Convenient partial purification of polyphenol oxidase from apple skin by cationic reversed micellar extraction

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was selectively extracted from reconstituted freeze-dried apple skin using reverse micelles formed by a cationic surfactant, dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB). An optimum forward extraction was achieved with sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6, 100 mM, no added KCl) and an organic phase (isooctane:hexanol at a ratio of 5:1) containing 100 mM DTAB. The solubilised PPO was efficiently recovered by a stripping solution (pH 6, 1 M KCl) containing 10% ethanol. Under the optimised conditions, the purification fold and recovered activity of PPO were 12.6% and 71%, respectively. This purification fold and recovery were maintained when the extraction volume increased from 10–200 ml. Overall, reversed micellar extraction can be used as an efficient first step for the purification of PPO from apple skin.     

Performance analysis of a triple pressure hrsg

Operating characteristics of a triple pressure reheat HRSG are analyzed using a commercial software package (Gate Cycle by GE Enter Software). The calculation routine determines all the design parameters including configuration and area of each heat exchanger. The off-design calculation part has the capability of simulating the effect of any operating parameters such as power load, process requirements, and operating mode, etc., on the transient performance of the plant. The arrangement of high-temperature and intermediate-temperature components of the HRSG is changed, and its effect on the steam turbine performance and HRSG characteristics is examined. It is shown that there could be a significant difference in HRSG sizes even though thermal performance is not in great deviation. From the viewpoint of both economics and steam turbine performance, it should be carefully reviewed whether the optimum design point could exist. Off-design performance could be one of the main factors in arranging components of the HRSG because power plants operate at various off-design conditions such as ambient tempera-ture and gas turbine load, etc. It is shown that different heat exchanger configurations lead to different performances with ambient temperature, even though they have almost the same performances at design points.     

Microencapsulation of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 43121 with prebiotic substrates using a hybridisation system

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of prebiotic substrates on the growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 43121 and to investigate the utilisation of these prebiotic substrates as coating materials for microencapsulation. The cell growth of L. acidophilus ATCC 43121 was significantly increased in the presence of fructooligosaccharide, lactulose and raffinose. The microencapsulation of L. acidophilus ATCC 43121 cells was carried out by dry surface reforming process (hybridisation) using the selected prebiotic substrates and the enteric coating material, Sureteric^TMsans. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the double‐microencapsulated bacteria exhibited smooth, rounded external surfaces, with a thick external coating composed of the prebiotic substrates and the Sureteric. The acid (artificial gastric juice) or heat tolerance (55 °C) of the double‐microencapsulated preparations (prebiotic and enteric coating) was significantly higher than that of the uncoated and single‐coated (enteric coating) preparation at prolonged acid (5 h) or heat exposure (3 h). On the contrary, no significant differences were found in salt tolerance. During the storage up to 20 days at 25 and 37 °C, the stability of L. acidophilus ATCC 43121 was significantly improved by double‐microencapsulation.     

Effect of mung bean ethanol extract on pro-inflammtory cytokines in LPS stimulated macrophages

The anti-inflammatory effect of mung bean ethanol extract on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated macrophages (J774) was evaluated. The mung bean extract was separated into 5 fractions by normal phase silica gel column chromatography and the mRNA expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines were examined after incubation with each fraction in LPS stimulated macrophages. All pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-12β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) were remarkably decreased in the cells treated with 3.7 mg/mL of F3 fraction. The active F3 fraction did not show any cytotoxcity according to propidium iodide staining and no inhibitory effects on J774 cell proliferation were observed by MTT assay. The active fraction contained gallic acid, vitexin, and isovitexin as major components.     

Enzyme and high pressure assisted extraction of tricin from rice hull and biological activities of rice hull extract

Food Science and Biotechnology - Enzymatic hydrolysis was performed in conjunction with high hydrostatic pressure (HPP) treatment to extract tricin from rice hull. Enzymatic hydrolysis performed...     

