Inter-individual variability in temporal structure of the basketball shoot

This study analyzed inter-individual variability of the temporal structure applied in basketball throwing. Ten experienced male athletes in basketball throwing were filmed and a number of kinematic movement parameters analyzed. A biomechanical model provided the relative timing of the shoulder, elbow and wrist joint movements. Inter-individual variability was analyzed using sequencing and relative timing of tem phases of the throw. To compare the variability of the movement phases between subjects a discriminant analysis and an ANOVA were applied. The Tukey test was applied to determine where differences occurred. The significance level was p = 0.05. Inter-individual variability was explained by three concomitant factors: (a) a precision control strategy, (b) a velocity control strategy and (c) intrinsic characteristics of the subjects. Therefore, despite the fact that some actions are common to the basketball throwing pattern each performed demonstrated particular and individual characteristics.

Fermentation of cellulosic hydrolysates obtained by enzymatic saccharification of sugarcane bagasse pretreated by hydrothermal processing

This work aims to evaluate the fermentability of cellulosic hydrolysates obtained by enzymatic saccharification of sugarcane bagasse pretreated by hydrothermal processing using Candida guilliermondii FTI 20037 yeast. The inoculum was obtained from yeast culture in a medium containing glucose as a carbon source supplemented with rice bran extract, CaCl(2)center dot 2H(2)O and (NH(4))(2)SO(4) in 50 mL Erlenmeyer flasks, containing 20 mL of medium, initial 5.5 pH under agitation of an orbital shaker (200 rpm) at 30A degrees C for 24 h. The cellulosic hydrolysates, prior to being used as a fermentation medium, were autoclaved for 15 min at 0.5 atm and supplemented with the same nutrients employed for the inoculum, except the glucose, using the same conditions for the inoculum, but with a period of 48 h. Preliminary results showed the highest consumption of glucose (97%) for all the hydrolysates, at 28 h of fermentation. The highest concentration of ethanol (20.5 g/L) was found in the procedure of sugarcane bagasse pretreated by hydrothermal processing (195A degrees C/10 min in 20 L reactor) and delignificated with NaOH 1.0% (w/v), 100A degrees C, 1 h in 500 mL stainless steel ampoules immersed in an oil bath.

Optimization of Heat Treatment Profiles Applied to Nanometric-Scale Nb(3)Sn Wires With Cu-Sn Artificial Pinning Centers

Nb(3)Sn is one of the most used superconducting materials for applications in high magnetic fields. The improvement of the critical current densities (J(c)) is important, and must be analyzed together with the optimization of the flux pinning acting in the material. For Nb(3)Sn, it is known that the grain boundaries are the most effective pinning centers. However, the introduction of artificial pinning centers (APCs) with different superconducting properties has been proved to be beneficial for J(c). As these APCs are normally in the nanometric-scale, the conventional heat treatment profiles used for Nb(3)Sn wires cannot be directly applied, leading to excessive grain growth and/or increase of the APCs cross sections. In this work, the heat treatment profiles for Nb(3)Sn superconductor wires with Cu(Sn) artificial pinning centers in nanometric-scale were analyzed in an attempt to improve J(c) . It is described a methodology to optimize the heat treatment profiles in respect to diffusion, reaction and formation of the superconducting phases. Microstructural, transport and magnetic characterization were performed in an attempt to find the pinning mechanisms acting in the samples. It was concluded that the maximum current densities were found when normal phases (due to the introduction of the APCs) are acting as main pinning centers in the global behavior of the Nb(3)Sn superconducting wire.

Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Chemithermomechanically Pretreated Sugarcane Bagasse and Samples with Reduced Initial Lignin Content

Chemithermomechanical (CTM) processing was used to pretreat sugarcane bagasse with the aim of increasing cell wall accessibility to hydrolytic enzymes. Yields of the pretreated samples were in the range of 75-94%. Disk refining and alkaline-CTM and alkaline/sulfite-CTM pretreatments yielded pretreated materials with 21.7, 17.8, and 15.3% of lignin, respectively. Hemicellulose content was also decreased to some extent. Fibers of the pretreated materials presented some external fibrillation, fiber curling, increased swelling, and high water retention capacity. Cellulose conversion of the alkaline-CTM- and alkaline/sulfite-CTM-pretreated samples reached 50 and 85%, respectively, after 96 h of enzymatic hydrolysis. Two samples with low initial lignin content were also evaluated after the mildest alkaline-CTM pretreatment. One sample was a partially delignified mill-processed bagasse. The other was a sugarcane hybrid selected in a breeding program. Samples with lower initial lignin content were hydrolyzed considerably faster in the first 24 h of enzymatic digestion. For example, enzymatic hydrolysis of the sample with the lowest initial lignin content (14.2%) reached 64% cellulose conversion after only 24 h of hydrolysis when compared with the 30% observed for the mill-processed bagasse containing an initial lignin content of 24.4%. (C) 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 27: 395-401, 2011

