The impact of home freezing on the sensory characteristics of ready-to-use leafy vegetables

BACKGROUND: Owing to the increasing trend of consumption of ready‐to‐use leafy vegetables, the necessity of determining the best conditions for their frozen storage and the considerable impact of freezing on their sensory attributes, research was carried out to determine the best freezing temperature and storage time for a mixture of Allium ampeloprasum, Lepidium sativum and Stureia hortensis. RESULTS: The results for freezing temperature at three different storage times showed that colour and overall acceptability at ? 18 °C were always ranked first (P < 0.05), while taste at ? 18 °C was ranked first on days 120 and 150. The results for frozen storage time at three different temperatures indicated that colour, taste and acceptability were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Overall, the results of this research indicated that the sensory attributes of leafy vegetables during 180 days of frozen storage were affected mainly by freezing temperature rather than frozen storage time. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Two Efficient Dual-Band and Wide-Band Low-Power DCO Designs Using Current Starving Gates,DCV and Reconfigurable Schmitt Triggers in 180 nm

Digitally controlled oscillators are the main cores in all-digital phase-locked loops (ADPLL), which are important for determining the range of frequency and power consumption in ADPLLs. In the conventional digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) designs, one single band of operation is assigned to the DCO. The following paper presents a new approach in the design of DCOs, which works in dual-band and wide-band modes with a control unit. In dual-band mode, the DCO works in two different ranges of frequencies simultaneously via digital control bits. The wide-band DCO (WBDCO) works in one wider range of frequencies consecutively. It seems that in the wide-band DCO, the gap width for the dual-band DCO (DBDCO) is zero. The previously mentioned designs allow the designer to have standard frequencies with the help of direct or multiplied frequencies. So, we can have a trade-off between power and performance. This means that we can have low power consumption in low-frequency applications and vice versa. The proposed designs are based on using digitally controlled capacitors, current starving gates and Schmitt triggers in critical points of the DCO loop, while preserving coarse and fine tunings. The non-delay linearity factors are clearly investigated and resolved with the use of a new combined control unit. The simulations of the proposed designs are performed in Hspice with a voltage of \(\mathrm{VDD}=1.8\) v in 180 nm CMOS technology for 64- and 128-bit input coarse codes. Our simulation and evaluation results showed that in the dual-band DCO, a 14.8 ps jitter was calculated at 134 MHz with 1.2131 mW power consumption, while in the wide band with overlap mode, a 68.7 ps jitter was measured at 184.61 MHz with 1.604 mW power consumption. Our designs are proper for reconfigurable and multi-standard ADPLL designs.     

Influence of Static Low Electromagnetic Field on Copper Corrosion in the Presence of Multispecies Aerobic Bacteria

The effects of low electromagnetic field(EMF)( B = 2 mT) on the corrosion of pure copper in the absence and presence of multispecies marine aerobic bacteria were investigated in this work. The results showed that EMF has an inhibitory effect on copper metals and decreases the corrosion rate of copper metals in sterile artificial seawater. However, microbiologically influenced corrosion of Cu was increased in the presence of electromagnetic field due to its effect on the biofilm morphology and structure. EMF reduced the growth rate of bacteria and decreased bacterial attachment, thereby forming a heterogeneous and non-stable biofilm on the Cu surface in the presence of EMF. Moreover, the biofilm was dispersed throughout the surface after 7 days, whereas the scattered bacteria were observed on the surface after 10 days. Confocal laser scanning microscopy images showed large and deep pits on the surface in the presence of EMF and confirmed the acceleration of Cu corrosion in the presence of EMF and multispecies bacteria. Furthermore, XPS and FTIR results demonstrated that the corrosion products and metabolic by-products were significantly changed in the presence of EMF.     

Mathematical-Thermodynamic Prediction and Kinetics of Eta Phase Formation in Fe–Ni-Based Superalloys

Time–temperature–precipitation diagram of eta phase formation was established for an Fe–Ni based superalloy by means of mathematical-thermodynamic analysis, kinetic investigation, and microstructural observation. The eta phase started to precipitate at the expense of the γ′ phase after prolonged aging. On the basis of thermodynamic prediction, the interaction between Gibbs free energy of eta phase formation and activation energy for diffusion of elements, especially titanium, was considered. The tip of TTP diagram was obtained at 817 °C, on the basis of mathematical-thermodynamic prediction, and 825–840 and 840 °C, on the basis of microstructural evolution and kinetic analysis, respectively. Kinetic investigations predicted that the eta transformation started with diffusion of Ti into Ni. This indicated that, with the progress of transformation, as n in Avrami’s equation predicts, other eta formation mechanisms such as γ′ to eta transformation, instant nucleation from the matrix, coincidence of eta lamellas, etc. increased n and activation energy.     

Two Tartrate-Pillared Coordination Polymers: Hydrothermal Preparation, Crystal Structures, Spectroscopic and Thermal Analyses of {[M2(μ-C4H4O6)2(H2O)] · 3H2O}∞ (M = Mn, Cd)

Two novel three-dimensional coordination polymers, formulated as {[M₂(μ-C₄H₄O₆)₂(H₂O)] · 3H₂O}_∞ (M = Mn for 1 and Cd for 2), have been synthesized under hydrothermal reaction condition. Both complexes were characterized by elemental analysis and IR spectroscopy. Their molecular and crystal structures were determined by X-ray crystal structure analysis and their thermal stability by TGA-DTA methods. Compound 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group, P2₁, while compound 2 crystallizes the orthorhombic space group, P2₁2₁2₁. The structures are self-assembled from bifunctional tartrate and water molecules. Tartrate ligands in 1 and 2 contribute to both covalent and hydrogen bonds. Polymeric chains of 1 and 2 are composed of M(II) ions bridged by tartrate ions in O,O′ fashion. The asymmetric units of coordination polymers contain two metal centers having different coordination environments.     

Risk-Based Design of Flood Control Systems Considering Multiple Dependent Uncertainties

Due to random behavior of flood events and inaccuracies in measurements, design, analysis, and operation of flood control systems are subjected to several uncertainties. An important aspect in developing stochastic models for evaluating and analyzing more than one uncertainty is the dependence or independence of them. In flood control projects, hydrologic, hydraulic, geotechnical, and economic uncertainties are important considerations. In this paper, a stochastic Monte-Carlo simulation – optimization modeling approach is described for risk-based design of flood control levees (as a common structural flood control measure): considering multiple dependent uncertainties. It has been applied to the Leaf River reach in Hattiesburg, Mississippi for testing and evaluation of modeling results. Unlike a deterministic model that yields just one set of values for system dimensions, the stochastic model solution gives a range of values for each of them. One of the major reasons for limited field application of uncertainty analysis is difficulties in performing the modeling results in real world contexts. For closing the gap between theory and reality, design charts are developed in this study. This helps decision makers in identifying design values with desired and accepted risks.     

Harnessing irreversible thermal strain for shape memory in polymer additive manufacturing

Shape transformation upon annealing of fused filament fabrication additively manufacturing structures is investigated as a one-way shape memory strategy using commodity thermoplastics. Irreversible thermal strain, which is a measurement of shape transformation upon annealing, is shown to depend on both raster angle and layer thickness, both of which are parameters than can be easily adjusted on most FFF printers. We present an algorithm based on our understanding of the underlying micromechanics of the system that allows for input of desired final dimensions and output the necessary print parameters. We also demonstrate that this approach is extensible to other materials and report more complex shape memory geometries. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48239.     

Glucosamine conjugated iron oxide and graphene oxide nanohybrid for smart drug delivery

Smart drug delivery systems have attracted a lot of attention as one of the new treatment methods for cancer. In this study, a smart drug delivery system carrying anticancer drugs was obtained by the intelligent synthesis of glucosamine (GA)-functionalized graphene oxide (GO)-based iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@GO-GA) using Hummers and chemical co-precipitation processes. Nanohybrids have a high surface area (280.26 m²/g) and superparamagnetic behaviour (Ms = 26.017 emu/g), indicating a significant loading capacity (373.78 mg/mg) and efficiency (96.3%) for pharmaceutical loading. An adsorption study of conventional daunorubicin (DNR) on this carrier showed that the drug release is more prone to occur under acidic conditions (pH = 5.5), at moderately high temperatures (T = 40°C), and in the absence of smart carriers. The toxicity of the smart nanohybrids was examined using the sulphorhodamine B (SRB) assay in Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) cell lines. The rate of death of cells exposed to smart drug-containing systems in comparison to the systems without GA shows that GA reduces the toxicity of Fe₃O₄@GO.     

Inhibitory Effect of Vibrio neocaledinocus sp. and Pseudoalteromonas piscicida Dual-Species Biofilms on the Corrosion of Carbon Steel

Multi-species biofilms are found in various bacterial habitats and have industrial relevance. These complex bacterial communities have synergetic effects, unlike a single species. Therefore, it is critical to evaluate these complex communities as a whole. Here, the inhibitory effect of single- and dual-species biofilms of Vibrio neocaledinocus sp. and Pseudoalteromonas piscicida for A36 carbon steel corrosion was investigated. The results demonstrated that the synergistic interactions of the monoculture increased the overall biomass production of the dual-species biofilm, but the growth rate was reduced in the presence of the dual-species culture due to a lack of nutrients. Field emission scanning electron microscopy images also confirmed the development of biofilms—they became more homogenized via exposure time in both the mono- and dual-species cultures. The corrosion resistance of A36 carbon steel positively increased because of the dual-species interactions. This reached the highest value after four weeks of exposure. The highest corrosion inhibition efficiency of 99.8% was achieved in the dual-species cultures. Microbial community analysis revealed the high relative abundance of Pseudoalteromonas piscicida during the initial days of exposure, demonstrating the dominant role of this bacterium in the biofilm structure.