Primary lymphoma of the breast. Three cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Primary and sole breast lymphoma is a very rare disease. With the review of our series of 616 cases operated on for breast cancer, only 3 cases (0.48%) of primary breast non-Hodgkin lymphoma (LNH) have been observed. The authors outline the problems concerning diagnosis and therapy of this rare disease: pathological and immunohistochemical aspects are discussed. They stress the importance of staging in order to plan a correct multidisciplinary approach.     

Screening of supports for the immobilization of pectinmethylesterase from acerola (Malpighia glabra L)

A partially purified extract of pectinmethylesterase (PME) from acerola fruit was immobilized on various supports: glass, celite, chrysotile, agarose, concanavalin A Sepharose 4B, egg shell, polyacrylamide and gelatin. In addition, reticulation with glutaraldehyde was assessed, as well as the use of gelatin in the presence of celite, glass and silica. The highest immobilization yields were obtained when the pectinmethylesterase was immobilized in concanavalin A Sepharose 4B (81.7%) and in gelatin‐water (78.0%). Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of temperature, ammonium and glucose concentrations on yeast growth in a model wine system

In enology, alcoholic fermentation is a complex process involving several mechanisms. Slow and incomplete alcoholic fermentation is a chronic problem for the wine industry and factors leading to sluggish and stuck fermentations have been extensively studied and reviewed. The most studied cause of sluggish and stuck fermentation is the nitrogen content limitation. Nevertheless, other factors, such as temperature of fermentation and sugar concentration can affect the growth of yeasts. In this study we modelled the yeast growth‐cycle in wine model system as a function of temperature, sugar and ammonium concentrations; the individual effects and the interaction of these factors were analysed by means of a quadratic response surface methodology. Cell concentrations and weight loss were monitored in the whole wine fermentation process. The results of central composite design show that lower is the availability of nitrogen, higher is the cell growth rate; moreover, initial nitrogen concentration also influences survival time of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.     

Thermo-oxidative degradation of some polymer couples containing HNBR

Summary In this paper thermal behavior of some HNBR blends with CPE, PVC, CR and NBR at three temperatures, 150, 170 and 190°C is presented. Changes in characteristic IR bands, gel fraction, and chlorine content were assessed. Some mechanistic differences between the studied systems, regarding the involvement the depletion of chlorine and modification in gel content, were pointed out. Cyclization of nitrile structure was also observed by means of 2240 cm⁻¹ band ascribed to >C=NH. Kinetic considerations are presented. Received: 3 June 2002/Revised version: 14 November 2002/ Accepted 20 November 2002 Correspondence to Traian Zaharescu     

Polymerization Kinetics of Fischer‐Tropsch Reaction on Iron Based Catalysts and Product Grade Optimization

The polymerization kinetics of Fischer‐Tropsch reactions on a K‐promoted Fe catalyst was studied. To represent the product distribution, a kinetic model was developed based on alkyl and alkenyl mechanisms for hydrocarbon chain propagation, which were assumed to occur simultaneously in the Fischer‐Tropsch synthesis. The conclusion was drawn that superimposed Anderson‐Schulz‐Flory (ASF) distributions with different chain growth probabilities, on iron catalysts, can be the result of different chain growth mechanisms. The polymerization mechanism was used to obtain the product distribution for several conditions, and the optimum conditions for the production of transportation fuels were found.     

Effects of different cooking methods on the formation of food mutagens in meat

Hamburgers and chicken fillets were cooked in convection ovens, deep‐fried or contact fried and analysed for mutagenic activity using the Ames test. For the three different convection ovens, the cooking parameters studied included the presence of steam, air velocity, air temperature and holding time. For deep‐frying and contact frying, the cooking parameters included cooking temperature and cooking time. In cooked hamburgers, mutagenic activity was only detected in those that had been deep‐fried. In chicken fillets, mutagenic activity was detected in samples prepared with all cooking methods, being highest in the deep‐fried samples. Factorial analysis indicated that heat transfer was the most important factor affecting mutagenic activity. High temperature and high air velocity in the convection ovens enhanced mutagenic activity. The presence of steam reduced the mutagenic activity, except when high temperature was used in combination with high air velocity. In chicken fillets, high mutagenic activity correlated to high weight loss during cooking. Pan‐fried chicken fillets were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the mutagenic/carcinogenic heterocyclic amines 2‐amino‐3,8‐dimethylimidazo[4,5‐f ]‐quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2‐amino‐1‐methyl‐6‐phenylimidazo‐[4,5‐b]‐pyridine (PhIP) and the co‐mutagenic heterocyclic amine Norharman (9H‐pyrido[3,4‐b]‐indole) were identified. The HPLC fractions were tested for mutagenic activity and, apart from the mutagenic fractions corresponding to MeIQx and PhIP, several mutagenic fractions were detected that did not correspond to known heterocyclic amines.     

NIST 0:45 reflectometer

The NIST 0:45 reflectometer measures the spectral reflectance factor at an influx angle of 0° and an efflux angle of 45° of colored, nonfluorescent specimens at room temperature, with widths ranging from 3 to 10 cm and heights from 3 to 20 cm and with an uncertainty of less than 0.5 in color difference units. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 94–99, 2008     

Uncertainty analysis for the NIST 0:45 Reflectometer

Sets of color tiles are available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology calibrated using the NIST 0:45 Reflectometer. The uncertainties associated with the measured values for the color tiles are an indispensable component of the calibration report that accompanies these tiles. A systematic, analytical approach developed previously was applied to the particular case of the reference instrument and color tile set, taking into account the operation and characteristics of the instrument and the spectral properties of the set. The primary sources of uncertainty were identified, and the resulting uncertainties in the color space values L*, a*, and b* were determined. In general, the uncertainties are lowest for those color tiles whose reflectance factors are nearly constant with wavelength. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 100–107, 2008     

Genotoxic effect of Physalis angulata L. (Solanaceae) extract on human lymphocytes treated in vitro

Physalis angulata L (Solanaceae) is a medicinal plant from North of Brazil, whose different extracts and infusions are commonly used in the popular medicine for the treatment of malaria, asthma, hepatitis, dermatitis and rheumatism. However, the genotoxic effects of P. angulata on human cells is not well known. The main purpose of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro genotoxic effects of aqueous extract of P. angulata using the comet assay and the micronucleus assay in human lymphocytes provided from 6 healthy donors. Treatments with P. angulata extracts were performed in vitro in order to access the extent of DNA damage. The comet assay has shown that treatments with P. angulata at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 6.0 microg/mL in culture medium were genotoxic. Lymphocytes treated with P. angulata at the concentrations of 3.0 and 6.0 microg/mL in culture medium showed a statistically significant increase in the frequency of micronucleus (p<0.05), however, the cytokinesis blocked proliferation index (CBPI) was not decreased after P. angulata treatment. In conclusion, the present work demonstrated the genotoxic effects of P. angulata extract on human lymphocytes in vitro.