Functionality and physico-chemical characteristics of bovine and caprine mozzarella cheeses during refrigerated storage

Low moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheeses (MC) were manufactured using fresh bovine and caprine milk to study melting, physico-chemical, textural, and microstructural properties of the cheeses during 8 wk of refrigerated storage. Structural changes in cheese matrix were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and by proteolytic patterns using nitrogen solubility, SDS-PAGE, and Gel-pro analyzer. Meltability of ripened cow and goat MC were not different when fat content of both milks were standardized, whereas bovine MC formed a significantly larger amount of free oil throughout the experiment. The results of the proteolytic patterns, texture attribute (cohesiveness), and microstructure revealed that bovine MC had a greater structural degradation of cheese matrix than caprine MC during the storage. Elevated protein degradation in bovine MC led to more intense brown color formation than the goat counterpart when the cheeses were baked. The melting characteristics showed high positive correlation (r = 0.51 to 0.80) with proteolysis, whereas it was negatively correlated with textural characteristics. Among textural attributes, cohesiveness was highly inversely correlated with melting characteristics (r = -0.69 to -0.88). High negative correlations were also observed between proteolytic parameters and textural attributes (r = -0.48 to -0.81).     

Performance of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with spiral baffle plates

School of Mechanical and Industrial System Engineering, Dong-Eui University, Busan 614-714, Korea In a conventional shell-and-tube heat exchanger, fluid contacts with tubes flowing up and down in a shell, therefore there is a defect in the heat transfer with tubes due to the stagnation portions. Fins are attached to the tubes in order to increase heat transfer efficiency, but there exists a limit. Therefore, it is necessary to improve heat exchanger performance by changing the fluid flow in the shell. In this study, a highly efficient shell-and-tube heat exchanger with spiral baffle plates is simulated three-dimensionally using a commercial thermal-fluid analysis code, CFX4.2. In this type of heat exchanger, fluid contacts with tubes flowing rotationally in the shell. It could improve heat exchanger performance considerably because stagnation portions in the shell could be removed. It is proved that the shell-and-tube heat exchanger with spiral baffle plates is superior to the conventional heat exchanger in terms of heat transfer.     

Family systems and alcohol misuse: Research on the effects of alcoholism on family functioning and effective family interventions.

This article reviews the most prominent research at the interface between studies of alcohol addiction and family systems psychology. The review addresses the general effects of alcohol misuse on family functioning as determined in empirical studies comparing healthy families, alcohol afflicted families, and otherwise troubled families. Three factors ("dry" vs "wet" families, family development and the progression of alcoholism, and family structure) are identified as particularly relevant to understanding the treatment needs of families affected by alcohol misuse. Research examining the general efficacy of family interventions in the treatment of alcoholism and specific treatment considerations unique to treating families coping with alcohol misuse are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cortisol reactivity and regulation associated with shame responding in early childhood.

The purpose of this study was to characterize cortisol response and regulation associated with shame responding in early childhood and to examine how general the relation between shame and cortisol is. It was predicted that children responding to task failure with shame would show a larger and more prolonged cortisol response than other children. Participants were 214 children (124 boys, 90 girls) ranging from 3.7 to 4.5 years of age (M = 4.14 years, SD = 0.24). Shame responding was assessed from children's emotion-expressive behavior in response to failing 6 performance tasks, 2 preceding (initial) and 4 following (subsequent) assessment of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation. Cortisol response and regulation associated with failure were assessed from saliva sampled before and 15, 20, 25, 30, and 40 min following the first of the 2 initial failures. For boys and for some girls, high initial shame was associated with greater cortisol reactivity and slower regulation of the cortisol response. For boys, high initial shame and relatively slow regulation of the associated cortisol response predicted subsequent shame responding occurring after recovery of the cortisol response. For girls, high initial shame, but not cortisol response, predicted subsequent shame responding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between sensory and instrumental hardness and the estimation of hardness specifications for commercial soybean curd

This study was carried out to determine the relationships between variations in sensory hardness intensities and hardness levels of soybean curd. There was no significant relationship between the relative standard deviation (RSD, %) and instrumental hardness data of 93 soybean curd samples, including 45 soft and 48 firm soybean curds, analyzed with a texture analyzer. However, a significant negative correlation (p<0.001) was found between RSD (%) of sensory hardness and hardness level for both trained panelists and consumers. This finding offers a reason for the higher frequency of consumer claims made on the hardness of soft soybean curd compared to that of hard soybean curd. Finally, the regression analysis of RSD (%) and sensory hardness can be used to determine hardness specifications for commercial soybean curds.