Magnetostriction of melt-spun Fe(85)Ga(15), Fe(78)Ni(7)Ga(15) and Fe(78)Co(7)Ga(15) stacked ribbon samples

A set of stacked ribbon samples with the compositions Fe(85)Ga(15), Fe(78)Ni(7)Ga(15) and Fe(78)Co(7)Ga(15) were prepared. XRD on these ribbons show that the binary Fe(85)Ga(15) ribbon exhibits the disordered A2 structure where as the addition of Co and Ni leads to the appearance of an additional ordered DO(3) structure. A comparison of the ratio of the XRD-line intensities gave strong evidence of a (100) texture perpendicular to the ribbon surface. The optical studied microstructure supports these results because it shows a columnar grain growth parallel to the solidification direction-which is parallel to ribbon thickness. The highest magnetostriction was found for Fe(78)Ni(7)Ga(15) (370 ppm), while the Fe(78)Co(7)Ga(15) a smaller magnetostriction of 270 ppm was found. The enhancement of the magnetostriction is attributed to the (100) texture in these ribbons. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A study on the pretreatment of a sugarcane bagasse sample with dilute sulfuric acid

Experiments based on a 2(3) central composite full factorial design were carried out in 200-ml stainless-steel containers to study the pretreatment, with dilute sulfuric acid, of a sugarcane bagasse sample obtained from a local sugar-alcohol mill. The independent variables selected for study were temperature, varied from 112.5A degrees C to 157.5A degrees C, residence time, varied from 5.0 to 35.0 min, and sulfuric acid concentration, varied from 0.0% to 3.0% (w/v). Bagasse loading of 15% (w/w) was used in all experiments. Statistical analysis of the experimental results showed that all three independent variables significantly influenced the response variables, namely the bagasse solubilization, efficiency of xylose recovery in the hemicellulosic hydrolysate, efficiency of cellulose enzymatic saccharification, and percentages of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in the pretreated solids. Temperature was the factor that influenced the response variables the most, followed by acid concentration and residence time, in that order. Although harsher pretreatment conditions promoted almost complete removal of the hemicellulosic fraction, the amount of xylose recovered in the hemicellulosic hydrolysate did not exceed 61.8% of the maximum theoretical value. Cellulose enzymatic saccharification was favored by more efficient removal of hemicellulose during the pretreatment. However, detoxification of the hemicellulosic hydrolysate was necessary for better bioconversion of the sugars to ethanol.

Screening of Food Grade Lipases to be Used in Esterification and Interesterification Reactions of Industrial Interest

Seven food grade commercially available lipases were immobilized by covalent binding on polysiloxane-polyvinyl alcohol (POS-PVA) hybrid composite and screened to mediate reactions of industrial interest. The synthesis of butyl butyrate and the interesterification of tripalmitin with triolein were chosen as model reactions. The highest esterification activity (240.63 mu M/g min) was achieved by Candida rugosa lipase, while the highest interesterification yield (31%, in 72 h) was achieved by lipase from Rhizopus oryzae, with the production of about 15 mM of the triglycerides C(50) and C(52). This lipase also showed a good performance in butyl butyrate synthesis, with an esterification activity of 171.14 mu M/g min. The results demonstrated the feasibility of using lipases from C. rugosa for esterification and R. oryzae lipase for both esterification and interesterification reactions.

Scale-up of diluted sulfuric acid hydrolysis for producing sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate (SBHH)

Sugarcane bagasse was pretreated with diluted sulfuric acid to obtain sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate (SBHH). Experiments were conducted in laboratory and semi-pilot reactors to optimize the xylose recovery and to reduce the generation of sugar degradation products, as furfural and 5-hydroxy-methylfurfural (HMF). The hydrolysis scale-up procedure was based on the H-Factor, that combines temperature and residence time and employs the Arrhenius equation to model the sulfuric acid concentration (100 mg(acid)/g(dm)) and activation energy (109 kJ/mol). This procedure allowed the mathematical estimation of the results through simulation of the conditions prevailing in the reactors with different designs. The SBHH obtained from different reactors but under the same H-Factor of 5.45 +/- 0.15 reached similar xylose yield (approximately 74%) and low concentration of sugar degradation products, as furfural (0.082 g/L) and HMF (0.0071 g/L). Also, the highest lignin degradation products (phenolic compounds) were rho-coumarilic acid (0.15 g/L) followed by ferulic acid (0.12 g/L) and gallic acid (0.035 g/L). The highest concentration of ions referred to S (3433.6 mg/L), Fe (554.4 mg/L), K (103.9 mg/L), The H-Factor could be used without dramatically altering the xylose and HMF/furfural levels. Therefore, we could assume that H-Factor was directly useful in the scale-up of the hemicellulosic hydrolysate production. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

An integrated approach to produce biodiesel and monoglycerides by enzymatic interestification of babassu oil (Orbinya sp)

Two screenings of commercial lipases were performed to find a lipase with superior performance for the integrated production of biodiesel and monoglycerides. The first screening was carried out under alcoholysis conditions using ethanol as acyl acceptor to convert triglycerides to their corresponding ethyl esters (biodiesel). The second screening was performed under glycerolysis conditions to yield monoglycerides (MG). All lipases were immobilized on silica-PVA composite by covalent immobilization. The assays were performed using babassu oil and alcohols (ethanol or glycerol) in solvent free systems. For both substrates, lipase from Burkholderia cepacia (lipase PS) was found to be the most suitable enzyme to attain satisfactory yields. To further improve the process, the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optima operating conditions for each biotransformation. For biodiesel production, the highest transesterification yield (>98%) was achieved within 48 h reaction at 39 degrees C using an oil-to-ethanol molar ratio of 1:7. For MG production, optima conditions corresponded to oil-to-glycerol molar ratio of 1: 15 at 55 degrees C, yielding 25 wt.% MG in 6 h reaction. These results show the potential of B. cepacia lipase to catalyze both reactions and the feasibility to consider an integrated approach for biodiesel and MG production. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Near zero magnetostriction of Fe-Ti alloys

Fe(100-x)Ti(x) alloys (x = 10, 15, 20) were studied with respect to their microstructure and magnetostriction. Depending on heat treatment temperature and composition, the sample retained either the alpha-phase (A2 structure) or the alpha-phase plus the TiFe(2) Laves phase (C14 structure). The saturation magnetostriction measured at 238K is negative, about -11 ppm. However, for fields up to 0.4 T the magnetostriction is barely zero, a very interesting result. High values of magnetostriction are of interest for applications mainly in sensors and actuators, but zero magnetostriction is also a remarkable property, desirable for many applications such as electric transformers and fluxgate sensor cores. Therefore, the Fe(100-x)Ti(x) (x < 20 at%) are an attractive option to be considered for these applications.

PVA-Hydrogel Entrapped Candida Guilliermondii for Xylitol Production from Sugarcane Hemicellulose Hydrolysate

Viable cells of Candida guilliermondii were immobilized by inclusion into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel using the freezing-thawing method. Entrapment experiments were planned according to a 2(3) full factorial design, using the PVA concentration (80, 100, and 120 g L(-1)), the freezing temperature (-10, -15, and -20 degrees C), and the number of freezing-thawing cycles (one, three, and five) as the independent variables, integrated with three additional tests to estimate the errors. The effectiveness of the immobilization procedure was checked in Erlenmeyer flasks as the pellet capability to catalyze the xylose-to-xylitol bioconversion of a medium based on sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate. To this purpose, the yield of xylitol on consumed xylose, xylitol volumetric productivity, and cell retention yield were selected as the response variables. Cell pellets were then used to perform the same bioconversion in a stirred tank reactor operated at 400 rpm, 30 degrees C, and 1.04 vvm air flowrate. At the end of fermentation, a maximum xylitol concentration of 28.7 g L(-1), a xylitol yield on consumed xylose of 0.49 g g(-1) and a xylitol volumetric productivity of 0.24 g L(-1) h(-1) were obtained.

