De Values Research Articles

The use of an innovative inverse numerical modeling method for the evaluation and parameter estimation of barberry anthocyanins ultrasound assisted extraction

There has been a significant interest to extract functional ingredients by novel methods such as ultrasound assisted extraction, recently, whereas limited engineering data are available in this regard. The aim of this study was to develop a precise and powerful technique based on inverse parameter estimation of finite volume model to estimate process coefficients of barberry anthocyanin compounds (ACs) ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE). For this purpose, anthocyanin concentration over time was determined under different experimental conditions. Then, a new numerical model considering a complex system of dispersion, diffusion and degradation was developed and coupled with a parameter estimation code. Finally, parameters were estimated by minimizing differences between experimental and numerical data. UAE enhanced the extraction rate while degradation of the extracted barberry ACs was occurred. Therefore, it was necessary to understand the rate parameters of the process. The predicted coefficients of overall mass transfer, diffusion (De), dispersion (E), and degradation (kdeg) of the barberry ACs under different conditions were (1.375–2.731 × 10−7 m/s), (2.523–5.012 × 10-11 m2/s), (1.000 × 10−7–1.000 × 10-3 m2/s), and (1.000 × 10−7–5.637 × 10-5 1/s), respectively. A good agreement between the experimental and predicted data were obtained. Sonication was shown to affect both extraction rate and degradation rate. Higher De values were obtained at the presence of sonication while high duty cycles could increase degradation rates.

Effect of particle size and co-extractant in Momordica charantia extract yield and diffusion coefficient using supercritical CO2

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) is a fluid with high diffusivity and low viscosity which can penetrate deep into the solid particle efficiently compared to liquid or gas. SC-CO2 commonly used as a green solvent in the modern extraction of bioactive compound from plants. Sometimes, a co-solvent was added in the system to increase solvent polarity or mix a co-extractant with dried sample to improve solute’s transport properties. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine Momordica charantia extract yield with different mean particle size as well as diffusion coefficient, De in the extraction process with and without co-extractant. Different mean particle sizes used were 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 mm at constant operating condition (20 MPa, 65 oC and 4 mL/min). A ratio 1:3 of pure ethanol was used in the extraction process with co-extractant. Based on the results, mean particle size of 0.3 mm gave the highest extract yield, 3.32% and 1.34% with and without co-extractant respectively. Whereas, the value of De at 0.3 mm mean particle size, with and without co-extractant are 8.820 x 10-12 and 7.920 x 10-12 m2/s respectively. Therefore, 0.3 mm is the best mean particle size to produce highest Momordica charantia extract yield and De value in SC-CO2 extraction with co-extractant.

Effects of adaptation time and inclusion level of sugar beet pulp on nutrient digestibility and evaluation of ileal amino acid digestibility in pigs

ObjectiveTwo experiments were conducted to determine the effects of adaptation time and inclusion level of sugar beet pulp (SBP) on nutrient digestibility and to evaluate the ileal amino acid digestibility of SBP fed to pigs.MethodsIn Exp. 1, thirty-six crossbred barrows (85.0±2.1 kg) were allotted to 6 diets in a completely randomized design with six replicates per diet. Diets included a corn-soybean meal diet and 5 test diets containing 14.6%, 24.4%, 34.2%, 43.9%, or 53.7% SBP, respectively. The adaptation time consisted 7, 14, 21, or 28 d consecutively for each pig followed by 5 d for fecal collection. Feces were collected from d 8 to 13, d 15 to 20, d 22 to 27, and d 29 to 34, respectively. In Exp. 2, six pigs (35.1±1.7 kg) with T-cannulas at the terminal ileum were fed to 3 diets in a replicated 3×3 Latin square design with 3 periods and 2 replicate pigs per diet. Each period consisted 5 d for diet adaptation followed by 2 d for digesta collection.ResultsThe digestible energy (DE) value and the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of gross energy (GE), dry matter (DM), ash, and organic matter in diets linearly decreased (p< 0.05) as the adaptation time increased or as the dietary SBP increased, while the ATTD of neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre in diets linearly increased (p<0.01) as the dietary SBP increased. The DE value and the ATTD of GE and crude protein (CP) in SBP linearly increased (p<0.05) as the adaptation time increased, while the ATTD of CP in SBP linearly decreased (p<0.01) as the inclusion level increased. The standardized ileal digestibility of Lys, Met, Thr, and Trp in SBP was 37.03%, 51.62%, 40.68%, and 46.22%, respectively.ConclusionThe results of this study indicated that the ATTD of energy and nutrients were decreased as inclusion rate of SBP increased.

