Fatty acid accumulation in the different fractions of the developing corn kernel

In the food industry, the use of the oil is determined by the composition of fatty acids, and this is highly dependent on its natural origin. The fatty acid composition of whole corn kernel was determined in three varieties of corn (Astro, GH2547, and Local). Linoleic acid was the predominant fatty acid in the oil of Astro and Local at all collection dates, whereas it was the major fatty acid in the oil of GH2547 only between 40 and 60 days after pollination (DAP). The fatty acid accumulation in the endosperm, pericarp and germ fractions of the corn kernel during maturation was determined. The accumulation pattern of oil content was different in these three kernel fractions. The highest levels of oil content in the endosperm (2.2%), germ (34.3%) and pericarp (10.8%) fractions were detected at 20, 40 and 30 (DAP), respectively. The fatty acid accumulation patterns were different amongst the analysed kernel parts, indicating a numerous differences between the three corn kernel parts. Throughout the sampling periods, the endosperm fraction was distinguished by the highest and the lowest levels of oleic and linoleic acids, respectively. At all stages of kernel development, the pericarp fraction had the highest levels of total polyunsaturated fatty acids, which has numerous healthy applications. These results may be useful in the understanding of the potential source of the beneficial unsaturated fatty acids amongst the different fractions of the corn kernel during maturation.     

Mixed convective peristaltic flow of Eyring‐Prandtl fluid with chemical reaction and variable electrical conductivity in a tapered asymmetric channel

The influence of inconstant electrical conductivity and chemical reaction on the peristaltic motion of non‐Newtonian Eyring‐Prandtl fluid inside a tapered asymmetric channel is investigated. The system is concerned by a uniform external magnetic field. The heat and mass transfer are considered. The problem is controlled mathematically by a system of nonlinear partial differential equations which describe the velocity, temperature, and nanoparticle concentration of the fluid. By means of long wavelength and low Reynolds numbers, our system is simplified. It is explained by using the multi‐step differential transform method as a semi‐analytical technique. The distributions of velocity, temperature, nanoparticle concentration, as well as pressure gradient and pressure rise are obtained as a function of the physical parameters of the problem. The effects of these parameters on these distributions are deliberated numerically and illustrated graphically through a set of figures. The results indicate that the parameters play a significant role in controlling the velocity, temperature, nanoparticle concentration, pressure gradient, and pressure rise.     

Simulation of driver fatigue monitoring via blink rate detection,using 65 nm CMOS technology

This paper proposes a system to detect and measure blink rate to determine fatigue levels. The method involved analysing specific frames to determine that a blink occurred, and then monitoring the time between successive blinks. The program was simulated in python using a Raspberry Pi Zero and a standard USB camera. For the blink rate detection block, a gate level schematic was implemented in Cadence software using 65 nm CMOS technology. The design was based around an asynchronous 6-bit based edge counter which was designed using D-flip-flops. The simulation calculated the average blink rate and compared this to the most recent blink rate. The outcome would determine if an alarm signal should be sent to the alarm. The system consumed 130 μA from a 1.2 V power supply.     

Copy-move forgery detection of duplicated objects using accurate PCET moments and morphological operators

This paper presents a new method for copy-move forgery detection of duplicated objects. A bounding rectangle is drawn around the detected object to form a sub-image. Morphological operator is used to remove the unnecessary small objects. Highly accurate polar complex exponential transform moments are used as features for the detected objects. Euclidian distance and correlation coefficient between the feature vectors are calculated and used for searching the similar objects. A set of 20 forged images with duplicated objects is carefully selected from previously published works. Additional 80 non-forged images are edited by the authors and forged by duplicating different kinds of objects. Numerical simulation is performed where the results show that the proposed method successfully detect different kinds of duplicated objects. The proposed method is much faster than the previously existing methods. Also, it exhibits high robustness to various attacks such as additive white Gaussian noise, JPEG compression, rotation, and scaling.     

Physiological and biochemical markers in the process of resistance and/or tolerance of heavy metals in the abandoned mining area of Sidi Kamber,Skikda, Algeria

This paper reports the biomonitoring of metallic pollution in the mine of Sidi Kamber Skikda town, to determine the resistance and/or tolerance to Zn, Pb, Cd and Cu in metalliferous plants. During the period of March–May, 2015, soil and plants samples were collected from three different stations in the study area. The total heavy metal fraction was determined by ICP/MS, whereas biochemical markers were determined by spectrophotometric techniques. The results obtained showed high levels of heavy metals in soil and plants compared to international standards. The translocation factor revealed that the studied plants can transfer and/or accumulate metals in their roots or their aerial parts as a function of characteristics of each metal, soil contents and physiological role in the plant. The contents of chlorophyll, proline, total sugars and total proteins are directly influenced by changes in bioavailable contents of heavy metals. It has been found that the plants studied and biomarkers are better suited for phytoremediation and biomonitoring of heavy metals pollution.     

Low temperature ionothermal synthesis of TiO2 nanomaterials for efficient photocatalytic H2 production,dye degradation and photoluminescence studies

The photocatalytic hydrogen generation is a novel, eco-friendly and favourable method for production of green and clean energy using light energy. In this direction, we report low-temperature ionothermal method for the preparation of TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) using methoxy ethyl methyl imidazolium tris (pentafluoroethyl) trifluoro phosphate (MOEMINtf₂) as an ionic liquid (IL) at 120°C for 1 day. The synthesized nanomaterials were examined using different spectrochemical methods like UV-DRS, XRD, FT-IR, TEM, BET and TGA-DTA techniques. The mixed phase TiO₂ is obtained with 81.7% of anatase and 18.3% of rutile phase by the XRD studies, and average crystallite size is found to be ∼7 nm. The stretching of Ti-O bond (∼555 cm⁻¹) and few other bands related to ionic liquid were confirmed by FTIR spectrum. The band gap energy was observed to be ∼3.38 eV by UV-DRS analysis. TEM images reveal spherical shape with an average particles size of about 10 nm. Photocatalytic H₂ generation was carried out using TiO₂ NPs and observed the generation of 553 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ via water splitting reaction. Furthermore, the prepared TiO₂ NPs employed for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye (84.54%), and photoluminescence studies confirms the obtained material can be used in optoelectronic applications with green emission.     

An efficient routing protocol for cognitive radio networks of energy-limited devices

Telecommunication Systems - In the era of Internet-of-things (IoT), the future 5G networks are supposed to provide ubiquitous connectivity, high speed, as well as low latency and energy efficiency...     

The effect of a periodic tangential magnetic field on the stability of a horizontal magnetic fluid sheet

The current article aims at investigating the effect of a periodic tangential magnetic field on the stability of a horizontal flat sheet. The media were considered porous, the three viscous‐fluid layers were initially streaming with uniform velocities, and the magnetic field admitted the presence of free‐surface currents. Furthermore, the transfer of mass and heat phenomenon was taken into account. The analysis, in this paper, was followed by the viscous potential theory. Moreover, the stability of the boundary‐value problem resulted in coupled second‐order linear differential equations with damping and complex coefficients. In regard to the uniform and periodic magnetic field, the standard normal mode approach was applied to deduce a general dispersion relation and judge the stability criteria. In addition, several unfamiliar cases were reported, according to appropriate data choices. The stability conditions were theoretically analyzed, and the influences of the various parameters in the stability profile were identified through a set of diagrams. In accordance wth the oscillating field, the coupled dispersion equations were combined to give the established Mathieu equation. Therefore, the governed transition curves were, theoretically, obtained. Finally, the results were numerically confirmed.     

Effects of Pulsed Electric Fields on Cabernet Sauvignon Grape Berries and on the Characteristics of Wines

The treatment of Cabernet Sauvignon red grapes by pulsed electric fields (PEFs) is performed prior to vinification in order to enhance the extraction of polyphenols. PEF treatments of the longest duration and of the highest energy (E?= 0.7 kV/cm, t _PEF?=?200 ms, W?=?31 Wh/kg) changed the structure of grape skins and produced a wine that was richer in tannins (34 %), while treatment of the highest strength (E?=?4 kV/cm, t _PEF?=?1 ms, W =?4 Wh/kg) altered the visual appearance of phenolic compounds in the skins and led to greater extraction of the anthocyanins (19 %). The PEF treatments caused the depolymerization of skin tannins, improving the diffusion of these decondensed tannins which are smaller. The PEF treatment of longest duration and of the highest energy had more impact on the parietal tannins and the cell walls of the skins while treatment of the highest strength modified more the vacuolar tannins. Changes in the operating parameters of the PEF treatment (E?=?0.7 to 4 kV/cm, t _PEF?=?1 to 200 ms, W?=?4 to 31 Wh/kg) did not affect alcohol content, total acidity nor volatile acidity in finished wines compared to the values of the control wine, but seemed to cause a slight increase in pH (1–2 %).