Fermented and malted millet products in Africa: Expedition from traditional/ethnic foods to industrial value-added products

With the prevalent food insecurity in Africa, there is a growing need to utilize the available crops to develop nutritious, affordable and palatable food for the populace. Millet is critical in this role, relative to its abundance in the continent and good nutritional composition. For ages, fermentation and malting have been traditionally used to transform millet into variety of produce. A paradigm shift has however occurred over the years, giving birth to new commercially available products. This review thus appraises and gives an overview of traditional and modern fermented and malted products. Although, millet has been diversified to several products, its major food uses are still restrained to traditional consumers and largely remains underutilized. Considering the potential embedded in this grain, it is important to explore this crop through the application of appropriate modern fermentation and malting technologies. This will ensure the availability of ready to eat (RTE) and ready to use (RTU) food products and to a large extent address the incessant food security challenges plaguing Africa.     

Development of an immunochromatographic assay for the β-adrenergic agonist feed additive zilpaterol

Zilpaterol is a β-adrenergic agonist feed additive approved in the United States to increase weight gain and improve feed efficiency of cattle. A zilpaterol immunochromatographic assay was developed as an economical and user-friendly rapid detection method for zilpaterol and validated using urine and tissue samples derived from animal studies. The assay sensitivity was 1.7–23.2 ng g^?1 or mL^?1 across a variety of feed and animal matrices and did not cross-react with clenbuterol or ractopamine. No sample pre-treatment of cattle and sheep urine was needed, but horse urine and feed required dilution; skeletal muscle required solvent extraction prior to testing. Of 32 incurred sheep urine samples tested, zilpaterol content was correctly identified in all but 2 samples. Horse urine containing >10 ng mL^?1 of incurred zilpaterol residue (n = 48) was correctly identified as zilpaterol positive. The assay correctly identified 0-day withdrawal sheep muscle samples as zilpaterol positive and the control and longer withdrawal day sheep muscle samples as negative. Zilpaterol was demonstrated to be stable in horse urine when stored at ?20°C for 7 years.     

Solidification of Be-free Ni-based dental alloy

A novel, Nb- and Si-rich and Be-free Ni-based alloy was cast by two methods of investment casting and continuous casting to study the microstructure evolution during solidification and its mechanical properties. The solidification of the alloy started with the primary crystallization of FCC-γ, followed by a binary eutectic reaction, with the formation of a heterogeneous constituent: FCC-γ+G-phase, which replaced the low-melting eutectic (FCC-γ+NiBe) in the Be-bearing alloys. AlNi₆Si₃ and γ′ formed during the terminal stages of solidification by investment casting, while the formation of AlNi₆Si₃ was suppressed by continuous casting. The Scheil solidification model agreed very well with the experimental results.     

利用Sn-Ag-Ti活性焊料直接活化软焊接合Al_(0.3)CrFe _(1.5)MnNi_(0.5)高熵合金与6061铝合金（英文）

高熵合金Al_(0.3)Cr Fe_(1.5)Mn Ni_(0.5)(HEA)具有许多特殊性能。在大气环境、接合温度为250℃保持60 s的条件下,以Sn3.5Ag4Ti为活性焊料对HEA/HEA及HEA/6061-Al进行直接活性软焊接合,并对其进行显微组织及剪力强度分析。实验结果显示,在接合过程中,高熵合金中所有元素缓慢扩散进入连接区域。HEA/HEA和HEA/6061-Al样品的剪切强度分别为(14.20±1.63)和(15.70±1.35)MPa。HEA/6061-Al样品的断裂面呈显明显的半脆性断裂特征。     

Al-7Si-0.35Mg-xCu合金的品质系数和热裂敏感性（英文）

研究铜添加量(0.5%、1%、1.5%、2%、3%,质量分数)对A356合金的品质系数(Q_i)和热裂敏感性(HTS)的影响。结果显示,当铜添加量达到1.5%时,Q_i增加了约10%,这可能是由于富铜的Al_2Cu相和AlMgCuSi化合物的固溶强化和弥散硬化。然而,继续提高Cu添加量到3%,Q_i反而降低了近12%,这很可能是因为显微组织中脆性富Cu金属间化合物和微孔体积的增加导致抗拉强度和伸长率降低。用约束杆铸造法测试A356合金的热裂敏感性,结果显示随着铜含量的增加,其HTS也增加。热分析结果表明,铜拓宽了合金的凝固范围,进而降低了其流动性,增加了糊状合金暴露在热裂易感区的时间。高铜合金热裂表面的SEM也表明,其表面粗糙,且存在枝晶间/晶粒间微裂纹,这也证明了在凝固后期,合金萌生了热裂,没有足够的裂纹修复时间。     

