Effects of cold-renneted and pre-heated milk protein concentrates (MPCs) addition on the properties of alginate composite gels.

This study investigated the effects of milk protein concentrate (MPC85) (untreated, cold-renneted, and pre-heated (80 °C, 30 min)) addition on the physical/mechanical properties of sodium alginate (2% w/w) composite gels in millimeter-size (bead) and centrimeter-size gel forms. The gels were characterized for the degree of syneresis, swelling behavior, hardness, stiffness, viscoelastic behavior, and surface morphology of freeze-dried gel. The results showed that the addition of untreated and treated MPCs reduced the hardness, the stiffness and the solid-like behavior of the alginate gels.

Evaluation of alginate-biopolymers (protein, hydrocolloid, starch) composite microgels prepared by the spray aerosol technique as a carrier for green tea polyphenols.

Effects of low methoxyl pectin, milk protein concentrate (MPC), and waxy starch on the encapsulation of green tea-polyphenols in alginate gels produced using spray aerosol technique were evaluated. MPC and waxy starch treated first by cold-renneted induced gelation method and gelatinization method, respectively. DSC thermal analysis and FTIR spectroscopy were used to prove the presence of polyphenols in gel matrixes.

CoO nanocube-decorated nitrogen-doped carbon foam as an enhanced 3-dimensional hierarchical catalyst for activating Oxone to degrade sulfosalicylic acid.

As sulfosalicylic acid (SUA) is extensively used as a pharmaceutical product, discharge of SUA into the environment becomes an emerging environmental issue because of its low bio-degradability. Thus, SO-based advanced oxidation processes have been proposed for degrading SUA because of many advantages of SO. As Oxone represents a dominant reagent for producing SO, and Co is the most capable metal for activating Oxone to generate SO, it is critical to develop an effective but easy-to-use Co-based catalysts for Oxone activation to degrade SUA.

Porous hexagonal nanoplate cobalt oxide derived from a coordination polymer as an effective catalyst for activating Oxone in water.

As cobalt (Co) represents an effective transition metal for activating Oxone to degrade contaminants, tricobalt tetraoxide (CoO) is extensively employed as a heterogeneous phase of Co for Oxone activation. Since CoO can be manipulated to exhibit various shapes, 2-dimensional plate-like morphology of CoO can offer large contact surfaces. If the large plate-like surfaces can be even porous, forming porous nanoplate CoO (PNC), such a PNC should be a promising catalyst for Oxone activation.

Development of 3-dimensional CoO catalysts with various morphologies for activation of Oxone to degrade 5-sulfosalicylic acid in water.

Since 5-sulfosalicylic acid (SFA) has been increasingly released to the environment, SO-based oxidation processes using Oxone have been considered as useful methods to eliminate SFA. As CoO has been a promising material for OX activation, the four 3D CoO catalysts with distinct morphologies, including CoO-C (with cubes), CoO-P (with plates), CoO-N (with needles) and CoO-F (with floral structures), are fabricated for activating OX to degrade SFA. In particular, CoO-F not only exhibits the highest surface area but also possesses the abundant Co and more reactive surface, making CoO-F the most advantageous 3D CoO catalyst for OX activation to degrade SFA.

Electrospun magnetic cobalt-embedded carbon nanofiber as a heterogeneous catalyst for activation of oxone for degradation of Amaranth dye.

A cobalt-embedded carbon nanofiber (CoCNF) is developed in this study by electrospinning techniques. Through one-step carbonization, the electrospun Co-polyacrylonitrile nanofiber is converted to CoCNF. The resulting CoCNF consists of cobalt nanoparticles quite evenly distributed over CNF and also exhibits magnetically controllability, making it a suitable heterogeneous catalyst for activating Oxone (OX) to degrade organic contaminants.

Estimating radiation effective doses from whole body computed tomography scans based on U.S. soldier patient height and weight.

Background: The purpose of this study is to explore how a patient's height and weight can be used to predict the effective dose to a reference phantom with similar height and weight from a chest abdomen pelvis computed tomography scan when machine-based parameters are unknown. Since machine-based scanning parameters can be misplaced or lost, a predictive model will enable the medical professional to quantify a patient's cumulative radiation dose.

Methods: One hundred mathematical phantoms of varying heights and weights were defined within an x-ray Monte Carlo based software code in order to calculate organ absorbed doses and effective doses from a chest abdomen pelvis scan.

Estimating radiation doses to the skin from interventional radiology procedures for a patient population with cancer.

Purpose: To estimate the peak radiation skin doses for interventional radiology cases performed at a cancer center, identify procedure types likely to result in skin doses exceeding the American College of Radiology's 3 Gy follow-up level, and determine a kerma area product (P(KA)) for use in monitoring.

Materials And Methods: A single-center retrospective study was performed to estimate doses from consecutive procedures performed during 2006. Of 6,598 procedures, 3,925 (60%) had P(KA) recorded and were included.

Hypoxia inhibits fish spawning via LH-dependent final oocyte maturation.

To evaluate the effects of long term hypoxia exposure on fish spawning, mature common carp, Cyprinus carpio carpio (Linnaeus) were subjected to either normoxia (7.4+/-0.2 mgO(2)mg O(2) L(-1)) or hypoxia (1.