Investigation of the ester- and ether-linked phenolic constituents of cell wall types of normal and brown midrib pearl millet using chemical isolation,microspectrophotometry and 13C NMR spectroscopy

The cell walls of rind, parenchyma and vascular bundle fractions of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L) R Br) were isolated from two brown midrib mutants and their normal (N) near-isogeneic line. The walls were sequentially treated with 1 M NaOH at 25°C for 20 h to determine ester-linked phenolic acids and then with 4 M NaOH at 170°C for 2 h to determine ether-linked phenolic constituents. The untreated walls and their residues resulting from each treatment were analyzed by microspectrophotometry and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The amount of ester-linked p-coumaric acid was determined by chemical analysis and found to be two to six times higher in the N line with no difference among lines in ferulic acid content. Ether-linked ferulic acid was about 30% higher in the rind in the N line and ether-linked p-coumaric acid was only slightly higher with the greatest difference found in the rind tissue. Microspectrophotometry of the untreated tissues showed absorption maxima at 232–238 nm. 288–292 nm and 312–324 nm. Treatment with 1 M NaOH generally reduced or eliminated the 312–324 nm absorption, with 4 M NaOH removing the remainder of the 288–292 nm absorption. ¹³C NMR confirmed these reductions of aromatic functionalities by alkali treatments. The combination of techniques provides excellent correlation of two types of spectral data with chemical identification and quantitation and establishes that bmr mutants have less ester-linked p-coumaric acid and less ether-linked ferulic acid, thus providing a better understanding of the factors contributing to biodegradability.     

A Maltooligosaccharides Producing α-Amylase from Bacillus subtilis SDP1 Isolated from Rhizosphere of Acacia cyanophylla Lindley

Maltooligosaccharides producing amylases are required in the food industry, especially in breadmaking. The Bacillus subtilis strain SDP1 amylase hydrolyses starch to produce maltotriose and maltotetraose along with maltose after prolonged reactions of 5 h. Bacillus subtilis strain SDP1 was isolated from the rhizosphere of Acacia cyanophylla Lindley from the Çukurova region of Turkey. The highest enzyme production was achieved with soluble starch as the carbon and yeast extract as the nitrogen source and at pH 7.0 and 37°C. Under optimized culture conditions, 68.49 U/mL activity was obtained. SDP1 α-amylase had molecular weight of 61 kD. The optimum pH of the enzyme was 7.0 and was highly active at pH ranging from 5.0 to 9.0. The optimum temperature of the crude enzyme was 60°C, and it retained 83% and 74% of its initial activity after 1 h and 2 h incubation periods, respectively, at 50°C. While, Mn⁺² has a stimulatory effect on the activity, Ca⁺², Mg⁺², Na⁺ did not effect the enzyme activity. Fe⁺³, Ni⁺², Cu⁺² and Co⁺² had an inhibitory effect on SDP1 amylase activity.     

Methods to improve efficiency of four stroke, spark ignition engines at part load

The four stroke, spark ignition (SI) engine pressure–volume diagram (p–V) contains two main parts. They are the compression–combustion–expansion (high pressure loop) and the exhaust-intake (low pressure or gas exchange loop) parts. The main reason for efficiency decrease at part load conditions for these types of engines is the flow restriction at the cross sectional area of the intake system by partially closing the throttle valve, which leads to increased pumping losses and to increased low pressure loop area on the p–V diagram. Meanwhile, the poorer combustion quality, i.e. lower combustion speed and cycle to cycle variations, additionally influence these pressure loop areas. In this study, methods for increasing efficiency at part load conditions and their potential for practical use are investigated. The study also includes a review of the vast literature on the solution of this problem. This investigation shows that the potential for increasing the efficiency of SI engines at part load conditions is not yet exhausted. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Among these, the most promising methods to decrease the fuel consumption at part load conditions are stratified charge and variable displacement engines. When used in combination, the other listed methods are more effective than their usage alone.     

