters on the abundance and diversity of caddisfly larvae was
studied in seven sampling stations in Mae Tao and Mae Ku
watersheds, Mae Sot District, Tak Province, northern Thailand. The
streams: MK2 and MK8 as reference site, and impacted streams
(MT1-MT5) were sampled bi-monthly during July 2011 to May
2012. A total of 4,584 individual of caddisfly larvae belonging to 10
family and 17 genera were found. The larvae of family
Hydropsychidae were the most abundance, followed by
Philopotamidae, Odontoceridae, and Leptoceridae, respectively. The
genus Cheumatopsyche, Hydropsyche, and Chimarra were the most
abundance genera in this study. Results of CCA ordination showed
the total dissolved solids, sulfate, water temperature, dissolved
oxygen and pH were the most important physicochemical factors to
affect distribution of caddisflies communities. Changes in the
caddisfly fauna may indicate changes in physicochemical factors
owing to agricultural pollution, urbanization, or other human
activities. Results revealed that the order Trichoptera, identified to
species or genus, can be potentially used to assess environmental
water quality status in freshwater ecosystems.
Abstract: In order to help the expert to validate association rules
extracted from data, some quality measures are proposed in the
literature. We distinguish two categories: objective and subjective
measures. The first one depends on a fixed threshold and on data
quality from which the rules are extracted. The second one consists
on providing to the expert some tools in the objective to explore and
visualize rules during the evaluation step. However, the number of
extracted rules to validate remains high. Thus, the manually mining
rules task is very hard. To solve this problem, we propose, in this
paper, a semi-automatic method to assist the expert during the
association rule's validation. Our method uses rule-based
classification as follow: (i) We transform association rules into
classification rules (classifiers), (ii) We use the generated classifiers
for data classification. (iii) We visualize association rules with their
quality classification to give an idea to the expert and to assist him
during validation process.
Abstract: Coal tar is a liquid by-product of coal pyrolysis
processes. This liquid oil mixture contains various kinds of useful
compounds such as benzoic aromatic compounds and phenolic
compounds. These compounds are widely used as raw material for
insecticides, dyes, medicines, perfumes, coloring matters, and many
others. The coal tar was collected by pyrolysis process of coal
obtained from PT Kaltim Prima Coal and Arutmin-Kalimantan. The
experiments typically occurred at the atmospheric pressure in a
laboratory furnace at temperatures ranging from 300 to 550oC with a
heating rate of 10oC/min and a holding time of 1 hour at the pyrolysis
temperature. The Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS)
was used to analyze the coal tar components. The obtained coal tar
has the viscosity of 3.12 cp, the density of 2.78 g/cm3, the calorific
value of 11,048.44 cal/g, and the molecular weight of 222.67. The
analysis result showed that the coal tar contained more than 78
chemical compounds such as benzene, cresol, phenol, xylene,
naphtalene, etc. The total phenolic compounds contained in coal tar
are 33.25% (PT KPC) and 17.58% (Arutmin-Kalimantan). The total
naphtalene compounds contained in coal tar is 14.15% (PT KPC) and
17.13% (Arutmin-Kalimantan).
Abstract: The development of transport systems has negative
impacts on the environment although it has beneficial effects on
society. The car policy caused many problems such as: - the
spectacular growth of fuel consumption hence the very vast increase
in urban pollution, traffic congestion in certain places and at certain
times, the increase in the number of accidents. The exhaust emissions
from cars and weather conditions are the main factors that determine
the level of pollution in urban atmosphere. These conditions lead to
the phenomenon of heat transfer and radiation occurring between the
air and the soil surface of any town. These exchanges give rise, in
urban areas, to the effects of heat islands that correspond to the
appearance of excess air temperature between the city and its
surrounding space. In this object, we perform a numerical simulation
of the plume generated by the cars exhaust gases and show that these
gases form a screening effect above the urban city which cause the
heat island in the presence of wind flow. This study allows us: 1. To
understand the different mechanisms of interactions between these
phenomena.2. To consider appropriate technical solutions to mitigate
the effects of the heat island.
