Physical Characteristics of Peanut Butter Influenced by Fully Hydrogenated Flixweed Seed Oil (Descurainia sophia L.) as a Stabilizer

The functional benefits provided by flixweed seed oil (FSO) warrant its application as an alternative to current commercial stabilizers used in peanut butter. The extracted FSO was fully hydrogenated and added to the lab‐made peanut butter in quantities of 1, 1.5, and 2 % (w/w). Samples were stored at 4, 21, and 40 °C, and tested at 2, 6, 16, and 24 weeks for oil separation tests and texture characteristics including hardness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, and gumminess. Fully hydrogenated flixweed seed oil (FHFO) improved the oil holding capacity of peanut butter at 1, 1.5 and 2 % (w/w). Peanut butter containing FHFO, at a quantity of 2 % (w/w), showed the least oil separation and had comparable or less oil separation than the sample containing 1.5 % commercial stabilizer. Other physical properties were comparable between these two samples.     

Seasonal bioaccumulation of toxic trace elements in economically important fish species from the Caspian Sea using GFAAS

This study aimed to determine the concentrations of aluminium, cadmium, lead and nickel in edible muscle of three commercially valuable fish species (Rutilus frisii kutum, Liza aurata and Cyprinus carpio) from four fishing sites of Iranian coastal waters of the Caspian Sea during winter and summer. The samples were analyzed using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) after wet-ashing digestion. The results were expressed as ??g/g of wet weight. The resulted range of metals in fish species was between 0.89?C2.46???g/g for aluminium, 0.03?C0.17???g/g for cadmium, 0.21?C0.38???g/g for lead and 0.12?C0.52???g/g for nickel. Seasonal variation influenced concentration of the metals in fish samples of some fishing sites. The highest concentrations found were 4.63???g/g for aluminium in winter and 0.82???g/g for lead in summer in Cyprinus carpio; while cadmium (0.49???g/g) and nickel (1.14???g/g) were the highest in Rutilus frisii kutum in winter. This demonstrates that estimated daily and weekly intakes of aluminium, lead and nickel and estimated monthly intake of cadmium via consumption of fish flesh are below the established PTDI, PTWI and PTMI values.     

Dielectric characteristics and nonlinear properties of ZnO–polypyrrole composites

The nonlinear properties and frequency characteristics of ZnO–polypyrrole composites were investigated at 200 Hz–5 MHz frequency interval with different zinc oxide contents. Samples were prepared using hot press method at 130 °C. Results show an optimum point for breakdown voltage at ZnO content of 70%. Breakdown voltage decreases from 590 to 380 V and after that tends to increase from 450 to 740 V due to the absence of polypyrrole at grain boundaries. No matter how breakdown voltage behaves, nonlinear coefficient increases from 4.2 to 9 by increasing ZnO content because of the increase in acceptor-like states at grain boundaries by increasing ZnO content. The electrical parameters such as dielectric constant, dielectric loss and series resistance of samples show a strong dependence on frequency especially below 1 kHz. These parameters fall off by increasing frequency up to 1 kHz, which is related to charge transportation through the Schottky barrier at grain boundaries. The high dielectric constant of samples below 1kHz is related to the Maxwell–Wagner polarization at grain boundaries. The presence of different anomalies at different frequency intervals is related to interfacial polarization because of different structures of grains and intergranular layer with a huge difference in conductivity.     

Experimental validation of a deep neural network—Sparse representation classification ensemble method

In the current study, a new pattern recognition‐based damage detection technique is developed using the frequency response function of the structure. Principal component analysis is employed as an authoritative feature extraction method for dimensional reduction of the measured frequency response function data and constructing distinct feature patterns. Subsequently, as a novel approach, an ensemble of 2 powerful classifiers containing deep neural networks and couple sparse coding classification is utilized for damage prediction of the structure because there is no individual optimal classifier for all the problems. Verification of the proposed method is evaluated by an aluminum beam experimental setup besides a numerical 3D finite element model of a truss bridge. Damage detection results elucidate that the ensemble method decisions are much more accurate compared with the individual classifier decision. The proposed ensemble method verifies to be a novel, robust, and powerful damage detection process.     

