Peptide enriched functional food adjunct from soy whey: A statistical optimization study

Soy whey is generated as a process waste while preparing soy based food products tofu, causing environmental pollution and also representing an economic penalty against the industrial process. Therefore, its valorization is of prime importance to the industry. The present investigation aims to convert this proteinaceous waste into bioactive peptide enriched hydrolysate. Soy whey protein was enzymatically treated with the Aspergillus awamori nakazawa protease. Respective protease was efficient to produce antioxidant peptide beholding radical scavenging ability of 40–50% at normal conditions. Remarkable increase in the radical scavenging activity upto 70% was noticed at the response surface methodology (RSM) based optimized condition: temperature 40°C, salt concentration (NaCl) 0.05 M, surfactant concentration (Triton-X 100) 0.0075%, hydrolysis time 80 min, and enzyme to substrate concentration 164 IU/g of soy whey protein. The present study emphasizes the biotransformation of proteineceous waste into antioxidant peptide rich soy whey protein hydrolysate to be considered as additives for food preparation and formulation.     

A 3-D Miniaturization Method for Low-Impedance Designs

Microstrip interconnects with a V conductor are designed, fabricated, and measured to provide a compact solution for designs requiring low characteristic impedance lines. S-parameter curves are shown up to 35 GHz for 0.5-cm-long lines. The 308-mum-deep V structure produces a 33.8-Omega line with strong standing waves and reflections under 5 dB. To further reduce the impedance, a partial shield is added that results in 6.7 times reduction of signal line width, near elimination of open-end effect, and excellent correlation with a standard 15-Omega microstrip up to 25 GHz. A filter demonstration shows near ideal behavior in the 3 dB response and low return loss when compared to a similar conventional design.     

Ultra-Thin Si<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ge<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> Dislocation Blocking Layers for Ge/Strained Si CMOS Devices

We demonstrate ultra-thin (<150 nm) Si_1−x Ge _x dislocation blocking layers on Si substrates used for the fabrication of tensile-strained Si N channel metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) and Ge P channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) devices. These layers were grown using ultra high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD). The Ge mole fraction was varied in rapid, but distinct steps during the epitaxial layer growth. This results in several Si_1−x Ge _x interfaces in the epitaxially grown material with significant strain fields at these interfaces. The strain fields enable a dislocation blocking mechanism at the Si_1−x Ge _x interfaces on which we were able to deposit very smooth, atomically flat, tensile-strained Si and relaxed Ge layers for the fabrication of high mobility N and P channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices, respectively. Both N and P channel metal oxide semiconductor field effect transister (MOSFETs) were successfully fabricated using high-k dielectric and metal gates on these layers, demonstrating that this technique of using ultra-thin dislocation blocking layers might be ideal for incorporating high mobility channel materials in a conventional CMOS process.     

BIST/Digital-Compatible Testing of RF Devices Using Distortion Model Fitting

Testing of Radio Frequency (RF) circuits for nonlinearity specifications generally requires the use of multiple test measurements thereby contributing to increased test cost. Prior RF test methods have suffered from significant test calibration effort (training for supervised learners) when using compact tests or from increased test time due to direct specification measurement. On the other hand, due to aggressive technology scaling, there are plenty of digital transistors available that can be used to simplify testing of Analog/Mixed-Signal (AMS) and RF devices. In this paper, an RF test methodology is developed that: (a) allows RF devices to be tested for several distortion specifications using distortion model fitting algorithms in test time comparable to what can be achieved using supervised learning techniques while retaining the accuracy of direct specification measurement, (b) allows multiple RF specifications to be determined concurrently from a single data acquisition and (c) allows digital-compatible testing/BIST to be performed using digital testers or on-chip built in self-test (BIST) circuitry. With regard to (a), a key benefit is that no training of supervised learning algorithm is necessary. The proposed method based on distortion model fitting is shown to give excellent results across common RF performance metrics while providing ~10× improvements in test time compared to previous methods.     

Stress in informal carers of hospitalised elderly patients

The aim of this study was to assess psychological well-being in carers of elderly hospitalised patients and to identify factors predicting those at risk. There are over six million informal carers in the UK. An objective measure of carers' mental health was obtained using the General Health Questionnaire and a subjective assessment (from the carer's point of view) of how caring affected their own everyday lives was also made. Of the 93 carers interviewed, 42 (45%) showed objective evidence of significant psychiatric disturbance. When questioned about their caring roles, 32% felt their health was affected by caring and 46% their social lives; 63% subjectively reported stress and 47% depression; 15% changed their employment patterns. Patients and carers received few statutory social services: 26% home care, 11% district nursing input, 8% meals on wheels and 5% either day centre or day hospital attendance. Cohabitation made it more likely that the carer's mental health would show some impairment. The informal carers' high stress levels and interference with their daily lives have implications for future care planning for the elderly.     

Studies of mechanical and moisture regain properties of methyl methacrylate grafted silk fibers

The mechanical properties such as the tenacity, breaking extension, initial modulus, elastic and work recovery, and stress relaxation behavior of methyl methacrylate (MMA) grafted silk fibers prepared under different conditions were measured and explained in terms of the relative dominance of the stress concentration, reduction in the interchain cohesion, and fiber matrix stiffening at different grafting percentages. The moisture regain characteristics of fibers grafted in the presence of different solvents were also studied and compared. The grafting of MMA on silk was found to improve the recovery properties significantly without affecting the stress relaxation behavior. The moisture regain studies indicate that moisture regain is reduced with increasing length of the grafted poly(MMA) chains. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 969–974, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10202