Monoclonal antibody-based enzyme immunoassay for detection of porcine plasma in fish surimi

Detection of porcine plasma using indirect ELISA was developed using mAb B4E1 for the prevention of their usage in human food that creates religious and health conflicts. The immunoassay has a CV < 20% and did not cross-react to other meat and non-meat proteins. The sensitivity of the assay is 0.25% (w/w) of porcine plasma in spiked raw and cooked fish surimi. The assay did not produce a false positive result for any of the commercial fish surimi tested that were not contain porcine plasma. Determination of a 60-kDa antigenic protein of porcine blood using Western blot confirmed its presence in the plasma fraction of the porcine blood. Further proteomic analysis involving liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) revealed the 60-kDa protein to be porcine serum albumin.     

Characterization and Properties of Treated Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Regenerated Cellulose Biocomposite Films with Butyl Methacrylate Using Ionic Liquid

Regenerated cellulose biocomposite films from oil palm empty fruit bunch and microcrystalline cellulose were prepared using N,N-dimethylacetamide and lithium chloride. The effects of oil palm empty fruit bunch contents and butyl methacrylate on properties of regenerated cellulose biocomposite films were investigated. At 2?wt% of untreated oil palm empty fruit bunch content showed highest crystallinity index, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and thermal stability but lower elongation at break than other oil palm empty fruit bunch content. The treated regenerated cellulose biocomposite films with butyl methacrylate showed better tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, thermal stability, and crystallinity index while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study showed interaction between cellulose and butyl methacrylate.     

Modelling the linear viscoelastic rheological properties of bituminous binders

An extensive literature review on the modelling of the linear viscoelastic (LVE) rheological properties of bitumen over the last six decades is presented in this paper. The use of reliable models can, in general, be considered as a valuable alternative tool for estimating the LVE rheological properties of bitumen. These properties are normally presented in terms of complex modulus and phase angle master curves at a particular reference temperature. The review in this paper consists of three nonlinear multivariable models, 13 empirical algebraic equations and four mechanical element approaches. The details as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the models are discussed. In general, all the models are able to predict the LVE rheological properties of unmodified bitumen as well as follow the time–temperature superposition principle (TTSP). However, the observations suggest a lack of agreement between predicted and experimental LVE rheological properties for materials that contain a phase transition, such as found for highly crystalline bitumen, structured bitumen with high asphaltenes content and highly modified bitumen.     

LTE‐Based Passive Bistatic Radar System for Detection of Ground‐Moving Targets

Use of a passive bistatic radar (PBR) system in the surveillance or monitoring of an area has its advantages. For example, a PBR system is able to utilize any available signal of opportunity (for example, broadcasting, communication, or radio navigation signals) for the purposes of surveillance. With this in mind, there are potentially many research areas to be explored; in particular, the capability of signals from existing and future communication systems, such as 4G and 5G. Long‐Term Evolution (LTE) is the world's most current communication system. Given this fact, this paper presents the latest feasibility studies and experimental results from using LTE signals in PBR applications. Details are provided about aspects such as signal characteristics, experimental configurations, and SNR studies. Six experimental scenarios are carried out to investigate the detection performance of our proposed system on ground‐moving targets. The ability to detect is demonstrated through use of the cross‐ambiguity function. The detection results suggest that LTE signals are suitable as a source signal for PBR.     

The effect of substrate on the composition of polyhydroxyalkanoates in enhanced biological phosphorus removal

This paper primarily evaluates the effect of external substrate type on the composition of polyhydroxyalkanoates in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). Two sets of sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) are operated for this purpose, one with acetate and the other with propionate as the sole carbon source at different influent COD/phosphate ratios in the range 6.7–20 mgCOD mg^?1P. Results indicate that propionate is a more efficient substrate for EBPR, enabling total phosphate removal regardless of the change in COD/phosphate ratio. Total polyhydroxyalkanoates formation of 267–291 mgCOD L^?1 with a slight increase at higher influent phosphorus levels is observed for acetate experiments, and a slightly lower level of 250–280 mgCOD L^?1, with a similar trend for propionate experiments. The volatile fatty acid type and composition in the influent induces a significant difference in the polyhydroxyalkanoates composition of the two sets of activated sludge sustained in corresponding SBR systems. Propionate is mostly stored as 3‐hydroxy‐2‐methylvalerate and polyhydroxyvalerate, while acetate is stored as polyhydroxybutyrate. The P uptake rate in SBRs fed with propionate is considerably higher than that in the acetate reactors. Parallel batch experiments yield different results, especially for systems fed with acetate, indicating that the enzymatic system to metabolize propionate is not rapidly established, always yielding a dominant polyhydroxybutyrate fraction in the generated polyhydroxyalkanoates regardless of the level of propionate in the feed. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Examination of Dyeing Properties of the Dyed Cotton Fabrics with Barberry (Berberis vulgaris L.)

ABSTRACT

In this study, it was aimed at investing the cotton fabrics dyed with different percentages of the roots of barberry (Berberis vulgaris L.) via gall oak (Quercus infectoria Olivier; 10% and 20%) and aluminum sulfate (Al₂(SO₄)₃; 6%) mordants. The dyeing process was performed with the roots of barberry in the range of 10–100%. A reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection method was utilized for the identification of dyes present in the sample extracts. Natural yellow-dyed cotton samples were studied calorimetrically and their color coordinates L*, a*, b*, C*, h, K/S, and ?E* values were given.     

Structural phase instability,mixed-phase,and energy band gap change in BiFeO3 under lattice strain effect from first-principles investigation

Lattice strain effects drive a variety of novel functional responses in epitaxial BiFeO₃ thin films and have attracted significant interest and attention from researchers in experimental and theoretical studies. However, the difficulty in designing experimental techniques in addition to facing problems in the first principles approach, such as output accuracy and high computational costs, constitute the discovery of new functional responses in epitaxial BiFeO₃ thin films not entirely understood. Therefore, in this study, we perform a first principles calculation based on the less expensive LDA+U method to investigate the structural phase instability and electronic properties change in BiFeO₃ under the lattice strain effect. The structural phase transformation of BiFeO₃ under volumetric and compressive/tensile lattice strain was examined established on the calculated lower energy phases. Importantly, we demonstrated that the change of crystal structure phases of BiFeO₃ was extremely sensitive to the volumetric and compressive/tensile lattice strain, comparable with various experiment data, as reported in the literature. Moreover, we revealed for the first time from the first principles prediction the coexistence of mixed R-T phases in the region of moderate compressive ζ_in-plane of ?2.9% (e.g. LaAlO₃ substrates with ɑ = 3.79 Å). From the prediction of electronic properties obtained by the LDA+U and PBE0 methods, we found that the energy band gap increased when the compressive in-plane lattice strain is increased while, in contrast, the energy band gap decreased when BiFeO₃ was under the tensile in-plane lattice strain effect. We also demonstrate that our computational technique based on the first principles study was sufficiently accurate enough, helping to speed up the process of designing new materials having an excellent multifunctional response (piezoelectric, magnetic, photovoltaic, spintronic).