Combination of freeze drying and molecular inclusion techniques improves the bioaccessibility of microencapsulated anthocyanins from black rice (Oryza sativa L.) and lavender (Lavandula angustifolia L.) essential oils in a model food system

Black rice and lavender are promising sources of bioactives, in terms of anthocyanins and essential oils. Their bioaccessibility were improved by microencapsulation, followed by mixing in order to benefit both from colour and flavour, along with radical scavenging and biological properties. The mixed powder showed a satisfactory anthocyanins of 2.55 mg g⁻¹ DW, leading to a radical scavenging activity of 65.14 mmol g⁻¹ DW. The powder displayed an inhibitory effect against α-glucosidase (~49%) and α-amylase (39%), respectively, with a controlled release in intestinal environment. To further examine the functional properties, the powder was added to a food model system. During storage, a release in anthocyanins and flavonoids were found, leading to an increase in radical scavenging activity. The sensorial analysis showed that supplemented biscuits were appreciated for colour and lavender aroma. The obtained results were promising in tailoring the health benefits of secondary metabolites, underutilised in human’s nutrition due to their low stability and bioavailability.     

The Effect of Electroporation of a Lyotroic Liquid Crystal Genistein-Based Formulation in the Recovery of Murine Melanoma Lesions

A lamellar lyotropic liquid crystal genistein-based formulation (LLC-Gen) was prepared in order to increase the aqueous solubility of the lipophilic phytocompound genistein. The formulation was applied locally, in a murine model of melanoma, with or without electroporation. The results demonstrated that, when the formulation was applied by electroporation, the tumors appeared later. During the 21 days of the experiment, the LLC-Gen formulation decreased the tumor volume, the amount of melanin and the degree of erythema, but when electroporation was applied, all these parameters indicated a better prognosis even (lower tumor volume, amount of melanin and degree of erythema). Although hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining confirmed the above events, application of the LLC-Gen formulation by electroporation did not lead to a significant effect in terms of the serum concentrations of the protein S100B and serum neuron specific enolase (NSE), or the tissue expression of the platelet-derived growth factor receptor β (PDGFRβ) antibody.     

Betulinic Acid in Complex with a Gamma-Cyclodextrin Derivative Decreases Proliferation and in Vivo Tumor Development of Non-Metastatic and Metastatic B164A5 Cells

Betulinic acid, a very promising anti-melanoma agent, has very low water solubility that causes low bioavailability. To overcome this inconvenience, a highly water-soluble cyclodextrin was used (octakis-[6-deoxy-6-(2-sulfanyl ethanesulfonic acid)]-γ-cyclodextrin). The complex was physico-chemically analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods and then in vitro tested for its antiproliferative activity by the MTT assay and by cell cycle analysis. Finally, the complex was tested in vivo using an animal model of murine melanoma developed in C57BL/6J mice, where it caused a reduction in tumor volume and weight. The study revealed the beneficial influence of betulinic acid inclusion into the cyclodextrin in terms of antiproliferative activity and in vivo tumor development.     

Impacts of Climate Variables on Residential Water Consumption in the Czech Republic

The paper investigates whether there is a statistically significant impact of short-term climate variables (specifically air temperature and rainfall) on residential water consumption at two selected case sites in the Czech Republic. The analysis is based on a unique time series of daily data from 2004–2009. The statistical methods used are CART methodology and a decomposition of these time series based on a locally weighted regression method. Apart from the data analysis results, the investigation raises several methodological questions regarding the use of daily data and the scope of analysis based on such data sets.     

Fault-aware Communication Mapping for NoCs with Guaranteed Latency

As feature sizes shrink, transient failures of on-chip network links become a critical problem. At the same time, many applications require guarantees on both message arrival probability and response time. We address the problem of transient link failures by means of temporally and spatially redundant transmission of messages, such that designer-imposed message arrival probabilities are guaranteed. Response time minimisation is achieved by a heuristic that statically assigns multiple copies of each message to network links, intelligently combining temporal and spatial redundancy. Concerns regarding energy consumption are addressed in two ways. First, we reduce the total amount of transmitted messages, and, second, we minimise the application response time such that the resulted time slack can be exploited for energy savings through voltage reduction. The advantages of the proposed approach are guaranteed message arrival probability and guaranteed worst case application response time.     

The effects of groups' variety and disparity on groups' cognitive complexity.

