On the reliability of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity calculated from the moisture retention curve

In comparison with direct measurements of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, the methods of calculations from the moisture retention curve are attractive for their fast and simple use and low cost. These are the main reasons for their increasing use, mainly in spatial variability studies. On the other hand, it is known that their applicability is limited. The possibility of the use of the retention curve to indirectly determine hydraulic conductivities is analyzed as follows. The theoretical derivation of the relationK(h) – (h) is briefly discussed with regards to potential sources of inaccuracy. The sensitivity of the algorithm forK(h) calculation is studied as a response to possible inaccuracies in the retention curve determination. Conclusions about the usability of calculated hydraulic conductivities are drawn.     

Application of thermal analysis for quantitative nitrogen determination in fertilizers

DSC and DTA techniques have been used to determine nitrogen present in the form of ammonium nitrate in fertilizers. The optimum conditions for the investigations were determined for both techniques. By determining peak area, i.e. the enthalpy of the ammonium nitrate crystal transformation II I, it was possible to determine the nitrogen content in ammonium nitrate and in lime ammonium nitrate by DSC with average deviations of 0.44 and 0.91%,respectively. Using DTA and the enthalpy of the ammonium nitrate crystal transformation IV III, the average deviation of nitrogen determination in lime/ammonium nitrate was 1.09%.

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Zusammenfassung DSC und DTA wurden zur Bestimmung des in Düngemitteln in Form von Ammoniumnitrat vorliegenden Stickstoffs benutzt. Für beide Techniken wurden die optimalen Untersuchungsbedingungen ermittelt. Durch Bestimmung der Peakfläche, d. h. der Enthalpie der Kristalltransformation II I des Ammoniumnitrats konnte der Stickstoffgehalt in Ammoniumnitrat und in Kalk/Ammoniumnitrat mittels DSC mit mittleren Abweichungen von 0.44 bzw. 0.91% bestimmt werden. Aus der Kristalltransformation IV III des Ammoniumnitrats ergibt sich bei Benutzung der DTA-Methode eine mittlere Abweichung von 1.09% für die Stickstoffbestimmung in Kalk/Ammoniumnitrat.

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, . . , , (III) , — . , , 0,44 0,91%. IVIII , - 1,09%.

     

Assessment of Chemical Composition and Anti-Penicillium Activity of Vapours of Essential Oils from Abies Alba and Two Melaleuca Species in Food Model Systems

The possibilities of the practical utilization of essential oils (EOs) from various plant species in the food industry have attracted the attention of the scientific community. Following our previous studies, the antifungal activities of three further commercial EOs, Melaleuca armillaris subsp. armillaris (rosalina; REO), Melaleuca quinquenervia (niaouli; NEO), and Abies alba (fir; FEO), were evaluated in the present research in respect to their chemical profiles, over four different concentrations, 62.5 μL/L, 125 μL/L, 250 μL/L, and 500 μL/L. The findings revealed that the major compounds of REO, NEO, and FEO were linalool (47.5%), 1,8-cineole (40.8%), and α-pinene (25.2%), respectively. In vitro antifungal determinations showed that the inhibition zones of a Penicillium spp. mycelial growth ranged from no inhibitory effectiveness (00.00 ± 00.00 mm) to 16.00 ± 1.00 mm, indicating a very strong antifungal activity which was detected against P. citrinum after the highest REO concentration exposure. Furthermore, the in situ antifungal efficacy of all EOs investigated was shown to be dose-dependent. In this sense, we have found that the highest concentration (500 µL/L) of REO, NEO, and FEO significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the growth of all Penicillium strains inoculated on the bread, carrot, and potato models. These results indicate that the investigated EOs may be promising innovative agents in order to extend the shelf life of different types of food products, such as bread, carrot and potato.     

Comparison of two models for managing reliability growth during product design

Relying on reliability growth testing to improve system designis neither usually effective nor efficient. Instead it is importantto design in reliability. This requires models to estimate reliabilitygrowth in the design that can be used to assess whether goalreliability will be achieved within the target timescale forthe design process. Many models have been developed for analysisof reliability growth on test, but there has been much lessattention given to reliability growth in design. This paperdescribes and compares two models: one motivated by the practicalengineering process; the other by extending the reasoning ofstatistical reliability growth modelling. Both models are referencedin the recently revised edition of international standard IEC61164. However, there has been no reported evaluation of theirproperties. Therefore, this paper explores the commonalitiesand differences between these models through an assessment oftheir logic and their application to an industrial example.Recommendations are given for the use of reliability growthmodels to aid management of the design process and to informproduct development.     

Asymptotic Behavior of the Fourth Painlevé Transcendents in the Space of Initial Values

We study the asymptotic behavior of solutions of the fourth Painlevé equation as the independent variable goes to infinity in its space of (complex) initial values, which is a generalization of phase space described by Okamoto. We show that the limit set of each solution is compact and connected and, moreover, that any solution that is not rational has an infinite number of poles and infinite number of zeros.     

Sums and Limits of Generalized Direct Families of Algebras

In this paper we introduce a generalization of direct families of algebras and we study their limits and sums. In the case of generalized direct families of algebras carried by idempotent algebras we investigate some subdirect decompositions of their sums. The results that we obtain generalize various results given by J.L. Chrislock and T. Tamura [2], M. iri and S. Bogdanovi [3-7], H. Mitsch [13], M. Petrich [14-16], B.M. Schein [23-24] and others.Supported by Grant 04M03B of RFNS through Math. Inst. SANU     

The von Kármán theory for incompressible elastic shells

We rigorously derive the von Kármán shell theory for incompressible materials, starting from the 3D nonlinear elasticity. In case of thin plates, the Euler-Lagrange equations of the limiting energy functional reduce to the incompressible version of the classical von Kármán equations, obtained formally in the limit of Poisson’s ratio ν → 1/2. More generally, the midsurface of the shell to which our analysis applies, is only assumed to have the following approximation property: ${\mathcal C^3}$ first order infinitesimal isometries are dense in the space of all W ^2,2 infinitesimal isometries. The class of surfaces with this property includes: subsets of ${\mathbb R^2}$ , convex surfaces, developable surfaces and rotationally invariant surfaces. Our analysis relies on the methods and extends the results of Conti and Dolzmann (Calc Var PDE 34:531–551, 2009, Lewicka et al. (Ann. Scuola Norm. Sup. Pisa Cl. Sci. (5) Vol. IX:253–295, 2010, Friesecke et al. (Comm. Pure. Appl. Math. 55, no. 2, 1461–1506, 2002).     

On the guaranteed convergence of new two-point root-finding methods for polynomial zeros

We presented new two-point methods for the simultaneous approximation of all n simple (real or complex) zeros of a polynomial of degree n. We proved that the R-order of convergence of the total-step version is three. Moreover, computationally verifiable initial conditions that guarantee the convergence of one of the proposed methods are stated. These conditions are stated in the spirit of Smale’s point estimation theory; they depend only on available data, the polynomial coefficients, polynomial degree n and initial approximations \(x_{1}^{(0)},\ldots ,x_{n}^{(0)}\) , which is of practical importance. Using the Gauss-Seidel approach we state the corresponding single-step version and consequently its prove that the lower bound of its R-order of convergence is at least 2 + y _n > 3, where y _n ∈ (1, 2) is the unique positive root of the equation y ⁿ ? y ? 2 = 0. Two numerical examples are given to demonstrate the convergence behavior of the considered methods, including global convergence.     

Molecular Hybridization Strategy on the Design,Synthesis, and Structural Characterization of Ferrocene-N-acyl Hydrazones as Immunomodulatory Agents

Immunomodulatory agents are widely used for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases, but the range of side effects of the available drugs makes necessary the search for new immunomodulatory drugs. Here, we investigated the immunomodulatory activity of new ferrocenyl-N-acyl hydrazones derivatives (SintMed(141–156). The evaluated N-acyl hydrazones did not show cytotoxicity at the tested concentrations, presenting CC₅₀ values greater than 50 µM. In addition, all ferrocenyl-N-acyl hydrazones modulated nitrite production in immortalized macrophages, showing inhibition values between 14.4% and 74.2%. By presenting a better activity profile, the ferrocenyl-N-acyl hydrazones SintMed149 and SintMed150 also had their cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory effect evaluated in cultures of peritoneal macrophages. The molecules were not cytotoxic at any of the concentrations tested in peritoneal macrophages and were able to significantly reduce (p < 0.05) the production of nitrite, TNF-α, and IL-1β. Interestingly, both molecules significantly reduced the production of IL-2 and IFN-γ in cultured splenocytes activated with concanavalin A. Moreover, SintMed150 did not show signs of acute toxicity in animals treated with 50 or 100 mg/kg. Finally, we observed that ferrocenyl-N-acyl hydrazone SintMed150 at 100 mg/kg reduced the migration of neutrophils (44.6%) in an acute peritonitis model and increased animal survival by 20% in an LPS-induced endotoxic shock model. These findings suggest that such compounds have therapeutic potential to be used to treat diseases of inflammatory origin.