Antioxidant Activities of Free and Liposome-Encapsulated Green tea extracts on canola oil oxidation stability

In the present study, green tea extract was encapsulated in liposomes based on the Mozafari method (with no organic solvents) and characterized for its physicochemical properties (encapsulation efficiency, particle size, and Z-potential). Encapsulation efficiency, particles size, and Z-potential were determined to be 51.34, 419 nm, and -57 mV, respectively. Total polyphenol content of the green tea by Folin-Ciocalteu's phenol reagent was measured as 164.2 mg gallic acid/g extract. Free radical scavenging activities of free and liposomal extracts were 90.6 and 93.4%, respectively, using the DPPH method. Antioxidant activity of the ethanolic extract of green tea in free and liposomal forms with concentrations of 200, 600, and 1000 mg L⁻¹ were assessed on oxidative stability of the canola oil at 60 °C for 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, and 32 days. Results were compared to results of synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene at 200 mg L⁻¹. To assess antioxidant activity on canola oil stability, peroxide, thiobarbitoric acid, and anisidine values were assessed as well as the total oxidation value and rancimat test. Results showed that the liposomal green tea extract was more effective than the free extract. Furthermore, a 600 mg L⁻¹ concentration of the green tea extract showed a significant antioxidant activity, compared to other extract concentrations. Increasing storage time and various concentrations of the ethanolic green tea extracts included significant effects on canola oil stability (P ≤ 0.05). Results demonstrated that the green tea extract could be used as an effective antioxidant. Free and liposomal extract (at 600 mg L⁻¹) resulted in stronger functionality than the synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene.     

The effect of electrospinning parameters on the morphology of glass nanofibers

Abstract

Electrospinning of glass nanofibers, as one of the most important techniques for producing nanofibers, was the focus of the present research. This process was done using a carrying polymer in order to modify all important parameters of the process including the solution parameters, the electrospinning voltage, the electrospinning distance and feeding rate of the solution to achieve a desired nanofiber morphology. The produced nanofibers were pyrolyzed at a high temperature to remove the carrying polymer and the FTIR test approved that it was completely removed. The diameter of nanofibers and other details were investigated using SEM images and it was shown that the produced nanofibers have a finer diameter with an average of 228?nm and standard deviation of 46?nm in comparison to other works that reported 500?nm for these characteristics.     

A new stress-updating algorithm for viscoplasticity

Material behavior beyond the elastic limit can be rate-dependent, and this rate sensitivity can be captured by the viscoplastic material models. To describe the viscoplastic material behavior in structural analysis, an efficient numerical framework is necessary. In this paper an algorithm is proposed for metals for which von Mises yield surface along with Peri?’s viscoplastic model is employed. The efficiency and accuracy of the technique is examined by comparison with different numerical studies. The convergence rate of the proposed algorithm is investigated. Characteristics of the viscoplastic behavior such as relaxation are illustrated in the selected case studies. Finally, application of the algorithm in practice is demonstrated by a boundary value problem.

     

Experimental and numerical investigation of sands and Geldart A biomass co-fluidization

This article investigated the fluidization of sands and small Geldart A biomass mixtures. The mixture fluidized like Geldart A type particles with a uniform bed expansion regime before bubbling. The video recorded color distance between pure sands and sands–biomass mixtures was used to estimate the sands–biomass mixing. The coarse-grained computational fluid dynamics–discrete element method with a hybrid drag model which couples the Syamlal–O'Brien drag and a filtered drag can capture the mixing while the simulation with Gidaspow drag predicted a segregated bed. The simulations were further validated with experimental measured pressure drops. The time averaged pressure drop equals the weight of the bed material, however, its fluctuation is about three times of the bed material fluctuation.     

Decision Tree-Based Data Mining and Rule Induction for Identifying High Quality Groundwater Zones to Water Supply Management: a Novel Hybrid Use of Data Mining and GIS

Water Resources Management - Groundwater is an important source to supply drinking water demands in both arid and semi-arid regions. Nevertheless, locating high quality drinking water is a major...     

In situ emulsion polymerization and characterization of PVAc nanocomposites including colloidal silica nanoparticles for wood specimens bonding

Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) nanocomposites for wood adhesives containing different amounts of colloidal silica nanoparticles (CSNs) were synthesized via in situ one-step emulsion polymerization. The adhesion strength of wood specimens bonded by PVAc nanocomposites was investigated by the tensile test. Thermal properties of PVAc nanocomposites were also characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. Rheological and morphological properties of the PVAc nanocomposites were investigated using rheometric mechanical spectrometry and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. The obtaining results showed that the shear strength of PVAc nanocomposite including 1 wt. % CSNs has the highest shear and tensile strength about 4.7 and 3.2 MPa, respectively. A small increment of T_g (~3 °C) and considerable increment of the ash content proved the enhancement of PVAc thermal characterization in the presence of CSNs. FESEM results showed uniform dispersion of nanoparticles throughout the PVAc matrix due to using the in situ emulsion polymerization process. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48570.     

Performance evaluation of modified rotating-jet electrospinning method by investigating the effect of collector size on the nanofibers alignment

Modified rotating-jet electrospinning method (MRJM) is a new electrospinning technique with a novel setup including two metallic concentric hollow cylinders for generating highly aligned fibers. In this report, an experimental study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of MRJM for generating highly aligned nanofibers. For this purpose, the effect of voltage in the range of 10–22 kV, inner collector diameter in the range of 20–50 cm, and outer collector diameter in the range of 30–60 cm, on alignment degrees of electrospun fibers were explored and the results for each set of parameters were compared with those obtained for rotating-jet electrospinning method (RJM). The obtained results indicated that the alignment degrees of electrospun fibers in MRJM were significantly higher than those of RJM. The maximum achievable alignment degree in MRJM was around 82 % that was higher than the corresponding maximum value (40 %) of RJM. Although the effect of applied voltage on the degree of alignment in MRJM was observed to be negligible, it was experimentally proved that by manipulating the outer cylinder diameter, the degree of alignment can be increased up to 20 %. To achieve a conceptual understanding of the reason for significant influence of the outer cylinder on the elecrospinning performance, a formula was derived according to the Gauss’s law in the last part of this paper that relates the electric field strength inside the region between the inner cylinder and the spinneret to the radii of inner and outer cylinders.