Film extrusion of sunflower protein isolate

Film extrusion of sunflower protein isolate (SFPI) was studied. The influence of die temperature (85 to 160°C), water and glycerol contents were investigated through appearance, mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties and swelling behavior in water of films. It was demonstrated that highest temperature, well above SFPI denaturation temperature in the compound, highest glycerol content (70 parts for 100 parts of SFPI) and medium water content (20 parts for 100 parts of SFPI) gave the most regular and smoothest film (as seen on SEM micrographs). Its ultimate tensile strength, Young’s modulus and strain at break were respectively: 3.2 MPa, 17.7 MPa and 73%. Soaked in water, its swelling was about 186% w/w but the film was quiet insoluble. Effect of temperature and plasticizer content were discussed in relation to the kinetic of SFPI denaturation. These first results are very promising for the development of biodegradable protein-based films

Picasso and the Easter Island “palm”

On a recent visit to Paris, one of us (PB) visited the newly renovated Picasso Museum. One of its most famous exhibits is the simple bull’s head of 1942 which the artist made out of a bicycle handlebar (for the horns) and saddle (for the head). On display there was also a photograph taken by Brassaï of the sculpture, and lying across it was a wooden arm and hand which, according to Brassaï, was from Easter Island

Kohau Rongorongo Tablet of St Petersburg

ABOUT TWENTY OBJECTS including kohau rongorongo tablets, a staff, crescent- shaped pectorals and a depiction of a birdman, all bear the sign of what linguists today describe as "writing". The presence of writing on tiny Easter Island, nestling in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, is still unexplained, and the question of its antiquity remain problematic.</p

New Natural Injection-Moldable Composite Material from Sunflower Oil Cake

Through a twin-screw extrusion process the native structure of sunflower oil cake was completely transformed (globular protein denaturation/texturization and husk fiber defibration) into a simpler matrix-fiber structure, as could be seen on SEM micrographs. Further chemical reduction of protein disulfide bridges greatly reduced the melt viscosity of the moistened composite that it could be injection-molded. The molded specimens were tested and their tensile and flexural properties and water absorption calculated. Their water resistance appeared to be particularly high, and could be enhanced further after a thermal treatment (N2, 200°C). The proteic matrix seemed to behave like a natural thermoset resin. Sunflower oil cake could be used without any additives to make biodegradable, water resistant and exceptionally cheap material

Manufacturing of renewable and biodegradable fiberboards from cake generated during biorefinery of sunflower whole plant in twin-screw extruder: Influence of thermo-pressing conditions

The starting material used in this study was a cake generated during thermo-mechanical fractionation of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) whole plant in a twin-screw extruder. It was slightly deoiled (16.7% of oil in dry matter). Composed mainly of fibers and proteins, it could be considered as a natural composite and was processed successfully into fiberboards by thermo-pressing. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of thermo-pressing conditions on mechanical and heat insulation properties of fiberboards manufactured from this cake. All fiberboards were cohesive, proteins and fibers acting respectively as binder and reinforcing fillers. Highest cake quantity (1000 mg/cm²) led to the highest breaking load (60.7 N) with a flexural strength at break quite low (2.9 MPa), lowest elastic modulus (216.6 MPa), and highest Charpy impact strength (6.5 kJ/m² for resilience). The increase of pressure applied during molding (from 320 to 360 kgf/cm²) led to an important increase of elastic modulus (from 352.6 to 728.6 MPa). Besides, fiberboard molded at 360 kgf/cm² was the most rigid of this study, and logically revealed the most important Shore D surface hardness (52.6°). Moreover, lowest molding time (60 s) led to the highest flexural strength at break (3.9 MPa). The low density of the fiberboards (less than 0.97) involved promising heat insulation properties. Indeed, thermal conductivity of fiberboards at 25 °C was low (from 103.5 to 135.7 mW/m K), and decreased with the increase of thickness. According to their mechanical and heat insulation properties, fiberboards would be potentially usable as inter-layer sheets for pallets, for the manufacture of biodegradable containers (composters, crates for vegetable gardening) by assembly of fiberboards, or for their heat insulation properties in building industry. Moreover, thermo-pressing was not only a molding operation. It also improved the oil extraction efficiency as a part of residual oil was expressed from cake during molding, and total oil yield reached 79.3% with a pressure applied of 360 kgf/cm²

3D model of Palaeolama sp. related to the publication: Endocranial casts of Camelops hesternus and Palaeolama sp., new insights into the recent history of the camelid brain.

INTRODUCTION: Modern camelids, including camels, llamas, and alpacas, display a great level of gyrification of the neocortex. The fossil endocast record of Camelidae covers from approximately 40 Mya (Eocene) to 11 Mya (Miocene), and a gap remained in this record for the last 10 million years. The work of Balcarcel et al. (2022) presents the first descriptions of two more recent camelid endocasts: the endocast of Palaeolama sp. from 1.2 Mya, and the endocast of Camelops hesternus, a giant camelid from 44-11 Kya. In this direct contribution, we provide the 3D model of the endocast of Palaeolama sp (PIMUZ A/V 4091; Fig. 1 and table 1) from ‘San Lorenzo 2’ locality in Argentina (Schulthess, 1920); that of Camelops hesternus is available in the online supplementary material of Balcarcel et al. (2022). The latter work shows that neocortical complexity evolved significantly between the Miocene and Pleistocene Epochs and that by 1.2 Mya the camelid brain already presented a modern morphology. The new fossil evidences indicate that the neocortical invagination into the sagittal sinus occurred during the Pleistocene. METHODS: The natural endocast PIMUZ A/V 4091 was scanned via X-ray computed tomography at the University of Montpellier using an EasyTom 150 μ-CT scanner at 92 KV with a resulting resolution of 70 μm. The digital reconstruction of the endocast and segmentation to remove remaining cranial bone was executed in Avizo (v. Lite 9.0.1) (Thermo Fisher Scientific-FEI). The 3D surface model is provided in .ply format, and can therefore be opened with a wide range of freeware. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We thank Gabriel Aguirre for access to collections at the Paleontology Institute and Museum of UZH (PIMUZ); Renaud Lebrun for the access of scanning facilities (MRI platform member of the national infrastructure France-BioImaging supported by the French National Research Agency [ANR-10-INBS-04, ≪Investments for the future≫], the LabEx CEMEB [ANR-10- LABX-0004] and NUMEV [ANR-10-LABX-0020]). This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation SNF grant no. 31003A-169395 and the Hubert Curien – Germaine de Sta¨el grant no. 46776YE. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Balcarcel A. M., Bastiaans D., & Orliac M. J. (2022) Endocranial casts of Camelops hesternus and Palaeolama sp., new insights into the recent history of the camelid brain. Brain, Behavior and Evolution, early view. https://doi.org/10.1159/000528762 Schulthess B. (1920) Beitr¨age zur Kenntnis der Xenarthra auf Grund der Santiago Roth’schen. Sammlung des Zoologischen Museums der Universit¨at Z¨urich. Imprimerie Albert Kundig,pp. 5

Automatisation du repérage et de l'encodage des collocations en langue de spécialité

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

A 50-million-year-old, three-dimensionally preserved bat skull supports an early origin for modern echolocation

Bats are among the most recognizable, numerous, and widespread of all mammals. But much of their fossil record is missing, and bat origins remain poorly understood, as do the relationships of early to modern bats. Here, we describe a new early Eocene bat that helps bridge the gap between archaic stem bats and the hyperdiverse modern bat radiation of more than 1,460 living species. Recovered from ∼50 million-year-old cave sediments in the Quercy Phosphorites of southwestern France, Vielasia sigei's remains include a near-complete, three-dimensionally preserved skull—the oldest uncrushed bat cranium yet found. Phylogenetic analyses of a 2,665 craniodental character matrix, with and without 36.8 kb of DNA sequence data, place Vielasia outside modern bats, with total evidence tip-dating placing it sister to the crown clade. Vielasia retains the archaic dentition and skeletal features typical of early Eocene bats, but its inner ear shows specializations found in modern echolocating bats. These features, which include a petrosal only loosely attached to the basicranium, an expanded cochlea representing ∼25% basicranial width, and a long basilar membrane, collectively suggest that the kind of laryngeal echolocation used by most modern bats predates the crown radiation. At least 23 individuals of V. sigei are preserved together in a limestone cave deposit, indicating that cave roosting behavior had evolved in bats by the end of the early Eocene; this period saw the beginning of significant global climate cooling that may have been an evolutionary driver for bats to first congregate in caves