Influence of variation in calcium content on casein micelle stability and techno-functional properties of buffalo milk

Changes in techno-functional properties of buffalo milk were evaluated due to variation in calcium content. Decalcification resulted in significant variation in ζ-potential, casein size, colour and η_app. However, calcium addition only influenced ζ-potential of milk. In case of acid gelation, the time and temperature required for coagulation decreased significantly for both calcium-depleted and -added milks. However, during chymosin gelation, only 20%–30% of calcium-depleted milk coagulated with an increased clotting time. Furthermore, calcium addition increased firmness, consistency and cohesiveness of both chymosin and acid-induced gelation.     

Study of new flow field geometries to enhance water redistribution and pressure head losses reduction within PEM fuel cell

Efficiency of fuel cell is dependent on reactant distribution, products evacuation, pressure losses and many of these factors is dependent on the design of flow field plate. With an effective design, reactant distribution, pressure drop, and water and heat management can be further improved. In this work, two new designs, as multi-serpentine set-up with additional slots and hybrid geometry, on stainless steel bipolar plates, are presented. Electrical performance, and pressure head losses are analyzed by electrochemical methods such as polarization curve and use of electrochemical noise as a diagnostic tool to further understand the impact of water management on performance. On the one hand, multi-serpentine design shows the best electrical performance with an increase of 0.2 V (66%) at 0.9 A/cm² in comparison of traditional serpentine design. On the other hand, hybrid design reveals the lowest pressure head losses, with a decrease of 2 mbar (about 50%) in comparison of traditional serpentine design, and a higher stability with time that can be useful to downsize compressor and provide lower impact on fuel cell stack durability.     

Hybrid plasmonic label-free multi-analyte refractive index sensor

We propose a label-free refractive index sensor based on hybrid plasmonic resonator which consists of silver split-ring resonator and photonic waveguide. The finite difference time domain evaluation of the design exhibit strong field confinement at the center of the ring and introduces tunable and sensitive notches in the transmission spectrum. The planar tunable architecture which performs well over the range of micro fluid detection, holds the promise of developing multi-analyte label-free biosensors and compactness towards a complete on-chip integrated sensing system. The performance of the proposed refractive index sensor is evaluated by placing different analytes such as saline water and ethanol at the center of the hybrid plasmonic ring which exhibits sensitivity of 847.50 nm.RIU-1 with a figure of merit of 563.25 RIU-1.     

The Perception of Graph Properties in Graph Layouts

When looking at drawings of graphs, questions about graph density, community structures, local clustering and other graph properties may be of critical importance for analysis. While graph layout algorithms have focused on minimizing edge crossing, symmetry, and other such layout properties, there is not much known about how these algorithms relate to a user's ability to perceive graph properties for a given graph layout. In this study, we apply previously established methodologies for perceptual analysis to identify which graph drawing layout will help the user best perceive a particular graph property. We conduct a large scale (n = 588) crowdsourced experiment to investigate whether the perception of two graph properties (graph density and average local clustering coefficient) can be modeled using Weber's law. We study three graph layout algorithms from three representative classes (Force Directed ‐ FD, Circular, and Multi‐Dimensional Scaling ‐ MDS), and the results of this experiment establish the precision of judgment for these graph layouts and properties. Our findings demonstrate that the perception of graph density can be modeled with Weber's law. Furthermore, the perception of the average clustering coefficient can be modeled as an inverse of Weber's law, and the MDS layout showed a significantly different precision of judgment than the FD layout.     

Nonlinear Dynamic Response of Cylindrical Roller Bearing–Rotor System with 9 Degree of Freedom Model Having a Combined Localized Defect at Inner–Outer Races of Bearing

This article presents a nonlinear dynamic model for a cylindrical roller bearing–rotor system with interaction forces between the inner race, outer race, and roller. Roller–race contacts are modeled predicting nonlinear stiffness (Hertz contact theory) and nonlinear damping for a rotor–cylindrical roller bearing system. Here a shaft–rotor bearing system is modeled with 9 degrees of freedom with one defect on the inner race and one defect on the outer race for a case of combined localized defects. In the mathematical formulation, contacts between rolling elements and inner and outer races are considered as nonlinear springs and nonlinear damping is taken into consideration. Contact force calculations with nonlinearity are solved using the Newton-Raphson method for n unknown nonlinear simultaneous equation. The Newmark-β implicit integration technique coupled with the Newton-Raphson method is used to solve the differential equations. The results are obtained in the form of a time domain plot, frequency domain plot, and phase plot/Poincare map. The validity of the proposed model is compared with experimental results. A bifurcation graph of speed versus peak amplitude predicts the behavior of the system.     

