EFFECTS OF ADDED WEIGHTING AGENT AND XANTHAN GUM ON STABILITY AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF BEVERAGE CLOUD EMULSIONS FORMULATED USING MODIFIED STARCH

Stability of beverage emulsion is measured by the rate at which the emulsion creams, flocculates or coalesces, and is generally dependent on rheology of water phase, difference in specific gravities of the two phases and droplet size/distribution of the emulsion. The effects of weighting agents (sucrose acetate isobutyrate and brominated vegetable oil) and xanthan gum on modified starch‐based emulsions were evaluated in this study. Emulsion was formed by addition of 9% coconut oil, in the presence or absence of weighting agents, into the water phase containing modified starch at 10, 12 or 14% without or with the addition of 0.3% xanthan gum. Stabilities of emulsions were evaluated both in the concentrated form used for storage and dilute form used in beverages. The addition of xanthan gum into the water phase decreased the flow behavior index (n) from 0.88 down to 0.31 and increased elastic modulus (G′) over 20 times at elevated frequency (ω = 50 rad/s) and elevated the stability of the emulsion. The xanthan gum‐added emulsion had smaller particle size and demonstrated 14 and 5 times slower phase separation compared to the emulsions without or with the addition of weighting agents, respectively. When the elastic modulus was larger than the viscous modulus (G′ > G″), the emulsions demonstrated greater stability. In dilute beverage solutions, creaming was observed in the absence of xanthan gum.     

Effects of helium massive gas injection level on disruption mitigation on EAST

In this study, NIMROD simulations are performed to investigate the effects of massive helium gas injection level on the induced disruption on EAST tokamak. It is demonstrated in simulations that two different scenarios of plasma cooling(complete cooling and partial cooling) take place for different amounts of injected impurities. For the impurity injection above a critical level, a single MHD activity is able to induce a complete core temperature collapse. For impurity injection below the critical level, a series of multiple minor disruptions occur before the complete thermal quench.     

Polymorphic information and genetic diversity in <i>Brassica</i> species revealed by RAPD markers

Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is a tremendously convenient approach used to discriminate between Brassica species owing to its accuracy and speed. RAPD primers generate adequate genetic information that can be used in the primer-marker system. In this work, twenty RAPD-PCR based markers were executed to generate polymorphic data, like polymorphic information content (PIC), mean resolving power (MRP), resolving power (RP), effective multiplex ratio (EMR), and marker index (MI) for the first time and genetic distance among and between six Brassica species were calculated. Our results indicated that 20 primers produced a total of 231 scored band and generated 87% polymorphic bands. Average PIC, MRP, RP, MI, and EMR values were 0.088, 0.65, 6.7, 0.78, and 8.9, respectively. PIC showed an overall negative correlation with MRP, RP, MI, and EMR, whereas MRP, RP, and EMR, were positively correlated with each other. Genetic identities ranged from 41.99% (between Brassica napus and Brassica oleracea) to 68.83% (between Brassica campestris and Brassica oleracea). Dendrogram results showed no clustering between species except between Brassica campestris and Brassica nigra. Nevertheless, these results will be helpful to acquire useful information about the markers and their use to determine the genomic structures of Brassica species. Further, based on genetic distance and polymorphic information, new hybrids can be developed for effective oilseed production.     

Identification of potential inhibitors for Sterol C-24 reductase of <i>Leishmania donovani</i> through virtual screening of natural compounds

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne parasitic neglected tropical disease caused by a group of about 30 different species of the genus Leishmania. It is transmitted by the bite of female phlebotomies sand fly. Three main clinical manifestations of leishmaniasis include cutaneous, visceral, and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania donovani, is an infection of reticuloendothelial system and fatal if untreated. Cholesterol, a sterol that is prominent in the mammalian cell membranes whereas stigmasterol and ergosterol are more prevalent in plants, yeast, and protozoa, respectively. Ergosterols which is absent in human being, is an important constituent of parasite membrane. Sterol C-24 reductase (LdSR) enzyme catalyzes the final step in the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. The inhibition of biosynthesis of ergosterol may lead to decreased cell viability and growth. Here, we performed the molecular docking-based virtual screening of a library of natural ligands against LdSR to identify a potential inhibitor to fight leishmaniasis. Capsaicin, prenyletin, flavan-3-ol, resveratrol, and gingerol showed the top binding affinity towards LdSR. Based upon ADME properties and bioactivity score, gingerol showed the best lead-likeness and drug-likeness properties. Hence, we further annotated its leishmanicidal properties. We found that gingerol inhibited the growth and proliferation of promastigotes as well as intra-macrophagic amastigotes. Gingerol exerted its antileishmanial action through the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in concentration-dependent manner. Gingerol induced ROS led to apoptosis. Overall, this study described that gingerol would act as possible inhibitor to LdSR.     

