Prior Storage Research Articles

The Study of Combination of Biodegradable Packaging and Biocoating with Lactic Acid Bacteria as a Green Alternative for Traditional Packaging in Gouda Cheese

Biodegradable packaging, both alone and in combination with acid whey protein coatings, has been used to pack fresh Gouda cheese to improve preservation prior ripening or storage. This study involved three key components: (i) the selection of biodegradable packaging (BP), (ii) the development of a plain liquid acid whey protein concentrate, pectin-based edible coating (BP + Ch + Coating), and (iii) the incorporation of at least 6 log10 CFU (colony forming units) mL−1 Lacticaseibacillus paracasei (BP + Ch + Coating + Lp) and Lactobacillus helveticus (BP + Ch + Coating + Lh) strains. The created compositions were compared with cheese packed in conventional polyethylene (PE) packaging to evaluate their overall synergy effect in reducing microbiological spoilage and influencing chemical parameters in Gouda cheese during 45 days of ripening and cold storage. The evaluation included microbiological analysis (total LAB, Enterobacteriaceae spp., and fungi CFU) and quality assessment of pH, moisture content, water activity, texture, and colour (CEI system) during ripening and shelf life. Although biodegradable packaging (BP) alone did not protect the cheese effectively compared to conventional packaging (EVA/PE/EPC/PVDC), the combination of biodegradable packaging with a coating (BP + Ch + Coating) showed protective properties against Enterobacteriaceae spp. and mould, maintaining moisture, pH, and colour during ripening and storage. Incorporation of L. helveticus (BP + Ch + Coating + Lh) into the coating efficiently decreased the growth of fungi.

Preservation of exhaled breath samples for analysis by off-line SESI-HRMS: proof-of-concept study

Secondary electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectrometry (SESI-HRMS) is an established technique in the field of breath analysis characterized by its short analysis time, as well as high levels of sensitivity and selectivity. Traditionally, SESI-HRMS has been used for real-time breath analysis, which requires subjects to be at the location of the analytical platform. Therefore, it limits the possibilities for an introduction of this methodology in day-to-day clinical practice. However, recent methodological developments have shown feasibility on the remote sampling of exhaled breath in Nalophan® bags prior to measurement using SESI-HRMS. To further explore the range of applications of this method, we conducted a proof-of-concept study to assess the impact of the storage time of exhaled breath in Nalophan® bags at different temperatures (room temperature and dry ice) on the relative intensities of the compounds. In addition, we performed a detailed study of the storage effect of 27 aldehydes related to oxidative stress. After 2 h of storage, the mean of intensity of all m/z signals relative to the samples analyzed without prior storage remained above 80% at both room temperature and dry ice. For the 27 aldehydes, the mean relative intensity losses were lower than 20% at 24 h of storage, remaining practically stable since the first hour of storage following sample collection. Furthermore, the mean relative intensity of most aldehydes in samples stored at room temperature was higher than those stored in dry ice, which could be related to water vapor condensation issues. These findings indicate that the exhaled breath samples could be preserved for hours with a low percentage of mean relative intensity loss, thereby allowing more flexibility in the logistics of off-line SESI-HRMS studies.

A Grey Literature Review on Data Stream Processing applications testing

Context:The Data Stream Processing (DSP) approach focuses on real-time data processing by applying specific techniques for capturing and processing relevant data for on-the-fly results, i.e. without necessarily requiring prior storage. Like in any other software, testing plays a vital role in the quality assurance of DSP applications. However, testing such kind of software is not a simple task. In this context, some factors that make challenging testing are message temporality, parallelism, data volume, complex infrastructure, variability, and speed of messages. Objective:This work aims to map and synthesize industry knowledge and experience regarding DSP application testing. Specifically, we want to know about challenges, test purposes, test approaches, test data sources, and adopted tools. Method:To achieve the objective, we performed a Grey Literature Review (e.g., blog posts, white papers, discussion lists, lecture themes at technical events, professional social networks, software repositories, and other web-published) on testing DSP applications. We searched the grey literature using Google’s regular search engine in addition to specific searches on technical software development content websites. The selected studies were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative techniques. Results:Results are based on evidence from 154 selected sources. The challenges for testing DSP applications are the complexity of DSP applications, test infrastructure complexity, timing, and data acquisition issues. The main test objectives identified are functional suitability, performance efficiency, reliability, and maintainability. The main test approaches reported: Performance Testing, Regression Testing, Property-Based Testing, Chaos Testing, and Contract/Schema Testing. The strategies adopted by practitioners to obtain test data: Historical Data, Production Data Mirroring, Semi-Synthetic Data, and Synthetic Data. We also report 50 tools used in various testing activities, which are used for: automating infrastructure, generating test data, test utilities, dealing with timing issues, load generation, simulation, and others. Furthermore, we identified gaps and opportunities for future scientific work. Conclusion:This work selected and summarized content produced by practitioners regarding DSP application testing. We identified that knowledge, techniques, and tools intrinsic to the practice were not present in the formal literature, so this study helps reduce the gap between industry and academia on this topic. The document has delivered benefits to industry practitioners and academic researchers.

The influence of almond's water activity and storage temperature on Salmonella survival and thermal resistance

This study investigated the effects of inoculation method, water activity (aw), packaging method, and storage temperature and duration on the survival of Salmonella on almonds as well as their resistance to subsequent thermal treatments. Whole almond kernels were inoculated with a broth-based or agar-based growth Salmonella cocktail and conditioned to aw of 0.52, 0.43 or 0.27. Inoculated almonds with aw of 0.43 were treated with a previously validated treatment (4 h of dry heat at 73 °C) to determine the potential differences in heat resistance resulted from the two inoculation methods. The inoculation method did not significantly (P > 0.05) impact the thermal resistance of Salmonella. Inoculated almonds at aw of 0.52 and 0.27 were either vacuum packaged in moisture-impermeable mylar bags or non-vacuum packaged in moisture-permeable polyethylene bags before stored at 35, 22, 4, or −18 °C for up to 28 days. At selected storage intervals, almonds were measured for aw, analyzed for Salmonella population level, and subjected to dry heat treatment at 75 °C. Over the month-long storage of almonds, Salmonella populations remained almost unchanged (<0.2 log CFU/g) at 4 °C and −18 °C and declined slightly (<0.8 log CFU/g) at 22 °C and more substantially (1.6–2.0 log CFU/g) at 35 °C regardless of the inoculation method, packaging method, and almond aw. When stored at 35 °C, almonds with initial aw of 0.52 had significantly higher (P < 0.05) Salmonella reductions than those with initial aw of 0.27. Prior storage of almonds vacuum packaged in mylar bags at temperatures between −18 °C and 35 °C for 28 days affected their aw levels but did not significantly (P > 0.05) affect the subsequent thermal resistance of Salmonella at 75 °C regardless of almond aw and storage duration. Salmonella on almonds with higher aw was more sensitive to heat treatment than those with lower aw. To achieve >5 log CFU/g reductions of Salmonella, a dry heat treatment at 75 °C for 4 and 6 h was needed for almonds with initial aw of 0.52 and 0.27, respectively. When applying the dry heating technology for almond decontamination, the processing time needs to be determined based on initial aw of almonds regardless of storage condition or age of almonds within the current design frame.

Nutritional and quality evaluation of hyperbaric stored fresh cheeses

Cow's and goat's fresh cheese (FC), two highly perishable dairy products, were stored under hyperbaric storage at room temperature (HS/RT, 50–100 MPa) and compared with refrigeration (RF, 4 °C), for 60 days.Under HS/RT (≥75 MPa), FCs presented a more stable volatile organic and fatty acid profiles, and reduced lipid oxidation rate, particularly for cow's FC, resembling more to FC prior storage, contrarily to refrigerated cheeses. No changes were observed for total protein, but free amino acids increased over time after 60 days at 75/RT of 13- and 16-fold, and at 100/RT of 14- and 8-fold, respectively in cow's and goat's FC, which may have contributed to increased protein digestibility (5.2%) observed for goat's FC after 60 days at 100/RT.In general, the results indicate the overall increased preservation performance achieved by HS/RT for cow's and goat's FC when compared with RF, slowing down FC matrix degradation, possibly leading to considerable shelf-life extension.