Effects of ramped wall temperature and concentration on viscoelastic Jeffrey’s fluid flows from a vertical permeable cone

In thermofluid dynamics, free convection flows external to different geometries such as cylinders, ellipses, spheres, curved walls, wavy plates, and cones play a major role in various industrial and process engineering systems. The thermal buoyancy force associated with natural convection flows can exert a critical role in determining skin friction and heat transfer rates at the boundary. In thermal engineering, natural convection flows from cones has gained exceptional interest. A theoretical analysis is developed to investigate the nonlinear, steady-state, laminar, non-isothermal convection boundary layer flows of viscoelastic fluid from a vertical permeable cone with a power-law variation in both temperature and concentration. The Jeffery’s viscoelastic model simulated the non-Newtonian characteristics of polymers, which constitutes a novelty of the present work. The transformed conservation equation for linear momentum, energy, and concentration are solved numerically under physically viable boundary conditions using the finite-difference Keller box scheme. The impact of Deborah number (De), ratio of relaxation to retardation time (λ), surface suction/injection parameter (fw), power-law exponent (n), buoyancy ratio parameter (N), and dimensionless tangential coordinate (ξ) on velocity, surface temperature, concentration, local skin friction, heat transfer rate, and mass transfer rate in the boundary layer regime is presented graphically. It is observed that increasing values of De reduces velocity whereas the temperature and concentration are increased slightly. Increasing λ enhance velocity, however, reduces temperature and concentration slightly. The heat and mass transfer rate are found to decrease with increase in De and increase with increasing values of λ. The skin friction is found to decrease with a rise in De, whereas it is elevated with increasing values of λ. Increasing values of fw and n decelerates the flow and also cools the boundary layer, i.e., reduces temperature and also concentration. The study is relevant to chemical engineering systems, solvent, and polymeric processes.

Influence of frozen conditions on the oxygen diffusion coefficient in unsaturated porous materials

The efficiency of soil covers used as oxygen barriers to control the generation of acid drainage from sulfidic mine wastes can be evaluated in terms of the diffusive oxygen flux reaching the underlying wastes. Oxygen diffusion has been extensively investigated over the last few decades for unsaturated porous materials that are not frozen. However, little attention has been paid to materials that are fully or partially frozen, and thus, the diffusion of oxygen through soil covers during the winter freezing period has been generally neglected. This paper presents a laboratory method developed to evaluate the effective diffusion coefficient of oxygen (De) in frozen, inert materials. The method is a modified version of the conventional double-chamber cell in which the temperature and unfrozen volumetric water content of the sample are measured in addition to the more commonly monitored change in oxygen concentration. Several tests were conducted on non-reactive materials: that is, a sand at multiple degrees of saturation (Sr = 20, 30, 39, and 42%), a silt (Sr = 47%), and a mixture of the two (Sr = 90%). Experimental data were interpreted using the POLLUTE code. Values of De for frozen materials were slightly lower than those obtained at ambient laboratory temperatures. In addition to the development of an empirical method for determining De, a preliminary model based on the model proposed by Aachib et al. (Water Air Soil Pollut 156:163–193, 2004) was created for the prediction of De in frozen materials by defining the involved parameters as temperature-dependent. The results indicate that predicated values of De are slightly higher than experimental values, suggesting that there remains room for improvement in the model.

