Enzyme‐assisted aqueous extraction of safflower oil: optimisation by response surface methodology

Aqueous enzymatic oil extraction of safflower seeds was assisted by Alcalase 2.5L and Celluclast 1.5L. Enzyme type and amount, pH, time, temperature, churning rate, dilution ratios and particle size were varied to determine their influence on the oil amount. The amount of oil recovered was higher using seeds ground to a particle size of <0.6 mm. Response surface methodology was employed for the optimisation of aqueous enzymatic oil extraction conducted with Celluclast 1.5L. When the extraction was assisted by Celluclast 1.5L, the maximum oil amount and yield were 33.3 (% w/w) and 79.7 (% w/w), respectively. The optimum conditions were 48.3 °C; 0.25 mL enzyme g^?1 substance; pH, 4.84; resulting oil amount and yield were 28.2 (% w/w) 65 (% w/w), respectively. The predicted critical values were experimentally verified, and an oil amount of 27.1 (% w/w) was achieved. The enzyme treatment did not have any determining effect on the physicochemical properties of extracted oil.     

Use of zinc borate as the third component of a traditional brominated flame retardant system in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

Because zinc borate is an effective smoke suppressant and cheaper than antimony trioxide, the main aim of this study was to investigate usability of zinc borate as the third component of a traditional binary Br/Sb₂O₃ system in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Limiting oxygen index, UL‐94, and mass loss cone calorimeter studies indicated that almost all flame retardancy parameters were kept when certain percentages of antimony trioxide were replaced with zinc borate. Residue analysis revealed that the predominant flame retardancy mechanism of the traditional system was gas phase action, whereas zinc borate contributes especially in the condensed phase action by forming thicker and stronger char layer. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An expert system for determining candidate software classes for refactoring

In the lifetime of a software product, development costs are only the tip of the iceberg. Nearly 90% of the cost is maintenance due to error correction, adaptation and mainly enhancements. As Lehman and Belady [Lehman, M. M., & Belady, L. A. (1985). Program evolution: Processes of software change. Academic Press Professional.] state that software will become increasingly unstructured as it is changed. One way to overcome this problem is refactoring. Refactoring is an approach which reduces the software complexity by incrementally improving internal software quality. Our motivation in this research is to detect the classes that need to be rafactored by analyzing the code complexity. We propose a machine learning based model to predict classes to be refactored. We use Weighted Naïve Bayes with InfoGain heuristic as the learner and we conducted experiments with metric data that we collected from the largest GSM operator in Turkey. Our results showed that we can predict 82% of the classes that need refactoring with 13% of manual inspection effort on the average.     

Preparation of chitosan‐coated magnetite nanoparticles and application for immobilization of laccase

In this study, immobilization of laccase (L) enzyme on magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles was achieved, so that the immobilized enzyme could be used repeatedly. For this purpose, Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were coated and functionalized with chitosan (CS) and laccase from Trametes versicolor was immobilized onto chitosan‐coated magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄‐CS) by adsorption or covalent binding after activating the hydroxyl groups of chitosan with carbodiimide (EDAC) or cyanuric chloride (CC). For chitosan‐coated magnetic nanoparticles, the thickness of CS layer was estimated as 1.0–4.8 nm by TEM, isoelectric point was detected as 6.86 by zeta (ζ)‐potential measurements, and the saturation magnetization was determined as 25.2 emu g^?1 by VSM, indicating that these nanoparticles were almost superparamagnetic. For free laccase and immobilized laccase systems, the optimum pH, temperature, and kinetic parameters were investigated; and the change of the activity against repeated use of the immobilized systems were examined. The results indicated that all immobilized systems retained more than 71% of their initial activity at the end of 30 batch uses. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

A novel Central Composite Design based response surface methodology optimization study for the synthesis of Pd/CNT direct formic acid fuel cell anode catalyst

At present, carbon nanotube supported Pd catalysts are synthesized via NaBH₄ reduction method to investigate their electro catalytic activity thorough formic acid electro oxidation. In order to optimize the synthesis conditions such as %Pd amount (X₁), NaBH₄ amount (times, X₂), water amount (ml, X₃), and time (min., X₄), Central Composite Design (CCD) experiments are designed and determined by the Design-Expert program to determine the maximum observed current (mA/mgPd). Formic acid electro oxidation current density of the catalyst is computed by the model as 974.80 mA/mg Pd for the catalyst prepared at optimum operating conditions (41.14 for %Pd amount, 280.23 NaBH₄ amount, 26.80 ml water amount, and 167.14 min time) obtained with numerical optimization method in CCD. This computed value is very close to the experimentally measured value as 920 mA/mg Pd. Finally, formic acid fuel cell measurements were performed on the Pd/CNT catalyst prepared at optimum operating conditions and compared with the commercial Pd black and Pt black catalysts. As a result, Pd/CNT exhibits better performance compared to Pd black, revealing that Pd/CNT is a promising catalyst for the direct formic acid fuel cell measurements.     

