Optimal linear approximation in project compression

When the cost of reducing the duration of activities is convex and nonlinear, it may be advisable (to reduce the computing burden) to seek a “satisficing” answer, in which the project is compressed to a desired completion time with a prespecified tolerable relative error. We treat the problem of constructing the optimal first degree interpolating linear spline that guarantees such maximal error and consider various possible refinements.     

Strays-insensitive switched-capacitor filters based on bilinear Z-transform

Biquadratic circuits are introduced which enable the exact design of switched-capacitor filters using the bilinear z-transform. The resulting filters are completely insensitive to stray capacitances, and meet their specifications up to and including one-half the sampling frequency.     

Computer simulation for a solar heating system

In this paper a simulation model for a basic solar heating system which is suitable for control and optimization studies is developed. A model for flat plate solar collectors using fluids for the heat transfer which allows the analysis of operation in great detail is presented. The simulation model for the solar collectors has also the characteristic that its inputs and outputs are quantities which are easily measurable in the real world. The effect of temperature stratification in the heat storage device model is considered by simulating two storage chambers of variable volume. The heat storage model requires relatively small time increments, a requirement which is not as stringent as that for the solar collectors. The tank's model primary variables are the easily measurable quantities of temperature and flow rates with the addition of volume as an internal variable. Weather, load and control modeling is also presented. The gradient search method is then applied to study optimal sizing of solar heating components of The University of Toledo solar house.     

The coefficient of performance for a solar absorption dual cycle

The traditional definition of the coefficient of performance (COP) can create misleading results because this definition does not define the heat input base to be used for estimating the COP. Furthermore, such one-dimensional definitions do not consider other important factors which may affect the system selection.

A new selection criterion for a solar powered dual absorption system will be presented in this paper. The dual cycle, which has the advantage of not using a cooling tower, has often been ignored because of the misleading definition of the COP.

The present paper also describes a lithium bromide dual absorption cycle.     

A Heat Pump Driven Optimal Heating System

Optimizing a heat pump driven forced-air domestic heating system utilizing solar/thermal energy storage and off-peak storage from the electric power network is discussed. The system proposed is modeled and simulated on the digital computer. An optimal controller is then developed to maximize comfort and minimize conventional energy consumption. The controller is then simulated with the heating system for the University of Toledo experimental electric/solar house, Toledo, OH, and shown to be truly optimal and able to control the system in a desirable manner.     

Antioxidant properties of various solvent extracts of potato peel,sugar beet pulp and sesame cake

BACKGROUND: Growing interest in the replacement of synthetic food antioxidants by natural ones has fostered research on vegetable sources and screening of raw materials to identify new antioxidants. The food‐processing industry generates substantial quantities of phenolic‐rich by‐products that could be valuable natural sources of antioxidants. In this study the antioxidant properties and total phenolic, flavonoid and flavonol contents of three industrial by‐products, sugar beet pulp, sesame cake and potato peel, extracted with various solvents were examined. Since different antioxidant compounds have different mechanisms of action, several methods were used to assess the antioxidant efficacy of extracts. RESULTS: Among the six solvents tested, methanol gave the highest extract yield of potato peel and sugar beet pulp, while diethyl ether gave the highest extract yield of sesame cake. Methanol exhibited the highest extraction ability for phenolic compounds, with total phenolics amounting to 2.91, 1.79 and 0.81 mg gallic acid equivalent g^?1 dry weight in potato peel, sugar beet pulp and sesame cake extracts respectively, and also showed the strongest antioxidant capacity in the three assays used. All three methods proved that potato peel extract had the highest antioxidant activity owing to its high content of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. CONCLUSION: On the basis of the results obtained, potato peel, sugar beet pulp and sesame cake extracts could serve as natural antioxidants owing to their significant antioxidant activity. Therefore they could be used as preservative ingredients in the food and/or pharmaceutical industries. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Optical Nanoscale Pool‐on‐Surface Design for Control Sensing Recognition of Multiple Cations

General design of optical chemical nanosensors is needed to develop efficient sensing systems with high flexibility, and low capital cost for control recognition of toxic analytes. Here, we designed optical chemical nanosensors for simple, high‐speed detection of multiple toxic metal ions. The systematic design of the nanosensors was based on densely patterned chromophores with intrinsic mobility, namely, “building‐blocks” onto three‐dimensional (3D) nanoscale structures. The ability to precisely modify the nanoscale pore surfaces by using a broad range of chromophores that have different molecular sizes and characteristics enables detection of multiple toxic ions. A key feature of this building‐blocks design strategy is that the surface functionality and good adsorption characteristics of the fabricated nanosensor arrays enabled the development of “pool‐on‐surface” sensing systems in which high flux of the metal analytes across the probe molecules was achieved without significant kinetic hindrance. Such a sensing design enabled sensitive recognition of metal ions up to sub‐picomolar detection limits (～10^?11 mol dm^?3), for first time, with rapid response time within few seconds. Moreover, because these sensing pools exhibited long‐term stability, reversibility and selectivity in detecting most pollutant cations, for example, Cr(VI), Pb(II), Co(II), and Pd(II) ions, they are practical and inexpensive. The key result in our study is that the pool‐on‐surface design for optical nanosensors exhibited significant ion‐selective ability of these target ions from environmental samples and waste disposals.     

Update on optimized purification and characterization of natural milk allergens

Highly purified allergens namely cow's milk alpha-lactalbumin (ALA). (Bos d 4), beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) (Bos d 5) and casein (Bos d 8) and goat's milk casein were prepared from the raw milk from a single animal with a known genetic background. Consequently the natural isoforms are limited, constant and characterized. Purification included selective precipitations and chromatographical steps. Characterization of structure and allergenic activity assessment of milk allergens were carried out using physicochemical and immunochemical methods. Taken together data demonstrated the absence of impurities and of contamination by other milk allergens in each preparation. NMR and circular dichroism analyses confirmed the native conformation and proper folding of ALA and BLG and the expected absence of folding of bovine and caprine casein. Enzyme immuno assays confirmed the native conformation of BLG and the purity and immunoreactivity of all the proteins. The allergenic activity, e. g. the IgE binding capacity, of purified proteins was identical as that of those proteins when present in milk. The purified proteins also demonstrated the ability to provoke the degranulation of humanized rat basophilic leukaemia cells. All the data thus confirm the purity, identity, structural conformation and functionality of the prepared milk allergens.     

Dihydrofolate Reductase Thermosensitive (ts-dfrA) Mutant Induces Dihydrofolate Overproduction by Lactobacillus plantarum

Dihydrofolate (dihydrofolic acid, vitamin B9) is one of the principle reduced forms of folates, which is converted to tetrahydrofolate by dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). The aim of the present study was to overproduce total folate by inducing accumulation of dihydrofolate (DHF) due to inhibition of DHFR in a thermosensitive mutant (TS) of Lactobacillus plantarum. This mutant (TS34) was obtained by UV-mutagenesis of L. plantarum wild-type parent strain (HMA07) isolated from fermented sausage. The mutant TS34 was characterized by its ability to grow at 30°C but not at 40°C. Strain HMA07 and its mutant TS34 were identified by determining partial sequence of 16S rRNA gene. A single C→T exchange in the dfrA (dihydrofolate reductase gene) at nucleotide 184 was detected. This exchange led to the conversion of leucine (L) to phenylalanine (F) at the position 62 in amino acid sequence (L62F transition). TS43 showed significant (p < 0.05) reduction in DHFR activity from 1.51 to 0.06 Unit/mg protein, resulting in increasing DHF amount at the expense of THF. Accordingly, total folate production by the mutant TS34 (in two-stage fermentation process with temperature shift-up from 30°C to 40°C) increased by three-fold compared with the parental strain HMA07. In conclusion, thermosensitive mutation in dfrA caused inhibition of DHFR and resulted in accumulation of DHF. The technique described here could be considered as novel strategy for overproduction of DHF in two-stage fermentation process.     

Pollutant emissions from gasoline combustion. 1. Dependence on fuel structural functionalities

To study the formation of air pollutants and soot precursors (e.g., acetylene, 1,3-butadiene, benzene, and higher aromatics) from aliphatic and aromatic fractions of gasoline fuels, the Utah Surrogate Mechanisms is extended to include submechanisms of gasoline surrogate compounds using a set of mechanism generation techniques. The mechanism yields very good predictions of species concentrations in premixed flames of n-heptane, isooctane, benzene, cyclohexane, olefins, oxygenates, and gasoline using a 23-component surrogate formulation. The 1,3-butadiene emission comes mainly from minor fuel fractions of olefins and cyclohexane. The benzene formation potential of gasoline components shows the following trends as functions of (i) chemical class: n-paraffins < isoparaffins < olefins < naphthalenes < alkylbenzenes < cycloparaffins < toluene; (ii) carbon number: n-butane < n-pentane < n-hexane; and (iii) branching: n-hexane < isohexane < 2,2,4-trimethylpentane < 2,2,3,3-tetramethylbutane. In contrast, fuel structure is not the main factor in determining acetylene formation. Therefore, matching the benzene formation potential of the surrogate fuel to that produced by the real fuel should have priority when selecting candidate surrogate components for combustion simulations.