Thermal Processing Effects on Rice Characteristics

Whole kernels of four cultivars of milled rice were treated under different conditions according to our traditional methods such as boiling, steaming, autoclaving or roasting with sand. During the vari ous processing conditions, the moisture contents of the kernel , heating temperatures, pressures and heating times were varied. In this paper, the physicochemical properties of those processed samples were investigated and compared. Based on degree of gelatinization , water absorption index , water solubility index , swelling power, viscoamylograms and X-ray diffraction patterns, the propenies of waxy rice samples arc different from that of non -waxy rice samples. They are also different even among the non-waxy rice samples. Besides , each processed sample under diverse treatments has its own properties. In boiled samples, the starch granules almost gelatinized to form a film-like gel substance, whereas in othe r processed samples, ungelatinized starch granules were noticeable

Baltijos jūros regiono šalių ir šalių, nepriklausančių šiam regionui, energijos vartojimo efektyvumo ir BVP ryšiai

Darbe siekiama nustatyti 27 ES šalių, 8 Baltijos regiono šalių ir 19 šalių, nepriklausančių Baltijos jūros regionui, bendrą energijos vartojimo efektyvumą. Tyrime taikytas duomenų apimties analizės modelis (angl. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), viena išvestis (realusis BVP) ir trys įvestys (darbas, realusis akcinis kapitalas ir energijos suvartojimas). Nustatyta, kad tarp bendro energijos vartojimo efektyvumo ir realaus BVP vienam asmeniui Baltijos regiono šalyse ir šalyse, nepriklausančiose Baltijos jūros regionui, pastebėti kylantys į viršų didėjimo, taip pat kylantys į viršų mažėjimo ryšiai. Šis tyrimo rezultatas labai skiriasi nuo anksčiau atlikto tyrimo, kuriuo nustatyta, kad taip bendro energijos vartojimo efektyvumo ir realaus BVP vienam asmeniui yra U formos ryšys, rodantis, kad energijos vartojimo efektyvumo gerinimas nesudaro kliūčių BVP augimui ES.This study employs the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, with a single output (real GDP) and three inputs (labour, real capital stock, and energy consumption) to estimate the totai factor energy efficiency (TFEE) of 27 EU countries: 8 in the Baltic Sea region and 19 in the non-Baitic Sea region. We find that there are an upward slope and increasing as well as an upward slope and decreasing relations between the TFEE and real GDP per capita in the Baltic Sea and non-Baltic Sea regions, respectively. This finding is very different from the past study that concluded a U-shaped relation between the TFEE and real GDP per capita and indicates that energy efficiency improvement does not hinder the GDP growth in the EU

Comparative analysis of energy technology gap estimation in SADC, EU, and ASEAN via the energy metafrontier

The study employs the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach with three inputs (real capital stock, labor, and energy consumption) and one output (real gross domestic product; real GDP) to examine the energy technology gap at the country level and focuses on three regional organizations, including Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), European Union (EU), and Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), by using the energy metafrontier during the period from 2005 to 2013. With 44 observations (8 in SADC, 28 in the EU, and 8 in ASEAN) and a total of 396 decision-making units in the study, the empirical results show that energy technology in ASEAN hit the energy metafrontier in 2012 and 2013, while energy technology in EU was inferior to that of SADC from 2005 to 2011 after being compared together under the metafrontier framework. There is also a convergent phenomenon on the degree of dispersion in the energy technology gap ratio in both ASEAN and EU after 2008 except for that in SADC. Finally, this study finds that the correlation between real GDP and CO2 emissions exhibits a multi-N-type shape for ASEAN

Effect of subsampling tropical cyclone rainfall on flood hydrograph response in a subtropical mountainous catchment

Taiwan National Science Council [NSC-99-2116-M -034-001-MY2, 99-2621-M-002-030]Accurate rainfall input is a prerequisite for simulations that aim to generate accurate hydrographs, which are crucial for flood forecasting, particularly in regions that are prone to frequent typhoon (tropical cyclone) invasions, such as Southern Asia. Few studies have investigated the effect of spatial resolution in typhoon rainfall monitoring on modeled hydrographs. Eight typhoon cases were examined in a mountainous watershed (335 km(2)) featuring hourly radar-based 1.3-km resolution rainfall estimates. Radar-based hourly rainfall was subsampled at various densities in space, and then re-interpolated to full scale for modeling. The highest resolution rainfall datasets were taken as an ideal input in TOPMODEL for calibration and to derive the reference hydrographs, which were further used to examine the response of modeled hydrographs to imperfect rainfall. The correlation between rainfall similarities (compared with radar-based) and corresponding hydrograph similarities (compared with reference) were identified. The two most important findings were as follows: (1) in predicting flood peak timing in mesoscale watershed, high spatial resolution is not required because typhoon-induced rainfall is less variable in space and more concentrated in the temporal scale and (2) satisfactory hydrographs with EC > 0.8 were obtained in 96% test cases, indicating that even a totally biased rainfall (in terms of total amount and rainfall field) may produce a plausible hydrograph. Hydrologic models transfer the spatiotemporal rainfall input into time-series discharge, in which the spatial dimension is converted into travel time. Those positive and negative rainfall biases in space may compensate once allocated in the same arrival time frame in the hydrograph. This explains why in many cases sparsely gauged rainfall input also generates promising hydrographs. In other words, as discussing the effect of other distributed factors on simulated hydrographs, the highly accurate rainfall input is an essential prerequisite to prevent the compensation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Implications of organic matter on arsenic mobilization into groundwater: evidence from northwestern (Chapai-Nawabganj), central (Manikganj) and southeastern (Chandpur) Bangladesh

