Peanut varieties with reduced Ara h 1 content indicating no reduced allergenicity

Peanut allergy is a major cause of food‐induced severe anaphylactic reactions. To date, no medical care is available to prevent and treat peanut allergy and therefore hypoallergenic peanut varieties are of considerable health political and economic interest. Major allergens that induce IgE‐responses in peanut‐sensitive patients are Ara h 1, Ara h 2 and Ara h 3/4. In order to identify hypoallergenic peanuts, commercially locally available peanut varieties were screened for their allergen content. Ara h 1‐deficient peanuts from Southeast Asia were identified by SDS‐PAGE, immunoblotting, inhibition assays and ELISA. 2‐D PAGE analyses demonstrated the different compositions of the tested extracts and revealed a number of variations of the allergen patterns of peanuts from different varieties. Mediator release experiments of these peanut extracts demonstrated similar allergenicities as compared with standard peanut extract. These results indicate that the allergenicity of peanuts with reduced Ara h 1 content might be compensated by the other allergens, and thus do not necessarily cause a reduction of allergenicity.     

Pyrolysis studies of organic oxygenates: 3. High temperature rearrangement of aryl alkyl ethers

Thermal chemistry pathways of aryl alkyl ethers have been investigated under coal conversion-like conditions. Anisole is a thermally reactive compound having an oxygen functionality found in such coal precursors as lignins. Pyrolysis of anisoles was carried out using small batch autoclaves. Under thermolysis conditions anisole yielded a product distribution strongly dependent upon experimental parameters. Phenol, methane, CO and benzaldehyde are the low molecular weight products and polyphenyls and polyethers are the predominant high molecular weight products. The generation of CO is explained by a high temperature rearrangement of the phenyl group from O- to C- followed by rapid thermal decarbonylation of the benzaldehyde. Carbon monoxide formation from aryl alkyl ethers can thus be an important mechanistic pathway in coal conversion processes. By investigating the rearrangement using para-fluoroanisole it was shown that this rearrangement proceeds via a three-centered intermediate to para-fluorobenzaldehyde. No meta isomer was observed.     

Sources of mercury wet deposition in Eastern Ohio, USA

In the fall of 2002, an enhanced air monitoring site was established in Steubenville, Ohio as part of a multi-year comprehensive mercury monitoring and source apportionment study to investigate the impact of local and regional coal combustion sources on atmospheric mercury deposition in the Ohio River Valley. This study deployed advanced monitoring instrumentation, utilized innovative analytical techniques, and applied state-of-the-art statistical receptor models. This paper presents wet deposition data and source apportionment modeling results from daily event precipitation samples collected during the calendar years 2003-2004. The volume-weighted mean mercury concentrations for 2003 and 2004 were 14.0 and 13.5 ng L(-1), respectively, and total annual mercury wet deposition was 13.5 and 19.7 microg m(-2), respectively. Two new EPA-implemented multivariate statistical models, positive matrix factorization (PMF) and Unmix, were applied to the data set and six sources were identified. The dominant contributor to the mercury wet deposition was found by both models to be coal combustion (approximately 70%). Meteorological analysis also indicated that a majority of the mercury deposition found at the Steubenville site was due to local and regional sources.     

Improved Sanitizing Treatments for Fresh Tomatoes

ABSTRACT:  Fresh tomatoes repeatedly have been associated with major outbreaks of salmonellosis; however, efforts to disinfect them with chlorine or other sanitizing agents have had only mixed success. Our objective was to determine whether hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) treatments would be more efficacious than conventional methods in disinfecting tomatoes containing human pathogens and, at the same time, be noninjurious to quality. Tomatoes were dip inoculated with Escherichia coli NRRL B-766 or a Salmonella cocktail and then held for 0, 24, or 48 h at 4 or 24 °C prior to treatment. Treatments included 200 ppm chlorine (Cl₂) at 20 °C for 3 min, water at 20 °C for 3 min or at 60 °C for 2 min, 1% H₂O₂ at 20 °C for 15 min or at 60 °C for 2 min, and 5% H₂O₂ at 60 °C for 2, 3, or 5 min. In tomatoes held 48 h postinoculation, the chlorine treatment was only marginally more effective than an equivalent water rinse in reducing the target bacterial population, while the hot water and 1% H₂O₂ treatments achieved reductions no greater than 1.3 logs. However, application of 5% H₂O₂ at 60 °C resulted in larger reductions. Efficacy of all treatments decreased as the time interval between inoculation and treatment increased. Greater reductions could not be achieved with 5% H₂O₂ at 60 °C by increasing the contact time or addition of surfactants, and these treatments caused some quality loss.     

Feasibility of Detecting Aflatoxin B1 on Inoculated Maize Kernels Surface using Vis/NIR Hyperspectral Imaging

The feasibility of using a visible/near‐infrared hyperspectral imaging system with a wavelength range between 400 and 1000 nm to detect and differentiate different levels of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) artificially titrated on maize kernel surface was examined. To reduce the color effects of maize kernels, image analysis was limited to a subset of original spectra (600 to 1000 nm). Residual staining from the AFB₁ on the kernels surface was selected as regions of interest for analysis. Principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to reduce the dimensionality of hyperspectral image data, and then a stepwise factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) was performed on latent PCA variables. The results indicated that discriminant factors F₂ can be used to separate control samples from all of the other groups of kernels with AFB₁ inoculated, whereas the discriminant factors F₁ can be used to identify maize kernels with levels of AFB₁ as low as 10 ppb. An overall classification accuracy of 98% was achieved. Finally, the peaks of β coefficients of the discrimination factors F₁ and F₂ were analyzed and several key wavelengths identified for differentiating maize kernels with and without AFB₁, as well as those with differing levels of AFB₁ inoculation. Results indicated that Vis/NIR hyperspectral imaging technology combined with the PCA–FDA was a practical method to detect and differentiate different levels of AFB₁ artificially inoculated on the maize kernels surface. However, indicated the potential to detect and differentiate naturally occurring toxins in maize kernel.     

Investigation on bonding quality of beech wood (Fagus orientalis L.) veneer during high temperature drying and aging

In the present study, the effects of high drying temperature and UV light induced aging on bonding quality of plywood manufactured from untreated and treated veneer layers were investigated. Rotary cut veneers with dimensions of 500 mm×500 mm×2 mm produced from beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) log were selected for topochemical, chemical and mechanical analyses. The veneer sheets were oven-dried at 100°C and 180°C after the peeling process. Afterwards, the surfaces were exposed to artificial UV irradiation in an UV chamber for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h representing natural sun irradiation of 2, 4 and 6 months, respectively. Topochemical distribution of lignin and phenolic extractives of the treated and untreated veneers was investigated on a cellular level using UV microspectrophotometry (UMSP). For the chemical characterization of accessory compounds high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used. Furthermore, the shear and bending strengths of plywood manufactured from the treated samples are determined in order to study the bonding quality. The UV microscopic detection shows that after high drying temperature and aging treatment, lignin condensation occurs. With increasing drying temperature and aging duration, more phenolic extractives are situated in parenchyma cells and vessel lumens which can be proved by increased absorbance at 278 nm. The HPLC analysis of the treated tissue showed distinct signals of polymerized compounds such as catechin and 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquinone which are chromophoric compounds in discolored beech wood. The mechanical properties of plywood showed that with increasing drying temperature up to 180°C does not negatively affect shear and bending strengths of samples. After exposure of the veneers to UV irradiation (especially 6 months), decreasing shear and bending strengths of plywood samples can be observed.     

Reversal shift preferences in process and reactive schizophrenic, brain-damaged, and control group patients.

Compared process and reactive schizophrenic, brain-damaged, and normal control groups (n = 34 each) in frequency of reversal shifts in discrimination learning using the optional-shift paradigm. The main hypothesis that reactive schizophrenics, like normal adults, would show a stronger preference for reversal shifts than would process Ss was supported. Results show that significantly more reactive (68%) than process (44%) Ss made reversal shifts. Significantly more brain-damaged and reactive schizophrenic Ss showed reversal shift preferences when color was learned initially rather than form, while such initial concept preferences were not found in the process schizophrenic or normal control Ss. Previous findings in discrimination learning with pathological groups are discussed in the context of these findings. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intradimensional reversal shift performance in brain-damaged and chronic alcoholic patients.

Examined impaired set-shifting behavior frequently reported in brain-damaged Ss. Using a simple E-paced, 2-choice, visual, intradimensional reversal shift task, samples of brain-damaged (n = 24), alcoholic (n = 28), and control (n = 24) male patients were compared on errors, reaction time, and behavioral impulsivity (finger lift before signal). Alcoholic Ss were not significantly different from controls on any of the measures. As expected, brain-damaged Ss had significantly more total errors, longer reaction times, and higher impulsivity scores than controls. Differences in errors appeared to be due to difficulty in maintaining the perceptual and motor set rather than in set shifting. The importance of investigating disruptions in set maintenance in the performance of brain-damaged Ss is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nature of visual recovery following posterior neodecortication in the hooded rat.

Subsequent to bilateral, single-stage posterior neodecortication, 32 male hooded rats were either retrained on a preoperatively-learned brightness discrimination, or trained on the reversal of the preoperatively-learned discrimination. Postoperative relearning was significantly retarded when the discrimination involved a reversal of the original discrimination. Results suggest that the preoperatively-established brightness habit is not exclusively localized in the neocortex and that postoperative recovery of the discrimination does not involve relearning a new and independent memory engram. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)