Effect of Drying Treatment on Physical Identification Characteristics of Irradiated Seasonings

The effect of different drying treatments such as spray drying and vacuum drying on the sensitivity of physical detection methods (photostimulated luminescence (PSL), electron spin resonance (ESR), and thermoluminescence (TL)) was investigated for four types of irradiated seasonings. The slurry feed of each seasoning was exposed to γ-ray irradiation at doses of 0, 5, 10 kGy before being subjected to drying process. Spray drying was applied to beef and soybean seasoning while garlic and broth seasoning were exposed to vacuum drying according to routine protocols adopted in the industry. The samples were analyzed by PSL as a rapid screening method followed by validated methods including ESR spectroscopy and TL analysis. The PSL photon counts drastically dropped in all irradiated samples after both drying processes. No ESR signal was obtained from any of the irradiated seasonings before or after the drying applications. All the irradiated seasoning samples produced typical TL glow curves between the specific temperature range of 150–250 °C. However, the shape, peak, and intensity of TL glow curves were greatly affected particularly after the spray drying treatment. In conclusion, the dry treatment can significantly affect the irradiation detection characteristics in seasoning samples.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Development and application of intensified envelope analysis for the condition monitoring system using acoustic emission signal

The application of the high-frequency acoustic-emission (AE) technique in the condition monitoring of rotating machinery has been increasing of late. It has a major drawback, though, the attenuation of the signal, and as such, the AE sensor has to be close to its source. Two signal-processing methods, envelope analysis and wavelet transform, were found to be useful for detecting faults in the rolling element bearing and gearboxes. These methods have a disadvantage, though: their application is focused only on a component of the assembled machine. For example, envelope analysis is a powerful method for detecting faults in the bearing system, but it is not proper for use in the gear system. Thus, these methods could not be used to detect combined faults in the common assembled machines. Therefore, we propose a signal-processing method consisting of envelope analysis and DWT (discrete wavelet transform). In addition, a novel mother function optimized for the AE signal for DWT was extracted through a fatigue crack growth test, and is also proposed herein. Then the proposed method, called intensified envelope analysis (IEA), was used to detect the faults in the rolling element bearing and rotating shaft. According to the results, IEA can be a better signal processing method for the condition monitoring system using AE technique.     

Carpesium abrotanoides extract inhibits inducible nitric oxide synthase expression induced by toll-like receptor agonists

Inflammation is a pathological and physiological process which is known to be involved in numerous diseases, while it is notable that a considerable proportion of chronic inflammatory diseases overlap with the development of cancer. One of the most important proteins for inflammatory responses is inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). The present study investigated the effect of the extract of Carpesium abrotanoides L. (ECA) on inflammation by modulating iNOS expression induced by toll-like receptors (TLRs) agonists in murine macrophages. ECA suppressed iNOS expression induced by lipopolysaccharide (TLR4 agonist), macrophage-activating lipopeptide 2-kDa (TLR2 and TLR6 agonist), and polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (TLR3 agonist). All the results suggest that ECA can modulate TLR signaling pathways and subsequent chronic inflammatory responses.     

Effects of light and lipids on chlorophyll degradation

Stability of chlorophylls was studied in a system of paraffin oil with added oleic acid or triolein under 1,700 lx and in the dark. Chlorophyll contents were determined using HPLC. Sample oxidation was evaluated using the headspace oxygen content based on GC and the peroxide value. The chlorophyll content decreased with time and was higher and decreased faster under light than in the dark. Singlet oxygen was involved in chlorophyll degradation under light. Chlorophyll degradation was lower and slower in samples with added lipids than in samples without lipids. Protection of chlorophyll from photodegradation was greater using triolein than using oleic acid. Oxidation was slightly higher in samples with added lipids than in samples without lipids, however, there was no significant (p>0.05) difference between samples with added oleic acid or triolein. Decreased chlorophyll degradation under light by lipids is due to competition between lipids and chlorophyll for singlet oxygen.     

The effects of particle size on the physicochemical properties of optimized astaxanthin-rich Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous-loaded microparticles

To improve the entrapment efficiency (EE) of astaxanthin-rich Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous (ASX)-loaded calcium alginate gel (ASX-CAG) microparticles, we used a response surface methodology to optimize preparation conditions including the ratio of ASX to total material (X₁), alginate concentration (X₂), and CaCl₂ concentration (X₃). The EE and the mean size of the ASX-CAG microparticles were 76.7 g/100 g and 210.26 μm, respectively, after preparation under optimal conditions: 24 g ASX/100 g total material, 1.0 g/100 g alginate, and 200 mmol/L CaCl₂. The effects of particle size on different characteristics were evaluated with increasing microparticle size; an increase in microparticle size significantly increased EE and the antioxidant activity of ASX, but resulted in a decrease in the release of entrapped ASX. Most importantly, the lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity of encapsulated ASX (55.1%) was significantly higher and longer-lasting than that of non-encapsulated ASX (40.5%) after 36 h of storage as determined using the thiobarbituric acid method.     