Investigation of partial water saturation effects on diffusion in shale

A new method for testing the effect of partially saturated conditions on aqueous diffusion was developed using samples from the Upper Ordovician Queenston Formation shale from the Michigan Basin of southwest Ontario, Canada. Effective diffusion coefficients (De) were determined for iodide tracer on duplicate cm-scale samples from a core segment. Partially saturated conditions were created with a new gas-ingrowth method that takes advantage of the variability of N2 solubility with pressure. The method is designed to create partially saturated pores, quantify the level of partial gas/brine saturation within the tracer-accessible pore space, and measure De under fully porewater-saturated and partially gas-saturated conditions for the same sample. X-ray radiography is used with an iodide tracer for quantifying the degree of partial saturation and measuring De. The saturated De values range from 2.8 × 10−12 to 3.1 × 10−12 m2/s. Following generation of a gas phase in the pores (average gas saturations of 4–6.7%), De values decrease by 20–22% relative to the porewater-saturated condition, indicating that the tortuosity factor (ratio of constrictivity to tortuosity) is sensitive to saturation. The data suggest that a relatively small fraction of the pore space dominates the solute transport. The gas-ingrowth method was successful for generating partial gas saturation, but the distribution of the gas phase is non-uniform, with relatively high gas saturations near boundaries and lower saturations in the interior of the samples.

Age determination using feldspar: Evaluating fading-correction model performance

The recent introduction of post-IR IRSL measurement protocols has prompted a resurgence in luminescence applications using feldspar, some of which are affected by anomalous fading related signal loss. Many fading-corrected feldspar ages are reported in the literature, however few of those ages have been corrected using the model of Huntley (2006) [Huntley, D.J., 2006. An explanation of the power-law decay of luminescence. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 18(4), 1359–1365]. Here we present a new R function that calculates fading-corrected ages using the model of Huntley (2006), implemented with either a single-saturating exponential (1EXP) or general-order kinetic (GOK) fit. We evaluate the performance of the model through (i) contrasting measured and modelled field saturation values for a suite of 41 published saturated samples, and (ii) through using the model to fading-correct feldspar ages of samples with independent age control. Our results indicate that when implemented with 1EXP this model has an accuracy of 10% for predicting sample saturation, but that independent ages may be overestimated when the model is used to fading-correct samples across a range of timescales. In contrast, providing that the dose response curve has been characterised beyond 600 Gy, implementing the Huntley (2006) model with a GOK fit yields accurate age estimations. Modelled age overestimation for 1EXP is associated with dose response curve deviation from a single-saturating exponential. Finally we contrast the laboratory measured light levels of a suite of 50 saturated samples with their corresponding fading rates. We show that these saturated samples may yield De values below 2D0, and thus that 2D0 is not an effective screening criterion for sample saturation where no anomalous fading correction is made.

Fuentes agrarias pre catastrales valencianas. Su utilidad geográfica

Fuentes agrarias pecatastrales Valencianas. Su utilidad geográfica: Los Llibres de Values de la Peyta y Cap-patrons constituyen los padrones agrarios valencianos más antiguos. Como fuente geográfica informan sobre la propiedad, parcelación, tipos de tierra y cultivos. La riqueza de sus datos permite ima representación cartográfica aproximada.&#x0D; &#x0D; [fr] ources agraires precadastraies Valenciannes. Son utilité géographique. Les Llibres de Values de la Peyta et Cap-patrons sont les plus antiques registres agraires valenciens. Comme source géographique ils nous informent en plus de la propriété, du parcellement, des types de terre et des cultures. En outre, ils permettent de s'approcher á leur représentation cartographique.

Mobility of chloride through cement-based materials under partially saturated conditions

This work presents two complementary techniques to study 36Cl and stable chloride diffusion through unsaturated cement-based materials for saturation degrees (Sw) ranging from 0.18 to 1. The first technique is based on steady-state through-diffusion method where suction (up to 9 MPa) is controlled using osmosis process. In the second technique, in-diffusion experiments are performed by putting into contact a spiked-fresh-cement paste with a CEM-V/A-hardened-cement paste (HCP) sample (initial water to cement ratio of 0.4) having a given water saturation imposed by saline solution method. After a controlled diffusion time, the 36Cl activity profiles within the samples are acquired by means of the abrasive peeling method and 36Cl activity is determined by liquid scintillation counting (LSC) technique. The application of the first technique resulted in data showing a sharp decrease of the effective diffusion coefficient (De) (by a factor of ten) between the experiments done on the fully-saturated HCP sample and the HCP sample at Sw = 0.85. Moreover, duplicate in-diffusion experiments carried out on HCP samples partially-saturated at Sw = 0.86 provided 36Cl De range well bracketing the one determined by the first approach at Sw = 0.85. Four other in-diffusion experiments were thus performed on HCP samples with saturation degrees down to 0.18. Interpretation of the experimental results showed a very small decrease of De values for Sw from 0.74 to 0.41 and a sharp decrease for Sw from 0.41 to 0.18. Lastly, comparison with the diffusive behavior of tritiated water (HTO) through unsaturated CEM V/A HCP samples clearly indicated that diffusion of chloride was more affected by desaturation than HTO. Its ionic form would restrict chloride to the liquid phase whom continuity is broken when dehydration is strong enough.