Olive Leaf Processing for Infusion Purposes.

Olive leaf is a by-product rich in bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols and triterpenic acids, with numerous biological activities for human health. Nowadays, the existence of dry olive leaves marketed for infusion elaboration is lacking. During the elaboration process, the drying and grinding stages are critical for the conservation of bioactive compounds, and, precisely, the existing research on olive leaf production procedures is quite scarce. This work aimed to study and model the dehydration process using a forced-air oven and infrared with air convection systems. In addition, different grinding grades were studied. The kinetic constant and activation energy during dehydration were obtained. Drying temperatures above 50 °C produced a decrease in the phenolic concentration of olive leaves; however, it has been observed that prior storage of 24 h at room temperature considerably reduced the loss of phenols. Likewise, it was observed that the higher the degree of grinding, the greater the diffusion of both bioactive compounds and colored compounds. Therefore, the drying and grinding stages were closely related to the content of beneficial compounds and the appearance of the infusions, and their optimization was of crucial importance to produce dried olive leaves rich in biocompounds for use as healthy infusions.

Magma accumulation at depths of prior rhyolite storage beneath Yellowstone Caldera.

Seismic tomography has provided key insight into Yellowstone's crustal magmatic system that includes attempts to understand the melt distribution in the subsurface and the current stage of the volcano's life cycle. We present new tomographic images of the shear wave speed of the Yellowstone magmatic system based on full waveform inversion of ambient noise correlations, which illuminates shear wave speed reductions of greater than 30% associated with Yellowstone's silicic magma reservoir. The slowest seismic wave speeds (shear wave speed less than 2.3 kilometers per second) are present at depths between 3 and 8 kilometers, overlapping with petrological estimates of the assembly depth of erupted rhyolite bodies. Assuming that Yellowstone's magmatic system is a crystal mush with broadly distributed melt, we estimate a partial melt fraction of 16 to 20%.

Preliminary Investigation of the Effect of Maceration Procedures on Bone Metabolome and Lipidome.

The study of post-mortem changes is a crucial component of forensic investigation. Human forensic taphonomic facilities (HFTFs) are the only institutions allowing the design and execution of controlled human decomposition experiments. When bodies are skeletonized, bones are normally stored in skeletal collections and used for anthropological studies. However, HFTFs apply chemical and/or thermal treatments to the remains prior bone long-term storage. These treatments are believed to alter heavily the original biochemical and molecular signature of bone material. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of these procedures on the bone metabolome and lipidome by using an animal bone model. Three intact bovine tibiae were processed using three protocols routinely applied at HFTFs, and their three counterparts were used as non-treated controls. Bone powder samples were subjected to biphasic extraction and both metabolites and lipids were analysed via liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry. Results showed severe reductions in the abundances of both metabolites and lipids, and the presence of contamination introduced by cleaning agents. Despite the preliminary nature of the study, we demonstrated that the biochemical profile of bone is heavily affected by the maceration procedures. Ideally, these treatments should be avoided, or replaced by minimally invasive procedures agreed across HFTFs.

Growth Temperature Influences Postharvest Quality and Cold Tolerance of Green Harvested Dwarf Tomatoes During Storage

Effect of cultivation temperature during the phase of flowering and fruit development on tomato quality was investigated. Plants of two dwarf tomato cultivars “Ponchi Re” and “Tarzan,” were subjected to three different growth temperatures: 16, 22, or 28°C, starting at the flowering phase. Mature green fruit was harvested and subjected to shelf life at 20°C for 20 days or first stored at 4°C for 15 days, and then placed under shelf life conditions. Fruit quality was determined through red color development, soluble solid content (SSC), softening, weight loss, and cold tolerance. Higher cultivation temperature increased development and production of fruit. Deviation from the 22°C growth temperature led to increased soluble solid content in both cultivars, and smaller fruit diameter in “Tarzan.” Fruit grown at lower temperature had delayed color development during shelf life, and this was further delayed by prior cold storage. “Tarzan” showed more chilling injury (CI) symptoms than “Ponchi Re.” In our experiment, SSC can be manipulated by modulating cultivation temperature, but that it is not associated with CI tolerance. Delayed color formation at the lowest growth temperature observed in “Ponchi Re” tomatoes could be resulted in lower lycopene levels leads to lower ROS scavenging capacity. For “Tarzan” tomatoes, higher firmness at harvest, less softening, and lower weight loss during cold storage in fruit from the lowest cultivation temperature might positively correlated with increased membrane integrity, resulting in increased CI tolerance. This indicates that CI incidence depends on growth temperature and is cultivar dependent in dwarf tomato fruit.

The Transport History of Alluvial Fan Sediment Inferred From Multiple Geochronometers

AbstractWe present a multi‐chronometer approach to refine the age of an alluvial fan and to infer sediment transport and deposition history in the Anza Borrego Desert region of Southern California. We measure in situ produced cosmogenic carbon‐14 (14C) from boulders on the fan surface and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) ages from single feldspar grains within the alluvium. Our new IRSL age [5.3 ± 0.5 ka (±1σ)] is in excellent agreement with existing uranium‐series [U‐series; 5.3 ± 0.2 (±2σ)] ages of pedogenic carbonates. The IRSL and U‐series ages show that in situ 14C measurements [6.6 ± 1.1 ka (±1σ)] from boulders contain inherited nuclides from prior exposure in the upstream catchment, much like measurements of the longer‐lived nuclide, beryllium‐10 (10Be). However, in situ 14C ages are closer to the preferred ages inferred from IRSL and U‐series and with less scatter than comparative 10Be ages. Our data demonstrate that a multi‐geochronometer approach will produce ages of alluvial fan surfaces with the greatest degree of confidence. We then apply the paired 14C and 10Be concentrations to infer the prior exposure and storage duration of the sampled boulders of 3.1 ± 3.2 and 4.6 ± 2.3 Kyr, respectively. A mixture model analysis of the single grain IRSL ages suggests bimodal storage durations prior to remobilization with peaks at ca. 2 and 10 Kyr. We demonstrate that cosmogenic nuclide inheritance and single grain IRSL equivalent dose distributions can provide additional information regarding sediment transport history prior to deposition on the alluvial fan.

Fate of sulfamethoxazole in compost, manure and soil amended with previously stored organic wastes

Application of organic wastes as soil fertilizers represents an important route of agricultural soil contamination by antibiotics such as sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Soil contamination may be influenced by the storage time of organic wastes before soil spreading. The objective of this work was to study the fate of SMX in two organic wastes, a co-compost of green waste and sewage sludge and a bovine manure, which were stored between 0 and 28 days, then incorporated in an agricultural soil that has never received organic waste and monitored for 28 days under laboratory conditions. Organic wastes were spiked with 14C-labelled SMX at two concentrations (4.77 and 48.03 mg kg−1 dry organic waste). The fate of SMX in organic wastes and soil-organic waste mixtures was monitored through the distribution of radioactivity in the mineralised, available (2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin extracts), extractable (acetonitrile extracts) and non-extractable fractions. SMX dissipation in organic wastes, although partial, was due to i) incomplete degradation, which led to the formation of metabolites detected by high performance liquid chromatography, ii) weak adsorption and iii) formation of non-extractable residues. Such processes varied with the organic wastes, the manure promoting non-extractable residues, and the compost leading to an increase in extractable and non-extractable residues. Short storage does not lead to complete SMX elimination; thus, environmental contamination may occur after incorporating organic wastes into soil. After addition of organic wastes to the soil, SMX residues in the available fraction decreased quickly and were transferred to the extractable and mostly non-extractable fractions. The fate of SMX in the soil also depended on the organic wastes and on the prior storage time for manure. However the fate of SMX in the organic wastes and soil-organic waste mixtures was independent on the initial spiked concentration.

Logistic models for distribution of straw in crops of fruit tree plots where mulch is applied

This work presents three models for the linking of fruit tree plots which are receptors of rice straw that is applied as mulch, with other straw suppliers plots, whose straw is a byproduct of cultivating cereal. The mulch is applied to fruit tree plots in order to save irrigation water, to reduce the incidence of weeds and to reduce erosion. In other words, they intend to assign a set of supplier plots to each straw receiving plot. Each model solves the problem in one scenario. The first one considers the direct application of straw to a single plot which must be supplied to apply the mulch from several plots. Therefore, these must be selected from a set that act as suppliers. It is not considered prior storage or collection. The second scenario also involves a direct application but in several receiving target plots from several source supplier plots without storage or intermediate storage. The third scenario develops a model that groups provider plots with different collection points; It offers a system that selects the location of the storage points and associates each storage point with a group of receiving plots.

ALLEVIATING CHILLING INJURY OF OLIVE DURING COLD STORAGE BY SAFE COMPOUNDS AFTER HARVEST

Recently, there has been a great concern about increasing the yield and storage of many olive cultivars in Egypt and countries around the world. However, there is a lack of storage facilities to reduce the losses of olives. This study provide some safe treatments after harvest to extend the cold storage of olives, while reducing or mitigating the chilling injury of stored fruits. Treatments were done by dipping fruits of each used cultivar, namely Manzanillo and Toffahi in one of the treatment solutions which were, the control (water), Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) at 100 or 200 ppm, Lisophos (LPE) at 200 or 400 ppm, putrescine at 1 or at 2 mM, in addition to benzyladenine (BA) at either 100 or 200 ppm. After dipping for 20 min, olives were left for air drying at room temperature (22 ± 2°C ) in foam plates, then stored in the cold store at (5 ± 1°C) and relative humidity of 95 %. Each solution contained the surfactant called Tween 20 at 0.05% (V/V). After each cold storage duration olives were left for 24 hrs on the bench at room temperature to warm up before assessing the physiological and chemical characteristics of fruits of each treatment. The results revealed that putrescine - treated fruits had higher chlorophyll content especially at 2 mM. Similar trend of results was obtained with LPE at 200 ppm or BA at 200 ppm. Meanwhile, there was a significant reduction of electrolyte leakage following the cold storage periods, especially with LOE at 400 ppm or putrescine at 1 mM when compared with the control. This study recommended dipping olive fruits after harvest and prior cold storage in Lisophos at 200 or 400 ppm or in putrescine solution at 1 mM to prolong the cold storage life and to reduce the injury of stored olives, while reducing their loss of quality.

Rapid identification of species, sex and maturity by mass spectrometric analysis of animal faeces

BackgroundWe describe a new approach to the recovery of information from faecal samples, based on the analysis of the molecular signature generated by rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS).ResultsFaecal pellets from five different rodent species were analysed by REIMS, and complex mass spectra were acquired rapidly (typically a few seconds per sample). The uninterpreted mass spectra (signatures) were then used to seed linear discriminant analysis and classification models based on random forests. It was possible to classify each species of origin with a high rate of accuracy, whether faeces were from animals maintained under standard laboratory conditions or wild-caught. REIMS signatures were stable to prior storage of the faecal material under a range of different conditions and were not altered rapidly or radically by changes in diet. Further, within species, REIMS signatures could be used to discriminate faeces from adult versus juvenile mice, male versus female mice and those from three different laboratory strains.ConclusionsREIMS offers a completely novel method for the rapid analysis of faecal samples, extending faecal analysis (previously focused on DNA) to an assessment of phenotype, and has considerable potential as a new tool in the armamentarium of the field biologist.

Development and Evaluation of Microballons Based Extended Release Drug Delivery System for Hypertension Therapy

