PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BILIMBI (Averrhoa bilimbi L.)

The aimed of this work was to investigate the effects of maturity stages on the physicochemical characteristics of bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi L.) which were cultivated in Recife-PE. During one year, the fruits were harvested from five different trees (unidentified variety) in mature and half-mature stages. They were analysed on total soluble solids (TSS), oxalic acid and vitamin C. Ripe fruits had the highest levels of TSS and vitamin C and lowest levels of oxalic acid, independently of weather conditions. The results showed that maturity stage influenced on physicochemical characteristics of bilimbi fruits.

Numerical Modelling of Combustion and Emission Formation in a Diesel Engine with Different Fuel Injection Characteristics

Päästöjen vähentäminen on ollut viime vuosina tärkeässä osassa polttomoottoreita kehitettäessä.Monet viralliset tahot asettavat uusia tiukempia päästörajoituksia. Päästörajatovat tyypillisesti olleet tiukimmat autoteollisuuden valmistamille pienille nopeakäyntisille diesel-moottoreille, mutta viime aikoina paineita on kohdistunut myös suurempiin keskinopeisiin ja hidaskäyntisiin diesel-moottoreihin. Päästörajat ovat erilaisia riippuen moottorin tyypistä, käytetystä polttoaineesta ja paikasta missä moottoria käytetään johtuen erilaisista paikallisista laeista ja asetuksista. Eniten huomiota diesel-moottorin päästöissä täytyy kohdistaa typen oksideihin, savun muodostukseen sekä partikkeleihin. Laskennallisen virtausmekaniikan (CFD) avulla on hyvät mahdollisuudet tutkia diesel-moottorin sylinterissä tapahtuvia ilmiöitä palamisen aikana. CFD on hyödyllinen työkalu arvioitaessa moottorin suorituskykyä ja päästöjen muodostumista. CFD:llä on mahdollista testata erilaisten parametrien ja geometrioiden vaikutusta ilman kalliita moottorinkoeajoja. CFD:tä voidaan käyttää myös opetustarkoituksessa lisäämään paloprosessin tuntemusta. Tulevaisuudessa palamissimuloinnit CFD:llä tulevat epäilemättä olemaan tärkeä osa moottorin kehityksessä. Tässä diplomityössä on tehty palamissimuloinnit kahteen erilaisilla poittoaineenruiskutuslaitteistoilla varustettuun Wärtsilän keskinopeaan diesel-moottoriin. W46 moottorin ruiskutuslaitteisto on perinteinen mekaanisesti ohjattu pumppusuutin ja W46-CR moottorissa on elektronisesti ohjattu 'common rail' ruiskutuslaitteisto. Näiden moottorien ja käytössä olevien ruiskutusprofiilien lisäksi on simuloinneilla testattu erilaisia uusia ruiskutusprofiileja, jotta erityyppisten profiilien hyvät ja huonot ominaisuudet tulisivat selville. Matalalla kuormalla kiinnostuksen kohteena on nokipäästöjen muodostus ja täydellä kuormalla NOx-päästöjen muodostus ja polttoaineen kulutus. Simulointien tulokset osoittivat, että noen muodostusta matalalla kuormalla voidaan selvästi vähentää monivaiheisella ruiskutuksella, jossa yksi ruiskutusjakso jaetaan kahteen tai useampaan jaksoon. Erityisen tehokas noen vähentämisessä vaikuttaa olevan ns. jälkiruiskutus (post injection). Matalat NOx-päästöt ja hyvä polttoaineen kulutus täydellä kuormalla on mahdollista saavuttaaasteittain nostettavalla ruiskutusnopeudella.