This study examined the influence of group diversity conceptualized as disparity and as variety on group cognitive complexity. Data on individual cognitive complexity and group cognitive complexity were collected in 44 groups using a conceptual mapping technique. Also data on the quality of teamwork processes and satisfaction were collected using an individual questionnaire. The results indicate that (a) gender variety has a positive impact on group cognitive complexity, (b) cognitive disparity has a negative impact on group cognitive complexity, and (c) groups with a high average individual cognitive complexity have the highest cognitive complexity as a group only if the quality of their interactions is high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

FTIR spectroscopic study of some bismuth germanate glasses containing gadolinium ions

Since infrared spectroscopy and density are advantageous tools for the investigations of glasses, we have used them to obtain information concerning the local structure of xGd₂O₃·(100 − x)[4Bi₂O₃·GeO₂] glass system, with 0 ≤ x ≤ 30 mol%. Gd₂O₃ play the network modifier role in the studied glasses and determines, by progressive addition, the increase of structural volume difference between the hypothetical crystalline compounds and the quenched samples. FTIR spectroscopy data show that the glass structure consists on the BiO₆, GeO₄ and GeO₆ structural units, and the conversion among these units mainly depends on the Gd₂O₃ content.     

Statistical Evaluation of Factors Affecting the Leaching Process of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment using Sodium Persulfate

Recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is important not only to reduce the amount of waste requiring treatment, but also to promote the recovery of valuable materials. Implementation of the European Directive on WEEE and recycling targets imposed in the European Union will require new processes to be developed and applied to recover metals from WEEE. This study aims to provide an alternative process for the dissolution of metals from WEEE which contains Cu and Zn based on our previous research. The effects of leaching parameters, such as temperature, Na₂S₂O₈ concentration, and leaching time, were separately investigated on leaching of copper, zinc, and brass (alloy composition ?35% zinc and 65% copper) in Na₂S₂O₈ solution (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 M). Box–Behnken experimental design (BBD) method was used to determine the number and the condition of necessary leaching experiments. Statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to see whether process parameters such as leaching time, temperature, and oxidant concentration are statistically significant or not on the leaching performance. Results show leaching time as the most influential factor in the dissolution process, for the first six models. Two extended models have been developed to optimize the parameters of the investigated process. In these models, we consider the metal composition as a model input next to the earlier investigated parameters. Optimal condition for maximum copper and zinc dissolution in Na₂S₂O₈ environment can be found for parameter values: temperature 45°C, oxidant concentration 0.1 M and leaching time 35 min.     

Synthesizing Energy-Efficient Embedded Systems with LOPOCOS

In this paper, we introduce the LOPOCOS (Low Power Co-synthesis) system, a prototype CAD tool for system level co-design. LOPOCOS targets the design of energy-efficient embedded systems implemented as heterogeneous distributed architectures. In particular, it is designed to solve the specific problems involved in architectures that include dynamic voltage scalable (DVS) processors. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how LOPOCOS can support the system designer in identifying energy-efficient hardware/software implementations for the desired embedded systems. Hence, highlighting the necessary optimization steps during design space exploration for DVS enable architectures. The optimization steps carried out in LOPOCOS involve component allocation and task/communication mapping as well as scheduling and dynamic voltage scaling. LOPOCOS has the following key features, which contribute to this energy efficiency. During the voltage scaling valuable power profile information of task execution is taken into account, hence, the accuracy of the energy estimation is improved. A combined optimization for scheduling and communication mapping based on genetic algorithm, optimizes simultaneously execution order and communication mapping towards the utilization of the DVS processors and timing behaviour. Furthermore, a separation of task and communication mapping allows a more effective implementation of both task and communication mapping optimizationsteps. Extensive experiments are conducted to demonstrate the efficiency of LOPOCOS. We report up to 38% higher energy reductions compared to previous co-synthesis techniques for DVS systems. The investigations include a real-life example of an optical flow detection algorithm.     

Design of random doping fluctuation resistant structures of semiconductor devices

An automated technique is presented for the computation of the doping profiles that minimize the intrinsic fluctuations of various parameters induced by random doping fluctuations in semiconductor devices. The technique is based on the computation of the doping sensitivity functions of the parameters under consideration and the constrained minimization of the standard deviation of fluctuations by using the Lagrange multipliers technique. The technique is then applied to the minimization of the random doping induced fluctuations of the threshold voltage in 40-nm channel length MOSFET device.