Occurrence of Aflatoxin M1 in raw and processed milk and assessment of daily intake in Lahore,Multan cities of Pakistan

In this survey aflatoxin, M₁ was quantified in raw and processed milk from various areas of two big cities of Punjab province, i.e. Lahore and Multan. The results indicated that approximately 90% of the raw milk samples collected from Lahore city was contaminated with aflatoxin M₁. Similarly, around 92% of the raw milk samples collected from Multan city was contaminated with aflatoxin M₁. All samples of processed milk and tea whiteners were contaminated and 56% of the contaminated processed milk samples and 66% of the contaminated tea whitener samples were violating the maximum limits. The dietary exposure data of AFM₁ among six different groups was calculated, which indicated that the male children population was the most vulnerable group to AFM₁, up to 6.68 ng L^?1 per day and the least affected one was the female group above 20 years of age with 1.13 ng L^?1 per day.     

Wheat Allergy and Intolerence; Recent Updates and Perspectives

The current review paper highlights the complicacies associated with communities relying on wheat as their dietary staple. Although, wheat is an important source of nutrients but is also linked with allergenic responses in genetically susceptible subjects. The wheat proteins especially α-amylase inhibitors, ω-5 gliadins, prolamins, nonprolamin, glucoprotein, and profilins are of significance importance. The allergenic responses are further categorized into IgE-mediated and non-IgE-mediated reactions. Conjugation and degranulation of the IgEs with the allergens results in release of several mediators. In contrary, non-IgE-mediated wheat allergy depends on immune complexes formed by food and food antibodies and cell-mediated immunity. As results, different diseases tend to occur on the completion of these reactions, i.e., celiac disease, baker's asthma, diarrhea, atopic dermatitis, and urticaria. This instant paper highlighted the concept of food allergy with special reference to wheat. The models are developed that are included in this paper showing the wheat allergen, their possible routes, impact on human health, and indeed possible remedies. The paper would provide the basic information for the researchers, common man, and allied stakeholders to cater the issue in details. However, the issue needs the attention of the researchers as there is a need to clarify the issues of wheat allergy and wheat intolerance.     

An experimental study of heat transfer to turbulent separation fluid flow in an annular passage

The effect of step height on heat transfer to a radially outward expanded air flow stream in a concentric annular passage was studied experimentally. Separation, subsequent reattachment and developed air flow occurred in the test section at a constant heat flux boundary condition. The experimental investigation was focused on the effect of separation flow on the local and average convection heat transfer. The experimental set-up consists of concentric tubes to form annular passage with a sudden reduction in passage cross-section created by the variations of outer tube diameter at the annular entrance section (D). The outer tube of test section was made of aluminium having 83 mm inside diameter and 600 mm heated length, which was subjected to a constant wall heat flux boundary condition. The investigation was performed in a Re range of 17050-44545, heat flux varied from 719 W/m² to 2098 W/m² and the enhancement of step heights were, s = 0 (without step), 6 mm, 14.5 mm and 18.5 mm, which refer to d/D = 1, 1.16, 1.53 and 1.80, respectively.For all cases, an increase in the local heat transfer coefficient was obtained against enhanced heat flux and or Re. The effect of step variation is prominent in heat transfer at the separation region which increases with the rise of step height and it shows a little effect in the redevelopment region. In the separation region, the local heat transfer coefficient increases up to the maximum value at the reattachment point and then decreases gradually in the redevelopment region. The results have been correlated and compared with forced convection heat transfer in annular passage and show a maximum enhancement of 18% (S_max = 18.5 mm) within the range of step height. The present results show good agreement with previous works and have followed similar trends.     

Assessment of wind energy potential locations in Oman using data from existing weather stations

This paper analyzes five years hourly wind data from twenty-nine weather stations to identify the potential location for wind energy applications in Oman. Different criteria including theoretical wind power output, vertical profile, turbulence and peak demand fitness were considered to identify the potential locations. Air density and roughness length, which play an important role in the calculation of the wind power density potential, were derived for each station site. Due to the seasonal power demand, a seasonal approach was also introduced to identify the wind potential on different seasons. Finally, a scoring approach was introduced in order to classify the potential sites based on the different factors mentioned above. It is concluded that Qayroon Hyriti, Thumrait, Masirah and Rah Alhad have high wind power potential and that Qayroon Hyriti is the most suitable site for wind power generation.     

Disturbances due to Tube Sampling in Coastal Soils

The effects of tube sampling disturbances on undrained shear characteristics of reconstituted samples of three coastal soils were investigated. The values of undrained shear strength su and initial tangent modulus Ei were reduced, whereas axial strain at peak deviator stress εp increased because of a disturbance caused by penetration of samplers. Disturbances also reduced initial effective stress σi′ and pore pressure changes considerably. The changes in soil parameters between the “in situ” and “tube” samples depended markedly on the geometry of samplers used to retrieve tube samples. Values of su, Ei, and σi′ of samples were reduced, whereas the values of εp increased with an increasing area ratio (or decreasing external diameter to thickness ratio) and an increasing outside cutting edge angle of the samplers. Different reconsolidation procedures were adopted to assess the suitability of reconsolidation of tube samples to recover in situ properties. It was found that the K0-reconsolidation of tube samples to vertical effective stresses equal to 1.5 and 2.5 times the in situ vertical effective stress produced the best overall estimate of in situ characteristics.     

Magnetization and crystal structure of RF-sputtered nanocrystalline CuFe2O4 thin films

Cu-ferrite films were deposited on glass substrates by RF-magnetron sputtering in pure Ar and mixture of (Ar + O₂) environment. The XRD studies of the as-deposited films indicate nanocrystalline cubic spinel structure. The observed increase in the intensity of (400) line at the expense of (220) line with increase in O₂ content is ascribed to the change in distribution of Cu and Fe-ions among tetrahedral A-site and octahedral B-sites. The highest saturation magnetization (M_S) of 264 emu/cm³ (in-plane) and 188 emu/cm³ (out of-plane) was obtained for the as-deposited films in pure Ar. The high deposition rate in reducing atmosphere leads to the formation of Cu⁺ ions which prefer occupation of the A-site in the spinel structure displacing Fe³⁺ cations to occupy the B-sites giving rise to the change in cation distribution among A and B-sites and consequently leading to high value of M_S. The decrease in M_S value with increase in oxygen content is ascribed to the decrease in film growth rate and Cu⁺ concentration which allow the cations to take up their preferable sites. The observed change in the film properties with environment is due to the presence of multivalent copper and iron ions with differing site preferences.     

TICP: Transport Information Collection Protocol

We present and validateTicp, a TCP-friendly reliable transport protocol to collect information from a large number of sources spread over the Internet.Ticp is a stand-alone protocol that can be used by any application requiring the reliable collection of information. It ensures two main functions: (i) the information arrives at the collector entirely and correctly, (ii) the implosion at the collector and the congestion of the network are avoided. The congestion control inTicp is done by having the collector probe the sources at a rate function of network conditions. The probing rate increases and decreases in a way similar to how TCP adapts its congestion window. We implementTicp in ns-2 and validate its performance. In particular, we show how efficientTicp is in quickly and reliably collecting information from a large number of sources, while avoiding network congestion and being fair with competing traffic.     

All in the family: TGF-beta family action in testis development

To achieve and maintain fertility, the adult mammalian testis produces many generations of sperm. While testicular integrity is established in the fetus and develops further in juvenile life, sperm production does not ensue until much later in life, following the onset of puberty. Signals from the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily of proteins are vital for governance of testis development and spermatogenesis, and this review discusses our current understanding of the mechanisms and processes in which they have been implicated with a focus on the fetal and juvenile testis.     

Progress in modification of sunflower oil to expand its industrial value

Increasing the sunflower seed oil content as well as improving its quality makes it compatible for industrial demands. This is an important breeding objective of sunflower which increases its market value and ensures high returns for the producers. The present review focuses on determining the progress of improving sunflower seed oil content and modifying its quality by empirical and advanced molecular breeding methods. It is known that the sunflower oil content and quality have been altered through empirical selection methods and mutation breeding programmes in various parts of the world. Further improvement in seed oil content and its components (such as phytosterols, tocopherols and modified fatty acid profile) has been slowed down due to low genetic variation in elite germplasm and complex of hereditary traits. Introgression from wild species can be carried out to modify the fatty acids profile and tocopherol contents with linkage drags. Different transgenes introduced through biotechnological methods may produce novel long‐chain fatty acids within sunflower oil. Bio‐engineering of sunflower oil could allow it to be used in diverse industrial products such as bio‐diesel or bio‐plastics. These results showed that past and current trends of modifying sunflower oil quality are essential for its further expansion as an oilseed crop. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Electrospun titanium dioxide nanofibers containing hydroxyapatite and silver nanoparticles as future implant materials

In this study, a good combination consisting of electrospun titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanofibers incorporated with high purity hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles (NPs) and antimicrobial silver NPs is introduced for hard tissue engineering applications. The synthesized nanofibers were characterized by various state of art techniques like; SEM, XRD, TEM, TEM EDS and XPS analyses. SEM results confirmed well oriented nanofibers and good dispersion of HAp and silver NPs, respectively. XRD results demonstrated well crystalline feature of three components used for electrospinning. Silver NPs were having a diameter in range of 5–8 nm indicated by TEM analysis. Moreover, TEM EDS analysis demonstrated the presence of each component with good dispersion over TiO₂ nanofiber. The surface analyses of nanofibers were investigated by XPS which indicated the presence of silver NPs on the surfaces of nanofibers. The obtained nanofibers were checked for antimicrobial activity by using two model organisms E. coli and S. aureus. Subsequently, antimicrobial tests have indicated that the prepared nanofibers do posses high bactericidal effect. Accordingly, these results strongly recommend the use of obtained nanofiber mats as future implant materials.