LEAF GAS EXCHANGE CHARACTERISTICS OF FOUR PAPAYA GENOTYPES DURING DIFFERENT STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

In this research, was used four papaya (Carica papaya L.) genotypes: three from the 'Solo ( Sunrise Solo TJ, Sunrise Solo 72/12 and Baixinho de Santa Amália) group and one from the 'Formosa' group (Know-You 01). They were grown in plastic pots containing a sandy-clay-loam soil subjected to pH correction and fertilization, under greenhouse conditions. Throughout the experimental period plants were subjected to periodic irrigation to maintain the soil humitidy around field capacity. The experiment was conducted 73 days after sowing. In all genotypes, leaf gas exchange characteristics were determined. The net photosynthetic rate (A, mumol m-2 s-1 ), stomatal conductance (g s mol m-2 s-1), leaf temperature (T I, 0C) and intercellular carbon dioxide concentration (ci, muL L-1) on the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th leaves from the plant apex were determined. No significant differences were observed for A, g s, c i, or Tl either among the leaves sampled from any of the genotypes. A was positively correlated with g s and in the other hand T I and g s were negatively correlated. The results suggest that, for 73 DAP, all the sampled papaya leaves functioned as sources of organs.

Impact of duration of untreated psychosis on pre-treatment, baseline, and outcome characteristics in an epidemiological first-episode psychosis cohort.

INTRODUCTION: To assess the impact of duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) on baseline and 18-month follow-up characteristics controlling for relevant confounders in an epidemiological first-episode psychosis (FEP) cohort. METHOD: The Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) in Australia admitted 786 FEP patients from January 1998 to December 2000. Data were collected from medical files using a standardized questionnaire. Data from 636 patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Median DUP was 8.7 weeks. Longer DUP was associated with worse premorbid functioning (p<0.001), higher rate of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (p<0.001), and younger age at onset of psychosis (p=0.004). Longer DUP was not associated with baseline variables but with a lower rate of remission of positive symptoms (p<0.001) and employment/occupation (p<0.001), a higher rate of persistent substance use (p=0.015), worse illness severity (p<0.001) and global functioning (p<0.001) at follow-up after controlling for relevant confounders, explaining approximately 5% of variance of remission of positive symptoms (p<0.001) in the total sample and 3% in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders excluding bipolar I disorder (p=0.002). Outcome was significantly worse when DUP exceeded 1-3 months. CONCLUSION: Avoiding pitfalls of non-epidemiological studies, DUP appears to be a modest independent predictor of prognosis in the medium-term. Results support the need for assertive early detection strategies.

Comparative study of the mandarin hybrid fruit characteristics: Nova, Murcott and Ortanique in Capão Bonito SP, Brazil

The Murcott tangor represent 20% of the tangerines trees in São Paulo State being the second more grown. Their fruits have good acceptance in the market cause of the good characteristics presented as: size, attractive internal and external color, transport resistance, high juice rate and industry potential. It is necessary to study the behavior of others varieties, in order to amplify the diversity of tangerine industry, which show suitable characteristics to the fresh fruit market and that make possible different harvest season. Many tangerine varieties, selected from the Citrus Germplasm Bank of the do Centro Avançado de Pesquisa Tecnológica do Agronegócio de Citros "Sylvio Moreira"/IAC, belong to trials carried out in 15 places in São Paulo State. The Capão Bonito area, south-west of the state, is one of this places where the Nova tangelo, the Ortanique and the Murcott tangors are showing quite good results about their fruit qualities. This paper had as an objective to compare the fruit characteristics of the Nova tangelo, the Murcott and the Ortanique tangors grafted on two rootstocks: Rangpur lime and Cleopatra mandarin. Accordingly to the gotten results, is possible to conclude that Nova and Ortanique had shown weight, width, fruit shape and juice percent, similar to the Murcott. In compliance with the harvest season, the Nova present suitable conditions to fresh fruit market in May and June. By the other hand the Murcott fruits can be harvested in July to August and the Ortanique in August to September. For this reason, is possible extend the harvest season of this mandarin-like, from two to five month, occurring inclusive in a period out of the crop at the north hemisphere.

Overweight in Swiss children and associations with children's and parents' characteristics et Worldwide trends in childhood obesity

(1) Surpoids chez les enfants suisses et associations avec certaines caractéristiques chez les enfants et leurs parents Le but de cette étude était de mesurer la prévalence du surpoids et de l?obésité chez les enfants de sixième année du canton de Vaud (âge moyen de 12 ans) et les facteurs associés au surpoids. Les données ont été récoltées lors d?une étude menée par l?Institut universitaire de médecine sociale et préventive. Tous les enfants scolarisés en 6ème année à l?école publique du canton de Vaud entre septembre 2005 et mai 2006 étaient éligibles à participer à cette étude. Le taux de participation a atteint 76% (soit 5207 enfants de 12,3 ans en moyenne). Le poids et la taille des enfants ont été mesurés à l?école par des assistants de recherche et les enfants ont rempli, en classe, un questionnaire structuré sur leur mode de vie (notamment : temps quotidien passé à regarder la télévision, à jouer à des jeux sur écran; fréquence de la pratique de diverses activités physiques; fréquence de la consommation de fruits ou de légumes). Des informations sur les parents (niveau d?éducation, nationalité, poids et taille) ont été récoltées au moyen d?un questionnaire structuré envoyé par courrier à ceux-ci. Nous avons utilisé les critères de l?International Obesity Task Force, qui définit les valeurs-seuils de l'indice de masse corporelle pour le surpoids et pour l?obésité, par age et par sexe. La prévalence du surpoids (obésité incluse) dans la population était de 15% chez les garçons et de 12% chez les filles, et la prévalence de l?obésité était de 2% dans les deux sexes. Nous avons trouvé que le surpoids était associé de façon indépendante avec le temps passé à regarder la télévision, ainsi qu?avec certaines caractéristiques des parents, comme le surpoids, un bas niveau d?éducation et une nationalité étrangère. En conclusion, un enfant sur sept est en surpoids ou obèse dans le canton de Vaud. Ces chiffres indiquent un important défi de santé publique, même si cette prévalence dans le canton de Vaud est, actuellement, moindre que dans beaucoup d?autres pays d?Europe, et bien moindre qu?en Amérique du Nord. Les associations entre le surpoids infantile et le temps passé à regarder la télévision, ainsi que les associations avec des variables liées au milieu socio-culturel des parents indiquent plusieurs pistes d?intervention pour prévenir le surpoids chez les enfants. Il est probable que les mesures de prévention ne devraient pas se limiter aux approches individuelles, mais devraient aussi inclure des mesures structurelles sur l?environnement social, physique et économique visant à réduire les facteurs obésogènes dans la société.<br/><br/>Objective: The objective was to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children in a canton of Switzerland and the association with various characteristics of the parents and the children. Research Methods and Procedures: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in all children of the sixth school grade of the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. Weight and height were measured, and selected lifestyle variables were assessed with a self-administered semiquantitative questionnaire. Information on children?s parents was gathered through a mailed structured questionnaire. Overweight and obesity were based on the International Obesity Task Force criteria. Results: Of 6873 eligible children, 5207 (76%) participated (2621 boys, 2586 girls; mean age, 12.3 years; standard deviation, 0.5 year). The prevalence of overweight (including obesity) was 15.0% (95% confidence interval, 13.7% to 16.4%) in boys and 12.4% (11.1% to 13.7%) in girls, and the prevalence of obesity was 1.8% (1.3% to 2.3%) and 1.7% (1.2% to 2.2%), respectively. In both univariate and multivariate analyses, overweight was strongly associated with high television viewing time and selected characteristics of the parents (overweight, low educational level, and foreign nationality). Discussion: The prevalence of pediatric overweight and obesity was lower in this region of Switzerland than in several European countries. The correlates of overweight found in this region suggest areas for potential interventions.

Improving Dynamic Characteristics of Open-loop Controlled Log Crane

The improvement of the dynamics of flexible manipulators like log cranes often requires advanced control methods. This thesis discusses the vibration problems in the cranes used in commercial forestry machines. Two control methods, adaptive filtering and semi-active damping, are presented. The adaptive filter uses a part of the lowest natural frequency of the crane as a filtering frequency. The payload estimation algorithm, filtering of control signal and algorithm for calculation of the lowest natural frequency of the crane are presented. The semi-active damping method is basedon pressure feedback. The pressure vibration, scaled with suitable gain, is added to the control signal of the valve of the lift cylinder to suppress vibrations. The adaptive filter cuts off high frequency impulses coming from the operatorand semi-active damping suppresses the crane?s oscillation, which is often caused by some external disturbance. In field tests performed on the crane, a correctly tuned (25 % tuning) adaptive filter reduced pressure vibration by 14-17 % and semi-active damping correspondingly by 21-43%. Applying of these methods require auxiliary transducers, installed in specific points in the crane, and electronically controlled directional control valves.

Propagation of the Ignition Front against Airflow in Packed Beds of Wood Particles

Combustion of wood is increasing because of the needs of decreasing the emissions of carbon dioxide and the amount of waste going to landfills. Wood based fuels are often scattered on a large area. The transport distances should be short enough to prevent too high costs, and so the size of heating and power plants using wood fuels is often rather small. Combustion technologies of small-size units have to be developed to reach efficient and environmentally friendly energy production. Furnaces that use different packed bed combustion or gasification techniques areoften most economic in small-scale energy production. Ignition front propagation rate affects the stability, heat release rate and emissions of packed bed combustion. Ignition front propagation against airflow in packed beds of wood fuels has been studied. The research has been carried out mainly experimentally. Theoretical aspects have been considered to draw conclusions about the experimental results. The effects of airflow rate, moisture content of the fuel, size, shape and density of particles, and porosity of the bed on the propagation rate of the ignition front have been studied. The experiments were carried out in a pot furnace. The fuels used in the experiments were mainly real wood fuels that are often burned in the production of energy. The fuel types were thin wood chips, saw dust, shavings, wood chips, and pellets with different sizes. Also a few mixturesof the above were tested. Increase in the moisture content of the fuel decreases the propagation rates of the ignition front and makes the range of possible airflow rates narrower because of the energy needed for the evaporation of water and the dilution of volatile gases due to evaporated steam. Increase in the airflow rate increases the ignition rate until a maximum rate of propagation is reached after which it decreases. The maximum flame propagation rate is not always reached in stoichiometric combustion conditions. Increase in particle size and density transfers the optimum airflow rate towards fuel lean conditions. Mixing of small and large particles is often advantageous, because small particles make itpossible to reach the maximum ignition rate in fuel rich conditions, and large particles widen the range of possible airflow rates. A correlation was found forthe maximum rate of ignition front propagation in different wood fuels. According to the correlation, the maximum ignition mass flux is increased when the sphericity of the particles and the porosity of the bed are increased and the moisture content of the fuel is decreased. Another fit was found between sphericity and porosity. Increase in sphericity decreases the porosity of the bed. The reasons of the observed results are discussed.

Agronomic characteristics of 'Prata-anã' and 'Maçã' bananas micropropagated

The experiment evaluated the agronomic characteristics of 'Prata-anã' and 'Maçã' banana plants, in the São Manuel region of São Paulo state. In the first crop cycle, the number of days from planting to inflorescence and from inflorescence to harvest; the number of shoots until the appearance of inflorescence and during the harvest period; active leaves number at inflorescence appearance and during the harvest period. Were evaluated yield parameters: like average weight of bunch, hand, rachis and fruit; average fruit number per hand and bunch; average fruit diameter and length. Incidences of plague diseases, as well as their severity were also evaluated. Delineation was totally at random, with 2 treatments, 15 replications and 5 useful plants per experimental plot. Both cultivars were characterized by values of descriptive average statistics and standard deviation, for characteristic interests. Number of days from planting to harvest was similar for both 'Prata-anã' and 'Maçã', 574 and 567 days respectively. Banana plants showed good phytosanitary quality throughout the whole cycle.

