Polyphenolic compositions of Basque natural ciders: A chemometric study

Polyphenolic compositions of Basque natural ciders were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, with diode array detection following thiolysis, in order to differentiate ciders according to the geographical origin of the main raw material used for their elaboration. Fifty percent of the apples used for cidermaking in the Basque Country are imported from France or Galicia (N.W. Spain); this gives beverages of different chemical compositions and sensory qualities. A data set, consisting of 64 cider samples and 33 measured variables, was evaluated using multivariate chemometric techniques. A preliminary study of data structure was performed by cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Different classification systems for the two categories were obtained on the basis of the chemical data by applying several supervised pattern recognition procedures, such as linear discriminant analysis (LDA), K-nearest neighbours (KNN), soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA), and multilayer feed-forward artificial neural networks (MLF-ANN). KNN, SIMCA and the MLF neural network provided complementary results: KNN allowed the correct classification of almost all the ciders of the Galician category, SIMCA provided a model for the ciders of the French category that excluded all ciders made with Galician apples (50% of raw material), and the neural network achieved a level of hits for the classification of the ciders obtained from French apples (50% of raw material) above 95%. Polyphenolic profiles of the ciders provide enough information to develop classification rules for identifying ciders according to the geographical origin of the raw material used for cidermaking.     

Limnological characterization of interdune ponds of Curupu Island,Raposa – MA,Brazil

This study was conducted on four freshwater interdune ponds (Jacaré; Grande; Duna; Banho) located on Curupu Island within the municipality of Raposa (Maranhão State, Brazil). It focused on a diagnosis of the physical and chemical characteristics of the water and sediment in these water bodies, while at the same time obtaining basic data and information that could support the adoption of conservation strategies for the rational use of these ecosystems. Seasonal sampling of water from these ponds was conducted during the months of August, September and November 2008 and 2009 (dry period) and February, May, July 2009 and 2010 (rainy period), for the purpose of obtaining data on temperature, pH, electrical conductivity and dissolved oxygen, ammonium (NH₄), nitrite (NO₂), nitrate (NO₃) and phosphate ion (PO₄) concentrations in the pond water. Sediment sampling also was carried out to determine particle size, carbon, organic matter and phosphorus content. A large variation in most variables, especially the ammonia (NH₄), nitrate (NO₃) and phosphate (PO₄) concentrations, was observed during the study period. The pH values indicated the water in the ponds was mostly alkaline. Based on the average nitrate concentrations (137 μg L^?1 during the dry period; 123 μg L^?1 during the rainy period), the ponds exhibited primarily eutrophic conditions. The sediment samples exhibited a predominance of fine sand with low carbon and organic matter content, able to be classified by their mineral nature. Due to the fragile nature of the studied ecosystems, disciplinary control of grazing activities and tourism in the area is highly recommended, along with adoption of a basic sanitation infrastructure in the community for the purpose of rational and sustainable use of this ecosystem.     

Models for setting ATM parameter values

In ATM networks, a user should negotiate at connection set-up a traffic contract which includes traffic characteristics and requested QoS. The traffic characteristics currently considered are the Peak Cell Rate, the Sustainable Cell Rate, the Intrinsic Burst Tolerance and the Cell Delay Variation (CDV) tolerance(s). The values taken by these traffic parameters characterize the so-called Worst Case Traffic that is used by CAC procedures for accepting a new connection and allocating resources to it. Conformance to the negotiated traffic characteristics is defined, at the ingress User to Network Interface (UNI) and at subsequent Inter Carrier Interfaces (ICIs), by algorithmic rules based on the Generic Cell Rate Algorithm (GCRA) formalism. Conformance rules are implemented by policing mechanisms that control the traffic submitted by the user and discard excess traffic. It is therefore essential to set traffic characteristic values that are relevant to the considered cell stream, and that ensure that the amount of non-conforming traffic is small. Using a queueing model representation for the GCRA formalism, several methods are available for choosing the traffic characteristics. This paper presents approximate methods and discusses their applicability. We then discuss the problem of obtaining traffic characteristic values for a connection that has crossed a series of switching nodes. This problem is particularly relevant for the traffic contract components corresponding to ICIs that are distant from the original source.     

Increased hepatic fatty acid polyunsaturation precedes ectopic lipid deposition in the liver in adaptation to high-fat diets in mice

Objective

We monitored hepatic lipid content (HLC) and fatty acid (FA) composition in the context of enhanced lipid handling induced by a metabolic high-fat diet (HFD) challenge and fasting.

Materials and methods

Mice received a control diet (10% of kilocalories from fat, N = 14) or an HFD (45% or 60% of kilocalories from fat, N = 10 and N = 16, respectively) for 26 weeks. A subset of five mice receiving an HFD (60% of kilocalories from fat) were switched to the control diet for the final 7 weeks. At nine time points, magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed in vivo at 14.1 T, interleaved with glucose tolerance tests.

Results

Glucose intolerance promptly developed with the HFD, followed by a progressive increase of fasting insulin level, simultaneously with that of HLC. These metabolic defects were normalized by dietary reversal. HFD feeding immediately increased polyunsaturation of hepatic FA, before lipid accumulation. Fasting-induced changes in hepatic lipids (increased HLC and FA polyunsaturation, decreased FA monounsaturation) in control-diet-fed mice were not completely reproduced in HFD-fed mice, not even after dietary reversal.

Conclusion

A similar adaptation of hepatic lipids to both fasting and an HFD suggests common mechanisms of lipid trafficking from adipose tissue to the liver. Altered hepatic lipid handling with fasting indicates imperfect metabolic recovery from HFD exposure.

     

Pancreatic lipase activity in emulsions containing seed meals: Effect of extrusion

The effect of extrusion of soybean (Glycine max), yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus), and linseed (Linum usitatissimum) on the activity of porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) was evaluated through pH‐Stat methodology with tributyrin emulsions in which the seed meals [extruded (E) and non‐extruded (NE)] were dispersed. The seed meals affected PPL activity in a concentration‐dependent fashion; at 2.3 mg/mL the meals reduced PPL activity (11.7–45.0% reduction) while the opposite was true (3.1–28.0% increase) at 6.8 mg/mL. PPL activity in the assays containing E‐lupin, E‐soybean and E‐linseed meals at 2.3 mg/mL was 109.7 and 11.3% higher and 25.5% lower than the activity in the emulsions containing the NE‐meals, respectively. The differences between the PPL activity in emulsions containing the extruded and NE‐meals could be due to changes in the emulsifying properties of the meals after extrusion; extrusion increased (10.2%) the emulsification capacity of lupin meal and for linseed meal this property was reduced (9.2%). In spite of the low PPL activity at low meal concentrations, the percentage of free fatty acids released after 30 min was similar to the theoretical maximum (66.6%) with two exceptions – NE‐soybean meal (59.5 ± 2.7%) and E‐linseed meal (57.9 ± 1.2%). Practical applications: Feed and food industries use plant protein sources that contain inhibitors of digestive enzymes. Various proteases inhibitors are inactivated during extrusion being less known the effect of extrusion on lipase inhibitors. Reduction of lypolysis rate, carried out mainly by pancreatic lipase in human and other animals, could influence feed and food consumption because satiety is controlled – at least in part – by undigested lipids. Our results show that extrusion can be used to reduce the inhibitory activity of lupin and soybean on PPL. On the other hand, extrusion of linseed increased the negative effect of this meal on PPL activity effect that could have applications in the development of food and ingredients for weight control.     

Artificial neural network modeling for the prediction of critical transformation temperatures in steels

Accurate knowledge of critical transformation temperatures in steels such as the austenitizing temperature, T _γ , isothermal bainite and martensite start temperatures, B _S and M _S , is of unquestionable significance from an industrial and research point of view. Therefore a significant amount of work has been devoted not only in understanding the physical mechanism lying beneath those transformations, but also obtaining quantitatively accurate models. Nowadays, with modern computing systems, more rigorous and complex data analysis methods can be applied whenever required. Thus, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analysis becomes a very attractive alternative, for being easily distributed, self-sufficient and for its ability of accompanying its predictions by an indication of their reliability.     

Understanding the chemical reaction and mass-transfer phenomena in a recirculating enzymatic membrane reactor for green ester synthesis in ionic liquid/supercritical carbon dioxide biphasic systems

The synthesis of butyl propionate in a recirculating bioreactor in room temperature ionic liquid/supercritical carbon dioxide biphasic systems at 50 °C and 80 bar was studied. In these systems, α-alumina microporous membranes with immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B were coated with four different ionic liquids based on 1-n-alkyl-3-imidazolium cations and hexafluorophosphate and bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl}imide anions. Selectivity increased (reaching >99.5%) when room temperature ionic liquid/supercritical carbon dioxide biphasic systems were used rather than in supercritical carbon dioxide alone. To understand the behaviour of the enzyme and the mass-transfer phenomena in these biphasic systems, the reaction was also carried out in ionic liquids and in ionic liquid/hexane biphasic systems, and the ionic liquid/hexane partition coefficients of the compounds involved in the transesterification reaction were determined. It was observed that the activity in room temperature ionic liquid/supercritical carbon dioxide biphasic systems depends on the effect of the ionic liquid media on the enzyme and the diffusional limitations across the IL-layer around the biocatalyst.     

Metabolomic Profiling of Phloem Sap from Different Pine Species and Implications on Black Capuchin

Journal of Chemical Ecology - In most commercial pine farms in southern Brazil, black capuchin causes damage to wood and financial losses when it removes bark from some pine species to feed upon...