Quality assessment of wild European eel (Anguilla anguilla) stored in ice

The quality assessment of wild European eel (Anguilla anguilla) stored in ice and in boxes without ice (3 ± 1 °C) was investigated by the sensory analysis, levels of nucleotide breakdown products and biogenic amines for up to 19 days. Sensory analysis was assessed using the Tasmanian Food Research Unit Scheme. K and related values (K_i, G, P, H and F_r) were used as freshness indicators. Linear regressions (r²) obtained from K, K_i, G, P, H and F_r were 0.95, 0.96, 0.83, 0.96, 0.99 and 0.96, respectively, for eel stored in ice whereas, for eel kept in boxes without ice, the values were 0.86, 0.86, 0.96, 0.91, 0.98 and 0.86, respectively. When eel stored in ice and in boxes without ice were considered at the limit of acceptability by assessors at ∼12–14 days and ∼5–7 days, respectively, the average K, K_i and P values were ∼70–85%, H values were ∼60% and F_r values were ∼10% for both storage conditions. The level of histamine exceeded the legal limit (5 mg/100 g fish) in eel stored without ice after 6–7 days and, in ice, after 13–14 days of storage, at which time eels were rejected by the sensory panel. The concentrations of biogenic amines were higher in eel stored in boxes without ice than in eel kept in ice. The levels of histamine in the muscle of eel kept in boxes without ice and in ice increased to the maximum levels of 17.9 mg/100 g on day 12 and 12.6 mg/100 g on day 19, respectively.     

Improved catalytic activity by catalase immobilization using γ‐cyclodextrin and electrospun PCL nanofibers

Nanofibrous structures are promising for biocatalyst immobilization due to their large surface area which facilitates the enzyme attachment, stability, ease of separation, and fine porous structure. There is limited research available on the change in enzyme activity following interaction with cyclodextrin. In this study, catalase enzyme was immobilized into nanofibrous structures by various techniques, with and without γ‐CD addition, and the enzymatic activity of catalase was evaluated. In addition, catalase‐γ‐CD complex containing PEO polymer solution was electrospun in between PCL nanofibrous layers as a newly developed technique. The enzyme immobilized nanofibrous structures were characterized by SEM, XRD, and FT‐IR analysis methods. Among all the activity tests, best enzyme activity was recorded with catalase‐γ‐CD physical mixture encapsulated PCL nanofibrous layers. Moreover, the test results indicated that the use of cyclodextrin in immobilization process considerably improves the catalytic activity of the enzyme. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44404.     

Microencapsulation of hazelnut oil through spray drying

This study was performed to investigate the influence of air inlet temperature (AIT) on the microencapsulation of hazelnut oil by spray drying. Encapsulated powders were analyzed for moisture content, powder yield, surface oil, encapsulation efficiency (EE), bulk density, and particle morphology. The obtained results demonstrated that moisture content, surface oil, and bulk density decreased by 37.8, 27.5, and 33%, respectively as AIT increased from 140 to 220°C. However, powder yield and encapsulation efficiency increased considerably with the rise in AIT. Higher EEs of about 75–80% were observed in this study.     

Effect of different denture adhesives on retention of complete dentures: an in vivo study

The increase in prevalence of tooth loss with the effect of population aging produces the growing need for complete dentures. The success and acceptance of complete dentures by the patient depends on sufficient retention and stability. Therefore, denture adhesives are regularly used by denture wearers to improve the function of complete denture. We evaluated the effect of three different denture adhesives (Corega, Protefix, Fittydent) on the retention of maxillary complete denture (MCD) using with digital dynamometer (DD). For this purpose, denture adhesives were applied on MCDs of 30 participants. After chewing procedure, the force was applied at 45° to the palatal surface of denture by DD. Dislodgement force was recorded by means of Newton. There were four measurements on each patient including; group of control: Group C; Group CR: Corega; Group F: Fittydent; Group P: Protefix. The result of the study was statistically evaluated by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey HSD test. Statistics of ANOVA showed a significant difference among all the four groups (p = 0.00, <0.05). Tukey HSD test indicated that there was a statistical difference between Group F and the other groups, but there was not a significant difference between the other groups. The highest adhesive strength value was observed in group F, the lowest in group C. Use of denture adhesives improved the retentive strength of complete denture.     

