Rheokinematics for product development—Formulation screening in rotational rheometers

Product formulations for industrial processes are typically developed at laboratory scale. However, the mixing conditions are not easily mimicked in the laboratory. A rotational device is proposed in this study as a fast laboratory-scale formulation development, which enables mimicking the mixing conditions in the industrial process. The geometrical configurations of the rotational device are from rheometry devices (plate-plate and cone-plate). The main advantages of this method are the small amounts of raw materials and shorter testing times. This methodology is applied to an industrial case study, the reaction injection molding (RIM) process. The mixing length scales evolution in the rotational rheometer were matched to those in RIM machines. The main novelty of this study is the introduction of a protocol that bridges the processing conditions at laboratory using small amounts of raw materials to high throughput continuous flow reactors.     

Effectiveness of portable HEPA air cleaners on reducing indoor PM2.5 and NH3 in an agricultural cohort of children with asthma: A randomized intervention trial

We conducted a randomized trial of portable HEPA air cleaners with pre-filters designed to also reduce NH₃ in non-smoking homes of children age 6-12 with asthma in Yakima Valley (Washington, USA). Participants were recruited through the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic asthma education program. All participants received education on home triggers while intervention families additionally received two HEPA cleaners (child's sleeping area, main living area). Fourteen-day integrated samples of PM_2.5 and NH₃ were measured at baseline and one-year follow-up. We fit ANCOVA models to compare follow-up concentrations in HEPA vs control homes, adjusting for baseline concentrations. Seventy-one households (36 HEPA, 35 control) completed the study. Most were single-family homes, with electric heat and stove, A/C, dogs/cats, and mean (SD) 5.3 (1.8) occupants. In the sleeping area, baseline geometric mean (GSD) PM_2.5 was 10.7 (2.3) μg/m³ (HEPA) vs 11.2 (1.9) μg/m³ (control); in the living area, it was 12.5 (2.3) μg/m³ (HEPA) vs 13.6 (1.9) μg/m³ (control). Baseline sleeping area NH₃ was 62.4 (1.6) μg/m³ (HEPA) vs 65.2 (1.8) μg/m³ (control). At follow-up, HEPA families had 60% (95% CI, 41%-72%; p < .0001) and 42% (19%-58%; p = .002) lower sleeping and living area PM_2.5, respectively, consistent with prior studies. NH₃ reductions were not observed.     

Valorisation of potato wastes

Potato processing industry has a high degree of discarding, which currently has low added value being used primarily for animal feed. However, potato wastes offer a broad range of interesting components such as antioxidants, starch, protein or fibre with potential applications in the food and non-food industries. The recovery of these high valuable fractions using efficient multistage and multiproduct processes could be of great interest. This short review provides a general overview on the integral valorisation of potato wastes, offering an updated vision of the main residual parts generated during potato harvesting and processing, the high valuable obtained components focusing on the bioactive ones and the potential of the emerging extraction techniques over conventional ones. In addition, innovative applications are discussed to highlight the scientific and applied interest of these underutilised and undervalued fractions and to emphasise the integral valorisation of raw materials.     

Proper Orthogonal Decomposition and Statistical Analysis of 2D Confined Impinging Jets Chaotic Flow

Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is shown to be a statistical operation that identifies the main characteristics of chaotic flows and separates them into a few modes. The dynamic chaotic flow is obtained from two‐dimensional (2D) computational fluid dynamics simulations, for different Reynolds numbers, of a confined impinging jets mixer. POD enables reconstruction of the dynamic flow from a few modes that are related to coherent flow structures. The POD flow reconstruction enables a large compression of the flow data set. The decomposition of the flow field into orthogonal modes related to coherent structures provides direct insight into the mixing dynamics and scales which are not accessible from flow dynamics statistic quantities, which were introduced in the context of turbulence and are here applied to chaotic flow.     

Circulating Insulin-Like Growth Factor I is Involved in the Effect of High Fat Diet on Peripheral Amyloid β Clearance

Obesity is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but underlying mechanisms are not clear. We analyzed peripheral clearance of amyloid β (Aβ) in overweight mice because its systemic elimination may impact brain Aβ load, a major landmark of AD pathology. We also analyzed whether circulating insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) intervenes in the effects of overweight as this growth factor modulates brain Aβ clearance and is increased in the serum of overweight mice. Overweight mice showed increased Aβ accumulation by the liver, the major site of elimination of systemic Aβ, but unaltered brain Aβ levels. We also found that Aβ accumulation by hepatocytes is stimulated by IGF-I, and that mice with low serum IGF-I levels show reduced liver Aβ accumulation—ameliorated by IGF-I administration, and unchanged brain Aβ levels. In the brain, IGF-I favored the association of its receptor (IGF-IR) with the Aβ precursor protein (APP), and at the same time, stimulated non-amyloidogenic processing of APP in astrocytes, as indicated by an increased sAPPα/sAPPβ ratio after IGF-I treatment. Since serum IGF-I enters into the brain in an activity-dependent manner, we analyzed in overweight mice the effect of brain activation by environmental enrichment (EE) on brain IGF-IR phosphorylation and its association to APP, as a readout of IGF-I activity. After EE, significantly reduced brain IGF-IR phosphorylation and APP/IGF-IR association were found in overweight mice as compared to lean controls. Collectively, these results indicate that a high-fat diet influences peripheral clearance of Aβ without affecting brain Aβ load. Increased serum IGF-I likely contributes to enhanced peripheral Aβ clearance in overweight mice, without affecting brain Aβ load probably because its brain entrance is reduced.