In Vivo and In Vitro Assessment of Antinutritional Factors in Peanut and Soy

Raw and heat processed peanut flours were found to contain higher in vitro trypsin inhibitor activity and lectin content than similarly processed soy flour. When fed to weanling rats at a level of 10% protein, the response pattern in food consumption, growth, liver function, and serum chemistries was not consistent among or between the groups. It is concluded that the levels of antinutritional factors in legumes do not correlate with their overall biological impact in feeding studies with the rat.     

Enhancing power transfer capability through flexible AC transmission system devices:a review

Global demand for power has significantly increased, but power generation and transmission capacities have not increased proportionally with this demand. As a result, power consumers suffer from variou...     

Cu<Superscript>2+</Superscript> and Al<Superscript>3+</Superscript> co-substituted cobalt ferrite: structural analysis,morphology and magnetic properties

Cu–Al substituted Co ferrite nanopowders, Co_1?x Cu _x Fe_2?x Al _x O₄ (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8) were synthesized by the co-precipitation method. The effect of Cu–Al substitution on the structural and magnetic properties have been investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) are used for studying the effect of variation in the Cu–Al substitution and its impact on particle size, magnetic properties such as M _s and H _c . Cu–Al substitution occurs and produce a secondary phase, α-Fe ₂ O ₃. The crystallite size of the powder calcined at 800 ^°C was in the range of 19–26 nm. The lattice parameter decreases with increasing Cu–Al content. The nanostructural features were examined by FESEM images. Infrared absorption (IR) spectra shows two vibrational bands; at around 600 (v ₁) and 400 cm ^?1 (v ₂). They are attributed to the tetrahedral and octahedral group complexes of the spinel lattice, respectively. It was found that the physical and magnetic properties have changed with Cu–Al contents. The saturation magnetization decreases with the increase in Cu–Al substitution. The reduction of coercive force, saturation magnetization and magnetic moments are may be due to dilution of the magnetic interaction.     

Electric-field induced fluctuations in laser generated plasma plume

The effect of an external electric field on laser-generated plasma has been studied. It is observed that the laser-generated plasma can be used for the ignition of a spark in the presence of a low voltage external electric field. An eight-fold emission intensity enhancement in Cu Ⅰ spectral lines are measured as compared to the signal intensity in the absence of an external electric field.The plasma parameters remain the same initially, up to a few microseconds after the generation of plasma, and this feature makes it more interesting for the quantitative analysis of any sample using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS). In the presence of an external electric field,fluctuations(contraction and expansion) in the laser-generated plasma are observed which increase the plasma decay time and consequently result in enhanced signal intensity.     

Destructive and non-destructive evaluation of concrete for optimum sand to aggregate volume ratio

Aggregates are the biggest contributor to concrete volume and are a crucial parameter in dictating its mechanical properties. As such, a detailed experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of sand-to-aggregate volume ratio (s/a) on the mechanical properties of concrete utilizing both destructive and non-destructive testing (employing UPV (ultrasonic pulse velocity) measurements). For investigation, standard cylindrical concrete samples were made with different s/a (0.36, 0.40, 0.44, 0.48, 0.52, and 0.56), cement content (340 and 450 kg/m³), water-to-cement ratio (0.45 and 0.50), and maximum aggregate size (12 and 19 mm). The effect of these design parameters on the 7, 14, and 28 d compressive strength, tensile strength, elastic modulus, and UPV of concrete were assessed. The careful analysis demonstrates that aggregate proportions and size need to be optimized for formulating mix designs; optimum ratios of s/a were found to be 0.40 and 0.44 for the maximum aggregate size of 12 and 19 mm, respectively, irrespective of the W/C (water-to-cement) and cement content.     

Investigation of the optimum differential gear ratio for real driving cycles by experiment design and genetic algorithm

Experiment statistical method and genetic algorithms based optimization method are used to obtain the optimum differential gear ratio for heavy truck that provides best fuel consumption when changing the working condition that affects its torque and speed range. The aim of the study is to obtain the optimum differential gear ratio with fast and accurate optimization calculation without affecting drivability characteristics of the vehicle according to certain driving cycles that represent the new working conditions of the truck. The study is carried on a mining dump truck YT3621 with 9 forward shift manual transmission. Two loading conditions,no load and 40 t,and four on road real driving cycles have been discussed. The truck powertrain is modeled using GT-drive,and DOE-post processing tool of the GT-suite is used for DOE analysis and genetic algorithm optimization.     

CONTAMINATION OF PATULIN IN CLEAR APPLE JUICE IN MASHHAD, IRAN

Patulin is a frequent contaminant of moldy and rotten apples and apple products. The aim of this study was to evaluate patulin contamination in 58 apple juices collected from a retail market in Mashhad during winter and spring of 2006.
Samples were assayed for patulin by high-performance liquid chromatography. Fifty-four samples were positive for patulin at levels that ranged from 10.5 to 121.8 µg/L, and six samples had patulin levels higher than 50 µg/L. The overall mean of patulin concentration was 29.2  ±  19.5 µg/L. Forty-eight samples had patulin concentration between 5 and 50 µg/L. Although the mean concentration of patulin samples was lower than Iranian maximum tolerated level of 50 µg/L, contamination of 10% of the samples at levels higher than 50 µg/L indicated the need for improving production techniques by the industry.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Studies have shown that the concentration of patulin may exceed the determined limits in apple juice and in other fruit products. Its presence can be a potential threat to the health of consumers, particularly children. The results may help us in understanding what should be the level of patulin in apple juice. The awareness of the apple industry of patulin contamination in fruit and the implementation of improved techniques for the production of apple products with reduced patulin concentrations have contributed to the quality of apple juice that are available on the Iranian market.     

USE OF OZONE TO INACTIVATE MICROORGANISMS ON LETTUCE

When ozone (1.3 mM) was bubbled for 3 min in a mixture of shredded lettuce and water, counts ofmesophilic andpsychrotrophic bacteria decreased 1.4 and 1.8 log₁₀ cfu/g, respectively. Counts of these microorganisms on lettuce, from a different batch, decreased 3.9 and 4.6 log, respectively, during 5 min of ozone treatment. Shredded lettuce was treated with gaseous ozone, or mixed with aqueous solution of ozone (1:20 w/w) with or without bubbles. For effective delivery of ozone, stirring (low and high speed), sonication or stomaching was applied during the ozonation. Washing the lettuce with water only decreased total count on shredded lettuce by 0.74–1.0 log cfu/g. When lettuce in a treatment chamber was flushed with gaseous ozone, the total count decreased 0.85 log cfu/g, but when vacuum was applied before the ozone flush, the total count decreased 0.96 log cfu/g. Bubbling ozone in water-lettuce mixture while sonicating, high-speed stirring, or before stomaching inactivated 1.4, 1.9 and 1.9 log cfu/g, respectively. In conclusion, bubbling gaseous ozone in water is the most effective ozonation method. Efficient ozone delivery to microorganisms on lettuce requires a combination of ozone bubbling and high-speed stir.     

Heat Transfer Analysis of MHD Power Law Nano Fluid Flow through Annular Sector Duct

Flow and heat transfer analysis of an electrically conducting MHD power law nano fluid is carried out through annular sector duct, under the influence of constant pressure gradient. Two types of nano particles(i.e. Cu and TiO₂) are used in power law nano fluid. Strongly implicit procedure,(SIP) is used to simulate the discretized coupled algebraic equations. It has been observed that volume fraction of nano particles, ? and magnetic field parameter, Ha are favourable for the heat tran...     

Discussion A note on ‘Similarity of a new greedy heuristic for facility layout by graph theory to an existing approach’

A recent paper by Boswell claims the development of a new greedy heuristic for constructing a maximal planar weighted graph. This paper points out that Boswell's procedure is not actually new since it has similiarity to an approach introduced earlier by Hassan and Hogg. The paper also points out the advantages of the Hassan and Hogg approach over Boswell's procedure.