The effect of storage on nutritional,textural and sensory characteristics of creamy ricotta made from whey as well as cow's milk and goat's milk

The aim of this study was to develop a creamy ricotta using a mixture of goat and cow whey as the main ingredients, with the addition of whole goat and cow milk. The nutritional composition, texture and sensory characteristics of the ricotta cheese were evaluated over 14 days of refrigerated storage. There was a decrease in protein and ash content and pH changes during the assessed storage periods. The instrumental texture profile indicated that the creamy ricotta was easily deformable, with minimal inelasticity and a cohesive, soft and delicate texture. The medium‐ and long‐chain fatty acid content was higher than the short‐chain fatty acid content. The flavour and aroma of creamy ricotta were described by the panel as having a soft texture and wet appearance. The use of whey from goat and cow cheese in making creamy ricotta is feasible and does not cause negative impact in the final product.     

ELAV proteins stabilize deadenylated intermediates in a novel in vitro mRNA deadenylation/degradation system

We have developed an in vitro mRNA stability system using HeLa cell cytoplasmic S100 extracts and exogenous polyadenylated RNA substrates that reproduces regulated aspects of mRNA decay. The addition of cold poly(A) competitor RNA activated both a sequence-specific deadenylase activity in the extracts as well as a potent, ATP-dependent ribonucleolytic activity. The rates of both deadenylation and degradation were up-regulated by the presence of a variety of AU-rich elements in the body of substrate RNAs. Competition analyses demonstrated that trans-acting factors were required for RNA destabilization by AU-rich elements. The approximately 30-kD ELAV protein HuR specifically bound to RNAs containing an AU-rich element derived from the TNF-alpha mRNA in the in vitro system. Interaction of HuR with AU-rich elements, however, was not associated with RNA destabilization. Interestingly, recombinant ELAV proteins specifically stabilized deadenylated intermediates generated from the turnover of AU-rich element-containing substrate RNAs. These data suggest that mammalian ELAV proteins play a role in regulating mRNA stability by influencing the access of degradative enzymes to RNA substrates.     

Stochastic optimization of mine production scheduling with uncertain ore/metal/waste supply

Optimization of long-term mine production scheduling in open pit mines deals with the management of cash flows, typically in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars. Conventional mine scheduling u...     

Evaluation of the full operational cycle of a CMOS transfer-gated photodiode active pixel

In this paper we evaluate the full operational cycle of the active-pixel circuit for CMOS image sensors in which four field-effect transistors are suitably combined with an ordinary photodiode; meaning a vertical p–n junction, as opposed to photogates, and with no custom pinned layer. Although this circuit topology itself is not novel, this evaluation intends to shine new light on the use of regular photodiodes. They became largely in disuse in four-transistor image chips under earlier process and design circumstances because the fourth transfer-gate FET did not hold a constant signal long enough and not for a fixed time. Our aim is to investigate the full underlying operational regimen of the transfer gate to propose that a regular photodiode might again be a choice to consider in the four-transistor pixel configuration, not only in conventional imaging but also in dedicated optical applications. The use of an ordinary p–n junction photodiode is advantageous as it offers full compatibility with even elementary mainstream CMOS processes. This investigation resorts to experiments and models both with fabricated integrated pixels and with a macro-pixel circuit implementation.     

Softwaretransparenz

Software transparency is a new and important concern that software developers must deal with. As society moves towards increased automation, if citizens wish to exercise their right to know, the transparency of public services and processes acquires fundamental importance. Informed discourse is only possible if processes affecting the public are open to evaluation. Achieving software transparency to this level of openness faces several roadblocks. The paper reports on initial findings on exploring the obstacles for enabling software transparency.     

Laboratory evaluation of recycled construction and demolition waste for pavements

The wide production of construction and demolition waste and its illegal deposition are serious current problems in Brazil. This research proposes to evaluate the feasibility of using aggregate from recycled construction and demolition waste (RCDW) in pavement applications. A laboratory program was conducted by geotechnical characterization, bearing capacity and repeated load triaxial tests. The results show that the composition and the compactive effort influence on the physical characteristics of the RCDW aggregate. The compaction process has promoted a partial crushing and breakage of RCDW particles, changing the grain-size distribution and increasing the percentage of cubic grains. This physical change contributes to a better densification of the RCDW aggregate and consequently an improvement in bearing capacity, resilient modulus and resistance to permanent deformation. The results have shown that the RCDW aggregate may be utilized as coarse base and sub-base layer for low-volume roads.     

Synthesis of core-shell Au@polypyrrole nanocomposite using a dendrimer-template approach

Conducting polymeric nanostructures have been reported recently, which were produced from polypyrrole (PPy), including hollow nanocapsules, nanofibers, nanoporous membranes, nanowires, and nanofilms. In most cases, new synthetic routes were used aimed at controlling specific properties of these conducting nanostructures at the molecular level. In this communication we present a new chemical route to synthesize polypyrrole-based nanocomposites, in which polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers encapsulating Au nanoparticles are used as template. The two-step synthesis comprises the reduction of Au nanoparticles inside PAMAM molecules followed by PPy polymerization around the PAMAM-Au nanoparticles. The structure of the core-shell PAMAM-gold@polypyrrole nanospheres comprises a 40 nm PPy shell enclosing a core of 3 nm gold nanoparticles, as revealed by Transmission Electronic Microscopy (TEM). This new, environmentally-friendly approach may be suitable to produce hybrid nanomaterials for applications in catalysis, batteries, sensors, and micro/nanoelectronic devices.     

Grain growth inhibition by connected porosity in sintered niobium

Pore–boundary interaction plays an important role in densification during solid-state sintering. This paper reports the evolution of porosity and grain size in niobium sintered at 2073 and 2273 K for different sintering times. The densification curves show a decrease in porosity up to 8 and 4 vol.% after 10,800 s for the samples sintered at 2073 and 2273 K, respectively. Grain growth is observed to take place together with this decrease in porosity. A new model for grain growth inhibition during sintering is proposed for connected porosity. This model considers that the moving grain boundaries and the outer surface of cylindrical pores remain in contact during grain growth and that energy dissipation takes place owing to the fact that the grain boundary is moving relative to the porosity. Our mechanism is akin to a friction between the grain boundary and the connected porosity at their contact region. In contrast to the traditional particle–grain boundary bypassing mechanisms, the present model is not a purely geometrical relationship but is material dependent. The model gives agrees well with experimental results obtained in this paper for sintered niobium as well as for other sintered materials reported in the literature. Our model is a novel approach to treating grain growth inhibition by pores during the sintering stage in which the porosity becomes interconnected.     

Supply chain risk classification: discussion and proposal

The supply chain management philosophy has often been used by organisations to achieve a competitive advantage, but it increases the vulnerability of these supply chains (SC) to certain risks. This dialogue between competitive advantage and risk generation has increased the number of studies related to the topic of ‘supply chain risk management’. Aiming to contribute to this field of research, a literature survey was conducted on 16 risk classifications, which included 56 risk types. These risk types were sorted according to existing conceptual similarities and then related to the five management processes intrinsic in a functional SC (plan, source, make, deliver and return), which are mainly advocated by the supply chain operations reference model. This literature review also highlights the lack of consensus among the surveyed authors concerning the risk types that affect a SC, a gap which this paper seeks to close by proposing a supply chain risk classification.