Estimation of Oil Content and Fatty Acid Composition in Cottonseed Kernel Powder Using Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Oil content and fatty acid composition in 444 ground cottonseed kernel samples were analyzed using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS). Calibration equations were developed for oil and fatty acid contents with the modified partial least squares (MPLS) regression method. The correlations between NIRS and reference values in external validation were in agreement with the predictions in calibration. Each equation was assessed based on the relative prediction determinant for external validation (RPD_v). Equations corresponding to total oil content (RPD_v = 11.495) and linoleic acid (RPD_v = 5.026) showed high accuracy. For palmitic acid (RPD_v = 1.914), myristic acid (RPD_v = 1.724) and oleic acid (RPD_v = 1.999), the equations were predicted with relatively high accuracy while those for palmitoleic acid (RPD_v = 0.686), stearic acid (RPD_v = 0.792), linolenic acid (RPD_v = 0.475) and 1-eicosenoic acid (RPD_v = 0.619) were poorly predicted. The equations for traits with RPD_v > 1.5 could be reliably used in screening samples for breeding programs.     

Design Patent Map: An Innovative Measure for Corporative Design Strategies

Abstract:

The design patent map is one of the essential strategic measures for formulating design strategies. Because the design patent is considered less definite than other patent categories, it is relatively difficult to create a design patent map. No study has been discovered in a worldwide search of patent documents or publications that is relevant to design patent maps, proving the innovative nature of this study. The authors have extracted 96 representative works for bicycle frame design patents that were published from 1992 to 2003 and have used them as the study samples. To ensure precise interpretation of the technical data of bicycle frames and to create the design patent map, the authors have interviewed 11 design patent examiners who have an average of 10 years of experience in patent examination, and are currently working in the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office. Based on the matrix for the available patenting capability and the degree of need for patents, the authors have further converted the design patent map into nine feasibly specific design strategies: (1) overall seizure, (2) expansion, (3) closing-in, (4) envelopment, (5) dispersion, (6) pincer attack, (7) division, (8) deviation, and (9) abandonment. As a result, enterprises will be able to employ the design patent map developed in this study to customize their own design strategies. Such a strategic measure will soon become a new competitive edge for enterprises with the arrival of the knowledge economy era.     

Layered WO3/TiO2 nanostructures with enhanced photocurrent densities

Layered WO₃/TiO₂ nanostructures, fabricated by magnetron sputtering, demonstrate significantly enhanced photocurrent densities compared to individual TiO₂ and WO₃ layers. First, a large quantity of compositions having different microstructures and thicknesses were fabricated by a combinatorial approach: diverse WO₃ microstructures were obtained by adjusting sputtering pressures and depositing the films in form of wedges; later layers of TiO₂ nanocolumns were fabricated thereon by the oblique angle deposition. The obtained photocurrent densities of individual WO₃ and TiO₂ films show thickness and microstructure dependence. Among individual WO₃ layers, porous films exhibit increased photocurrent densities as compared to the dense layer. TiO₂ nanocolumns show length-dependent characteristics, where the photocurrent increases with increasing film thickness. However, by combining a WO₃-wedge type layer with a layer of TiO₂ nanocolumns, PEC properties strikingly improve, by about two orders of magnitude as compared to individual WO₃ layers. The highest photocurrent that is measured in the combinatorial library of porous WO₃/TiO₂ films is as high as 0.11 mA/cm². Efficient charge-separation and charge carrier transfer processes increase the photoconversion efficiency for such films.