Boreholes (50 m depth) and piezometers (50 m depth) were drilled and installed for collecting As-rich sediments and groundwater in the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna flood plains for geochemical analyses. Forty-one groundwater samples were collected from the three areas for the analyses of cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+), anions (Cl−, NO3−, SO42−), total organic carbon (TOC), and trace elements (As, Mn, Fe, Sr, Se, Ni, Co, Cu, Mo, Sb, Pb). X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) were performed to characterize the major mineral and chemical contents of aquifer sediments. In all three study areas, results of XRF analysis clearly show that fine-grained sediments contain higher amounts of trace element because of their high surface area for adsorption. Relative fluorescent intensity of humic substances in groundwater samples ranges from 30 to 102 (mean 58 ± 20, n = 20), 54–195 (mean 105 ± 48, n = 10), and 27–243 (mean 79 ± 71, n = 11) in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna flood plains, respectively. Arsenic concentration in groundwater (20–50 m of depth) ranges from 3 to 315 μg/L (mean 62.4 ± 93.1 μg/L, n = 20), 16.4–73.7 μg/L (mean 28.5 ± 22.4 μg/L, n = 10) and 4.6–215.4 μg/L (mean 30.7 ± 62.1 μg/L, n = 11) in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna flood plains, respectively. Specific ultra violet adsorption (SUVA) values (less than 3 m−1 mg−1 L) indicate that the groundwater in the Ganges flood plain has relatively low percentage of aromatic organic carbon compared to those in the Brahmaputra and Meghna flood plains. Arsenic content in sediments ranges from 1 to 11 mg/kg (mean 3.5 ± 2.7 mg/kg, n = 17) in the three flood plains. Total organic carbon content is 0.5–3.7 g/kg (mean 1.9 ± 1.1 g/kg) in the Ganges flood plain, 0.5–2.1 g/kg (mean: 1.1 ± 0.7 g/kg) in the Brahmaputra flood plain and 0.3–4.4 g/kg (mean 1.9 ± 1.9 g/kg) in the Meghna flood plain. Arsenic is positively correlated with TOC (R2 = 0.50, 0.87, and 0.85) in sediments from the three areas. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis of the sediments revealed that the functional groups of humic substances in three areas include amines, phenol, alkanes, and aromatic carbon. Arsenic and Fe speciation in sediments were determined using XANES and the results imply that As(V) and Fe(III) are the dominant species in most sediments. The results also imply that As (V) and Fe (III) in most of the sediment samples of the three areas are the dominant species. X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis shows that FeOOH is the main carrier of As in the sediments of three areas. In sediments, As is well correlated with Fe and Mn. However, there is no such correlation observed between As and Fe as well as As and Mn in groundwater, implying that mobilizations of Fe, Mn, and As are decoupled or their concentrations in groundwater have been affected by other geochemical processes following reductive dissolution of Fe or Mn-hydroxides. For example, dissolved Fe and Mn levels may be affected by precipitation of Fe- and Mn-carbonate minerals such as siderite, while liberated As remains in groundwater. The groundwaters of the Brahmaputra and Meghna flood plains contain higher humic substances in relative fluorescence intensity (or fluorescence index) and lower redox potential compared to the groundwater of Ganges flood plain. This leads to the release of arsenic and iron to groundwater of these three plains in considerable amounts, but their concentrations are distributed in spatial variations

Climatic and geomorphic controls on the erosion of terrestrial biomass from subtropical mountain forest

