Line-concentrating Flux Analysis of 42kWe High-flux Solar Simulator

AbstractHigh-flux solar simulatorscan provide controlled conditions and allow conducting high-temperature solar-driven thermal and thermochemical research without perturbations due to solar resource intermittency. A 42-kWe high-flux solar simulator, KIRAN-42, with seven hexagonal symmetry reflectors has been built at IMDEA Energy Institute, Spain. The reflectors layout of KIRAN-42 provides sufficient separation of units and it is conceived flexible enough to adjust the flux distribution onto the focal plane, which has expanded the application field of the high-flux solar simulator significantly. A model was built with Tracepro© to analyze the optical characterization of line-concentrating flux distribution of KIRAN-42, and the results show that, in spite of the spreading of lamps foci onto a line, thepeak flux is still reaching 1.4 MW/m2. Experimental characterizations were also conducted to study the real flux distribution of KIRAN-42 with line-concentrating, of which the peak flux is about 1 MW/m2. Divergence between experimental results and Tracepro©model should still be improved though the optical characterization of KIRAN-42 confirms the potential use of the solar simulator in a flexible way for different aiming strategies

Damages caused by cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus zanjonensis, on sugar cane in San Pedrosula, Honduras

Technical assistance was given to Compañía Azucarera Hondureña, S.A. (Agro-Industrial Co.), Honduras, Central America, to determine if a campaign against noxious rodents to agriculture crops was needed. Several trappings were carried out at different places using snap traps to determine the population structure of rodents associated with the crop, and live traps to determine the index or density of the Sigmodon hispidus rat population, which was identified as being responsible for the damage to sugarcane. Results were 43.24% adult males, 14.86% young males, 31.41% adult females, and 10.47% young females. Of the adult females captured, 54.83% were pregnant with an average of 3 to 4 embryos per rat. A control demonstration combat was carried out at one of the experimental stations with a bait prepared with 2% zinc phosphide in a place where it had been previously determined there was a population of 39 rats per hectare. After such control, the population was reduced to 18 rats per hectare, which represents an efficiency of 53.85%. An evaluation of damages was also measured at different places to determine the degree of loss caused by the rats, which proved to be 22.79% damage. The size of the sample was estimated in 3 samples per hectare, with a level of confidence of 95%

Non-equilibrium plasma assisted hydrogen production : state-of-the-art

http://icpig2007.ipp.cas.cz/files/download/cd-cko/ICPIG2007/pdf/3P16-46.pdfInternational audienc

Fructooligosaccharides and β-fructofuranosidase production by Aspergillus japonicus immobilized on lignocellulosic materials

This work describes the fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and β-fructofuranosidase (FFase) production from sucrose (200 g/l) by Aspergillus japonicus ATCC 20236 immobilized on different lignocellulosic materials including brewer's spent grain, wheat straw, corn cobs, coffee husks, cork oak, and loofa sponge. Transfructosylating (Ut) and hydrolyzing (Uh) activities of FFase were also determined. The FOS production and FFase activity ranged from 128.35 to 138.73 g/l, and 26.83 to 44.81 U/ml, respectively, for cells immobilized in the different carriers. Corn cobs was the best support material since gave the highest results of microorganism immobilization (1.49 g/g carrier), FOS and FFase production, with FOS productivity (6.61 g/l h) and yield (0.66 g/g based on total substrate; 0.73 g/g based on consumed substrate) higher than those obtained by free cells system. Moreover, the ratio Ut/Uh of FFase, parameter of importance for elevated FOS production, was greater for cells immobilized in corn cobs than for free cells. Such results demonstrated that corn cobs can be successfully used as carrier for immobilization of the fungus A. japonicus, for the production of FOS and FFase.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Reactor sterile neutrinos, dark energy and the age of the universe

There are indications that the neutrino oscillation data from reactor experiments and the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments show a preference for two sterile neutrino species, both with masses in the eV region. We show that this result has a significant impact on some important cosmological parameters. Specifically, we use a combination of CMB, LSS and SN1A data and show that the existence of two light, sterile neutrinos would rule out the cosmological constant as dark energy at 95% confidence level, and lower the expansion age of the universe to 12.58 \pm 0.26 Gyr.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. References added and typos corrected. Added numerical values for w ranges and Delta chi^2. Minor extension of discussio

Identification and evaluation of fungal strains with fucoidan degradation potential

Ten fungal strains isolated of Mexican semi-desert were screened for ability to hydrolyze fucoidan in order to search microorganism capable to produce sulfated fucans-degrading enzymes. Plate assay and liquid fermentation experiments were carried out using Laminaria japonica fucoidan as only carbon source, testing three nitrogen sources. Growth was observed only in Aspergillus niger PSH, Mucor sp., and Penicillum purpurogenum GH2 in fucoidan-urea medium. The activity of fucoidanases was determined by reduced sugars. Aspergillus niger PSH showed the highest activity titles. This research indicate that filamentous fungi, using specific medium, are sources enable to induce active metabolism that act toward this class of polysaccharide