Investigation of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks–derived carbon nanotubes thin film in solar vapor generation

Journal of Porous Materials - Solar vapor generation is considered a green and practical approach to take advantage of solar energy as a renewable source and provide pure water. However, developing...     

Cheese fortification using saturated monoglyceride self‐assembly structures as carrier of omega‐3 fatty acids

The purpose of this research was to study the capacity of emulsions containing saturated monoglyceride self‐assembly structures to deliver omega‐3 fatty acids in fresh soft cheese. To this aim, fortified emulsions containing different ratios of milk, saturated monoglycerides (MGs) and cod liver oil were added to milk before cheese‐making. These emulsions were characterised by distinct microstructural features observed by polarised light microscopy and apparent viscosity values. The omega‐3 delivery performance of MG emulsions highlighted that this strategy allowed a good retention of the omega‐3‐rich oil in the curd (up to 75%). The fortified cheeses showed yield value and fat content higher than those of control samples. The enriched cheese showed hardness and cohesiveness obtained by texture profile analysis similar to those of the unfortified product. Only a slight decrease in gumminess was detected in fortified cheese.     

Milk from cows fed a diet with a high forage:concentrate ratio improves inflammatory state,oxidative stress,and mitochondrial function in rats

Excessive energy intake may evoke complex biochemical processes characterized by inflammation, oxidative stress, and impairment of mitochondrial function that represent the main factors underlying noncommunicable diseases. Because cow milk is widely used for human nutrition and in food industry processing, the nutritional quality of milk is of special interest with respect to human health. In our study, we analyzed milk produced by dairy cows fed a diet characterized by a high forage:concentrate ratio (high forage milk, HFM). In view of the low n-6:n-3 ratio and high content of conjugated linoleic acid of HFM, we studied the effects of this milk on lipid metabolism, inflammation, mitochondrial function, and oxidative stress in a rat model. To this end, we supplemented for 4 wk the diet of male Wistar rats with HFM and with an isocaloric amount (82 kJ, 22 mL/d) of milk obtained from cows fed a diet with low forage:concentrate ratio, and analyzed the metabolic parameters of the animals. Our results indicate that HFM may positively affect lipid metabolism, leptin:adiponectin ratio, inflammation, mitochondrial function, and oxidative stress, providing the first evidence of the beneficial effects of HFM on rat metabolism.     

A Donor–Acceptor Polymer with a Peculiar Negative‐Charge‐“Trapping” Characteristic

Voltammetric and spectrophotometric measurements of poly(3,3″‐dipentoxy‐3′‐dicyanoethenyl‐2,2′:5′,2″‐terthiophene) (polyCN) films, in connection with other experimental evidence, reveal a normal oxidative, but a peculiar reductive behavior consisting of trapping of the negative charge during the cathodic scan. Another interesting property of polyCN films is the tendency to form strong intramolecular and intermolecular associations, probably charge‐transfer (CT) complexes. These properties could account for the fact that the photovoltaic performance does not improve when polyCN is blended with a polythiophene donor.     

The Berlekamp-Massey Algorithm revisited

We propose a slight modification of the Berlekamp-Massey Algorithm for obtaining the minimal polynomial of a given linearly recurrent sequence. Such a modification enables to explain it in a simpler way and to adapt it to lazy evaluation. partially supported by the Galois Theory and Explicit Methods in Arithmetic Project HPRN-CT-2000-00114 partially supported by the European Union funded project RAAG CT-2001-00271     

Efficacy and tolerability of brodimoprim in otitis

We managed four cases of lymphorrhea after extraperitoneal pelvic lymphadenectomy by means of minocycline instillation into the cavity around the drainage tube. Two patients had concomitantly undergone cystectomy and one prostatectomy via the extraperitoneal approach. In all four cases, the lymphorrhea markedly subsided, which dramatically shortened the duration of drainage. No side effects occurred. These findings indicate that minocycline instillation is an efficacious treatment for lymphorrhea.     

Simulation of Facial Muscle Actions Based on Rational Free Form Deformations

This paper describes interactive facilities for simulating abstract muscle actions using Rational Free Form Deformations (RFFD). The particular muscle action is simulated as the displacement of the control points of the control-unit for an RFFD defined on a region of interest. One or several simulated muscle actions constitute a Minimum Perceptible Action (MPA), which is defined as the atomic action unit, similar to Action Unit (AU) of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), to build an expression.     

A simple footskate removal method for virtual reality applications

Footskate is a common problem encountered in interactive applications dealing with virtual character animations. It has proven difficult to fix without the use of complex numerical methods, which require expert skills for their implementations, along with a fair amount of user interaction to correct a motion. On the other hand, deformable bodies are being increasingly used in virtual reality (VR) applications, allowing users to customize their avatar as they wish. This introduces the need of adapting motions without any help from a designer, as a random user seldom has the skills required to drive the existing algorithms towards the right solution. In this paper, we present a simple method to remove footskate artifacts in VR applications. Unlike previous algorithms, our approach does not rely on the skeletal animation to perform the correction but rather on the skin. This ensures that the final foot planting really matches the virtual character’s motion. The changes are applied to the root joint of the skeleton only so that the resulting animation is as close as possible to the original one. Eventually, thanks to the simplicity of its formulation, it can be quickly and easily added to existing frameworks.