Effects of addition of egg ovotransferrin-derived peptides on the oxygen radical absorbance capacity of different teas

Ovotransferrin-derived peptides showed synergistic effects with vitamin C, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and caffeic acid, but not quercetin in our previous report. In this study, we further investigated the interactions between ovotransferrin-derived peptides and teas, based on the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. Our results showed that there was no significant difference in ORAC values among green, oolong, and black teas. For all the samples, 80% methanol extracts possessed better antioxidant capacity than hot water extracts. The antioxidant capacity of teas were improved by adding either ovotransferrin hydrolysate or its purified peptide IRW; however, adding hydrolysate did not improve antioxidant stability of teas. ORAC values of both teas and hydrolysate added teas were decreased during 22weeks of storage, while samples stored at 4°C exhibited higher antioxidant capacity than those stored at room temperature. This suggested that ovotransferrin hydrolysate could be used as functional food ingredients in enhancing antioxidant capacities of foods, which would benefit human nutrition and health.     

Hybrid reactor for priority pollutant nitrobenzene removal

The performance of a hybrid reactor, comprising of trickling filter and activated sludge process, in treating nitrobenzene wastewater was investigated. Acetate induced cells of mixed consortia was acclimatized with gradual increase of nitrobenzene concentration up to 90 mg/l in 100 days using sodium acetate as co-substrate and considering COD and nitrobenzene concentration as paramount parameters for assessing the growth of biofilm and acclimation. A removal of 60-95.80% COD and 80-90.23% nitrobenzene was observed during acclimation. During hydraulic retention time (HRT) studies, the optimum HRT was found to be 29.55 h at which a maximum of 95.83% COD and 97.93% nitrobenzene removal was observed. Other studies included optimization of C:N ratio, substrate:co-substrate ratio, effect of shock loading and estimation of volatilization losses. The optimum C:N ratio was found to be 100:20 at which maximum 97.93% removal of nitrobenzene was observed. At optimum HRT (29.55 h) and optimum C:N ratio (100:20) optimum substrate:co-substrate ratio was found to be 1:33. From the shock load studies it can be concluded that the system can withstand shock load up to two times of usual nitrobenzene concentration. A loss of 9.44% nitrobenzene was observed due to volatilization and mass balance gave an efficiency of 87.49% biological removal of nitrobenzene.     

Electron Beam Crosslinking of Atactic Poly(propylene): Development of a Potential Novel Elastomer

Atactic amorphous poly(propylene) of various molecular weights has been modified with high energy electrons over an irradiation dose range of 0–200 kGy. Tri‐ and tetrafunctional monomers in varied concentrations have been used as crosslinking additives. A correlation between the original molecular weight and crosslinking behavior of the polymer was observed. A higher gel content is obtained with the tetrafunctional acrylate as compared to that with the trifunctional one, under the same treatment conditions. Electron irradiation treatment at elevated temperature gives rise to an increased gel content over that at room temperature. Similarly, the mechanical properties also enhance with gel content. Moreover, the stress‐strain behavior of the electron modified systems indicates a more pronounced elastomeric nature.

     

Rheological and gelling properties of a novel glucan from Leuconostoc dextranicum NRRL B-1146

The glucan produced by glucansucrase by the bacterial strain Leuconostoc dextranicum NRRL B-1146 was purified and characterized for its certain properties. The glucan was precipitated by ethanol and further purified by size exclusion chromatography. The purified glucan was homogenous and free of protein. The rheological properties of glucan were studied. The steady shear measurements for the semi-dilute glucan solution indicated that the viscosity (η) of the glucan solution decreased with the increase in shear stress (τ) and exhibited typical non-Newtonian pseudoplastic behavior, indicating branched nature of glucan. The surface morphology studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed that the glucan has a porous structure. This glucan can be used as thickening or gelling agent in food or in the sourdoughs in bakery applications.     

Dielectric Properties and Leakage Current Characteristics of Sol-Gel Derived (Ba0.5Sr0.5)TiO3:MgTiO3 Thin Film Composites

(Ba_1-xSr_x)TiO₃ (BST) is a suitable material for microelectronic device applications due to its high response of the dielectric permittivity to an applied electric field. However, the large dielectric constants found in this system limit its usefulness at microwave frequencies. In our recent studies sol-gel prepared Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃:MgO heterostructured thin films have shown an increase in the figure of merit (tunability/loss) compared to pure Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ films, but the leakage characteristics of these films did not improve significantly. Moreover, due to the hygroscopic nature of MgO, the BST:MgO heterostructured films may suffer with longer period of time instability. In this paper we used the low loss and non-hygroscopic MgTiO₃ for the fabrication of the Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃:MgTiO₃ (BST50:MT) heterostructured thin films by sol-gel technique and studied the effects of MgTiO₃ layers on the structural, physical, dielectric properties, and leakage current behavior of the BST:MT films. The X-ray studies indicated that both MT and Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ are highly oriented and remain as two distinct individual entities in the composite films and a considerable reduction in the dielectric loss and leakage currents has been observed. High frequency phase shifter studies (at low voltage) suggest that these films are suitable for the tunable microwave device applications.     

Size dependant electronic structure from InP nano-dots

Size dependant core-level shifts have been investigated here for the InP nano-dots fabricated by the 3 keV ion irradiation. The self assembled nano dots exhibit core-level shifts and band gap expansion. The core-level shifts are however inhomogeneous, not exhibiting any systematic dependence on the size of the dots. The inhomogeneous core-level shifts as well as the band gap expansion are the result of cumulative effect of the nano-dimensional sizes and the stoichiometric variations in InP nano dots. The nucleation of the self assembled nano dots is promoted by the creation of In-rich zones after the preferential sputtering of P. Decreased In/P concentration, at longer sputtering durations, leads to the fragmentation of dots.     

An investigation on the laser surface alloying of copper on iron

Laser surface alloying of iron substrate with copper under different processing conditions has been systematically studied. The microstructural analysis reveals a predominantly cellular microstructure with copper wetting the cell boundaries. Globular distribution of copper at higher laser scanning speeds can be observed occasionally indicating the system under these conditions to be near the metastable miscibility gap. The concentration of copper in the pool is related to the laser scanning speed. In all cases a banded morphology indicating unsteady growth towards the bottom of the alloyed zone is observed. The hardness of the alloyed zone is significantly higher and is attributed to work hardening due to differential thermal contraction of the two phases in the alloyed zone.     

Camera-based calibration techniques for seamless multiprojector displays

Multiprojector, large-scale displays are used in scientific visualization, virtual reality, and other visually intensive applications. In recent years, a number of camera-based computer vision techniques have been proposed to register the geometry and color of tiled projection-based display. These automated techniques use cameras to "calibrate" display geometry and photometry, computing per-projector corrective warps and intensity corrections that are necessary to produce seamless imagery across projector mosaics. These techniques replace the traditional labor-intensive manual alignment and maintenance steps, making such displays cost-effective, flexible, and accessible. In this paper, we present a survey of different camera-based geometric and photometric registration techniques reported in the literature to date. We discuss several techniques that have been proposed and demonstrated, each addressing particular display configurations and modes of operation. We overview each of these approaches and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. We examine techniques that address registration on both planar (video walls) and arbitrary display surfaces and photometric correction for different kinds of display surfaces. We conclude with a discussion of the remaining challenges and research opportunities for multiprojector displays