Rationally Engineered Electrodes for a High‐Performance Solid‐State Cable‐Type Supercapacitor

Wire‐shaped electrodes for solid‐state cable‐type supercapacitors (SSCTS) with high device capacitance and ultrahigh rate capability are prepared by depositing poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) onto self‐doped TiO₂ nanotubes (D‐TiO₂) aligned on Ti wire via a well‐controlled electrochemical process. The large surface area, short ion diffusion path, and high electrical conductivity of these rationally engineered electrodes all contribute to the energy storage performance of SSCTS. The cyclic voltammetric studies show the good energy storage ability of the SSCTS even at an ultrahigh scan rate of 1000 V s^?1, which reveals the excellent instantaneous power characteristics of the device. The capacitance of 1.1 V SSCTS obtained from the charge–discharge measurements is 208.36 µF cm^?1 at a discharge current of 100 µA cm^?1 and 152.36 µF cm^?1 at a discharge current of 2000 µA cm^?1, respectively, indicating the ultrahigh rate capability. Furthermore, the SSCTS shows superior cyclic stability during long‐term (20 000 cycles) cycling, and also maintains excellent performance when it is subjected to bending and succeeding straightening process.     

Considerations for the development of radiation resistant devices and VLSI circuits

The impact of radiation on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) silicon technology is discussed with a focus on Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS). Effects of total dose, transient radiation, single event phenomena, and neutron fluence on devices and circuits are presented. General approaches to mitigating radiation effects are put forth. With proper considerations, VLSI CMOS can be enhanced to achieve several orders-of-magnitude increase in radiation tolerance.     

A CMOS adaptive RF front-end receiver for wireless applications

The performance of signal-processing algorithms implemented in hardware depends on the efficiency of datapath, memory speed and address computation. Pattern of data access in signal-processing applications is complex and it is desirable to execute the innermost loop of a kernel in a single-clock cycle. This necessitates the generation of typically three addresses per clock: two addresses for data sample/coefficient and one for the storage of processed data. Most of the Reconfigurable Processors, designed for multimedia, focus on mapping the multimedia applications written in a high-level language directly on to the reconfigurable fabric, implying the use of same datapath resources for kernel processing and address generation. This results in inconsistent and non-optimal use of finite datapath resources. Presence of a set of dedicated, efficient Address Generator Units (AGUs) helps in better utilisation of the datapath elements by using them only for kernel operations; and will certainly enhance the performance. This article focuses on the design and application-specific integrated circuit implementation of address generators for complex addressing modes required by multimedia signal-processing kernels. A novel algorithm and hardware for AGU is developed for accessing data and coefficients in a bit-reversed order for fast Fourier transform kernel spanning over log?₂ N stages, AGUs for zig-zag-ordered data access for entropy coding after Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), convolution kernels with stored/streaming data, accessing data for motion estimation using the block-matching technique and other conventional addressing modes. When mapped to hardware, they scale linearly in gate complexity with increase in the size.     

The Instant Controlled Pressure Drop Process as a New Post-harvesting Treatment of Paddy Rice: Impacts on Drying Kinetics and End Product Attributes

The instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) process was used as a post-harvesting treatment, followed by hot air drying and shade polishing. DIC treatment, which is carried out at P = 0.4–0.6 MPa, has many advantages in terms of processing time (not exceeding 30 s) and drying kinetics (about 3 h instead of 1 day under standard 50 °C hot air flow conditions). Shade polishing gives high quality rice with a whole-grain yield of 68-70% rather than the usual 52-60%. A tasting evaluation was carried out by an international panel and the rice was found to be perfect after a cooking time of 6 min, with an overcooked time of 18 min as against 17 min and 20 min, respectively, for conventional products. The shaded shelf life of the final product is much longer than 18–24 months.     

Determination of shelf life of concentrated yogurt (labneh) produced by in-bag straining of set yogurt using hazard analysis

Strained yogurt, labneh, produced by straining cow's milk set yogurt in cloth bags, was stored at 5, 15, and 25 degrees C, and changes in microbial counts, pH, titratable acidity, percentage of free whey, and sensory attributes were monitored during storage. Counts of total aerobes, psychrotrophic yeasts, yeasts and molds, and lactic acid bacteria, except in samples stored at 25 degrees C, increased irrespective of storage temperature. The pH of samples decreased, titratable acidity and percentage of free whey increased, and texture defects were detected at a later stage than flavor changes during storage. Shelf-life data of labneh was adequately described by the Weibull distribution. The nominal shelf life determined using sensory changes and yeast counts as failure criteria ranged from 8.5 to 10.5, 4.7 to 5.8 and 2.3 to 2.7 d at 5, 15 and 25 degrees C, respectively. Q10 (shelf life at T degrees C/shelf life at T+10 degrees C) for flavor quality loss was 1.98 at 5 degrees C, and the corresponding activation energy was 11.3 kcal/mol.     

