Effects of Processing on Starch Structure, Textural, and Digestive Property of “Horisenbada”, a Traditional Mongolian Food

Horisenbada, prepared by the soaking, steaming, and baking of millets, is a traditional Mongolian food and is characterized by its long shelf life, convenience, and nutrition. In this study, the effect of processing on the starch structure, textural, and digestive property of millets was investigated. Compared to the soaking treatment, steaming and baking significantly reduced the molecular size and crystallinity of the millet starch, while baking increased the proportion of long amylose chains, partially destroyed starch granules, and formed a closely packed granular structure. Soaking and steaming significantly reduced the hardness of the millets, while the hardness of baked millets is comparable to that of raw millet grains. By fitting digestive curves with a first-order model and logarithm of the slope (LOS) plot, it showed that the baking treatment significantly reduced the digestibility of millets, the steaming treatment increased the digestibility of millets, while the soaked millets displayed a similar digestive property with raw millets, in terms of both digestion rate and digestion degree. This study could improve the understanding of the effects of processing on the palatability and health benefits of Horisenbada.

DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ORO-DISPERSIBLE TABLETS OF METFORMIN HYDROCHLORIDE USING CAJANUS CAJAN STARCH AS A NATURAL SUPERDISINTEGRANT

Objective: The aim of the research work was to explore the use of Cajanus cajan (Pigeon pea) polysaccharide as a superdisintegrant. The novel superdisintegrant has been evaluated for its action by incorporating it into orodispersible tablets of Metformin Hydrochloride. Methods: Cajanus cajan starch was extracted from its seeds and superdisintegrant was developed by microwave modification of the extract. Various characterization tests such as gelatinization temperature, water absorption index, pH, and viscosity were used to identify the microwave-modified polysaccharide. The orodispersible tablets were made using a direct compression process employing varying concentrations of modified Cajanus cajan starch. Prepared tablets were tested for several pre and post-compression parameters and compared with a well-established synthetic superdisintegrant, sodium starch glycolate. The stability studies were conducted on an optimized formulation. Results: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study showed that the drug had no interactions with the microwave-modified Cajanus cajan starch. SEM confirmed that Cajanus cajan starch granules exhibited intact granular structure in oval shapes and smooth surfaces. After microwave modification, the Cajanus cajan starch component lost its granular structure, which further led to the generation of surface pores and internal channels, causing overall swelling responsible for superdisintegrant activity. The optimized formulation (ODF5) containing 15 % modified Cajanus cajan starch performed better in terms of wetting time (22.21 s), disintegration time (53.3 s), and in vitro drug release (92%), as compared to formulation prepared by synthetic superdisintegrant (ODF1). Conclusion: The present investigation concluded that modified Cajanus cajan starch has good potential as a superdisintegrant for formulating oro-dispersible tablets. Furthermore, modified Cajanus cajan starch is inexpensive, non-toxic and compatible in comparison with available synthetic superdisintegrants.

Development of Cellular High-Protein Foods: Third-Generation Yellow Pea and Red Lentil Puffed Snacks

This study aimed to evaluate how extrusion cooking conditions and microwave heating play a role in enhancing physical and thermal properties of third-generation expanded cellular snacks made from yellow pea (YP) and red lentil (RL) flours for the first time. Increasing temperature and moisture content during extrusion resulted in darker, crunchier and crispier products with higher expansion index (EI). Microwave heating after extrusion led to an increase in cell size and porosity of YP and RL products when qualitatively compared to extrusion alone. Additionally, extrusion followed by microwave heating resulted in extensive damage to starch granular structure and complete denaturation of proteins. Using microwave heating, as a fast and inexpensive process, following partial cooking with extrusion was demonstrated to greatly improve the physical and thermal properties of YP and RL snacks. Microwave heating following mild extrusion, instead of severe extrusion cooking alone, can potentially benefit the development of high quality nutritionally-dense expanded cellular snacks made from pulse flours.

Normal-state transport in superconducting NbN films on r-cut sapphire

High-quality thin NbN films are very crucial for realizing quantum devices. Here, we investigated electrical transport and noise properties of a series of thin NbN films of various thicknesses grown on r-cut sapphire substrate using a DC magnetron sputtering technique. The films exhibit non-uniform thickness dependences for superconducting transition temperature (Te ) and normal-state resistivity. Morphological characterization of NbN samples of various thicknesses reveals uniform structure in thin films and granular structure in thick films. By measuring transport and noise properties in a normal state, we observe that the granular structure of NbN films does not have a strong effect on resistivity and does not cause an additional source of current noise.

Modeling the Structure and Processes of Heat Transfer in Beds of Aluminum Micro- and Nanopowders

A model of the structure and a method for calculating (forecasting) the thermal conductivity of beds from coarse to nano-dispersed aluminum powders are developed. A significant change in the thermal conductivity of the particles themselves was taken into account during the transition from the micro-meter to the nanometer-sized range of particle sizes. The thermal conductivity was calculated over a wide range of particle sizes, granular structure skeleton porosity, and total porosity of the beds.

Perceptual Maps to Aggregate Information from Decision Makers

Understanding different perceptions of human being when using linguistic terms is a crucial issue in human-machine interaction. In this paper, we propose the concept of perceptual maps to model human opinions in a group decision-making context. The proposed approach considers a multi-granular structure using unbalanced hesitant linguistic term sets. An illustrative case is presented in the location decisions made by multinationals enterprises of the energy sector within the European smart city context.

Effect of Basicity on the Microstructure of Sinter and Its Application Based on Deep Learning

The influence of the evolution rule of basicity (0.6∼2.4) on the mineral composition and microstructure of sinter is studied by using a polarizing microscope, and the comprehensive application analysis of the drum index, vertical sintering speed, and yield of sinter shows that, over the course of an increase in basicity (0.6∼1.0), the mineral structure changed from the original porphyritic-granular structure to a porphyritic structure. At the same time, there was no calcium ferrite phase in the bonding phase at a basicity of less than 1.0; therefore, the downward trend of the three indicators is obvious. When the basicity was further increased to approximately 1.6, the main structure of the mineral phase changed from a corrosion structure to an interweaving corrosion structure. Because of the existence of a porphyritic-granular structure, the structure of the mineral phase was extremely inhomogeneous and most complex near the basicity of 1.6; although a small amount of calcium ferrite displayed an acicular structure, the drum index appeared to show a very low value. With an increase in basicity to 2.0, the mineral phase structure was dominated by an interweaving corrosion structure with a uniform framework, and the content of calcium ferrite reached the highest value. Moreover, a clear acicular structure developed, and the drum index also increased to the highest value. At a basicity of more than 2.0, a mineral structure began to appear and the corrosion, porphyritic-granular structure, and the drum index also showed a slightly declining trend. Therefore, in the actual production process, basicity should be avoided as far as possible at around 1.0 and 1.6 and it should be controlled at around 2.0. At the same time, based on the mineral facies data set of this paper, the convolutional neural network is used to carry out a simple prediction model experiment on the basicity corresponding to the mineral facies photos, and the effect is quite good, which provides a new idea and method for the follow-up study of mineral facies.

The Effect of Combined Loads on the Destruction of Rocks with a Granular Structure

The article addresses the features of rock disintegration based on the principles of selective and preferential destruction in high-frequency cone vibratory crushers with a free-turning inner cone. Based on the common method for determining the ultimate strength of rocks, a method for investigating the process of ore destruction under repeated and versatile influences has been proposed depending on the structure of the crushed material. The results of an experimental research of the destruction of rock samples on a press with limited force are given.