Comparison of functional properties and SDS-PAGE patterns between fish protein isolate and surimi produced from silver carp

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the physicochemical properties of fish protein isolate (FPI) produced from silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), which is a relatively cheap fish with low consumption in Fars (a state of Iran). In this research, proteins were isolated using pH shifts method. Results showed that in terms of production efficiency, protein recovery, lipid reduction and functional properties such as water-holding capacity, emulsifying capacity, foaming capacity and water absorption, FPI was better than conventional surimi. The treated samples at pH?=?2.5 represented better functional properties relative to other samples. The electrophoretic patterns demonstrated that acidic pH led to vanish high molecular weight protein bands because these proteins were converted to low molecular weight proteins, whereas basic pH caused the formation of high molecular weight proteins relative to myosin heavy chain. It seems that in basic pH, the proteins were linked together after denaturation and then aggregated. Overall, the results showed that physicochemical qualitative properties of FPI were better than those of conventional surimi.     

Development of fortified biscuit using NaFeEDTA

BACKGROUND: Sodium iron ethylenediaminetetraacetic acetate (NaFeEDTA) is a promising iron fortificant for populations consuming high‐phytate diets. It produces fewer organoleptic effects than other fortificants do, especially when the matrix of the food vehicle contains fat, and has a bioavailability two to four times higher than that of ferrous sulfate. This study investigated the effects of varying levels of NaFeEDTA (576–1152 mg kg^?1) on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of Petit Beurre biscuits. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in pH, ash, moisture and breaking strength values among all formulae. The iron content (7.2–14.4 mg per 100 g) of the biscuits increased with increasing fortificant level. During a 60 day storage period the peroxide value increased in both fortified and non‐fortified formulae, especially after 28 days. The addition of NaFeEDTA had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on the colour, texture and flavour of fortified biscuits. CONCLUSION: Based on the range proposed for the use of NaFeEDTA as a fortification agent (10 mg iron and 67 mg EDTA per person per day), the results of this study reveal that 720 mg kg^?1 NaFeEDTA (9 mg iron per 100 g) is the optimum level for iron fortification in Petit Beurre biscuits. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Combined operation of DC isolated distribution and PV systems for supplying unbalanced AC loads

This paper describes a DC isolated network which is fed by distributed generation (DG) from photovoltaic (PV) renewable sources to supply unbalanced AC loads. The battery energy storage bank has been connected to the DC network via DC/DC converter called storage converter to control the network voltage and optimize the operation of the PV generation units. The PV units are connected to the DC network via its own DC/DC converter called PV converter to ensure the required power flow. The unbalanced AC loads are connected to the DC network via its own DC/AC converter called load converter without transformer. This paper proposes a novel control strategy for storage converter which has a DC voltage droop regulator. Also a novel control system based on Clarke and Park rotating frame has been proposed for load converters. In this paper, the proposed operation method is demonstrated by simulation of power transfer between PV units, unbalanced AC loads and battery units. The simulation results based on PSCAD/EMTDC software show that DC isolated distribution system including PV units can provide the balanced voltages to supply unbalanced AC loads.     

Granular filtration for airborne particles: Correlation between experiments and models

Granular filtration has been widely used for liquid filtration and hot gas filtration, but less is known for the filtration of airborne particles, especially the ultrafine ones, at the room conditions. A cylindrical packed bed was designed and tested for the filtration of particles in the range of about 10 nm to 15 µm in diameter at different configurations and kinetic conditions. Three sizes of uniform glass beads (2, 4, and 6 mm in diameter) were tested as the filtration media each at three media thicknesses (H = 2.5, 7.6, and 12.7 cm), and at two airflow rates (50 and 65 liters per minute). The filtration efficiencies were the lowest for particles between 0.1 and 1 µm in diameter. The particle filtration efficiency decreased with the increase in the granule size and the airflow rate, but a thicker bed corresponded to higher filtration efficiency. The experimental results showed much higher efficiency than existing models can predict, therefore, an empirical model using least square method is reported.     

