Estimating the specific heat capacity of starch-water-glycerol systems as a function of temperature and compositions

Increasing interests in the use of starch as biodegradable plastic materials demand, amongst others, accurate information on thermal properties of starch systems particularly in the processing of thermoplastic starch (TPS), where plasticisers (water and glycerol) are added. The specific heat capacity of starch-water-glycerol mixtures was determined within a temperature range of 40-120degreesC. A modulated temperature differential scanning calorimeter (MTDSC) was employed and regression equations were obtained to predict the specific heat capacity as a function of temperature, water and glycerol content for four maize starches of differing amylose content (0 - 85%). Generally, temperature and water content are directly proportional to the specific heat capacity of the systems, but the influence of glycerol content on the thermal property varied according to the starch type.

Morphology and properties of thermoplastic polyurethane nancomposites incorporating hydrophilic layered silicates

Hydrophilic layered silicate/polyurethane nanocomposites were prepared via twin screw extrusion and solvent casting. Good dispersion and delamination was achieved-regardless of processing route, illustrating that the need for optimised processing conditions diminishes when there is a strong driving for de for intercalation between the polymer and organosilicate. Evidence for altered polyurethane microphase morphology in the nanocomposites was provided by DMTA and DSC. WAXD results suggested that the appearance of an additional high temperature melting endotherm in some melt-compounded nanocomposites was not due to the formation of a second crystal polymorph, but rather due to more well-ordered hard microdomains. Solvent casting was found to be the preferred processing route due to the avoidance of polyurethane and surfactant degradation associated with melt processing. While tensile strength and elongation were not improved on organosilicate addition, large increases in stiffness were observed. At a 7 wt% organosilicate loading, a 3.2-fold increase in Young's modulus was achieved by solvent casting. The nanocomposites also displayed higher hysteresis and permanent set. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of microencapsulated flavor to extrusion product

Flavoring is still a difficult problem in the snack food industry because of the high volatility of flavors and their instability under extrusion condition. Although postextrusion added flavor is commonly used, it suffers from numerous drawbacks. Flavor losses at the exit die because flash distillation is a critical issue and can only be minimized by controlling the pressure difference at the end of the barrel and the exit die, which, however, affects other desirable product characteristics. Residence time distribution (RTD), as an important intermediate process variable that among others controls the extent of reactions, can also be a major determinant on flavor retention during extrusion. Encapsulation of flavors is a promising alternative to enhance the retention of preextrusion added flavor during extrusion. The capsules should withstand high temperature and shear conditions in, the extruder barrel. Various encapsulation techniques and their encapsulated flavor characteristics are illustrated.

Polyethylene multiwalled carbon nanotube composites

Polyethylene (PE) multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with weight fractions ranging from 0.1 to 10 wt% were prepared by melt blending using a mini-twin screw extruder. The morphology and degree of dispersion of the MWCNTs in the PE matrix at different length scales was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). Both individual and agglomerations of MWCNTs were evident. An up-shift of 17 cm(-1) for the G band and the evolution of a shoulder to this peak were obtained in the Raman spectra of the nanocomposites, probably due to compressive forces exerted on the MWCNTs by PE chains and indicating intercalation of PE into the MWCNT bundles. The electrical conductivity and linear viscoelastic behaviour of these nanocomposites were investigated. A percolation threshold of about 7.5 wt% was obtained and the electrical conductivity of PE was increased significantly, by 16 orders of magnitude, from 10(-20) to 10(-4) S/cm. The storage modulus (G') versus frequency curves approached a plateau above the percolation threshold with the formation of an interconnected nanotube structure, indicative of 'pseudo-solid-like' behaviour. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation at break of the nanocomposites decreased with addition of MWCNTs. The diminution of mechanical proper-ties of the nanocomposites, though concomitant with a significant increase in electrical conductivity, implies the mechanism for mechanical reinforcement for PE/MWCNT composites is filler-matrix interfacial interactions and not filler percolation. The temperature of crystallisation (T.) and fraction of PE that was crystalline (F-c) were modified by incorporating MWCNTs. The thermal decomposition temperature of PE was enhanced by 20 K on addition of 10 wt% MWCNT. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quadrature-phase noise penalties of optically and electro-optically phase-locked lasers

Focussing particularly on solid-state laser systems, the phase-noise penalties of laser injection-locking and electro-optical phase-locking are derived using linearised quantum mechanical models. The fundamental performance limit (minimum achievable output phase noise) for an injection-locked laser (IJL) system at low frequencies is equal to that of a standard phase-insensitive amplifier, whereas, in principle, that of a phase-locked laser (PLL) system can be better. At high frequencies, the output phase noise of the IJL system is limited by that of the master laser, while that of the PLL system tends to a weighted sum of contributions from the master and slave laser fields. Under conditions of large amplification, particularly where there has been significant attenuation, the noise penalties are shown to be substantial. Nonideal photodetector characteristics are shown to add significantly to the noise penalties for the PLL system. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Extrusion of mixtures of starch and D-limonene encapsulated with beta-cyclodextrin: Flavour retention and physical properties

d-Limonene was encapsulated with beta-cyclodextrin to improve its retention during pre-added flavour starch extrusion. The objective of this work was to determine the effect of processing condition on the flavour retention and extrudate properties. Corn starch containing five levels of beta-cyclodextrin-d-limonene capsules (0-5%) were extruded at five different maximum barrel temperatures (133-167 degrees C) and screw speeds (158-242 rpm) using a twin screw extruder. The effect of these parameters on the flavour retention, expansion, texture, colour difference (Delta E), Water Absorption Index, Water Solubility Index, and residence time distribution (RTD) were investigated. Barrel temperature and capsule level predominantly influenced flavour retention and extrudate properties, while screw speed primarily affected extruder performances such as torque, die pressure, specific mechanical energy and RTD. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Homodyne measurement of the average photon number

We describe a scheme for measurement of the mean photon flux at an arbitrary optical sideband frequency using homodyne detection. Experimental implementation of the technique requires an acousto-optic modulator in addition to the homodyne detector, and does not require phase locking. The technique exhibits polarization and frequency and spatial mode selectivity, as well as much improved speed, resolution, and dynamic range when compared to linear photodetectors and avalanche photodiodes, with potential application to quantum-state tomography and information encoding using an optical frequency basis. Experimental data also support a quantum-mechanical description of vacuum noise.

Prevalence, severity, and heritability of Stephanofilaria lesions on cattle in central and southern Queensland, Australia

Observations of cattle in central and southern Queensland are collated to de. ne the prevalence and area of Stephanofilaria lesions associated with infestations of the buffalo fly, Haematobia irritans exigua. The observations were made on herds that were being used for other purposes. In a survey of similar to 1500 animals at Belmont in central Queensland in 1982, 98% of cows and 70% of calves had lesions. Most lesions were on the neck and dewlap and 10% were raw and weeping at the time of sampling. The total area of lesions per animal was strongly related to cattle breed and age. Old Bos taurus animals had the greatest area of lesions, whereas young Bos indicus had the least. Heritability estimates were low, averaging 0.01 for calves and 0.18 for cows. A smaller survey of cows and steers at Craighoyle in central Queensland in 1986 showed a higher numbers of lesions and positive correlations between the total lesion area and animal size. The lesion area increased with tick survival, suggesting that tick-resistant animals are also resistant to Stephanofilaria infection. Steers had smaller areas of lesions than cows, as found previously with cattle ticks. Long-term monitoring observations in central and southern Queensland between 1981 and 1986 showed that the total area of lesions was seasonal with a peak in late summer, consistent with the seasonal incidence of buffalo fly. Animals segregated into Low and High lesion herds maintained their differences over time. The lesions penetrated the dermis of the cattle hides and rendered the affected area unusable, but few lesions occurred on valuable parts of the hide so such economic effects are likely to be insignificant. One animal nearly died of a haemorrhage from a lesion on the dewlap and had to be treated. The results can inform policy on buffalo fly control, and biosecurity preparations in relation to the potential establishment of the OldWorld screw-worm fly, Chrysomyia bezziana, in Australia, which will be facilitated by the lesions. The results emphasise the significant animal welfare and biosecurity risks posed by the lesions in northern Australia.

