Synergistic effect of high-intensity ultrasound and β-cyclodextrin treatments on browning control in apple juice

This work evaluated the synergistic effects of combined high-intensity ultrasound (HIU) with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) treatments on inhibiting browning of apple juice and explored the mechanism through simulation system. The combined treatment of 300 W HIU with 0.006 g mL⁻¹ β-CD had a synergistic impact on maintaining juice colour, resulting in a 39.06% reduction in browning degree, only a 36.64% decrease in total phenolic content, and a 17.82% reduction in PPO activity. The inhibition of enzymatic browning in simulated system revealed that HIU suppressed the enzyme (Polyphenol oxidase, PPO) and β-CD inhibited enzyme (PPO) and embedded substrate (polyphenol). The results of spectroscopic analysis showed that the particle-size distribution of PPO narrowed, the content of α-helix in the secondary structure increased, the fluorescence intensity increased, and the maximum wavelength was red-shifted after HIU and β-CD treatment. Changes in structure could further result in PPO activity loss. Hence, the combined treatment could synthetically alleviate the browning of apple juice.     

Corrosion fatigue short crack growth behaviour in a high strength steel

The influence of an aggressive environment (0.6 M, aerated NaCl solution) on short fatigue crack initiation and growth behaviour has been studied. The study involved three major test series, namely: air fatigue, corrosion fatigue, and intermittent air fatigue/corrosion fatigue. The above tests carried out under fully reversed torsional loading conditions at a frequency of 5 Hz, showed that it was the non-metallic inclusions which took part in crack initiation resulting from debonding at metal matrix/inclusion interface and pitting of inclusions in both air and corrosove environments, respectively. Short fatigue crack growth results in these two environments obtained by using plastic replication technique, indicated a large effect of microstructure i.e. prior austenite grain boundaries. The stage/stages at which the environmental contribution was dominant has been discussed by considering the results achieved from intermittent tests. However, the mechanisms involved in corrosion fatigue short crack growth have also been described in the light of results obtained from futher investigations carried out by conducting corrosion fatigue tests under applied cathodic potential conditions and tests on hydrogen pre-charged specimens under air fatigue and uniaxial tension conditions.     

Study of Lateral Spread of Ions Emitted from 2.3 kJ Plasma Focus with Hydrogen and Nitrogen Gases

The characteristics of ion beams of hydrogen and nitrogen with different filling pressures emitted from the plasma focus device of 2.3 kJ energy are investigated. CR-39 SSNTDs are employed for the registration of tracks of ions. The exposed detectors are etched in 6N NaOH solution at 70°C and then examined with an optical microscope. The ion flux is estimated to be of the order of 10^5–6 tracks/cm². The flux with the radial position does not exhibit any regular pattern of variation.     

Statistically correlated multi-task learning for autonomous driving

Neural Computing and Applications - Autonomous driving research is an emerging area in the machine learning domain. Most existing methods perform single-task learning, while multi-task learning...     

Fractionation of transgenic corn for recovery of recombinant enzymes

Two germ-separation methods, dry-milling and density separation by flotation, were evaluated for recovering recombinant β-glucuronidase (rGUS) that accumulated primarily in the germ of transgenic corn. The dry-milling process consisted of (i) seed tempering, (ii) degerming with a horizontal-drum degermer/dehuller, (iii) particle size fractionation with standard sieves, (iv) germ and endosperm separation by roller milling and sifting, and (v) removal of hulls by aspiration. Sieves nos. 5, 6, and 7 retained the majority of germ, and subfractions from these sieves were pooled as a germ-rich fraction. Mass balances showed that the germ-rich fraction, which constituted 17% of the total dry-milled corn weight, contained 49% of rGUS activity and 64% of the total recoverable oil. Germ fractionation by flotation was tested as a proof-of-concept method aimed at separating corn fractions based on their difference in specific gravity (sp gr). The process consisted of impact-grinding of corn kernels followed by density separation using 1.15 or 1.3 specific gravity sodium nitrate solution. The oil-containing germ fraction floated, whereas the heavier endosperm fraction sedimented. The flotation method was simpler and resulted in higher enzyme recovery, that is, the germ-rich fraction was 20% (w/w) of the initial corn weight, and accounted for 80% of rGUS activity and 77% of total oil. The sodium nitrate solution did not have an adverse effect on the enzyme activity.     

Theory of reflectivity of an asymmetric mirror

By using the concept of transfer matrices and Bloch waves, we have derived a set of equations that provide insight into the operation of asymmetric Bragg reflectors that have been demonstrated to be useful in achieving high reflectivities in strained-material systems. These equations will be useful in the design of asymmetric mirrors and can be used to compare the trade-offs between the conventional, symmetric (quarter-wavelength), and asymmetric mirrors.     

Noise analysis of robot manipulator using neural networks

Due to a lot of robot manipulators application in industry, low noise degree is very important criteria for robot manipulator's joints. In this paper, joint noise problem of a robot manipulator with five joints is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The investigation is consisted of two steps. First step is to analyze the noise of joints using a hardware and software. The hardware is a part of noise sensors. The second step; according to experimental results, some neural networks are employed for finding robust neural noise analyzer. Five types of neural networks are used to compare each other. From the results, it is noted that the proposed RBFNN gives the best results for analyzing joint noise of the robot manipulator.     

Approximate periodic solutions for the Helmholtz-Duffing equation

Approximate periodic solutions for the Helmholtz-Duffing oscillator are obtained in this paper. He’s Energy Balance Method (HEBM) and He’s Frequency Amplitude Formulation (HFAF) are adopted as the solution methods. Oscillation natural frequencies are analytically analyzed. Error analysis is carried out and accuracy of the solution methods is evaluated.     

Dielectric properties of sol-gel derived Ta2O5 thin films

The dielectric constant and the dielectric loss of tantalum pentoxide (Ta₂O₅) thin films, produced by sol-gel spin-coated process on Corning glass substrates, have been investigated in the frequency range of 20-10⁵ Hz and the temperature range of 183-403 K, using ohmic Al electrodes. The frequency and temperature dependence of relaxation time has also been determined. The capacitance and loss factor were found to decrease with increasing frequency and increase with increasing temperature. The activation energy values were evaluated and a good agreement between the activation energy values obtained from capacitance and dielectric loss factor measurements were observed.