Phase change materials for life science applications

Phase change materials (PCMs) are a class of thermo-responsive materials that can be utilized to trigger a phase transition which gives them thermal energy storage capacity. Any material with a high heat of fusion is referred to as a PCM that is able to provide cutting-edge thermal storage. PCMs are commercially used in many applications like textile industry, coating, and cold storage typically for heat control. These intriguing substances have recently been rediscovered and employed in a broad range of life science applications, including biological, human body, biomedical, pharmaceutical, food, and agricultural applications. Benefiting from the changes in physicochemical properties during the phase transition makes PCMs also functional for barcoding, detection, and storage. Paraffin wax and polyethylene glycol are the most commonly studied PCMs due to their low toxicity, biocompatibility, high thermal stability, high latent enthalpy, relatively wide transition temperature range, and ease of chemical modification. Current challenges in employing PCMs for life science applications include biosafety and/or engineering difficulties. The focus of this review article is on the life science applications, evaluation, and safety aspects of PCMs. Herein, the advances and the potential of employing PCMs as a versatile platform for various types of life science applications are highlighted.Peer reviewe

Cyber Security Education and Training: Delivering industry relevant education and skills via Degree Apprenticeships

The rise of Digital Transformation, global pandemics, and AI, have made Cyber skills crucial in today’s world. Organisation flexibility can only be achieved when they have a strong foundation of Cyber professionals that can look after vulnerabilities and protect their systems. A multitude of evidence suggests that the economy is being held back due to a skills gap, particularly in the Cyber Security discipline. In seeking to reduce this gap, the UK government has extended a long established ‘apprenticeship’ programme to include degrees. Higher Education Degree Apprenticeships offer a cost-effective route for employers to upskill their staff and for apprentices to access free education (and a degree) whilst being paid. Each of the Degree Apprenticeships has an associated framework that defines core learning requirements – devised and created by a collaborative effort of industry and academia. How this framework is implemented however is very much up to individual institutions. This paper presents an implementation of the Cyber Security Analyst degree apprenticeship undertaken at a UK Institution. Amongst the first in the UK to operationalise the standard, the approach has pragmatically dealt with a wide range of issues to create an academically rigorous yet commercially viable solution for industry. The paper presents the approach, demonstrates the academic rigor through mapping to industry-accepted standards, and discusses the collaborative role of the employer and University in providing a holistic and complete learning experience. The paper concludes by offering a critical discussion on challenges and opportunities and suggests ways employers and professional bodies can collaborate further with Higher Education in developing Degree Apprenticeships that will only be about skills, but also lifelong learning

Safety considerations of plant polysaccharides for food use: a case study on phenolic-rich softwood galactoglucomannan extract

A growing population and concern over the sufficiency of natural resources for feeding this population has motivated researchers and industries to search for alternative and complementary sources of food ingredients and additives. Numerous plant species and parts of plants are explored as raw materials for food production. An interesting example is wood; to date, few wood-based additives or ingredients are authorized for food use. Wood hemicelluloses, such as softwood galactoglucomannans (GGM), constitute an abundant bioresource that shows a highly potential functionality in edible materials. Spruce GGM—“spruce gum”—acts as a multi-functional emulsion stabilizer, and it could be used in various processed food products, replacing less effective, conventional emulsifiers. Before new materials can be released onto the food market, their safety must be evaluated, according to the Novel Food regulation. This review focuses on the safety aspects that must be considered before polysaccharide- and phenolic-rich plant extracts can be awarded the status of authorized food ingredients. In this review, GGM is presented as a case study and examples are given of plant-based polysaccharides that are already authorized for food purposes. The legislation regarding Novel Food ingredients in Europe is also briefly reviewed.Peer reviewe

Introduction to Dynamic Linear Models for Time Series Analysis

Dynamic linear models (DLM) offer a very generic framework to analyse time series data. Many classical time series models can be formulated as DLMs, including ARMA models and standard multiple linear regression models. The models can be seen as general regression models where the coefficients can vary in time. In addition, they allow for a state space representation and a formulation as hierarchical statistical models, which in turn is the key for efficient estimation by Kalman formulas and by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. A dynamic linear model can handle non-stationary processes, missing values and non-uniform sampling as well as observations with varying accuracies. This chapter gives an introduction to DLM and shows how to build various useful models for analysing trends and other sources of variability in geodetic time series.Comment: A chapter submitted to a book with a proposed title: Geodetic Time Series Analysis and Applications, editors. J.-P. Montillet and M. Bo

History teaching in Finnish general upper secondary schools: Objectives and practices

In Finland, the trend towards a new kind of history teaching emphasizing the understanding of historical knowledge and historical thinking skills began in the mid-1990s, when history teaching objectives were defined much more broadly in the curriculum than previously. In this article, we examine how, in over twenty years since the changes in curriculum objectives were made, general upper secondary school teachers have come to value the curriculum objectives of history teaching and how these have impacted on their teaching. The data for this article were collected by a semi-structured survey in 2016. Using counts, percentages, means, standard deviations and medians, a descriptive exploration was made of history teachers’ perceptions of the essential objectives in teaching history and how often they were put into practice in related student activities. To investigate the balance between the objectives the teachers emphasized as the most essential and the teaching methods they actually used, we applied the Kruskal–Wallis test and the Friedman test. According to the results, what the teachers considered essential for teaching history did not correlate with their teaching methods. In addition, according to the results, this state of affairs is still undergoing change; old traditions and new objectives of history teaching are creating tensions. The results were interpreted in the light of the cultural viewpoints of Finnish teaching, the position of matriculation examinations in Finnish general upper secondary schools and the challenges the curriculum is setting for history teacher

An overview of nanoemulsion characterization via atomic force microscopy

Nanoemulsion-based systems are widely applied in food industries for protecting active ingredients against oxidation and degradation and controlling the release rate of active core ingredients under particular conditions. Visualizing the interface morphology and measuring the interfacial interaction forces of nanoemulsion droplets are essential to tailor and design intelligent nanoemulsion-based systems. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is being established as an important technique for interface characterization, due to its unique advantages over traditional imaging and surface force-determining approaches. However, there is a gap in knowledge about the applicability of AFM in characterizing the droplet interface properties of nanoemulsions. This review aims to describe the fundamentals of the AFM technique and nanoemulsions, mainly focusing on the recent use of AFM to investigate nanoemulsion properties. In addition, by reviewing interfacial studies on emulsions in general, perspectives for the further development of AFM to study nanoemulsions are also discussed.Peer reviewe

Spruce galactoglucomannan stabilized emulsions enhance bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds

The increasing public awareness of health and sustainability has prompted the development of functional foods rich in health-promoting ingredients. Processing technologies and sustainable multifunctional ingredients are needed for structuring these formulations. Spruce galactoglucomannan (GGM), the main hemicelluloses in softwood cell walls, are an abundantly available, emerging sustainable food hydrocolloid that have the ability to efficiently emulsify and stabilize oil-in-water emulsions. In this study, we illustrate how this lignocellulosic stabilizer affects the digestion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in vitro. A 100% decrease in the initial TAG content was observed during the in vitro digestion, suggesting that complete hydrolysis of the TAGs was achieved by the digestive enzymes. Besides, no release of mono-, di-, and oligosaccharides or phenolic compounds from GGM was detected. Our results demonstrate that the GGM-stabilized emulsion could potentially deliver lipophilic bioactive ingredients and enhance their bioaccessibility. In addition, this bio-stabilizer itself would remain stable in the upper gastrointestinal track and serve as a prebiotic for gut microbiota. We anticipate GGM to complement or even replace many of the conventional carriers of bioactive components in future health care products and functional foods.Peer reviewe

Sensory profile of hemicellulose-rich wood extracts in yogurt models

Wood is an abundant and sustainable source of emerging food ingredients, namely hemicelluloses that fulfil a number of requirements for functional hydrocolloids. Hemicelluloses, especially spruce galactoglucomannans (GGM) and birch glucuronoxylans (GX), have potential to be used as stabilizers in various foods such as yogurts, beverages, dressings, and desserts. However, in addition to good technological functionality, safety, and low price, the applicability and market potential of new hydrocolloids is determined by their sensory properties. The present study reports, for the first time, the sensory profile of spruce GGM and birch GX in food. Sensory profiles from generic descriptive analysis of GGM- and GX-rich extracts, processed by spray drying or ethanol precipitation, were compared in three types of model food systems: water solutions, yogurt with solutions, and yogurt with emulsions stabilized by GGM or GX. Gum Arabic was included for comparison with a commercial ingredient known to have a mild flavor. The results showed that GGM and GX have a woody flavor, which can be reduced by ethanol precipitation and, in yogurt, masked by other food ingredients.Peer reviewe

Rapid and Direct Preparation of Lignin Nanoparticles from Alkaline Pulping Liquor by Mild Ultrasonication

The production of lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) has opened new routes to the utilization of lignin in advanced applications. The existing challenge, however, is to develop a production method that can easily be adapted on an industrial scale. In this study, we demonstrated a green and rapid method of preparing LNPs directly from a sulfur-free alkaline pulping liquor by combining acid precipitation and ultrasonication. The combined method produced spherical LNPs, with a hierarchical nanostructure and a highly negative surface charge, within only 5 min of sonication. The mild, rapid sonication was achieved by sonicating directly without prior drying of the acid-precipitated and dialyzed lignin. Optimization of the method revealed the potential for minimizing acid consumption, shortening the dialysis time, and processing directly the alkaline liquor with as much as 20 wt % lignin. The isolated LNPs were stable during storage for 180 days, at a pH range of 4–7, and in a dispersing medium below 0.1 M NaCl. The LNPs also displayed excellent emulsifying properties, stabilizing oil-in-water emulsions. Thus, this simple and energy-efficient method opens a sustainable, straightforward, and scalable route to the production of organic solvent-free LNPs, with high potential as interface stabilizers of multiphase systems in the food and medical industries.Peer reviewe