Titrimetric method based on potentiometric titration to evaluate redox couples in wine and polyphenols

Polyphenols are electroactive compounds, each molecule having reductive (Rd) and oxidative forms (Ox) due to the presence of several phenolic hydroxyls. Direct study of Rd/Ox forms was conducted using potentiometric titration in two steps: First, a complete reduction of the polyphenol Rd/Ox couples by titanium III chloride TiCl3 (100 % Rd), and then, oxidative titration by dichlorophenolindophenol DCPIP (100 % Ox). The second curve represents the totality of polyphenol couples titration with, for each couple, a characteristic E0 point representing the equilibrium between the concentration of Rd and Ox forms (Rd/Ox = 1). This value was typical for each polyphenol. We conducted several preliminary experiments with a model polyphenol (catechin) to establish the analysis conditions. The titration solution concentration was N/10 in HCl N and N/20 in water for TiCl3 and DCPIP respectively. The concentration of this solution diminished very rapidly, i.e. within 24 h for TiCl3 and DCPIP (under nitrogen and in darkness) and regularly needed a fresh preparation. To control the consistency and precision of the method we performed a few tests on pure products (e.g. hydroquinone/quihydrone, Fe III, Fe II, Cu II) permitting comparison between theoretical and experimental E0 values. Our result indicated less than 5 % variation and curves with a high reproducibility.

Proper Motions in Kapteyn Selected Area 103: A Preliminary Orbit for the Virgo Stellar Stream

We present absolute proper motions in Kapteyn Selected Area (SA) 103. This field is located 7 degrees west of the center of the Virgo Stellar Stream (VSS, Duffau et al. 2006), and has a well-defined main sequence representing the stream. In SA 103 we identify one RR Lyrae star as a member of the VSS according to its metallicity, radial velocity and distance. VSS candidate turnoff stars and subgiant stars have proper motions consistent with that of the RR Lyrae star. The 3D velocity data imply an orbit with a pericenter of 11 kpc and an apocenter of ~90 kpc. Thus, the VSS comprises tidal debris found near the pericenter of a highly destructive orbit. Examining the six globular clusters at distances larger than 50 kpc from the Galactic center, and the proposed orbit of the VSS, we find one tentative association, NGC 2419. We speculate that NGC 2419 is possibly the nucleus of a disrupted system of which the VSS is a part.Comment: ApJL accepte

Hydrogen vs. Battery in the long-term operation. A comparative between energy management strategies for hybrid renewable microgrids

The growth of the world’s energy demand over recent decades in relation to energy intensity and demography is clear. At the same time, the use of renewable energy sources is pursued to address decarbonization targets, but the stochasticity of renewable energy systems produces an increasing need for management systems to supply such energy volume while guaranteeing, at the same time, the security and reliability of the microgrids. Locally distributed energy storage systems (ESS) may provide the capacity to temporarily decouple production and demand. In this sense, the most implemented ESS in local energy districts are small–medium-scale electrochemical batteries. However, hydrogen systems are viable for storing larger energy quantities thanks to its intrinsic high mass-energy density. To match generation, demand and storage, energy management systems (EMSs) become crucial. This paper compares two strategies for an energy management system based on hydrogen-priority vs. battery-priority for the operation of a hybrid renewable microgrid. The overall performance of the two mentioned strategies is compared in the long-term operation via a set of evaluation parameters defined by the unmet load, storage efficiency, operating hours and cumulative energy. The results show that the hydrogen-priority strategy allows the microgrid to be led towards island operation because it saves a higher amount of energy, while the battery-priority strategy reduces the energy efficiency in the storage round trip. The main contribution of this work lies in the demonstration that conventional EMS for microgrids’ operation based on battery-priority strategy should turn into hydrogen-priority to keep the reliability and independence of the microgrid in the long-term operation

On some inequalities for strongly reciprocally convex functions

Establecemos algunas desigualdades de tipo Hermite-Hadamard y Fejér para la clase de Funciones fuertemente convexas recíprocamente.We establish some Hermite-Hadamard and Fejér type inequalities for the class of strongly reciprocally convex functions.peerReviewe

Predicted properties of RR Lyrae stars in the SDSS photometric system

The luminosities and effective temperatures, as well as the whole bolometric lightcurves of nonlinear convective RR Lyrae models with 0.0001<Z<0.006 are transformed into the SDSS photometric system. The obtained ugriz lightcurves, mean magnitudes and colors, pulsation amplitudes and color-color loops are shown and analytical relations connecting pulsational to intrinsic stellar parameters, similarly to the ones currently used in the Johnson-Cousins filters, are derived. Finally the behaviour in the color-color planes is compared with available observations in the literature and possible systematic uncertainties affecting this comparison are discussed.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA