Treatments with Xylanase at High (90 %) and Low (40 %) Water Content Have Different Impacts on Physicochemical Properties of Wheat Bran

The aim of the work was to elucidate the impacts of treatment with xylanase at high (90 %) and low (40 %) water contents on the structural and physicochemical properties of wheat bran. The bran treatments at 40 % water content, both with and without added xylanase, resulted in a smaller average bran particle size, more changes in bran microstructure, and higher solubilization of polysaccharides than the corresponding treatments at 90 %. Also, the water holding capacity of bran (3.6?±?0.1 g water/g bran dm), determined by Baumann method, decreased more already after 4-h xylanase treatments at 40 % (2.4?±?0.1) than at 90 % (2.9?±?0.2). The solubility of salt-extractable bran proteins decreased during the treatments, especially at 40 %, also without added xylanase. Protein aggregation was detected in the SDS?+?DTT-extractable bran fraction, which also contained small proteins of 10–20 kDa not detectable in the untreated bran. The use of xylanase had only minor effect on bran proteins as compared to the treatments without added xylanase. The results indicate the large role of mechanical shear on the bran properties at 40 % water content. The low arabinose/xylose ratio (0.32) in the bran water extract after 24-h xylanase treatment at 40 %, however, suggests that the solubilization of arabinoxylan was caused by enzymatic action, and not by mechanical degradation. Arabinose/xylose ratio of the bran water extract decreased similarly during all the treatments, suggesting similar solubilization pattern of arabinoxylan at both water contents. The study showed that bran properties can be significantly modified by adjusting the water content and mechanical energy used in processing.     

Pareto navigator for interactive nonlinear multiobjective optimization

We describe a new interactive learning-oriented method called Pareto navigator for nonlinear multiobjective optimization. In the method, first a polyhedral approximation of the Pareto optimal set is formed in the objective function space using a relatively small set of Pareto optimal solutions representing the Pareto optimal set. Then the decision maker can navigate around the polyhedral approximation and direct the search for promising regions where the most preferred solution could be located. In this way, the decision maker can learn about the interdependencies between the conflicting objectives and possibly adjust one’s preferences. Once an interesting region has been identified, the polyhedral approximation can be made more accurate in that region or the decision maker can ask for the closest counterpart in the actual Pareto optimal set. If desired, (s)he can continue with another interactive method from the solution obtained. Pareto navigator can be seen as a nonlinear extension of the linear Pareto race method. After the representative set of Pareto optimal solutions has been generated, Pareto navigator is computationally efficient because the computations are performed in the polyhedral approximation and for that reason function evaluations of the actual objective functions are not needed. Thus, the method is well suited especially for problems with computationally costly functions. Furthermore, thanks to the visualization technique used, the method is applicable also for problems with three or more objective functions, and in fact it is best suited for such problems. After introducing the method in more detail, we illustrate it and the underlying ideas with an example.     

Expected user experience of mobile augmented reality services: a user study in the context of shopping centres

The technical enablers for mobile augmented reality (MAR) are becoming robust enough to allow the development of MAR services that are truly valuable for consumers. Such services would provide a novel interface to the ubiquitous digital information in the physical world, hence serving in great variety of contexts and everyday human activities. To ensure the acceptance and success of future MAR services, their development should be based on knowledge about potential end users’ expectations and requirements. We conducted 16 semi-structured interview sessions with 28 participants in shopping centres, which can be considered as a fruitful context for MAR services. We aimed to elicit new knowledge about (1) the characteristics of the expected user experience and (2) central user requirements related to MAR in such a context. From a pragmatic viewpoint, the participants expected MAR services to catalyse their sense of efficiency, empower them with novel context-sensitive and proactive functionalities and raise their awareness of the information related to their surroundings with an intuitive interface. Emotionally, MAR services were expected to offer stimulating and pleasant experiences, such as playfulness, inspiration, liveliness, collectivity and surprise. The user experience categories and user requirements that were identified can serve as targets for the design of user experience of future MAR services.     

Design-inclusive UX research: design as a part of doing user experience research

Since the third wave in human–computer interaction (HCI), research on user experience (UX) has gained momentum within the HCI community. The focus has shifted from systematic usability requirements and measures towards guidance on designing for experiences. This is a big change, since design has traditionally not played a large role in HCI research. Yet, the literature addressing this shift in focus is very limited. We believe that the field of UX research can learn from a field where design and experiential aspects have always been important: design research. In this article, we discuss why design is needed in UX research and how research that includes design as a part of research can support and advance UX design practice. We do this by investigating types of design-inclusive UX research and by learning from real-life cases of UX-related design research. We report the results of an interview study with 41 researchers in three academic research units where design research meets UX research. Based on our interview findings, and building on existing literature, we describe the different roles design can play in research projects. We also report how design research results can inform designing for experience methodologically or by providing new knowledge on UX. The results are presented in a structured palette that can help UX researchers reflect and focus more on design in their research projects, thereby tackling experience design challenges in their own research.     

Transesterification of phospholipids in different reaction conditions

Transesterification of synthetic dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine with oleic acid by commercial lipase preparations fromAspergillus niger andRhizomucor miehei was studied in the presence and absence of solvent. A high-performance liquid chromatography method for determination of the modified phosphatidylcholine was developed. Under solvent-free conditions, transesterification could be carried out as efficiently as in toluene, and the degree of hydrolysis was lower than in toluene. Transesterification was influenced by the water content as well as by the fatty acid concentration in the reaction mixture. The optimum water content for transesterification in solvent-free reaction medium was higher than in toluene with both lipases. The yield of modified phosphatidylcholine increased, and the degree of hydrolysis decreased with increasing fatty acid concentration. The maximum yield of modified phospha-tidylcholine, 35% of the original phospholipid, was obtained withR. miehei lipase.     

Chylomicron and VLDL TAG structures and postprandial lipid response induced by lard and modified lard

Alterations in chylomicron and VLDL TAG and the magnitude of postprandial lipemia were studied in healthy volunteers after two meals of equal FA composition but different TAG-FA positional distribution. Molecular level information of individual lipoprotein TAG regioisomers was obtained with a tandem MS method. The incremental area under the response curve of VLDL TAG was large (P=0.021) after modified lard than after lard. In plasma TAG, the difference did not quite reach statistical significance (P=0.086). In general, there were less TAG with palmitic acid in the sn-2 position and more TAG with oleic acid in the sn-2 position in chylomicrons than in fat ingested. From 1.5 to 8 h postprandially, the proportion of individual chylomicron TAG was constant or influenced by TAG M.W. VLDL TAG regioisomerism was similar regardless of the positional distribution of fat ingested. Significant alterations were seen in VLDL TAG FA, in M.W. fractions, and in individual regioisomers with respect to time. The TAG sn-14∶0-18∶1-18∶1+sn-18∶1-18∶1-14∶0, sn-16∶0-16∶1-18∶1+sn-18∶1-16∶1-16∶0, and sn-16∶1-18∶1-18∶1+sn-18∶1-18∶1-16∶1 decreased (P<0.05); and sn-16∶0-16∶0-18∶2+sn-18∶2-16∶0-16∶0, sn-16∶0-16∶0-18∶1+sn-18∶1-16∶0-16∶0, sn-16∶0-18∶1-16∶0, and sn-16∶0-18∶1-18∶2+sn-18∶2-18∶1-16∶0 increased (P<0.05) after both meals. In conclusion, positional distribution of TAG FA was found to affect postprandial lipid metabolism in healthy normolipidemic subjects.     

Soiling of plasticized poly(vinyl chloride)

The effects of three plasticizers and two plasticizer concentrations on the topography and soiling of poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) were studied. Palmitic acid and triolein were chosen to represent solid and liquid soils. The feasibility of using infrared spectroscopy to quantify the amount of soil on PVC was examined. The structure of the solid model soil on plasticized PVC was studied with optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Palmitic acid formed two different structures on the PVC surface. Both the type and concentration of the plasticizer influenced the structure of the oily soil on plasticized PVC. The wetting of plasticized PVC with the liquid oily soil was compared to wetting with water through the measurement of the contact angles. Plasticized PVC was hydrophobic and oleophilic. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Interactive multiobjective optimization with NIMBUS for decision making under uncertainty

We propose an interactive method for decision making under uncertainty, where uncertainty is related to the lack of understanding about consequences of actions. Such situations are typical, for example, in design problems, where a decision maker has to make a decision about a design at a certain moment of time even though the actual consequences of this decision can be possibly seen only many years later. To overcome the difficulty of predicting future events when no probabilities of events are available, our method utilizes groupings of objectives or scenarios to capture different types of future events. Each scenario is modeled as a multiobjective optimization problem to represent different and conflicting objectives associated with the scenarios. We utilize the interactive classification-based multiobjective optimization method NIMBUS for assessing the relative optimality of the current solution in different scenarios. This information can be utilized when considering the next step of the overall solution process. Decision making is performed by giving special attention to individual scenarios. We demonstrate our method with an example in portfolio optimization.