Shelf life of ready to use peeled shrimps as affected by thymol essential oil and modified atmosphere packaging

In this work the influence of different packaging strategies on the shelf life of ready to use peeled shrimps was investigated. First, the effectiveness of the coating (Coat) and the active coating loaded with different concentrations of thymol (Coat-500, Coat-1000, and Coat-1500) on the quality loss of the investigated food product packaged in air was addressed; afterwards, the thymol concentration that had shown the best performance was used in combination with MAP (5% O₂; 95% CO₂). Microbial cell load of main spoilage microorganisms, pH and sensorial quality were monitored during the refrigerated storage. Results of the first step suggested that the sole coating did not affect the microbial growth. A slight antimicrobial effect was obtained when the coating was loaded with thymol and a concentration dependence was also observed. Moreover, the active coating was effective in minimizing the sensory quality loss of the investigated product, it was particularly true at the lowest thymol concentration. In the second step, the thymol concentration (1000 ppm) that showed the strike balance between microbial and sensorial quality was chosen in combination with MAP. As expected, MAP significantly affected the growth of the mesophilic bacteria. In particular, a cell load reduction of about 2 log cycle for the samples under MAP respect to that in air was obtained. Moreover, the MAP packaging inhibited the growth of the Pseudomonas spp. and hydrogen sulphide-producing bacteria. The MAP alone was not able to improve the shelf life of the uncoated samples. In fact, no significant difference between the control samples packaged in air and MAP was observed. Whilst, the use of coating under MAP condition prolonged the shelf life of about 6 days with respect to the same samples packaged in air. Moreover, when the MAP was used in combination with thymol, a further shelf life prolongation with respect to the samples packaged in air was observed. In particular, a shelf life of about 14 days for the active coating under MAP compared to the same samples in air (5 days) was obtained.     

Exfoliated/Intercalated Rubber/Organo‐Montmorillonite Nanocomposites: Preparation and Characterization

The preparation of new rubber based nanocomposites by using properly modified organophilic clays is described. A commercial organophilic montmorillonite containing a hydroxylated ammonium ion is reacted with LPBs. The reaction causes a decrease of the polarity of the clay and a great increase of the interlayer distance. The modified organoclays are successfully dispersed into rubber matrices (SBR or BR) by melt blending in an internal batch mixer. SAXS analyses and TEM micrographs revealed the formation of highly exfoliated nanocomposites containing intercalated stacks made of few lamellae.

     

Intensification of biopolymeric microparticles production by ultrasonic assisted atomization

In this work ultrasonic atomization process is applied to produce biopolymer microparticles with potential applications in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields. Natural polymer (alginate)/water solution is atomized by ultrasonic assisted process and the droplets spray is reticulated using a solution of copper sulfate, where the Cu²⁺ ions cause the formation of a network structure (hard porous gel). Several operating parameters (solution concentration, flow rate, atomization power) are changed to study their effects on the produced microparticles. Literature correlations able to predict the features of the droplets as functions of process parameters are optimized using a statistical approach. Furthermore, the energy requirement for the drops production is compared with the energy required by traditional techniques to evaluate the intensification effect of the ultrasonic on the atomization process.     

来自亚平宁 迪拜VQ Ventiquattro Radisson SAS residence酒店

Matteo Nunziati是一位年轻的意大利设计师,最近几年他在室内设计,尤其是酒店设计方面崭露头角,获得了很多关注。最近几年,他的项目大多在阿联酋,毫无疑问,这里的机会要比在意大利本国多得多。     

Methane steam reforming at microscales: Operation strategies for variable power output at millisecond contact times