Performance analysis of MIMO–OFDM free space optical communication system with low-density parity-check code

In this paper, we have evaluated the performance of a low-density parity-check (LDPC)-coded multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) free space optical (FSO) communication system. Closed form expressions for the average bit error rate and throughput with diversity using equal gain combining have been obtained for the system under consideration. The Monte Carlo simulation has been carried out for the verification of the results. The performance of the QPSK and 16 QAM modulations is evaluated for different weather and atmospheric turbulence conditions. The results are also compared for both, QPSK and 16 QAM for SISO–OFDM, \(2\times 2\) and \(4 \times 4\) MIMO–OFDM FSO communication system. The results show that the performance of the system under consideration improves, as we move from SISO–OFDM to \(4 \times 4\) MIMO–OFDM. The results also show that the effect of weather is very much pronounced on the system and the performance in terms of average bit error rate of QPSK is better than 16 QAM in the presence of every weather condition. However, the later provides better throughput. Regular LDPC codes with code rate 1/2 have been applied to the simulated results, yielding high coding gains. Coding gain of 29.5 and 22 dB is achieved for QPSK and 16 QAM, respectively, for \(4 \times 4\) MIMO–OFDM.     

Variation in the molecular mass of exopolysaccharides during the time course of extended fermentations of skimmed milk by lactic acid bacteria

The weight average molecular mass (M_w) of the exopolysaccharide (EPS) secreted by Lactobacillus acidophilus 5e2 when grown on skimmed milk supplemented by glucose was monitored during extended fermentation times. During the exponential growth phase, the increase in M_w closely followed the increase in yield of EPS. Under the fermentation conditions applied in this study, few if any new polysaccharide chains were formed during this growth phase despite a twenty five-fold increase in the cell count; almost the entire increase in yield can be accounted for by an increase in chain length. These results suggest that synthesis of new EPS chains is switched off during the exponential and stationary phase of fermentation. The increase in yield observed in this period is a consequence of the bacteria's ability to extend existing chains right up to the mid-stationary phase. These results raise questions about the factors that control EPS production and chain length.     

Survey of bottled drinking waters sold in Canada for chlorate, bromide, bromate, lead, cadmium and other trace elements

Mineral, spring and other bottled drinking waters sold in Canada in the winter of 1995-96 were surveyed for chlorate, bromide, bromate, Cr(VI), Li, B, Al, Mn, Cu, Zn, Sr, Ba, Be, V, Cr, Co, Ni, As, Se, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sb, Tl, Pb, Na, K, Ca and Mg. Chlorate and bromide were determined by ion chromatography (IC) with conductivity detection, Cr(VI) by IC with colorimetric detection, bromate by solvent extraction and gas chromatography (GC), trace elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), and Na, K, Ca and Mg by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAA). Most chemicals in the 199 samples analysed were well within national and international drinking water guidelines. World Health Organization and/or Canadian drinking water guidelines were exceeded for B (22 samples), Al (9), Cr (1), Mn (5), Ni (1), As (10), Se (24) and Pb (1). Bromate levels are reported for information purposes and are considered as the maximum concentrations in the samples. In three distilled water products, unexpectedly high concentrations of Cu (88-147 µg l^-1) and Ni (16-35 µg l^-1) were found, and a comparison of distilled and non-distilled waters from two of the brands suggested the likely cause to be contamination during the distillation process. Li concentration in one sample was at a therapeutic dose and could pose an overdose risk to individuals on Li medication.     

Axi-symmetric problem in micropolar elastic half-space with stretch

The present investigation is concerned with axisymmetric problem in micropolar elastic half-space with stretch. The displacement, force stress, couple stress and vector first moment are obtained for a half-space subjected to an arbitrary normal load and a particular case of impulsive force is studied in detail. The graphs for various quantities have been drawn to illustrate the effect of stretch in each particular case.