Abstract: Synthesis of gold nanoparticles has attracted much
attention since the pioneering discovery of the high catalytic activity
of supported gold nanoparticles in the reaction of CO oxidation at
low temperature. In this research field, we used Na-montmorillonite
for gold nanoparticles stabilization; various gold loading percentage
1, 2 and 5% were used for gold nanoparticles preparation. The gold
nanoparticles were obtained using chemical reduction method using
NaBH4 as reductant agent. The obtained gold nanoparticles stabilized
in Na-montmorillonite were used as catalysts for the reduction of 4-
nitrophenol to aminophenol with sodium borohydride at room
temperature. The UV-Vis results confirmed directly the gold
nanoparticles formation. The XRD and N2 adsorption results showed
the formation of gold nanoparticles in the pores of montmorillonite
with an average size of 5 nm obtained on samples with 2% gold
loading percentage. The gold particles size increased with the
increase of gold loading percentage. The reduction reaction of 4-
nitrophenol into 4-aminophenol with NaBH4 catalyzed by Au-Namontmorillonite
catalyst exhibits remarkably a high activity; the
reaction was completed within 9 min for 1%Au-Na-montmorillonite
and within 3 min for 2%Au-Na-montmorillonite.
Abstract: In this communication, a low-cost circularly
polarized wire antenna exhibiting improved gain performance for
Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle
(V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications is
presented. The proposed antenna comprises a Y-shaped quarterwavelength
monopole antenna surrounded by two iterations of eight
conductive arched walls acting as parasitic elements to enhance the
overall antenna gain and to shape the radiation pattern in the H-plane.
A hemispherical radome shell is added to protect the antenna
structure and its effect on the antenna performance is discussed. The
designed antenna demonstrates antenna gain of 8.2 dB with
omnidirectional far-field radiation pattern in the H-plane. The gain of
the proposed antenna is also compared with the characteristic of the
stand-alone Y-shaped monopole to highlight the advantages of the
proposed approach.
Abstract: This study analyzes the critical gaps in the
architecture of European stability and the expected role of the
banking union as the new important step towards completing the
Economic and Monetary Union that should enable the creation of
safe and sound financial sector for the euro area market. The single
rulebook together with the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the
Single Resolution Mechanism - as two main pillars of the banking
union, should provide a consistent application of common rules and
administrative standards for supervision, recovery and resolution of
banks – with the final aim of replacing the former bail-out practice
with the bail-in system through which possible future bank failures
would be resolved by their own funds, i.e. with minimal costs for
taxpayers and real economy. In this way, the vicious circle between
banks and sovereigns would be broken. It would also reduce the
financial fragmentation recorded in the years of crisis as the result of
divergent behaviors in risk premium, lending activities and interest
rates between the core and the periphery. In addition, it should
strengthen the effectiveness of monetary transmission channels, in
particular the credit channels and overflows of liquidity on the money
market which, due to the fragmentation of the common financial
market, has been significantly disabled in period of crisis. However,
contrary to all the positive expectations related to the future
functioning of the banking union, major findings of this study
indicate that characteristics of the economic system in which the
banking union will operate should not be ignored. The euro area is an
integration of strong and weak entities with large differences in
economic development, wealth, assets of banking systems, growth
rates and accountability of fiscal policy. The analysis indicates that
low and unbalanced economic growth remains a challenge for the
maintenance of financial stability and this problem cannot be
resolved just by a single supervision. In many countries bank assets
exceed their GDP by several times and large banks are still a matter
of concern, because of their systemic importance for individual
countries and the euro zone as a whole. The creation of the Single
Supervisory Mechanism and the Single Resolution Mechanism is a
response to the European crisis, which has particularly affected
peripheral countries and caused the associated loop between the
banking crisis and the sovereign debt crisis, but has also influenced
banks’ balance sheets in the core countries, as the result of crossborder
capital flows. The creation of the SSM and the SRM should
prevent the similar episodes to happen again and should also provide
a new opportunity for strengthening of economic and financial
systems of the peripheral countries. On the other hand, there is a
potential threat that future focus of the ECB, resolution mechanism
and other relevant institutions will be extremely oriented towards
large and significant banks (whereby one half of them operate in the
core and most important euro area countries), and therefore it remains
questionable to what extent will the common resolution funds will be used for rescue of less important institutions. Recent geopolitical
developments will be the optimal indicator to show whether the
previously established mechanisms are sufficient enough to maintain
the adequate financial stability in the euro area market.
Abstract: This paper presents the results obtained by numerical
simulation using the software ANSYS CFX-CFD for the air
pollutants dispersion in the atmosphere coming from the evacuation
of combustion gases resulting from the fuel combustion in an electric
thermal power plant. The model uses the Navier-Stokes equation to
simulate the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere. It is
considered as important factors in elaboration of simulation the
atmospheric conditions (pressure, temperature, wind speed, wind
direction), the exhaust velocity of the combustion gases, chimney
height and the obstacles (buildings). Using the air quality monitoring
stations it is measured the concentrations of main pollutants (SO2,
NOx and PM). The pollutants were monitored over a period of 3
months, after that the average concentration are calculated, which is
used by the software. The concentrations are: 8.915 μg/m3 (NOx),
9.587 μg/m3 (SO2) and 42 μg/m3 (PM). A comparison of test data
with simulation results demonstrated that CFX was able to describe
the dispersion of the pollutant as well the concentration of this
pollutants in the atmosphere.
Abstract: A lower consumption of thermal energy will
contribute not only to a reduction in the running costs, but also in the
reduction of pollutant emissions that contribute to the greenhouse
effect. Cogeneration or CHP (Combined Heat and Power) is the
system that produces power and usable heat simultaneously by
decreasing the pollutant emissions and increasing the efficiency.
Combined production of mechanical or electrical and thermal energy
using a simple energy source, such as oil, coal, natural or liquefied
gas, biomass or the sun; affords remarkable energy savings and
frequently makes it possible to operate with greater efficiency when
compared to a system producing heat and power separately. This
study aims to bring out the contributions of cogeneration systems to
the environment and sustainability by saving the energy and reducing
the emissions. In this way we made a comprehensive investigation in
the literature by focusing on the environmental aspects of the
cogeneration systems. In the light of these studies we reached that,
cogeneration systems must be consider in sustainability and their
benefits on protecting the ecology must be investigated.
Abstract: A novel chromium-free protective coating films based
on a zeolite coating was growing onto a FeCrAlloy metal using in –
situ hydrothermal method. The zeolite film was obtained using in-situ
crystallization process that is capable of coating large surfaces with
complex shape and in confined spaces has been developed. The
zeolite coating offers an advantage of a high mechanical stability and
thermal stability. The physicochemical properties were investigated
using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy
Dispersive X–ray Analysis (EDX) and Thermogravimetric Analysis
(TGA). The transition from oxide-on-alloy wires to hydrothermally
synthesised uniformly zeolite coated surfaces was followed using
SEM and XRD. In addition, the robustness of the prepared coating
was confirmed by subjecting these to thermal cycling (ambient to
550oC).
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to make an approach to
the Security Studies, exposing their theories and concepts to
understand the role that they have had in the interpretation of the
changes and continuities of the world order and their impact on
policies in facing the problems of the 21st century. The aim is to
build a bridge between the security studies as a subfield and the
meaning that has been given to the world order. The idea of epistemic
communities serves as a methodological proposal for the different
programs of research in security studies, showing their influence in
the realities of States, intergovernmental organizations and
transnational forces, moving to implement, perpetuate and project a
vision of the world order.