Quality attributes of vegetable soybean as a function of boiling time and condition

Vegetable soybeans are marketed fresh or frozen, either shelled or in pods. The objective of this research was to characterise the change in quality attributes of vegetable soybean with boiling time (0–20 min), and presence/absence of pods, using an electrical-resistance stove or a steam-jacketed kettle. Trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA), texture, colour, soluble sugars, nitrogen, calcium and iron content were analysed. Blanching using a steam-jacketed kettle for approximately 2 min rendered 80% inactivation of TIA, and resulted in high colour, texture and sucrose. There were no differences between blanching in pods or shelled for TIA, colour and texture; however, blanching in pods prevented losses of sucrose. Blanching did not affect iron, mono- and oligosaccharide levels, but increased nitrogen and calcium content. Additionally, we observed that all traits decreased linearly with cooking time when using an electrical-resistance stove, except for calcium and nitrogen that increased, and oligosaccharides that remained constant.     

Social projection and social comparison of opinions.

Using the notion of "social projection," in which a person self-generates a consensus for his or her own opinion, Festinger's (1954) theory of social comparison processes was reformulated, and predictions derived from the new model were tested. A 2?×?3 factorial design that cross-cut two levels of background similarity of a comparison other (similar, dissimilar) and three levels of comparison information (agree, disagree, no information control) on a legal case was used. The subject, believing that he or she was paired with another subject who either shared (similar) or did not share (dissimilar) a common background, subsequently compared his or her opinion on the case with the other's opinion. Emotional and cognitive reactions were measured using questionnaire and skin resistance. Results supported the predictions: Only disagreement with a similar other produced a negatively toned emotional response as well as decreases in opinion confidence, opinion importance, and readiness to act on the opinion. Positively toned reactions generated by agreement with a dissimilar other are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classroom Seating and Functional Brain Asymmetry.

This study examined the relationship between functional brain asymmetry, as measured by the characteristic direction of eye movements in response to face-to-face questioning, and sitting on the left or the right side of a classroom: 74 undergraduate students, whose laterality had previously been ascertained, participated. As predicted, left movers preferred to sit on the right side, and right movers on the left. A significant proportion of the subjects who indicated a differential seating preference for hard compared to soft topics, placed themselves more to the left for the former. The results are congruent with other findings comparing right movers and left movers on a variety of personality measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detection of viral DNA to evaluate outcome of antiviral treatment of patients with recurrent genital herpes

Culture of infectious virus, PCR amplification of viral DNA, and the appearance of genital skin lesions were used as markers to study the course of a recurrence of genital herpes in 40 patients treated with famciclovir or placebo. The highest frequency of patients with skin lesions occurred within the first 36 h following the onset of a recurrence, which also corresponded to the peak in the production of virus. While the timing of the peak in skin lesions was independent of the type of treatment, the frequency of lesions and the release of virus at the lesion site were both reduced by famciclovir treatment. Furthermore, patients receiving this antiviral agent showed a more rapid recovery time and a shorter period during which viral DNA could be detected at the lesion. PCR and then Southern blot hybridization greatly enhanced our ability to detect herpes simplex virus at the lesion site. This procedure proved to be of greater diagnostic value in assessing genital herpes than the standard culture method currently used. In addition, PCR was more sensitive in evaluating treatment effectiveness.     

Paired helical filaments (PHFs) are a family of single filament structures with a common helical turn period: negatively stained PHF imaged by TEM and measured before and after sonication, deglycosylation, and dephosphorylation