A simple device unit consisting of all NiO storage and switch elements for multilevel terabit nonvolatile random access memory

Present charge-based silicon memories are unlikely to reach terabit densities because of scaling limits. As the feature size of memory shrinks to just tens of nanometers, there is insufficient volume available to store charge. Also, process temperatures higher than 800 °C make silicon incompatible with three-dimensional (3D) stacking structures. Here we present a device unit consisting of all NiO storage and switch elements for multilevel terabit nonvolatile random access memory using resistance switching. It is demonstrated that NiO films are scalable to around 30 nm and compatible with multilevel cell technology. The device unit can be a building block for 3D stacking structure because of its simple structure and constituent, high performance, and process temperature lower than 300 °C. Memory resistance switching of NiO storage element is accompanied by an increase in density of grain boundary while threshold resistance switching of NiO switch element is controlled by current flowing through NiO film.     

Graft copolymer-templated mesoporous TiO(2) films micropatterned with poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel: novel platform for highly sensitive protein microarrays

In this study, we describe the use of organized mesoporous titanium oxide (TiO(2)) films as three-dimensional templates for protein microarrays with enhanced protein loading capacity and detection sensitivity. Multilayered mesoporous TiO(2) films with high porosity and good connectivity were synthesized using a graft copolymer consisting of a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) backbone and poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) (POEM) side chains as a structure-directing template. The average pore size and thickness of the TiO(2) films were 50-70 nm and 1.5 μm, respectively. Proteins were covalently immobilized onto mesoporous TiO(2) film via 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), and protein loading onto TiO(2) films was about four times greater than on planar glass substrates, which consequently improved the protein activity. Micropatterned mesoporous TiO(2) substrates were prepared by fabricating poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel microstructures on TiO(2) films using photolithography. Because of non-adhesiveness of PEG hydrogel towards proteins, proteins were selectively immobilized onto surface-modified mesoporous TiO(2) region, creating protein microarray. Specific binding assay between streptavidin/biotin and between PSA/anti-PSA demonstrated that the mesoporous TiO(2)-based protein microarrays yielded higher fluorescence signals and were more sensitive with lower detection limits than microarrays based on planar glass slides.     

Trap-assisted tunneling in Si-InAs nanowire heterojunction tunnel diodes

We report on the electrical characterization of one-sided p(+)-si/n-InAs nanowire heterojunction tunnel diodes to provide insight into the tunnel process occurring in this highly lattice mismatched material system. The lattice mismatch gives rise to dislocations at the interface as confirmed by electron microscopy. Despite this, a negative differential resistance with peak-to-valley current ratios of up to 2.4 at room temperature and with large current densities is observed, attesting to the very abrupt and high-quality interface. The presence of dislocations and other defects that increase the excess current is evident in the first and second derivative of the I-V characteristics as distinct peaks arising from trap-and phonon-assisted tunneling via the corresponding defect levels. We observe this assisted tunneling mainly in the forward direction and at low reverse bias but not at higher reverse biases because the band-to-band generation rates are peaked in the InAs, which is also confirmed by modeling. This indicates that most of the peaks are due to dislocations and defects in the immediate vicinity of the interface. Finally, we also demonstrate that these devices are very sensitive to electrical stress, in particular at room temperature, because of the extremely high electrical fields obtained at the abrupt junction even at low bias. The electrical stress induces additional defect levels in the band gap, which reduce the peak-to-valley current ratios.     

Transformable functional nanoscale building blocks with wafer-scale silicon nanowires

Through the fusion of electrostatics and mechanical dynamics, we demonstrate a transformable silicon nanowire (SiNW) field effect transistor (FET) through a wafer-scale top-down approach. By felicitously taking advantage of the proposed electrostatic SiNW-FET with mechanically movable SiNWs, all essential logic gates, including address decoders, can be monolithically integrated into a single device. The unification of various functional devices, such as pn-diodes, FETs, logic gates, and address decoders, can therefore eliminate the complex fabrication issues associated with nanoscale integration. These results represent a step toward the creation of multifunctional and flexible nanoelectronics.