The primary goal of the work described in this dissertation was the incorporation of functionality into metal phosphonates. This was done in one of several ways. The first involved using phosphonate ligands that had covalently attached organic functional groups. In some cases, these ligands undergo reactions during the solvothermal syntheses which can impart new chemical reactivity. Another method used to introduce functionality was to partially or completely substitute metal atoms within phosphonate clusters to create materials which may have interesting magnetic properties. By controlling the way these clusters pack in the solids, their magnetic properties may be able to be augmented. The final method used to impart functionality to metal phosphonates was the incorporation of N-donor and bulky aryl groups into the phosphonate ligands. These influences caused structural variations which exposed potentially active sites within the materials, including both Lewis acidic and basic sites, as well as Bronsted acid sites. The first strategy was employed in the design of tetravalent metal phosphonates which have covalently incorporated bipyridine moieties. The materials are porous so that the bipyridine sites can chelate Pd atoms from solution, which can then be reduced to stable nanoparticles trapped within the phosphonate matrix. This approach was also used in the synthesis of surface-functionalized divalent metal phosphonates which exhibit interesting amine uptake properties. Solvent and cation substitution effects were used to control the packing and connectivity of phosphonate-based clusters. The selective substitution of metal atoms within the clusters may lead to interesting magnetic materials. In other work, N-donor and bulky phosphonates were used to influence the structure of several SnII phosphonates, which resulted in the discovery of a new layered structure type. The effect of the Sn-N interaction on the structures is investigated, and found to have significant effects on the structural units formed and how they pack in the solid state. The work presented herein represents only a small fraction of the rich chemistry of metal phosphonates. Creative researchers will continue to push boundaries and find new and interesting applications for phosphonate-based materials.

The impacts of supplemental L-threonine in laying hen diets were evaluated. Over three experiments, control hens were fed a corn-soybean commercial layer diet containing 0.56% threonine (Thr). Experimental diets containing 0.66, 0.76, 0.86, and 0.96% Thr were fed for experiment 1. Experimental diets containing 0.76, 0.96 and 1.16% Thr were fed for experiment 2. Experiment 1 and 2 hens were 42 weeks of age. In experiment 3, experimental diets containing 0.76 and 0.96% Thr were fed to aged hens (61 weeks at beginning of experiment). Data collection methods were the same for all three experiments. Beginning and ending hen weight, egg production, and feed consumption data were collected. Egg samples were analyzed for egg weight, yolk and albumen yield, protein, and functionality. In experiments 1 and 2, egg production increased with increasing dietary threonine levels up to 0.76% Thr in the diet and subsequently decreased suggesting a production threshold for the amino acid. Shell cracking strength increased with increasing threonine levels in all three experiments. In experiment 3, shell thickness increased with increasing threonine levels. Albumen protein was significantly increased when hens were fed increased levels of dietary threonine. Angel food cake volume was significantly increased in experiments 1 and 3 with increasing dietary threonine, as were other texture profile parameters. Sponge cake volume was significantly increased in experiments 2 and 3 as a result of increased threonine levels. In experiment 3, yolk gel hardness was significantly increased by increasing the level of dietary threonine. These data clearly indicate a potential important impact on egg composition and functionality by increasing dietary threonine nutrition of a laying hen.

No description available.

In this study, the deamidation is involved to modify the structure of barley proteins in terms of prolamin and glutelin in order to improve the functional properties of protein. A wide range of deamidation degrees (0.1% to 45%) were prepared using alkaline method. The results suggested that the optimal deamidation degree of barley prolamin is around 2.4-4.7%, where the solubility, emulsifying and foaming properties of prolamin were significantly improved at both acidic and neutral pHs. The optimal deamidation degree for glutelin is around 2.2 to 5.6%, where deamidated glutelin demonstrated markedly improved solubility at both acidic and neutral pHs. Glutelin performed strong tendency to form aggregates with spherical shape and very large molecular weight. These aggregates are important in stabilizing the emulsions at a broad range of deamidation degree (5.6-43%). These results suggest that barley protein would be an excellent candidate to develop as an emulsifying and foaming ingredient. / Food Science and Technology

