An overview of the recent developments on fructooligosaccharide production and applications

Over the past years, many researchers have suggested that deficiencies in the diet can lead to disease states and that some diseases can be avoided through an adequate intake of relevant dietary components. Recently, a great interest in dietary modulation of the human gut has been registered. Prebiotics, such as fructooligosaccharides (FOS), play a key role in the improvement of gut microbiota balance and in individual health. FOS are generally used as components of functional foods, are generally regarded as safe (generally recognized as safe status—from the Food and Drug Administration, USA), and worth about 150€ per kilogram. Due to their nutrition- and health-relevant properties, such as moderate sweetness, low carcinogenicity, low calorimetric value, and low glycemic index, FOS have been increasingly used by the food industry. Conventionally, FOS are produced through a two-stage process that requires an enzyme production and purification step in order to proceed with the chemical reaction itself. Several studies have been conducted on the production of FOS, aiming its optimization toward the development of more efficient production processes and their potential as food ingredients. The improvement of FOS yield and productivity can be achieved by the use of different fermentative methods and different microbial sources of FOS producing enzymes and the optimization of nutritional and culture parameter; therefore, this review focuses on the latest progresses in FOS research such as its production, functional properties, and market data.Agencia de Inovacao (AdI)-Project BIOLIFE reference PRIME 03/347. Ana Dominguez acknowledges Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal, for her PhD grant reference SFRH/BD/23083/2005

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

A rational synthesis of vibration isolators

The paper deals with a rational approach to the development of general design criteria for non-dissipative vibration isolation systems. The study covers straight-through springmass systems as well as branched ones with dynamic absorbers. Various design options, such as the addition of another spring-mass pair, replacement of an existing system by one with more spring-mass pairs for the same space and material requirements, provision of one or more dynamic absorbers for the desired frequency range, etc., are investigated quantitatively by means of an algebraic algorithm which enables one to write down straightaway the velocity ratio and hence transmissibility of a linear dynamical system in terms of the constituent parameters

Analysis and Desigh of Mufflers — An Overview of Research at the Indian Institute of Science

The reciprocating motion of the piston(s) of engines and compressors and the associated intake and discharge of gases are responsible for noise radiation to the atmosphere that ranks as a major pollutant of the urban environment. Mufflers have been developed over the last seventy years based on electro–acoustic analogies and experimental trial and error. Passive mufflers based on impedance mismatch, called reflective or reactive mufflers, have been most common in the automobile industry. Mufflers based on the principle of conversion of acoustic energy into heat by means of highly porous fibrous linings, called dissipative mufflers or silencers, are generally used in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. The author has been working in this area for over 27 years. Of late, he has been researching in the vibro–acoustics of hoses used in automotive climate control systems. The present paper gives an overview of the research findings of the author and his students in different aspects of active as well as passive mufflers in the last decade. The same are related to the contemporary state of the art. Finally, areas needing further research are indicated

Prediction of the break-out noise of the cylindrical sandwich plate muffler shells

Break-out noise from the shell often puts a limit on the (net) transmission loss that can be obtained from an engine exhaust muffler. One of the best ways of reducing break-out noise is use of a sandwich plate shell. This short paper presents an analytical model for prediction of transverse transmission loss of sandwich plate shells. Four-pole parameters of the porous layer are used along with an impedance approach for relating radial velocity of the outer (exposed) metallic layer to acoustic pressure of a plane progressive wave inside the muffler shell. This is combined with radiation impedance for outgoing cylindrical waves to predict transverse transmission loss. Thus, a sandwich plate shell is compared with a single layer shell without and with wrapping of another metallic layer by means of a transverse insertion loss. Finally, results of a parametric study are reported to help the muffler designers

Analysis and design of pod silencers

Parallel baffle mufflers or split silencers are used extensively in heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for increased attenuation of noise within a short or given length. Acoustic analysis of rectangular parallel baffle mufflers runs on the same lines as that of a rectangular duct lined on two sides. This simplification would not hold for circular configurations. Often, a cylindrical pod is inserted into a circular lined duct to increase its attenuation (or transmission loss), thereby making the flow passage annular and providing an additional absorptive layer on the inner side of this annular passage. This configuration, called a pod silencer, is analyzed here for the four-pole parameters as well as transmission loss, making use of the bulk reaction model. The effect of thin protective film or a highly perforated metallic plate is duly incorporated by means of a grazing-flow impedance. Use of appropriate boundary conditions leads to a set of linear homogeneous equations which in turn lead to a transcendental frequency equation in the unknown complex axial wave number. This is solved by means of the Newton-Raphson method, and the axial wave number is then used in the expressions for transmission loss as well as the transfer matrix parameters. Finally, results of a parametric study are reported to help the designer in optimization of a pod silencer configuration within a given overall size for minimal cost