Effect of different precooking methods on chemical composition and lipid damage of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) muscle

The influence of three precooking methods (steaming, oven‐baking and microwave‐cooking) on the chemical composition and lipid quality of silver carp fillets was evaluated. The changes in protein, fat and moisture were found to be significant for all the treatments (P ≤ 0.05). The iron content in the samples subjected to steam‐cooking increased; however, the other precooking methods did not change the mineral contents (P ≥ 0.05). The free fatty acid content of the fillets did not change by the different precooking methods, while thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values increased for oven‐ and microwave‐cooked fillets and remained constant in the steam‐cooked samples. Conjugated diene and browning colour formation levels significantly increased in the oven‐baked fillets. Oven‐baking and microwave‐cooking marginally affected the fatty acid composition of the silver carp. On comparing the raw and precooked fillets, steam‐cooking was found to be the best precooking method on retaining nutritional constituents.     

Optimization of the Aqueous Enzymatic Extraction of Oil from Iranian Wild Almond

The seeds of wild almond, Amygdalus scoparia, contain a relatively high quantity of oil. In the current study, aqueous enzymatic extraction of the oil from Iranian wild almond was investigated using a protease and a cellulase to assist the extraction process. The effects of temperature, incubation time and pH on the oil recovery were evaluated using Box?Behnken design from response surface methodology (RSM). A 77.3 % recovery was predicted for oil using aqueous enzymatic extraction procedure at the optimized conditions of RSM (pH 5.76; 50 °C/5 h) when both enzymes were used at 1.0 % level (v/w). In practice, when both enzymes were used, a maximum of 77.8 % oil recovery was achieved at pH 5; 50 °C/4 h. Fatty acid profile, refractive index and saponification value of the aqueous enzymatic extracted oil in the current study were similar to those of the oil extracted with hexane. However, acid value, unsaponifiable matter and p‐anisidine value were higher when compared to those with hexane extracted oil. Peroxide value of the aqueous enzymatic oil was lower than that of oil extracted by hexane. Aqueous enzymatic extraction can be suggested as an environmentally‐friendly method to obtain oil from wild almond.     

Degradation of Epoxy-Steel Single Lap Joints Immersed in Water

Exposure to environmental factors, especially moisture, is recognized as the major cause of degradation of adhesive joints. In this work, complementing a previous study on exposure to moisture, single lap joints were subjected to immersion in water, up to five weeks, at room temperature and 50 °C. The material of the adherends was mild steel, and the adhesive was a bi-component epoxy. The specimens were fabricated using the open-face technique. Mechanical testing at the end of the relevant period of immersion showed an initial loss of ultimate load, after one week at 50 °C or two at room temperature; then, the strength remained practically constant over the remaining time. The loss was more accentuated after immersion at 50 °C, about 70%, than at room temperature, about 30%. Also a reduction in stiffness of the joints was measured, again dramatic (about 70%) after immersion at 50 °C, moderate (about 10%) after room temperature immersion. Optical examination, performed before closing the open-face specimens and after mechanical testing, showed that the major damage mechanism was the formation of blisters filled by liquid at the primary adherend/primary adhesive interface, causing the failure mode to change from cohesive to interfacial.     

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Modulation of Cholesterol Homeostasis in THP-1 Macrophage-Derived Foam Cells

Transformation of macrophages to foam cells is determined by the rates of cholesterol uptake and efflux. This study uses a real time RT-PCR technique to investigate the role of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), α-linolenic acid (ALA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in the regulation of the ATP-binding cassette A1 (ABCA1) and liver X receptor α (LXR) genes, which are involved in cholesterol homeostasis. Accordingly, these fatty acids significantly reduced the total, free and esterified cholesterols within the foam cells. While the expression of the ABCA1 and LXRα genes was increased in the presence of the pharmacological LXRα ligand, T0901317, their mRNA expression was not significantly affected by CLA, ALA and EPA. These results suggest that although polyunsaturated fatty acids have an effect on cholesterol homeostasis, they cannot change the expression of the ABCA1 and LXRα genes. Alternatively, several other genes and proteins may be involved.     

Low temperature synthesis of nanocrystalline magnesium aluminate with high surface area by surfactant assisted precipitation method: Effect of preparation conditions

A surfactant assisted co-precipitation method was employed for the low temperature synthesis of magnesium aluminate spinel with nanocrystalline size and high specific surface area. Pluronic P123 triblock copolymer and ammonia solution were used as surfactant and precipitation agent, respectively. The prepared samples were characterized by thermal gravimetric and differential thermal gravimetric analyses (TG/DTG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption (BET) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The effects of several process parameters such as refluxing temperature, refluxing time, pH, P123 to metals mole ratio (P123/metals) and calcination temperature on the structural properties of the samples were investigated. The obtained results showed that, among the process parameters pH and refluxing temperature have a significant effect on the structural properties of samples. The results revealed that increase in pH from 9.5 to 11 and refluxing temperature from 40 °C to 80 °C increased the specific surface area of prepared samples in the range of 157–188 m² g^?1 and 162–184 m² g^?1, respectively. The XRD analysis showed the single-phase MgAl₂O₄ was formed at 700 °C.     

Effect of chitosan coatings enriched with cinnamon oil on the quality of refrigerated rainbow trout

The effects of a chitosan (Ch) coating enriched with cinnamon oil (Ch + C) on quality of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) during refrigerated storage (4 ± 1 °C) were examined over a period of 16 days. A solution of Ch (2%, w/v) and Ch + C (2%, w/v Ch + 1.5%, v/v C) was used for the coating. The control and the coated fish samples were analysed periodically for microbiological (total viable count, psychrotrophic count), chemical (TVB-N, PV, TBA), and sensory (raw and cooked fish) characteristics. The results indicated that the effect of the Ch + C coating on the fish samples was to enable the good quality characteristics to be retained longer and to extend the shelf life during the refrigerated storage.     

Fate of prions in soil: adsorption and extraction by electroelution of recombinant ovine prion protein from montmorillonite and natural soils

Prions, the infectious agents thought to be responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, may contaminate soils and have been reported to persist there for years. We have studied the adsorption and desorption of a model recombinant prion protein on montmorillonite and natural soil samples in order to elucidate mechanisms of prion retention in soils. Clay minerals, such as montmorillonite, are known to be strong adsorbents for organic molecules, including proteins. Montmorillonite was found to have a large and selective adsorption capacity for both the normal and the aggregated prion protein. Adsorption occurred mainly via the N-terminal domain of the protein. Incubation with standard buffers and detergents did not desorb the full length protein from montmorillonite, emphasizing the largely irreversible trapping of prion protein by this soil constituent. An original electroelution method was developed to extract prion protein from both montmorillonite and natural soil samples, allowing quantification when coupled with rapid prion detection tests. This easy-to-perform method produced concentrated prion protein extracts and allowed detection of protein at levels as low as 0.2 ppb in natural soils.     

The optimization of thermal performance of an air cooler equipped with butterfly inserts by the use of imperialist competitive algorithm

The aim of this paper is to apply a novel optimization algorithm based on the imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) to optimize the thermal performance of an air‐cooled heat exchanger equipped with butterfly inserts. Experiments included inserts inclined at angles ranging from 45 to 135°. Also, the Reynolds number varied from 4021 to 16118. After data reduction, the regression equation of thermal performance was obtained as a function of the Reynolds number and the inclined angle. Then the cost function was optimized by the use of ICA. One can be sure that the thermal performance will be optimized due to the optimization of the cost function. Computational results indicate that the proposed optimization‐algorithm is quite effective and powerful in optimizing the cost function. According to the results, in order to obtain maximum performance, the inclined angle must be about 95°. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20412     

Highly-Directional,Highly-Efficient Solution-Processed Light-Emitting Diodes of All-Face-Down Oriented Colloidal Quantum Well Self-Assembly

Semiconductor colloidal quantum wells (CQWs) provide anisotropic emission behavior originating from their anisotropic optical transition dipole moments (TDMs). Here, solution-processed colloidal quantum well light-emitting diodes (CQW-LEDs) of a single all-face-down oriented self-assembled monolayer (SAM) film of CQWs that collectively enable a supreme level of IP TDMs at 92% in the ensemble emission are shown. This significantly enhances the outcoupling efficiency from 22% (of standard randomly-oriented emitters) to 34% (of face-down oriented emitters) in the LED. As a result, the external quantum efficiency reaches a record high level of 18.1% for the solution-processed type of CQW-LEDs, putting their efficiency performance on par with the hybrid organic-inorganic evaporation-based CQW-LEDs and all other best solution-processed LEDs. This SAM-CQW-LED architecture allows for a high maximum brightness of 19,800 cd m⁻² with a long operational lifetime of 247 h at 100 cd m⁻² as well as a stable saturated deep-red emission (651 nm) with a low turn-on voltage of 1.7 eV at a current density of 1 mA cm⁻² and a high J₉₀ of 99.58 mA cm⁻². These findings indicate the effectiveness of oriented self-assembly of CQWs as an electrically-driven emissive layer in improving outcoupling and external quantum efficiencies in the CQW-LEDs.     

Sustainable product‐package design in a food supply chain: A multi‐criteria life cycle approach

This paper presents a multi‐criteria decision‐making approach for the selection of a sustainable product‐package design, accounting for the different actors within a food supply chain. The study extends the focus of sustainable packaging design to the collective of all supply chain actors. Decision criteria are identified via a literature review, and current product‐package alternatives are collected via interviews. With the inputs of these criteria and the alternative designs, a multi‐criteria decision‐making problem is formulated and solved using Best Worst Method (BWM). BWM finds the weights of the criteria. Using these weights, the ranking of the alternatives is found. The implementation of the analysis took place for three selected products of the Kraft Heinz Company. Data on the preferences of the supply chain members of these selected products were collected, and the optimal package designs were selected. It is shown through sensitivity analysis that modifying the weights that decision makers assign to the preferences of the supply chain members and the importance of the dimensions of sustainability have an effect on the selection of the optimal design.