Boneless cured pork was produced from combinations of pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) and red, firm, and non-exudative (RFN) semimembranosus muscle differing in amount of modified food starch (MFS), sodium caseinate (SC), and soy protein concentrate (SPC). Response Surface Methodology was utilized to determine the effects of these adjuncts on water holding capacity, color, and texture. Both RFN pork and PSE pork were selected based on visual color for the following five treatments for processing: 100 % PSE, 75% PSE +25 % RFN, 50 % PSE+ 50 % RFN, 25 % PSE +75 % RFN, and 100 % RFN. Fifteen ingredient combinations for each PSE and RFN treatment combination yielded 75 treatments per replication. Three replications of each treatment were completed. Chemical composition and color of raw materials also were measured and used as covariates to determine their effect on the above-mentioned responses. Utilization of SC decreased (p<0.05) cooking loss, lightness, and cohesiveness. SPC incorporation decreased (p<0.05) cooking loss, cohesiveness, and redness, and MFS inclusion decreased (p<0.05) expressible moisture and cohesiveness. Utilization of SC and MFS increased (p<0.05) redness and SPC incorporation increased (p<0.05) yellowness. Results indicated that combining soy protein concentrate and modified food starch together in formulations demonstrated the greatest potential of these adjuncts to improve water binding, color, and texture in pale, soft, and exudative pork. Utilization of combinations of these adjuncts demonstrates potential to improve protein functionality in PSE as well as RFN pork. This research also demonstrated that diluting RFN pork with no more than 25 % PSE pork allows the formation of a high quality boneless deli ham roll. / Ph. D.

No description available.

No description available.

Home modification practice for people with impairments of ability involves redesigning existing residential environments as distinct from the creation of a new dwelling. A redesigner alters existing structures, fittings and fixtures to better meet the occupant�s ability requirements. While research on case-based design reasoning and healthcare informatics are well documented, the reasoning and process of redesign and its integration with individual human functional abilities remains poorly understood. Developing a means of capturing redesign knowledge in the form of case documentation online provides a means for integrating and learning from individual case-based redesign episodes where assessment and interventions are naturally linked. A key aim of the research outlined in this thesis was to gain a better understanding of the redesign of spaces for individual human ability with the view to computational modelling. Consequently, the foundational knowledge underpinning the model development includes design, redesign, case-based building design and human functional ability. Case-based redesign as proposed within the thesis, is a method for capturing the redesign context, the residential environment, the modification and the transformational knowledge involved in the redesign. Computational simulation methods are traditionally field dependent. Consequently, part of the research undertaken within this thesis involved the development of a framework for analysing cases within an online case-studies library to validate redesign for individuals and a method of acquiring reuse information so as to be able to estimate the redesign needs of a given population based on either their environment or ability profile. As home modification for people with functional impairments was a novel application field, an explorative action-based methodological approach using computational modelling was needed to underpin a case-based reasoning method. The action-based method involved a process of articulating and examining existing knowledge, suggesting new case-based computational practices, and evaluating the results. This cyclic process led to an improvement cycle that included theory, computational tool development and practical application. The rapid explosion of protocols and online redesign communities that utilise Web technologies meant that a web-based prototype capable of acquiring cases directly from home modification practitioners online and in context was both desirable and achievable. The first online version in 1998-99, encoded home modification redesigns using static WebPages and hyperlinks. This motivated the full-scale more dynamic and robust HMMinfo casestudies prototype whose action-based development is detailed within this thesis. The home modification casestudies library results from the development and integration of a novel case-based redesign model in combination with a Human- Activity-Space computational ontology. These two models are then integrated into a relational database design to enable online case acquisition, browsing, case reuse and redesign learning. The application of the redesign ontology illustrates case reuse and learning, and presents some of the implementation issues and their resolution. Original contributions resulting from this work include: extending case-based design theory to encompass redesign and redesign models, distinguishing the importance of human ability in redesign and the development of the Human-Activity-Space ontology. Additionally all data models were combined and their associated inter-relationships evaluated within a prototype made available to redesign practitioners. v Reflective and practitioner based evaluation contributed enhanced understanding of redesign case contribution dynamics in an online environment. Feedback from redesign practitioners indicated that gaining informed consent to share cases from consumers of home modification and maintenance services, in combination with the additional time required to document a case online, and reticence to go public for fear of critical feedback, all contributed to a less than expected case library growth. This is despite considerable interest in the HMMinfo casestudies website as evidenced by web usage statistics. Additionally the redesign model described in this thesis has practical implications for all design practitioners and educators who seek to create new work by reinterpreting, reconstructing and redesigning spaces.

Home modification practice for people with impairments of ability involves redesigning existing residential environments as distinct from the creation of a new dwelling. A redesigner alters existing structures, fittings and fixtures to better meet the occupant�s ability requirements. While research on case-based design reasoning and healthcare informatics are well documented, the reasoning and process of redesign and its integration with individual human functional abilities remains poorly understood. Developing a means of capturing redesign knowledge in the form of case documentation online provides a means for integrating and learning from individual case-based redesign episodes where assessment and interventions are naturally linked. A key aim of the research outlined in this thesis was to gain a better understanding of the redesign of spaces for individual human ability with the view to computational modelling. Consequently, the foundational knowledge underpinning the model development includes design, redesign, case-based building design and human functional ability. Case-based redesign as proposed within the thesis, is a method for capturing the redesign context, the residential environment, the modification and the transformational knowledge involved in the redesign. Computational simulation methods are traditionally field dependent. Consequently, part of the research undertaken within this thesis involved the development of a framework for analysing cases within an online case-studies library to validate redesign for individuals and a method of acquiring reuse information so as to be able to estimate the redesign needs of a given population based on either their environment or ability profile. As home modification for people with functional impairments was a novel application field, an explorative action-based methodological approach using computational modelling was needed to underpin a case-based reasoning method. The action-based method involved a process of articulating and examining existing knowledge, suggesting new case-based computational practices, and evaluating the results. This cyclic process led to an improvement cycle that included theory, computational tool development and practical application. The rapid explosion of protocols and online redesign communities that utilise Web technologies meant that a web-based prototype capable of acquiring cases directly from home modification practitioners online and in context was both desirable and achievable. The first online version in 1998-99, encoded home modification redesigns using static WebPages and hyperlinks. This motivated the full-scale more dynamic and robust HMMinfo casestudies prototype whose action-based development is detailed within this thesis. The home modification casestudies library results from the development and integration of a novel case-based redesign model in combination with a Human- Activity-Space computational ontology. These two models are then integrated into a relational database design to enable online case acquisition, browsing, case reuse and redesign learning. The application of the redesign ontology illustrates case reuse and learning, and presents some of the implementation issues and their resolution. Original contributions resulting from this work include: extending case-based design theory to encompass redesign and redesign models, distinguishing the importance of human ability in redesign and the development of the Human-Activity-Space ontology. Additionally all data models were combined and their associated inter-relationships evaluated within a prototype made available to redesign practitioners. v Reflective and practitioner based evaluation contributed enhanced understanding of redesign case contribution dynamics in an online environment. Feedback from redesign practitioners indicated that gaining informed consent to share cases from consumers of home modification and maintenance services, in combination with the additional time required to document a case online, and reticence to go public for fear of critical feedback, all contributed to a less than expected case library growth. This is despite considerable interest in the HMMinfo casestudies website as evidenced by web usage statistics. Additionally the redesign model described in this thesis has practical implications for all design practitioners and educators who seek to create new work by reinterpreting, reconstructing and redesigning spaces.

In the literature it is generally assumed that activities of voluntary membership based associations operating in stable institutional environments are multi-faceted, contributing simultaneously to societal, economic and political spheres. This article, drawing on the concept of functions of non-profit organizations investigates, whether the multi-functional character of associations holds true in the context of transitional Russia. The paper examines the relative importance of the advocacy, community building and service delivery functions, fulfilled by different types of associations. The original empirical data from exploratory interviews with 15 leading experts on associational activities was triangulated by a confirmatory survey of 215 associations across Russia. The results confirm that the absolute majority of the examined associations are multifunctional. Advocacy is considered to be the most important function for all types of associations. The findings suggest that business associations and intermediary unions are more active in policy advocacy directed toward the government, while liberal professional societies are more engaged in public advocacy addressing society at large. This study highlights importance of domestic associations for countries in transition as an institutional infrastructure of organized civil society, democratic development and market economy.