Constructions of standardised growth curves (SGCs) for IRSL signals from K-feldspar, plagioclase and polymineral fractions

Abstract Standardised growth curves (SGCs) were established for extracts of potassium feldspar (K-feldspar), plagioclase and polymineral grains from various geological settings (deserts, loess, lake or fluvial deposits) from Northern China. Single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol was used with the measurements of multiple elevated temperature post-IR IRSL (MET-pIRIR) signals from 50 °C to 250 °C with an interval of 50 °C. Regenerative-dose normalisation was applied for the SGC construction. The shapes of the SGCs of K-feldspar vary between IRSL signals measured at different temperatures. For coarse grains (63–180 μm), the SGCs of the K-feldspar, plagioclase and polymineral fractions are close to each other. However, the polymineral fine grains (4–11 μm) have a distinct SGC from the coarse-grain fractions. It may be caused by the difference in alpha irradiation. Two test doses (145 Gy and 72.5 Gy) were applied to construct the SGCs for K-feldspar. The SGC built with the larger test dose has a larger characteristic saturation dose (D0). Test dose used for equivalent dose (De) measurements need to be the same as the test dose used for SGC construction, otherwise the SGC De may not be estimated accurately. With the same test dose used, the De values estimated from SGCs are identical with the De values generated from individual dose response curves.

Effect of adding potato maltodextrins on baking properties of triticale flour and quality of bread

This work investigates the effect of the addition of potato maltodextrins saccharified to various degrees on the baking properties of triticale flour and the quality of the obtained bread. The experimental material was triticale flour and commercial potato maltodextrin preparations with a low and average degree of saccharification. The proportions of maltodextrins in the studied systems were 2, 4, 6 and 8% with regard to the flour content.The results showed that the falling number and water absorption of triticale flour was decreasing with the increasing proportion of potato maltodextrins. The dough was more stable along with an increase in maltodextrin content in the investigated systems and a rise in DE values, while a fall was observed in its resistance to mixing. Loaf volume and crumb colour depended on the proportion and type of added maltodextrins. Bread containing 8% of medium-saccharified maltodextrins had the largest volume. In turn, crumb brightness was decreasing as the DE value of hydrolysates was increasing. The addition of maltodextrins to triticale flour also significantly determined the texture parameters of bread. The crumb hardness and chewiness were decreasing with increasing content of the DE of hydrolysates and their proportion in the flour blends.

Variability in the thermal stability of OSL signal of single-grain quartz from the Nihewan Basin, North China

Abstract A large range of equivalent dose (De) values was observed by applying the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) procedure to the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signal of single grains of quartz extracted from sediments at the Yujiagou site in the Nihewan Basin, north China. Many quartz grains yielded De values close to zero, which results in severe age underestimation when compared with the results of potassium-rich feldspar grains measured using post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) procedure. Dose recovery tests suggest that the SAR protocol is suitable for De determination. However, a large grain-to-grain variation in thermal stability was identified based on single-grain pulse-annealing measurements. We found that most of the zero-dose or low-dose grains are associated with thermally unstable OSL signals, which explains the large dispersion of the quartz OSL De distribution. This is further confirmed by the short lifetime of the unstable OSL signals obtained using single-aliquot pulse-annealing test.