Estimates of genetic parameters for fruit yield and quality in custard apple progenies

Apparently, there are no custard apple cultivars defined for the northeastern region of Brazil. The establishment of breeding programs aimed at the selection of types from productive locations for later cloning is desirable. This work's objective was to evaluate the yield (during the first three crops) and quality (first crop) of fruits from 20 half-sibling custard apple tree progenies, selected from home orchards. An additional objective was to estimate genetic parameters for the traits evaluated. A micro sprinkling-irrigated experiment was conducted in Mossoró-RN, Brazil, as random blocks with five replications. In characteristics evaluated for periods longer than a year (diameter, height and mean weight of fruits, number of fruits ha-1 and fruit yield (kg ha-1), and a split-plot design was adopted, with progenies considered as plots and annual cropping seasons as subplots. The best progenies in terms of fruit yield (A3 and A4) are not necessarily the best for fruit dimensions and fruit mean weight (A2, FE4, JG1, JG2, SM1, SM7, and SM8). These progenies show great potential to be used in future studies on crosses or on vegetative propagation. In this regard, progeny JG2 should be highlighted as promising in terms of yield and fruit size. The progenies are not different with regard to percentages (in relation to mean fruit mass) of pericarp, endocarp, seeds, and receptacle, in the fruit, and fruit volume, number of seeds/fruit, and total soluble solids content in the fruit pulp, but progeny FE4 presents higher total titratable acidity in the fruit pulp. Narrow-sense heritability estimates were relatively high for all characteristics in which there was variability between progenies, with higher values for number of fruits ha-1 (80 %) and fruit yield (78 %). Relatively high coefficients of genotypic variation (around 20%) were observed for number of fruits ha-1 and fruit yield, with lower values for the other characteristics. There were positive genotypic and phenotypic correlations between fruit diameter (FD) and fruit height, FD and mean fruit weight, and number of fruits ha-1 and fruit yield.

Engineered Trx2p industrial yeast strain protects glycolysis and fermentation proteins from oxidative carbonylation during biomass propagation

Background: In the yeast biomass production process, protein carbonylation has severe adverse effects since it diminishes biomass yield and profitability of industrial production plants. However, this significant detriment of yeast performance can be alleviated by increasing thioredoxins levels. Thioredoxins are important antioxidant defenses implicated in many functions in cells, and their primordial functions include scavenging of reactive oxygen species that produce dramatic and irreversible alterations such as protein carbonylation. Results: In this work we have found several proteins specifically protected by yeast Thioredoxin 2 (Trx2p). Bidimensional electrophoresis and carbonylated protein identification from TRX-deficient and TRX-overexpressing cells revealed that glycolysis and fermentation-related proteins are specific targets of Trx2p protection. Indeed, the TRX2 overexpressing strain presented increased activity of the central carbon metabolism enzymes. Interestingly, Trx2p specifically preserved alcohol dehydrogenase I (Adh1p) from carbonylation, decreased oligomer aggregates and increased its enzymatic activity. Conclusions: The identified proteins suggest that the fermentative capacity detriment observed under industrial conditions in T73 wine commercial strain results from the oxidative carbonylation of specific glycolytic and fermentation enzymes. Indeed, increased thioredoxin levels enhance the performance of key fermentation enzymes such as Adh1p, which consequently increases fermentative capacity.

Meat characteristics of chickens from an F1 cross of two improved Spanish breeds depending on slaughter age

The present study analysed the meat characteristics of i) improved Castellana Negra chickens slaughtered at 18 weeks (CN-18) and ii) F1 crossbred chickens from improved Castellana Negra hens and improved Penedesenca Negra cocks (CNPN) slaughtered at 12 weeks and 18 weeks of age (young and adult animals, respectively). Purebred and crossbred specimens were compared at similar weights (CN-18 and CNPN-12) and ages (CN-18 and CNPN-18). The protein content of the meat was similar for the three types of animals; heavier animals (CNPN-18) had more fat than those slaughtered at lower weights (CNPN-12 and CN-18). Adults had a higher saturated fatty acid content and the young CNPN chickens had more monounsaturated fatty acids than CN chickens. In the CNPN adults, less water was lost during cooking, which is directly related to the juiciness of the meat. With regard to sensory analysis, a darker colour was observed in the meat as much as the internal fat of adult animals, in addition to greater colour uniformity. The meat of young CNPN birds was juicier, whereas that of the CN chickens was more fibrous. Therefore, we conclude that meat from CNPN chickens presents chemical, physical, and sensorial characteristics that make these animals a genetic base for alternative poultry production.

Female sterility associated with increased clonal propagation suggests a unique combination of androdioecy and asexual reproduction in populations of Cardamine amara (Brassicaceae).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The coexistence of hermaphrodites and female-sterile individuals, or androdioecy, has been documented in only a handful of plants and animals. This study reports its existence in the plant species Cardamine amara (Brassicaceae), in which female-sterile individuals have shorter pistils than seed-producing hermaphrodites. METHODS: Morphological analysis, in situ manual pollination, microsatellite genotyping and differential gene expression analysis using Arabidopsis microarrays were used to delimit variation between female-sterile individuals and hermaphrodites. KEY RESULTS: Female sterility in C. amara appears to be caused by disrupted ovule development. It was associated with a 2.4- to 2.9-fold increase in clonal propagation. This made the pollen number of female-sterile genets more than double that of hermaphrodite genets, which fulfils a condition of co-existence predicted by simple androdioecy theories. When female-sterile individuals were observed in wild androdioecious populations, their ramet frequencies ranged from 5 to 54 %; however, their genet frequencies ranged from 11 to 29 %, which is consistent with the theoretically predicted upper limit of 50 %. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that a combination of sexual reproduction and increased asexual proliferation by female-sterile individuals probably explains the invasion and maintenance of female sterility in otherwise hermaphroditic populations. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the coexistence of female sterility and hermaphrodites in the Brassicaceae.

Sensory characteristics of 'Douradão' peaches submitted to modified atmosphere packaging

The sensory, physical and chemical characteristics of 'Douradão' peaches cold stored in different modified atmosphere packaging (LDPE bags of 30, 50, 60, 75µm thickness) were studied. After 14, 21 and 28 days of cold storage (1 ± 1 ºC and 90 ± 5% RH), samples were withdrawn from MAP and kept during 4 days in ambient air for ripening. Descriptive terminology and sensory profile of the peaches were developed by methodology based on the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA). The assessors consensually defined the sensory descriptors, their respective reference materials and the descriptive evaluation ballot. Fourteen individuals were selected as judges based on their discrimination capacity and reproducibility. Seven descriptors were generated showing similarities and differences among the samples. The data were analysed by ANOVA, Tukey test and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The atmospheres that developed inside the different packaging materials during cold storage differed significantly. The PCA showed that MA50 and MA60 treatments were more characterized by the fresh peach flavour, fresh appearance, juiciness and flesh firmness, and were effective for keeping good quality of 'Douradão' peaches during 28 d of cold storage. The Control and MA30 treatments were characterized by the mealiness, the MA75 treatment showed lower intensity for all attributes evaluated and they were ineffective to maintain good quality of the fruits during cold storage. Higher correlation coefficients (positive) were found between fresh appearance and flesh firmness (0.95), fresh appearance and juiciness (0.97), ratio and intensity of fresh peach smell (0.81), as well as higher correlation coefficients (negative) between Hue angle and intensity of yellow colour (-0.91), fresh appearance and mealiness (-0.92), juiciness and mealiness (-0.95), firmness and mealiness (-0.94).