Bio-oil extraction and physicochemical characterization of Caesalpinia pulcherrima plant seed oil

Dwarf Poinciana (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) seeds are studied for first time for the extraction of bio-oil. The dried and crushed seeds are optimized for maximum yield of bio-oil with a series of polar and nonpolar solvents and recovered by a simple distillation process. Methanol is found to yield the maximum bio-oil. The fatty acid analysis of bio-oil reveals the prevalence of linoleic acid (54.67%), followed by palmitic acid (16.9%), stearic acid (12.5%), and oleic acid (10.32%). Basic fuel properties like specific gravity, viscosity, refractive index, iodine value, saponification value, fire point, flash point, pour point, and calorific value are studied.     

Genetic Distance and Age Affect the Cuticular Chemical Profiles of the Clonal Ant Cerapachys biroi

Although cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have received much attention from biologists because of their important role in insect communication, few studies have addressed the chemical ecology of clonal species of eusocial insects. In this study we investigated whether and how differences in CHCs relate to the genetics and reproductive dynamics of the parthenogenetic ant Cerapachys biroi. We collected individuals of different ages and subcastes from several colonies belonging to four clonal lineages, and analyzed their cuticular chemical signature. CHCs varied according to colonies and clonal lineages in two independent data sets, and correlations were found between genetic and chemical distances between colonies. This supports the results of previous research showing that C. biroi workers discriminate between nestmates and non-nestmates, especially when they belong to different clonal lineages. In C. biroi, the production of individuals of a morphological subcaste specialized in reproduction is inversely proportional to colony-level fertility. As chemical signatures usually correlate with fertility and reproductive activity in social Hymenoptera, we asked whether CHCs could function as fertility-signaling primer pheromones determining larval subcaste fate in C. biroi. Interestingly, and contrary to findings for several other ant species, fertility and reproductive activity showed no correlation with chemical signatures, suggesting the absence of fertility related CHCs. This implies that other cues are responsible for subcaste differentiation in this species.     

Oleogels from Glycerol‐Based Lyotropic Liquid Crystals: Phase Diagrams and Structural Characterization

In the course of our studies on structured reverse lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC) as oleogels, a system was designed with the desired physical and rheology properties for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. The aqueous phase was partially replaced by glycerol to minimize bacteriological problems and obtain specific rheology characteristics. The constructed phase diagrams are based on ternary mixtures of glycerol monooleate (GMO), decane, water, and glycerol. The main lyotropic mesophase obtained in this study was reverse hexagonal derived from dilution line 8:2 (72 wt% GMO and 18 wt% decane) and 10 wt% water; or water:glycerol (wt ratios 3:1 and 1:1) mixture. It was found that heat‐cool fluctuation caused formation of new pseudo‐equilibrium structures with mesomorphic transformations to more fluid and less ordered mesostructures. Replacing up to 50 wt% of the water by glycerol significantly increases the gel phase region in the phase diagram, meaning more structural compositional options. The structural parameters were determined using cross‐polarized light microscopy (CPLM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD), and small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). Rheological measurements revealed viscoelastic properties of lyotropic liquid crystals with a decrease in the elasticity (G′), plasticity (G″), and complex viscosity (η*), as a function of increasing the glycerol content.     

Graph‐based resource allocation algorithms for multiuser downlink MIMO‐OFDMA networks

Multiuser multiple‐input multiple‐output orthogonal frequency division multiple access (MIMO‐OFDMA) is considered as the practical method to attain the capacity promised by multiple antennas in the downlink direction. However, the joint calculation of precoding/beamforming and resource allocation required by the optimal algorithms is computationally prohibitive. This paper proposes computationally efficient resource allocation algorithms that can be invoked after the precoding and beamforming operations. To support stringent and diverse quality of service requirements, previous works have shown that the resource allocation algorithm must be able to guarantee a specific data rate to each user. The constraint matrix defined by the resource allocation problem with these data rate constraints provides a special structure that lends to efficient solution of the problem. On the basis of the standard graph theory and the Lagrangian relaxation, we develop an optimal resource allocation algorithm that exploits this structure to reduce the required execution time. Moreover, a lower‐complexity suboptimal algorithm is introduced. Extensive simulations are conducted to evaluate the computational and system‐level performance. It is shown that the proposed resource allocation algorithms attain the optimal solution at a much lower computational overhead compared with general‐purpose optimization algorithms used by previous MIMO‐OFDMA resource allocation approaches. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Making Nonwoven Fibrous Poly(ε‐caprolactone) Constructs for Antimicrobial and Tissue Engineering Applications by Pressurized Melt Gyration

A pressurized melt gyration process has been used for the first time to generate poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) fibers. Gyration speed, working pressure, and melt temperature are varied and these parameters influence the fiber diameter and the temperature enabled changing the surface morphology of the fibers. Two types of nonwoven PCL fiber constructs are prepared. First, Ag‐doped PCL is studied for antibacterial activity using Gram‐negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa microorganisms. The melt temperature used to make these constructs significantly influences antibacterial activity. Neat PCL nonwoven scaffolds are also prepared and their potential for application in muscular tissue engineering is studied with myoblast cells. Results show significant cell attachment, growth, and proliferation of cells on the scaffolds.

     

Stabilization of Paste Viscosity of Cassava Starch by Heat Moisture Treatment

Cassava starch has poor paste stability during prolonged cooking. The starch was modified by heat moisture treatment. A premoistured starch (18–24% moisture) was subjected to heat treatment for 3–16h to bring about paste stability. Different types of heat treatments like moist pressure heating, dry heating and microwave heating was tried. The optimum heat treatment to bring about the paste stability was found to be 18–21% premoistured starch, which was heated at 110°C per 16h. The modified starch granules were intact and had comparatively increased sedimentation volume, oil binding capacity, amylase susceptibility, and decreaced crystallinity, water binding capacity, solubility and paste translucency. The freeze - thaw stability was excellent with modified cassava starch. “Pie filling and Halwa” (an Indian sweetmeat) made from modified cassava starch had good organoleptic properites.