Qualitative and quantitative analysis in sandalwood oils using near infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometric techniques

Sandalwood oil is an essential oil which finds very wide application in the flavor and fragrance, pharmaceutical industry. The objective of this study is to use the potential of near infrared spectroscopy as a rapid analytical technique for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of purity in sandalwood oils. The quality and efficacy of sandalwood oils, even though come from the same species, are somewhat different according to growing conditions (origin) and poor extraction methods. Classification of sandal oils based on their NIR spectra is performed by principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and self organising map (Kohonen neural network). All these techniques clearly differentiate the oils according to the area from which the sandalwood has been cut. Support vector machine regression (SVM R) is used to predict the purity of the oils.     

Proximate composition and fatty acid profiles of common pufferfish species in the Mediterranean Sea

The effects of season and gender on the proximate composition and fatty acid profiles of the most widespread pufferfish species in the Mediterranean Sea (Lagocephalus sceleratus, Lagocephalus spadiceus, Lagocephalus suezensis and Torquigener flavimaculosus) caught in Mersin Bay, in the north-eastern Mediterranean during four seasons were investigated. The results showed that the crude protein, lipid, moisture and ash level in pufferfish were in the range of 18.7%–21.7%, 0.61%–1.93%, 76.1%–78.6% and 1.08%–1.87%, respectively. All of the pufferfish had significant levels of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). However, the consumption of L. sceleratus, L. suezensis and T. flavimaculosus may be risky due to the possibility of having tetrodotoxin in their muscles. Nevertheless, L. spadiceus is a pufferfish species that is popularly consumed in East Asian countries, and is of nutritional interest and commercial potential in the Mediterranean region as well so its proximate composition and fatty acid profile are of interest.     

Microglial Cell Activation Increases Saturated and Decreases Monounsaturated Fatty Acid Content,but Both Lipid Species are Proinflammatory

Neuroinflammation is a component of age-related neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive decline. Saturated (SFA) and monounsaturated (MUFA) fatty acids are bioactive molecules that may play different extrinsic and intrinsic roles in neuroinflammation, serving as exogenous ligands for cellular receptors, or endogenous components of cell structural, energetic and signaling pathways. We determined the fatty acyl profile of BV2 microglial cells before and after acute activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We also investigated the effect of SFA and MUFA pretreatment on the production of an invasive, neurotoxic phenotype in BV2 cells. Acute activation of BV2 microglia resulted in an increase in the relative content of SFA (12:0, 16:0, 18:0, 20:0, 22:0, and 24:0 increased significantly), and a relative decrease in the content of MUFA (16:1n7, 18:1n7, 18:1n9, 20:1n9, 24:1n9 decreased significantly). In agreement, the major stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) isoform in BV2 cells, SCD2, was significantly down-regulated by LPS. We next treated cells with SFA (16:0 or 18:0) or MUFA (16:1n7 or 18:1n9), and found that levels of secreted IL6 were increased, as was secreted MMP9-mediated proteolytic activity. To test the functional significance, we treated SH-SY5Y neuronal cells with conditioned medium from BV2 cells pretreated with fatty acids, and found a small but significant induction of cell death. Our findings suggest differential intrinsic roles for SFA and MUFA in activated microglial cells, but similar extrinsic roles for these fatty acid species in inducing activation. Expansion of SFA is important during microglial cell activation, but either supplemental SFA or MUFA may contribute to chronic low-grade neuroinflammation.     

Experimental investigation of a copper sheet-laminated solar photovoltaic thermal water collector

Different concepts and designs of photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) collectors were developed for the past few decades to improve the electrical and thermal efficiencies. Several of those designs have become successful and are being commercialized along with other solar collectors. This paper discusses the experimental studies on a novel PV/T water-based collector constructed by laminating the PV cells on a copper thermal absorber. This modification reduced the thermal resistance by 9.93 %, thereby enabling better heat transfer from the PV cells to the heat transfer fluid. Water was passed through a single water channel connected to an open reservoir. Experiments were conducted with and without glazing, with two different water mass flow rates and stagnant conditions, and with load and no-load conditions and thermal stress test. Results show that an overall efficiency of 87.52 % was achieved in the presence of glazing at a mass flow rate of 0.1 kg/s. Few conformance tests according to IEC standards are also presented to check the electrical insulation and structural integrity of the PV/T collector.     

Effect of thermal treatment on the characteristic properties of loach peptide

The effects of thermal treatment on the changes in the colour, the molecular weight distribution, amino acid profiles and the overall antioxidant activities of loach peptide were investigated. When the thermal temperature was rising, the browning was enhanced. The contents of free amino acids Gly, Arg, Thr and Tyr were increased, whereas those of Asp, Ser, Met, Cys, Trp and Lys were decreased. The scavenging activities (1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and the reducing power of loach peptides after different thermal treatments were lower than those of the control, whereas the Cu²⁺ chelating activity was higher (except from the sample treated at 100 °C, 20 min). The heat treatment at 121 °C, 15 min was shown to be the best thermal processing, as it caused the least loss in radical scavenging activity and showed relatively higher Cu²⁺ chelating activity.     

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) investigation of air flow and temperature distribution in a small scale bread-baking oven

Experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses of the thermal air flow distribution in a 3-zone small scale forced convection bread-baking oven are undertaken. Following industrial bread-making practise, the oven is controlled at different (constant) temperatures within each zone and a CFD model is developed and validated against experimental data collected within the oven. The CFD results demonstrate that careful selection of the flow model, together with implementation of realistic boundary conditions, give accurate temperature predictions throughout the oven. The CFD model is used to predict the flow and thermal fields within the oven and to show how key features, such as regions of recirculating flow, depend on the speeds of the impinging jets.