EFFECT OF OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION IN THE APPLE (Pyrus malus) VARIETIES GALA, GOLD AND FUJI

Some raw material characteristics were evaluated in three apple varieties Gala, Gold and Fuji. The study was undertaken to collect information in order to identify the effects of initial tissue properties on mass transport phenomena in general, and osmotic processing responses in particular. The apples, obtained from the local market, were washed, peeled and cut into 10 mm cube. After this, the samples were dehydrated in sugar osmotic solution (50% w/w) at 30°C and 110 rpm of agitation. The ratio of foodstuff to osmotic solution was greater than 1:20. The mass transfer kinetics was measured in intervals of 20 minutes during 3 hours. The mass transfer kinetics of the different apple varieties has presented different behavior during the osmotic dehydration. The apples vs. Gala have presented the highest water loss and solid gain. The vs. Gold presented a lower tendency to solid uptake

TarTar: A Timed Automata Repair Tool

We present TarTar, an automatic repair analysis tool that, given a timed diagnostic trace (TDT) obtained during the model checking of a timed automaton model, suggests possible syntactic repairs of the analyzed model. The suggested repairs include modified values for clock bounds in location invariants and transition guards, adding or removing clock resets, etc. The proposed repairs are guaranteed to eliminate executability of the given TDT, while preserving the overall functional behavior of the system. We give insights into the design and architecture of TarTar, and show that it can successfully repair 69% of the seeded errors in system models taken from a diverse suite of case studies.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

THERMAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF ROOM AIR CONDITIONERS EVAPORATORS

This work presents a thermal performance evaluation of a fin-and-tube evaporator - that is widely used in packaged air conditioning equipment - using a balanced calorimeter developed to simulate similar running conditions. The calorimeter determines the heat rate absorbed by the evaporator, providing qualitative analysis of performance for a given geometry. The calorimeter inside air is dried out due to the condensation process on the evaporator under test during the transient period. By this way it is possible to preview the humidity of the calorimeter domain and its influence with the instrumentation measurement. The heat transfer rate absorbed by the evaporator is obtained by a lumped approach using the energy conservation that is applied to the calorimeter domain, and is taken on the boundaries of the equipment. Physical parameters such as overall heat transfer coefficient for several types of fins can then be predicted in order to provide information for improving the energy-efficiency-oriented design. The uncertainties are estimated by the propagation of relative effects. Uncertainties are evaluated taking into account the systematic effects. Results are shown in terms of evaporator overall heat transfer coefficient and heat transfer rate as a function of inlet air temperature

usefulness of testing with PEG 1500 extract

Background. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is being used for first time as an excipient for mRNA anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines containing-PEG2000, highlighting it as a potential cause of anaphylaxis. Objective. To assess the usefulness of skin tests using PEG1500 extract in patients with suspected allergy to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Methods. We evaluated 126 patients with moderate-high risk of allergy to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines referred to our department from March-December 2021. Skin tests were performed with PEG1500 extract (Roxall), using a stepwise approach, with readings at 30 minutes: prick tests with 0.1%, 1% and 10% concentrations; if negative, intradermal tests with 0.0001%, 0.001% and 0.01% concentrations. The same protocol was applied to 5 healthy controls. Results. Six patients had positive immediate intradermal tests with PEG1500, all with severe PEG allergy: one with a near-fatal anaphylaxis after glucocorticoid injection containing-PEG3350 and five with systemic allergic reactions after mRNA vaccines containing-PEG2000 (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna). One patient developed anaphylaxis during intradermal test. These six patients were negative to polysorbate 80. The remaining 120 patients had negative tests to PEG1500; seven had positive tests to polysorbate 80. All controls had negative tests. Conclusions. To our knowledge this is the first study describing the allergy work-up testing with PEG1500 commercial extract in the scope of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The algorithm designed for skin tests revealed to be a useful tool. Severe PEG allergy was diagnosed in 5% of patients, contraindicating PEG-containing vaccines. PEG allergy was excluded in one hundred patients that afterwards took SARS-CoV-2 vaccines containing-PEG2000. Investigation should be conducted in specialized drug allergy centres.authorsversionpublishe