Hydrophilicity modification of polypropylene microfiltration membrane by ozonation

To improve surface hydrophilicity and to reduce fouling, commercial polypropylene microfiltration membranes were ozonated to generate peroxides as grafting sites for hydrophilic monomers. Ozonation was conducted in aqueous and gaseous phases, respectively. In both phases, the amount of peroxides increased with the ozonation time. A novel way to enhance the generation of peroxides was tested, i.e., adding homogeneous catalyst, CuSO₄, to aqueous ozonation. Results showed that with an optimum dose of 0.05 g/L of CuSO₄, the peroxides generated were 18.2% more than that by the non-catalyzed ozonation in aqueous phase. It was also confirmed by scavenger tests that during the aqueous ozonation both molecular ozone and free radicals contributed to the oxidation of the membranes, the latter was formed from the self-decomposition of ozone in water. Graft polymerization was also conducted after the generation of peroxides. A hydrophilic monomer, acrylic amide, was graft polymerized onto the membrane surface. The successful grafting of acrylic amide was confirmed by the formation of new peaks corresponding to amide groups in FTIR spectra. Results of contact angle measurements and filtration tests indicated that aqueous ozonation was more effective than its gaseous counterpart in terms of hydrophilicity improvement. In addition, the XRD analysis revealed that the ratio of the membrane surface crystallinity to amorphousity was changed by both ozonation and graft polymerization. Results of SEM scanning also showed changes in membrane surfaces after modification.     

Use of unusual storage temperatures to improve the amino acid profile of potatoes for novel flavoring applications

To investigate the potential of potato culls as a source of novel flavorings, free amino acid profiles of juice from tubers stored at 0°C, 12°C or 24°C were analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry after separation on cation exchange resin and derivatization with N-methyl-t-butyl-dimethyl-silyl-trifluoroacetamide. Juices were also incubated for 42 h with or without a commercial protease for comparison. Storage at all three temperatures increased glutamine concentration. The relative percentages of asparagine and glutamine decreased while several other amino acids increased in the juice of potatoes stored at 0°C and 24°C. Small shifts in free amino acid profile, increasing alanine, valine, aspartic acid, asparagine and arginine levels, were obtained by incubating juice from potatoes stored at 0°C without added protease while the protease produced substantial increases but with emphasis on leucine and isoleucine and phenylalanine, which increased bitterness. Since storage alone increased the concentration of single amino acids such as alanine, methionine and phenylalanine by several fold, it may be the preferred means of improving potato culls for novel flavor applications where bitterness must be minimized.     

VISCOSITY OF BIOMATERIALS

Viscosity data for honey, corn oil, mayonnaise, yogourt, blood and banana puree have been analyzed using two Theological models: the Herschel-Bulkley model and a proposed model. The proposed model contains three parameters: a yield stress, a parameter having the units of time and a parameter having the units of viscosity.

The model parameters were obtained by non-linear regression and the proposed model was shown to compare favorably with the Herschel-Bulkley equation.

An Arrhenius-type of correlation could be verified between the viscosity of banana puree and the inverse of the temperature. Also, the time parameter (t₁) of the proposed model could be correlated with the temperature and the parameter η₁.

It is asserted that the proposed model should replace advantageously the commonly used Casson expression.     

Microwave assisted barking of frozen wood

Thawing pulpwood with microwave energy could be an effective means to improve winter barking operations in Canadian interior mills. Complete bark thawing requires 140 MJ per tonne of wood for average 25 cm diameter logs at 90 mass % moisture, dry basis. However, complete thawing may not be necessary, as warming both spruce and aspen bark from ?20°C to ?5°C, decreases the bark/wood bond strength from 2.5–4.5 MPa to room temperature values of 0.5–1.5 MPa. This improves the economics of winter operation, but the expenditure for capital which has no year-round use is not easily justified. Also the design of safe large-scale microwave generators and applicators remains a technical challenge.     

Contraction-induced increase in Vmax of palmitate uptake and oxidation in perfused skeletal muscle

To evaluate the effects of contractions on the kinetics of uptake and oxidation of palmitate in a physiological muscle preparation, rat hindquarters were perfused with glucose (6 mmol/l), albumin-bound [1-14C]palmitate, and varying amounts of albumin-bound palmitate (200-2,200 micro mol/l) at rest and during muscle contractions. When plotted against the unbound palmitate concentration, palmitate uptake and oxidation displayed simple Michaelis-Menten kinetics with estimated maximal velocity (Vmax) and Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) values of 42.8 +/- 3.8 (SE) nmol . min-1 . g-1 and 13.4 +/- 3.4 nmol/l for palmitate uptake and 3.8 +/- 0.4 nmol . min-1 . g-1 and 8.1 +/- 2.9 nmol/l for palmitate oxidation, respectively, at rest. Whereas muscle contractions increased the Vmax for both palmitate uptake and oxidation to 91.6 +/- 10.1 and 16.5 +/- 2.3 nmol . min-1 . g-1, respectively, the Km remained unchanged. Vmax and Km estimates obtained from Hanes-Woolf plots (substrate concentration/velocity vs. substrate concentration) were not significantly different. In the resting perfused hindquarter, an increase in palmitate delivery from 31.9 +/- 0.9 to 48.7 +/- 1.2 micro mol . g-1 . h-1 by increasing perfusate flow was associated with a decrease in the fractional uptake of palmitate so that the rates of uptake and oxidation of palmitate remained unchanged. It is concluded that the rates of uptake and oxidation of long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) saturate with an increase in the concentration of unbound LCFA in perfused skeletal muscle and that muscle contractions, but not an increase in plasma flow, increase the Vmax for LCFA uptake and oxidation. The data are consistent with the notion that uptake of LCFA in muscle may be mediated in part by a transport system.     

