Magnetic-dipole induced appearance of vortices in a bilayered superconductor/soft-magnet heterostructure

The penetration of the magnetic field of an infinitesimal magnetic dipole into a bilayered type-II superconductor/soft-magnet heterostructure is studied on the basis of the classical London approach. The critical values of the dipole moment for the first appearance of a single magnetic vortex and, respectively, a magnetic vortex-antivortex pair in the superconductor constituent are obtained, when the magnetic dipole faces the superconductor or the soft-magnet constituent. This reveals that the soft-magnet constituent inhibits penetration of vortices into the superconductor constituent, when the dipole faces the soft-magnet constituent.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure; accepted in Physica C for the special issue of Preceedings of the 8th Int. Conference on Materials and Mechanisms of Superconductivity and High Temperature Superconductors (M2S-HTSC), Dresden, Germany, July 9-14, 200

Impact of modified atmosphere and humidity packaging on the quality, off-odour development and volatiles of ‘Elsanta’ strawberries

Development of off-odours, as well as visual quality of packaged fresh produce plays a crucial role in consumer’s choice. In this context, this work investigated the odour profile, condensation, gas composition, and postharvest quality attributes of strawberries stored under modified atmosphere and humidity packaging at 5 °C for 14 days. The packages were fitted with fixed area (69, 126.5, and 195.5 cm2) of different permeable membranes (NatureFlex, Xtend, and Propafilm). No significant changes were detected on the measured physicochemical quality attributes of strawberries and mass loss was below 1.5% across the different packaging systems. Package modification/design had an influence on in-package water vapour condensation, gas composition, and accumulation of secondary volatile organic compounds (acetaldehyde, acetone, ethanol and ethyl acetate)

Transpiration and moisture evolution in packaged fresh horticultural produce and the role of integrated mathematical models: A review

Transpiration has various adverse effects on postharvest quality and the shelf-life of fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV). If not controlled, the water released through this process results in direct mass loss and moisture condensation inside packaged FFV. Condensation represents a threat to the product quality as water may accumulate on the product surface and/or packaging system, causing defects in external appearance and promoting growth of spoilage microorganisms. Thus, moisture regulation is extremely important for extending FFV shelf-life. This review focuses on transpiration phenomenon and moisture evolution in packaged fresh horticultural produce. It provides recent information on various moisture control strategies suitable for packaging of fresh horticultural produce. It also provides an evaluation on the role and application of integrative mathematical modelling in describing water relations of FFV for packaging design, as well as, an overview of models reported in literature

Moisture absorption kinetics of FruitPad for packaging of fresh strawberry

This study analysed the moisture absorption kinetics of FruitPad embedded with different concentrations of fructose with further application of such pads in packaging of fresh strawberries. The FruitPad was exposed to different storage conditions (temperature and RH) and moisture absorption kinetics was gravimetrically determined over 5 days of storage. FruitPad with 30% fructose showed highest amount of moisture absorption (0.94 g of water/g of pad) at 20 °C and 100% RH. The Weibull model combined with the Flory-Huggins model adequately described changes in moisture content of the FruitPad with respect to storage time and humidity (R2 = 93–96%). The FruitPad containing fructose minimized in-package condensation compared to the pad without fructose. Weight loss of packaged strawberry was less than 0.9% which was much below the acceptable limit of 6% for strawberry

Local Overweighting and Underperformance: Evidence from Limited Partner Private Equity Investments

Institutional investors of all types exhibit substantial home-state bias when investing in private equity (PE) funds. This effect is particularly pronounced for public pension funds, where the local overweighting amounts to 9.7% of the private equity portfolio on average, based on 5-year rolling average benchmarks. Public pension funds’ own-state investments perform significantly worse than their out-of-state investments, an average of 3-4 percentage points of net IRR per year, and those that that overweight their portfolios towards home-state investments also perform worse overall. These underperformance patterns are not evident for other types of institutional investors, such as endowments, foundations and corporate pension funds, and we do not observe similar overweighting or underperformance of investments in neighboring states. Overweighting in home state investments by public pension funds is greater in states with higher levels of corruption, although there is no positive correlation of underperformance with corruption for these investors. The overweighting and underperformance of local investments cost public pension funds between $0.9 and$1.2 billion per year, depending on the benchmark.

Condensation regulation of packaged strawberries under fluctuating storage temperature

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bovi, G. G., Caleb, O. J., Rauh, C., & Mahajan, P. V. (2019). Condensation regulation of packaged strawberries under fluctuating storage temperature. Packaging Technology and Science, 32(11), 545–554. https://doi.org/10.1002/pts.2470 which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/pts.2470. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.Disruption in cold chain during distribution and retail could have a significant impact on in‐package condensation of optimally designed packaged fresh produce. The aim of this work was to regulate in‐package condensation and evaluate the performance of different packaging design systems for strawberries under fluctuating temperatures (between 10°C and 20°C) for 5 days. The design included the use of condensation control strategies, namely, enhanced permeable films (NatureFlex and Xtend) and FruitPad of different fructose content (0%, 20%, 30%, 35%, and 40%). Package performance was evaluated in terms of headspace gas composition, mass loss, condensation, physico‐chemical changes, and visual and ortho‐nasal quality evaluation. Percentage mass loss of packaged strawberries ranged from 0.6% to 4% and was 33% for unpackaged. Results also showed that compared with the control sample, both strategies (enhanced permeable films and FruitPads) were effective in reducing condensation. In addition, transpirational water loss, results of the water absorbed by the FruitPads and transferred through the films were used to understand the packaging design needs under fluctuating temperature

The Bean-Livingston barrier at a superconductor/magnet interface

The Bean-Livingston barrier at the interface of type-II superconductor/soft-magnet heterostructures is studied on the basis of the classical London approach. This shows a characteristic dependence on the geometry of the particular structure and its interface as well as on the relative permeability of the involved magnetic constituent. The modification of the barrier by the presence of the magnet can be significant, as demonstrated for a cylindrical superconducting filament covered with a coaxial magnetic sheath. Using typical values of the relative permeability, the critical field of first penetration of magnetic flux is predicted to be strongly enhanced, whereas the variation of the average critical current density with the external field is strongly depressed, in accord with the observations of recent experiments.Comment: RevTeX 4; revised version; accepted in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte