Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sweet Potato: Production, Morphological and Physicochemical Characteristics, and Technological Process

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) shows great socio-economic importance, providing a supply of calories, vitamins and minerals for human nutrition. Roots present a carbohydrate content varying between 25 and 30%, which 98% is easily digested. Sucrose is the most abundant sugar in raw roots, with a small amount of glucose and fructose. They are also excellent sources of carotenoids, potassium, iron and calcium and phenolic compounds. Sweet potato roots vary in shape, size and color, depending on the cultivar and environment conditions. This crop is amongst the 15 largest agricultural productions and can be used as raw material for several industrialized products, considering its composition and agricultural potential. Its shelf life is no longer than a few weeks and therefore it is difficult to stockpile in farms. Industrial processes is required to reduce its moisture content and osmotic dehydration is a technique that can be used for concentrating the solids by immersing roots in the solution of sugar and/or salt increasing osmotic pressure. However, a complementary process is required such as drying or freeze-drying to obtain a product with a lower water activity. High temperature short time (HTST) drying is also highly appropriate for processing of high starch content foods such as tubers. This method promotes the formation of a porous structure and consequently crispy food, thus making it possible to compete with high quality and makes it possible to industrialize differentiated products, which can be consumed directly or used as part of formulas, such as instant soups. This chapter is divided into: (i) description of physical-chemical and morphological characteristics, botanical aspects, production and consumer market information, (ii) conservation methods applied for maintaining nutritional and organoleptic properties of this biological product for longer periods, and (iii) sweet potato starch as a food ingredient.
Mold‐free Shelf‐life Extension of Bakery Products by Active Packaging

Total elimination of oxygen (O 2 ) in modified atmosphere packaging of bakery products is difficult to achieve. Becuse of the typical porous texture of the packaging, air can be retained inside. The effect of O 2 absorbers alone or in combination with modified atmosphere on Eurotium amstelodami, E, herbariorum, E. repens, and E. rubrum growth was investigated. Cakes of 0.80 to 0.90 water activity (a w ) were packaged with different atmospheres (air, 100%; N 2 70% N 2 :30% CO 2 ) and O 2 absorbers of 2 different absorption capacities. The use of absorhers with a suitable absorption capacity led to a significant increase of cakes with mold-free shelf life, regardless of a x and pH level, at 25 °C.
BIOMASS ALLOCATION AND NITROGEN DISTRIBUTION IN RYEGRASS UNDER WATER AND NITROGEN SUPPLIES

Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) in grassland is known to sustain with water and nitrogen (N). This study investigates biomass and N partitioning in plant organs (roots, main and the youngest tillers) under water-nitrogen interactions. Nitrogen was applied at the rates of 50 and 100 mg N kg−1 as N1 (low N) and N2 (high N) treatments, respectively, with uniform irrigation until 440 growing degree-days (GDD). Thereafter, the water supply was restricted to 50 mL on a weekly basis (W1) against 50 mL on a daily basis (W2) and concurrently, N enriched with 1 atom% 15N isotopes. Cumulative tillers’ biomass increased linearly from 1st to 8th order, but thereafter reached a plateau with further increases in number of negligible weights. Initially tiller mass and number per plan did not differ (P < 0.05) with water and/or N applications but changed at 788 GDD with clear differences at 911 GDD with the highest under N2W2 and lowest under N1W1. Nitrogen concentration sharply decreased from 530 to 700 GDD and then levelled off with age. The decline was more pronounced in tillers than roots. The high N treatment showed elevated N-concentration under both water treatments. Watering on a daily basis promoted vegetative growth. High water and N levels significantly (P < 0.05) influenced concentration of N absorbed during 15N labeling (NL) in all organs with relatively pronounced NL under N2. The additive positive effect of W2 and N2 was obvious on NL as compared to NT, which showed that plants discriminate N-uptake on mass basis. Nitrogen (mobile) was higher in young and 15N (heavier) was low in young tillers and vice versa. Accumulation of N absorbed during 15N labeling (15NA) was significant knowing that water is a strong determining factor of N concentration in ryegrass organs.
Superabsorbent hydrogel based on modified polysaccharide for removal of Pb2+ and Cu2+ from water with excellent performance

This contribution describes the absorption percentage of Pb2+ and Cu2+ from water by a superabsorbent hydrogel matrix (SH) made from an anionic polysaccharide copolymerized with acrylic acid (AAc) and acrylamide (AAm). Metal-absorption tests, upon sequential pH variation, indicated that the SH has pH-sensitivity for the absorption of both metals from solution, attributed to the functional ionic groups (COOH) present in the AAc and arabic gum (AG) segments. At the pH 5.0, the SH exhibited good absorption capacity: 73.10% for Pb2+, 81.99% for Cu2+ in water and 63.64% for Pb2+, and 76.67% for Cu2+ in saline water with 0.1 mol kg−1 ionic strength. A replicated 22 full factorial design with a central point was built to evaluate the maximum absorption capacity of the metals into the SH. It was found that both the interaction and main effects of the pH and the initial concentration of metal solution on absorption percentage of the metals were statistically significant. Surface response plots indicated that the absorption capacity of both metals into the SH may be appreciably improved by using the solutions with lower initial concentration of metal and with higher pH values. Metal-absorption results demonstrated that the SH is a convenient material for absorption of Pb2+ and Cu2+ from pure aqueous and saline aqueous environments. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007
Cold gelation of globular proteins

Keywords : globular proteins, whey protein, ovalbumin, cold gelation, disulfide bonds, texture, gel hardnessProtein gelation in food products is important to obtain desirable sensory and textural properties. Cold gelation is a novel method to produce protein-based gels. It is a two step process in which first thermally induced protein aggregates are prepared by a heat treatment of a solution of native globular proteins at low ionic strength. After cooling, gelation of the dispersion of repulsive aggregates is induced in the second step by lowering the pH or by adding salt at ambient temperature. Cold-set gelation finds applications in food products with a delicate flavor and texture. In addition cold-set gels can be used as a thickening agent or in encapsulation of sensitive materials.The purpose of the research described in this thesis was to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the acid-induced cold gelation process. Therefore it was studied (i) how different aggregate properties determined the final properties of cold-set whey protein gels, (ii) how structural and rheological properties of the gels scaled with the protein concentration, and (iii) how the final gel properties depended on the use of different cysteine-containing globular proteins.The results demonstrated that reduction of the electrostatic repulsion initiated the formation of a randomly aggregated protein network by physical interactions. Surprisingly, additional covalent disulfide bonds were formed under the acid conditions. The disulfide bonds stabilized the initial network and increased the mechanical gel strength. The formation of disulfide bonds depended on the number and accessibility of thiol groups and disulfide bonds present in the various protein molecules. Therefore, the disulfide bonds are important control parameters that can be used to tune the texture of (cold-set) gels. In addition, the contour length of the linear-shaped aggregates prepared in the first step affected the mechanical gel strength of cold-set gels. For smaller aggregates percolation is preceded by the formation of clusters, yielding less effective contact points and therefore weaker gels compared to cold-set gels prepared from long fibrillar structures. Moreover, the length of the linear-shaped aggregates determined the appearance of the cold-set gels. Cold gelation is a relevant method for the application of globular proteins as an efficient structuring ingredient in food systems.
Relating shear banding, structure, and phase behavior in wormlike micellar solutions

The rheological behavior of concentrated cationic wormlike micellar surfactant solutions (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) near the isotropic–nematic (I–N) transition is studied as a function of composition and temperature to determine the relationship between shear banding, fluid microstructure and underlying equilibrium phase behavior. The combination of conventional rheometry, velocimetry, and spatially-resolved flow-small angle neutron scattering allows detailed exploration of the differences between shear banding and non-shear banding solutions. The shear rheology of isotropic WLM solutions are shown to be well-described by the Giesekus constitutive model, which provides a quantitative discrimination between banding and non-banding wormlike micellar fluids through the drag anisotropy coupling parameter. This anisotropy parameter is shown to correlate with the order parameter describing the relative distance to the equilibrium I–N transition. Combining this information with measurements of the critical shear rates for shear banding allows the construction of a non-equilibrium state diagram for the shear banding fluid in terms of the Weissenberg number and the compositional order parameter.
Smouldering in fixed beds of oil shale grains. A three-dimensional microscale numerical model

A three-dimensional, microscale numerical model for the simulation of smouldering in fixed beds of solid fuels is presented. It solves the local governing equations, and therefore explicitly accounts for the coupling of the transport and reaction mechanisms on the microscopic scale. This article describes the conceptual and numerical apparatus and provides illustrative examples of calculations. Extensive applications will be presented in two companion papers.
Single‐layer drying characteristics and colour kinetics of red chilli

Summary Single-layer drying experiments were conducted under controlled conditions of temperature, relative humidity (RH) and air velocity to find out the effects of drying conditions and blanching on the drying rate and colour of Thai red chilli. Drying rate increased with an increase of drying air temperature and a decrease of RH. Air temperatures above 65 °C affected the colour of red chilli. Red chilli should be dried at an air velocity equal to or just above 0.50 m s−1. Above this value, the drying rate becomes independent of air velocity. RH and air velocity have no effect on the colour of red chilli. Faster drying rate and higher colour value was found for the blanched sample rather than the unblanched sample. The Newton and the Page equations were fitted to the experimental data. The Newton equation was found to describe the single-layer drying of red chilli better than the Page equation.
Influence of retention time and influent pH on the performance of an upflow anaerobic sludge bioreactor treating cannery waste waters

A mesophilic 50-L upflow anaerobic sludge bed bioreactor (UASB) design was evaluated for the treatment of a sugar rich effluent from the canning industry. The UASB was inoculated with 1670 g anaerobic granules to give a granule bed height of 141 mm. After the system had stabilized the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was set at 24 h, the bioreactor substrate pH poised at 7.5 to prevent rapid acidification and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) increased to a full strength of 4000 mg.L -1 . In the first experimental study (I) the organic loading rate (OLR) was increased by shortening the HRT from 24 to 8 h to give an OLR increase from 4.0 to 9.2 kgCOD.m -3 . d -1 with an average COD removal of 81-84% and removal rate of 7.5 kgCOD.m -3 . d -1 . A HRT of 10 h was taken as the optimum operational HRT, as the recovery rate of the system at HRTs lower than 10 h were found to be longer than at longer HRTs. However, the data clearly showed that the bioreactor had not reached its optimal loading capacity, which was confirmed by the constant increase in the granule bed height. Since neutralization costs would influence the economic aspects of the process, the influence of lower pH values was investigated and the pH of the canning effluent was reduced from 7.5 to 5.0. At the lower pH, the COD removal remained fairly constant between 79 and 82%, with an alkalinity level of 700 mg.L -1 and a bioreactor effluent pH value of 6.5. It was clear from the low effluent pH that the lower end of the operational pH had been reached and further lowering of the substrate pH would lead to system failure. An increase of 144% in the granule bed height was found over the whole study period and the diameter of the granules obtained varied from below 1.0 mm to about 4.0 mm. The data from this study showed that the UASB system could successfully be used to treat canning effluents at short HRTs and without any further neutralization.
Effect of Surfactants on Decoloration of Various Dyes by Peroxide Bleaching Agents

The effect of three surfactants, dodecylbenzenesulfonate (DBS), n-hexadecyltri methylammonium bromide (HTAB), and polyethylene glycol mono-p-octylphenyl ether (PEOPE), on the decoloration rates of C.I. Acid Orange 7, C.I. Basic Green 4, and C.I. Basic Orange 33 by peroxide bleaching agents such as sodium percarbonate and hy drogen peroxide is examined. The decoloration rate of Acid Orange 7 by peroxide bleaching agents accelerates in the presence of DBS, HTAB and PEOPE, especially near the cmc, with the maximum rate being observed in the presence of HTAB. However, the decoloration rate of Basic Orange 33 by hydrogen peroxide accelerates only when DBS is present near the cmc. There is no or less enhanced decoloration in the presence of HTAB or PEOPE. Interestingly, the decoloration rate of Basic Green 4 by hydrogen peroxide accelerates with increasing HTAB concentration, and in contrast, the rate de creases when DBS is present. These results indicate that decoloration rates by peroxide bleaching agents largely depend on interactions between the dyes and surfactants.
Structural Characterization of Archaeal Lipid Mucosal Vaccine Adjuvant and Delivery (AMVAD) Formulations Prepared by Different Protocols and Their Efficacy Upon Intranasal Immunization of Mice

