University College Cork

About: University College Cork is a education organization based out in Cork, Ireland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Irish. The organization has 12056 authors who have published 28452 publications receiving 958414 citations. The organization is also known as: Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh & National University of Ireland, Cork.

Glass transition temperature and its relevance in food processing.

Abstract: Amorphous, noncrystalline solids are typical of low water content and frozen foods. Solids in these foods, e.g., confectionary, dehydrated foods, cereal foods, and frozen foods, often form nonequilibrium glass-like structures. The glassy state of the solids forms during food processing in a reversible glass transition. Vitrification can occur in numerous glassy states that exhibit various relaxations around the glass transition. The success of freeze drying, spray drying, and extrusion and the stability of dehydrated foods against flow, collapse, and crystallization is based on the control of the glassy state during the dehydration process and storage. Encapsulation processes often use glass-forming materials to entrap dispersed components or improve retention of volatiles. Plasticization of the noncrystalline structures by temperature or water reduce relaxation times exponentially above the glass transition, which results in rapid deterioration. Critical values for water activity and water content expres...

PEGylated gold nanoparticles: polymer quantification as a function of PEG lengths and nanoparticle dimensions

Abstract: Au nanoparticles with diameters ranging between 15 and 170 nm have been synthesised in aqueous solution using a seed-mediated growth method, employing hydroxylamine hydrochloride as a reducing agent. Thiolated polyethylene glycol (mPEG-SH) polymers, with molecular weights ranging from 2100 to 51 000 g mol−1, were used as efficient particle stabilising ligands. Dynamic light scattering and zeta potential measurements confirmed that the overall mean diameter and zeta potential of the capped nanoparticles increased in a non-linear way with increasing molecular weight of the mPEG-SH ligand. Electron microscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis of the polymer-capped nanoparticles, with a mean gold core diameter of 15 nm, revealed that the grafting density of the mPEG-SH ligands decreased from 3.93 to 0.31 PEG nm−2 as the molecular weight of the ligands increased from 2100 to 51 400 g mol−1 respectively, due to increased steric hindrance and polymer conformational entropy with increase in the PEG chain length. Additionally, the number of bound mPEG-SH ligands, with a molecular weight of 10 800 g mol−1, was found to increase in a non-linear way from 278 (σ = 42) to approximately 12 960 PEG (σ = 1227) when the mean Au core diameter increased from 15 to 115 nm respectively. However, the grafting density of mPEG10 000-SH ligands was higher on 15 nm Au nanoparticles and decreased slightly from 1.57 to 0.8 PEG nm−2 when the diameter increased; this effect can be attributed to the fact that smaller particles offer higher surface curvature, therefore allowing increased polymer loading per nm2. Au nanoparticles were also shown to interact with CT-26 cells without causing noticeable toxicity.

Case-based recommender systems

Abstract: We describe recommender systems and especially case-based recommender systems. We define a framework in which these systems can be understood. The framework contrasts collaborative with case-based, reactive with proactive, single-shot with conversational, and asking with proposing. Within this framework, we review a selection of papers from the case-based recommender systems literature, covering the development of these systems over the last ten years.