Pro- and antioxidative activity of protein fractions from pork (longissimus dorsi)

Protein fractions from pork (longissimus dorsi), isolated in search of the factor in meat enhancing non-heme iron absorption, have been analysed for their effect on radical formation and oxidation processes. In heat-treated minced meat samples with the protein fractions incorporated, the water-soluble proteins showed a prooxidative effect on lipid oxidation compared to the salt-soluble and the insoluble proteins, which did not influence oxidation in the meat system relative to control samples. The level of secondary oxidation products in meat samples with water-soluble proteins added was, however, not as high as would be expected from the ability of this protein fraction to initiate oxidation as measured by spin-trapping ESR-spectroscopy in meat emulsions and by oxygen depletion rates in a lipid model system with the protein fraction added. In agreement with this observation, the water-soluble protein fraction was found, in addition to being prooxidative, also to have the highest antioxidative potential of the three protein fractions as measured by spin probing ESR-spectroscopy (Fremy's salt method). The prooxidative activity of the water-soluble proteins was assigned to myoglobin and hemoglobin derivatives (detected spectrophotometrically), emphasising the role of iron-catalysis in oxidative deterioration of meat products.     

Regio– and Stereoselectivity of Malt Lipoxygenases LOX1 and LOX2

The characterisation of lipoxygenases LOX1 and LOX2 and hydroperoxyoctadecadienoic acid (HPODE) degrading enzymes from barley green malt is reported. Hydroxylapatite chromatography (HAC) and isoelectric focussing (IEF) were performed to separate and purify LOX isoenzymes. The regio‐ and stereo‐selectivity of LOX1 and LOX2 towards linoleic acid as substrate was characterised. HAC purified isoenzyme LOX1 showed a 9‐HPODE:13‐HPODE ratio of 75:25 and LOX2 a ratio of 39:61. IEF separated LOX1 and LOX2 transformed linoleic acid to 9‐:13‐HPODE ratios of 90:10, and 13:87, respectively. 9‐HPODE stereoisomers from LOX1 exhibited a S:R ratio of 93:7 and 13‐HPODE from LOX2 a S:R ratio of 89:11. However, the minor regioisomers were analysed with S:R = 48:52 (LOX1, 13‐HPODE) and 40:60 (LOX2, 9‐HPODE). These results indicate a complete LOX isoenzyme separation by IEF. Hydroperoxide‐metabolising enzymes, which were investigated in the IEF fractions, did not interfere with the dual position specificities of LOX isoenzymes.     

Primary energy implications of ventilation heat recovery in residential buildings

In this study, we analyze the impact of ventilation heat recovery (VHR) on the operation primary energy use in residential buildings. We calculate the operation primary energy use of a case-study apartment building built to conventional and passive house standard, both with and without VHR, and using different end-use heating systems including electric resistance heating, bedrock heat pump and district heating based on combined heat and power (CHP) production. VHR increases the electrical energy used for ventilation and reduces the heat energy used for space heating. Significantly greater primary energy savings is achieved when VHR is used in resistance heated buildings than in district heated buildings. For district heated buildings the primary energy savings are small. VHR systems can give substantial final energy reduction, but the primary energy benefit depends strongly on the type of heat supply system, and also on the amount of electricity used for VHR and the airtightness of buildings. This study shows the importance of considering the interactions between heat supply systems and VHR systems to reduce primary energy use in buildings.     

W/O/W emulsions with high internal droplet volume fraction

We prepared water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsions with high internal aqueous droplet fraction using food-based ingredients. These compartmentalised materials were comprised of oil globules dispersed in an external aqueous phase, with the globules themselves containing densely packed inner aqueous droplets. We were able to obtain double emulsions with large globule fractions (up to 45 vol.%) using only 5 vol.% oil (relative to the overall composition). In the final state, the inner droplet fraction within the globules could exceed 90 vol.%. The method was based on two successive emulsification steps, followed by osmotic swelling (transport of water from the external phase to the inner droplets through the oil phase). During the final step, the swelling was controlled by the osmotic pressure mismatch between the external and internal aqueous phases using solutes dissolved at different concentrations. The osmotic swelling model of Mezzenga et al. (Langmuir, 2004, 20, 3574-3582) was re-adapted in the limit of small Laplace pressures to predict the final composition resulting from osmotic equilibration. The internal droplet fraction was lower than that predicted by the model as a consequence of coalescence phenomena occurring during the swelling process. The proposed approach constitutes a valuable guide within the prospect of formulating emulsions with enhanced encapsulation capacity and reduced fat content.     

Polyacetylenes in fresh and stored carrots (Daucus carota): relations to root morphology and sugar content

BACKGROUND: Carrot roots contain polyacetylenes, reported to be both beneficial and distasteful when consumed by humans. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between polyacetylene contents, root morphology and sugar content in order to increase the opportunities to optimise the composition of polyacetylenes in carrots. RESULTS: The falcarinol/total polyacetylene ratio was positively correlated with root size, the amount of sucrose and the sucrose/total soluble sugar ratio among both fresh and stored samples. Root size was inversely correlated with the amounts of falcarindiol and falcarindiol‐3‐acetate, especially among stored samples. Stored carrots exhibited an inverse correlation between polyacetylenes and the amount of soluble sugar. At a falcarinol content at harvest below approximately 200 mg kg^?1 dry weight the amounts of all polyacetylenes increased during storage, but above that level the amounts of all polyacetylenes instead decreased. CONCLUSION: The results indicate similarities in the activity of the enzymes transforming sucrose to hexoses and the enzymes transforming falcarinol to falcarindiol‐3‐acetate and falcarindiol. The negative correlation between root size and polyacetylenes seems to be partly due to dilution but also to a higher synthetisation rate in smaller roots. The results indicate the existence of an equilibrium regulating the level of falcarinol. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

