ZW3 is a newly discovered exopolysaccharide (EPS) produced by Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens ZW3, isolated from Tibet kefir. Some of its properties have been characterized in our previous paper. ...Present research demonstrates some other important aspects of this EPS. The molecular weight obtained by gel permeation HPLC was 5.5 × 104 Da. Solubility, water holding and oil binding capacity of ZW3 EPS were 14.2%, 496.0%, and 884.74% respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of ZW3 EPS demonstrated a smooth surface with compact structures. A topographical examination of EPS by atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that ZW3 EPS is composed of almost uniform net of molecules. Rheological study indicated that common salt did not affect the viscous behavior of ZW3 EPS and acidic pH may enhance its viscosity. Exopolymer showed a melting point of 93.38 °C. A degradation temperature (Td) of 299.62 °C was observed from the TGA curve for the polysaccharide ZW3.
ZW3 is a polymer produced by Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens ZW3 isolated from Tibet kefir. In this paper we studied some important properties of ZW3 exopolysaccharide such as Molecular weight, its solubility in water and oil and water holding capacity. EPS was further characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogram analysis. Rheological study indicated that common salt did not affect the viscous behavior of ZW3 EPS and acidic pH may enhance its viscosity. Display omitted
It is widely reported during last decade on the observation of room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) in doped ZnO and other transition metal oxides. However, the origin of RTFM is not understood and ...highly debated. While investigating the origin of RTFM, magnetic ion doped oxides should be excluded because it is not yet settled whether RTFM is intrinsic or due to the magnetic ion cluster in ZnO. Hence, it is desirable to investigate the origin of RTFM in non-magnetic ion doped ZnO and Cu-doped ZnO will be most suitable for this purpose. The important features of ferromagnetism observed in doped ZnO are (i) observation of RTFM at a doping concentration much below than the percolation threshold of wurtzite ZnO, (ii) temperature independence of magnetization and (iii) almost anhysteretic magnetization curve. We show that all these features of ferromagnetism in ZnO are due to overlapping of bound magnetic polarons (BMPs) which are created by exchange interaction between the spin of Cu
ion and spin of the localized hole due to zinc vacancy Formula: see text. Both the experimental and theoretical investigation show that the exchange interaction between Cu
-Cu
ions mediated by Formula: see text is responsible for RTFM in Cu-doped ZnO.
To develop suitable ferromagnetic oxides with Curie temperature (T
) at or above room temperature for spintronic applications, a great deal of research in doping ZnO with magnetic ions is being ...carried out over last decade. As the experimental results on magnetic ions doped ZnO are highly confused and controversial, we have investigated ferromagnetism in non-magnetic ion, Ag, doped ZnO. When Ag replaces Zn in ZnO, it adopts 4d
configuration for Ag
which has single unpaired spin and suitable exchange interaction among these spins gives rise to ferromagnetism in ZnO with above room temperature T
. Experimentally, we have observed room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) in Ag-doped ZnO with Ag concentration varied from 0.03% to 10.0%. It is shown that zinc vacancy (V
) enhances the ferromagnetic ordering (FMO) while oxygen vacancy (V
) retards the ferromagnetism in Ag-doped ZnO. Furthermore, the theoretical investigation revealed that V
along with Ag
ions play a pivotal role for RTFM in Ag-doped ZnO. The Ag
-Ag
interaction is ferromagnetic in the same Zn plane whereas anti-ferromagnetic in different Zn planes. The presence of V
changes the anti-ferromagnetic to ferromagnetic state with a magnetic coupling energy of 37 meV. Finally, it has been established that the overlapping of bound magnetic polarons is responsible for RTFM in low doping concentration. However, anti-ferromagnetic coupling sets in at higher doping concentrations and hence weakens the FMO to a large extent.
Kefir and Health: A Contemporary Perspective Ahmed, Zaheer; Wang, Yanping; Ahmad, Asif ...