Hydro‐ethanolic extract of cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) nut and its principal compound,anacardic acid,stimulate glucose uptake in C2C12 muscle cells

Scope: Products of cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) are used in traditional medicine for various ailments, including diabetes. Methods and results: The anti‐diabetic properties of cashew plant parts were studied using differentiated C2C12 myoblasts (myotubes) and rat liver mitochondria. Hydroethanolic extract of cashew seed (CSE) and its active component, anacardic acid (AA), stimulated glucose transport into C2C12 myotubes in a concentration‐dependent manner. Extracts of other parts (leaves, bark and apple) of cashew plant were inactive. Significant synergistic effect on glucose uptake with insulin was noticed at 100 μg/mL CSE. CSE and AA caused activation of adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase in C2C12 myotubes after 6 h of incubation. No significant effect was noticed on Akt and insulin receptor phosphorylation. Both CSE and AA exerted significant uncoupling of succinate‐stimulated respiration in rat liver mitochondria. Conclusion: Activation of adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase by CSE and AA likely increases plasma membrane glucose transporters, resulting in elevated glucose uptake. In addition, the dysfunction of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation may enhance glycolysis and contribute to increased glucose uptake. These results collectively suggest that CSE may be a potential anti‐diabetic nutraceutical.     

Statistical analysis of decay of organophosphorus and pyrethroid insecticides and carbaryl on paddy rice, maize, sunflowers and field peas

A model is developed to describe the decay of seven insecticides on stored paddy rice, maize, sunflowers and peas, and is shown to be more precise than each of six literature models on pesticide decay. It relates residues (R), as a ratio of applied concentration (R(0)), to time after insecticide application (t), modifying the usual first-order kinetics equation lnR=lnR(0)-kt by assuming that the rate constant k has a mixture of values according to a gamma distribution with mean K. The resulting equation is lnR=lnR(0)-Kcln(1+t/c), where c is a constant determined empirically. For large c, this model reduces to the first-order model with K=k. The parameter K is further modelled as linear in temperature for maize and rice. The rate of loss of protectants was found not to be seriously affected by co-application with other insecticides, and this is a useful finding for future studies on rates of loss of grain protectants. The apparent rate of loss was also not seriously affected by the method of analysis, whether by gas chromatography or high-performance liquid chromatography, and this finding supports previous validation of the methods.     

Determination of Sensory Thresholds of Selected Calcium Salts and Formulation of Calcium-fortified Pocket-type Flat Bread

Pita bread loaves were prepared from flours fortified with calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, and tricalcium dicitrate at 8 ascending levels to provide ranges of 800 to 2500, 700 to 1500, and 400 to 2000 mg of added Ca/100 g flour, respectively. The detection thresholds of calcium salts in pita bread were determined by the 3‐alter‐native forced choice (3‐AFC) test and construction of dose‐response curves. Detection thresholds determined by calculating geometric mean of individual best estimate thresholds, using criterion of 50%‐above‐chance and probit analysis of 3‐AFC data, were in the middle region of calcium concentrations. Analysis of dose‐response curves yielded values for thresholds outside the range of surveyed calcium concentrations. The detection threshold of CaSO₄ (2724 mg/100 g) in pita bread was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than those of calcium carbonate (1984 mg/100 g) and tricalcium dicitrate (2132 mg/100 g). Calcium‐fortified pita bread was similar (P < 0.01) to its regular counterpart when formulated to contain 1254.6, 1772.5, or 1155 mg/100 g of CaCO₃, CaSO₄, or tricalcium dicitrate, respectively. At the indicated levels of fortification, calcium‐fortified pita bread is expected to provide between 61% and 126.5% of the recommended daily intake for calcium for Middle Eastern populations.     

Molecular Interactions of Tannic Acid with Proteins Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity

The overall impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on our society is unprecedented. The identification of small natural ligands that could prevent the entry and/or replication of the coronavirus remains a pertinent approach to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Previously, we showed that the phenolic compounds corilagin and 1,3,6-tri-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose (TGG) inhibit the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the SARS-CoV-2 target receptor on the cell membrane of the host organism. Building on these promising results, we now assess the effects of these phenolic ligands on two other crucial targets involved in SARS-CoV-2 cell entry and replication, respectively: transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) and 3-chymotrypsin like protease (3CLpro) inhibitors. Since corilagin, TGG, and tannic acid (TA) share many physicochemical and structural properties, we investigate the binding of TA to these targets. In this work, a combination of experimental methods (biochemical inhibition assays, surface plasmon resonance, and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring) confirms the potential role of TA in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity through the inhibition of extracellular RBD/ACE2 interactions and TMPRSS2 and 3CLpro activity. Moreover, molecular docking prediction followed by dynamic simulation and molecular mechanics Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MMPBSA) free energy calculation also shows that TA binds to RBD, TMPRSS2, and 3CLpro with higher affinities than TGG and corilagin. Overall, these results suggest that naturally occurring TA is a promising candidate to prevent and inhibit the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2.