Fermented beverage emulsion based on donkey milk with sunflower oil

Sunflower oil was added to donkey milk to increase the low energetic intake and improve both texture and healthy characteristics. This milk‐based emulsion was fermented using a binary association of two strains of Streptococcus thermophilus showing distinctive abilities. One strain (St 907) produced ropy exopolysaccharide (EPS), whereas the other strain (St 563) produced folic acid. Fermentation was stopped at pH 5.0 to prevent whey separation. The refrigerated product was stable at least for 20 days and showed improved viscoelastic properties due to the EPS combined with the oil droplets. The volatile profile was constituted of ketones, aldehydes, alcohols and fatty acids, mainly originated from microbial fermentation, whereas few other compounds suggested the presence of oxidative processes. The folic acid content in the fermented beverage was increased by more than 10 times (2.03 ± 0.17 μg/100 mL) with respect to that found in donkey milk (0.16 ± 0.03 μg/100 mL).     

Achieving high energy storage performance and breakdown strength in modified strontium titanate ceramics

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Lead-free ceramic capacitors with attractive properties such as their environmental friendliness, superior energy density, fast charge and...     

Genome-wide association study between copy number variants and hoof health traits in Holstein dairy cattle

Genome-wide association studies based on SNP have been completed for multiple traits in dairy cattle; however, copy number variants (CNV) could add genomic information that has yet to be harnessed. The objectives of this study were to identify CNV in genotyped Holstein animals and assess their association with hoof health traits using deregressed estimated breeding values as pseudophenotypes. A total of 23,256 CNV comprising 1,645 genomic regions were identified in 5,845 animals. Fourteen genomic regions harboring structural variations, including 9 deletions and 5 duplications, were associated with at least 1 of the studied hoof health traits. This group of traits included digital dermatitis, interdigital dermatitis, heel horn erosion, sole ulcer, white line lesion, sole hemorrhage, and interdigital hyperplasia; no regions were associated with toe ulcer. Twenty candidate genes overlapped with the regions associated with these traits including SCART1, NRXN2, KIF26A, GPHN, and OR7A17. In this study, an effect on infectious hoof lesions could be attributed to the PRAME (Preferentially Expressed Antigen in Melanoma) gene. Almost all genes detected in association with noninfectious hoof lesions could be linked to known metabolic disorders. The knowledge obtained considering information of associated CNV to the traits of interest in this study could improve the accuracy of estimated breeding values. This may further increase the genetic gain for these traits in the Canadian Holstein population, thus reducing the involuntary animal losses due to lameness.     

Verification of Applicability of the Polyurethane Adhesive Based on Castor Oil in the Manufacture of Glued Laminated Bamboo

The current concern with the environment promotes the development of new technologies for production with use of alternative materials, from renewable resources, and changes in production processes, having as main objective the reduction of environmental impact. One of the alternatives for cleaner production is the use of castor oil derivatives instead of non-renewable sources, such as adhesives based on PVA （polyvinyl acetate）, applied in the manufacturing process of glued laminated bamboo. Based on the versatility of the bamboo laminate and the castor oil, and from the perspective of sustainability, this study aims to contribute to the application of new materials and processes, used in the manufacturing industry, by proposing the use of the polyurethane adhesive based on castor oil for glued laminated bamboo manufacturing, which can later be used in the manufacture of several products. To verify the applicability of the polyurethane adhesive based on castor oil in the glued laminated bamboo manufacture, mechanical tests of traction and shearing of the glue sheet were performed in specimens of the said material, and the results were compared with the Cascorez 2590 and Waterbond adhesives. The results showed that the polyurethane adhesive based on castor oil, in the traction test, has superior performance than the Waterbond adhesive and slightly below than the Cascorez 2590 adhesive, but in the shear test, the polyurethane adhesive based on castor oil presented a slightly inferior performance than the other two adhesives used in the comparison.     

The missing piece: sediment records in remote Mountain lakes confirm glaciers being secondary sources of persistent organic pollutants

After atmospheric deposition and storage in the ice, glaciers are temporary reservoirs of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Recently, the hypothesis that melting glaciers represent secondary sources of these pollutants has been introduced by investigations of the historical trend of POPs in a dated sediment core from the proglacial Alpine Lake Oberaar. Here, the hypothesis is further confirmed by the comparison of sediment data gathered from two Alpine lakes with a glaciated and a nonglaciated hydrological catchment. The two lakes (Lake Engstlen and Lake Stein in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland) are situated only 8 km apart at similar altitude and in the same meteorological catchment. In the nonglacial lake sediment of Lake Engstlen, PCBs and DDT (polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane) levels culminated with the historic usage of these chemicals some 30-50 years ago. In the glacial Lake Stein, this peak was followed by a reincrease in the 1990s, which goes along with the accelerated melting of the adjacent glacier. This study confirms the hypothesis of glaciers being a secondary source of these pollutants and is in accordance with the earlier findings in Lake Oberaar.     

Spectral polarimetry technique as a complementary tool to ellipsometry of dielectric films

Ellipsometry is a highly sensitive optical technique for coating characterization but usually presents multiple solutions in many cases. To prevent these, a method with addition of a spectral polarimetric technique is proposed. An initial film dispersion curve, independently of its physical thickness, is then provided using the same setup as spectral ellipsometry and at the same sample position, which later is used for thickness determination and dispersion refinement with increase of reliability of results. Characterization of thin TiO2 films with one and two ellipsometric solutions is shown to corroborate the validity of the proposed method.     

A safety assessment methodology applied to CNS/ATM-based air traffic control system

In the last decades, the air traffic system has been changing to adapt itself to new social demands, mainly the safe growth of worldwide traffic capacity. Those changes are ruled by the Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) paradigm , based on digital communication technologies (mainly satellites) as a way of improving communication, surveillance, navigation and air traffic management services. However, CNS/ATM poses new challenges and needs, mainly related to the safety assessment process. In face of these new challenges, and considering the main characteristics of the CNS/ATM, a methodology is proposed at this work by combining “absolute” and “relative” safety assessment methods adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in ICAO Doc.9689 [14], using Fluid Stochastic Petri Nets (FSPN) as the modeling formalism, and compares the safety metrics estimated from the simulation of both the proposed (in analysis) and the legacy system models. To demonstrate its usefulness, the proposed methodology was applied to the “Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcasting” (ADS-B) based air traffic control system. As conclusions, the proposed methodology assured to assess CNS/ATM system safety properties, in which FSPN formalism provides important modeling capabilities, and discrete event simulation allowing the estimation of the desired safety metric.     

Compressive behaviour of a new reinforced masonry system

This paper presents the behaviour in compression of an innovative reinforced masonry system. The system is made of horizontally perforated units, having common steel bars or prefabricated trusses as horizontal reinforcement. At the wall edges or crossings, confining columns for vertical reinforcement are built with vertically perforated units. Experimental tests, aimed at obtaining basic mechanical characterisation of the construction system, were performed on single constitutive elements i.e., confining columns and masonry panels made of horizontally perforated units, and on completed reinforced masonry walls. Non-linear numerical models, interpreting stress and strain distributions, were developed on the basis of the results. In particular, this paper presents: (a) results of compression tests on columns, masonry panels, and complete reinforced masonry system; (b) comparison of walls built with two types of horizontal reinforcement; (c) outcome of numerical models; and (d) effectiveness of various design equations to evaluate the compressive strength of the system.     

Micro and nano-texturization of intermetallic oxide alloys by a single anodization step: preparation of artificial self-cleaning surfaces

Micro- and nanostructures of Ti-γCu (γ = 0, 30, 50, 70, and 100 wt %) intermetallic alloys were produced through a single anodization step. It was found that the original alloy composition influences the final oxide morphology obtained after anodization which presented formation of a microstructure with nanotubes, nanoparticles or nanopillars on the surface. Pure Ti and Cu oxide metals and their alloys presented hydrophilic or superhydrophilic properties immediately after anodization. When the anodized pure metal and/or Ti-γCu surfaces were functionalized with trimethoxypropylsilane (TPMSi), by dipping and coating with a thin perfluorinated layer, the treated substrates became in all cases superhydrophobic (water contact angles in the range of 152-166°), showing excellent self-cleaning properties with hysteresis below 3°. These results can be explained by a combination of nanomicro morphologies with low surface energy compounds in the topmost monolayers. The decrease in hysteresis was associated with a higher M-OH bond concentration on the anodized surfaces, which allowed for more complete TMPSi coating coverage. This study also indicates that easy and effective fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces in pure metals and alloys is possible without involving traditional multistep processes.     

Real-Time Monitoring of Organic Carrot (var. Romance) During Hot-Air Drying Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

The worldwide consumption of dried carrot (Daucus carota L.) is on a growing trend. Conventional methods for drying carrots include hot-water blanching followed by hot-air drying, which is usually uncontrolled and therefore prone to product quality deterioration. Thus, there is a need for innovative drying systems that yield high-value end products. In this study, the efficacy of NIR spectroscopy for the non-destructive monitoring of physicochemical changes and drying behaviour in organic carrot slices during 8-h hot-air drying at 40 °C was demonstrated using Partial least squares (PLS) regression and PLS discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The impact of hot-water blanching pre-treatment (at 95 °C for 1.45 min) for enzyme inactivation on performances of both regression and classification models was also evaluated. PLS regression models were successfully developed to monitor changes in water activity (R ² = 0.91–0.96), moisture content (R ² = 0.97–0.98), total carotenoids content (R ² = 0.92–0.96), lightness for unblanched carrots (R ² = 0.80–0.83) and hue angle for blanched samples (R ² = 0.85–0.87). Soluble solids content prediction was poor for both treatments (RMSEP = 3.43–4.40). Classification models were developed to recognise dehydration phases of carrot slices on the basis of their NIR spectral profile using K-means and PLS-DA algorithms in sequence. The performance of each PLS-DA model was defined based on its accuracy, sensitivity and specificity rates. All of the selected models provided from good (> 0.85) to excellent (> 0.95) sensitivity and specificity for the predefined drying phases. Feature selection procedures yielded both regression and classification models with performances very similar to models computed from the full spectrum.