Agronomic performance of high oleic,low linolenic soybean in Tennessee

Soybean oil hydrogenation alters the linolenic acid molecule to prevent the oil from becoming rancid, however, health reports have indicated trans-fat caused by hydrogenation, is not generally regarded as safe. Typical soybeans contain approximately 80 g kg⁻¹ to 120 g kg⁻¹ linolenic acid and 240 g kg⁻¹ of oleic acid. In an effort to accommodate the need for high-quality oil, the United Soybean Board introduced an industry standard for a high oleic acid greater than 750 g kg⁻¹ and linolenic acid less than 30 g kg⁻¹ oil. By combing mutations in the soybean plant at four loci, FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B, oleate desaturase genes and FAD3A and FAD3C, linoleate desaturase genes, and seed oil will not require hydrogenation to prevent oxidation and produce high-quality oil. In 2017 and 2018, a study comparing four near-isogenic lines across multiple Tennessee locations was performed to identify agronomic traits associated with mutations in FAD3A and FAD3C loci, while holding FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B constant in the mutant (high oleic) state. Soybean lines were assessed for yield and oil quality based on mutations at FAD2-1 and FAD3 loci. Variations of wild-type and mutant genotypes were compared at FAD3A and FAD3C loci. Analysis using a generalized linear mixed model in SAS 9.4, indicated no yield drag or other negative agronomic traits associated with the high oleic and low linolenic acid genotype. All four mutations of fad2-1A, fad2-1B, fad3A, and fad3C were determined as necessary to produce a soybean with the new industry standard (>750 g kg⁻¹ oleic and <30 g kg⁻¹ linolenic acid) in a maturity group-IV-Late cultivar for Tennessee growers.     

Nonhydrolyzable Heptose Bis- and Monophosphate Analogues Modulate Pro-inflammatory TIFA-NF-κB Signaling

d -Glycero-d -manno-heptose-1β,7-bisphosphate (HBP) and d -glycero-d -manno-heptose-1β-phosphate (H1P) are bacterial metabolites that were recently shown to stimulate inflammatory responses in host cells through the activation of the TIFA-dependent NF-κB pathway. To better understand structure-based activity in relation to this process, a family of nonhydrolyzable phosphonate analogues of HBP and H1P was synthesized. The inflammation modulation by which these molecules induce the TIFA-NF-κB signal axis was evaluated in vivo at a low-nanomolar concentration (6 nM) and compared to that of the natural metabolites. Our data showed that three phosphonate analogues had similar stimulatory activity to HBP, whereas two phosphonates antagonized HBP-induced TIFA-NF-κB signaling. These results open new horizons for the design of pro-inflammatory and innate immune modulators that could be used as vaccine adjuvant.     

Geopolymer assembly by emulsion templating: Emulsion stability and hardening mechanisms

This work investigates emulsion templating to synthesize hexadecane oil/geopolymer composites. In a system with hexadecane as the internal (dispersed) phase and an alkali activated continuous phase without added surfactant, adding aluminosilicate clay particles does not increase resistance against creaming or coalescence, while adding a surfactant (L35 or CTAB) stabilizes the solid-liquid interface. Infrared studies and rheological studies of the associated geopolymerization determined that the presence of the organic phase or surfactant has no significant effect on the geopolymerization kinetics, as determined by the change in time of the Si-O-T IR stretching frequency and the rheological moduli involved during the process. The stabilization of the organic template is reminiscent of Pickering emulsion even though we employ a much greater amount of inorganic material for geopolymer formation. Although the addition of surfactant has a significant effect on the behavior of the paste, the percolation of the network remains unmodified, highlighting the fact that the phenomenon is not dependent on viscosity. Finally, rheological measurements were used to obtain the mass fractal dimension of the as-made gel network, which is able to differentiate the interfacial effect between surfactant molecules with a slightly denser interphase when a cationic surfactant is used.     

Polystyrene‐supported polyoxyethylene bound potassium permanganate as a heterogeneous oxidizing agent

Oxidation behavior of a 2 mol % divinylbenzene (DVB)‐crosslinked polystyrene‐supported permanganate function was investigated toward low molecular weight primary and secondary alcohols and aldehydes. The permanganate function was attached to a polystyrene support through cyclic polyoxyethylene (POE) units immobilized on the support. Contrary to the oxidations catalyzed by low molecular weight permanganate reagents, the oxidation of primary alcohol terminated in the aldehyde stage. The secondary alcohols were converted to the respective ketone and aldehyde to acid. The effect of the variable parameters similar to solvent, temperature, and reagent to substrate ratio was followed. Nonpolar cyclohexane was found to be the best solvent for the present study. Also the reactivity increased with increasing temperature. The oxidizing reagent possesses a long shelf life and could be recycled several times without reduction of capacity and mechanical stability. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 3708–3717, 2003     

Characterization of Austempered Ductile Iron Through Barkhausen Noise Measurements

The outstanding mechanical properties of austempered ductile irons (ADI) are linked to the microstructure of the matrix obtained by subjecting a ductile iron with an appropriate composition to a heat treatment called austempering. Then the microstructure of the matrix consists of bainitic ferrite with different volume fractions of retained austenite. The aim of this work is to use the magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) as a nondestructive method for characterizing the microstructure of ADI. First, it is shown that the amplitude and position of the peak-shaped MBN response is quite sensitive to the microstructure of the matrix of ductile irons. Thus each type of constituent (equiaxial ferrite, pearlite, martensite or bainite) exhibits a typical response and, in turn, it can be identified from the MBN response. Furthermore, a good correlation is found between MBN signal parameters and ADI heat treatment parameters, indicating that MBN is also quite sensitive to fine evolutions of the microstructure of ADI. MBN peak position is especially sensitive to the type of bainite, whereas peak amplitude is linked to the progress of the bainite reaction. Hence MBN measurements appear to be a powerful tool to assess some important microstructural features of ADI castings.     

Quantitation of Cefaclor in Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography

A stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography for the quantitation of cefaclor in pharmaceutical dosage forms has been developed. The method is accurate and precise with a percent relative standard deviation of 1.2 based on 5 readings. A number of inactive ingredients present in the capsules and suspensions did not interfere with the assay procedure. The extraction procedure from the dosage forms is very simple. The recovery from the synthetic mixtures was quantitative. The capsules which had expired 3 years ago lost only 3% of the potency. The drug appears to be very sensitive to strong acids or bases since a 5 minute boiling caused 100% degradation of drug in both the solutions.     

Non-contact handling in microassembly: Acoustical levitation

Microassembly is currently of the utmost importance in industry. Nevertheless, the classical assembly processes are no longer usable for very small components, typically ranging from 10  m to 10 mm, since usually neglected surface forces disturb the handling task by inducing adhesion between the component and the gripper. A promising alternative to tackle surface forces consists in levitating the handled component. The various advantages of this contactless handling method are reviewed here and justify the choice of this approach. Consequently, the numerous physical principles suitable for contactless handling are briefly described together with their limitations. The evaluation shows that acoustic levitation is best fitted in the case of microassembly. A classification of literature applications is presented hereafter with special focus on acoustic levitation. Finally, the most common models of acoustical levitation are inspected in a general way. The described models come within the scope of non-linear acoustics.