Volatile Compounds Produced by Lactobacillus paracasei During Oat Fermentation

This study investigated the profiles of volatile compounds produced by Lactobacillus paracasei during oat fermentation using gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry coupled with headspace solid‐phase microextraction method. A total of 60 compounds, including acids, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, furan derivatives, hydrocarbons, ketones, sulfur‐containing compounds, terpenes, and other compounds, were identified in fermented oat. Lipid oxidation products such as 2‐pentylfuran, 1‐octen‐3‐ol, hexanal, and nonanal were found to be the main contributors to oat samples fermented by L. paracasei with the level of 2‐pentylfuran being the highest. In addition, the contents of ketones, alcohols, acids, and furan derivatives in the oat samples consistently increased with the fermentation time. On the other hand, the contents of degradation products of amino acids, such as 3‐methylbutanal, benzaldehyde, acetophenone, dimethyl sulfide, and dimethyl disulfide, decreased in oat samples during fermentation. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to discriminate the fermented oat samples according to different fermentation times. The fermented oats were clearly differentiated on PCA plots. The initial fermentation stage was mainly affected by aldehydes, whereas the later samples of fermented oats were strongly associated with acids, alcohols, furan derivatives, and ketones. The application of PCA to data of the volatile profiles revealed that the oat samples fermented by L. paracasei could be distinguished according to fermentation time.     

Impact of the intumescent formulation of styrene acrylic-based coatings on the fire performance of thin painted red lauan (Parashorea spp.) plywood

Intumescent material with commercial resin, such as styrene acrylic copolymer resin, has been demonstrated to be extremely effective in improving the fire performance of wooden materials used for indoor furnishing. The formulation of the coating is a key to its ability to improve flame retardance. This study investigates the enhancement for painted thin red lauan (Parashorea spp.) plywood. The ability of the material to retard flame arises due to the interactions between the four major components of intumescent formulation: (1) a binder resin (BR), styrene acrylic emulsion resin, (2) a carbonizing substance (CS), pentaerythritol (3) a foam producing substance (FPS), melamine and (4) a dehydrating agent (DA), ammonium polyphosphate. This paper compares the fire performance of the plywood when coated with resin of differing BR/CS ratios (designated as the FRS series) and FPS/DA ratios (designated as the FRD series), by means of a cone calorimeter. These intumescent formulations significantly enhanced the fire retardancy of painted plywood, exhibiting lower peak heat release rates, higher expansion of the intumescent layer and longer time to peak heat release rates (PHRR), when compared to plywood panels coated with sole binder resin. However, worse performance was presented when compared with the data for uncoated plywood panels if the intumescent was produced by equal ratio of the four components. Therefore, the formulation of the intumescent is important. Additionally, lower BR contents in the FRS series and lower FPS contents in the FRD series further enhanced flame retardancy. Advanced investigation by IR and ³¹P NMR demonstrated that lower BR and FPS content extends the survival duration of the phosphor-carbonaceous structure of chars. The findings in this study enhance the state-of-the-art understanding of the effect of the intumescent.     

Changes of immunophysiological characteristics in neonatal calves experimentally challenged with mixture of live bacteria and virus

The aim of the present study was to define efficient immunophysiological parameters in neonatal Holstein calves with an experimentally induced microbial infection. Calves (n = 15) were challenged with classical swine fever virus (LOM strain) and Erysipelothrix insidiosa live vaccine by intravenous injection at 3 wk of age except for control calves (n = 4). The level of total serum IgA was significantly increased at 14 and 19 d post-experimental challenge (DPEC) compared with that in calves at −2 DPEC. At 5 DPEC, relative amounts of bacterial- and viral-specific IgA increased significantly and were sustained until 26 DPEC. In the hematology assay, the neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio (%) in whole blood was significantly decreased at 14 DPEC because of a significant increase in lymphocytes and a coincident decrease in neutrophils. The percentages of CD4⁺ and CD25⁺ T cells were significantly decreased at 14 DPEC and returned to initial levels at 19 DPEC. It is intriguing to note that the level of serum lactoferrin was significantly decreased by the microbial challenge within 1 d. The concentration of haptoglobin was increased within 3 d and gradually decreased in calves after microbial challenge. Our results suggest that 1) bovine serum lactoferrin plays an important role in the innate immune response against microbial infection at an early stage and 2) experimentally induced microbial challenge using porcine live bacterial and viral vaccine in calves could be a good experimental model to evaluate the effect of diet or stress induced by environmental change on the immune responses against microbial infection.     

Preparation and characterization of zero valent iron powders via transfer type reductor using iron oxide from the acid regeneration process

In this study, zero valent iron (ZVI) powders were generated by reducing iron oxide powders obtained from a pickling line in a transfer type reductor. The physical and chemical characteristic of the produced ZVI powders were analyzed by using instruments. Reaction activities of ZVI powders for decomposition of a methylene blue were evaluated. The mean size of ZVI powders increased and the specific surface area decreased with increasing reduction temperature due to sintering. The methylene blue decomposition rate increased with dose of ZVI powders. The ZVI powders generated by reducing iron oxide showed higher decomposition efficiencies than the commercial ZVI powders at all pH values tested in this study. Both non-commercial ZVIs showed a higher decomposition rate at a lower pH.     

Formulation and evaluation of ubidecarenone transdermal delivery systems

Purpose: This study is aimed to examine the feasibility of developing ubidecarenone (coenzyme Q₁₀, CoQ₁₀) transdermal delivery systems (TDS). Method: In vitro permeation study using solution formulation and pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) TDS and in vivo pharmacokinetic study were conducted. Results: When using solution formulations, isopropyl alcohol (103.39 ± 1.61), ethyl alcohol (81.55 ± 7.27), and the mixture of diethylene glycol monoethyl ether (DGME)/propylene glycol monolaurate (PGML) at the ratio of 60:40 (91.08 ± 26.07) showed high flux (μg/cm²/hour). The addition of fatty acids to DGME-PGML failed to show profound enhancing effects; only unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid and oleic acid at 3% and caprylic acid at 3% and 10% slightly increased permeation flux. CoQ₁₀ from the acrylic PSA TDS showed biphasic permeation profile that was permeated very rapidly up to the first 12 hours, and after that, permeation rate became slower. Overall, 6% fatty acids showed high permeation rates and the highest maximum flux of 9.3 μg/cm²/hour was obtained with a formulation containing 6% lauric acid in DGME-PGML (60:40). The in vivo pharmacokinetic study using TDS with 6% fatty acids in DGME-PGML (60:40) showed that the absorption of CoQ₁₀ decreased in the following order: TDS containing linoleic acid > oral dosage form > TDS with oleic acid > TDS with lauric acid > TDS with caprylic acid > TDS with capric acid. TDS containing oleic acid showed preferable pharmacokinetic profile with respect to lower C_max, comparable AUC, and prolonged t_1/2 and T_max compared to oral administration of drug. Conclusions: For effective transdermal delivery system of CoQ₁₀, 6% linoleic acid or oleic acid in DGME-PGML (60:40) could be employed.     

Balancing of manufacturing systems with complex configurations for delayed product differentiation

In response to increasing product variety, manufacturing systems with complex asymmetric configurations have often been used for delayed product differentiation. Balancing these types of manufacturing systems, however, is a challenge, since existing line balancing methods usually have been developed for symmetric configurations, such as serial lines with parallel machines at some stages. This paper proposes a novel binary integer programming (BIP) model for task-machine assignment and workload balancing in complex asymmetric configurations for mixed-model production. The new model includes (1) mathematical representations of task relations and system configurations, (2) constraint equations for task precedence relations in asymmetric configurations, and (3) constraint equations for parallel/serial relations among tasks. This study extends the area of line balancing and task-machine assignment problems to asymmetric system configurations, and helps to select a configuration from alternatives.     

Highly Flexible and Transparent Multilayer MoS2 Transistors with Graphene Electrodes

A highly flexible and transparent transistor is developed based on an exfoliated MoS₂ channel and CVD‐grown graphene source/drain electrodes. Introducing the 2D nanomaterials provides a high mechanical flexibility, optical transmittance (～74%), and current on/off ratio (>10⁴) with an average field effect mobility of ～4.7 cm² V^?1 s^?1, all of which cannot be achieved by other transistors consisting of a MoS₂ active channel/metal electrodes or graphene channel/graphene electrodes. In particular, a low Schottky barrier (～22 meV) forms at the MoS₂/graphene interface, which is comparable to the MoS₂/metal interface. The high stability in electronic performance of the devices upon bending up to ±2.2 mm in compressive and tensile modes, and the ability to recover electrical properties after degradation upon annealing, reveal the efficacy of using 2D materials for creating highly flexible and transparent devices.     

Effect of solution concentration on the surface properties of Y2O3 solution-coated film on flexible Metal Substrate

In order to investigate the effect of solution concentration on the surface properties of Y₂O₃ films dipcoated on a flexible metal substrate, films were coated on unpolished Hastelloy substrate followed by a heat treatment process to convert the film to amorphous Y₂O₃. Solutions of different molarities were used to deposit films with different thicknesses, and the surface smoothness and morphologies were investigated. The thickness of the film increased along with the molarity of the coating solution. The rate of improvement of the smoothness was fast when solutions of high molarity were used; this rate improvement can help reduce the number of coatings needed to reach the desired level of smoothness. It was found that multiple coated Y₂O₃ film has a smooth surface because the film covers up the irregular surface contours of the substrate.