Determination of the oil content in olives by the DSC technique

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used to determine the oil content in dried olive pulp of Cassanese and Carolea tree cultivars and to follow their inoliation trends from September to January. DSC was performed by cooling samples of olive dried pulp from -10 to -60vv°C at 1vv°C/min and the amount of oil calculated from the peak area obtained. The enthalpy and temperature range of the crystallization peak for the pure oil were 61 J/g and -34 to -40vv°C for the first cultivar and 54 J/g and -35 to -42vv°C for the second one. The proposed DSC method is fast, specific, and reliable. It does not use solvents, requires smaller samples (<100 mg) than conventional solvent methods, and can detect real absence of water in the sample.     

The treatment and reuse of wastewater in the textile industry by means of ozonation and electroflocculation

Two different oxidation treatments, ozonation and electroflocculation, were experimented on a pilot scale to test their efficiency in removing polluting substances from wastewaters of textile industries. Both pilot plants used reproduced very closely a full-scale treatment in order to obtain indications about the feasibility of a transfer on industrial scale. By means of ozone treatment very high colour removal (95-99%) was achieved and treated waters were reused satisfactorily in dyeing even with light colours. This evidence despite the fact that the chemical oxygen demand of treated waters was still in a range (75-120 mg/l, a decrease up to 60%) that was usually considered to be too high for recycling purposes, especially for dyeing light colours. Treating plants working at the above-mentioned conditions should guarantee low operating costs. A biological pre-treatment and a sand filtration are absolutely essential. The transfer on industrial scale of the treatment is currently under development under an already financed European project. Electrochemical treatment showed to be very efficient in removing colour (80-100%) and chemical oxygen demand (70-90%). Moreover, a sensible decrease of chloride and sulphate ions was detected. Removal of flocculated material (post-treatment) must be, however, perfected in order to establish a correct costs-to-benefits ratio and therefore, propose an implementation of the technique on an industrial scale.     

Development of a solder material process to relieve the plastic constraint associated with thin joints

High aspect ratio (large diameter/thickness) solder joints which are plastically constrained develop large hydrostatic stresses (Friction Hill) greatly in excess of their yield strength. Because the local high triaxial stresses arising from the Friction Hill prevent homogeneous yielding and, in a strain controlled system, will localize plastic deformation within the regions near free surfaces, abrupt brittle fracture through an intermetallic or along an interface can occur. In such situations, the service life of the joint during fatigue situations such as thermal cycling will be greatly reduced. The prevention of triaxial stress build up within such a strain controlled environment which can occur in, for example, leadless chip carrier solder joints requires a distribution of internal free surfaces within the joint. The solder system developed in this study is a thin porous metal film with a regular distribution of pores. The solder material is formed from the usual components, tin and lead. Small lead or tin particles are coated with a thin film of the other component, mixed with flux paste, and the temperature is raised to just above the eutectic temperature. Solid state diffusion occurs across the lead-tin interface until its composition reaches the melting point. The particles then are interconnected by a thin near eutectic liquid film. Additional metal from the solid particle dissolves into the liquid increasing its position and, thus its melting point. Diffusion into the liquid continues until it solidifies isothermally. This forms an interconnecting network of solder “mini-elements” with a dense pore structure.     

Use of the Beck Anxiety Inventory with adolescent psychiatric outpatients

The Beck Anxiety Inventory was administered to 105 outpatients between 13 and 17 years old who were diagnosed with various types of psychiatric disorders. A principal factor analysis was performed, and two factors were found representing subjective and somatic symptoms of anxiety. The item compositions of these factors were comparable to those previously described for adolescent inpatients. The results are discussed as supporting the use of the inventory for evaluating self-reported anxiety in outpatient adolescents.     

