Photocatalytic Degradation of Butanol in Aqueous Solutions by TiO2 Nanofibers

Removal of butanol from aqueous solutions was studied using both custom made and commercial TiO₂ photocatalysts. The custom made photocatalytic materials were nanofibers of titanium dioxide doped with nitrogen and subsequently decorated with nanoparticles of platinum or palladium. Pd-decorated photocatalysts were found to be highly efficient in the degradation of butanol under UV-A irradiation compared to Pt-decorated nanofibers or to commercial Degussa P25.     

Differences in Vole Preference, Secondary Chemistry and Nutrient Levels Between Naturally Regenerated and Planted Norway Spruce Seedlings

Field voles (Microtus agrestis) cause severe damage to young Norway spruce (Picea abies) plantations during wintertime in Fennoscandia. We experimentally investigated vole preference for winter-dormant, naturally regenerated seedlings; spring-planted seedlings; or autumn-planted seedlings; and how preference corresponds with seedling chemistry. Voles showed the highest preference for autumn-planted seedlings and the second highest for spring-planted seedlings, while naturally regenerated seedlings were avoided. The stems of the autumn-planted seedlings contained higher concentrations of nitrogen and piperidine alkaloids and lower concentrations of stilbenes than did the other groups. In addition to differences between naturally regenerated and planted seedlings, we investigated seasonal differences in naturally regenerated P. abies needle and bark secondary chemistry. While piperidine alkaloid concentrations did not vary with season, the soluble non-tannin phenolics of needles and the condensed tannins of bark were lower in May than in November or January. At the time of planting, the concentration of bark piperidine alkaloids was higher in autumn-planted than in spring-planted seedlings. We detected two alkaloids not previously found in P. abies, 2-methyl-6-propyl-1,6-piperideine and a tentatively identified pinidine-isomer. Our results demonstrate that vole choice of spruce seedlings is promoted by high nitrogen and low stilbene content, both associated with seedlings planted late in the season. As vole damage is linked to seedling chemistry, damage potentially could be mitigated by advancing planting or by manipulating plant chemistry in nurseries.     

Trapping the food safety performance of a small or medium-sized food company using a risk-based model. The HYGRAM system

The requirements of implementing Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles in food production are increasing. A practical risk quantification model, HYGRAM, was developed for small and medium-sized enterprises to meet this challenge. The model makes the user familiar with the HACCP principles by software-assisted guidance through the procedure, connecting special microbiological hazards, good hygiene practice, and other prerequisite programs to HACCP. HYGRAM is a tool to analyze and quantify risks of different processes, and to compare them. It is developed to relieve enterprises with limited resources in confirming the food safety of their production.     

A Review of Employee Well‐Being and Innovativeness: An Opportunity for a Mutual Benefit

By drawing on the Job Demands and Resources Model, this review article develops a conceptual framework to advance theoretical understanding of the relationship between job‐related demands and resources, employee well‐being and innovativeness. In conditions characterized by too high levels of demands, employees may suffer from burnout. When job resources are high, they are likely to feel engaged with their work. Burnout in turn can be seen as an inhibitor of innovativeness, and work engagement as an antecedent to innovativeness, mediating the effects of resources and demands at work on innovativeness. We further argue that innovativeness can function as a resource or a demand, depending on how it is managed. In addition to understanding the dual role of innovativeness, the identification of job‐specific demands and resources is central to supporting employee well‐being and, subsequently, innovativeness. The implications of the proposed conceptual framework for academic researchers and managers are discussed.     

A low-noise BiCMOS amplifier channel for telecommunications

A low-noise low-pass amplifier channel designed for telecommunications is described. The channel has an 80-kHz corner frequency and total dynamic range of 94 dB. To achieve the high dynamic range, the amplifier channel is constructed with a BiCMOS process and a relative high supply voltage of ±8V is used. To further increase the dynamic range, the baseband amplifier has two branches, a low gain (A = 29 dB) and a high gain (A = 73 dB) branch, comprising a common continuous-time preamplifier and separate antialias filters, switchedcapacitor filters, and postamplifiers. Differential signal processing is used to reduce the effect of common-mode disturbances.     

Blanching and long‐term freezing affect various bioactive compounds of vegetables in different ways

An extensive study on the effects of blanching/freezing and long‐term freezer storage on various bioactive compounds of more than 20 commonly used vegetables was performed. Effects were strongly plant species‐dependent. Contents of dietary fibre components either were not affected or increased slightly. Minerals in general were also stable, but some losses of soluble minerals by leaching were observed. Phenolic antioxidants and vitamins were clearly more sensitive. Significant losses (20–30%) of antioxidant activity and total phenolics were detected in many vegetables. A qualitative HPLC profiling method for phenolic antioxidants was developed which proved to be very useful when evaluating the complex behaviour of phenolics during food processing. Up to one‐third of vitamin C contents were lost during blanching, and further slight losses were detected during storage. Folic acid turned out to be very sensitive to blanching, with more than half of the vitamin being lost, but was stable during freezer storage. Carotenoids and sterols were not affected by blanching or freezer storage. The usefulness of the applied screening methods for evaluation of the effects of processing on vegetables is shown. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Anthocyanins increase low-density lipoprotein and plasma cholesterol and do not reduce atherosclerosis in Watanabe Heritable Hyperlipidemic rabbits

Anthocyanin-rich beverages have shown beneficial effects on coronary heart disease in epidemiological and intervention studies. In the present study, we investigated the effect of black currant anthocyanins on atherosclerosis. Watanabe Heritable Hyperlipidemic rabbits (n = 61) were fed either a purified anthocyanin fraction from black currants, a black currant juice, probucol or control diet for 16 weeks. Purified anthocyanins significantly increased plasma cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Intake of black currant juice had no effect on total plasma cholesterol, but lowered very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol significantly. There were no significant effects of either purified anthocyanins or black currant juice on aortic cholesterol or development of atherosclerosis after 16 weeks. Probucol had no effect on plasma cholesterol but significantly lowered VLDL-cholesterol and decreased aortic cholesterol accumulation. The erythrocyte antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase was significantly increased by purified anthocyanins and superoxide dismutase was increased by both anthocyanin-containing treatments. Other markers of plasma antioxidant capacity, antioxidant enzymes, protein and lipid oxidation were not affected by any of the anthocyanin treatments. Adverse effects of purified anthocyanins were observed on plasma- and LDL-cholesterol. These effects were not observed with black currant juice, suggesting that black currants may contain components reducing the adverse effects of anthocyanins.     

Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Anthocyanins from Black Currant Marc

This paper reports on the process optimization study of anthocyanin extraction from black currant marc by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) using acidic solvents. Maximum yields of anthocyanins were achieved at pH?2 with an extraction time of 10 min with a microwave power of 700 W. The anthocyanin yields in MAE were compared with those obtained by conventional solvent extraction (CE) using citric or hydrochloric acids, and citric acid and water with a sulfur concentration of 50 ppm. A significant reduction of extraction time was achieved using MAE; maximum anthocyanin yield was obtained after 10 min using MAE, while using CE only after 300 min. Furthermore, the amount of solvent used halved; the mass ratio of marc to solvent was 1:40 in CE and 1:20 in MAE. Additionally, the final anthocyanin concentration in the solvent phase of MAE increased by 20 % compared to the conventional extraction with hydrochloric acid at pH?2 and temperature of 80 °C. The results suggest that microwave-assisted extraction is a more efficient technique for the extraction of valuable compounds from black currant residue.     

Fluorescence spectroscopy as a novel approach for the assessment of myofibrillar protein oxidation in oil-in-water emulsions

The oxidation of oil-in-water emulsions (37 °C/10 days) containing increasing levels of myofibrillar proteins (MP) (0.5%, 1% and 2% on the basis of lipid content) was investigated. Protein oxidation was assessed by measuring the loss of natural tryptophan fluorescence and the increase in fluorescent protein oxidation products (FP) using fluorescence spectroscopy. Lipid oxidation was simultaneously analysed by measuring the increase of conjugated dienes (CD) and hexanal. The oxidative degradation of tryptophan residues occurred as an early event in MP oxidation whereas FP formed later as secondary protein oxidation products. The shift of the tryptophan maximum fluorescence emission wavelength during oxidation provided information about the location of oxidising tryptophan residues. Emulsions with higher concentrations of MP displayed higher tryptophan fluorescence and yielded a higher amount of FP. MP acted as inhibitors of lipid oxidation because emulsions with higher MP contents contained lower levels of CD and hexanal. Significant negative correlations were found between tryptophan fluorescence and CD, reflecting the timely interaction between primary lipid oxidation products and protein oxidation. Both spectrophotometric techniques were useful although the loss of tryptophan fluorescence is more reliable since it is a specific measurement which is not affected by the presence of other fluorescent protein oxidation products.