The objective of the present work was to formulate and evaluate micro balloons of Captopril to for prolongation of gastric residence time. The micro balloons were prepared by the solvent diffusion technique using different ratio of Ethyl cellulose, HPMCK4M &amp; acrylic polymers as Eudragit RL100. Micro balloons characterized for micrometrics properties found in passable to good range, the yield of micro balloons was up to 71.20 ±4.68 to 92.25 ±2.34 % and % entrapment efficiency was found to be 71.40±1.64 to 87.34±2.54% respectively. The size of micro balloons formulations was in the range of 159.1±4.09 to 203.42±5.61. The shape and surface morphology of prepared micro balloons were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The micro balloons formed were additionally found to be floating over gastric juice for &gt; 12 hours. A broad range of drug release pattern could be achieved by varying the drug and polymer amount, the best results were obtained in F-4 formulation at the ratio of drug: polymer (1:1) containing HPMC K4M and Eudragit RL100 as a polymer exhibited prolong drug release over 12 hrs. Higher values of correlation coefficients were obtained with Higuchi’s square root of time kinetic. The mechanism of the release of Captopril from formulation was found to be Non-fickian transport. Drug–Polymers interaction has been determined based on FTIR studies. Optimized formulation (F-4) was stable up to 90 days prior storage at 40±20C &amp; 5-8±20C in terms of % yield, %E.E. &amp; % drug released. Non-significant difference was observed in above analyzed parameters, supported by t crit &gt; t stat by t test with p =0.05. The developed Floating micro balloons of Captopril might be clinically used for prolonged drug release in GIT, for better drug utilization and improved patient compliance.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid as a Tool for Digital Information Storage: An Overview

Current data storage technologies cannot keep pace longer with exponentially growing amounts of data through the extensive use of social networking photos and media, etc. The "digital world” with 4.4 zettabytes in 2013 has predicted it to reach 44 zettabytes by 2020. From the past 30 years, scientists and researchers have been trying to develop a robust way of storing data on a medium which is dense and ever-lasting and found DNA as the most promising storage medium. Unlike existing storage devices, DNA requires no maintenance, except the need to store at a cool and dark place. DNA has a small size with high density; just 1 gram of dry DNA can store about 455 exabytes of data. DNA stores the informations using four bases, viz., A, T, G, and C, while CDs, hard disks and other devices stores the information using 0’s and 1’s on the spiral tracks. In the DNA based storage, after binarization of digital file into the binary codes, encoding and decoding are important steps in DNA based storage system. Once the digital file is encoded, the next step is to synthesize arbitrary single-strand DNA sequences and that can be stored in the deep freeze until use.When there is a need for information to be recovered, it can be done using DNA sequencing. New generation sequencing (NGS) capable of producing sequences with very high throughput at a much lower cost about less than 0.1 USD for one MB of data than the first sequencing technologies. Post-sequencing processing includes alignment of all reads using multiple sequence alignment (MSA) algorithms to obtain different consensus sequences. The consensus sequence is decoded as the reversal of the encoding process. Most prior DNA data storage efforts sequenced and decoded the entire amount of stored digital information with no random access, but nowadays it has become possible to extract selective files (e.g., retrieving only required image from a collection) from a DNA pool using PCR-based random access. Various scientists successfully stored up to 110 zettabytes data in one gram of DNA. In the future, with an efficient encoding, error corrections, cheaper DNA synthesis,and sequencing, DNA based storage will become a practical solution for storage of exponentially growing digital data.

Carbohydrate Metabolism and Signaling in Squash Nectaries and Nectar Throughout Floral Maturation.

Floral nectar is a sugary solution produced by plants to entice pollinator visitation. A general mechanism for nectar secretion has been established from genetic studies in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana); however, supporting metabolic and biochemical evidence for this model is scarce in other plant species. We used squash (Cucurbita pepo) to test whether the genetic model of nectar secretion in Arabidopsis is supported at the metabolic level in other species. As such, we analyzed the expression and activity of key enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism in squash nectaries throughout floral maturation and the associated starch and soluble sugars, as well as nectar volume and sugar under different growth conditions. Here we show that the steps that are important for nectar secretion in Arabidopsis, including nectary starch degradation, Suc synthesis, and Suc export, are supported by metabolic and biochemical data in C. pepo Additionally, our findings suggest that sugars imported from the phloem during nectar secretion, without prior storage as starch, are important for generating C. pepo nectar. Finally, we predict that trehalose and trehalose 6-P play important regulatory roles in nectary starch degradation and nectar secretion. These data improve our understanding of how nectar is produced in an agronomically relevant species with the potential for use as a model to help us gain insight into the biochemistry and metabolism of nectar secretion in flowering plants.