Thermally obtained poly [4.4″ (p-terphenylene)-amide]

A comparison between the poly [4,4″ (p-terphenylene) amide] obtained from: (1) solid-state polycondensation of the 4-amino-4″-carboxy-p-terphenyl and (2) melt polycondensation of the 4-amino-4″-carbomethoxy-p-terphenyl has been made. As revealed from the thermogravimetric experiments conducted under linear programmation of temperature, i.r. and X-ray analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electrical conductivity measurements, the melt obtained polyamide shows a good thermal stability up to 410°C, thereafter undergoes a degradation reaction. The solid-state obtained polyamide is quite stable up to the temperature of 350°C, after which it suffers a crosslinking reaction with formation of a product that is heat resistant at least up to 470°C.     

Growth of YLF:Yb:Tm:Nd for optical applications

The focus of this study is the behavior of Tm, Yb and Nd ions in the LiYF₄ (YLF) crystal. One YLF crystal was successfully grown by the Czochralski method; it was doped with 20 mol% Yb, 1.3 mol% Nd and 0.05 mol% Tm. The segregation coefficients of the dopants and lattice parameters were determined. The spectroscopic properties of samples with different amounts of Nd were obtained from absorption and emission studies.     

Results from raw milk microbiological tests do not predict the shelf-life performance of commercially pasteurized fluid milk

Analytical tools that accurately predict the performance of raw milk following its manufacture into commercial food products are of economic interest to the dairy industry. To evaluate the ability of currently applied raw milk microbiological tests to predict the quality of commercially pasteurized fluid milk products, samples of raw milk and 2% fat pasteurized milk were obtained from 4 New York State fluid milk processors for a 1-yr period. Raw milk samples were examined using a variety of tests commonly applied to raw milk, including somatic cell count, standard plate count, psychrotrophic bacteria count, ropy milk test, coliform count, preliminary incubation count, laboratory pasteurization count, and spore pasteurization count. Differential and selective media were used to identify groups of bacteria present in raw milk. Pasteurized milk samples were held at 6°C for 21 d and evaluated for standard plate count, coliform count, and sensory quality throughout shelf-life. Bacterial isolates from select raw and pasteurized milk tests were identified using 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing. Linear regression analysis of raw milk test results versus results reflecting pasteurized milk quality consistently showed low R² values (<0.45); the majority of R² values were <0.25, indicating small relationship between the results from the raw milk tests and results from tests used to evaluate pasteurized milk quality. Our findings suggest the need for new raw milk tests that measure the specific biological barriers that limit shelf-life and quality of fluid milk products.     

Allethrin Promotes Apoptosis and Autophagy Associated with the Oxidative Stress-Related PI3K/AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathway in Developing Rat Ovaries

The increased concern regarding the reduction in female fertility and the impressive numbers of women undergoing fertility treatment support the existence of environmental factors beyond inappropriate programming of developing ovaries. Among these factors are pyrethroids, which are currently some of the most commonly used pesticides worldwide. The present study was performed to investigate the developmental effects of the pyrethroid-based insecticide allethrin on ovarian function in rat offspring in adulthood. We mainly focused on the roles of oxidative stress, apoptosis, autophagy and the related pathways in ovarian injury. Thirty-day-old Wistar albino female rats were intragastrically administered 0 (control), 34.2 or 68.5 mg/kg body weight allethrin after breeding from Day 6 of pregnancy until delivery. We found that allethrin-induced ovarian histopathological damage was accompanied by elevations in oxidative stress and apoptosis. Interestingly, the number of autophagosomes in allethrin-treated ovaries was higher, and this increase was correlated with the upregulated expression of genes and proteins related to the autophagic marker LC-3. Furthermore, allethrin downregulated the expression of PI3K, AKT and mTOR in allethrin-treated ovaries compared with control ovaries. Taken together, the findings of this study suggest that exposure to the pyrethroid-based insecticide allethrin adversely affects both the follicle structure and function in rat offspring during adulthood. Specifically, allethrin can induce excessive oxidative stress and defective autophagy-related apoptosis, probably through inactivation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, and these effects may contribute to ovarian dysfunction and impaired fertility in female offspring.