TiO(2) fibers enhance film integrity and photovoltaic performance for electrophoretically deposited dye solar cell photoanodes

Nanoparticulated TiO(2) fibers as one-dimensional long structures were introduced into TiO(2) P25 nanoparticle films using coelectrophoretic deposition. This prevented the usual crack formation occurring in wet coatings, and resulted in less porosity and higher roughness factor of the films that provided more favorable conditions for electron transport. The films used as the photoanode of a dye solar cell (DSC) produced 65% higher photovoltaic efficiency. TiO(2) fibers can be excellent binders in single-step, organic-free electrophoretic deposition of TiO(2) for DSC photoanode.     

The impact of home freezing on the sensory characteristics of ready-to-use leafy vegetables

BACKGROUND: Owing to the increasing trend of consumption of ready‐to‐use leafy vegetables, the necessity of determining the best conditions for their frozen storage and the considerable impact of freezing on their sensory attributes, research was carried out to determine the best freezing temperature and storage time for a mixture of Allium ampeloprasum, Lepidium sativum and Stureia hortensis. RESULTS: The results for freezing temperature at three different storage times showed that colour and overall acceptability at ? 18 °C were always ranked first (P < 0.05), while taste at ? 18 °C was ranked first on days 120 and 150. The results for frozen storage time at three different temperatures indicated that colour, taste and acceptability were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Overall, the results of this research indicated that the sensory attributes of leafy vegetables during 180 days of frozen storage were affected mainly by freezing temperature rather than frozen storage time. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Sorption of phenols onto sandy aquifer material: the effect of dissolved organic matter (DOM)

The influence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) on the sorption of four phenols, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP), pentachlorophenol (PCP), 2,4-dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP) and 2-methyl-4,6-dinitrophenol (2-M-4,6-DNP), onto sandy aquifer material at different pH values was investigated using flow through column experiments. The pH-dependent sorption of the chlorinated phenols 2,4,6-TCP and PCP was not significantly affected by DOM (measured as dissolved organic carbon, DOC), whereas in the case of nitrophenols a significant lower retardation was found, depending on the DOC concentration and pH value of the aqueous solution. Sorption decreases with increasing DOC concentration, which indicates a binding of these compounds by DOM. The degree of sorption reduction depends on the pH value and increases with increasing fraction of neutral species. The different behaviour of nitrophenols in comparison to the chlorophenols is assumed to be a result of specific charge-transfer interactions. A combined sorption and complex formation model was used to describe the effect of pH and DOC concentration on the sorption of nitrophenols onto aquifer material and to estimate binding coefficients of neutral nitrophenols on DOM.     

Effects of formulation properties on sol–gel behavior of chitosan/glycerolphosphate hydrogel

Chitosan solution containing glycerolphosphate disodium salt (Gp) is an injectable thermosensitive in situ gel-forming system which undergoes sol–gel transition under certain physiological pH and temperature conditions. When a drug-incorporated chitosan/Gp solution is injected into the body, it forms a three-dimensional gel at 37 °C, which allows the drug to be released in a sustained manner. This hydrogel can be used as a drug delivery system for prolonged release of peptides and glycopeptides. The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of different excipients on the sol–gel behavior of this thermosensitive hydrogel. Chitosan polymeric solutions (2 % w/v) containing Gp and different excipients, such as hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC), polyethylene glycol (PEG) with two different molecular weights (PEG200 and PEG1000), and poloxamer (F127) in various concentrations, were prepared, and the pH, sol–gel transition time, and syringeability of the final solutions were evaluated. The obtained results point to HPMC as the best additive for chitosan/Gp solutions in developing an in situ gel-forming drug delivery system with optimum gelling time. A significant decrease was noted in the sol-to-gel transition time (from 90 to 60 s) when HPMC was added to the system. This may have been due to the HPMC structure which acted as a viscosity-enhancing and gel-promoting agent. The in vitro release of vancomycin hydrochloride from chitosan/Gp/HPMC hydrogel was also studied. Vancomycin release studies showed a sustained release profile for over 20 days. It can be concluded that combining chitosan/Gp and HPMC is a promising strategy for preparing a thermally reversible in situ gel-forming delivery system with an optimized gelation time.