Safety climate and increased risk: the role of deadlines in design work

Although much research indicates positive safety climate is associated with reduced safety risk, we argue this association is not universal and may even be reversed in some contexts. Specifically, we argue that positive safety climate can be associated with increased safety risk when there is pressure to prioritize production over safety and where workers have some detachment from the consequences of their actions, such as found in engineering design work. We used two indicators of safety risk: use of heuristics at the individual level and design complexity at the design team level. Using experience sampling data (N = 165, 42 design teams, k = 5752 observations), we found design engineers’ perceptions of team positive safety climate were associated with less use of heuristics when engineers were not working to deadlines, but more use of heuristics when engineers were working to deadlines. Independent ratings were obtained of 31 teams’ designs of offshore oil and gas platforms (N = 121). For teams that worked infrequently to deadlines, positive team safety climate was associated with less design complexity. For teams that worked frequently to deadlines, positive team safety climate was associated with more design complexity

Synthesis and properties of graphene and graphene/carbon nanotube-reinforced soft magnetic FeCo alloy composites by spark plasma sintering

The effect of the addition of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and graphene nanoplatelet/carbon nanotube (GNT) mixtures on the mechanical and magnetic properties of spark plasma sintered soft magnetic FeCo alloys was studied. Three different volume fractions (0.5, 1 and 2 vol%) of GNPs and GNTs were investigated. Ball milling was used to disperse the GNPs in monolithic FeCo powder, while magnetic stirring and ultrasonic agitation were used to prepare hybrid GNT prior to ball milling. The highest saturation induction (B sat) of 2.39 T was observed in the 1 vol% GNP composite. An increase in the volume fraction of the ordered nanocrystalline structure was found to reduce the coercivity (H c) of the composites. The addition of CNTs to the GNP composite prevented grain growth, leading to grain refinement. An 18 % increase in hardness was observed in the 1 vol% GNP composite as compared to the as-received FeCo alloy. A reduction in tensile strength was observed in all of the composite materials, except for the 0.5 vol% GNT composite, for which a value of 643 MPa was observed. Raman spectroscopy indicated a reduction in the defect density of the GNPs after adding CNTs

Managing extraction of colour, phenolics and aromas in Pinot noir wine production: Alternative use of grape marc

Pinot noir is a grape variety that is capable of producing high quality wine, but the fermentation process can be challenging as it has thin skins compared to other red grape varieties, meaning limited colour, tannins and aromas can be extracted from grape skins. It is also difficult to achieve the right balance between extracting colour and tannins from the skins while preserving the delicate aromas and flavours. The aim of this study was to investigate the alternative way of making Pinot noir wine by using grape marc in different form. Pinot noir grapes were hand-picked from Lincoln University vineyard. Destemmed and crushed grapes were pressed to separate juice and grape marc. Juice yield and weight of grape marc were recorded. Part of grape marc was dried in the oven, and then ground into powder using a food blender. Four treatments were carried out in this study: T1, 750 mL of juice with 300 g of fresh grape marc; T2, 750 mL of juice with 126 g of powdered grape marc (equivalent weight of 300 g of fresh marc after being dried and powdered); T3, 750 mL of juice with 63 g of powdered grape marc; and T4, 750 mL of juice with 31.5 g of powdered grape marc. Micro-fermentation in each treatment was carried out in triplicate in 1 L Schott Bottles at 25°C by inoculating the EC1118 yeasts. Wines were bottled at the end of alcoholic fermentation. Results showed significantly higher alcohol content, total phenolics and tannins in Pinot noir wines made using powdered grape marc (T2-4). Total anthocyanins showed significant lower level in Pinot noir wines made using powdered grape marc due to the limitation of available anthocyanins in grape skins, but SO2 resistant pigments showed significant higher level, especially in T2 and T3. This result indicates the importance of ratio between tannins and anthocyanins on the formation of SO2 resistant pigments in red wine. Significantly higher level of caftaric acid observed in T2-4 suggested less oxidation in the resultant wines, which is likely attributed to higher content of tannins. Most of aroma compounds showed significant differences between treatments. In comparing to T1, Pinot noir wines made using powdered grape marc (T2-4) showed significantly lower concentration of aroma compounds associated with vegetative/green, woody, and spicy, but higher concentration of those associated with fruity, floral, chemical, and fatty/oily. This study investigated the alternative way of using grape marc in Pinot noir winemaking, which may provide a useful tool for winemaker to manage the extraction of colour, tannins and aromas from grape skins into wine. This could be also potentially a new way of utilisation of grape marc as winery waste, especially those sourced from premium quality grapes

Antioxidant and Anti-diabetic Properties of Caryota Urens (Kithul) Flour

AbstractStarch extracted from pith of Caryota urens L. (Family: Arecaceae) palm is known as “Kithul flour” and is claimed to have health benefits according to folklore and Ayurveda. Antioxidants are believed to possess numerous health benefits. However, as yet, health benefits of C. urens flour have not been scientifically investigated. Antioxidant properties of C. urens flour were tested using different in vitro assays namely, 2,2-azino-bis 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS+), ferric reducing antioxidant power, oxygen radical absorbance capacity and ferrous ion chelating assays. Total Phenolic Content (TPC) and Total Flavonoid Content (TFC) were also evaluated. Anti-diabetic properties were estimated using alpha amylase and alpha glucosidase enzyme inhibition assays. Dried methanolic extracts of both boiled and raw samples were used in all assays. Results of the study showed that C. urens flour possess free radical scavenging activity(raw 0.02± 0.01 and boiled 0.04±0.01mg trolox equivalent (TE)/ g flour), electron donating reducing power (raw 0.10±0.03 and boiled 0.36±0.11mg TE/g flour), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (raw 2.29± 0.71 and boiled 192.3 ± 57.71mg TE/1g flour) and metal ion chelating capacity (raw 0.03±0.01 and boiled 0.14±0.04mg EDTA equivalents /g flour) exhibiting its antioxidant potential. TPC (raw 1.1±0.3 and boiled 5.12 ± 1.89mg GAE/g flour) and TFC (raw 1.65 ± 0.47 and boiled 6.69 ± 1.27μg QE/g flour) which are said to be contributed to antioxidant activities were also found. In addition, boiled flour which is generally consumed as a food has shown higher antioxidant activity. Caryota urens flour did not contain marked anti-diabetic properties. It is evident from results that Caryota urens flour has moderate antioxidant property which may associate with its traditional health claims

Effect of grape stem inclusion fermentation on Pinot noir wine composition

Purpose/ Aim. Whole bunch fermentation with grape stems is believed by some winemakers to increase complexity, freshness, aromatic expression and textural smoothness in resultant wine, but may also impart green, herbal and earthy characters. However, there is limited published research focused on the impact of including stems during fermentation on Pinot noir wine composition. In this study, different proportions of whole bunches were included in the winemaking, and the resultant wines were analysed for general oenological parameters, phenolic composition and volatile aromatics with the aim to investigate the effect of stem inclusion fermentation on Pinot noir wine composition. Results of this study can be used to aid winemakers to produce Pinot noir wines in different styles. Methodology. Five treatments were examined in this study: 100% destemmed and crushed grapes (DS), 100% destemmed and crushed grapes with stems added back (DS100), 30% whole bunches (WB30), 60% whole bunches (WB60), and 100% whole bunches (WB100). Triplicate ferments of each treatment were done using a standard winemaking protocol, which included 5 days cold maceration at 4 0C and 4 days post-fermentation maceration at room temperature. Total soluble solids (TSS), pH, titratable acidity (TA), alcohol content, and residual sugar content were analysed. A range of phenolic and tannin assays was performed: total tannin was determined using the 1 mL assay of the methylcellulose precipitation (MCP) method, Folin-Ciocalteau colourimetry for total phenolic content, modified Somers method for total anthocyanin and colour evaluation (Mercurio et al., 2007), and solid-phase extraction (SPE) was used to separate monomeric phenolics and polymeric phenols before HPLC analysis Jeffery et al. (2008). The monomeric phenolics fraction was analysed using the method described by Gómez-Alonso et al. (2007). Headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) was used to determine selected aroma compounds in prepared wine samples as per the method described by Tomasino et al. (2015). In all cases, ANOVA was performed with the Tukey comparison test to compare means with a 5% level for rejection of the null hypothesis. Results. Stems were included into treatments either by adding stems (DS100) or whole bunches (WB30, WB60, WB100). Both stem inclusion and whole bunch addition caused a decrease in alcohol concentration compared to DS treatment. The pH values were significantly higher in whole bunches/stems added treatments compared to DS treatment. The effect of stem inclusion was evaluated by comparing DS100 and DS treatments, since the presence of stems in the DS100 treatment was the only difference. Stem inclusion increased tannin and total phenolic concentrations, but when comparing DS100 treatment with WB100 treatment (both contain the same amount of stems), total phenolics and tannin concentrations were higher in WB100. Tannin and phenolic concentration were increased with the rate of whole bunch addition (WB30, WB60, and WB100) compared to DS treatment. Stem inclusion and whole bunch addition caused a decrease in anthocyanin concentrations with the DS treatment being highest and the DS100 lowest. Whole bunch/stem inclusion caused an increase in the degree of ionisation of anthocyanin, and hue compared to DS treatment. Lowest SO2 resistant pigments was recorded in DS100 treatment and highest recorded in WB60 and WB100 treatments. It has been shown that anthocyanins can adsorb into stems during cold maceration as well as extract tannins from stems that may react with free anthocyanin to form pigmented polymers (Suriano et al., 2015). However, in most of the analysis results from oenological parameters and colour assessment results, WB30 was not sufficient to result in a significant difference compared to DS treatment. Concentrations of catechin, gallic acid, caftaric acid, cis-coutaric acid, caffeic acid, and resveratrol in resultant wines were increased with incremental whole bunch addition treatments compared to DS treatment respectively. However, in most cases, WB30 was not enough to result in a significant increase compared to DS treatment. When examining the contribution of stems, DS100 had values between WB60 and WB100 treatments, indicating that stems alone did not account for the increases. Ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, diethyl succinate, ethyl cinnamate, phenol, eugenol concentrations were increased with the rate of whole bunch/stem addition and decreased the concentrations of 2-methylbutyl acetate and hexyl acetate in resultant wines. Aroma compounds of cinnamon, vanilla, woody, fusel, spiritous characteristics were prominent in WB100 and DS100 treatments and fatty, cheesy, fruity and floral aroma compounds were prominent in DS, WB30 and WB60 treatments. Conclusion. Stem inclusion and whole bunch addition affected oenological parameters, monomeric phenol composition, and aroma profiles of resultant wines. The effect of stem inclusion evaluated by comparing DS and DS100 treatments, stem inclusion did significantly reduce alcohol, and total anthocyanin concentrations and significantly increased pH, tannin, phenols and hue. Wines fermented with higher proportion of whole bunches/stems showed lower alcohol content, and higher pH, MCP tannin, and total phenols compared to DS treatment. In most cases, 30WB showed no change to basic oenological parameters, wine colour and monomeric phenol composition to DS, but did significantly increase pH, and total anthocyanin compared to DS treatment. Both whole bunch addition and stem inclusion treatments resulted in cinnamon, vanilla, woody, fusel, and spiritous compounds

