Transport Energy Security. The Unseen Risk?

The decline in significance given to energy security in recent years can be associated with increasing trust in the self-balancing security of a global-trading economy. After the events of the first years of the 21st century, that framework now looks more problematic, at least for oil supplies. The underlying level of risk that characterised the oil market of the late 20th century has changed, exacerbated by the increasing inelasticity of demand for oil-based products in the transport sector of the world’s economies, which in its turn reflects the strategic dominance of transport within economies. The prudent course for the international community is to reduce the underlying causes of possible geopolitical constraints by making them more manageable through normal channels. One such constraint that is within every nation’s capability (and self-interest) to reduce is the upward drift in the price inelasticity of domestic oil consumption. This could involve increasing the ability to divert oil used within the domestic economy to transport. Yet for many industrial economies, this option has largely been exhausted and a more radical approach of opening up new energy vectors to supply the transport sector may be needed. Taking preventative action after a security event is generally more straightforward than taking precautionary action to ensure that it never happens. The latter course may only be successful through a coincidence with other interests. The current environment agenda is such a coincident interest with transport fuel security.Transport energy security, Risk

The Spatial And Temporal Characteristics Of Visually Directed Limb Movements And Comparison Of Ocular And Manual Performance

The purpose of this thesis was to examine visually guided movements of the upper limbs which approximated normal reaching behaviour, and to describe the production of these movements on the basis of a number of interrelated measures. The series of studies required subjects to point quickly and accurately to small visual targets presented lateral to a visual fixation point, on an otherwise featureless screen. In Studies 1 and 2 the kinematic characteristics of the limb movements were examined by a frame-by-frame analysis of video records of the subjects\u27 performance. The use of visual feedback information in the guidance of the limb was evident from the modifications in trajectory during periods of low velocity at the end of the movements, and also from the increased accuracy and longer movement duration when the subjects pointed to persistent rather than briefly visible targets. Studies 1 and 2 also revealed that reaches of either limb which crossed the body axis were less efficient, in terms of movement velocity, than those performed within the extrapersonal space ipsilateral to the limb being used. As long as the subjects fixated a point directly in front of their body axis before the target was presented, these ipsilateral reaches were also initiated more quickly and were more accurate. Unlike movement velocity, the latency and accuracy of the limb movement were altered when the subjects fixated an eccentric point so that the visual field did not correspond to extrapersonal space relative to the body axis. Studies 1 and 3 found a low but statistically correlation between the latency to initiate movement of the eyes and hand. The results of Study 3 suggested that this correlation may be reduced by previous trials in which only the eyes or the hand were directed to the target. In Study 1 the eye and limb movement latencies were lower for ipsilaterally presented targets and for blocks of trials in which the subjects reached with their right hand. The results suggest the existence of a hemispherically organized network of cortical areas which is involved in the integration of sensorimotor information for the control of visually directed eye and limb movements

Soybean (Glycine max) oil bodies and their associated phytochemicals

Abstract:  Soybean oil bodies were isolated from 3 cultivars (Ustie, K98, and Elena) and the occurrence of 2 classes of phytochemicals (tocopherol isoforms and isoflavones) and strength of their association with isolated oil bodies was evaluated. Tocopherol is shown to be closely associated with soybean oil bodies; δ-tocopherol demonstrated a significantly greater association with oil bodies over other tocopherol isoforms. Isoflavones do not show a significant physical association with oil bodies, although there is some indication of a passive association of the more hydrophobic aglycones during oil body isolation. Practical Application:  Oil bodies are small droplets of oil that are stored as energy reserves in the seeds of oil seeds, and have the potential to be used as future food ingredients. If oil body suspensions are commercialized on a large scale, knowledge of the association of phytochemicals with oil bodies will be valuable in deciding species of preference and predicting shelf life and nutritional value

Entrapment of a volatile lipophilic aroma compound (D-limonene) in spray dried water-washed oil bodies naturally derived from sunflower seeds (Helianthus annus)

Oil bodies are natural emulsions that can be extracted from oil seeds and have previously been shown to be stable after spray drying. The aim of the study was to evaluate for the first time if spray dried water-washed oil bodies are an effective carrier for volatile lipophilic actives (theflavour compound D-limonene was used as an example aroma compound). Water-washed oil bodies were blended with maltodextrin and D-limonene and spray dried using a Buchi B-191 laboratory spray dryer. Lipid and D-limonene retention was 89–93% and 24–27%. Samples were compared to processed emulsions containing sunflower oil and D-limonene and stabilised by either lecithin or Capsul. Lecithin and Capsul processed emulsions had a lipid and D-limonene retention of 82–89%, 7.7–9.1% and 48–50%, 55–59% respectively indicating that water-washed oil bodies could retain the most lipids and Capsul could retain the most D-limonene. This indicates that whilst additional emulsifiers may be required for future applications of water-washed oil bodies as carriers of lipophilic actives, oil bodies are excellent agents for lipid encapsulation