Primacy/recency effects in student ratings of instruction: A reinterpretation of gain–loss effects.

Examined how the side effects of initial and final lecture quality on end-of-course student ratings can be predicted from seemingly unrelated gain–loss theory. Also investigated was the effect on ratings of student belief that the instructor will use midterm rating feedback to improve teaching. Using videotaped lectures in a 2?×?2?×?2 laboratory analog study, the present authors manipulated Lecture 1 (good, poor), Lecture 2 (good, poor), and whether 131 college students were told that feedback to the instructor about Lecture 1 would be used to improve teaching (yes, no). With Lecture 2 ratings as the principal measure, ratings varied moderately and inversely with Lecture 1 quality (negative primacy effect), greatly and directly with Lecture 2 quality (positive recency effect), and trivially with feedback. The primacy/recency findings confirm gain–loss predictions and illustrate how gain–loss theory can be interpreted as primacy/recency effects. Implications for expectancy research and field research on instructors using midterm ratings to improve instruction in the final portion of the course are discussed. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Big and little forms of osteoclast activating factor

We have further characterized osteoclast activating factor (OAF) using a bioassay for bone resorption which utilizes the release of previously incorporated (45)Ca from fetal rat long bones in organ culture. When supernatant media from activated leukocyte cultures were concentrated on Amicon PM10 membranes (assigned molecular weight cutoff 10,000 daltons) and chromatographed on Sephadex G-50 columns, the bone-resorbing activity eluted between the molecular weight markers chymotrypsinogen (25,000 daltons) and cytochrome c (12,500 daltons). This peak of biological activity has been called big OAF. When filtrates from the PM10 membranes were concentrated on Amicon UM2 membranes (assigned molecular weight cutoff 1,000 daltons) and chromatographed on Sephadex G-50 columns, some of the biological activity eluted between the molecular weight markers chymotrypsinogen and cytochrome c (big OAF), but there was a separate peak of biological activity which eluted with [(3)H]proline (140 daltons). This second peak has been called little OAF. Little OAF was eluted from Bio-Gel P6 columns between the molecular weight markers calcitonin (approximately 3,500 daltons) and vitamin B(12) (1,330 daltons), but was retained by Spectrapor dialysis tubing (nominal molecular weight cutoff 3,500 daltons). Big OAF was converted to little OAF by equilibration in 1 M NaCl or 2 M urea. Little OAF was self-associated back to big OAF by equilibration in buffers of low ionic strength (Tris-HCl 10-50 mM). Little OAF was extracted into the organic phase in ethyl acetate after acidification of the sample to pH 3.5. The biological activity remained in the aqueous phase after ethyl acetate extraction at pH 7.5-8.4. Little OAF has been purified more than 6,000-fold compared with the original material so that bone-resorbing activity is maximal in a sample with a protein concentration of 80 ng/ml.     

Interpretation of inert gas release from irradiated solids

This paper considers the interpretation of inert gas release experiments in cases where surface effects are of minor importance. The present study is based on numerical solutions to the general problem of a composite solid with reversible trapping, including the possibility of the implanted ions residing in traps initially. Gas release data reported by Ong and Elleman for Xe implanted CaF₂ are considered. A two-region model consisting of the implanted volume and the sub-implant volume is utilized to show that more than one model can fit the experimental data. For example, using a homogenous trapping model, Ong and Elleman fit one set of release data with trapping and detrapping constants of 9.1 × 10^?4s^?1 and 6.0 × 10^?5s^?1, respectively. Using a composite model with 38% of the implanted gas initially trapped, the corresponding trapping constants are determined to be zero and 10^?6 s^?1.     

Characterization of multilayer anti-fog coatings

Fog formation on transparent substrates constitutes a major challenge in several optical applications requiring excellent light transmission characteristics. Anti-fog coatings are hydrophilic, enabling water to spread uniformly on the surface rather than form dispersed droplets. Despite the development of several anti-fog coating strategies, the long-term stability, adherence to the underlying substrate, and resistance to cleaning procedures are not yet optimal. We report on a polymer-based anti-fog coating covalently grafted onto glass surfaces by means of a multistep process. Glass substrates were first activated by plasma functionalization to provide amino groups on the surface, resulting in the subsequent covalent bonding of the polymeric layers. The anti-fog coating was then created by the successive spin coating of (poly(ethylene-maleic anhydride) (PEMA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) layers. PEMA acted as an interface by covalently reacting with both the glass surface amino functionalities and the PVA hydroxyl groups, while PVA added the necessary surface hydrophilicity to provide anti-fog properties. Each step of the procedure was monitored by XPS, which confirmed the successful grafting of the coating. Coating thickness was evaluated by profilometry, nanoindentation, and UV visible light transmission. The hydrophilic nature of the anti-fog coating was assessed by water contact angle (CA), and its anti-fog efficiency was determined visually and tested quantitatively for the first time using an ASTM standard protocol. Results show that the PEMA/PVA coating not only delayed the initial period required for fog formation but also decreased the rate of light transmission decay. Finally, following a 24 hour immersion in water, these PEMA/PVA coatings remained stable and preserved their anti-fog properties.