Response surface methodology for studying the effect of processing conditions on some nutritional and textural properties of bambara groundnuts (Voandzei subterranea) during canning.

The response surface methodology and central composite rotatable design for K=3 was used to study the combined effect of blanching, soaking and sodium hexametaphosphate salt concentration on moisture, ash, leached solids, phytates, tannins and hardness of bambara groundnut during canning. Regression models were developed to predict the effects of the processing parameters on the studied indices. Significant interactions were observed between all the factors with high regression coefficients (64.

Electronic structure of methoxy-, bromo-, and nitrobenzene grafted onto Si(111).

The properties of Si(111) surfaces grafted with benzene derivatives were investigated using ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The investigated materials were nitro-, bromo-, and methoxybenzene layers (-C(6)H(4)-X, with X = NO(2), Br, O-CH(3)) deposited from diazonium salt solutions in a potentiostatic electrochemical process. The UPS spectra of the valence band region are governed by the molecular orbital density of states of the adsorbates, which is modified from the isolated state in the gas phase due to molecule-molecule and molecule-substrate interaction.

Molecular adjustment of the electronic properties of nanoporous electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells.

Molecular modification of dye-sensitized, mesoporous TiO2 electrodes changes their electronic properties. We show that the open-circuit voltage (V(oc)) of dye-sensitized solar cells varies linearly with the dipole moment of coadsorbed phosphonic, benzoic, and dicarboxylic acid derivatives. A similar dependence is observed for the short-circuit current density (I(sc)).

Electronic properties of Si surfaces and side reactions during electrochemical grafting of phenyl layers.

The electrochemical grafting process of 4-nitrobenzene and 4-methoxybenzene (anisole) from diazonium salt solutions has been investigated in situ by monitoring the current density, the band bending, and the nonradiative surface recombination during grafting at different potentials and different concentrations of the diazonium salt in the solution. Ex situ infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry has been used to inspect the Si surface species before and after the grafting process. The band bending decreases with either increasing concentration of diazonium salt or when the redox potential of the diazonium compound (anisole) is nearer to the competing H+/H2 couple.

Obsessions and compulsions as a distinct cluster of symptoms in schizophrenia: a neuropsychological study.

Using neurocognitive testing, the present study assessed whether obsessions and compulsions could represent a distinct cluster of symptoms in schizophrenia. We formulated our hypothesis based on data from nonschizophrenic patients, expecting to find that schizophrenic patients with obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms would experience more difficulties in the same cognitive areas as nonschizophrenic patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Patients had separate psychiatric and cognitive evaluations.