Critical reviews in food science and nutrition,
01/2013, Volume:
53, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Kefir and its related products are renowned nutraceutical dairy products produced through fermentation of yeasts and bacteria naturally present in grains of kefir. The nutritional attributes of this ...self-carbonated beverage are due to presence of vital nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and some nutraceutical components. Antimicrobial activity, better gut health, anticarcinogenic activity, control on serum glucose and cholesterol, control on lactose intolerance and better immune system can be achieved through its regular consumption. Moreover, on the one side kefir is good dietetic beverage, and of particular interest of athletes, and on the other side the whole kefir is good for feeding small babies and pre-schoolers for good tolerance against disease and quick weight gain. Lots of works have been done on kefir from a health point of view. This study summarizes all the data that have been compiled to date. The purpose of this review is to gather information about microbiological, chemical, nutritional, and therapeutic aspects of kefir and kefir-like products to provide justification for its consumption. This review leads us to conclude that kefir begins a new dawn of food for the mankind.
Currently, the renewable energy sectors have dynamically revolved around targeting green turbulence, mainly due to increased customer environmental awareness. Therefore, this paper investigates green ...initiatives. The results show barriers and explain the strategies for adopting green renewable energy sources in Yemen. The political barrier has the highest weight of 0.191, while technical barrier sored the second highest weight of 0.181. The weights of managerial and information energy were found to be 0.18 and 0.17, respectively. Market barrier weighed the lowest score of 0.12, while economic barrier (0.15 weight) is the barrier to develop renewable energy road map. The research developed a comprehensive decision making framework to identify major barriers, sub-barriers, and develop plans for green energy in Yemen. Fuzzy analytical hierarchal process (FAHP) results indicate that the category of political obstacles is more important than other obstacles. Yemen has undergone power reforms and achieved better energy efficiency, compared to the countries that have applied imperfect. Economic efficiency in Yemen is the lowest among the considered barriers. Twenty-five percent of the considered barriers were identified with an alarming efficiency of 0.5%. The effects of FTOPSIS show that the planned explanation “developing research methods to achieve green innovation in renewable” energy is significant to address the obstacles to green innovation in renewable energy.
Poisonous plants cause tremendous economic losses to the livestock industry. These economic losses are deterioration in their health, decreased productivity, deformed offspring, and reduced ...longevity. The current study is the first comprehensive report on poisonous plants of Azad Jammu and Kashmir which systematically documents the phytotoxicological effect and mode of action in livestock. The information was gathered from 271 informants including 167 men and 104 women through semi-structured interviews and literature search through available databases. The data collected through interviews was analyzed with quantitative tools viz. the factor informant consensus and fidelity level. A total of 38 species of flowering plants belonging to 23 families and 38 genera were reported. Family Asteraceae (5 spp) was the most dominant, followed by Solanaceae (4 spp), Fabaceae (4 spp), Euphorbiaceae (4 spp) and Convolvulaceae (3 spp). Among all the species collected, herbs were the dominant life form (22 spp, 57.89%), trailed by shrubs (11 spp, 28.95%), and trees (5 spp, 13.16%). Whole plant toxicity was reported to be the highest (15 spp, 39.47%), followed by leaf toxicity (12 spp, 31.58%), seed toxicity (4 spp, 7.89%), fruit toxicity (3 spp, 10.53%), latex toxicity (2 spp, 5.26%), flowers toxicity (1 spp, 2.63%), and berries toxicity (1 spp, 2.63%). The most toxic route of administration was found oral (39 spp, 40.63%), followed by intraperitoneal (24 spp, 25%), and intravenous (21 spp, 21.88%). The most commonly affected organ was found liver (20.41%), followed by gastrointestinal tract (20.341%), CNS (16.33%), skin (14.29%), kidneys (12.24%), lungs (4.04%), reproductive organs (2.04%), spleen (1.75%), blood (1.75%), heart (1.75%), urinary tract (1.75%), and pancreas (1.75%). The maximum Fic value was found for dermatological disorders (0.91), followed by the endocrine system (0.90), gastrointestinal (0.82), neurology (0.77), nephrology (0.67), cardiovascular (0.67), urinary (0.67), respiratory (0.60), sexual (0.60) disorders. Senecio vulgaris, and Ageratum conyzoides were the most important plants with fidelity level (0.95) and (0.87). Nerium oleander, Lantana camara, Leucaena leucocephala, and Ricinus communis were the important poisonous plant with maximum fidelity level (100%). Ricinus communis with reported lowest LD50 (<20 mg/kg) was the top-ranked poisonous plant followed by Lantana camara and Justicia adhatoda (25-50 mg/kg), Nerium Oleander (157.37 mg/kg), and Datura innoxia (400 mg/kg). We found that knowledge about poisonous plants is less prevailing in the rural areas of Azad Kashmir compared to the knowledge about medicinal plants and poisonous nature of reported plants is due to production of toxic substances and presence of essential oils.
