Optimization of osmotic dehydration of diced green peppers by response surface methodology

Osmotic dehydration of diced green peppers was optimized with respect to temperature (20-40 °C), time (15-600 min), salt (0-10 g/100 g) and sorbitol (0-10 g/100 g) concentrations through response surface methodology. Water loss (WL), solids gain (SG), salt uptake (SA) and sorbitol uptake (SO) were the responses in a 2⁴ central composite rotatable design. Models developed for all responses were significant (p ≤ 0.01) without significant lack of fit. Results suggested that optimum processing conditions of 5.5 g salt/100 g and 6 g sorbitol/100 g at 30 °C after 240 min would result in WL = 23.3%, SG = 4.1%, SA = 8 g/100 g dry pepper and SO = 2.4 g/100 ml extract.     

Detection of adulteration of extra-virgin olive oil by chemometric analysis of mid-infrared spectral data

This study focuses on the detection and quantification of extra-virgin olive oil adulteration with different edible oils using mid-infrared (IR) spectroscopy with chemometrics. Mid-IR spectra were manipulated with wavelet compression previous to principal component analysis (PCA). Detection limit of adulteration was determined as 5% for corn–sunflower binary mixture, cottonseed and rapeseed oils. For quantification of adulteration, mid-IR spectral data were manipulated with orthogonal signal correction (OSC) and wavelet compression before partial least square (PLS) analysis. The results revealed that models predict the adulterants, corn–sunflower binary mixture, cottonseed and rapeseed oils, in olive oil with error limits of 1.04, 1.4 and 1.32, respectively. Furthermore, the data were analysed with a general PCA model and PLS discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to observe the efficiency of the model to detect adulteration regardless of the type of adulterant oil. In this case, detection limit for adulteration is determined as 10%.     

Beneficial effects of dexamethasone in children with pneumococcal meningitis

Fifty-six children older than 2 years with meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae were enrolled in a prospective, double blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of dexamethasone therapy in addition to antimicrobial therapy. Twenty-nine of 56 received dexamethasone (0.6 mg/kg/day iv, divided into 4 daily doses for 4 days) and the remaining 27 received placebo. At the beginning of therapy the clinical and laboratory characteristics of the patients in the treatment groups were comparable, except for the Glasgow coma score (P = 0.004), which was lower in the dexamethasone group. Patients were examined daily during hospitalization and 6 weeks after discharge from the hospital. Hearing was assessed 6 weeks after discharge by means of pure tone audiometry. Two patients in the dexamethasone group and one patient in the placebo group died. There were no differences between the two groups with regard to the duration of fever, the incidence of secondary fever and electrolyte imbalance, seizure activities occurring during hospitalization and rash. Although the differences were statistically insignificant, moderate or severe unilateral or bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at 6 weeks and the overall neurologic sequelae, including hearing loss, at 1 year were higher in the placebo group, at 23% vs. 7.4% (P = 0.11) and 26.9% vs. 7.4% (P = 0.062), respectively. At 3 months after discharge, because of the improvement in hearing loss in one dexamethasone-treated patient the incidence of hearing impairment was significantly less than that in the placebo group, at 3.7% vs. 23%, respectively (P = 0.044). No improvement in hearing loss was observed after 3 months.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Evaluation and measurement of magnetic field exposure at a typical high-voltage substation and its power lines

This study presents a survey of magnetic field measurements including those resulting from 380/154 kV power substations, which play a vital role in human body biological studies. The survey was carried out in the main power substation of Antalya, Turkey, located at the suburban region of the city, under actual loads. The paper also presents the actual magnetic field strength measured near the 380/154 kV substation and power transmission lines (380 and 154 kV) connecting to the substation. Since most part of these lines pass through a residential area, they have been included in the study, and the actual magnetic field variation around them has been investigated by comparative analysis of measured data. For the occupants working at substations, occupational exposure has been analysed with actual magnetic fields at operating locations. Induced internal electric fields and current densities in the occupants' body due to exposure to external magnetic fields produced by a conventional 380/154 kV power substation have been investigated.     

Phenolic Characterization and Geographical Classification of Commercial Extra Virgin Olive Oils Produced in Turkey

The aim of this research was to characterize the extra virgin olive oil samples from different locations in the Aegean coastal area of Turkey in terms of their phenolic compositions for two consecutive years to show the classification of oil samples with respect to harvest year and geography. Forty seven commercial olive oil samples were analyzed with HPLC–DAD, and 17 phenolic compounds were quantified. Hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, cinnamic acid, luteolin and apigenin were the characteristic phenols observed in all oil samples for two harvest years. Syringic acid, vanillin and m-coumaric acid were the phenolic compounds appeared in the olive oil depending on the harvest year. Partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) of data revealed that oils from the north Aegean and south Aegean areas had different phenolic profiles. The phenolic compounds, which played significant roles in the discrimination of the olive oils, were tyrosol, oleuropein aglycon, cinnamic acid, apigenin and hydroxytyrosol to tyrosol ratio. The Aegean coastal region is the largest olive oil producer and exporter of Turkey. This study shows that the olive oils from different parts of the region have their own defining characteristics that can be used in the authentication studies and geographical labeling of Turkish olive oils.     

Evaluation of additively manufactured ultraperformance polymers to use as thermal protection systems for spacecraft

In this study, high-temperature thermoplastic polymers were three-dimensional (3D) printed and evaluated for ablation performances for the first time. The purpose of this study is to fabricate, test, and evaluate several ultraperformance thermoplastics, including polyetherimide (PEI), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), and poly(ether ketone ketone) (PEKK) for thermal, flammability, and ablation properties using fused filament fabrication. Among all tested materials, PEKK exhibit the highest char yield while the two PEEKs exhibit the highest decomposition temperature. Although PEI have the lowest onset decomposition temperature, microscale combustion calorimetry results indicate that it has the lowest heat release properties. For the 15 s oxyacetylene test bed (OTB) ablation test, all five materials experienced various amount of intumescent or swelling behavior. Samples after 30 s test experienced greater mass loss among which PEKK and ULTEM 9085 shows the highest char yield. Scanning electron microscopy microstructural analysis of the char and pyrolysis zones reveal highly porous char structures caused by the rapid generation of the volatile decomposition products. To fully exploit the experimental data provided by the OTB, the flowfield generated during aerothermal testing using this heat source was modeled. Computational fluid dynamics analysis using Ansys/Fluent 19.1 code was used to the heat transfer between the ablative surface and the combustion gases generated by the OTB and compared with experimental results.     

Structural-Response Analysis,Fatigue-Life Prediction,and Material Selection for 1 MW Horizontal-Axis Wind-Turbine Blades

The problem of mechanical design, performance prediction (e.g., flap-wise/edge-wise bending stiffness, fatigue-controlled life, the extent of bending-to-torsion coupling), and material selection for a prototypical 1 MW horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) blade is investigated using various computer-aided engineering tools. For example, a computer program was developed which can automatically generate both a geometrical model and a full finite-element input deck for a given single HAWT-blade with a given airfoil shape, size, and the type and position of the interior load-bearing longitudinal beam/shear-webs. In addition, composite-material laminate lay-up can be specified and varied in order to obtain a best combination of the blade aerodynamic efficiency and longevity. A simple procedure for HAWT-blade material selection is also developed which attempts to identify the optimal material candidates for a given set of functional requirements, longevity and low weight.     

