Influence of maltodextrin dextrose equivalent value on rheological and dispersion properties of sunflower oil in water emulsions

Effect of dextrose equivalent (DE) of maltodextrin present in continuous phase on flow along with dispersion properties of sunflower oil in water emulsions has been investigated. Both, rheological and disperse characteristics of the emulsions were greatly influenced by continuous phase viscosity and thus by the DE value of maltodextrin.. The smaller DE value the greater high shear viscosity and the smaller the droplet size. Irrespective of the amount and DE value of maltodextrin used was, all the emulsions showed a pseudoplastic behaviour

Procedures for Removal of Pesticides from the Environment

Organoklorni i organofosforni pesticidi se u velikim količinama upotrebljavaju u proizvodnji hrane zbog svoje učinkovitosti i niske cijene i smatra se da danas na svjetskom tržištu postoji oko 1500 aktivnih tvari s pesticidnim učinkom. Ovi postojani organski onečišćivači dugo nakon primjene mogu zaostajati u tlu, mulju i sedimentima ili ući u vodene tokove, te dospjeti izravno u prehrambeni lanac. Danas se za uklanjanja pesticida s onečišćenih lokacija primjenjuju sljedeći postupci: niskotemperaturna toplinska desorpcija, spaljivanje, bioremedijacija i fitoremedijacija. Svaka od tehnologija ima svoje prednosti i nedostatke. U konačnici idealan proces remedijacije bio bi takav da u potpunosti razgradi onečišćivač bez stvaranja međuprodukata. Neki od procesa imaju samo sposobnost razmještanja i stabilizacije onečišćivača, no ne postižu potpuno uklanjanje. Niskotemperaturna toplinska desorpcija je tehnologija čišćenja ex situ najčešće primjenjivana za uklanjanje pesticida. Prednost primjene spaljivanja je potpuno uklanjanje onečišćivača, međutim proces je skup jer zahtijeva transport medija do spalionice. Procesi bioremedijacije potaknuti su prirodnim procesom mikrobiološke razgradnje onečišćivača odnosno interakcijom mikroorganizama i komponenata otpada. Postupak ex situ uključuje upotrebu bioreaktora. Jedan od postupaka je i postupak land spreading kod kojeg se onečišćeni medij miješa s tlom pri čemu autohtoni mikroorganizmi razaraju onečišćivače. Učinkovitost u biorazgradnji toksičnih onečišćivača utvrđena je za gljive bijelog truljenja, posebno iz roda Phanerochaete. Fitoremedijacija je tzv. "zelena tehnologija" primjenom biljaka, pri čemu biljke nisu izravno uključene u proces i služe kao katalizator za pojačavanje rasta i aktivnosti populacije mikroorganizama korijenja. U fitoremedijaciji pesticida najčešće se primjenjuju biljke roda Kochia, za koje je utvrđeno da zbog interakcija biljke i mikroorganizama iz područja rizosfere dolazi do razgradnje prisutnih pesticida. Bioremedijacija i fitoremedijacija su danas dvije nove metode koje se još procjenjuju. Brojnim laboratorijskim istraživanjima i pilot-studijama nastoji se povećati raspoloživost primjene bioremedijacije i fitoremedijacije te nadvladati ograničenja ovih metoda.Pesticides are widely used in food production, and it is believed that more than 1000 types of pesticides are in use. Organochlorines and organophosphorous pesticides are used in large quantities due to their efficacy and low cost. These persistent organic pollutants remain in the soil, silt, and sediment long after application, and enter into watercourses, finding their way directly into the food chain. Today, the following procedures are used to remove pesticides from polluted localities: low temperature thermal desorption, incineration, bioremediation and phytoremediation. Each of these technologies has its advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, the ideal remediation process would be to completely destroy the pollutant without the production of byproducts. Some of these processes are only capable of moving and stabilizing the contaminant, but do not clean or fully eliminate the pollutant. Low temperature thermal desorption is an ex situ cleaning technology most often used to remove pesticides. The advantage of incineration is the complete elimination of the pollutant; however, this process is very expensive, as it requires transport of the media to the incinerator. The processes of bioremediation are stimulated by natural processes of microbiological degradation of contaminants through the interaction of microorganisms and nutrients from waste. Ex situ procedures include the use of bioreactors. Another procedure is land spreading, in which the contaminated medium is mixed with the soil, in which the native microorganisms degrade the pollutants. Efficacy in the biodegradation of toxic pollutants has been established for white root fungi, particularly those from the genus Phanerochaete. Phytoremediation is a green technology that uses plants, in which plants are not directly included in the process but serve as a catalyser for increasing the growth and activity of root microorganisms. In phytoremediation of pesticides, plants of the genus Kochia are often used, as it has been established that the interaction between the plants and microorganisms in the rhizosphere leads to the degradation of pesticides. Bioremediation and phytoremediation are two new methods that are still under assessment. Numerous laboratory studies and pilot studies are attempting to increase the applicable uses of bioremediation and phytoremediation, and overcome the limitations currently presented by these methods

Physico-chemical characteristics of white suger fractions separated by crystal sizes

According to the EU Council Directive 2001/111/EC, related to certain sugars intended for human consumption, a great attention is paid to color in sugar. On the other hand, the non-sucrose compounds having intensive color tend to build into the sucrose crystals. Since Serbia has to work on the new rules concerned sugar quality and harmonization with EU standards, some investigations on sugar crystals are carried out at the request of some sugar factories. Investigations are carried out on sugar crystal size dependence on sugar color and on dissolution rate of different sugar crystal size fractions with the aim to create new sugar products. In this study, sugar samples with different sugar color are divided into 5 fractions by crystal size, defining size distributions. In each fraction the color in solution and the type of color are measured, as well as other relevant physico-chemical parameters. The conclusion is that the sugar color type depends on the crystal size, but sugar crystal solution is not dependent on crystal size except a fraction smaller than 200 µm, which has 30-75% higher sugar color in solution than the other crystal size fractions

A Case of Visceral Leishmaniasis in the Northern Adriatic Region

A 33-year-old male patient with fever, splenomegaly, pancytopenia and lymphocytosis was admitted to the Department of Hematology in Rijeka. Laboratory findings, bone marrow aspiration and biopsy excluded hemoblastosis and aplastic anemia. To exclude primary splenic lymphoma we performed splenic aspiration where Leishmania amastigotes were found. No cases of visceral leishmaniasis have been previously described in the Northern Adriatic region. Considering epidemiology, a contraction of the disease in the Velebit mountain range could be possible despite the current non-endemic status of the region

The possibility of in vitro multi-enzymatic method application for the assessment of the influence of thermal treatments on organic matter digestibility of feed for ruminants

In vitro multi-enzymatic method is a two-step procedure that uses exogenous enzymes for incubation of feed that aim to imitate digestive processes in the animal. It is used for determination of organic matter digestibility (OMD) of various feedstuffs and complete mixtures used in ruminant nutrition. The aim of the present work was to determine whether this in vitro multi-enzymatic method can be applied for the assessment of the influence of thermal treatments on OMD of feed for ruminants. Samples of corn and complete mixture for cows (based on corn) were subjected to pelleting, steam flaking, micronization and extrusion. Statistical analysis of the results did not show significant increase of corn and complete mixture OMD after various thermal treatments compared to untreated samples, which can be explained by high digestibility of corn itself (exceeds 90%). Based on obtained results it can be concluded that applied in vitro method is not suitable for the assessment of the influence of thermal treatments on OMD of corn and corn based mixture, while future research should be broadened to analysis of samples with lower OMD, such as sorghum, oats and barley

Eight red cell enzymes polymorphisms in the Slovakian ethnic group of Yugoslavia.

The polymorphisms of eight red cell enzymes were studied in 211 unrelated voluntary blood donors from the ethnic group of Slovakians (Yugoslavia). Only common phenotypes were detected, which are usually present in European populations. The allele frequencies found were: GLO1*1 = 0.410, ESD*1 = 0.887, AK1*1 = 0.962, PGM1*1 = 0.780, ACP1*A = 0.315, ACP1*B = 0.637, ACP1*C = 0.047, GPT*1 = 0.535, ADA*1 = 0.952 and PGD*A = 0.940. These findings are discussed in the context of other European populations and the population of Serbia, Yugoslavia

Deep learning-based algorithm for mobile robot control in textureless environment

For the implementation of stereo image-based visual servoing algorithm in the eye-in-hand robotics applications, one of the main concerns is the accurate point feature detection and matching algorithm. Since the visual servoing is carried out in the textureless environment, the feature detection process is even more challenging. To fulfill the requirement of a robust and reliable point feature detection process, in this paper we present the novel deep learning-based algorithm. The approach based on convolutional neural networks and algorithm for detection of manufacturing entities is proposed and detected regions of interest are utilized for the improvement of the point feature detection algorithm. The proposed algorithm is experimentally evaluated in real-world settings by using wheeled nonholonomic mobile robot RAICO equipped with stereo vision system. The experimental results show the improvement of 58% in the accuracy of matched point features in the images obtained during the visual servoing process. Moreover, with the implementation of the proposed deep learning-based approach, the number of successful experimental runs has increased by 80%

The influence of edaphic factors on spatial and vertical distribution of radionuclides in soil

This chapter summarises the edaphic factors affecting radionuclide spatial and vertical distribution in different soil types, with special emphasis on typical soil types in Serbia. The correlations between radionuclide and stable element content in soil and soil characteristics (particle size fractions, pH, carbonate content, organic matter content, cation exchange capacity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, specific electrical conductivity) are presented. These results provide insight into the main factors that affect radionuclide migration in the soil, which contributes to knowledge about radionuclide behaviour in the environment and factors governing their mobility within terrestrial ecosystems

Blood and urine cadmium and bioelements profile in nickel-cadmium battery workers in Serbia

Although cadmium (Cd) is extensively used for nickel-cadmium battery production, few recent reports are available on the effect of this toxic metal on the imbalance of biometals in occupational exposure. The current study was carried out to determine the Cd level and its effect on the content of bioelements: zinc, cooper, magnesium, and iron in blood and urine of workers exposed to Cd during nickel-cadmium battery production. beta(2)-Microglobulins (beta(2)-MG), as indicators of kidney damage, were determined in urine. The study group comprised 32 male nickel-cadmium battery workers, and the control group had 15 male construction workers with no history of Cd exposure. Levels of Cd and bioelements were determined in blood and urine by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Cd concentration in blood of exposed workers was around 10 mu g/L and in urine ranged from 1.93 to 8.76 mu g/g creatinine (cr). Urine Cd concentration was significantly higher in exposed workers than in the controls, although no statistical difference in beta(2)-MG content was observed in urine between the two groups. Blood Zn and Mg level were significantly reduced and urine Zn level was increased in Cd-exposed group when compared with controls. The mean Cd concentrations in blood and urine did not exceed the recommended reference values of 10 mu g/L in blood and 10 mu g/g cr in urine. Cd exposure resulted in disturbances of Zn in blood and urine and Mg in blood but had no effect on Cu and Fe content in biological fluids. Toxicology and Industrial Health 2009; 25: 129-135