Quantitative determination of macroelement and microelement content of fresh and processed bamboo shoots by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

Bamboo shoots are considered as healthy and nutritional food as they supply proteins, dietary fiber, phenols, phytosterols, vitamins, and minerals in considerable quantities and capture a novel place in the spectrum of plant foods. Besides nutrients and bioactive compounds, shoots also contain antinutrient (cyanogen) that needs to be removed by adequate processing prior to consumption. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of fermentation, brine preservation, and boiling on levels of mineral elements in shoots of Dendrocalamus hamiltonii using wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF) spectrometry. WD-XRF spectrometry is a method that causes the least destruction to the raw plant material as no harsh chemicals are used and gives the most accurate results. Fermentation process resulted in significant increase in the levels of Rb (9%), S (11%), Mg (12%), Zn (46%), Ca (56%), and Fe (87%); however, Na (18.79 g/100 g, dry weight), Cl (24.73 g/100 g, dry weight), and Br (20.0 mg/100 g, dry weight) content increased drastically after brine preservation. Boiling increased the levels of Fe by 139% but did not affect the Rb (20.0 mg/100 g, dry weight) and Zn content (10.2 mg/100 g, dry weight) of the shoots. In general, fermentation, which led to the lowest loss of mineral elements, appears the best method in enhancement and retention of the mineral content in bamboo shoots and holds the prospect at industrial and society levels.     

Electronic structure of non-magnetic impurities in dilute alloys of Al

The electronic structure of substitutional non-magnetic impurities Cu, Ag, Cd, Mg, Zn, Ga, In, Ge, Si and Sn in Al is studied using density functional theory. A simple physical model is proposed to calculate the effective charges on impurities in trivalent metal Al. A linear relation is found between the effective charges on impurities and impurity vacancy capture radii. The spherical solid model (SSM) is used to account for discrete nature of the host. The impurity-induced change in charge density, scattering phase shifts, host-impurity potential, residual resistivity and impurity self-energy are calculated. Higher order scattering phase shifts are found significant and the host-impurity potential is found proportional to effective charge on impurity in its vicinity. The self-consistently calculated potential is used to calculate the electric field gradients (EFGs) at the first and second nearest neighbours (1NNs, 2NNs) of impurity. The calculated values are in agreement with the experimental results.     

Target mass dependence of charged particle multiplicity inp-nucleus interactions

The shower particle multiplicity (〈n _s 〉) in thep-nucleus interactions for different targets, in the incident energy range of ～6–500 GeV has been studied. The variation of multiplicity parameters with target mass (A) or with number of interactions that the incident hadron suffers inside the nucleus (v _A ) and with the changed particle multiplicity inp-p interactions (〈n _ch〉) has been examined in the light of the various models of multiparticle production. The present analysis favours the hydrodynamical model though some other models can not be conclusively ruled out.     

Eine Apparatur zur raschen Mikrobestimmung des pH- und pCl-Wertes von L?sungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Steady pulse propagation in an inhomogeneously broadened resonant medium

Steady propagation of a single pulse in an inhomogeneously broadened resonant medium is studied. 2π-pulse solutions which are slightly different from those given in the literature are reported and it is shown that π-pulse solutions do not exist.     

A method for the simultaneous estimation of228Th and229Th

A simple method is reported in this paper to estimate²²⁹Th in the presence of²²⁸Th. The total activity of²²⁹Th and²²⁸Th was determined by following the alpha activity growth (using a liquid scintillation counter and proportional counter) of purified thorium samples. The activity ratio of²²⁹Th/²²⁸Th was determined by alpha spectrometry. From the initial total activity and ratio, disintegration rates of²²⁹Th and²²⁸Th were calculated. The values obtained for the activities have a precision better than ±2%.