Studies on Alum as Milk Coagulating Agent in the Manufacture of Paneer – An Indian Cottage Cheese

Alum is a white crystalline double sulphate of aluminum and potassium that is commonly used as an astringent. Utilising its protein binding property, alum was studied as coagulating agent of milk in the preparation of paneer. Paneer is a soft variety of cottage cheese very popular in Indian sub-continent, used in various culinary dishes. Its   preparation essentially involves acid coagulation of hot milk and pressing of the hot coagulum to form a compact block which is then cooled by immersing in chilled water. Citric acid and vinegar are commonly used as coagulating agents of milk during paneer manufacture. However, when alum was used as a coagulating agent, it was observed that most of the proteins were amalgamated during coagulation process resulting in enhanced yield of paneer. It also resulted in reduced solids losses in whey. However, use of alum resulted in a slight astringency in paneer, hence it was recommended to be used in combination with common coagulant i.e. citric acid. The solids content (losses) in whey were 6.62, 6.08, and 6.32 %, respectively for citric acid, alum and citric acid + alum mixture used as coagulating agents. Similarly, the yields of paneer were 16.42, 19.04 and 16.99 %. The alum coagulated paneer looked glossy and attractive which was indicated by reflectance values of 83.75% as against 79% for control paneer sample. The paneer made by alum coagulation had slightly brittle texture

Research Paper

Ph.D. Research paperNot AvailableNot Availabl

Theory of Hysteresis Loop in Ferromagnets

We consider three mechanisms of hysteresis phenomena in alternating magnetic field: the domain wall motion in a random medium, the nucleation and the retardation of magnetization due to slow (critical) fluctuations. We construct quantitative theory for all these processes. The hysteresis is characterized by two dynamic threshold fields, by coercive field and by the so-called reversal field. Their ratios to the static threshold field is shown to be function of two dimensionless variables constituted from the frequency and amplitude of the ac field as well as from some characteristics of the magnet. The area and the shape of the hysteresis loop are found. We consider different limiting cases in which power dependencies are valid. Numerical simulations show the domain wall formation and propagation and confirm the main theoretical predictions. Theory is compared with available experimental data.Comment: RevTex, 13 pages, 8 figures (PostScript), acknowledgements adde

SarcTrack: an adaptable software tool for efficient large-scale analysis of sarcomere function in hiPSC-cardiomyocytes

Rationale: Human induced pluripotent stem cell–derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) in combination with CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing provide unparalleled opportunities to study cardiac biology and disease. However, sarcomeres, the fundamental units of myocyte contraction, are immature and nonlinear in hiPSC-CMs, which technically challenge accurate functional interrogation of contractile parameters in beating cells. Furthermore, existing analysis methods are relatively low-throughput, indirectly assess contractility, or only assess well-aligned sarcomeres found in mature cardiac tissues. Objective: We aimed to develop an analysis platform that directly, rapidly, and automatically tracks sarcomeres in beating cardiomyocytes. The platform should assess sarcomere content, contraction and relaxation parameters, and beat rate. Methods and Results: We developed SarcTrack, a MatLab software that monitors fluorescently tagged sarcomeres in hiPSC-CMs. The algorithm determines sarcomere content, sarcomere length, and returns rates of sarcomere contraction and relaxation. By rapid measurement of hundreds of sarcomeres in each hiPSC-CM, SarcTrack provides large data sets for robust statistical analyses of multiple contractile parameters. We validated SarcTrack by analyzing drug-treated hiPSC-CMs, confirming the contractility effects of compounds that directly activate (CK-1827452) or inhibit (MYK-461) myosin molecules or indirectly alter contractility (verapamil and propranolol). SarcTrack analysis of hiPSC-CMs carrying a heterozygous truncation variant in the myosin-binding protein C (MYBPC3) gene, which causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, recapitulated seminal disease phenotypes including cardiac hypercontractility and diminished relaxation, abnormalities that normalized with MYK-461 treatment. Conclusions: SarcTrack provides a direct and efficient method to quantitatively assess sarcomere function. By improving existing contractility analysis methods and overcoming technical challenges associated with functional evaluation of hiPSC-CMs, SarcTrack enhances translational prospects for sarcomere-regulating therapeutics and accelerates interrogation of human cardiac genetic variants

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

New System for the Acceleration of the Airflow in Wind Turbines

Background: This patent is based on the wind industry technology called Diffuser Augmented Wind Turbines (DAWTs). This technology consists of a horizontal axis wind turbine, which is housed inside a duct with diverging section in the direction of the free air stream. In this paper, a review of preceding patents related to this technology is carried out. Objective: This paper presents an innovative patent to improve the performance of horizontal axis wind turbines. In particular, this system is aimed at improving the performance of those turbines that otherwise might not be installed due to the low wind resource existing at certain locations. Methods: The most innovative elements of this patent are: (1) the semi-spherical grooves, which are mechanized on the surface of the two diffusers in order to guarantee a more energetic boundary layer; (2) the coaxial diffuser, which is located downwind following the first diffuser in order to increase the suction effect on the air mass close to the inlet; (3) the coaxial rings located around the first diffuser outlet, which are used to deflect the external airflow toward the turbine wake; and (4), the selforientating system to orientate the system by the prevailing wind direction. Results: An application of the patent for increasing the power generated by a horizontal axis wind turbine with three blades is presented. The patent is designed and its performance is evaluated by using a Computational Fluid Dynamics code. The numerical results show that this system rises the airflow going through the rotor of the turbine. Conclusion: The patented device is an original contribution aimed at enabling a more profitable installation of wind turbines in places where the wind resource is insufficient because of the wind shear caused both by the proximity of the earth and the obstacles on the earth surface.This work was supported by the OASIS Research Project that was cofinanced by CDTI (Spanish Science and Innovation Ministry) and developed with the Spanish companies: Iridium, OHL Concesiones, Abertis, Sice, Indra, Dragados, OHL, Geocisa, GMV, Asfaltos Augusta, Hidrofersa, Eipsa, PyG, CPS, AEC and Torre de Comares Arquitectos S.L and 16 research centres. The authors also acknowledge the partial funding with FEDER funds under the Research Project FC-15-GRUPIN14-004. Finally, we also thank Swanson Analysis Inc. for the use of ANSYS University Research programs as well as the Workbench simulation environment

Associations of autozygosity with a broad range of human phenotypes

In many species, the offspring of related parents suffer reduced reproductive success, a phenomenon known as inbreeding depression. In humans, the importance of this effect has remained unclear, partly because reproduction between close relatives is both rare and frequently associated with confounding social factors. Here, using genomic inbreeding coefficients (F-ROH) for >1.4 million individuals, we show that F-ROH is significantly associated (p <0.0005) with apparently deleterious changes in 32 out of 100 traits analysed. These changes are associated with runs of homozygosity (ROH), but not with common variant homozygosity, suggesting that genetic variants associated with inbreeding depression are predominantly rare. The effect on fertility is striking: F-ROH equivalent to the offspring of first cousins is associated with a 55% decrease [95% CI 44-66%] in the odds of having children. Finally, the effects of F-ROH are confirmed within full-sibling pairs, where the variation in F-ROH is independent of all environmental confounding.Peer reviewe