Effect of complexation of oxidised corn starch with mineral elements on physicochemical properties

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of complexation of oxidised starch with mineral elements on its physicochemical properties. Corn starch was oxidised with sodium hypochlorite and, afterwards, modified with ions of potassium, magnesium and iron. Thus, native and modified starches were analysed for: contents of mineral elements, colour parameters (L*a*b*), water binding capacity and solubility in water at temperature of 60 and 80 °C. Thermodynamic characteristics of gelatinisation by DSC, molecular weight distribution by GPC, intrinsic viscosity and pasting properties by RVA were studied. The efficiency of incorporation of metal ions into oxidised corn starch was about 30%, 20% and 20% for potassium, magnesium and iron ions, respectively. The complexation with potassium ions caused the greatest changes in the molecular weight distribution and the intrinsic viscosity of starches and viscosity of starch pastes. Only modification of starch with iron ions affected the colour parameters of the starch. Incorporation of metal ions into starch resulted also in changes in its water binding capacity and solubility in water.     

Deformation of a surface layer and coating application using a flexible tool

The microstructure and properties of the functional coatings formed by impact friction processing of product surfaces with a flexible tool are studied. It is established that the processing produces a hard nanostructured surface layer with fragments up to 0.13 µm in size, as it is achieved by severe plastic deformation.     

Changes in the physical properties of honey powder during storage

Honey powders produced by spray drying with the addition of Arabic gum and sodium caseinate were characterised in terms of the influence of storage time on the following physical properties: particle size, moisture content, water activity, bulk density, flowability and hygroscopicity. The storage affected those properties; after 12 weeks of storage, particle size decreased (except Arabic gum powder treated as a control sample), moisture content and water activity increased, hygroscopicity decreased. Changes in bulk density, particle size and moisture content caused the rise of Hausner ratio value; however, the powders were still characterised by a very good flow properties and low cohesiveness. The colour of reconstituted powders was also affected by storage; in most of samples, the darkening, reduction in redness and yellowness were observed. Colour parameters were the most stable in powders obtained with the addition of 2% w/w of sodium caseinate.     

Linear friction welding of Ti6Al4V: experiments and modelling

Linear friction welding of the Ti6Al4V alloy is studied. A new definition of the energy input rate is proposed, based on an integration over time of the in-plane force and velocity; a strong correlation with the upset rate is then found. The effective friction coefficient is estimated to be 0·5±0·1 for varying frequencies and amplitudes, with only a weak dependence on the processing conditions displayed. A model is proposed that accounts for both the conditioning and equilibrium stages of the process, which is shown to be in good agreement with the experimental data. The model is used to study the mechanism by which the flash is formed. A criterion is proposed by which the rippled nature of its morphology can be predicted.     

Simulation of characteristics of double-junction solar cells based on ZnSiP2 heterostructures on silicon substrate

Design and operation modes of double-junction monolithic lattice-matched solar cells based on the ZnSiP₂/Si system of materials have been calculated. The effect of the photoactive region thickness and minority carrier lifetime in ZnSiP₂ layers on the efficiency of conversion of the incident solar light energy into electrical power was determined. It is shown that solar cells based on ZnSiP₂/Si heterostructures can provide efficiencies of 28.8% at AM1.5D, 100 mW/cm², and 33.3% at AM1.5D, 200 W/cm².     

The organization of biological sequences into constrained and unconstrained parts determines fundamental properties of genotype–phenotype maps

Biological information is stored in DNA, RNA and protein sequences, which can be understood as genotypes that are translated into phenotypes. The properties of genotype–phenotype (GP) maps have been studied in great detail for RNA secondary structure. These include a highly biased distribution of genotypes per phenotype, negative correlation of genotypic robustness and evolvability, positive correlation of phenotypic robustness and evolvability, shape-space covering, and a roughly logarithmic scaling of phenotypic robustness with phenotypic frequency. More recently similar properties have been discovered in other GP maps, suggesting that they may be fundamental to biological GP maps, in general, rather than specific to the RNA secondary structure map. Here we propose that the above properties arise from the fundamental organization of biological information into ‘constrained'' and ‘unconstrained'' sequences, in the broadest possible sense. As ‘constrained'' we describe sequences that affect the phenotype more immediately, and are therefore more sensitive to mutations, such as, e.g. protein-coding DNA or the stems in RNA secondary structure. ‘Unconstrained'' sequences, on the other hand, can mutate more freely without affecting the phenotype, such as, e.g. intronic or intergenic DNA or the loops in RNA secondary structure. To test our hypothesis we consider a highly simplified GP map that has genotypes with ‘coding'' and ‘non-coding'' parts. We term this the Fibonacci GP map, as it is equivalent to the Fibonacci code in information theory. Despite its simplicity the Fibonacci GP map exhibits all the above properties of much more complex and biologically realistic GP maps. These properties are therefore likely to be fundamental to many biological GP maps.