Hot corrosion behaviour of 7YSZ + Gd2O3 nano-composites in molten salts prepared by spark plasma sintering

This study compares the hot corrosion performance of yttria-stabilised zirconia (7YSZ), and 7YSZ?+?Gd₂O₃ composite samples in the presence of molten mixture of Na₂SO₄?+?V₂O₅ at 1150°C. For 7YSZ, the reaction between NaVO₃ and Y₂O₃ produces YVO₄ and leads the transformation of tetragonal ZrO₂ to monoclinic ZrO₂. A high-density in sintered 7YSZ?+?Gd₂O₃ samples, led minor amounts of monoclinic ZrO₂ and tetragonal GdVO₄ as the hot corrosion products with only traceable amounts of YVO₄, and a stable corroded layer was formed. Due to the synergic effect of doping of zirconia with Gd₂O₃, the 7YSZ?+?Gd₂O₃ sample has a much better hot corrosion crack resistance than 7YSZ.     

Importance of organizational structure for TQM success and customer satisfaction

Wireless Networks - This paper reports a structural equation model to relate three critical success factors for total quality management (TQM) (i.e. managerial commitment, role of quality...     

AthenaTV: an authoring tool of educational applications for TV using android-based interface design patterns

Education has become a key component of any society since it is the means by which humanity functions and governs itself. It allows individuals to appropriately integrate into a given community. For this reason, new ways of interaction between students and educational contents are emerging in order to improve the quality of education. In this context, devices such as computers, smartphones, or electronic tablets represent new ways of accessing educational resources which do not limit students to their usage merely inside the classroom since these devices are available anywhere. Nowadays, television has become one of these technological tools able to support the teaching–learning process through documentary films or movies, among others. However, two main issues appear. First, some of these educational contents are not those needed by a professor since information is restricted, and second, the development of TV-based applications requires an integrative approach involving the support of several specialists in education who provide the guidelines needed to build high-quality contents, as well as application designers and developers who are able to deliver the educational applications demanded by students. This work presents a system called AthenaTV to generate android-based educational applications for TV. AthenaTV takes into account the 10-foot design scheme used by Google to develop interfaces based on interface design patterns established in Google TV, and it is based on the android development guidelines and HTML5 standard.     

Nutritional Quality of Edible Parts of Moringa oleifera

This study was carried out in order to compare the biochemical characteristics from three edible parts of the multipurpose tree Moringa oleifera such as the leaves, flowers, and immature pods. On average, the three most abundant amino acids were glutamic acid, arginine, and aspartic acid. The fatty acids present at the highest content were linolenic acid (C18:3ω3), palmitic acid (C16:0), linoleic acid (C18:2ω6), and oleic acid (C18:1ω9). The chemical composition (of dry weight) ranged from 19.34% to 22.42% for protein, 1.28% to 4.96% for lipids, 7.62% to 14.60% for ash, and 30.97% to 46.78% for dietary fiber. M. oleifera is a nonconventional plant with substantial nutritional value.     

Hard‐to‐cook phenomenon in common beans — A review

Legumes are one of the world's most important sources of food supply, especially in developing countries, in terms of food energy as well as nutrients. Common beans are a good source of proteins, vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B₆) and certain minerals (Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, P, K, and Mg). They are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates and polyunsaturated free fatty acids (linoleic, linolenic). However, common beans have several undesirable attributes, such as long cooking times, being enzyme inhibitors, phytates, flatus factors, and phenolic compounds, having a “beany” flavor, and being lectins and allergens, which should be removed or eliminated for effective utilization.

Grain quality of common beans is determined by factors such as acceptability by the consumer, soaking characteristics, cooking quality, and nutritive value. Acceptability characteristics include a wide variety of attributes, such as grain size, shape, color, appearance, stability under storage conditions, cooking properties, quality of the product obtained, and flavor.

Storage of common beans under adverse conditions of high temperature and high humidity renders them susceptible to a hardening phenomenon, also known as the hard‐to‐cook (HTC) defect. Beans with this defect are characterized by extended cooking times for cotyledon softening, are less acceptable to the consumer, and are of lower nutritive value. Mechanisms involved in the HTC defect have not been elucidated satisfactorily. Attempts to provide a definitive explanation of this phenomenon have not been successful. The most important hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the cause of bean hardening are (1) lipid oxidation and/or polymerization, (2) formation of insoluble pectates, (3) lignification of middle lamella, and (4) multiple mechanisms. Most researchers have reported that the defect develops in the cotyledons. Recently, some authors have suggested that the seed coat plays a significant role in the process of common bean hardening. A better knowledge of cotyledon and seed coat microstructure may lead to a better understanding of the causes of seed hardness.

In order to prevent the development of the HTC defect several procedures have been proposed: (1) appropriate storage, (2) controlled atmospheres, and (3) pretreatments. Probably, the most workable solution to the hardening phenomenon may be the development of materials less prone to HTC phenomenon.

Decreasing cooking time, increasing nutritive value, and improving sensory properties of seeds with HTC defect would have great nutritional and economical impact. Furthermore, an understanding of the mechanisms leading to reversibility of this phenomenon would provide insight into the development of the defect itself and would aid in the search for appropriate methods to prevent it.