Petrol, Diesel or CNG are useful fuels in most of auto-mobile industry. Increment in fuel prices and its highly demands created a need of research to make its use optimistic, cost effective and its ...burning gases environment friendly by considering its environment degradation effect. Bio-Ethanol Fuel is best replacement as a solution same as renewable energy resource. To measure the impact of several kinds of mixtures of ethanol-gasoline on spark ignited single cylinder engine an experimental investigation was performed. To perform investigation analysis, test bench was prepared first as a CAD model and then a proper experimental setup made with mild steel structure on which engine was mounted with all additional devices like fuel measuring device, gas analyzer, tachometer, stopwatch and dynamometer. Several kinds of ethanol-gasoline blends i.e. E-0, E-2, E-4, E-6, E-8, E-9, E-10, E-12 and E-14 were considered for investigation. The digits 0 to 14 represent the percentage of ethanol in gasoline. Gasoline Outcomes were analyzed after assessments from test results to find out best conditions in which it operates optimal. Cost Economic Analysis were performed to check the economical values of the blends, it becomes clear that the running cost of ethanol gasoline blend E10 is lower than the running cost of hi-octane gasoline.
In today’s world, the implementation of industrial ecology for sustainable industrial development is a common practice in the field of engineering. This practice promotes the recycling of by-product ...wastes. One of those by-product wastes is rice husk ash. This paper describes an investigation into the effect of rice husk ash (RHA) as a partial replacement for cement, to produce lightweight, aerated concrete. Type I Portland cement, fine aggregate, and aluminum powder as an aerating agent were used in this study. The RHA was used in different replacement levels, i.e., RHA was used to replace cement at 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5% and 15% by weight. Aluminum powder was added during mixing at 0.5% by weight of binder to obtain lightweight, aerated concrete. Test results are presented in terms of physical, mechanical, and durability aspects that include density, compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexural strength of concrete cured at different curing regimes, i.e., 3, 7, 28, and 90 days along with corrosion analysis, and sulphate attack at 28 days of curing. The test results show that using 10% RHA as a partial replacement of cement in aerated concrete is beneficial in triggering the strength and durability properties of concrete.
Importance of the global collaboration for the sake of regional development is very well understood by the rising economic structure of China as it has played a very important role in developing such ...initiates such as Belt and Road Initiative for regional advancement in Middle Eastern countries. The importance of One Belt One road initiative for the economic, cultural, and regional development cannot be overemphasized and thus it is going to bridge the gap between China and Middle Eastern countries. This research is focused on those specific requisite areas, which need a systematic scenario for the implementation of this global progressive initiative. Moreover, this research also exploits the relationship between imperative areas. Although these highlighted associations do not play a stand‐alone role, though they are and will be affected by other prompting factors. The major findings of this research study expose the dependency and mutual exclusion of these factors such as the significant change in our main variable (IPR Paradigm) due to change in Trademark, IPR institution, ownership, and confidentiality adoption because of the Sig. value is 0.014, 0.015, 0.003, and 0.002 respectively, which is less than the acceptable value of 0.05. With a 1% increase in the adoption of trademark, IPR institution, ownership, and confidentiality, the IPR Paradigm will increase by 0.183%, 0.173%, 0.197%, and 0.197% (B value) respectively.
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