Chemical composition,sensory and cooking quality evaluation of durum wheat spaghetti enriched with pea flour

The goal of the study was to obtain spaghetti enriched with pea flour with sensory properties close to conventional pasta. To this aim, the study has been organised in two subsequent trials. In the first, the pea flour amount added to the spaghetti was continuously increased until the overall sensory quality reached its threshold value (pea flour concentration = 15%). In fact, the spaghetti samples supplemented with 15% pea flour (15%S‐P) showed less elasticity, unpleasant colour and higher firmness compared to the control sample (CTRL). The second step was aimed to improve the overall sensory quality of the 15%S‐P spaghetti by means of guar gum (GUAR). The sample with GUAR (15%S‐P/GUAR) showed a pleasant colour, odour and taste. Furthermore, the 15%S‐P/GUAR sample recorded a low starch digestibility value (i.e. 54) and a higher soluble fibre content with respect to the 15%S‐P sample.     

Formulation optimisation of vegetable flour–loaded functional bread. Part II: effect of the flour hydration on the bread quality

In this work, the hydration process of durum wheat–based functional bread loaded with yellow pepper flour was optimised. In particular, the investigated vegetable flour and durum wheat semolina were mixed after they were separately hydrated. Three different amounts of water added to the yellow pepper flour were studied for assessing the effect of vegetable flour hydration level on the dough development and overall quality of bread. The bread formulation investigated in a previous work, based on 25% of yellow pepper and 2% of guar seed as structuring agent where the vegetable flour was directly added to the hydrated durum wheat semolina dough, was chosen as control sample. Results highlighted that dough samples with yellow pepper flour hydrated at highest water content showed a rheological behaviour similar to the durum wheat dough. Moreover, creep analysis showed that the sample added with no‐hydrated yellow pepper flour recorded the greatest resistance to deformation. Same results were obtained for the dough tensile and bread compression tests. The use of the hydrated yellow pepper flour also improved all sensorial attributes.     

Death and resurrection of copyright between law and technology

The paper reviews copyright philosophical, economic and social justification confronted by the dematerialization of creative outputs. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is the tool implemented by copyright owners to adjust to the advent of the Digital Era. The claim is that DRM effectively addresses digital threats and market failures. If this is true, what is left of the role of copyright law in the digital environment? This review suggests an argument for traditional copyright justifications to resist in the digital environment. As a consequence, digital tools such as DRM need to be engineered according to these justifications, in order to preserve the balance between law and technology.     

Hybrid Polyoxometalates: Merging Organic and Inorganic Domains for Enhanced Catalysis and Energy Applications

Organic–inorganic hybrids based on polyoxometalate scaffolds(POMs) are a unique class of molecular metal-oxides featuring a composite surface, whereby the merging of complementary domains stimulates new functions and enhances performances. The interaction between the organic and inorganic components can be designed via covalent and/or non-covalent strategies, yielding novel molecular systems with key applications in catalysis and materials science. Selected examples of such a rewarding approach will be illustrated, including the synthesis of tailored POM-based catalysts, and their application in homogeneous systems and on electrocatalytic surfaces for water splitting and renewable energy production.     

Optimal design of extractive distillation columns—A systematic procedure using a process simulator

The separation of binary mixtures which form azeotropes is not possible through conventional distillation and they are usually separated by extractive or azeotropic distillation. The optimization of extractive distillation columns is usually performed using a process simulator; however, normally, the result is only obtained after several simulations and the simultaneous analysis of several graphs. This paper sets out to present a systematic procedure, using a process simulator (Aspen Plus^®), in order to obtain the optimum condition for extractive distillation columns. The optimization achieved is characterized by the fact that it is not necessary to perform various simulations, and it also avoids the simultaneous analysis of dozens of curves. The dehydration of aqueous mixtures of ethanol using ethylene glycol as solvent was the system chosen as a case study.     

Conversion and hydroconversion of hydrocarbons on zeolite-based catalysts: an FT-IR study

The interaction of HZSM5 and Mo-ZSM5 with benzene, naphthalene, toluene, ortho-xylene, para-xylene, n-butane, isobutane, n-heptane, and methylcyclohexane, in the range 100–773 K has been investigated using FT-IR spectroscopy. Hydrogen bonded species with the internal bridging and the external terminal OHs has been detected. The reactivity at high temperature has also been studied. The access to the internal cavities and to the strongly acidic OHs is at least partly hindered in the case of Mo-ZSM5. The catalytic activity of ZSM5 was moderated by the addition of molybdenum, with lower cracking and higher liquid yields.     

An FT-IR study of the adsorption of aromatic hydrocarbons and of 2,6-lutidine on H-FER and H-ZSM-5 zeolites

The interaction of aromatic hydrocarbons benzene, toluene, o-, m- and p-xylene and of methyl pyridines (in particular 2,6-lutidine) with H-ZSM-5 and H-FER zeolites has been studied. Two different H-ZSM-5 samples with strongly different intensity ratios between the two main OH stretching bands have been used. Benzene, toluene and p-xylene enter easily the cavities and give rise to three different H-bonded complexes. Two of them are strongly bonded while the third is likely a very hindered and distorted one. o-Xylene enters slowly the cavities and m-xylene even more slowly. Faster diffusion occurs at higher temperatures. On the contrary, xylenes do not enter the FER cavities. In spite of its steric hindrance, supposed to be the same of m-xylene, 2,6-lutidine enters fast the ZSM channels and is protonated by the internal sites. On the contrary, it does not enter the FER cavities, but it is protonated too on the external silanols sites. Evidence is provided for some kind of heterogeneity of the internal sites of ZSM-5 zeolite. Additionally, it is concluded that other effects besides the molecular sieving effect may play a role in the access and diffusion of molecules into the zeolite channels.     

Latex on Glass: an Appropriate Model for Cartilage-Lubrication Studies?

Latex versus glass has frequently been used as a model system for the investigation of natural lubrication mechanisms, despite its significant differences from articular cartilage pairings. The differences in surface chemistry account for its different behavior in terms of protein adsorption and lubrication. While cartilage is well known for its protein resistance, most proteins present in synovial fluid can non-specifically adsorb onto latex or glass. We have investigated latex-versus-glass lubrication by means of pin-on-disk tribometry in the presence of synovial-fluid proteins and glycoproteins, focusing on the influence of the glass-cleaning procedure on friction. In order to simulate the effects of possible contamination of glass in previous studies, both hydrophilic and hydrophobic glass substrates were tested. Albumin was shown to impair lubrication (in comparison to PBS) when latex was slid against both types of glass surface, whereas bovine synovial fluid (BSF) and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) impaired the lubrication of latex versus hydrophilic glass and improved the lubrication of latex versus hydrophobic glass. Protein adsorption on the surfaces was monitored by means of fluorescence imaging and optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy (OWLS), which revealed a faster and greater amount of adsorption of AGP on hydrophobic surfaces than on hydrophilic ones. The influence of surface chemistry on the friction behavior of BSF and on the adsorption of AGP suggests that it plays a role in determining the relative amounts of adsorbed synovial fluid proteins. When BSF is used as a lubricant in the latex-versus-hydrophobic-glass system, more of the AGP, relative to albumin, appears to adsorb on both surfaces, counteracting the negative effect of albumin on friction. It therefore seems that latex on glass, while displaying nominal similarities to cartilage on cartilage under certain conditions, is not a useful model system. Moreover, surface contamination of the glass can play a major role in determining the results.