Effect of various pore formers on the microstructural development of tape-cast porous ceramics

Various types of pore formers have been used for the fabrication of ceramics with controlled porosity. This study addresses a detailed and systematic comparison of different pore formers (e.g. graphite, polymethyl methacrylate, sucrose and polystyrene) with distinct features such as size, distribution and morphology of particles and decomposition/oxidation behavior. Investigations also involve their effect on the rheological properties of the slurries and the microstructural development of laminated porous ceramic tapes.Morphological features of the pore former particles were characterized using laser diffraction, B.E.T. surface area measurement and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques as their thermal decomposition/oxidation behavior were determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) methods. Tape compositions were developed and optimized in order to incorporate identical volumetric loadings of the materials in the tape formulations with different pore formers for a reliable comparison of their pore forming characteristics. Porous yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramics were fabricated without macroscopic defects (e.g. cracks, warpage and delamination) by developing heating profiles based on the identified thermal properties of the pore formers. Characterization of the sintered porous ceramics by SEM and mercury intrusion porosimetry techniques revealed novel relationships between the physical properties of the utilized pore formers, processing parameters and final pore structures.     

UV curable lens production using molecular weight controlled PEEK based acrylic oligomer (Ac-PEEK)

We produced UV curable lenses with properties blocking short wave UV light. In the UV-curable formulations, we used an oligomer (Ac-PEEK) with another urethan oligomer (Mw = 2000). Radically active, molecular weight controlled Ac-PEEK was obtained by reacting 2-hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate with molecular- weight- controlled and isocyanate terminated PEEK (Mn = 4500). We characterized all synthesized monomer, oligomer and optical materials with UV/Vis spectrophotometer with interferogram, elemental analyser, mass spectrophotometer, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analyzer, differential scanning calorimeter, scanning electron microscopy and gas chromatography. Results suggested that newly synthesized oligomer with the structure of PEEK absorbs short wave UV-light. Ageing tests [ISO 11979-5, Ophthalmic implants—intraocular lenses (IOL)—Part 5: Biocompatibility] performed on the IOL materials were successful. High contact angle of the obtained lenses suggests that all lenses were hydrophobic and SEM results revealed that lenses are morphologically homogeneous. Based on all positive properties just mentioned, we safely conclude that the lenses produced in this study are very promising for IOL production.     

A Comparative Study on Changes and Relationships of Kernel Biochemical Components in Different Types of Maize

A great deal of genetic variability and breeding efforts have yielded a number of specialty maize types. Little is known about how the off‐target traits in specialty maize kernel have changed and how they compare to those of standard maize genotypes. In this study, we compared the normal (NORMAL), high‐oil (HOM) and high‐protein maize (HPM) genotypes in terms of oil, protein, fatty acids and some mineral components. We also investigated the relationships among the evaluated traits in different kernel types. We detected a significant variation among the maize types for all of the investigated traits. Specialty maize genotypes had a superior performance for the traits they were specifically bred for, as well as kernel mineral content over the normal genotypes. HOM and HPM had similar values in terms of their fatty acid composition. However, they were different from the standard genotypes, with higher oleic and lower linolenic acid levels, which indicates that the specialty maize genotypes possess a better oil quality. Correlation analysis revealed that only three pairs of correlations out of 46 values had the same sign and a similar level of significance in different types. Such similarities or differences in correlation values for different types should be taken into account in the efforts for developing high quality maize genotypes.     

k‐strong privacy for radio frequency identification authentication protocols based on physically unclonable functions

This paper examines Vaudenay's privacy model, which is one of the first and most complete privacy models that featured the notion of different privacy classes. We enhance this model by introducing two new generic adversary classes, k‐strong and k‐forward adversaries where the adversary is allowed to corrupt a tag at most k times. Moreover, we introduce an extended privacy definition that also covers all privacy classes of Vaudenay's model. In order to achieve highest privacy level, we study low cost primitives such as physically unclonable functions (PUFs). The common assumption of PUFs is that their physical structure is destroyed once tampered. This is an ideal assumption because the tamper resistance depends on the ability of the attacker and the quality of the PUF circuits. In this paper, we have weakened this assumption by introducing a new definition k‐resistant PUFs. k‐PUFs are tamper resistant against at most k attacks; that is, their physical structure remains still functional and correct until at most k^th physical attack. Furthermore, we prove that strong privacy can be achieved without public‐key cryptography using k PUF‐based authentication. We finally prove that our extended proposal achieves both reader authentication and k‐strong privacy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.