Selectivity and antimicrobial action of bovine lactoferrin derived peptides against wine lactic acid bacteria

In this study, the antibacterial activities of a bovine Lactoferrin pepsin hydrolysate (LFH) and a synthetic peptide derived from bovine lactoferricin (LfcinB_17–31) have been evaluated against Oenococcus oeni and three additional lactic acid bacteria (LAB) known to cause spoilage during winemaking processes. Inhibition of bacterial growth was demonstrated in vitro in synthetic broth media (MRS) for both LFH and LfcinB_17–31. The bactericidal activity of the synthetic peptide was also assayed and found to vary depending on the bacterial species and the matrix in which exposure to peptide occurred (either MRS broth or white must). Specificity of LfcinB_17–31 for Lactobacillus brevis, Pediococcus damnosus, and O. oeni was demonstrated in must fermentation experiments in which these three LAB co-existed with the winemaking Saccharomyces cerevisiae T73 in the presence of the peptide. Finally, fermentation experiments also showed that LfcinB_17–31 at inhibitory concentrations did not alter either fermentation kinetics or specific enological parameters.     

Storage stability of pineapple slices preserved by combined methods

Storage stability during 3 months was evaluated for pineapple slices preserved by combined methods (blanching for 1 min with saturated vapour, a_w reduction by osmotic concentration in sucrose syrup, pH reduction by addition of citric acid, and the addition of 1000 parts per million (ppm) of potassium sorbate and 150 ppm of sodium bisulphite). Pineapple slices were microbiologically sound and their moisture content, °Brix, pH and a_w remained almost constant during storage with mean values of 71.8%, 26.1, 3.65 and 0.978, respectively. Total sulphite and potassium sorbate concentrations of the pineapple slices were reduced during storage at 5 and 25 °C, being final concentrations 51% and 38% and 63% and 48% of the initial concentrations, respectively. Colour, texture and sensory evaluation revealed that there were no significant (P < 0.05) changes between samples stored at 5 or 25 °C. Good overall acceptability (initial mean score 7.21) of preserved pineapple slices even after 3 months storage at 25 °C (final mean score 7.02) was observed.     

Assessing the sustainability of Brazilian oleaginous crops – possible raw material to produce biodiesel

The aim of this paper is to make an emergy assessment of oleaginous crops cultivated in Brazil, available to produce biodiesel, in order to determine which crop is the most sustainable. This study evaluates conventional agro-chemical farms that produce rapeseed (canola), oil palm, soybean, sunflower and cotton. Rapeseed (canola) crop uses 40.41% of renewable energy and it is the most sustainable conventional oil crop; on the other hand, it is not widely produced in Brazil, probably due to climate restrictions or low market demand. The oil palm emergy indicators are contradictory: its emergy exchange ratio (EER) value is the lower, showing the possibility of fair exchange, and the low transformity value indicates high efficiency; however, it also has low renewability (28.31%), indicating a high dependency on agro-chemicals (basically fertilizers). Oil palm is a potential energy source due to its high agricultural productivity, but appropriate management is necessary to increase its sustainability and reduce the use of non-renewable resources.     

Integration of a cogeneration unit into a kraft pulping process

The integration of cogeneration with other measures that impact the power production capacity in a Canadian Kraft pulping mill is studied. Those measures are removal of pressure reduction valves, adjustment of the steam pressure level, biomass boiler capacity, and reduction in process energy demand. CADSIM Plus software is used to simulate the cogeneration plant. The dynamic behavior of the process during start-up and its effect on electricity generation are also considered. It is shown that by replacing the PRVs with turbines, 14.4 MW of power can be generated. Moreover, by implementing cogeneration units and process measures to recover 23% of internal energy, 44.5 MW of electricity can be generated in addition to shutting down the existing bunker oil boiler. Therefore, implementation of cogeneration in the pulp and paper industry is technically possible and it offers significant economic advantages. A cost analysis of the complete project gives a simple payback time of less than a year.     

Underlying mechanisms in the relationship between Africentric worldview and depressive symptoms.

This study examines underlying mechanisms in the relationship between an Africentric worldview and depressive symptoms. Participants were 112 African American young adults. An Africentric worldview buffered the association between perceived stress and depressive symptoms. The relationship between an Africentric worldview and depressive symptoms was mediated by perceived stress and emotion-focused coping. These findings highlight the protective function of an Africentric worldview in the context of African Americans’ stress experiences and psychological health and offer promise for enhancing African American mental health service delivery and treatment interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal control, cognitive style, and childhood anxiety: A test of a theoretical model in a multi-ethnic sample.

This study tested a theoretical model of the interrelations among controlling parenting, negative cognitive styles, children's anxiety, and race/ethnicity. The model suggests that, in general, cognitive style mediates the relation between maternal control and child anxiety but that the set of associations may differ as a function of ethnicity. African American (n = 235), Latin American (n = 56), and European American (n = 136) children completed measures of their anxiety, cognitive schemas reflecting impaired autonomy/performance and disconnection/rejection domains, and maternal control. Results indicated that a disconnection/rejection negative cognitive style mediated the effect of perceived maternal control on childhood anxiety only for the European American group. Maternal control was associated with the impaired autonomy/performance cognitive style for each of the three ethnic groups and with a disconnection/rejection cognitive style only for the European American and Latin American groups. Maternal control had an indirect effect on anxiety through the disconnection/rejection cognitive style for the Latin American group. The results are discussed in terms of how the model presented extends current theories of anxiety problems to African American and Latin American children by noting that significant cultural variations may exist in how parenting practices and cognitive styles relate to children's anxiety levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Closed-Form Solutions for Buckling of Long Anisotropic Plates with Various Boundary Conditions under Axial Compression

Closed-form solutions for buckling of long plates with flexural/twist anisotropy with the short edges simply supported and with the longitudinal edges simply supported, clamped, or elastically restrained in rotation under axial compression are presented. An energy method (Rayleigh–Ritz) is employed to obtain the critical buckling loads. The critical buckling loads are expressed in terms of minimum nondimensional buckling coefficients and stiffness parameters. The new closed-form solutions show an excellent agreement when compared to existing solutions and finite-element analysis. Due to their simplicity and accuracy, the new closed-form solutions can be confidently used as an alternative to computationally expensive structural analysis to assess buckling in the preliminary design phase of composite structures.     

Determination of heat flow shape factors for hollow, regular polygonal prisms

Steady state heat flow in domains of regular polygonal shape with inner circular boundaries is analyzed. The method of conformal mapping is used and an approximate expression is derived for the shape factor.     

Regulation of protein binding toward a ligand on chromatographic matrixes by masking and forced-releasing effects using thermoresponsive polymer

A novel concept of affinity regulation based on masking and forced-releasing effects using a thermoresponsive polymer was elucidated. Affinity chromatographic matrixes were prepared using either poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate) or poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate) beads immobilized with ligand molecule, Cibacron Blue F3G-A (CB), together with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm), a polymer with a cloud point of 32 degrees C. Two different lengths of spacer molecules were used for the immobilization of CB while maintaining the PIPAAm size constant. Chromatographic analyses using bovine serum albumin as a model protein showed a clear correlation between spacer length and binding capacity at temperatures lower than the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of PIPAAm. The binding capacity under the LCST was significantly reduced only when the calculated spacer length was shorter than the mean size of the extended PIPAAm. Furthermore, the adsorbed protein could be desorbed (released) from the matrix surface by lowering the temperature to below the LCST while maintaining other factors such as pH and ion strength. Selective recovery of human albumin from human sera was demonstrated using this newly developed thermoresponsive affinity column.