Application of reaching law approach to the position control of a vector controlled induction motor drive

In this paper, a new position control method based on the reaching law control (RLC) approach is proposed for the robust position control of electrical drive systems. The main aim of this study is to investigate the robustness of the RLC approach under inertial-frictional variations and external disturbances and to address the application problems of the RLC approach for position control systems. New components are added to the controller in order to improve the robustness. The control method is applied to a vector-controlled induction motor drive system. It is shown in the paper that the practical constraints such as torque limitation, and the demand of high control performance, i.e., high bandwidth, result in undesirable overshoots. The performance of the control method is shown by simulation and experimental results.List of symbols X, X _k Continuous and discrete-time state vectors - x ₁, x ₂ State variables (the shaft position and speed of the rotor) - , _re Position and reference angles (rad) - Angular velocity (rad/s) - A,A _n State variable matrix with true and nominal parameters - B,B _n Control input matrix, with true and nominal parameters - u,u _max Control signal, and its maximum value - A,B Uncertain parts of the state matrix and the control input matrix - Equivalent terms of A, B uncertainties referred to matching condition - C Gain vector of switching function - s _k Switching function - q A constant used in the reaching law - A constant used in the reaching law - A constant used in the chattering reduction approach - T sampling period - J,J _n True and nominal inertia coefficient (kg m²) - B,B _n True and nominal friction coefficient (kg m²/s) - J,B The uncertain parts of the inertia and friction coefficients - T _e Produced (electrical) torque (control signal) (Nm) - Load torque (Nm) - Equivalent term of A referred to matching condition and scalar component - Equivalent term of B referred to matching condition - All uncertainties and disturbances referred to matching condition - J₀,B₀ The variation ratios of the inertia and friction coefficients - G State variable matrix in discrete-time model - H Control input matrix in discrete-time model - Slope of the sliding line (surface) - a Mechanical time constant - v _sd, v _sq Stator voltages in d-q axis (V) - i _sd, i _sq Stator currents in d-q axis (A) - L _s, L _R Stator and rotor self inductances (H) - L _m Mutual inductance (H) - Leakage factor - _e, _sl Stator and slip angular velocity (rad/s) - _r Rotor time constant - P Number of poles     

On modelling of surface tension of CMC-α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles by fuzzy-hybrid approach: A comparison study

Surface tension is one of the most important rheological parameters of nanoliquids. It influences the thermophysical and mass transfer properties of nanostructures. Accurate estimation of the surface tension from operating variables is critical for determining optimal production processes. However, the challenges of producing nanoparticles and measuring their properties introduce experimental errors in the data used for mathematical modelling. Crisp regression approaches provide adequate representation of the data, but they do not provide information about the experimental uncertainty. In this study, a fuzzy-hybrid approach is proposed for mathematical modelling of surface tension of carboxymethyl cellulose/chitosan-α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. Then, the proposed model is compared with a crisp model from a previous study. Error analysis is conducted to validate the constructed fuzzy model. It is observed that the fuzzy-hybrid modelling approach has yielded significantly lower error values (a 60%–90% improvement in all error metrics on average), and thus, it is superior to the crisp approach. This study contributes to the subject of modelling rheological properties. It is shown that the fuzzy-hybrid approach has impressive potential to be utilized for modelling the rheological properties of nanostructures.     

Photonic-Plasmonic Coupling Enhanced Fluorescence Enabling Digital-Resolution Ultrasensitive Protein Detection

Assays utilizing fluorophores are common throughout life science research and diagnostics, although detection limits are generally limited by weak emission intensity, thus requiring many labeled target molecules to combine their output to achieve higher signal-to-noise. We describe how the synergistic coupling of plasmonic and photonic modes can significantly boost the emission from fluorophores. By optimally matching the resonant modes of a plasmonic fluor (PF) nanoparticle and a photonic crystal (PC) with the absorption and emission spectrum of the fluorescent dye, a 52-fold improvement in signal intensity is observed, enabling individual PFs to be observed and digitally counted, where one PF tag represents one detected target molecule. The amplification can be attributed to the strong near-field enhancement due to the cavity-induced activation of the PF, PC band structure-mediated improvement in collection efficiency, and increased rate of spontaneous emission. The applicability of the method by dose-response characterization of a sandwich immunoassay for human interleukin-6, a biomarker used to assist diagnosis of cancer, inflammation, sepsis, and autoimmune disease is demonstrated. A limit of detection of 10 fg mL⁻¹ and 100 fg mL⁻¹ in buffer and human plasma respectively, is achieved, representing a capability nearly three orders of magnitude lower than standard immunoassays.