Verbeter uw resultaten met nieuw computerprogramma SaldoRegistratie Schapen

Het programma is specifiek voor de schapenhouderij ontwikkeld en biedt schapenhouders de mogelijkheid een goed inzicht te krijgen in de bedrijfsvoering. Het is hiermee een nuttig hulpmiddel bij het verbeteren van de bedrijfsresultaten en daarmee het inkomen uit de schapenhouderij

Transesterification of sago starch and waste palm cooking oil in densified CO₂

In this work, the synthesis of biodegradable and yet renewable thermoplastics materials through a transesterification reaction of sago starch and waste palm cooking oil (WPO) in densified CO2 as the solvent is reported. The aim of this research is to investigate the potential used of sago starch and WPO as raw materials in the thermoplastics starch synthesis. The starch esters was successfully synthesized using sago starch and WPO as reagent in densified CO2 as shown from the presence of carbonyl group (C=O, 1743 cm-1) in the FT-IR spectra coupled with the presence of the proton (1H-NMR) of the fatty acid in the starch backbone (0.8 - 2 ppm). The product crystallinity decreases as shown in XRD results and resulting with a change in the thermal properties (melting and crystalline temperature) of the products. In addition, the products show a different granular morphology and a higher hydrophobicity compared with native sago starch. This research shows the potential used of sago starch and WPO in the thermoplastics starch synthesis and opens a new perspective on the product application

Synthesis of Higher Fatty Acid Starch Esters using Vinyl Laurate and Stearate as Reactants

This paper describes the synthesis of long-chain fatty esters of corn starch (starch laurate and starch stearate) with a broad range in degree of substitution (DS = 0.24-2.96). The fatty esters were prepared by reacting the starch with vinyl laurate or vinyl stearate in the presence of basic catalysts (Na(2)HPO(4), K(2)CO(3), and Na acetate) in DMSO at 110 degrees C. The yellowish products were characterized by (1)H-, (13)C-NMR and FTIR. The DS of the products is a function of the carbon number of the fatty acid chain, vinyl ester to starch ratio and the type of catalyst. When performing the reactions using Na(2)HPO(4) as the catalyst, the DS for the starch laurate compounds is higher than for the corresponding starch stearates. For low vinyl ester to starch ratios, an increase in the vinyl ester concentration leads to higher product DS values. At higher ratios, the DS decreases, presumably due to a reduction of the polarity of the reaction medium. K(2)CO(3) and Na acetate are superior catalysts with respect to activity compared to Na(2)HPO(4) and products with DS values close to 3 were obtained

Catalytic conversion of furfural extract from lubricating oil extraction unit over the shaped and promoted HY catalysts to valuable petroleum products

Catalytic conversion of a furfural extract from the extraction unit of lubricating oil to valuable products was investigated over the shaped HY extrudates using bentonite as binder (HY/bentonite) and zinc and nickel promoted HY/bentonite catalyst (Zn-Ni-HY/bentonite) in a bench scale fixed bed reactor. The catalysts were characterized by XRF, XRD, SEM and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. At 550 °C and LHSV of 9.2 h-1, 7.3 wt% gasoline was yielded over HY/bentonite catalyst, which was significantly increased (ca. 42%) over Zn-Ni-HY/bentonite catalyst. Besides, notably enhanced yield of light and heavy naphtha, kerosene, gas oil and lubricating oil can be distilled from the overall liquid products over Zn-Ni-HY/bentonite catalyst (90.5 wt%) than over HY/bentonite catalyst (77.6 wt%). The obtained petroleum products with the satisfied characteristics can be blended after hydrodesulfurization processing

Corrigendum: Short-lived positron emitters in beam-on PET imaging during proton therapy (2015 Phys. Med. Biol. 60 8923)

Because of strong indications of multiple counting by the multi-channel scaler (MCS) during most of the experiments described in Dendooven et al (2015 Phys. Med. Biol. 60 8923–47), the production of short-lived positron emitters in the stopping of 55 MeV protons in water, carbon, phosphorus and calcium was remeasured. The new results are reported here. With proper single counting of the MCS, the new production rates are 1.1 to 2.9 times smaller than reported in Dendooven et al (2015 Phys. Med. Biol. 60 8923–47). The omission of the conversion from MCS time bin to time unit in the previous data analysis was corrected, leading to an increase of the production rate by a factor of 2.5 or 10 for some nuclides. The most copiously produced short-lived nuclides and their production rates relative to the relevant long-lived nuclides are: 12N (T 1/2  =  11 ms) on carbon (5.3% of 11C), 29P (T 1/2  =  4.1 s) on phosphorus (23% of 30P) and 38mK (T 1/2  =  0.92 s) on calcium (173% of 38gK). The number of decays integrated from the start of an irradiation as a function of time during the irradiation of PMMA and 4 tissue materials has been determined. For (carbon-rich) adipose tissue, 12N dominates up to 70 s. On bone tissue, 38mK dominates the beam-on PET counts from 0.2–0.7 s until about 80–110 s. Considering nuclides created on phosphorus and calcium, the short-lived ones provide 8 times more decays than the long-lived ones during a 70 s irradiation. Bone tissue will thus be much better visible in beam-on PET compared to PET imaging after an irradiation. From the estimated number of 12N PET counts, we conclude that, for any tissue, except carbon-poor ones, 12N PET imaging potentially provides equal quality proton range information as prompt gamma imaging with an optimized knife-edge slit camera

Quantum Statistics of Surface Plasmon Polaritons in Metallic Stripe Waveguides

Single surface plasmon polaritons are excited using photons generated via spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The mean excitation rates, intensity correlations and Fock state populations are studied. The observed dependence of the second order coherence in our experiment is consistent with a linear uncorrelated Markovian environment in the quantum regime. Our results provide important information about the effect of loss for assessing the potential of plasmonic waveguides for future nanophotonic circuitry in the quantum regime.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, published in Nano Letters, publication date (web): March 27 (2012

Optimization of Biodiesel Production over Chicken Eggshell-Derived CaO Catalyst in a Continuous Centrifugal Contactor Separator

Solid calcium oxide (CaO) catalyst was prepared via the calcination of chicken eggshells as an environmentally friendly waste resource and incorporated in a continuous centrifugal contactor separator (CCCS) for intensified biodiesel synthesis. Biodiesel or fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) were produced via the transesterification of sunflower oil (containing 5 wt % tetrahydrofuran as a cosolvent) with methanol under 60 °C and separated from the glycerol and catalyst phases continuously in the CCCS. The influence of reaction parameters on biodiesel production was well modeled by response surface methodology. At an oil flow rate of 9 mL/min, an alcohol to oil molar ratio of 11:1, and a weight hourly space time (defined as the catalyst weight over the oil mass flow rate) of 0.050 h, an optimized FAME yield of 83.2% with a productivity of 638 kgFAME/(m3reactor·h) was achieved. CaO catalyst was reused without significant activity loss for at least four cycles

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors: physics and applications

Single-photon detectors based on superconducting nanowires (SSPDs or SNSPDs) have rapidly emerged as a highly promising photon-counting technology for infrared wavelengths. These devices offer high efficiency, low dark counts and excellent timing resolution. In this review, we consider the basic SNSPD operating principle and models of device behaviour. We give an overview of the evolution of SNSPD device design and the improvements in performance which have been achieved. We also evaluate device limitations and noise mechanisms. We survey practical refrigeration technologies and optical coupling schemes for SNSPDs. Finally we summarize promising application areas, ranging from quantum cryptography to remote sensing. Our goal is to capture a detailed snapshot of an emerging superconducting detector technology on the threshold of maturity.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, Review article preprint versio