Simultaneous quantification of caffeoyl esters and flavonoids in wild and cultivated cardoon leaves

Cynara cardunculus is a diploid (2n = 2x = 34) species, native to the Mediterranean basin, which belongs to the family of Asteraceae. It includes globe artichoke, cultivated cardoon, as well as their progenitor wild cardoon. The species is a source of biophenols and its leaf extracts have been widely used in herbal medicine as hepatoprotectors and choleretics since ancient times. Globe artichoke leaves have been found to be rich in compounds originating from the metabolism of phenylpropanoids however, to our knowledge, the leaf polyphenolic composition of the two other forms within the species, cultivated and wild cardoon, have not yet been properly investigated. Two main classes of polyphenols have been detected by HPLC/DAD and HPLC/MS analyses: caffeoyl esters and flavonoids. The compounds which are the result of esterification of caffeoylquinic acid moiety with succinic acid, previously detected in other members of the Asteraceae family, were detected in cardoon leaves for the first time.     

Carbonate coprecipitation synthesis of Sr- and Mg-doped LaGaO3

A carbonate coprecipitation synthesis, simple and easily scalable to industrial level, has been successfully applied to produce Sr- and Mg-doped LaGaO₃. The thermal evolution shows that the main perovskite phase crystallizes already at 1000 °C. Samples sintered at 1400 °C for 10 h have a relative density of 93% and an electrical conductivity of 7.7 ? 10^− 2 S cm^− 1 at 800 °C, similar to the one reported for solid state synthesis. The presence of small amounts of secondary phases (about 17%) such as LaSrGaO₄ and LaSrGa₃O₇ does not seem to deeply affect the electrical properties of the final material.     

Independent factor discriminant analysis

In the general classification context the recourse to the so-called Bayes decision rule requires to estimate the class conditional probability density functions. A mixture model for the observed variables which is derived by assuming that the data have been generated by an independent factor model is proposed. Independent factor analysis is in fact a generative latent variable model whose structure closely resembles the one of the ordinary factor model, but it assumes that the latent variables are mutually independent and not necessarily Gaussian. The method therefore provides a dimension reduction together with a semiparametric estimate of the class conditional probability density functions. This density approximation is plugged into the classic Bayes rule and its performance is evaluated both on real and simulated data.     

Influence of packaging on spoilage yeast population in minimally processed orange slices

The yeast population of minimally processed orange slices, packaged both in normal and modified atmosphere and with films of different permeabilities, was studied in order to set up the most suitable packaging conditions. Modified atmosphere resulted in a fermentative association of yeast strains, with the dominance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. In samples packaged in normal atmosphere isolated strains have been mainly identified as Rhodotorula spp.     

Animals' representation of enclosed spaces: Evidence for use of a similar frame of reference following different disorientation procedures in the domestic chick (gallus gallus).

A wide range of vertebrate species has been proved to be capable, following passive disorientation, to reorient into enclosures of different shapes using the metrical distribution of surfaces as surfaces and the geometric sense of left and right. Two procedures can be used to get a subject to loose its orientation: The subject itself can be rotated with the eyes closed or in the dark (viewer-movement procedure) or the external enclosure can be rotated while the subject stays still in a fixed position with the eyes closed or in the dark (i.e., without the possibility to notice any change outside; space-movement procedure). Although the 2 procedures are equivalent in that both cause a change in the spatial relationships between the viewer and the external layout, it has been suggested on the basis of research in human infants that they may involve the use of different frames of reference to reestablish one's bearing and relocate the target. However, no comparison between viewer- and space-movement procedures has been carried out in nonhuman species. Here, the authors show that newborn domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) can reorient effectively irrespective of the specific disorienting procedure applied. The results are discussed in comparative and developmental perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microstructure and Tensile Properties of Nanostructured and Ultrafine Grained FeMoB Alloys Produced by Spark Plasma Sintering of Mechanically Alloyed Powders

Boron alloyed Fe-1.5%Mo alloys (B from 0.42 to 1.66%) were produced starting from a prealloyed ferrous powder and an elemental boron powder, by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering. Near full density samples were obtained (density >99%) with a nano- and ultrafine grained structure, consisting in a ferritic matrix with a fine dispersion of Fe and Mo borides. High boron content and a low sintering temperature are favorable to minimize grain growth on sintering. On increasing the boron content from 0.42% up to 1.66%, yield strength increases and ductility decreases; this effect is enhanced by the sintering temperature because of the structural coarsening. Both ultrafine grained and nanostructured materials have a dimpled ductile fracture. On increasing the crystallite size, a mixed dimpled-cleavage fracture is observed.     