Efforts to develop technological processes are needed in order to transform the HTC beans into edible and useful products. Several economic alternatives to utilize HTC common beans have been proposed: (1) dehulling, (2) extrusion, (3) solid state fermentation, (4) quick‐cooking beans, and (5) production of protein concentrates and isolates and starch fractions.     

Identification of Bioactive Peptide Sequences from Amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) Seed Proteins and Their Potential Role in the Prevention of Chronic Diseases

Amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) is a pseudocereal with higher protein concentration than most cereal grains. Enzymatic hydrolysis and food processing could produce biopeptides from amaranth proteins; however, there is limited information about the bioactivity of peptides from amaranth proteins. The objective of this comprehensive review was to determine bioactive peptide sequences in amaranth proteins that may prevent cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Amaranth proteins, reported in UniProt database, were evaluated for potential bioactive peptide using BIOPEP database. The 15 main proteins present in amaranth seed are 11S globulin, 7S globulin, α‐amylase inhibitor, trypsin inhibitor, antimicrobial proteins, nonspecific lipid‐transfer‐protein‐1, superoxide dismutase, ring‐zinc finger protein, prosystemin, amaranth albumin 1, glucose‐1‐phosphate adenyltransferase, glucosyltransferase, polyamine oxidase, granule‐bound starch synthase 1, and acetolactate synthase. All proteins showed high occurrence frequencies of angiotensin‐converting enzyme‐inhibitor peptides (A = 0.161 to 0.362), as well as of dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor (A = 0.003 to 0.087). Other proteins showed antioxidative (A = 0.012 to 0.063) and glucose uptake‐stimulating activity (A = 0.023 to 0.042), and also antithrombotic (A = 0.002 to 0.031) and anticancer sequences (A = 0.001 to 0.042). The results of this study support the concept that amaranth grain could be part of a “healthy” diet and thereby prevent chronic human diseases.     

Prediction of Online Students Performance by Means of Genetic Programming

ABSTRACT

Problem: Online higher education (OHE) failure rates reach 40% worldwide. Prediction of student performance at early stages of the course calendar has been proposed as strategy to prevent student failure.

Objective: To investigate the application of genetic programming (GP) to predict the final grades (FGs) of online students using grades from an early stage of the course as the independent variable

Method: Data were obtained from the learning management system; we performed statistical analyses over FGs as dependent variable and 11 independent variables; two statistical and one GP models were generated; the prediction accuracies of the models were compared by means of a statistical test.

Results: GP model was better than statistical models with confidence levels of 90% and 99% for the training testing data sets respectively. These results suggest that GP could be implemented for supporting decision making process in OHE for early student failure prediction.     

Catalytic Combustion of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether on Rh/??-Al2O3 and Rh/??-Al2O3?CCeO2 Catalysts: Effects of Thermal Treatments, Cerium Oxide and Particle Size

The effects of activation pretreatments, Rh particle size and content of cerium oxide on Rh/??-Al₂O₃ catalysts for the oxidation of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) were investigated. Three different conditions were used for the activation of the catalysts: (1) with air flow, (2) using a mixture of air and MTBE, and (3) by hydrogen reduction followed by oxidation with air. On Rh/??-Al₂O₃ catalyst the thermal pretreatments are of great importance for the MTBE oxidation. However, on Rh/??-Al₂O₃?CCe1 catalyst, the total combustion of MTBE was reached at a temperature of 200???C lower than that obtained with the Rh/??-Al₂O₃ catalyst at whatever thermal treatment applied. A Rho/Rh^??+ and Ce³⁺/Ce⁴⁺ species were identified by XPS suggesting that they are the responsible of the high activity showed by the Rh/??-Al₂O₃?CCe1 catalyst. A particle size effect for MTBE oxidation was observed on Rh/??-Al₂O₃ catalysts, large Rh particles are more active than the small ones.     

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory and antioxidative activities and functional characterization of protein hydrolysates of hard-to-cook chickpeas

BACKGROUND: The potential use of hard‐to‐cook (hardened) chickpeas to obtain value‐added functional food ingredients was evaluated. For that purpose, some nutraceutical and functional attributes of several chickpea protein hydrolysates (CPHs) prepared from both fresh and hard‐to‐cook grains were evaluated. RESULTS: All the CPHs prepared from both fresh and hard‐to‐cook grains, with the enzymes alcalase, pancreatin and papain, showed high angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory (ACE‐I) activity with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.101 to 37.33 µg mL^?1; similarly, high levels of antioxidant activity (around 18.17–95.61 µmol Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity µg^?1 CPH) were obtained through both the 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′‐azino‐bis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) methods. Regarding functional characterization of the CPHs, oil absorption values ranged from 1.91 to 2.20 mL oil g^?1 CPH, with water solubility almost 100% from pH 7 to 10. CONCLUSION: The high antioxidant and ACE‐I activities as well as the good functional properties of the CPH prepared from both fresh and hard‐to‐cook grains, suggest its use in food formulations with value added in human health. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry