The type and quantity of lipids present during digestion influence the in vitro bioaccessibility of lycopene from raw tomato pulp

This study elucidates the impact of the type and quantity of lipids, added upon digestion of raw tomato pulp, on the bioaccessibility of lycopene. Lycopene bioaccessibility was studied by measuring the micellarization during in vitro digestion. Coconut oil, palm oil, cocoa butter, olive oil, sunflower oil and fish oil were selected because of their distinctly different fatty acid composition. Upon adding 5% of lipid to raw tomato pulp, all tested lipids significantly improved the lycopene bioaccessibility. The largest increase in lycopene bioaccessibility was noticed after supplying 5% of sunflower oil, followed by olive oil and cocoa butter (not all differences were significant). A slightly smaller increase was observed when fish oil, coconut oil and palm oil were used. In addition, the effect of different quantities (0–10%) of coconut oil, olive oil and fish oil was examined. Over the entire concentration range, increasing the amount of coconut oil increased the lycopene bioaccessibility, while the highest bioaccessibility was found using 1 and 2% of respectively fish oil and olive oil. Moreover, depending on the amount of added lipid, the type of lipid resulting in the highest lycopene bioaccessibility differed. The results obtained clearly indicate that lycopene bioaccessibility depends both on the type and on the quantity of the lipid present during in vitro digestion of raw tomato pulp.     

Chemical degradation processes of highly stable red phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes

We investigate the chemical degradation processes of highly stable red organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on the triplet emitter tris(1-phenylisoquinoline)iridium(III) by laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-TOF-MS). The analysis of LDI-TOF spectra, collected on OLEDs driven at different current densities, shows a direct correlation between the lifetime of the devices and the formation of the three different reaction products: a BPhen dimer, an adduct of BPhen dimer with cesium, and the complex [BAlq₂ + Al(Me-q)₂]⁺ as well. Additionally it was possible to identify another degradation product, whose chemical structure is related to the α-NPD molecule as well to the fluorine of the used p-dopant. This product is only observable in devices aged at very high current densities.     

Mechanism and kinetic study for the degradation of lindane by photo-Fenton process

Because application of classical treatment methods cannot allow an easily Lindane (gamma 1α,2α,3β,4α,5α,6β-hexachlorocyclohexane) degradation, development of more powerful water treatment techniques, like advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), was necessary. The degradation of lindane (γ-HCH) has been studied using the photo-Fenton reaction. The degradation kinetics under irradiation was optimized in respect to H₂O₂ concentration and Fe²⁺ concentration at a constant lindane concentration. The degradation rate follows pseudo-first order kinetics with respect to lindane and organic clorine mineralization. Application of photo-Fenton system also assures total organic carbon removal with 95% efficiency at 2 h irradiation. The possible pathways of lindane photodegradation is also proposed.     

Qualitative and quantitative characterization of volatile organic compound emissions from cut grass

Mechanical wounding of plants triggers the release of a blend of reactive biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). During and after mowing and harvesting of managed grasslands, significant BVOC emissions have the potential to alter the physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere and lead to ozone and aerosol formation with consequences for regional air quality. We show that the amount and composition of BVOCs emitted per unit dry weight of plant material is comparable between laboratory enclosure measurements of artificially severed grassland plant species and in situ ecosystem-scale flux measurements above a temperate mountain grassland during and after periodic mowing and harvesting. The investigated grassland ecosystem emitted annually up to 130 mg carbon m(-2) in response to cutting and drying, the largest part being consistently represented by methanol and a blend of green leaf volatiles (GLV). In addition, we report the plant species-specific emission of furfural, terpenoid-like compounds (e.g., camphor), and sesquiterpenes from cut plant material, which may be used as tracers for the presence of given plant species in the ecosystem.     

Design, synthesis, and biological activity of hydroxamic tertiary amines as histone deacetylase inhibitors

Herein we describe the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of new hydroxamic tertiary amines as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. These compounds have allowed us to clarify the influence of cap group dimension and hydrophobicity on HDAC inhibitory activity. This report also reveals the recognition pattern between the linear compounds and the histone deacetylase-like protein (HDLP) model receptor, and discusses the synthesis and in vitro evaluation of HDAC inhibitory activity in HeLa cell nuclear extracts. We obtained good qualitative agreement between experimental results and theoretical predictions, confirming that appropriately substituted hydroxamic tertiary amines are potential active HDAC inhibitors.     

Improvement of bread quality and bread shelf-life by Bacillus subtilis biosurfactant addition

The objective of the present work was to determine the effect of the addition of a microorganism derived emulsifier on the quality of bread. The effect of Bacillus subtilis SPB1 biosurfactant has been investigated in comparison to a commercial surfactant, the soya lecithin. Indeed, it led to a better shape and a greater specific volume and voided fraction of loaves. Also, results showed that SPB1 bioemulsifier addition improved considerably the texture profile of bread, mainly at a concentration of 0.075%(w/w). In fact, we showed a notable decrease of firmness, chewiness, and adhesion values with a slight increase of cohesion for bread added emulsifier. According to crumb texture evolution during storage, SPB1 biosurfactant exhibited a significant antistaling effect. Moreover, SPB1 biosurfactant addition reduced significantly bread susceptibility to microbial contamination. These results proved that SPB1 biosurfactant could be of a great interest in the bread-making industry.     

Reduction of fume and gas emissions using innovative gas metal arc welding variants

New environmental, health and safety legislation, both in the EU and in the USA, is driving the need for the study of new welding processes, and the selection of the operational procedures that will reduce fume emissions and will promote a healthier, safer and more productive work environment. Actually, there are a significant number of publications related with gas metal arc welding hazards. However, for the new gas metal arc welding hazards variants, especially cold metal transfer, there is no data available concerning fumes and gases emissions. This paper attempts to point out ways of reducing the harmful effects of gas metal arc welding processes using different filler materials, different shielding gases, different operational welding procedures and three welding processes: gas metal arc welding process and two variants, pulsed gas metal arc welding and cold metal transfer. The effect of nitrogen oxide addition to the shielding gas composition on the amount of welding fumes and gaseous emissions produced during welding is also analysed. The amount of fume and gases generated during welding was measured over a range of current intensity and arc voltages, using the standard procedures contained in EN ISO 15011-2 [1]. The data presented give a summary of the different gas metal arc welding variants and their relations to fume generation rates and gases emitted. The results obtained give indications on measures to be taken in order to reduce fume and gas emissions. In general, the minimisation of fume formation rate can be achieved by using lower energy gas metal arc welding variants, gas shielding with low CO₂ and O₂ contents and “green” wires.     

ZnO micro and nanocrystals with enhanced visible light absorption

In this paper, we investigate the effect of the particle size and morphology on the optical properties of ZnO. A series of ZnO micro and nanocrystals were synthesized by the hydrothermal processing of zinc acetate dihydrate and sodium hydroxide as the starting materials, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the polymer surfactant. The particle size and morphology were tailored by adjusting the reactant molar ratios [Zn²⁺]/[OH⁻], while the reaction temperature and the time remained unchanged. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) have shown that the micro and nanocrystals have a high crystalline pure wurtzite-type hexagonal structure with nanosized crystallites. The size and morphology of the ZnO micro and nanocrystals were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), which showed a modification from micro-rods via hexagonal-faceted prismatic morphology to nanospheres, caused by simple adjustment of the reactant molar ratio [Zn²⁺]/[OH⁻] from 1:1 to 1:5. The optical properties of the ZnO micro and nanocrystals, as well as their dependence on the particle size and morphology were investigated by Raman and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The UV–vis spectra showed that the modification of the particle size and morphology from nanospheres to micro-rods resulted in increased absorption, and a slight red-shift of the absorption edge (0.06 eV). Besides, the band gap energy of the synthesized ZnO micro and nanocrystals showed the red shift (∼0.20 eV) compared to bulk ZnO. According to the results of a Raman spectroscopy, the enhanced visible light absorption of the ZnO micro and nanocrystals is related to two phenomena: (1) the existence of lattice defects (oxygen vacancies and zinc interstitials), and (2) the particle surface sensitization by PVP.     

The design of an animal PET: flexible geometry for achievingoptimal spatial resolution or high sensitivity

Presents the design of a positron emission tomograph (PET) with flexible geometry dedicated to in vivo studies of small animals (TierPET). The scanner uses two pairs of detectors. Each detector consists of 400 small individual yttrium aluminum perovskite (YAP) scintillator crystals of dimensions 2×2×15 mm³, optically isolated and glued together, which are coupled to position-sensitive photomultiplier tubes (PSPMTs). The detector modules can be moved in a radial direction so that the detector-to-detector spacing can be varied. Special hardware has been built for coincidence detection, position detection, and real-time data acquisition, which is performed by a PC. The single-event data are transferred to workstations where the radioactivity distribution is reconstructed. The dimensions of the crystals and the detector layout are the result of extensive simulations which are described in this report, taking into account sensitivity, spatial resolution and additional parameters like parallax error or scatter effects. For the three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction a genuine 3-D expectation-maximization (EM)-algorithm which can include the characteristics of the detector system has been implemented. The reconstruction software is flexible and matches the different detector configurations. The main advantage of the proposed animal PET scanner is its high flexibility, allowing the realization of various detector-system configurations. By changing the detector-to-detector spacing, the system is capable of either providing good spatial resolution or high sensitivity for dynamic studies of pharmacokinetics