Effect of heat moisture treatment on resistant starch content among carbohydrate sources: a meta-analysis

Resistant starch (RS) can be generated through heat moisture treatment (HMT). The HMT was conducted by modifying starch using different ratio of moisture content, high temperature and heating time. A number of studies showed that the effects of HMT on RS contents in cereals, pulses, tubers and fruits were inconsistent. This study aimed to analyse the impact of HMT on RS level in various carbohydrate sources through a meta-analysis approach. Study selection was conducted with the PRISMA method. There were 21 relevant studies and 67 data used for meta-analysis. The database was analysed by using Hedges’ d. The results showed that there was a significant impact of HMT on RS level of cereals, especially wheat. The highest increase in RS levels for various carbohydrate sources in starch was influenced by the interaction of treatment between water content at 15 ≤ x < 25%, heating time at 0.25 < x ≤ 6 h and temperature at 120 ≤ x ≤ 130 °C.     

Mortality response of folate receptor-activated,PEG–functionalized TiO2 nanoparticles for doxorubicin loading with and without ultraviolet irradiation

TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by hydrothermal assisted sol–gel technique. In the next step, as-synthesized NPs were modified by poly ethylene glycol (PEG). Then, folic acid (FA) was conjugated to TiO₂–PEG. Finally, Doxorubicin (Dox) as an anticancer drug was loaded on as-prepared TiO₂–PEG–FA nanocarrier. The optimization of TiO₂ and FA concentration and the influence of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation on photocatalytic activity of nanocarrier and Dox loaded carrier were assessed by utilizing the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)-assay method.     

The influence of cap rock composition on hydrocarbon seep type in the Zagros oil fields,a study using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer mineral map

The persistent natural hydrocarbon seepage in onshore basins challenges observation and exploration technologies, which are required to document and assess these valuable indications of the presence of oil and gas in the subsurface. This paper aims at demonstrating the relationship between the compositional variation of an evaporite cap rock and the types of seeps occurring at the surface. For this purpose, the multispectral Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data was utilized for mapping mineral variations of a petroleum system in the Zagros oil fields. Relative absorption-band depth (RBD), band rationing and the boosted regression trees (BRT) were applied to enhance and classify the mineral composition of evaporite, sandstone, and marly limestone formations. The gas seeps were associated with the areas of gypsum-bearing evaporite cap rock while oil seeps were mostly associated with calcite and clay zones within the cap rock, which was more prone to fracturing during the tectonic activities of the basin. It is suggested that the application of remote sensing in the oil and gas industry could be widened by detection of sleep-induced alteration to assess the efficiency of cap rock and to evaluate the productivity of reservoirs at a regional scale.     

Smartphone Information Displays When Reading News in Persian and English Languages

By their nature, smartphones must have small screens, and that is one of their limitations. Many users have trouble reading information on the Internet on such small screens because Internet browsers are usually designed for computers that have larger screens than smartphones. This study evaluates the usability of alternative user interfaces when reading news articles on smartphones. An experiment was conducted involving 120 smartphone users who were asked to evaluate six types of user interfaces based on three methods (pop-up, full-screen, and auto-zooming) and two display orientations (horizontal, vertical) in one of two languages (English and Persian). The participants were assigned four typical tasks that users must perform to obtain information from the Internet, that is, finding, refinding, reading, and browsing; they were asked to conduct the tasks in random order. In addition, a questionnaire was used to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the participants’ completion of the tasks, as well as their satisfaction, compatibility, and enjoyment of the undertakings. The results indicated that method, orientation, and language affected the actual usage and the time used. Based on the human factor experiment, the full-screen method was preferred in refinding and reading, whereas the pop-up method was preferred in browsing and finding. In terms of orientation, the vertical mode was preferred, and each user’s performance in the vertical mode was better in all tasks except browsing. Of interest, using the English language turned out to be more satisfying, enjoyable, and efficient to the Persian users who did the experiment in English as their second language.     

Images of finite sized spherical particles in confocal and conventional microscopes when illuminated with arbitrary polarization

We investigate the form of the image of a finite sized spherical particle in confocal and conventional microscopes when the illuminating light has an arbitrary polarization. In particular, we take the cases of radial and azimuthal polarizations and use the Mie theory to find the scattered field from differently sized particles for these cases. We present numerical results for the changes in the detected intensity when subresolution and resolvable spherical particles are illuminated with particular wavelengths and polarizations. Further, we find the limiting size of a particle for which it can be considered a point scatterer for a particular wavelength.     

Enhancement of mechanical and thermal properties of polycaprolactone/chitosan blend by calcium carbonate nanoparticles

This study investigates the effects of calcium carbonate (CaCO(3)) nanoparticles on the mechanical and thermal properties and surface morphology of polycaprolactone (PCL)/chitosan nanocomposites. The nanocomposites of PCL/chitosan/CaCO(3) were prepared using a melt blending technique. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results indicate the average size of nanoparticles to be approximately 62 nm. Tensile measurement results show an increase in the tensile modulus with CaCO(3) nanoparticle loading. Tensile strength and elongation at break show gradual improvement with the addition of up to 1 wt% of nano-sized CaCO(3). Decreasing performance of these properties is observed for loading of more than 1 wt% of nano-sized CaCO(3). The thermal stability was best enhanced at 1 wt% of CaCO(3) nanoparticle loading. The fractured surface morphology of the PCL/chitosan blend becomes more stretched and homogeneous in PCL/chitosan/CaCO(3) nanocomposite. TEM micrograph displays good dispersion of CaCO(3) at lower nanoparticle loading within the matrix.     

Interface micromechanics of transverse sections from retrieved cemented hip reconstructions: an experimental and finite element comparison

In finite element analysis (FEA) models of cemented hip reconstructions, it is crucial to include the cement-bone interface mechanics. Recently, a micromechanical cohesive model was generated which reproduces the behavior of the cement-bone interface. The goal was to investigate whether this cohesive model was directly applicable on a macro level. From transverse sections of retrieved cemented hip reconstructions, two FEA-models were generated. The cement-bone interface was modeled with cohesive elements. A torque was applied and the cement-bone interface micromotions, global stiffness and stem translation were monitored. A sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate whether the cohesive model could be improved. All results were compared with experimental findings. That the original cohesive model resulted in a too compliant macromechanical response; the motions were too large and the global stiffness too small. When the cohesive model was modified, the match with the experimental response improved considerably.     

MPC-Based Distributed Control for Intelligent Energy Management of AC Microgrids

Abstract

Power scheduling of distributed storage devices and renewable energy resources in microgrids is crucial for their reliable and optimal operation. Conventionally, the power scheduling problem is solved with a centralized energy management control, which has access to all the information from the overall system. This type of control has limitations related to computational burden, communication latencies, and missing information. Therefore, the primary objective of this paper is to propose a distributed energy management strategy, to reduce the operational cost of microgrids, and to enhance the computation time. The strategy is formulated based on the model predictive control method since it allows the control action in the current time-step to be optimized while taking into account the future time-steps. Outputs of the energy management system are the optimal power references generated for all energy resources based on the system’s demand, constraints, and objective functions. To illustrate the effectiveness of the distributed model predictive control, the proposed algorithm is validated through simulation, on a microgrid candidate via MATLAB/Simulink, and controller hardware-in-the-loop experiment on a LabVIEW platform using National Instruments control devices (myRIO). The results will show the computation time in the distributed IEM method is improved compared to centralized IEM. Additionally, the results will show the robustness of the distributed IEM in the plug and play scenario.