Volatile compounds of fresh and dry-cured loin as affected by dietary conjugated linoleic acid and monounsaturated fatty acids

Three levels (0%, 1% and 2%) of an enriched conjugated linoleic acid oil (CLA) were combined with two levels of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (low (19%) average and high (39%) average) for pig feeding. The profile of volatile compounds of fresh and dry-cured loin as affected by dietary CLA, MUFA and CLA × MUFA interaction was studied by headspace-solid phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. A total of 27 and 69 compounds were identified in fresh loin and dry-cured loin, respectively. Identified compounds were alcohols, aldehydes, aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, esters, furans, ketones, nitrogen compounds, sulphur compounds and terpenes. No qualitative differences in volatile compounds caused by the assayed treatments were found neither in fresh loin nor in dry-cured loin. Dietary CLA, MUFA and their interaction did not affect the level of most detected volatiles. Nevertheless, in fresh loin, the level of heptanal significantly increased due to dietary CLA (p = 0.001) and the area units (AU) for ethyl benzene and 1,3-dimethyl benzene increased at 1% CLA (p < 0.05). In the case of dry-cured loin, the AU of heptanal, nonanal and 2-nonenal contents increased due to dietary CLA (p = 0.016, 0.024 and 0.019, respectively).     

Volatile compounds in Iberian dry-cured loin

The volatile profile of Iberian dry-cured loin from four different Iberian pig lines (Entrepelado, Lampi?o, Retinto and Torbiscal) and two feeding systems (OUT - fed on acorn and grass-vs.-IND - fed on high oleic acid concentrate) was studied using solid phase microextraction (SPME). 133 volatile compounds were identified and assigned to 16 chemical families. Alcohols were the major group, ethanol being the main compound. The high number of esters detected and the levels of ethanol and acetic acid found, points to an important role of microorganism activity in the formation of volatile compounds in Iberian dry-cured loin. Sulphur compounds, coming mostly from garlic, constituted an important group, with 14 compounds. Significant differences were found among loins from pigs reared in different feeding systems but not among Iberian pig lines. Dry-cured loins from OUT pigs showed higher levels of many compounds derived from lipid oxidation, such as octanoic acid (P=0.000), decanoic acid (P=0.018) or hexanal (P=0.014).     

Optical differential amplification in nonlinear fibre ring resonator

The theoretical basis and analytical expressions for the operation of a nonlinear fibre ring resonator as an optical differential amplifier are reported.<>     

GSR conditioning and personality factors in alcoholics and normals.

Alcoholic and nonalcoholic introversive and extroversive Ss were placed in a GSR conditioning situation. Significant differences in conditionability were not found between alcoholics and the nonalcoholic group with regard to the intro-extroversion dimension. The results were seen as confirming aspects of Eysenck's (1957) theory of personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement of transmitted power in untapered multifibre unions: oscillatory spectral behaviour

Shows a new structure, the untapered multifibre union, with similar oscillation behaviour to that of tapered single-mode fibres. As a consequences conical regions are not relevant to the final results. This oscillatory behaviour opens the way to low-cost all-fibre devices such as optical filters.<>     

A new transfer matrix formalism for the analysis of fiber ringresonators: compound coupled structures for FDMA demultiplexing

A method of analyzing fiber-ring resonators which is based on the transfer matrix technique is presented. The method is described and used to analyze known structures and compound coupled-ring resonators. Application of these structures as demultiplexers in FDMA (frequency-division multiple-access) systems is discussed     

Effect of colchicine and trimethylcolchicinic acid on CCl4-induced cirrhosis in the rat

Colchicine is one of the most promising drugs for the treatment of cirrhosis. However, due to its toxicity, other drugs are being evaluated and colchicine-like molecules may be good alternatives. The aim of this work was to compare the beneficial effects of colchicine and trimethylcolchicinic acid (a colchicinoid less toxic than colchicine) on CCl4-cirrhosis. The drugs were administered either through CCl4 administration (8 weeks) or after CCl4 intoxication for 4 weeks at a dose of 10 micrograms/rat/day, orally. Liver plasma membranes were isolated for high affinity Ca(2+)-ATPase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and alkaline phosphatase activities. The activities of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and alkaline phosphatase were also measured in serum. Liver glycogen content and a marker for lipid peroxidation were determined in liver samples. We found that both compounds preserved and significantly reversed high affinity Ca(2+)-ATPase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and alkaline phosphatase plasma membrane and serum enzyme activities as well as the hepatic glycogen content.     

Review of Sexual personae: Art and decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson.

Reviews the book, Sexual personae: Art and decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson by Camille Paglia (see record 1990-97051-000). The provocative style in which Sexual Personae is written tempts one to abandon scholarly etiquette and reply in kind (and, indeed, should this essay occasionally succumb to temptation, I hope the essayist will be forgiven). Yet what inflames some, electrifies others. So, although this book, and its author, Camille Paglia, have outraged most feminists, they have excited others, Even the mainstream response swings between disdain and admiration. What is this contradiction all about? Just as it is the phenomenon of Camille Paglia, rather than what she has to say, that generates all the excitement, so it is more the sensation than the content of Sexual Personae that is worth reviewing. The book seems appealingly unfettered, as elusive and free as the breeze. Indeed, its main conceit, sexual personae, abrogates and destabilizes conventional sexual dichotomies, reconfiguring gender in ways that surprisingly (given this book's animus) further feminist and sexual critique. For all its breeziness, however, the book's thinking is chained, as a bird to the sky, by classical and normative myths of sex, culture, and psyche. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of the acid/dithionite/peroxide treatments on reactively dyed cotton and indigo dyed denim and the implications for waste cellulosic recycling

Abstract

Previous studies have established that the application of crosslinking dyes and easy care finishes to cotton can significantly reduce the dissolution of waste cotton in swelling solvents and limit potential recycling of cellulosic materials through Lyocell fibre regeneration process. In this study, a sequential hydrolysis/reduction/oxidative treatment was investigated as a potential method to completely strip all types of reactive dye chromophores from cotton. It was established that the treatment could completely strip off colours from the reactively dyed fabrics and post-consumer denim jeans fabric resulting in a white, NMMO-dissolvable cellulosic material, which could be used as a feedstock for Lyocell fibre regeneration. The white cellulose had an acceptable degree of polymerisation and the regenerated fibres had structural and mechanical properties similar to those of fibres regenerated from conventional wood pulp. Blending conventional wood pulp and recycled cotton pulp allowed manufacturing of regenerated Lyocell-type fibres with acceptable properties.