Application of remote sensing for fishery resource assessment and monitoring. Skylab oceanic gamefish project

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

LANDSAT menhaden and thread herring resources investigation, Gulf of Mexico

The author has identified the following significant results. The most significant achievements thus far include the successful charting of high probability fishing areas from LANDSAT MSS data and the successful simulation of an operational satellite system to provide tactical information for the commercial harvest of menhaden

LANDSAT menhaden and thread herring resources investigation

The author has identified the following significant results. The relationship between the distribution of menhaden and selected oceanographic parameters (water color, turbidity, and possibly chlorophyll concentrations) was established. Similar relationships for thread herring were not established nor were relationships relating to the abundance of either species. Use of aircraft and LANDSAT remote sensing instruments to measure or infer a set of basic oceanographic parameters was evaluated. Parameters which could be accurately inferred included surface water temperature, salinity, and color. Water turbidity (Secchi disk) was evaluated as marginally inferrable from the LANDSAT MSS data and chlorophyll-a concentrations as less than marginal. These evaluations considered the parameters only as experienced in the two test areas using available sensors and statistical techniques

Policy recommendations from the 13th ICABR conference on the emerging bioeconomy

The International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research held its 13th annual conference in Ravello, Italy in June 2009. The theme of the conference was the bioeconomy,and this topic was addressed through research presentations from academia, government, and industry. Numerous presentations from developing countries highlighted the benefits of agricultural biotechnology in these nations. The broad range of presentations provided a wealth of insights, resulting in three policy recommendations regarding future funding, international regulation, and technology transfer.global food crisis, biofuels, food safety, innovation

Use of hyghly reactive rice husk ash in the production of cement matrix reinforced with Green coconut fiber

[EN] This study evaluated the influence of partial replacement of Portland cement by rice husk ash (RHA) to enable the use of green coconut husk fiber as reinforcement for cementitious matrix. The use of highly reactive pozzolanic ash contributes for decreasing the alkaline attack on the vegetable fiber, originated from waste materials. The slurry dewatering technique was used for dispersion of the raw materials in aqueous solution, followed by vacuum drainage of water and pressing for the production of pad composites, as a simplified simulation of the Hatschek process for industrial manufacture. Five formulations were evaluated, two of them without any mineral additions. One of the mixtures served as a reference (without green coconut fibers) and the remaining ones were reinforced with the green coconut fibers (5% by weight of binder) and with the content of Portland cement replacement by RHA equal to 0, 30, 40 and 50%. The composites were analyzed at 28 days of age and after aging by immersion in warm wáter (65 ◦C), which lasted for 28 additional days. Physical and mechanical tests were applied for assessment of the performance of composites. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to observe the consumption of portlandite and chemically combined water content in the hydrated products for pastes presenting the same levels of Portland cement replacement by RHA (i.e., 0 50%) and with the water/binder ratio kept constant and equal to 0.5. The mechanical performance evaluated by bending test after 28 days reached the MOR of 15.7 MPa after the accelerate aging, for the composites reinforced with the green coconut fiber and with high levels of Portland cement replacement by RHA demonstrating that the use of Green coconut fiber for reinforcement can be very promising for the production of binary cement based matrix. The thermogravimetry showed that the replacement of Portland cement by the RHA helped in maintaining the mechanical behavior of the green coconut fiber in the composite subjected to the accelerated aging tests, and resulted in improved mechanical performance, providing a lightweight composite.To the Fundacao de Amparo Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) for financial support and ICITECH Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for facilitating the research development. To the Federal Agency CNPq, Brazil for grants provided to the USP team. Project 3018/2009 financed by Generalitat Valenciana, COMBURES project financed by Centro de Cooperacion al Desarrollo de la Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (ADSIDEO COOPERACIO) and Maicerias Espanolas DACSA S.A. for supplying RHA samples.Pereira, C.; Savastano, HJ.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ.; Santos, SF.; Borrachero Rosado, MV.; Monzó Balbuena, JM.; Soriano Martínez, L. (2013). Use of hyghly reactive rice husk ash in the production of cement matrix reinforced with Green coconut fiber. Industrial Crops and Products. 49:88-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2013.04.038S88964

Processing and dimensional changes of cement based composites reinforced with surface-treated cellulose fibres

The objective of the present work is to evaluate the impact of the surface grafting of cellulose fibres on\ud the processing, dimensional stability and mechanical performance of fibre–cement composites. The surface\ud modification of the pulps was performed with methacryloxypropyltri-methoxysilane (MPTS),\ud aminopropyltri-ethoxysilane (APTS) and n-octadecyl isocyanate, an aliphatic isocyanate (AI). X-ray photoelectron\ud spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the chemical changes have indeed occurred at the surface,\ud and contact angle measurements showed that the surface energy has also changed. MPTS- and AI-treated\ud fibres presented lower hydrophilic character than untreated fibres, whereas APTS increased the water\ud retention value of the pulp. MPTS-treated fibres decreased the water retention and improved dimensional\ud stability of the fibre–cement composites, while the contrary occurred with other modified fibres. Fibre–\ud cement strength was little influenced by fibre treatment, whereas AI-treated fibres contributed to higher\ud specific energy (SE) and the lower SE value for APTS-treated fibres is an indication of the improvement on\ud fibre to cement adherence. These results are promising and contribute toward new strategies to improve\ud the processing and stability of natural fibre-reinforced cement products.CNPq Proc 305792/2009-1FAPESP - Proc 2005/59072-

Intraduodenal Administration of Intact Pea Protein Effectively Reduces Food Intake in Both Lean and Obese Male Subjects

BACKGROUND: Human duodenal mucosa secretes increased levels of satiety signals upon exposure to intact protein. However, after oral protein ingestion, gastric digestion leaves little intact proteins to enter the duodenum. This study investigated whether bypassing the stomach, through intraduodenal administration, affects hormone release and food-intake to a larger extent than orally administered protein in both lean and obese subjects. METHODS: Ten lean (BMI:23.0±0.7 kg/m²) and ten obese (BMI:33.4±1.4 kg/m²) healthy male subjects were included. All subjects randomly received either pea protein solutions (250 mg/kg bodyweight in 0.4 ml/kg bodyweight of water) or placebo (0.4 ml/kg bodyweight of water), either orally or intraduodenally via a naso-duodenal tube. Appetite-profile, plasma GLP-1, CCK, and PYY concentrations were determined over a 2 h period. After 2 h, subjects received an ad-libitum meal and food-intake was recorded. RESULTS: CCK levels were increased at 10(p<0.02) and 20(p<0.01) minutes after intraduodenal protein administration (IPA), in obese subjects, compared to lean subjects, but also compared to oral protein administration (OPA)(p<0.04). GLP-1 levels increased after IPA in obese subjects after 90(p<0.02) to 120(p<0.01) minutes, compared to OPA. Food-intake was reduced after IPA both in lean and obese subjects (-168.9±40 kcal (p<0.01) and -298.2±44 kcal (p<0.01), respectively), compared to placebo. Also, in obese subjects, food-intake was decreased after IPA (-132.6±42 kcal; p<0.01), compared to OPA. CONCLUSIONS: Prevention of gastric proteolysis through bypassing the stomach effectively reduces food intake, and seems to affect obese subjects to a greater extent than lean subjects. Enteric coating of intact protein supplements may provide an effective dietary strategy in the prevention/treatment of obesity