Analysis of the Operating Conditions of a Continuous Linear Crystallizer

Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering - The operation of a linear crystallizer, which performs crystallization extraction of uranium from a nitric acid solution of uranyl nitrate during...     

Investigation on La3+ and Dy3+ co-doped ceria ceramics with an optimized average atomic number of dopants for electrolytes in IT-SOFCs

In the present study, we investigate the fundamental properties of CeO₂ by selecting La³⁺ (57), and Dy³⁺ (66) as dopants with optimized average atomic number of 61.5, which lies in between Pm³⁺ (62) and Sm³⁺ (62) in accordance with the criteria for optimum doping. A system of co-doped ceria ceramics Ce_1–x–yLa_xDy_yO_2-δ ((x, y) = (0.00, 0.00), (0.025, 0.025), (0.05, 0.05), (0.075, 0.075), (0.10, 0.10), (0.00, 0.20) and (0.20, 0.00)) as electrolytes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells were successfully prepared by a well-known sol-gel auto-combustion route. In order to obtain dense samples, the prepared pellets were sintered in air at 1300 °C for 4 h using conventional furnace and relative densities of all the samples were found to be higher than 95%. Single phase cubic structure, microstructural density and elemental composition analysis of all the samples were studied by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopy techniques, respectively. Raman spectroscopy analysis confirmed the formation of concentrated O^2-–vacancies in the co-doped ceria system. Impedance spectroscopy measurements revealed the high value of total ionic conductivity and low activation energy for the composition Ce_0.85La_0.075Dy_0.075O_2?δ i.e., 2.08 × 10^–2 S cm^–1 and 0.58 eV, respectively. Linear thermal expansion analyses of all the samples revealed the matched thermal expansion coefficients. Finally, these results recommend that the Ce_0.85La_0.075Dy_0.075O_2?δ sample can be useful as a solid electrolyte in IT-SOFC applications.     

Low-Complexity Equalization for SC-FDMA Uplink Systems Over Time and Frequency Selective Channels

Wireless Personal Communications - In this paper, we propose novel equalization schemes for compensating the adverse effects caused by carrier frequency offsets (CFOs), timing errors and doubly...     

Polarization Properties of Photoluminescence of Anisotropic Polymer Films Containing Aligned Au Nanorods and Semiconductor Nanoparticles of Various Shape

Semiconductors - Anisotropic polymer films containing aligned Au nanorods and semiconductor nanoparticles of various shape were fabricated. The photoluminescence of semiconductor nanoparticles in...     

Short Side Chain Aquivion Perfluorinated Sulfonated Proton-Conductive Membranes: Transport and Mechanical Properties

Data on the water uptake, proton conductivity, diffusion permeability, cation transport selectivity, and mechanical properties of short side chain Aquivion sulfonated perfluoropolymer membranes with an equivalent weight of 870 and 965 have been described. Properties of the membranes have been compared with those of a long side chain Nafion 212 membrane (equivalent weight of 1100). An increase in the equivalent weight leads to an increase in the sorption exchange capacity and water uptake of the membranes and a decrease in their proton conductivity. The conductivity of the Aquivion membrane with an equivalent weight of 870 is 1.4–1.5 times higher than that of the Nafion 212 membrane; it reaches 13.6 mS/cm in contact with water and 1.0 mS/cm at a relative humidity of 32% at 25°C. Diffusion permeability and cation transport selectivity exhibit a nonmonotonic dependence on the equivalent weight of the material. The lowest diffusion permeability, the highest Na⁺ cation transport selectivity (99.5%), and the best mechanical properties have been found for the Aquivion membrane with an equivalent weight of 965, which is characterized by the highest degree of crystallinity.