Intranasal administration of ovalbumin (OVA) formulated in an archaeal lipid mucosal vaccine adjuvant and delivery (AMVAD) system prepared by the addition of CaCl2 to small unilamellar archaeosomes (liposomes made from archaeal polar lipids) containing encapsulated OVA, was recently shown to elicit strong and sustained OVA-specific mucosal and systemic immune responses. In this study, we show that the centrifugation/washing and antigen quantization steps required in the standard protocol for obtaining OVA/AMVAD model vaccine formulations can be eliminated by using simpler protocols such as admixing OVA with preformed empty archaeosomes, or by changing the starting ratio (w/w) of archaeal lipid to antigen at the archaeosome preparation stage, prior to the addition of CaCl2 to convert to the AMVAD structures. Irrespective of the vaccine preparation protocol, the AMVAD particle typically comprised of larger spherical structures that had aggregated like a bunch of grapes, and it contained aqueous compartment(s). The anti-OVA IgA antibody responses in vaginal wash, nasal wash, serum, and bile samples, and the anti-OVA IgG antibody responses in sera, in mice intranasally immunized with the OVA/AMVAD formulations prepared by the simplified or the standard protocols, were comparable.
Charge control model of the double delta-doped quantum-well field-effect transistor

The charge control properties of Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As-GaAs-Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As quantum-well field-effect transistor (FET) with double /spl delta/-doped planes are studied theoretically. A simple capacitor-like charge control model for the double/spl delta/-doped quantum-well FET's has been proposed and verified through self-consistent calculation. The threshold voltage and the capacitance can be related to the structure through simple analytical equations. The effective separation between capacitor plates is found to be the thickness of AlGaAs layer d+d/sub i/+/spl delta/ plus a correction term to account for the distribution of N/sub 2DEG/ inside the GaAs quantum well. For small well widths, only the ground-state subband is occupied and there is a simple linear relation between N/sub 2DEG/ and the gate bias V/sub G/. For larger well widths, electrons occupied the lowest subband, then the next higher energy subband, and the relation between the N/sub 2DEG/ and the V/sub G/ can be divided into piece-wise linear regions. >
Moderated Mineral Acid Catalysis for Durable-Press Finishing Under Mild-Curing Conditions 1

Mineral acids are effective catalysts in mild-cure finishing treatments for producing wrinkle resistance in cotton fabrics. In these treatments fabrics are impregnated with a solution containing an N-methylolated amide crosslinking agent and the catalyst, and heated without predrying, at 60-100°C for a short time. The heating is regulated so that the moisture content of the fibers at the end of the crosslinking treatment is about 3-5%. However, because of the potentially corro sive effect on equipment and the precise control necessary during treatments that utilize mineral acid catalysts, other catalyst systems have been sought. The present approach has been to modify the activity of the mineral acid by in cluding a moderating salt in the catalyst system. Certain acid/salt combinations that provide sufficient catalytic activity for mild-cure finishing were developed. The catalyst systems used were HCl/NH4H2PO 4, HCl/NH4C2H3O2, and HNO 3/ NH4H2PO4. Treatments utilizing these catalysts gave fabrics with greater strength but lower wrinkle- and chlorine- resistance than those receiving treatments catalyzed by mineral acid alone. Magnitude of the changes varied with concentrations and relative amounts of acid and salt in the catalyst system; quantities for optimum relationships were established.
The collisional flow of vibrational energy into surrounding vibrational fields within S1 benzene

Vapor phase fluorescence spectra are used to determine the absolute rate constants for the collisional transfer of vibrational energy from initial single vibronic levels of S1 benzene into the surrounding S1 vibronic field. 11 initial levels are probed with vibrational energies ranging to 2368 cm−1 where the level density is about 10 per cm−1. CO, isopentane, and S0 benzene are the collision partners. Benzene rate constants are three to four times gas kinetic for all levels, and electronic energy switching between the initial S1 molecule and the S0 collision partner probably makes important contributions. Isopentane efficiencies range from one to two times gas kinetic. Most of the transfer from low S1 levels occurs with excitation of vibrational energy within isopentane. These V–V contributions decline to only about 10% for the high transfer. CO‐induced transfer is by V‐T,R processes for all levels. The CO efficiency rises from about 0.1 for low regions to about unity for levels above 1500 cm−1. The CO ef.
Volatile Organic Compound Emissions by Winter Wheat Plants (Triticum aestivum L.) under Fusarium spp. Infestation and Various Abiotic Conditions

The co-occurrences of biotic and abiotic factor stresses were studied on winter wheat cv. “Tonacja”. In the first experiment the controlled infestation by Fusarium spp. and water stress were applied, and in the second experiment Fusarium spp. and various light intensities were given to winter wheat plants. The objective of this study was to determine how wheat’s emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) depends on the biotic/abiotic factors. In the first experiment, nine VOCs were indicated as a result of Fusarium spp. infestation; three of the terpenoids (linalool, β-caryophyllene and β-farnesene) and six green leaf volatiles (GLVs) ((Z)-3-hexenal, (E)-2-hexenal, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, (E)-2-hexen-1-ol, 1-hexyl acetate, and (Z)-3-hexen-1-yl acetate). Total amount of VOCs emitted by wheat reached 4-610 ng·h -1
Characterization of two maritime pine tannins as wood adhesives

Maritime pine tannins from the two suppliers BIOLANDES and DRT were used in combination with paraformaldehyde (5%), hexamine (6%) and glyoxal (9%) as hardener in the preparation of adhesives for wood-based panels. Both tannins showed similar structures according to the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight analysis. A high reactivity has been checked by gel time measurements and the viscosity increase. Already the BIOLANDES and the DRT tannin alone registered an internal bond (IB) of 0.4 MPa without any hardener. The BIOLANDES tannin with paraformaldehyde could fulfil the European standard EN 312. In general, DRT tannin obtained the best mechanical results. However, the pH and the moisture content play a fundamental role for the final IB. Thus, DRT tannin with glyoxal as hardener at high pH and moisture content gave an IB of 0.51 MPa. The mechanical resistance differences between BIOLANDES and DRT tannin were confirmed by the 13C NMR spectra. DRT tannin presents a lower polymerization de than BIOLANDES, and more reactive sites are available.
A Theoretical Study of the Relationships between Electronic Structure and Antifungal Activity against Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum lagenarium of a Group of Carabrone Hydrazone Derivatives.

We present a study of the relationships between the electronic structures of a series of carabrone hydrozone derivatives and their antifungal activities against Botrytis cinerea and Collectotrichum lagenarium. The electronic structure of all the molecules was obtained using Density Functional Theory at the B3LYP/631g(d,p) level. We found statistically significant relationships between the variation of several local atomic reactivity indices and the variation of antifungal activity for the three cases analyzed. The existence of a common skeleton encoding most of the variation of the activity is established for this case. The corresponding antifungal partial pharmacophores are proposed. The in vivo and in vitro action mechanisms seem to be somewhat different. The method employed here can deal quite well with the σ MOs. A correlation exists between the molecular electrostatic potential structure and the local atomic reactivity indices appearing in the
External validation of a QSAR for the acute toxicity of halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons

The validation of the predictive capability of a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) is a significant step toward the construction of a reliable model. This point is discussed and illustrated with data for a class of halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons. For this class of compounds, a QSAR concerning their acute toxicity toward rat was recently published. This QSAR is verified in this study by selecting and testing an external validation set comprising six compounds. The QSAR is also used for predicting the acute toxicity of 38 nontested members of this class.