Thermal,structural and rheological properties of starch from avocado seeds (Persea americana,Miller) modified with standard sodium hypochlorite solutions

The avocado (Persea americana, Miller) is a tree that is native to Central/North America (Mexico) and it is very popular worldwide due to its food applications. Its seeds contain an important amount of starch and there is lack of study and understanding regarding the physico-chemical properties of this biopolymer. In this research, starch granules were extracted from avocado seeds and oxidised with standard sodium hypochlorite solutions at 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 %. Untreated and modified samples were investigated using the following techniques: simultaneous thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, non-contact atomic force microscopy, rapid viscoamylographic analysis and X-ray powder patterns diffractometry. The main purpose was to investigate the thermal, structural and rheological behaviour of native and oxidised avocado starch, and it was verified that the treated samples showed a decrease in gelatinisation enthalpy and average roughness as well as in the degree of relative crystallinity and pasting properties.     

Effects of Laser Irradiation on Pulp Cells Exposed to Bleaching Agents

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) on odontoblast‐like cells exposed to a bleaching agent. Mouse dental papilla cell‐23 cells were seeded in wells of 24‐well plates. Eight groups were established according to the exposure to the bleaching agent and LLLT (0, 4, 10 and 15 J cm^?2). Enamel–dentin disks were adapted to artificial pulp chambers, which were individually placed in wells containing Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM). A bleaching agent (35% hydrogen peroxide [BA35%HP]) was applied on enamel (15 min) to obtain the extracts (DMEM + BA35%HP components diffused through enamel/dentin disks). The extracts were applied (1 h) to the cells, and then subjected to LLLT. Cell viability (Methyl tetrazolium assay), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, as well as gene expression of ALP, fibronectin (FN) and type I collagen, were evaluated. The bleaching procedures reduced the cell viability, ALP activity and gene expression of dentin proteins. Laser irradiation did not modulate the cell response; except for FN, as LLLT decreased the gene expression of this protein by the cells exposed to the BA35%HP. It can be concluded that BA35%HP decreased the activities of odontoblasts that were not recovered by the irradiation of the damaged cells with low‐level laser parameters tested.     

ɛ‐caprolactone and lactide polymerization promoted by an ionic titanium(IV)/iron(III) polynuclear halo‐alkoxide

The ionic [Ti₃(µ₃‐OPrⁱ)₂(µ‐OPrⁱ)₃(OPrⁱ)₆][FeCl₄] halo‐alkoxide ( A ) was investigated for its activity towards the bulk polymerization of rac‐lactide (rac‐LA) and ?‐caprolactone (?‐CL) in various temperatures, monomer/ A molar proportions, and reaction times. The reactivity of A in the ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of both monomers is mainly due to the cationic [Ti₃(OPrⁱ)₁₁]⁺ unity and proceeds through the coordination–insertion mechanism. Molecular weights ranging from 6,379 to 13,950 g mol^?1 and PDI values varying from 1.22 to 1.52 were obtained. Results of ROP kinetic studies for both ?‐CL and rac‐LA confirm that the reaction rates are first‐order with respect to monomers. The production of poly(?‐caprolactone) shows a higher sensitivity of the reaction rate to temperature, while the polymerization of rac‐LA is slower and more dependent on the thermal stability of the active species during the propagation step. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 2509–2517     

Iron-nickel superstructure in metal particles of Alfianello meteorite

We report on Mössbauer spectroscopy in metal particles of the Alfianello meteorite. The FeNi 50-50 ordered phase (tetrataenite) was detected in coexistence with a high proportion of the corresponding disordered phase. The order-disorder process is discussed in terms of shock events.     

Automation of the Analysis of Mössbauer Spectra

In the present report we propose the automation of least square fitting of Mössbauer spectra, the identification of the substance, its crystal structure and the access to the references with the help of a genetic algorith, Fuzzy logic, and the artificial neural network associated with a databank of Mössbauer parameters and references. This system could be useful for specialists and non-specialists, in industry as well as in research laboratories.     

Simplex optimization of a programmed temperature capillary gas chromatographic separation

The modified simplex algorithm proposed by Nelder and Mead has been used to optimize the separation by temperature programmed capillary GC, of volatile compounds present in alcoholic beverages. An adequate objective function, CRF, based on the separation factor of Kaiser has been used for the optimization process. A factorial design was initially performed to verify the relationship between the several parameters of interest. Following this, the optimization was executed and a surface adjusted within the set of experimental data.     

Magnetic phase present in YBa2(Cu1−x Fe x )3O6+δ oxides

The Mössbauer study of⁵⁷Fe: YBa₂Cu₃O_6+δ oxides was very important to establish the preferential occupation of Cu(1) site by Fe at very low concentrations. Recent determination of antiferromagnetic ordering for Cu moments in Cu(2) sites (T≈450 K) and our early observation of a small proportion of a magnetic phase at room temperature for Fe:YBa₂Cu₃O₆ lead us to perform systematic studies of YBa₂(Cu_1?x Fe _x )₃O₆ withx=0.005, 0.03, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 in order to obtain information about the iron occupation of Cu(2) sites.     

The Clifford bundle and the nature of the gravitational field

In this paper we formulate Einstein's gravitational theory with the Clifford bundle formalism. The formalism suggests interpreting the gravitational field in the sense of Faraday, i.e., with the field residing in Minkowski spacetime. We succeeded in discovering the condition for this interpretation to hold. For the variables that play the role of the gravitational field in our theory, the Lagrangian density turns out to be of the Yang-Mills type (with an auto-interaction plus gauge-fixing terms). We give a brief comparison of our theory with other field theories of the gravitational field in the flat Minkowski spacetime.     

Thermal annealing of proton tracks with energies of 4 and 6 MeV in CR-39 polymer detectors

In this paper, we study the thermal annealing of proton tracks of 4 and 6 MeV at temperatures ranging from 150 to 240°C in CR-39 polymer detectors. A special experimental set-up for irradiating the detectors was arranged to obtain adequate proton beams from the Cyclotron CV-28 at IPEN/SP, Brazil. We report experimental data on track densities, track diameters, and activation energies based on current annealing models for the annealing of proton tracks in the energy range investigated. A value of (0.20±0.02)eV was determined as the mean activation energy of the annealing process in CR-39 detectors.