Crystallisation of epoxy resins based on bisphenol A and bisphenol F is the natural property of these oligomers. However, manufacturers of paints and other systems based on these epoxy resins, strive to slow down the crystallisation process as much as possible, thereby prolonging the shelf life and improving the competitiveness of their products. The main aim of the thesis is generalisation of the factors influencing the crystallisation process of epoxy resins based on bisphenol A and bisphenol F, verifying new approaches to the possibility of influencing the crystallisation process and determining the possibility of using a certain degree of epoxy resins crystallinity based on bisphenol A and bisphenol F in the preparation and production of epoxy resinbased coating systems.

This study investigates how the data about environmental conditions can be used in order toprovide individuals with the tool to claim against industrial companies causing the pollutionand affecting people’s life. Based on extensive research in relation to the political, social,technological and ethical context of the use case, the design solution introduces an open dataplatform where individuals and NGOs can collect, store, analyse and reuse collected data. Proposed design outcome is creating a bridge between users outside of technological scopeand the emerging field of IoT devices in order to make the data collection affordable andaccessible. It introduces a workflow for implementing the off-shelf technology into the digitalinfrastructure together with supportive functionalities to use collected information forcontext-specific purposes. The concept was developed with strong emphasis on implementingdemocratic values into the design solution, such as protection of personal data, distributedgovernance and transparency.

This research evaluates the effectiveness of using carbon dioxide (CO2) pressurization to extend strawberry fruit prep shelf life for the eventual use in yogurt applications. In this experiment, CO2 treatments of 5, 15, and 25 pounds per square inch were used as a processing step to inactivate microorganisms, which in turn could aid in the preservation and maintenance of product quality during storage thus improving consumer acceptance of the yogurt. Microbial levels of the fruit prep treatments were monitored over a six-week period by enumerating aerobic plate counts and yeast and mold levels. The color, pH, and texture of the treatments were also evaluated throughout the duration of the study. Sensory attributes of the product were evaluated by formal sensory panel at the beginning of the study to gather consumer feedback on potential changes introduced by the treatment to the finished product. For sensory analysis, the different CO2 treatments of fruit prep were mixed with plain yogurt and given to panelists. The different treatments were taken from one homogenous mixture of fruit prep and then were randomly divided into five different treatment groups: a control group, a thermally processed group, and the three different pressure levels of CO2. Results from the experiment showed that carbonation does not negatively impact product overall acceptability. Shelf life results showed that CO2 treatments are not effective in maintaining or extending the shelf life of strawberry fruit prep when compared to a thermal treatment.

To facilitate the process of setting up small scale environmental models in coastal and offshore areas a wave model and a 2D current model for the Baltic Sea have been set up with MIKE 21. The ambition is that the Baltic Sea model can serve as a source of boundary conditions for local models. The main focus in the project has been to determine which input data to use to get the best results and then to calibrate and validate the model with the best data sets available. The wave model has been tested with three different sources of wind forcing and the results with the different sources are evaluated. The wave model has been calibrated and validated against five wave buoys and the current model against three current observation stations. The comparison shows that the wave model gives good estimations of wave height, period and direction. The output of the current model coincides with observations where distinct current patterns exist. The wave model is considered a good source to extract wave statistics from for the entire Baltic Sea. The current model can be used for scenarios or areas that do not suffer from the limitations of a 2D model.

The continued scaling of transistors has led to an exponential increase in on-chip power density, which has resulted in increasing temperature. In turn, the increase in temperature directly leads to the increase in the rate of wear of a processor. Negative-bias temperature instability (NBTI) is one of the most dominant integrated circuit (IC) failure mechanisms [13, 5] that strongly depends on temperature. NBTI manifests in the form of increased circuit delays which can lead to timing failures and processor crashes. The ability to monitor the wear progression of a processor due to NBTI is valuable when designing real-time embedded systems. While NBTI can be detected using wear state sensors, not all chips are equipped with these sensors because detecting wear due to NBTI requires modifications to the chip design and incurs area and power overhead. NBTI sensor data may also not be exposed to users in software. In addition, wear sensors cannot take into account variations in wear due to the differences in the wear sensor devices and the other functional devices and their operating conditions. In this paper, we propose a lightweight, online methodology to monitor the wear process due to NBTI for off-the-shelf embedded processors. Our proposed method requires neither data on the threshold voltage and critical paths nor additional hardware. Our methodology can also be extended to predict the wear progression due to some other dominant IC failure mechanisms. Experiments on embedded processors provide insights on NBTI wear progression over time. This knowledge can be used to design real-time embedded systems that explicitly consider runtime wear progression to increase predictability and maintain lifetime reliability requirements.

It has been well documented that fruit and vegetable (F/V) intake is linked to lower risk of mortality and chronic disease. Raman resonance spectroscopy is a valid indicator of F/V intake and quantifies that intake by measuring skin carotenoid levels. In this study, 46 children, participated in a 6-week feeding study wherein they were randomly assigned to one of two groups: 1) consuming a high-carotenoid (HC) breakfast/snack food, or 2) consuming a placebo bar, every day. The HC food contained 4.3mg carotenoids per serving and the placebo contained none. Skin carotenoids were measured every two weeks using a BioPhotonic scanner. The treatment group had a mean increase in scanner score of 5,802 Raman intensity units which was significantly higher than the mean increase of the placebo group, 1,771. In this study we found that consumption of 120 gm of a high-carotenoid food significantly increased skin carotenoid levels in children ages 5-18 over a 6 week period. Packaging type as well as storage conditions play a role in preserving carotenoids which are sensitive to light, temperature, and oxygen. Care must be taken when choosing packaging and storage conditions for foods containing carotenoids. Two shelf-life studies, one at room-temperature and another in frozen storage, were conducted on the HC breakfast/snack food to determine the best method of packaging to maintain quality and preserve carotenoids. The food was randomly packed into one of three packaging types for both studies. The packages used in the frozen study were then randomly assigned to one of three freezer storage methods. Room-temperature samples were analyzed on days 3, 7, 10, and 14 and samples in frozen storage were pulled every month for 5 months. Measures of water activity, moisture content, color values (L*a*b*, chroma, and hue), and carotenoid content were analyzed in each sample. At the conclusion of each study, L*, b*, chroma, and hue were significantly affected by packaging type. No significant associations were found in any other measures. From this study we draw the conclusion that cellophane packaging or packaging with a N2 backflush would be the best options for use with this food to best retain its quality.

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The Bear Island Strait between Crosson and Dotson Ice Shelves in the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector of West Antarctica is an important junction for seawater exchange in the region. This work establishes that two previously distinct masses of seawater beneath the ice shelves now interact due to the thinning of the ice that separated them. A pathway connecting the water masses is revealed using reflection-seismic spot soundings to measure the bathymetry and water-column thickness beneath the ice in the Bear Island Strait. The spot soundings reveal a seafloor that is deep (> 800 m below sea level) and continuous to allow circulation of a layer of deep, warm and salty sub-ice water mass into the strait. However, the geometry of the water column through the strait may only allow one-way circulation of this layer from the Crosson side to the Dotson side, with Dotson to Crosson circulation constricted to upper, cooler water. Crosson to Dotson circulation could account for the observed high melt rates (~10 m/yr) at the grounding line of a Dotson pinning point, consistent with an inverted channel previously imaged on the underside of the Dotson Ice Shelf. By extension, the pathway through the Bear Island Strait allows water exchange between two large bathymetric troughs on the continental shelf. These results indicate previously unaccounted for avenues of regional ocean circulation and heat exchange likely to the influence the future deglaciation rate of the Amundsen Sea Embayment and West Antarctica. / Geology

Shrimp is the most valued shellfish product in the United States, and is highly perishable with post mortem metabolic changes that are deteriorative to its shelf-life. The objective of this research was to utilize GC-MS Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), Gas Chromatography Olfactometry (GCO), and sensory analysis to determine if the relationships exist between consumer acceptability, sensory descriptors and shelf-life of ready-to-eat shrimp. Three different cooking and packaging treatments were utilized: 63°C/15 s, 85°C/5 min, and 93°C/5 min for vacuum, MAP and aerobic packaging treatments, and stored at 2°±1 for 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 25, and 50 days or until the product was found unacceptable by a trained sensory panel. For Consumer acceptability (Day 3), the 85°C vacuum and 85°C MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging) shrimp were preferred (P < 0.05) over other treatments that were evaluated. The aroma active compounds that were identified using GC-MS and GCO consisted of one amine (trimethylamine), five aldehydes (3-methyl butanal, pentanal, hexanal, heptenal, geranial), one organic acid (butyric acid), two sulfur containing compounds (methional, dimethyltrisulfide), one pyrazine (methyl pyrazine) (amine), two alcohols (2-nonen-1-ol, 4 ethyl guaiacol), and one hydrocarbon (camphene). Results showed that for most of the packaging-temperature combinations, even beyond Day 25, the MAP product had fewer compounds and odors associated with spoilage than the aerobic and vacuum packaged products. This was consistent with the descriptive analysis data for which both the 85°C MAP and 93°C MAP treatment products had a longer shelf-life than vacuum treatment products, which had shelf-lives of 15 to 21 Days. The shelf-life of the cooked RTE shrimp that was MAP packaged and cooked at either 85°C or 93°C was between 39 and 42 Days at 2°C. Research indicates that processors of medium gulf brown shrimp could utilize 85°C/5min with MAP due to the shelf-life of the product and the elevated pleasantness scores when compared to the 93°C/5min treatment throughout the shelf-life of the product.