Virtual Pharmacophore Screening Identifies Small-Molecule Inhibitors of the Rev1-CT/RIR Protein–Protein Interaction

Translesion synthesis (TLS) has emerged as a mechanism through which several forms of cancer develop acquired resistance to first-line genotoxic chemotherapies by allowing replication to continue in the presence of damaged DNA. Small molecules that inhibit TLS hold promise as a novel class of anticancer agents that can serve to enhance the efficacy of these front-line therapies. We previously used a structure-based rational design approach to identify the phenazopyridine scaffold as an inhibitor of TLS that functions by disrupting the protein–protein interaction (PPI) between the C-terminal domain of the TLS DNA polymerase Rev1 (Rev1-CT) and the Rev1 interacting regions (RIR) of other TLS DNA polymerases. To continue the identification of small molecules that disrupt the Rev1-CT/RIR PPI, we generated a pharmacophore model based on the phenazopyridine scaffold and used it in a structure-based virtual screen. In vitro analysis of promising hits identified several new chemotypes with the ability to disrupt this key TLS PPI. In addition, several of these compounds were found to enhance the efficacy of cisplatin in cultured cells, highlighting their anti-TLS potential.     

Nutritional assessment of children on haemodialysis: value of IGF-I, TNF-alpha and IL-1beta

BACKGROUND: Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) has proved to be a sensitive marker of malnutrition, while interleukin-1 (IL-1beta) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) have been found to be raised in catabolic states. METHODS: We have investigated the nutritional status of 17 chronic renal failure (CRF) paediatric patients (8 boys, 9 girls) on maintenance HD. Eight predialysis CRF children (5 boys and 3 girls; mean creatinine 5.1+/-3.2 mg/dl) and 10 healthy children served as control groups. PEM was defined according to anthropometric measurements (triceps skinfold thickness (TST), mid-arm circumference (MAC), and mid-arm muscle circumference (MAMC)). These were correlated with serum IGF-I, IL-1, TNF-alpha, transferrin, and albumin (all sampled before the HD session). RESULTS: In the HD group, TST was reduced in 41.2% of the patients, whereas MAC and MAMC were reduced in 82.4 and 76.5% respectively. TST was depleted in only one of the predialysis CRF children. The degree of reduction in MAC and MAMC were 62.5 and 62.5% respectively. Median serum IGF-I level was decreased in both HD and predialysis CRF patients (205.1 interquartile range (IQR) 194.4 microg/l and 258.8 IQR 155.0 microg/l respectively) compared to the healthy children (418.0 IQR 310.5 microg/l) (P=0.0009 and P=0.01 respectively). Within the HD group, IGF-I levels were lower in patients with malnutrition defined according to TST (145.0 IQR 125.5 microg/l) compared to children with normal TST (301.2 IQR 218.8 microg/l) (P=0.05). IGF-I levels of the HD patients with malnutrition according to TST was also lower than the predialysis CRF patients and healthy children (P=0.04 and P=0.002 respectively). Serum IL-1beta was undetectable in all groups. Median serum TNF-alpha levels were higher in HD and predialysis CRF patients compared to healthy children, albeit statistically insignificant. There was no correlation between TNF-alpha, transferrin or albumin and anthropometric parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the high prevalence of malnutrition in CRF children, which becomes more pronounced when treatment by HD is initiated. We suggest that determination of IGF-I levels in childhood HD patients in conjunction with anthropometric measurements is useful for identification of malnutrition. We have not been able to demonstrate the catabolic effects of cytokines on this state of protein energy malnutrition.     

Effect of biopolymers containing natamycin against Aspergillus niger and Penicillium roquefortii on fresh kashar cheese

Fungal spoilage during refrigerated storage is one of the main safety and quality‐related problems for dairy products. The effect of wheat gluten (WG) and methyl cellulose (MC) biopolymers containing natamycin (NA) on the growth of Aspergillus niger and Penicillium roquefortii on the surface of fresh kashar cheese during storage at 10 °C for 30 days was investigated. Wrapping of A. niger‐inoculated cheese with MC films containing 5–20 mg NA per 10 g resulted in approximately 2‐log reductions in spore count. Two mg NA per 10 g included into WG films was sufficient to eliminate A. niger on the surface of cheese. However, MC and WG films containing NA did not cause any significant decrease in P. roquefortii count on the cheese surface. Therefore, especially use WG films in dairy applications could be an effective way of controlling A. niger growth on these products.