Effect of pulverization on the antioxidant activity of water caltrop (Trapa taiwanensis Nakai) pericarps

This study was to investigate the effect of pulverization treatment on the antioxidant properties of water caltrop pericarps. The results showed that crude fiber was the largest proportional constituent of water caltrop pericarps, comprising 72.3 g/100 g (dry basis). After 10 min milling, five fractions were obtained 1-5 different particle sizes (285, 211, 138, 62 and 41 μm, respectively). Comparing the effect of pulverization on the fiber component of each fraction, the fraction 1 exhibited higher hemi-cellulose but lower lignin than smaller particle size fraction except fraction 5. At a dosage of 250 μg/mL methanol extracts, the highest free radical-scavenging ability is obtained in the fraction 5, which is found to be 78.3 g/100 g, followed by the fractions 1-4. The same tendency was observed in the reducing power and cupric ions chelating ability. The fractions 1 and 5 contained significantly higher total phenolics and total flavonoids than fraction 2-4 (p < 0.05).     

A comment on “Sharing secrets in stegoimages with authentication”

Recently, Chang et al.'s image secret sharing (ISS) scheme enhanced the weak authentication of two previous ISS schemes—Lin et al.'s scheme and Yang et al.'s scheme. Also, the authors claimed that the visual qualities of stegoimages were superior to the previous two schemes; however, their qualities were not really that improved. Contrarily, the qualities are significantly degraded when compared with those in Yang et al.'s scheme. This miscalculation is owing to a misunderstanding of Yang et al.'s scheme.     

Effect of micronization on functional properties of the water caltrop (Trapa taiwanensis Nakai) pericarp

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of micronization on the functional properties of the water caltrop (Trapa taiwanensis Nakai) pericarp (WCP). Three different micronization treatments were carried out, including wet milling (WM), freeze-dried milling (FDM) and hot-air dried milling (HDM). Seven fractions of micro-sized WCP were obtained for each treatment, using hammer and ball milling, consecutively. The ball milling treatment of WCP resulted in an increase of hydration properties (solubility, water-holding capacities, and swelling capacity) and oil-holding capacities due to the redistribution of fibre components from insoluble to soluble fractions. The cation-exchange capacity of WCP increased significantly with decreases in particle size after micronization by ball milling. The findings suggested that different micronization treatments could improve functional properties of the fibre components of WCP, which provide a good source of dietary fibre in food applications.     

A real-time rule-based method of stenosis evaluation for arteriovenous fistula care by multiple sites blood flow measurement

Microsystem Technologies - Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) care is crucial for hemodialysis patients. Neglecting the care of patients on strict AVF care may cause stenosis and affect hemodialysis...     

Foam Properties and Detergent Abilities of the Saponins from Camellia oleifera

The defatted seed meal of Camellia oleifera has been used as a natural detergent and its extract is commercially utilized as a foam-stabilizing and emulsifying agent. The goal of this study was to investigate the foam properties and detergent ability of the saponins from the defatted seed meal of C. oleifera. The crude saponin content in the defatted seed meal of C. oleifera was 8.34 and the total saponins content in the crude saponins extract was 39.5% (w/w). The foaming power of the 0.5 crude saponins extract solution from defatted seed meal of C. oleifera was 37.1 of 0.5 SLS solution and 51.3% to that of 0.5% Tween 80 solution. The R5 value of 86.0% represents good foam stability of the crude saponins extracted from the defatted seed meal of the plant. With the reduction of water surface tension from 72 mN/m to 50.0 mN/m, the 0.5% crude saponins extract solution has wetting ability. The sebum-removal experiment indicated that the crude saponins extract has moderate detergency. The detergent abilities of the saponins from C. oleifera and Sapindus mukorossi were also compared.     

Voltammetric study of polyviologen and the application of polyviologen-modified glassy carbon electrode in amperometric detection of vitamin C

The voltammetric behavior of viologen oligomers prepared from butylviologen dibromide and the factors influencing polyviologen film formation were investigated at a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Based on the voltammetric observations, phosphoric acid is crucial to the formation of a stable polyviologen film on a GCE. The polyviologen-modified glassy carbon electrode (PVGCE) was employed to determine vitamin C (i.e., ascorbic acid) in order to demonstrate the electroanalytical application of the electropolymerized polyviologen film. The PVGCE was found capable of accumulating vitamin C at electrode surface in a slightly basic solution (pH = 7.8) and induce a negative shift of oxidation potential of vitamin C. Vitamin C was detected by hydrodynamic amperometry at +0.1 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in a batch-injection cell; no accumulation time is required. The dependence of oxidation current on concentration was linear from 5.00 × 10⁻⁷ M to 1.22 × 10⁻⁴ M with a regression coefficient of 0.9993. Several real samples were analyzed and the results exhibit good agreement with those determined by iodimetric titration.     

Ultra-precision surface finish of the hardened stainless mold steel using vibration-assisted ball polishing process

A vibration-assisted spherical polishing system driven by a piezoelectric actuator has been newly developed on a machining center to improve the burnished surface roughness of hardened STAVAX plastic mold stainless steel and to reduce the volumetric wear of the polishing ball. The optimal plane surface ball burnishing and vibration-assisted spherical polishing parameters of the specimens have been determined after conducting the Taguchi's L₉ and L₁₈ matrix experiments, respectively. The surface roughness R_a=0.10 μm, on average, of the burnished specimens can be improved to R_a=0.036 μm (R_max=0.380 μm) using the optimal plane surface vibration-assisted spherical polishing process. The improvement of volumetric wear of the polishing ball was about 72% using the vibration-assisted polishing process compared with the non-vibrated polishing process. A simplified kinetic model of the vibration-assisted spherical polishing system for the burnished surface profile was also derived in this study. Applying the optimal plane surface ball burnishing and vibrated spherical polishing parameters sequentially to a fine-milled freeform surface carrier of an F-theta scan lens, the surface roughness of R_a=0.045 μm (R_y=0.65 μm), on average, within the measuring range of 149 μm×112 μm on the freeform surface, was obtainable.