Banana as Adjunct in Beer Production: Applicability and Performance of Fermentative Parameters

Traditionally, the raw materials for beer production are barley, hops, water, and yeast, but most brewers use also different adjuncts. During the alcoholic fermentation, the contribution of aroma compounds from other ingredients to the final beer flavor depends on the wort composition, on the yeast strain, and mainly on the process conditions. In this context, banana can also be a raw material favorable to alcoholic fermentation being rich in carbohydrates and minerals and providing low acidity. In this work, the objective was to evaluate the performance of wort adjusted with banana juice in different concentrations. For this, static fermentations were conducted at 15 degrees C at pilot scale (140 L of medium). The addition of banana that changed the concentration of all-malt wort from 10 degrees P to 12 and 15 degrees P were evaluated (degrees P is the weight of the extract or the sugar equivalent in 100 g solution, at 20 degrees C). The results showed an increase in ethanol production, with approximately 0.4 g/g ethanol yield and 0.6 g/L h volumetric productivity after 84 h of processing when concentrated wort was used. Thus, it was concluded that banana can be used as an adjunct in brewing methods, helping in the development of new products as well as in obtaining concentrated worts.

Lumbar Epidural Anesthesia in the Treatment of Discal Lombosciatalgia: A Comparative Clinical Study between Methylprednisolone and Methylprednisolone with Levobupivacaine

Sousa FAEF, Colhado OCG - Lumbar Epidural Anesthesia in the Treatment of Discal Lombosciatalgia: A Comparative Clinical Study between Methylprednisolone and Methylprednisolone with Levobupivacaine. Background and objectives: Lumbar epidural technique has been used in the treatment of lombosciatalgia since 1953. In most cases, methylprednisolone is used along with a local anesthetic, and it is not known whether the isolated use of methylprednisolone is equally effective in relieving symptoms. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of two different solutions - methylprednisolone with saline and methylprednisolone with levobupivacaine injected in the epidural space to heal lombosciatalgia secondary to lumbar herniated disk. Methods: Sixty individuals ASA I and II, of both genders, ages 18 to 65 years participated in this randomized, double-blind study over a period of one year. They underwent interlaminar lumbar epidural analgesia without radioscopic control to heal a lombosciatalgia and they were divided into two groups: G-M (methylprednisolone + saline) and G-M + L (methylprednisolone + levobupivacaine + saline) both at a volume of 10 mL. Diagnosis was based on history, physical exam, and imaging exam (MRI). The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was applied in a total of two blockades, 15 days apart. Results: A reduction in pain severity was observed in the methylprednisolone-levobupivacaine group, but without statistical significance. Conclusions: The analgesic efficacy of the G-M + L solution was superior to that of the G-M solution in the treatment of discal lombosciatalgia regarding the shorter time to onset of analgesia, but this was not significant at the time of discharge, and both solutions were effective in the treatment of discal lombosciatalgia.

Three-layer piezoelectrets from fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP) copolymer films

A process for preparing three-layer piezoelectrets from fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP) copolymer films is introduced. Samples are made from commercial FEP films by means of laser cutting, laser bonding, electrode evaporation, and high-field poling. The observed dielectric-resonance spectra demonstrate the piezoelectricity of the FEP sandwiches. Piezoelectric d (33) coefficients up to a few hundred pC/N are achieved. Charging at elevated temperatures can increase the thermal stability of the piezoelectrets. Isothermal experiments for approximately 15 min demonstrate that samples charged at 140A degrees C keep their piezoelectric activity up to at least 120A degrees C and retain 70% of their initial d (33) even at 130A degrees C. Acoustical measurements show a relatively flat frequency response in the range between 300 Hz and 20 kHz.

Node-Depth Encoding and Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm Applied to Large-Scale Distribution System Reconfiguration

The power loss reduction in distribution systems (DSs) is a nonlinear and multiobjective problem. Service restoration in DSs is even computationally hard since it additionally requires a solution in real-time. Both DS problems are computationally complex. For large-scale networks, the usual problem formulation has thousands of constraint equations. The node-depth encoding (NDE) enables a modeling of DSs problems that eliminates several constraint equations from the usual formulation, making the problem solution simpler. On the other hand, a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (EA) based on subpopulation tables adequately models several objectives and constraints, enabling a better exploration of the search space. The combination of the multiobjective EA with NDE (MEAN) results in the proposed approach for solving DSs problems for large-scale networks. Simulation results have shown the MEAN is able to find adequate restoration plans for a real DS with 3860 buses and 632 switches in a running time of 0.68 s. Moreover, the MEAN has shown a sublinear running time in function of the system size. Tests with networks ranging from 632 to 5166 switches indicate that the MEAN can find network configurations corresponding to a power loss reduction of 27.64% for very large networks requiring relatively low running time.