Inhibitory Effect of Chocolate Components Toward Lard Detection in Chocolate Using Real Time PCR

An identification method of lard in chocolates using real-time polymerase chain reaction was developed to address Halal authentication. However, polymerase chain reaction detection of lard in chocolate has been in vain. In order to investigate the inhibitory effect exerted by each of the chocolate components, four basic chocolate components, sugar, milk powder, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder, were adulterated with lard and examined using porcine-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. The results discovered cocoa powder, as the only component that prevents DNA extraction of lard in chocolate. No substantial polymerase chain reaction inhibition was detected, and thus confirms the cocoa powder’s inhibition on DNA extraction of lard from lard-adulterated chocolate. This finding will expedite new research to develop a method to dissociate the lard from the lard-cocoa powder complex, which will have high potential to be applied as a pre-treatment of the chocolate prior to the DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction.     

An approach to the study of elasto-plastohydrodynamic lubrication in the wire drawing process. Part 2: Theoretical predictions

The generalised Reynolds' equation for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, as applied to the wire-drawing process, together with the plasticity and energy equations have been adopted in solving the elasto-plastohydrodynamic lubrication problem in the wire-drawing process. The equations have been solved numerically using a finite difference technique with Gauss-Siedel iterative scheme to predict hydrodynamic behaviour and to correlate the forming parameters to the lubrication behaviour in an endeavour to find the optimum operating conditions for maximum precision and productivity. The effect of using either Newtonian or non-Newtonian lubricants on the process parameters has been also studied, to predict the most suitable lubricant type. The results indicate that the increase in the flow behaviour index increases the pressure gradient in the work zone, with a consequential reduction in oil film thickness. Also the minimum film thickness is highly influenced by the drawing speed. It can be concluded that the isothermal solution renders lower drawing stress than the adiabatic solution. The maximum shear stress, and hence the power loss, increases with the increase in die convergence angle.     

Radiation‐induced grafting of styrene onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) films. I. Effect of grafting conditions and properties of the grafted films

Radiation‐induced grafting of styrene onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) films was studied by a simultaneous irradiation technique. Grafting was carried out using γ‐radiation from a ⁶⁰Co source at dose rates of 1.32–15.0 kGy h⁻¹ at room temperature. The effects of type of diluent, dose rate, irradiation dose, and the initial monomer concentration in the grafting solution on the degree of grafting were investigated. The degree of grafting was found to be strongly dependent upon the grafting conditions. The dependence of the initial rate of grafting on the dose rate and the initial monomer concentration in the grafting solution was found to be in the order of 0.6 and 1.7, respectively. The chemical structure and the crystallinity of the grafted PTFE films were studied by means of Fourier‐transform infrared, (FTIR), electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) and X‐ray diffractometry (XRD). © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Protective effect of polyphenol‐rich extract prepared from Malaysian cocoa (Theobroma cacao) on glucose levels and lipid profiles in streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats

BACKGROUND: Cocoa beans are used for preparing cocoa liquor and cocoa powder, which are the main ingredients of cocoa‐based products. Previous studies have reported the health benefits of cocoa polyphenols in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, there is no report on the efficacy of cocoa polyphenols on diabetes mellitus. Therefore this study was designed to evaluate the protective effect of cocoa polyphenol‐rich extract (CE) on glucose levels and lipid profiles in streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetic rats. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats were divided into diabetic control, diabetic CE and diabetic glibenclamide groups. RESULTS: Three different dosages of CE (10, 20 and 30 mg per 100 g body weight) were administered orally once a day for 1 week before STZ injection and for 3 weeks thereafter. The results showed that CE could normalise the body weight loss caused by STZ. In the 20 mg CE‐pretreated group there was a 143% increase in plasma glucose levels, compared with a 226% increase in diabetic control rats. CE could also normalise total cholesterol, triglycerides and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol at the end of the experiment compared with the baseline. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that pretreatment with CE from roasted cocoa beans could prevent the development of diabetes induced by STZ injection in rats. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Channel Coding Scheme for 5G Mobile Communication System for Short Length Message Transmission

Wireless Personal Communications - Some channel coding schemes for 5G mobile communication system is facing difficulty in satisfying the user requirements in machine-type communication. This paper...     

Structural,Morphological, and Magnetic Properties of Electrodeposited CoNi Thin Films on the FTO Substrate

Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism - CoNi films were elaborated by electrodeposition onto FTO substrates using a chloride bath with a metallic ion molar ratio [Co2+]/[Ni2+] equals...     

Constrained Robust Control by a Novel Dynamic Sliding Mode Surface

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - In this paper, a sliding mode control (SMC) using a novel dynamic sliding surface is proposed for multi-input multi-output (MIMO)...     

Joint channel estimation and data detection for OFDM based cooperative system

Telecommunication Systems - Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing based cooperative system using Alamouti space–time block coding at relay node represents an alternative solution to...     

Adaptive observer design for nonlinear interconnected systems by the application of LaSalle's theorem

In this article, a class of nonlinear interconnected systems with uncertain time varying parameters (TVPs) is considered. Both the interconnections and the isolated subsystems are nonlinear. The differences between the unknown TVPs and their corresponding nominal values are assumed to be bounded where the nominal value is not required to be known. A dynamical system is proposed and then, the error systems between the original interconnected system and the designed dynamical system are analysed. A set of conditions is developed such that the augmented systems formed by the error dynamical systems and the designed adaptive laws are uniformly ultimately bounded. Specifically, the state observation errors are asymptotically convergent to zero based on the LaSalle's Theorem while the parameter estimation errors are uniformly ultimately bounded, and the classical condition of persistent excitation is not required. A case study on a coupled inverted pendulum system is presented to demonstrate the developed methodology, and simulation shows that the proposed approach is effective and practicable.     

Automatic seizure detection using a highly adaptive directional time–frequency distribution

Multidimensional Systems and Signal Processing - Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals can be used by a proficient neurologist to detect the presence of seizure activity inside the brain. Automated...