Phenolic resin binder for the production of metallurgical quality briquettes from coke breeze: Part III the effect of the type of acidic hardeners on the quality of the formed coke and the possibility to avoid the curing stage to produce metallurgical briquettes with enough strength

In order to avoid the curing stage in formed coke production, the effects of hardeners, on the tensile strength of the briquettes bonded with resole binders of F / P = 2.0 and N / P ratios ranging 0.1–0.5, were studied. The raw briquettes were produced by mixing the resole binders containing these hardeners, with the coke breeze. They were hardened at room temperature for 24 h and also at 200 °C for 2 h. The briquettes were also produced from the resole binders of the same N / P but containing no hardener, and cured at 200 °C for 2 h. The tensile strengths of the briquettes were measured. H₃PO₄ resulted in the briquettes having the lowest tensile strength under any conditions investigated. H₂SO₄ and p-TSA hardeners were found to be unsuitable for the aim of this investigation, because they could not fully harden the briquettes at room temperature. ATP resulted in the briquettes of the highest tensile strength of 52.13 MPa, with the resole binder of N / P = 0.1 after 24 h hardening at room temperature but resulted in briquettes of relatively lower tensile strength when the N / P ratio of resoles was increased. By blending ATP and p-TSA it became possible to produce formed coke with sufficient tensile strength by hardening them at room temperature.     

Sensitivity Analyses and Sensitivity Coefficients of Standardized Daily ASCE-Penman-Monteith Equation

The sensitivity of the standardized ASCE grass-reference Penman-Monteith evapotranspiration (ASCE-PM ETo) equation to climate variables in different regions has not yet been studied. Sensitivity analyses for the standardized daily form of the ASCE-PM equation were conducted on wind speed at 2?m height (U2), maximum and minimum air temperatures (Tmax and Tmin), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and solar radiation (Rs) in the following regions of the United States: semiarid (Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and Bushland, Texas), a Mediterranean-type climate (Santa Barbara, California), coastal humid (Fort Pierce, Florida), inland humid and semihumid (Rockport, Missouri, and Clay Center, Nebraska), and an island (Twitchell Island, California). The sensitivity coefficients were derived for each variable on a daily basis. In general, ETo was most sensitive to VPD at all locations, while sensitivity of ETo to the same variable showed significant variation from one location to another and at the same location within the year. After VPD, ETo was most sensitive to U2 in semiarid regions (Scottsbluff, Clay Center, and Bushland) during the summer months. The Rs was the dominant driving force of ETo at humid locations (Fort Pierce and Rockport) during the summer months. At Santa Barbara, the sensitivity of ETo to U2 was minimal during the summer months. At Bushland, Scottsbluff, and Twitchell Island, ETo was more sensitive to Tmax than Rs in summer months, whereas it was equally sensitive to Tmax and Rs at Clay Center. The ETo was not sensitive to Tmin at any of the locations. The change in ETo was linearly related to change in climate variables (with r2 ≥ 0.96 in most cases), with the exception of Tmin, at all sites. Increase in ETo with respect to increase in climate variable changed considerably by month. On an annual average, a 1°C increase in Tmax resulted in 0.11, 0.06, 0.16, 0.07, 0.11, 0.08, and 0.10?mm increases in ETo at Scottsbluff, Santa Barbara, Bushland, Fort Pierce, Twitchell Island, Rockport, and Clay Center. A 1?m?s?1 increase in U2 resulted in 0.42, 0.18, 0.37, 0.28, 0.31, 0.20, and 0.26?mm increases in ETo at the same locations. A unit increase in Tmax resulted in the largest increase in ETo at Bushland, and a unit increase in Rs caused the largest increases in ETo at Fort Pierce. A 1?MJ?m?2?d?1 increase in Rs resulted in 0.05, 0.08, 0.06, 0.11, 0.05, 0.06, and 0.06?mm increases in ETo at the same locations. A 0.4?kPa increase in VPD resulted in 1.13, 0.54, 1.29, 0.57, 1.04, 1.10, and 1.22?mm increases in ETo at the same locations. The U2 had the most effect on ETo at Scottsbluff and Bushland, the two locations where dry and strong winds are common during the growing season. The sensitivity coefficient for Rs was higher during the summer months and lower during the winter months, and the opposite was observed for VPD (except for Twitchell Island). The decrease of the sensitivity coefficients for Rs corresponding to an increase in the sensitivity coefficient for VPD is due to a decrease in the energy term in favor of the increase in significance of the aerodynamic term of the standardized ASCE-PM equation in summer versus winter months. Because the ASCE-PM and the Food and Agriculture Organization paper number 56 Penman-Monteith (FAO56-PM) equations are identical when applied on a daily time step, the results of the sensitivity analyses and sensitivity coefficients of this study should be directly applicable to the FAO56-PM equation.     

Production of structured lipids containing conjugated linolenic acid: optimisation by response surface methodology

Structured lipids containing conjugated linolenic acid (CLNA) were produced separately by enzymatic acidolysis reaction of corn and canola oils (CAO) with bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L) seed oil fatty acids [bitter gourd seed oil fatty acids (BGFA)]. Reactions were conducted using a commercial immobilised sn‐1,3‐specific lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosa (Lipozyme TL IM) in hexane. The effects of reaction time, substrate molar ratio, temperature and enzyme amount on incorporation yield of CLNA were investigated and optimised by response surface methodology with three‐level, two‐factor face‐centred cube design. When reactions were conducted using 10% enzyme for 3 h, the optimum reaction conditions were found for corn oil (CO) as 53.5 °C and 5.9:1 BGFA/CO molar ratio. At these conditions, the incorporation of CLNA into CO was determined as 41.4%. However, CLNA incorporation into CAO was resulted as 37% at optimum conditions which were 54.2 °C and 6.8:1 BGFA/CAO molar ratio.