Hydroxyapatite is the most suitable biocompatible material for bone implant coatings. However, its brittleness is a major obstacle, and that is why, recently, research focused on creating composites ...with various biopolymers. In this study, hydroxyapatite coatings were modified with lignin in order to attain corrosion stability and surface porosity that enables osteogenesis. Incorporating silver, well known for its antimicrobial properties, seemed the best strategy for avoiding possible infections. The silver/hydroxyapatite (Ag/HAP) and silver/hydroxyapatite/lignin (Ag/HAP/Lig) coatings were cathaphoretically deposited on titanium from ethanol suspensions, sintered at 900 °C in Ar, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The corrosion stability of electrodeposited coatings was evaluated in vitro in Kokubo’s simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37 °C using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Bioactivity was estimated by immersion in SBF to evaluate the formation of hydroxyapatite on the coating surface. A microcrystalline structure of newly formed plate-shaped carbonate-hydroxyapatite was detected after only 7 days, indicating enhanced bioactive behavior. Both coatings had good corrosion stability during a prolonged immersion time. Among the two, the Ag/HAP/Lig coating had a homogeneous surface, less roughness, and low values of contact angle.
Facilitated and stimulated transfer of knowledge, primarily due to digital technology and globalization, enabled subjects in the economy to actively use it in order to achieve success in business. ...The company's portfolio becomes enriched with resources or assets whose main substantial element is knowledge. However, knowledge is not easy to track and include in business books. Due to the fact that it cannot be seen or touched, additional efforts have been made by researchers to develop a quality accounting methodology. In addition to the fact that in the context of accounting, knowledge is qualified as an intangible asset, the methodology of financial accounting has been improved, and various models of its measurement have been offered in the literature. In particular, the VAIC model for measuring the efficiency of using intangible assets stands out in the literature.
The issue of environmental protection has become increasingly important throughout the world in recent decades. Spreading awareness of the quality of the environment should not be sought only in the ...application of eco-technologies, but also in environmental ethics, because without it there is no human survival and preservation of the environment. Environmental management accounting plays an important role in the environmental management process, the aim of which is to provide relevant information to all stakeholders. Also, environmental management accounting improves resource efficiency and makes it easier for company managers to make decisions on the project that will help improve environmental performance. The aim of this paper is to point out the importance and need for environmental activity-based costing as an instrument of environmental management accounting
The modern economy is qualified as an economy dominated by knowledge, creativity, high technology, or intangible assets. Intangible assets are a key determinant in the creation of value and cash ...flows of an enterprise. The brand plays a significant role in positioning the company, as intangible assets that have not yet been adequately formalized in financial accounting. A brand is a composite of intangible items such as copyright, patents, customer relationships, know-how, quality, company image. Accounting treatment for brand as an intangible asset is an attractive field of study, where the interests of contemporary researchers gravitate towards finding an adequate accounting treatment model. Accordingly, the main objective of this paper is to consider the accounting treatment of a brand as an intangible asset.
Vacuum freeze-drying of biological materials is one of the best methods of water removal, with final products of highest quality. The solid state of water during freeze-drying protects the primary ...structure and the shape of the products with minimal volume reduction. In addition, the lower temperatures in the process allow maximal nutrient and bioactive compound retention. This technique has been successfully applied to diverse biological materials, such as meats, coffee, juices, dairy products, cells, and bacteria, and is standard practice for penicillin, hormones, blood plasma, vitamin preparations, etc. Despite its many advantages, having four to ten times more energy requirements than regular hot air drying, freeze-drying has always been recognized as the most expensive process for manufacturing a dehydrated product. The application of the freeze-drying process to plant-based foods has been traditionally dedicated to the production of space shuttle goods, military or extreme-sport foodstuffs, and specialty foods such as coffee or spices. Recently, the market for 'natural' and 'organic' products is, however, strongly growing as well as the consumer's demand for foods with minimal processing and high quality. From this perspective, the market for freeze-dried plant-based foods is not only increasing but also diversifying. Freeze-dried fruits and vegetables chunks, pieces, or slices are nowadays majorly used in a wide range of food products such as confectionaries, morning cereals, soups, bakeries, meal boxes, etc. Instant drinks are prepared out of freeze-dried tea, coffee, or even from maple syrup enriched with polyphenol concentrated extracts from trees. The possibilities are endless. In this review, the application of freeze-drying to transform plant-based foods was analyzed, based on the recent research publications on the subject and personal unpublished data. The review is structured around the following related topics: latest applications of freeze-drying to plant-based foods, specific technological problems that could be found when freeze-drying such products (i.e., presence of cuticle; high sugar or lipid concentration), pretreatments and intensification technologies employed in freeze-drying of plant-based foods, and quality issues of these freeze-dried products.
