Catalytic reduction of N2O with CH4 and C3H6 over Ag–Rh/Al2O3 bimetallic catalyst in the presence of oxygen

A study of nitrous oxide (N₂O) reduction with methane (CH₄) and propene (C₃H₆) in the presence of oxygen (5%) over Ag/Al₂O₃, Rh/Al₂O₃ and Ag–Rh/Al₂O₃ catalysts, with Ag and Rh loadings of 5 wt% and 0.05 wt% respectively, has been performed. From the results, it was observed that the Ag–Rh bimetallic catalyst was the most active for both nitrous oxide removal (more than 95%) and hydrocarbon oxidation. This high activity seems to be connected with a synergistic effect between Ag and Rh. The findings from X‐ray diffraction and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies showed also, that there were no strong interactions (eg alloying) between Ag and Rh. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Single-channel demodulator and Hartley transform in MRI

A single-channel alternative detection system for magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy experiments is presented. After the phase error identification, which is realized through a simple method, one can correct the reconstructed image and discriminate between positive and negative frequencies without any loss of the S/N ratio. Since there is only one channel, that is a real signal, it is possible to use the Hartley instead of the Fourier transform. The former is faster and requires less storage memory.     

Systematic analysis of the operational response of activated sludge process to variable wastewater flows. A case study

Flow perturbation due to inflow of water (mainly rain water) and loss of wastewater from the pipes of a sewage network is a widely recognized phenomenon in the operation of sewage transfer systems. The most apparent result is the variability of wastewater flow in the input of the subsequent wastewater treatment facilities, which affects several operational parameters including the sedimentation processes and the biological activity. As part of an overall effort for the upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant of Ioannina (Greece) a 3-year study was undertaken to investigate the effect of wastewater flow fluctuation on the performance of the treatment process. In either case (water infiltration or wastewater evaporation) a decrease in the process performance was observed due to decrease in the hydraulic or solids retention time or due to the elevated feed concentration caused by the reduced flow, respectively. Handling these problems through control of the return activated sludge flow was not found to be totally adequate for all operating conditions, thus indicating the need for a different perspective in the design procedures in order to meet with the legislative mandated effluent limits. Electronic Publication     

Improved methodologies for the calculation of critical eigenvaluesin small signal stability analysis

This paper presents improved and new methodologies for the calculation of critical eigenvalues in the small-signal stability analysis of large electric power systems. They augment the robustness and efficiency of existing methods and provide new alternatives. The procedures are implementations of Newton's method, inverse power and Rayleigh quotient iterations, equipped with implicit deflation, and restarted Arnoldi with a locking mechanism and either shift-invert or semi-complex Cayley preconditioning. The various algorithms are compared and evaluated regarding convergence, performance and applicability     

Aggregation of hsp70 and hsc70 in vivo is distinct and temperature-dependent and their chaperone function is directly related to non-aggregated forms

We used non-denaturing gradient analysis of cell extracts before and after heat treatment of the cells and showed that hsp70 and hsc70 aggregate in vivo in a temperature-dependent fashion. Their aggregation profiles were found to be clearly distinguishable and sensitive to ATP depletion. Pore exclusion limit electrophoresis showed that these two proteins are mainly found in autoaggregated forms including dimers, trimers and oligomers. The addition of denatured luciferase to the cell extracts reversed the aggregation of both proteins towards their non-aggregated forms. Immunoprecipitation and Western-blot analysis showed that the non-aggregated form is the only one bound to denatured luciferase. Our results suggest that aggregated hsp70 and hsc70 represent predominantly self-associated molecules unable to exert chaperone activity. The cochaperone hsp40 was also found to be aggregated and, on addition of denatured luciferase, its aggregation was reversed to a non-aggregated state. Immunoprecipitation analysis indicated that hsp40 forms a complex with the non-aggregated form of hsc70 and denatured luciferase. These results confirm previous in vitro studies and support the suggestion that in vivo cytosolic hsp70 and hsc70 exist mainly in an oligomer-monomer equilibrium which is dependent on the environmental temperature, the levels of ATP and the presence of denatured proteins.     

Loss of viability of Listeria monocytogenes in contaminated processed cheese during storage at 4, 12 and 22 °C

The behaviour of Listeria monocytogenes in a processed cheese product was evaluated over time by inoculating the product with three different L. monocytogenes strains (Scott A, CA and a strain isolated from processed cheese) at three different inoculation levels (ca. 6 × 10⁵, ca. 6 × 10³ and 10² CFU/g of cheese or less) and after storage of the contaminated products at 4, 12 or 22 °C. Growth of L. monocytogenes was not observed in any of the experimental trials (experiments involving different combinations of strain, inoculum level and storage temperature) throughout the storage period. L. monocytogenes populations decreased over time with a rate that was strain- and storage temperature-dependent. Nonetheless, for cheeses that had been inoculated with the higher inoculum and stored at 4 °C viable populations of L. monocytogenes could be detected for up to nine months post-inoculation. The L. monocytogenes survival curves obtained from the different trials were characterised by a post-inoculation phase during which the populations remained essentially unchanged (lag phase) followed by a phase of logarithmic decline. The duration of the lag phase and the rate of inactivation of L. monocytogenes in the different trials were estimated based on data from the linear descending portions of the survival curves. In addition, a non-linear Weibull-type equation was fitted to the data from each survival curve with satisfactory results. The results of the present study emphasize that, according to the definition laid down in the European Union Regulation 1441/2007, the processed cheese product tested in this work should be considered and classified as one that does not support the growth of L. monocytogenes under reasonable foreseeable conditions of distribution and storage. However, post-processing contamination of the product should be austerely avoided as the pathogen can survive in the product for extended periods of time, particularly under refrigerated storage (4 °C).     

Prevalence and concentration of Listeria monocytogenes in sliced ready-to-eat meat products in the Hellenic retail market

The aim of this work was to estimate the prevalence and concentration of Listeria monocytogenes in packaged precut (slices or cubes) ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products available in the Hellenic retail market. Samples of these RTE meat products (n = 209) were taken from local supermarkets during a 3-month period and analyzed for the presence of L. monocytogenes with an automated enzymatic qualitative immunoassay followed by biochemical confirmation of positive results. The concentration of the pathogen in the positive samples was also determined. Seventeen samples (8.1%) were positive for L. monocytogenes. Eight (47.1%) of these 17 samples were from the same manufacturer; 36.4% of the products tested from this manufacturer were positive for L. monocytogenes. When bacon samples were not considered, the estimated prevalence of L. monocytogenes in sliced RTE meat products was much lower (3.1%). The L. monocytogenes populations in all positive samples were low, < or = 10 CFU/g. In 64.7% of the L. monocytogenes-positive samples, other Listeria species, including L. innocua and L. welshimeri, were also present at <10 to 690 CFU/g. These results indicate that L. monocytogenes is present in low numbers but is in a considerable proportion of the packaged precut RTE meat products that are sold in the Hellenic retail market. Cooked ham and bacon cut in cubes were the sample types most often contaminated with L. monocytogenes. The higher level of handling (e.g., cutting) associated with these products may further increase the risk of contamination with L. monocytogenes.     

Block 2-D interpolation, efficient matrix factorization andapplication to signal processing

A block 2-D decomposition and a new block LU matrix factorization based on a Newton approach are presented for solving quickly and efficiently polynomial or exponential 2-D interpolation problems. The sample grids under consideration are described by the product representation {x₀, x₁, . . ., x_n} x{y₀, y ₁, . . ., y_m}, where the x grid and the y-grid are not necessarily uniformly spaced. The attractive features of the method are the inherent efficient parallelism, the reduced computational requirements needed for the LU decomposition, and the capability of implementation of 1-D fast and accurate algorithms. The proposed method can be used for modeling 2-D discrete signals, designing 2-D FIR filters, 2-D Fourier matrix factorization, 2-D DFT, etc     

Lowest mutual coupling between closely spaced loop antennas

The conditions for zeroing the mutual flux between two closely spaced coil antennas are examined. The analysis is expanded to examine the case of multiple linear antenna coils. Array antennas are used in many areas including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Theoretical and experimental results are presented and compared. Good agreement between theory and measurements has been confirmed. A two-dimensional receiving array antenna is proposed