Addition of milk to tea infusions: Helpful or harmful? Evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies on antioxidant properties

Tea consumption is practised as a tradition, and has shown potential to improve human health. Maximal uptake of tea antioxidants and milk proteins without a negative impact on tea flavor is highly desired by consumers. There is a conflicting evidence of the effect of milk addition to tea on antioxidant activity. Differences in the type of tea, the composition, type and amount of milk, preparation method of tea–milk infusions, the assays used to measure antioxidant activity, and sampling size likely account for different findings. Interactions between tea polyphenols and milk proteins, especially between catechins and caseins, could account for a decrease in antioxidant activity, although other mechanisms are also possible, given the similar effects between soy and bovine milk. The role of milk fat globules and the milk fat globule membrane surface is also important when considering interactions and loss of polyphenolic antioxidant activity, which has not been addressed in the literature.     

Application of a novel formulation to the MFIE using RWG basis functions in method of moments

We investigate the inaccuracy of the traditional magnetic field integral equation (MFIE) in the analysis of scattering of small conducting objects, with the use of Rao–Wilton–Glisson (RWG) basis functions. As a remedy to such problems, we propose to use a novel impedance matrix elements (IME) formulation of the MFIE, which is suitable to use RWG basis functions. Techniques to calculate the IME of the new formulation are outlined. It is shown that similar technique to compute the IME of the MFIE resulted from the use of curl-conforming basis functions can also be used here. Based on the examples of several relatively small conducting objects, it is demonstrated that significant improvement in the accuracy of the MFIE can be obtained for this new IME formulation with the use of RWG basis functions.     

Identification of Fatty Acids in Edible Wild Plants by Gas Chromatography

Human beings evolved on a diet that was balanced in the omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and was high in antioxidants. Edible wild plants provide alpha-linolenic acid and PUFA. Today, we know that omega-3 fatty acids are essential for normal growth and development and may play an important role in the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, other inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, and cancer. Comparison of obtained results from analysis of fatty acids of edible plant oils showed that Solanum oil has the highest nutritional value because it contains high contents of linoleic acid (62.29%) and oleic acid (8.6%) and Asparagus oil has high nutritional value because it contains 66.12% oleic acid and 9.6% linoleic acid. Comparison of results of this study with reported results by Artemis (2004) showed that palmetic acid (34.48%) and estearic acid (21.71%) contents of portulaca in this study were greater than the results reported by Artemis. Therefore, we can conclude that Solanum and Asparagus oil are edible and have good nutritive values.     

Arghel Extract: a Promising Green Corrosion Inhibitor

Protection of Metals and Physical Chemistry of Surfaces - The corrosion of copper in an aqueous 0.5 M H2SO4 has been studied under the effect of Arghel plant extracts using potentiodynamic...     

Effect of nano-sized calcium carbonate on cure kinetics and properties of polyester/epoxy blend powder coatings

Today's strict environmental laws pose significant challenges for coating's formulators to look for eco-friendly products. Powder coatings, particularly polyester/epoxy blends have demonstrated their ability as alternatives to traditional solvent-borne coatings. Recently, the use of nanoparticles such as nano-CaCO₃ (nCaCO₃) has been suggested as a beneficial strategy towards powder coating application with improved properties. Here, we study the effect of nCaCO₃ on morphology, cure behavior, adhesion and hardness of polyester/epoxy systems. The nanoparticles shape, size and dispersion state were investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods. Furthermore, isothermal cure characterization of the neat and filled systems was performed using a torque rheometer. The most important finding based on the rheological studies was the catalytic effect of nCaCO₃ on cure reaction of polyester/epoxy, leading to the shorter curing time. Moreover, the kinetic analyses of rheograms revealed a marked decrease in the activation energy of the cure process upon raising nCaCO₃ content. Interestingly, pull-off adhesion and hardness tests showed that the hardness and adhesion strength were dramatically increased by the addition of nCaCO₃ into the polyester/epoxy system compared to pure blend resin. Therefore, considering the strong competition in powder coating market, the use of nCaCO₃ as a commercial and inexpensive nanofiller is necessary not only to reduce the dwell time which has benefits in terms of the energy consumption and economics, but also to improve the performance of final polyester/epoxy coating.     

Application of Organic Acid Based Artificial Neural Network Modeling for Assessment of Commercial Vinegar Authenticity

Food Analytical Methods - Vinegar as a nutraceutical substance is classified to various types related to the different substances applied in production process. Therefore, identity of the source...     

Civil Liabilities for Unsafe Foods in Bangladesh and Australia: A Comparative Perspective on Consumer Protection

The statutory laws concerning food safety, which allow the consumers affected by unsafe foods to claim compensation for their loss or damage in Bangladesh, are flawed in several respects. These flaws are argued to have harmful impacts on consumer protection. The ineffective legislation in the absence of application of the common law principles of negligence has left the consumers virtually helpless in securing remedies for their injuries. This article endeavors to critically examine the ambiguities and shortcomings in the Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009 (Bangladesh) looking through the prisms of the Australian Consumer Law 2010 and relevant case law from major common law jurisdictions. It discovers a number of weaknesses in the legislation of Bangladesh and provides specific suggestions for strengthening the civil liability provisions from the perspective of consumer protection by preventing their contraventions and providing adequate compensation.     

Assessment of antioxidant activity and phycocyanin release of Spirulina loaded poly(ε-caprolactone) electrospun nanofibers

PCL with biodegradable property and Spirulina with various biological activities offer good alternative ingredients for the fabrication of functional nanofibers in tissue engineering. The aim of the study is to obtain PCL/Spirulina nanofibers with low diameters and to determine their wettability, antioxidant activity, and phycocyanin release to evaluate their potential as bioactive scaffolds in different applications. PCL/acetic acid/pyridine solutions with three different Spirulina concentrations were electrospun and the obtained nanofibers were investigated. The thinnest PCL/Spirulina nanofibers (117.20 nm) were obtained at 1.5% Spirulina concentration. Although PCL nanofibers with 6% Spirulina concentration showed the highest antioxidant activity and amount of phycocyanin released, PCL nanofibers with 3% Spirulina concentration having similar in vitro results showed superiority when considering the diameter and uniformity of the nanofibers and the cost of the material. The PCL/Spirulina nanofibers with small diameters and antioxidant activity could be regarded as potential extracellular matrix material for tissue engineering.     

A committee machine with intelligent systems for estimation of total organic carbon content from petrophysical data: An example from Kangan and Dalan reservoirs in South Pars Gas Field,Iran

Total organic carbon (TOC) content present in reservoir rocks is one of the important parameters, which could be used for evaluation of residual production potential and geochemical characterization of hydrocarbon-bearing units. In general, organic-rich rocks are characterized by higher porosity, higher sonic transit time, lower density, higher γ-ray, and higher resistivity than other rocks. Current study suggests an improved and optimal model for TOC estimation by integration of intelligent systems and the concept of committee machine with an example from Kangan and Dalan Formations, in South Pars Gas Field, Iran. This committee machine with intelligent systems (CMIS) combines the results of TOC predicted from intelligent systems including fuzzy logic (FL), neuro-fuzzy (NF), and neural network (NN), each of them has a weight factor showing its contribution in overall prediction. The optimal combination of weights is derived by a genetic algorithm (GA). This method is illustrated using a case study. One hundred twenty-four data points including petrophysical data and measured TOC from three wells of South Pars Gas Field were divided into 87 training sets to build the CMIS model and 37 testing sets to evaluate the reliability of the developed model. The results show that the CMIS performs better than any one of the individual intelligent systems acting alone for predicting TOC.