Optimisation of emulsion-based edible coating and development of coating applicator machine for postharvest life study of guavas (Psidium Guajava L.) / Mohd Zahid Abidin

Application of edible coating represents a method that can extend the shelf life of picked guava by minimising the weight loss mainly due to natural migration process of moisture and gases. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to search for best composition of edible coating comprised of three variables namely palm stearin, palm kernel olein and beeswax. The RSM was also used to investigate the influence of temperature of coating emulsion and dipping time on the coating pickup for the optimisation of coating process condition. From the RSM-generated model, optimum coating composition for minimising guava weight loss was 4.5% (w/v) palm stearin, 1% (w/v) palm kernel olein and 1% (w/v) beeswax. The RSM predicted and experimental weight loss (7%) were not significantly different from each other

The impact of (Canarium Odontophyllum Miq.) Dabai Optimum Soaking Condition Towards the Development of Dabai Peanut Spread Physicochemical Properties and Sensory Evaluation

Canarium odontophyllum miq. also known as dabai is known as Sarawak indigenous fruit and utilised for dabai peanut spread formulation. Dabai is physically hard in texture and consumed by soaking under heat treatment. Therefore, dabai optimum soaking condition is determined followed by the development of dabai peanut spread. The determination of soaking condition requires: soaking time (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12) mins and soaking temperature (50°C, 60°C, 70°C and 80°C) as independent variables, and (water absorption, crude protein content, crude fat content, moisture content, ash content and colour) as dependent variables. 50°C for 4 minutes is the optimum dabai soaking condition, and it is being utilised for dabai peanut spread formulation. There were six different formulations with different ratios of soaked dabai and roasted peanut, and further underwent proximate analyses and sensory evaluation test. The combination of a low amount of soaked dabai (40 g) with a high amount of roasted peanut (160 g) has produced a high amount of crude protein (10.65%) and crude fat (35.95%) and was found significantly (p<0.05) acceptable by the panellists. The information obtained provides a better understanding of dabai as a potential food product ingredient

Simple TWRC technique by using optical fiber

The metalized optical fiber tip was used to generate thermal wave instead of metal foil attached to a tube as in the case of conventional thermal wave resonance cavity (TWRC) technique. The liquid thermal diffusivity was obtained through scanning the cavity length by moving this tip with respect to pyroelectric detector in liquid media, in a thermally thick region. Three-dimensional treatment of the metalized fiber tip was reduced to one-dimensional treatment using diameter of thermal wave generator relatively bigger than that of laser spot size. This applicability can be seen in two diameter size of optical fiber where the thermal diffusivity value of water obtained by this technique agrees with the values obtained by the conventional TWRC technique. This technique has a potential to be used in measuring thermal diffusivity of small liquid volume

An Experimental Study Of Combinational Logic Circuit Minimization Using Firefly Algorithm

Combinatorial logic circuit minimization is usually done using Karnaugh’s Map or Boolean equation. This paper presents an application of Firefly Algorithm to design combinational logic circuit in which the objective function is to minimize the total number of gates used. Then, the algorithm is benchmarked with other literatures. Result indicates that it able to find optimal solution but further analysis is required for a more complex combinatorial logic circuit minimization

Development Of Pyramidal Microwave Absorber Using Sugar Cane Bagasse (SCB)

The need to find ways to effectively utilize the large quantities of agricultural waste that are produced is indicative of the huge potential associated with producing an alternative pyramidal microwave absorber for anechoic chamber-testing applications.We propose the development of a pyramidal microwave absorber that can use sugar cane bagasse (SCB),a byproduct from the production and processing of sugar cane,as the absorbent. In this paper,we report the results of our use of dielectric probe measurement to determine the dielectric constant and loss tangent of SCB.These values were used to model and simulate an SCB pyramidal microwave absorber in Computer Simulation Technology’s (CST’s) Microwave Studio.This absorber was operated in the microwave frequency range between 0.1 GHz and 20.0 GHz

Effect of different degree of deacetylation, molecular weight of chitosan and palm stearin and palm kernel olein concentration on chitosan as edible packaging for cherry tomato

The palm stearin and palm kernel olein (PSPKOo) blend (at 31%) was incorporated into chitosan of different degree of deacetylation (DD) (85 and 95%) and molecular weight (MW) (100,000 and 300,000 Da) to form films, and the films were evaluated in terms of particle size, diameter and stability of emulsion, as well as thickness and tensile strength. The chitosan with 85% DD (MW 300,000 Da) and 31% PSPKOo blend resulted in the strongest film, while this chitosan varied with 15.5 and 31% of PSPKOo blends compared to physical properties of film. Emulsion blend containing 85% DD (MW 300,000 Da) and 31% PSPKOo blend of chitosan gave the biggest particle size, highest viscosity and the most stable emulsion, resulting in the thickest film with the highest tensile strength (TS) and elastic modulus (EM). The film was applied on cherry tomato and stored at 20C for 9 days. The chitosan film with 85% DD (MW 300,000 Da) and 31% PSPKOo blend was the most effective in reducing weight loss and maintaining firmness and redness of cherry tomato compared to the other two films. Hence, palm stearin (PS) showed potential to be used as a moisture barrier in fruit coating

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

Peer reviewe

An embedding technique to determine ττ backgrounds in proton-proton collision data

An embedding technique is presented to estimate standard model tau tau backgrounds from data with minimal simulation input. In the data, the muons are removed from reconstructed mu mu events and replaced with simulated tau leptons with the same kinematic properties. In this way, a set of hybrid events is obtained that does not rely on simulation except for the decay of the tau leptons. The challenges in describing the underlying event or the production of associated jets in the simulation are avoided. The technique described in this paper was developed for CMS. Its validation and the inherent uncertainties are also discussed. The demonstration of the performance of the technique is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected by CMS in 2017 at root s = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 41.5 fb(-1).Peer reviewe

Measurement of the Splitting Function in &ITpp &ITand Pb-Pb Collisions at root&ITsNN&IT=5.02 TeV

Data from heavy ion collisions suggest that the evolution of a parton shower is modified by interactions with the color charges in the dense partonic medium created in these collisions, but it is not known where in the shower evolution the modifications occur. The momentum ratio of the two leading partons, resolved as subjets, provides information about the parton shower evolution. This substructure observable, known as the splitting function, reflects the process of a parton splitting into two other partons and has been measured for jets with transverse momentum between 140 and 500 GeV, in pp and PbPb collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair. In central PbPb collisions, the splitting function indicates a more unbalanced momentum ratio, compared to peripheral PbPb and pp collisions.. The measurements are compared to various predictions from event generators and analytical calculations.Peer reviewe

Measurement of nuclear modification factors of gamma(1S)), gamma(2S), and gamma(3S) mesons in PbPb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The cross sections for ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S) production in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV have been measured using the CMS detector at the LHC. The nuclear modification factors, RAA, derived from the PbPb-to-pp ratio of yields for each state, are studied as functions of meson rapidity and transverse momentum, as well as PbPb collision centrality. The yields of all three states are found to be significantly suppressed, and compatible with a sequential ordering of the suppression, RAA(ϒ(1S)) > RAA(ϒ(2S)) > RAA(ϒ(3S)). The suppression of ϒ(1S) is larger than that seen at √sNN = 2.76 TeV, although the two are compatible within uncertainties. The upper limit on the RAA of ϒ(3S) integrated over pT, rapidity and centrality is 0.096 at 95% confidence level, which is the strongest suppression observed for a quarkonium state in heavy ion collisions to date. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP3.Peer reviewe