Rapid and Sensitive Immunochromatographic Strip for On‐site Detection of Sulfamethazine in Meats and Eggs

A rapid immunochromatographic (ICG) strip based on a conjugate of colloidal gold and monoclonal antibody (mAb) was developed for the rapid, sensitive, and on‐site detection of sulfamethazine in meat and egg samples. The detection limit of the ICG strip is 2 ng/mL, and the assay can be completed in 10 min. A cross‐reactivity test indicated that the ICG strip was highly specific to sulfamethazine with no cross‐reaction with sulfonamide compounds and other antibiotics. The results of the recovery test from meat and egg samples spiked with sulfamethazine were in good agreement with those obtained by the indirect competitive enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. These results demonstrated that the ICG strip can be used as a rapid and qualitative tool for on‐site screening of sulfamethazine in meat and egg samples.     

Microbiological characterization of randomly selected Portuguese raw milk cheeses with reference to food safety

Seventy raw milk cheeses made in different regions of Portugal, both hard and soft varieties, made with cow's, ewe's, or goat's milk or combinations of these, were sampled within their quoted shelf lives for microbiological safety. On the basis of the presence or numbers of Escherichia coli, E. coli O157, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes, cheeses were categorized as satisfactory, acceptable, unsatisfactory, or unacceptable and potentially hazardous. Twenty-two of the 70 cheeses were classified as satisfactory or acceptable. Thirty-seven of the cheeses were considered unsatisfactory because of the presence of E. coli, S. aureus, or both, while 11 of the cheeses were graded as unacceptable and potentially hazardous because of the presence of excessive numbers of S. aureus, E. coli, or L. monocytogenes and the presence of Salmonella in three of these. All cheeses graded as unacceptable and potentially hazardous were soft or semisoft cheeses made with ewe's and goat's milk, with the exception of two hard cheeses made with cow's milk. E. coli O157 was not detected in any of the cheeses. According to the present results, it seems that the presence or counts of pathogenic or indicator organisms in raw milk cheeses cannot be related to the processing conditions, milk type, or region of production.     

Development of a flowsheet for iodine–sulfur thermo-chemical cycle based on optimized Bunsen reaction

Based on the Bunsen reaction process whose operating conditions are optimized to yield an over-azeotropic HI liquid solution, we devised a new flowsheet of iodine–sulfur thermo-chemical cycle. A highly enriched hydrogen-iodide gas can be generated through a series of processes of liquid–liquid separation of product mixture from Bunsen reaction and flash of over-azeotropic HI solution. Operating temperature and pressure for HI enrichment need not to be increased as high as those for existing flowsheets; as a result, the operating conditions become less corrosive. Chance of pipe clogging due to iodine solidification is low because there is no process where iodine is concentrated that high. Enrichment of HI through spontaneous liquid–liquid separation and simple flash processes avoiding complicated separate process is considered to be an additional benefit. Analysis of overall and component material balances showed that excess amount of feed to each process to get a desired output depends on the efficiency of flash and decomposition processes. Compared to previous ones, the proposed flowsheet requires more recirculation flows throughout the whole cycle mainly because only a portion of HI content exceeding the azeotrope is allowed to evaporate in the flash without employing a separate HI enrichment process. Thermal efficiency of the proposed flowsheet was evaluated, together with a series of parametric analyses for the sensitivity to key operating parameters and component performances. It was observed that the thermal efficiency can be raised above 60% at optimal condition.     

The effect of glaze uptake on storage quality of frozen shrimp

Ice-glazing is applied to protect the frozen shrimp from undesirable quality changes during frozen storage. Effects of initial frozen shrimp temperature on glaze uptake; glazing time on glaze uptake; and different glaze percentage on physical and chemical changes of frozen shrimp during storage were investigated. Shrimps were frozen in a spiral freezing machine (?35 °C/15 min); transferred to the air blast freezer until the core temperature reached ?18 °C, ?25 °C and ?30 °C; submitted to glazing process; and stored at ?18 °C for 180 days. The glazing percentage, pH and N-TVB levels were monitored every 45 days. This study has demonstrated the effectiveness of the glazing process as a protecting agent for frozen shrimp. A reasonable range of water uptake could be between 15% and 20% to guarantee the final quality. Therefore, it is important to prevent temperature fluctuations during transportation and storage to maintain the quality of the frozen shrimps.     

