Primary isolation of Mycobacterium avium complex-serotype 6 on blood agar

Mycobacterium avium complex-serotype 6 was isolated in pure culture on blood agar plates from inocula taken from the heart blood, lungs, liver, kidneys, and spleen of a naturally infected captive female opossum (Didelphis marsupialis virginiana). Repeat cultures from stored tissues and transfer of colonies from original blood agar plates revealed that the mycobacterium grew on tryptose, brilliant green, eosin-methylene blue. Sabouraud glucose, and mycobiotic agar plates and in Fletcher leptospira medium. The cultural, biochemical, and serological characteristics of the test isolate were compared with other mycobacteria. This is the first report to describe the primary isolation of a serotype from the M. avium complex from an animal species on blood agar or in Fletcher broth. In addition, this is the second documented report describing the isolation and identification of a mycobacterial species from the American opossum.     

Impact properties of thermoplastic composites

The excellent properties exhibited by thermoplastic composites at much reduced weight have attracted attention in the development of products in different sectors. Thermoplastic (TP) composites, because of their distinctive properties as well as ease of manufacturing, have emerged as a competitor against the conventional thermoset resin-based composites. Depending on the application, these composites may undergo impact events at various velocities and often fail in many complex modes. Hence, the development of TP composites having high energy-dissipation at (the desired) much-reduced weight has become a challenging task, but it is a problem which may be alleviated through the appropriate selection of materials and fabrication processes. Furthermore, fibre surface modification has been shown to increase fibre-matrix interfacial adhesion, which can lead to improved impact resistance. Textile preforms are helpful in acting as a structural backbone in the composites since they offer a relatively free hand to the composite designer to tailor its properties to suit a specific application. Additionally, hybrid textile composite structures may help in achieving the desired properties at much lower weight.

Simulation software can play a significant role in the evaluation of composites without damaging physical samples. Once the simulation result has been validated with actual experimental results, it should be possible to predict the test outcomes for different composites, with different characteristics, at different energy levels without conducting further physical tests. Various numerical models have been developed which have to be incorporated into these software tools for better prediction of the result.

In the current issue of Textile Progress, the effects of various materials and test parameters on impact behaviour are critically analyzed. The effect of incorporating high-performance fibres and natural fibres or their hybrid combination on the impact properties of TP composites are also discussed and the essential properties of TP polymers are briefly explained. The effects of fibre and matrix hybridization, environmental factors, various textile preform structures and fibre surface modification treatments on the impact properties of thermoplastic composites are examined in detail. Various numerical models used for impact analysis are discussed and the potential applications of TP composites in automobile, aerospace and medical sectors are highlighted.     

Modelling of yarn shrinkage due to washing

Yarn shrinkage due to washing is modelled using the idea of helical model of yarn. The derived theoretical relation between yarn shrinkage and yarn twist intensity is experimentally verified. It is proved that yarn shrinkage increases non-linearly with the increase in yarn twist intensity.     

Packing of micro-porous yarns: Part I. Optimization of yarn characteristics

The present paper deals with the factors affecting the packing of a micro-porous yarn, namely proportion of PVA fibre content, yarn twist multiplier (TM) and spindle speed at ring frame, and with their combined effect on various properties of the yarn. The micro-pores within the structure of the yarn have been created by dissolving the PVA fibres using washing treatment in hot water. A three-variable factorial design technique proposed by Box and Behnken is used to investigate the combined interaction effect of the above variables on the properties of the yarn. The present experiment variables, namely proportion of PVA fibre, yarn twist multiplier (TM) and spindle speed, were found to have significant impact on various properties of yarns before and after wash. For yarns before wash, the specific volume reduces with the increase in the PVA content, yarn twist and spindle speed. In the case of yarns after wash, there is reduction in the yarn specific volume with the increase in TM and spindle speed, but with the increase in the PVA percentage the yarn specific volume increases. The tenacity of yarns before wash increases with the increase in the PVA content, but for yarns after wash, the proportion of PVA content has comparatively less influence. The compressibility of yarns before wash reduces with the increase in the PVA content, but a reverse trend is observed in the case of yarns after wash. The design variables were optimized for all the yarn properties by using the response surface equations.     

Spatial and temporal changes in the volatile profile of Alphonso mango upon exogenous ethylene treatment

Alphonso is a highly favoured and exported mango cultivar among the vast mango germplasm of India. Being a climacteric fruit, ethylene plays an important role in ripening of mango. For deeper understanding of effect of pre-climacteric ethylene treatment on volatile profiles of Alphonso mango, 26 volatiles were tracked through six ripening stages of pulp and skin of ethylene-treated and control Alphonso fruits. The study revealed accelerated ripening in terms of early appearance of ripening-specific compounds, lactones and mesifuran, upon ethylene treatment. While the level of lactones remained unaffected, the mesifuran level vastly increased upon ethylene treatment. Skin showed high terpene content while pulp had higher amount of lactones compared to skin. This work points towards involvement of ethylene as a natural hormone in the biosynthesis of lactones and furanones in naturally ripened fruits; whereas, an increase in the terpene level during ripening appears to be independent of ethylene.     

Production of Vegetable Protein from Rapeseed Press-Cake Using Response Surface Methodology,Weighted Multivariate Index,and Desirability Function: A Way to Handle Correlated Multiple Responses

The majority of present day industrial processes/products are defined by several quality characteristics, for which the process variables need to be precisely modulated to meet the required specifications. Hence, the multi-response process optimization has become an increasingly important and demanding task. In practice, many of these quality characteristics under consideration show conflicts among themselves, which need to be simultaneously satisfied. This situation is aggravated when the quality characteristics show correlation. To remedy this shortfall, we present a novel multi-objective process optimization approach, based on weighted principal components (principal component scores weighted by their respective eigen values), response surface methodology and desirability function. The implementation of the suggested approach is presented on a study that discusses the optimization of light-colored and reduced phytate containing protein extraction process from rapeseed press-cake. The effectiveness of the said approach was confirmed by performing additional confirmatory experiments at the predicted optimal condition. Furthermore, this study suggests the feasibility of the exploitation of the waste oilseed cake for extraction of high quality vegetable protein, using viable process and simple computational procedure. This study also briefly highlights performance analyses in cross-flow batch extraction scheme using optimized condition.     

Antioxidant effect of turmeric powder,nitrite and ascorbic acid on stored chicken mince

This investigation was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant effect of turmeric (turmeric 1000 ppm, turmeric 5000 ppm), nitrite (nitrite 200 ppm) and ascorbic acid (ascorbic acid 500 ppm) on raw minced chicken stored at 4 ± 1 °C. Physicochemical properties [pH, water activity, cooking loss, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value, peroxide value (PV), free fatty acid (FFA)] were evaluated on 0, 2, 4 and 6th day of storage. Highly significant differences (P < 0.01) in pH, TBA value, PV and FFA value were noticed between treatments and between storage periods. TBA values were observed to be lowest for nitrite 200 ppm and then turmeric 5000 ppm, and there was no significant difference between nitrite 200 ppm and turmeric 5000 ppm, and both were superior to ascorbic acid 500 ppm and turmeric 1000 ppm. Among different treatments, PV was found to be lowest in turmeric 5000 ppm and highest in nitrite 200 ppm. FFA value was found to be lowest in turmeric 5000 ppm and highest in ascorbic acid 500 ppm among all treated samples. It can be concluded that turmeric has potential to replace synthetic antioxidants presently used in meat processing with many added advantages.