Strategies for equivalent dose determination without heating, suitable for portable luminescence readers

In recent years a number of portable instruments have been built for measuring the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signal from naturally occurring minerals. Some of these instruments have incorporated ionising radiation sources, giving the possibility of determining an equivalent dose (De), but little use has been made of these. One challenge has been that heating samples in this type of equipment is a major engineering challenge, yet methods for De determination use thermal pretreatments to remove charge from unstable traps, making signals arising from irradiation in nature and the laboratory comparable. This paper explores three strategies for obtaining accurate estimates of the De of samples in situations where thermal treatments are not possible: (1) deriving a correction factor based on comparing De values obtained using protocols with and without heating; (2) removing the contribution from the 110 °C TL peak and other unstable defects by component fitting the unheated OSL signal; and (3) adding a small beta dose to the sample prior to measurement of the natural luminescence signal so that the 110 °C TL peak is filled, making this measurement comparable with regeneration measurements where this peak is also populated. All three methods are promising when applied to quartz that has been physically separated from samples using standard laboratory procedures. The next step in this work will be to explore whether such methods can be applied to mixed mineral assemblages as would be encountered in the field.

The colour of monolithic zirconia restorations determined by spectrophotometric examination

ABSTRACTObjective: The aim of this in vitro study is to examine the optical effects of monolithic zirconia of different translucency and thickness, combined with substrates of different colours. Materials and methods: Zirconia specimens of two colours (A2P1, WHITE) were used for the study, three try-in pastes (Variolink Esthetic); substrates were prepared from nine types of materials (six VITA SIMULATE, three metals). Measurements were carried out at the Faculty of Atomic Physics of the Technical University of Budapest with the state-of-the-art PerkinElmer® Lambda 1050 spectrophotometer. Results: The colouring of zirconia has a major effect on dE values resulting in different colour perceptibility and acceptability. Try-in pastes, however, have no significant effects overall. Conclusion: Applying coloured zirconia is highly eligible for preparing aesthetic crowns as their substrate-covering effect makes it possible to reproduce the desired colour. Uncoloured zirconia nonetheless is unaffected by the substrate material, especially above a certain layer thickness.

Determination of net energy content of dietary lipids fed to growing pigs using indirect calorimetry.

The objective of this experiment was to determine the NE content of different dietary lipids fed to growing pigs using indirect calorimetry. Thirty-six growing (initial BW: 41.1 ± 3.1 kg) barrows were allotted to 6 diets based on completely randomized design with 6 replicate pigs per diet. Diets included a corn-soybean meal basal diet and 5 test diets each containing 10% palm oil, poultry fat, fish oil, corn oil, or flaxseed oil at the expense of corn and soybean meal. During each period, pigs were individually housed in metabolism crates for 14 d, which included 7 d for adaptation to feed, metabolism crates, and environmental conditions. On day 8, pigs were transferred to the open-circuit respiration chambers and fed 1 of the 6 diets at 2.3 MJ ME/kg BW0.6/day. Total feces and urine were collected and daily heat production (HP) was also calculated from day 9 to day 13. On the last day of each period (day 14), pigs were fasted and the fasting heat production (FHP) was measured. The results show that the FHP of pigs averaged 809 kJ/kg BW0.6·day-1 and was not affected by diet characteristics. The DE values were 35.98, 36.84, 37.11, 38.95, and 38.38 MJ/kg DM, the ME values were 35.79, 36.56, 36.92, 37.73, and 38.11 MJ/kg DM, and the NE values were 32.42, 33.21, 33.77, 34.00, and 34.12 MJ/kg DM, for the palm oil, poultry fat, fish oil, corn oil, and flaxseed oil, respectively. Based on our result, we concluded that the DE content of dietary lipid varied from 91% to 98% of its GE content, the ME content of dietary lipid was approximately 99% of its DE content, and the NE content of dietary lipid was approximately 90% of its ME content in growing pigs.

Effects of feeding level and dietary supplementation with crystalline amino acids on digestible, metabolizable and net energy values of corn in growing pigs

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding level and dietary supplementation with crystalline amino acids (AA) on the determination of energy contents in corn for growing pigs. A total of 36 barrows with an average initial body weight of 41.4 ± 2.0 kg were allocated across six treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement that included 2 feeding levels (2400 kJ ME/kg BW0.6 per day or ad libitum) and 3 dietary AA supplementation patterns (corn diet with no AA; corn + 3AA diet with addition of lysine, threonine and tryptophan; corn + 5AA diet with greater levels of crystalline lysine, threonine and tryptophan supplementation than those in corn + 3AA diet plus crystalline methionine and isoleucine supplementation). The experiment was conducted in 6 consecutive periods. During each period, 6 pigs were allotted to 1 of 6 treatments, and each treatment corresponded to 1 of 6 respiration chambers. In each period, pigs were individually housed in metabolism crates and fed their respective diets at two feeding levels for 13 d, including 7 d adaptation to the feed, metabolism crate and environmental conditions. On d 8, the pigs were transferred to respiration chambers. Total feces and urine samples were collected and heat production was measured from d 8 to 12. On the last day of each period, the pigs were fasted for 24 h and fasting heat production was subsequently measured. The apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and gross energy (GE) in diets and corn were not affected by feeding level; however, increasing feeding level tended (P = 0.09) to decrease the ATTD of crude protein (CP). Nitrogen retention increased (P < 0.05) with increasing feeding level and dietary AA supplementation. The heat production (HP) and retention of energy (RE) were increased (P < 0.05) and the fasting heat production (FHP) tended (P = 0.09) to increase with increasing feeding level. Feeding level did not affect the DE, ME and NE in corn. Dietary AA supplementation tended to increase ME intake (P = 0.05) and significantly (P < 0.05) increased HP and energy retained as protein (REP). Dietary supplementation with AA did not influence the DE and ME values in the corn but tended (P = 0.07) to increase NE values in the corn.

Identifying the degree of luminescence signal bleaching in fluvial sediments from the Inner Mongolian reaches of the Yellow River

Abstract The partial bleaching of the luminescence signal prior to deposition results in age overestimation, and can be a problem in delineating fluvial evolution within an OSL chronological framework. The Inner Mongolian reaches of the Yellow River are characterised by a high sediment load and complex sources of sediments. To test the incomplete bleaching occurring in this type of environment, the residual doses and the luminescence signal characteristics of different particle size fractions from 14 modern fluvial sediment samples were investigated. Furthermore, 26 OSL ages derived from drilling cores were compared with 11 radiocarbon ages. Our results show that the residual equivalent doses principally range between 0.16 and 0.49 Gy for silt grains, and between 0.35 and 3.72 Gy for sand grains of modern samples. This suggests that medium-grained quartz has been well bleached prior to deposition, and is preferable to coarse-grained quartz when dating fluvial sediments in this region. The results also show that the De values of coarse-grained fractions display a stronger correlation with distance downstream. In addition, a comparison of OSL and radiocarbon ages from drilling cores establishes further confidence that any initial bleaching of these sediments was sufficient. As a result, we believe that the studied fluvial samples were well bleached prior to deposition.

Evaluation of recent Protein A stationary phase innovations for capture of biotherapeutics

We describe a comprehensive evaluation of 12 Protein A stationary phases for capture of biotherapeutics. We first examine the morphological properties of the stationary phases using a variety of orthogonal techniques including electron microscopy, particle sizing, pressure-flow behavior, and isocratic pulse response. A panel of nine proteins spanning a wide range of structures and biochemical properties was then used to assess equilibrium uptake, mass transport, dynamic binding capacity, and elution pH. Process performance and product quality were also examined under realistic bioprocess conditions using clarified mammalian cell culture broth. Equilibrium isotherms were found to be highly favorable, with equilibrium binding capacity for monoclonal and bispecific antibodies ranging from 47–100 mg/mL packed bed across all stationary phases tested. Effective pore diffusivities, De, were obtained by fitting the chromatography general rate model to breakthrough data. The fitted De values for monoclonal antibodies ranged from 1.1–5.7 × 10−8 cm2/s. The stationary phases had high dynamic binding capacities for the model proteins. The highest dynamic capacities for monoclonal and bispecific antibodies were seen with MabSelect SuRe pcc and MabSelect PrismA, which ranged from 58–74 mg/mL packed bed at 4 min residence times. Product capture using clarified cell culture broth as a feedstock showed high yields and elution pool volumes that ranged from 2–3 column volumes in most cases. Host cell protein, DNA, and aggregate levels in the elution pool were dependent on the specific nature of protein being purified, and levels were consistent between stationary phases. Lastly, we perform an analysis of bivariate correlations and discuss considerations for process design and optimization.

Nutritional and Economical Evaluation of Watania Corn Hybrids Silages

Four corn hybrids included 3 white hybrids, single crosses (SC) Watania 4 (W4) and Watania 6 (W6) and three way cross (TWC) Watania 11 (W11) and 1 yellow hybrid (SC) Watania 97 (W97) were cultivated in the Experimental Farm of National Seed Company, Minya El Qamh, El Sharkeya Governorate, Egypt. Whole corn plants were harvested after 92 days of planting at the dough stage of maturity and chopped to 1-1.5 cm of length. Five hundred kg of each chopped hybrid was ensiled in double plastic bags with 80 kg weight for each, pressed by hand to exclude the air from the bags and ensiled for 35 days. Four digestibility trials were conducted to determine the nutritive values of different corn hybrids silages using Rahmany rams. Results indicated that yield of whole plant, stems and leaves were mostly significant higher with the hybrids W11 and W97 than those of W4 and W6 ones. Watania 6 showed significant higher ear content (36.60%) than that of the other experimental hybrids, while W11 had significant higher leaves content (18.65%) and W97 showed the higher stems content (52.47%) compared with the other hybrids. Watania 97 hybrid recorded significantly (P<0.05) the higher yield of DM, TDN, CP, DCP and DE than those of other hybrids, being W4 had the lowest values. The contents of DM and CF were higher in W97 than others hybrids, whereas, the contents of OM and ash were slightly differed among the different corn hybrids. Watania 11 showed slightly higher CP content and W6 had the higher contents of EE and NFE than those of other hybrids. Moreover, the contents of DM, OM, CP, CF and NFE tended to decrease, whereas, the contents of EE and ash tended to increase after ensiling for the different corn hybrids. The contents of all fiber fractions (NDF, ADF, ADL, hemicellulose and cellulose) were higher in W11 and W97 than those of the other hybrids, being the lowest values of fiber fractions were occurred with W6 hybrid. All tested corn silages were free from mold, characterized with suitable fermentation characteristics, yellowish green color and good smell. The pH values of the different tested silages ranged between 4.05 and 4.40 and lactic acid concentration ranged between 4.48% of DM for W97 silage and 5.49% of DM for W6 silage. Total VFA’s concentration ranged between 2.01 and 3.02% of DM with accepted values for NH3-N concentration were recognized in the different kinds of silage. Watania 6 recorded the highest DM intake (1175 g/day), while W97 had the lowest one (1113 g/day). Watania 6 silage showed significantly (P<0.05) higher digestibility of DM, OM, EE and NFE and also the values of TDN and DE than those of the other corn silages. While, W11 silage recorded significantly (P<0.05) highest CP digestibility and DCP value compared with other tested silages. Whereas, W97 silage revealed significantly (P<0.05) highest digestibility of CF, NDF, ADF, hemicellulose and cellulose than the other ones. Ruminal pH value was significant the highest (P<0.05) in W97 followed by W11, while W4 and W6 had the lowest values. Whereas, W6 recorded significantly (P<0.05) the highest ruminal TVFA’s concentration followed by W4, while W11 and W97 had the lowest concentrations. Moreover, the concentration of NH3-N was significant higher (P<0.05) with W11 than that of the other silages, being the lowest values were occurred with W4 and W6 hybrids. Net revenue and economic efficiency were significantly higher (P<0.05) for W11 and W97 than those of W4 and W6. It could be concluded that white third cross Watania 11 and yellow single cross Watania 97 corn hybrids recorded the best results concerning forage crop yield, nutrients yield and economic efficiency and should have corn breeding programs to increase their ear content of at least 35% in order to maximize the output of TDN and DCP and profitability.

Simplified procedures for optical dating of young sediments using quartz

Abstract Simplified procedures were introduced in OSL dating of young samples with dim and poorly bleached quartz grains. Standardized growth curve (SGC) has been established with quartz OSL dating with the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol. OSL dating is achieved by measuring the natural OSL signal (LN) and the luminescence (TN) response to a test dose, and then projecting onto the SGC. Large data sets of aliquots enable to have statistical analysis and application of age models for poorly bleached samples. Finite mixture model (FMM) was applied to the data sets. Only aliquots meeting the objective selecting criteria are analyzed further for determining the equivalent dose (De) values. As a result, reliable De estimates were obtained using the proposed simplified procedures, with the advantage of saving substantial machine time. Single grain measurements have been effectively achieved with the single aliquots for the dim samples.