Membrane processing of grape must for control of the alcohol content in fermented beverages

The great demand of beverages, both alcohol-free and with low alcohol content, is a great challenge for the production of beverages with controlled alcohol content through the use of sustainable enological practices. The present work addresses this challenge with the processing of grape must by reverse osmosis (RO) for must reconstitution with different sugar contents prior to the alcoholic fermentation. The original must came from grapes grown in Quinta do Quinto, in Santarém, collected after destemming and mechanic crushing, and preserved in a refrigerated chamber at -1.6 °C until processing by RO. The RO processing was carried out in Escola Superior Agrária de Santarém, with a pilot plant equipped with RO spiral wound modules, M38RO, from Alfa Laval, Denmark. The total membrane permeation area is 15 m2. The work pressure was 55 bar. The original must had 23.7 oBrix, a density of 1108 g.L-1, 15.2% (v/v) of probable alcohol, and a conductivity of 2.01 mS.cm-1. The must reconstitution was carried out, by mixing the concentrated grape must with the vegetal water produced by RO (permeate) to obtain beverages with a nominal alcohol content of 5%, 7%, 10% and 13% (v/v). The fermentation average temperature was between 18.2 and 19.7 °C, and the final density rounded about 993 g.cm-3. The beverages were analysed by different parameters, including total polyphenols, total anthocyanins, colour intensity and hue, the coordinates CIELab, alcohol content, total acidity, volatile acidity, pH, free SO2 and total SO2. The attributes of the beverage, corresponding to the visual appearance, aroma and taste senses, as well as the overall judgment were evaluated by the tasters. The proposed method can produce beverages with controlled low alcohol content. The decrease of the alcohol content led to lower content of polyphenols compounds which influenced the sensory evaluation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interstory drift based scaling of earthquake ground motions

A novel amplitude scaling procedure is proposed in this study where the ground motion scaling factors are defined as the ratio of interstory drift distributions under target spectrum versus under the associated ground motion spectrum. The advantage of employing interstory drift ratio in ground motion scaling, compared to employing spectral intensity directly, is that it provides a strong theoretical link between the target spectrum intensity and the fundamental dynamic characteristics of the structure. Hence, scaling is conditioned on structural response, which is in turn a function of seismic intensity. The interstory drift-based scaling procedure (IDS) is presented herein for planar frames for brevity. Accuracy and efficiency of the IDS procedure is assessed under a set of near fault strong motions from large magnitude events. The results revealed that the proposed procedure is accurate since the resulting bias in estimating linear elastic interstory drifts is negligibly small. Further, it is noticeably more effective as compared to the conventional procedures suggested in recent seismic codes, yet it is simpler

Detect and Pointing Algorithms Performance for a 2D Adaptive Antenna Array

In recent decades, we have witnessed a great progress in wireless communications. The huge amount of data that users expect to access has required an effort to increase the capacity of wireless networks. The main limitation of these communication systems is the increasing interference between channels and multipath fading. Smart antennas technology has emerged, solving some of these problems and improving the performance of wireless networks. This chapter addresses a group of algorithms, directions of arrival (DOA) and beamforming, applied to planar antenna arrays. The algorithms are simulated, and their performance is evaluated in terms of runtime, accuracy and dependence with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), applied to a smart antenna system

Parámetros estructurales de las viviendas de adobe (Cusco, Perú) para la evaluación del desempeño sísmico

En este trabajo se evalúan las propiedades estructurales de las construcciones de adobe en Cusco, Perú, para ser usadas como parámetros en la evaluación de la capacidad y del riesgo sísmico. Las propiedades geométricas (tipología) de las viviendas de adobe han sido determinadas a través de encuestas de campo en un trabajo anterior. Con la información recopilada se creó una base de datos resaltando la media, desviación estándar y funciones de distribución de probabilidad (FDP) de cada uno de los parámetros como la altura de la vivienda, ancho de muros, dimensiones de los adobes, etc. La ciudad del Cusco ha sido seleccionada para este estudio por ser una de las ciudades con mayor cantidad de viviendas de tierra en el Perú, país con intensa actividad sísmica. La información sobre el comportamiento sísmico de las construcciones de adobe ha sido obtenida a través de ensayos experimentales realizados en la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP). Los resultados de estos ensayos han permitido desarrollar expresiones para el cálculo de la deriva (capacidad de deformación) y del período de vibración de las viviendas de adobe. En base a estas ecuaciones, la capacidad sísmica de las viviendas de tierra del Cusco ha sido calculada y usada en una reciente propuesta probabilística de la estimación de pérdidas por terremotos basada en desplazamientos (acrónimo DBELA). Esta metodología plantea la generación de una población aleatoria de viviendas siguiendo la información estadística de las propiedades geométricas. Luego, la capacidad estructural de cada vivienda aleatoria es calculada (capacidad de desplazamiento vs. período de vibración) y comparada con la demanda sísmica, obteniéndose de esta forma probabilidades de daños (curvas de vulnerabilidad).This paper looks at the structural properties of adobe buildings in Cusco, Peru, for use in seismic performance and seismic risk assessment. The geometrical properties (typology) of adobe dwellings from Cusco have been established according to a building-by-building survey. Cusco has been chosen for this study as, according to the national census, around 80% of the building stock in this town is constructed with adobe. Furthermore, this region of the country is relatively seismically active and thus seismic risk assessment studies are warranted. Additional structural information of adobe buildings has been obtained from experimental tests carried out at the Catholic University of Peru. These tests have allowed the inter-storey drift capacity and the period of vibration of adobe buildings to be derived. A database containing the principal geometrical properties of 30 dwellings has been created which has allowed the mean, standard deviation and probability density functions (PDF) to be defined for each parameter such as storey height, wall length, etc. These properties are of use in a recently proposed probabilistic displacement-based earthquake loss assessment method (DBELA) which generates random populations of buildings based on this input data. The structural capacity of each random building is then predicted based on structural mechanics principles, and by comparing this capacity with the demand from earthquakes, estimates of the probability of damage can be made

Seismic capacity of adobe dwellings

In this paper the seismic capacity of adobe dwellings, in-plane and out-of-plane, is analyzed in terms of the displacement capacity and the period of vibration. For the former, cyclic and dynamic tests carried out at the Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) has been analyzed to obtain limit states (LS) for adobe walls and damping values for each LS. The period of vibration obtained from the experimental test results were compared with the results of elastic numerical analysis, where different configurations of adobe buildings were simulated. Then, an expression to compute the elastic period of vibration of adobe dwellings was obtained in function of the walls height. For the out-of-plane behaviour the displacement capacity is obtained from a linearized displacement-based approach, which estimates the maximum displacement that an adobe wall can support without collapsing. The period of vibration is obtained based on the collapse mechanism selected for each wall, which is a function of the wall geometrical properties and the boundary conditions

Structural properties of adobe dwellings in Cusco (Peru) for seismic risk assessment

This paper looks at the structural properties of adobe buildings in Cusco, Peru, for use in seismic risk assessment. The geometrical properties (typology) of adobe dwellings from Cusco have been established according to a building-by-building survey. Cusco has been chosen for this study as, according to the national census, around 80% of the building stock in this town is constructed with adobe. Furthermore, this region of the country is relatively seismically active and thus seismic risk assessment studies are warranted. Additional structural information of adobe buildings has been obtained from experimental tests carried out at the Catholic University of Peru. These tests have allowed the inter-storey drift capacity and the period of vibration of adobe buildings to be derived. A database containing the principal geometrical properties of 30 dwellings has been created which has allowed the mean, standard deviation and probability density functions (PDF) to be defined for each parameter such as storey height, wall length, etc. These properties are of use in a recently proposed probabilistic displacement- based earthquake loss assessment method (DBELA) which generates random populations of buildings based on this input data. The structural capacity of each random building is then predicted based on structural mechanics principles, and by comparing this capacity with the demand from earthquakes, estimates of the probability of damage can be made

Seismic risk assessment of adobe dwellings in Cusco, Peru, based on mechanical procedures

A procedure to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of one-storey adobe dwellings located in Cusco (Peru) is presented here. The seismic capacity of these dwellings is based on a mechanical-based approach, where the in-plane and out-of-plane failure mechanisms are taken into account. From a database with the principal geometrical properties of dwellings from Cusco, random populations of buildings were generated through Monte Carlo simulation. The capacity of each random dwelling is expressed as a function of its displacement capacity and period of vibration, and this is evaluated for different damage limit states. The seismic demand has been represented by the displacement spectral shapes computed for different levels of intensity, considering the Peruvian Seismic Code and the Eurocode 8. Finally, from the comparison between capacity and demand, probability of failure have been obtained for different return periods

Structural properties of adobe dwellings in Cusco for seismic risk assessment

According to the last national census, 35% of the Peruvian dwellings are made with adobe or tapial (rammed earth). In Cusco, a city located at the Peruvian highlands, around 75% of the building stock is constructed with earth. Besides, Cusco is relatively seismically active and thus seismic risk assessment studies are warranted. For example, on May 21, 1950, an earthquake seriously damaged almost all the buildings in Cusco, which a maximum estimated acceleration of 300 gals. This work looks at the structural properties of adobe buildings in Cusco for use in seismic risk assessment. The geometrical properties of typical dwellings from Cusco have been established according to a building-by-building survey carried out at the Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). Then, a database containing the principal geometrical properties of 30 dwellings has been created which has allowed the mean, standard deviation and probability density functions (PDF) to be defined for parameter such as storey height, wall length, etc

Trends in the fishery and catch patterns of kitefin shark, Dalatias licha (Bonaterre, 1788), from off Azores, through a GIS spatial analysis.

During the last two decades the Azorean fishing community has profited from the kitefin shark fishery which in the year 2000 generated an estimated revenue of approximately €12,500. This resource has been targeted mainly by small fishing vessels operating in the Azores archipelago since the late 1970s. The vulnerability of this species to exploitation has raised the concern about the impact of the fishery on the resource. The monthly landings of three artisanal fishing vessels were monitored and possible changes to kitefin shark abundance and catch pattern, for the period between 1986 and 1998, were geographically analysed. A vector-based GIS (Geographic Information System) was constructed to evaluate the changes in the number of individuals captured and squalene oil barrels obtained through a spatio-temporal perspective. In order to investigate which were the most profitable fishing areas. An optimum fishing pathway was generated for one of the vessels in 1997 based on a raster GIS. The results indicated a decrease of kitefin shark catches in several areas around Azores archipelago and over the time period analysed. The analysis of the data in a GIS environment yield a dynamic and integrated view of the species catches off Azores in a temporal and spatial perspective