How foam stability against drainage is affected by conditions of prior whey protein powder storage and dry-heating: A multidimensional experimental approach

In the present work, we investigated the effects of powder dry-heating parameters on whey protein foams stability, especially against drainage.To this aim, whey protein isolate solutions were prepared at various pH (3.5, 5.0, 6.5), with or without a prior dialysis step to reduce the lactose content, freeze-dried, adjusted to various levels (0.12, 0.23, 0.52) of powder water activity aw and dry-heated at 70 °C for up to 125 h. Protein solutions were then reconstituted at pH 7.0 and foams prepared by air bubbling.An original approach was followed to study the foam stability against drainage, involving monitoring of the liquid fraction as a function of both height in the foam column and time, and analysing the whole set of time and height liquid fraction profiles using multivariate statistics.The effects of dry-heating parameters were markedly interdependent, resulting in complex effects on foam stability. However, the results suggest that dry-heating at pH 3.5 increased foam stability. Moreover, the aw adjustment step, though consisting in a two-week pre-conditioning at room temperature, also had a significant effect on the foam stability, of the same order of magnitude as dry-heating effects.

Initial Moisture Content of Corncobs Plays an Important Role in Maintaining its Quality during Storage

Maize is one of the important staple foods for people in Timor, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. Subsistent farmers store the maize for their own consumption until the next harvest season, for seed and feed. However, high initial water content of the kernel due to improper drying prior storage initiate serious damage and losses during the maize storage. High water content promotes the growth of fungi and insects, and increase respiration rate, resulting in rapid deterioration of maize. The purpose of this study was to determine the initial moisture content that might minimize damage and losses of maize in the farmers’ storage, and to study the effects of some plant materials that are used to smoke corns before storage. The experiment was initiated by sun-drying the harvested corncobs for 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 days (6 hours a day). This experiment was designed using Completely Randomized Design with 6 treatments and 3 replications. Dried corncobs were stored in the farmer’s storage for 4 months. The effects of maize kernels’ initial water content on the development of water content in kernels; the percentage of damaged kernels; and the species of pathogen and insects were investigated during storage with 2-week intervals. The results demonstrated that drying the corncobs prior storage for 10 days, resulting in 12.96% of water content, significantly decreased the percentage of seed damage to 6.5%, as compared to without drying process which resulted in 63%. Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium sp., and Penicillium sp were found to be the main pathogen during storage. There are no insect pests found during the storage.

PH-Controlled Dealloying Route to Hierarchical Bulk Nanoporous Zn Derived from Metastable Alloy for Hydrogen Generation by Hydrolysis of Zn in Neutral Water

Dealloyed nanoporous metals made of very-reactive elements have rarely been reported. Instead, reactive materials are used as sacrificial components in dealloying. The high chemical reactivity of nonprecious nanostructured metals makes them suitable for a broad range of applications such as splitting water into H2 gas and metal hydroxide. On the other hand, the same high chemical reactivity hinders the synthesis of nanostructured metals. Here we use a pH-controlled dealloying strategy to fabricate bulk nanoporous Zn with bulk dimensions in the centimeter range via the selective removal of Al from metastable face-centered cubic bulk Zn20Al80 at. % parent alloys. The corresponding bulk nanoporous Zn exhibits a hierarchical ligament/pore architecture characterized by primary ligaments and pores with an average feature size in the submicrometer range. These primary structures are made of ultrafine secondary ligaments and pores with a characteristic feature size in the range of 10–20 nm. Our bulk nanoporous Zn can split water into H2 and Zn(OH)2 at ambient temperature and pressure and continuously produce H2 at a constant rate of 0.08 mL/min per gram of Zn over 8 h. We anticipate that in this hierarchical bulk architecture, the macropores facilitate the flow of water in the bulk of the material, while the mesopores and ultrafine ligaments provide a high surface area for the reaction of water with Zn. The bulk nanoporous Zn/water system can be used for on-board or on-demand H2 applications, during which H2 is produced when needed, without prior storage of this gas compressed in cylinders as it is currently the case.