The effect of rice bran on physicochemical,textural and glycaemic properties of ready-to-eat extruded corn snacks

In this work, corn extruded snack products were enriched with rice bran (RB) at 10% and 15%. A co-rotating twin-screw extruder was used with a feed moisture content of 16 g 100 g⁻¹, a screw speed of 240 r.p.m. and four heating sections of the barrel (100, 140, 150 and 150 °C). The impact of RB inclusion on nutritional profile, starch digestion, physicochemical and textural properties of snack products was evaluated. RB-enriched extrudates showed a lower specific volume and hardness and higher crispness than control. RB at 15% gave a water-holding capacity lower than control. Rheology of extrudate dispersions indicated an increase in elastic interactions and solid-like behaviour with RB supplementation. Differences in rheological properties resulted in attenuation of predictive glycaemic response for RB-enriched snacks.     

Reversible data hiding based on RSBEMD coding and adaptive multi-segment left and right histogram shifting

By leveraging the secret data coding using the remainder storage based exploiting modification direction (RSBEMD), and the pixel change operation recording based on multi-segment left and right histogram shifting, a novel reversible data hiding (RHD) scheme is proposed in this paper. The secret data are first encoded by some specific pixel change operations to the pixels in groups. After that, multi-segment left and right histogram shifting based on threshold manipulation is implemented for recording the pixel change operations. Furthermore, a multiple embedding policy based on chess board prediction (CBP) and threshold manipulation is put forward, and the threshold can be adjusted to achieve adaptive data hiding. Experimental results and analysis show that it is reversible and can achieve good performance in capacity and imperceptibility compared with the existing methods.     

Multimodal sensing and active continuous closed‐loop feedback for achieving reliable manipulation in the outdoor physical world

The use of field robots can greatly decrease the amount of time, effort, and associated risk compared to if human workers were to carryout certain tasks such as disaster response. However, transportability and reliability remain two main issues for most current robot systems. To address the issue of transportability, we have developed a lightweight modularizable platform named AeroArm. To address the issue of reliability, we utilize a multimodal sensing approach, combining the use of multiple sensors and sensor types, and the use of different detection algorithms, as well as active continuous closed‐loop feedback to accurately estimate the state of the robot with respect to the environment. We used Challenge 2 of the 2017 Mohammed Bin Zayed International Robotics Competition as an example outdoor manipulation task, demonstrating the capabilities of our robot system and approach in achieving reliable performance in the fields, and ranked fifth place internationally in the competition.     

Dynamic probe of ZnTe(110) surface by scanning tunneling microscopy

The reconstructed surface structure of the II–VI semiconductor ZnTe (110), which is a promising material in the research field of semiconductor spintronics, was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS). First, the surface states formed by reconstruction by the charge transfer of dangling bond electrons from cationic Zn to anionic Te atoms, which are similar to those of IV and III–V semiconductors, were confirmed in real space. Secondly, oscillation in tunneling current between binary states, which is considered to reflect a conformational change in the topmost Zn–Te structure between the reconstructed and bulk-like ideal structures, was directly observed by STM. Third, using the technique of charge injection, a surface atomic structure was successfully fabricated, suggesting the possibility of atomic-scale manipulation of this widely applicable surface of ZnTe.     

Constructing developable surfaces by wrapping cones and cylinders

We model developable surfaces by wrapping a planar figure around cones and cylinders. Complicated developables can be constructed by successive mappings using cones and cylinders of different sizes and shapes. We also propose an intuitive control mechanism, which allows a user to select an arbitrary point on the planar figure and move it to a new position. Numerical techniques are then used to find a cone or cylinder that produces the required mapping. Several examples demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique.     

动态高压微射流处理对方竹笋膳食纤维理化及结构特性的影响

以方竹笋中提取的膳食纤维为研究对象，采用动态高压微射流（dynamic high-pressure micro-fluidization, DHPM）在不同压力条件（0，50，100，150，200 MPa）下进行处理，探究其对竹笋膳食纤维（bamboo shoots dietary fiber, BSDF）理化和结构特性的影响。结果表明，随着处理压力的增大，BSDF粒径先增大后减小，当处理压力为150 MPa时，粒径最小，为（370±11） nm，此条件下BSDF的持水力、持油力和膨胀力达到最大，较对照组分别提高了47.74%，50.54%，61.27%，且差异显著（P<0.05）。红外光谱分析表明DHPM处理不会改变BSDF的官能团，但会使BSDF内部的部分氢键断裂和半纤维素、木质素等发生降解；X射线衍射和热重分析表明DHPM处理不会引起BSDF的晶体结构改变，但晶体有序度会下降，进而导致其热稳定性降低；微观结构分析显示DHPM处理会使BSDF颗粒尺寸减小、表面粗糙、组织松散，且当处理压力为200 MPa时，颗粒发生团聚。综上，DHPM可以有效改善BSDF的理化性质，在膳食纤维改性方面具有一定的应用价值。     

Malted weaning food made from maize,soybean, groundnut and cooking banana

Infant malnutrition and mortality are common in Africa, although Africa is endowed with agricultural produce that could be harnessed through processing to produce adequate infant food. This project was set up to explore the possibility of using local raw materials to develop a nutritious, low‐dietary‐bulk, cheap infant food. The materials used included cereal (maize), pulses (soybean and groundnut) and tuberiferous plants (cooking banana). The grains were first germinated and dried or kilned before milling and formulation. The malted products were compared with fermented ones in terms of nutritional, dietary bulk and acceptability criteria. Malting increased the nutrient content, reduced the dietary bulk and enhanced the taste of the infant food. In terms of protein content, least gelation concentration and overall acceptability, malted samples had values in the range of 138–151 mg g^?1, 150–175 g l^?1 and 7.2–8.82 respectively, while the control (fermented) sample had values of 54 mg g^?1, 100 g l^?1 and 6.29 respectively. Roasting of malted cereals above 55 °C reduced the bulk reduction ability but enhanced the taste of the products. A combination of malted maize and soybean, roasted groundnut and cooking banana in the ratio of 50:15:15:20 gave a very recommendable weaning food for infants between the ages of 6 months and 2 years. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry