Digestibility and Pasting Properties of Rice Starch Heat‐Moisture Treated at the Melting Temperature (Tm )

Non‐waxy and waxy rice starches adjusted to 20% moisture (wet based, w.b.) were heated in a differential scanning calorimeter to determine the optimum parameters for producing slowly digestible starch (SDS). Starches heated to the temperature of melting (T_m) and held for 60 min in the calorimeter showed a slow digestibility compared to unheated samples. Digestibility decreased by 25 and 10%, respectively, for non‐waxy and waxy rice starches relative to non‐treated starches. Heat‐moisture treatment of waxy corn, non‐waxy corn and wheat starches at the T_m determined for non‐waxy rice starch did not result in significant decreases in digestibility. For waxy rice starches heat‐treated in microwave or conventional ovens at the T_m , there were slight but significant increases in digestibility of the treated starches compared to non‐treated starches at all incubation times. Digestibility was higher for starches heated for 30 min than for 60 min. Non‐waxy rice starches did not show any significant changes in digestibility. Heat‐moisture treatment at the T_m and the holding time of sample at that temperature in a differential scanning calorimeter were found to be significant to the formation of slowly digestible heat‐moisture treated starch.     

Augmenting network lifetime for heterogenous WSN assisted IoT using mobile agent

Wireless Networks - Wireless sensor networks are network of the large number of sensors having lesser batteries. Such networks and clustering of the nodes for energy efficiency go hand in hand....     

Metabolism of trideuterated iso-lignoceric acid in rats in Vivo and in human fibroblasts in culture

Saturated very long chain fatty acids (fatty acids with greater than 22 carbon atoms; VLCFA) accumulate in peroxisomal disorders, but there is little information on their turnover in patients. To determine the suitability of using stable isotope-labeled VLCFA in patients with these disorders, the metabolism of 22-methyl[23,23,23-²H₃]tricosanoic (iso-lignoceric) acid was studied in rats in vivo and in human skin fibroblasts in culture. The deuterated iso-VLCFA was degraded to the corresponding 16- and 18-carbon iso-fatty acids by rats in vivo and by normal human skin fibroblasts in culture, but there was little or no degradation in peroxisome-deficient (Zellweger’s syndrome) fibroblasts, indicating that its oxidation was peroxisomal. Neither the 14-, 20-, and 22-carbon iso-fatty acids nor the corresponding odd-chain metabolites could be detected. In the rat, the organ containing most of the iso-lignoceric acid, and its breakdown products, was the liver, whereas negligible amounts were detected in the brain, suggesting that little of the fatty acid crossed the blood-brain barrier. Our data indicate that VLCFA labeled with deuterium at the ω-position of the carbon chain are suitable derivatives for the in vivo investigation of patients with defects in peroxisomal β-oxidation because they are metabolized by the same pathways as the corresponding n-VLCFA. Moreover, as iso-VLCFA and their β-oxidation products are readily separated from the corresponding n-fatty acids by normal chromatographic procedures, the turnover of VLCFA can be more precisely measured. A preliminary report of part of this work (Reference 18) was presented at the 5th International Symposium on the Synthesis and Applications of Isotopes and Isotopically Labelled Compounds, Strasbourg, France, June 20–24, 1994.     

Trust-based access control for collaborative systems

In distributed, heterogeneous and network-connected collaborative environments where resources are provided to diverse unknown users for their applications, it is necessary to define access control for resources. Access control for such systems is defined as the ability to authorise or repudiate access to resources by a particular user. Traditional access control solutions are inherently inadequate for collaborative systems because they are effective only in situations where the system knows in advance which users are going to access the resources and what are their access rights so that they can be predefined by the developers or security administrators, but in collaborative systems the number of users as well as their usage on resources is not static. Targeting collaborative systems, a fine grained, flexible, persistent trust-based model for protecting the access and usage of digital resources is defined in this paper using radial basis function neural network (RBFNN). RBFNN classifies the users requesting the resources as trustworthy and non-trustworthy based on their attributes. RBFNN is used for classification because of its ability to generalise well for even unseen data and non-iterative method employed in its training. A proof of concept implementation backed by extensive set of tests on the real data collected for one such collaborative systems, i.e. Enabling Grids for E-Science grid demonstrated that the design is sound for collaborative systems where access of resources are provided to large and unknown users with their variant set of requirements.     

Kozeny–Carman permeability relationship with disintegration process predicted from early dissolution profiles of immediate release tablets

This study was oriented toward the disintegration profiling of the diclofenac sodium (DS) immediate-release (IR) tablets and development of its relationship with medium permeability k_perm based on Kozeny–Carman equation. Batches (L1–L9) of DS IR tablets with different porosities and specific surface area were prepared at different compression forces and evaluated for porosity, in vitro dissolution and particle-size analysis of the disintegrated mass. The k_perm was calculated from porosities and specific surface area, and disintegration profiles were predicted from the dissolution profiles of IR tablets by stripping/residual method. The disintegration profiles were subjected to exponential regression to find out the respective disintegration equations and rate constants k_d. Batches L1 and L2 showed the fastest disintegration rates as evident from their bi-exponential equations while the rest of the batches L3–L9 exhibited the first order or mono-exponential disintegration kinetics. The 95% confidence interval (CI_95%) revealed significant differences between k_d values of different batches except L4 and L6. Similar results were also spotted for dissolution profiles of IR tablets by similarity (f₂) test. The final relationship between k_d and k_perm was found to be hyperbolic, signifying the initial effect of k_perm on the disintegration rate. The results showed that disintegration profiling is possible because a relationship exists between k_d and k_perm. The later being relatable with porosity and specific surface area can be determined by nondestructive tests.     