A bang-bang PLL employing dynamic gain control for low jitter and fast lock times

Bang-bang phase detector based PLLs are simple to design, suffer no systematic phase error, and can run at the highest speed a process can make a working flip-flop. For these reasons designers are employing them in the design of very high speed Clock Data Recovery (CDR) architectures. The major drawback of this class of PLL is the inherent jitter due to quantized phase and frequency corrections. Reducing loop gain can proportionally improve jitter performance, but also reduces locking time and pull-in range. This paper presents a novel PLL design that dynamically scales its gain in order to achieve fast lock times while improving fitter performance in lock. Under certain circumstances the design also demonstrates improved capture range. This paper also analyses the behaviour of a bang-bang type PLL when far from lock, and demonstrates that the pull-in range is proportional to the square root of the PLL loop gain.

Effect of extrusion parameters on flavour retention, functional and physical properties of mixtures of starch and D-limonene encapsulated in milk protein

The purpose of this research was to investigate the retention of flavour volatiles encapsulated in water-insoluble systems during high temperature–short time extrusion process. A protein precipitation method was used to produce water-insoluble capsules encapsulating limonene, and the capsules were added to the extruder feed material (cornstarch). A twin-screw extruder was used to evaluate the effect of capsule level of addition (0–5%), barrel temperature (125–145 °C) and screw speed (145–175 r.p.m.) on extruder parameters (torque, die pressure, specific mechanical energy, residence time distribution) and extrudate properties [flavour retention, texture, colour, density, expansion, water absorption index, water solubility index (WSI)]. Capsule level had a significant effect on extrusion conditions, flavour retention and extrudate physical properties. Flavour retention increased with the increase in capsule level from 0% to 2.5%, reached a maximum value at capsule level of 2.5% and decreased when the capsule level increased from 2.5% to 5%. The die pressure, torque, expansion ratio, hardness and WSI exhibited the opposite effect with the presence of capsules.

Fibre slippage in cyclically perturbed fibrous assemblies

The dynamics of fibre slippage within general non-bonded fibrous assemblies is studied in the situation where the assembly is subjected to general small cyclic loads. Two models are proposed. The first is applicable when the general cyclic loading is complemented by an occasional tugging force on one end of a fibre, which causes it to gradually withdraw from the assembly, such as might occur during the pilling of a textile. The second considers the situation in which the cyclic perturbations act around a constant background load applied to the assembly. The dynamics is reminiscent of self-organized critical behaviour. This model is applied to predict the progressive elongation of a single yarn during weaving.

Biodegradable starch-based nanocomposite packaging materials

Polymer processing experiments have been conducted with a twin screw extruder. Different formulations of starch-based nanocomposites are being tested in a pilot scale film blowing tower. The physical properties of different starch-based films have been examined with thermal and mechanical analysis and X-ray diffraction. The results show that the addition of organoclay significantly improves both the processing and tensile properties over the original starch blends. The mechanical and thermal properties of the blends are also sensitive to the scale the clay particles are dispersed.

Modelling Java concurrency with Object-Z

In this paper, we present a formal model of Java concurrency using the Object-Z specification language. This model captures the Java thread synchronization concepts of locking, blocking, waiting and notification. In the model, we take a viewpoints approach, first capturing the role of the objects and threads, and then taking a system view where we capture the way the objects and threads cooperate and communicate. As a simple illustration of how the model can, in general be applied, we use Object-Z inheritance to integrate the model with the classical producer-consumer system to create a specification directly incorporating the Java concurrency constructs.

