Physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of kitoza, a traditional salted/dried/smoked meat product of Madagascar

Kitoza samples collected from producers in Madagascar were analyzed for their physicochemical and microbial properties. Lactic acid bacteria and coagulase‐negative staphylococci were the two codominant populations with average counts of 6–7 log cfu/g. Good hygienic practices were sometimes lacking but samples were not contaminated with Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, and Bacillus cereus and only once with Listeria monocytogenes. Staphylococcus aureus was found occasionally with higher counts in salted/dried products than in salted/smoked products. Moisture, protein, fat, and salt contents varied considerably and were on average 41.5, 43.5, 14.3, and 3.3 g/100 g, respectively, and water activity was 0.893 on average. Smoked kitoza showed higher moisture content compared to dried kitoza. Most of the smoked kitoza had a water activity higher than 0.9 which is not in accordance with their storage at ambient temperatures. Benzo(a)pyrene content was above 2 µg/kg in 11 out of 30 smoked samples (17 ± 16.5 µg/kg on average)

Torrefied Biomass Pellets—Comparing Grindability in Different Laboratory Mills

The firing and co-firing of biomass in pulverized coal fired power plants around the world is expected to increase in the coming years. Torrefaction may prove to be a suitable way of upgrading biomass for such an application. For transport and storage purposes, the torrefied biomass will tend to be in pellet form. Whilst standard methods for the assessment of the milling characteristics of coal exist, this is not the case for torrefied materials—whether in pellet form or not. The grindability of the fuel directly impacts the overall efficiency of the combustion process and as such it is an important parameter. In the present study, the grindability of different torrefied biomass pellets was tested in three different laboratory mill types; cutting mill (CM), hammer mill (HM) and impact mill (IM). The specific grinding energy (SGE) required for a defined mass throughput of pellets in each mill was measured and results were compared to other pellet characterization methods (e.g., durability, and hardness) as well as the modified Hardgrove Index. Seven different torrefied biomass pellets including willow, pine, beech, poplar, spruce, forest residue and straw were used as feedstock. On average, the particle-size distribution width (across all feedstock) was narrowest for the IM (0.41 mm), followed by the HM (0.51 mm) and widest for the CM (0.62 mm). Regarding the SGE, the IM consumed on average 8.23 Wh/kg while CM and HM consumed 5.15 and 5.24 Wh/kg, respectively. From the three mills compared in this study, the IM seems better fit for being used in a standardized method that could be developed in the future, e.g., as an ISO standard

Holonomy of Einstein Lorentzian manifolds

The classification of all possible holonomy algebras of Einstein and vacuum Einstein Lorentzian manifolds is obtained. It is shown that each such algebra appears as the holonomy algebra of an Einstein (resp., vacuum Einstein) Lorentzian manifold, the direct constructions are given. Also the holonomy algebras of totally Ricci-isotropic Lorentzian manifolds are classified. The classification of the holonomy algebras of Lorentzian manifolds is reviewed and a complete description of the spaces of curvature tensors for these holonomies is given.Comment: Dedicated to to Mark Volfovich Losik on his 75th birthday. This version is an extended part of the previous version; another part of the previous version is extended and submitted as arXiv:1001.444

Parallelisable Heterotic Backgrounds

We classify the simply-connected supersymmetric parallelisable backgrounds of heterotic supergravity. They are all given by parallelised Lie groups admitting a bi-invariant lorentzian metric. We find examples preserving 4, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 of the 16 supersymmetries.Comment: 17 pages, AMSLaTe

Patenting and licensing of university research: promoting innovation or undermining academic values?

Since the 1980s in the US and the 1990s in Europe, patenting and licensing activities by universities have massively increased. This is strongly encouraged by governments throughout the Western world. Many regard academic patenting as essential to achieve 'knowledge transfer' from academia to industry. This trend has far-reaching consequences for access to the fruits of academic research and so the question arises whether the current policies are indeed promoting innovation or whether they are instead a symptom of a pro-intellectual property (IP) culture which is blind to adverse effects. Addressing this question requires both empirical analysis (how real is the link between academic patenting and licensing and 'development' of academic research by industry?) and normative assessment (which justifications are given for the current policies and to what extent do they threaten important academic values?). After illustrating the major rise of academic patenting and licensing in the US and Europe and commenting on the increasing trend of 'upstream' patenting and the focus on exclusive as opposed to non-exclusive licences, this paper will discuss five negative effects of these trends. Subsequently, the question as to why policymakers seem to ignore these adverse effects will be addressed. Finally, a number of proposals for improving university policies will be made

Irreducible holonomy algebras of Riemannian supermanifolds

Possible irreducible holonomy algebras \g\subset\osp(p,q|2m) of Riemannian supermanifolds under the assumption that \g is a direct sum of simple Lie superalgebras of classical type and possibly of a one-dimensional center are classified. This generalizes the classical result of Marcel Berger about the classification of irreducible holonomy algebras of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds.Comment: 27 pages, the final versio