Isolated paired helical filaments (PHFs) were visualized on glutaraldehyde vapor-treated thin approximately 10-nm thick indirect carbon films using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the negative stain, phosphotungstate acid (PTA) at near neutral pH of 6.8. PHF preparations were prepared with and without 1 minute of sonication. These same PHF were also deglycosylated with endoglycosidase F/N-glycosidase F for 1 hour or the PHF were dephosphorylated with PP-2A for 1 hour. The negatively stained PHF filaments were quantitatively studied by measuring their wide regions (W) their thin regions (T) and their helical turn period (L) and these separate parameters were averaged for each filament. In the unsonicated PHF preparation there were PHF, cylindrical filaments with periodic thin regions (CF-PT), cylindrical filaments (CF), as well as 2.0-nm tau polymer-like filaments. The CF-PT were characterized by W, T, and L measurements and the CF were characterized by diameter measurements. The paired helical filament model proposed by Kidd (1963, Nature 197:192-193) of two approximately 10 nm filaments twisting around each other every approximately 80 nm with a thin region of 10 nm and a wide region of 25 nm does not correspond to the PHF structures found. None of the PHF we observed were composed of a pair of filaments and all of the PHF appear to be a single filament. The wide regions ranged from 12.5-27 nm and the thin regions ranged from 4.5-12.3 nm. The helical turn periods ranged from 76-85 nm and were generally about 80 nm. Only the helical turn period of approximately 80 nm was a common property of the whole family of PHF structures. The CF-PT appear to be a PHF precursor filament. Deglycosylation of the PHF and CF-PT reduced their sizes by 0.5-0.6 nm and 0.7-1.0 nm, respectively, and the right-hand helicity of the PHF was lost after deglycosylation. Dephosphorylation with PP-2A reduced the PHF wide regions by 6.0 nm and the thin regions by 2.6 nm.     

A model of hysterical and hypnotic blindness: Cognition, motivation, and awareness.

Reviews clinical and experimental analyses of hysterical conversion reactions of blindness. A model is offered to account for the visually controlled behavior of the psychogenically blind. The model attributes a central role to motivational factors in determining selective nonawareness of cognition. A case study of hypnotic blindness is presented that illustrates the utility of the model. The model has implications for interpretations of other hypnotic phenomena and for views concerning the relations between cognition and awareness. (79 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biodegradability of organic matter associated with sewer sediments during first flush

The high pollution load in wastewater at the beginning of a rain event is commonly known to originate from the erosion of sewer sediments due to the increased flow rate under storm weather conditions. It is essential to characterize the biodegradability of organic matter during a storm event in order to quantify the effect it can have further downstream to the receiving water via discharges from Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO). The approach is to characterize the pollutograph during first flush. The pollutograph shows the variation in COD and TSS during a first flush event. These parameters measure the quantity of organic matter present. However these parameters do not indicate detailed information on the biodegradability of the organic matter. Such detailed knowledge can be obtained by dividing the total COD into fractions with different microbial properties. To do so oxygen uptake rate (OUR) measurements on batches of wastewater have shown itself to be a versatile technique. Together with a conceptual understanding of the microbial transformation taking place, OUR measurements lead to the desired fractionation of the COD. OUR results indicated that the highest biodegradability is associated with the initial part of a storm event. The information on physical and biological processes in the sewer can be used to better manage sediment in sewers which can otherwise result in depletion of dissolved oxygen in receiving waters via discharges from CSOs.     

Antimicrobial materials based on poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) and silver acetate produced by reactive extrusion

The use of silver as an antimicrobial agent has exhibited great interest in recent years. In this research, poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH)–silver acetate-based antimicrobial materials were prepared at high temperature by reactive extrusion. Silver acetates were used without pretreatment. The thermal reaction of silver acetates in the material and their effect on the thermal and mechanical properties of the polymer were investigated as a function of their concentration. The dispersed silver acetate salts within the EVOH matrix have displayed a significant thermal reaction. This reaction of metallic salts was partial when the extrusion temperature was fixed at 190 °C and completed at 230 °C. The antimicrobial agents also had significant effects on the properties of the matrix. Reductions of glass temperature and storage modulus were observed by the analyses. All the variations were dependent on both the concentration of silver acetate and the extrusion parameters. The antimicrobial activity was studied and demonstrated a promising potential to create an antimicrobial material in a one-step solvent free extrusion method. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47799.