[1] Erosion of particulate organic carbon (POC) occurs at very high rates in mountain river catchments, yet the proportion derived recently from atmospheric CO2 in the terrestrial biosphere (POCnon-fossil) remains poorly constrained. Here we examine the transport of POCnon-fossil in mountain rivers of Taiwan and its climatic and geomorphic controls. In 11 catchments we have combined previous geochemical quantification of POC source (accounting for fossil POC from bedrock), with measurements of water discharge (Qw) and suspended sediment concentration over 2 years. In these catchments, POCnon-fossil concentration (mg L−1) was positively correlated with Qw, with enhanced loads at high flow attributed to rainfall driven supply of POCnon-fossil from forested hillslopes. This climatic control on POCnon-fossil transport was moderated by catchment geomorphology: the gradient of a linear relation of POCnon-fossil concentration and Qw increased as the proportion of steep hillslopes (>35°) in the catchment increased. The data suggest enhanced supply of POCnon-fossil by erosion processes which act most efficiently on the steepest sections of forest. Across Taiwan, POCnon-fossil yield was correlated with suspended sediment yield, with a mean of 21 ± 10 tC km−2 yr−1. At this rate, export of POCnon-fossil imparts an upper bound on the time available for biospheric growth, of ∼800 yr. Over longer time periods, POCnon-fossil transferred with large amounts of clastic sediment can contribute to sequestration of atmospheric CO2 if buried in marine sediments. Our results show that this carbon transfer should be enhanced in a wetter and stormier climate, and the rates moderated on geological timescales by the regional tectonic setting

Material Characteristics, Processing and Utilization of Dehulled Adlay

由於薏仁的營養價值高又對人體具有特殊生理機能，故自古以來不僅被用為滋養強壯齊j ，亦為漢藥方的重要材料。在中國和日本的民間療法中，薏仁被認為具有健脾益胃、利尿、消炎和抗腫瘤等功效。在近代醫學報告上，已證實薏仁中含有抗腫瘤的薏仁醋，降血糖的水溶性多醣，可抗過敏的含酚類化合物，以及新抗菌物質等特殊生理機能性成分。薏仁的加工產品雖然種類很多（例如薏仁茶、薏仁醋、薏仁雪花片、福康等），但其產量不大。薏苡適合國內種植，因此發展薏苡加工業似乎值得重視。 Dehulled adlay has long been used as nourishment foods and traditional Chinese medicine due to its high nutritional value and physiological effect on human body. It is recognized that it has stomachic, diuretic, antiphlogistic, and anti-tumor effects in the folklore in China and Japan. Modern medical reports have confirmed that it contains anti-tumor component (coixenolide), water-soluble polysaccharides ( coixans ) ,that can lower plasma glucose level, anti-histamine constituents (benzoxazinoids) and new antimicrobial substances (coixindens), etc. Many kinds of processed foods such as tea, vinegar, flakes and “Fukan” have been produced in Taiwan, but their production scale is not very large. Adlay is suitable for cultivation here; therefore,it seems worthy to build up an adlay industry

A comparative study on arsenic and humic substances in alluvial aquifers of Bengal delta plain (NW Bangladesh), Chianan plain (SW Taiwan) and Lanyang plain (NE Taiwan): implication of arsenic mobilization mechanisms

Humic substances in groundwater and aquifer sediments from the arsenicosis and Blackfoot disease (BFD) affected areas in Bangladesh (Bengal delta plain) and Taiwan (Lanyang plain and Chianan plain) were characterized using fluorescence spectrophotometry and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that the mean concentration of As and relative intensity of fluorescent humic substances are higher in the Chianan plain groundwater than those in the Lanyang plain and Bengal delta plain groundwater. The mean As concentrations in Bengal delta plain, Chianan plain, and Lanyang plain are 50.65 μg/l (2.8-170.8 μg/l, n = 20), 393 μg/l (9-704 μg/l, n = 5), and 104.5 μg/l (2.51-543 μg/l, n = 6), respectively. Average concentrations and relative fluorescent intensity of humic substances in groundwater are 25.381 QSU (quinine standard unit) and 17.78 in the Bengal delta plain, 184.032 QSU and 128.41 in the Chianan plain, and 77.56 QSU and 53.43 in the Lanyang plain. Moreover, FT-IR analysis shows that the humic substances extracted from the Chianan plain groundwater contain phenolic, alkanes, aromatic ring and amine groups, which tend to form metal carbon bonds with As and other trace elements. By contrast, the spectra show that humic substances are largely absent from sediments and groundwater in the Bengal delta plain and Lanyang plain. The data suggest that the reductive dissolution of As-adsorbed Mn oxyhydroxides is the most probable mechanism for mobilization of As in the Bengal delta plain. However, in the Chianan plain and Lanyang plain, microbially mediated reductive dissolution of As-adsorbed amorphous/crystalline Fe oxyhydroxides in organic-rich sediments is the primary mechanism for releasing As to groundwater. High levels of As and humic substances possibly play a critical role in causing the unique BFD in the Chianan plain of SW Taiwan