| 21. |
- Bobrowicz, Katarzyna, et al.
(author)
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Great apes selectively retrieve relevant memories to guide action
- 2020
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Memory allows us to draw on past experiences to inform behaviour in the present. However, memories rarely match the situation at hand exactly, and new situations regularly trigger multiple related memories where only some are relevant to act upon. The flexibility of human memory systems is largely attributed to the ability to disregard irrelevant, but salient, memories in favour of relevant ones. This is considered an expression of an executive function responsible for suppressing irrelevant memories, associated with the prefrontal cortex. It is unclear to what extent animals have access to this ability. Here, we demonstrate, in a series of tool-use tasks designed to evoke conflicting memories, that chimpanzees and an orangutan suffer from this conflict but overcome it in favour of a more relevant memory. Such mnemonic flexibility is among the most advanced expressions of executive function shown in animals to date and might explain several behaviours related to tool-use, innovation, planning and more.
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| 22. |
- Capezza, Antonio Jose, et al.
(author)
-
Carboxylated Wheat Gluten Proteins : A Green Solution for Production of Sustainable Superabsorbent Materials
- 2020
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In: Biomacromolecules. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1525-7797 .- 1526-4602. ; 21:5, s. 1709-1719
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Functionalized wheat gluten (WG) protein particles with the ability to absorb fluids within the superabsorbent range are presented. Ethyleneditetraacetic dianhydride (EDTAD), a nontoxic acylation agent, was used for the functionalization of the WG protein at higher protein content than previously reported and no additional chemical cross-linking. The 150-550 μm protein particles had 50-150 nm nanopores induced by drying. The EDTAD treated WG were able to absorb 22, 5, and 3 times of, respectively, water, saline and blood, per gram of dry material (g/g), corresponding to 1000, 150 and 100% higher values than for the as-received WG powder. The liquid retention capacity after centrifugation revealed that almost 50% of the saline liquid was retained within the protein network, which is similar to that for petroleum-based superabsorbent polymers (SAPs). An advantageous feature of these biobased particulate materials is that the maximum swelling is obtained within the first 10 min of exposure, that is, in contrast to many commercial SAP alternatives. The large swelling in a denaturation agent (6 M urea) solution (about 32 g/g) suggests that the secondary entangled/folded structure of the protein restricts protein network expansion and when disrupted allows the absorption of even higher amounts of liquid. The increased liquid uptake, utilization of inexpensive protein coproducts, easy scalable protocols, and absence of any toxic chemicals make these new WG-based SAP particles an interesting alternative to petroleum-based SAP in, for example, absorbent disposable hygiene products.
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| 23. |
- Capezza, Antonio Jose, et al.
(author)
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Extrusion of Porous Protein-Based Polymers and Their Liquid Absorption Characteristics
- 2020
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In: Polymers. - : MDPI. - 2073-4360. ; 12:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The production of porous wheat gluten (WG) absorbent materials by means of extrusion processing is presented for the future development of sustainable superabsorbent polymers (SAPs). Different temperatures, formulations, and WG compositions were used to determine a useful protocol that provides the best combination of porosity and water swelling properties. The most optimal formulation was based on 50 wt.% WG in water that was processed at 80 degrees C as a mixture, which provided a porous core structure with a denser outer shell. As a green foaming agent, food-grade sodium bicarbonate was added during the processing, which allowed the formation of a more open porous material. This extruded WG material was able to swell 280% in water and, due to the open-cell structure, 28% with non-polar limonene. The results are paving the way towards production of porous bio macromolecular structures with high polar/non-polar liquid uptake, using extrusion as a solvent free and energy efficient production technique without toxic reagents.
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| 24. |
- Capezza, Antonio Jose, et al.
(author)
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High Capacity Functionalized Protein Superabsorbents from an Agricultural Co‐Product: A Cradle‐to‐Cradle Approach
- 2020
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In: Advanced Sustainable Systems. - : Wiley. - 2366-7486.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Synthesis of superabsorbent particles from nontoxic wheat gluten (WG) protein, as an industrial co‐product, is presented. A natural molecular cross‐linker named genipin (a hydrogenated glycoside) is used together with a dianhydride (ethylenediaminetetraacetic EDTAD), to enable the preparation of a material with a network structure capable of swelling up to ≈4000% in water and ≈600% in saline solution. This represents an increase in swelling by over 10 times compared to the already highly absorbing gluten reference material. The carboxylation (using EDTAD) and the cross‐linking of the protein result in a hydrogel with liquid retention capacity as high as 80% of the absorbed water remaining in the WG network on extensive centrifugation, which is higher than that of commercial fossil‐based superabsorbents. The results also show that more polar forms of the reacted genipin are more effectively grafted onto the protein, contributing to the swelling and liquid retention. Microscopy of the materials reveals extensive nanoporosity (300 nm), contributing to rapid capillarity‐driven absorption. The use of proteins from agricultural industries for the fabrication of sustainable protein superabsorbents is herein described as an emerging avenue for the development of the next generation daily‐care products with a minimal environmental impact.
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| 25. |
- Capezza, Antonio Jose
(author)
-
Sustainable Biobased Protein Superabsorbents from Agricultural Co-Products
- 2020
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The preparation of sustainable protein superabsorbents from agricultural industry side-streams is reported. Wheat gluten (WG), a co-product from the ethanol/starch industry, was processed into foams with sponge-like behavior and high liquid uptake. The materials were obtained by phase-separation of aqueous WG dispersions followed by ambient drying, or by lyophilization. The use of a natural and non-toxic cross-linker (genipin) resulted in foams with high water swelling properties (~18 g/g in 10 min). The rapid swelling may be of use in bio-based foams in e.g., sanitary pads.As an alternative, potato protein concentrate (PPC, side-stream from the starch industry), was functionalized and prepared as particles. The liquid swelling capacity was compared after acylation with five different agents. It is shown that the PPC can be acylated to replicate the chemistry of synthetic superabsorbent polymers (SAP), showing water swelling capacity >10 g/g. The acylation (using EDTAD) of WG suspensions resulted in protein particles with water and saline uptake of 22 and 5 g/g, respectively. Limited network stability was however observed when acylating WG in low-protein suspensions. This was addressed by mixing the acylated protein with genipin, which provided a stable protein network. The process gave functionalized particles with swelling capacity ~40 g/g and ~80 % retention of swelling in centrifuge retention tests.The extrusion of WG showed that porous WG with water uptake of 500 % can be produced. Further, the scalability of PPC production was pilot-tested by functionalizing potato fruit juice (PFJ), containing the potato protein in its soluble state before the industrial drying used to obtain PPC. This resulted in water swelling capacities >10 g/g, which was comparable to the PPC-functionalized materials. The results pave the way for future optimization of high-throughput production techniques using protein sources in mass production of sustainable protein-based SAPs.
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| 26. |
- Carlsson, Leo S., et al.
(author)
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Fibers of Failure : Classifying Errors in Predictive Processes
- 2020
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In: Algorithms. - : MDPI. - 1999-4893. ; 13:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Predictive models are used in many different fields of science and engineering and are always prone to make faulty predictions. These faulty predictions can be more or less malignant depending on the model application. We describe fibers of failure (FIFA), a method to classify failure modes of predictive processes. Our method uses MAPPER, an algorithm from topological data analysis (TDA), to build a graphical model of input data stratified by prediction errors. We demonstrate two ways to use the failure mode groupings: either to produce a correction layer that adjusts predictions by similarity to the failure modes; or to inspect members of the failure modes to illustrate and investigate what characterizes each failure mode. We demonstrate FIFA on two scenarios: a convolutional neural network (CNN) predicting MNIST images with added noise, and an artificial neural network (ANN) predicting the electrical energy consumption of an electric arc furnace (EAF). The correction layer on the CNN model improved its prediction accuracy significantly while the inspection of failure modes for the EAF model provided guiding insights into the domain-specific reasons behind several high-error regions.
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| 27. |
- Ceresino, Elaine Berger, et al.
(author)
-
Processing conditions and transglutaminase sources to "drive" the wheat gluten dough quality
- 2020
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In: Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies. - : Elsevier BV. - 1466-8564 .- 1878-5522. ; 65
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gluten proteins are highly impacting the quality of various gluten-based products, and transglutaminases (TGs) are used to influence the protein cross-linking. In this study we monitored the interplay of "harsh" and "mild" gluten processing for dough mixing and pasta-like sheet production and TGs from a commercial and newly sourced bacteria (SB6). Despite the harshly separated gluten presenting strongly cross-linked proteins in the beginning of the mixing, similar levels of polymerization were achieved at the optimum mixing time but with differences in the secondary protein structure. TG addition increased polymerization in wheat doughs, possibly as a result of increased glutenin polymerization, while gliadins become more soluble with SB6. This enzyme also dramatically increased polymerization in mild gluten. These results show that an adequate investigation when using TGs and gluten from various origins is necessary to adequately predict the quality in various gluten-based products, thus, of great relevance to the food industry. Industrial relevance: Currently, there is a mounting trend towards the modification of gluten proteins to improve technological features and functionality. In breadmaking, when weak Hour (low protein content) is used or general stabilization is desired for technological purposes, additives can be used to stabilize the gluten protein matrix. The use of transglutaminase (TG) has grown in popularity as they promote specific cross-linking between residues of glutamine and lysine in proteins. Another way of improving dough functionality is by increasing the oxidation of disulfide groups by adding gluten which is a co-product of the starch industry. Industrial production of gluten includes the use of heating and shear forces, which may impact gluten dough-forming ability. Thus, increased understanding of the interplay of gluten processing and the impact of choice of the TG origin in gluten dough quality is highly applicable in food industry.
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| 28. |
- Chavez, Zuhara, et al.
(author)
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Digital Tools and Information Needs Assessment for Efficient Deviation Handling in SMEs
- 2020
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In: Advances in Transdisciplinary Engineering at SPS2020. - : IOS Press BV. - 9781614994398 ; , s. 24-35
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In a time of change focusing on the application of technology, there is a high risk of underestimating the compliance of internal needs and adaption to context. The research study employs a qualitative approach using the case study methodology. The source of data comes from five different manufacturing companies categorized as Small to Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs). A multidisciplinary team performed semi-structured interviews and fieldwork at each site, along with regular online meetings with the partners. The study employs five dimensions of the information quality perspective to assess information utilized to support deviation handling and connects the information quality deficiencies to the digital tools' impact. The empirical findings indicate the need for the companies to perform a requirement analysis of information needs before the adoption of digital systems or digital tools, to assess their current state in terms of data and information. The paper discusses the impact digital tools may have on deviation management in SMEs and under which circumstances digital tools could improve deviation management. Lastly, this paper intends to shed light on the utilization of digital technologies for disturbance handling on the production shop floor. © 2020 The authors
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| 29. |
- Damian, Donath, et al.
(author)
-
Diversity of viruses in hard ticks (Ixodidae) from select areas of a wildlife-livestock interface ecosystem at Mikumi National Park, Tanzania
- 2020
-
In: American Journal of BioScience. - : Science Publishing Group. - 2330-0159 .- 2330-0167. ; 8, s. 150-157
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many of the recent emerging infectious diseases have occurred due to the transmission of the viruses that have wildlife reservoirs. Arthropods, such as ticks, are known to be important vectors for spreading viruses and other pathogens from wildlife to domestic animals and humans. In the present study, we explored the diversity of viruses in hard ticks (Ixodidae) from select areas of a wildlife-livestock interface ecosystem at Mikumi National Park, Tanzania using a metagenomic approach. cDNA and DNA were amplified with random amplification and Illumina high-throughput sequencing was performed. The high-throughput sequenced data was imported to the CLC genomic workbench and trimmed based on quality (Q = 20) and length (≥ 50). The trimmed reads were assembled and annotated through Blastx using Diamond against the National Center for Biotechnology Information non-redundant database and its viral database. The MEGAN Community was used to analyze and to compare the taxonomy of the viral community. The obtained contigs and singletons were further subjected to alignment and mapping against reference sequences. The viral sequences identified were classified into bacteria, vertebrates, and invertebrates, plants, and protozoans viruses. Sequences related to known viral families; Retroviridae, Flaviviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Chuviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Phenuiviridae, Totiviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Parvoviridae, Caulimoviridae, Mimiviridae and several Phages were reported. This result indicates that there are many viruses present in the study region, which we are not aware of and do not know the role they have or if they have the potential to spread to other species and cause diseases. Therefore, further studies are required to delineate the viral community present in the region over a large scale.
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| 30. |
- Das, Oisik, et al.
(author)
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Naturally-occurring bromophenol to develop fire retardant gluten biopolymers
- 2020
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In: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 243
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of the study was to impart fire retardancy in wheat gluten polymer through naturally-occurring additives such as lanosol. The fire properties of lanosol were compared with two other conventional brominated fire retardants (Tetrabromobisphenol A and Hexabromocyclododecane). Samples containing fire retardants and gluten were prepared through compression moulding process and then characterised for their fire and mechanical properties. All fire retardants enhanced the reaction-to-fire and thermal properties of gluten while generating V-0 (i.e. vertical position and self-extinguished) ratings in the UL-94 test. The presence of all the fire retardants increased the modulus of the gluten polymer but the fire retardant particles were detrimental for the tensile strength. Nevertheless, lanosol addition delayed ignition and lowered peak heat release rate of gluten by the maximum amount, thereby leading to relatively higher fire performance index (compared to the other fire retardants). Lanosol also allowed the gluten to create a dense char barrier layer during burning that impeded the transfer of heat and flammable volatiles. The fact that only 4 wt% lanosol was able to cause self-extinguishment under direct flame and reduce peak heat release rate by a significant 50% coupled with its inherent occurrence in nature, raises the question if lanosol can be a potential fire retardant in polymeric systems, although it is a bromophenol.
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