Preparation of dibasic acid-containing soy phospholipids by chemical and enzyme-catalyzed transesterification and evaluation of their surface-active properties

The preparation of dibasic acid-containing soy phospholipid was made by transesterification reaction with alkyl ester of diabasic acid with both lipase and alkoxide as a catalyst. The extent of incorporation of a dibasic acid varied with the molecular size of the dibasic acid. The extent of incorporation in soy phospholipids was 4–13% in the case of adipic acid and 9–20% in the case of sebacic acid. The surface-active properties of these modified soy phospholipids were examined and were found to be different from those of the original (unmodified) soy phospholipid. The interfacial properties such as critical micelle concentration (CMC), γ_CMC, surface excess concentration Γ_max, and minimum area per molecule (Å), and thermodynamic parameters such as standard free energy of micellization, were found to depend on the hydrophobic part of the dibasic acids.     

Conversion of Canola Meal into a High-Protein Feed Additive via Solid-State Fungal Incubation Process

The study goal was to determine the optimal fungal culture to reduce glucosinolates (GLS), fiber, and residual sugars while increasing the protein content and nutritional value of canola meal. Solid‐state incubation conditions were used to enhance filamentous growth of the fungi. Flask trials were performed using 50 % moisture content hexane‐extracted (HE) or cold‐pressed (CP) canola meal with incubation for 168 h at 30 °C. Incubation on HE canola meal Trichoderma reesei (NRRL‐3653) achieved the greatest increase in protein content (23 %), while having the lowest residual levels of sugar (8 % w/w) and GLS (0.4 μM/g). Incubation on CP canola meal Trichoderma reesei (NRRL‐3653), A. pullulans (NRRL‐58522), and A. pullulans (NRRL‐Y‐2311‐1) resulted in the greatest improvement in protein content (22.9, 16.9 and 15.4 %, respectively), while reducing total GLS content from 60.6 to 1.0, 3.2 and 10.7 μM/g, respectively. HE and CP canola meal GLS levels were reduced to 65.5 and 50.7 % by thermal treatments while solid‐state microbial conversion further reduced GLS up to 99 and 98 %, respectively. Fiber levels increased due to the concentration effect of removing oligosaccharides and GLS.     

Quantifying in-use PM measurements for heavy duty diesel vehicles

Heavy duty emissions regulations have recently expanded from the laboratory to include in-use requirements. This paradigm shift to in-use testing has forced the development of portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) for particulate matter (PM). These PM measurements are not trivial for laboratory work, and are even more complex for in-use testing. This study evaluates five PM PEMS in comparison to UCR's mobile reference laboratory under in-use conditions. Three on-highway, heavy-duty trucks were selected to provide PM emissions levels from 0.1 to 0.0003 g/hp-h, with varying compositions of elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and sulfate. The on-road driving courses included segments near sea level, at elevations up to 1500 m, and coastal and desert regions. The photoacoustic measurement PEMS performed best for the non-after treatment system (ATS)-equipped engine, where the PM was mostly EC, with a linear regression slope of 0.91 and an R(2) of 0.95. The PEMS did not perform as well for the 2007 modified ATS equipped engines. The best performing PEMS showed a slope of 0.16 for the ATS-equipped engine with predominantly sulfate emissions and 0.89 for the ATS-equipped engine with predominantly OC emissions, with the next best slope at 0.45 for the predominantly OC engine.     

Phosphorylated Proteins from Serum: A Promising Potential Diagnostic Biomarker of Cancer

