Proton NMR transverse relaxation measurements to study water dynamic states and age-related changes in Mozzarella di Bufala Campana cheese

Proton transverse magnetization decay curves of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana samples were measured and analysed for the presence in the sample of four components, namely “serum water”, “entrapped water”, “junction zone water” and “fat”, characterised by different transverse relaxation times, T₂. T₂ values were interpreted on the basis of the diffusive and chemical exchange model that allowed information to be obtained on the size of diffusive domains and dynamics of the water molecules. Furthermore, T₂ values were measured as a function of the aging time of Mozzarella samples, as produced by different cheese-makers. A decrease of “serum water” T₂ value with aging time was found and this may be used to monitor the evolution of Mozzarella samples up to seven days after manufacture.     

“Fifty Shades” of Black and Red or How Carboxyl Groups Fine Tune Eumelanin and Pheomelanin Properties

Recent advances in the chemistry of melanins have begun to disclose a number of important structure-property-function relationships of crucial relevance to the biological role of human pigments, including skin (photo) protection and UV-susceptibility. Even slight variations in the monomer composition of black eumelanins and red pheomelanins have been shown to determine significant differences in light absorption, antioxidant, paramagnetic and redox behavior, particle morphology, surface properties, metal chelation and resistance to photo-oxidative wear-and-tear. These variations are primarily governed by the extent of decarboxylation at critical branching points of the eumelanin and pheomelanin pathways, namely the rearrangement of dopachrome to 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA), and the rearrangement of 5-S-cysteinyldopa o-quinoneimine to 1,4-benzothiazine (BTZ) and its 3-carboxylic acid (BTZCA). In eumelanins, the DHICA-to-DHI ratio markedly affects the overall antioxidant and paramagnetic properties of the resulting pigments. In particular, a higher content in DHICA decreases visible light absorption and paramagnetic response relative to DHI-based melanins, but markedly enhances antioxidant properties. In pheomelanins, likewise, BTZCA-related units, prevalently formed in the presence of zinc ions, appear to confer pronounced visible and ultraviolet A (UVA) absorption features, accounting for light-dependent reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, whereas non-carboxylated benzothiazine intermediates seem to be more effective in inducing ROS production by redox cycling mechanisms in the dark. The possible biological and functional significance of carboxyl retention in the eumelanin and pheomelanin pathways is discussed.     

A screening method based on UV–Visible spectroscopy and multivariate analysis to assess addition of filler juices and water to pomegranate juices

Consumer demand for pomegranate juice has considerably grown, during the last years, for its potential health benefits. Since it is an expensive functional food, cheaper fruit juices addition (i.e., grape and apple juices) or its simple dilution, or polyphenols subtraction are deceptively used.     

Engineering ethics and accreditation

The teaching of ethics in engineering poses challenges to teachers as well as to accreditors who need to identify and assess the ethical content of the engineering curriculum. If a stand-alone module on ethics is offered, the task might appear easy; however, the introduction of ethics within an engineering degree should not be constrained to a single module, but rather considered in relation to the whole curriculum. Consequently, the accreditors face a harder task: questions such as, “how should the modules been looked at?”, “how should the assessment of ethics been carried out?” are just examples clarifying the difficulty. Since the accreditation is based on learning outcomes, additional challenges arise when devising the questions that the accreditors ask the students. The paper concentrates mainly on the accreditation process; the teaching and assessment of the ethical provision is not considered in detail. A checklist that could be used as a practical tool during accreditation visits is introduced as a possible guide. Although mainly based on the experience drawn from Chemical Engineering in the UK, the results are quite general and could be translated and applied to the majority of engineering curricula worldwide.     

Comparative Study and Quality Evaluation of Italian Focaccias Seasoned with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

An extra virgin olive oil was used as seasoning for three different types of focaccia produced on an industrial scale. This oil and samples of the oil extracted from the focaccias after baking were submitted to routine analyses and to silica gel column chromatography to separate polar compounds. These were then subjected to high performance size-exclusion chromatographic (HPSEC) analysis and it allowed to determine oxidative and hydrolytic degradation products. The results were compared with those obtained from artisan focaccias, seasoned with the same oil and toppings, by statistical analyses. The different technologies and the toppings employed directed in different ways the oxidative and hydrolytic processes in the oil.     

Chemical,Pharmacological, and in vitro Metabolic Stability Studies on Enantiomerically Pure RC‐33 Compounds: Promising Neuroprotective Agents Acting as σ1 Receptor Agonists

Our recent research efforts identified racemic RC‐33 as a potent and metabolically stable σ₁ receptor agonist. Herein we describe the isolation of pure RC‐33 enantiomers by chiral chromatography, assignment of their absolute configuration, and in vitro biological studies in order to address the role of chirality in the biological activity of these compounds and their metabolic processing. The binding of enantiopure RC‐33 to the σ₁ receptor was also investigated in silico by molecular dynamics simulations. Both RC‐33 enantiomers showed similar affinities for the σ₁ receptor and appeared to be almost equally effective as σ₁ receptor agonists. However, the R‐configured enantiomer showed higher in vitro hepatic metabolic stability in the presence of NADPH than the S enantiomer. Overall, the results presented herein led us to select (R)‐RC‐33 as the optimal candidate for further in vivo studies in an animal model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.     

Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Energetic Efficiency and Aging

Aging is associated with a progressive loss of maximal cell functionality, and mitochondria are considered a key factor in aging process, since they determine the ATP availability in the cells. Mitochondrial performance during aging in skeletal muscle is reported to be either decreased or unchanged. This heterogeneity of results could partly be due to the method used to assess mitochondrial performance. In addition, in skeletal muscle the mitochondrial population is heterogeneous, composed of subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar mitochondria. Therefore, the purpose of the present review is to summarize the results obtained on the functionality of the above mitochondrial populations during aging, taking into account that the mitochondrial performance depends on organelle number, organelle activity, and energetic efficiency of the mitochondrial machinery in synthesizing ATP from the oxidation of fuels.     

Selective Aryl α‐Diimine/Palladium‐Catalyzed Bis‐Alkoxy‐ carbonylation of Olefins for the Synthesis of Substituted Succinic Diesters

Aryl α‐diimine derivatives have been used, for the first time, as efficient new ligands for the palladium‐catalyzed oxidative bis‐alkoxycarbonylation reaction of olefins. The most active catalyst was formed in situ from bis(9‐anthryl)‐2,3‐dimethyl‐1,4‐diazabutadiene and palladium(II) trifluoroacetate [Pd(TFA)₂]. This catalytic system was able to selectively convert olefins into succinic diesters in good yields (up to 97%) and low catalyst loading (up to 0.5 mol%) under mild reaction conditions [4 bar of carbon monoxide (CO) at 20 °C in the presence of p‐toluenesulphonic acid as additive and p‐benzoquinone as oxidant]. The optimized conditions could be successfully applied to both aromatic and aliphatic olefins, by using methanol, benzyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol as nucleophiles.

     

Chiral Resolution and Pharmacological Characterization of the Enantiomers of the Hsp90 Inhibitor 2‐Amino‐7‐[4‐fluoro‐2‐(3‐pyridyl)phenyl]‐4‐methyl‐7,8‐dihydro‐6H‐quinazolin‐5‐one Oxime

Heat‐shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone involved in the stabilization of key oncogenic signaling proteins, and therefore, inhibition of Hsp90 represents a new strategy in cancer therapy. 2‐Amino‐7‐[4‐fluoro‐2‐(3‐pyridyl)phenyl]‐4‐methyl‐7,8‐dihydro‐6H‐quinazolin‐5‐one oxime is a racemic Hsp90 inhibitor that targets the N‐terminal adenosine triphosphatase site. We developed a method to resolve the enantiomers and evaluated their inhibitory activity on Hsp90 and the consequent antitumor effects. The (S) stereoisomer emerged as a potent Hsp90 inhibitor in biochemical and cellular assays. In addition, this enantiomer exhibited high oral bioavailability in mice and excellent antitumor activity in two different human cancer xenograft models.     

Multicomponent Cascade Reactions: A Novel and Expedient Approach to Functionalized Indoles by an Unprecedented Nucleophilic Addition‐Heterocyclization‐Oxidative Alkoxycarbonylation Sequence

A novel multicomponent cascade process is reported, based on the sequential combination between an initial nucleophilic attack step to an imine moiety and a palladium‐catalyzed oxidative heterocyclization‐alkoxycarbonylation process. By this new process, five simple molecules [2‐alkynylaniline imines, alcohol (ROH), carbon monoxide (CO), alcohol (ROH), and oxygen (O₂)] are sequentially activated, selectively leading to high value‐added functionalized indole derivatives in a single operation.