Partial oxidation of methane over bimetallic nickel–lanthanide oxides

The study of partial oxidation of methane (POM) over bimetallic nickel–lanthanide oxides was undertaken. Binary intermetallic compounds of the type LnNi (Ln = Pr, Gd, Lu) were used as bimetallic nickel–lanthanide oxides precursors and the products (NiO·Pr₂NiO₄, 2NiO·Gd₂O₃ and 2NiO·Lu₂O₃) were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman and temperature programmed reduction. The catalytic activity increases when gadolinium or lutetium replaces praseodymium and the selectivity of the bimetallic nickel–lanthanide oxides is clearly different from that of single metal oxides and/or mechanical mixtures.The existence of an unusual synergism effect between the two metal oxide phases (NiO and Ln₂O₃) that lead to higher conversions of methane and higher selectivities to hydrogen and carbon monoxide correlate also the catalysts stability to deactivation. The activity and selectivity of the gadolinium and lutetium compounds is, under the same conditions, equivalent to that of a platinum commercial catalyst, 5 wt% Pt/Al₂O₃, which stresses the good catalytic performance of this new type of compounds for the production of H₂ and CO (H₂/CO = 2).     

Evaluation of Alternative Preservation Treatments (Water Heat Treatment,Ultrasounds, Thermosonication and UV-C Radiation) to Improve Safety and Quality of Whole Tomato

Previously optimised postharvest treatments were compared to conventional chlorinated water treatment in terms of their effects on the overall quality of tomato (‘Zinac’) during storage at 10 °C. The treatments in question were water heat treatment (WHT?=?40 °C, 30 min), ultrasounds (US?=?45 kHz, 80 %, 30 min), thermosonication (TS?=?40 °C, 30 min, 45 kHz, 80 %) and ultraviolet irradiation (UV-C: 0.97 kJ m^?2). The quality factors evaluated were colour, texture, sensorial analysis, mass loss, antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content, peroxidase and pectin methylesterase enzymatic activities, and microbial load reduction. The results demonstrate that all treatments tested preserve tomato quality to some extent during storage at 10 °C. WHT, TS and UV-C proved to be more efficient on minimising colour and texture changes with the additional advantage of microbial load reduction, leading to a shelf life extension when compared to control trials. However, at the end of storage, with exception of WHT samples, the antioxidant activity and phenolic content of treated samples was lower than for control samples. Moreover, sensorial results were well correlated with instrumental colour experimental data. This study presents alternative postharvest technologies that improve tomato (Zinac) quality during shelf life period and minimise the negative impact of conventional chlorinated water on human safety, health and environment.     

Hancornia speciosa latex for biomedical applications: physical and chemical properties,biocompatibility assessment and angiogenic activity

The latex obtained from Hancornia speciosa is used in folk medicine for treatment of several diseases, such as acne, warts, diabetes, gastritis and inflammation. In this work, we describe the biocompatibility assessment and angiogenic properties of H. speciosa latex and its potential application in medicine. The physical–chemical characterization was carried out following different methodologies (CHN elemental analyses; thermogravimetric analyses and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy). The biocompatibility was evaluated through cytotoxicity and genotoxicity tests in fibroblast mouse cells and the angiogenic properties were evaluated using the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay model. The physical–chemical results showed that the structure of Hancornia speciosa latex biomembrane is very similar to that of Hevea brasiliensis (commercially available product). Moreover, the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity assays showed that H. speciosa latex is biocompatible with life systems and can be a good biomaterial for medical applications. The CAM test showed the efficient ability of H. speciosa latex in neovascularization of tissues. The histological analysis was in accordance with the results obtained in the CAM assay. Our data indicate that the latex obtained from H. speciosa and eluted in water showed significant angiogenic activity without any cytotoxic or genotoxic effects on life systems. The same did not occur with H. speciosa latex stabilized with ammonia. Addition of ammonia does not have significant effects on the structure of biomembranes, but showed a smaller cell survival and a significant genotoxicity effect. This study contributes to the understanding of the potentialities of H. speciosa latex as a source of new phytomedicines.     

Modelling of fluid properties in hydraulic positive displacement machines

This paper presents a numerical model for the simulation of a swash-plate axial piston pump, focusing on the characterization of fluid properties.As it is well known, the reduction of flow oscillations (which generates pressure ripples and produces vibration and noise in the entire circuit) and the avoidance of cavitation are the major problems in the design of these pumps. Developing a simulation code can be very useful for component optimisation in order to predict and reduce the undesired phenomena. The paper first gives a quick overview on a previously developed pump model; afterwards four different models of the fluid are presented: they take into account cavitation in different ways. Their aim at characterizing as well as possible the unsteady and erratic cavitation features in a simplified manner, in order to apply the models to the simulation of hydraulic components.In the second part of the paper an application is shown of these models to an axial piston pump: a few results are presented and compared with available test data. The effects of the fluid models on the predicted pump performance are shown and commented.