Cancer is a fatal disease worldwide. Each year ten million people are diagnosed around the world, and more than half of patients eventually die from it in many countries. A majority of cancer remains asymptomatic in the earlier stages, with specific symptoms appearing in the advanced stages when the chances of adequate treatment are low. Cancer screening is generally executed by different imaging techniques like ultrasonography (USG), mammography, CT-scan, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Imaging techniques, however, fail to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous cells for early diagnosis. To confirm the imaging result, solid and liquid biopsies are done which have certain limitations such as invasive (in case of solid biopsy) or missed early diagnosis due to extremely low concentrations of circulating tumor DNA (in case of liquid biopsy). Therefore, it is essential to detect certain biomarkers by a noninvasive approach. One approach is a proteomic or glycoproteomic study which mostly identifies proteins and glycoproteins present in tissues and serum. Some of these studies are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Another non-expensive and comparatively easier method to detect glycoprotein biomarkers is by ELISA, which uses lectins of diverse specificities. Several of the FDA approved proteins used as cancer biomarkers do not show optimal sensitivities for precise diagnosis of the diseases. In this regard, expression of phosphoproteins is associated with a more specific stage of a particular disease with high sensitivity and specificity. In this review, we discuss the expression of different serum phosphoproteins in various cancers. These phosphoproteins are detected either by phosphoprotein enrichment by immunoprecipitation using phosphospecific antibody and metal oxide affinity chromatography followed by LC-MS/MS or by 2D gel electrophoresis followed by MALDI-ToF/MS analysis. The updated knowledge on phosphorylated proteins in clinical samples from various cancer patients would help to develop these serum phophoproteins as potential diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers of cancer.     

A spiral shaped regenerative microfluidic fuel cell with Ni‐C based porous electrodes

Microchannel geometry, electrode surface area, and better fuel utilization are important aspects of the performance of a microfluidic fuel cell (MFC). In this communication, a membraneless spiral‐shaped MFC fabricated with Ni as anode and C as a cathode supported over a porous filter paper substrate is presented. Vanadium oxychloride and dilute sulfuric acid solutions are used as fuel and electrolyte, respectively, in this fuel cell system. The device generates a maximum open‐circuit voltage of ~1.2 V, while the maximum energy density and current density generated from the fuel cell are ~10 mW cm^?2 and ~51 mA cm^?2, respectively. The cumulative energy density generated from the device after five cycles are measured as ~200 mW after regeneration of the fuel by applying external voltage. The spiral design of the fuel cell enables improved fuel utilization, rapid diffusive transport of ions, and in‐situ regeneration of the fuel. The present self‐standing spiral‐shaped MFC will eliminate the challenges associated with two inlet membrane‐less fuel cells and has the potential to scale up for commercial application in portable energy generation.     

Striped nanowires and nanorods from mixed SAMS

We investigate the use of mixed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) for creating nanoscale striped patterns on nanowires and nanorods. Our simulations predict that SAMs comprised of an equal composition of length-mismatched, thermodynamically incompatible surfactants adsorbed on nanowire surfaces self-organize into equilibrium stripes of alternating composition always perpendicular, rather than parallel, to the nanowire axis. We support the simulation results with preliminary experimental investigations of gold nanorods coated with binary mixtures of ligand molecules, which show stripes roughly perpendicular to the rod axis in all cases.     

Absolute stability of an implicit method based on third-order off-step discretization for the initial-value problem on a graded mesh

Engineering with Computers - We studied a new implicit method of order three based on two off-step points for the numerical solution of second-order nonlinear initial-value problems...     

Enhancing protein and sugar release from defatted soy flakes using ultrasound technology

This research focused on the use of high-power ultrasound prior to soy protein extraction to simultaneously enhance protein and sugar release in the extract. Defatted soy flakes dispersed in water were sonicated for 15, 30, 60 and 120 s using a bench-scale ultrasound unit. The ultrasonic amplitudes used were: 0, 21, 42, 63 and 84 μm_pp (peak-to-peak). The respective power densities were 0.30, 0.87, 1.53 and 2.56 W/ml. Scanning electron micrographs of sonicated samples showed the structural disruption of soy flakes. The particle size decreased nearly 10-fold following ultrasonic treatment at high amplitudes. Sonication at high amplitude for 120 s gave the highest increase in total sugar released (50%) and protein yield (46%) when compared with non-sonicated samples (control). Ultrasonic pretreatment was also carried out with and without cooling for temperature moderation. The heat generated during sonication had no significant effect on protein and sugar release from defatted soy flakes. The use of ultrasound can significantly improve protein yield and reduce the overall cost of producing soy protein from flakes.