Presented study was aimed to investigate the influence of surface functionalization of the industrial kraft lignin (KL) on mechanical and thermal properties of high-performance and fireproof ...composites based on unsaturated polyester (UPe) resin. In order to improve flame retardant properties, surface of the KL was modified by phosphorylation method in two-step process. First, direct grafting of phosphorus chloride on KL phenolic hydroxyl groups was performed and phosphoric acid ester of KL was formed. In the second step, phosphor ester of KL was recovered by precipitation in cooled isopropyl alcohol and the final obtained product, phosphorylated industrial kraft lignin with methyl terminal groups (KLP) was obtained. KLP mass contents in UPe based composites varied from 0.5 wt.% to 5.0 wt.%. Structural characterization was done via Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The effects of KLP surface functionalization and KLP mass contents on the UPe tensile properties were studied. Tensile strength (σ), elongation (ε) and Young's modulus of elasticity (E) and Shore A (Sh A) hardness of the UPe/KLP composites were analyzed in relation to the structure of KLP modification. Tensile testing results showed an increase in σ of 31 % for UPe/KL sample with 1.0 wt.% KL particles compared to the bare UPe matrix. The origin and cause of fracture that occurred during uniaxial tensile testing were analyzed using stereo microscopy. The obtained composites were tested on fire retardant properties in accordance with the standard test method UL-94V, and composites with 5.0 wt.% loaded KLP achieved V-1 category.
The aim of this study was to characterize the high molecular weight fraction (> 10,000 g/mol) of black spruce sawdust water extracts obtained by controlled auto-hydrolysis and membrane filtration, in ...order to evaluate its potential as food ingredient (i.e., fiber supplement). The carbohydrate and phenolic content as well as the molecular weight distribution of the filtrated extract (i.e., isolate) were determined by colorimetric, spectrophotometric, and chromatographic methods. Its fermentability was studied during a in vitro batch fermentation experiment, using a chyme-like medium and a standardized eight strains co-culture. Results indicated that the isolate consisted mainly of non-cellulosic polysaccharides (i.e., hemicelluloses) with an average degree of polymerization (DP
n
) of 63. The galactose:glucose ratio (1:0.29) and the galactose:mannose ratio (1:0.75) indicated a significant amount of galactans among the recovered hemicelluloses. The fermentation profile of the filtrated extract, measured over a period of 30 h, was not significantly different from the fermentation profile of a starch-rich fibre mixture (starch, pectin, mannans, galactans, xylans and fructans at a ratio of 5:2:1:2:2:1). The extract did act as a fiber replacer and was steadily metabolized, inhibiting protein fermentation and the release of free ammonia. Our study suggests that black spruce sawdust may be a valuable source of functional soluble fibers. Further research is however required to assess the full potential of the extract as food ingredient.
Graphical Abstract
The development of new processing methods is required in order to meet the continuous demand for thinner films with excellent barrier properties for food packaging and other applications. In this ...study, rice husk organosolv lignin nanoparticles were prepared using the electrospray method, which were applied to produce polylactic acid (PLA)-based films for food packaging. The effect of the following electrospray parameters has been investigated: lignin concentration (LC) ranging from 5-50 mg/mL, flow rate (FR) from 0.5-1 mL/min, applied voltage from 10-30 kV, and tip-to-collector distance (TCD) from 10-25 cm, on the morphology, size, polydispersity index (PDI), and Zeta potential (ZP) of lignin nanoparticles (LNPs). The response surface methodology with a Box-Behnken design was applied to optimize these parameters, while dynamic light scattering (DLS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were used to characterize the controlled LNPs. The results showed that the LNPs shape and sizes represent a balance between the solvent evaporation, LC, applied voltage, TCD and FR. The application of optimal electrospray conditions resulted in the production of LNPs with a spherical shape and a minimal size of 260 ± 10 nm, a PDI of 0.257 ± 0.02, and a ZP of -35.2 ± 4.1 mV. The optimal conditions were achieved at LC = 49.1 mg/mL and FR = 0.5 mL/h under an applied voltage of 25.4 kV and TCD = 22 cm. Then, the optimized LNPs were used to improve the properties of PLA-based films. Three types of PLA-lignin blend films were casted, namely lignin/PLA, LNPs/PLA and PLA-grafted LNPs. PLA-grafted LNPs exhibited a more uniform dispersion in PLA for lignin contents of up to 10% than other composite samples. Increasing the lignin content from 5% to 10% in PLA-grafted LNPs resulted in a significant increase in elongation at break (up to four times higher than neat PLA). The presence of PLA-grafted lignin led to a substantial reduction in optical transmittance in the UV range, dropping from 58.7 ± 3.0% to 1.10 ± 0.01%, while maintaining excellent transparency to visible light compared to blends containing lignin or LNPs. Although the antioxidant capacity of unmodified lignin is well-known, a substantial increase in antioxidant capacity was observed in LNPs and PLA-grafted LNP films, with values exceeding 10 times and 12 times that of neat PLA, respectively. These results confirm the significant potential of using studied films in food packaging applications.
With the objective of turning wastes into added-value materials, sustainable and fully recycled wood-plastic composites were reinforced by waste tire rubber particles to show balanced properties and ...potentially low-cost materials. Recycled high density polyethylene (rHDPE) was compounded (melt extrusion) with flax fiber (FF) and waste regenerated tire rubber (RR) to investigate the effect of mixing ratio, coupling agent (maleated polyethylene, MAPE) and molding process (injection and compression molding) on the properties of hybrid composites. In particular, a complete set of characterization was performed including thermal stability, phase morphology and mechanical properties in terms of tension, flexion and impact, as well as hardness and density. Adding 40 wt.% of flax fibers (FF) increased the tensile (17%) and flexural (15%) modulus of rHDPE, while the impact strength decreased by 58%. Substitution of FF by waste rubber particles improved by 75% the impact strength due to the elasticity and energy absorption of the rubber phase. The effects of impact modification were more pronounced for rHDPE/(FF/RR) compatibilized with MAPE (10 wt.%) due to highly improved interfacial adhesion and compatibility. The results also suggest that, for a fixed hybrid composition (FF/RR, 25/55 wt.%), the injection molded composites have a more homogenous morphology with a uniform distribution of well embedded reinforcements in the matrix. This better morphology produced higher tensile strain at break (12%) and impact strength (9%) compared to compression molded samples.
The transition from industrial to information society has led to a change in the basis of companies' further growth and development. Intangible assets are becoming the most important source of social ...and economic development. They are the same time the strongest weapon in companies' fight for competitive advantage. Quality management of intangible assets is the key for creating the modern company value and investment in intangible assets has become the key measure of company performance. Treatment of intangible assets and their accounting treatment occupy the attention of a great number of scholars. International Financial Reporting Standard 13 - Fair Value Measurement gives the definition of fair value, pointing to the need for disclosure of the value thus determined. The challenges companies face when applying IFRS 13 may lead to its inconsistent application and unplanned costs. The aim of this paper is to consider measuring the fair value of intangible assets by applying IFRS 13, as well as its effects in practice.
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