In vitro evaluation of Pediococcus acidilactici NCDC 252 for its probiotic attributes

In vitro probiotic attributes of Pediococcus acidilactici, viz. tolerance to acidity and bile salt, phenol resistance, lactic acid production, antioxidant activity, cell surface hydrophobicity, lysozyme resistance and the presence of β‐galactosidase, proteolytic, lipase and peptidoglycan hydrolase activities, were studied. The strain was found to be rich in different proteolytic activities, β‐galactosidase and antioxidant activities, and produced lactic acid. The studies conducted support that P. acidilactici national collection of dairy cultures (NCDC) 252 is a potential probiotic for humans with all the essential basic probiotic properties. This testing is useful to gain insight into this strain and its mechanism of action. All these attributes add to its therapeutic importance and industrial significance.     

Influence of Injection, Packaging, and Storage Conditions on the Quality of Beef and Bison Steaks

The combined effects of injection, packaging (modified atmosphere packaging [MAP] with 70% O₂/ 30% CO₂ and vacuum packaging [VP]), storage temperature (‐1 °C and +4 °C), and storage time on the color, microbial and oxidative stability of beef and bison longissimus lumborum (LL) steaks were investigated. Beef LL steaks in MAP retained their bright red color longer than bison steaks. Bison steaks developed higher 2‐Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) during storage, and this might have influenced the resulting rapid loss of redness from the bloomed meat. Storage at ‐1 °C in MAP provided greater color stability and a longer storage life for both meat species studied. Injection of salt/phosphate had a beneficial effect on the color stability of steaks during retail display; however, this positive effect was more pronounced for bison steaks compared with those of beef. Steaks stored overnight under MAP before retail display maintained the highest a* values for up to 5 d compared with those stored under vacuum. MAP‐OV steaks generally maintained the highest OMB content for up to 5 d during retail display compared with those stored under vacuum. Nevertheless, OMB levels were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in bison steaks compared with those of beef irrespective of packaging treatments. Injected steaks and those stored at ‐1 °C had significantly (P < 0.05) higher OMB levels compared with non‐injected counterparts and those stored at +4 °C, respectively. MAP is an excellent option for short‐term storage due to its positive effects on meat color, but for longer storage, VP may be necessary. Storing meat under vacuum and then placing it under MAP just before retail display might be another option to increase shelf life.     

The influence of goat genotype on the production of Capretto and Chevon carcasses. 3. Dissected carcass composition

The dissected composition from left sides of the carcasses obtained from 50 buck kids from five goat genotypes (10 kids/genotype), Boer x Angora (BA), Boer x Saanen (BS), Feral x Feral (FF), Saanen x Angora (SA) and Saanen x Feral (SF), was compared at two age groups. The muscle content of various primal cuts varied between 53 and 73% for Capretto and Chevon groups, with minor differences between genotypes. SA kids had significantly higher separable carcass fat compared to BS and SF for the Capretto group, while Chevon carcasses from BA and SF deposited more carcass fat than FF. The bone content (19–21%) of the carcass side did not differ significantly between genotypes for the Chevon group. The dissected carcass components (muscle, fat and bone) were significantly correlated with those components of most of the individual cuts. The percentage carcass muscle and fat increased and bone content decreased significantly with age.     

Lightweight Cryptography: A Solution to Secure IoT

In Internet of Things (IoT), the massive connectivity of devices and enormous data on the air have made information susceptible to different type of attacks. Cryptographic algorithms are used to provide confidentiality and maintain the integrity of the information. But small size, limited computational capability, limited memory, and power resources of the devices make it difficult to use the resource intensive traditional cryptographic algorithms for information security. In this scenario it becomes impertinent to develop lightweight security schemes for IoT. A thorough study on the lightweight cryptography as a solution to the security problem of resource-constrained devices in IoT has been presented in this work. This paper is a comprehensive attempt to provide an in-depth and state of the art survey of available lightweight cryptographic primitives till 2019. In this paper 21 lightweight block ciphers, 19 lightweight stream ciphers, 9 lightweight hash functions and 5 variants of elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) has been discussed i.e. in total 54 LWC primitives are compared in their respective classes. The comparison of the ciphers has been carried out in terms of chip area, energy and power, hardware and software efficiency, throughput, latency and figure of merit (FoM). Based on the findings it can be observed that AES and ECC are the most suitable for used lightweight cryptographic primitives. Several open research problems in the field of lightweight cryptography have also been identified.

     

The influence of goat genotype on the production of Capretto and Chevon carcasses. 1. Growth and carcass characteristics

Fifty buck kids from five goat genotypes, Boer × Angora (BA), Boer × Saanen (BS), Feral × Feral (FF), Saanen × Angora (SA) and Saanen × Feral (SF) were compared for production of Capretto and Chevon carcasses. BS and SF kids had significantly better average daily gain compared to other genotypes and took less time to reach the required liveweight for Capretto and Chevon production. The development of visceral organs was not influenced by genotype. Kids from dairy breeds (SA in case of Capretto and SF in case of the Chevon group) deposited more internal fat in comparison to other genotypes. Dressing percentage (based on empty body weight) of kids ranged from 50–55%. At the same liveweight, dressing percentage and eye muscle dimensions did not vary between genotypes. However, BS and SF kids produced longer carcasses. Subcutaneous fat thickness was significantly greater in Chevon carcasses from BA compared to other genotypes. A high correlation was found between fat thickness measured by ultrasound on the live animal and ruler measurement on the carcass at the 12/13th rib position. Based on growth and carcass characteristics BS and SF kids performed better than kids from other genotypes used in the present study.     

The influence of goat genotype on the production of Capretto and Chevon carcasses. 2. Meat quality

The effect of five goat genotypes, Boer×Angora (BA), Boer×Saanen (BS), Feral×Feral (FF), Saanen x Angora (SA) and Saanen x Feral (SF) on the meat quality of Capretto and Chevon carcasses obtained from 50 buck kids, was assessed. Genotype had an influence on cooking loss and longissimus thoracis muscle colour coordinates (CIE L^*, a^*, b^* values). BS kids from the Capretto group had paler muscle colour compared to other genotypes; pale muscle colour being required for Capretto carcasses. Total pigment concentration, fat colour, shear force values and sensory scores for flavour, tenderness, juiciness and overall acceptability did not differ significantly between genotypes. Muscle colour became darker and fat colour became more yellow with increasing animal age. Tenderness decreased with animal age as indicated by higher shear force values. Age had no significant influence on cooking loss and sensory scores.     

Polarity-dependent tunneling current and oxide breakdown indual-gate CMOSFETs

The gate tunneling leakage current in dual-gate CMOSFETs exhibits strong polarity dependence when measured in inversion, although it exhibits practically no polarity dependence when measured in accumulation. Specifically, p⁺-gate pMOSFET shows substantially lower tunneling current than n⁺-gate nMOSFET when measured in inversion. This polarity dependence arises from the difference in the supply of tunneling electrons. The polarity dependent tunneling current has a significant impact on oxide reliability measurements. For example, it gives rise to a higher T_bd value for p⁺/pMOSFET as compared to that for n⁺/nMOSFET when both are biased to inversion. Rationaless are given as to why T_bd is a better gauge than Q_bd for reliability assessment, and why nMOSFET is more prone to oxide breakdown than pMOSFET under normal operating conditions     

Critical factors in the performance and cost of two-dimensional gene scanning: RB1 as a model

Two-dimensional (2-D) gene scanning (TDGS) is a method for mutation detection based on the electrophoretic separation of PCR-amplified DNA fragments according to size and base pair sequence. The use of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) as the second separation step provides virtually 100% sensitivity, while the 2-D format allows the inspection of multiple gene fragments simultaneously. Analysis of many exons in parallel is greatly facilitated by extensive PCR multiplexing based on preamplification by long-distance PCR. Recently, TDGS has been applied to detect mutations in the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene RB1. Using RB1 as a model, we have now analyzed each step of the protocol, presenting overall improvements and a detailed cost analysis, where the total cost of the assay is found to be about $40 (US). An overall picture of TDGS cost-performance, as compared to direct sequencing, is provided as a function of the number of target fragments.     

Polarity dependent gate tunneling currents in dual-gate CMOSFETs

Polarity dependence of the gate tunneling current in dual-gate CMOSFETs is studied over a gate oxide range of 2-6 nm. It is shown that, when measured in accumulation, the I_g versus V_g characteristics for the p⁺/pMOSFET are essentially identical to those for the n⁺/nMOSFET; however, when measured in inversion, the p⁺/pMOSFET exhibits much lower gate current for the same |V_g|. This polarity dependence is explained by the difference in the supply of the tunneling electrons. The carrier transport processes in p⁺/pMOSFET biased in inversion are discussed in detail. Three tunneling processes are considered: (1) valence band hole tunneling from the Si substrate; (2) valence band electron tunneling from the p⁺-polysilicon gate; and (3) conduction band electron tunneling from the p⁺-polysilicon gate. The results indicate that all three contribute to the gate tunneling current in an inverted p⁺/pMOSFET, with one of them dominating in a certain voltage range     

Prescriptive measures for environmental performance: emission standards,overcompliance, and monitoring

This paper studies optimal regulation when a regulator can exploit two levers: traditional enforcement and certification. The objective is to demonstrate how regulation can be adapted by combining theory and empirical regularities in the existing literature. The key result is that a regulatory scheme that allows the regulator to exploit overcompliance certification as well as traditional enforcement can achieve substantively greater environmental performance: a firm now has clear incentives to overcomply, and the others have to improve environmental performance through more stringent optimal standards.