Cooking and texture properties of gluten‐free fettuccine processed from defatted flaxseed flour and rice flour

Nonconventional raw materials have been applied in gluten‐free pasta, to meet the demand of people with coeliac disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cooking properties and texture of pasta formulated with rice flour, defatted flaxseed flour and pregelatinised mixed flour of rice and flaxseed (80:20). For this experiment, simplex design was used. Cooking properties and texture were found within the quality limits established for this type of product. The pasta with the most desirable properties (short optimum cooking time (OCT), less solid loss (SL) and intermediate mass increase (MI)) was that one formulated with 43 g 100 g^?1 of pregelatinised flour, 47 g 100 g^?1 of rice flour and 10 g 100 g^?1 of defatted flaxseed flour. This formulation can be characterised as a food rich in dietary fibre and of high nutritional value.     

NiMo/C Used as Magnetic Support for SILP Catalysts

In this work, supported ionic liquid (IL) phases catalysts were prepared based on Pd dispersed in IL phases supported on magnetic particles of nickel/molybdenum covered with carbon (NiMo/C). The magnetic support was prepared via CVD method at 800 °C. XRD analysis showed the phases of metallic nickel and molybdenum carbide. The presence of carbon in these materials was confirmed by TEM/EDS and thermogravimetric analysis (TG) analysis. Pd particles were dispersed in 1 and 2.5 wt% of the IL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIm·BF₄), which were immobilized on the support surface via impregnation method. TG analysis shows a weight loss between 300 and 420 °C attributed to the BMIm·BF₄, confirming the existence of IL on the support surface. The prepared materials were investigated in hydrogenations reactions of 1,5-cyclooctadiene and nitrobenzene, and the influence of IL on the activity and selectivity of these catalysts were observed. These materials have great potential for catalysis applications, because they bring together the advantages of the IL in the catalyst surface and the facility of magnetic materials separation.     

Analysing metals in bottle‐grade poly(ethylene terephthalate) by X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry

After a rigorous cleaning process, recycled food‐grade poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), can be mixed with virgin PET resin in different concentrations and used for packaging of soft drinks. Therefore, it is important to have an experimental method to distinguish the presence of recycled polymer in a batch and to check its “true quality.” One of the issues to be verified is the presence of inorganic contaminants due to the recycling process. X‐ray fluorescence technique is one alternative for this kind of analysis. The results obtained in this work show that bottle‐grade PET samples (PET‐btg) are made either via direct esterification or by a transesterification process. Samples that were subjected to thermo‐mechanical processings (superclean® processing, PET‐btg blends processed in our laboratory and soft drink PET packaging) present Fe Kα emission lines with higher intensities than those presented by virgin bottle‐grade PET. After applying principal component analysis, it can be concluded that Fe is an intrinsic contaminant after the recycling process, furnishing a way to indicate class separations of PET‐btg. A calibration and validation partial least squares model was constructed to predict the weight percent of post‐consumption bottle‐grade PET in commercial PET samples. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Effect of chlorine dioxide gas on physical,thermal, mechanical,and barrier properties of polymeric packaging materials

The effects of gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) on properties and performance of 10 selected polymeric packaging materials, including polyethylene (PE), biaxially oriented poly(propylene), polystyrene, poly(vinyl chloride), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(lactic acid), nylon, and a multilayer structure of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), were evaluated. Physical, mechanical, barrier, and color properties as well as infrared (IR) spectra were assessed before and after polymer samples were exposed to 3600 ppmV ClO₂ gas at 23°C for 24, 168, and 336 h. The IR spectra of the ClO₂‐treated samples revealed many changes in their chemical characteristics, such as the formation of polar groups in the polyolefin, changes in functional groups, main chain scission degradation, and possible chlorination of several materials. The ClO₂‐treated PE samples showed a decrease in tensile properties compared with the untreated (control) films. Decreases in moisture, oxygen, and/or carbon dioxide barrier properties were observed in the treated PE, PET, and multilayer EVA/EVOH/EVA samples. A significant increase (P < 0.05) in the barrier to O₂ was observed in the ClO₂‐treated nylon, possibly the result of molecular reordering, which was found through an increase in the crystallinity of the material. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Enhancement of detecting defects in pipes with focusing techniques

Ultrasonic guided waves have been widely utilized for long range inspection of structures such as oil and petrochemical pipes. However, weldments, support, insulation, and attenuation make it difficult to examine pipe-like structures. In order to overcome such difficulties, it is desired to focus ultrasonic guided wave at the area under interrogation. In this paper, we discuss two focusing techniques: angular profile tuning and signal based focusing. The angular profile tuning approach relies on a theoretical prediction of pressure field of ultrasonic guided wave produced by an ultrasonic transducer mounted on the pipe. And, the signal based focusing is focusing ultrasonic guided waves using cross-correlation analysis. To compare the performance of these two techniques, non-axisymmetric guided waves are focused to abnormalities such as a through-wall hole and a circumferential notch, using an ultrasonic guided wave array system that has been specially fabricated for this purpose. The advantages and limitations of these two focusing techniques are addressed.     

A legal cross-references taxonomy for reasoning about compliance requirements

Companies must ensure their software complies with relevant laws and regulations to avoid the risk of costly penalties, lost reputation, and brand damage resulting from non-compliance. Laws and regulations contain internal cross-references to portions of the same legal text, as well as cross-references to external legal texts. These cross-references introduce ambiguities, exceptions, as well as other challenges to regulatory compliance. Requirements engineers need guidance as to how to address cross-references in order to comply with the requirements of the law. Herein, we analyze each external cross-reference within the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, the Gramm?CLeach?CBliley Act (GLBA), and the GLBA Financial Privacy Rule to determine whether a cross-reference either introduces a conflicting requirement, a conflicting definition, or refines an existing requirement. Herein, we propose a legal cross-reference taxonomy to aid requirements engineers in classifying cross-references as they specify compliance requirements. Analyzing cross-references enables us to address conflicting requirements that may otherwise thwart legal compliance. We identify five sets of conflicting compliance requirements and recommend strategies for resolving these conflicts.