• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.3104-3104
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• 2001

The research described here was undertaken with the aim of monitoring, optimizing and ultimately controlling the production of heterofermentative microbes used as starters in the salami industry. The use of starter cultures in the fermented meats industry is a well-established technique used to shorten and standardize the ripening process, and to improve and control the organoleptic quality of the final product. Starter cultures are obtained by the submerged cultivation of suitable microorganisms in stirred, and sometimes aerated, fermenters where monitoring of key physiological parameters such as the concentration of biomass, substrates and metabolites suffers from the general lack of real-time measurement techniques applicable to aseptic processes. In this respect, the results of the present work are relevant to all submerged fermentation processes. Previous work on the application of on-line NIR spectroscopy to the lactic acid fermentation (Dosi et al. - Monreal NIR1995) had successfully used a system based on a measuring cell included in a circulation loop external to the fermenter. The fluid handling and sterility problems inherent in an external circulation system prompted us to explore the use of an in-line system where the NIR probe is immersed in the culture and is thus exposed to the hydrodynamic conditions of the stirred and aerated fluid. Aeration was expected to be a potential source of problems in view of the possible interference of air bubbles with the measurement device. The experimental set-up was based on an in-situ sterilizable NIR probe connected to the instrument by means of an optical fiber bundle. Preliminary work was carried out to identify and control potential interferences with the measurement, in particular the varying hydrodynamic conditions prevailing at the probe tip. We were successful in defining the operating conditions of the fermenter and the geometrical parameters of the probe (flow path, positioning, etc.) were the NIR readings were reliable and reproducible. The system thus defined was then used to construct and validate calibration curves for tile concentration of biomass, carbon source and major metabolites of two different microorganisms used as salami starters. Real-time measurement of such parameters coupled with the direct interfacing of the NIR instrument with the PC-based measurement and control system of the fermenter enabled the development of automated strategies for the interactive optimization of the starter production process.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.151-160
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• 2010

When the optical image stabilization is implemented by moving one of the lens groups in a zoom system, decentration should be considered in the optical design process. Although it is partially possible to calibrate optical performances in an optical system with non-symmetrical elements by using a lot of commercial software, the results of calibrating longitudinal aberrations have some calibration errors because of the lack of precise consideration of decentered optical systems. In particular, the amount of distortion in paraxial ray tracing is different from the experimental value because paraxial ray tracing in the optical system is not useful. In this paper, in order to solve this problem being from various commercial lens design software, the set of equations of paraxial ray tracing in a zoom lens system with the non-symmetrical elements like decentration or tilt are theoretically induced. Then, the methods to calibrate the equations of longitudinal aberrations by using these equations in a non-symmetrical optical system are presented. The method of calibrating longitudinal aberrations can in practice be used to correct hand shaking effects in a zoom lens system.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.459-477
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• 2006

A theoretical research project is undertaken to develop integrated analysis and design tools for long span composite beams in modern high-rise buildings, and it aims to develop non-linear finite element models for practical design of composite beams. As the first paper in the series, this paper presents the development study as well as the calibration exercise of the proposed finite element models for simply supported composite beams. Other practical issues such as continuous composite beams, the provision of web openings for passage of building services, the partial continuity offered by the connections to columns as well as the behaviour of both unprotected and protected composite beams under fires will be reported separately. In this paper, details of the finite elements and the material models for both steel and reinforced concrete are first described, and finite element studies of composite beams with full details of test data are then presented. It should be noted that in the proposed finite element models, both steel beams and concrete slabs are modelled with two dimensional plane stress elements whose widths are assigned to be equal to the widths of concrete flanges, and the flange widths and the web thicknesses of steel beams as appropriate. Moreover, each shear connector is modelled with one horizontal spring and one vertical spring to simulate its longitudinal shear and pull-out actions based on measured load-slippage curves of push-out tests of shear connectors. The numerical results are then carefully analyzed and compared with the corresponding test results in terms of load mid-span deflection curves as well as load end-slippage curves. Other deformation characteristics of the composite beams such as stress and strain distributions across the composite cross-sections as well as distributions of shear forces and slippages in shear connectors along the beam spans are also examined in details. It is shown that the numerical results of the composite beams compare well with the test data in terms of various load-deformation characteristics along the entire deformation ranges. Hence, the proposed analysis and design tools are considered to be simple and yet effective for composite beams with practical geometrical dimensions and arrangements. Structural engineers are strongly encouraged to employ the models in their practical work to exploit the full advantages offered by composite construction.