The potential of methane steam reforming at microscale is theoretically explored. To this end, a multifunctional catalytic plate microreactor, comprising of a propane combustion channel and a methane steam reforming channel, separated by a solid wall, is simulated with a pseudo 2‐D (two‐dimensional) reactor model. Newly developed lumped kinetic rate expressions for both processes, obtained from a posteriori reduction of detailed microkinetic models, are used. It is shown that the steam reforming at millisecond contact times is feasible at microscale, and in agreement with a recent experimental report. Furthermore, the attainable operating regions delimited from the materials stability limit, the breakthrough limit, and the maximum power output limit are mapped out. A simple operation strategy is presented for obtaining variable power output along the breakthrough line (a nearly iso‐flow rate ratio line), while ensuring good overlap of reaction zones, and provide guidelines for reactor sizing. Finally, it is shown that the choice of the wall material depends on the targeted operating regime. Low‐conductivity materials increase the methane conversion and power output at the expense of higher wall temperatures and steeper temperature gradients along the wall. For operation close to the breakthrough limit, intermediate conductivity materials, such as stainless steel, offer a good compromise between methane conversion and wall temperature. Even without recuperative heat exchange, the thermal efficiency of the multifunctional device and the reformer approaches ～65% and ～85%, respectively. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009     

In Vitro and In Vivo Pharmaco-Toxicological Characterization of 1-Cyclohexyl-x-methoxybenzene Derivatives in Mice: Comparison with Tramadol and PCP

1-cyclohexyl-x-methoxybenzene is a novel psychoactive substance (NPS), first discovered in Europe in 2012 as unknown racemic mixture of its three stereoisomers: ortho, meta and para. Each of these has structural similarities with the analgesic tramadol and the dissociative anesthetic phencyclidine. In light of these structural analogies, and based on the fact that both tramadol and phencyclidine are substances that cause toxic effects in humans, the aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro and in vivo pharmacodynamic profile of these molecules, and to compare them with those caused by tramadol and phencyclidine. In vitro studies demonstrated that tramadol, ortho, meta and para were inactive at mu, kappa and delta opioid receptors. Systemic administration of the three stereoisomers impairs sensorimotor responses, modulates spontaneous motor activity, induces modest analgesia, and alters thermoregulation and cardiorespiratory responses in the mouse in some cases, with a similar profile to that of tramadol and phencyclidine. Naloxone partially prevents only the visual sensorimotor impairments caused by three stereoisomers, without preventing other effects. The present data show that 1-cyclohexyl-x-methoxybenzene derivatives cause pharmaco-toxicological effects by activating both opioid and non-opioid mechanisms and suggest that their use could potentially lead to abuse and bodily harm.     

Detection of Germline Variants in 450 Breast/Ovarian Cancer Families with a Multi-Gene Panel Including Coding and Regulatory Regions

With the progress of sequencing technologies, an ever-increasing number of variants of unknown functional and clinical significance (VUS) have been identified in both coding and non-coding regions of the main Breast Cancer (BC) predisposition genes. The aim of this study is to identify a mutational profile of coding and intron-exon junction regions of 12 moderate penetrance genes (ATM, BRIP1, CDH1, CHEK2, NBN, PALB2, PTEN, RAD50, RAD51C, RAD51D, STK11, TP53) in a cohort of 450 Italian patients with Hereditary Breast/Ovarian Cancer Syndrome, wild type for germline mutation in BRCA1/2 genes. The analysis was extended to 5′UTR and 3′UTR of all the genes listed above and to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 known regulatory regions in a subset of 120 patients. The screening was performed through NGS target resequencing on the Illumina platform MiSeq. 8.7% of the patients analyzed is carriers of class 5/4 coding variants in the ATM (3.6%), BRIP1 (1.6%), CHEK2 (1.8%), PALB2 (0.7%), RAD51C (0.4%), RAD51D (0.4%), and TP53 (0.2%) genes, while variants of uncertain pathological significance (VUSs)/class 3 were identified in 9.1% of the samples. In intron-exon junctions and in regulatory regions, variants were detected respectively in 5.1% and in 32.5% of the cases analyzed. The average age of disease onset of 44.4 in non-coding variant carriers is absolutely similar to the average age of disease onset in coding variant carriers for each proband’s group with the same cancer type. Furthermore, there is not a statistically significant difference in the proportion of cases with a tumor onset under age of 40 between the two groups, but the presence of multiple non-coding variants in the same patient may affect the aggressiveness of the tumor and it is worth underlining that 25% of patients with an aggressive tumor are carriers of a PTEN 3′UTR-variant. This data provides initial information on how important it might be to extend mutational screening to the regulatory regions in clinical practice.