In vitro availability of minerals from oat products

The content of macroelements P, Mg and Ca and microelements Mn, Fe, Zn and Cu was determined in 10 commercially sold oat products made by different technological processes (dehulling, instantinising, extrusion, flaking). Phosphorus was the most prevalent of the macroelements (from 240.8 ± 2.2 to 845.5 ± 8.1 mg per 100 g), followed by magnesium (from 73.2 ± 0.7 to 271.9 ± 2.7 mg per 100 g) and calcium (from 30.69 ± 0.01 to 112.7 ± 0.3 mg per 100 g). The Ca/P ratio ranged from 1:5.3 in crushed oat to 1:8.2 in oat flakes. Regarding the microelements, manganese was present at the highest concentrations (from 2.62 ± 0.02 to 8.69 ± 0.01 mg per 100 g). The content of iron was similar and that of zinc not much lower, whereas the amount of copper was considerably smaller (from 0.23 ± 0.002 to 0.59 ± 0.002 mg per 100 g). The highest concentrations of mineral elements were found in instant oat bran flakes and the lowest in extruded oat and corn crisps containing 50% corn grouts. Samples of the products analysed were subjected to in vitro enzymatic digestion, simulating the digestive process occurring in the human alimentary tract. The supernatants thus obtained were analysed for their content of the previously determined mineral components; the percentage of minerals released from the products was calculated. The following sequence of mineral components released was observed: Cu (57.2–95.6%) > P (39.7–60.9%) > Ca (18.2–39.5%) > Mg (16.4–39.8%) > Mn (6.4–24.7%) > Fe (6.5–29%) > Zn (11–17.2%). The Ca/P ratio in the supernatant worsened from 1:8.2 in crushed oat to 1:23.3 in extruded oat and corn crisps. Crushed oat released the highest amounts of mineral elements during enzymatic hydrolysis, with oat grouts coming second. As regards the other products, it is difficult to establish their relative sequence in the release of minerals. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Bond strength of polymer lightweight aggregate concrete

Bond strength, physical, and mechanical properties of lightweight PC were investigated with inclusion of pumice lightweight aggregate in maximum size of 12 mm. As binder material, epoxy resin‐based polymer was used with its hardener. The binder to aggregate ratio was 30% by weight. In addition, steel fibers were added to lightweight PC mixtures in ratio of 0, 0.5, and 1%. After lightweight PC mixture was prepared, it was poured in the molds with different type of steel‐bars in size of 100 × 100 × 100 mm³. The steel‐bars centered in the cubic molds, and they were in size of Ø12, Ø14, and Ø16. The specimens were cured at 60°C for 2 h. On the hardened polymer lightweight concrete (PLC), pull‐out test for bond strength and compressive strength tests were performed. Moreover, ultrasonic pulse velocity, water absorption by weight, specific porosity, and density experiments were carried out. The relation between physical and mechanical properties showed that PLCs become more durable when using ratio of steel fibers. POLYM. COMPOS., 34:2125–2132, 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Examining the relationship between multiple internalized oppressions and African American lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning persons' self-esteem and psychological distress.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 56(2) of Journal of Counseling Psychology (see record 2009-04542-008). The DOI was incorrect. The correct DOI is 10.1037/a0013317.] Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) persons come from diverse cultural groups with diverse racial and ethnic identities. However, most research on LGBQ persons has used primarily White samples, and most research on African Americans has used largely heterosexual samples. Thus, research has largely failed to attend to and investigate the complexity of African American LGBQ persons' experiences. This study examined the relations between multiple internalized oppressions and African American sexual minority persons' self-esteem and psychological distress. Results indicated that when examined together, internalized racism and internalized heterosexism (also known as internalized homophobia) were both significant negative predictors of self-esteem, but only internalized heterosexism was a unique positive predictor of psychological distress. The interaction of internalized racism and internalized heterosexism was not a significant predictor of self-esteem or psychological distress. Finally, the authors' findings indicate that self-esteem partially mediates the relationship between internalized heterosexism and psychological distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thermal and flow effects during adsorption in conventional,diluted and annular packed beds

Previous investigations have shown a complex combination of thermal and flow effects during adsorption in highly loaded, narrow packed beds. Respective conditions were realized by packing relatively large zeolite particles in a narrow tube (which causes wall channelling) and adsorbing water vapour from air on the particles (which is highly exothermic). The present work extends the investigation to novel column configurations with purposely altered conditions of heat generation and flow—namely to diluted beds, annular beds and beds consisting of coated particles. Experimental results obtained by near infrared tomography are compared with the results of breakthrough experiments in conventional columns and with numerical calculations. The latter are conducted with a non-isothermal, two-dimensional model that not only considers the increase of porosity and flow velocity near the tube wall, but also expresses the effective transport coefficients as functions of the radial coordinate. The model provides reasonable accuracy under conditions for which the usual plug-flow assumption is questionable.     

Role of HMOX1 Promoter Genetic Variants in Chemoresistance and Chemotherapy Induced Neutropenia in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Whilst the survival rates of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have increased remarkably over the last decades, the therapy resistance and toxicity are still the major causes of treatment failure. It was shown that overexpression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) promotes proliferation and chemoresistance of cancer cells. In humans, the HO-1 gene (HMOX1) expression is modulated by two polymorphisms in the promoter region: (GT)n-length polymorphism and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) A(−413)T, with short GT repeat sequences and 413-A variants linked to an increased HO-1 inducibility. We found that the short alleles are significantly more frequent in ALL patients in comparison to the control group, and that their presence may be associated with a higher risk of treatment failure, reflecting the role of HO-1 in chemoresistance. We also observed that the presence of short alleles may predispose to develop chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. In case of SNP, the 413-T variant co-segregated with short or long alleles, while 413-A almost selectively co-segregated with long alleles, hence it is not possible to determine if SNPs are actually of phenotypic significance. Our results suggest that HO-1 can be a potential target to overcome the treatment failure in ALL patients.