Studies on the preparation of methyl bromide from sulphur,bromine and methyl alcohol

Optimum conditions have been presented for the production of methyl bromide by employing the reactants, sulphur, methyl alcohol, liquid bromine and water. For the maximum recovery of methyl bromide from liquid bromine used in the reaction, a 5% excess of sulphur and 30% excess of water than the stoichiometric quantities were found necessary. The addition of liquid bromine to the reaction mixture at slower rates of 0.5 to 2.5 cm³ min^?1, reduced the loss of bromine as sulphur bromide and increased the yield of methyl bromide from 42 to 94.3%. With these standardised conditions, the product had a methyl bromide content of 98.2% with an overall yield of 94.42% based on liquid bromine.     

A Case‐Based Reasoning system for complex medical diagnosis

A Case‐Based Reasoning (CBR) system for medical diagnosis mimics the way doctors make a diagnosis. Given a new case, its accuracy in practice depends on successful retrieval of similar cases. CBR systems have had some success in dealing with simple diseases because of the robustness of their case base. However, their diagnostic accuracy suffers when dealing with complex diseases particularly those that involve multiple domains in medicine. An example of such a condition is Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) as it falls under both gynaecology and psychiatry. To address this issue, the paper proposes a CBR‐based expert system that uses the K‐nearest neighbour (KNN) algorithm to search k similar cases based on the Euclidean distance measure. The novelty of the system is in the design of a flexible auto‐set tolerance (T), which serves as a threshold to extract cases for which similarities are greater than the assigned value of T. A prototype software tool with a menu‐driven Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been developed for case input, analysis of results, and case adaptation within the system. Finally, the performance of the tool has been checked on a set of real‐world PMS cases.     

Deep fat frying characteristics of chickpea flour suspensions

Chickpea ( Cicer arietinum ) (Bengal gram) flour suspensions are widely used in the preparation of oriental traditional snacks and sweets. We investigated the frying characteristics of small and large boondi , a traditional product made by deep fat frying the droplets of chickpea flour suspensions. The rate of water loss during frying was much higher than that of oil uptake. Towards the end of frying, the bulk densities of small and large boondis were similar and remained constant. The analysis of microstructure of the product indicated that there were large pores and vacuoles inside, whereas the outer surface remained fairly smooth with fewer smaller pores. The colour changes during frying were described in terms of tristimulus values (brightness, hue and chroma) and yellowness, of which brightness decreased markedly; the colour of the product changed from bright yellowish orange (raw batter) to dull orange (finished product).     

Rheological behaviour of emulsions of avocado and watermelon oils during storage

Rheological properties of emulsions made out of avocado pulp and watermelon seed oils with whey protein concentrate were determined during different storage periods. The oils, as well as the emulsions behaved like non-Newtonian liquids, having shear-thinning characteristics. Both oils showed moderate shear-thinning characteristics as the flow behaviour indices were between 0.86 and 0.88. The shear-rate/shear-stress data could be adequately fitted (r = 0.997–0.999) to a common rheological equation, e.g. the power-law model. Avocado pulp oil was markedly more viscous than was watermelon seed oil which was also evident from the higher apparent viscosity and consistency index values.     

Decoder side Wyner–Ziv frame estimation using Chebyshev polynomial-based FLANN technique for distributed video coding

Multidimensional Systems and Signal Processing - In this paper, a Chebyshev polynomial-based functional link artificial neural network (CFLANN) technique for Wyner–Ziv (WZ) frame estimation...     

Isolation of High Oleate Recombinants in Peanut by Near Infra‐Red Spectroscopy and Confirmation With Allele Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction Marker

Near infrared (NIR) spectrophotometer offers rapid, noninvasive, nondestructive, and high‐throughput phenotyping of seed samples for use in agriculture and industry. In this study, a reflectance‐based NIR spectrophotometer was calibrated and used for the isolation of desirable higher‐oleic‐acid peanut recombinants from single‐seed‐derived segregating populations at F₇ and F₈ generations. A calibration model was developed through partial least‐square regression using wet chemistry data from 158 peanut genotypes. Desirable prediction for oil, palmitic acid, oleic acid, and linoleic acid in intact seed was obtained based on this calibration. It detected significant high correlations (r) and coefficient of determination (R²) between the actual gas chromatography values and NIR predicted values of fatty acid profile in another 123 peanut genotypes that were generated from crosses involving a high‐oleate mutant and Spanish bunch varieties with early maturity. From this recombinant single‐seed‐derived progenies, 15 higher‐oleate recombinants were isolated and later genotyped through an in‐house developed polymerase chain reaction‐based allele specific marker. The present study has generated high‐oleate peanut recombinants with early maturity in Spanish bunch background. The breeding materials generated here will be evaluated for yield attributing traits at different locations in future.     

Mangosteen Oil-In-Water Emulsions: Rheology, Creaming, and Microstructural Characteristics during Storage

The rheological properties and physical stability of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) extract in oil-in-water (MIO/W) emulsions were investigated. Rheological study on the emulsions exhibited Newtonian flow behavior. The 20?wt.% emulsion showed higher apparent viscosity than 10?wt.% MIO/W sample. The effects of salt (NaCl) concentration (0, 50, 100, and 200?mM) and heat treatment (70?°C) on the stability of the emulsions were also examined. Heat (70?°C)- and NaCl (100 and 200?mM)-treated emulsions showed creaming and droplet aggregation on storage for a period of 60?days. The 10?wt.% MIO/W emulsions stored at 4?°C showed a homogeneous distribution of oil droplets with good stability to creaming and viscosity independent of shear stress (i.e., a Newtonian liquid).