Physical Aging of Amorphous Fructose

ABSTRACT: Physical aging of amorphous anhydrous fructose at temperature 5 °C and at 22 °C was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The dynamic glass transition temperature, T_g0 for unaged samples was 16 °C and 13.3 °C for heating rate of 10 °C/min and 1 °C/min, respectively. The fictive temperature, T_f0 for unaged samples calculated by Richardson and Savill method was 12 °C, which is close to the dynamic value obtained from the lower DSC heating rate. The fictive temperature T_f of the aged fructose glasses at temperatures both below and above the transition region was fitted well by a non-exponential decay function (Williams-Watts form). Aging above the transition region (22 °C) for 18 d increased both the dynamic glass transition temperature T_g and the fictive temperature T_f. However, aging below the transition region (5 °C) for 1 d increased the dynamic glass transition temperature T_g but decreased the fictive temperature T_f.     

Size-controlled preparation of polyelectrolyte-protected gold nanoparticles by natural sunlight radiation

By radiating a linear polyethylenimine–HAuCl₄ aqueous solution with natural sunlight, we obtained polyelectrolyte-protected gold nanoparticles, and the size of such gold nanoparticles can be controlled by varying the molar ratio of polyelectrolyte to gold.     

First-order modeling and stability analysis of illusory contours

In visual cognition, illusions help elucidate certain intriguing latent perceptual functions of the human vision system, and their proper mathematical modeling and computational simulation are therefore deeply beneficial to both biological and computer vision. Inspired by existent prior works, the current paper proposes a first-order energy-based model for analyzing and simulating illusory contours. The lower complexity of the proposed model facilitates rigorous mathematical analysis on the detailed geometric structures of illusory contours. After being asymptotically approximated by classical active contours, the proposed model is then robustly computed using the celebrated level-set method of Osher and Sethian [S. Osher, J.A. Sethian, Fronts propagating with curvature-dependent speed: algorithms based on Hamilton–Jacobi formulations, J. Comput. Phys., 79 (12) (1988) 12–49] with a natural supervising scheme. Potential cognitive implications of the mathematical results are addressed, and generic computational examples are demonstrated and discussed.     

Deformation behaviour of iron-doped alumina

Compressive creep tests in air were carried out on 1 cat.% Fe-doped alumina at a temperature T=1400 °C. Iron doping affected the plastic deformation by different ways in relation with Fe²⁺ cations population. Fe²⁺ cations sped up the deformation rates. FeAl₂O₄ spinel precipitates were identified and they were found (i) to interact with alumina grain boundaries (ii) to limit the grain growth within a range of strain. The Fe²⁺ cations underwent oxidation and this resulted in the dissolution of the some precipitates and in the decrease of deformation rates. It was suggested that deformation sped up this evolution through mass transport and that time was not a dominating parameter.     

Application of spent grains to increase porosity in bricks

The dumping of spent grains is going to be more difficult because of the increasing number of cattle. That means new ways of dumping must be developed.The goal of the work was to test the technical properties of bricks produced with spent grains added to increase porosity.The flexural strength of the fired samples remained at 8.5 MPa; the air-dried samples exhibited a small increase in flexural strength. The shrinkage and true density were almost identical, while the raw density, capacity for water absorption and open porosity showed minor differences.In the large-scale experiment no problems were observed during the production. The bricks produced with spent grains possessed a comparable or higher strength, a higher porosity and a reduced density after firing than those from a standard production clay. Because of the lower sintering temperatures the fired clay product was more strongly sintered, exhibiting both greater strength and higher porosity.     

HPLC–MS analysis of the green food colorant sodium copper chlorophyllin

Five commercial samples of sodium copper chlorophyllin, a green food colorant, were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using diode-array detection (DAD) and mass spectrometry (MS). Some of the constituents were identified using authentic standards, whereas others were identified tentatively based on their absorption spectra and mass data. The composition of three of the samples was very similar, whereas the other two were quite different. In the three former samples, the three largest peaks could be assigned to Cu chlorin e₆, Cu chlorin p₆, and Cu isochlorin e₄. In one of the two other samples, these three compounds were also among the largest peaks, whereas Cu chlorin e₆ was a small peak in the last sample and Cu chlorin p₆ was absent altogether. Porphyrins were also present in the samples, while except in one of the samples chlorins derived from chlorophyll b were largely absent.Industrial relevanceSodium copper chlorophyllin is a green food colorant made from chlorophyll. Sodium copper chlorophyllin is made by saponifying chlorophyll and coppering the resulting product. This processing leads to a complex mixture of compounds. An analytical method was developed that can be used to identify many of these compounds and show the extent of coppering and degradation of sodium copper chlorophyllin, which may be used industrially to optimize the production of sodium copper chlorophyllin.     

Detection of acylated homoserine lactones in gram-negative proteolytic psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from cooled raw milk

Through a mechanism called quorum sensing, bacteria are able to express specific genes in response to population density. Cell-to-cell communication in bacteria is mediated by signal molecules such as acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs). This work aimed to detect AHL production in Gram-negative psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from raw milk. A total of 84.9% of the bacteria were identified as AHL producers eliciting a diversity of responses in the AHL-monitor systems. These results demonstrate that AHL-production is common among psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from milk, and indicate that quorum sensing may play an important role in the spoilage of this product.