Fluid–structure–soil interaction effects on the free vibrations of functionally graded sandwich plates

This study investigates the effects of fluid–structure and soil–structure interaction on the free vibration response of functionally graded sandwich plates. To this aim, an exemplary problem is analyzed, whereas a metal/ceramic sandwich plate is placed at the bottom of a tank filled in with fluid. Two cases are considered: (i) soft core, i.e., a sandwich plate with metal core and ceramic skins, and (ii) hard core, i.e., a sandwich plate with ceramic core and metal skins. In both cases, the skins are modelled as suitable functionally graded materials (FGMs). The soil is modelled as a Pasternak foundation. The free vibration analysis is carried out according to the extended higher order sandwich plate theory (EHSAPT). The fluid is assumed to be inviscid, incompressible, and irrotational. Hamilton’s principle is exploited to deduce the governing equations and the corresponding boundary conditions. The Rayleigh–Ritz method with two-variable orthogonal polynomials is used to compute the natural frequencies of the sandwich plate. The adopted approach is first validated through comparison with results published in the literature. Then, the effects are studied of several parameters on the dynamic response of the system.

     

Prevalence of Listeria species in food products in Isfahan, Iran

A total of 617 meat and meat products, diary, vegetables and ready to eat food samples were collected. Listeria spp. isolated by using USDA method of isolation and L. monocytogenes identified by biochemical and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The incidence of Listeria spp. was 4.6% in all food samples. L. monocytogenes was found in 1.2% of food samples. It was found that Listeria spp. was present in 6.7% of meat and meat product samples, 1.3% of diary samples, 1.2% of vegetable samples and 12% ready to eat samples. The results presented in this study indicate, the potential risk of eating ready to eat food or raw and undercooked foods.     

Numerical Modeling of Gas Tungsten Arc Welding of a Newly Developed Cobalt-Based Superalloy

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - A three-dimensional finite-element thermal model with a volumetric moving heat source is developed to simulate the gas tungsten arc welding process of a...     

Text image super resolution using within-scale repetition of characters and strokes

In text images, there are some frequently used characters repeating more than others. Likewise, some characters have common strokes. This characteristic is used in this paper for machine-printed text-image super resolution. After segmenting the input low-resolution image into text lines and characters, 1) the characters are clustered and the clusters with large number of members, corresponding to the frequent characters, are detected. 2) A text-specific multiple-image super resolution is applied to the members of each large cluster and the result is verified by the recognition confidence of an OCR system. 3) A training example set is then constructed by extracting patches from the low-resolution frequent characters and their verified super resolution. Using this example set, infrequent characters are super resolved through the neighbor embedding SR algorithm. By placing all the super-resolved characters on their corresponding positions in the high-resolution grid, the final high-resolution image is generated. Our method achieves significant improvements in visual image quality and OCR character accuracy compared to related SR methods.     

Concentration-dependent molecular diffusion coefficient of gaseous ethane in liquid toluene

We report new experimental data on concentration-dependent molecular diffusion coefficient of ethane in toluene at temperatures ranging from 21 to 125°C and pressures up to 4.14 MPa. An analytical model has also been developed for estimation of the diffusion coefficient utilizing the experimental data of the interface velocity as a result of swelling and the rate of gas dissolution in the liquid phase. It is shown that the diffusion coefficient of ethane in toluene is dependent on the initial mass fraction of the gaseous component in the liquid. In addition, the effect of concentration dependency of the molecular diffusion coefficient on diffusive mass flux is quantified. The results reveal that the assumption of a constant diffusion coefficient introduces ~10–60% error in calculation of diffusional mass transfer flux. The developed methodology finds application in estimation of the concentration-dependent molecular diffusion coefficient of gases in liquids.     

Effects of Obesity on Bone Healing in Rats

Although the association between periodontitis and obesity is well explored, it is unclear whether obesity is associated with a worse therapeutic outcome after periodontal treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of obesity on bone healing with and without the application of regeneration-promoting molecules. A standardized bone fenestration-type defect was created over the root of the mandibular first molar in 15 Wistar rats. Ten animals received a high-fat, high-sucrose diet (HFSD), while the remaining five animals were fed a standard diet. During surgery, the fenestration defects from half of the HFSD-fed, i.e., obese animals, were treated with regeneration-promoting molecules (enamel matrix derivative; EMD). After four weeks, bone healing was evaluated by histomorphometry, TRAP staining and immunohistochemistry for RUNX2 and osteopontin. The analyses revealed that the spontaneous healing of the periodontal defects was compromised by obesity. Application of EMD partially compensated for the negative effect of obesity. Nevertheless, EMD-stimulated bone healing in obese animals was not better than the spontaneous healing in the obesity-free control group, indicating that obesity may also inhibit the stimulatory effects of regeneration-promoting molecules. Our results show that obesity can negatively influence bone healing and suggest that bone healing may be compromised in humans.