The drivers of services on next-generation networks

This paper is concerned with the drivers of service development on future telecommunication networks. As these networks are being transformed into next-generation networks, new and different services are being developed and mediated. However, little is known about the drivers of this development, and frameworks for strategic management of service innovation are scarce. This paper offers two contributions. First, it develops a conceptual framework for the identification and classification of drivers. This framework is derived from prevailing theories in organizational economics, strategic management, and marketing. Second, it presents, based on an analysis of contributions from 24 domain experts, which types of drivers for network service development receive the most attention by the experts. The analysis reveals that demand factors like customer values, service quality, and user readiness by far outnumber the supply factors as well as the general environmental factors, demonstrating the importance of the users for service development in this area. The results will assist service providers to identify drivers of a specific service offering and adjust the business model to these drivers.     

Comparison of analytical error and sampling error for contaminated soil

Investigation of soil from contaminated sites requires several sample handling steps that, most likely, will induce uncertainties in the sample. The theory of sampling describes seven sampling errors that can be calculated, estimated or discussed in order to get an idea of the size of the sampling uncertainties. With the aim of comparing the size of the analytical error to the total sampling error, these seven errors were applied, estimated and discussed, to a case study of a contaminated site. The manageable errors were summarized, showing a range of three orders of magnitudes between the examples. The comparisons show that the quotient between the total sampling error and the analytical error is larger than 20 in most calculation examples. Exceptions were samples taken in hot spots, where some components of the total sampling error get small and the analytical error gets large in comparison. Low concentration of contaminant, small extracted sample size and large particles in the sample contribute to the extent of uncertainty.     

Localized surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy of single silver triangular nanoprisms

The plasmonic properties of single silver triangular nanoprisms are investigated using dark-field optical microscopy and spectroscopy. Two distinct localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) are observed. These are assigned as in-plane dipolar and quadrupolar plasmon excitations using electrodynamic modeling based on the discrete dipole approximation (DDA). The dipole resonance is found to be very intense, and its peak wavelength is extremely sensitive to the height, edge length, and tip sharpness of the triangular nanoprism. In contrast, the intensity of the quadrupole resonance is much weaker relative to the dipole resonance in the single particle spectra than in the ensemble averaged spectrum. Several parameters relevant to the chemical sensing properties of these nanoprisms have been measured. The dependence of the dipole plasmon resonance on the refractive index of the external medium is found to be as high as 205 nm RIU(-1) and the plasmon line width as narrow as approximately 0.17 eV. These data lead to a sensing figure of merit (FOM), the slope of refractive index sensitivity in eV RIU(-1)/line width (eV), as high as 3.3. In addition, the LSPR shift response to alkanethiol chain length was found to be linear with a slope of 4.4 nm per CH2 unit. This is the highest short-range refractive index sensitivity yet measured for a nanoparticle.     

Rapid electrochemiluminoimmunoassay of human C-reactive protein at planar disposable oxide-coated silicon electrodes

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of aromatic Tb(III) chelates at thin insulating film-coated electrodes provides a means for extremely sensitive detection of Tb(III) chelates and also of biologically interesting compounds if these chelates are used as labels in bioaffinity assays. The suitability of silicon electrodes coated with thermally grown silicon dioxide film as disposable working electrodes in sensitive time-resolved ECL measurements is demonstrated, and a rapid electrochemiluminoimmunoassay (ECLIA) of human C-reactive protein (hCRP) is described. Tb(III) chelate labels can be detected almost down to picomolar level, and the calibration curve of these labels covers more than 6 orders of magnitude of chelate concentration. The calibration curve of the present immunometric hCRP assay was found to be linear over a wide range, approximately 4 orders of magnitude of hCRP concentration, the detection limit of the protein being 0.3 ng mL(-1) (mean background + 2SD) on CV values of about 10-30%, depending on the immunoassay incubation time. In the ECLIA measurements, different incubation times were tested from 15 min (giving above-mentioned performance) to as short as only 2 min, which still gave successful results with approximately 20,000 times better detection limit levels than traditional commercial assay methods. During the ECLIA process, also the Si electrode surface morphology was also investigated by atomic force microscope monitoring.     

Oxalate decarboxylase of Trametes versicolor: biochemical characterization and performance in bleaching filtrates from the pulp and paper industry

BACKGROUND: Oxalate decarboxylase (ODC) from acid‐induced cultures of the white‐rot fungus Trametes versicolor was purified and characterized with respect to its biochemical properties and the possibility to utilize the enzyme for treatment of process water with the intention to prevent problems with calcium‐oxalate scaling in the pulp and paper industry. RESULTS: Purified T. versicolor ODC was identified by tandem mass spectrometry. As estimated by using SDS‐PAGE, the molecular mass was 69 kDa, and 60 kDa after deglycosylation with N‐glycosidase F. The pH optimum was 2.5 and the temperature optimum was 40–45 °C. The effects of ten potential inhibitors in industrial filtrates were examined. The enzyme was sensitive to low concentrations (0.1 mmol L^?1) of chlorite and sulfite. T. versicolor ODC exhibited activity in 16 filtrates collected from mechanical pulping and kraft pulping. It had higher activity than ODC from Aspergillus niger in all of the filtrates and higher activity than oxalate oxidase from barley in all filtrates except two. CONCLUSIONS: The investigation shows basic biochemical properties of T. versicolor ODC and indicates that the enzyme may be useful for treatment of industrial filtrates under acidic conditions. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry