Microencapsulation of Nigella sativa seeds oil containing thymoquinone by spray‐drying for functional yogurt production

The present work reports on the microencapsulation of Nigella sativa seeds oil containing thymoquinone (TQ) by spray‐drying, using modified starch (MS) and maltodextrin (MD) mixture as wall materials aimed at producing functional yogurt. First, the impact of different ratios of MS/MD on microencapsulation efficiency (ME) and TQ retention was investigated. The highest ME (90.10%) was found in microcapsules prepared from emulsion with 80/20 ratio of MS/MD; however, the microcapsules prepared with 50/50 ratio was selected for considering TQ stability under storage conditions and functional yogurt production due to an acceptable ME (89.48%) and better TQ retention (61.12%). The results showed that the microcapsules stored at refrigerator temperature had the highest content of TQ after 4 weeks. Moreover, the results of chemical and sensory analysis suggest that N. sativa seeds oil microcapsules can be used for producing functional yogurt due to high stability of TQ and proper chemical and sensory properties.     

The characteristics of hot mixed asphalt modified by nanosilica

The objective of this research is to investigate the characteristics of the hot mixed asphalt modified by 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% nanosilica by weight of binder. Marshall stability, dynamic creep, and indirect tensile tests were used to study effects of nanosilica on performance characteristics of the mixtures. Results showed that nanosilica can improve Marshall stability, resilient modulus, indirect tensile strength, and fatigue life compared to unmodified mixtures. However, the tensile strength ratio parameter in the moisture sensitivity tests indicated a decrease in the resistance of the modified mixtures against moisture damage.     

Density functional study of the structural,electronic, elastic and thermodynamic properties of ACRu3 (A = V,Nb and Ta) compounds

Using a density functional scheme, we have investigated for the first time the structural, electronic, elastic and thermal properties of the ideal cubic antiperovskite carbides ACRu₃ (A = V, Nb, Ta). The computed equilibrium lattice constants are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. The electronic band structures and densities of states profiles show that the studied compounds are conductors. Analysis of atomic site projected local density of states reveals that the bonding character may be described as a mixture of covalent–ionic and, due to the d states in the vicinity of the Fermi level, metallic. Pressure dependence up to 50 GPa of the single crystal and polycrystalline elastic constants has been investigated in details. Analysis of the B/G ratios shows that VCRu₃ is slightly brittle while NbCRu₃ and TaCRu₃ are slightly ductile. We have estimated the sound velocities in the principal directions. Through the quasi-harmonic Debye model, in which the phononic effects are taken into account, the temperature and pressure effects on the lattice constant, bulk modulus, heat capacity and Debye temperature are performed.     

In situ emulsion polymerization and characterization of PVAc nanocomposites including colloidal silica nanoparticles for wood specimens bonding

Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) nanocomposites for wood adhesives containing different amounts of colloidal silica nanoparticles (CSNs) were synthesized via in situ one-step emulsion polymerization. The adhesion strength of wood specimens bonded by PVAc nanocomposites was investigated by the tensile test. Thermal properties of PVAc nanocomposites were also characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. Rheological and morphological properties of the PVAc nanocomposites were investigated using rheometric mechanical spectrometry and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. The obtaining results showed that the shear strength of PVAc nanocomposite including 1 wt. % CSNs has the highest shear and tensile strength about 4.7 and 3.2 MPa, respectively. A small increment of T_g (~3 °C) and considerable increment of the ash content proved the enhancement of PVAc thermal characterization in the presence of CSNs. FESEM results showed uniform dispersion of nanoparticles throughout the PVAc matrix due to using the in situ emulsion polymerization process. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48570.     

CFD modeling of immiscible liquids turbulent dispersion in Kenics static mixers: Focusing on droplet behavior

The present study is concerned with the computational fluid dynamics(CFD) simulation of turbulent dispersion of immiscible liquids, namely, water–silicone oil and water–benzene through Kenics static mixers using the Eulerian–Eulerian and Eulerian–Lagrangian approaches of the ANSYS Fluent 16.0 software. To study the droplet size distribution(DSD), the Eulerian formulation incorporating a population balance model(PBM) was employed. For the Eulerian–Lagrangian approach, a discrete phase model(DPM) in conjunction with the Eulerian approach for continuous phase simulation was used to predict the residence time distribution(RTD) of droplets.In both approaches, a shear stress transport(SST) k-ω turbulence model was used. For validation purposes, the simulated results were compared with the experimental data and theoretical values for the Fanning friction factor, Sauter mean diameter and the mean residence time. The reliability of the computational model was further assessed by comparing the results with the available empirical correlations for Fanning friction factor and Sauter mean diameter. In addition, the influence of important geometrical and operational parameters, including the number of mixing elements and Weber number, was studied. It was found that the proposed models are capable of predicting the performance of the Kenics static mixer reasonably well.     

A 60 GHz Six-Port Distance Measurement System With Sub-Millimeter Accuracy

A new compact six-port millimeter-wave distance measurement system is presented. The radar operates at the single frequency of 60 GHz and makes use of both the magnitude and phase of the measured free-space reflection coefficient to overcome the ambiguity of phase. The principle of operation, the system and experimental results are described in this letter.     

Anodized aluminum wire as a solid-phase microextraction fiber

The efficiency of anodized aluminum wire was investigated as a new fiber for solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Aluminum wires were anodized by direct current in a solution of sulfuric acid at room temperature and were conditioned at 300 degrees C for 30 min. These fibers were used for the extraction of some aliphatic alcohols, BTEX, and petroleum products from gaseous samples. The extracted analytes were transferred to a GC injector using an (inhouse-designed) SPME syringe that also allowed for an easy change of SPME fibers. The results obtained prove the ability of anodized aluminum wire as a new fiber for sampling of organic compounds from gaseous samples. This behavior is due most probably to the porous layer of aluminum oxide, which is formed on the metal surfaces. In this work, the optimum conditions for the preparation and conditioning of fibers and the extraction of analytes from gaseous samples were obtained. In the optimum conditions, one fiber was used in several equal analyses and the relative standard deviations were below 5% (n = 5). However, fiber-to-fiber reproducibility was 8% (n = 5). This fiber is firm, inexpensive, and durable and can be prepared simply.     

Improved Superorthogonal Codes Through Generalized Rotations

Concatenation of orthogonal space-time block codes (OSTBC) with an outer trellis has led to simple and powerful codes, known as superorthogonal codes or space-time block trellis-coded modulation. In this letter, we generalize these codes by finding new code supersets and corresponding set partitioning, resulting in improved coding gain. We provide design guidelines for the labeling of the generalized code trellises and demonstrate the gains by several example designs for two and four transmit antennas     

Challenges in the capture and dissemination of measurements from high-speed networks

The production of a large-scale monitoring system for a high-speed network leads to a number of challenges. These challenges are not purely technical but also socio-political and legal. The number of stakeholders in such monitoring activity is large including the network operators, the users, the equipment manufacturers and, of course, the monitoring researchers. The MASTS project (measurement at all scales in time and space) was created to instrument the high-speed JANET lightpath network and has been extended to incorporate other paths supported by JANET(UK). Challenges the project has faced included: simple access to the network; legal issues involved in the storage and dissemination of the captured information, which may be personal; the volume of data captured and the rate at which these data appear at store. To this end, the MASTS system will have established four monitoring points each capturing packets on a high-speed link. Traffic header data will be continuously collected, anonymised, indexed, stored and made available to the research community. A legal framework for the capture and storage of network measurement data has been developed which allows the anonymised IP traces to be used for research purposes.     

Network topologies: inference, modeling, and generation

Accurate measurement, inference and modeling techniques are fundamental to Internet topology research. Spatial analysis of the Internet is needed to develop network planning, optimal routing algorithms, and failure detection measures. A first step toward achieving such goals is the availability of network topologies at different levels of granularity, facilitating realistic simulations of new Internet systems. The main objective of this survey is to familiarize the reader with research on network topology over the past decade. We study techniques for inference, modeling, and generation of the Internet topology at both the router and administrative levels. We also compare the mathematical models assigned to various topologies and the generation tools based on them. We conclude with a look at emerging areas of research and potential future research directions.