Validation of two algorithms to evaluate the interface between bone and orthopaedic implants

The level of fit and fill of the prosthetic stem in the femoral canal is an important parameter when planning a cementless total hip arthroplasty. However, the standard templates used in combination with radiographs are not always effective in the pre-operative evaluation of the level of fitting. For this reason, two algorithms were developed able to provide clinically relevant three-dimensional indicators of the implant fit and fill in the host femur, based on the CT data of each specific patient as collected in vivo. In this study the computational methods were described and validated using digital phantom datasets. Then the algorithms were applied for in vivo datasets and the sensitivity of each indicator was evaluated. The validation showed that the two algorithms are accurate from a computational point of view. Moreover, the in vivo testing demonstrated that the developed methods provide reasonable quantitative indicators of the stem positioning in the femoral CT dataset.     

Context Management for Adaptive Information Systems

Modern technologies enable users accessing services using multiple channels. In the service design phase, this poses additional requirements for high software adaptivity along different technical requirements and different user expectations. During execution, services are usually dynamically selected; this service selection phase requires the identification of the most suitable service along the context that characterizes the users in the time instant in which they send the service request. This paper focuses on the selection phase and it aims at providing a framework to define and manage the context in a general environment characterized by adaptivity and multichannel access. An example to demonstrate the suitability and feasibility of the framework is provided referring to the MAIS (Multichannel Adaptive Information Systems) architecture and considering services related to the tourism domain. The MAIS architecture aims at providing automatically and efficiently services with the appropriate features by choosing among many provider offerings.     

Residual tobacco smoke: measurement of its washout time in the lung and of its contribution to environmental tobacco smoke

Background

Tobacco smoking entails inhaling millions of fine particles with each puff, and it is intuitive that after smoking a cigarette it will take a certain time to washout residual tobacco smoke (RTS) from the lungs with subsequent breaths.

Objectives

To study the washout time of 0.3–1.0 µm particles after the last puff in 10 volunteer smokers by using equipment capable of measuring particle concentration in real time in the exhaled air.

Result

Mean (standard deviation (SD)) lung RTS washout time was 58.6 (23.6) s, range 18–90 s, and corresponded to 8.7 (4.6) subsequent breathings. The contribution of individual and overall RTS to indoor pollution was calculated by subtracting incremental background particle concentration from room concentration after 10 consecutive re‐entries of smokers after the last puff into a room of 33.2 m³, with an air exchange rate per hour in the range of 0.2–0.4. Mean (SD) individual RTS contribution consisted of 1402 (1490) million particles (range 51–3611 million), whereas RTS increased room 0.3–1.0 µm particle concentration from a baseline of 22 283 particles/l to a final room concentration of 341 956 particles/l, corresponding to a total increase in particulate matter (2.5) from a background of 0.56 up to 3.32 µg/m³.

Conclusion

These data reveal a definite although marginal, role of RTS as a source of hidden indoor pollution. Further studies are needed to understand the relevance of this contribution in smoke‐free premises in terms of risk exposure; however, waiting for about 2 min before re‐entry after the last puff would be enough to avoid an unwanted additional exposure for non‐smokers.Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is considered to be the most important source of indoor pollution and a recognised health risk factor.^1,2 Despite a putative lower exposure to toxic substances of tobacco, its effect on human tissues and organs seems to be almost as dangerous as active smoke.³ ETS monitoring carried out by means of particulate matter measurements showed that the smoke of a few cigarettes can contribute to indoor pollution up to levels exceeding outdoor limits,^1,4 and even higher than those produced by recent diesel engines.⁵ Research in this field conducted in the past 20 years led to the enactment of smoking policy rules in many countries, whose enforcement was linked to improvement in the health status of citizens.⁶ Where smoking is restricted, smokers are required to smoke outdoors, and often light up in the vicinity or in front of the buildings; they then re‐enter the buildings through common entrances immediately after finishing their cigarettes. To date, the retention time of mainstream smoke in the lung residual tobacco smoke (RTS) after the last puff has been investigated for volatile organic compounds,^7,8 but not yet for particulate matter, and its contribution to indoor ETS pollution has not been fully evaluated.⁹ New technologies in the field of aerosol analysers have recently made it possible to measure aerosol particles in the exhaled air in real time.¹⁰ We carried out this study to measure the retention time of tobacco smoke particulate matter after the last puff and to evaluate the contribution of RTS to ETS pollution.