Radical‐scavenging properties of extracts from the white button mushroom,Agaricus bisporus

BACKGROUND: Agaricus bisporus is the premier cultivated edible mushroom but is usually considered to be of lesser value nutritionally and medicinally compared with other cultivated mushrooms. The objective of this study was to investigate the radical‐scavenging properties of methanolic extracts and the free radical‐processing enzyme activities of water extracts from A. bisporus fruit bodies. Analyses were performed on total fruit bodies from three strains and on separated stipe, cap and gills from one strain, all cultivated experimentally under the same conditions. RESULTS: EC₅₀ values of scavenging ability on 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl radicals (DPPH^?), scavenging ability on 2,2‐azino‐bis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) radical cations (ABTS^?+) and reducing power of methanolic extracts from total fruit bodies ranged between 1.7 and 5.0 and were 1.1–1.9 times higher in a white hybrid than in two wild strains, cream and brown. The gills exhibited higher antioxidant activities relative to the stipe and cap. In water extracts, glutathione peroxidase activities were up to eight times higher than glutathione reductase activities and no difference was observed between strains. Catalase activity was highest in the brown wild strain. The only significant differences in free radical‐processing enzymes between the three parts of the mushroom were higher catalase activity in the gills and lower glutathione reductase activity in the stipe. CONCLUSION: The radical‐scavenging properties of the button mushroom are comparable to those of other edible mushrooms and dependent on the strain and on the section of the fruit body. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Evolution of the localisation and composition of phenolics in grape skin between veraison and maturity in relation to water availability and some climatic conditions

BACKGROUND: Several studies have investigated the composition of phenolics in grape skin during grape maturation under various conditions of light exposure, water stress, nitrogen supply and mineral nutrition, but their localisation during berry development is not well known. In this study the composition and localisation of proanthocyanidins were monitored for three years on four plots known to induce a distinctive behaviour of the vine (Cabernet Franc). The composition of phenolics was determined by spectrophotometry; also, in one year, proanthocyanidins were determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography. Further information was obtained histochemically by means of toluidine blue O staining and image analysis. RESULTS: The results indicated that clear differences in phenolic quantification existed between the biochemical and histochemical approaches; the proportion of cells without phenolics was not linked with the quantity determined by the analytical methods used. The histochemical method showed the evolution of the localisation and typology of cells with and without phenolics during ripening. The number of cells without any phenolic compounds appeared to be very dependent on the mesoclimatic conditions and only slightly dependent on the site water status. CONCLUSION: Clear differences in phenolic quantification existed between the biochemical and histochemical approaches; the proportion of cells with phenolics was not linked with the quantity determined by biochemistry. The histochemical method showed an evolution of the localisation and typology of cells with and without phenolics in which mesoclimatic conditions were the most influential factor. Finally, the study showed some advantages of the histochemical approach: it gives information about the anatomy of the tissue as well as the nature and distribution of some of the large macromolecules and allows reconstruction of the three‐dimensional plant structure. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Encapsulation of food grade antioxidant in natural biopolymer by electrospinning technique: A physicochemical study based on zein–gallic acid system

Gallic acid was successfully incorporated into zein ultra-fine fibres at different loading amount (5%, 10% and 20%) in order to develop an encapsulating technology for functional ingredient delivery using electrospinning. The produced fibres exhibit diameters ranging from 327 to 387 nm. The physical and thermal properties of encapsulated gallic acid were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC); and the interaction between gallic acid and zein was attested by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated a different thermal stability of the fabricated complex before and after the gallic acid incorporation. Lastly, the 1,1′-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay showed that the gallic acid had retained its antioxidant activity after incorporation in zein electrospun fibres. Overall, electrospinning technique had shown promising results as an efficient and effective method for the preparation of sub-micron structured encapsulated functional ingredient that may find uses in food industry.     

Akustische Eigenschaften von Holz und holzhaltigen Bauplatten

Zusammenfassung Die gro?e Bedeutung, die dem Holz für die Errichtung von Tragwerken wie auch für die Ausstattung von R?umen zukommt, rechtfertigt es, sich einmal die akustischen Eigenschaften dieses Baustoffes zu vergegenw?rtigen. Grunds?tzlich handelt es sich dabei um zweierlei Dinge, n?mlich raumakustisch um die Einwirkung auf die H?rsamkeit, d. h. um die Beeinflussung von Schall, der in einem Raum erzeugt wird und in diesem selbst verl?uft, und dann bauakustisch um die D?mmung, d. h. um die F?higkeit, einen auftreffenden Schall zurückzuhalten, ihn nicht nach au?en, also in andere R?ume oder ins Freie dringen zu lassen.     

Part II of the Special Issue on 3rd International Conference on Engineering and Technology Innovation (ICETI 2014), held in Kenting,Taiwan Oct 31–Nov 2, 2014

Microsystem Technologies -     

A Linear Stochastic Programming Model for Optimal Leveraged Portfolio Selection

The literature of portfolio optimization is extensive and covers several important aspects of the asset allocation problem. However, previous works consider simplified linear borrowing cost functions that leads to suboptimal allocations. This paper aims at efficiently solving the leveraged portfolio selection problem with a thorough borrowing cost representation comprising a number lenders with different rates and credit limits. We propose a two-stage stochastic programming model for asset and debt allocation considering a CVaR-based risk constraint and a convex piecewise-linear borrowing cost function. We compare our model to its counterpart with the fixed borrowing rate approximation used in literature. Numerical results show our model significantly improves performance in terms of risk-return trade-off.     

Experimental validation of a type-2 fuzzy logic controller for energy management in hybrid electrical vehicles

The aim of this paper is to present experimental validation results of an energy management system for hybrid electrical vehicles based on type-2 fuzzy logic. The energy management system (EMS) is designed by extracting knowledge from several experts using surveys. The consideration of interval type-2 fuzzy sets enables modeling the uncertainty in the answers of the experts. The validation of the EMS is performed on a real-scale heavy duty vehicle equipped with different energy sources such as batteries, fuel cell system and ultracapacitors. Experimental results are strong evidence that type-2 fuzzy logic is wide adapted for performing the energy management in hybrid electrical vehicles.