Relationship of cooked‐rice nutritionally important starch fractions with other physicochemical properties

Sixteen rice cultivars representing five cytosine‐thymine repeat (CT_n) microsatellite genetic marker groups were analyzed for their cooked rice nutritionally important starch fractions (NISFs, which include rapidly digestible (RDS), slowly digestible (SDS), and resistant starch (RS)), basic grain quality indices (apparent amylose (AM), crude protein (CP), alkali spreading value (AS), and gel consistency (GC)), pasting characteristics, and thermal properties. Chemometric tools (bivariate correlation, principal component analysis, multiple linear regression, and partial least squares regression) were used to establish the association of NISF with other milled rice physicochemical properties. CT₁₁ was generally associated with high percentages of RS and SDS, and a low percentage of RDS. CT₁₄ was associated with low SDS; whereas, CT₁₇ and CT₁₈ were associated with low RS. The CT₂₀ cultivars were similar to CT₁₁ in SDS and RS; and to CT₁₄, CT₁₇, and CT₁₈ in RDS content. RDS, SDS, and RS were loaded on three different quadrants of the principal component similarity map. RDS was not significantly correlated with any of the physicochemical properties; whereas, SDS was positively correlated with GC. RS was positively correlated with AM, setback (SB) viscosity, total setback (TSB) viscosity, and peak gelatinization temperature; and negatively correlated with breakdown (BD) viscosity. Multivariate techniques indicated lack of robustness in predicting RDS and SDS as the models only explained <50% of the variance. More robust regression models were obtained for RS, explaining >60% of its variation. Basic grain quality indices explained NISF variations better than pasting and thermal properties.     

Comparative Studies of Pressure Sensitization of Zirconium Carbide and Zirconium Silicate on Burning Rates in a RDX‐AP based Composite Propellant

In a systematic study to compare the effects of the values of burning rate and pressure exponent in RDX‐AP based composite propellant, various compositions with varying percentages of zirconium carbide (ZrC) and zirconium silicate (ZrSiO₄) were formulated to select a suitable candidate. Various rocket parameters of each formulation were theoretically predicted by the NASA CEC‐71 program and the burning rate was evaluated in pressure range of 3–11 MPa. In addition, density, sensitivity, and thermal properties of compositions having maximum effects on pressure exponent’s values were also evaluated. It was concluded that ZrSiO₄ enhances the pressure exponent “n” value substantially, whereas ZrC doesn’t have significant effects on it as compared to base composition and also provides higher density values of composite propellant formulated.     

Physical Basis for Separation of Rice Starch using Various Density Gradient Systems and its Effect on Starch Recovery,Purity, and Pasting Properties

A 32% waxy and non waxy rice flour slurry containing starch‐protein agglomerates was physically disrupted in presence of water by use of high pressure homogenizer called Microfluidizer®. Microfluidized rice flour slurry from passes 2 and 4 was collected followed by isolation of starch using three different density gradient solutions/systems (CeCl, NaCl/sucrose and ZnSO₄·7H₂ O). Complete deagglomeration was obtained after passing the rice flour slurry four times through the Microfluidizer®. The recovery of isolated starch varied from 76.28% to 91.20% for different density gradient systems. The degree of deagglomeration did not seem to affect recovery but affected the purity of the isolated starches. All starches produced from pass 4 rice slurry resulted in starches with residual protein below 0.5%. Higher density of the gradient solution resulted in higher recovery and purity of starch. The isolation method had a significant effect on the pasting properties of the isolated starch. Residual protein in isolated starch had a negative correlation with peak viscosity and setback of pass 2 waxy and nonwaxy starches. The salts were retained in purified starch despite rigorous washing (at least 75 times greater than the control) and could affect starch properties.     

Finding an appropriate radio propagation model for rate aware congestion control mechanism in wireless sensor networks

Wireless Networks - Congestion control techniques are considered to be one of the most imperative ways to overcome various challenges in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Undeniably, congestion has...     

A simple 2D composite image analysis technique for the crystal growth study of L‐ascorbic acid

This work was destined for 2D crystal growth studies of L‐ascorbic acid using the composite image analysis technique. Growth experiments on the L‐ascorbic acid crystals were carried out by standard (optical) microscopy, laser diffraction analysis, and composite image analysis. For image analysis, the growth of L‐ascorbic acid crystals was captured as digital 2D RGB images, which were then processed to composite images. After processing, the crystal boundaries emerged as white lines against the black (cancelled) background. The crystal boundaries were well differentiated by peaks in the intensity graphs generated for the composite images. The lengths of crystal boundaries measured from the intensity graphs of composite images were in good agreement (correlation coefficient “r” = 0.99) with the lengths measured by standard microscopy. On the contrary, the lengths measured by laser diffraction were poorly correlated with both techniques. Therefore, the composite image analysis can replace the standard microscopy technique for the crystal growth studies of L‐ascorbic acid.