Publications

Linear perturbation is used to investigate the effect of gravitational softening on the retrieved two-armed spiral eigenmodes of razor-thin stellar discs. We explore four softening kernels with different degrees of gravity bias, and with/without compact support (compact in the sense that they yield exactly Newtonian forces outside the softening kernel). These kernels are applied to two disc galaxy models with well-known unsoftened unstable ...

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. The property of apple fruit (Malus × domestica Borkh.) of being able to retain their postharvest firmness to some extent, is an important aspect in many breeding programs. A clear identification of genes responsible for softening is therefore imperative. Polygalacturonase1 has been identified in the literature as the main gene that regulates softening in fruits, including apple. The aim of this work was to identify the role ...

Softening drinking water before distribution yields advantages with environmental impact, such as lower household products consumption, less scaling in piping and machines, and the avoidance of decentralized, domestic softeners. Central softening is under consideration in Flanders by the largest water supplier, VMW (Dutch acronym for "Flemish Company for Water Supply"), to deliver soft (15 degrees F) water to their customers. A case study is ...

The relative contributions of cotyledons and seed coats towards hardening of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) were investigated and the rate-limiting process which controls bean softening during cooking was determined. Fresh or aged whole beans and cotyledons were soaked and cooked in demineralised water or 0.1 M NaHCO3 solution, and texture evolution, microstructure changes and thermal properties were studied. Fresh and aged whole beans cooked ...

Literature data on the effect of calcium on biofilm structures induced a preliminary study. The effect of calcium removal by water softening (< 1.0 mg Ca2+.L-1) under real-world drinking water conditions on biofilm formation was studied in a pilot plant with reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and in a laboratory-scale biofilm production unit (BPU) with plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC-P) and glass as substratum. The results showed a halving of ...

Several different genes have been proposed as responsible for fruit texture variability at harvest and/or after storage. We have analysed 127 apple cultivars for allelic composition in two key genes that are directly involved in the ethylene biosynthesis pathway, Md-ACS1 and Md-ACO1, and two other genes that are involved in cell wall degradation, Md-Exp7 and Md-PG1. Firmness was measured with a penetrometer at harvest and after 6 or 12 weeks ...

Kanzi is a recently developed apple cultivar that has an extremely low ethylene production, and maintains its crispiness during ripening. To identify key determinants of the slow softening behaviour of Kanzi apples, a comparative analysis of pectin biochemistry and tissue fracture pattern during different ripening stages of Kanzi apples was performed against Golden Delicious, a rapid softening cultivar. While substantial pectin depolymerisation ...

High-performance positively-charged nanofiltration (NF) membranes have a profound significance for water softening. In this work, a novel monomer, tris(3-aminopropyl)amine (TAEA), with one tertiary amine group and three primary amine groups, was blended with trace amounts of piperazine (PIP) in aqueous solution to fabricate a positively-charged NF membrane with tunable performance. As the molecular structures of TAEA and PIP are totally ...

Early harvested kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa (A Chev) Liang et Ferguson cv ‘Hayward’), from 14 growers and two seasons were stored under a wide range of storage temperatures (0–10 ?C) and exogenous ethylene levels (0–200 mL L?1) followed by an ethylene free shelf life period at 0–20?C. Firmness levels were monitored using a non-destructive compression technique. A mechanistic model, based on a simplified representation of the physiology ...

This study aimed at understanding softening in Jonagold apple (Malus×domestica Borkh.) fruits, by investigating pectin modifications and the evolution of pectin-modifying enzymes during postharvest storage and ripening. Jonagold apples were harvested at commercial maturity and stored at different temperatures and controlled atmosphere conditions for 6 months, followed by exposure to ambient shelf life conditions (20 °C under air) for 2 weeks. ...