Improvement of gums in physicochemical and rheological properties of barley-fortified saltine cracker dough

Effects of hydrocolloids (arabic gum, guar gum, and xanthan gum) on the physicochemical and rheological properties of whole-barley fortified cracker flour were determined using solvent retention capacity, alveograph, and Mixolab profiles. Results showed that the water absorption of whole-barley fortified cracker flour was reduced by the additional arabic gum. Besides, arabic gum was more effective in reducing the resistance to inflation and improving the extensibility of whole-barley fortified dough. Mixolab parameters indicated that the weakening of gluten proteins and the rate of starch retrogradation in whole-barley fortified cracker dough were reduced by the presence of arabic gum. Guar gum and xanthan gum promoted the rate of protein breakdown, but slowed down the starch gelatinization and retrogradation rate during the Mixolab heating-cooling cycle. In conclusion, involved arabic gum rather than guar gum or xanthan gum is benefit to improve the baking quality of wholebarley fortified saltine crackers

Relationship of land use/cover on water quality in the Liao River basin, China

AbstractA total of 76 sampling sites were selected in the Liao River basin (21.9×104km2). During the period of 2009-2010, 58 water samples were collected in 2010 and 42 were collected in 2009, physical-chemical variables were analyzed to investigate their spatial-temporal variability in particular the relationship with land use /cover. The results indicated that physical and chemical properties showed obvious spatial heterogeneity in the Liao River basin. Taizi River and Hun River are located in the southeast of the basin, the water quality for two sub-basins: water quality in upstream is better than that in downstream, water quality level in downstream was classified into IV-V. There were no obvious features in the East Liao River basin, water quality in downstream was classified into III level. West Liao River run for many years, water quality was classified into IV. Big Liao River basin was located in middle and east of the Liao River basin. Water quality was classified into V. Correlation and regression analysis indicated that BOD5, COD, sediment, hardness and nitrate–nitrogen (NO3−–N), total dissolved particular (TDP) were significantly related to land use for forest and agriculture

Statistical analyses on multi-scale features of monitoring data from health monitoring system in long cable supported bridges

AbstractStrain-time histories and other data acquired from a structural health monitoring system (SHMS) installed on a bridge reflect the real-time structural response of the bridge under actual service and environmental loading. It is necessary to understand the inherent features of the data if we want to have confidence in using them to assess the health state or detect potential damage in the structure. This paper aims at exploring the inherent features of strain-time histories data from SHMS in order to find out their behavior in multiple temporal scales and to obtain reliable, clean and normalized data at the dominant scale of stresses inducing fatigue. Firstly, the strain history data from SHMS installed on Runyang Yangtze Bridges (RYB) were analyzed within three typical temporal scales to explore their different characteristics and their own cut-off frequency which span different orders of magnitude. Then, based on the description of the multi-scale features of the monitored data, a further investigation of the dominant scale controlling fatigue failures was carried out. The result shows that, the strain data corresponding to the typical temporal scales of 106, 103 and 100 sec are caused by temperature change, with cut-off frequency fc,1 in the 10−2 Hz range, by train load, with fc,2 in the 10−1 Hz range and by truck load, with fc,3 in the 100 Hz range. Noise shows significant coupling effect when coarse scale strain data are used for the evaluation, which may lead to significant error even it is in small level acceptable in engineering analyses

An image reconstruction algorithm based on the semiparametric model for electrical capacitance tomography

AbstractElectrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is considered as a promising tomography technology, and exactly reconstructing the original objects is highly desirable in real applications. In this paper, a generalized image reconstruction model that simultaneously considers the inaccurate property in the measured capacitance data and the linearization approximation error is presented. A generalized objective function, which has been developed using a combinational M-estimation and an extended stabilizing item, is proposed. The objective function unifies six estimation methods into a concise formula, where different estimation methods can be easily obtained by selecting different parameters. The homotopy method that integrates the beneficial advantages of the alternant iteration scheme is employed to solve the proposed objective function. Numerical simulations are implemented to evaluate the numerical performances and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, and the numerical results reveal that the proposed algorithm is efficient and overcomes the numerical instability in the process of ECT image reconstruction. For the reconstructed objects in this paper, a dramatic improvement in accuracy and spatial resolution can be achieved, which indicates that the proposed algorithm is a promising candidate for solving ECT inverse problems

Acoustic phonon transport through a double-bend quantum waveguide

In this work, using the scattering matrix method, we have investigated the transmission coefficients and the thermal conductivity in a double-bend waveguide structure. The transmission coefficients show strong resonances due to the scattering in the midsection of a double-bend structure; the positions and the widths of the resonance peaks are determined by the dimensions of the midsection of the structure. And the scattering in the double-bend structure makes the thermal conductivity decreases with the increasing of the temperature first, then increases after reaches a minimum. Furthermore, the investigations of the multiple double-bend structures indicate that the first additional double-bend structure suppresses the transmission coefficient and the frequency gap formed; and the additional double-bend structures determine the numbers of the resonance peaks at the frequency just above the gap region. These results could be useful for the design of phonon devices.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, elsart.cls is use

Characteristics and Sensing Properties of the La1-xNdxCo0.3Fe0.7O3 System for CO Gas Sensors

A series of nanostructured La1-xNdxCo0.3Fe0.7O3 perovskite-type (x ranging from 0 to 1) were prepared using the co-precipitation method. CO gas sensing properties of La1-xNdxCo0.3Fe0.7O3 sensors were performed. La0.7Nd0.3Co0.3Fe0.7O3 sensor showed the highest response at 250 °C (S=52.8)