O PROFESSOR DA EDUCAÇÃO PROFISSIONAL: FORMAÇÃO E PRÁTICA PEDAGÓGICA

Este estudo, inserido no contexto do professor da educação profissional no Brasil, traz à tona uma realidade pouco discutida no meio acadêmico. Discussão esta que para muitos educadores não faz sentido por acreditarem que os cursos técnicos não fazem parte da educação, mas sim de uma formação do indivíduo para o trabalho. Contudo, se é formação, deve existir alguém a formar este profissional, então, quem é este professor? Será mesmo um docente ou apenas um mero reprodutor de técnicas e conhecimentos científicos capaz de levar seu aluno a aprender apertar um parafuso ? Ou será alguém de uma criatividade e conhecimentos inquestionáveis, mas cuja práxis em sala de aula deixa a desejar por lhe faltar a metodologia para o processo ensino-aprendizagem? Para tentar entender um pouco mais deste universo esta análise será feita por meio de entrevistas com professores Engenheiros, Tecnólogos e Administradores de Empresa licenciados e não licenciados atuando na formação profissional, além de uma análise sobre os cursos de licenciatura no Brasil, conhecidos por Programas Especiais de Formação Pedagógica de Docentes, voltados a estes profissionais e o que trazem da contribuição em suas práticas diárias.(AU)

ANÁLISE DA DENSIDADE ÓPTICA DA SUTURA PALATINA MEDIANA APÓS A EXPANSÃO RÁPIDA DA MAXILA ASSISTIDA CIRURGICAMENTE

A Expansão Rápida da Maxila Assistida Cirurgicamente (ERMAC) é um recurso ortodôntico-cirúrgico utilizado no tratamento das más oclusões com deficiência transversal da maxila em pacientes adultos que apresentam a consolidação da sutura palatina mediana. A proposta neste estudo foi a de avaliar as densidades ópticas da sutura palatina mediana antes da ERMAC (fase I), após o fechamento do parafuso expansor (fase II), após 3 meses do fechamento do parafuso expansor (fase III) e após 6 meses do procedimento cirúrgico. A amostra deste estudo foi constituída por 64 radiografias oclusais de 16 pacientes na faixa etária de 18 a 40 anos, sendo 6 do sexo masculino e 10 do sexo feminino que necessitavam submeter-se à Expansão Rápida da Maxila Assistida Cirurgicamente (ERMAC) e com atresia maxilar superior a 5 mm. Foram obtidas as radiografias oclusais e as imagens digitalizadas das quatro fases do estudo. Duas áreas de interesse foram demarcadas nas imagens digitalizadas, uma entre os incisivos centrais superiores e outra após o término do parafuso expansor. Procedeu-se às leituras das densidades ópticas pelo programa Image Tool for Windows por meio do Histograma. Após a análise estatística dos valores obtidos de densidade óptica das regiões analisadas pela Análise de Variâncias (ANOVA) e comparações múltiplas de Bonferroni (complemento da ANOVA), pode-se concluir que: a densidade óptica na região da sutura palatina mediana nas 4 fases estudadas, apresentou grande variação, compatível com a abertura da referida sutura e posterior neoformação óssea no período pós-operatório; foi observado valor decrescente para as densidades ópticas após o fechamento do parafuso expansor nas regiões A e B ; foi observado que após 3 meses do fechamento do parafuso expansor, as densidades ópticas aumentaram nas regiões A e B . Isso sugeriu neoformação óssea na região da sutura palatina mediana; foi observado que após 6 meses do procedimento cirúrgico, as densidades ópticas aumentaram em relação à fase anterior. Na região A , observou-se que os valores das densidades ópticas não retornaram aos valores pré-tratamento, ou seja, antes da Expansão Rápida da Maxila Assistida Cirurgicamente (ERMAC). Já os valores das densidades ópticas médias da região B retornaram aos valores iniciais, antes da ERMAC. A análise estatística revelou que após 6 meses do procedimento cirúrgico, houve diferença estatisticamente significante ao se avaliar a região A comparando as fases entre si, porém ao se avaliar a região B não houve diferença estatisticamente significante ao se comparar as fases I e IV.