Effects of operating parameters and fluid properties on the efficiency of a new vacuum evaporation method

A new process for vacuum evaporation was developed where evaporation takes place near the inner surface of a vortex as produced by a rotor submerged in the liquid. Contrary to the state of the art the new process does not need a vacuum vessel but the rotating liquid creates a geometrically stable low pressure void surrounded by a vortex stabilized by the equilibrium between centrifugal forces and the pressure difference. First tests with water and sugar solutions at concentrations similar to wine must showed evaporation rates in the upper range of thin-film evaporators. A test series was conducted to study the effect of the variation of process parameters. The heating power and thus the fluid temperature has the most important influence on the vaporisation rate. A second test series using sucrose solution of different concentration comes to the conclusion that this method is suitable for aqueous solutions but the vapour production rate drops significantly with increased sugar content using the current rotor design. The simplicity of the construction and the process handling make this new method a promising development for the wine production

Effects of operating parameters and fluid properties on the efficiency of a new vacuum evaporation method

A new process for vacuum evaporation was developed where evaporation takes place near the inner surface of a vortex as produced by a rotor submerged in the liquid. Contrary to the state of the art the new process does not need a vacuum vessel but the rotating liquid creates a geometrically stable low pressure void surrounded by a vortex stabilized by the equilibrium between centrifugal forces and the pressure difference. First tests with water and sugar solutions at concentrations similar to wine must showed evaporation rates in the upper range of thin-film evaporators. A test series was conducted to study the effect of the variation of process parameters. The heating power and thus the fluid temperature has the most important influence on the vaporisation rate. A second test series using sucrose solution of different concentration comes to the conclusion that this method is suitable for aqueous solutions but the vapour production rate drops significantly with increased sugar content using the current rotor design. The simplicity of the construction and the process handling make this new method a promising development for the wine production

Pre- and postnatal findings in trisomy 17 mosaicism

Trisomy 17 mosaicism is one of the rarest autosomal trisomies in humans. Thus far, only 23 cases have been described, most of them detected prenatally. In only five instances has mosaicism been demonstrated in lymphocytes and/or fibroblasts postnatally, and only in these have multiple congenital anomalies (MCA), facial dysmorphisms, and mental retardation been reported. Patients with trisomy 17 mosaicism at amniocentesis and a normal karyotype in blood and fibroblasts (n = 17) were always healthy. Here, we report on pre- and postnatal clinical, cytogenetic, molecular-cytogenetic, and molecular findings in four patients with trisomy 17 mosaicism. The first case was detected in cultured but not in short-term chorionic villi and amniocytes. Due to MCA on prenatal ultrasound examination the pregnancy was terminated. The second patient is a 13-month-old healthy boy, in whom low level trisomy 17 mosaicism was detected in cultured chorionic villi only. The third patient is a 2-year-old girl with growth retardation, developmental delay, MCA, and trisomy 17 mosaicism in amniocytes, fibroblasts, and placenta, but not in blood and buccal smear. The fourth patient is a 9-year-old boy with growth and mental retardation, sensoneurinal hearing loss, and MCA. Cytogenetic analyses showed trisomy 17 mosaicism in amniocytes, skin fibroblasts, and urinary sediment cells, whereas in blood and buccal smear a 46,XY karyotype was found. Molecular investigations in all four cases indicated biparental inheritance of chromosome 17. Formation of trisomy was most likely due to a maternal meiosis I error in Patient 1 and a postzygotic non-disjunction of the paternal chromosome 17 in Patient 4. Cerebellar malformations, reported in two cases from the literature and in two reported here may be a specific feature of trisomy 17 mosaicism. Since the aberration has rarely been reported in lymphocytes, chordocentesis is not indicated in prenatal diagnosis. Prenatal genetic counseling for trisomy 17 mosaicism in chorionic villi or amniocytes should consider that the clinical significance remains uncertain