Noyes-Whitney Dissolution Model-Based pH-Sensitive Slow Release of Paclitaxel (Taxol) from Human Hair-Derived Keratin Microparticle Carriers

This paper describes a convenient and straightforward method developed to extract keratin particles (KPs) from human hair. It also involves their characterization by several methods and encapsulation of the anticancer drug Paclitaxel (Taxol) within them, aiming for targeted delivery to cancerous sites and slow release at their vicinity. The KPs obtained were in micrometer in size. They are capable of encapsulating Taxol within them with a high encapsulation efficiency of 56% and a drug loading capacity of 2.360 g of Taxol per g keratin. As revealed by the SEM elemental analysis, KPs do not contain any toxic metal ion, and hence, they pose no toxicity to human cells. The pH-dependent release kinetics of the drug from KPs indicates that the drug is released faster when the pH of the solution is increased in the 5.0 to 7.0 pH range. The release kinetics obtained is impressive, and once targeted to the cancerous sites, using cancer directing agents, such as folic acid; a glutamate urea ligand known as DUPA; aminopeptidase N, also known as CD13; and FAP-α-targeting agents, the slow release of the drug is expected to destroy only the cancerous cells. The Noyes-Whitney dissolution model was used to analyze the release behavior of Taxol from KPs, which shows excellent fitting with experimental data. The pH dependence of drug release from keratin is also explained using the 3-D structures and keratin stability at different pH values

Detection of sub-aroma threshold concentrations of wine methoxypyrazines by multidimensional GCMS

Complex matrices, such as wine, provide a challenge in the quantification of compounds. There exists a high likelihood of co-elution in these matrices, thereby artificially increasing the observed concentration. This can often lead to confusing data where compounds are above aroma detection thresholds, but are not detected by olfactory analysis. Additionally, the lack of sensitivity in assays can lead to the non-detection of sub-aroma threshold concentrations and contrasting data when olfactory analysis detects these aromas. To eliminate these pitfalls and gain a better understanding of the role that methoxypyrazines impart green character to wine, a quantitative method using headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled to heart-cutting multidimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometry was developed. The method can quantitate the three common methoxypyrazines found in wine at the picogram per liter level while resolving co-eluting compounds. The proposed method was validated using model wine and wine solutions and was ultimately used for the comparative analysis of white, rosé, and red wines

Basic Soil Data Requirements for Process-Based Crop Models as a Basis for Crop Diversification

Data from global soil databases are increasingly used for crop modelling, but the impact of such data on simulated crop yield has not been not extensively studied. Accurate yield estimation is particularly useful for yield mapping and crop diversification planning. In this article, available soil profile data across Sri Lanka were harmonised and compared with the data from two global soil databases (Soilgrids and Openlandmap). Their impact on simulated crop (rice) yield was studied using a pre-calibrated Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) as an exemplar model. To identify the most sensitive soil parameters, a global sensitivity analysis was performed for all parameters across three datasets. Different soil parameters in both global datasets showed significantly (p < 0.05) lower and higher values than observed values. However, simulated rice yields using global data were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than from observed soil. Due to the relatively lower sensitivity to the yield, all parameters except soil texture and bulk density can still be supplied from global databases when observed data are not available. To facilitate the wider application of digital soil data for yield simulations, particularly for neglected and underutilised crops, nation-wide soil maps for 9 parameters up to 100 cm depth were generated and made available online