DNA damage-induced by sodium flouride (NaF) and the effect of cholicalciferol

It is known that the high electronegativity of fluorine affects various soft tissues, especially the bone structure in organisms. Of these tissues are the kidneys, which play an important role in the excretion of fluoride from the body. Fluoride affects many cellular mechanisms. One of these effects is DNA damage. Our study aimed to investigate the likely protective effect of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) on genomic DNA damage-induced NaF depending on concentration and time. The IC25 and IC50 values of NaF for 3, 12 and 24 h and optimum dose of increase in proliferation to vitamin D₃ through MTT assay in NRK-52E kidney cells were determined. DNA damage was significantly increased (p < 0.05) compared to the control group in all groups except for vitamin D₃. It was determined that treatment with NaF together with vitamin D₃ decreased the DNA damage compared to NaF treated groups for 3 and 12 h. NaF combined with vitamin D3 was determined statistically to decrease (p < 0.05) DNA damage compared to NaF treated groups for 24 h. As a result, it was determined that the treatment with cytotoxic concentration NaF depending on the time significantly increased (p < 0.05) the genomic DNA damage, but NaF treatment together with vitamin D₃ decreased the DNA damage in renal cells depending on the time. It was concluded that vitamin D₃ may be useful in preventing DNA damage caused by NaF.     

Alginate Encapsulated Bifidobacteria Survival in Mayonnaise

Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium infantis were added to mayonnaise as either free cells or encapsulated. The survival of bifidobacteria and their effect on mayonnaise quality were evaluated. The viability of free cells disappeared after 2 wk; however, encapsulated B. bifidum survived well for 12 and B. infantis for 8 wk. Mayonnaise containing encapsulated bifidobacteria had lower total bacterial counts compared to other treatments. Yeast and mold started to appear after 12 wk of storage in mayonnaise containing encapsulated bifidobacteria and after 6 wk with other treatments (control, cells free of bifidobacteria). Mayonnaise containing encapsulated bifidobacteria had higher titratable acidity and lower TBA values than other treatments. Sensory properties of mayonnaise were improved by the addition of encapsulated bifidobacteria.     

Water Stress and Quality Decline during Storage of Tropical Leafy Vegetables

The effect of water stress (excessive water loss) on postharvest quality during storage of tropical leafy vegetables Brussica junceu L. and Amaranthus caudatus L. at ambient (24°/28°C) and low temperature (2°/4°C) regimes has been investigated. Exposed, nonsealed B. juncea and A. caudutus leaves lost water rapidly during storage at either temperature regime resulting in accelerated decrease in leaf turgidity (wilting), chlorophyll, ascorbic acid and soluble protein content, and an increase in amino acids, in the stressed leaves. Alleviation of water stress by sealing the leaves with thin plastic film restricted chlorophyll, soluble protein and ascorbic acid loss, particularly when the leaves were cooled, and maintained their turgidity. Both leafy vegetables appeared tolerant to chilling injury.     

Activation Mechanisms of Pro-Phenoloxidase on Melanosis Development in Florida Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) Cuticle

Phenoloxidase (PO), pro-PO [1] and pro-PO [2], isolated from cuticular extracts of early premolt spiny lobster, resolved into doublets of molecular weights 156, 151, and 96.0, 93 kD, respectively. Trypsin-activated forms of pro-PO [1] and pro-PO [2] were 123 and 83.6 kD, respectively. Apparently melanosis of shell and hyperdermal tissue in lobsters was related to stage of molt. The pro-PO forms were activated in vitro by extracts of molting fluid which is secreted into the cuticle just before molt, and the activated PO co-migrated in SDS-PAGE with the endogenously activated PO. The molting fluid was hypothesized to be the source of the natural activator(s) of pro-PO.     

Minimisation of total tardiness for identical parallel machine scheduling using genetic algorithm

In recent years research on parallel machine scheduling has received an increased attention. This paper considers minimisation of total tardiness for scheduling of n jobs on a set of m parallel machines. A spread-sheet-based genetic algorithm (GA) approach is proposed for the problem. The proposed approach is a domain-independent general purpose approach, which has been effectively used to solve this class of problem. The performance of GA is compared with branch and bound and particle swarm optimisation approaches. Two set of problems having 20 and 25 jobs with number of parallel machines equal to 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 are solved with the proposed approach. Each combination of number of jobs and machines consists of 125 benchmark problems; thus a total for 2250 problems are solved. The results obtained by the proposed approach are comparable with two earlier approaches. It is also demonstrated that a simple GA can be used to produce results that are comparable with problem-specific approach. The proposed approach can also be used to optimise any objective function without changing the basic GA routine.